#mike doesn't know how to fix this but that doesn't mean no one else can figure it out

[brionysea]

the importance of "we make our own rules" just clicked

[libraryofgage]

Saw the Barbie movie the other day and Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For" (click the song title to listen to it lol) hit so fuckin different good lord. Anyway, it's perfect for Steve angst with a dash of platonic Stobin and romantic Steddie fluff so ;)

---

Steve is five when he learns that he was made to keep his parents together. At least, that's why his mother made him.

He learns it one night when his father is staying late at the company (before his mother started accompanying him all the time, leaving an empty house and Steve behind; Steve can confidently say his presence did, in fact, fix their relationship: it gave them something to unite against). His mother is three large glasses of red wine in, draped inelegantly on the couch and slurring her words with a glassy film covering her eyes.

"Steven, you were supposed...supposed to make him stay," she says, her fourth glass of wine dangerously close to spilling across the white rug. "An-and he's still gone! What did we do wrong?"

Despite the use of "we," Steve knows very well (even at the age of five) that his mother means "What did you do wrong?" He doesn't have an answer for her--he never will--and that seems to be just one more thing she holds against him.

Steve is seven when he learns that he was made to keep the family name strong and respected. At least, that's why his father made him.

He learns it when his father brings him to work, his stern expression and tense shoulders telling Steve to behave himself, to be seen and not heard the entire day (he did, and it worked a little too well; after falling asleep on the couch, his father had forgotten him at work, leaving him to spend the night in the locked office). His father is sitting at his desk, expensive pen in hand and phone just hung up after a tense conversation that ended with the most genuine smile Steve has ever seen from him.

"Steven, I hope you've been paying attention today," he says, placing the pen on the desk and fixing him with a suffocating gaze. "You'll be working here one day, and I expect you to make something of yourself when you do. You're to be a model man, someone I can proudly introduce to others."

When his father says proudly, Steve knows he means that he can't do that now because Steve has yet to make something of himself. Steve nods once, says a firm but not too loud, "Yes, sir," and his father goes back to work.

Steve is sixteen when he learns Nancy made him her boyfriend for...for a distraction? Because it's what was expected of her? Because she was curious? At least, that's what Nancy seems to be saying.

Honestly, Steve isn't sure she knows, either. But she definitely knows that he wasn't what she wanted, that he wasn't what she expected, that he couldn't live up to the expectations she had made for him.

Either way, he learned it over the course of their relationship, but it all hit him at the very end, when fights and names (idiot, asshole, and dick, to list a few) compounded into a breakup that left him aching, angry, empty, hurt, and desperate to know what he did wrong.

Maybe then he'd be able to save himself from making the same mistake over and over. Because it must be him, right? It must be something he's doing; if only he could figure out what that is.

Steve is seventeen when he learns that maybe he was made to be a shield. At least, that's how he understands the plan Dustin comes up with wherein he calls Steve their tank.

He learns it when they're huddled together at some point, readying to face demodogs and whatever else the Upside Down has decided to throw at them. Dustin is explaining the plan, his eyes bright as he throws around terms Steve can't recognize. "And Steve is going to be our tank," he says.

"What's a tank?" Steve asks, at least certain they don't mean the military kind of tank.

"Like a meatshield, duh," Mike tells him, the explanation short and quick and then disregarded in favor of the rest of the plan.

Maybe Steve should have felt hurt, but part of him is more excited by the fact that he could do well as a tank, a meatshield. He could, in fact, be made for that role. He's great at taking a punch, great at jumping back to his feet, great at putting himself between the kids and whatever wants to kill them.

The only way he could possibly fail at being a shield is by dying, and he doesn't plan to die just yet.

Steve is eighteen when he wonders if maybe he's made to love. At least, that's a realization he has after befriending Robin, getting tortured together, and learning he doesn't need romance to love someone. It's a realization he throws himself into wholeheartedly one day when he looks at Robin and sees her trying to drink a slushie with a Twizzler.

"I think I love you," he blurts out, unable to hold the words in and feeling bad for it when Robin subsequently chokes on Twizzler and Cherry slush.

She spits out the slushie, tosses her Twizzler into the cup, and spins around to look at Steve. "We've definitely talked about this, dingus," she says, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "You got amnesia or something?"

Steve rolls his eyes and pushes her. "Not like that. I mean, like, a friend. I love you, Robin. You mean a lot to me, and I hope we're still friends when we're 80 so we can make fun of other people in our nursing home."

Robin breaks out into a grin that she quickly suppresses. "Ugh, affection," she sneers, turning her nose up. It lasts all of three seconds before she glances at Steve from the corner of her eye and adds, "I love you, too, dingus."

Steve is nineteen when he decides that he's made for love, to give and receive and bask in its warmth. At least, that's what he decides when he's with Eddie, sprawled across his bed and listening to the mixtape he made for Steve.

They've been dancing around each other for a while up to that point: obnoxiously obvious flirtations, finding any excuse to brush against each other or share space or lean together, creating reasons to hang out with some as simple as "I'm just bored." Steve has been enjoying it; they both seem to understand what's inevitable, and they're just taking their time getting there.

And right now, listening to Eddie sing along to Metallica, Steve thinks that he wants to stop dancing around each other and dance together, instead. So, he turns onto his side, places a hand on Eddie's arm, waits until Eddie is looking at him with a bright smile and curious eyes, and says, "I was made for loving you."

Instead of the joy Steve was expecting, Eddie just looks confused. "How'd you know that was the next song?" he asks.

"What?"

"On the mix tape. I Was Made for Loving You by KISS. That's the next song," Eddie explains.

Steve blinks and frowns. He sits up, throws a leg over Eddie's hips, and settles on top of him. Eddie doesn't look surprised, since it's not the first time Steve has done this. Usually, it just means Steve wants him to pay close attention. "I didn't know it was the next song, Eds."

It takes a few moments for Eddie to fully understand what he means. And Steve gets a front-row seat to the confusion that morphs into understanding that morphs into amazement. "Oh," Eddie breathes, pushing himself up to rest on his elbows. "Could you say it again? I don't think I heard you the first time, Stevie."

Steve snorts but humors Eddie anyway. "I was made for loving you," he says, softer this time and leaning closer.

"Yeah, much clearer that time." Eddie's grin is wide and blinding before he closes the distance between them. "I was made for loving you, too, sweetheart," he whispers back, his words pressed against Steve's lips and searing into his heart.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Ello! Can I request Fnaf movie Mike meeting like a Homeless kid who lives in the pizzeria who gives him tips and tricks to survive headcanons? Basically to confuse the robots they like wear the head of a offbrand/prototype Crow animatronic? They just chill and goof around but remain out of sight from the famous man behind the slaughter and his daughter? :3

Ever since you've made Freddy Fazbear's Pizza into your "home", you quickly learned the ins and outs of the establishment.

You knew what times the animatronics automatically started their shows, where all the security camera blindspots were, how to make a pizza quick and easy, etc.

Above all else, however, you knew how to avoid those robots so they didn't try to make you like them.

Normally, they'd be protective over children--they weren't hostile because you were a homeless kid breaking in and living there.

It's the missing kids themselves.

They've visited your dreams, and every time it ends the same way: with Cassidy asking if you wanted to "join" them and getting frustrated when you refused.

You learned what happened to them and communicated via drawings for a while...until you accidentally broke something, which made them assume you were deliberately trying to destroy the place.

So you've been playing a sort of cat-and-mouse game since, often pranking them and thwarting their attempts to capture you, but never meaning anything ill by it.

If anything, they seem to like these little games, too.

After reading some old employee handbooks, you discovered that the animatronics have a programming glitch that makes them confuse humans for endoskeletons without suits on--and they'd use lethal ways to "fix" them.

Conveniently, you've found a costume head of a crow (likely from a partner of Freddy's or some ripoff brand) backstage, and after successfully tricking Foxy with it...you realized how helpful this could be to the security guards who've applied here and "vanished".

Fastforward to when you meet Mike, fully aware he's the next guard to possibly die (the last one got himself killed before you could even properly warn him in advance--not that he would have believed you anyways).

He's understandably concerned bc you're just a kid who's all alone here with no family, and given his trauma....he suddenly feels like he needs to protect you.

Instead, though, it's the opposite.

"Slide that toolbox in front of the floor vent."

He eyes you strangely, wondering why a kid was bossing him around. "...why?"

"Trust me."

The second Mike does that, he jumps as something starts growling and slamming against the vent's grates, clearly trying to get out and failing as it retreats soon after.

"What the hell was that??"

"Probably just rats." You innocently shrug. "Or Mr. Cupcake who seems especially hungry tonight."

"I'm sorry....the cupcake moves?"

You realize he's absolutely clueless, so you tell him about the animatronics and their routines, showing him the crow costume head.

He's impressed that you know so much about this place (like you were an employee), but he doesn't believe they're capable of doing any harm until later on.

When he brings Abby, you easily see through the facade they're all putting on for her, but you play along with their antics while building the pillow fort (although you avoid talking or looking at Vanessa, never trusting her nor the yellow rabbit your "friends" spoke of).

During the final night where you both rescue her from Chica, you urge Mike to use the crow mask to trick Bonnie and Freddy.

He was certain it'll never work.

They couldn't be that dumb....surely they'll know it's him trying to sneak backstage..

Plus the mask was stuffy and heavy, and he just think it's easier to taze them.

But at your insistence, he tries it on and is shocked when they stare at him for a moment, before continuing their scheduled "show", completely unaware of his ruse.

It does make him wonder how you figured that out all on your own..

[mayabruhbruh]

do you think Mike’s behavior towards Will in S2 would somehow parallel his behavior towards El in S3?

Interesting ask! I like that comparison, though they are starkly different in nature. LETS THINK!!

So what you mean to point out is the glaring shift in attention from Will to El between seasons. I might've talked about this in an earlier post, but I love talking about it anyway, so let's dive in lmao.

So, I feel like it's pretty fair to say Mike is quite the easily-attatched, obsessive kind of person. And not in an insane way, at least not all the time, but you can see it in every season and in the way he sets his priorities. I mean, every season he finds something to latch onto and makes it his entire personality till something new comes along. And that's sort of what happened between seasons 2 and 3.

In season 2, Mike's sole purpose was to be by Will's side and to help figure out what was going on with him and the mind flayer. He was the one that was the most involved with his possession other than Joyce, and since he's just naturally such a leader and a genuinely objective-driven person, it was the only thing he focused on or worried about at all frankly all season.

Mike's determination to find Will in season one was his initial fixation, and I don't mean to use the term fixation to lessen the meaning of how much he invested himself in it. It's mainly a better way to express just how hyperfocused he gets in things like that. Mike nearly killed himself in season 1 for the slight chance that they might find Will again. WTF!? Anyway, season two was no different. With Will, his determination and general need to be of help is so prominent and almost default to him. It's really revealing of his priorities, the mere fact that he didn't go anywhere else for a solid few days while he watched over Will and wracked his brain for anything that could help fix the situation.

And that all changed, of course, with the reintroduction of El at the end of the second season. Of course, Mike still helped figure out how to stop the Mind Flayer without killing Will, but it was at that point that we knew once this was all over, his attention would shift to El in a similar manner.

Now, there's a bit of a difference in the behavior from season 2 to season 3 in terms of how he expresses that "obsession" or as we should probably just call it, "fixation." In season 2, it was driven with the intention of being helpful to Will in any and all ways that he could, whether that be comfort (the scene on his bed where they talk about the Mind Flayer), rationality (helping Joyce, Bob, Hopper etc. figure out the connections and offer useful understanding), or just company for a slowly deteriorating Will Byers, which can be backed up by the way he was solely with Will for a far majority of the season.

In season 3, the fixation he has for El is a little less within the area of his expertise, and lot more forced. And that's not at all to say that he just up and goes to El's cabin at the same time every day against his will lmfao. I really just mean that the organicness with which he latched onto Will's situation couldn't exactly be replicated here. Mike doesn't really get fixated on something without there being an end result or something useful to come out of it. So... that is to say he most definitely still had a goal in mind with his relationship with El. It's really just part of his formula and the recurring patterns presented in each season with every action he takes. Despite being an idiot, he's very methodical in what he does. And that's no different with El.

Mike after getting a girlfriend and thus eradicating the loser allegations:

Basically, what I'm saying is a regurgitation of what plenty of others have said on this app, and it's that he wants very badly, whether he knows it or not, to do one of three things:

for himself to come off as normal and typical teenage boy-ish as possible

for himself to come off as non-homosexual as possible

to prove to everyone that he is not "weird", as so many others have suspected (his bullies, his parents, literally everyone)

But, to be fair, those are all basically the same things. At least in Mike's book. And in his mind, a lot of his issues with not fitting in and the internal fear of being seen have a solution within his relationship with El. With her, he finds an excuse to back out of all of the things that remind him of just how "weird" he is. Turning down Dungeons and Dragons, the Cerebro setup, and indulging in all that teenager-y romance drama and moodiness was so out of character for him, and I feel like that really means something in the grand scheme. There have been many analyses on the stark capitalistic, bright and flashy artificiality of season 3, and Mike was a MAJOR part of that, especially in his drastic change in persona in just that season. (Note this analysis of his clothes in s3 I chimed in on as well, because it fits well with this lmao). Now, so many things that he once loved to do before can now be turned down with the excuse that he has someone. Someone (a girlfriend) that symbolizes (to society and by default, to him) manhood and true maturity and whatnot. She, to him, can be the light at the end of the bleak tunnel called life in Hawkins, Indiana, where he can't be who he wants, but he can settle for a questionable relationship with a friend that excuses all of that weirdness (*cough* queerness *coughcough*) in him that he can't seem to shake without her.

It's smart of him, really. I mean, he likes her! They've gone through a lot together, and having a good friend that he can easily deem as someone he like likes despite not really knowing what he wants is just him taking easy street. Sadly, he neglected to realize that pretending to be in love with someone might cause said someone to fall in love too. Someone innocent, new to the world, and susceptible to that kind of feeling. BAD IDEA MICHEAL.

He saw a lot of the repercussions of that in season 4, where El's feelings came a lot more into play and the whole "being normal" and "getting girlfriends" deal had begun to wear off in his mind. His relationship with DnD came back with that too, and I think it has a lot to do with his realization that he fucked up. Big time. Season 4 is really a whole other story. Basically him trying to salvage their relationship despite realizing his attraction toward her was all a lie. He didn't really like like her, he just liked the idea of being relieved of his societal expectations by being with her. And once he met Eddie and learned that conformity is what's killing the kids, it finally dawned on him that he really dated El solely to conform. And that's fucked up. And he realizes this. But isn't sure how to fix it.

Oh well, that's an issue for season 5 to resolve.

My purpose for writing this is not to confirm Byler or to shoot down M!ileven. All I hope to do is offer script-centered reasoning and analysis for the events depicted in the show, so that it can help connect the dots on what may happen next. Truthfully, whether Mike ends up gay, straight, with Will, with El, or WHATEVER, I truly believe that the narrative in season 4 intends for us to pick up on the fact that Mike has come to the realization that he isn't in love with El, he never was really, and that he is dealing with the shockwaves that his too-young compulsory love decision has wrought for them. It is kind of his fault, because despite being young and stupid when he initiated it between them, she was even younger and stupider and happened to follow his lead. (I love El, I am NOT calling her stupid lmfao I just mean he sort of used her lack of knowledge and experience in society to his advantage unknowingly and led them down the path to where they are now.)

Anyway, that's what I think about Mike's behavior between seasons. Sorry, this was unnecessarily long, but I hope it answered your question LMFAO.

Please shoot me a message or another ask if there's any more questions or thing you'd like me to expand more on! Y'all know I can yap for hours over this.

[pinkeoni]

El's Superhero/Monster Dichotomy

El's monster conflict starts in season one, when she blames herself for the gate opening and for Will's disappearance.

This conflict seems to be "resolved" when she kills the actual monster, the demogorgon, making herself a hero and not a monster. This is even suggested earlier by Mike, who innocently tells El that she isn't the monster because she saved him.

Although this "resolve" is actually quite tragic. She proves herself to be a hero which does offer a conclusion to this conflict within this season, but she sacrifices everything for this.

This conflict comes back in full for El in season four. She no longer has her powers, and she's in a new environment where she's alienated and bullied. On top of everything, her boyfriend can't even say "I love you" to her. It's not a stretch to say that she feels monstrous.

This is only reaffirmed for El after her incident with Angela. Now, obviously this wasn't a good thing for her to do, but El also completely disregards all of the pain that Angela made her feel, perceiving herself as this violent monster who attacks innocent girls unprovoked. We know this is what she's thinking when she says as much to the cops.

I don’t think El wanted to kill Angela, which is why she says “I don’t know,” but she’s unsure because she’s unable to trust her own judgement. At this point she sees herself as a killing machine, so she must have wanted to kill Angela, even if that goes against her true reasoning.

Now, of course we the audience know that El isn't the monster, and everyone close to her knows this as well. But what matters isn't how others perceive her, it matters how El perceives herself.

Her argument with Mike doesn't absolve any of her feelings either, which is of no fault to either Mike nor El. El was too in her head and it wasn't something anyone could talk her out of, and she also wasn't aware of Mike's own internal conflict which was informing all of his responses. Mike can't say "I love you" to El because of his own issues, but to El, he can't say "I love you" because she is an unlovable monster.

Mike really means well when he says "You're a superhero," but it makes things much worse in El's mind. Instead, it creates an unreasonable expectation—

El believes that if she can't save the world, then she must be a monster. She doesn't allow herself to be neither— a human being.

NINA doesn't do much to alleviate El's dichotomous thinking, if anything it only encourages it. She only shifts the monster label on to someone else, that being Papa, and since she wasn't responsible for the massacre like she, and even the audience was led to initially believe, she's able to cleanly reclaim her superhero status. She was the one who defeated the perpetrator, in a moment that visually echoes the end of season one. She's the hero again!

She marches into her battle with Henry with a new sense of high confidence. And she loses.

This isn't El's fault, but she blames herself for Max's condition anyway. Will points out that Max wouldn't even be alive if not for El, but it doesn't matter for her.

To El, getting her powers back doesn't make her a superhero. And if she's not a superhero, well, then she must be the one who destroyed the world.

The resolve of El's conflict wasn't to get her powers back, she just believed that it would fix her problems. But the core conflict is still there— her black and white way of thinking.

So what does this mean moving forward?

Ironically, I think that El can actually learn something from Henry:

I don't think that El's arc in the coming season is going to be about becoming the hero again, but rather unlearning this train of thought. The world isn't made of monsters and superheroes, the world is made up of human beings who all make choices, her being one of them. She isn't responsible for the decisions of others, and it isn't her responsibility to take care of the mess that others create. She's a brave girl who decided to use her powers to try and save her friends, and her failure doesn't make her guilty for the fallout.

I wouldn't be surprised if El pushes herself to be the superhero who saves the world once again, although, the show has already revealed to us what happens when she does— it destroys her.

[it-one-line-at-a-time]

hi you gave the go ahead on sending you reddie asks so uhhhhh hi im here now

the losers club is one giant love heptogon. like poly qpr with romantic subsets

because everyone loved bev romantically and vice versa (cough cough sewer sex scene cough)

and richie loved eddie but he also had a crush on mike and definitely thought ben was hot (voiced this himself) and he has self worth issues and hides his insecurities with jokes (insecure hes bi so makes im-so-straight jokes, insecure hes ugly so makes im-so-hot-and-deffinatly-pull jokes) and even if hes stupid people love him because they KNOW why hes like that so thet play into it to make him feel better BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIMMMMM

and ben has always been just this little socially awkward idiot filled with love and definitely loved everyone in the losers club and hes emotional and i personally think hes arospec and feels unreasonable amounts of intense platonic love, to the point he mixes it up with romantic love (like me!!)

and mike definitely thinks hes not enough if he doesn't help people. he thinks if he doesn't help everyone around him hes useless and unloveable but at the same time only cares about the opinion of people hes deemed important (people that can hurt him and his friends) so of COURSE he helps his friends and hes the guy who keeps them safe (assuring they have weapons, making sure everyone is present and accounted for, ect) and everyone else loves him because hes there when they need protection and thats enough<33333333

and everyone loves bill to. how could you not hes just a stuttering dumbass little baby that need protected. plus he loves his friends for being there when he needed it (when georgie died, ect)

and eddie worrys about all his friends safety because they might be dumb and disease ridden assholes but there HIS dumb disease ridden assholes. and everyone loves eddie because hes like a weird overbearing jerk and he CARES. he CARES about there safety and no one else does.

and stan. he has some form of religous guilt. so when he found people that thought of him as stan and not stan the jewish kid he was over the moon. and everyone loves stan because even though he has his issues theyd NEVER leave him

sorry im just really fucking mentally ill and think my gay children need hugs and that my old man yaoi should have been allowed to be happy (reddie fix it fics save me. reddie fix it fics. save me reddie fix it fics)

Yikes, this got longer than I'd expected. Buckle in.

I read the sewer scene for the first time at school surrounded by my friends, and I think it was the one time I've read something that genuinely horrified me so much that I couldn't bring myself to be over-the-top scared of it to be funny. I have a younger brother who's turning eleven soon and the thought of it makes me wanna take a bath, if you know what I mean!!! Hm.

Also you are SO right about the Losers all loving each other. Yeah, there's the romantic pairings - Richie + Eddie, Bev + Bill (at least as kids) - but honestly they all love each other sooooo much it's kinda crazy. I'm kind of obsessed with how they conveyed how much they care for Richie in particular to the films - when he's crying after Eddie's death and they all hug him and he's like, 'Hm? They know I'm gay, and they still love me?', and he looks down at them genuinely confused for a moment - because it's so subtle but my God it's done so sweetly.

Speaking of sweet, HELL yeah Ben loved them all! My boy literally has love rolling off him like Sisyphus' boulder off the mountain. Whether it's platonic or romantic is personal opinion, but literally nobody can dispute that after Bill and Eddie (and Richie, in the film) took him into the Losers Club, he fucking adored them, man. Of course he loves Bev, that's kind of the most given thing to ever be given, but to be honest I think both he and Mike are the most symbolic of the Losers' love, because they were outsiders who found their family within the group.

Talking of Mike, he is the personification of 'the glue that holds the group together'. Literally, yes, when he calls them back to reunite after twenty-seven years, but you're right that it's in more subtle ways, too; the way he has the bolt-gun and ammunition, the way he is willing to sacrifice himself in the movie because he knows he messed up big time. And that last bit, too, is one of the biggest pieces of evidence in my opinion about your theory, dear asker who is definitely not a raccoon in disguise, that he feels inadequate if he doesn't actively protect the group. But they love him for it! <3

Ahhh, Billiam my boy. The one that every one of the Losers was genuinely a little bit in love with. The one who would not only readily die for any one of them, but who would die for a random kid with a skateboard who's only ever been rude to him! Of course in the book it is explored how much Georgie's death really affected him, of course it was, but that scene in Chapter 1 where he finds Georgie's raincoat and the Losers all just hug him without saying anything while he sobs is so fuckin' special, man. And that's the Losers Club, them all together, unconditional love and respect and love and love.

Eddie hiding how much he adores his friends under a mask of worry and ill-tempered arguments is genuinely such a lovely character trait. It doesn't take a genius to see that "You guys know that alleys are known for dirty needles that have AIDS, right? You guys do know that?" is a masked-up version of "Guys please don't go into that alley, I don't want you cutting yourself and getting this awful and scary disease going around". It's literally just him saying, in his own little way, I fucking love you guys, don't get hurt, and taking it upon himself to keep them all safe forever. Bill's "He'd be looking out for us... the way he always was." is in NO way lost on me, man.

One thing the book did that I thought was so so good and so so interesting was looking at religious guilt, through Patty, but it's not difficult to imagine that it extends to Stan, too. I swear there are some points - usually from characters like Henry Bowers' points of view - where Stan is kind of just, 'the Jewish one' (like how Richie is the loudmouth, and Ben is the fat one), so I reckon you're definitely right that when the Losers got to know him as Stanley Uris, rather than 'the Jewish kid', it was probably like a huge weight off his shoulders. And that's one of the reasons that he loves his disjointed little group, because they were the first to accept him and his religion as one.

Anyway, yes, the Losers love each other and they would die for each other and I would die for them please and thank you.

(Also, I agree that Reddie fix-it fics were put onto earth by God Themself.)

[rainydayathogwarts]

ʀᴏʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪᴄᴇ - ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ ʜᴀʀʀɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ

Summary: Steve wants you, but you've got a play thing named Nancy Wheeler who does too. bi!reader Warnings: Love triangle situation but it's not. Not smut but making out? Nancy's a bit of a mean girl towards Steve. wc: 2.1k

You giggle, moving your head to the side to allow Nancy more space to leave kisses on your neck, one hand trailing on your waist as the other helped hold herself up on top of you while you breathed heavily under her "Well go on, what happened next?" She whispers into the crook of your next, her hot breath tickling you. "Nothing happened, I just told him that I already had someone to... fulfil my needs?"

Nancy separates from you, straightening up on top of you to take her shirt off. "Well I'll bet that's the first time someone's declined an offer to be filled up in the back of Billy's car." She leans down, her lips hovering over yours teasingly, only to be interrupted by urgent knocks on her bedroom door.

Mike - of course.

"Nancy! Steve's here!" You perked up at the sound of Steve's name, a hand immediately going up to fix your hair. Steve. What was he doing here? At Nancy's? You straightened up as Nancy got up, pulling her shirt over her head, flashing her an awkward smile when you made eye contact as she moves to unlock the door. "You okay?" She asks, and you nod, unable to tell her about your undying crush on King Steve, because she might have one of her own.

It's only when Steve himself bursts into the room, already rambling, that you put the smile back on your face. Upon seeing you, he stops talking, his mouth gaping slightly as he awkwardly raises a hand to greet you. "Oh, hey y/n. I- I didn't notice your car outside?" You nod, pursing your lips, suspicious as to why he'd so abruptly stopped talking. Were they hiding something?

Nevertheless, you shake your head. "No, Nancy picked me up." Steve nods slowly. Nancy picked you up? He turns to look at her and she licks her lips, a smirk forming on her face, raising her eyebrows slightly as if questioning him. His heart beats faster and all of a sudden, he can hear it in his ears, pounding the focus out of him. Does Nancy know he likes you? Steve's face flushes. Shit. Of course she does.

You look away. They were clearly flirting. If Nancy was into him, she could have just said... But then, you could have too. "Um, I'm going to go!" You state. "I'll walk, it's not far Nance." You continue, noticing her confusion, and sling your bag over your shoulder with your head down as you walk out her door.

"You like her."

"What!?"

"Y/N. I saw that look you gave her. You like her"

"Nance no I don't even-shut up!"

Nancy smirks, leaning back on her dresser. "I'm just saying. It's a shame. I heard she's sleeping with someone anyway." Steve's hot red blush dies out, all colour in his face draining. "She is?" But all Nancy gives him is a nod.

"I think she's really into this guy too. Or girl. She wouldn't tell me how big he is so I doubt it's a dude. I'm guessing she's pretty into them since people don't know. Probably doesn't want to ruin whatever they have with people finding out and stuff."

Nancy doesn't bother hiding her smile when she sees the disappointment and doubt on Steve's face, the wheels turning as he tried to piece together why you would be with a girl. Or was the look on his sadness? But she couldn't care less, because at that moment, whatever side of the dice Steve landed on, she still had the advantage in the game. "Well, what do you want? You are here for a reason aren't you?"

"Um yeah, no. Wait, let me remember-Wait she likes girls?"

Downstairs, you pulled your arms through the holes in your jacket, sighing as you started to make your way home. You wouldn't think about it for now. No you wouldn't. You trusted Nancy and she trusted you, that's what made your little deal work. You both knew that if something started up with someone else, whatever this was would end. And for now, your romantic life wasn't necessarily blooming, no matter how big your stupid crush on Steve was.

You'd still be able to see him given that you worked in Starcourt mall in a small boutique across from Scoops Ahoy, so you'd know if any of the feelings you held for him were reciprocated. And as much as you hated to admit it, that's what you were thinking of as Nancy drove you to the busy mall the next morning, her hand on your thigh.

"Hey there's still time until your shift starts... Meet me in the backseat?" You giggled, climbing over the armrest as Nancy opened her door, taking the easy way to the back, promptly landing herself on top of you yet again. She grinned, both hands cupping your jaw as her body pressed roughly against yours, her lips moving softly against yours.

Steve groaned, hand fiddling with his car keys to lock his car, the other tightly clutching his warm coffee. He shoved his keys in his pocked, the now unoccupied hand coming up to brush through his famously known hair. It was too early for this, anyone in their right mind new that. No one went to an ice cream shop at 9 in the morning unless they're recovering from a rough night. He makes his way up to the entrance of the mall and that's when he sees it.

You. Her.

You and her. Together.

More specifically, you and her making out in the back of her car. He really thought that was Billy's thing more than hers. He feels the scorching hot coffee running down his hand and he loosens his grip on the cardboard cup to stop the overflow.

He could see your smile, the slight movement of your hands on Nancy's hips, pushing her down onto you. He could see the very confident way Nancy pulled you deeper into the kiss, briefly pulling away to kiss your neck. He could see the way you moved your neck, flicking your hand over your shoulder to allow her more space. He could see the way you were so clearly enjoying every little moment with the woman who had told him yesterday that you were seeing someone. That she thinks you had caught feelings for. And watching you, he thinks so too.

"What the fuck?" Steve drops his coffee in shock, spinning around to spot Robin behind him, her jaw slack, eyes glued to the scene in front of them. "Y/N likes girls?" She questions Steve who knows little more than she does about the situation. "If I knew that I would have gone for her a long time ago."

In the shop, with their stupid hats, Steve and Robin both stand out front, serving the customers, but mostly catching Robin up on what had happened the past two days. "What a lying, manipulative, cheating scumb-" "Robin! Look." They put on fake smiles as the famous Mike Wheeler comes strolling in with his little clan. "Oi, hey Wheeler!" Robin starts, hesitantly looking at Steve. "Is your sister seeing anyone? Because I heard from a girl that she might be with this heartthrob person."

Mike looks up from the display of flavours, "No."

"BUT-" Cuts in Dustin, as enthusiastic as always "We have this theory that she and her really hot friend Y/N are a little too close, if you know what I mean."

"Which is weird," continues Will, "because we could have sworn that she was with Billy Hargrove like a week ago. Or at least, that's what we heard."

"But it's completely plausible that they're not together because we know Y/N loves making her relationships public. Remember her and Archie?" Lucas makes a face of disgust as he takes them back to the year before and Steve can briefly relate to the disgust, remembering Y/N and her possessive ex-boyfriend Archie who made it a point for them to let everyone know they were together.

"Oh, well thanks for the gossip guys." Steve scoffs, pointing a finger at them to Robin and chuckling, counting the cash they gave him as Robin handled their orders. "You think she'd go out with me?" Will perks up again, shoulders rounding as the boys start laughing, an argument over who would win you over starting up between them.

Steve shrugs, looking at Robin, whose eyes immediately go wide and she straightens up, loudly 'whispering' "Steve! She's here! She's here! Do you think Nancy lied to her do you think- Hey Y/N!" Steve's head turns to you so quickly his neck might have snapped in the process, but he grins at you, who surprisingly returns the favour.

Steve stutters while taking your order and giving you your change as he tries to make small talk, which very much fails him. You giggle, thanking him and walking to a table near the entrance, so he takes a deep breath and follows you to your seat.

You don't know if you should bring anything up to him, or attempt in striking up a conversation with him before leaving. Maybe you could ask what he needed from Nance? No, it was none of your business. You could ask if he's seeing anyone, but that would be too obvious.

"Hey, do you mind if I join you?" You look up from your seat, smiling when you see Steve, taking his sailor hat off and running a hand through his well-tamed hair. You shake your head, gesturing to the empty seat in front of you, and he gladly sits down.

"Um how, I heard you're- uh." You let Steve sit there, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, an eyebrow raised. "Sorry, I don't want to come on too strongly." He smiles sheepishly.

"Out with it, what do you want?" You reply jokingly, but what he says next makes your heart drop.

"I heard you're with Nancy."

"Steve... Nancy's a girl." But he only nods to what you have to say.

"Okay, I saw you guys in the parking lot this morning. And when I was at her's yesterday she said you were seeing someone that you were really into and-"

"Steve what?" You scoot your chair closer to his, leaning in so you could speak in a whisper and nothing louder. "Look, Nancy and I are just sleeping with each other, nothing else. I don't know why she would tell you that. Please don't tell anyone! I'm not ready for people to know I'm into girls because then guys will back off and I don't want them to because I like guys and they're hot and-"

"You do?" Your nervous ranting stops at that and you look at Steve, looking at him with disgust "What? Are you saying I can't like both girls and guys?"

Steve's face goes white and he starts frantically shaking his head, his mouth moving without any words coming out. "NO! No shit. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, I just mean- Will you go out with me!?" Robin's head all the way from the counter snaps in your direction as his voice squeaks as does everyone else's in the ice cream shop.

"I mean. You like guys, I'm a guy. And I like you, and for a moment I'd like to think that you might like me too since Nancy was apparently telling me a load of bullshit." You nod apprehensively, trying to take in the information he just gave you without going bright red, even though you could feel your face heating up.

You liked him. He liked you.

"I'd like to go out with you. Because, even though 12 hours ago I thought you and Nancy were flirting in front of me, which I hated her for, I have to admit that I like you too. Also, I need to stop coming for ice cream at 12 o'clock just so that I can have an excuse to see you."

You both chuckle and a moment of awkward silence settles down as you look down, starting to pick at your nails. "Um so do I pick you up tomorrow night or should I give you a day or two to tell Nancy?" He asks and you look up again, only for the colour to immediately leave your face when you make eye contact with the figure that's standing up behind your date. No wonder Robin hadn't made a noise in a while.

"Tell Nancy what?"

[messrsbyler]

how i think madwheeler bonded between season 3 and 4

mike and max bonded between season 3 and 4 because they just got each other in a way other's wouldn't. both mike and max tend to isolate themselves in hard moments, to shut off and not really show something is wrong or just push away everyone so they are left alone to deal with their shit. i can see both lucas and dustin trying to reach out the them, to make them open up and be there for them, but that only would've pushed mike and max further away.

max and mike avoiding lucas and dustin whenever they tried too hard, and accidentally bumping into each other at the back of the gym where max lost lucas and mike lost dustin. and it's awkward the first time, they both are there not really knowing what to say or what to do. the second time it happens, max is the first one to drop her bag to the ground and sit there, fixing her earphones and clicking play on her walkman, making it abundantly clear she wasn't up for small talk which, honestly, came as a relief for mike.

and so mike followed suit and sat down, fishing a book from his backpack and thumbing through the pages to where he stopped reading last time.

the third time they find each other behind the gym, the same happens. each one sits their minding their business. the fourth time, max doesn't show up and mike isn't sure why he is mildly disappointed to sit there alone reading his book. after a few minutes, he huffs and stands up, dusting his pants and deciding to head somewhere else. just as he is turning on a corner of the building he bumps into max.

"oh, sorry. i didn't see-"

"you were leaving?" max asks, her voice a flat line that doesn't reflect in the slight glint of desperation swirling in her eyes.

"uh, no. i was just- i just got here."

"okay."

max walks around mike and does a beeline to her usual spot, where she sits. mike stands there, watching her and gripping his backpack's strap a bit too tight. the book is still in his hands, one finger between the pages where he stopped reading.

max looks up and lifts her eyebrows, and it's clear as day what she means. well, aren't you going to sit down? and mike does. he plops on his usual spot as well, resting his back against the building and opening the book on his lap.

none of them ever say much, none of them attempt to start any string of small talk because none of them ever feel like it. but each time, both mike and max expect the other in that corner, because somehow it's easier. lucas and dustin are great, and they are trying really hard to get to them, but that's the problem. max and mike don't want that right now, can't bear it. but each other's quiet company? that somehow works because it allows them both to be alone and yet not so lonely.

it definitely comes as a surprise for both of them

[gayofthefae]

"El should have had a response to the speech so we know how she feels about it!" No. El should have had a response to the speech so Mike knows she loves him. Really loves him. We heard what he said in that van. We heard what he said to her. When she says it, he doesn't fully believe it. In a Milkvan endgame world, Mike has told us that he believes he loves El more than El loves him and that is going to get him hurt.

That isn't just the resolution to El's feelings in 4x03. It's a recreation of them. El told Mike she didn't feel like enough, now he's telling her she is. But in it, he's telling her he doesn't feel like enough. If they really wanted this romance to resolve everyone's issues, she would have told him he is. At some point, find a time. Or make the speech be in a point it can be a dialogue in the first place. Yes, we're curious what she thinks, but even if she's simply happy and nothing else, he still needs it. He deserves it.

He deserves the van speech. Straight from her mouth. And I guess that's what it is. The only reason it works that he doesn't get it from her is that while before, he was saying he didn't feel like enough. Now, he's saying "I want you to know I didn't tell you because I didn't feel like enough. But Will told me that wasn't true so now I know better and can tell you this." Yeah, super romantic. Bring up your other love interest in your speech, that's not threatening to your girlfriend at all. He doesn't actually do that, obviously, but that is the meaning behind the words and why it (sort of) resolves for us.

Mike feels feels like enough now. But El had nothing to do with it. My point stands. Poor El she's so sad about Mike and he needs to fix it. But we were so focused on that, we forgot: Mike is sad about El too. And she needs to fix it. He did his part, she didn't do hers. In her defense, it was solved before she got there, which that being possible is another rant I kinda just gave and will also be cutting the rest of off for another time.

They said "El deserves to feel loved by Mike" and had Mike love her. Then they said "Mike deserves to feel loved" and left it there. It does not matter that it was fulfilled by El indirectly. Will fixed it. Whatever you say, if you lie to your friend to comfort them, so long as it works, you still fixed it. If my friend says he's scared his girlfriend doesn't love him enough and I say "yes she does she told me firsthand" I'll send him off smiling and someone saying "wow it's so nice of his girlfriend to cheer him up" is fuckin rude tbh.

Mike deserved love too. El's could only be fulfilled by Mike or herself. They pretended the second one wasn't true so for the purposes of this post, we will too, and in that case, Mike fulfilled it for her. But more importantly, no one else did. No outside person but Mike at that tie could have fulfilled that for her. Or maybe they could, but they made sure to not let us ever know for sure. They told us for sure with Mike. All these romantic moments with El are actually just further inherent proof of his relationship with Will. What Will did worked. That is a bad. sign. He succeeded in getting Mike to tell El he loves her, yes, but break it down and you get: Mike needed to feel like enough to tell El. El did not succeed in that, Will did. AND more importantly, that was enough.

That being enough tells us it did not have to be El. El deserves to be loved by Mike. Mike deserves to be loved. That's what they said. El deserves better than Mike but Mike deserves better than El too. That's why they literally already did, and actually had to for the plot to work, give him better.

Yeah. Mike and El and receiving the solutions they need to the sadness over each other from other people before each other gets to it and being completely fulfilled and able to move on without the other just fine now.

[sigmxnd]

okay poll is saying yes so im going for it (this is gonna get very rambly and might not all connect or be coherent but oh well)

i've realized i love taking my favorite characters and putting a bunch of the same hcs to them cause i like making my favorites more like me

i know why this happens, its cause im silly and i look at these characters and my brain just goes "i like that" and then i just ARYARAYAEAGA4AYA and get rabies, but also like a lot of the time i look at these characters that more often than not i see myself in them

these stupid dumb dirt eating rebellious evil losers just exist and i see stuff happen to them for the plot and i just go "i see you. i know you. you're just like me fr" but they aren't real so they don't know i understand them but yknow

but at the same time its always an internal battle cause i percieve other people's opinions and hcs all the time, but at the same time i'm so utterly terrified of sharing most of my stuff and my own hcs that i'm not confident in for fear of being percieved and having someone else think I'M weird. and yeah i am weird but i don't wanna be seen as like. bad weird

i just recently shared that i hc mike and zeke as being autistic, cause as a peer reviewed autistic i find it extremely comforting and it makes me super happy to think of them like that, but like they're not the only ones i think of that way. it's pretty much all of them that i think of that way, which makes sense, but idk it makes me feel a lil weird

ik i can do whatever i want (within reason) but it feels almost strange to do all this when i currently don't even have access to the rest of the td seasons AND there's not a lot of hc differences between them, and it feels cringe or something idk

but anyway i love making jokes about how i am absolutely INFATUATED😍✨️‼️ with both duncan and scott and i hate courtney with such a burning seething passion. she was so mean to both of them, i can fix them (or also make them worse. i could do that for funzies)

tl;dr: I'M CRAZY I'M OFF THE WALLS I'M NUTS I'M BONKERS I'M SILLY I'M GOOFY I'M WACKY I'M SO UTTERLY GOOBERISH (i'm scared to talk about all of my hcs for my favorites out of fear of people looking at me with their EYES, and probably something else. sorry guys my own post doesn't even make sense to me)

sigmund silly sessions will happen again, this was fun to just vomit my thoughts

[fox-muldest]

Back To The Future

foxy_mulder

Summary:

The party is playing D&D when Steve Harrington, covered in scars, appears out of nowhere asking what year it is.

(Or, Steve returns to 1983 to try and stop it all before it begins.)

Notes:

CW for brief homophobic language & use of f slur

They’re playing D&D when it happens. Sat around the table in Mike’s basement as usual, in the middle of a campaign where they're fighting a Demogorgon.

"Quiet down," Mike hisses. "My parents will make us stop playing if we don't shut up."

"This is kind of an urgent moment!" Lucas says. He doesn't know what he'll do if his character dies, he doesn't want to make a new one in the middle of a campaign.

"The thing from the darkness strikes your character again."

"Can I see what's there?"

“Roll for--”

And then, out of nowhere, a human being drops out of the air to land on the table with a heavy thud, scattering papers across the floor. Dustin screams, and they all jump back as dice clatter to the floor.

The man sits up, and groans, pushing back his thick brown hair and straightening his polo shirt. It's Steve Harrington, Nancy's asshole boyfriend, but he's… different, somehow, in a way Lucas can't really pinpoint.

“Hey,” Steve says casually, like he hadn't just appeared from thin air. “Wow, you guys were small.”

“What the fuck,” says Mike.

“What’s the date?” asks Steve, sitting up. He winces, touching his head where it hit the table. "Head injury number six, here we come," he mutters.

“November 6th," says Lucas. Maybe he really doesn't have a head injury from falling and he's trying to see if he remembers stuff? Lucas has seen that in movies.

“The year, man," says Steve urgently.

“1983?”

“Perfect. Will, do not bike home by yourself. Stay the night here, or call your mom. The rest of you, I’ll hopefully make it back here tomorrow with a map of places to avoid, and I want you to stick to it like your life depends on it."

"Where did you come from?" asks Dustin.

"I fell from the upper floor?" tries Steve.

"There would be a hole in the ceiling!"

"You'll understand when you're older, now listen, have you seen anyone else?”

“Like, in general, or…?”

“Appearing out of the air,” says Steve exasperatedly.

“No, believe it or not, we haven’t. Can we get to the part where you explain how the hell you did that?”

“Are you magic? Magic is real?” asks Will, eyes wide.

“Uh, yeah?” says Steve. “I… didn’t mean to land here, though. So. I’ll see you guys around?”

“You can’t just leave after--”

“Listen. If it were up to me, you dorks wouldn’t even know I had been here, and I could fix everything with only El.”

“Who’s El?”

“Right, you don’t… okay. She’s a friend of mine. Keep your mouths shut, alright? Don’t tell anyone I was here. And stay here. Do not go outside by yourselves. Use the buddy system.” He pauses. "Do you have any guns here?"

"No?"

He snatches a brook out of the corner and breaks it to create two sharp sticks, then leaves, just like that. They all sit around the table staring at each other, at the mess left across the table and floor.

"Do you guys want to finish the game?" asks Lucas hesitantly.

"Hell no!"

"Magic is real!" exclaims Will.

"We have to follow Steve and bug him until he tells us how to do it. This is literally awesome."

They rush to the door, but Steve is gone, and his car isn't outside.

Mike runs up to Nancy's room. “What's going on with Steve? Where'd he go?”

“What?” she frowns.

“He was just here, and he popped up out of nowhere, and--”

“I’m on the phone with Steve right now. He’s at home.”

"He can teleport," whispers Will.

"When did you start talking to him?"

"Like an hour ago. Yeah, I--" she speaks into the phone. "Hold on, Mike is annoying me, I've got to--"

She shuts the door in their faces.

----

Eddie is rewatching Lord of the Rings when there's a knock at the trailer door. Probably Wayne, he's always forgetting to bring his key. He's lucky Eddie is awake at weird hours too or he'd be locked out at least once a week.

Eddie goes to the door and opens it. He stops in his tracks.

"Steve Harrington, at my humble abode?" He asks, putting on confidence that he absolutely does not have. Why would Harrington come here? Eddie is in boxers, socks and a T-shirt. He's not wearing shoes or pants, he couldn't run if Harrington is here to hurt him. "What do you want?

“Sorry. Uh… could I come in?"

He's got a bat in his left hand. Eddie's heart thumps in his chest.

“Are you gonna hit me with that?” asks Eddie.

Harrington had never done it before, but he runs with the jocks who do. Eddie peers over his shoulder, and doesn’t see anyone else, but they could be hiding in wait.

“No. It's for, uh. Something else. Okay, that sounded unconvincing, I should have left it in the car, but I didn't feel safe-- not because of you, it's because of something else."

"Something else," says Eddie blankly.

"I didn't want to get you involved. It's...I couldn't help myself and," he sighs. "Should have stuck to the paper."

Eddie stares at him.

"Hold on. Let me start over.” He pulls out a rumpled, folded sheet of paper, folds well worn like he’s opened and closed it a million times. “Disclaimer, hopefully I’ll have taken care of this before you even need this advice. But if Chrissy Cunningham tries to buy from you--”

“Buy what?”

He blinks. “Oh, you don’t sell drugs yet? Best not to even start then, because I know you were strapped for money but your uncle says he could have helped with the--” he stops, seems to realize who he’s talking to. “Sorry. Don’t sell drugs. And definitely don’t have Chrissy over to your house.”

There’s a lot to unpack here. “How do you know my uncle? And are you… warning me off of Chrissy? Not cool, man. Don't you have a girlfriend?”

Eddie isn’t even sure where he got the idea that Eddie was interested in Chrissie. Sure, Eddie might have liked her once, but she’s probably grown into another one of the mean popular kids like the rest of them. Brats like Harrington. He would never date somebody like that, he wants somebody who’s more open minded.

Harrington laughs again, knowingly, like he’s recalling some inside joke between them, though Eddie doesn’t know what it could be.

Harrington continues like he hadn’t said anything. “Like I said, if all goes to plan, it shouldn’t be an issue. Just keep it in mind.”

"You're being reeeally cryptic," says Eddie slowly, nervous now for a different reason. Maybe Harrington's off his rocker.

Harrington smiles tightly. "Sorry. I shouldn't even be here, honestly.”

“Then… leave.”

“Okay.”

Harrington looks like he’s about to cry. Now Eddie feels guilty. But, the guy came to his house with a fucking nail bat, what’s he supposed to think?!

“One more thing. Have you seen anyone around that looks like you?”

He laughs. “No one in this town looks like me.”

Harrington quirks a smile.

“If you do see anyone, give me a call. I'll go now."

He leans forward, and for a second Eddie thinks he’s gone completely insane because for a second it seems like Steve Harrington is leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. But he stops in the middle of the action and pats him on the shoulder instead. Then he turns and leaves.

----

This week couldn’t get worse. Steve keeps hearing these rumors about himself, that someone saw him hanging out with Eddie "the Freak" Munson. Which, like, doesn’t make any sense. He’s never even talked to the guy, and now he’s staining his reputation? Apparently Munson is telling people Steve’s stalking him. Besides that, Nancy’s brother and his weird friends are being incredibly annoying lately. They keep approaching him at school and trying to get him to talk about their little magic game.

Steve taps his pencil on the desk at school, bored. He looks out the window, and sees something strange.

Someone stands in the shadows at the parking lot's edge, right by Steve's car. That's creepy as hell. It might be Munson. Steve’s gonna go out there and show everyone who’s stalking who. Whoever it is, Steve's itching for a fight.

He gets a bathroom pass and leaves the classroom out the side door to the parking lot. He walks to the fence, where he gets a better look. It's not Munson, he's got shorter hair, and when Steve calls out to him he turns.

It’s… Steve. He’s got blood on his lip. Exhaustion creeps through the lines of his face, and he wears a torn polo shirt showcasing the old scars on his sides that look to be from an animal attack.

“Hey Steve,” says the man.

“Are we related?” Steve asks stupidly. He wouldn’t put it past his father to have another kid and not tell him, but god, they look absolutely identical, down to the moles on their faces.

“Yeah, you could say that. I mean, I’m you, so. There’s that,” he coughs awkwardly. “I was waiting for you to come out to your car. I need to ask you a favor. I need you to hide a kid in your house, there's people after her. I don’t have anywhere to stay, and I didn’t take that into account when I came here, and I know your house is empty as fuck.”

That's... A lot to take in.

“What do I look like, a babysitting service? And who are you, actually?"

"You'll love it, trust me," he says, skimming past the second question like Steve hadn't even asked. "Her name is El, she's gonna help save the world and stuff."

----

The kids show up at Steve's door that afternoon, and ring the doorbell repeatedly. Steve groans.

"These kids won't leave me alone. They keep trying to talk to me."

"Kids? It's not Mike and his friends, is it? The kids that play D&D at Nancy's?"

"Yeah."

"I should have known they wouldn't listen. You tell them 'stay,' they immediately run to wherever you're going." Future-Steve opens the door. "Hey guys."

"We demand that you tell us how to do magic," says Dustin. "Please. We have always wanted a wizard friend. We won't tell anyone, just pleeeease tell us how to do it."

"He cloned himself," gasps Mike. "Holy shit."

"Language. Anyway, I'll tell you what's going on, but you have to promise me some things."

"What?"

He starts listing off his fingers. "You will not interfere with my plan, you will be nice to El when you come in, because she's been through a lot recently, and you will not try to be a hero. And Dustin, if you find a little slug creature in the woods at any point, for the love of God kill it immediately, do not keep it."

They all nod, more confused than anything.

"Perfect. Come on."

"Hey, don't let them in, it's my house," says Steve.

"We like them, don't worry."

He sits them all down at the table.

"As you probably figured out, I'm not from here. It's like… how do I put this in nerd terms… you know Back to the Future?"

"What's that?"

"Oh. A little before your time I guess. Well, you guys are gonna love it when it comes out. It's like… ugh, I guess I shouldn't spoil the movie. Basically I'm from the future, and I came here to fix some things in the past. Or, the present, to you guys. Does that make sense?"

"That's incredibly simple. Could not be more clear," says Dustin.

"Okay, well some people might find it hard to follow," mutters Future-Steve.

"But what is there to fix?"

"A few things. El and I were gonna go take care of some monsters, the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer, but ultimately I think we should hold off because we might alert--"

"You play D&D?" Lucas' eyes widened.

"Uh, yeah. I play once in a while, but that's not what I'm talking about. These are monsters in the real world. There's this dark wizard, Vecna--"

"Are you a wizard too?" blurts Will, bouncing out of his seat.

"No? Well… Kind of. I had to learn a little necromancy one time, but that doesn't really count. I know someone who knows magic, and a psychic, that's El. They're the ones who sent me here through a portal thing. I don't really get how it works, but that's not the point. The point is… are you guys getting this?"

They stare blankly.

"I'm getting this all out of order." He takes out his folded piece of paper, a list titled THINGS TO DO IN HAWKINS 1983. "Knew I should've just read from the paper… Let me start from the beginning. There's an alternate dimension below Hawkins."

----

Steve goes to school the next day like everything is normal, like he's not having the crisis to end all crises, and like his cooler future self didn't come back to… save the world? Fuck up his life?

These kids keep following him around, talking about how Future-Steve is a badass, how he's so cool and mysterious and knows all about their interests.

At least Steve's not a nerd.

---

"Shit," Eddie hisses to himself, "shit, shit, shit."

They're coming to beat up the freak again. They've found his usual hiding spot, so now there's not much he can do but run.

He turns the corner and opens the back door of the school, casting wildly about for a place to hide.

The dumpster, he could hide in there.

He makes a run for it, but his shoe is untied and he skids across the concrete and eats shit.

He closes his eyes, waiting for the hits to rain down, but none come. He opens an eye, and one of the guys is on the ground, nose bleeding. Harrington is there too, holding the other guy up by his collar, calm as anything, like it was effortless.

"You okay?" he asks Eddie.

Eddie nods dumbly.

Steve frowns. "Your knees are bleeding. Hold on."

The guy with the nosebleed runs off, leaving just Harrington, Eddie, and the guy still struggling to get Harrington to let him go.

"Put me down, Steve, come on, it's me," says the guy. James, Eddie thinks his name is. Or Joe, or something.

"I like you man, but you can't keep doing this."

"It's the Freak. Don't tell me you're actually friends with--"

"Dude," he says sharply. "Don't make me hit you too."

He drops Joe or James or whoever, who looks at him for a long moment and then runs off.

Harrington kneels beside him, and Eddie has no idea what's happening, or if he's about to get beat up too, or if it'll be another confusing interaction like they had the other night at the trailer.

Harrington reaches into his pocket, and takes out… Hello Kitty bandaids.

Eddie stares shamelessly, and Steve blushes.

"Wouldn't have pegged you for a Hello Kitty fan."

"I went to the store for a kid I know. She likes cats," he says defensively. "They're cute."

That's… surprisingly cool. Who is this Harrington? He keeps hello kitty bandaids for kids, and throws punches at bullies, and he's a lot more filled out than Eddie remembered, his arms are muscled and a little bit of stomach is visible over his jeans--

He stops the thought in its tracks. He has no business thinking of Harrington that way.

"Do you know why they were chasing you?"

"The usual," he scoffs. "I'm a Satan worshiping, D&D playing freak. God forbid I exist in public."

"I'm sorry."

"Like you don't believe that stuff too."

"I don't. D&D is cool. My DM's got us doing this campaign with dragons and shit--"

"You are so full of shit," he laughs.

"I'm serious. I play a paladin. Took me a long time to figure the game out, but I had help." Harrington looks so fond when he says that, like he's thinking of his friends warmly. "As for the devil worshiping, you don't worship Satan. You have long hair and do devil horns at every opportunity because you wanna look like Ronnie James Dio."

Eddie's world has been totally turned on its head. Steve Harrington plays D&D? He knows who Ronnie James Dio is? He's not a complete asshole?

"How'd you know that?"

"I know things. Paladin, remember? I'm maaagic," he says, waving his fingers and grinning.

Eddie barks a surprised laugh. "You are strange, man."

"Eh," he shrugs. "There are stranger things out there."

Harrington's hands brush over the fine hairs of his knee, and he shivers as the band-aid is applied.

He wants to ask what that was, the other night at his trailer. Why he's being so kind. But Eddie's always been a coward.

"Thanks, Harrington. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah." He gets a weird look on his face, like he's got something more to say. "See you."

----

"Were you just out there with Steve Harrington?" asks Robin, a girl who he's seen around school.

"Yeah."

"Was he being… weird?"

"Yeah! He gave me these," he says, gesturing to the hello kitty bandaids on his knees. "These two guys were ganging up on me and he--"

"Took care of it? Me too. Yesterday. And then he totally wingmanned me! I don't know how he knew that i'm-- uh. Well. The point is it was, like, crazy, and I'm glad I'm not the only one because I thought I was going insane and then I saw him out there with you and I thought, maybe I'm not the only one seeing this!"

"Your name's Robin, right? I'm Eddie." He holds out a hand, and she shakes it awkwardly.

----

Steve is loaning Future-Steve some clothes, but he keeps getting them covered in blood and dirt from whatever he does all day. Fighting government agents coming after El, or something.

"You have to stop, this was my favorite polo," whines Steve.

"Sorry man," says Future-Steve.

The door opens, and Steve turns to tell the kids to get out, but it's not the kids. It's Eddie Munson.

"Hey," he says awkwardly. "That guy who looks like me? He's here."

Then another Eddie Munson walks in behind him, but taller, and with longer hair and a metric shit ton of tattoos over his body.

"Hey princess," he smiles. "Sorry it took so long."

Future-Steve runs over, and they're… kissing.

Oh.

Steve makes eye contact with Eddie and sees his expression of what the fuck reflected there.

Some girl he thinks he's seen in class comes in.

"El's downstairs saying hi to herself."

"Rob? You didn't have to come!"

"Course I had to, I wanted to see my bestie, it's been a week and I missed you and I wasn't gonna pass up the chance to freaking time travel!"

Future-Steve leans back in and gets right back to making out with Future-Eddie like they hadn't even been interrupted.

"That's us. Kissing," Steve says dumbly, mostly to make sure he's not hallucinating.

"Yeeeeahhh," says Eddie, eyes never leaving the pair. He swallows, and red rises in his cheeks. "Uh. Care to explain what the hell is going on?"

----

"Since I've seen you, has anything changed?" asks Future-Steve, sipping a cup of tea as they all sit around his kitchen table. The kids are quiet for once, avidly listening to their conversation like these people from the future are the most interesting things they've ever seen.

Future-Eddie shakes his head. "Things have been about the same. A little hectic, because getting the materials together to open another portal through time wasn't easy."

"You shouldn't have closed it behind you," says Future-El.

"Yeah, not cool. And don't give me that 'wanted to keep everyone safe' crap either. Now we have to set the chart back to 0 days."

"What chart?" asks Lucas.

"The Number of days without Steve trying to sacrifice himself chart. It was at 29! Almost a whole month!"

"When did Steve Harrington sacrifice himself for someone else?" scoffs Mike. "Look at him, he wouldn't save someone if it meant his hair would get messed up."

"He saved you. More than once, you little brat, so how about you show a little respect?"

"El," Steve interrupts. "Do you remember what happened today when you were," he gestures to the younger El.

She nods. "Hopper found me. Then I stayed with Mike, in his basement."

"That wasn't what happened this week. And you all said nothing has changed, so… if me picking up El hasn't changed your memories, this whole trip hasn't changed the future," says Future-Steve disappointedly.

"All of us still remember everything going how it went before."

Future-Steve sighs. "I was debating whether to kill Vecna or just close the gates, but if it isn't changing anything…"

"We could go back now. It was worth a shot."

"I don't want to go back without fixing things. You should leave me here, or send me back further maybe, and I can keep trying to--"

"We aren't gonna do that. That's the whole reason why we came," Future-Eddie says softly. "To get you."

Steve can feel his heartbeat in his chest watching the exchange. How had Future-Steve managed to find friends who cared this much for him? Who would find a way to go through time and space on his whims, and then would go out of their way to come pick him up even when he failed?

"No. If it'll be different in their timeline, then it's something, isn't it? I'll finish this."

"We'll help," says Robin firmly. "Duh."

"So will we!" says Lucas.

"Totally."

Future-Steve sighs. "I'm so sorry I got you guys involved in this again. This time was supposed to be different. You were supposed to be safe."

"These kids are a handful any timeline we go to," Eddie grins. "They'd do anything for you, Steve, you know that. Dustin wanted to come back with us, y'know."

"You told him no, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, he's got a chemistry test coming up. He needs to study."

"And it would endanger his life!"

"Oh, yeah, that too. He handled that well every other time though. Like, actively enjoyed it."

"Okay," sighs Future-Steve, long suffering. "Let me lead a bunch of children into danger, again.

----

Steve sits by the pool, bored. He’d called Nancy earlier, but not for long, because she had to go hang out with Barb. It’s always Barb, Barb, Barb with her.

Future Steve walks up behind him and takes a seat on the other patio chair.

“Heard you and Nance fighting,” he says. “What was that all about? You didn’t tell her anything, did you? I want to keep her and Barb away from this for now.”

“I didn’t. We were just… talking. She had to go see Barb,” he scoffs.

"You should be nicer to Barb," says Future-Steve, looking out over the pool’s blue water.

“She’s trying to sabotage my relationship.”

“She just cares about Nancy.”

"You think I don’t?”

“I know that you do, that’s why I’m telling you. If you want it to work with her, don’t treat it lightly, y’know? You gotta respect her friends.”

“Why would I listen to you? You’re dating Munson, clearly she dumped you.”

“Maybe it was mutual,” he says, too defensively to be true.

“Whatever. Can you fuck off and do whatever you came here to do and leave me alone?"

He's being unfair. He knows he is, Future-Steve is literally trying to save everyone, but Steve can't help but hate the guy. He's just so annoying, always preaching to Steve about what to do, and everyone seems to think the sun shines out of his ass. But, hey, Nancy dumped him, so maybe he’s not that great.

"Eddie said I should be gentle about this, but I don't see any reason to. You’re a real piece of shit."

"What?"

"Nobody's told you that before, have they, King Steve? But you are. You don't give a shit about anything but your image, can't even be nice to your girlfriends best friend because of it, and it's… it's such a joke. No wonder mom and dad don't wanna come home, you're a brat."

"Shut up. You don't know what--”

"I know exactly what I'm talking about,” he says, and he stands to look at Steve directly, voice rising to a shout. “Barb is dead because you couldn’t just--"

"She died?"

He stops, seems to lose all the steam he had built up in one fell swoop, and slumps back down in the patio chair.

They sit there quietly, Steve contemplating what he should say to that. If his own future self hates him, then maybe there’s something there. He knows himself best, after all. It’s not like he didn’t know mom and dad weren't proud of him, but to have his own face say it, it’s real in a way he’s never allowed it to be before.

"I would care. If she died,” he says. “I don't want anyone to die.

"It's your fault,” Future-Steve rasps, facing away from him. Steve thinks he might be crying. He doesn’t say anything.

----

Future-Eddie comes to talk to Steve later, while Future-Steve is out getting quote-unquote ‘supplies.’ He had refused to say anything more on what the supplies were.

"So, I heard that Steve's being mean to himself today,” says Future-Eddie as he joins Steve on the couch. “He never listens to me. I told him he should wait to talk to you 'til I was here, the guy’s self-esteem is lower than my high school GPA."

Steve just looks at him.

“Which is low. To clarify. I was held back. So don’t take what he said to heart, he doesn’t know you.”

"He's me. Of course he knows.”

"I know you pretty well too. You apologize too much, you always run into danger even when it’s not necessary, you’re, like, the most heroic guy I’ve ever met..."

"That's him, not me."

"Then be that guy. Except don't throw your life away because you feel guilty. Steve literally threw himself into the portal I made. Didn't even give anyone the option to go first, because he wanted to 'make sure it was safe.' Pissed me off."

"I'm not like him!”

“What’s so different?”

“For one, I'm not a fag."

He hums. "You had a crush on William Shatner as a kid."

Steve's head shoots up. He had never told anyone about that.

Future-Robin comes from the other room.

"Ugh, I wish you guys hadn't given him an early crisis," she says. “You couldn’t have kissed when he left the room?”

"I'm not not gonna kiss my boyfriend when I see him, Robbie," says Eddie, throwing up his arms dramatically.

"It took me years to get him to open up about being bi, and you're trying to do it all in a day? Look at him, he's, like, a baby version of Steven, practically in the womb!"

"I'm literally right here," Steve says. “I can hear you.”

“I’m giving him a pep talk! He’s the one who brought up gay people!”

Robin looks at Steve. "You don't have to listen to him. But we're also friends of Dorothy. So, don't be straight on our account. Or gay! Don't be straight or gay on our account! You can be… whatever you want!” She pauses, and backtracks. “ I mean, not that it's a choice, but it's your choice to… to tell people, or to not!"

Eddie rolls his eyes.

"Smooth. How are you, a lesbian, messing up the gay speech? I’ve gotta do everything around here. Steve, trust that you are very loved, and just be yourself."

"I am myself," he says defensively. "I don't see how you convinced me to stop dating girls. I mean, if you guys had the chance wouldn't you rather be normal? It's kind of gross, is all. I don't mind it, as long as you don't hit on me."

They’re silent for a long moment, and Steve smirks. He's gotten to them, and now they'll finally leave him alone.

Then the two burst out laughing.

"Oh, Steve."

"I forgot what a pill he was back then."

"You knew him?"

"From class, yeah. He was always saying shit like that. 'It's kind of gross, is all.' So were your polos. And they still are."

"I'm just saying, if a guy touches me, it would freak me out, so don't get any ideas!" As an afterthought, he adds, "And you, stay away from my girlfriend."

They just look at him in fond amusement, like he's being funny instead of insulting them to their faces.

"Do not tell him."

"I wasn't going to!"

"Tell me what?"

"Nothing!" they say in unison.

"If Nance and I aren't together in the future, uh," he swallows, nervous at the answer, "Do you know why we broke up? Like, what I did wrong?"

"How do you know you did something?"

He shrugs. He just knows. He wouldn't leave Nancy, and he was bound to fuck something up at some point.

Eddie sighs. “I don’t know if my Steve would want me to go into it. But you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Did I cheat?” His mom always said he would turn out like his father, it makes sense.

“No. You’re against that stuff, and you know it. You have never done that,” says Future-Robin firmly.

“Is it because I killed Barb?”

“Oh my God, I am gonna have a serious talk with Steve. God. You didn’t kill anyone!” says Future-Eddie.

“He said I--”

“You had a party, and a portal to the Upside Down opened in your pool, and Barb fell into it. You weren’t even at the pool at the time. Steve thinks it’s his fault, but he thinks everything is his fault. Really, we all just got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time,” says Future-Eddie sadly. “And it’s not our fault.”

Steve is quiet.

"What's going on in that brain of yours?" Future-Eddie says, poking him in the middle of his forehead.

"Nothing."

"Okay bud," says Future-Robin, ruffling his hair. "Well, we love you. Get to bed early and don't eat any cheese before bed, it gives you bad dreams."

"How did you--"

"You told me. Anyway, I'm off for the night, gonna go hang out with myself at my place and spoil movies for her."

"What?! Why?" yells Robin from the other room.

"So you can tell people at school the plots and pretend to have precognition!" She yells back. She turns back to the two of them. "We've always wanted to do that. She’s big time lonely. So it's me and me, slumber parties every night, bitches."

"You're spoiling yourself," says Eddie.

"You told your past self about the stock market. And how to make beef stew."

"Hey, cool. Beef stew is my favorite food," says Steve.

"We know," say Future-Robin and Future-Eddie at the same time.

Future-Steve comes back to the room carrying a bundle in a sheet glances between them, furrowing his brow.

"You guys aren't talking about me are you?"

"Get over yourself, not everything's about you," scoffs Future-Robin.

"Yeah, we were," says Future-Eddie.

“Okay. Well. supplies are here!” He drops a bundled sheet onto the couch. It unrolls to reveal a huge pile of weapons.

Where the hell did they get these?

----

They decide to kill Vecna instead of just closing the gates. It's a bigger risk, as by taking El with them they risk Vecna taking her powers and immediately opening more gates, but Future-Steve is worried that if left alive, Vecna might eventually find another way to open gates and they won't be able to stop him.

They trek through the Upside Down, which Dustin thinks is kind of a cool name. He wonders if he came up with it. Lucas, Will and Mike are waiting back by the gates, making sure no one approaches them, and that if they randomly close, they'll have people on the outside who can contact Hopper, Murray, or Sam Owens for help. The rest of them come to the Upside Down. Future-Steve is against the idea of any of them coming, but the others insist that it's safer this time, they know what they're doing now and Vecna isn't expecting them.

"Forgot what a dump it was here," says Future-Steve.

"Home sweet home," sighs Future-Eddie, but he glances around nervously. Future-Steve rubs his back.

Ugh, Future-Steve is so awesome. Doing that for a bro.

----

They travel through the Upside Down. Eddie and Steve stay toward the back of the group, glancing around nervously at their weird surroundings.

"Do you think we'll end up being them?" asks Eddie.

He doesn't have to clarify who.

"I don't know," says Steve. "They're… a lot to live up to."

"Yeah," Eddie chuckles darkly. "They said I died to save the Dustin kid, but I can't see myself doing that. I'm more of a runner than a fighter."

"Seriously, they said I learned necromancy to bring you back to life! And I have muscles like crazy in the future--"

"I opened a time portal and I'm a wizard apparently, and I helped kill… demon bats? Using metal? I'm like badass Gandalf."

"And in the future, I would know what the fuck you mean by that."

They laugh.

As Steve steps on a vine, it reaches out, snatching his leg.

"Oh shit! Shit!" He reaches for his weapon, a rifle Future-Steve has somehow obtained from the police station, but he's yanked out of reach.

Eddie grabs it.

"Shoot!"

"I might hit you," he says hesitantly.

"It's okay if you hit me, just do it! It's gonna reach for the others," he says frantically.

The thing is reaching out, feeling around, and if they don't sever it, it will grab more of them. Eddie doesn't like it, he would rather the responsibility be someone else's, someone more capable. His future self would do this better, but there's no time, he's got seconds to act.

Eddie could drop the gun and run, but… he couldn't. He won't.

He shoots. The thing contracts, dropping Steve and pulling away.

Steve sits up, panting. "Thanks," he says.

"It was no Gindeldalf, but that was cool, huh?"

"It's Gandalf." He smiles at Steve, who smiles back. "We might have to get you your own self sacrifice chart, mister 'its okay if you hit me a little.' Maybe we are gonna become them.'"

They run to catch up with the group.

"For the record, I think you're okay right now, Munson," Steve says.

"Thanks," says Eddie. "You're not so bad yourself."

----

They reach the Creel house very quickly. Eleven looks up the winding stairs. There is something dark up there, she can feel it. This is the center of the power.

"He's upstairs. Hurry. Don't touch anything."

"Did you think of a happy memory?" Asks the older version of Eleven. She had asked her, earlier, to think of moments of strong emotion.

El shakes her head. Everything has been fear. "I can use an angry one."

Her strongest feeling is anger, she thinks. She has so much of it, unused. Her hands shake as they walk down the hall.

"You're scared," says the older version of Eleven. She has kind eyes. Eleven doesn't think her own eyes are so kind. "Don't be. We can do it."

"I can go alone," says Eleven. "I'm strong."

"We're stronger together."

"If we fail," she says, voice catching in her throat, "You have things. I have nothing. I can go alone."

It would be less lost. Eleven would be missed by no one important. She has spent the past weeks in comfort, at Steve's house, but it came with uncertainty for the future, and the sense that it would soon be gone again. These people would go back to their future, those other children would go to their homes, and El would be captured again.

Older Eleven shakes her head, crouching to speak to Eleven at eye level. "You will have so much. You have friends, and a dad."

"Not like Papa?"

"No. He is kind and keeps us safe, and allows your boyfriend to spend time as long as the door is cracked. You like food. Waffles. They're good." She pauses, thinking. "You're not alone anymore."

She looks back at the other children, her future friends, and at her future self with kinder eyes and a reassuring grip on her hand.

Something unfurls in her chest that she's never allowed in before. And she knows she has a future, the proof stands living before her.

This is the memory I will use.

They enter the attic, and there's a thing there, like a man but wrong, red and covered in vines, power emanating from him.

Vecna. Eleven freezes. They had told her what to do, and who he was, but it's different to see it in real life.

Vecna opens his eyes.

"Eleven," purrs Vecna, reaching out vines to curl against the sides of the room threateningly. "I wasn't expecting you to find me so soon. I have plans for you, little one, I--"

El has a future.

She reaches out her hand, and eviscerates him.

"Oh," says Future-Eddie. "That was... efficient. Uh. Let's run away before the house starts to crumble."

----

The group from the future gets ready to leave, standing by the portal and saying their goodbyes.

Future-Robin and Future-Eddie, surprisingly, want to say goodbye to Steve.

“Thanks for helping us, Stevie,” Future-Eddie smiles at him.

"Uh, yeah, no problem,” says Steve. “Sorry I said that earlier. You guys are really nice. I was just being an asshole."

"We love you anyway, dingus."

He thinks she's said that today more than anybody's ever said it to him. He can’t understand these people. They seem to mean it when they say it, every single time.

"Why?"

"You figured yourself out. We've had a lot of time to talk about stuff and move on. And, you're my best friend and number one supporter in the future, so I’m trying to return the favor."

Steve’s eyes well up.

"I don't get what I could have done to deserve it. I didn't save your lives or anything.”

"We don't love you for that. I love you for that big fat beautiful heart of yours.”

“And I love you for your looks,” says Future-Eddie dryly. Future-Robin elbows him. “Ow. And all that other stuff.”

“Think about who you are, instead of who King Steve is, and it'll all come together. Okay?"

He shrugs, and looks away. "I'll think about it."

“Hug time!”

They hug him tight, and when they let go and walk through the portal, when the portal closes behind them leaving only empty air, he feels like he’s lost something crucial.

Steve looks around at the people left standing there. Lucas, Dustin, Will and Mike. Eddie, Robin and Eleven. They’re a strange bunch.

“What now?” asks Will.

After this bizarre series of events, it’s odd to think they might all go their separate ways and never see each other again. He can see it all now. Steve would go back to throwing parties and sitting in his parents house alone. Once in a while, he would see the others around at the grocery store or at school, and he would remember that, in another timeline, they could have all been something.

“You guys wanna go to the drive-in?” he asks. “They’re playing that Star Trek movie, you nerds would like that.”

They all pile into his car, several of them sitting in each other's laps to make room, and they chatter in the backseat. Eddie sits on Robin's lap up front and they argue about lore, and Steve has no idea what they're talking about.

Yeah. This could be the start of something beautiful.

A/N:

sorry about the "there are stranger things out there" line, I know it's corny, the strangest thing is that I couldn't help myself 😭

a couple things i wanted to put in but didn't want to go to the effort to write, or felt they'd distract from the main story too much:

-Eddie totally showed Will how to do magic in real life... because come on. he's Will the Wise

-Steve driving to wherever Max lived before moving to Hawkins and probably kicking the shit out of her stepdad and billy

-Nancy figuring out that somethings going on, joining the team, realizing she and Steve broke up, and the two of them having a real conversation about their compatibility as a couple

-Kind of wanted more of Future Steve lurking around and being mysterious before anyone found out who he was, but then I decided to make the kids find out immediately because it was more dramatic. Also because Steve is not someone who is very capable of being cryptic or mysterious

-El and Steve bonding and Steve realizing he does in fact love babysitting

-More explanation on magic. The time travel and necromancy were hand wavey but I think it would be cool if there's other things out there besides the Upside Down, like other alternate dimensions and systems of magic. In my head, many of Future eddies tattoos are runes for this kind of magic. Dont know how they came across it or learned it or anything, just a fun idea.

unbeta'd & unedited. If there are mistakes, no there aren't <3))

[thestrangestthing89]

I think El will be upset with Mike and Will when she first finds out. This does not mean that she will be homophobic or that she is in love with Mike and got her heart broken. She isn't either of those things.

But I think it will be hard for her to understand why they were both repressing their feelings because she doesn't have enough real world experience to understand the context. She knows what bullies are but when Mike brought up his bullying to her in Lenora she didn't understand and said it was different. She shuts him down and you can see that this hurt his feelings. She doesn't register this and she has never taken his feelings into account before. She thinks she is the only one who is different and has a hard time understanding other people's points of view.

Which isn't her fault. She has limited social experience. But I think it will lead her to not understand at first. Not only that, but she doesn't have a strong grasp of what healthy relationships look like or what different relationship dynamics are. She models her idea of romance off of soap operas because she hasn't seen this in real life and it strongly influences the way she interacts with Mike. Which is why she is shown to repeatedly not consider his feelings.

I don't think Mike is going to come out to her but I think she will find out sooner than some of the others. Because Will is her brother and I think she did start to put this together on her own in S4. So I think she sees this happening but she doesn't have enough context or social awareness to fully get why they behaved this way.

Her and Mike don't trust each other or know how to talk to each other so I think it's possible they will have a fight and she will be upset with him for lying. Mike already feels guilty about this but I do think he is done with this relationship and has been for a while. So I don't think this will be a whole conversation with them.

I think she will be mad at both of them for lying to her and also feel bad for getting in the middle of their relationship when this whole thing didn't have to happen at all.

Mike wasn't intentionally trying to hurt her and was scared which is why he lied. They were both trying to be normal and were both using each other. But that's the kind of thing that becomes clear with time and reflection and when she is in the middle of it it's probably hard to see that.

Will wasn't intentionally lying when he didn't mention his feelings and also wasn't trying to hurt her. But she unintentionally hurt him too with the way she made it sound like her relationship with Mike was going great. I think there is a lot of guilt here.

I think El will pull away from both of them for a bit. Hopper, Joyce, and Jonathan in particular could be helpful in getting her to understand this better. I can see her fixing things with Will before fixing things with Mike. He's her brother and she always wanted a family before anything else so this relationship is more important for her. Though I don't think they will ever be super close but I think they could eventually understand each other on this.

I don't think Mike and El will ever be that close. I honestly can't even picture them having a healthy conversation about this at any point. But I do think that seeing Mike and Will together in a happy, healthy relationship will be good for her. She doesn't have a lot of examples of this. Once she gains more experience with the world around her I think she will come to understand why they were repressing their feelings. But it isn't going to happen right away.

[cannibalismyuri]

hi sara if you would like to (and only if u want), could you please tell me your top 3 favorite willel scenes?

rae u have unlocked a sort of secret (um. doubtful but.) pleasure of mine which is ranting about willel. i would FUCKING LOVE TO??? :D

DISCLAIMER : i have a lot of opinions in this, and if yours and mine differ, it's because im talking about symbolism, and that's an artistic perspective, so our opinions can be different <3

WARNING : tons of rambling under the cut :]

willel reunion hug. but more importantly the part where el says : "i'm okay". it's the first time we truly get to see how much they care about each other and to what extent. their love is somewhat fate, somewhat circumstance and a whole lot of misplaced understanding, but you can see so clearly here that will was the only one who asked how she was feeling, because he knows how much stuff like this can fuck you up, and she clearly feels so thankful that he Asked and she wants to comfort him so badly, she doesn't want him to worry, because he's had to worry for himself and other people plenty and a good person, a hero doesn't let other people worry for them, and even in a good deed you can see her mindset about how she should be a certain way to make up for all the 'bad stuff' she's done to him unintentionally and now she loves him unconditionally, but she still has trouble showing it and making up for her not being able to 'save' him in season 1 and the only way she can do anything right now is let him know that for once, he doesn't have to worry about someone else. she's okay. she's okay because they're here. her Real family is here now. and it just pains me so much to see how authentically and truly they care for each other, because each of them have their own pain but they recognize the other's so well, and it's almost like they're two parts of the same coin meshed together, but you can't see where they separate. and they are so similiar, but so different, and they carry so much jealousy and guilt and shame, but the eahc one wants the other to be happy, and they know how to do that so seamlessly, because will knows el is rarely asked how She feels about something not related to her powers or. anything in general. just asked how she feels. and el knows will has been worrying about people since the start of time, and it's not just a switch she can turn off in his brain because she wants him to care about his feelings and himself for once, but the most she can do is reduce his tensions, because she's okay. she's fine now that jonathan and will and mike and even agryle, who's grown on her are here. and the way they don't know Exactly what to do, because they arne't fine tuned to each other yet, and even if they were, there are some things you can't 'fix' or 'solve', but you can quell them, and they're Trying So Hard to quell the other's problems and that's what special about them. how hard they try, for each other, for their friends, for their family, and for a world who's never given anything back to them.

2. will saying that he and el will fix her diorama together. will has grown used to things needing 'fixing' and believing that he has to fix them himself and most times he thought those things were Himself, and he gets that this goes deeper than a project, than a diorama. because el is still holding onto hope that her dad is alive, and will gets how dangerous hope Is, but he also knows what it feels like for your hope to be squashed, literally and metaphorically. one of my favorite personal thoughts is that this scene resembles will's castle byers scene with a few exceptions, but i won't get into that now. and there's a possibility he doesn't know about el's struggles with morality and violence and her powers and brenner and being a hero or a monster. but i like to think he does, so for me, her calling hopper a hero, and that being denied by angela, it means something. hopper did something great, he saved many people, possibly the world, but she can't tell angela that, but even something still heroic like saving people from a mall fire being undermined by angela, it interferes with her perception of heroes. now heroes have to be Big and Invincible and Strong and they can never be weak, and they have to save the world and sacrifice themselves in an instant to be a hero, but will Helps her. more like, he tries to, but clearly el realizes something, because at the end of the season her motive is to save max. just max, not the world. and i think she's understood will's definition of a hero now. someone who does anything for the people they love. someone who saves people, not a world. and this scene is very symbolic to me of their relationship, because el is broken, shattered. and will is helping fix up the pieces; the pieces being made up of a diorama and what a hero should be and what a father should be and what a father feel like and special powers and who she is with and without them and not knowing who she is and being bullied for not being normal when that's all she wants to be so, so badly. and will is helping, trying to help, whatever. it's still new to her that someone would want to unpack her and still love her as, if not more, deeply as they did before. anyway will is helping! her! fix! it! THEY'LL!! FIX!! IT!! TOGETHER!!, OKAY!!?

3. will calling jonathan and himself her brothers, her family. there's something about this scene, not because i think it's a very important scene symbolically or metaphorically, or that it's very neccesary to analyse to understand their relationship, but my reason for loving it is because it's the final nail in the coffin. they are family, they are siblings, and nothing will ever change that. also i love noah's acting in this and the way he says "we're family" like he actually, really believes it. because that means el's dream has come true. she wanted people who'd accept her with or without her powers and actually give her autonomy and think of her generally without regarding her powers, regardless of wether she has them. and these people, they don't consider her when the world needs saving, or when they need something drastic or using her for powers, these are people who ask her for opinions on the colors and shading for their new project in school. people who call her to ask if she needs a ride to school and if she wants to smell his shirt to see if he smells like the green plant el had caught him with once which is a herbal tea leaf. people who just want to know if she's okay and people who will fix dioramas and life and morals and autonomy and her perception of herself and the world and how It percieves her and a situation in general. people who will hug her and not want to let go. people whose heads she can cradle because another one of the people taught her that. and i especially love how will used his hands here and interrupted jonathan, because he doesn't normally do that, but that's his sister. that's el out there, in jail, getting headshots taken. and he can't be assertive most of the time, but for el he would burn down worlds and do anything to make sure she's safe. and he teaches her this, that being a hero is not about saving the world, it's about saving the people you'd do anything for, and she is one of them for him and he is one of them for her. and it just really drives the point home. that, you Know that they're family and they're brothers and they would do anything to keep her and make sure she's safe, because that's all that matters to them. not her powers, not her lack thereof, not her hair, not her normality. the only thing they care about is Her. her safety and her feelings. and that invokes something very emotional within me.

anyway Yes. those are my top three favourite scenes and my very very long reasonings for them. anyway, if you've read till here, there's a treat for u! many of my willel posts linked :D

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

[brionysea]

Mike: Why didnt you tell me about this before??? We could've put a stop to this so much earlier ????

Literally everyone, knowing exactly what he means: Yea that was kinda the point

he stood in front of basically the entire cast in season 2 saying if we kill the brain we'll fix everything and it's like. dude. like he's not WRONG but 1) where his mind goes would be Bad because people Care About Him and don't want this teenager who's in pain to Do That and 2) no one else is tactically minded enough to think "okay so let's help him control it instead" (except for maybe dustin or joyce or someone) but even if they did, how would they even DO that? it's SUPERPOWERS. and they're not even like el's so ????? what are they supposed to do? how are they supposed to plan that? especially when mike's the Plan Guy and he's too busy trying to convince them his own death would be a net positive, actually, like okay dude leave your self worth issues for therapy we're trying to brainstorm here can you please just come up with one of your ridiculously effective plans that doesn't involve killing yourself so the world can stop ending every year

[crumbleclub]

I think the part of Mike that would have died in the Fox and Kit AU wouldn't have been, like, a one dimensional state, but he would have pretty big chunks of certain aspects of who he was. Kit Mike would have taken most of Michael's ability to feel fear, as well as most of his hope and most of his ability to depend on others.

A lot of that is why he would try to save the living Mike if his life was in danger.

The final moment of life for ghost Michael was watching the culmination of everything he'd ever done wrong end in the death of his little brother. Things literally could not get worse. In the span of a moment, Michael's self image went from an unnurtured kid who doesn't understand why his life is so unfair to "I am literally the worst possible human being on the planet." While Evan was in the hospital, before the Mikes had seperated, the view was that he had fucked up so badly that could never possibly do anything good. There was no going up from that rock bottom. No matter what, Michael was destined to be horrible and every action he took would end in the suffering of someone innocent, just like Evan.

For ghost Michael, that was the end.

But living Michael?

He went on. He started to clean up the mess. He couldn't bring the dead back to life, he couldn't undo the pain Evan had endured, or that his father's victims had suffered through, but he did try to help. He visited the graves, he went to the Fazbear locations, he figured out what had been done and researched how to stop it. He mellowed out, he kept to himself, he wasn't hurting anybody else.

And ghost Michael was there, the entire time. Watching.

There was a version of him out there, trying to fix things. Someone who was kind and brave and trying so very hard to do the right thing, someone kit Mike could have been, but would never be.

Both editions of Michael are filled to the brim with self loathing, but kit Mike thinks fox Mike is destined to do good where he had failed. He's not as scared, and he's older, smarter. He's learned from his mistakes in a way the thirteen year old version of himself couldn't really hope to understand. They go through situations where the living Michael is making choices, and the Michael who died is watching, knowing that he would have run away back there, or that he would have said something a little too mean to that person, or that he would have somehow screwed that up.

The only good thing he could possibly do is protect this new Michael, so he does.

I do think a Michael who had been scooped would be able to see ghost Mike, but it might start with a near death experience before that. Maybe the prior situations where ghost Mike tried to keep him safe were ones he would have managed to get out of anyway, but not this time. The cold hand that grabs him, half in earnest to protect, and half in fear and the residual instinct of a child saying protect me, I'm scared, is the only thing that saves him.

It's not until they go back home that night that Michael sees him, but I have trouble working out how he'd react. I think there'd be an initial freeze response, but after that is more complicated.

Kit Mike can definitely see the ghost kids. Seeing Evan is really hard for him, because it's his fault and Evan is scared, but I do think the latter would show himself sometimes. They haven't really fully worked through anything, but there are little shows of I see you, I know you're there on either side. Kit Michael doesn't really know how to say that he's sorry, but he's there every time fox Mike has said it. He leaves little things, toys, at the grave and at the diner when no one is looking.

He can see the other ghost kids, too. Some of the MCI kids aren't much younger than he is. They talk, sometimes. Maybe they even play games. I don't know if Evan told them what happened, but I don't think they see him as much of a current threat. He's essentially tethered to the other Michael, and they've not seen him do much other than follow him around like a lost puppy.

Now that I think about it, that might prevent the scoop, actually. Elizabeth and everyone else who'd fallen victim to Circus Baby and co might not understand that Michael had grown into his father's face, but a recognizable younger Mike who's right there, explaining it to them, pleading for them not to hurt his only chance to do some good? They may or may not believe him, but, either way, I think kit Mike would manage to stop it. If this is after fox Mike was able to see and hear him, he could straight up just... tell him what he's seen going on.

I think that the existence of kit Mike would sort of force Michael to evaluate what he once was. As much as he hates it, it's really hard to quell the instinct to comfort and protect when faced with a scared kid promising you that you aren't going to mess up this time, because he's been watching and you've been doing all the right things that he never could.

[repentarium]

through cartilage and fluid (ao3)

Steve and Eddie talk and maybe try to save the world. I wanted to do a little tiny ficlet of like just the emotional action of a larger hypothetical story as a little exercise and I really liked it, hope you do too. <3

'I need to speak to Robin.'

'Make it quick, Casanova!' Dustin yells after him as he pulls her away to some semblance of privacy. The ground is still shaking intermittently, lightning flashing across the sky every few minutes.

'I can't do this, Robin. You know I'm not-'

'You have made it very clear that being gay is the worst thing you could be, Steve.' she levels him with a terrible look that has him backtracking. She can't think he thinks that.

'No! Not like, for someone else, it's not a bad thing, I just - it's just, I'm not, and-'

'Steve, if there was even a tiny chance it would work why wouldn't you try it?'

'It just... doesn't make any sense. It's like if you and me were supposed to kiss, and - hey maybe that's it, we're like, like, platonic soulmates! Capital P, Robs!' he smacks a hand against her arm desperately. 

'You know that's not it. That's not what it comes down to, Steve, we're wasting time! I love you but I am gonna need you to postpone your big gay crisis until after we save the world.'

'I'm not having a gay crisis! I'm straight! I like boobies!'

'You can like boobies and also weird, scrawny, nerd guys.' 

'But I. I don't.'

He is trying to put it into words, and he's thinking of his dad calling him queer and Coach calling him a pretty boy and Tommy H using whatever slurs he thinks will hit the hardest whenever he wants the ammo, and he's thinking of how he and Tommy had kissed that one time at the party freshman year and he'd shoved him so hard after, how he'd landed on the concrete and lost his breath and Tommy hadn't spoken to him for three weeks, but Dustin runs up and grabs his wrist and pulls and is complaining at him and the other kids are yelling and he gets pushed in front of the hell version of the boathouse.

Dustin is looking at him expectantly, they all are, and Steve thinks he might be having a heart attack, he's never felt so sincerely like his organs were trying to jump out of his body and he's never felt his heart rate this high, even after running pacers at practice. 

‘Do we really think this is gonna work? I mean, true love saving the day, it’s… a little ridiculous. Right?'’

‘Steve, you’re standing in a hell dimension and we’re talking about killing what is basically a nightmare god.’

Steve sighs and runs his hands through his hair. He really hates this, all of it. They shouldn’t be here, and he shouldn’t be here, and Eddie shouldn’t. They should all be eating cereal on a couch somewhere. He looks out at Lover’s Lake, which has been partially refilled by the sporadically torrential pouring rains but still looks low and weird and off, especially with the way the cracked fault runs into it. 

'Just. Can you all stay out here, please.' He says it softly and looks at them all and they're his family, and so many of them are missing, and he doesn’t know how he can fix any of it.

'I don't wanna see that.' Mike is scoffing and El jabs him hard with an elbow and glares so fiercely that if her powers were up to snuff he'd probably be halfway across the backyard by now. 

Dustin claps his hand onto Steve's shoulder in that way he has of being weirdly mature sometimes, like he's the older brother, and he says 'I'll be out here for you.'

Steve gulps and opens the moldering door, shuts it behind him even though the boards are barely hanging on and it’s not exactly keeping anything surreptitious. 

Eddie is sagged onto an old stool and leaning against the wall, ropes and chains securing him to a beam, and he's shivering. That's the first thing Steve notices. He looks around and finds a ratty drop cloth and steps forward to wrap it around him and Eddie's right arm, just loose enough to drink water when they can bring him some, grabs his wrist. 

They're all so in over their heads. Eddie doesn't need to be kept a prisoner, he needs a hospital and stitches and a warm bed, and this fuck of a passenger out of his head. 

He's looking at Steve with giant and tired eyes , safe and warm despite it all, not the silverfish shine of a predator, not today. He's still got blood and lake water crusting all over his face and clothes, and he knows he's in pain, but Eddie smiles softly at him anyway, says 'Hey Harrington, draw the short straw?' before he's coughing. 

Steve doesn't know what to say. He brushes Eddie's hair back out of his face, tucks it under his bandana again where it came loose, just to keep his face free, maybe keep him breathing clear. He's still just looking at him, looking at his bruises and blood and the way his skin is so pale it looks blue. The hand clinging to his wrist still is scarily weak and feels fragile and cool like glass. 

'It's okay.' He knows he's in the Upside Down, the closest thing to bizarro world that probably exists, but to have Eddie comforting him brings nausea to his guts and tears to his eyes, and he thinks as loud as he can that it's not fair, and he hopes if there's some kind of nice deity somewhere, that if it's not demons all the way down, they can hear him. It's not fair. 

Eddie's just some fucking guy. He plays weirdo games with all the loner kids so they don't feel so alone and he steals cans of cat food to feed the strays at the trailer park and he makes annoying jokes and talks like he's on stage like all the time. He shouldn't be infected with this shit, he shouldn't be dying, he shouldn't be the tool Vecna was using to put his best friends in the hospital one by one. It's not fucking fair. 

He wishes it were him instead. He could bottle it all up for long enough to land at the bottom of the quarry, he thinks, exactly the way they wouldn't let Eddie. Steve could have been sneakier. 

'Steve-o, I don't know why you're crying, man, but it's okay. I'm ready to go, this fucking sucks.' he forces out a chuckle that turns into another cough, this one wet enough to have him spitting blood to the side. 

'You. You're ready to go.' 

'Yeah, let's get a move on, I don't have all day here. I've been trying to tell Dustin that it's gotta be like this but youuu know him.'

Eddie thinks they sent Steve in to kill him. 

Regardless of the path his own thoughts were just on, he feels the bile rise to his throat. 

'I'm kinda glad they sent you, though. I think you'll get it done, you know? Quick and clean and easy. They don't have to see it at all. And hey, bonus, you're like the prettiest out of all of them, if I have to look at someone while I'm going out it might as well be you.' He squeezes his eyes closed and coughs again but waggles his eyebrows half-heartedly. 'I would fucking love a cigarette though.’

Steve is panting for air and it's like maybe he is the one possessed, actually, he feels like his skin is on fire and his blood feels thick and pounding in his head and his eyes feel drier than they have a right to be when they are steadily streaming tears like this. 

'Eddie. I'm not gonna kill you.'

'You sure look like that's the plan, big guy, you've got this real sad look on your face. Like I'm the shittiest puppy at the pound and today's the big day.' 

'Shut up. You know that's not even an option.'

Eddie sags as much as the ropes will let him, in relief or disappointment or just exhaustion. The earth beneath them shakes roughly again, enough to cause the lake to splash up at them from the gap in the floorboards. Time is running out. 

'Eddie, look at me for a second. I need to say something.'

He stays slouched but raises his eyes enough to look at him through his eyelashes. Eddie doesn’t look him in the eye, but Steve can see they aren't shining silver, so he plows forward before he loses his courage. He brushes aside all of the shitty ideals he has all at once, like taking off a heavy and soaking jacket, and just lets himself ramble. 

'I am so glad you're the little shits' story master.'

'Dungeon master.'

Steve waves his hand at the correction and puts both hands firmly on Eddie's shoulders. Eddie tenses again at this, sits up a little straighter but still avoids his eye. 

'And I'm real happy you've had our back this whole time. We wouldn't have made it without you.' Eddie scoffs and Steve knows he's thinking about pulling at the machines keeping Max alive, about setting the Henderson house on fire, about putting a knife to Wayne's throat. 'The rest of it wasn't you. You know that, we all know that. No one died. And you protected them, me, us, so much more than any of that, every time you could. This, right now, is you fighting to protect us.' He moves his head down so Eddie has to look at him, and his eyes are just so fucking big and so miserable. 

'It's not fair, Eds, that's what I'm trying to say. You should have graduated and gotten a shitty job at the record store and, and-and played shows with your band, and, maybe even gotten big. You should have traveled and eaten too much fancy food and seen the ocean and, and fallen in love.'

'All that was never in the cards, King Steve.'

Steve is shaking his head. He's mad again. 

'No, Eddie, it was, it is!'

'Not to be a pessimist but it's kind of hard to play a guitar with, you know…' He lifts his mangled left hand as much as he can, rattles the chains with gnarled and cramped and broken fingers. '...all this.'

'No!' Steve can't help himself, he yells into Eddie's face, must shake him a little, because Eddie's eyes widen and he coughs again. The drop cloth slides off to pool at Steve’s feet. 

'You're not exactly convincing me you aren't gonna kill me here, pal.' he groans. 

Steve lets Eddie go to pace in front of him. After a dozen or so back-and-forths he starts to open the door, to tell them he thinks he can't do it, but Dustin and Robin are there looking at him, and they're scared, and Mike and El are holding each other and crying a few feet away. He closes the door again and presses his forehead against the soggy wood. 

The thing is, the real rub here, is that he does like Eddie, that he's caught himself looking at him like he's beautiful sometimes actually, wondered how soft his hair might be in his hands, even thought about what it would be like to kiss right where his jaw meets his neck, but he hasn't had any time to think since all of this started, so it went into a box on a shelf in his brain with all the other stuff and he figured maybe later, when they got out of this, he could poke at it a little. 

He's tugging at his hair, and he can hear his dad's voice plain as if he were standing in front of him, red and spitting because he found a fucking Bowie cassette when he borrowed the Beemer. 

'Steve, something's wrong. I don't feel right, man, and I think you should leave. Just like toss me into the lake and get out of here, please. Tell Will he's gotta take over the campaign.' When Steve turns to look at him he smiles bloody, shaky, and Steve can't tell if he's lying or not but it doesn't matter. 

'No.' Steve isn't yelling anymore, he's quiet, and Eddie is crying himself, now. Steve can hear his dad's voice in his head still and it's all too much. It's not fair, none of it is. 

He walks into Eddie's space, sees his brow furrowed in pain. He smooths his hair out of his face again and presses his thumb against the wrinkles between his eyes, and he just. Breathes. Leans forward and kisses him. 

It's so easy to do, actually, and he puts his hands up to cradle Eddie's face and he can feel his fingertips against tangled hair at the base of his neck, a little scratch of patchy stubble brushing against his, can taste salt from tears and blood from both of them, but after a few seconds Eddie kisses him back and it's like his whole body and brain are on fire again.

He presses in firmer and so does Eddie, to the limit of his bindings, and he can feel his right hand touch lightly against his sweater where it can reach, grasp at it, and when Eddie's mouth opens just a little to slot a just a little closer, to press his tongue against his lips, he thinks 'oh'.

It's like sirens and lights and a parade are all running through the boathouse, and it's a stupid cliche and a shitty rom com but it's fucking real, like for a minute they're transported somewhere sweet and nice, maybe those beaches Steve was telling Eddie about, like the warmth on his skin isn't from being dragged against rough ground but from lounging around too much in the sun. 

Eddie pulls away and presses his forehead against Steve's shoulder, and Steve puts his arms up to hold him. They're both panting and Eddie's shaking and crying hard enough that Steve feels the moisture spread throughout his sweater, and because he doesn't know what else to do he softly says 'hey' and pets a hand through his gnarled hair. His voice and his breath are quivering.

They stand like that for a few minutes, just existing together with the storm picking up outside, the wind howling, before Eddie slouches in Steve's arms, a sudden dead weight. 

'Eds.' He pats lightly at his cheek, adjusts his position so he's holding him up as much as he can to keep the chain from digging into him. 'Hey Eds, Eddie, wake up, man.'

He pushes him away to look at him in the face and his eyes aren't open, but when he lifts a lid they aren't silver, just empty, and he doesn't know what to do. He feels for a pulse and one's there, but it's light, and he can't feel breath coming at all. He needs to lay him on the ground and start compressions, he needs-

'Hey! Hey, hey! Guys I need a hand, pronto, now, Dustin! Robin!' 

There's movement everywhere all at once and everyone is there, pulling at straps and cords and lowering Eddie to the damp floor. The whole time Steve is saying 'No, no, no, no, no' like a mantra, but it doesn't help, because by the time he's stretched out on the ground Eddie isn't breathing at all.

Steve lets his body fall into the muscle memory of chest compressions, pushing and pushing and ignoring the snaps and pops that are Eddie's poor already wrecked ribs, and ignoring the strain against his own injuries. 

'What happened?' Dustin is crying at his side and yelling over the sound of Steve's counting and the roar of wind and rain outside. 

'I dunno, I don't know! It was supposed to work!' 

'Was it Vecna? Was he-'

'No, it was Eddie. It was Eddie and he just, he just fell.' 

He's so worried he's losing count, worried he isn't keeping time right, but he keeps going, forcing air into his lungs and listening for breath or for a heartbeat, and it's not working, nothing's happening, just the thunder and the shock of lightning flashing with less and less time between and the occasional earthquake, and he knows everyone else is looking at each other and wondering what to do, and Mike says 'we should pull him away, we need to go'. 

Steve and Dustin yell 'No!' at the same time but Steve knows, he knows it's been full and precious minutes and every single second is a second too long, and he knows that there's no way they can carry him out like this anyway, and there is a horrible rain picking up outside, the wind blowing it in through the cracks along with the lake, and Steve is so tired. It was all for nothing. And now what, they’d have to leave him again?

Another wave comes up from the lake, this one high enough to drench them all, and as it does Steve is leaning down to breathe air into Eddie's mouth again, plugging his nose, and when the water pulls away Eddie is coughing, just a little bit but he's coughing and coughing means breathing and breathing means alive.