steddie tbhk au. kinda.
part 1 ; part 2
Steve does not regret his "fall of the mighty" or whatever dramatic shit Eddie calls his truly spectacular fall in the social ladder.
He isn't sure why he'd been so scared of exactly that in the first place. He does not have to laugh at cruel "jokes" and feel like the biggest asshole in the world anymore. He doesn't need to keep up with the ridiculously complicated drama of who is with who or cheated on whom and whatever else bored teenagers do in the middle of nowhere. He'd never realized how exhausting it had been to wear this mask until he didn't have to anymore.
But there is one big thing that he does miss: the easy access to rumours. To be more specific: supernatural rumours.
Steve is truly glad that he has met Eddie. Not because he is actually pretty funny and a very engaging storyteller and surprisingly gentle despite his wild energy. Or whatever. Like, only a little bit because of those things. No, what makes Eddie truly irreplaceable is that he also is a seemingly bottomless well of information.
For example, Steve had never really thought about why the supernatural acted how it did. To be fair most of the time he'd been a bit too busy running for his life. He'd just assumed that they were bitter about being dead or something and found it funny to terrorize the living. Of course people would start whispering about it when doors started disappearing or students started aging decades in a matter of seconds. It is in the human nature to try to understand the unexplainable, after all. But as it turns out, it is the other way around.
"Do you think I want to keep hanging out in the girls' bathroom?! Don't answer that. It is literally moldy in here. The rumour says that if you want to summon Hanako you need to go to the last stall in the OMG bathroom, and so that is the only way I can be summoned. The dead is dependent on the imagination of the living."
That had been a harsh pill to swallow. He remembers having started more than one creepy story to scare his "friends" late at night. Eddie sees the way his face falls and sings a mashup of Steve's favorite songs for the rest of the day. He has a nice voice.
Now, Steve had had a fall from grace from truly epic proportions and could more often than not be seen talking to air. However, that doesn't change the fact that he is pretty and charming and has awesome hair. Occasionally someone who remembers his old days or simply doesn't care will come to him and ask him out. Kind of like the good old days. Except better, because now the entire school isn't holding its breath for the time it takes him to answer and he can say 'no' without it becoming the hottest (and often only notable) news of the week.
Normally, he abuses this new privilege of his. To be honest, he had thought that crushes were something other people had....invented. Sure, he would be happy if someone asked him out, but it had more to do with flattery than the person per se. He'd thought that "getting together" had nothing to do with any feelings, but only status. Like, this cheerleader can rise a bit in the ranks if she dates the swim captain. He'd thought that the "euphoria" and the "racing heart" or whatever the hell all the love songs described were nothing more than exaggerations for artistic purposes.
And then he'd fallen for Nancy. And like a fall it did feel indeed.
When another older girl came to him in his freshman year, he could always feel hundreds of eyes burning in his back, compelling him to say yes. He'd lose some money (or, well, his parents money so it was fine), have an okay to good time (it was particularly annoying when they were too nervous to do proper smalltalk) and give them a short peck goodbye. Some would maybe want to go on a second or even a third, but most broke it up after that because "they just didn't feel the spark". All Steve would feel was mild curiosity now that he was free again, and his image as "playboy" stayed intact.
(And then Nancy ruined everything. Fuck. He hadn't said yes to anyone ever since that damned party)
He doesn't know why he felt compelled to break his streak. Maybe it was because she dared to go over to the losers table at lunch. Maybe it was because Nancy was looking at him with such hope and relief. Maybe it was because Eddie looked very miffed for some reason and Steve can never pass up a chance to mess with him. Friendship or something. Or maybe he just needed a fucking distraction because it felt oddly personal to watch Billy run the basketball team to the ground.
Either way he agrees to go watch the new Indiana Jones movie with her (worst comes to worst Harrison Ford will be distracting enough), Nancy looks proud of him for "finally moving on" (if only she knew), Jonathan seems to not care either way (good on him to be honest), and Eddie disappears to do his ghostly things or whatever. He's got a test next period so it's better if he isn't there to distract him anyway.
The date is...fine.
It is his first one since Nancy and feels pretty lackluster in comparison. But it's okay. He is moving on or whatever.
They leave the movie theater. The movie was...fine. Harrison Ford was definitely fine. (Now that he thinks about it, it has been some time since he has felt something much stronger than "fine". Or "pleasant". Maybe he should be concerned about that. It's easier not to think about it, though. It's - you guessed it - fine.)
She asks him to take a walk with her in the woods. Sure, he says. It's a funny thing. He knows she has been in most of his classes since freshman year - or at least he is pretty sure he remembers her - but for the life of him he can not think of her name. One time she took his hand during the movie and when he looked over he saw her brushing her black hair from her face even though he could swear it had been red before. Insomnia truly is doing a number on him.
They are walking on the edge of the forest, hand in hand. Her eyes change color under the moonlight: brown and blue and yellow and purple and red. It's pretty.
She starts humming. It takes him a bit of time before he recognizes the song but he has to smile when he does. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham! It is his revenge song for Eddie's "Master of Puppets" - phase. The spirit hated how "preppy" the song is and Steve had been absolutely obsessed with it for a while.
They duet, dancing a bit to the beat of the song. Her hand is warm in his. The forest looks endless and inviting. It is...nice. Maybe even more than that.
After they finished the song for a second time she stops him. They just stare at each other for a moment. Her eyes are an impossible color. She smells like the forest. Like, exactly like the forest, as if she were a part of it. And then she slowly starts leaning forwards. Steve brushes some of her blonde hair behind her ear. It looks almost white. He prepares himself for a kiss (is a bit excited for it, to his own surprise), but instead of his mouth she zeroes on his ear.
"Have you been true?", she whispers.
She starts humming Wake Me Up Before You Go Go again. She is still humming as his first bones start breaking. She is still humming as his clothes become too big for him and fall to the floor. She is still humming when grey hairs start growing out of his burning skin. And then she laughs. She laughs and laughs and laughs and he knows he has made a terrible mistake.
"Has no one ever told you that it is bad to make a name for yourself in our world, Steve Harrington?" And then she disappears, returns to the forest she is a part of.
Steve squeaks.
Yes, squeaks. Because apparently, mouse anatomy was not made to produce human-sounding words.
Fuck.
--
When Steve was small, he sometimes wished he could be a pet. Maybe a cute pup. Or an elegant cat. Or even a lazy turtle. For his tiny brain, this seemed like the ideal life, and he can still see some of the appeal to be honest. You don't have to earn affection - you just get it freely, sometimes even if you did something you shouldn't. You don't have to know any stupid subjects that refuse to enter your brain or worry about dumb stressful things like grades or politeness. You can't take care of yourself, which means you will always come face to face with another person at least twice a day. You don't need to feel bad when you waste your parents' hard earned money on alcohol or food even though you barely contribute to the family. Yeah, sounds like a dream.
His actual experience as a mouse so far has been. Uhm. Not ideal? An unexpected surprise? So far he doesn't really have any strong emotions either way. Maybe he is in shock, or maybe his now miniscule rat brain is not able to comprehend what just happened.
It's interesting to see everything from a new angle, he supposes. The forest has always felt somewhat threatening - dark and endless and right outside of his house where trees created scary shadows inside his room. Funnily enough, it is less so now. There are so many different new textures and smells he does not have the brain capacity to feel scared.
But he doesn't have time to dwell on that right now. Or well, technically he does, since he can hardly go to school like this. Unless his lifespan shortened along with the transformation? He is pretty sure rats have a way shorter life expectancy than humans. It's probably better not to think too hard about that one. Compartmentalization is one of the few things he is naturally good at.
Okay, so it doesn't really make sense to sit in classes if he doesn't have to, but what is he supposed to do instead? It's not like he can open his very human-sized front door when he is like this.
But... Hanako is still in the school premises - naturally, since he can't exactly leave. And Steve still hasn't made his wish. He just needs to find the school (he has lived here his whole life surely he can manage that), make Eddie understand that the rat following him around is actually Steve (....somehow) and then communicate without being able to speak or sign or write that he wishes to be turned back into his human form (he'll figure that part out if he miraculously even makes it this far). So yeah. Solid plan. Whatever, he's always been more of a go with the flow guy anyway.
Okay, so he and his...date(?) came from the direction of the cinema. The cinema is deeper into town, where the school also is. So he just has to figure out which way they came from, and once he manages to get into the town centre he is sure he will figure it out, even under these extenuating circumstances.
Steve may not be very book smart, or just like smart in general, but if there is one thing he knows about himself is that he has great instincts. His gut tell him to go left, so he does. Either he will arrive at the school - which is the goal - or his house - which wouldn't be the end of the world. (Or maybe somewhere completely different but it's better not to think about that possibility). As long as it doesn't take longer than the average rat can survive, the worst that can happen is a delay. Which wouldn't even be that bad, since at least Eddie would realize that something was wrong.
Ever since the day the spirit almost had a second early death because he skipped class, Steve always makes sure to let him know if he can't make it for some reason. Mostly that means using the walkies-talkies they started carrying around to ask Nancy to relay the information to Hanako, which in turn almost always gives her a heart attack. ("Steve! How many times do I have to tell you that these are for emergencies only?!" "It is an emergency if he refuses to stop singing Metallica during my biology test tomorrow")
So he starts walking. And walks. And walks. And walks. He thinks the worst part of being turned into a rat is how he completely loses his sense of time. He has lived in this town his whole life, meaning he knows how long it takes to get pretty much anywhere on foot. There isn't a whole lot to do in Hawkins (what a surprise) so he used to go exploring a lot. If he was still a human and thus possessed these wondrous limbs commonly known as legs, it would take about half an hour to get to the school. As things are, he does not have a watch and he does not know how much slower he is walking. The sky continues to darken and for all he knows he could be walking for hours. Or the completely wrong direction. The thought feels a bit more daunting now that his clothes are out of sight and he isn't sure he will ever find them again. A pity, he even wore one of his favorite shirts - just tight enough to show everything he has to offer, but still elegant. Simple but classy. And now covered in dirt.
It feels like an eternity when he finally starts recognizing his surroundings. It takes another one for him to finally see the school parking lot, and yet another to actually cross it until he finally arrives at the right building. It seems more and more likely that the stupid being who deceived him into a date somehow cursed his sense of time as well. Or maybe a rat's perception of time is different from a human's, shorter lives and all that.
Here is one little detail he forgot to account for in his genius plan: the school also has a human-sized door. Not only that, it has a human-sized door he wouldn't be able to open even if he still resided in his original body, since it is locked and they don't give away the keys to random students.
Maybe he can like. Scream really loudly. And hope that Eddie will hear him. And somehow recognize his true form with a mere glance. Or, well, if he's being honest with himself, he wouldn't be surprised if Eddie let a random rat in just for shits and giggles.
The sound that comes out of his tiny snout is truly embarrassing. He is almost relieved that it is too quiet for anyone to have heard it.
So.... Well. What now? Should he search for another entrance? Surely there is a hole somewhere in the outer walls, everyone knows schools don't have enough funding. But then, he just had to do a really long and tiresome hike. And it is already late in the night. And he'd already wasted some of his energy before this whole mess even started being anxious for his first date in forever...
He isn't sure when he falls asleep. All he knows is that one second he is looking up to the stars and thinking about life, and the next he is being woken up by multiple teens screeching and stomping around. Are his ears more sensitive like this or is it the mere displeasure of having this be the first thing he wakes up to that makes their voices so unbearably shrill? We may never find out.
The important part is that it is morning. Which means he can simply walk through the already open doors and run to the OMG-bathroom (he is already dreading the smell). And when he gets there and finally gets to Eddie, all he has to do is-. Well. One thing at a time.
For once it doesn't take an eternity to arrive at his destination. It would be more of a relief if he had been able to come up with a plan on his way there, but here they are. Winging it it is.
Thankfully the Old Moldy Girls Bathroom Everybody Avoids's door doesn't close all the way. He squeezes himself inside and there - as expected - is Eddie Munson. It has become part of their routine to meet up at the bathroom in the morning (even though Eddie knows his timetable by heart and neither of them are girls. Maybe they should talk that one over once he is human again).
Eddie plays a bit with him while he waits for a currently indisposed human Steve to arrive. Rat Steve refuses to admit how good it feels to get cuddles on his little forehead. Doesn't stop him from asking for more.
Eddie laughs at his antics, but his smile dims with every second that passes. By the time the first lesson begins he is frowning. Steve can hear as he mutters to himself: how reassurances turn into worry and a brief sadness that absolutely breaks his heart followed by...anger? Steve isn't sure how they got to that last part, but suddenly they are cursing Steve and his entire family line and the girl(?) that took him out for some reason. He can wholeheartedly agree with the last two, and tries not to take the first one too personally.
Steve isn't sure how much time passes before Eddie has had enough and decides to look for him in class. It goes like this: he sees Eddie approaching the door. He panics. He is body slamming into the wall. Turns out it is not a good idea to launch yourself at other people when said other people are a ghost.
Eddie looks just as shocked as Steve himself. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" "DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE JACKASS JESUS H. CHRIST" is what Steve would've liked to scream in return. Except he couldn't, because he was still a rat.
"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?! ARE YOU STUPID? ARE YOU SUICIDAL? CAN RATS EVEN BE SUICIDAL?!?!" Steve answers the best way he can given the current circumstances: he huffs and shows Eddie his ass. Eddie pauses. For a moment hope blooms in Steve's heart.
"This may sound insane. But...can you....understand me?" Steve turns around so fast he gives himself whiplash. It doesn't help when he starts nodding enthusiastically and slams his head into the floor.
"Are you. No way. ... Stevie?"
Steve is so excited he starts jumping up and down.
"Aww, is tiny little Stevie in a bit of a pickle?"
Steve really wishes mice had middle fingers.
"I am assuming you are here to cash in that wish I still owe you. Aren't you lucky that I am so benevolent as to have stopped you from throwing away your wish for some girl? Aren't you regretting not having listened to me when I said that you shouldn't go on this date? Huh?"
Steve turns around, ready to live out the rest of his days as a rodent because his salvation is being a little shit.
He can barely walk a step before something warm envelops him. A moment he is on all fours, and the next he is still on all fours, except that the inconveniently low doorknob is now in his field of vision.
"Kinky." Steve doesn't need to turn around to see the shit-eating grin on Eddie's face.
He is human. It takes him another moment to really internalize it. He looks down, and he now has two perfectly usable middle fingers. And arms, god how he had missed fucking arms.
The hug he gives Hanako is tight enough that it probably would've squished him to death if he wasn't, well, already dead. (He kind of wants to punch him in the face, too, but this is the next best thing)
