Stevehharringtcns​:

where: the roof of the munson trailer

what: some quality sibling time

who: @zccming​​ + eddie

it had been approximately twenty-two hours since steve and eddie had been subject to an unlikely relationship counseling session, deep in the woods surrounding skull rock, orchestrated by one murray baumann. approximately twenty hours since steve had left his trailer - not that eddie was counting. he was. and eddie munson was for all intents and purposes ecstatic. he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this happy, this light-hearted. his thoughts had not wandered off to the upside down once in the last twenty-two hours, the ever-present threat lingering in the air all but forgotten, replaced entirely by steve, steve, steve.

really, eddie munson felt wonderful. fantastic. about himself, the world. god, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what the upside down would throw their way next. with steve by his side, he was sure he could conquer anything. eddie was happy, extremely happy, but most importantly, he was fucking itching to tell someone, anyone.

well, not anyone. one person in particular came to mind with whom he wanted to share the happy news first. max mayfield - sister from another mister. and.... mother, too, but eddie couldn’t think of an adequate rhyme for that one. sib from another crib. anyway.

eddie had bolted out the door, knocked on max’s trailer and all but abducted her, the two of them now comfortably laying on a blanket on the roof of eddie’s trailer. eddie toyed with the joint between his fingers as he leaned back on his elbows, a dumb smile on his face. a stupid little lovesick grin. eddie felt like he could burst.

“max, what’s been goin’ on with you lately? what’ve you been up to?”, he asked, tilted his head to the side to face her. “ok, no, wait. i need to tell you something first. something.... major.”

where: lover’s lake (cabin)

what: steve best give eddie back that vest, or else ...

who: @stevehharringtcns​ + eddie

“knock knock.”, eddie said aloud, while simulatenously knocking on the doorframe of the cabin, cautiously entering it. cursing himself for actually being that sort of person that felt he need to say ‘knock knock’ while they knocked, but whatever. it wasn’t like steve wasn’t already used to his antics.

that’s who he’d come to look for  - steve. he hadn’t seen him in a bit, had been busy attempting to help dustin pitch up his tent, and eddie didn’t like not knowing the current whereabouts of steve, didn’t like it one bit. just the sight of lover’s lake made him feel queasy, made him feel like he was back on that boat - marvelling at the sight of steve without his shirt on in one moment and freaking out because he’d been pulled down into watergate in the next.

besides - the heat of the day started to wear off and eddie, wearing only a sleveless ‘dio’ shirt with plenty of rips in it, started to feel a little chilly. 

“hello? anybody in?”, he called out again, walked further into the cabin until he finally saw steve. eddie smiled, crossed the distance between them.

“there you are, harrington. been looking all over for you. was beginning to think you were hiding from me - or trying to take off with my vest.”

zccming·:

.

max was comfortable with silence, silence was safe most of the time. she could live there for a while if needed. she knew full well that she wasn’t the best with words, and usually, if ever, people didn’t come to her for her motivational speeches. more often than not, it looked like this, max going to someone and offering herself up as a shoulder, someone to share the load of a burden with if only for a little while. at least, lately, that’s what it looked like. 

she watched eddie not speaking, setting her bowl down when he did, quietly indicated, nah, me either. it was the thought that counted or whatever, right? when eddie frantically verified that she was alright, max kept an expression of stone as she nodded. she was more or less in one piece, so was he, so was steve, so was everyone. now she wasn’t happy all of this had happened, but the relief that came with doing her rounds and seeing her friends alive and breathing was enough to propel her through a sleepless twenty four hours at the hospital, and a long ride on her board back home. 

their wordless processing ended though as eddie confessed, his voice uneasy. max hadn’t really seen him like this. not for a long time, not since they’d gotten closer. instantly, she jumped to all of the ways she could fix this, which started with calming eddie down and ended with something along the lines of throwing callahan in a deep deep pit he couldn’t crawl out of. “you’re not a monster.” she said swiftly and with such conviction she hoped it knocked into him like a punch, like he’d have no choice but to believe it. “you were innocent then and you’re innocent now.” max wouldn’t tell him it was okay because she knew he didn’t feel like it was. “they haven’t released names yet, i don’t think anyone other than…us saw it happen.” she used reason to talk him down.  

when none of that seemed to work and he shook his head and began a spiral, max yelled, hopping to snap him out of it “eddie!” she took his hands and offered the following words like a get out of jail free card, “steve will not let anything happen to you. i will not let anything happen to you.” she laughed a wryly, hoping to make everything feel less heavy, “you think robin, and nancy, and literally anyone else would let that slide? fuck no.” she shook her head, then offered her final comfort, “we’ve figured it out like four times before, we’ll do it again. you’re a vet this time, munson. you just gotta screw your head back onto your shoulders.” 

+++

eddie scoffed, slumping further back into the couch, wishing it would swallow him whole. “yeah, and just like ‘86 nobody’s gonna believe me. real fucking nice.” he didn’t mean to snap at her, neither of them had anything to do with the utter chaos that was currently playing out in hawkins. but the rational part of his brain had long since bid its farewell and he simply hoped that max knew this. what did it matter if he was innocent or not? when people already stared at him , mistrusted him without a solid reason. now they had one and eddie didn’t want to imagine what the scalding looks burning into the back of his head could soon turn into. because he knew it, he’d lived it, and he couldn’t again, never again.

he gave her hands a short, tight squeeze before he relased them, carding his fingers through his tangled hair. taking deep breaths, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. this was just max, just max. meaning only good. trying to calm him. there was no reaosn to get upset, not with her. his mouth felt awfully dry. when he opened his eyes again they were fixed to the ceiling, looking at nothing in particular. “yeah, yeah, well, you remember what happened last time, right? i’m a vet, sure, but ... i almost wasn’t. almost wasn’t anything anymore.” and his lip quivered slightly at the memory, it was still fresh as day. a swarm of demobats circling around him, knocking him to the ground. a sharp sting in his side soon followed by agony and a fade to black, a teary goodbye, a faint white light. a faint white light that, for some reason, perhaps divine intervention, had faded into a shrill green-ish one, the distinct hue of hospital fluorescents. 

but what good had it ever done, dwelling on the past? dwelling on what almost had been, eddie munson, only good for running, it seemed. ‘don’t try to be cute, don’t try to be a hero’. he should’ve just listened to steve, stayed a decoy. heroism clearly didn’t suit him. thinking of... he sat up a little straighter. “how’s - how’s steve? have you seen him?”

EDDIE MUNSON + HANDS Stranger Things 4 (2022)

zccming·:

.

if there were any men that max hated nearly as much as billy and his dad, they were named callahan and powell of hawkins p.d. her interrogation with them in the spring of ‘86 never strayed far from her mind. max recalled how they chose her first, probably thinking she was the weakest link. they must have thought it would be so easy to plop her into a chair and that she would tuck herself away into a corner at the first sign of intimidation, that she was merely some stupid, meek, little girl for them to scare and trick into fessing up. well, they were wrong, and frankly, not very intimidating either. from the moment she exited that room, max vowed to herself that if she made it out of this vecna bullshit alive, she’d make them pay. 

she made good on that promise for the years following that, wreaking minor nuisances and unleashing dishonorable displays at any chance she could. and she didn’t do it just for herself, she did it for eddie. while she might have initially bought into the idea that he could’ve been some psycho killer, her opinion of him changed swiftly and drastically. eddie didn’t do it and he didn’t deserve the complications from having it pinned on him either. this rivalry of sorts came to ahead earlier in the summer when callahan pulled one over on her by arresting her at the blue quarry mall. it hadn’t been fun while it was presently happening, but now that hawkins p.d was doing this shit to eddie again, giving them that grief felt worth it. 

max sat across from eddie, shoving the bowl of cereal into his hand and clutching her own close to her chest with no intention of eating. instead, she silently watched him, brows furrowed as she looked him over for any signs that she might actually set hawkins p.d ablaze when the dust settled. at the same time he spoke, max did too, “i’m gonna fucking get them.” she said, voice feeling raw and unfamiliar in the back of her throat. max got mad all the time, she’d learned to deal with it, but rarely did her rage scare her or feel out of control like this. she wondered that as she felt the aftershocks of what had happened at the carnival, she skipped ahead to the anger stage of grief, that this was misplaced. maybe she was upset, sure, that was always a possibility. or maybe, it was the best she knew how to show eddie she cared, how sorry she was that this had happened. she didn’t know and didn’t plan on figuring it out. 

poking at her cereal with her spoon, max mulled over eddie’s question she had spoken in time with. finally, she answered, “i’m alright, steve made me get stitches.” she said his name warmly, flashing it like a lighthouse, a beacon to eddie to indicate that not only was he alright, but so was steve. that was important to her to convey. “i busted it on some mirrors…” max added, then shrugged as if to say no big deal. it was a big deal, but everything was right now. quietly and flatly, max reminded eddie, “you didn’t answer my question….” a pause, “how fucked are you?” to max, it was her way of wanting to know how he was holding up and what was happening on his end. 

+++

eddie stared thoughtlessly into his bowl, tired eyes searching for something, he didn’t know what. something to say, maybe. something to think about other than shock, horror, disaster. life and death. the upside down. vecna. he weakly pushed the bowl a bit further away from him, like a defiant, sulky child. eating was the last thing on his mind. then again, eddie couldn’t even pin point one singular string of thought - it was a mess up there. more so than usual. it felt like the world was spinning. there wasn’t a fibre in his being that wasn’t aching or nauseaous.

he didn’t quite register max’s words, they accompanied the faint beating of his heart and loud rushing and ringing in his ears,  but there was ‘alright’ and ‘steve and that’ snapped him out of his momentary trance, drew a shaky, relieved exhale from his lips. “you’re good? you’re okay. you’re - you’re alright.” eddie whispered, more to himself, nodded. 

a couple of beats passed, the room silent except for their labored breathing and the sound his knee made as it the coffee table every now and then. he wanted to cry, he desperately needed to, to sob his heart out and draw max into a bone crushing hug. staying in the embrace until one of them would start whispering empty, reasuring promises of how ‘everything was going to be okay’. but eddie was exhausted, and ... god, he felt so... resigned to his fate. he barely managed to muster up the strength to meet her eye.

“i can’t do this.” was what eventually broke the silence. voice barely above a whisper, a fatalistic tone to it. “i can’t ... i can’t have everybody thinking i’m a monster again. hunting me down, i - no. “ he gave a weak shake of his head, drew in a ragged breath. “i’m not - i can’t run anymore. i can’t- i can’t do it. not again.”

zccming​:

max narrowed her eyes while eddie showcased his outfit for her. she nodded, hand thoughtfully on her chin. “i don’t know, eddie.” she sighed as if she had bad news, then reached out and smacked her hand onto his shoulder, “you’re looking like the spitting image of callahan these days.” max grinned, then stepped back, crossed her arms, and resumed examining the storefront. max knew it wasn’t going to open if all she did was stand there and before she got the chance to sit on it some more, eddie was running through the inciting events with her. she didn’t deny the way he framed it. in fact, max nodded along, until she just had to interject, “okay? have you ever had karen wheeler look at you funny? it gets brutal after like…” she muttered a couple numbers under her breath, “five times.” 

there was an easiness that came in interacting with eddie. most of the time, max had to force herself to listen to and engage with other people. when it came to eddie though, she just did it, like it was built in. if she was inching anywhere near an edge of truly snapping in the face of this inconvenience, eddie’s laugh pushed her about fifty steps back. she gratefully accepted his hair pin, “yeah yeah. so beneath me.” max started for the back of the building. an exit without insult or profanity could be chalked up to a thank you from max. with eddie’s help and the guarantee of a few beers now on her side, she’d consider this outing a score. 

max took a grand total of fifteen minutes to round up all she needed to avoid mrs. wheeler’s stare of death before crossing the street back over to eddie’s van. she tossed her bag and then her skateboard inside without much care, then followed in suit. “we got like an hour before we should show up.” max announced, “we could go now but…” she sucked in on her teeth, “i don’t think we want be in the first wave of guests.” it was an annoying truth, but if max arrived to the wheeler household with eddie munson before the droves of people piled in, well, about a quarter of that target audience wouldn’t bother coming at all if they caught word. not needing to explain that, she flatly posed the next step, “so, how are we going to kill an hour?”

+++

he scrunched his nose, grimaced. “callahan?” listen, he’d heard a lot of insults in his life but this? and coming from max? “wow, that’s, - that’s the worst name i’ve ever been called. and isn’t that, like, before your time? aren’t you, like, twelve or something?” at her comment about wheeler he just shrugged with his palms held out. he’d never met the woman, didn’t usually hang about that part of town, but the way max described her - well, eddie wasn’t sure if inviting himself to that cookout was such a good idea after all. but fuck it. “the hell did you do that made mrs wheeler stare at you funny five times, max? that sounds more like a you problem if you ask me.”

and off she went, eddie looked around, made sure that no one around had seen her sneak off before he went back to his van. resisted the urge to turn up the music because they really didn’t need to draw any attention to themselves. he left the doors to the van wide open, sat side-ways in the driver’s seat, legs dangling out the door. then max returned with her secured goods, he lazily turned his head and watched as she climbed into the passenger seat. “sweet haul”, he said and nodded his head towards the stolen yield. “what did you get?”

he blew a raspberry. “an hour.”, he mused, fingers drumming on the dashboard. he’d been ready to slam his keys into the ignition and speed off but now, here they were, in the middle of downtown hawkins, after robbing a store on memorial day, with an hour to kill. eddie shifted so he sat properly in his seat, pulled the door shut and rolled the window down. “i don’t know, man. we could, like, chill in the sun somewhere? or hey, maybe the arcade’s open today?” he shrugged. “anywhere but here, dude. your choice. your wish is my command.”

dvstybuns·:

Dustin was glad that Eddie was out - he still for the life of him couldn’t figure out what the fuck they were even charging Eddie with. Hopefully they hadn’t, because a court case was the last fucking thing any of them needed now. He was glad that Eddie was a free man currently, and that he’d finally gone home to rest here instead of with Steve. He had to take care of himself right now too, which Dustin knew was easier said than done. After all, he was struggling with that himself - he assumed most of their group was.

When Eddie finally opened the door and pulled him into a hug, Dustin set the pizza down on the end table beside the couch to wrap both arms around him. He needed this - they both did. It was proof that they were both okay, that they’d made it back here in one piece and comfort from the shit they’d experienced. Dustin hugged him tightly, just happy that he was okay, as a few tears slipped out. He wiped them away quickly when Eddie let him go, smiling at the familiar hair ruffle. Dustin had missed this while Eddie had been in Chicago, although part of him wished now that Eddie had stayed, if only because it meant that he would be safe and not at risk of being arrested again. 

“No, I’m okay.” Dustin told him, shaking his head. “Some bruising and scrapes, but nothing major.” There was a lot happening emotionally, but he didn’t need to talk about that shit right now. Not when he was worried about how Eddie was holding up. “What about you, though? Are you okay? Do we need to find you a lawyer or something?” He asked, brow furrowed in concern for his friend. That was a terrifying prospect, but they’d handle it if they had to. 

+++

eddie pulled away from the embrace very reluctantly, tempted to draw dustin right back in again as he spotted the few wayward tears on his cheeks. why did everything about hawkins have to be so complicated? why could this town not grant them more than a year’s peace? they had no control over where they’d been born, so really, the universe was quite cruel for roping them into the curse so undeniably interwoven with hawkins’ very core. “good. ‘m glad. i  - i saw you going in the tent with suzie and - “ he stopped to take a deep breath, shook his head softly. it didn’t matter, no need to dwell on the tragedies that could’ve been. “you gotta be more careful, kid. got it?”

and eddie gave him a stern look that soon faded into another weak attempt at a smile. the mention of lawyers brought the ever present nausea back to the pit of his stomach and, with a sigh, he turned around and plopped down onthe couch, gestured for dustin to follow along. one hand reaching up to rub at his temples, he shrugged. “i don’t know, man, i - all i know is they released me. said i’m still a ‘prime suspect’ or whatever, that was it, that was - that was all they told me. apparently they think that hargrove and i are responsible for the explosion - or, well, they’re pinning it on us, anyway.” another shrug, he let his head fall back against the cushions. “but it’s - don’t worry ‘bout me, henderson. i’ll be fine. always am.”

walkie talks || steddie

steve: i didn't think anything

steve: fine, i'll be there soon

steve: nothing

steve: just forget it, we'll talk when i'm there

eddie: nothing?

eddie: ... alright then. suit yourself.

eddie: see you later, king steve.

eddie: over.

stevehharringtcns·:

.

it was funny to think that steve used to think that he would never make his way inside of eddie’s trailer when he was younger. the two were apparently incompatible back then, but now, steve would gladly spend his days with eddie if he could. it was better than spending time at his place, especially when his parents were around. steve also wasn’t sure when eddie’s opinion became so important to him, but it was definitely important now. that’s why he was sort of nervous to show him his new haircut. who could tell what his reaction was going to be? maybe he liked his hair the way it used to be, and he had to admit that the other’s face scared him a bit once he first saw it.

smiling once the other approached him and kissed him, steve smiled as he wrapped both of his arms around the other’s waist and brought him closer to him. “do you really love it or are you just saying that because i’m your boyfriend? because you have to tell me if you don’t.” steve said with a small chuckle escaping from his lips, before he kissed the other’s cheek. steve could feel his knee starting to hurt, mostly because he had probably been standing for too long now. he knew that they both needed to sit down, especially since eddie had messed up his ankle pretty bad. he looked down to check out the other’s ankle and frowned when he noticed that it was wrapped in bandages.

“what are you doing up? i thought we both agreed that we’re supposed to… you know, get some rest and all of that. you’re hurt.” steve said as he shook his head slightly. he could feel his face turning hot, but he thought that might have just been from being in eddie’s presence. who could blame him after all? “c’mon, let’s sit down.” steve said as he let go of the other and sat down on the couch carefully enough not to hurt himself. that area was a sensitive one, but he wouldn’t admit it out loud, even if eddie wouldn’t make fun of him. 

steve smiled up at the other as he watched him, feeling himself relax on the couch. he was used to this couch now, but who could blame him? he spent a lot of time there. he ran a hand through his hair, a little shocked when he felt it so short. it was hard getting used to it, but he knew that he could probably still rock it. “it’s weird getting used to have short hair…” he said, nodding his head. “you know, i think you would look pretty good with short hair too. maybe you should try it out.” he said, a teasing tone in his voice as he looked over at eddie. he knew how much the other liked his hair, and who could blame him? he looked good.

+++

eddie was glad for the support that steve's arms around his waist proved to be, relaxing ever so slightly, he wrapped one hand around the back of steve's neck, the other resting on his biceps. it allowed to him to shift his weight, relieving his injured ankle of the burden of fully supporting him. still, eddie tried his best to keep his reaction under control - no need for steve to worry, after the man himself had only recently gotten out of hospital. this was a minor injury at best, fat more benign than the wounds steve had suffered. so he put on a brave face, gave his boyfriend a smile.

"oh, so you think you have me totally at your mercy, huh? that you've wooed me into being a dishonest man? why, i detest your accusation!" said with all the theatrics and bravado he could muster up - lacking in execution but not passion. eddie gave a slight chuckle." no, steve, princess, I assure you that i love it. totally honestly. cross my heart, and all that. "

a sharp pang of guilt in his chest, he grimaced as steve took note of his injury. eddie waved his hand, but stopped himself shirt of saying 'it's nothing'. instead he sighed, rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch next to steve, swinging his legs over his boyfriends lap. "yeah, yeah, sorry. ill rest. im resting now, aren't i?" then, snuggling closer, he took hold of steve's arm and added : "not that id be opposed to not-resting. cause that new hair of yours is really making me want to not rest, babe." and eddie wiggled his brows suggestively, added a wink for good measure.

soon replaced by a frown, he fervently shook his head. "me with short hair? no man, i definitely can't pull that off. besides - that's sort of my whole thing here. ever seen a metalhead without long, luscious locks?"

where: the munson trailer, living room

what: date night <3

who: @stevehharringtcns​ + eddie

eddie didn’t know how long they’d been in this exact position, both of them on the couch, eddie’s legs lazily draped over steve’s, the record he’d put on had long since faded into a static crackling noise. it felt unreal, having steve over. like this. with eddie’s arms around steve’s neck, bringing him down every so often for the occasional kiss. it felt unreal, it felt better than every dream eddie had ever had about a similar scenario. better than the little daydreams that helped him go to sleep.

it was the real thing and eddie wondered if the butterflies in his stomach woiuld forever be there. clutching at steve’s shoulders, he pulled him into another kiss, a shorter one this time, hands tangled into the other’s hair. ready to deepen the kiss, eddie suddenly cursed and quickly pulled back, trying to untangle a lock of steve’s hair from one of his rings. “oh, shit, sorry, princess”, he gave him a sheepish smile, shook off a strand of hair that he’d accidentally pulled out. “sorry, my bad. should’ve taken ‘em off.”

dissatisfied with not being as close as humanly possible to steve anymore, he quickly grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. gazing up at him in a way that could only be classified as ‘lovingly’. big, stupid grin on his face. eddie let his head loll to the side so it rested against the backrest. as much as he tried to actually get a conversation going - well, it was hard when steve had the audacity to look this pretty.

“you wanna watch a movie, hot shot? i - i don’t have a lot here, can’t promise they’re any good, wayne taped over a lot of them.”