Vanilla with Fresh Strawberries

Steve's birthday cake is always vanilla with fresh strawberries.

It's always been vanilla with fresh strawberries, because that's what his mother ordered every year. And, once his mother started following his dad around the country, that's what Tommy and Carol remembered having, so that's what they got. Then, after Tommy and Carol dropped him, Robin somehow figured out that vanilla with fresh strawberries was Steve's normal birthday cake order, so she started to get that.

Vanilla with fresh strawberries from Joanie's bakery right in the middle of town. That was the routine. That was how it always had been.

And because that's the routine, because that's always been the routine, Steve feels justified in being confused when Eddie hands him a chocolate cupcake.

"Happy birthday, my darling," He crooned as he did, looking around discreetly before leaning over the counter of Family Video to press a quick kiss to Steve's cheek.

"What's this?"

"A cupcake?" Eddie replied, sounding just as confused as Steve.

"It's chocolate," Steve shot back, like that should explain everything.

"Yeah? It's your favorite," Eddie said casually, completely missing the way that Steve's eyes grew wide and his breath caught in his throat.

There were a lot of things Steve could have said at that moment. Things he could have said to Eddie

He could have told Eddie about his normal order. He could have told Eddie that he found out he was allergic to strawberries when he was eight, but no one else had noticed that he broke out in hives if he had anything with strawberries in it. He could have told Eddie what this single stupid cupcake meant to him, about the way his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.

"Chocolate is my favorite," Steve said instead, taking a small bite and savoring the taste of actual, real, love.

Vacation Polaroid

Ronance request from @queerbird

There’s certain things that are almost always the same. 

His name is usually Eddie. Sometimes short for Edward, sometimes short for Edith, sometimes short for absolutely nothing at all. Even when his name isn’t anything like it at all, he finds a way to get the nickname Eddie. It’s the only one that ever feels right. 

His name is usually Eddie, and Steve’s name is Steve. 

The names are the same, and so are the people around them. Dustin, Nancy, Will, El, all of them. New faces, new relationships, new struggles, but the core of a person doesn’t change. Wayne told him once a few times ago that when someone is family, they’ll always be home. You never forget home. 

Steve is Eddie’s home, so he can always spot the little things. 

Steve usually ends up surrounded by the kids. He always has great hair. Robin is always at his side. But the most important thing is Eddie always knows him. 

From the first time their eyes meet, a part of Eddie’s soul settles. He’s found Steve in this lifetime, and now is the fun part. The falling back in love. The learning each other again. Smoking in the back of vans, or battling in trenches, or brushing hands in a crowded ballroom.

 Steve has fallen in love with Eddie in a thousand lifetimes, and Eddie has loved him just as much in each one. 

Okay i know we all love the trope of Steve being scared he's being Too Much™ in a relationship, but what about Eddie? Eddie, whose parents dropped him off at his uncle because he was nothing but a liability to them, and who has only ever known intimacy through random hookups in club bathrooms or dark alleys. Who doesn't have a clue where to store all the love he feels for Steve. Any form of gentleness, of romanticism, scares the shit out of him because it makes him so vulnerable and even though every fiber of his body wants nothing more than to hold Steve's hand or call him every night to talk about nothing or make him breakfast in the morning he is terrified, because what if Steve will laugh at him, get up and leave him? The mere thought of it makes him want to run.

And then there's Steve, who has actually been very comfortable with casual intimacy and showing his feelings, and who has been waiting for so long to have an actual relationship again and can't wait to do all the cheesy shit. Who surprises Eddie while he's at work at Thatcher Tire in full S2 Lovestruck-Steve mode, sneaking up to him from behind to scoop him up and twirl him around because he hasn't seen his boyfriend for almost two whole hours so obviously he misses him like crazy.

And Eddie just – starts crying, right there, full-on sobbing, with grease on his hands that he smears all over his cheeks because he has no thoughts at all left in his mind except for How can this possibly be real???

And Steve holds him more gently than anybody has ever done before, while he whispers sweet-nothings in his ear and patiently waits for him to come back to himself, looking worried out of his mind but very much not going anywhere.

They talk, and Steve gets to understand why Eddie got so overwhelmed, and Eddie gets to understand that Steve actually wants them to do all the cheesy shit together and that it'll be impossible for Eddie to be Too Much for him, no matter how Much he ever gets.

Love, Eddie Munson was realising, was in the act of trying.

Love is Uncle Wayne sitting down and listening to a Dio album, trying to see what Eddie saw in it, simply because his nephew loved it. It was Wayne asking to read The Hobbit once Eddie was done with it. It was Wayne making an effort. Learning how to take care of a kid. How to connect.

Love is Eddie reading western books Wayne recommended to him because I’m sure you’ll really like this one, Boy. It was going on fishing trips together on early Sunday mornings, even though Eddie wasn’t one for fish because Wayne liked the company, and the contemplation, and the sound of the water lapping against the boat.

Another thing Eddie was realising, was how effortless it felt to try with Steve. He swallowed down his knee jerk reaction, his history of insulting basketball, and instead asked Steve the rules, about his favourite teams - and the grin on his boyfriend’s face made it all worthwhile. He’d willingly watch action movies and frat-boy comedies Steve liked, try to see what he saw in them, even though they weren’t really his speed. Eddie asked Steve if the next time he went on a hike - maybe Eddie could come with? And the exercise was killer, but Steve was sweet, and excited, and helped him the whole way through.

Steve, in turn, was trying with Eddie. Laying on his bed listening to metal tapes and Eddie’s running commentary about it all. About the music, and the band, and the history, and how it scratches an itch in his brain nothing else quite does. Steve’s never gonna be a metal head, and Eddie’s fine with that. But it makes him happy to see Steve trying, and actually finding some songs he quite likes. It’s Steve helping him with creating NPC’s, fixing plot lines in his campaign that he couldn’t quite fix on his own - even though Steve’s played DnD before and it wasn’t really his thing.

Love is Eddie asking Wayne to help him get baseball tickets for Steve’s birthday.

Love is Steve driving up to Indy just to buy a novel Eddie wanted, but Hawkins’ local bookstore didn’t stock.

Love is putting in effort to connect with someone, only to realise that it’s not any effort at all.

"DNI: freaks" do you realize how conservative you look

freaks please interact

this is the first time one of my posts has been tagged like this and out of all of them i think id be glad if this one got 100k. because firstly i need to find my fellow freaks but also we need to shame people who are anti-freak because like. why do you hate to live deliciously

what's the most demented thing you guys got in trouble for in school mine was when an english boy in my class made fun of my name and called my mum a (derogatory word for irish travellers) so i told him my ira uncle was in town and was coming to blow him up after school

ok so nobody got in trouble in school?

got sent to the principles office for excitedly telling our science teacher a Cool Frog Fact that some frogs use their eyes in the process of swallowing food, which is objectively true, and she called me a liar. when i showed her after class she called me insubordinate and rude. :)

gay cowboys yeehaw

print

“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional

Bedside Manner

for @acasualcrossfade request for "the infection has spread"

"Some birdie told me that you have been causing a fuss, Wayne, is that true?"

Wayne huffs from his hospital bed, glasses sliding down his nose. He places the newspaper he was reading on the table beside him. "You tell that Robbie of yours to stop exaggerating. It was only a small request."

Steve raises his eyebrows at his favorite patient (Dustin tells him he isn't supposed to have favorites, but he also used to cry anytime he picked up Max before him when they were younger, so what does he know) and gives him a knowing look. "Robin listens to no man, Wayne, you know this. You're better off sending that message through her wife. Besides, small? She was telling me you refused to have any other nurse help you because I wasn't here last night. Which surprised me since you are always pushing me on about taking a vacation. "

Wayne opens his mouth, but Steve presses on. "And the fact Robin was even in the room means they called a psych consult, so I can only imagine how bad it was."

Wayne grumbles like a little kid being scolded for getting his hands caught in the cookie jar. "Yea, well, it was a bad night, kid."

Steve feels his shoulders sag, he takes off his glasses and rubs a hand down his face before placing them back on. "Sorry, Wayne, I had a bad migraine last night. Nance and Robs wouldn't even let me pass the entrance. Bad news?"

Steddie She's All That au????

Steve pulls up to the Munson's trailer, a secondhand acoustic across the backseat. Can't believe he's here; that he's actually doing this. He shouldn't. Absolutely should not; knows he let his still-simmering animosity with Billy Hargrove push him to this, to trying to date Eddie Munson, to proving that he's still popular enough to win prom king with the Freak on his arm.

Munson doesn't deserve it, is the thing. For all his weirdness, his off-putting behavior, Steve thinks he might be nice. Or kind, maybe? Steve's noticed how he gathers the freshman who have no one else, gives them understanding, a place to belong. And those kids, they remind him of Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, and he can't help but feel something warm towards the Freak, some kind of kinship.

He puts the car in reverse, can't go through with pretending to like this guy who did nothing wrong but be too much himself.

Before he gets his foot on the gas a head pokes out the front door.

"You came," Eddie shouts.

"Said I was." Steve surrenders to his fate and puts the car in park. Eddie watches him as he grabs the guitar case, hauls it up the stairs, only moving to step out of the way.

Steve's eyes scan the living room and kitchen, something in his chest loosening as he does. There are mugs and hats covering the walls, a worn sofa, clutter on every surface. It's home in a way Steve has never experienced. He loves it.

This is so fucking stupid and I'm not sorry. Inspired by this video of the two guitarists from DragonForce taking the piss out of Sabaton(affectionately).

Eddie scrunched his eyes closed then wrenched them open again, trying to make sense of what he was seeing on his screen. It was too early in the fucking morning for this shit. 

Whatever.

He buried his face back in between Steve’s shoulders and allowed himself to fall asleep once more.

Corroded Coffin had only started making it big in the early 90’s when they split right down the middle. As time went on they started to drift towards different subgenres. Jeff and Grant had wanted to explore a more international sound, while Gareth and Eddie were happy to stay in the power metal scene with just a touch of neoclassical. 

They had tried to make it work, but the sounds were just too different and while Eddie and Grant wanted to continue on with lyrics full of fantasy and gothic romance, Jeff and Grant had wanted to focus more on ‘the human condition’.

So they separated. Eddie and Gareth had kept the Corroded Coffin name while Jeff and Grant travelled, exploring their sound.

There was no animosity. They were all still the best of friends. Even as Jeff and Grant had settled in Stockholm, where they had quickly shot to stardom with their new band members, Eddie and Gareth made their home in California enjoying their own success. They met up as often as they could, whenever tour dates aligned or they were booked into the same festivals.

Eddie and Steve were godfathers to Grant’s youngest daughter.

He and Gareth had been groomsmen in Jeff’s wedding.

They were solid.

Which was why the text from Jeff was more exasperating than worrying. 

Eddie "I don't believe in true love" Munson and Steve "I used to believe in love" Harrington. just... *vague hand motions and incoherent noises*

“You’re really going to turn down my umbrella?” Steve asks, still holding it out.

“I really am,” Munson replies, showing all of his teeth in a rancorous smile. “Now if you don’t mind,” he adds, taking a large step forward, closer to the curb and further from Steve.

Steve lets out an indignant huff and pulls his umbrella back to himself. Only just refrains from muttering an unsavory name under his breath because he’s a good person now.

Whatever. Let Munson get soaked. Let him freeze.

— under my umbrella by @stevethehairington!

Steve should wear Barbie's disco jumpsuit outfit from the Barbie movie. And I mean the whole outfit, including the wig.

Like, he's going to a drag show with Robin and she convinces him to dress up, promising him that it'll be fun and they can laugh about it later if it isn't.

And Steve realizes that he loves dressing up like that, loves the persona he accidentally made up for it. But he especially loves that he can go home, put on his polos and still be seen as a man- that it doesn't make him feel less like a man.

It makes it almost too easy to then go on to accept his bisexuality- especially when it's because of Eddie Munson, seeing him dressed up and asking him "what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

At first, it's just something they can use as a way to date in public. Maybe someone tries to pull Steve aside and ask who the girl he saw Eddie with is and how the hell did Munson get such a smokeshow?

And Steve still feels like a man. He's got no doubt about that. But he kinda feels like the drag isn't an act either. Like maybe he is a girl, too. And he doesn't have time to verbalize his doubts, because Eddie is immediately like "that's ok, you can be both, just let me know if I can do anything to help bc I love the person that you are."

did i ever show y’all this almost spicy quick lil warmup doodle i did a few months ago

Dustin had been waiting this moment for months.

Mind you, Dustin isn’t one to bring up his personal life to the public at any chance he gets, but a part of him really wants everyone to know his role in one of the most important up-coming weddings of the year.

“So, I’ve heard you had a big role in all of this, what happened?” The host asks, on the edge of his seat.

“Well, I know Eddie cause we’ve done some livestreams together, we’ve met a couple of times and he seemed cool. And I know Steve cause, other than working together, he’s basically a brother to me, you know-” the audience interrupts him with a big ‘aaaaw’ sound and loud clapping.

“I think you misunderstood me, he’s the type of older brother who is no fun and makes you wish either of you was adopted.”

The audience laughs.

“Anyways, we were all at a party and I introduced them and Eddie was, you know, immediately obsessed with Steve. But Steve was engaged at the time,” Dustin decides to not dwell on this part of the story, it was a very tough time for Steve and some of it was public enough to make it worse. Dustin is just happy that he can talk about Steve’s ex-fiancé in the past tense.

“Time goes on, and as soon as the news of Steve being single again hits the public, I get a call from one begging Eddie Munson-” he wasn’t really begging but Dustin wants to sell the story “-asking about Steve once again. Like, how was he? Was he fine? Ready to meet other people? and I was like 'I don't know dude, I don't ask him about his dating prospects daily' and that's when he asked for Steve's number."

Dustin takes a small pause before going into the next part of the story "Obviously I don't go around giving people Steve's number, and I get asked a lot," the audience laughs again, "so I do the decent thing and ask Steve can I give Eddie your number? is it okay?

And Steve goes all into this theatrical performance Oi, no, mamma mia," Dustin goes strong with the Italian accent "All these men, che palle, they never leave me alone. Oddio-”

The host interrupts him “wait, does Steve have this strong Italian accent?”

“Of course not, he was born in Indiana, I’m trying to sell the story man!” Dustin pretends to be annoyed and the host goes along with it, making the audience laugh and cheer.

“Anyways, he was trying to say no but clearly meant yes. So I gave Eddie the number and whatever Eddie did with it, must’ve been the right call.”

A photo of Steve’s engagement announcement appears behind them right after: Steve and Eddie’s hands, finger intertwined and matching rings.

“Clearly he did” the host agrees after the clapping and cheering from the audience dies down.

“And what about wedding gifts? Are you doing something with the whole group? Or is it a solo thing?” The host inquires.

“Uh, I gave Steve a husband?? He should be giving me gifts”.

———

Predictably, the interview goes viral.

A few days later, Dustin comes back home to find a gift waiting for him.

It’s two VIP tickets for one of Eddie’s shows under his and Suzie’s name (a YouTuber friend Dustin didn’t have the courage to ask out, yet).

The note attached to the box is simple and very clear.

“Thank you, little shit. Now that we are even, the wedding gift is expected or you’ll be grounded.

See you at the wedding

S&E”

Despite being a twenty something, successful and independent since he was 17, Dustin takes the threat very seriously.

steddie fam we are all sleepin on the potential for wayne munson to have some extremely petty, specific, and weird beef with the old ladies in the trailer park

the inherent intimacy of lighting your cigarettes with the same flame etc

(click for better quality + still version under the cut)