omegaverse stevemike. (really really long post about it so theres a read more button)
omega mike who presents late because his body wouldn't let him fully mature during the usual presentation years because of all the stress and chaos.
alpha steve who lets the kids hang out just about whenever because it means he knows his pseudo-pups are safe except mike has never really felt like One Of His Pups the same way the rest have and he can't put his finger on why but he's still more comfortable when he knows mike is there and safe.
omega mike who goes into his proper presentation heat one of the times he's avoiding his family at steves house and he panics. his heat is coming on and hes at steves alone with the alpha but all steve does is put him up in one of the guest rooms and gives him some clothes and blankets for his nest and checks on him periodically to make sure he gets food and water.
steve keeps himself in check. because mike deserves a presentation where he's not being taken advantage of and he knows that's exactly what he'd be doing. he cooks. he cleans. he goes to pick up groceries he doesn't technically need yet. he cleans the pool. he keeps his distance from that guest room, when he's not leaving him food and drink, because smelled a scent so tempting or enticing but he knows better.
mike who comes out of it weak and dehydrated and showers for two hours to clean up and gets awkward and says hes sorry about that and that steve should probably do laundry, or maybe even toss the bedding.
steve who drives mike home and drops him off at the door and stays to make sure mike gets in and stays for twenty minutes to make sure mike doesn't come back out crying because his dad sucks and steve's smart enough to know that's why mike avoids his house.
mike who confesses to his best friend a week later that he wouldn't have had his presentation go any other way and he feels safer with steve than anybody else and it got in his head and steve was all he wanted that week.
will who rolls his eyes and says, "yeah, we know, you have a crush on steve." because they do know. its obvious to everyone but mike and steve.
steve who tells his best friend that hes so conflicted because mike should be one of his pups but he's always struggled to see him the same way, and now after his presentation, he can't get mike's scent out of his head and he thinks its Different now.
robin who sighs and says she knew he'd be like this and that he should probably stop letting mike come over alone so often.
mike who doesn't go to college because his dad won't pay for an education he "wont use" so he's stuck in Hawkins and spends as much time at Steve's as possible because steve can't excuse not being there for mike.
mike who hides from his pack that he didn't CHOOSE not to go to college. mike who spends time at the house in the basement just watching his little sister and her friends play DnD like him and the party used to, giving Holly extra ideas for her campaigns.
steve who offers his house for the next collection of pups to play at, like he did with his pups. except, these are mike's pups and steve is worried about overstepping and robin is saying over the phone that they need better boundaries.
mike who brings his sister and her friends to play at steves because its a bigger table and theres more room and more food and he remembers how it was more fun because of that and wants to share it with his sister. mike who gets pissed at his dad and calls his sister and her friends "my pups" once in an argument and realizes that's 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 how he feels about them.
steve who casually says things like "your pups" in reference to them. steve who loves watching mike with the kids and knows hes in too deep and hes so fucked.
mike who sees steve with his pups and his heart skips a beat and he thinks, fuck, im so screwed, when the hell did this happen, because he didn't believe will when he said "you have a crush on steve" about a year ago.
steve who accidentally starts courting mike who doesn't recognize it and accepts the gifts and loves being treated like this.
steve and mike who end up together because mike got stuck and steve never pushed and steve was good with his pups and never overstepped but didn't let them get away with shit either and mike loved seeing it and steve loved watching mike with his pups, loved seeing him take care of them, make sure they weren't doing shit they shouldn't, make sure they know they can come to him, who starts writing again because he loves it. steve and mike who fall hard for each other because steve saw mike and mike started to really see steve and it built inside of them for almost two years before steve told robin, told her that they were together and he's not sure how to tell Jonathan and nancy because he KNOWS what nancy will say.
mike who isn't shy about it. refuses to be. mike who tells will and lucas and dustin and max and jane the weekend they make it official because hes so happy. when they ask how it finally happened, mike finally tells them he didn't go to college because his dad refused to help him afford it and steve was just there for him and there for him and accepted that mike came with his own brood of pups and never crossed any lines and he has no idea how steve ended up feeling the same about him but he couldn't be happier.
steve and mike who are happy. who never have their own pups because they've handled enough pups between the two of them already. mike who goes to college a few years after everyone else and becomes a teacher along with steve and still writes on the side. mike and steve who are so similar and don't realize but that's why they work. mike and steve who get more pups through being teachers. mike who refuses to let bullying slide the way nobody noticed or cared about the treatment him and his pack went through as pups. steve who is always there, backing him, supporting him.
steve and mike who actually forget to tell nancy officially until theyre sending out invitations to their wedding and official mating ceremony and nancy calls and grills them on the whole relationship before she RSVPs that she will definitely be there.
some of mike and steves students come to the wedding. all of their pups. all of their party. ted who refuses to entertain this shit, even after all this time, but karen is right there supporting her boy because that's what a mother does and shes always trying to make up for what she considers her failures and she loves her son.
hopper who finally, finally, finally officially tells mike that hes always been a pretty good kid and hes proud of what hes become and mike literally fucking cries and neither of them really know why it hits him so hard.
just. idk. stevemike and their huge family and all their pups and the love and the care and the softness and how they complete each other.