Cassieconrads·:

stevehharringtcns·:

dvstybuns·:

“What? No. No one broke into your house. You got mad the last time I did that, so I stopped.” Dustin replied to Steve, frowning at the question. If someone else had, Dustin would have called the cops - and then left. He wasn’t about to try to fight off a burglar at Steve’s house; his parents could afford to replace it all, anyway. And then all hell broke loose when Steve and Eddie realized why he’d used a Code Red. 

In theory, Dustin knew that Code Red meant Code Red and he wasn’t supposed to use it for other shit. He knew that! He didn’t need this lecture right now, damn it. “Okay, but you wouldn’t have gotten here as fast if I’d told you the real reason I needed to see you!” Dustin replied, voice rising to match theirs. Not that he had any real reason to be annoyed at them. “But fine! Whatever! I won’t use Code Red again unless I’m dying, okay?” He grumbled at Eddie, looking at Steve for some sympathy here. Not that he was really expecting to find it, but still. Of the two, Eddie seemed more pissed right now. 

Sitting down on Steve’s couch, he looked to the two older boys for guidance. He had asked them both for help because they were both like big brothers to him, or dads even. Older male figures that he looked up to and respected, even if just thinking that made him want to gag. Dustin loved them, and he trusted that even if their advice was shitty, it came from a good place because neither would actually actively want to ruin his life. 

“No, I know I need to take her on dates!” Dustin shook his head, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “I can do that. I can be romantic,” He murmured quietly, nodding at Eddie’s advice as he took it in. “Um, actually, we can’t go away somewhere because of the fucking border,” He reminded them, brow screwing up in confusion at the mention of a cabin. That seemed pointed, for some reason, and Dustin had no clue why. 

Was something else going on here? What was happening with them? Was this about a girl or something?

Pausing, Dustin took in the rest of Eddie’s advice. Okay, that was solid. That was something he could do. But that was also mostly what he was already doing. “I guess… I don’t know. It’s like, when we were talking over Cerebro or the phone, it was easy. Now that she’s here, I’m just…” He paused, looking down at the floor. It shouldn’t be embarrassing to admit - they both already knew how dorky he was. It was just hard being vulnerable sometimes, although he knew Steve and Eddie wouldn’t really judge him. Steve had been around for the fiasco that was the Snowball, and Eddie had known him for years too. Talking about this with them would be fine. Easier than talking about it with Mike and Lucas, for sure. 

“…I’m nervous. I really like her, and it’s been a long time since she’s been around me in person. What if she realizes that I’m weird or something and doesn’t like me anymore?” Dustin admitted quietly, avoiding looking at either of them.

When Eddie asked to leave, Dustin looked up at him sharply. “What? No! I asked you both here for your advice! Just because you don’t know much about girls doesn’t excuse you!” 

@stevehharringtcns··

.

these stupid walkies had only given steve headaches. he could have easily had a talk with eddie at his cabin, but of course they were interrupted by dustin. and since it was a code red (or so they thought so), they couldn’t exactly ignore it. “eddie’s right about this, you can’t just go on and about saying code red when you feel like it! you know that my dad would kill me if something happened to the house while he was out. just don’t do it again.” he said, feeling like he was done lecturing dustin. sometimes he did feel like a babysitter. he shared a look with eddie, nodding his head slowly. he thought that he didn’t need to say anything as they made their way inside of the house, watching as dustin took a seat on his couch.

as much as he wanted to focus on dustin, steve couldn’t help but to feel bad that he was there with eddie like everything was okay. he decided that it was for the best to not bring it up to dustin. he liked to believe that dustin looked at steve for some comfort, and the way he had talked about eddie before, he definitely saw him the same way. he wasn’t going to bring him into their mess. but then again, it was kind of hard to do when he felt eddie’s stares burn into his head and the occasional jabs, even if subtle, that the other threw his way.

“a cabin is a really good place for a romance, if two people are alone. that much is true, dustin…” he said, giving eddie a look for a couple of moments, wanting for him to stop. what had happened at the cabin wasn’t his proudest moment and he felt sick every time he thought about it, but this wasn’t the best time to fight about it. although that he thought he would never hear the end of it from eddie. if he had been given a chance to talk to him before getting interrupted, maybe they wouldn’t be like this now. but it didn’t matter, steve wanted to focus on dustin. “look, this isn’t about me and the dates that i’ve gone to, ed- dustin.” he said, correcting himself at the end and clearing his throat. “clearly we’re different because i was popular back then and dustin is… well, dustin.” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

steve listened carefully to dustin’s concerns about suzie. in all honesty, dustin made it seem like suzie was going to leave at any moment, but steve doubted that. after meeting her, she seemed way too nice to do something like that and she cared about dustin. steve pursed his lips as he nodded his head, thinking about on what to say next. “have you… you know, tried talking to her about it? maybe asking her?” he asked, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head.

“you’re not… okay, you’re definitely weird, but that’s past the point! she fell for you during that… camp or whatever it was. and even after that, she still wanted to talk to you through those stupid walkies. if she does all of that for a guy that’s miles away, then i definitely don’t think she’ll think you’re weird. or maybe…” he said, looking over at eddie for a couple of moments, a glint in his eyes as he pursed his lips and looked at dustin. “maybe she likes you because you’re weird.” he said, nodding his head. he thought if he was actually talking about himself. he let out a sigh as he sat down next to dustin and patted the other on the shoulder with a smile on his face. 

“i don’t think you have to worry about suzie thinking you’re weird. right, eddie?” he asked, feeling his heart pounding as he looked at eddie for a few moments, giving him a look. he wanted the other to agree with him and forget about what was going on between them for a couple of moments. this was about cheering up dustin and giving him some advice as he asked. they could fight later.

“how about this? you’ll go home tonight and ask suzie what are some of her favorite movies and tomorrow you can stop by the video store and rent them out, okay?” he asked, smiling at dustin. “it’ll be on the house.” he assured, patting the other on the shoulder again. he wasn’t the best at advice, he thought, but a movie always seemed to help whenever he had a date. even if he didn’t pay that much attention to the movie.

@eddiemcnson··

+++

eddie threw steve a sharp look, then sighed heavily. it was better to leave his own resentment out of this - for dustin's sake. and he was instantly reminded of a line he'd heard countless times in his childhood, over the sound muffled shouting and breaking glass - "not in front of the kid!"

besides, he didn't stand a chance when dustin looked at him like that so, slightly disgruntled, he plopped down on the couch. steves comment about popularity drew an eye roll from eddie. "ah, great, stevie ,amazing, real nicely done. makes him feel real special i bet." though eddie knew what he meant. he himself hadn't been exactly popular in high school, either, especially after the whole town had accused him of satanic ritualistic murders. still, that hadn't exactly gotten in the way of his dating life, seeing as it had been nonexistent in hawkins. a lack of options, if anything. perhaps a lack of adequate social skills, too.

he leaned in, gave dustin a shrug and a comforting smile. "as much as I hate to say this but i agree with king steve over here. and anyway, the hell's wrong with being weird, anyway? i'm weird. you're weird. i wouldn't like you if you weren't weird, henderson. you see...", he trailed off, pursed his lips, fingers drumming against his thigh as he thought of how to phrase it. "freaks and weirdos, yeah, they, like, attract each other. we're like magnets. when I first saw you, i mean, you definitely looked odd with your fucking weird al shirt." he chuckled slightly at the memory, feeling a little more comfortable now despite the lingering tension between him and steve." but wheeler, he looked, like, disgustingly, boringly normal. "and he made a fake gagging sound to accentuate his words. " but i still came up to you two and asked you to sit at the hellfire table. because i could just tell you two were freaks. hey, think of it like this - weird is just like another word for special."

a reassuring smile he gave dustin a comforting pat on the back, freezing as his fingers lightly brushed steve's from where the other's hand rested on dustin's shoulder. he pulled it back, perhaps a couple of seconds too late. "yeah, go... go with what harrington here says. dinner and a movie, yada yada. take her to the arcade - you said she digs computers and that shit, right?"

@dvstybuns

loverboymontgomery·:

who: Cole & @eddiemcnson·

where: the shores of Lover’s Lake

What a weird fucking night it had been. It was already weird enough for Cole to come to an open-invitation camping trip. Add onto that that Adam, his resurrected boyfriend, was helping to plan it. And then everything that had actually happened in the lake. Ninety percent of Cole was internally screaming at him to go home– but he wanted to be a good sport and a supportive boyfriend, and besides, whatever ‘injury’ he had earlier was now gone. 

Still, Cole needed a reprieve from the crowd; apparently shit had gone down in the cabin, too, and Adam was being the usual Good Samaritan and helping some stragglers put their tents together. So, Cole slipped away back towards the lake. He was certainly going to keep his distance from the water, but something about the scene and the sun setting on the lake’s horizon was enough to calm his fears from before. 

As he rounded the corner and heard the chatter behind him die down, Cole spotted a figure closer to the shore. That hair was unmistakeable, and a grin broke out onto Cole’s face. “Hey, Munson!” he called to announce his presence. Though they hadn’t spoken much since that day in the mall (and they hardly spoke that day either, to be fair), Cole felt incredibly comfortable with Eddie. Like they’d been friends for years. “You hoping to find the Lochness monster down here or something?” 

+++

god, it had been an eventful six-ish hours at the lake,and eddie was more than ready to just fuck it and go home again. he'd even debated sleeping in the van but after what had went down he wasn't sure if he'd be brave enough to be on his own tonight.

a nice, simple, fun, relaxing camping trip had sounded like a hell of an idea, once he'd found out about it he'd been all game. not to say that the fact that they were camping at lover's lake didn't make him uneasy, oh god it did. everytime his gaze fell on the open water he gulped, a ghastly shiver running down his spine as he remembered the events of spring break '86. watergate. the upside down.

still he'd come along, because what else was there to do? soon enough the fun had turned sour, when adam and cole had been dragged down in the water, when dustin had started acting weird, apparently some shit had gone down over at the cabin, too, but he could barely even wrap his head around what had happened at the shore. in true hawkins fashion, the paranormal apparently couldn't take a day off.

he needed a break. he needed some time to clear his head, so eddie had split from the group. to breathe, have a smoke, be alone with his racing thoughts for a moment. though the solitary didn't last long.

a lopsided grin, eddie awkwardly waved at cole, cigarette between his fingers. a faint blush rising to his cheeks as memories of the day of the mall protest flooded his mind. "nah, not here for nessie. just.... needed a break. from all this." he shrugged, took a drag. "how's your ankle, montgomery?"

mmuscles·:

WHO: thad bradshaw & you!  WHERE: downtown hawkins

this hick town in the center of nowheresville, usa! gave a new definition to the meaning of shithole. thad felt the soles of his shoes get significantly filthier as he stepped through this indiana idea of a downtown. all for nancy, he supposed. the thought made him roll his eyes, but at the end of the day, he definitely couldn’t afford to start senior year without a babe on his arm. 

desperately convinced she was on the brink of breaking up with him because she hadn’t written, thad did the only rational thing and drove to her hometown to make sure they wouldn’t happen. he hadn’t announced his arrival to her yet, of course. if she was prepared to split it off, he’d have to woo her back into his arms, and that started with buying her flowers. thad was kicking himself for not stopping sooner, or calling the florist back home for an order, because no matter where he stopped in, he couldn’t find anything suitable. entirely irritable, he firmly grasped the shoulder of the nearest passerby, effectively stopping them in their tracks, “excuse me,” he cleared his throat, belated. “could you happen to point me in the direction of this town’s most bangin’ florist?”

+++

he didn’t usually do this. strolling through downtown hawkins, hands in his pockets, lazily nodding along to the music coming out of his walkman. it had been two years, but some of the local hicks still thought he was the epitome of evil, a drug-dealing sadistic satanic murderer who’d corrupt their precious youth. who had so viciously killed poor chrissy cunningham in his trailer. the memory made him clench his jaw, he quickly pressed his headphones tighter to his ears, trying to drown out the sounds of that night he recalled - his own desperate screaming, the squelching, the cracking. eddie blinked. dug his nails painfully into his palms until he could fully concentrate of ratt’s ‘round and round’ again.

it wasn’t what he usually did but it felt...nice, in an odd way, and considerably safe, seeing as how he hadn’t been attacked by any of the late jason carver’s angry goons yet. no, he was simply enjoying a lazy walk to melvald’s unbothered -

- well, not completely. “woah, what the hell, man.” a string of curses fell from his lips as he suddenly felt a hand of his shoulder, forcefully jerking him around. eddie pulled his headphones down, stared at the other with confusion, outrage, maybe a hint of disgust. the man in front of him looked eerily like an exact carbon copy of jason, he noted, had the same aura to him, too. “the fuck is your deal, man?”

his mouth dropped open slightly, an amused grin curling at his lip, oh, he really had to hol it in, trying his best not to bark out a laugh. “i’m sorry, what was that? did you - you just asked me about hawkin’s most ‘banging’ florist ?” eddie snorted, trying to hold back his laughter. “listen, i don’t know where you think you are but... this is hawkins, man. try melvald’s, i guess, they got like a bouqet or something sometimes. “

What personal space?

rcbinbvckleys·:

⚢

“i should be the one checking on my eyes! wait, you’re definitely actually you, right?” logistically speaking, this could be an elaborate trick from the upside down to lure robin to her doom. okay no, this was real and she really had to stop thinking like that. physical contact was usually something she avoided, but eddie was someone she was comfortable with — although she barely had any time to react, so just had time to put one arm around him to pat his back. “it’s gotta be one hell of a campaign to stick around all summer.” if robin were given the opportunity for a responsibility free summer, she would most likely want to travel, not return to her hometown.

“i’m just, toeing the line. college. and i’m still working at family video! i’m saving up.” it was true, the glass jar shoved in the top of her closet was filled with bills. but what exactly was she saving for? the multitude of escape plans she had come up with in the past had never worked out. something was keeping robin in hawkins. maybe it was the fear of being out there in the world, alone, with no one to turn to or rely on if it all went to shreds. or maybe a minuscule doubtful piece of her mind had convinced her that one of the creatures they’d encountered in the past would follow her wherever she went. “and you, you haven’t made it big yet? i was hoping i’d already have a tape with your face on it!”

+++

he nodded, grinned, did a little spin for her. “as he lives and breathes. eddie munson, in the flesh.” some days he couldn’t believe his own eyes, when he caught his reflection in the mirror, blinking at him, staring with that confused and surprised look on his face. couldn’t believe that he was still here, among the land of the living. because that day in the upside down, he’d said his finaly goodbyes to the world, thinking that that was it. here he was, back in hawkins after all those years, 

he was alive, and so was his unlikely little group of friends that still hung about in that godforsaken town. “oh, trust me, it is a sadistic campaign, the likes of which hellfire club has never seen before.”, eddie explained, a glint in his eyes but he stopped himself from rambling - they’d be here all day once he got into the logistics of his campaigns. “chicago gets crazy and busy during summer. thought i’d escape to...a different kind of crazy.” he threw her a knowing glance. “besides, had to check up on all of you guys, see how you’re doing now the talk of the town’s moved away. tragic, i know. spare me your tears.”

eddie nodded and listened, recognized himself in her. he, too, had saved every penny, having scratched together just enough to fuck off immediately after graduation. “still working with harrington? how’s he doing? oh and keith, right? is he still, like, you know....as weird?” seriously, eddie had often wondered why the town had branded him a ‘freak’ just because he listened to metal and played a fantasy game, and not keith with...well, with his whole thing. it made eddie grimace.

so did robin’s comment, he waved it off. “don’t ya worry your pretty little head about that, i’m still a rockstar in the making. i’ll make it, i’m sure.” and he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince here. eddie looked around, as easy as talking to robin felt, he still didn’t feel exctly safe with so many people around.

“hey, do you wanna maybe get outta here? i got some, uh, pretty good shit from chicago that’s calling our names.”

my brain in social situations

#hellfireclub

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve smiled at eddie’s reaction, and he couldn’t blame him. steve himself was a little surprised that he was dating eddie. he was dating him. that was real. king steve wouldn’t believe it either if this had happened during high school, but he was too busy being an asshole to eddie. to everyone. it was weird to think about how he used to do that. he didn’t like looking back to high school and be remembered of all of that. while in the end of their friendship he had blamed tommy hagan and carol for everything, the truth was that he was as much to blame as the two of them. he didn’t even know why eddie had chosen to forgive him for allowing his friends to torment him, but… this was definitely going well for the two of them now. they were dating. and for as long as steve could predict, there was nothing that could separate them. and steve liked the idea of that - with nancy, there had always been doubts. with eddie, there was nothing in their way.

he had been lost in his thoughts. he kept his eyes glued to eddie. it was addicting to look at him and he couldn’t get enough. he was glad that no one else had access to his thoughts, because he was pretty sure people would make fun of them. but steve really did like looking at eddie - and before all of this, he would do it when no one was watching. or at least, when he thought no one was watching. and now he was all his to look at for as long as he wanted. a small smile formed on his lips, not leaving his face for a long time as he watched his now boyfriend so close to him.

“i am not… a dork, eddie munson. i was popular because i was… co-captain of the swimming team and i was also in the basketball team. and… i had and still have great hair.” he said with a small chuckle, looking over at eddie with a smile. “i would have never joined hellfire club back then… but now, maybe… i would. for you. and you know, i would have to say that it was because of dustin too, or else he would be jealous.” he said with a small chuckle again, holding on to his chest for a few moments as he took a deep breath and looked at eddie. “speaking of… dustin… have you talked to him? he seemed… pretty upset last i saw him.” he said with a sigh. the two cared too much about the kid, he was family for both of them at this point and they both hated when he was down, although it was sort of impossible not to be after what happened.

steve didn’t like talking about his family, in fact, he hated it. he knew that eddie had meant well when he had brought it up, but he couldn’t help but to be a little sad about it. he knew that most parents would visit their kid if they were in the hospital, but steve’s parents weren’t like most. but that was another story for another day. he didn’t feel like talking about. he looked over at eddie as he talked about wayne and his casserole, a small smile forming on his lips again as he heard him talk. steve knew that eddie’s parents weren’t that present either, but at least eddie had wayne. and wayne was a sweetheart, from the interactions steve had with him. nodding his head with a smile, he looked at the other. “i… i would like that a lot, eddie. you can tell him… but only if it’s not… a burden to come visit me or whatever. i don’t want to bother him.” he assured the other with a sigh.

+++

eddie waved it off with a dramatic eyeroll. “yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself, man. though i gotta agree with the great hair part. can’t deny it, much as it wounds me.” a melodramatic sigh, it soon shifted and made way for a light-hearted chuckle as he lifted his hand to gently card his fingers through steve’s hair. awfully careful, so as not to pull too much and end up hurting him. “i’m afraid that best feature of yours has seen better days, sweetheart...”, he muttered, lips twisted into a pitying crooked smile as he absent-mindedly scissored his fingers to detangle a knot in his hair. “but i got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. don’t you worry, we’ll get you back that title of steve ‘the hair’ harrington in no time.”

he kept his hand there for a moment, contuing to detangle steve’s hair, eddie grinned, all wide and toothy. “you would willingly join hellfire, huh?” the thought alone seemed outlandish, with a stifled chuckle eddie recalled the wheeler’s bbq, when steve had sat on his lap, looking all sorts of lost while eddie had attempted to explain the rules of dnd to him in hushed whispers. “you know, there’s no need to sweet talk me anymore, harrington. already got me wrapped around your finger.”

the mention of dustin brought that same worry wrinkle to his brows that was seemingly ever present on steve’s face, he nodded. “i’ve seen him, yeah. he came by. he’s - he’s alright, i think. seemed fine. considering.” he twisted his lips into what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, yet eddie couldn’t completely shake his worries off. the second he’d seen him and suzie go into that tent his heart had dropped, a feeling he’d not forget too soon. there was no parallel universe where eddie wouldn’t worry about dustin. there was none in which he wouldn’t care. there was a running joke, about how steve and later eddie had sort of adopted dustin. eddie didn’t have any siblings, or none he knew of, but he rather thought that this was how one felt about a younger brother. a son, even, if you will.

eddie mirrored his smile, nodded too. “i’ll let him know. it’s on his way, anyway. and he offered, so.” a shrug, eddie fell silent for a moment, simply looked at steve. it was as if he could feel his heart swell, and he wondered if it would always be like this when he looked at steve. when eddie spoke a couple of beats later his voice was soft, low. “you’re so beautiful, steve.” and, adding a pained timbre to his voice, he added: “i was so worried. i ... still don’t - i’m afraid this isn’t real. does that make sense?”

🎸

# eddie is fed up with their lack of music culture

STRANGER THINGS | Papa (4.08)