#harringrove flip it reverse it prompt 4

[greyghoulclub]

Harringrove flip it reverse it prompt 4 - angst becomes fluff

written for @harringrove-flip-reverse-it

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46125223

Billy antis DNI

It had started with a slight brush of Steve’s hand against Billy’s side. Steve didn’t think much about it but Billy had made a weird noise. It was somewhere between a huff and a giggle. A giggle? Steve had never heard Billy giggle before. A harsh guffaw sure, but a giggle? Steve wanted to make Billy make that sound again. 

“Stevie, are we out of peanut butter?” Billy’s question brought Steve back into the present. Billy was standing at the counter with the empty jar of Skippy that Steve forgot to throw out. 

“Uh, I think we have some crunchy in the pantry,” Steve knew that crunchy peanut butter was neither of their favourites but his mom insisted on buying it. 

“Think I’ll pass…” Billy muttered. Steve laughed and brushed past Billy again on his way out of the kitchen, again, that huff-giggle noise. Steve realised two things, one, Billy had a cute giggle, and two, Billy was ticklish. This is gonna be fun, Steve thought. 

****

For the next couple of days, Steve tried to get Billy comfortable enough that he wouldn’t notice Steve starting to tickle him. It would be easier to try to hold on to a greased pig at times. Billy seemed to have a sixth sense when Steve was trying to tickle him. He’d say he needed to go to the bathroom or that he wanted another beer. Steve was sure that Billy knew something was up. 

The only time Steve semi-successfully managed to tickle Billy was when they were both watching some VHS tapes that Steve had brought home from work, plus some butter popcorn that Steve insisted tasted better when you threw some Hersey’s kisses into. “Salty and sweet,” he had said. 

Billy was thoroughly zoned out to Blade Runner, mindlessly nibbling on the edge of one of his fingernails. He wasn’t paying any attention to Steve slowly snaking his hand towards the back of his neck. Until Billy saw what he was doing, and thought he was putting his arm around him. Steve didn’t mind but it wasn’t what he was going for. Steve ended Blade Runner with a dead arm. 

“Why are you trying to tickle me?” Billy sent a pointed look at the hand wavering in the air. Steve dropped the hand immediately and tried to pretend that he wasn’t. Steve was a terrible liar. 

“Ok look, I’ve heard you, like, giggle when you get tickled and I really liked it so I was wanting to tickle you so you’d giggle again,” Steve somehow managed to get that all out in one breath so as to not psych himself out by saying it. Billy was staring at Steve like he had two heads, Steve just wanted to explode on the spot.  

“You want to tickle me? Seriously?” Billy was looking at Steve like he had two heads. 

“Yeah,” as soon as the word left his mouth, Billy was on top of him, a shark-like grin on his face.

“Shouldn’t have said that pretty boy,” and then it was a full blown tickle war, Billy got his sides, neck, and Steve couldn’t breathe laughing. He didn’t know how Billy was getting him so riled up so quickly but he tried to wriggle himself away. He managed to wedge an arm between himself and Billy, and flipped themselves over on the couch. Steve immediately went for Billy’s ribs because he knew Billy was ticklish there. 

“No! Steve stop!,” Billy gasped between fits of giggles, his chest heaved and his face was red, and Steve loved hearing him make those giggles. “I, I hate that y-you’ve found out I’m tick-ticklish there.”

Steve kept going, and also got tickled back by Billy. Steve had this spot on the back of his neck that Billy kept going for, Steve kept trying to get his shoulders up to spot Billy from getting there. The two boys rolled onto the floor, nearly giving themselves a lobotomy via a coffee table, they were both breathing heavily. If someone else walked in at this moment they would think that something very different was going on here. 

“Oh my god Steve don’t touch me right now, I think I might blow some chunks if I laugh anymore,” Billy wheezed from his position on the floor. 

“Is a kiss ok then?”

“Always is pretty boy.”

[ihni]

Of pets, chapter 1/2

For @harringrove-flip-reverse-it day 4, prompt "Collar and leash" (NSFW prompt made SFW)

~~~

“Have you gotten a dog?”

Jim hadn’t meant to startle the kid, but Steve Harrington jumped about a foot in the air and let out a noise that was best described as a squeak at his innocent question. Whirling around so he was face to face with Jim – or, rather, face to chest; Jim was very well aware of his size – he looked even more startled when he saw who was there. Jim nodded meaningfully at the leather collar Steve was still holding.

“Oh,” Steve said, eyes wide and unblinking. “No? I mean, yes. It’s for Billy–“ His eyes widened a bit more and he added, almost shouting, “–s dog! Billy’s dog!”

“Hargrove?” Jim asked, and watched as Steve’s head bobbed up and down in something akin to a nod. “I didn’t know you were friends.”

“Oh, we are. Friends. The best of friends, nowadays, actually.” Steve pointed to himself with a thumb and grinned somewhat unsteadily. “Yup, all those bygones are … under the bridges.” He made some vague gestures with the hand that was still holding the collar, which brought both of their attention to said collar. Steve let out a little sound that sounded suspiciously like a ‘meep’ and hurried to lower his hand. When he spoke again, his voice was a little strained. “Sooo, what are you doing here?”

Jim sighed. “El wants a hamster.”

“A … hamster.”

“Yeah. Someone’s been telling her stories about the merits of having a pet, and since I’m not letting her start out with a cat or a dog, and she vetoed fish since they’re apparently ‘too boring’, here we are.” He indicated the store around them; shelves upon shelves of pet-related items. “Figures, right? The closest pet store around, and it’s two towns over. Gotta say, I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, his smile just a tad too wide. “What a coincidence.”

“I didn’t know the Hargroves had a dog. I haven’t heard Max mention it, and I’m sure El would have insisted on a pet earlier if she had.”

“It’s … uh, new. And not really, uh, a sure thing, just yet.” At Jim’s look, Steve took a deep breath and continued, “It’s … He found it.”

“Found it?”

“Yeah. It’s a stray, um, he found it out by the … by the junk yard. He’s thinking of maybe … keeping it.” Jim’s mind flashed to images of demodogs and four-legged faceless monsters as Steve obliviously continued, “I offered to help with some, uh, with some things.” The kid held up the collar with a sheepish smile, waving it around a little. Then he took a deep breath and started saying, “Well, I should probably –“

Shaking away the image of monsters, Jim offered, “You know, I used to have a dog when I was younger. A German Shepard, great dog.” Bessie. She’d been Jim’s best friend for a good while. “I could give you guys a few pointers if you want.”

“Oh god.”

“What?”

“I said, ‘oh good’.”

“Oh. Well, first of all, what kind of dog is it?”

Steve’s whole face was looking strained at this point. “We don’t know.”

Jim had to frown at that. “You don’t know?”

“No, it’s a … mutt. Like a wild dog probably.” He grimaced as if he regretted his words, but twisted it into a smile almost seamlessly. “But hey, you know how Billy is! With challenges, I mean. He, uh. Really wants to, um. Help that dog.”

At the mention of a wild dog, Jim’s eyebrows drew together further, because he’d honestly had enough of ‘wild dogs’ to last him a lifetime. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice as he asked, “It’s not some kind of … monster dog, is it?” It probably wasn’t, but kids these days were stupid – proven by the Henderson kid – so he felt he had to ask.

Taken aback at the – honestly valid - question, Steve shook his head. “No! No no. No monster … dog.”

“Hmm,” Hopper said with a nod. “Still, a wild dog can be dangerous. You shouldn’t approach it alone, it can bite you if it feels cornered.”

“Oh, uh,” Steve said, “don’t worry about it. It’s a … good dog. Just an overgrown puppy, really. All he needs is some … love and affection.” He paused a bit, and then added, “And food.” Then, after a beat and under his breath, “And like … someone to play with, I guess.”

“Hm,” Jim said again. He nodded to the collar in Steve’s hand. “Well, if you do catch it, make sure you keep it collared. You should probably invest in a leash as well,” Steve made a choked noise. “You don’t want it running away from you. And I don’t need another feral thing running around town.”

“Yup. Yup. Understood.” Steve yanked down the closest leash and held it up with the collar. “Well, that’s my shopping done. I should really get going, wanna get home before it gets … dark.” He cleared his throat. “So I’m gonna.” Pointing at the front of the store, he nodded again, slightly resembling a bobblehead. “Go. I’m gonna go.” He’d been backing up while he was talking, and when he reached the end of the aisle he threw up a pair of fingerguns. “Good luck with the hamster!”

He’d barely dashed out of sight when Jim called after him, “Get some treats, too! It’ll help with training your mutt.”

Another choked noise was his only answer.

What a weird kid.

(On AO3) (Chapter 2)

[starkstruck27]

Day 4 of @harringrove-flip-reverse-it !! So excited excited this one and the next one I post for this day, I hope everyone enjoys them!!

Prompt: NSFW - Collar and Leash

Title: Puppy Love

Word Count: 1285 words

TWs: None

Billy should’ve known better than to send Steve to the store by himself. But he’d had a long day at work, and all he wanted to do was come home, shower and take a long nap before dinner, so when Steve offered to go get the groceries and pick up a pizza on the way home, it sounded too good to be true. And Billy knew Steve’s affinity for picking up things they really didn’t need, but he figured a few extra bags of snacks and maybe something new to try wouldn’t be so bad if he got some extra time to relax, and so he agreed.

When he woke up almost four hours later, though, he started to regret it. How Steve could spend four hours at the grocery store for one order of regular groceries, he’d never know, but somehow, anything seemed possible with his fiance. He wouldn’t be surprised if Steve came home with a mariachi band following him at this point. So, instead of worrying about him, he just sat down on the couch and watched some TV until he heard Steve’s car coming up the driveway.

“Hey, babe,” he called, not looking up from his comfy spot on the couch, “Do you need help bringing the bags in?”

“Um, no, I’m good! You just relax, okay?” Steve called back, but it was odd. Something in his voice made him sound nervous, and it made Billy a little suspicious. Had he really gone that far over budget? 

“Alright,” Billy said, shrugging, “I had to piss anyway.”

Steve nodded and went back out to the car to get the next round of bags and bring them inside, and when he did, Billy got up and went to the bathroom. He did his business and then went back out to the kitchen, starting to look for the pizza Steve said he’d pick up on his way home. He was also poking around in the bags a bit, hoping to see what all Steve had gotten that hadn’t been on the list, but instead of three different kinds of Doritos, he found something that was the absolute last thing he’d ever expect. There was a black studded dog collar in there, as well as a matching leash, and Billy could not believe that that was what he was holding in his hands. Not that he and Steve were particularly vanilla when it came to sex, but most of the time they’d at least have a conversation first before trying anything new, and this was absolutely coming out of left field. Then again, maybe he was intending on talking about it still, but had just gone out and got something in advance, but that was unlikely. When it came to things like this, he really wasn’t one to buy something before they’d agreed to try it, so seeing a collar and leash in the shopping bag had left Billy in complete shock.

“Oh, shit,” Steve said, making Billy whirl around to look at him, “You weren’t supposed to see that yet.”

“Um, yeah, what exactly is this for?” Billy asked, not sure whether he should laugh or what.

“Okay, don’t get mad,” Steve said, holding up his hands to tell Billy to wait. He did, and Steve went out to the car one last time. When he came back, he was holding something behind his back, and he stepped up close to Billy, a sheepish smile on his face as he brought his hands forward. In them was a puppy, a runty little thing with a smushed little face, a stubby little tail, and more fat rolls than a depressed alcoholic. 

“Stephen, what the fuck is that?” Billy asked, shaking his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I said don’t get mad! Look, I went to the grocery store and it was starting to rain and he was in a soggy cardboard box by the door, shivering like a leaf in the wind. He was the only one left in the box, and it said ‘free’ on it, but nobody wanted him! Not even little kids were stopping to look at him! And I couldn’t just leave him there, so I brought him inside, did the shopping, and then I took him to the vet to make sure he was okay before coming home,” Steve explained, cuddling the puppy close to his chest. 

“Steve, neither one of us has ever had a pet. We don’t know the first thing about taking care of a dog, and besides, what if he’s got, like, diseases or something?” Billy asked, unsure of what else to say. They couldn’t keep the dog, and that was final.

“Not true! I knew to take him to the vet, who said he was perfectly fine except being a little underfed, by the way, and I mean, how hard could it be? We just feed him, walk him, keep him alive and maybe do a little extra cleaning if he makes a mess. Trust me, babe, I can handle this. I used to babysit six kids at once during my teen years, this is nothing compared to that!” Steve begged, and Billy had to admit, he had a point. “Come on, pleeeeease?”

At this point, the little roll of fat in Steve’s arms was not the only one making big, sad eyes at Billy, and it was starting to tear down his resolve. He had always been more of a cat person, but it was a close race, and he supposed that maybe taking care of the little thing wouldn’t be so bad. It’d be a hell of a lot easier than taking care of Max, and at least a puppy couldn’t mouth off if he didn’t like what Billy had to say. Still, he wasn’t going to give up just like that.

He waited a minute with a raised eyebrow, giving Steve a look, but after a few seconds, he just couldn’t say no. Damn those puppy eyes, they practically had him in the palm of their hands. Or, well, paws. 

“Okay, fine! You can keep him,” Billy said, tossing his hands in the air and rolling his eyes just to be dramatic. Steve smiled so hugely that it filled up his whole face, and he did a few little happy jumps as he hugged the puppy, giggling like a little kid. Billy smiled too, shaking his head as Steve danced the puppy around the room.

“So, what are you gonna name him?” Billy asked, leaning against the counter.

“I dunno,” Steve said, finally calming down and bringing the puppy over to Billy. “I kinda think he looks like a Francis. What do you think?”

“I think Francis sounds like the name of a pompous old man, but I’ll settle for Frankie,” Billy smiled, using one finger to gently pet the dog’s little head. 

“That’s perfect,” Steve beamed. “Thank you for letting me keep him.”

“You know I can’t say no to those eyes,” Billy teased, giving Steve a kiss on the forehead. “Now, on to more important things. Where’s that pizza you promised? I’m starving!”

“Oooh, yeah, about that…” 

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“No! I, uh, just wanted it to be fresh! I’ll go order now, you take Frankie,” Steve said, handing the dog off to Billy as he went for the phone.

“Y’know, you’re awfully cute, but you’re going to render that man absolutely useless from now on,” Billy said to him, laughing both at the kisses the dog was now lavishing him with and the annoyed shout from Steve from the other room. Now that he was thinking about it, maybe having a dog wouldn’t be so bad.

[chrisbitchtree]

Can't Touch This

For Harringrove Flip It Reverse It - Day 4

Prompt - Angst turned into fluff - "Don't touch me!"

***

If you’d first asked Steve when he met Billy what he thought the blonde would pursue as a career, kindergarten teacher would have been way at the bottom of the list, under mechanic and carpenter, below bartender or surf shop owner, even down below stripper.

But to Steve’s shock, it’s what Billy had chosen, finding that he had a passion for it, and he was thriving. He came home every day covered in stickers and finger paints, glitter and confetti in his hair, his curls up in a bun and one of his signature pastel button-ups on.

He’d regale Steve with stories about what a beautiful tree Lily drew or how Eddie had finally corrected his habit of drawing half the letters in the alphabet backwards on his worksheets. He glowed with pride over every single one of his student’s accomplishments, and it was the highlight of Steve’s day every single day to hear about it.

Billy always got home earlier than Steve, so he would make dinner. Steve would sit at their little wooden table for two, watching Billy with a dreaming look in his eyes while Billy would whip up spaghetti, sauce bubbling away at his side while he boiled noodles, or flip baked chicken breast and fluff up Rice-aroni, they favourite side, talking a mile a minute about the fact that Timmy was no longer scared of the toilet or that Rachel hadn’t tried to eat paste in three days.

It helped Steve unwind after a long day as a high school math teacher and all the drama that went along with educating dramatic, hormonal teenagers who would flip on a dime, going from polite model student one minute, to raging asshole the next. It took a lot out of Steve, but he got a lot out of it in return. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t envy the cozy little world Billy had created for his own students.

***

When Steve arrived home late one sunny April afternoon, he could tell something was wrong the second he saw Billy. His face was pulled into a tight grimace, his shirt was untucked, and he was trying with all of his might to scratch the middle of his back. From the way he was hopping around, his arm fully extended, it didn’t seem like it was going to well for him.

“What’s up?” Steve asked, trying not to laugh at the image in front of him, difficult as it was. He really wished he had a camera right now.

Billy kept hopping around, seemingly unable to find relief. “Don’t know. I’m so itchy, and it won’t stop. It’s been like this all day.”

Let me have a look, Steve said.

Billy stopped moving for a minute and Steve lifted the hem of his shirt. Billy’s back was covered in small, red spots.

“Ummmm, Billy? Have you ever had chicken pox before?” Steve asked, lowering the shirt and walking down the hall to the bathroom.

“No?” Billy said, although it came out more like a question. “I don’t think so? Why? Do I have it? Don’t touch me!”

“Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some point, working with little kids. I’m honestly surprised that you lasted this long. And it’s fine. I’ll put on gloves.” He returned to the kitchen a minute later, calamine lotion in one hand and a pair of rubber gloves in the other. “Take off your shirt and lay down on the couch. I’ll put some on your back and it’ll help with the itch.”

Billy did as he was told, laying on his front on the plush, floral couch that was the centrepiece of their living room. Steve straddled his hips, flipping the top on the bottle. He poured some into his palm before closing the bottle and dropping it onto the carpet. With the pointer finger of his other hand, he painted the dots, trying to make sure he caught every one.

He gave the lotion a minute to dry before having Billy stand and take off his pants, so Steve could check for spots below his belt. Thankfully, except for a couple on his thighs, he seemed safe so far.

“Stupid kids,” Billy grumbled. “Stupid parents letting their kids go to school sick. Now I’m going to have to take time off. We were supposed to vote on who won the art contest tomorrow. They even promised they wouldn’t just all vote for themselves. Now stupid Sandra is going to get to do it.”

Steve watched him with amusement as he ranted, the lotion drying an adorable pink colour that stood out in stark contrast from Billy’s golden tan. He’d come a long way from when they were foulmouthed teenagers, when every second word was fuck or shit or goddammit. Now it was all stupid and silly and gosh. It was cute that he was getting so worked up over this.

“It’s ok, baby,” Steve chuckled. “I know this means a lot to you, but there will be other art contests. It’s important that you stay home and get better, so you don’t make any of the kids sick.”

Billy sighed. “I know, it just sucks.” He raised his arm to scratch his back and Steve swatted it away.

“No scratching, that’s how it spreads.”

Billy stuck out his lower lip, pouting. “But it’s itchy! I can’t take it!”

As Steve’s mother had done for him when he’d had chicken pox years ago, Steve grabbed oven mitts for Billy to slip on his hands. “Here you go, this’ll help keep you from scratching. Sit down, put a movie on, and try not to think about the itch. I’ll order a pizza and then come sit with you. Ok?”

Billy nodded in agreement, making his way to the couch.

Steve watched him fondly, forever grateful for this sweet, kind, silly, wonderful man.

[harringrove-flip-reverse-it]

Harringrove Flip Reverse It 2023 - DAY 4

Just to remind you, here are today's prompts:

Thursday 30th March

Fluff:  Cuddles and snuggles Angst:  “Don’t touch me” NSFW:  Role playing SFW:  Long distance relationship Trope Subversion:  Bedsharing

I'll be reblogging as many fanworks as I can find - don't forget to tag @harringrove-flip-reverse-it in your post and if you're writing fic, add it to the AO3 collection!

[starkstruck27]

My second post for day 4 of @harringrove-flip-reverse-it !! I hope everyone enjoys!!

Prompt: Angst - Self-Sacrifice

Title: I Could Die For You

Word Count: 3764 words

TWs: None

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Dustin yelled as he threw his controller down, the voice on the TV yelling out “Game!”

“Hey, quit throwing the controllers! You don’t need to be a sore loser, Henderson!” Billy chastised, shoving the boy playfully as he pouted. 

“Says the guy who won every round he’s played! I can be as sore as I want!” Dustin said back, pouting even harder as he slumped back on the couch. He truly was a sore loser, but he was right, Billy was really good at this game, and he could’ve held back on the gloating a little bit when he won a few rounds ago, even after El used her powers to hold his hands still for at least a solid minute. 

“Okay, okay, that’s fair, but seriously, dude, it’s just Smash Bros., it’s not that serious,” Billy said, handing the kid back his controller and pressing the button to get to the next round of character selection.

“Yeah, I mean, Steve’s gotten out first in every round, you don’t hear him complaining,” Mike interjected as he swapped places with Lucas. They were taking turns, shifting down the couch after every round so that it was a constant rotation of new players and they could all get a chance to play. After all, they were all excited, the game had only just come out a few days ago, and since Erica’s birthday had just passed, Steve bought a copy for everyone to play on his Wii. 

He’d gotten the system for them two Christmases ago, after all, so whenever a game released that they all wanted, he’d get it for them for a birthday or special event and they’d all break it in by playing it together. It was like tradition at this point, and while everybody typically sucked at first while they first figured out the controls and whatnot, they would all get better as they went and would bond while they shared secrets and tricks to make gameplay easier.

Everyone enjoyed playing, too, though Dustin was a chronic pouter, and sometimes El would cheat, and Steve was so horribly bad at video games that he would lose pretty much everything except Wii Sports Bowling, but aside from that, everyone loved playing together. It was like having their own personal arcade in Steve’s living room, and a catered one at that, since Steve would get tired of losing a few rounds in and would instead make lunch for everyone to keep himself occupied while they continued to play. Sometimes he looked a little sad when he did it, and if so, Billy would quit too, and follow Steve to the kitchen to cheer him up about his lack of gaming skills by any means necessary. It typically wasn’t too hard, Steve didn’t really take the games too seriously anyway, but still, Billy knew it still had to hurt. Especially when the kids would make fun of him relentlessly if and when they kicked his ass. 

“Hey, quit pickin’ on your babysitter. We’re all still just learning the ropes, and not everything comes easily to people who have better things to do than spend half their life in a sticky, smelly arcade,” Billy scolded Mike, who just rolled his eyes and flopped down on one of the other chairs in the room. 

“No, he’s right, I suck. Here, Will, you come play, I’ll just go and order a pizza for us, m’kay?” Steve said, trying to pass his controller off to Will, but Billy shook his head.

“Fuck that, he’s not right, and you don’t suck. C’mon, just finish your rotation, and if you really wanna quit, you can. You only have two more games left. Please?” Billy asked, making those eyes that he knew would get Steve on board immediately. It worked like a charm, and Steve sighed before settling back in on the couch and picking a new character. 

Billy, Lucas and Dustin also selected their characters, and once that was done, it went on to stage selection. They’d already unlocked most of them, and so far, they’d just been hitting the random selection button so that they’d be surprised at the beginning of every round, but this time, Billy didn’t press that button, and instead he turned to Steve.

“You pick the level. Maybe that’ll help improve your luck,” he said, ignoring the kids as they said that that wasn’t fair. 

“Um, I guess do the one with the weird ladybug thing on it,” Steve said, pointing to the bottom of the screen. 

“Distant Planet it is,” Billy said, pressing the button to start the game and smiling as everyone got ready. The deep voice of the game’s narrator came through, counting down from three until it finally let them start fighting, and then, it was every man for themself. Well, almost.

See, Billy knew he had to get Steve to win one of these games to get his confidence up, that way he’d want to keep playing and actually start to enjoy it, so he had a plan. He’d take the kids out first, go easy on Steve, and when it was just them left, he’d pretend he lost by accident so that Steve would win. They only had three lives each, and they kept items on, so final smash combos were still possible, but it wouldn’t be too hard for Billy to kick the kids’ asses and then let Steve win. 

The level was kind of a tough one, honestly, based off of the Pikmin games from the Game Cube, and not only could you just fall off the edge if you weren’t careful, but there was a ledge that would flood and create a waterfall you could get swept up in if it started raining, and the weird ladybug things that Steve had mentioned were Bulborbs, creatures from the Pikmin universe that would pretty much instantly kill you if you got trapped in it’s mouth. Still, Steve was pretty good at staying on the maps by himself and not falling off, as long as no one pushed him, so all Billy had to do was keep the kids away from him and it’d be a cakewalk to let him win. 

It actually went pretty well, at first. Lucas was playing as Link from the Legend of Zelda games, Dustin was Bowser from the Mario games, Billy was Mr. Game & Watch from one of the first Nintendo systems, and Steve was Kirby, obviously from the Kirby games. All of them were good character choices, but Billy knew his was the best for this round, since he had a lot of really good, complex moves that he could use to easily confuse and K.O. the other players. 

He went for Dustin first, knowing that he would be the less likely of the two to show Steve some mercy, and easily blew him off the screen within the first minute of play. As soon as he respawned, Billy went after him again, ignoring the kid’s complaints that he was targeting him specifically and kicking his ass right into the falling water, washing him off the screen again and taking his second life. He only had one left, so Billy switched gears and started to target Lucas, easily knocking him off the edge and leaving room for Steve to try and take the final smash power up. 

This was when the plan started to fall apart, because just as Steve was about to get the final smash, Dustin came out of nowhere and stole it from him, using it to K.O. all three of them. Billy shook it off, both he and Steve still had two lives left, Dustin and Lucas only had one each, so he still figured he could do it. Only problem was, while he was taking Dustin’s last life by hitting him with a power up, Lucas somehow managed to blow Steve off the map, leaving both of them with only one life and Billy with two. Still, Billy felt like he could do this. 

He fell off the edge to level the playing field a little, and then decided it was time to go after Lucas with everything he had. He pelted him with items, tried to take both of them off the map just by simply falling, and was using every tactic and skill he had to figure out how to get Steve to win. And finally, he saw an opportunity, as a Bulborb came up on the side of the screen, just behind Lucas. Steve was floating in the air, so Billy figured it was safe to rush at Lucas, easily knocking him into the Bulborb’s mouth, but the only problem was, just as he did, Steve fell down from the air, Kirby had been floating for too long, and had gotten pushed into the creature, too. It carried them both off the map, much to Billy’s horror, and the narrator’s voice once again called out, “Game!” 

“The winner is…” the voice continued, “Mr. Game & Watch!” as the characters reappeared on the screen, the other three clapping as Billy’s character did a little victory pose. 

“That was so unfair! You so cheated!” Dustin accused, but Billy didn’t pay him any mind. All he could see was the sadness in Steve’s eyes as he watched the screen, obviously upset at having made it so far only to die right at the last second. He had actually started enjoying the game as he got closer and closer to victory, and Billy had accidentally snatched it all away right at the buzzer. That must’ve absolutely crushed him.

“Nobody cheated, Dustin, that was just a hard stage,” Steve said, sighing as he stood and placed his controller on the coffee table. “It’s the end of your rotation anyway, you’ll do better the next time you’re in, but for now, you swap with Will. Oh, and Max, why don’t you take my last game, I gotta go pick up the pizzas anyway. I don’t really feel like playing anymore.”

“What, no! You said you’d stick it out until your last game!” Billy said, giving Max a look that told her not to go for the controller left on the table. It wasn’t her turn yet.

“Really, Bill, I don’t want to play anymore. I just need a break, that’s all. Maybe I’ll jump back in later, but I’m okay with just watching for now.”

“But that’s not the way we do it here! Everyone has to play to the end of their rotation, that’s the rules,” Billy said, standing and crossing his arms. He knew he was probably making this a bigger deal than it needed to be, but he wanted Steve to enjoy playing with them, otherwise he might stop altogether, even when new games came out. He had to get Steve to play and win this last round, but Steve was giving him a look like he was getting really annoyed, so Billy had to think of something, and quick. “You know what, you’re right. A break does sound pretty good right about now. How about this, Byers, Sinclair and I will go pick up the pizzas, and you and the rest of the kids stay here and get drinks and other snacks ready. Then maybe once we all eat and take a breather, we can finish playing, alright? Is that a good plan?”

Steve sighed, “I guess so. C’mon guys, turn off the TV and help me set the table.”

“Good,” Billy smiled, grabbing his keys and heading for the door. “Byers, Sinclair, you’re with me. Let’s get a move on, huh?”

Will and Lucas gave each other a kind of funny look, but both of them shrugged and got up to follow Billy to his car. They got in the back and waited as Billy pulled out of Steve’s driveway, and once Billy turned the music down, they started asking questions.

“So, why did you want us specifically to come help you with the pizza?” Lucas asked, crossing his arms and staring at Billy through the rearview mirror.

“Because I have a proposition for you,” Billy said, glancing back at the two every so often. “After lunch, when we start playing that game again, it’ll be us three and Steve. I want you two to throw the game so that Steve can win for once.”

“Why do you want us to let him win?” Will asked, blinking those big brown eyes in confusion.

“Because he sucks at that game, and he’s getting really frustrated with it. But he sucks at every other game too, so if we start letting him quit now, he might start quitting other games, and then he’ll just stop playing with us at all because he’ll feel like he can never beat us. We gotta let him win every once in a while so that he genuinely likes the games we’re playing and then he’ll keep playing with us,” Billy explained, pulling into the parking lot of the pizza place and turning around to face the kids before getting out. “So, here’s the plan. After lunch, I’ll talk him into finishing his rotation, and then we’ll play. We’ll all choose characters we suck as, and we’ll pick a stage with minimal hazards so that he doesn’t die accidentally. Then, we die as subtly as we can, come after each other and avoid Steve as much as we can, fall off edges, and let him get as many K.O.s as we can without making it suspicious. Then, when it’s all said and done, he’ll win and we get to keep him playing with us. Can we do that?”

“But that takes all the fun out of playing!” Lucas complained.

“C’mon man, think of how much fun it’ll be if Steve stops buying new games because he knows he’ll suck and so he doesn’t see the point in buying new games for us anymore!”

“I mean, I want to make Steve happy, but won’t it be, like, super obvious if we all just start to suck out of nowhere?” Will asked, and Billy groaned.

“It doesn’t matter! He won’t even notice, I promise you, he’ll just be happy he won!”

“But what if your idea doesn’t work and he stops playing anyway?” Lucas asked, and finally Billy had it.

“Look, that won’t happen, but if you guys won’t do it out of love for Steve, how about I give you each five bucks to throw the game?” Billy asked, taking out his wallet to show he was serious.

“Make it ten,” Lucas said, giving him a smug smirk as he held out his hand.

“You’ve been hanging out with Max too long, you little pirate,” Billy muttered under his breath, but he took two tens out of his wallet and gave one to each of the boys. That seemed to seal the deal, and once they got the pizzas home and everyone had eaten, he and both boys went to Steve and practically begged him to finish out his turn. Now that he’d eaten and had some time to breathe, Steve joined back in, and Billy was so excited he practically skipped over to the TV to turn it back on. He also fiddled with the settings quickly before anyone could see and set it so that only easy levels would be selected when he chose the random button, and he quickly set the screen back to normal before anyone else got into the room.

“You guys ready?” He asked when everyone had chosen a character, and everyone had said yes, so he continued on to stage selection. He chose random, and the stage selector put them in the Green Hill Zone stage from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. Billy was perfectly happy with this, as there weren’t many ways to fall off of edges, and it didn’t move, so it was free of most distractions. This was gonna be easy.

The narration voice counted down from three again as their characters showed up on the screen, and then, it was on. Billy was playing as R.O.B., an old accessory turned character from the NES system, Lucas was Pikachu from the Pokemon series, Will was the Ice Climbers from the NES game of the same name, and Steve had chosen another Kirby character, this time going with Meta Knight. It was quite the accumulation of characters, but it was half the fun of this game to see these random characters thrown together into a whole new game. 

And just like that, they were under way. It was actually surprisingly easy for the three of them to avoid hitting Steve and still make it convincing that they were trying, maybe because they chose characters they hated, but mostly because they were trying. Lucas managed to K.O. Billy after a few minutes by hitting him with an item, and Will, who was not great at keeping away from edges, fell through the ground when part of it disappeared. Steve got a K.O. of Will too after one too many hits, which sent him flying off the screen. Now that they had each lost one of their lives, Lucas went after Steve to make it look convincing, and though he managed to get close, he stopped just before he took one of his lives, and instead turned on Billy, who’d been attacking him as he attacked Steve. 

The land regenerated as Will respawned, and he and Lucas went for Billy, managing to get another K.O. after on him after pushing him into a checkpoint, which then threw him off screen. Steve also managed to get a K.O. on Lucas after diving at him and both of them ending up going too far off screen, leaving everyone with only one life except Steve, who now had two. To make it look good, after Will was K.O.’d by Lucas again, Billy went after Steve, getting one more of his lives before managing to take Lucas’s last one, and then it was just them, left with one life each. 

The end was surprisingly easy to fake, as Steve was safe on one side of the stage and Billy on the other, the ground giving out between them as they charged at each other, and after jumping over the pit to Billy’s side, Steve managed to push him into the pit. Now, normally it’s not too hard to get out of a pit in Super Smash Bros., but anyone who’s ever played as R.O.B. will tell you, he is not the easiest character to control, and seeing as how that’s the case, Billy was able to make a big show of trying to get out of the hole, smashing buttons with all his might as he tried to jump out.

“Fuck fuck fuck, shit, no! Goddammit!” He pretended to get upset, groaning and tossing his arms up in frustration as he finally fell into the pit, losing his last life and ending the round as the narrator called out “Game!”

“The winner is…” it kept going, “Meta Knight!”

“Yes!!” Steve jumped up, throwing his arms up in victory and basking in the cheers and claps of the other kids. “Did you guys see that?! I got so many K.O.’s! I can’t believe it! I won!”

“Yeah!”

“Go Steve!”

“You finally won!”

The kids kept cheering as Steve did a little victory dance, and Lucas, Will and Billy had to turn away to hide their smiles and try to keep up the charade of being upset at losing. Still, they couldn’t help it, and finally, they stopped pouting and just celebrated with him. 

“Okay, okay, that’s enough, the neighbors will start complaining about all the noise if we don’t quiet down,” Steve said after a while, setting his controller down on the coffee table and letting Max take his spot on the couch. Billy followed suit, even though he technically still had one game left, but he wasn’t a chronic quitter, so he could break the rules this one time and hand his controller off to Erica after fixing the stage settings. After that, he followed Steve into the kitchen, not saying a word as he started helping him clean up from lunch, putting the leftovers into the fridge and piling dishes in the sink.

“Whatever happened to ‘you have to finish your rotation, no exceptions’, huh?” Steve asked as he took up the spot next to Billy at the sink, grabbing a towel to dry as Billy washed.

“Eh, my hands started cramping after trying to get out of that pit, plus I don’t quit often, it’s only this one time,” Billy said, nudging Steve with his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve rolled his eyes. They worked in relative silence for a while, the only sounds being the running water and the kids making noise in the other room, but for the most part they were quiet until Steve turned to look at Billy, a knowing look on his face.

“You threw the game, didn’t you?” He asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes with a playful smirk.

“I did not!” Billy denied, but Steve raised his eyebrow, and Billy just couldn’t lie to that face. “Okay, maybe I did, but I just wanted you to win for once so that you wouldn’t stop playing with us, is that so terrible?”

“I knew it!” Steve said, smacking Billy lightly with the dish towel. “But you know I’d still play with you guys even if I lost every time, right?” 

“Yeah, but you’d get tired of losing eventually and I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t quit for good,” Billy said, flicking some bubbles at Steve in retaliation. 

“I wouldn’t do that. Losing is annoying, but as long as the kids are having fun-”

“But you need to have fun, too! That’s the point of multiplayer games, that everybody has fun, it’s not fair if only some people have fun and not everybody else,” Billy said, then sighed, “Look, just promise me that you won’t quit before you find another game that you’re really good at, okay?”

“Hey, I’ve got my Wii Sports, I’m good to go,” Steve smiled, brushing some of Billy’s hair out of his face before going in for a kiss. He readily accepted it, and smiled right along with him as they heard Erica starting to gloat about kicking everyone’s ass from out in the living room.