Dvstybuns·:

walkie talks || steddie

steve: c'mon eddie, just... give me a chance to talk

steve: whatever, i just thought i shouldn't show up at your door...

steve: did you mean what you say? do you really think it was just... a joke?

eddie: you had plenty chance to talk at the cabin, steve.

eddie: i don't know why you're doing this, are you like ... mocking me? listen, i get that you're, like, embarrassed and shit, that you regret it. i get it.

eddie: you had your fun, let's just forget it, ok, harrington?

xihopper·:

@eddiemcnson··

While El didn’t know Eddie very well, she could tell there was an inherent kindness in him. Even if his appearance may frighten those who were…well, who were close-minded, if not outright bullies. In any case, she knew everyone who had been down in the basement the night of the Wheeler’s barbecue was a good person. She trusted her friends’ respective judgment, and they had all seemed to like Eddie. It made her smile to think about the way Steve had been sitting in Eddie’s lap. She had the sense that it was not simply due to a lack of seating. If that was the case, she thought maybe she would have liked to sit in a certain someone’s lap, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t available.

The sight of Eddie pulled her from her thoughts, and she approached him with a little bit of shyness. Making friends was a skill that still felt fragile to her even after all this time in Hawkins, around people her own age. “We met at the Wheeler’s,” she said. “Do you remember? I was playing DND. It was my first game. I rolled a 19.” She smiled at the memory, still pleased, recalling how excited everyone had been. “But I didn’t tell you my name,” she added, frowning a little. Had that been rude? There were so many people in the basement, and everyone had been focused on the game. “I’m Eleven,” she said finally, offering him a soft smile. “People call me El.”

+++

see, eddie wasn’t really used to being ... approached. he’d been told he wasn’t very approachable, with his long unruly hair, his gory bandshirts, the tattoos, the rings, it all played into his mean and scary metalhead image. however, anyone who’d ever so much as exchanged a word with him had soon come to know that eddie munson was, in fact, extremeley approachable. tough on the outside, soft on the inside, that whole shtick. not that eddie would ever admit this to someone out loud, but yeah.

so it surprised him to say the least when he saw her come up to him out of the corner of his eye, all nerves and smiles. eddie in turn couldn’t help but mirror her smile, he nodded. “yeah, yeah i remember. gotta say, that was a wicked roll for your first ever game, man. ever thought about joining a party?” being back in that basement, steve on his lap, eddie had found himself wishing he could go back to a simpler time. when all he cared about was passing his senior year - third time’s the charm, right? - and planning wicked hellfire campaigns. he missed the club, missed dnd, missed ... everything. living in hawkins had ben literal hell on earth, but it did have its moments.

“holy shit.” there it was. of course, she’d seemed familiar - maybe he hadn’t seen her around before, but he sure had heard descriptions. holy shit. “holy shit, you’re - el. yeah, you are. you’re the...you know, the superpower girl, right?” an excited glint in his eyes, eddie smiled a wide and toothy grin. “it’s, like, so great to meet you. i’m eddie.”

EDDIE THROUGH THE YEARS + THE SONGS HE LISTENED TO

freshman year ‘80 - ‘81 : blank generation - richard hell (1977) ; god save the queen - the sex pistols (1977)

sophomore year ‘81 - ‘82 : search and destroy (bowie mix) - iggy and the stooges (1973) ; breaking the law - judas priest (1980)

junior year ‘82 - ‘83 : paranoid - black sabbath (1970) ; crazy train - ozzy osbourne (1980)

senior year #1 ‘83 - ‘84 : cum on feel the noize - quiet riot (1983) ; holy diver - dio (1983)

senior year #2 ‘84 - ‘85 : for whom the bell tolls - metallica (1984) ; a little bit of what you fancy - saxon (1984) 

senior year #3 ‘85 - ‘86 : she sells sanctuary - the cult (1985) ; 2 minutes to midnight - iron maiden (1984)

spring break ‘86 and beyond : shot in the dark - ozzy osbourne (1986) ; master of puppets - metallica (1986)

chicago ‘86 - 87 [trauma era] : i could have been a dreamer - dio (1987) ; flood II - the sisters of mercy (1985)

chicago ‘87 [coping era ]: animal (fuck like a beast) - w.a.s.p. (1984) ; sex dwarf - soft cell (1981)

back to hawkins ‘88 : rainbow in the dark - dio (1983) ; round and round - ratt (1984)

*bonus: songs he listens to with steve: head over heels - tears for fears (1985) ; (i’ve had) the time of my life - bill medley, jennifer warnes (1987)

elevcnhops·:

WHERE ; benny’s burnt down diner WHO ; el &. @eddiemcnson·

of course he was an admired hero in their party - dustin wouldn’t stop talking about him on more than one occasion. even mike had mentioned the other once or twice. eleven just never imagined she would be meeting him in a deserted diner. even more surprising that he was still around after… everything. remembering his absolute panic as the lights went out. and even all the things after. feeling a bit guilty, their experience felt all too familiar. this was probably her fault. the never ending twinge of guilt ever since she returned.

better yet, he was back at the place of their first actual encounter. el’s better judgement leading her back to the diner. the other night with nancy and Hop… but he was there. she could recognize that hair anywhere. she wasn’t the only nosy one in this town apparently.

eleven smelled the ash before she could sense it. sure, the smell of burnt concrete was a grim reminder of the fact.. this place was done for. “ do you see anything? “ she didn’t know his name, only that he was to be trusted. inhaling briefly in the aftermath of the destruction that they brought upon themselves. “ eleven. “ giving him a second of truth as she roamed through the debris. “ and you? “ hiding the rosy tiny upon her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her questioning tone. “ i’m sorry, i should know that. “

+++

it was stupid. it was a horribly, horrifically stupid idea but, staying true to the munson name, eddie actually found himself standing where benny’s diner once had been, just... staring. contemplating, maybe? he didn’t know. didn’t know what had posessed him to hop into his van and drive back there in the first place but there he was, standing in the midst of the burnt down ruins, just looking.

eddie liked to think that he didn’t know what he was looking for but that was a lie,  eddie knew exactly what he was looking for as he absent-mindedly kicked some pieces of gravel through the ash. those ‘eggs’, those freakishly large eggs that had had tears and cracks running through them. and the weird sludge, just... clues. he was looking for clues. upside down clues and he hated the thought of that with a fiery passion. 

“god - jesus - fuck!”, eddie jumped, one heart coming up to clutch at his heart as he whipped around violently, curls whipping through the air like daggers. the frame of ... hopper junior, eddie didn’t know her name, came into view and a shaky yet relieved breath was drawn from his lips. hands on his thighs, eddie dropped his head, took a couple beats to get his breathing under control. “shit, man! you can’t just creep up on people like that.”

after what had happened at benny’s, eddie was even more on edge than usual. he frowned. “no, i...don’t see anything, kid. ‘cept for you, scaring the freaking daylights outta me.”, he muttered, eyes travelling over the site once more. confirming to himself that he was definitely not seeing any eggs or the like.

eddie narrowed his eyes, brows drawn together tightly. “huh? eleven?”, he echoed, looked her up and down. then looked behind her, to see if he’d missed anything. or anyone. “eleven what?”

this exchange was getting weirder by the minute, eddie planted his hands on his hips. “uh, eddie. munson.”, he said after a moment, smiled. “well, i mean i’ve got no idea who you are, hopper junior, so no offense taken.”

walkie talks || steddie

steve: eddie?

steve: it's me, steve!

steve: are we alone... here?

eddie: oh. hi.

eddie: what do you want, harrington?

eddie: i see, even on the walkie line he's afraid someone might hear ...

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?”

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·:

dvstybuns·:

WHO: Henderson & @stevehharringtcns· & @eddiemcnson·

WHAT: Dustin needs advice from his dads!

WHERE: Steve’s House 

It was an indisputable fact that Dustin Henderson had the longest lasting relationship of any of his friends. He’d met Suzie Bingham at Camp Know Where the summer before his Freshman year of high school, and had been happily with her ever since. As far as Dustin was concerned, their relationship was pretty perfect. Suzie was the smartest person Dustin knew, as well as the sweetest. Her taste in music was impeccable, and on top of all of those things, she was also stunningly beautiful. She was absolutely amazing. 

And Dustin was worried about being an awkward idiot around her now that they were in person for an extended amount of time. So far, things had been great! But she was living with him at his house with his mother, who had been surprisingly chill about everything, but for how long??? Dustin had already had to hide every incriminating photo of himself in the house, and was constantly worried about Mike, Lucas or Max trying to embarrass him in front of her. All of his Weird Al t-shirts had been thrown away, and the left over can of Farrah Fawcett hair spray he’d used for the Snowball had been generously dropped off on Steve’s doorstep. Dustin was doing his best to seem as cool as possible around Suzie, but it did not feel sustainable. 

Which is why he turned to the two people he trusted more than anyone in the world for some wisdom. Sure, neither of them had had a relationship as successful as his own, but they probably had some good advice, right? It had to be better than Mike or Lucas’, anyway. Sending out a ‘Code Red,’ to both Steve and Eddie on the walkies, he waited patiently on Steve’s front step for them to get there. He would have offered to host, but he was terrified of Suzie or his mom overhearing a conversation like this. 

“Steve! Eddie!” He greeted enthusiastically when they arrived, too nervous to sit still or watch his volume. “Hey! How’s life going? Gee, that’s great,” He bulldozed right through niceties, not bothering to actually check in with either. Dustin saw them often enough that he was sure they were fine. Fine-ish, at least. 

“So, weird question. Totally hypothetical. How the hell am I supposed to date Suzie in person?” Dustin asked once they were inside. “She’s literally the coolest girl I’ve ever met. And I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing here.” 

after being together with eddie over at eddie’s place, steve was taken by surprise that both of them got a code red from dustin on their walkies. it still baffled steve that he was pretty much forced to carry a walkie now, something that he had never to do before he met dustin henderson. sure, it was a nice way to communicate with everyone, much better than a house phone and it was portable! how cool was that? okay, he wasn’t about to freak out over some walkies, but as soon as he heard the code red coming from dustin, telling them to meet him at steve’s place. he frowned, but didn’t waste any time to get in the car with eddie and drive down there.

once they both arrived, steve got out of the car, almost in a rush to get to his place and dustin, but once he saw him standing by his doorstep, steve frowned as he walked towards him, placing his hands on his own hips and looking at him. “henderson! what’s going on? did someone break in my house? because i don’t have my bat with me to beat them up, so maybe you should have called the cops…” he said, shaking his head as he looked over at his house. no windows seemed to be broken and his door seemed normal, so now he was starting to wonder what this was all about.

he was about to answer dustin about how his life was going, but he was quickly cut short once the other asked them how he was supposed to date suzie. letting out a sigh as he moved his hand to rub his eyes, he shook his head. “you… gave us a code red because of that? i thought my house was on fire or something!” he said, shaking his head as he walked past dustin and opened his door, standing by it as he made way for both of them to get in his house. “get in.” he said, waiting for them to make their way inside.

once they were all inside of the house, steve made his way inside of the living room and looked at dustin, frowning slightly at him. it was only fair that he had questions about his own dating life, but why had he asked both him and eddie? did he know something about them? steve hoped not. “right, about suzie…” he said, as he pondered on what to say to him. “well, i think…” he said, as he looked at eddie for a couple of moments as in a way to ask him for help. “the best way is that you take her on dates… you know, watching movies, having dinner together… i mean, at least that’s what i did when i was uh…” he asked, looking at eddie again and then back at dustin. “when i had dates.” he said, nodding.

@eddiemcnson··

+++

as much as he loved dustin, that little shithead's code read truly couldn't have come at a worse time. steve and eddie hadn't really talked since the whole... cabin fiasco, as eddie had titled it in his head, and they'd done a pretty good job avoiding one another so far. sure, yeah, maybe eddie did drive by family video, like, every other day to catch a glimpse of steve before ducking behind some cars when the other turned around, but that didn't mean he missed him or something. he definitely didn't. how could he, when the brutal punch of steve's rejection has left a festering, every growing bruise?

no, he didn't miss him and he'd done a swell job trying to convince himself that he wasn't as affected by the whole thing as he truly was. he'd been fine, really. up until steve had shown up at the trailer. his presence alone did wonders of ripping open old wounds, god, the sight of steve's face, the look on it, made eddie's stomach drop. a cruel joke was what it was - steve dropping by, insisting they continue their 'talk'.

eddie had barely gotten halfway through "nothing left to talk about, harrington" when steve's walkie had chimed in, alerting them to a code red, and suddenly all animosity between them was forgotten. they shared a look and practically ran to steve's car, the drive up to his house was silent and charged.

the concerned frown on eddie's face quickly turned into something resembling outrage and annoyance as dustin let them in on why he'd truly called them over. exasperated, he threw his hands up into the air. "no, no, you're shitting me, right, henderson? that's why you called us? jesus christ, man!" he shook his head in disbelief, messy curls flying about as he did so. a nauseating feeling settling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered what had happened the last time he'd been at steve's house. eddie gulped.

"seriously, man! how many times do we have to go over this, code red's are for emergencies only! like, life and death and freaky... upside down monster emergencies, you hear me?" the annoyed tone in his voice started to quickly fade and die down as eddie settled, he shook his head once more, crossed his arms over his chest. this was dustin, after all, so eddie really couldn’t stay mad for long.

pondering his question, he met steve’s eyes for a split second, feeling a sharp tug at his heart. he scoffed at his words, scrunched his nose up. “yeah, steve here got the idea. dates. like, real proper romantic shit. maybe you can even, i don’t know, whisk her away to a romantic getaway. a cabin, maybe! that’s sounds like so much fun, don’t it, harrington?” eddie flailed his hands around as he spoke, slowly pacing around steve’s living room. throwing him a mocking glance as he mentioned the cabin, basically spitting out his words, they left a sour taste in his mouth. “just... i don’t know. make sure it’s just you two, some real nice qualitiy time. don’t want anyone disturbing that, do you? and then you... just tell her how smart and, like, beauitful and everything she is.” eddie shrugged. “i mean, i don’t know, guessing that’s, like, what girls like to hear? i don’t know shit about girls, so maybe that sort of advice from our loverboy steve over here, yeah?”

he clasped his hands together, threw steve another look. “i’m outta my depth here, henderson. so can i go?”

@dvstybuns··

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.”

# eddie is fed up with their lack of music culture

STRANGER THINGS | Papa (4.08)