Latest Posts by eddiemcnson - Page 4
murray-baumans·:
who: murray & @eddiemcnson·
where: the music center
After the semi-successful investigation at the border, Murray decided to treat himself to a relaxing night in– he’d cook a lasagna, pour some wine, and unwind to some jazz. In particular, he was looking to replace his George Benson record; he’d discovered earlier that day that he’d left it in Illinois. So, Murray found himself a the Music Center, which must have been run by a middle schooler because the organization was completely senseless.
Approaching who he assumed to be an employee, Murray cleared his throat to make his presence known. “Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of your jazz collection?” he asked, investigating the button’s on the young man’s jacket. “You a metalhead?” he wondered aloud.
+++
the music center was one of his more frequented places, eddie made sure to stop by at least once when he came back to hawkins. though vastly different from the record store he worked at in chicago - which was more specialised on alternative music and the sort - he enjoyed browsing through the stacks of vinyls and tapes, spending time rummaging through the bargain bin. it reminded him of his childhood and early adolescence. really, eddie had spent hours on end in the store, some days only leaving if he was explicitly asked to do so.
today, however, he’d simply come in to take his mind off things. off the ‘tragedy at benny’s diner’, more specifically. he wanted to browse through some new releases, see if they got any heavy stuff at all. drop by to make sure that cole was okay, too - they’d left things on a rather....awkward note, too, having had their encounter in the mall cut short by max’s arrest.
“sorry?”, eddie’s head popped up from behind the shelf, he threw the other a puzzled look. eyes narrowing as the man in front of him mentioned the words ‘jazz’ and ‘collection’. “uh, i don’t....work here, man. sorry.”
eddie stared at him for a moment, wondering if his question was, perhaps, a trap of sorts. and because, quite frankly, he was an odd looking fella. “uh, yeah. sure am. what gave it away?”, he asked jokingly and laughed, gesturing down at his buttons.
stevehharringtcns·:
.
steve could tell that eddie was clearly nervous, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. once they were both inside the house, steve plopped down on the couch next to the other, his eyes never leaving eddie as the other spoke. “do you need like a… water or something? you look like you’ve seen a ghost and that you’re about to throw up all over my carpet. please don’t do that, my mom would kill me.” he said, although by the time his mom returned, he probably would have had the time to buy a new carpet and replace it before she even noticed. it wasn’t that hard, considering he had done it before after he forgot to take away the carpet during a party.
he was hanging out with nancy? why was he hanging out with nancy? were they friends? they probably were, after everything that happened two years ago, but steve couldn’t help but to think that it was a little weird that they were hanging out. were they a… thing? no, right? nancy would have told him. eddie would have told him too. maybe that was stupid to think about. “i saw the newspaper about the attack, but why did you went and investigate? i thought it was just some… old ladies fighting over waffles or something.” he said with a small chuckle, a little too proud of his joke, before he got serious and looked at eddie.
steve looked at eddie as he stood up from the couch and started pacing around. he looked over at him as he talked about what had happened, shaking his head as he tried to process everything the other was telling him. “there was a fire? you were in a fire?” he asked, concern was clear on his face. he almost felt sick when he heard the words upside down. “wait, a monster? like… demogorgon? or… vecna? are you… are you sure?” he asked. “what the shit?” he asked, frowning at him.
his first reaction was to stand up again and walk towards eddie. he could see the other was clearly nervous, so he placed his hand on the other’s shoulders and looked at him. “listen, we’re… we’re going to be fine. whatever it is that’s… out there. i don’t know what it could be.” he said, shaking his head as he squeezed the other’s shoulders.
once eddie mentioned something about the cemetery, he frowned. there it was again. someone had seen him at the cemetery but he had been out of town for his great aunt’s funeral and had only recently returned. how come people were saying that they saw them. “i… i wasn’t at the cemetery… i just came back to town recently, but… who fell in the graves?” he asked, frowning at the thought, but his features quickly softened when eddie mentioned that he didn’t want to be alone. “you…uh… you can stay here if you want. my parents are out and probably won’t return for a couple of days.” he offered, hoping that the other would take his offer. “you’re safe here, eddie.” he nodded.
+++
he nodded, rushed, frantic. “yeah. yeah, water’s good.”, he said, chest still heaving. eddie clasped a hand over his heart where it was threatening to burst out of his ribcage at any given moment. edde glance up, frowned slightly as he saw the gears turning in steve’s head. probably shouldn’t have mentioned nancy, he thought to himself, chewed nervously on the inside of his cheek. perhaps it was still a sore topic for steve. he huffed. staying true to his nature, eddie had managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, as always.
eddie threw steve a sharp look, as if punishing him for his joke - certainly ill-timed- though he had to bite down on a grin. no, no time to swoon at steve’s loveable antics now, this was serious. his mind was still racing, thoughts running by too fast, unable to grasp a coherent string of thought. eddie dug his nails into the palms of his hand, the dull ache grounding him somewhat.
“yeah, a fire. whole fucking thing went up into flames, it was insane, man. but we, uh, we ran. all got out okay i think.”, he swallowed, hands absent-mindedly ghosting over his hip where a nasty bruise was forming. “i knocked into a couple of chairs and all but i’m fine. i’ll live.”
a shaky inhale, he nodded again, muscles in his neck straining. “yeah, not...not vecna, i don’t think so, i...it was really dark...”, eddie trailed off, he had to stop for a moment, feeling his bottom lip tremble. “but definitely like freaky, hell-ish, upside down monster shit, steve, i’m sure. like, a hundred percent. we all saw it, it was...it was, bad, man. it was big.”
just as he thought that his looming panic attack was finally going to consume him whole, he felt the steadying, grounding weight of steve’s hand on his shoulder. and, before he knew it, eddie reached up to cover steve’s hand with his own. he was shaking, ragged breaths rocking through his body. “you think? ‘cause i don’t...i don’t know, man. i can’t go..through all that shit again, i can’t.”
his voice cracked, broke, forcing him to stop. “someone said...whatever. i don’t know who it was..”, he trailed off, though suspicious, he discarded that train of thought. he hadn’t been at the cemetery himself, after all. he couldn’t be sure - perhaps someone had simply thought that they’d seen steve there. it was a problem for another day.
he looked up through his lashes, met steve’s eye. “uh...are you sure?”, he asked cautiously, though, fearing that steve might take back his offer, he quickly continued. “yeah, yeah i - if that’s ok with you i’d..love to stay. i haven’t slept, not really. trailer’s a lot scarier now that that thing might be back”, he explained, the memory of chrissy cunningham floating to the ceiling made him grimace. “and i..i don’t know. wanted to make sure you were, uh, safe.”
mmuscles·:
.
“the fuck is your deal?” thad responded in turn. there were some people he could feel were up to no good, and there were some he could just tell. well whoever this random was fit the bill to a t. he let go of the stranger’s shoulder, shoving him back slightly on release, then folded his arms across one another, laying them flatly over his puffed out chest to prove that he was not one to mess with. from the other guy’s hair, to his clothes, and even the look in his eyes, thad wasn’t going to let him detect any sort of weakness.
it didn’t help that almost immediately after, thad was all but laughed at. which really pushed at his buttons. “what’s funny about that?” he asked flatly, nose twitching. “i’m trying to buy my girlfriend flowers, sure you know all about that, pal.” he breathed out. unsure of why he was even listening to this guy’s suggestions, thad still looked around. where was melvald’s? what was melvald’s? uncomfortable with the whole situation, but wanting to walk away with something suitable for nancy. reluctantly, thad asked, “what the fuck is a melvald’s? where is it?”
+++
eddie’s brows shot up, looking the other up and down with a bemused and bewildered expression on his face. everything about him screamed ‘preppy’ and eddie scrunched up his nose. a scoff drawn out of him as he was shoved back. not that he was too surprised, of course, still plenty enough people in town who’d love for him to meet a gruesome end, he was sure. but he’d never seen this... perfect carbon copy of a ken doll around town before. eddie thought he even saw the other puff out his chest and he snorted.
“well...no, i don’t know ‘all about that’ but i don’t see how that’s, like, relevant here ? “, he asked cautiously, pressing ‘stop’ on his walkman. “i mean, you’re the one who approchaed me, in need of my services. but whatever.” as much as he liked to press people’s buttons, rile them up, he wasn’t looking for a fight, either.
“melvald’s. it’s a store, mike brady.”, eddie said and frowned. “down the main street, turn left when you see the church. think you can manage that?”
stevehharringtcns·:
.
standing by the door as he looked at eddie, steve felt a little too naked for his liking. sure, he was used to walking shirtless around his place, but of course he was alone, and now, having eddie standing in front of him and staring at his bare chest made him feel… something. he didn’t feel uncomfortable, it was eddie after all, but he definitely felt something once he felt his eyes on him. he was almost sure that his face had turned into another shade of pink, but he was hoping that eddie wouldn’t realize it.
it was getting a little bit too awkward just standing there, but he didn’t know what to say. he was just waiting for eddie to finally say something and that’s when eddie finally spoke about eggs. eggs? steve wasn’t sure if he had heard that correctly, but he didn’t say anything until the other was done with his sentence.”why don’t you… come inside? it’s probably for the best if you just don’t stand there talking about… eggs.” he said as he moved away so the other could make his way inside. once the two were both inside, steve closed the door behind him as he started making his way to the living room - something that wouldn’t happen if his parents were home, but luckily for him, he was alone.
“make yourself at home.” steve offered, as he motioned towards the couch, before looking at the other and crossing his arms over his chest.. what was this about? why was eddie in such a hurry to see him and why did he seem so nervous? “what… what’s this conversation about the eggs… and fire? did you eat some bad eggs at benny’s? because that wouldn’t be that surprising.” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.
steve couldn’t help but to notice that eddie really seemed nervous about whatever was going on, but he didn’t know what to do. “just take a seat, eddie and… breathe or something. what’s going on?” he asked yet again, waiting for an answer. everyone seemed to had gone through something lately and steve wasn’t even in town to see it. had he really missed that much just by being gone?
+++
eddie nodded, still unable to form a coherent sentence because holy fuck, steve harrington had opened his door shirtless, wearing only shorts, and eddie would save that image and treasure it forever, lest he might never see it again. “yeah. yeah, inside. inside is good.”, he muttered and pushed past steve, thinking to himself that his pattern of speech oddly represented that of hopper’s kid and -
- yeah, that was another thing to unpack. because eddie could’ve sworn he’d seen her open the door to the diner with... well, what exactly, that was the question. not her hands, no, it seemed like it had been her... mind? perhaps eddie was losing his mind here.
he let his gaze wander around the entry way, the living room, couldn’t help that his eyes widened at the sight of steve’s home. because damn, he’d known that steve’s family was loaded or whatever. but he’d never been in a house as big as this. it was ridiculous. he plopped dowon on the couch, hands shaking, fidgeting with his rings. “i ... fuck. i don’t know.”, he muttered, nervously chewed on his bottom lip. foot tapping restlessly. eddie buried his face in his hands for a moment, trying to calm himself.
“i was hanging out with wheeler - nancy.”, he clarified, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he tried to recall that night’s events. “and, like, a bunch of other people and she took us to benny’s. which was shut down, there was this fight and...well, we went into investigate, or whatever, and there..then the flashlights, and they...”
eddie trailed off, restless, he couldn’t sti still anymore. he jumped up, began pacing around the room. leaned his back against the wall for comfort.”you know the freaky shit that happened two years ago?”, eddie said and gulped, feeling the phantom burning of his scars hot under the material of his shirt. “it’s back, harrington. it’s back. we saw some shit in there, man, like some...some fucking alien...monster...upside down eggs. they had tears in ‘em, steve, and... i don’t know. the diner burned down. “
eddie looked up at him, felt the prickling of hot tears in his eyes, brows pulled up, face twisted into a grimace. “it’s happening again. i can’t...are you ok? someone said you were at the cemetary and that...people got pushed into graves and all, i just...wanted to check on you.” he averted his gaze to the ground. “didn’t want to be alone.”
backtowheeler·:
𝐖𝐇𝐎: Nancy Wheeler & @eddiemcnson······
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Post-Benny’s shenanigans
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Outside of Benny’s while it burns <333
So, that happened. Nancy Wheeler started a literal fire and now she was watching as Benny’s bursted into flames. She told herself it would be fine, the damage wouldn’t be that bad, and it’d give the owner a reason to update the place but fact of the matter was it still happened. And they still agreed to let it burn down instead of calling for help. She backed away from the building, splitting off from the group as they decided it was time to clear out before anyone showed up. Nancy walked down the paved road, quick on her feet. “Hey, hey,” she jogged over to Eddie, who was only a few paces ahead of her.
“I’m really sorry for dragging you into this,” I didn’t think it was anything serious. Instead, there was goo and eggs and arson. Not the Nancy Drew mystery she had expected to solve. She had seen how spooked Eddie was and rightfully so. He had been to the Upside Down, even experienced the horrors of Hawkins once before, but this was entirely different. They were supposed to be safe. “Let me drive you home?” She asked, reaching into her pocket and grabbing the car keys to her mom’s station wagon, wincing at the pain she felt in her right hand from the burn she had gotten which was surely starting to blister. “As long as you don’t mind a one handed driver.”
+++
eddie was still in the process of catching his breath, hands braced on his thighs, leaning a little forward as he stood there and watched. watched benny’s burn down to the ground. the events of the night re-playing in his head like an episode of ‘unsolves mysteries’. he took another moment, then turned to head out, too.
seriously questioning and doubting his sanity. because what. the . fuck. had just happened. and how had he managed to get himself into another heap of hawkins shenanigans again. as if nearly dying in an alternate dimension while half the town thought you were a cold-blooded murderer wasn’t enough. no, apparently, the upside down had decided to introduce overly large ... eggs into the mix, too. typical. he should’ve figured. figured that this wouldn’t be a normal, happy, carefree summer.
he jumped slightly, startled, still spooked, as nancy called out and caught up with him. eddie shrugged. “not really your fault, wheeler, is it? i mean, whatever the hell this....shit is, was gonna catch up to me eventually.”, he said and managed a weak smile. “though, gotta say, not what i imagined when you asked if i wanted to hang.”
though what had he expected, exactly, from nancy ‘i have guns, plural, in my bedroom’ wheeler ? eyes glanced down to her hand, concerned frown appearing on his face. eddie quickly snatched the keys from her hand, careful not to brush her injured hand. “uh, no, no way, wheeler.” he was about to suggest that he drove her home instead and then walked back, but remembered how long it had taken to bike back to his trailer in the upside down - and he really wasn’t keen on walking through hawkins alone, at night.
“how about i drive myself home and then let you take over? so you only have to be a one-handed driver for the last leg of the journey. and when you’re not responsible for two lives.”
cassieconrads·:
WHO: cassie conrad & @eddiemcnson· WHERE: near town hall
Ever since Cassie had seen her, the cheerleader, in her mind, it was all she could think about. She hadn’t even seen the girl’s face, really–Cassie had become her, and the thought of who it could have been had been racking her brain every waking moment (which there were many of, since she hadn’t slept). She finally had the chance to sneak out of the Wheeler household and head to the library, where she could maybe find some more information. Asking Nancy seemed too risky–she didn’t want to worry her about some weird vision that she had at the cemetery just yet, not until it seemed important enough. With Thad in town, she had enough to worry about.
Looking like a lost tourist with her folded map again outstretched, Cassie sat on a bench outside the Town Hall, looking for her bearings. It seemed like the library had to be close enough to where she was, but it was too hard to tell on the dated map. “Hey! Would you mind, um, giving me some help with this map?” she asked the guy passing her, thankful that she finally found someone to help. “Sorry, I know this one is from a few years ago, and I’m trying to find the library, but every street … looks the same.”
+++
eddie was a little disgruntled, seeing as he found himself on the second walk through town this week. walkman clasped to his belt, headphones tight and secure over his ears, he just needed a little fresh air to clear his head. after the disaster at benny’s. the fact that hopper had been there at least meant he didn’t need to worry about the cops busting down the trailer door to arrest him for arson - if it was going to be pinned on anyone, eddie was sure it’d be him - but the other aspects of their investigation just didn’t seem to leave him.
well, granted, how could he hope to get some peace of mind when they had stumbled across those freakishly large eggs - hatched eggs, he thought to himself and grimaced - and had set the freaking diner on fire, too. it was hopeless. coming back to hawkins, that cloud of threat and doom always lingered above them. some people went as far as saying that hawkins was cursed. eddie thought that they were absolutely spot on right on the money.
“huh?” eddie jumped a little, pulled down his headphones so they hung around his neck. he glanced down at the map, frowned, looked back up. “uh...you know what, i’m like, headed in a similar-ish direction. wanna tag along? i mean, i gotta warn you i’ve got a bit of a reputation as the town ‘freak’ ‘round here, so you might get some, uh, dirty looks.”
dvstybuns·:
WHO: Dustin Henderson & @eddiemcnson·
WHAT: Just a lil check-in after they both got ouchies <3
WHERE: Eddie’s trailer
The most horrible thing about the Upside Down was that no matter how hard Dustin tried, he could never know everything about it. Just when it seemed like they’d figured shit out and defeated evil for good, some brand new horror would escape and they’d start this horrifying cycle all over again. Honestly, after Vecna, Dustin had thought that they might be done for good this time; it had been quiet for two years, after all. But that was clearly not the case.
Once the adrenaline had begun to wane after the night of their encounter with the creature, Dustin wanted to check on everyone. Especially Eddie, considering that he’d really only faced off against the Upside Down once, and they had barely lived to tell the tale. He’d gotten to get out of Hawkins, away from all this shit. He probably wasn’t thrilled that it was all starting back up again now that he was back.
“This is so fucked, dude,” Dustin announced once he’d sat down on Eddie’s couch. His feet went up onto the coffee table reflexively; when had Dustin ever cared about manners? “I mean, seriously. You’re never going to guess what happened to me, Max, Will, Mike, Joyce and Murray at the border. Some seriously fucked up shit.” He ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. “Can I have a beer?” It was worth an ask, and after the last few days, Dustin felt like he deserved it.
“How have you been, by the way? I’m sorry I haven’t come by sooner or anything. Just been busy with work and now being chased by a creature from another dimension. The fucking usual.”
+++
albeit horribly and riddled with nightmares, eddie had slept after the disaster at benny’s. in fact, he’d passed out the minute he’d gotten back to the trailer, probably due to the adrenaline wearing off and the many injuries he’d sustained that night. which were still aching, a dull sort of pain, when he woke up.
he glanced at his radio alarm clock - it was noon, he realized, shit, he’d slept through most of the day. and now he’d woken up to the sound of pounding ont the front door. with a groan, eddie forced himself to get up, pulled a shirt over his head, pulling on a pair of shorts on his way to the door.
“dude, what the hell?”, he’d said, all bed-head, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and blinking, in confusion, when he ‘d realized that it was dustin who’d knocked, not wayne who had forgotten his key or something. exchanging lazy yet excited greetings, he’d stepped away from the door, closing it behind dustin with a yawn.
fixing himself a cup of coffee, eddie concentrated hard on taking in dustin’s rambling. the kid’s chatter was a welcome noise, though. he’d missed him, of course he had. “what the hell are you on about?”, he mumbled, making his way to the couch to sit beside dustin.
“yo! get your damn feet of the coffee table, you heathen.”, he said with a scoff and a shake of his head. the shake of his head also indicating that dustin getting a beer wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. eddie dragged a hand down his face. “hold up - wait - can you just, like, walk me through what happened and where? slowly, henderson ? “
stevehharringtcns·:
even if steve’s parents had just recently gotten home, it wasn’t long until they were out again. his dad seemed to have another business trip, and his mom would always go along with him. he wasn’t sure why, but by now he had been used to being alone. in years before, he would have thrown a party, but as years went by, steve just realized that would imply having to throw a party every other week. and sometimes it was for the best if he was by himself. even if he was alone, steve still liked to confine himself in his room. it was just his safe place.
he had just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet as he put on some shorts and he was ready to get in bed. there was nothing better to do and he was tired after spending the day standing on his feet at the video store. he was about to sit on his bed when he thought he heard a car on the driveway, but that couldn’t be possible. and that’s when he heard the knocks on the door.
raising an eyebrow as he got out of the room, not even bothering to put a shirt on, steve made his way downstairs as he heard the banging on the door. he was about to make a detour to grab one of his baseball bats, he didn’t want to try his luck with whatever was out there, and that’s when he heard eddie’s voice coming from the outside.
he frowned, rushing towards the door to open it, only to realize that he was standing shirtless in front of eddie. whatever, it didn’t matter. “eddie, what the hell are you doing? it’s late!” he said, but he couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t a tiny bit relieved that it was eddie and not someone else. he wanted to see him, but he hadn’t gotten the time after he came back and now there he was, standing at his door. “what are you doing here? what’s wrong?” he asked, slightly concerned about the other as he remembered that he was practically begging him to open the door.
+++
there were many strings of thoughts rushing through his head at lightning speed once he opened the door. eddie felt relieved, fucking hell, at least steve was alright, or seemed to be, at first glance. he was safe, from what eddie could tell, and he released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
relief however mingled with shock, surprise, and a sharp pang of... something very warm in his stomach. slowly, torturously slow, his eyes travelled down from steve’s face to his bare torso. the sight knocked the wind right out of his sails, eddie’s mouth fell open as if he wanted to say something but no sound escaped his lips. he blinked in disbelief, had to force himself to tears his eyes away fro steve chest. gaze quickly dropping to the floor, he suddenly felt extremely hot, wondered if the temperature had somehow risen in the last two minutes. his cheeks were burning, he was certain that he was sporting a nice, brigt blush.
“uh....”, it took him a moment to assemble the scrambled words in his head into a coherent sentence. he thought back to their first trip to the upside down for a moment, back to how he had nearly forgotten to fucking breathe when steve had taken off his sweater to jump into lover’s lake. how he’d tossed him his denim vest some half hour later, simply because he couldn’t stand the sight of shirtless steve anymore, it was making him all dizzy and disoriented.
and it seemed that it still had the same effect now. eddie swallowed, frowned. think, munson, think, for god’s sake. “ i, uh. eggs. “, he suddenly blurted out, looked back up to meet steve’s eyes. “in benny’s diner. eggs, they , uh, they, like, hatched and...then there was this fucking fire, and it, it burned down and -”
colemontgomeryx·:
xx.
Cole usually didn’t get nervous; he had an unearned air of confidence supported by the belief that he could get with any guy. The flirting was no problem, but after that? When the feeling was returned? It had been so long since he’d felt this. Finally, Eddie was reciprocating and moving closer to him, confirming that Eddie felt it too.
Cole breathed in deeply, catching a whiff of Eddie’s cologne mingling with cigarette smoke. A smell that made Cole want to bury his face into Eddie’s chest, so he could smell it on himself the rest of the night. Cole couldn’t drag his eyes away from Eddie’s lips, watching the other run his tongue along his bottom lip.
“We’re in a mall,” Cole repeated, his voice breathy. “There are plenty of places to hide. And I doubt the vandals will notice we’re gone,” he grinned, tugging on Eddie’s shirt as if to say let’s go now.
+++
his thoughts were spiralling, dizzy with how close they suddenly were to one another. a contact high, if you will, eddie thought and nearly chuckled at his own joke that he had cracked, to himself, in his own head. decided against it because he had a strong feeling that that might ruin the mood. and after his love life had been a big heap of, well, nothing, these past few months, eddie was definitely not trying to do anything that could potentially ruin the mood.
eddie watched, enraptured, as cole’s eyes stuck to his lips and is own darted down to cole’s. and man, while he hadn’t taken much notice of him in hgih school, he now wondered why - cole was pretty. like, very pretty. the relevation hit eddie hard, made his breath hitch. shit.
his heart skipped a beat, stopped for a second, he thought, as he felt cole tug on his shirt. he bit his lip as his eyes flicked down to cole’s lips, god, they really had to get out of there, stat. so eddie nodded, hummed in agreement. grabbed hold of his wrist and looked around for a moment before he dragged him off around the corner, pressing him up against a marble pillar.
nervous eyes searching is. “uh...you, uh, sure about this?”
where: the harrington residence
what: panik ! ( u ok ? )
who: @stevehharringtcns + eddie.
see, eddie had tried really really hard to just... go home, go to bed, fall asleep after whatever the fuck had happened at benny’s diner. the night it happened had been relatively easy to sleep through, seeing as he was absolutely knackered and bruised from bumping into random objects all night. but the night afterwards... eddie was laying awake, staring holes into his bedroom ceiling. shifting in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep but well, how could he when he himself was uncomfortable all over, after what they’d seen the day before. he looked to the sight, the digits of his radio alarm clock telling him that it was nearly 12. he should just shut his eyes, think of some nice little scenario and get some fucking sleep.
but he couldn’t. so, with a whine and a groan, eddie got up. got dressed and, without thinking, really, he climbed into his van, turned the keys in the ignition and started driving. without a set destination, really. or so he’d thought - for, about a quarter of an hour later, he found himself in steve harrington’s driveway.
god fucking damn it. why had his brain subconciously lead him here? perhaps it had something to do with the fact that, in every little scenario eddie thought of to help drift off into dreamland, steve was there, occupying some sort of role.
well. he was pretty much always part of the main cast but eddie pushed the thought away, that was something to figure out another day. again, without thinking, eddie hopped out of his van and sprinted towards the front door, furiously ringing the door bell, knocking, pressing his face against the little opal glass plane. praying to god that harrington’s parents were yet again on one of their infamous work trips.
“steve? steve, are you up?” eddie started knocking, pounding rather, on the door, too. “harrington! please!”
where: eddie’s trailer
what: wtf is going on??? let’s get zooted
who: @rcbinbvckleys + eddie.
“robin buckley!”, eddie called out and, despite everything, there was a wide grin on his face, as he made his way from his room to the ‘living room’ area of the trailer after hearing the soft lick of the front door. he’d left it standing wide open for robin to get in, probably not the best idea with half the town still thinking he was a satan worshipping serial killer but oh well. spared him an extra trip to the door, didn’t it.
“i welcome you to my humble abode. casa del munson! or...whatever.” he shrugged. he’d taken spanish in high school but had rarely ever used it since. and he’d rarely shown up for the classes in question, either, so.
eddie plopped down on the sofa, muffled sounds of the latest metallica emerging from his room, he rolled the joint between his fingers, admiring his work. despite his calm and carefree exterior, eddie was on edge. who knew hanging out with nancy ‘i have multiple guns in my bedroom at all times’ wheeler would end with them standing in front of benny’s, watching it go up in flames. watching....whatever alien supernatural halloween monster upside down crap that had been in there, burn to the ground, too. hopefully. it was all too much to wrap his head around.
he desperately needed a distraction. equally, he desperately needed a friendly face around him. eddie placed the joint between his lips and lit it. “how’s it going?”
zccming·:
.
max squinted in eddie’s direction, communicating all she didn’t say. the main take away being, are you stupid? “i do do this for myself, like most nights out of the week.” her mom worked the night shift most days, it had been that way for years, max had learned how to fend for herself. sure, it wasn’t always a hot homecooked meal, but she did know how to feed herself, and she definitely knew how to use a knife without nearly losing a finger. “but you have a point.” max sighed, carefully avoiding the words you’re and right. “next time i’ll cook for us.”
at the end of the night, it didn’t matter whether or not eddie had made a five star meal or the inedible mush on their plates. the principal of sit down dinners was never about the food served, or each participants etiquette. they were about spending quality time with one another, and making an effort to connect.
she hadn’t grown up with the most functional family and max never had a halting revelation that she wasn’t miss american pie and they weren’t the brady bunch. it was known in the same way she learned to walk or talk. she was born into chaos, from her parents divorce, to having billy hargrove and his insufferable dad as her new family members, then moving to hawkins. max seemed destined to walk a rocky path, but with eddie around, the idea of family stopped feeling so painful. it wasn’t how she always pictured it to be, but it felt nice when there were nights like these.
unsolved mysteries prompted max to wonder if all of them were real, but that wasn’t of concern right now. she dismissed eddie’s thanks man with a, “shh! … you’re welcome.” as her eyes glued to the screen. it was going to be a long wait for their food if she couldn’t immerse herself into the show. at eddie’s assessment of incompetent law enforcement, max gave him a look, “if it seems that way then it definitely is that way.” she rolled her eyes, “we’d know living in hawkins… did you know they tried to give me a traffic violation for skateboarding on the side of the road?” groaning, max had to admit, “i’m so jealous that you don’t live here anymore. and you know, it’s only getting worse the older i get.”
+++
eddie rolled his eyes, over-dramatically but hummed in agreement, carerful not to let his pleased grin show because thats what he’d hoped max would suggest. not that he wouldn’t help her prepare the mayfield-munson-found-family-tv-dinners, he’d definitely help! just not...do them all by himself. because, as it turned out, he sucked at it.
he settled further into the couch, idly sipping on his beer, dragging his upper lip mindlessly across the rim of the can as he let himself be engulfed by the storyline. eddie was a bit of a restless spirit, always fidgeting, never quite able to direct his attention on one sole thing for more than a few minutes. always looking for another distraction. it had been like that for as long as he could remember, though it had worsened significantly after their trip to the upside down.
as if on cue, he felt a phantom burn where his scars were located. a constant reminder that he’d been through hell and survived. “huh?”, he frowned, tore his eyes away from the screen to look at max. “for skateboarding? jeez, man. whats next, tickets for walking down the street? breathin?” eddie threw his hands up in theatrical mock outrage. “alas, we keep being oppressed by the man! sickening.”
he took a pointed gulp of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “you know, you can always get outta here, max.”, he said, mood a little sobered now. “offer still stands, kiddo. come back to chicago with me. i mean, yeah, my apartment’s like half the size of this trailer and a fucking shithole but we’ll make do. we can figure something out.”
found it in a better quality guys 😭😭 I wanna cry
colemontgomeryx·:
xx.
As redness overtook Eddie’s cheeks, Cole took another drag of his cigarette. “Yes, I’m gay. You can say it,” he confirmed, his voice remaining low. Cole was sure Eddie would never out him, partially because that wasn’t Eddie’s character, and partially because of mutually assured destruction.
It was exhausting to have to keep such a large part of him a secret, and Cole was frustrated by it. Maybe that’s why he told Eddie (other than, obviously, trying to hook up with him). When Cole went to college, he was able to be himself more freely; he wasn’t out, per se, but he was much more comfortable discussing his sexuality. He wondered if Eddie had a similar experience in Chicago, and was now, like Cole, struggling to reconcile all the different parts of himself.
Cole grinned, noting the change in Eddie’s demeanor. Cole finished his cigarette and reached behind Eddie to throw it away. He brushed his arm against Eddie’s and took advantage of proximity this move afforded him. Glancing up into Eddie’s eyes, Cole’s own twinkled mischievously. “Well, that’s too easy. What about foreplay?” his voice was barely above a whisper.
+++
final confirmation, eddie swallowed, blinked nervously as the words fell from cole’s lips. he nodded, a nod that said ‘me too’. as if eithr of them needed to state the face that they were both interested in men again. getting old at this point, eddie finsighed his own cigarette, felt his lips twitch, hands shaking a little.
you got this, munson, you got this. he wasn’t like this, usually, when flirting with guys. antsy and nervous and downright freaking out. he just needed to pull himself together, pretend like this was just any old other encounter in a bar or somewhere back in chicago.
his lips twisted into a smile as he thought about the fact that the last time he’d been this nervous about flirting with someone, he’d gone and called steve harrington ‘big boy’ as they’d hijacked a goddamn rv.
suddenly cole was much, much closer than before and eddie gulped, his eyes flicked down to meet cole’s, momentarily lingering on his lips. for maybe just a tad too long. he swiped his tongue across hi bottom lip, feeling it had suddenly gone extremely dry. eddie discarded his own cigarette, burshing up against cole, bringing them even closer.
“well...”, he breathed, raised a brow. “we’re in the middle of a mall, in the middle of, like, vandalising said mall...what do you have in mind that won’t get our asses kicked?”
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. “
Come crawling faster, obey your master.
zccming·:
.
“okay…” max began her amendment with plenty of attitude, “don’t blow up my shithole trailer.” satisfied with her new answer, she added, “please.” and flashed a sarcastic smile. she glanced to his hands, wondering if he’d scathed them. though she figured, if it was really that bad, he’d probably say so.
with the weight of eddie out of the kitchen, max finished up her cleaning. although she was irritated she had to do it in the first place, she forced herself to stop and be appreciative. eddie was only here in hawkins for so long, and they were having their substitute family dinner. no time for grouchiness. it wasn’t lost on her that he didn’t have to come back and visit, but she was always grateful he did. while their experiences in hawkins were vastly different at points, she still felt like he understood her. he understood the feeling of being alienated (more intensely than most at that), and generally speaking, he understood, by some miracle, what max always needed.
she stopped, glancing to eddie from the kitchen. she never did stuff like this with billy. their routine when they were alone typically consisted of billy rushing to dump her off his hands at the first chance he got, usually scaring her with harsh words or reckless driving in the process. eddie, on the other hand, was sat on her couch, making up for his mess in the kitchen by finding them a decent show to watch. despite the fact she ordered him to, max was sitting in the feeling of gratitude.
if they were here together and the most pressing matters in hawkins were the unsolved mysteries that robert stack narrated on her television, she couldn’t be all that annoyed. in fact, she’d go as far to say she was happy.
now both were nestled with their plates, that happiness quickly became muddled by her momentary aggravation, “i didn’t think you could either, but this is nasty.” she told him, lips pursed. max watched as eddie took a bite and she maintained an unwavering expression of i told you so. “you really shouldn’t need a recipe to make pasta, you know. that’s like…baby stuff.” she then rose from the couch, “pay attention to the tv you’re going to have to fill me in!” max made it clear she was invested in the program.
it really wasn’t a huge deal. it took all of fifteen minutes and a very oblivious restaurant employee to get their food ordered. when she wrapped up with that, she grabbed them each a beer from the fridge, and for hopefully the final time for a while, max plopped down beside eddie. sighing, she informed, “here.” she handed him his beer, “give the food like an hour. hope you’re not hungry.” her eyes flicked to the screen for a moment as she took a sip of beer, then asked, “what’s this one about? is it a real mystery or another case of the incompetent coppers?”
+++
“ ‘baby stuff’ ?”, he echoed with feigned outrage. “max, i nearly lost a finger in there. cuttion onions and shit is like, hard.” with a proud grin, however, eddie leaned back, folded his arms behind his head. “but i didn’t even cry. ‘cause i’m hardcore. if this is such ‘baby stuff’ then why don’t you do it yourself, smartass?”
well, it was eddie who’d wanted to do something nice and thoughtful for the both of them. and as disappointed and frustrated as he was with himself that he couldn’t even cook a simply pasta dish, he was equally happy and glad that they could joke about it now so easily.
eddie had grown up alone, his uncle cared about him, of course, more than his parents ever had, but he’d been working his ass off to keep a roof over their head so eddie had grown up alone. lonely, sometimes, too. but looking over at max bitching about his cooking, mumbling to herself incoherently, jumping up to go order delivery. eddie sometimes wondered if, in another life, he’d been destined to be a big brother, growing up in a household filled with laughter and chatter and not a moment’s peace.
this, however, this was nice, too. he’d gladly do it all over again if it meant he got to end up watching unsolved mysteries with max in her trailer, feeling a sense of belonging he didn’t even feel with wayne. eddie smiled fondly, took the beer from her and craked it open. “fuck, you’re an angel, maxine. thanks, man,” he muttered, eagerly took a sip.
“not sure yet. it’s called ‘sons of sam’. looks pretty incompetent copper-y so far, but you never know.”
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.”
# eddie is fed up with their lack of music culture
STRANGER THINGS | Papa (4.08)
colemontgomeryx·:
XX.
Cole felt bad, but he laughed at Eddie’s inability to accept what he was told. It was a defense mechanism, he assumed, after many years of having to keep this part of him secret. For a moment, Cole was grateful for Adam– grateful he had someone to share it with; in a way, it made this whole ordeal easier. More natural.
“He was my boyfriend-boyfriend,” Cole explained. “As in, we fucked,” he took a drag of his cigarette, granting Eddie time to take in what he said. “Sorry to be so explicit, but wasn’t sure what else to say,” Cole explained, though he wasn’t really sorry. Part of him liked seeing Eddie squirm. He liked the effect his words had on the other.
Cole smirked, letting his eyes linger on Eddie’s lips. He figured it would never happen, but he was open to all possibilities. Especially possibilities that looked like Eddie. “Well, I’m a gentleman. I’d take you out to dinner first,” he winked, taking another drag of his cigarette.
+++
“oh.” eddie just continued to stare, stupidly, until his eyes widened, brain finally catching onto what cole had just admitted here. shit. so hawkins wasn’t as prim, proper and heterosexual as he’d been made to believe all this time. eddie licked his lips, blinked. wracking his brain on what to say next. nearly choking on his own breath when he said ‘we fucked’ and oh, his cheeks immediately lit up, stained a deep red colour. he nodded.
“so you’re....”, he trailed off, browd furrowed, giving cole a meaningful look before he dropped because shit, what else did he need, here? cole had just said he used to have a boyfriend, whom he quote unquote ‘fucked’ - or the other way around? he tried not to think about it, it was getting hard trying to concentrate as is - what other confirmation could he possibly need to know that cole was into guys?
he didn’t miss how cole’s eyes slipped to his lips and his tongue darted out to swipe over his bottom lip. shit, why was he this flustered? getting hit on in chicago eddie usually wasn’t this squirming and blushing mess of a man. but hawkins? whole ‘nother story. not that he was totally suave in chicago, either, but at least a little more in control. here, he felt powerless.
however, he straightened his back, took another drag. however, he thought, it didn’t need to be that way. if he pulled himself together. “oh yeah?”, he questioned, brow raised, a grin forming on his lips. “yeah? well, what if i -” and he actually couldn’t believe he was going to use a line this corny but here went nothing - “ well, what if i wanted to skip straight to dessert?”
Stranger Things - 4x08 - Papa
stevehharringtcns·:
.
steve couldn’t quite wrap his head around on whether eddie was flirting with him or not. he couldn’t be, right? after all, eddie had never mentioned anything about being… you know. or given him any sighs, so he didn’t want to risk it. what if he ended up insulting him in some sort? either way, steve shook his head as in a way to shake those thoughts away, letting out a small chuckle. “you know, you’re not actually the first person to tell me that! apparently the girls love looking at my face, but that’s it, they actually give up after the first date… i wonder why that is.” he said, as he thought to himself and thought back on the failure that was his love life. and even know, it didn’t seem like it was going to get better.
rolling his eyes slightly as eddie brought up the conversation about dungeons and dragons, steve sighed as he stared at the other. “you know what, you’re starting to sound exactly like henderson. maybe i should call him so you can… annoy him about that game instead of me. full offense.” he said with a small smirk forming on his lips, before shaking his head and leaning forward on the counter as he looked over at eddie. at the invitation to join the game, steve immediately shook his head. “first of all, i do have fun, i just don’t have fun playing games that make no sense and that take up most of the time. and second, no, i’m not going to join your little club. but you guys have fun, i’m sure it’ll be fun.” he said with a small chuckle, before running a hand through his hair - it wasn’t going to get any messier than that either way.
okay, now eddie was definitely acting weird. steve could have sworn that he was blushing, but then again, he was too. he wondered if eddie had noticed that and what he thought about it. maybe he hadn’t thought that much about it as steve was, but seeing him blush meant that he still had the old harrington touch in him, capable of making anyone swoon over him. he liked that, in a way. “tattoos? nah, i don’t think i’m the type of guy who can get tattoos and rock them. you definitely are though, really.” he said with a smirk, nodding his head slowly. this didn’t count like flirting right? at the comment about girls liking it, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. “i mean, i wouldn’t know, i don’t think girls… pay that much attention to me anymore. it’s really not the same as before.” he said, deciding to let that stay there, not sure if he should continue talking or not.
letting out a laugh at eddie’s comments, steve just shook his head. he really liked the other’s company, so much that he grabbed the keys from the video store from his back pocket and looked around for keith before calling out for him, tossing him the keys. “you’re closing today, an emergency came up.” he said, before turning around the counter and grabbing eddie by the shoulders and leading him out of the store. just touching him felt like electricity, but he wouldn’t say anything. “see, you should feel even more special now, i got off work sooner because of you.” he said as he almost started running still grabbing eddie by the shoulders as they got out of the store. he probably would get in trouble the next day with keith, but he didn’t care about that right now. “c’mon, get in the car, munson.” he said with a smile as he unlocked the car and got in quickly.
+++
see, eddie didn’t know whether to be incredibly frustrated that steve kept pushing his advances into a platonic light or if he should be grateful that he was talking to him in the first place. maybe it was for the best. not that steve would be the kind of person to bash his brains in if he found out about his ‘preferences’, but that didn’t mean that steve wouldn’t be weirded out or feel alienated by him. and with the whole summer left to spend in hawkins eddie couldn’t afford to lose another friend.
however much steve kept discarding his advances as platonic, he didn’t seem particularly uncomforable by them either. which gave eddie a sudden boost of confidence. “don’t let it get to you, player.”, he said and reached out to give steve a comforting pat on the back. “girls are stupid. they don’t know what they’re missing here.”
steve leaned forward and eddie blinked nervously. “ hold up - this was definitely not an invitation, harrington. you’d bring down the whole vibe and - well, quite frankly- “, it was his turn to lean a little closer now, he looked steve up and down skeptically “ you’d suck at dnd. full offense.”
without realising, eddie had mirrored steve’s movements, running his hand through his own hair, fingers getting tangled in the frizzy mess of curls. and he foolishly allowed his mind to wander, imagined what it would be like to run his hands through steve’s hair, always shiny and soft and big. god fucking dammit. their dynamic was off, he suddenly realised. in the past it had always been eddie who showered steve in compliments, watching his face light up as he accepted them graciously. now it was the other way roun, all twisted and upside down. and quite frankly, eddie was way out of his comfort zone here, reduced to a blushing squirming mess. he just wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of a compliment.
“well, i’d hope so. almost got a full sleeve going on, would be a shame if i only now figured out i wasn’t the type to rock tattoos.”, he said and, with something that resembled a bow, added: “compliment accepted, harrington.”
steve’s next comment made his eyebrows raise, he straightened up, his interest piqued. feeling bolder now, which was perhaps foolish for him but hey, if it turned sour he could always say it had been a joke all along. “well, as i said, girls are stupid if they don’t see you for what you are, stevie - a fine, fine piece of local man.”, eddie said with a chuckle, he bit his lip. “and well, i wouldn’t know either, ya know. girls have never payed me much attention but i guess that’s...reasonable.” he was toeing a very fine line here, eddie knew. looked up at steve with that deer caught in the headlights look.
and next thing he knew there was that laugh again - fuck, he could listen to that sounds for ages - and suddenly his shoulders felt all hot because steve was touching them, ushering him out of the store. it was over as soon as it had begun but eddie had leaned into the touch and when steve’s hands were gone there was still static and a fait buzzing where they’d been. eddie grinned, climbed into the passenger seat eagerly. “oh, you sure know how to make a gal feel special, stevie.”, he laughed, fingers drumming nervously on the dashboard, waiting for him to start the car and drive away. “if this is only the beginning then shit, i can’t fucking wait to see where this date’s going.”
colemontgomeryx·:
xx.
Cole didn’t waver under Eddie’s gaze. If he was correct, Eddie’s behavior made sense. Cole felt it too, the fear of being found out by someone who wasn’t safe. It was the reason Cole and Adam snuck around for the three years they were together– to avoid the football jocks and the band geeks and the teachers berating them and calling them names. Only it never stopped there; it often got physical, violent. Of course Eddie was afraid.
It was like they were playing chicken, like they were standing in front of a train for as long as possible and pulling back at the last second– exhilarating, maybe, but not satisfying. Something about being in the mall, all his thoughts about Adam… it was the perfect concoction for a confession. “I like guys,” he said, meeting Eddie’s eyes again. “Adam was my boyfriend.”
And then: relief. Cole felt like he’d recovered part of himself, like he’d regained a phantom limb. He hadn’t been able to talk about his feelings this openly since, well, Adam. It was refreshing, rejuvenating even. “If you want, I’ll prove it,” he teased, giving Eddie a once-over. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so open about it, but what’s the worst that could happen?
+++
see, cole could’ve hit eddie flat in the face with a giant metal sign that said ‘i’m into guys’ and he still wouldn’t have taken the hint. just...the thought of someone else in hawkins that was like him. surely not - or well, they just wouldn’t come right out the gate and say it. no, being...different, whatever kind of different, and living in that godforsaken town - for some people that was comparable to a death sentence.
still, his eyes widened, blinking at cole with that ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look as he hastily in- and exhaled the smoke. not that that did anything in terms of calming him down. on the contrary, eddie just started to fidget more. “as in....you like them or...like, like like them....” he felt like a fucking middle-schooler. but he just continued. “your boyfriend. you mean like when ... wheeler and buckley or like, i dunno, girls call each other ‘girl-friends’ or like....like if...like, when wheeler called harrington her ‘boyfriend’ when they were still a thing?”
as confused as eddie was about the whole situation he apparently still had it in him to blush and get insanely flustered at cole’s....suggestion? if that’s what it was? lips parted, mouth dropped open slightly, he took another drag. his eyes never left cole’s, only once to go look around them, see if anyone was in earshot. negative. “h-how....”, his lips formed around words he didn’t say, a thousand scenarios flashes in his head. eddie blinked.”...how would - you, uh, prove....it?”
stevehharringtcns:
.
steve let out a small laugh at what eddie said about his ego, shaking his head slowly at the other. “my ego is just the right size, thank you very much… but you could have just been honest that you wanted to see me instead of creeping around the store. i’ve noticed you’ve been coming here a lot lately, i didn’t know you were such a fan of movies.” he said with a smirk, as he looked at eddie for a couple of moments.
shaking his head slowly, steve sighed. “i know it’s called dungeons and dragons, but i really don’t know what it is about. i usually shut off when henderson talks about that shit, unless, you know, it’s important to save our lives and the town.” he said - unfortunately, that had happened way too many times for steve’s liking. he still thought it was weird that every once in a while, creatures would emerge from the ground and put everyone at risk. but after two years of quiet, steve had to admit that it was too quiet for his liking. he just had to admit that they could all finally have some peace. “you’re still playing that shit or what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other.
seeing eddie’s reaction to his compliment made steve smirk slightly, nodding his head slowly as the other talked. “i think it looks good now, so don’t worry about that.” he said, his eyes now moving to see the other’s tattoos, especially the one that eddie made sure he showed once he pulled down his shirt collar. maybe steve looked for longer than he liked, but could anyone blame him? there was something about eddie and steve couldn’t just wrap his head around on what it was. did he find him attractive? he definitely did… but he wasn’t sure how eddie would feel about that if he knew, so he just smiled at him. “those look pretty sick, munson, i have to say i’m impressed.” he said with a small laugh escaping from his lips as he placed his hands on the counter, watching as the other leaned forward.
eddie’s reactions were making steve laugh like no other, but then he realized. had he just asked the other on a date? it couldn’t possibly be a date, they were just two friends hanging out. nothing special was going to happen, right? it was just two friends hanging out, he kept repeating in his head as he looked down at eddie. he was a bit at a loss for words. “uh… i think, we could just uh… watch a movie. that sounds like a plan.” he said with a small nod, before clearing his throat as he looked at eddie with a smile on his face. “just a movie it’s fine i think… and don’t worry, i don’t kiss on the first date. sorry to disappoint.” he said, regaining some of the confidence he usually had, as he looked at eddie. they were just friends. just friends.
+++
eddie bit his lip, felt his cheeks heat up. he quickly averted his gaze, shit. so he hadn’t been as inconspicuous as he thought he’d been. great fucking job, munson. he looked down, finger starting to play with his rings, twisting them around, moving them from one finger to another. fidgeting. “see, i’m not a big movie guy but i am a fan of looking at that pretty face of yours. withotu having to hear you talk.”, he teased with a chuckle, though he still felt a little nervous and that ‘witty reply’ of his had taken entirely too long.
he shifted his weight from one foot to another. as steve mentioned dungeons and dragons he, again, let himself fall against the counter, actually slid down, pretending to claw his way up as he got back upright. “dost thine insolence never stop?”, he said with a shake of his head, a deep sigh. “ and see, that’s exactly why i took the spot of the ‘designated a ltitle weirdly older best friend’ and replaced you, stevie. henderson worships you but the dissing dnd part? not cool, man.” eddie proudly rose his chin, give steve a stern nod, curls flying about as he did so. “’course i do, i’m doing a little hellfire reunion campaign this summer, too. it’s fun, harrington, wouldn’t kill ya to have some every once in a while, hm?”
‘i think it looks good now’. damn his body for releasing that swarm of butterflies in his stomach, eddie thought and swallowed. well, if somebody had told eddie like, five years ago that he’d one day be a squirming, blushing mess because steve harrington complimented his hair? he would’ve thought them clinically insane. and the butterflies were apparently dead set on staying, viciously swarming as he caught steve’s eye slingering on his exposed chest for just - a - tad - too - long. he felt dizzy, adjusted his collar again. he grinned, a stupid little lovey grin. “thanks, man. you know you should get some of your own. it would make you, like, ten times hotter.” still grinning, though wavering a little as his mind caught up with what he’d said. eddie’s eyes widened. “i mean, like you know. the chicks would dig it.”
great fucking save, munson. he had to fight the urge to squeeze his eyes shut in embarrassment. god, what was it that steve did to him that turned him into this mess of a person. he mirrored steve’s nod. “just a movie, then. very sensible. i’m in, harrington.” as if that wasn’t fucking clear enough.
okay, but at this point, it was steve’s fault as much as eddie’s that eddie couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought. because the minute he’d said the word ‘kiss’ that’s all he could think about - kissing steve. his tonge darted out to wet his lips and he had to physically tear his eyes away from where they’d dropped to steve’s lips. god fucking dammit. he blinked. “aw, shucks, stevie. and i was hoping to get to second base with you during the especially scary parts. man. you’re such a tease.”
zccming·:
as eddie yelped in pain, max cut in, “geez! watch it! i can’t afford to pay for your burn treatments right now.” the state of the kitchen stirred enough concern in max that she crawled off the couch and stood guard at the threshold, watching eddie. “don’t blow my house up.” her words of encouragement, obviously, weren’t helping, but she couldn’t seem to bite her tongue. the effort from eddie was sincere, and max did appreciate it, but at the end of the day she was a little shit who couldn’t keep her mouth shut and the idea of her mom coming home from a long shift to this mess was enough to get her antsy.
eddie miraculously finished the meal and max stared at the aftermath skeptically, “i don’t complain.” she whined in refute. “now you go sit down, find us something to watch.” max prompted, mostly urging him out of the kitchen. while she had been very vocal about not helping him clean up, once she got him sitting, that’s exactly what max did. she swept the vegetables off the floor and did some of the dishes she could before making a plate for eddie and herself, then pouring then drinks to match. maybe this would work out to be a nice gesture after all.
“here.” she handed him his food first, then sat with her own. eddie signaling max to try first didn’t bode well for the final product of this dish. willing to be somewhat optimistic, she took a bite, then immediately frowned. she managed to choke it down, then looked at eddie, “eddie,” max levelled with him, “this is burnt.” before he could ask what part, max clarified, “like, all of it.” she tapped her fork onto his plate, “you eat it and try to tell me this is edible.” she set her plate down, shaking her head. “idiot. i told you.”
eddie had made enough choices about dinner that max was finally taking matters into her own hand. she marched into the kitchen and pulled out various take out menus from a drawer. calling to eddie, she asked, “do you want enzo’s, takeout from the bar menu at the hideaway, or something else?” and while she was at it, might as well add, “i hope you found something worth watching in the meantime.”
+++
eddie scoffed, “this is hardly a house”, and turned on the tap, holding his hands under the cold water. he doubted this would actually help the blisters that would most definitely form on his palms in the near future but, oh well, better than nothing.
next thing he knew he was being ushered out of the kitchen and eddie knew better than to protest. not that he was particularly keen on having to clean up, either. so he just rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch, straining his arm to reach for the remote because once eddie sat down he was sat. he’d rather perform an acrobatic stunt that get up again, not after what felt like hours he’d spent slaving away in the kitchen. he chuckled. sounded like he was a housewife or something.
he aimlessly zapped through the channels, hooked on a dallas plotline for a moment before changing the channel yet again. dynasty? definitely not. zap. oh - he sat up straighter. now, this would do. eddie grinned, looked over his shoulder at max. “found our evening entertainment. unsolved mysteries.” eddie wiggled his eyebrows. “sorta ironic if you ask me. but it’s so good, max.”
what was, apparently, not as good was the food he’d cooked, as even eddie himself stared down skeptically at the plate she’d handed him. “what? come on, don’t bullshit me, you can’t burn pasta.” and to reiterate his point he did take a massive bite and soon found out that it was, in fact, very possible to burn pasta. he nearly choked, grimacing as he chewed and then swallowed. frowning, he set the plate aside on the side table. “god damn it. son of a bitch must’ve given me the wrong recipe.”
blame someone else, always a good tactic. sheepishly, eddie looked at max, gaze following her as she went to get the take out menus. “’m sorry. i fucked up.” and really, eddie was quite mad at himself. good for nothing. couldn’t even cook them a nice meal. shit. “um, enzo’s sounds good?”
stevehharringtcns·:
steve couldn’t say that he had ventured out in flirting with men before, at least, if he had done it, he couldn’t tell that he was doing. it was part of his personality to be naturally charming - he thought to himself. and it wasn’t like eddie was bad looking, there was definitely something about him. he wasn’t sure if it was the hair or the tattoos, but steve definitely liked what he saw whenever he looked at eddie. a smile showed up on his face and he let out a small chuckle. “so, you’re here to see me, is that it munson? you could have just told me that, i know i’m great company.”
once he was done rearranging the cases on the shelves, he started making his way towards the counter and passed on the other side, knwoing that eddie would follow him. his company was definitely better than keith’s, he thought. he could stay with eddie all day and he was sure that the day would pass on faster than it normally did. opening his mouth as he was offended, he let out a small chuckle. “i am definitely not a nerd, but yes, you are… didn’t you play that dragons and dungeons game or whatever it was called? i’m not even sure if i know what that game is about.” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head slowly as he leaned forward against the counter and stared at eddie, a smile on his face. he really was attractive… steve hadn’t seen that before. i mean, he definitely had noticed it, but it wasn’t like this before.
“oh, uh…” he thought a little about the type of movies he liked. “i really don’t have a type. i just kind of like… everything.” he said, clearing his throat as he did. “but horror’s pretty cool, i think. but i think our life has been enough horror as it is.” he said with a small chuckle, feeling himself turn red at eddie’s compliments, mentioning his hair and face. “thanks, man… and it’s a secret, i can’t just reveal that to anyone.” he said with a chuckle. “you’re not so bad yourself… you definitely could be a great contender to be the best hair in town if i weren’t here.” he said with a smirk on his face. “and the tattoos are sick, man.” he said with a nod.
he stared at the other, feeling himself still blushing before he just shrugged his shoulders and looked over at his watch. “do you have plans for after this? my shift ends in about twenty minutes, we could do… something.” he suggested with a small nod.
+++
“and that’s exactly why i didn’t tell you. your hair’s big enough, your ego doesn’t need to be the same size.”, eddie said with an overexaggerated sigh, grin still playing on his lips. all said in good fun because, well, in all honesty eddie wouldn’t mind being ‘round steve all day, paying him compliment after compliment. just to watch his cheeks take on that lovely pink colour.
he followed steve through the store like a lost puppy, stumbling over his own feet every so often. he feigned a look of outrage, one hand clutching at his chest, he let himself fall dramatically back against the counter. “oh, you wound me, harrington! pretending as if you do not even know what the sacred game is called - pain! “, he wailed dramatically, then got back upright, chuckled. “it’s dungeons and dragons, pretty boy. and well, why don’t you go and think real, real hard for a moment what a game called ‘dungeons and dragons’ could be about, hm?”
eddie watched in delight, a dazed glint over his eyes, as steve blushed at his compliments. which was very dangerous because now there was no stopping him, the compliments would fall freely from his lips. but when steve actually returned the compliment, in a way, and smirked - eddie gulped, audibly, smiled nervously. his heartbeat had increased rapidly. “oh, this frizzy mess? looks way tighter in chicago, trust me. hawkins is too fucking humid.”, he waved it off - eddie had never been particularly good at receiving compliments, though when steve gave them to him he did feel all sorts of buzzy inside. “and yeah, some sweet old tatties, hm? actually got a couple more. see?” and, feeling particularly bold, he pulled down the collar of his shirt to expose his inked skin.
and then steve asked him what he was doing after his shift, actually suggested that they do something together and his stomach flipped, in a good way, pulse speeding up. fuck yes, he didn’t have to be the one to ask. eddie blushed, nodded eagerly. “hell yeah, man.”, then, considering he might’ve come on to strong, he shrugged. “i mean, yeah, whatever, let’s do it.” god, he wished he could’ve been a touch less of an idiot when talking to steve. he leaned against the counter, tilted his head to the side. “thought i’d never see the day where steve ‘the hair’ harrington, king steve, asks me out.”, he said teasingly with a smirk. “it’s a date, then. how about....well, we could do the classic approach, dinner and a moive. or, if you’re that sort of girl, the drive-in straight away. bit....”, he wiggled his brows suggestively, “...racy for a first date but you do have a reputation ‘round town,”
Season 4: Chapter 7 — The Massacre At Hawkins Lab