#wheeler family dynamics

[assignedpeanutallergyatbirth]

I’m not entirely sure how to articulate this thought, so bear with my internet. I would like to discuss two scenes in Stranger Things.

The first is S2 E1 starting 30:50, it’s a Wheeler dinner scene and Mike is told that he needs to put together two boxes worth of things to sell at the yard sale.

When he protests it goes like this:

Mike: “I’m fine with you giving away a couple, but the other ones just have way too much emotional value”

Karen: “Emotional value?”

Ted: “They’re hunks of plastic Michael.”

As the scene goes on, we find out that they’ve already taken away his Atari, and that the reason the Wheeler parents are doing all of this is because Mike has been acting out. This scene is particularly interesting because it falls between Lucas and Dusting finding out who Max is (plot relevant) and Nancy and Steve having dinner with Barb’s parents (plot relevant), but it doesn’t appear to have any plot relevance itself. Mike’s behavior isn’t mentioned again, and the only purpose this scene seems to serve is to show that Mike is struggling without El. Or to show that the Wheeler parents don’t understand him and do not try to.

The second scene, and the one that stands in sharp contrast in my mind, is in season 4. In S4 E9 1:52:19, right before the California crew shows up at the Wheeler house, Karen brings out a box of Nancy’s old things that she found in the attic. They are packing boxes to bring to the shelter at the school. Nancy finds her childhood stuffed animal Mr. Rabbit in one of these boxes, and Karen says “It’s okay if you want to save him, you know?” She acknowledges that this toy has emotional value to Nancy, while she scoffed at the concept that Mike’s possessions might be important to him.

Obviously the context of these two scenes is very different. Mike is being punished, while Nancy is donating voluntarily. In season 4, Hawkins has just experienced a massive earthquake and I’m sure Karen is very worried. She even expresses more worry towards Mike than we have ever seen when he arrives. But there is no reason why she should not have been this sympathetic in season 2. By that point Mike had already been through some shit, and even if she did not know the full extent, she knew that Will was presumed dead and was visited by the government officials who said that he was in great danger. But in season 2, she brushes it off as “We know you’ve had a hard year, Michael, but we’ve been patient.” She acknowledges his struggles and immediately dismissed them.

And I know that comparing scenes like this gets a little iffy, and that the Duffer brothers haven’t watched season 2 in a while — hence Will’s birthday. But the one thing that stays consistent is character writing (Mike’s character is consistently written, and I will probably have to word vomit a post about it at some point). So while I doubt that these two scenes are supposed to stand in contrast, the family dynamics that they highlight do stand out, and I feel that comparing them in this way is fair game.

Which gets me to the point of my argument. So often while discussing the Wheeler parents, we focus on the differences between Ted and Karen. But they both kind of suck. More significant, I would argue, is the difference in how the parents treat Mike and Nancy. Karen especially connects with Nancy more often than she does Mike. Any heart to heart conversations that we see her have are with Nancy. Her character building is done through connecting with Nancy, most especially the scenes after Nancy is fired from the newspaper. With Mike, the only support he seems to get from his mom comes in the form of 3 hugs: after they find “Will’s” body, after the Byers’s move, and after he comes back from California. If you read the novelization Lucas on the Line, Karen tries to help Mike in his (apparent and obvious) depression by inviting Lucas and Dustin over. She plans this whole themed sleepover, but then calls her son foul to Lucas, in front of Mike. She disregards anything that is important to Mike, yet still expects him to come to her with important things. However with Nancy, she makes more of an effort. She reaches out to Nancy first, after Nancy was fired from the newspaper. Karen has to knock on Nancy’s closed door in order to have this conversation. This is a decent amount of effort put in. Karen makes the first move, whereas with Mike, she relies on him to reach out, even going so far as to stop Ted from talking to him after “Will’s body is found because ��He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

And please note: I have nothing against Nancy. I love Nancy as a character. I just think that the way the Wheeler parents, especially Karen, treat Nancy and Mike is very different and worth noting.

[pinkeoni]

There's only one Jonathan Byers. No one else is like him. The parentified older brother with an abusive-abstentee father from a low income household who had to step up both in terms of helping out the family financially and looking after his little brother.

Nancy's relationship with Mike is not like Jonathan's is with Will, but she's not a bad sister because of that. Mike's relationship with Holly is not like it either. The Sinclair sibling's relationship is different too, and that's all okay. They all have unique dynamics.

[infiniteentertainment]

i love this scene because it's so very s1 them. average suburban girl nancy, desperate and fraught over the disappearance of her friend, no awareness of the horror that awaits her, snaps at her mother for being another person not listening to her. and persistent prototypical housewife karen, unequipped to handle the increasing pressure facing her good american daughter, still clinging to her loveless marriage and the normalcy of her nuclear family, reaffirms her role and attempts to connect.

[lighthouseas]

begging people to understand that "mike is not being abused by ted and karen" and "ted and karen are not good parents towards mike and this is something that we are supposed to take notice of throughout the show" are two statements that can and should coexist

[lukas-dusk]

Pov : Eddie survive the upside down and just join the babysitter club

Jonathan : You really put everything aside and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

Nancy : Three counts of resisting arrest.

Robin : Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks.

Steve : Several traffic violations.

Argyle : Also, that’s not our van.

Eddie : I have never been so terrified in my life.

[cringengl]

So I just watched the music video for Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat, and there were A LOT of Wheeler family parallels....

The first time you see the family of the 'Smalltown Boy', it's clear that there are tensions within the family, especially with the father.

The Wheeler family are dishonest with eachother and are clearly isolated despite on the surface appearing like a strong family unit with their nuclear family image. Here's the Stranger Things version of the meal scene:

The father is very distant and is basically Ted Wheeler's better-sighted clone: outfits, dynamic, personality and all.

Whilst the mother doesn't look as alike, the dynamic between the mother and son and Karen and Mike are also very similar.

They're closer than the father and son/Ted and Mike, but they don't understand eachother, shown in Stranger Things in s1 when Karen tries to ask Mike to open up after Will's disappearance, Mike doesn't tell her the truth about what's going on and Karen still doesn't know about the Upside Down and what her kids have been through even after 4 seasons. Similarly, "Mother will never understand why you had to leave" is a lyric from Smalltown Boy.

The mothers easily hug their sons, but the fathers stay away, because although it looks like the father in the music video is going to hug his son, he doesn't, he just gives him a crumpled (£10?? Idk it wasn't very clear) note as his son is leaving. Similarly, Ted hangs out in the background whilst his son is clearly upset.

Finally, there's this scene, where the boy has been brought back home by a police man after being beat up by some homophobes in the music video, compared with Karen and Ted being questioned about El's whereabouts in s1, just look at the similarities!!! Especially since this is the scene where Ted says "our son with a girl?".

Although on first thought it's confusing why this song about being gay is in Mike's playlist (the very first song in it as well) instead of Will's, as Will's queercoding has always been more obvious/explicit, especially as I'm pretty sure the playlists were made after s2, when mleven was most likely at its peak popularity. However, it actually makes more sense if it's in Mike's playlist, as not only does it suggest he's gay, giving clues for his overall narrative arc, but the role and dynamics that the family in the music video and the Wheelers share are almost indistinguishable from each other and completely different to the Byers.

So I wonder if the Duffers watched this music video before beginning writing Stranger Things???

[fairchilds-glasses]

Hello I’m being extremely normal again

This shot just makes me so happy 🥹

[runninguplenorahills]

This is so random, but I’m studying for my linguistics midterm rn and I’ve arrived at the slides about Occam’s razor which has a follow up slide warning about oversimplification.

And it really made me think about some people on byler tumblr who basically just water down everything that is shown to us in the source material (not just about byler), sometimes even fully disregarding canon information, in the name of Occam’s razor.

It’s the same thing with people who state the exact opposite of what the creators say about the show and pretend like they’re in the right because they’re film students.

Yes, production errors happen and Occam’s razor is valid but if the source material and the people involved in making it directly state/show that they’re being incredibly precise to the point where it doesn’t make sense that very easily avoidable inconsistencies in costume design are just “production errors”, and that we have to look beneath the surface because the simplest explanation does not reflect the truth of what is happening, then maybe Occam’s razor and the fact that you learnt that production errors can occur just aren’t as relevant to this show as you think they are.

[wibble-wobbegong]

yeah so um let’s talk about how mike has parallels with ted forced by karen through his clothes and when he tries to act normal but parallels with hopper when he’s being himself, specifically with el, and how hopper is the one who mike hugs because in his heart mike truly is nothing like ted and ted could never be a proper father to mike the way hopper has been and that’s why we get a hug specifically between these two adults and mike. karen is still mike’s mom and he loves her but hopper? that’s mike’s dad. fuck ted.

[streets-in-paradise]

Andy *to jake and junior*: I never could get you little grubs to pull a trigger on a single deer.

Jake: Talking about Bambi, man.

Andy: You don't shoot Bambi, jackass. You shoot Bambi's mother.

[mikesbasementbeets]

the byers/wheelers and breakfast as a familial love language

[pretty-emo-dad]

If I ever come across as a Nancy anti I promise I’m not, she’s one of my favorite of the older teens and I love her, but when I’m talking about characters like Mike and Jonathan, some of their main conflicts are the result of her stubbornness/inability to recognize when she’s wrong

[butchjess]

anyways stranger things netflix s1 is crazy insane i forgot how good it was. the waythe byers and wheelers function as narrative foils within the story itself its jonathan and joyce and will who care for each other so much more openly and easily than the wheelers ever have or will how they’re a little broken but together and theyre the heart of it all and in contrast the wheelers are so trapped within their own respectability and expectations and conformity to the Nuclear Family Postcard and mike and nancy ask for help and they’re met with their parents who cannot possibly understand them. and that this manifests in nancy most acutely who is trapped by her own life and her future the same way her and jonathan are stuck between genres. too young for the detective noir and too old for the fantasy adventure. Like. she sleeps with steve and she walks home alone and she nearly cries when she’s confronted on what’s happened like sometimes the Natalia Dyer Line Delivery will just wallop you on the head why did she say it like that. you can tell me anything. nothing happened. Nancy. nothing. happened. she is literally um a tragic greek heroine.To me. and how she’s paralleled to joyce they ask for help and nobody believes them and they need SOMEBODY to believe them and GOD s1 hopper. he’s like an open raw wound that’s never going to heal bc he won’t let it. st1 thesis statements every single episode thesis statements everywhere!! you act as if you’re all alone out there but youre not!!! you’re not alone!!! do you ever get that feeling, like… you’re cursed? you’re not the monster. you are not the monster. what happened to the lost knight? and the proud princess? and the weird flowers in the cave?

[miraculousagentsofkrypton]

All The Better To Protect You With, My Dear Ch 2

A Werewolf Wheeler Siblings AU - Can be read as a one-shot, but here's the link to full fic on Ao3.

Nancy tenderly wiped some sweat off her little sister’s face. The small girl had been feverish for hours now, and Nancy was concerned. What if the sickness got worse? Why couldn’t she do anything to fix this? Her mom came into the room, bearing a tray of soup and saltines. Pausing at the end of the bed, she smiled tenderly. “I swear, you're acting like more of a mother bear than I am.”

“I’ve never seen her this sick before! And what if something happens tonight while Mike and I are… occupied. I don’t want to have to be locked up tonight,” Nancy pleaded, “You know that we would never hurt Holly! Please Mom.”

Mom sighed and sat down next to her, carefully placing the tray to the side. “Sweetheart, you know that you can’t guarantee that you won’t try to leave the house. You’ve never exhibited much control as a wolf. You’re still struggling against your instincts as a human. I had to tear you and Mike apart yesterday so that you wouldn’t maim each other.”

“That was friendly-fighting! It relieves stress! We weren’t going to seriously hurt each other!”

“Sweetheart, both your tail and your teeth were shifted. You were trying to bite him. ” 

“So?” Nancy whined petulantly, “He would have been fine. We do that all the time.”

“People don’t do that, Nancy. I’ve told you before, Mike and you both need to learn how to curb that instinct. Someday someone’s going to notice something if you keep accidentally shifting and trying to bite each other to resolve conflicts.”

Her mother turned to start feeding Holly some soup, and Nancy quickly moved to help shift her sister into a more upright position. Holly whimpered in discomfort, and curled into her sister’s side. 

“Dolly-dish, this is going to help you feel better and then you’ll be right as rain within a couple days.”

Her mother had to pull Nancy away when the time to shift came. 

Mike was already in the safe room when they got there. “You’re cutting it awfully close today,” he teased.

Nancy stuck her tongue out at him. 

I have to watch Holly tonight, so you two stay safe. No funny business, got it?”

“Yes, Mom.” they chorused.

The constant aches and pains she had lived with for the last few days soon started intensifying after the door closed behind their mother. Shockwaves soared through every inch of Nancy’s body, sending her to her knees. They’d learned that fighting the transformation made it longer and more painful, so she let the magic wash over her. It soon passed, and she found herself sprawled across the floor. Smells and sounds washed over her, overwhelming her senses. It took a minute to get her bearings, like always.

Mike was the first one up tonight, and he pounced on his favorite chew toy, a large deer bone that Mom had somehow procured. They didn’t lose themselves to the wolf or anything like that. There was no separate entity living in their heads. Mike was still Mike, and Nancy still Nancy. Transforming just made human preconceptions feel a little fuzzier, and instinctual things more predominant. 

Today, Nancy’s instincts were screaming at her. She needed to keep watch over her little sister. Fully human Nancy may have given in to her mother’s wishes, but right now she couldn’t quite comprehend why. Holly needed her. Therefore, she must do everything possible to be there for her. 

She rushed to the door, scratching and pushing with all her might. She howled and whined, trying everything she could think of to get her mother to open the door. Mike watched on in confusion. Eventually he caught her eye, and she could read the question in his tilted head. What’s wrong with you?

Nancy turned fully to him, pleading in her body language, Sister needs me. Please help.

He didn’t move.

She hated having to do this, but she lowered herself to the ground, ears fully back, and whined. Please.

He huffed, rolling his eyes, but he did get up. He rubbed his face beside hers, seeking to comfort her. Mom’s watching over her. She’ll be fine. 

She pulled away, shaking her head. No. I need to go. 

Fine. 

Nancy jumped up, running in circles around him excitedly, her tail wagging furiously. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

He barked to get her attention again. She forced herself to stop running, but her tail kept wagging as she looked at him. 

The sarcasm was evident in his expression, How exactly do you expect me to help?

It was a good question. The door wasn’t usually locked, because wolves couldn’t turn round doorknobs and their mother was also usually present to watch them. There had to be a way with two of them. 

She went up to the door, put a paw to one side of the knob and pushed up. It slipped. Wait. She had an idea. She barked excitedly, and moved her head. Mike, get over here! I have an idea.

He complied, watching her in question. She put her paw against the side of the knob again. She barked and repeated the gesture. Then she moved to the other side of the knob, and put a paw there. 

He tilted his head in question. 

She moved her paw again. Put your paw there!

He finally got the idea and copied her. Actually getting the right timing and pressure angle to open the door took a few tries. One time they managed to turn the handle, but didn’t get the door to open at all, leading to another failure. Eventually they swung the door open. 

Nancy couldn’t believe it, that actually worked!  

As soon as Mike realized he was actually free, his ears perked up and he booked it for the outside door. That handle only required a paw and an understanding of how door handles worked, so he wasted little time getting himself outside on a full moon for the first time since their mother had completed the safe room. 

Nancy was so tempted to follow him. To actually be able to run, for once, sounded so amazing. She made it a step before the idea of her sick sister pulled her back to the original goal. No, Holly needs me. So instead she trotted up the stairs, barely remembering in time that she needed to be quiet because Mom would be mad if she let Dad see her. 

 She snuck through the house right up to where she could hear Holly’s raspy breathing. Their mother was asleep in the master bedroom, resting while she had the chance. Nancy thought that was perfect, as no one could stop her from climbing onto Holly’s bed and curling her body right up next to her. She fell asleep, content with the knowledge that she would be there if her little sister needed anything.  

“NANCY RENAE WHEELER! What do you think you’re doing!?” 

She jerked to her feet, startled straight from sleep. She looked around for danger, careful not to step on Holly. When she didn’t see anything, she stared at her mother in confusion for a few seconds before she realized she wasn’t supposed to be here. 

Oh no.

Her tail went between her hind legs, and her ears and head fell in guilt. 

Before her mother could say anything else, Holly started crying, having been woken by the chaos. Nancy immediately lay back down and booped Holly with her nose. She licked the tears from her face as Holly’s cries turned to laughter. 

“Doggy!”

If Nancy were currently capable of smiling, she would have. Instead, her tail once again started moving in a happy dance for her sister. Holly sounded much better than she had the day before. 

Mom groaned, “How did you even get out? And where’s Mike?”

As if called by magic, a muddied and happily panting Mike appeared in the doorway. He trotted up to their sister’s bed and sniffed her, checking to see how she was doing. 

“You went outside.. Of course you did. At least your sister had the sense to stay inside,” she groaned. “Well, as you both can see, Holly is doing much better. She will be fine. You two are going straight back to the bunker. Don’t think you’re getting away with this scot-free.”

When they didn’t move right away, she waved at them, “Go!”

Satisfied that she had helped her sister, Nancy obeyed and playfully snapped at Mike’s ear to get him moving as well. 

Their mother found them playing tug-o-war when she came downstairs to lock them both back in. 

[conflictofthemind]

Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

I've long thought that a major focus of Season 5 will be the contrast between the families of The Wheelers and The Byers, and exploring how non-traditional family environments can be freeing vs the oppressive structure of the nuclear family.

In a Wrinkle In Time, Camazotz is a planet controlled by the big bad of the book, the "IT", who forces the citizens into a conformity that resembles American suburbia. All of the houses the same, the citizens the same, doing the same things at the same time without individual identity. Without anything different. Different means a lot of things, but with Stranger Things dropping different in reference to Will's identity and the presumable themes of this season, it will heavily codify as queerness and how it threatens the cisheterosexual family model.

Henry was raised in the 1950s, a decade still revered by conservatives for it's traditional family dynamics that supposedly were the peak of culture and happiness for all. That was all a lie, of course, and Henry knew so as he shows to Nancy and Eleven during his monologue. The second most conservative decade aside from the 1950s in American society is widely considered to be the 1980s.

The Creels will serve in parallel to The Wheelers; the worst example of what they could become and the damage that this type of family could do to a child that is different in any way. Notice how Vecna selectively shows Nancy visions of The Wheelers dying, but not anyone else she may consider family or friends (like Jonathan).

That is; unless they change their ways and come together as a healthy functioning family facing their traumas, The Wheelers will be toast.

Karen has been moved up to a main character role this season. Ted's actor says the father starts to show up more for Holly (hold that) and realizes he wants to act differently. Holly has been recast. Finn has said Mike goes on a much more personal journey this season, and steps up as a leader.

Oh, also: the catalyst for all of this is that Holly goes missing. The contrast will help show how the Byers (including El and Hopper here) were able to pull together and help solve Will's disappearance, versus how the Wheelers as a closed off nuclear family grapple with Holly's vanishing.

Each of the Byers is in some kind of a non-1950s conformist relationship, but particularly Will (not in one now but we all know he will be). I think El might represent, after she breaks up with Mike, the fear of the unmarried woman being satisfied without a husband. The above shot really emphasizes my point.

I predict that Will will end up coming out to his family rather early on, and we will see all of them immediately accept him with little surprise or push-back. Will is a visible gay man who comes from an open minded non traditional family (divorced, non-married, adoptive) that is willing to have honest conversations.

But this theme will place the most focus on the Wheelers. Mike is the main character of said family and this will particularly focus on his arc, and his acceptance of his queerness in the midst of suburban conformity.

He is not visible, he comes from a Reagan-supporting family who don't communicate with each other. He is not particularly close with his family like Will is. He pushes his feelings down and tries his damn hardest to be normal despite it all. His trauma hasn't really been addressed at all. He is falling back into his usual habits - the one thing he dared to do different (grow his hair long) has gone back to how it was.

It's not all doom and gloom though. This season above all will be a redemption arc of the American nuclear family, how they choose to escape their conformity and learn to be there for each other, thus overpowering Vecna. Not that the Wheelers are going to end this personally.

"Great, more hysteria. Just what we need". "It's the news, now indistinguishable from the tabloids".

[shares-a-vest]

@steddiemas Day 16: Angst-Themed (Saturday Sentence Starters)

wc: 1k | Rated: T | cw: Steve’s parents are arguing (he is overhearing it briefly but there are some descriptions of yelling), toxic family dynamics, unstable marriage, cheating

Tags: Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unstable Marriage, Toxic Family Dynamics, Cheating

“I don’t want to fight with you, Caroline,” Steve hears his father bellow from downstairs, “Not tonight.”

He snaps his comic closed and tosses it on the floor.

Steve has no idea what his parents are arguing about. Hell, they don’t even need an excuse these days, he thinks. Someone can so much as fart and it will start a goddamn screaming match.

He guesses he shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the holidays and his parents are both off work until the beginning of the New Year. It’s snowing heavy out so they can’t go down to the Martens’ house – their best friends-come-buffer zones.

“Oh, John!” his mother chides before there is a lower muffle that he can’t quite make out.

While being hard of hearing allows him not to hear anything below a shout, the broken argument is still frustrating.

His parents might not need an excuse to fight, but he’d still like to know what it’s about. Gain intel for the inevitable coming days of being stuck in the middle.

Steve has a few guesses as to what it could be.

His mother bought a new car with her Christmas bonus finally topping up her bank account and thus justifying an indulgent and expensive purchase. His father always hates that.

Steve smirks.

If his father didn’t like that kind of independence, why did he marry a high-paid lawyer?

But, the more likely scenario considering his father’s apparent insistence he ‘doesn’t want to fight’ is that he is cheating again.

Cindy, his secretary, or someone new – take your pick.

The telltale signs have been there for a month or two. A renewed cheery attitude, longer office hours, a fresh haircut and new clothes.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, it might be a little bit of a motivator behind his mother’s car purchase too – 

“ – Cindy!” his mother shrieks.

Yep, there it is.

Steve rolls off the bed, planting his feet on the carpet right by his shoes.

“Fuck this,” he mutters, scooping up his keys and wallet from the nightstand.

He’s just about halfway to Forest Hills, driving at a snail’s pace because he can’t see for snow, when he begins to regret his decision to leave the house.

Maybe he shouldn’t just barge in on the Munsons unannounced. Like sure, his friendship with Eddie is… teetering on not being entirely platonic. But this might be too much.

He always thought it was too much when he’d walk down to stay at Carol Perkins’ house for an impromptu sleepover. And there was always this awkward, knowing going on with the Wheeler’s when he was dating Nancy and spending a lot of time just hanging about.

Lingering for too long in the kitchen chatting to Karen or watching a game with Ted until the guy started snoring too loud to hear the commentators.

It was all there but largely unspoken.

Only Robin knows the details. And even then, he’s sure that her father’s friendliness towards him was partly due to his daughter telling him all about the trouble at the ‘ol Harrington house. He doesn’t blame his best friend for likely doing so. And he doesn’t consider it blabbing, either. Robin’s parents – her whole family – are amazing.

But some of his parent’s shit is stupid at best, hard to take at worst.

And he is scared to let Eddie in on it.

It’s too much.

He’s too much.

Being a Harrington is too much.

Wayne answers the door with a cup of cocoa that seems glued to his left hand in winter.

“Steve,” he says, voice gruff as ever despite a warm smile.

“Hi,” he replies, looking down at his snow-covered boots, “Eddie in?”

Of course, he’s in, his van is parked outside.

Steve can feel the warmth from inside the trailer. See the twinkle of lights from the Munson’s small, but heavily-decorated, Christmas tree. The smell of cocoa overpowering the ever-present hint of cigarettes.

“Eddie!” Wayne calls over his shoulder, “Steve’s here.”

In a flash, Eddie runs to the front door and practically bumps into his uncle.

“Come in!” he insists, wide-eyed as he looks past his shoulder at the falling snow.

And before Steve can even step in, Eddie is pulling him by his parka sleeve. He only just manages to scrape off his boots on the ‘Home Sweet Home’ adorned welcome mat.

“What some cocoa?” Eddie offers, eliciting a grumble from Wayne.

“I asked if you wanted some,” he chides.

“But Steve might want some,” Eddie grins.

“How about I heat up a pot now, and whoever wants some’s got it?” Wayne suggests, pursing his lips at Eddie and moving to the stove before his nephew can make any more requests.

“Follow me,” Eddie says, grabbing his hand, “I made cookies.”

He wiggles his brows and begins leading Steve to the kitchen.

As he is pulled along, Steve tries not to think about the fact that they are holding hands. Or how he wishes his fifteen-minute-ago Self had thought to bring an overnight bag and allowed himself to assume the Munsons would allow him to stay the night.

But it might be even harder to stop himself from squeezing his friend’s hand and lacing his fingers with Eddie’s.

Eddie lets go of his hand to gesture to the tray of Christmas-themed shapes, all looking a little too dark for gingerbread as they rest on the kitchen island.

“Pick one, Big Boy,” Eddie beams.

Steve reaches for a reindeer, flexing his fingers as he goes and commits the feeling of Eddie’s rings to memory.

“No!” Eddie shrieks, lightly smacking his hand enough that he drops it, leaving the cookie to snap in half as it falls back onto the tray, “His antlers are broken.”

“Christ, boy!” Wayne curses, stirring the pot on the stovetop.

Okay, a tree then…

“The star is missing!”

A bell?

“That was already snapped in half when I got them out of the oven”, Eddie admits with a tight-lipped smile.

Steve places his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes. To him, they all look at least a little crumbly – some he would even describe as lightly charred.

“How about you pick one for me then, Betty Crocker?” he chuckles.

Eddie giggles, twirling a lock of his hair as he carefully considers the tray of mostly broken, dry cookies.

He watches Eddie for a long enough time that Wayne pushes a mug into his hand, the warmth of Eddie’s hand remaining in place due to the heat of the cocoa. It’s a Chicago Cubs mug, one that he finds himself holding at some point each time he is here as if Wayne considers it Steve’s own.

He smiles for the first time in three days.