Again - Part 1
Part 2 | Full list of Again series links inc AO3 Link
Steddie fic where Steve and Eddie are in their mid 30's and everyone has sort of drifted apart
Thank you to @gamerdano for all their help with this 💚💚💚
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Steve loved being a Dad.
Not just the caring protecting aspect, but surprising to him more than anyone, he loved the learning aspect. Nearly every day, he was learning something new. For example, today, he was learning that you can now play games in the library. That was definitely not allowed when he was a kid.
The only thing Steve loved more than being a Dad was being a Single Dad.
He didn't dislike his ex-wife. They got on really well to this day, and being a single parent was really hard, truly, but it meant that no one was hovering around telling Steve how to do things, and he didn't have the added pressure of being responsible for meeting all his partner's needs as well as his kids. He could just focus on them, and when it was mom's week, maybe he'd go on a date (probably not), treat himself to something (a haircut at most), get involved with a hobby (play a video game he's forgotten all the controls to), get some exercise (a run, god bless the invention of cell phones and in-ear headphones).
The problem for Steve was he didn't like being away from his home too much. Home was safe.
When the kids were away, he didn't like to go too far in case something happened, and they needed to come back, or one of them wanted to speak to him. If he went someplace, he'd only be worrying the whole time. The cell phone let him get a little further afield, but there was just something about being near the house phone, and he hadn't worked out how to get his cell phone out of whatever language his youngest had accidentally put it in. He'd figured out some of the main menu options by trial and error.
Steve can't believe how much had changed in his life over the last 15 years. Friends he thought he'd keep for life were now mostly just names on a Christmas card list or an occasional phone call. He often thought it was because, like himself, seeing them just brought it all back, and everyone deserves to move on, didn't they? Just be normal, average human beings.
He'd gone from King of Hawkins High to Monster Slayer to Doting Husband to Suburban Dad to Single Dad in what felt like a blink of an eye.
Steve pulled into a spot in the nearest parking lot and turned around to his eldest child, Mackenzie, 13.
"Want me to come in with you, Mac-attack?" He asks, turning to the back seat.
"Want? No! Need? Unfortunately, yes!" She frowned, lifting one headphone slightly before letting it spring back to her ear, as she returned to gazing hatefully out of the window like she was trying to set the world on fire with her mind.
Steve turns back in his seat, bites his tongue and reminds himself that Mac has got it tough.
It's not that he and his wife are divorced, causing the current issues. Sure it's a historic contributing factor, no doubt, but this was because she drew the short end of the stick, hitting puberty earlier than most, and when you're 11, that fucking sucks. The world could have at least waited two more years or something.
That's why they were here; Mac's friend group was solely boys. Steve and his wife had no issues with that. The other kids' parents in the group didn't have a problem with that until a few months ago. The changes were small. She wasn't allowed at sleepovers anymore. Then there were the comments from some of the moms, or maybe she shouldn't be wearing that spaghetti strap vest anymore; perhaps you should invest in something more supportive. Then she wasn't invited to things because they weren't for girls movies, sports events (which Steve was certain was because she would have annihilated them all at them), or parties. And because she was being pushed out and would miss out on group happenings and banter, the worst thing of all happened:
They kicked her out of their dungeons and dragons party.
Steve was sure that soon she'd lose interest in the little nerd game anyway, but as it stood, she still wanted to play on, and she saw this poster in the library last week, so here they are. Steve looks in the rearview mirror. She's not glaring out of the window anymore; she looks scared. She didn't know if in there it was going to be precisely the same or not. "Let's do this!! Whoooo!!!" Steve shouts loudly, clapping his hands to break her out of her thoughts, which gets him an eye roll. He'd take it, he thinks and smiles.
Mackenzie wasn't the first person he'd heard about the game from, he knew a few of his old friends played it, but she was undoubtedly the first person to show him the magic of it.
The escapism, the collective storytelling, the adventure, your character's fate depending on a roll of the dice. Once he understood, he made sure to get her everything she needed. She was never happier than after a game, whether it went the party's way or not because she had a story.
Corey, 8, was deeply engrossed in his Gameboy. "Hey, Cor, can you peel your eyes away just until we get inside, alright? There are cars all around, buddy" Steve gets a grunt in reply and wonders if the next 5-10 years of his life will be learning to decipher grunts from his children because it was the only language they were willing to speak to him.
Mackenzie is clutching her books to herself. There was room in her backpack for them, but Steve wondered if she was using it as some kind of shield or line of defence. He wants to say, don't worry honey, I'm right here, but he knows how well that goes down, so he lets her take the lead, "Just let me know what you need me to do, honey." He gives her a small smile as she turns to take to the woman at the counter, who seems to be directing her elsewhere.
Books held firmly against her like some kind of magically imbued chest plate and her eyes boring into the floor, she speed walks past Steve towards the front door, "Hey!! Where are you going??" He yells, running after her while making a mental note of Corey's location. As he should have suspected, he is safely in a chair, thumbs clicking away.
"Mackenzie Robin Harrington!!" He shouts, and she stops in her tracks. He's glad to see at least one thing still works. He bends down to look her in the face, "Honey, what is going on?"
Her face is bright red with embarrassment, and Steve remembers the kind of parent he wants to be, "I'm sorry I embarrassed you by shouting your name like that. I just wanted you to stop walking, so I could talk with you and understand what's going on, ok? That's all. We don't have to stay if you don't want to. I just want to make sure you aren't missing out. Please?" Steve tries his best. He sees her swallow, and her eyes flick up to his for a moment, "I got the time wrong. We're late, like nearly a whole hour late."
"I thought this was just a workshop for character creation type thing today, not an actual game session? I'm sure it won't matter. Do you wanna try at least?" Steve is amazed he's retained any of this information.
"I just…I wanted to get here before everyone else…so when other people turned up, it looked like…it looked like I belonged…because I was here first," She says, eyes blinking at the ground.
"I tell you what. I'll go in first, check it out, and then relay the info to you, and then you make the call, huh? How about that?" He says excitedly, like he's in a timeout huddle. She looks up, and her shiny eyes meet his with a nod and didn't his heart just explode into a million tiny cute plush toys when that happened. Dad mode engaged. "Ok, let's get your half-electronic game system of a brother and point me at the target, honey."
"It's a Gameboy…" Corey starts to correct him, and honestly, Steve could be mad about the attitude, but it's the most he's said to him all day so far.
"...Advance, I know I paid through the nose to get it on release day for you, Cor," Steve says, hand on hip pointing at the little plastic attention black hole.
"Er, no. I've actually completed all the games I had for that one, so I'm back on the Colour. They look completely different! Urgh," Corey almost peels his eyes from it to target Steve with his disdain. Almost.
Time was of the essence, so rather than try to engage verbally, Steve lifted Corey out of his chair and gently pulled him along with them.
Steve opens the door to the side room and can see a bunch of kids of all different ages at tables, happily scribbling away and talking. He does note the distinct lack of girls in the kids he can see. Some of the older kids have polo shirts with something printed on them. They must be like the instructors or what was it, Masters…Dungeon Masters, that was it.
Then Steve hears some booming footsteps and an almighty roar. His spirit nearly leaves him until he hears a ripple of laughter after it and sees one of the polo shirt wearers sporting a paper mache dragon head stomping around the tables.
The dragon…locks eyes with him…and runs over.
Everything in Steve says run, but he's here for Mackenzie. So he pretends he isn't alarmed in the slightest. The dragon extends their hand, and when Steve accepts the handshake, he is engulfed in a hug, the dragon head bumping him several times before it finds its way over his shoulder. Steve grimaces with something between disgust and horror. What kind of weird place was this? He's glad they were late; if this had happened to Mackenzie, this dragon's head would have been punched somewhere into next year. The dragon is gesticulating, and Steve's hearing isn't the best. He knows they're talking, but all he can hear are mumbles, and he has no mouth to read for assistance.
"I'm sorry. Can you speak up? I can't hear you."
The dragon puts its hands to its head and laughs before revealing itself.
"Shit! Long time no see, Harrington!!" The familiar voice says.
Steve takes a moment to process, The big smile and eyes, the dark wavy hair that reached his jawline, the ringed hands, and the scars. Steve knows those scars and instinctively reaches for his side. He holds up the dragon head, "Sorry about that, um, the kids find me less scary if I scare them with the dragon head first," he says quietly.
Steve laughs, "Eddie?"
"In the flesh!" He gestures at his whole self, with a flourish, and the hugest smile, that Steve can tell he's trying hard to turn down a little from max wattage.
"Wow, I mean. I know you loved this game, but it's like huge, and we're nowhere near Hawkins. I'm just surprised, is all. Pleasantly, obviously. It's just…wow…" Steve says a little nervously. It was a little guilt for not keeping in touch, mostly surprise, but also, Eddie looked different, even though the trademarks were all there. His hair was less frizzy and more defined, and his face had aged a little. He looked more manly.
"Ah, don't get all flustered over little ol' me now", he laughs, and Steve feels comforted by his teasing. It was the Eddie he remembered.
"Er…listen so. I'm not here for me."
"Well, I could have guessed that", Eddie snorts out a laugh.
"My kid wants to join."
"Ok, we'll circle back to the fact you have a kid but do continue."
"Well, I have two, but anyway, the point being she really wants to join in and was worried it would be a problem because we're late. My fault, you know. She wanted to get here first, so it looked like she belonged here, and she was just worried it would be full of assholes that might give her a hard time about it, you know."
Eddie looks at him, confused, "About being late?"
"Er..yes…but because she's a girl."
Eddie's eyebrows furrow, "Well, thankfully, for everyone concerned, a penis is not a required piece of starting equipment."
Steve's eyebrows shoot up. One because of the comment and two because Eddie censored himself by whispering the offending word.
"Look, if she wants to learn to play, there is room. I'll make sure she's good. That sexist bullshit doesn't fly in my games. Or any prejudice crap, for that matter. It's a fantasy game, for Christ's sake. It's got magic. Why would it be so unbelievable a girl can't play? That's just dumb," Steve notes the self-censoring again, tries not to laugh and pushes it into an appreciative smile instead.
"Well, she already knows how to play. Pretty well, actually, I think her Cleric, life domain, is about level 8 now, but she did say she's happy to roll up a new one. Though that does mean she'll need a new dice set and stationary.." Steve gets lost in his thoughts for a moment before he turns back to Eddie, whose expression looks like someone just presented him with a surprise puppy.
"But anyway, yeah, she's looking for a new party because the last one, well, they kinda forced her out because, you know, they're all growing up or whatever and some bullshit like that" Steve takes Eddie's lead on the self-censorship.
Eddie is gobsmacked for a second and then immediately furious, that nose wrinkle and tensed, pressed tight, mouthed expression, it’s the same as Steve remembers, but he tries to keep his voice down, no full-blown Eddie tantrum here. "The little scrotes kicked her out of the party because they're growing up? What kind of nonsensical bullshit is that? You know what, get her in here, now, Steve. We've already wasted too much time. She could be throwing away her player's handbook as we speak." The urgency in Eddie's voice is endearing because there isn't a drop of sarcasm or condescension in it. He is genuinely alarmed this massive game might lose one player. Steve got the feeling this wasn't just for him or Mac, and he'd be the same with anyone isolated that way.
Steve smiles and goes to turn around and get her before he's stopped by Eddie's hand on his shoulder and an unsure look on his face, "Think I need the dragon head to be less scary?"
"For Mac, no, you're good. She's seen mine when we've been swimming and stuff. If Corey looks at you at all, count yourself lucky he bothered to peel his eyes away from the screen."
"Ah yeah, but yours aren't…um…well…you can hide them, and they don't make you look a dollar store Joker" Eddie half smiles awkwardly, creasing up one of the scars in question.
"Eddie, your scars were the last thing I noticed about you today. You're still as pleasant to look at as you always were," Steve adds reassuringly.
"I'm still undecided if that's a compliment or not, but there are more pressing matters, like losing one of our own from the game!"
Steve rolls his eyes, "Something's don't change do they" he sighs, "It was a compliment, Eddie."
Eddie makes a bashful smile, "Well, alright then. No dragon head it is"