It's not even close. I wasn't even- you know what? It doesn't matter.
[ steve's not all that worried about it, really. his swim career is far behind him, just as most of his jock years are. it only came up at the lake when all of their lives were at stake and he was looking for a legitimate reason that nancy couldn't argue with, and- well. yeah. she didn't, in the end, and considering how things went right after...
god. that was what...two and a half years ago? three? it's been long enough that steve very nearly doesn't remember it, not really, and that's a weird enough thought in and of itself. instead, for once, steve feels like he's more focused on the stuff that's happened here, with the two of them, than he is on hawkins and all they left behind. and that's a weird thing, something that steve will probably have weird feelings about later, when he decides to actually ruminate on it more than a half second or so.
for right now? he's barking a laugh at eddie's you know what they say about assumptions. ]
You want me to carry you, you're gonna have to ask. [ and it doesn't really matter, because eddie is laughing, and steve is grinning, and he's left wondering if the flush on eddie's face that he barely catches when he glances over his shoulder is because of the beer or the fast car that's brought them both here or if it's actually something else. steve, feeling confident, feeling like he had a pretty good idea the right answer to that question, turns his attention back to the walk (and yes, misses eddie nearly falling over himself, as sad as that is). but it is okay, it is, because steve settles and eddie joins him. steve sets about their drinks and gets comfortable, and eddie buzzes with nervous energy.
it's possible that steve's own movements are trying to deal with his own nerves, the fact he sets the bottles out and tries to make it look...he doesn't even know. organized? less like he's thrown everything around them? he fiddles with setting them in one place, and then another, grabs for one of the bottles and works open the cap before handing it over. he might not be jittering like Eddie, but steve isn't still, either, focused on... well, it's not hosting, exactly, but there is a method to all this, and something about the shifting of the space around them seems to match. to slowly shift, and change, a little faster, and then a little faster, and then finally stopping somewhere else.
it's enough like hawkins - the dirt and the trees around them, the stones and the open sky. but the sky is a little brighter, a little different, and the weather is nicer than it ever really was. the colors a little more clear, the feeling a little more...
( it's been long enough that some distant part of steve might recognize he's almost started to idolize what he does remember, nostalgia wrapped up in just enough time that it feels better, feels safer, feels more like home than it did when they left it. )
he takes the bottle back, his brows lifting at eddie starts talking. it was pretty cool he says, and steve's brows furrow just a smidge, like he can't quite place what eddie's talking about. it's actually not until eddie mentions the car, and makes the gesture, that steve's expression softens, and then his face splits into a grin as he - seamlessly, casually, really really smoothly - shifts a little closer to eddie. ]
Very impressed? Seriously? Man, I didn't take you for a Dukes of Hazzard guy. I feel like I've gotten you all wrong.
[ steve tips back the bottle, taking a long swig of it himself. it's definitely nerves, he's nervous, and it's been a long time since that's been the case around eddie.
but it's fine- this is fine. they're here. it's fine. when he looks back to eddie, he feels his own cheeks getting a little warm, his smile less grin and more... sheepish. he gestures around them - the sky (too bright and too full of stars to be from home) and the trees (too full, too clear, too tall) and even the rocks. ]
Well. We made it. My big surprise.
[ steve, feeling that voice in the back of his head go all this build up? this is going to be disappointing, looks away from eddie and instead up to the sky, his free hand fiddling with the trinket he's had tied on his belt back in solvunn for over a year now. ]
no subject
[ steve's not all that worried about it, really. his swim career is far behind him, just as most of his jock years are. it only came up at the lake when all of their lives were at stake and he was looking for a legitimate reason that nancy couldn't argue with, and- well. yeah. she didn't, in the end, and considering how things went right after...
god. that was what...two and a half years ago? three? it's been long enough that steve very nearly doesn't remember it, not really, and that's a weird enough thought in and of itself. instead, for once, steve feels like he's more focused on the stuff that's happened here, with the two of them, than he is on hawkins and all they left behind. and that's a weird thing, something that steve will probably have weird feelings about later, when he decides to actually ruminate on it more than a half second or so.
for right now? he's barking a laugh at eddie's you know what they say about assumptions. ]
You want me to carry you, you're gonna have to ask. [ and it doesn't really matter, because eddie is laughing, and steve is grinning, and he's left wondering if the flush on eddie's face that he barely catches when he glances over his shoulder is because of the beer or the fast car that's brought them both here or if it's actually something else. steve, feeling confident, feeling like he had a pretty good idea the right answer to that question, turns his attention back to the walk (and yes, misses eddie nearly falling over himself, as sad as that is). but it is okay, it is, because steve settles and eddie joins him. steve sets about their drinks and gets comfortable, and eddie buzzes with nervous energy.
it's possible that steve's own movements are trying to deal with his own nerves, the fact he sets the bottles out and tries to make it look...he doesn't even know. organized? less like he's thrown everything around them? he fiddles with setting them in one place, and then another, grabs for one of the bottles and works open the cap before handing it over. he might not be jittering like Eddie, but steve isn't still, either, focused on... well, it's not hosting, exactly, but there is a method to all this, and something about the shifting of the space around them seems to match. to slowly shift, and change, a little faster, and then a little faster, and then finally stopping somewhere else.
it's enough like hawkins - the dirt and the trees around them, the stones and the open sky. but the sky is a little brighter, a little different, and the weather is nicer than it ever really was. the colors a little more clear, the feeling a little more...
( it's been long enough that some distant part of steve might recognize he's almost started to idolize what he does remember, nostalgia wrapped up in just enough time that it feels better, feels safer, feels more like home than it did when they left it. )
he takes the bottle back, his brows lifting at eddie starts talking. it was pretty cool he says, and steve's brows furrow just a smidge, like he can't quite place what eddie's talking about. it's actually not until eddie mentions the car, and makes the gesture, that steve's expression softens, and then his face splits into a grin as he - seamlessly, casually, really really smoothly - shifts a little closer to eddie. ]
Very impressed? Seriously? Man, I didn't take you for a Dukes of Hazzard guy. I feel like I've gotten you all wrong.
[ steve tips back the bottle, taking a long swig of it himself. it's definitely nerves, he's nervous, and it's been a long time since that's been the case around eddie.
but it's fine- this is fine. they're here. it's fine. when he looks back to eddie, he feels his own cheeks getting a little warm, his smile less grin and more... sheepish. he gestures around them - the sky (too bright and too full of stars to be from home) and the trees (too full, too clear, too tall) and even the rocks. ]
Well. We made it. My big surprise.
[ steve, feeling that voice in the back of his head go all this build up? this is going to be disappointing, looks away from eddie and instead up to the sky, his free hand fiddling with the trinket he's had tied on his belt back in solvunn for over a year now. ]