Rating: M 💗 Words: 2.4k 💗 Tags: Friends to lovers, Soft and sweet, Mutual pining, Feelings confessions
💗Prompts for:
@steddiebingo Stranded
@steddiesmuttyseptember Motel
@softsteddieseptember Friends to Lovers
Ao3
“Fuck,” Steve swore under his breath. A little red light had just flashed to life on his dashboard and they were still three hours from home. He looked around for someplace to pull over just as the power steering went out. Hand over hand, he yanked the unyielding steering wheel to the right and rolled into motel parking lot, just barely making into an actual parking spot. He took a deep breath and looked over to Eddie sitting quietly in the passenger seat.
He popped the hood and they both got out, circling to the front to take a look. Steve released the hook and lifted the hood up, only for them to jump back when a billow of heat hit them hard in the face, the hood slamming shut. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deep, trying so very hard to keep his cool. Eddie leaned in the driver’s door and popped the latch again.
“You got any coolant in the trunk?” Eddie asked.
Steve sighed, “No, I used the last of it to fill up for this trip.”
Eddie nodded, “Must have a leak. Got any jugs of water?” – Steve shot him a glare – “I’ll take that as a no. Well, we need to cool it down, so it’s either that or wait it out.”
“Sure, but then we’ll just overheat somewhere else, probably in the middle of nowhere.” Steve spun around, taking in the closing businesses around them. “Maybe we just ask to be let in one of the rooms to get some water? We can fill up the pile of empty 2-liters. Hopefully, they’ll get us back to Hawkins tonight.”
The attendant wouldn’t budge on just letting them in a room to fill up their bottles, forcing Steve to hand over his emergency credit card to rent the room for the night. Steve grumbled all the way back to the car, muttering to himself about poor customer service and that if he treated someone like that in his job, he’d be getting a talking to about being kind and courteous.
Eddie let him stew as he got the room unlocked, propping the door open, and going back to help Steve gather up all the empties from the back seat. They got the first bottle filled up in the tub, poured it over the engine and in the radiator, and went back to fill all the bottles for the rest of their drive.
Eddie was sitting on the edge of the tub, handing a filled bottle to Steve. “How ‘bout we actually use the room for the night? You already paid for it.”
Steve handed Eddie another empty and screwed the lid on the filled one. “Yeah, I was thinking the same. I don’t really want to make the rest of the drive in the dark if we’re gonna have to keep pulling over to let it cool. Maybe we can even find an Autozone between here and Hawkins. Get some actual coolant. Okay, you finish these, I’ll go bring in the bags.”
Steve dumped the bags on the bed and went back out for the cooler they’d kept full of sandwich fixings: sliced meats and cheeses, peanut butter and jelly, reese’s peanut butter cups because Eddie insists they’re better cold, though Steve is fine either way.
Dusk had fallen hard and Steve was a little relieved to be staying the night. This was the last leg of their mini road trip back from Steve’s family reunion in Pennsylvania and he was tired.
He’d been driving for ten hours after they’d stayed up waaay too late drinking with his cousins around the bon fire and then a long brunch that morning. Technically, neither were scheduled to work for a couple more days so they weren’t in a rush home, but Steve had wanted a few days with Dustin before he headed off to his first year as a camp counselor at nerd camp. Steve just knew that the kid was going to spend the first half hour of their Epic Weekend of Steve and Dustin complaining about having to make cuts to his meticulous list of activities that was probably already too long.
Steve breathed out a laugh as he shut and locked the door, pulling the curtains shut tight across the window. He loved that kid, but sometimes he wished his attitude had simmered down with time. But if he was chill, he wouldn’t be their Dustin.
“What’s the joke?” Eddie asked, lining up the bottles like little soldiers on top of the dresser.
Steve smiled over at him, “Just picturing Dustin’s tantrum when we get home tomorrow instead of tonight.”
Eddie chuckled. “Oh, you mean when he whips out his notebook of his list of activities for you two and starts dramatically crossing things off?” – he switched to a high pitched voice mimicking Dustin’s – “And there goes letting you teach me how to play basketball! I got a ball and everything! Not anymore! Oh, if only you’d been back on time!”
Eddie cackled at his own impression, falling back on the bed, hair splaying out, hand resting above his head. He looked up at Steve grinning, and just like how the rest of the trip had gone, Steve couldn’t not grin back. He was even almost used to the way his belly flipped when he saw Eddie so unabashedly happy. Almost.
“Yeah, right,” Steve scoffed, looking down to pull his pajama pants out of his bag. “I’ll make you a bet. If that’s really on his list, you’re filling in for it. We’ll hit up the courts while he’s gone and you can amaze him with your wonderskills when he gets back.”
“Ooooh, you just wanna make the kid jealous.” Eddie laughed, catching his own pj’s Steve threw at his face. “You know we can do that even without the bet? You know, if you wanna just hang out? Though, I bet that’s what he’d be really jealous about. His best friend and his best DM getting so close without him. How dare we!”
Steve shucked his jeans, pulling on fleece pants, and tossed their bags to the floor, his jeans going on the floor next to them. Eddie refused to get off the bed to change and wiggled around switching out his own jeans for his own Garfield fleece pants. He flopped back, winded.
“Did I tell you he called before we left on Friday?” Steve asked, opening the cooler to make sandwiches.
“Uh, no you did not! What did he say? Was he dramatic?”
Steve chuckled, spreading the peanut butter all the way to the edges of the bread to keep Eddie from complaining about the crusts. “Pretty much exactly what you’d expect. How dare I not ask him to go. How dare I invite you to meet my whole family before he gets to first. Tried to tell him his mom said no, but it was like talking to a wall. And then he demanded that I fill him in on everything that happened this weekend.”
Eddie hummed. “Everything?”
Steve handed him his sandwich. “Yep. Not sure how exciting he thinks a family reunion gets.”
“Well, considering I think he was truly flabbergasted that you actually have a large family, I’m sure he’ll eat up any little details you give him.”
“Yeah? Should I tell him you played D&D with my cousins?”
Eddie squawked, crumbs spewing everywhere. “That wasn’t my fault! And you said you’d take that to the grave!”
Steve laughed. He had no plans on telling Dustin anything about Eddie playing D&D with his nerdier cousins, but he loved- liked when Eddie got all dramatic and flail-y. “Ooooh, right, I did say something like that, didn’t I? I don’t know, I just think he’d find it really interesting. You seemed to really like Chris’ story telling.”
“Well, I did. But it’s like I betrayed everyone back home! So, to the grave, Steve.”
“Okay okay, I won’t tell.” He huffs a laugh, sitting on the bed with his own sandwich stuffed full with the last of their meats and cheese. “Though, my two cents? Totally not a betrayal to just play around while on vacation. And if the kids or guys are babies over it, let me know.”
“Aww, Stevie, you gonna defend my honor by giving them a good ol’ talkin’ to?”
Steve huffed out a laugh through his nose as he took a too big bite of his sandwich. “If I have to,” he said around his mouth full of food.
They finished their dinner in companionable silence. Eddie grabbed the bathroom first to wash up and then flipped on the TV, twisting the knob to look for a station with anything good on. Of course, there was literally nothing on, so Steve took his turn in the bathroom.
Standing there in the little room, dim bulb lighting him up in the mirror, he got lost in thought brushing his teeth. Because it wasn’t like he’d set out with the specific goal to tell Eddie how he felt during their mini vacation away. But he had just kinda thought something would happen. Organically. Effortlessly.
And sure, there were moments where Steve could’ve said something. But then some family member would walk in and the moment would be gone.
Besides, if Steve were being perfectly honest inside his own head, he’d really been hoping Eddie would make the first move. Eddie was the one who started the flirting all the way back during the worst spring break ever, so Steve thought it made sense that Eddie would also move things forward passed flirting.
But Eddie hadn’t. Which must mean Steve’s been reading it all wrong the whole time. Maybe Eddie really is just a touchy dude. Maybe none of it has meant anything except what Steve wanted it to mean. Or maybe it’s just different with guys. Lots of flirting, no follow through. Steve sighed, spat out his toothpaste, and left the bathroom, leaving the light on with the door cracked.
Eddie was tucked under the blankets and had turned out all the lights except the one on Steve’s side of the bed. Steve slid in under the blankets, reaching over to turn off the light, which didn’t really plunge them into darkness like Steve fancifully thought it should. Light shone through and around the curtain from the parking lot, a parking lot which clearly doubled as a football stadium with how bright it was lit up.
Eddie lay alongside him, mere inches separating their arms, yet Steve felt farther from Eddie than he had all weekend and they hadn’t even shared a bed at his grandma’s! Eddie shuffled around, rolling away from Steve, returning to his back, turning to face Steve just to roll right back to his other side.
“Eddie?” Steve whispered. “You good over there, man?”
“Ugh, nooo.” Eddie flopped back dramatically. “I can’t get comfortable. I don’t know, the bed’s too hard or something.”
Steve chuckled quietly, “Like that princess, dude. Maybe there’s a grape under the mattress.”
Eddie laughed low, energy seeming to seep out of him. He rolled to face Steve. “Think it was a pea under, like, a huge pile of mattresses.”
“Eh, pea, grape, they’re both tiny balls. Who’s feeling any of them under all that.”
Silence rang across the mattress. Steve dared to meet Eddie’s eyes and they both broke. Cackling, Steve face palmed, trying to hold himself together as Eddie hid his face in his pillow, laughing so hard Steve wasn’t sure he was able to breath. As his laughter slowed, Steve felt the earlier tension between them release.
Eddie’s face was red when he finally looked back at Steve. Steve smiled at him in the low light. Their knees touching and Eddie’s hair all over the pillow, a warmth spread through Steve.
“Steve,” Eddie said, his voice low. He slid his hand from under the blanket and seemed to hesitate, fingers resting lightly on the bed halfway between them.
“Eddie,” Steve said, almost pleadingly. Just wanting- needing something to change, for Eddie to take a chance, to move them forward into something amazing. Steve wished he could make himself do it, but what if he was wrong? How could he take that chance? After everything he’d been through, all the heartache, all the crushed hopes and dreams. No, he couldn’t bridge the gap, but he could wait.
“Steve,” Eddie whispered across their pillows, his eyes taking in Steve’s face, his poised body, his hitched breaths. “You’ve gotta give me a sign here, sweetheart. Something, anything. I need to know you-”
“I do.” Steve said, cutting Eddie off. His body vibrated, his heart pounded, it felt like the very blood in his veins crackled and sparked. He’d spent so long restraining himself, he didn’t know how to finally release himself from his own chains. “Please, Eddie. I’ve liked you for so long, I lo-”
Eddie rolled over Steve, firmly cupping his neck and kissing him hard in one swift motion. Eddie slid a leg between Steve’s, kissing him deep, licking deep. Steve’s heart fluttered, heat pooling low in his belly, he rolled up against Eddie’s thigh, writhing against the weight of Eddie above him. Steve gasped against Eddie’s mouth, “Eddie.”
“Yeah, sweetheart. You’re so perfect, fuck.” He peppered kisses along Steve’s cheeks, slowing down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss against his forehead. Steve panted as his heart exploded just a little bit, he kind of felt like crying at the sweet gesture. “Steve. I’ve wanted you for so long, sweetheart. I just always pictured our first kiss, our first time, being...softer, slower. I don’t want to rush you, baby.”
Steve shook his head, eyes prickling. He clasped his fingers behind Eddie’s neck, bringing their foreheads together. “Not rushing, I swear. I just- I think no matter what, it’ll be perfect because it’s us.”
“Steve,” Eddie said, his voice filled with soft reverence, bright eyes shining down at Steve. Steve tilted up, pulling him down into a slow kiss. Time slowed as they moved together, hands brushing skin, lips parting only to suck in breathy gasps.
Afterwards, within the quiet humming of the room, they lay pressed together, limbs intertwined as if to become one. Drifting off, nose pressed close to Eddie’s shoulder, Steve was suddenly incredibly grateful for overheating cars and rude motel employees for giving them the first night of the rest of their life together.
Eddie notices that his king is sad, and as his jester, he will do anything to make him smile.
Chapters: 1/2
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson
Additional Tags: Fluff, Slice of Life, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Eddie Munson Has Bad Parents, Past Trauma, 80's Music, Nerd Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Flirts, Flirting, Dirty Jokes, Swearing, Eddie Munson Flirts, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Rimming, Overstimulation, Squirting, Dry Humping, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Blowjobs, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Getting Together, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love, Pet Names, Praise Kink, Unprotected Sex, Multiple Orgasms, they're so silly together, Top Eddie Munson, Bottom Steve Harrington
Summary:
Eddie notices that his king is sad, and as his jester, he will do anything to make him smile.
A collection of moments of two dorks becoming friends and falling in love.
(they're both 19 and in their second senior year, not on the throne, but that won't stop Eddie Munson from showing Steve Harrington the worship he deserves).
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"
Thank you to @gamerdano for all their help with this 💚💚💚
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Steve was still deciding whether to tell Mac Eddie was a friend of his or not. He didn't want her to feel like that's what is getting her foot in the door because Steve knew that Eddie didn't work that way. Sure he might censor his words and emotions around kids, but he did try to treat people equally for the most part. Steve liked to think his upsetting the Munson Doctrine all those years ago had a hand in this. "Hey, Mac. If you still wanna head in, you can. Doesn't look like there is a timetable or anything" He smiles at his daughter, who stands up excitedly, but stops mid-step towards the door and beckons him down to her height.
"Dad, are there any girls in there?" She asked in an unsure whisper.
"In the quick glance I had, I didn't see any, but that doesn't mean there isn't or won't be any, but even if there isn't, you have something else in there. You've got an Eddie." He says with the most reassuring smile he can.
"That's just another boy", she scoffs and holds her book a bit tighter, eyes looking at the library's main entrance, protecting herself with annoyance from the fear.
"I mean, yes, he is a boy, numbers-wise a man, but I think you really should meet him before writing him off. Eddie is er…well…how can I put this…he's unique" Steve finally grabs the diplomatic word he was looking for.
She looks back at her Dad, "How do you know that?"
"There are many reasons, but mainly he's just been running around in there, roaring, with some kind of dragon head on because he thinks it makes him less scary to kids." Steve frowns and shakes his head. But Mac's eyes light up, and she smiles as she looks over at the door, "Could be worth a shot, right? You could hang around maybe? It's not like you’ve got much else going on", she says non chalantly, but Steve can read he's needed.
"Right." Steve nods, scooping up Corey by his arm again. Mac drops in behind him as he passes through the door. Eddie was still standing exactly how and where Steve had left him, a small welcoming but almost nervous smile on his face, with his dragon head tucked under his arm. Steve sees Eddie observe Corey first, who has not looked up at all to acknowledge him, and Steve guides him towards the nearest chair for him to sit in, revealing his Daughter behind him as he does. Eddie's face erupts in a big smile like he’d just identified one of his own.
"Eddie, this is Mac, I mean Mackenzie" Steve looks to Mac for reassurance he's using the correct name she likes to go by now. She nods, "Mackenzie, this is…."
Eddie bows deeply, "Eddie The Not So Banished, humbly at your service."
Mackenzie raises an eyebrow at Eddie and looks up at Steve, who mouths, "Told you," and she smiles in reply. Her grip loosens on her book as she looks Eddie over. Her eyes study his face most of all.
"Don't worry about the scars, sweetheart. They're old. They won't bite. I'm not that scary, promise" Eddie smiles, but Steve detects a slight disappointment in his eyes as he squeezes the dragon head.
"Oh no, it's not that," she says quickly, "Just the one here", she points at his jaw, "It looks like a dragon roaring."
"Wait, really?" Eddie says, reaching for his face. There is no falseness in his voice; he is genuinely surprised and walks over to the nearest door window to look at his reflection "Huh. I've had them for longer than you've been alive, and I never even noticed that." Eddie laughs, "Anyway, enough about me, let's get started on your new character, yeah? You can keep your character, but we'd have to strip it back to level one because of the nature of the campaign, but if you're still interested, I could introduce you to one of the parties, Zee. I mean…Mackenzie, sorry" Eddie waves his hand towards a bunch of nearly full tables behind him.
"Zee is fine", she smiles up at Eddie. Steve almost feels a little jealous as they exchange smiles and walk away from him. Eddie animatedly gesticulates with the dragon head in his hand, and Mac giggles. It had been a long time since Steve had made her laugh like that, but he let it go. It's nice just to see her smiling for a change. Steve grabs a D&D book and settles into the chair next to Corey.
"How's the game, son?" He tries.
The reply is a grunt, but the tone of it goes up at the end of it, so Steve decides to quit whilst he is ahead and read for a while.
Sometime later, someone lands dramatically in the chair on his other side.
"I think we finally found a match!" Eddie says wearily with a laugh, "She does not wanna let go of that Cleric. Not that I can blame her. A lot of effort has gone into that build. At least you won't have to buy any new accessories, though," Eddie says next to Steve as he lowers his book slightly to spy over the top of it.
Eddie's ringed hand points her out, and Steve taps his hand down, "Jesus Christ, Eddie, do not do that", he says in a hushed voice.
Eddie furrowed his brow, "I was just showing you where she was, man. Calm down", he laughed.
Steve makes a whispered, incorrect buzzer sound from behind his book at Eddie, "Wrong. Let me try and remember her words exactly last time…oh hang on a second…." Steve checks his watch, "Thought so" he reaches into his pocket and pulls out 10 dollars and nudges Corey, "Go hydrate. I'll keep hold of your game", he says, putting the game on pause with his thumb and putting it in his lap careful not to touch anything else. Then he returns to Eddie, who is now also behind the book, "I pointed her out to one of the Moms at school, and apparently that was so mortifying that she would have sold her soul to satan himself to just evaporate into the ether."
Eddie's eyes go wide, and he holds back a laugh.
"It's not funny, Eddie. It haunts me. I remember every word. It hurt like a bitch. Can you believe I'm an embarrassment now?"
"Oh, Steve…you think there was a time you weren't embarrassing?" Eddie teases
"Oh ha-ha, very funny. I'll have you know I was very cool once, not just cool. The coolest!" Steve whispers in annoyance, "You know this!"
"And look at you now, Harrington. Sitting in a library, a computer game in your lap, hiding behind a d&d book from a thirteen-year-old with the Freak of Hawkins. You still feeling pretty cool?" Eddie chuckles quietly.
Steve slumps with a defeated face, and Eddie looks at him again, "If it's worth anything. If I didn't know you, I'd think you were a pretty cool Dad. Do you see any other parents here?" Steve peeks over his book, looks around, holds it up again, and shakes his head at Eddie, "A lot of parents just don't have the time, you know, but even the ones that do, have no idea what a Cleric is let alone anything else." Eddie's smile widens as he tilts his head, "You did what you always do, Steve. You jumped into the abyss first. For the record, the games are weekly, and they last a few hours. If you wanna stay, you can. I'll even set you up a station out of sight, so you aren't cramping her style, but bring something to do, for god's sake."
"Oh…well, I only see her every two weeks. Does that mean she can't join?"
Eddie holds up an imaginary clipboard, "Ah, wouldn't you look at that. My memory sometimes, sheeeesh. It's every two weeks."
"You can just do that?" Steve says in amazement.
Eddie narrows his eyes at him with a slight frown and laughs, like he can't make out if Steve is teasing or not, "Yeah, I can do what I want. It's my company." He taps the embroidery on his polo shirt.
Steve reads it "Tremelo Tales."
"We do D&D, reading stories to kids, music lessons, parties, stuff like that. Then when we make enough profit, we can do that for free for the kids that need an outlet, you know. Like today"
"You have your own company? That's incredible, Eddie!"
"Like you could ever picture me working for anyone! I mean, it's not easy, and I have to pay through the nose or legal and accounting, but at least I haven't got to do it, and it keeps everything running smoothly. I'm pretty proud of it." And the happy whistful expression on his face only served to complement his words. He really was proud of it. Steve's eyes automatically look to his kids. "What are you up to these days?" Eddie asks.
"Well…er…" Steve stumbles over his words because he is unsure exactly how much he wants to reveal at this point. So he keeps to the partial truth, "I'm a coach. Sometimes private, sometimes I get contracted, you know?"
Steve had actually hit the jackpot playing the stock market and was busy living off the interest. He'd still got some shares locked up in a few companies, but he'd been told to hold tight on Apple because they were a few months from releasing the iPod, and a cell phone might be on the horizon. He did, however, coach, just not humans. He held dog training classes at his house. Everything from puppy to agility to behavioural problems. He loved it, and so did the kids.
A shadow moves over the book, and both Steve and Eddie look up to look at Mackenzie.
"Hey, honey," Steve said carefully to her unimpressed face and folded arms.
She looks between the two of them and hands a few sheets of paper to Eddie, "So I've put the Cleric to Level 1, but I also wanted to offer something else to the party, a rogue."
"Interesting…" Eddie draws the word out and looks up at Mackenzie.
Steve feels a little left out of the unspoken significance here.
"How much for a players handbook?" Pushing the book, he's holding between the character sheets and Eddie's face.
"Um, thirty bucks, or you know, whatever you can. Just take it over to Carl over there. He'll sort you out.” It was interesting, despite the unknown truth of the matter, Eddie hadn't made the assumption that Steve was still living a more than comfortable life.
Steve approaches a braced bespectacled boy who is repeatedly rolling a die and writing down the numbers. Steve eyes him suspiciously but then hands him the player's handbook, and the kid wordlessly writes out a receipt. Steve pays, takes his copy, and pockets it.
As Steve makes his way back to the kids and Eddie, he slows his pace to observe the exchange rather than interfere immediately.
Mackenzie was standing clutching her book of protection, Eddie holding a set of sheets in each hand, occasionally looking up at Mackenzie and talking. Nothing out of the ordinary there until there is a glimmer of something on Eddie's face. He looks…concerned? But then his big smile is switched back on, and it transfers across Mac's face too.
"You thinking of joining a game sometime?" Eddie laughs as Steve approaches, hugging his new book to his chest, which he immediately drops to his side at Eddie's teasing.
Steve shrugs, "I mean, I just got it because, as books go, it wasn't bad to while away the time with. I mean, if Mac...Kenzie were to run a game. I could be tempted, maybe." He smiles at his daughter.
Eddie raises his eyebrows at Mackenzie, and she sends him a simple shrug back. Another tiny sting of jealousy. They hadn't even known one another a day, and they had secret meanings for things and now silently communicating with one another.
"So these sheets look great. Is there anything else you want to go over?" Eddie asks kindly.
Mackenzie shakes her head.
"Well, alright then. See you in two weeks, Zee!" Eddie says with a little salute.
Mackenzie smiles back at him and walks towards the exit.
"Thanks a lot, Eddie. It was really good to see you. Maybe see you again in two weeks?" Steve asks with his own little shrug.
Eddie blinks up at him, "Oh I-"
Then there are several thuds, a meep sound from Mackenzie, and another huge thud.
Steve's eyes snapped to his daughter, who was crouched down trying to pick up her books, but another teen in the widest-leg jeans Steve had ever seen. All frayed where they'd been dragging along the floor, a black t-shirt with the sleeves completely hacked off and shoulder-length dirty blonde hair is busy apologising and frantically trying to help Mackenzie pick up her books.
"Aw, man, I'm like, totally sorry, I had my earphones in, and I totally didn't see you. I was in, like, a hurry to get these to Eddie. Are you, like, ok? I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm such a stupid oaf sometimes," the boy rattles out, piling up the papers and books in his arms. A big box of papers was on the floor beside him.
Mackenzie has stopped scrabbling for her books, lets the boy scrabble around for her, and stands up.
Once everything is together, he stands also, raises his head to Mackenzie, nearly drops the books again, and swallows nervously, "Er…here you go…um…your um books, man."
"Maybe you should look where you're going next time. Stop daydreaming and observe your surroundings!! What if I'd been a little kid, huh?" Mackenzie scolds him, one hand on her hip, as she takes her books back. Steve notes she doesn't snatch them.
"Jesus, Harrington. I didn't realise attitude could be hereditary," Eddie chuckles next to Steve.
The kid swiped his hand over his head to push his hair out of his face, and it ended up nervously rubbing the back of his neck as his other hand came forward in a handshake, "I'm really sorry, man. My name's M-"
She raises a hand to stop him, saying, "Ah, don't worry about it. It's..whatever", and walks out.
Steve's eyes go wide.
"Steve?" He hears Eddie's voice next to him, but his eyes slowly burn into the little skatepunk in front of him. Picking up the box of papers and heading to one of the tables.
"Who…is that?" Steve asks with a that so sharp, that if there had been any balloons around, they would have been decimated.
"Er…that's Morgan. He helps out sometimes." Eddie says cautiously before folding his arms and narrowing his eyes at Steve suspiciously, "Steve, are you ok? It was an accident. He didn't mean to do that. I'll have a word with him. He won't do it again. I'm sure" Steve detects the waiver of worry in Eddie's voice and shakes his head.
"It's not what he did that's the problem, Eddie. Listen, I gotta go, but um, great to see you." He mutters, punctuating with a weak two-fingered two-fingered salute, picks up Corey by his arm and quickly marches to catch up with Mackenzie.
