if you look deep enough into steve’s eyes, the colors start to shift from a medium-brown to light, almost golden, like his hair in the summer, like his skin when it’s wet.
eddie finds himself noticing these things more often as the year after vecna passes. on the anniversary of nearly dying, eddie thinks he’s noticed everything about steve.
but then steve shows up at his door after dropping the kids off at their respective homes, a smile on his face, and something mysterious in his eyes. something that distracts eddie from the golden specks the reflect off his porch light. something that only eddie really gets to see.
“wanna take a ride?”
“where you taking me, big boy?”
steve blushes, a soft pink that would be warm to the touch if eddie was brave enough to reach out.
“it’s a surprise.”
eddie trusts steve, so he gets in his car and doesn’t ask anymore questions.
steve talks about something dustin did on the way, complaining with a fondness only steve could have for the kid.
it hits eddie as steve pulls onto a side road.
the field.
the wildflowers bloomed early this year, and eddie had mentioned recently that he would like to make new memories in a place where he was facing death or prison exactly one year ago.
he didn’t think anyone was listening, but apparently steve was.
steve parks the car and eddie doesn’t think he can look at him yet. he thinks he’s gonna cry. he thinks he’s so deeply in love with this man that he may never experience anything like it again.
it’s dark, but the moon is bright. there’s still a light chill in the air, but eddie’s still wearing his leather jacket from hellfire earlier, so he barely feels it.
they walk together through the field, close enough that their hands brush, but still more distance between them than eddie wants. he’s surrounded by beauty: the flowers, the stars, steve.
he stops when steve does.
they both look up at the stars for a few minutes, silent so they can hear the crickets and their own heartbeats.
“a year ago, when i almost lost you, i thought about all the things i didn’t get to do or say or know about you. i was angry for a long time.” steve turns to eddie, giving him a sad smile. “it wasn’t fair that you had to go through all of that and i couldn’t do anything. the doctors weren’t doing enough, and the cops weren’t doing enough, and no one understood how important it was that they fix it.”
eddie’s watching him, baffled. he’s not sure where this is going and he’s worried that his own feelings may be clouding his vision.
“i couldn’t make your pain go away. i couldn’t make it easier. i couldn’t help you walk again or play guitar. i just had to watch.”
eddie feels a tug in his stomach, a pull that leaves him breathless.
“but i watched. and i saw every side of you. and i don’t think i’ll say this right, but i practiced with robin and she thinks i did good.” steve breathes in and turns to face eddie completely. “i learned a side of me that i didn’t know about while i watched you. i learned that love looks different than what i always thought. and i learned that because of you.”
“because of…me?” eddie’s trying not to get his hopes up, but he’s pretty sure they’re higher than ever.
“because you love so loudly. everyone you love knows it and you aren’t scared that they’ll run away. it’s probably because it’s impossible not to love you.”
eddie thinks he actually is experiencing some kind of post-death dream. maybe he got too high in his room and steve never even showed up at his door.
“eddie? did you hear me?”
eddie focuses on steve’s look of concern, on the golden specks in his eyes that the moonlight makes shimmer.
“i don’t know?”
“i said i love you.”
“oh. then, no, i didn’t.”
steve’s face falls and eddie realizes a second too late that his response to steve saying he loves him wasn’t the exact thing he’d been holding back for at least six months now.
“i just thought you should know. um. so i guess i can wait in the car if you wanna stay a bit longer-“
eddie is only staying in this field if steve is with him, so he wraps his arms around steve’s shoulders and hugs him harder than is probably safe.
“i love you. sorry i’m a dumbass and didn’t say it the second you did. i was trying to convince myself this was real life.”
steve laughs against his ear and eddie’s pretty sure they belong like this.
“why now?” eddie asks as he pulls away.
“because i told myself if you didn’t do it by today, i would.”
“how long have you been waiting on me?”
steve lets out a breath. “eight months give or take.”
“that is…much longer than i would’ve expected.”
“yeah, well, imagine being the one waiting.”
eddie smiles at steve, and steve smiles back, and eddie notices a new thing.
steve harrington’s got a crooked tooth. an imperfection to some, a sign of being human to eddie.
“what’s that face for?” steve asks.
“you’re perfect, stevie.”
they kiss in the field where eddie was saying goodbyes a year ago. they look at stars in a clear sky while holding hands and talking about what their future might look like. steve’s head rests in eddie’s lap while eddie traces steve’s lips with his finger, memorizing the curl of his lips when he smiles and the feel of the vibrations when he hums a song eddie doesn’t recognize.
steve picks flowers, and eddie makes a crown, and they both say i love you in a million ways.
they walk along the edges of the field, where the rv was parked while they prepared for the worst. eddie shivers at the memories, but steve kisses his shoulder and the back of his hand and he shivers at that instead.
they ride back, and eddie sings along to whatever songs play on the radio, even if he messes up the words. steve laughs and it’s better than any music they could listen to.
they kiss on eddie’s porch, surrounded by darkness because no one turned on the outside light. it’s so late, no one would see them anyway.
steve stays at eddie’s, but wayne’s home, so they’re quiet and keep their hands above the waist even though they so desperately want to touch, and kiss, and bite every inch of each other.
they still get carried away, which doesn’t surprise eddie at all. what does surprise eddie is how quickly steve sits in his lap, rutting against his stomach and biting back moans and whimpers and eddie laces their fingers together and squeezes, meeting each thrust with his own. neither of them last long, coming in their pants like virgins. they laugh, but they kiss through it, teeth clacking as they gasp for breath.
they take turns in the bathroom in case wayne wakes up. steve comes back into eddie’s room without a shirt and hair slightly damp. eddie feels his heartbeat quicken as steve hops into bed next to him.
they sleep with steve curled against eddie’s chest, eddie’s arms around his back, sweaty but content.
content and happy.
and when the sun rises the next morning, eddie wakes first and notices another new thing about steve: he drools in his sleep.
Trying to look up dwarf women to get some ideas for my dnd character's armor and so many are skinny human proportions and a full page of them have no beards. Fucking cowards.
What? Work is closed tomorrow due to an impending ice storm? Oh darn. Guess I'll just have to stay home and torment mon pauvre petit miaou-miaou alcoolique amnésique instead. Le ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Delphine- I suppose I owe you some answers don't I? Full disclosure nothing held back
Calliope- You owe me a damn nap, but sure tell me
*long speech about being the last member of the blades decimated by the Thalmor, how she thinks the Thalmor are behind the dragons returning and she has a plan to find out*
Calliope- The Thalmor?
Delphine- Yes, you have heard of the Thalmor? Do you know anything about them?
Calliope- Oh gosh, do I know anything about the Thalmor..? Ummm...
