Turns out you can't save drafts with responses to asks and I accidentally posted something that was like three sentences in when I was sleep deprived so these are the Steve/Soda headcanons for anon:
Ok, so, I love the whole "____ is x way with everyone except for ____"
Steve processes everything through anger
He's always been told he has to be strong, that emotions are a sign of weakness, so he learns to just replace what he doesn't understand with anger
Sad? He’s mad at the source. Misses someone? Mad at them for leaving. Jealous when he sees Soda with Sandy? Sandy's a bitch and he hates her. Actually happy? Still mad at the world for being so unfair
It's unhealthy as shit, in case that wasn't clear
When he's around Soda, though, it's different
He's known Soda since grade school, before he could control his emotions, so it's not dangerous to be vulnerable around him because it's not a barrier he needs to tear down. It just wasn't ever there.
Soda also has trouble expressing his emotions
When he was a kid, he was called stupid in every subtle and unsubtle way possible
He never excelled at sports either, couldn't draw to save his life, the only thing he thought he was good at was cars
And then he saw Steve start working with them and he realised he was absolute shit compared to him
So he sort of felt like he had nothing
Everyone had their Thing, and he didn't
He wasn’t good at anything
But for some reason, people seemed to like him
So he never tells people what he really thinks, never reveals his true thoughts because he thinks it'll be too much, that they won't want anything but the palatable, easy version he puts out in the world
With Steve it's sort of... easy
He never feels judged, never observed, but never overlooked, either. He doesn't need to prove himself to be seen, but his every move isn't scrutinised
Because they've spent so much time together that atp they can read each other better than themselves
And Steve chose him back when he was useless and unlikeable and as extreme as he wanted to be, so why won't he choose him like that now?
(Because he had no other choice, his mind tells him late at night. He didn’t have any friends and being the annoying bastard you are you went up to him and harassed him into friendship)
They go to protests together once they figure out their sexualities
Soda is biromantic and asexual, but since people hardly know about being ace right now, he doesn’t know about it and just calls himself bi
Steve is gay I can't see him any other way
They get married a year or so after it gets legalised in Oklahoma
Steve hated Ponyboy (and Darry but he was terrified to show it) because of what they put Soda through
Also, in a modern AU Steve would wear graphic tees and loose jeans
