#eddi arent

[ozu-teapot]

Der Bucklige von Soho | Alfred Vohrer | 1966

Eddi Arent, Suzanne Roquette, Gisela Uhlen

[sp0o0kylights]

“Dustin isn’t coming.”

“What?” Eddie says, all frantic and jovial movements freezing instantly.

His eyes narrow on Lucas--the bearer of bad news. “Why?” 

“Family emergency.” 

Mike makes a face. “I saw his mom yesterday and she was fine, so is this a…?” 

He makes a gesture that is entirely incomprehensible to anyone who isn’t Sinclair and his terrifying girlfriend.

(At least, Eddie thinks Max is Lucas’s girlfriend this week. It got a little hard to keep up after the third break-up-make-up marathon, and he frankly, stopped bothering to try.

It helped that she barely spoke--The only time notable being when Eddie had mockingly asked Sinclair if he needed a cheerleader when she’d first sat in, upon which she’d asked Eddie if he needed new kneecaps with a look in her eye that said she was serious.)

Wheeler Jr.’s gesture however, made her put her book down.

“You think he’s having migraines again?” She not so much asked as demanded, which had Mike shrugging. 

“Dunno." Lucas says. "Dustin didn’t say.” 

“Gotta be, if he called Dustin.” Mike mutters, Lucas shuffling his papers about as he begins to set up for Hellfire. He was the last in the room, practically late, which Eddie had planned on harassing him for had he not announced Henderson’s absence. 

(Fucking freshmen. They just weren’t terrified of Eddie like they used to be.) 

 “Robin must be sick or something, otherwise he’d call her.”  Lucas finishes as he finally sits down. 

“Didn’t the Marching Band go on some trip?” Mike turns to address the rest of the table, and gets nods from Jeff and Gareth both. 

“Yeah they’re marching in some parade in Indianapolis.” Jeff confirms. 

“So his last resort was Dustin?” Max is getting that tone in her voice, the one that makes everyone at Hellfire very uncomfortable. “Typical.” 

She pushes away from the table, making a show of gathering up her things before rising easily to her feet.

Eddie trades looks with the elder Hellfire members as she makes her exit--the kind that says they’re all going to be talking about this later. 

They knew their freshmen had some weird obsession with the former King, of course, but Mayfield too?

What the hell was up with that guy?

At least Eddie thinks, right before things are once again shot to shit, they can go back to playing the game.

He can make it work this early into things, and if Henderson isn't’ a fan of what he’s about to do to the kid’s character in his absence, well. 

Maybe he shouldn’t be fucking absent then. 

“So what, Max, you're gonna go over there and make it worse?” Mike snorts. 

Fatal mistake.

Eddie almost strangles him for it, if only because it prolongs this entire unnecessary conversation. 

Max performs a military perfect heel turn, coming straight back for Wheeler Jr., which makes him right about fall out of his seat in panic. 

“What was that, Wheeler?” 

“I’m just saying--!” 

“We don’t know Steve’s having migraines.” Lucas reiterates, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Maybe it’s something else.” 

“Does Steve get migraines a lot?” Grant asks, because despite all appearances he’s a terrible gossip and gets sucked in far too easily.

Eddie throws a pencil at him for it. 

“Hel-looo, we have a game!?” He thunders, but unfortunately for him, precious Stevie-Weavies headache now has everyone’s attention. 

“Yeah, though he’s really good at pretending he doesn’t.” Lucas answers with a put upon sigh. 

“There’s a whole pattern--he ignores it until it gets super bad, then he has to call Robin or Dustin to come get him when he inevitably gets stranded at work or the like, grocery store.” 

“Well who else do you think he’d call?” Mike scoffs again. He does a lot of that, when discussing Harrington. “It’s not like his parents are--Ow, Max!” 

“Close your mouth before I close it for you.” She hisses and Mike, shockingly, does just that. 

To Eddie, she says; 

“Your ass isn’t any better, or did you forget I live across from you?” 

Eddie--who had an insult primed and ready--promptly shuts his mouth.

(Fucking! Asshole! Freshmen!) 

“Maybe I should go too.” Lucas says, hedging a look between his girlfriend and his DM. 

“No.” She snaps, pointing a finger at him.

 “If you go, then this idiot,” she flicks her finger to  Mike, “will go and then we really will make it worse. Stay here before your bichon frise has a fit about all his sheep abandoning him.”

Then she’s turning on her heel again, storming out. 

“What the hell’s a bichon frisé?” Gareth asks in the aftermath, frowning. 

“It’s a type of ahhhh--” Jeff clearly thinks better of the explanation, eyes sliding to Eddie.

Who’s scowling.

“I know what a bichon frisé is, Jeff.” He snaps. 

“I don’t.” Grant loudly complains. 

Jeff attempts to both calm Eddie and explain while Mike and Lucas spend far too many minutes looking after Max. 

“Enough!” Eddie howls, temper finally getting the best of him. “Are we playing or do you also need to go sit by the King’s bedside?”  

“Thank you,” Mike says, like he wasn’t a third of the entire problem. “Let’s play!”

They make it about ten entire minutes before getting knocked off track again. 

In fairness, not that Eddie would ever admit it--the second meltdown is his own fault.

xXx

Hellfire is Eddie’s domain. 

It’s one of the few places where he could relax without getting harassed or hounded, and having his freshmen--his!--abandon him for King Fucking Steve had set him off. 

So he’d made a few comments about it.

Maybe introduced an NPC who sounded suspiciously similar to Harrington, only to instantly kill him off. 

Made another couple of nasty comments. 

Who cares? It worked him through his snit rather nicely, and his boys all knew to leave him be.

Except, apparently, for Lucas. 

“Dude, would you lay off?”  The kid finally snaps, pencil slamming down on the table. 

Which is the most backbone-like thing anyone has ever heard Sinclair say, and he gets far more whistles for it than he should.

Eddie pins him in place with a glare. 

“What was that Sinclair?” He snarls, voice as menacing as he can make it.

(It’s pretty terrifying, he’s practiced quite a bit with it.) 

Sinclair flinches, but doesn’t back down. 

“I said lay off. Steve has migraines because of--” He stops, before seeming to come to a decision. “Because of me. He took a hit for me, and I owe him a life debt for it.” 

To Eddie, he says; “You get what those are, right?” 

Mike rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t just for you--”

“That time with Billy was!” Lucas is quick to snarl. “But you know what Mike, you’re right. It wasn’t just for me. He T-boned a car for all of us!” 

Sinclaire is on his feet now, which is the unfortunate moment that Eddie realizes he has once again lost control of the room. 

A situation he firmly blames on Steve Harrington, because he’s petty. 

“Or did you forget that part? That’s you, me, Will, Nancy and Jonathan right there! Nevermind the tunnel. Or the junkyard! 

“We had the junkyard handled--”

Lucas scoffs. 

“We absolutely did not.” 

“I don’t get why you’re all making such a big deal out of this. He’s the fighter. That’s what he does. That’s why we brought him to the tunnel.”

“You recall what happened at Starcourt, right?” Lucas challenges, furious. “You did see him after, right?” 

This, finally, seems to shut Mike up. 

“Shouldn’t you be mad at him for that?” He says after a moment, and the rest of Hellfire has completely put aside all actual gaming to watch this play out with a morbid sort of fascination. 

Eddie allows it, only because he’s trying to breathe the way Wayne taught him to before he loses it entirely and throws both of the idiot kids out of the drama room. 

“He pulled your sister into it.”

“Have you met Erica!? You can’t pull her into shit!” Lucas spits furiously. “That wasn’t D&D, Mike. It was the Upsi--real life.” 

Lucas is quick to correct himself, even in the heat of the moment--as all the kids are, like the entire school hasn’t clocked that they have some weird ass secret they’re terrible at hiding.

“And if we’re playing those games, then who pulled him into the tunnels? Who made him come to the junkyard?”

“Dustin.” Mike says snidely. 

“You don’t get to blame Dustin when Steve was the only person around.” 

“There were people around! They just weren’t people who--weren’t--who couldn’t--”

“Finish that sentence.” Lucas demands 

“Be trusted.” Mike spits out, like it hurts him. 

“Exactly.” 

“El went through way more than Steve ever has! El--”

“El was using her po--doing mage things! And also, she shouldn’t have had to go through all this shit either! We can’t rely on her to save the day every single time, Mike--and look at how hurt she gets!”

“She--”

“She hides it from you, you know. How bad she hurts. Cause she wants to put your feelings first.” 

“I--”

“Will does too.”  Is Lucas’s parting shot. His backpack is in his hands in a blink, papers and character figure shoved wildly into it, before he’s storming out the door in a poor mimicry of Mayfield.

“Harrington T-Boned a car?” Grant says, in the resounding silence. 

“That BMW of his hasn’t had a scratch on it--” Jeff says, with an inquisitive tilt to his head. 

“He didn’t use the Beamer.” Mike interrupts, angry and sulking. “Are we playing or not?”

“I’m gonna say not, given we are down two players.’ Eddie tells him through clenched teeth. 

“I’m going to be so mad if Steve doesn’t have a migraine.” Mike grumbles, as he begins packing up his stuff. 

The rest of Hellfire follow his lead, after one look at Eddie’s face convince the lot of them that it’s best to flee now, before Eddie unleashes all his pent up rage. 

“Not as mad as I’ll be, Wheeler.” Eddie promises darkly.

And it is a promise--because now, he’s going to follow all his stupid (sans Mike, who isn’t in his good graces either but at least stayed) freshmen--and go visit one fallen King.

If Harrington doesn’t have a headache now, he will when Eddie’s done with him.

[piratefishmama]

OKAY OKAY OKAY WAIT...

Steve and Robin taking Eddie to a pride parade thinking that maybe he'll feel comfortable to finally talk to them without any pressure cause hey he's flagging for the whole goddamn town to see right? why hasnt he spoken to them, the original fruits of the fruity four? the two peas in a rainbow pod, y'know? they're safe, they're the SAFEST of safe, hell even Will came out to them, no, even MIKE came out to them, it's like.

A THING at this point. You go to them and you just let it all out, usually in a bathroom, it's like tradition.

Only Eddie was not in fact intentionally flagging. Nor was he aware that he may have some latent homosexual feelings.

Toward Steve.

Who is in fact, wearing a croptop. And booty shorts.

Save him.

HE'S A SLOW LEARNER OKAY?!

[henswilsons]

It's nice to have a friend

[cldhead]

roommates <3

[kofi]

[thefrsers]

#a family that ride or dies together #no one does it like the 118

[formosusiniquis]

steddie relationship reveal coming not from the kids walking in on them or accidental pda but because Eddie's combat balance suddenly gets better and they realize it's cause Steve (the better strategist) is helping him with the combat prep. They know it's love cause Eddie threatened to shave Tews and blame it on Dustin the one time he picked up the wrong notebook/no one gets to see Eddie's DnD planning

[steddieasitgoes]

Firefighter Steve sits outside the firehouse late one night, soaking in his first day on the job. Sure, he didn't fight any fires today, but he did get to help with a medical emergency case. So far, it's everything he'd hoped the career choice would be. 

He's making a mental list of things to tell his boyfriend, Eddie, about when he sees him tomorrow when a small figure materializes at the end of the driveway. It's a girl. A young one by the size of her shadow, and she's clutching something in her arms. 

Not wanting to spook her, Steve slowly rises to his feet but doesn't take any steps toward her. He lets her do that. Watching as the girl takes one cautious step after the other. It's only when she's a few feet away does Steve notice she's clutching a newborn in her small arms.

The girl takes a moment for herself. Brings the baby to her cheek and nuzzles its small face before she starts walking again. This time she doesn't stop until she's right in front of Steve. 

"Do you need help?" 

She shakes her head before extending her arms and the newborn out toward him. 

It takes Steve a moment to realize what's happening, but then his training kicks in. He takes the newborn from the girl's hands without question and takes a moment to glance down at the tiny thing in his arms. When he looks back up, the girl is gone. 

The baby stirs in Steve's arm, and he adjusts his hold on them. Brushes a thumb against the baby's soft apples of their cheeks before clutching the infant tight to his chest. 

Steve calls the Chief as soon he's back inside the station. The older man is annoyed at first until he glances at the small baby in Steve's arms. 

"What do we do?" 

The Chief sighs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Take 'em to the hospital. Get 'em checked out, and then CPS takes over." 

Steve knew that. Remembers it from the brief lecture on the importance of safe surrender sights. The same lecture the retired chief preferred by saying “never happens.” 

And yet…

Steve glances down at the baby in his arms again and this time he’s met with two tiny brown eyes staring back at him. There’s a moment of calmness before the baby scrunches its small nose and begins to cry. Instinctively, Steve rocks the newborn in his arms and the crying subsides. 

“Are we uh,” Steve hesitates, looking down at the baby in his arms. “Are we allowed to intervene before CPS.” 

The Chief stops dead in his tracks and slowly turns around to face Steve. “Are you asking if you can keep the kid?” 

Steve nods. “My partner and I we uh, we always talked about having kids. And well, uh this feels sort of like fate in a way, sir.” 

The Chief nods, “The hospital will know more about this than I will. Let’s get you two over there, yeah?” 

-- -- --

It’s three in the morning when Eddie runs into the hospital in his plaid pajama pants and threadbare shirt. He’s seconds away from screaming at the poor woman working reception when he spots Steve around the corner. 

“The station called; they said you were on your way to the hospital!” Eddie nearly sobs, taking Steve’s face in his hands. “What happened?”

“M’okay,” Steve says, moving his own hands so that they rest on Eddie’s hips. “They should have worded that call better.” Steve looks over his shoulder, glaring in the direction of the Chief.

“Then why are we here?” 

“Come with me.” 

Steve leads Eddie down the hallways and straight into the nursery where their baby girl is being swaddled in a new blanket. Eddie gasps, turning to look at Steve with tears welling in his eyes. 

“She was surrendered to me an hour ago and I— I don’t know, Eds. I just though, maybe it was fate? Maybe she’s—“

“Meant to be ours?” 

“Yeah.”

[metalizzm]

no thoughts. just the fact that it’s canon that buck calms himself down by remembering eddies voice

[pigeonxp]

"buck and eddie arent coparenting chris" tell that to rg and oliver stark 😭😭

[ranger-jenny]

since i don't see a lot of people talking about this scene, here's my take.

in 3x15 we get the flashbacks of Eddie and Shannon how they were constantly fighting, but the line that gets me is when shannon says she can't do this alone anymore, that eddie doesn't know how it's been like doing it alone, eddie says this:

So we know he felt alone too, i can go on and on about how eddie and shannon could have been great coparents if they didn't felt obligated to marry, part of the reason why i think he felt alone, because he's doing what he think is expected of him to do, and that's all he ever really know how to operate.

But then he meets Buck, who so easily helps Eddie with Chris, but not only that, he take his time to know Eddie, and they became friends.

And Eddie trusts Buck, he hands him his child and says he truts more in Buck than any other person, and Buck doesn't make him feel alone.

All lingering touches aside, buck shows eddie he will always be there for him.

But Buck files the lawsuit. And he doesn't tell Eddie about it and suddenly Eddie can't talk to his best friend.

And then we have the grocery fight and Eddie almost gets to hide behind the excuse of Christopher missing Buck, but he let it slide:

He was mad because he couldn't talk to Buck, he was mad because he felt alone all over again, and when Buck is back at the 118 he says "Did you ever stop to think what that could do to us?" And sure, maybe he meant "us" as the 118, but it sure seemed like he meant "us" as you and me, and how that could have changed their entire relationship until that point.

And it does. Because Buck learns.

And he shows up even more now. And he's there when Eddie needs him. And he makes sure Eddie never feels alone again.

So yeah. I think is very important that we know how Eddie felt alone before meeting Buck. And how Buck doesn't want to make him feel like that again.

[sp0o0kylights]

Part Two / Part Three

Ao3

It's 8:45 am. 

The Red Barn, which is neither red nor a barn, has been open since 7, catering to the early morning crowd with rounds of coffee and pancakes.

It was no Benny's, but given the size of Hawkins and the lack of alternatives?

No one was complaining. 

They were all too happy someone had opened up another watering hole for the working class man (or lass, as Foreman Shelly will dutifully remind you) which meant the place was packed with both day and night shift regulars, passing each other in staggered waves. 

It also meant Wayne was sharing the packed breakfast counter with a warehouse worker by the name of John Cheese on one side and Police Chief Jim Hopper on the other.

He doesn't mind it.

Wayne's a man on a budget thinner than his shoelace, but he's also a man who understands that small indulgences need to be made in life or you didn't truly live it.

This is how he convinces himself to get a coffee at the Barn after work everyday, reading the morning newspaper and chatting with the other regulars before he heads home.

Bonus, it gets him out of the rapid-fire franticness that is his nephew in the mornings.

(All the love in the world wouldn't change the fact that all that Eddie came with a lot of noise. 

The kind of noise that was a tried and true recipe for a headache right after a long shift.)

As a trade off, Wayne went to bed early so he could wake up in time for dinner with Eddie.

 It was a nice little system that worked for them. 

A routine Wayne was reminiscing fondly on, when the pager on Chief Hopper started to chirp. With a sad moan, the man fished out a few crumbled bills and threw them on the counter, abandoning his coffee to trudge out to his truck.

This was not unusual.

Particularly recently, given they were but a scant few weeks past that whole mall ordeal. A fact all too easy to remember when one caught sight of the Chief’s still healing face. 

What was unusual, was when he came storming through the doors a minute later, face now a furious shade of red with his hat clenched in his hand. 

The energy in the room shifted, taking on something a little watchful as Hopper swept his gaze from side to side, like a dog on the hunt.

Judging by the way he stilled when he caught sight of Wayne, the latter assumed he found what he was looking for and could only pray it was the person behind him. 

(He liked John, but Wayne had enough trouble this year and he wasn't looking for any more.) 

"Munson." Hopper called, striding over and dashing all his hopes. There was a choked fury emitting off him, and given the way John audibly scooted his chair away, Wayne knew everyone had clocked it. 

"Chief." Wayne greeted, inclining his head towards him.

Idly he wondered what the hell his nephew had done this time.

'So help me if he stole all the town's lawn flamingos and put them in that damn teachers yard again….'

Wayne didn't even get to finish his threat, the Chief was already next to him. 

"Mind if I have a word outside?" 

Dammit Eddie.

"Ah hell, what's he done now?" Wayne asked with a sigh, eyeing the coffee he had left morosely. 

There was still almost half of it left and the pot had tasted fresh for once. 

"What?" Hopper said, and then Wayne got to watch as the man ran through an entire chain of thoughts, each one punctuated by things like; "Oh," and "No. " 

"This is something else." He finished, flushed and fidgeting, anger making him antsy. 

Wayne stared up at him. 

"Something else?" He repeated, not sure he heard.

"Yes, something else." Hopper snapped impatiently, before leaning forward, voice dropping low. "This doesn't involve your nephew, but we both know you owe me for how many times I've let that kid off, Wayne. That's a damn big favor I've been doing you and I'm calling it in." 

If it were any other cop, it'd sound like a threat.

It was Hopper though. The same Hopper who Wayne had gone to school with.

They'd never been friends exactly, but they had been friendly and remained so. Even now, after Wayne had taken Eddie in, who’d gone on to be an undeniable pain in the local PD’s ass. 

Hopper really did let the kid off easy. 

Wayne really did owe him. 

So he put down his coffee with a sigh, passed his newspaper over to John and stood up, motioning for Hopper to lead the way. Got into the Chief’s truck when he waved him in, and didn’t make a big fuss when Hopper tore out of the parking lot like hell was about to open up under them. 

"Not a lot of the kids involved in the mall fire could be identified, but a few of them were." Hopper started, which felt nonsensical given the utter lack of context. 

Wayne hummed to show he’d heard. 

“Some of them got banged up more than others, and a lot of people wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make it.” 

A pause, Hopper white knuckling the steering wheel as he swung the truck hard around a turn. 

“For certain people, those kids dying is the preferred outcome.” 

A mix of fear and warning swopped low in Wayne’s gut. 

"Jim." Wayne said, dropping the use of a last name because if any situation called for it, it was this one. "What exactly are you saying here?" 

The Chief chewed on his split lip. 

"I know you're smart, Munson. I know you, and plenty of others are aware that something's happening, been happening in this town." 

Which was a hell of an understatement if you asked Wayne. Plenty of the upper classes might be able to bury their heads when it came to the military parading about and the flow of “accidents” they brought in their wake, but then, they didn't see all the other signs of trouble. 

The absolute oddity that was Starcourt’s construction. 

How it had been built using primarily outside crews and anyone who'd taken a singular look at the site could tell you they were building it weird. 

Weird as in it looked like it would have a multi-level basement, and not what a mall should have. 

Then there were the constant electrical problems. The backups upon backups that failed. The late night delivery vans headed out to the Hawkins Lab. 

The things in the woods that kept spooking all the deer and the weird markings they left behind that unnerved even the hardest of hunters. 

This didn’t even touch the Russian military that more than one reputable person swore was hanging around. 

The very same Wayne himself had seen, on more than one occasion. 

(And you couldn’t deny it; those boys were military. Past or present, it didn’t matter. They moved like a threat, and Wayne treated them like one, staying well clear.)

"Yeah." Wayne admitted. "I also know better than to stick my nose in it." 

"That makes you a smarter man than me.' Hop complained under his breath, but the anger was self directed. 

"The point is, there are some government types crawling around, doing shit they shouldn't be doing, and more than a few of them are in the business of making people disappear.” 

This was absolutely not where Wayne had thought this was going. 

Hopper took a breath. Than another.

A third.

It was starting to make Wayne nervous, in a way he hadn’t felt since a social worker had brought Eddie to him for the last time and final time. It was the feeling that things were about to shift in a way that would change the course of his life. 

"Steve Harrington is sitting in my office right now, beat to absolute shit.” Hopper admitted.

Wayne gave him the floor to talk, letting him go at his own pace without interruptions. 

“He's there because some of those government types finally figured out his parents are never fucking home.” 

Wayne sucked in a breath. 

"We both know his parents, Wayne. Harassing them to come back and take care of their kid won't work, and frankly, I’m beginning to think all the phone lines are tapped anyway.” He winced here, like voicing such a thing pained him, and Wayne understood.

It sounded a little too out there, a little like he was buying into a conspiracy. 

Except he wasn’t. Wayne knew he wasn’t. 

Jim Hopper might have been an alcoholic, a man living in pain and unconcerned with his own life, but if there was one thing he was solid for, it was shit like this.

He didn’t jump to conclusions. Didn’t believe the first thing people told him. Even at his worst, he did the work to see what was really happening, and made his decisions from there. 

(Even if that decision was to accept the occasional bribe, or drive an intoxicated 13 year old Eddie home instead of hauling his ass into the drunk tank.) 

“Harrington won’t admit it, but he’s got a hell of a concussion if not a full blown brain injury and he’s not reacting as well as he should to Suites trying to run him off the road.” Hopper continued. Angrily, he added, “Damn kid didn’t even come to me until they tried to break into his house last night.” 

His fingers squeezed the wheel so hard Wayne heard the leather creak in protest. 

“I’d take him, but my cabin is being renovated from…” He trailed off, heaving a sigh.

 “A storm, so me and my kid are bunked with the Byers right now and we’re full up.” 

Hawkins hadn't had a storm like that in years, but Wayne wasn't going to call him out on the blatant lie. 

“I need a place to stash him for the next few weeks, until I can work with some of the higher ups sniffing around, and get them to call off their attack dogs.” 

“And you want to stuff him with me.” Wayne finished. 

“I know you don’t have the room.” Hopper admitted easily, stopping his truck at a red light and locking eyes with the other man. “But I also know you’ll be the last place anyone would look for him.” 

'Ain’t that the damn truth.'

“You’re really gonna go this far for a Harrington?” Wayne asked, instead of the million of other questions leaping to the forefront of his mind. 

This one, he figured, was the most important. 

“He’s not his dad.” Hopper said, as firm as Wayne had ever heard him. “He’s not either of his parents, and he saved my little girl.” 

Wayne hadn’t even known Hopper had another little girl, but he also knew better than to ask where the guy had found one. 

It wasn’t his business, just as nothing else Jim was involved in, was his business.

Except, apparently, Steve Harrington. 

“I’m gonna need my own truck if I’m takin' Harrington home.” Wayne said easily, instead of bothering to ask anything else.

If Jim said the kid was different than his daddy, then he was--because when it came to things like that, Jim didn't lie.

No point in it. 

“I know. Just needed to talk to you first, without anyone overhearing.” Jim said, before swinging the police truck around and heading back to the Barn. 

“I’ll stay in contact with you, and I’ll make sure Harrington pays you for the pleasure of your hospitality. Just--” Here Jim cut himself off, looking like he was struggling an awful lot with the next thing he wanted to say. 

Once again, Wayne waited him out.

“Don’t let Steve fool you. He’s good at fooling people, letting them think he’s okay. Too good at it, and between the two of us, I have a real good idea of the reason why.” 

A memory came to Wayne unbidden, of Richard Harrington and Chet Hagan, beating some poor kid in the highschool bathroom bloody. The grins on their faces as the poor guy wailed for them to stop.

How they almost hadn’t. 

“Alright.” Wayne agreed.

Hopper swung back into the Barn's parking lot, and Wayne moved right to his own beat to shit truck, ready to follow Jim back to the police station.

He wasn’t a praying man, not anymore, but Catholisim wasn’t a thing that let you go easy. 

He found himself sending up a quick prayer, fingers flicking in a kind of miniature version of the sign of the cross. 

Considering his own kid’s history with Harrington, and the sheer small space of the trailer? 

Wayne had a feeling it was needed.

[matchingbatbites]

Eddie only took the job because it was supposed to be fast, in and out in twenty minutes or so. He's glad that the Lord and his family are out for the evening, because the handle he'd discovered inside the vault and the secret door it triggered was far too interesting for him to not investigate. 

The half-elf is careful as he enters the room, checking for traps or alarms along the entryway, thankful that his magical heritage gives him the ability to see in the absence of light. The place seems to be full of magical items, with bookshelves and displays packed to the brim with books and artifacts. 

And on the far side of the room away from the collection, sitting on a bed and bound to the wall by a chain, is a young man who looks fucking terrified.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you," Eddie says as he holds up his hands to show that they're empty, though he realizes that the other may not be able to see the way Eddie can. With a snap of his fingers several softly glowing orbs appear around the room, and the fear changes to surprise at the action. 

Eddie takes the chance to look at the boy as he blinks against the light suddenly filling the space, and woah. His heart skips a beat, because this must be the most beautiful person Eddie has ever seen in his life. 

He's around Eddie's age and clearly of Infernal descent, if the horns curling from his forehead and the tail Eddie can just see flicking behind him are any indication. But instead of the red-tone skin and near-black hair Eddie has seen on other tieflings, the young man has navy hair and powder blue skin dotted with deep blue beauty marks. He's wearing simple, loose clothing, and his eyes shine like gold coins in the light of Eddie's dancing lights, and the half-elf is instantly smitten. 

“My name is Eddie,” he says as he carefully steps closer. "Any chance you could tell me why Lord Harrington has a tiefling sealed away in a secret room?"

Golden eyes snap from the lights back to Eddie's face, and the other seems to study him for a moment before responding with a scratchy, unused voice. "Something about me being the 'physical evidence of our family's greatest shame.' Or something like that."

Eddie blinks, because- "Your family? You're… Lord Harrington's son?" 

The tiefling nods, and Eddie is absolutely bewildered. He’s lived in this town for years, and has never once heard of Lord Harrington having a son, only a daughter who is significantly younger than this person. Looking around the room, Eddie can see that it’s no better than a prison cell. 

The manacle attached to the boy’s wrist is bolted to the wall between the bed and the desk, and on the nearby surface are a pitcher and shallow basin, along with a drinking glass. A chamber pot sits on the floor, just within reach, and must either be cleaned often or enchanted because no smell comes from it.

Eddie can’t help the soft “How long have you been kept in here?” that escapes him, and the boy seems surprised by the concern in his voice. He watches as the tiefling pulls his knees to his chest, hears the chain rattle as he wraps his arms around them. A few locks of navy hair fall down into his face but he makes no move to fix it.

“Since my mother passed away. She was the one who convinced my father to let me at least roam the house, even though I wasn’t allowed outside. She died when I was twelve, and ever since, my father has kept me here.” He looks up then, gold eyes once again focusing on Eddie. “My mother called me Stephen.”

Eddie goes soft at the new information, and he moves over to stand next to the bed. “Stephen. Mind if I call you Steve?”

Stephen, Steve, shakes his head. “I don’t mind. Could you- Why are you here, Eddie?” 

And Eddie sighs. “Well, someone hired me to steal something from your father. I wasn’t expecting to find all of this,” he says, gesturing to the collection around him, then looks back at the other. “Or you.”

Steve's cheeks shift to a darker shade of blue, and Eddie is delighted to realize that the other is blushing. Steve waves his unchained hand around, motioning to the artifacts surrounding them. "Well, I’m sure the stuff in this room is valuable, father wouldn’t keep it hidden otherwise. Feel free to steal any of it as well.”

Eddie feels bold, can't help but ask “And what if I want to steal you?”

Steve's mouth opens in surprise, that blue blush going darker as he gives a soft “What?”

The half-elf moves closer and sits on the bed, just barely resisting the urge to touch the other. “You don’t deserve to be locked away, Steve. Your father is wrong to keep you here, you should be out in the world, living your life.”

He holds out a hand between them, an offering to this gorgeous stranger. "I'm a pretty good lockpick. I could have you out of that chain and this house in no time. Just say the word."

Steve takes a shaky inhale, he seems scared but curious as he asks a quiet "Where would I even go?"

Eddie shrugs a shoulder. "You can come with me, if you want. It's just me and my brother, Dustin, right now, but there's always room for one more."

Steve glances away, seeming to contemplate the offer, and Eddie would give anything to know exactly what he's thinking in this moment. He hopes that Steve says yes, that he lets Eddie take him away from this place, because Steve deserves to be free. He deserves to be in the outside world, to see the wonders of it, and more than anything, Eddie wants to be the one to show it to him.

It's not long before golden eyes snap back to chocolate brown, and Eddie's heart soars as Steve places his chained hand in Eddie's outstretched one. He aches when he sees the chafed skin of Steve's wrist, rough and raw from what's likely years of contact with the harsh metal. 

But Steve seems determined and ecstatic, his hand squeezing Eddie's as he says "Do it. Steal me, Eddie." 

And Eddie beams as he pulls out his lockpick kit. 

"With pleasure, Steve."

[deadnatura11]

9-1-1 Halloween episode Tommy and Eddie wear the same costume out that involves a mask only for Buck to accidentally kiss Eddie instead of Tommy because he didn't know/wasn't looking

[thisisridiculois]

Finished watching 911 the other day so I started following all the tags here on Tumblr bc some glimpses of the fandom (like when it trended last year when Buck was shown to be bi) is what made me want to watch the show in the first place. However. Lots of people on here are just being bitchy to each other. I feel like I can't find a blog where the person doesn't seem to viscerally hate the opposite ship. Like. If you don't have to get along (tho that would be nice) but I would appreciate just like...ambivalence. Neutrality. Some basic respect perhaps. Idk. I wanna be able to be excited about the new season but I feel like the comments on every post is people fighting and being negative. ANYWAY. Does anyone want to talk about any of the other characters? I like Hen, who wants to talk about Hen?

[redwhitebuddie]

the way that you can tell how little gerrard pays attention or even knows his team because why are you pairing up buck and hen & chim and eddie when hen and chim should be on triage for the patient and buck and eddie should be on grapple.

bobby knows his team, he knows their strengths and knows where best to put each team member.

obviously they can all do the job perfectly well but its about knowing your team and playing to their strengths.