#eddiemonth day 4

[medusapelagia]

Eddie's Month: day 4

written for @eddiemonth 

Prompt: Rejection | Arsonist’s Lullaby - Hozier | Lost

Rating: Mature Character: Eddie Munson WT: murder, violence, threats of violence, drugs, angst with feels, ambiguous ending WC: 1505

The first time the social worker comes into the squalid apartment in Indianapolis, Eddie is not surprised. 

He might be five years old, but he sees the other families from the windows: they go to the park together, they have clean clothes and, the most important thing, they don’t walk on the streets at night as he and his mother do.

His mum works strange hours, she works by night and sleeps by day, and when she wakes she always searches for Johnny, or Uncle Johnny as he asked Eddie to call him more than once.

Uncle Johnny is the one who gives the medicine to his mum, so she can sleep quietly and doesn’t scream all day.

Sometimes Uncle Johnny can’t give her the medicine she needs, and those days are hard. She can’t work, so they don’t have any money for groceries, and until she gets a little better, it is Eddie who must take care of her. 

But that’s normal, right? She is his mum. He loves her and he takes care of her.

That’s why he learns quickly how to steal bread and fruits to feed both of them until she gets better and goes back to work, and then back to Uncle Johnny.

Eddie doesn’t like Uncle Johnny. He smells bad and is always too tactile with him. But Eddie has a knife. A pocket knife. His mum taught him how to use it. How to open it quickly and use it to stab someone in the stomach “It’s the softer part.” she has explained to him.

Eddie knows that his normality is not really normal, and knows that the social worker that has taken the cup of coffee from his mother’s hands but doesn't dare to drink it, is studying both of them.

“Do you go to school, Eddie?”

Eddie doesn’t even know if he is old enough to go to school but he lies easily, he tells her about schools, friends, and lunch breaks. All things that he learned from television.

The social worker doesn’t take notes but seems somehow satisfied with his answers.

His mum is so proud of him that she takes him to eat burgers and milkshakes in a seedy place next to their home, and it’s not even his birthday!

Eddie is the only kid, so he entertains himself by looking at the water leaking from the ceiling and counting the drops while his mum goes to the bathroom.

One.

Two.

Three.

He can’t really count after twenty so he starts again. And again. And again.

Someone screams and he keeps counting.

Eighteen.

Nineteen.

Twenty.

One.

Two.

There is more screaming, his mum's burger is getting cold and a police car is parked outside of the diner.

He doesn’t like the police. They took away his dad and he has never seen him since.

One of the policemen gets closer to him.

“Hey, kid.”

He doesn’t respond. He is not supposed to talk to strangers, is he?

“Can you tell me your name?”

Fuck. He lost count. Now he has to start again.

One.

Two.

Three.

“His name is Eddie.” someone says from behind him “It’s Moira’s son.”

“Moira?” the policeman asks.

“The woman in the bathroom.”

“Oh.”

Eddie lifts his eyes, that’s not a good oh.

“Son. I’m sorry. Your mum… she is not feeling well. Why don't you come with me?”

No! They are not going to take him away as they did with his father.

He runs toward the bathroom, screaming “MUM!” he is so small that he easily avoids the adults who are trying to stop him, and gets into the bathroom.

His mum is on the floor, her eyes open and unfocused toward the door, red signs around her neck, and a syringe on the floor.

He will find out, years later, that Uncle Johnny gave her a dose and she didn’t have enough money to pay for it because they just had burgers and milkshakes, so he killed her in that lurid bathroom, but for the moment the only thing he knows is that his mum is gone.

He doesn’t know where, or how, but she is definitely not there.

***

Everything after that feels like a blur: one moment he is in the lurid bathroom and the next a man he has never seen before is taking him inside a trailer in a town he doesn’t know.

He said he is his uncle, but Eddie doesn’t like uncles, the last one he had killed his mother.

Thank god the little voices in his head arealways with him, whispering that everything will be alright, that he has his pocket knife hidden in his shoes, that if this strange man tries anything at all he will stab him in the stomach and run through the woods.

But the strange man never tries to touch him. 

He offers Eddie his room, he buys a Garfield’s mug just for him and some new clothes, and slowly the voice starts to fade in the back of his mind.

For the first time, he attends school. For real. 

He learns how to write his name and starts to write it everywhere, sometimes even on the trees with his pocket knife.

Wayne, that’s the name of the man he refuses to call uncle, doesn’t know that he has a knife. Adults don’t want kids to have them, Eddie doesn’t know why, so it’s a secret that he shares only with a kid he met at school.

His name is Garreth and he has a twin sister, a little miss-perfect with blond hair and blue eyes that easily capture everyone’s attention.

One time Eddie proposes to poke her with his knife, just a little. Just enough to make her cry.

Garreth thinks about it for a long moment but in the end, they decide that it’s not worth it. This is their secret and they don’t want to share it.

One afternoon, when Wayne is at work and they are playing in the woods, they cut their palm and shake hands, becoming blood brothers.

That’s the first real friendship that Eddie has ever had and it will last for years.

***

Garreth is the only one that gets him.

Everyone else avoids Eddie like he has the plague.

He tries to make friends with other kids, he even shares his secret showing his knife at recess to be cool, but the only effect is that the school calls Wayne who has to come to pick him up and scolds him for having such a dangerous tool. 

He will never see it again. 

The only thing that his mother left him, is gone.

The demons that live in his head, because now he knows that they are demons, not simple voices, are never satisfied. 

He smokes more and more, trying to shut them up.

He decides that if he has to be an outcast, he will be the fucking king of the outcast.

The goblin’s king.

He is not a freak. He is the freak.

Eddie the Freak Munson.

He is in a band, he is the DM for his little nerd group, and he doesn’t care if everyone at school despises him.

He is different from them.

He has demons, like all of them, but he knows their names.

His demons are fear, rejection, and loneliness, and he knows them well enough to give them just the right amount of leash.

People who don’t know their demons end up like his mum.

That’s why he is not too surprised when a blond cheerleader, the queen of Hawkins High, comes to his place to buy something stronger than weed.

He knows he should offer her friendship, it’s cheaper and it’s nicer.

He will, maybe not today.

He invites her to his place, and when they get there he starts to look around, searching for his little bag, when he notices that his demons are quieter than ever, like dogs scared of a bigger dog.

He turns.

Chrissy Cunningham is on the ceiling.

He screams her name, trying to bring her back from wherever she has gone, but deep inside he knows it’s too late. Her eyes are empty, like his mother’s. 

All he can do is run away from an invisible monster that’s hunting him.

He hears him call his name, as killing Chrissy was not enough for him, but Eddie is faster, he has lived on the streets, and he knows how to avoid problems and demons.

He runs toward the house of his dealer, hiding where he thinks no one will ever find him.

But he is wrong. There are voices. And people.

He tightens his grip on the broken bottle and gets ready to jump.

He has never felt so lost before.

He jumps, pushing the bottle at the neck of the intruder, a chestnut boy with wide eyes full of fear.

He sees the boy's demon in his eyes and lowers his makeshift weapon.

Eddie Munson may be a freak, but he is no murderer.

[artbean]

@eddiemonth day 21: hellfire

eddie in the hellfire club palette for @emma-elsa-0000–just had to use this request for this prompt, i think it’s my favorite portrait yet!

request a palette and i’ll whip up a 2hr portrait like this one<3 note that i have quite a backlog but i do plan to do every one!

[yournowheregirl]

@eddiemonth day 4: rejection

rating: T | wc: 913 | cw: hurt/comfort, general & UD related anxiety, hoh!Steve, pre-Steddie

Eddie flops down on his bed with a load groan.

He blindly reaches for a pillow and once he’s found one, he uses it to muffle his screams. It barely dampens the sound, but he's home alone anyway. He screams and screams until his throat starts to hurt and the tears he tried so hard to ignore, finally well up in his eyes.

Another rejection.

Another place that didn't want to hire him.

Even with all the strings Hopper and those government guys had pulled to clear his name, Eddie can't escape his brand-new reputation of local satanist and serial killer. There was a press conference and everything, and a personal apology from the police department, but it still wasn't enough to sway the public's opinion of him.

But he has to get a job, like yesterday. They'll run out of that government money sooner or later and he can't expect Wayne to continue cleaning up his mess. Wayne's done enough of that already.

Eddie's tried almost every place in town. His first instinct was the record store and the garage, because that's what where his interests and experience lie. They turned him away as soon as he came in to drop off his resume.

When he told his friends about his job search, Steve immediately offered to put a good word in for him at Family Video. Robin would ask their parents if they knew about any job openings and Nancy would do the same, though she'd avoid Eddie's name while talking to her father. Gareth, Jeff and Frank suggested he'd ask for a job at The Hideout, while Jonathan and Argyle suggested the local pizza place, because of course they would.

None of those jobs ever got back to him.

Today was one of his last resorts. The diner on the other side of town had an opening for a dishwasher. Not exactly the kind of job Eddie wanted, but it meant keeping a low profile and it would pay the bills. He'd take the job in a heartbeat, but the restaurant manager took one good look at him and sent him away before she even took one good look at his resume.

"We don't hire murderers." She'd sneered.

Any other day, Eddie would've maybe stand up for himself, made a whole scene, maybe even called the cops to prove his innocence yet again. But he was so burnt out from rejection after rejection, that he just shrugged, got into his van and drove all the way back home.

Even though the screaming helped a little, Eddie can still feel his mind buzzing, thoughts of anxiety swirling around and threatening to swallow him whole if he doesn't do something quick. He rolls off the bed, put whatever tape he can get his hands on into his boombox and turns up the volume to the loudest setting.

Other people might listen to soothing music to calm down, but Eddie needs the loudest, most aggressive music to drown out the thoughts in his head. The thoughts of never getting a job and leaving it up to Wayne to pick up the pieces, driving him to work harder and longer, until his brittle body can't take it anymore. Thoughts of losing their home again, being forced to call Rick again

It's all his fault. Everything is his fault.

Tears slowly roll down his cheeks as the music continues playing, so loud that he doesn't hear Wayne coming home. So loud that he doesn't hear Wayne picking up the phone to call someone. So loud that he doesn't hear the knock on his bedroom door twenty minutes later.

It's not until his bedroom goes completely quiet that Eddie finally notices he's not alone. For a second he thinks it's Wayne, but when he hears a muffled "oh thank God" from the other side of the trailer, he realizes that it must be someone else.

"Y'know, if you were so jealous of my new accessories, you could've just said so. No reason to shatter your eardrums like this." Steve says with a teasing grin. The sunlight reflects on the hearing aids he'd gotten a few months ago and of course, he pulls it off like he's a goddamn Calvin Klein model.

"Sorry."

Eddie's voice is small, barely recognizable to his own ears and Steve immediately picks up on it. His teasing smile fades away as he walks over to the bed and sit down next to Eddie. He shuffles around a bit to find a comfortable seat against the headboard and pats his lap.

Completely drained from his terrible day, Eddie doesn't even try to fight it and cuddles up next to Steve. He rests his head in Steve's lap and lets out a sigh of relief when Steve's hands find their way to his scalp.

"What's going on?" Steve asks softly.

"Another fucking job didn't want me." Eddie mutters against the fabric of his polo.

Steve hums in acknowledgement. "I'm sorry. You wanna talk about it or do you want some quiet time?"

"Quiet, please."

"Alright."

See, with Steve around, Eddie doesn't need the music to drown out his bad thoughts. They float away on their own as soon as Steve cuddles with him and starts massaging his scalp. Or, on other occasions, they float away when Steve distracts him by talking about Robin's hopeless love life.

Steve being there for him just helps, in general.

Eddie doesn't wanna look into that realization too much.

[vecnuthy]

to taming demons

@eddiemonth day 4: lost | wc: 680 | G | cw: hurt/comfort, established relationship, depressive episode/social drain/mental low

"You're being quiet."

Their cat Dio raised his head and blinked up at Steve, then stretched all along Eddie's thigh, while Eddie just continued to sit there on the couch, letting Steve's remark go unacknowledged.

The observation wasn't a critique, it wasn't malicious.

It was so soft, meant to light on Eddie's ears like a wisp, and shake down his walls that, honestly, felt as if they were currently made up of dandelion seeds. One wrong breath of air, and he could crumble into the pile of nothing that he could feel trying to pull him in and trap him.

His place on their couch was familiar, as was the press of their cat Dio. His brain told him to respond to Steve's comment in some way, but Eddie couldn't bring himself to move, couldn't prize his jaws apart and coax air past tongue and teeth. He couldn't move his lips to form words.

He just continued to stare a hole in the spot on the rug with his point of unfocus chosen out of convenience and happenstance.

But then, Steve touched him.

His knuckles were soft in the gentle drag across Eddie's cheek with barely-there contact that made Eddie's insides burn and his chest squeeze. Eddie clenched his jaw and felt the muscles flex as he tried to will away the sting of tears in his eyes.

He had never been good at this.

Never been good at facing his feelings headon for what they were. He just knew he felt after not feeling, then became numb after feeling so much. But right now, all he felt was Steve. But that was all he wanted.

He felt Steve's weight settle on the couch cushion as he sat down so close to Eddie that he was almost ontop of him. Even from Steve's sideways position with a leg tucked under him, warmth radiated from Steve and soaked into Eddie's side, making him tucked between his two favorite beings.

Eddie felt Steve shift when he placed his hand on his thigh, palm on display as a offering. And invitation. It was Eddie's choice.

Eddie wanted.

Eddie always wanted, but this was difficult for no good reason other than the fact that it just was.

But this was Steve - the closest person that Eddie had ever had, who met him step for step and pushed when necessary, but knew when grace was due. He sheltered when Eddie was shaken and cradled when Eddie felt broken. It wasn't always easy, but they were always together, even as unmoored as Eddie felt.

Eddie didn't have to be afraid of this, but it terrified him. Steve terrified him constantly, left him overwhelmed and sun soaked in the glow of his affection, but he needed that glow. He needed to acknowledge that the loneliness ungulfing him was weak enough to break through.

He needed to be reminded. To feel.

Eddie felt his jaw clench again, then he somehow dredged up the energy to slip his fingers through Steve's. The warmth from his skin leeched into Eddie's palm like a spray of color exploding into the grey, and he breathed deeply and relaxed a fraction, enough to flow with how Steve guided Eddie's head to face him.

"There you are," Steve breathed out with a little smile that Eddie swore could heal the sick and source world peace. It was already working those little miracles on him now.

Eddie watched as Steve took him in, eyes caressing his features with a level of emotion that was almost tangible, and Eddie craved. He knew that was what he needed. Touch grounded him when he was like this, but he could be reluctant to give into it at times.

But Steve's hold on his hand was so divine.

There was no resistance when Steve pulled him close. He just tucked his head into Steve's neck, breathed in love and acceptance then breathed out doubt and old demons until the only thing left was Steve's hand in his hair and their clasped hands wrapped around his waist.

And Eddie breathed.

[weresilver]

Magic That'll Last a Lifetime

It took me far too long but it is here. This has become affectionately known as the Eddie & El 5+1 but it ended up as a 4+1 instead. Still Eddie & El though :)

This was written for @eddiemonth, day 5, role model. Title from DIO's Last in Line. I'm not writing for the day the song is actually a prompt for, and @unifiedcreationsrbr got me to see that song as an Eddie & El song with their own fic, so. Here we are!

Warnings: None, this is all just a lot of fluff. Though it does reference Flight of Icarus, which I read while writing this.

Wordcount: ... a whooping 4751

El didn't know what to expect when she was woken up by frantic knocking on their front door. A shot of fear ran through her, making her blood run cold and forcing her to think about what she knew for a fact in order to stay calm.

One was dead, she was sure of that. The gates had only briefly opened with his death but the tear had healed itself into an earthquake. Hawkins had survived, just a little worse off.

It was over. Well, the Upside Down part of things was over.

“We didn't know where else to take him.” That was Robin's voice, coming in a little muffled through the closed door to her room. She sounded nervous. “Steve's parents are coming home tomorrow, if not later today, and everyone else lives with their parents; I know Joyce wouldn't mind but—”

“It's fine, Buckley,” her dad assured, as El finally got out of her bed. She heard some more muttering, then Robin's hurried steps out. El opened her door just in time to see Steve carrying someone — Eddie — inside.

“Is that him?” Another voice questioned, surprising El. Agent Stinson met her eyes and smiled briefly at her, though it looked a little like a grimace.

She didn’t react and turned back to Steve. He’d asked her to check in on Eddie a few days after they all returned from California, and Russia, and the Upside Down. The fact that most people she knew had to go there made her so angry.

El opened her door further, nodding at Steve to bring Eddie to her room.

She wanted to help in any way she could.

(She hadn’t realized then, but that decision left her with another very good friend.)

——

Somehow, Eddie was mostly used to a bunch of rambunctious teenagers just barging into his new house, nearly on the edge of town. The thing was, there was usually a lot of noise heralding their arrival; some car or another, their shouts as they approached the front door.

They made noise, and the noise let him and Wayne know they would be getting company.

Maybe Eddie had been too distracted writing, or the music was too loud this time, but hearing the creak of the front door opening sent ice through his veins. He stood up, grabbing the closest thing he could use as a weapon — his dice bag — and walked slowly to the front door.

But instead of any intruder that still wanted his head on a pike, he saw one of the kids standing there, smiling at him.

“Hey, Eddie,” El greeted him, wiping her feet on the mat before walking in. He saw a flash of red hair right behind her. “We tried knocking, but the music was too loud.”

Eddie sighed, lowering the dice bag. Max walked past him with a smirk, heading straight to the cassette player and replacing his Heaven & Hell tape with one of her own.

“We are here to practice braiding,” Max announced, raising a plastic bag she carried on her free hand.

He knew better than to argue with the two of them; Eddie had been told that El was feeling self conscious over her slow-growing hair — he'd certainly been there — and Max hadn’t really gone out at all since everything happened — he’d also been there, just recently being forced to go out by Wayne and Nancy of all people.

He waved his arms towards his couch. “Have at it, then,” he conceded, watching as El walked over and sat down, eyeing his D&D stuff curiously. “I need to finish that.”

El turned to look at him, and Max glanced between the two of them, putting her hands on her hips in a move so reminiscent of Steve that Eddie had to hold in a laugh.

“We are not practicing on each other,” Max said pointedly, looked straight at him with a raised brow. “The only other person who could help is Mike.”

Eddie made a face at that. He could not see Mike letting his hair be braided, which…

“This is about the curly hair?”

Max looked at him with an expression that screamed “duh”, while El was smiling brightly at him and nodding.

He sighed, silently resenting the fact he’d lost his ability to say no to these shitheads. No matter how nice and sweet some of them were.

“Let me get these out of the way, then.” He gathered the things he’d left in the living room floor and placed them on the nearest chair.

He sat on the floor in front of El on the couch, and Max sat next to him, taking a magazine out of her bag. She flipped through it with a face of concentration, but soon sighed in frustration and tossed it away.

“I don’t know why I thought that would help.” Max propped her elbow up on her knee, resting her head on her fist and staring at Eddie with a frown. “I don’t think you know what to do either.”

“Hey,” Eddie admonished, but he didn’t have much defense; he never bothered figuring it out. “I at least know you don’t brush curly hair dry.” He frowned, trying to remember what he knew. “Or at all, I guess.”

“That's a start,” Max said with a shrug.

“Eddie,” El called softly, leaning forward a little while Eddie leaned back to see her. “Can we try braiding your hair, please?”

Eddie nodded — it probably looked ridiculous upside down — and stood up again. “I’ll deal with this,” he said, gesturing to his hair, “and put on something that won’t bother me when it inevitably gets wet.”

He left the girls to chat, stopping first to change, then to wet his hair. He grabbed a towel and the wide-tooth comb Steve had left weeks ago.

If the idea was practice, they’d all probably be here for a few hours.

(And, shit, it had been fun. The girls bombarded Steve with questions when he showed up, also without warning, and seeing the guy speechless when he finally looked at Eddie was nice.

But, as Steve also pointed out that evening, he should probably start remembering to take care of his hair. Example, and all that.)

——

It took Eddie a few seconds to place what woke him up, but the final notes of Creeping Death faded and a soft click kept the next song from starting.

“Thank you,” El said, keeping her voice down. She’d come over earlier in the afternoon, no real excuse as to why, just a couple of books and worksheets in her bag. They’d been doing their own thing since.

“No problem, kid.” He could picture Wayne as he spoke, standing just a couple of steps away from their cassette player, looking over the mess of papers the two created in the time it took him to get groceries. “Need anything else?”

“Music?”

El and Wayne had interacted a few times since she started showing up at their house, but El was still a little wary of his uncle. It was funny to watch, even though Wayne was increasingly lost on what to do for her to like him.

Not that she disliked him. El had said once that she struggled a little with strangers outside of the Party, but explaining that was pretty complicated.

Eddie opened his eyes to see his uncle glance at the kid briefly, a twitch of his fingers that Eddie was familiar with after years of living with the man; he wanted to reach out and ruffle El’s hair, but it was clear they weren’t at that point yet.

Her hair was just starting to grow out, curling in the heavier parts like Eddie’s when he’d been in that same situation years ago, and no one but Hopper and Joyce were allowed to touch it.

(Well, and Steve, as of late. That guy was meticulous, so of course he’d be allowed.)

By the time Eddie’s attention snapped back into the present, The Call of Ktulu was a couple of minutes in, and Wayne had already gone back to whatever he was doing. He stretched, groaning at the pull on his scars.

“Hi,” El said, smiling once he turned to her. She had their box of tapes in front of her, a few of them set aside; some of Eddie’s metal tapes, some of Wayne’s country ones. “Wayne said you needed some sleep.”

“Wayne says a lot of things,” he retorted, voice raised so his uncle could hear him. He heard a loud, wordless affirmation from the kitchen. Eddie stood up and leaned over to see just what tapes El had set aside to listen to.

“Oh, hey.” He spotted his Rising tape and pointed at it. “This is one of my favorites. Wanna give it a listen?”

El nodded. Eddie thought she might like this one; she’d already listened to a few songs from DIO’s The Last in Line and Black Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell and liked them just fine.

He hoped she’d enjoy Rising; it meant a lot to him.

Once Tarot Woman started playing, he sat back on the couch and picked up the book that had fallen on the floor at some point during his impromptu nap.

Eddie opened On a Pale Horse where he last remembered reading but didn’t try continuing it. Instead, he watched El get back to her worksheets in silence, gently bobbing her head along to the music.

Maybe they could pay a visit to a music store soon.

——

They were well into summer, now, and the kids were starting to get ready for their sophomore year. The entire group had gone to Steve's place to use his pool, probably for the last time this summer, and while Steve seemed to enjoy running around for their friends — for all he complained, the twitch of a smile didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie — Eddie himself needed to get away from the sun, the noise, and, most importantly, the water splashes.

The kitchen was empty, and the only sound came from the back. Eddie took the moment to check the fridge for any other snacks, but came up empty. Of course the little shits got everything, he couldn’t even be surprised.

It also seemed that Steve hid whatever alcohol had been here from the kids, and Eddie wasn’t about to snoop around and potentially cause problems for him.

He turned around and spotted El walking into the kitchen, head down and a frown on her face. She pulled a stool out and sat at the counter before she even realized he was there.

Eddie waved with a bemused smile. El blinked at him a couple of times before returning his greeting, though with a much more sheepish smile.

“Got tired of the noise too?” Eddie questioned, moving to lean across from her. “Because the boys are particularly noisy today.”

“No,” she said, only to immediately frown. “I mean, yes, but that’s not it…”

He raised a brow, waiting for her explanation.

“They are talking about school,” she mumbled, rubbing the tip of the beige towel over her shoulder. “I don't like hearing it.”

Eddie nodded. He hadn't liked school since the end of his sophomore year either. He supposed it was all a little different for her, though.

“Anything specific they’re saying?”

She shrugged, tracing some pattern on the counter. “They seem… excited.”

El didn’t elaborate for a long moment, and Eddie hummed, moving to the other side of the counter to sit next to her. He waited another beat, but she didn’t look up from the patterns she was drawing.

“I’m guessing that excitement is not shared.” It wasn’t a hard guess at all. He didn’t know much because Jonathan didn’t seem to know much, but if he’d had to guess, Eddie would bet the move to the other side of the country was rough on the three of them. “Moving around and changing schools suck.”

El nodded and finally looked up to face him. “School sucks.”

“Hey!” It startled a laugh out of him. “You’re the one saying it, not me.” Eddie shook his head, seeing El smile a little. “But you’re right, especially when you’re somewhere new.”

“I didn’t know anyone!” El exclaimed with a little more energy than Eddie expected. “Will was there, but…”

“He was your brand new sibling, not quite the same,” he hedged. “What was it like?”

Her brows furrowed, and Eddie expected her to shrug and change subjects; most of his friends did that when he inevitably poked into something they didn’t want to talk about.

“It was nice, at first,” she mumbled after a moment. “Going to school, with everyone else.” She placed her arms on the counter, resting her chin against her arms. “It got really hard, and people are stupid.”

Ah.

“Felt worse than everyone just telling me about school,” she added. “School is hard.”

With a sigh, Eddie adjusted himself on the stool, mimicking her position as much as he could. “I can’t really help with the actual school part of this experience,” he started, lightly tapping a song against the counter. “But I agree that people are stupid. And you wanna know something?”

He waited for her questioning hum before continuing. “People out there,” he answered, raising his head enough to gesture toward the front door. “They don’t know us, right? They don’t know what happened. And they’ll say shit to make themselves feel better about something.”

Eddie turned his head to face El. She was looking at him with slightly wide eyes, and god, she was too young. They all were, of course, but El had had even less chance to just be.

“You, young lady, are probably the coolest of us all, y’know?” He added. “I cannot begin to imagine just going on as normal after all I heard you went through.” El narrowed her eyes, staring at him with an expression he didn’t know what to make of. He ignored it. “Makes you pretty cool.”

El kept staring at him until she sighed, looking away. Eddie waited, knowing that whatever she had to say would come out when she was ready. She looked at him again, a confused little frown on her face that Eddie poked without much thought.

It made her laugh as she smacked his hand away, so that was a win.

“There was this girl,” El started slowly and softly, looking back at the doorway to make sure there was no one else listening. “She seemed nice, but… she wasn’t. She said and did things.”

“Ah, some of the worst, I see.”

She nodded and started messing with the tip of her towel again.

“How do you…” She trailed off, looking a little hesitant. But she took a deep breath, and asked, “How do you just ignore what they say?”

Well. Eddie pursed his lips, looking away. “Wayne helped a lot, actually.” He shrugged as best as he could while resting his head on his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with being different, right? He’d say, ‘wrong are the people who have a problem with you’.” He hadn’t really said it like that when he first did, but it was what stuck to Eddie all the same.

“There’s always gonna be something that people won’t like about you, something they’re gonna complain about.” He straightened and nudged El with his shoulder. “Personally, I think you have a lot to be proud of, not everyone can say they are a superhero.”

El nodded slowly, but her smile was growing little by little. “I can’t actually say that either.”

Eddie turned to her slowly, trying to maintain the unamused expression. Thankfully, she broke first and dissolved into giggles.

“This is what I get for trying to be sincere,” he complained halfheartedly.

She leaned against his side, resting there for a moment. “Thanks, Eddie.”

——

“Shit!”

“Well,” Eddie started, trying not to laugh at Dustin's indignant expression over his awful roll. The boy was always particularly fun to torment in D&D. “That’s another one down, I guess.”

They were close to the end of this one-shot, one final puzzle away from reaching the ceremonial sword they needed to deliver to the elven kings to end their feud on who should rule the kingdom, but since they got to this maze, it had been one failed roll after the other; the attacks, the wisdom checks he had not explained the purpose of at all.

Or, he hadn’t explained to any of his players. El was also trying her best not to start laughing next to him, though her smile was far too amused. Eddie had also told her not to mess with the dice, and she hadn’t as far as he could tell, so this was all their damn bad luck.

Dustin sat down with a huff, which meant that Arnie was the last one standing for the end of this adventure.

Will, who had taken being the first to fall gracefully enough, Jeff, Mike, Lucas, Gareth, and now Dustin.

This was not supposed to be that hard, but he supposed it was quite a difference from his usual plans; no one had realized the secret to getting the sword yet, and he wasn't sure anyone would.

What a shame.

“So, Thokas,” Eddie called to Arnie. The dwarven bard was the last one standing, and whether he would make the right call or not remained to be seen. “What are you going to do? There are five doors in front of you.”

Arnie was frowning, looking at his character sheet tensely, doing his best to ignore the divided clamoring of their friends.

With a deep breath, he announced, “I’m going through the fourth door.”

Hm. Solid thinking, no one had tried that one yet.

“You know the drill,” Eddie replied, gesturing to the dice in the middle of the table.

Arnie’s roll was better than most previous rolls, but El’s grimace as she looked between the dice and Eddie’s notes caused him, and everyone around him, to groan.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Eddie shrugged, keeping his face neutral. They really seemed out of luck, but he was hoping someone would finally get it!

“This is ridiculous!” Mike groused. He kept on complaining about the door room while Eddie rolled for damage.

Well, at least it wasn't over just yet.

“Fuck it,” Arnie shouted, folding his arms over the table. “I’m putting my dagger away, I’m not fighting anymore.”

Jesus H. Christ, finally.

Eddie heard El let out a relieved sigh next to him. Granted, Thokas only had 3 hit points left; the way things were going, he wouldn’t have been able to do much even if he’d still been willing to fight.

Everyone else, though, was complaining loudly. Even Will, but he was glancing at him and his sister with suspicion.

“The moment the dagger is back its sheath,” Eddie started, slowly standing up. El stepped away, closer to Will. “You see the room around you shift as if it were all made of smoke.” He waved his arm over the table. “The only doorway left is wide open, and you can see your goal on the other side.”

Thokas did get the sword, finding all his allies alive and well when he stepped back out of the vault room. Most of his players seemed a little lost on just what happened, though, but no one said anything until the actual end of the session.

“Dude,” Mike groaned after putting his notes away. “Why was this entire thing non-combat? You never run a non-combat game!”

“This clearly wasn’t non-combat,” Gareth interjected with a smirk, always willing to antagonize Mike for some reason. “But you have a point,” he added, turning to Eddie with narrowed eyes. “You have not done anything like this in years.”

Eddie shrugged with forced nonchalance without getting up from his chair. “Gotta spice things up, y’know? Besides, illusions are fun.” Gareth’s eyes narrowed further. “If any of you have actual complaints,” he added, voice slightly raised to be heard over the pockets of conversation that had formed around the table, “Take it to the lady over there. It was her idea, not mine.”

El smiled brightly at the hush of conversation when everyone turned to her. Will was glancing between the two of them as if he’d suddenly made sense of something — probably why she was asking about D&D at home.

“Should we be worried you two are hanging out?” Will asked after a moment, trying to sound exasperated but, in reality, sounding far too amused.

“Absolutely,” they both replied in unison and without looking at each other.

——

There were only so many people they could fit inside their new, government-issued house, and Eddie kind of needed a break. Well, there weren’t that many people, it wasn’t a capital-P party.

It was just his 20th birthday.

Eddie was trying not to feel bad for sneaking out of his own birthday party. There was even a cake that he suspected came from Claudia. Or maybe Joyce. Hell, maybe they worked together, he wouldn’t know.

Either way, he needed a break, so he’d snuck out to the front porch, pack of cigarettes and lighter in hands.

He was almost done with the second stick when he heard the front door open.

“Had a feeling you’d be out here,” Hopper declared after he sat down on the steps. Eddie turned to him with a raised brow but still held out the pack in offering. Hopper shook his head. “You doing okay?”

���Yeah,” he replied slowly, frowning a little. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

The expression Hopper turned on him was… unimpressed, he supposed. But it was a valid question.

“Wayne mentioned that Al called.”

Eddie groaned, loudly, as he dropped his head onto his knees and the cigarette into the ashtray between him and Hopper.

The sole reason this party was happening in November was his dad’s admittedly empty promise to visit in the week of his birthday. Eddie wasn’t sure why he bothered not making plans. Some distant hope, he supposed.

The party was only happening at all because Wayne insisted that the company would lift his spirits a little.

“He’s been in and out of my life since I was eight,” he started, his voice probably muffled to Hopper. “And after everything, I’m not sure I even want him around.”

“But he said he’d be here.” Eddie heard Hopper sigh. “Almost dying tends to make people want to give out second chances.” Eddie snorted, raising his head and turning to Hopper with a disbelieving expression. “New chances, fine.”

Eddie nodded slowly.

When Al had called, Eddie had expected some excuse, another scheme, something. Anything but the check-in full of concern he’d gotten. He wanted to be upset it had taken him half a year, but the government people kept a tight leash on what information ever made it out of Hawkins, let alone reached wherever the hell Al Munson was this time; he wouldn’t really have known to call — or where to call, he supposed — for a while.

But given how everything went down in ‘84, Eddie should have known he wouldn’t keep his word.

“Since we’re on the topic,” Eddie started with a grimace. Hopper turned to him with a raised brow, expression pretty much unreadable. “I, uh… wanted to say thanks? For, you know,” he gestured to his surroundings and paused. “Everything.”

Hopper hummed, turning back to stare out at their driveway and the handful of cars parked there.

“Clearing your name is the least they could do, Munson,” Hopper said. “And so is getting you and your uncle a new place. No one ends up tangled in this shit willingly.”

“Most people don’t even know this shit is there to get tangled in,” Eddie immediately said. He shook his head soon after. “It’s just… You know,” he shrugged, “Thanks for doing it twice.”

Objectively, Eddie knew Hopper hadn’t been a very active part of the process, busy trying to come back from the legally dead and making sure El was safe to exist in Hawkins. But still, it was kind of nice to have one more person try to keep his already abysmal reputation from sinking further.

“I still stand by what I said.” Hopper briefly glanced at him. “You’re not your father, Munson.”

Eddie opened his mouth to interrupt, but Hopper continued before he could figure out what to say.

“Running after seeing—” your very nice classmate die— “what you saw this year is perfectly reasonable, if you ask me, but you still decided to help.”

“That wasn't entirely selfless…”

“Sure,” Hopper shrugged. “You still stuck around. After.” Hopper gestured back to the house and turned an assessing glance at him. “Which is good, because I have no idea how you and Harrington keep taking in these kids. They are all far too loud.”

That startled a laugh out of Eddie, which, given the seemingly satisfied smirk on Hopper’s face, had been his intention with the topic change.

“Guess it’s all the trauma bonding,” Eddie said.

“Nah, it's more than that.” He shook his head. He was frowning a little in thought. “I think other than Sinclair, none of them had much in the way of decent male figures in their lives.”

“Will has Jonathan,” Eddie corrected before frowning. “Wait, are you saying I'm a ‘decent male figure’?”

“Yep,” Hopper said, eyebrow raising in an unspoken challenge. “And I know Will has Jonathan, but Joyce says he hasn't been this excited about that game you all play since the summer of last year.”

Eddie nodded. Will had mentioned that he hadn't played any D&D at all since he moved last year. He didn't even take his books, everything going to Erica instead.

He supposed that, sometimes, it helped to have a new group to play with.

“And it also helps he’s moving on from Mike Wheeler.”

Eddie almost choked on his laughter. “Not you too!” He groaned. “Mike’s not that bad!”

“Whatever,” Hopper said, shaking his head. “The point is that those kids are better off for having you around and having a place to be.”

Hopper said it matter-of-factly, not realizing — or ignoring — that his words kind of… brought Eddie up short.

(Eddie knew what he wanted the Hellfire Club to be, what he did by playing it all up. Hearing it acknowledged by anyone else, let alone by Hopper, was just a little surprising.)

“Now, I’m pretty sure you’re to blame for the weekly fight over the stereo,” he said with a raised brow, but the stern expression didn’t hold for long, giving place to a fond smile. “But El’s looking lighter lately, less worried about everything.”

The sound of the front door opening drew their attention from the conversation, saving Eddie from having to figure out a response, and they could see El’s expression brighten once she spotted them.

“Found them!” She shouted back into the house. “Time for cake,” she announced before turning to walk back inside, leaving the door open for them. A lot of voices drifted out.

“See what I mean?” Hopper asked, hooking a thumb in his daughter's direction. “Loud, all of them.”

“She's the quietest,” Eddie argued because it was true, at least in comparison. Her and Will, the two of them tended to let things… happen around them, for the most part, not really intervening until they were asked or had to. Though Will had his moments of being right in the middle of the chaos, especially during D&D.

“She also has psychic powers.”

Fair enough.

Eddie stood up, dusting imaginary dust off of his knees. Hopper did the same, though not without groaning. He would have poked fun, but it didn’t feel right to.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Eddie.”

“You too, Hop.”

(They didn’t really talk for the rest of the night, but Eddie did learn, due to a slip up from Dustin, that El had defended him, loud and clear, in the middle of the school cafeteria. No one really explained what happened, but Eddie did notice how some people stared at them. Weeks ago.

El, local superhero, standing up for his honor? Unexpected. And maybe a tally under the Not Quiet column.

Hopper and Joyce only smiled in his direction, Hopper decidedly more smug than anything. They surely knew.

Well, he was just gonna have to help her get louder then, because he sure as hell was keeping these kids around.)

[cranberrymoons]

Sending an ask about "PIRATES 😈"

PIRATES 🗣️🗣️🗣️ (and yes the devil emoji is included in the file name lmao)

this fic is so!!!! it started out as what was supposed to be a fill for the @eddiemonth pirate prompt but fully ballooned out of my control in a way that I really should have seen coming but?? still surprised me tbh. it's currently sitting at about 15k with the first 3 chapters done and Ch 4 started, but I really really want to have a whole rough draft of it finished before I start posting so there's no risk of wip abandonment

for now, I have a hellcheer prequel posted (the long fic is steddie, but chrissy is definitely there too, I love her) and here's a snippet from Ch 2 that I really like! it's loosely ofmd-inspired even though it doesn't really mirror the plot of the show but more like – the tone? if that makes sense? anyway! here's a snippet 😊🏴‍☠️

It takes most of the day, but he finally manages to corner Eddie at some point when the sun is high in the sky overhead and the crew are busy doing whatever it is that they do. He finds him in his quarters, papers spread out in front of him when Steve barges through the door with his arms folded over his chest, and– “Where are we going?” Eddie looks up from his desk, which is covered in more maps and a pile of books and an array of brass instruments. He squints at Steve where he’s leaning against the doorframe. Steve very generously does not point out that Eddie wouldn’t have to squint at all if he’d just open the fucking drapes. “None of your business,” he says after a moment, going back to his papers. Then he sucks in a breath and looks back up at Steve. “Why do you care, anyway?” “It is my business,” Steve argues. “It totally is.” He pushes off the doorframe and takes a few steps into the room to collapse in the chair across from Eddie. Eddie raises his eyebrows in mild surprise. “Would love to hear how,” he says. He folds his hands in front of him. “Or why you think you’re allowed in here without an invitation.”

[stevesjockstrap]

Eddie Month day 4

prompt: rejection & lost

Since he’d cut gym class so many times last semester (and maybe last year), he’d been forced to take it again with underclassmen. Namely, Steve Harrington and his dickhead friends. 

He knew he should keep his eyes down and to himself in the locker room. He knew better. But that didn’t change how his eyes would track across the room to count the moles on the span of ribs as a polo shirt was pulled off. 

When he finally got a grip and pulled his own gym clothes on, he was the last one in the locker room. Or so he thought. 

As he went to walk out into the gym he was shoved against the brick wall. 

“I saw you looking at me, freak.”

He stared back into intense dark eyes, not sure what to say. There wasn’t much to say, he’d been caught. 

“Oh I- uh. Well-“

“You’re lucky that coach told us to stay out of trouble or we don’t play. Or you’d be dead. You better watch yourself, man.”

“Uh huh,” he nodded. Apparently that was enough because Steve walked away from him without another word. 

In some cosmic twist of bad luck, he found himself paired up with Steve. For the Presidential Fitness Test. Eddie was the only one who groaned when they were told what they were doing. Everyone looked at him and he covered his face with his hair. He wondered if he could fake a cramp or actually make himself throw up. 

“Let’s go, Munson. My grandma does better sit ups and she’s been dead for ten years.” Steve got high fives from his friends around them. 

This might be the worst day of his entire life. He’d never been more excited to hear the buzzer go off and he could switch places with Steve. Steve who easily tripled the number of countable sit ups than he had accomplished. 

He sighed as they were told to do pushups next. 

“Are you even trying, man?” Steve scoffed from above him. 

“Unfortunately yes,” he huffed. He did a few more before the buzzer went off and stood. Unsticking his sweaty hair from his neck, he glared at his annoying partner. “You know, not all of us are trying to impress anyone in stupid high school gym class. This means fuck all to our actual lives, you know that right? In twenty years it will not matter how many fucking push-ups you did. This is just to keep us compliant and prepare us for the cruel and unusual punishment that is our collective society once we graduate!”

There were some scoffs and some laughs from around the gym. Somewhere towards the end of his rant he’d lost control of his volume and gained everyone’s attention. 

“Public speaking is a different class, Munson. Get it together and get with the program.” Their gym teacher’s voice echoed across the gymnasium. 

“Your turn, hot shot,” he motioned for Steve to take his place. 

Steve ignored him and proceed to do an impressive amount of pushups. It continued this way through the rope climb, sprints and long jumps. Eddie mumbled his monologues to himself. Steve ignored him.

Eddie groaned again as they were directed to a starting line to run a mile. What he would do for a cigarette right now. 

A few minutes later, he was holding his side propped against the wall, trying to suck in breaths past the stitch in his side. For some unknown reason, being with this group of people who were actually trying to do their best had made him want to try. And now he was paying for it. For all of his big talk about nonconforming, something in him still wanted to belong. But he never could.  

Steve ran past at breakneck speed and didn’t even glance at him. Figures. Why would he care if he passed out? Still sucking in breaths, he slid down the wall and sat watching everyone finish. 

“So that’s a Did Not Complete for the mile, but that was a lot more hustle than I’ve seen from you. Keep it up, kid.”

“Perfect, thanks so much,” he saluted sarcastically as he walked past. 

He kept his head down in the locker room as he got changed.

@eddiemonth

@lighthousebeams this request turned into angst soz 🖤

[lady-lostmind]

✨ Fic Writing Review 2023 ✨

thanks for the tag, @oh-stars! my goal for 2024 is to actually finish my poor sad abandoned WIPs.

Words and Fics (and art!)

150,369 published words, plus approximately another 60k of WIPs or unpublished works

A good chunk of drabbles and prompts.

4 ongoing WIPs on Ao3 (even if 3 of them are side eyeing me as I type this.)

A finished one-shot that is waiting to be posted

I also made a bunch of fan art this year that I'm really proud of. (Like 27 pieces including a few that are waiting to be posted)

Top Fics by Kudos

Steve Harrington. Are you kidding me?

Temptation Heat, Beats Like a Drum.

Happy Valentine's Day, Big Boy.

This is the coin I had in my pocket the first time we kissed and I always have it.

And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.

Steddie Week

Eddie Month Drabbles

And so the lion fell in love with the lamb

My fandom fic events in 2023

@steddiebang posting now -- And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.

One-shot upcoming for @steddieholidayexchange

@strangerthingsreversebigbang

@eddiemonth

@steddiemicrofic

Steddie week.

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2024

Hopefully finishing all my abandoned WIPs.

2 fics and 3 pieces of art for @strangerthingsreversebigbang

Rules & Tags below the cut!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Tags: @karadanverss, @rindecision, @lihhelsing, @starryeyedjanai, @azrielgreen, @eddywoww, @lexirosewrites, @thefreakandthehair, @thorniest-rose

+ anyone else who wants to jump in! as always, if you see this and want to do it, consider this your tag!

[artbean]

@eddiemonth day 4: rejection

all you have is your fire... and the place you need to reach - don't you ever tame your demons (but always keep 'em on a leash)

[medusapelagia]

✨ Fic Writing Review 2023 ✨

Thanks @oh-stars & @rindecision for the tag!

Words and Fics

756,157 published words

Aprox. 150k words of WIPs of unpublished works

4 WIPs on AO3

Top Fics by Kudos (all Steddies)

28 AU-gust: Royalty I'm so good at telling lies (That came from my mother's side) Never Again My lucky charm Ghost

My fandom fic events in 2023 (too many!!!)

Completionist

@steddie-week : Master list

@augustwritingchallenge: Masterlist

@batboysxprompts: My lucky charm, BatBoys Spooky Prompts (all of them!), Day 29 Vampire / Scared, Day 30 Werewolves/bones

@steddiemicrofic: A03 Collection

@now-showing-at-the-hawk-events Metal Sandwich Movie Mania (+ @kinktober2023): AO3 Collection

Partecipant:

@eddiemonth (+ @whumptober): A03 Collection

@harringrovekinktober: Ao3 Collection

Soon to be published:

more little Christmas ficlets for my Tumblr friends

@steddieholidayexchange: Dec 13th

@harringroveholidayexchange

steddie one-shot holiday exchange

Harringrove Mermaid AU: Dec 24th

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2024

Two fics based on the incredible arts made by the artists of the @strangerthingsreversebigbang

A couple of Dead Dove

Finishing all my WIPs!

Rules & Tags below the cut!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

My no pressure tags: @kallisto-k, @destroya-hargrove, @dragonflylady77, @unattainablesongs, @pearynice, @soaringornithopter, @slipperygiraff, @just-my-latest-hyperfixation and whoever would like to join!