"For Eddie!" Rings in his head as he sits bolt upright in bed, the dream clinging to him like a hangover.
He's been having it for a few months now, but he never remembers anything except the shouts of, "For Eddie!"
He can't get them out of his head, even though they seem innocuous enough. Even in his sleep, they have weight, heft, and it gnaws at him afterwards like pain from a rotten tooth.
And no matter how hard he tries, he can't remember any more of the dream than those two words.
Eddie thinks the memory of it will fade faster today, what with the first day of school and all. He's already decided that his third senior year will be his year.
Hawkins High remains Hawkins High, so "For Eddie!" has free reign with his brain until lunch, when he spots a short, curly-haired nerd in a Weird Al t-shirt. The soft-brained audacity of these freshman--this kid was going to get eaten alive.
He speeds to the freshman, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. He squeaks and struggles, but Eddie holds tight, says, "come sit at my table."
And so, Hellfire ends up adopting Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Mike Wheeler; and, oh, how helpless they are. They might know dnd like the back of their little hands, but they're sitting ducks in high school.
Caring for his adopted children is basically a full-time job.
The dream stops.
It's not long before he forgets.
Eddie's on his way home from a deal, the sky just going yellow-y pink as the sun dips out of view, when he spots Henderson leaving Family Video puffed up with indignation. Right behind him storms Steve Harrington, hands on hips, Family Video vest flapping in the light breeze. He's talking rapidly, pointing an aggressive finger in Dustin's face, and how-fucking-dare that washed up nobody yell at Henderson like that?? He's not letting Harrington get away with bullying another nerd.
Before he can pull into the parking lot, Robin Buckley's head sticks out the video store door. She says something that has Harrington and Henderson flipping her off, but it's enough to get Steve to back off his tormenting.
He's about to pull into the lot, give Harrington a piece of his mind, but Henderson goes to the arcade and Steve stomps back into the video store. The crisis seemingly averted, Eddie heads towards home, thoughts full of what he witnessed.
He's still thinking about it the next day, when Hellfire congregates at the lunch table. Paying no attention to the ongoing conversation, he asks,"Harrington mess with you a lot?"
"Steve?" Dustin wrinkles his nose. "Yeah, I mean, he can be annoying sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Grumbles Mike. Dustin elbows him. The entire exchange is baffling to Eddie.
"You spend a lot of time with him?"
"Sure." Dustin takes a drink from his carton of milk, oblivious to Eddie's growing confusion.
"Uh, Henderson, hello." He knocks on the table. "I saw him yelling at you yesterday, wanna tell me what that was about?"
"He was mad that I asked for a ride to Lucas's." Dustin rolls his eyes.
Eddie is baffled. "And he--Why?"
"He used to be Dustin's babysitter," Lucas answers.
He looks at Jeff, Gareth, and Freak and they stare back, just as confused.
"Your mom paid Steve Harrington. Steve 'The Hair' Harrington. To babysit you?"
"No, he didn't do it for money."
And that just--what's he supposed to do with that?
"You--you all just. Know him?"
Lucas nods. "He helps me with--stuff. Looks after Erica sometimes. He's cool."
Eddie can't help himself, he snorts, mean. His three sheepies, even Mike, finally stop what they're doing to glare at him.
"He's annoying as fuck," Mike says. "But he's a good guy."
Dustin and Lucas nod, Dustin crossing his arms over his chest, defiant.
"Okay, okay." He raises his hands in surrender. "I didn't know of Harrington's numerous good deeds. In the future, I'll make sure to show him all due deference." He says it in his most formal knight voice, which makes the freshman laugh, and the matter is forgotten for the rest of lunch.
---
Steve Harrington speaks to him for the first time two weeks later.
Eddie stops at a gas station for beer on his way home from band practice. It's late, the lot deserted, quiet. Before he goes in, he lights a cigarette, leans against the van's back doors to smoke. He takes his first inhale, closes his eyes, hears another car pull into the lot. It's Harrington's stupid BMW.
And he's walking over to Eddie, hands in the pockets of his perfectly snug jeans, looking like he stepped straight out of an issue of Teen Beat.
"Bum a smoke?" He asks. There's a bashful half smile on his face that Eddie refuses to think is cute.
"What, Steve Harrington can't afford his own cigarettes?" He bites back. The smile flickers, and Eddie winces. He pulls the pack from his jacket pocket, tapping out a cigarette, handing it to Harrington along with his lighter.
Steve takes the smoke between his long fingers, nestling it between his pink lips. Eddie looks away.
"Dustin really likes Hellfire," Steve says. He looks only at the sky.
"Yeah, good." He clears his throat. "I'm glad."
"It's good for all of them. I think."
"They've been great additions to the group." If he ever imagined talking to Harrington, which he didn't, it wasn't anything like this.
"Can't believe you play that geeky game, Munson." He looking at Eddie now, the crooked smile back.
"You're one to talk," he shoots back. "From what I understand, you babysit half the nerds in town."
"Nah, I've handed them off to you now."
Eddie laughs, coughs, pulls his hair forward to hide his face. "Are you saying we share custody?"
"Gave up my parental rights." Harrington's eyes get crinkly when he laughs. It makes Eddie's stomach swoop.
With one last drag, Eddie throws his spent cigarette to the ground, stomping it into the asphalt with his boot.
"Well." He points to the gas station. "I gotta--"
"Sure. See you around, Munson."
It's only hours later that he realizes Harrington stopped only to talk to him.
That night, he has the dream again.
When he wakes, "For Eddie" reverberates through his bones. And for the first time, the voices sound familiar.
---
Eddie sees Harrington often after that. They talk. Dare he say it, but Harrington's...nice. Truly. It's shocking to discover. He tries not to think about it too much; trusting someone like Harrington feels dangerous.
Not to mention, the more he gets to know and like the guy, the harder it is to ignore the alluring pout of his mouth and the way his ass fills out a pair of jeans. That's an even more dangerous avenue to go down than enjoying Harrington's company, though.
He has the dream almost once a week now. Sometimes more. Waking up with the taste of "For Eddie!" on his tongue. He recognizes the voices, knows he does, but remembering is like trying to cup water in his hands.
---
The only thing he's ever early to is Hellfire. He likes to get everything setup at least a half hour before everyone gets there. Usually, he has the drama room all to himself. But today, as he approaches the door, he hears people talking.
"Does he remember anything?"
"I don't think so."
"Fuck, this isn't working."
He knows those voices. He knows them. The same ones he hears in his dream. It's--
"He just needs time."
"Dustin! We don't have time!"
"It's only November, Steve. Chrissy doesn't die until March."
Steve and Dustin.
For Eddie, For Eddie, For Eddie, For Eddie
Images flash through his head. Chrissy Cunningham in her cheerleading uniform in the woods; a broken body on the floor of the trailer; holding a bottle to Steve's throat...
He thinks he's going to be sick. Pain surges through his skull, stomach heaving. He takes a deep breath, fingers clenching into the door frame to stay upright.
"We have to tell him."
"We have no idea what could happen if he doesn't remember on his own."
"So, what? We wait until Chrissy snaps apart on his ceiling? We know how that ends!"
"We don't know how this works. If he doesn't figure it out--"
...A basketball player he can't name floating above Lover's Lake, arms snapped; Steve shirtless on a boat; an eerie, blue-soaked landscape, covered in shriveled trees and withered vines; hot-wiring an RV with Steve and Robin over his shoulder; playing his guitar on the trailer's roof...
His knees give, and he falls into the door with a thud. He can feel his pulse pounding in his brain, a raging fire. For a second, he goes weightless, and then Steve's arms wrap around his waist. "I've got you. Hold on, Eddie. I got you."
"I'm going to be sick," he says. Or tries to. His mouth won't move like it belongs to him.
"Shit, shit, Dustin, what do we do?"
"I don't know!"
"Eddie, man, you gotta stay awake for me, okay? Can you do that?"
And he wants to. God, does he want more than anything to stay awake for Steve Harrington, but he can't work his eyes anymore.
Dustin is saying something over and over and over, but it's only coming to him in waves, in and out like radio fuzz.
"Steve!" Dustin cries, and that comes in loud and clear.
"I'm trying! I'm trying! I don't know what to do!"
"Eddie, please--please!" And he doesn't know which of them says it, because he's slipping away, and there's no voices or pain or anything at all.
---
"For Eddie!" Rings in his head as he sits bolt upright in bed, the dream clinging to him like a hangover.
He's been having it for a few months now, but he never remembers anything except the shouts of, "For Eddie!"
He can't get them out of his head, even though it seems innocuous enough. Even in his sleep, they have weight, heft, and it gnaws at him afterwards like pain from a rotten tooth.
And no matter how hard he tries, he can't remember any more of the dream than those two words.
Eddie thinks the memory of it will fade faster today, what with the first day of school and all. He's already decided that his third senior year will be his year.
Wayne Munson living on the breadline. Wayne Munson who can't afford rent on his home AND a kid, so he moves to the trailer park and gives Eddie the bedroom. Wayne Munson picking up every shift he can to put food in his kid's belly and a roof over his kid's head. Wayne Munson who's back hurts from sleeping on the couch and doing manual labour for 12 hours a day. Wayne Munson who wouldn't change a thing, even when Eddie doesn't graduate, and then doesn't graduate again. Wayne Munson who became a very rich man after Eddie died. Wayne Munson who still sleeps on the couch in a run down trailer, while the bed lies cold and empty.
Wayne Munson who swore he would give the rest of his life to his kid the day he became his. Wayne Munson who didn't go back on that promise even after his kid died. Wayne Munson who has a bed ready and waiting when his kid comes back from the dead. Wayne Munson who readily accepts any and all changes his kid came back with. Wayne Munson who cries and holds his kid tighter than anything when he returns. Wayne Munson who quits his job on the spot to cook a warm meal for his kid and his new boyfriend when he hesitantly introduces them to each other.
Wayne Munson who lives a long and happy life, and finally passes away surrounded by family. Wayne Munson who gets the happily ever after and the ending he deserves.
Keith isn’t doing anything special when it hit him. He’s seated next to Krolia, peeling some strange alien fruit when his insides catch fire.
It starts in his fingers and travels up his arms, boiling his blood in his veins and freezing him over all at the same time. A presence in his head, one so familiar, a scarlet feline yowling in pain, in mourning.
Krolia is in front of him. Her mouth is moving but Keith can’t hear her, he’s deafened by the ringing in his ears and the pained caterwauling of Red throbbing behind his eyes, and his vision blurs—
Keith pitches forward, and the world goes dark.
~
He’s underwater, and he’s not alone. There’s someone else just up ahead. Their lips are blue and their face is slack. Their eyes are closed, and Keith can tell they’re not just sleeping. They are someone Keith knows, someone he loves.
Bubbles erupt from Keith’s mouth as he kicks his feet desperately, hands outstretched, reaching for the body suspended in front of him.
As soon as his fingers graze their wrist, they dissolve, and the world he finds himself submerged in shakes with a grief-stricken roar.
~
Keith shoots up with a strangled gasp, nearly slamming his head into Krolia’s. He’s back in the cave, he realizes, on the space whale, the Paladins light years away.
Red’s guilt and grief form a steady pulse in his head, and the realization crashes into him with all the force of a plummeting meteor.
He scrambles to his feet, ignoring Krolia’s worried exclamation of his name. The blood rushes to his head and threatens to throw him off balance, but Keith sprints out of the cave anyways, eyes burning.
Ever since his father’s death, Keith has rarely cried. He cried the first night in foster care, and he cried when Shiro was declared dead on the Kerberos mission.
That was it. He hadn’t even cried the second time Shiro went missing, because he knew he’d find him again.
Now, though, the tears burn grooves down his face as he runs through the foliage, not stopping until he trips at the edge of the riverbed where they get their water.
A sob rips its way out of his throat as he pinches himself, certain this must be a dream, because Lance wasn’t—Lance couldn’t be—
But the mournful wails of Red in his mind forced him to see the truth.
Lance was gone. Lance was gone, Lance was gone, Lance was gone.
~
He’s too exhausted and devastated to acknowledge Krolia when she approaches.
He’s on his side at the riverbed when she finds him, having long cried himself out. His eyes burn and his throat stings and none of it compares to the gaping wound that has been torn into his heart.
She doesn’t try to talk to him, just hooks her arms under his knees and shoulders and hoists him up.
Where there should be embarrassment and anger, there is only cold, endless nothing. She presses his head to her shoulder, and Keith barely registers that it’s happening.
She’s humming something as she walks, a tune that’s painfully familiar, but the memory is too far away for him to grasp.
His mother is cradling him. He hasn’t allowed himself to think of her as anything more than Krolia until this point, but he’s too hurt to further deny himself the comfort of his mother.
He thinks he knows why Lance missed his own mom so dearly, now, as he falls into a fitful sleep.
~
Red mourns for days, and Keith feels like a hollow shell that only has room for grief.
His days are filled with repeated movements and silence. He doesn’t talk. He wouldn’t know what to say if he did.
His dreams are filled with crooked smirks and freckles skin, and the image of hands gripping Red’s controls as electricity shoots from the dashboard into Red’s pilot, stopping his heart.
Keith can’t tell where his own anguish ends and Red’s begins. He can hardly tell that time is passing at all, each aching moment just an echo of Lance.
There’s an emptiness in Red’s presence, and Keith can feel it in himself.
Lance is gone.
Krolia doesn’t push him about it, and if Keith were anything more than an empty husk, he’d be grateful.
It isn’t until the eighth day of being stuck in his sorry state that Red’s mournful cries turn hopeful.
Keith freezes, and Krolia tenses beside him, hands hovering around him like she’s scared he might topple again. Keith holds his breath, feels the way the empty presence of Red suddenly becomes full again.
The energy is familiar, playful like the morning tide and comforting like the feeling of warm water sinking into aching muscles after a long day.
The energy is Lance.
Lance is alive.
Keith collapses backwards into Krolia with the force of his joy and shock, a tearful laugh slipping past his lips.
“Lance is alive.” Speaking the words into existence makes it feel all the more real, and Keith sags with relief, the wound in his chest stitching itself closed.
I had this ff idea where Shang Qinghua dies post cannon by some accident, right in front of Mobei jun. He is in denial and keeps Shang Qinghua’s body preserved in cold chambers, similarly to how Lbh kept Shizun's body for five years.
Days, weeks and months pass but Shang Qinghua is not “waking up”. Mobei jun kills anybody telling him that it is just an empty body.
In the meantime Cang Qiong mountain notices Shang qinghua's absence and Shen qingqiu together with Luo binghe discover what happened.
Shen qingqiu tells Mobei jun about sun and moon dew mushroom plant, but admits he has no idea if Shang qinghua has a backup body. Shang qinghua never mentioned it but we all know he could as well have forgotten it.
Mobei jun spends years searching for this rare plant. The north falls to almost ruin as Mobei jun is occupied with his grief driven search and no one replaced Qinghua in his court.
Years later he finds a batch of this specific plant, one of the sprouts already taking humanoid shape. It was Shang qinghua's backup body. Growing slowly but steadily.
Mobei jun builds a special greenhouse to move the small field of green and waits.
Years pass on and he waits and waits. He visits the greenhouse from time to time, to check if there was any change. He just steals a glance and walks away. Then lingers. The visits became more frequent as the body’s shape became unmistakingly Shang qinghua's. The plant’s chest begins to rise and fall one day and continues to do so. Throughout this time Mobei jun at last accepted that his Qinghua was (temporarily) dead. But he knew he would do anything to bring him back. Mobei jun is there when Shang qinghua's soul settles in and he wakes up.
The northern king had over a decade to rethink his past behaviour towards Shang qinghua. He also heard a earfull of tips from shen qingqiu when the peak lord checked on the mushroom body’s progress. Mobei jun came to a conclusion that his past actions scared Shang qinghua off and that this time he would not waste his chances.
So he attic wife’s Shang qinghua as he developed an unhealthy obsession towards him as well as separation anxiety.
No worries, An ding peak lord's life was never this luxurious, peaceful and full of hand pulled noodles. Shang qinghua once asked to leave but wouldn't press on further when he saw the pure fright on Mobei jun’s face. What can one do? Mobei jun just wants to keep him safe.
Forever✨🐹❄️✨
Also imagine Mbj watering Sqh's body with a small blue watering can 😭
Steve got the tattoo the day they held the very small, very secret service for Eddie.
He knew he had to get it somewhere hidden, didn’t wanna answer questions, not even from Robin.
The E+S on his upper thigh was precious to him, all he had left of the promises they made to each other as children and again as teenagers.
Eddie was Steve’s, even if he wasn’t here, and Steve would always be Eddie’s, even if Eddie no longer knew.
But eventually, the end of summer came, and the kids wanted to have something normal. Normal for them was a pool party that ended in a sleepover, and Steve didn’t have much choice about making it happen.
He wanted them to have something normal.
So he got his bathing suit on, forgetting the tattoo was in a spot that might show in it, and tried to have fun with them.
Robin noticed and then Max noticed, and once he’d tried getting out of the explanation twice in a row, Dustin and Will noticed.
So he just explained that he lost a dare with Tommy years ago and that got them to stop asking.
But he found himself crying in the shower that evening, trying his best not to make any noise as sobs wracked his body and it got harder and harder to breathe.
The only thing that snapped him out of it was the knowledge that Eddie would want him to go back downstairs to be with the kids. He wouldn’t want to see Steve like this.
He kissed his fingertips and pressed them to his tattoo, just like he’d done every single day since he got it.
And then he went downstairs to be with the kids.
His one rule during sleepovers at his house was he still go to sleep in his own bed. Sometimes Robin would join him, but most of the time, he slept alone.
He couldn’t sleep.
He could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones, but every time he closed his eyes and tried to drift, he’d get an overwhelming feeling of being watched.
His eyes would open and he’d look around, confused and frustrated.
And nothing would be there.
Which was good, great even. He didn’t want there to be anyone or anything there. But he did want an explanation for this feeling.
He sat up in his bed and sighed.
Maybe he could-
Something was definitely in his bathroom. The door had been closed earlier, like it always was, and now it was halfway open.
The light was off.
Steve stood from his bed silently, crept to the bathroom with his nail bat raised, and considered what would happen if he died up here.
“That’s a depressing thought even for your melodramatics, sweetheart.”
Steve barely resisted screaming at Eddie’s voice.
“Oh god. I’ve finally fuckin’ lost it,” he said as he turned the bathroom light on.
“I dunno. You still got it, baby. Even if you lost some weight in your ass.”
Eddie, or something that looked and talked like Eddie, was sitting on the sink in the bathroom.
“I did like those little swim trunks, though. Hope you wear those again for me.”
“What the fuck.”
“You know, that’s exactly what I said when I woke up alive. Kinda thought I was dying. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t.”
Steve held his bat tighter.
“Eddie? How?”
Eddie hopped off the sink and stepped closer, slowly, so he wouldn’t scare Steve.
“Not sure. But it’s not the craziest thing that’s happened.” Eddie wanted to touch him, Steve could tell. His hands were clenching into fists to resist. “I know I’m not human, but I’m close enough, I think.”
“Close enough for what?”
“To love you.”
Steve dropped the bat and fell against Eddie, burying his face in his neck and breathing him in, not caring about the dirt or sweat or grime clinging to his skin.
It was Eddie, and he’d take him any way he could have him.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’ve been trying to get back here for so long.” Eddie’s arms held him tight enough to bruise. “Won’t happen again, won’t leave you again.”
Steve’s sobs were loud, but trying to contain them physically pained him. He’d been in enough pain for months. He had to let these out.
He felt Eddie waving his hands behind him, but then heard Robin’s rambling and decided to turn.
“-and he’s been distraught for months but didn’t tell me anything and then I saw his tattoo earlier and I thought, well, must just be a joke you guys had. And then I was like, no, can’t be, because you barely spoke. Or at least I thought you did. Clearly I’m wrong. I’m super wrong. Wrongest I’ve ever been maybe.”
“Robs.” Steve’s choked voice silenced her. “You know how I told you to go for it with Nancy because I really didn’t have feelings for her?”
“I don’t see how this is relevant, but yeah.”
“She protected me, both of us, really, so we could be together. Offered to pretend to date me so no one would get suspicious.”
“Steve. Steve Harrington. You had a beard?”
Eddie snorted. “I know you said she was funny, but I’m pretty she’s my second favorite human now.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I’ve been with Eddie for forever. I mean, since we were kids practically.”
Robin was silent. A rare thing for her.
“Robin?”
“Sorry, just taking this in.”
“Yeah, Eddie being alive is a lot-“
“Not that. That is gonna come a lot later once I stop and think about the fact that he’s some kind of zombie.” Robin leaned against the doorway. “The fact that I came out to my best friend and he didn’t return the favor. That is queer code, Steve.”
Eddie laughed, and Steve let out another sob. He’d missed him so much, missed his laugh, his arms around him, his heartbeat-
“Eds. Eddie.” Steve lifted his head and pressed both hands to his chest. “You-“
“Ah. So I don’t seem to have a heartbeat anymore. As far as I can tell, I did actually die.” Eddie shrugged as if this news wasn’t absolutely insane. “So my best guess is vampire since I prefer blood to brains. But I can get by without it for a pretty long time.”
“How long?”
“Well, I haven’t had any since the day I woke up. Which is a few months according to your calendar.”
Robin held her hands up. “I’m going. Good luck. The kids are gonna flip.”
“Do not tell them. Not yet.”
Steve needed tonight, needed to have Eddie to himself before everyone else stole it for a while. He wanted to be selfish for the first time in a very long time. He knew Robin would understand.
“Sure thing. But you’re gonna have to be quiet. You’re lucky none of them heard you crying.”
Steve nodded and curled back into Eddie, placing a kiss against his neck.
“Glad you’re back Eddie,” she said as she left.
“I need a shower,” Eddie said. “Think it’ll wake the kids?”
“Nah. They slept through a tree falling in the yard last month during a storm. Just need to be quick,” Steve pulled away to start grabbing what he’d need for a shower, but Eddie pulled him back on, running his nose along his neck and sending chills down his spine.
“You wanna join me?” He asked.
“Of course I do. But we won’t be quick if I join you,” Steve smiled.
A real smile. One he realized he hadn’t had on his face since spring break.
“You wanna wait in bed for me, then?” Eddie beamed back at him.
“Can I stay in here? I don’t-“ Steve sighed. “I don’t wanna leave you.”
Eddie’s smile softened into something endeared. “Yeah, sweetheart. You can stay. Talk to me. Tell me what I missed.”
Steve told him about everything he could while he showered away the Upside Down grime, watching his shadow behind the glass door of the shower to make sure it never disappeared.
They made sure the bedroom door was locked before crawling into bed together, Steve laying on top of Eddie like he always did before.
He was heavier, but Eddie never cared.
Steve slept so long, Eddie had no choice but to go downstairs in the morning so no one would wake him up.
The chaos that ensued was nothing short of overwhelming, but Eddie didn’t mind.
He was happy to back with all the kids, even if they asked incredibly inappropriate questions about his body to find out what he was.
When Steve finally came down, he was still half asleep and barely registered the open-mouth stares of everyone as he came up to Eddie and rested his head on his chest, wrapped his arms around his waist.
Eddie smiled down at him and kissed the top of his head.
“Morning, sunshine.”
“Morning, baby.”
“Sunshine?!” Dustin yelled.
“Baby?!” Mike yelled louder.
“Make them go away,” Steve sighed against his neck.
“You don’t wanna explain?” Eddie asked him, half joking.
“Not today. Scare them or something.”
“You think Eddie can scare us? We’ve all almost died!” Lucas said.
“Fine. Eddie and I are together, have been forever. The tattoo on me is our initials. Get out of my house.”
The kids just stared at them in silence until Steve finally turned from Eddie and put his hands on his hips.
“I wasn’t asking. Get out.”
The kids scrambled to leave, making promises (threats) to come back soon.
Robin waved as she walked out with them, throwing them both a wink and knowing smile.
“So how long do you think we have until they come back?” Eddie asked, rocking them back and forth gently.
“Few hours maybe.”
“I can do a lot in a few hours,” Eddie nipped at Steve’s ear, making him shiver and laugh.
“You got super strength with your new life?” Steve grinned at him.
“I wouldn’t call it super, but I could definitely carry you back to bed.”
Steve jumped up and wrapped his legs around Eddie’s waist, arms around his neck.
