for darker themes weekend rec if it's not too late. wanted to recommend mutualism by rogersharringtons. absolute masterpiece.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/73122986
mutualism by rogersharringtons
@rosynov
Rating: Explicit
22,580 words, 1/1 chapters
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Tags: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Temporary Character Death, Angst, angst with a semi-happy ending, Immortal Eddie Munson, Fighter Steve Harrington, Smut, Gore, Violence, Dark Sexual Themes, Necrophilia, Drug Use, Intoxication, Blood, Body Horror, tfw you love someone so much you want them to fuck you to death, and when you come back to life you ask them to do it again, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Codependency, No beta we die like Barb, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Cannibalism
Summary:
mutualism [myĂź-chÉ-wÉ-Ëli-zÉm] ¡ noun
the doctrine that mutual dependence is necessary to social well-being
Eddie Munson has a body that can bend, a body that can break, a body that can piece itself back together over and over again. He canât help but seek out every thrill his newfound immortality brings, running away from danger no more. And when he first sees Steve again, he knows exactly what he needs from him.
Steve Harrington has a body made of rage, a body made of his fatherâs temper, a body made of explosives itching for a light. He canât help but fight and claw his way to what he thinks may be a less lonely world with bloody knuckles and a half-crazed smile. And when he first sees Eddie again, he knows exactly what he wants from him.
Against all odds, they somehow make it work. This is, after all, a love story.
This rec is a part of Theme Weekend. The theme this weekend is Darker Themes.
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2026 steddie bang project reveal time! so, so, so excited to work with @mslead and FINALLY write some vampire lore into my steddie portfolio! it only took (checks calendar) four years. that doesn't feel real. anyways! posting begins in october!
details:
rating: explicit
estimated word count: 10,000-15,000
relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley
characters: Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, The Party
tags: Canon-Divergent Post-S4, Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson Were In A Secret Relationship, Vampires, Second Chances, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Angst With A Happy Ending, Getting Together, Smut, Temporary Depictions of Grief, Temporary Main Character Death, Canon-Typical Gore
summary:
It was supposed to be simple.
Cause a distraction. Light the son of a bitch up. Get out.
A simple, three-step plan, and if there was to be any carnage, it was supposed to be him. Steve was decided the second he walked away from Eddie and Dustin, positive that he was going in the right direction, away from he Gate and towards Vecna. If there was room in the plan for it to go to shit, itâs in the face-off against Vecna. Surely, thatâs where the real danger lived.
Steve decided when he walked away from Eddie and Dustin that if someone needed to die to end this once and for all, itâd be him. Part of him had known for years, really, known that he could only get so lucky so many times. If he had to die to save the kids, to save his best friends, to save the world? Well, fuck it.
Eddie wasnât supposed to die.
Max wasnât supposed to be in a coma.
He wasnât supposed to be alive.
And yet there Steve sits, stuck in a hospital room nursing skin grafts and who knows what else, very much alive.
excerpt:
Stars flicker in and out behind passing clouds, winking at them like someone who knows all of their secrets. Eddie supposes that they do these days. The night has heard their whispers and their confessions, an altar of sorts upon which Eddie feels laid bare. Steve shivers behind him, with Eddieâs back to his chest and Steveâs back against the tree.Â
Eddie wants to turn, to hug him warm again, but he canât anymore. The flush of Steveâs blood coursing through him only lasts for so long.
âWanna go inside? Youâre cold,â Eddie whispers, his voice still foreign to his heightened hearing.Â
âIâm fine, I like it out here.â Steve squeezes Eddie tighter around his middle despite the lack of give. âA little chill never hurt anyone.âÂ
Eddie sighsâ a habit more than a necessityâ and closes his eyes as he leans back into the embrace. Heâs still shaken by their talk, by the idea of outliving Steve again. It feels obvious now, but Eddie has been so wrapped in the fact that heâd been spit back out by the Upside Down that he hasnât thought to consider his own lack of mortality. Or how willing Steve is to give his up.Â
Once upon a time, heâd thought the only real monster was forced conformity. Those days were so simple, so cut and dry. Eddie sits with the boy who he loves more than life and has to ask himself whether or not his still heart and useless lungs make him a monster. Does wanting Steve for eternity make him selfish? Does acquiescing to Steveâs requests that he feed from him make him greedy? Is being loved by someone without a beating heart dangerous?
Love is sacrifice though, isnât it?Â
Eddie knows that with an ache where his heart no longer beats. His mother sacrificed for him, Wayne sacrificed for him, and now, as Steve shivers and recovers from Eddieâs bites, gently pressed into his thigh to keep their bloody little secret, he realizes that he, too, has sacrificed for him.Â
When is it enough?Â
Eddie looks down at his feet, unblinking. His new Reeboks look exactly like his old ones, white but earning a fresh layer of dinge.Â