steve harrington. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hairington) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
abraxaslogs2024-07-28 11:19 am
hairington) wrote in abraxaslogs2024-07-28 11:19 am
[ open ]
Who: steve and you
When: july-august
Where: nocwich, horizon, solvunn, etc.
What: steve is forcing himself back into some form of life/routine, at least he hopes so
Warnings: n/a
When: july-august
Where: nocwich, horizon, solvunn, etc.
What: steve is forcing himself back into some form of life/routine, at least he hopes so
Warnings: n/a
horizon.
one location you might find yourself has always been a kind of almost-strip ball, one half a kind of scoops ahoy that should probably be in a mall but is instead here, and the other half a video store. the family video sign flickers on and off in the night air, and parked out front are two cars. one has almost always been there, a well-kept but conservative bmw. this is the car you might see driving around, if you've been here before, because it is Steve's. but off to the side of the small strip parking area is a new vehicle, a large van. the lights of the sign on its outer walls flickers alongside the family video sign, and sitting next to it is a strange, out of place English telephone book. for anyone who had ventured into Nero's horizon before his death would recognize both, as well as the presence of shadow, who spends most of her time napping either on top of the van or inside, on the couch. she will look up at anyone who wanders up, keeping a protective, watchful eye on them the entire time they're inside the space. it's uncertain if she will jump into action like she was known to do in Nero's domain, but she does seem to be particularly interested whenever anyone comes close to Steve.
inside, scoops ahoy and family video have become a bit more open - no wall sits between the two, despite the separate images and the appearance that they would be separate stores from the front. tvs around the space play clips from movies from the 80s, though never seem to take up the whole movie for very long. interspersed may be views or images from movies no one has ever seen before, mostly because they're not videos at all - instead, cinematic views of memories from a certain 800 years, only a few minutes long at most.
there also may or may not be the sound of typing coming from the back room. if asked about it, Steve will get very quiet, still and sad, and say not to go back there, and if anyone tries the door will be locked. ]
rng says meet baby steve - hopefully this works!!
[ Or a very specific movie. You know the one. Footloose. Inescapable in most every way as she picks the movie off the shelf and glances at the cover - snorts at the cover. That was Kevin Bacon alright. She doesn't tuck it back in the shelf, instead casting her gaze at the screens that are unfamiliar. The movie probably goes in one of them, but hell if she knew how these stupid video devices work. ]
[ A brief second too long and she recognizes that the screens don't play movies Quill would trivia them on without asking. They're more intimate and she's quick to avert her gaze - not her place. It's in this way she spots the kid sitting still in a corner. She stiffens herself, for just a moment, and then shakes it off. Approaches and, in some lame attempt to break the ice of a stranger meeting a stranger, presses the movie box in front of him. ]
Rate this one for me. [ ... ] Please.
[ This is the perfect way to introduce yourself to someone, right? ]
sparkles at!!!
sometimes they want to talk to him. sometimes they don't. very much like he used to spend his days at work, Steve only chooses to interact when he feels like the other person wants to be interacted with. the person who wanders in today Steve can't really read, so instead he hangs out behind the desk - his feet up on the counter - looking through a magazine he's read hundreds of times before.
he doesn't notice she's walked up to the desk until she speaks, and he jumps a little at it, stumbling a bit to stand - his green work vest looking worn and boring. ] Hi! I'm- [ Steve, he almost says, even though his badge says it all. he blinks, looking to the movie and then back to the blue woman. ] R-rate it? You mean like- out of ten?
[ he reaches forward, taking the vhs out of her hand and turning it over to look at the front. ]
sorry steve š at least she offers a distraction
[ She addresses, helpfully, without missing a beat. Her expression keeping that same neutral look. She doesn't helpfully offer her own name, though, since it's not the topic of the conversation. She does keep herself from making a comment on if Stephen (Steves) were as common as Peter because what the hell? ]
How else would you rate it?
[ Well. There's a few ways, but they're unnecessary for some piece of Terran entertainment. She lets the VHS go with ease to fold her arms across her chest. Then, in the same nononsense way that isn't meant to be mocking, but can come across that way she asks: ]
You have seen it, haven't you?
[ Because she'd feel silly if he hadn't. If it was here though, he must have seen it at some point (hopefully). ]
i am using this for sad no-dustin hours
[ Eddie has always out it interesting that thereās not a single sign of the big fancy Harrington house anywhere here, but he thinks he gets it by this point. A house isnāt always a home, matter how long you live in it. Thereās a reason why Eddieās subconscious chose to create a carbon copy of Wayneās trailer with all its ridiculous Wayneisms and not the tiny house on Philadelphia Street that he once shared with his father. Maybe thatās just how Steve feels about the work places heās shared with Robin.
Either way, Eddie doesnāt come here often. He doesnāt really have enough of a reason toāhe sees Steve in person on a daily basis. The last time he was here, it was to lend a hand in dismantling that Russian torture basement, and the Family Video hadnāt yet made its way into the landscape of Steveās domain. But Eddie needs a distraction from his anxiety, and neither Solvunn nor his own domain are providing enough of one.
With how weird heās been feeling lately, itās probably not a good idea to use Steve as that distraction but--well, itās the first place that comes to mind, andā¦itās kind of nice to come here. It really is. His entire Hawkins experience sucked, but coming here offers some sense of normality in a way no one else can fully understand and never will understand unless they grew up in the same place at the same time. Something so normal, he can almost trick himself into believing heās going to grab a video on a Friday evening on his way home from band practice or Hellfire.
Itās an incredibly sad form of make believe, though, and it doesnāt quite stick or help to loosen the knots in his stomach, because Dustin is missingāno, Dustin is gone, and Eddie knows it. He and Steve have both known it for the past day or so, but Eddie still clings to a single note of denial.
And maybe it is for the best. Maybe his place is too dangerous for a kid, especially when full on war is looking more and more likely by the day and the Summoned arenāt excused from death and the Singularity is acting weirder, but it doesnāt make it hurt any less, and it sure doesnāt make him worry him any less because how do they really know what happens to the people who disappear? If anything, heās worrying more as he pulls himself up onto the counter top to sitāfacing away from Steve because thatās how they seem to be having a lot of their conversations lately. He picks up a spare tape, barely glances at the spine, puts it back down and twists at the rings on his fingers. Itās clear heās pretty torn up about it, even as he asks: ]
Iām guessing he hasnāt been here, huh? No sign of him?
[ Heās clinging hard to denial until he canāt anymore. ]
no subject
[ he gestures to the otherwise empty store, other than the two of them.
neither Eddie nor Steve really spend much time in each other's horizons, partially for the exact reasons Eddie has - they live together, they see each other enough in the actual reality of this place. but also, Steve thinks, it's because they each - in their own weird ways - know the secrets of each others homes. Steve knows Eddie's trailer, knows the dark stain that isn't there, knows what happened and what it is that Eddie hides. and Eddie... well, the only secret he hadn't known would have been the basement, and he got a front row seat to what happened there.
Steve is behind the counter when Eddie walks in, leaning on his elbows and reading from some magazine. Steve doesn't even really feel the need to look up at the bells that ring above the door, letting himself fall into an old habit from work he hasn't really been keeping up with in years. things are... god. they're weird, yeah. but solvunn is always weird. that much hasn't changed. what has changed, though, is this heavy, dark feeling in Steve's chest. a feeling that has grown, considerably, in the last couple of days.
dustin is gone - he knows it, Eddie knows it, even if neither of them have admitted as much aloud. it's hard to deny when they were so used to seeing dustin every day, so used to the routine, the presence, so used to those 800 years when he and Eddie and Steve were a family. when-
Eddie jumps up on the counter, and Steve finally looks up at him - seeing the curve of his back, the dio t-shirt sewn into the back of his jacket. he can tell that Eddie's come here for some kind of distraction, or maybe comfort? Steve's not really sure, just as he's not really sure if he'll be good at either, the way he is not. it won't stop him from trying, but it does make him feel a bit like he's already failed this- already failed them both.
dustin is gone, and steve couldn't even fix that. maybe he's back in hawkins (if that's even considered a better option) or maybe he's somewhere else (where?). maybe none of this matters in the first place and they're back to square one in terms of what any of this means, but...
steve's eyes follow Eddie's hands, to the tape and then setting it back again, to the twisting and fiddling with his rings. when he finally asks the question, Steve is silent, at first, closing the magazine and letting out a slow, tired sigh. steve turns, his back to Eddie too now, as he pulls himself up on the counter next to the other boy and their shoulders bump casually in the movement. ]
Nah, man. His domain's gone too. [ Steve's eyes are on the floor, one of his hands going to the chain around his neck, Nero's rings still hanging there even in the horizon. his words are flat, defeated - no domain means he's gone. that's a fact that Steve can hang onto, if nothing else.
he doesn't know if Eddie catches it, but there's typing somewhere off in a back room. typing, and a sound that is just close enough to radio static. ]
no subject
[ Heād make a joke about the customer always being right as the only customer in the store, but itās clear that his heart isnāt in it today.
His domainās gone too. Eddie is already uncharacteristically quiet, but those words plunge him into silence. Itās not like itās news. Heās already gone looking for Dustinās stupidly elaborate domain, and heās come up empty-handed. No Dustin, no domaināitās the same as everyone else who slips from the world, it it just makes sense that heās gone. But Eddie canāt admit it out loud, not yet. Not when the uncertainty of where the people who disappear go shakes his nerves and turns his stomach to knots.
He would have cared either way. He has an undeniable soft spot for Dustin and absolutely plays favorites, but that weird emergent reality sneaks its way in again, and itās hard not to be actually distraught knowing that for eight centuries, that was his kid. The three of them were a family.
Suddenly, he grows painfully aware of his surroundings. Then he can hear the soft clinking of Neroās rings around Steveās neck and feels the shift in temperature as he pulls himself onto the counter as well. For half a second, he considers leaning back, just languishing and making it Steveās problem, but he stops himself. Itās already weird. Donāt make it weirder.
His ears tune in on the clacking of keys, and itās enough for him to shift his gaze toward the closed door to the back room, but he says nothing, because he thinks he already knows whatās back thereānothing. Just the shadow of a friend and a coworker. Sometimes, Eddieās subconscious does the same thing and tries to pull little pieces of Wayne into his own domaināthe familiar creak of the floor beneath heavy work boots, or the sound of an old pickup backfiring. It just makes him sad, though, so he does his best not to tune in on it when heās there.
Go, theyāre both so pitiful. ]
Doesnāt mean anything.
[ He says it softly, like if he says it too loudly, heāll realize just how stupid and desperate it sounds. He canāt will Dustin back by refusing to admit heās gone. ]
Canāt stand this place sometimes.
no subject
he knows that isn't the case. he knows they both knew better, already knew this, but- god. it still feels like shit. the silence that fills the room is physically painful, in a lot of ways. something that steve doesn't know he'd be able to change if he tried. hell, it was on this same fucking counter that dustin came barreling in to search for eddie, back before they realized just how bad things were going to get. it was this video store that dustin used to call from school and ask steve to play d&d, and for steve to very firm and bored echo over and over that there was no way in hell he ever would. and now?
the keys in the back get a little louder, the sound of radio static joining, and then fading. no one is back there, not dustin, not robin, nothing. and steve wishes it would go away.
he sighs, lets his hand drop from where it had been fiddling with nero's rings and rubs at his face with it instead. ]
No, guess it doesn't. [ they really are pitiful. so much so that it almost feels embarrassing. but steve doesn't really know what else to do - so far the only thing he does know is that eddie is pretty much the only person he wants to be around right now, the only person who understands what this feels like. the only person who-
no. steve can't get too into that. not even with clarisse's words still ringing in the back of his head, a reminder of what he could still lose. of what he's missing, by not being brave enough to bring it up. after a second, steve turns - just to kind of watch eddie. just to remind himself he's also here, they are both here, aren't they? ]
You and me both. [ steve says, just as quietly, though there's something in how he says it that almost sounds like a but. something that makes him think about that conversation, about memories of a life that apparently didn't even happen, about all of it.
there's another stretch of silence, where steve's eyes just sort of linger on eddie, a decision he is trying to make that takes a little too long. after those few moments, steve shakes his head. turns back to the rest of the store. ]
Fuck, man. We need to- I don't know. Do something.
no subject
And itās not like Eddie is unhappy to be here. He gets a second chance at life (regardless of when it may end), and heās met so many people here who he canāt imagine life without anymore, but the fact that any of those people can be taken away without a word is stomach churning. Heās had nightmares about them all being taken one by one until heās the only one leftāa nightmare that really ramped up after the crater, when everyone in that bizarre alternate reality began to distance themselves.
He escaped from that event with minimal things to concern himself with, but it was still the loneliest he thinks heās ever felt, and he feels a little more dread seeping in each and every time he sees signs of what he experienced in the crater becoming reality.
At least there were some good things about itābut thereās a reason things are still a little weird with Steve every time they speak. Thereās a reason Eddie is facing the door and not the only person in the store. ]
Oh yeah? [ He snorts, gazing out the glass door into the rest of Steveās domain. Yeah, they need to do something, but Eddie is at a loss as to what. ]
And what do you suggest? Because I know youāre swamped with work and all, Steve.
[ Itās okay, heās making a joke, itās all gonna be fine. He even manages a ghost of a smile. ]
no subject
but steve knows how this feels - has spent the last few months feeling loss like he couldn't put words to. nero is still dead, that hasn't changed, and dustin-
he's not dead. he's not dead. but the longer that he thinks about it, the more he doesn't know what he believes. or what he can believe. and maybe that's why he feels the need of it now. why he's suddenly so motivated to do anything at all. oh yeah? eddie says, and it sounds just detached enough, just tired enough, that steve's resolve hardens. ]
Yeah. [ steve says, noting how eddie won't look at him. knows what he's probably thinking, too. it's what pushes steve over, what makes him decide. he turns, kicks his legs over the other side of the desk and then pushes off. when he lands, he turns, standing right in front of eddie - his hands on his hips, feeling a little...he doesn't know. off? wild? loose? ]
Fuck work. Fuck all of it. [ he paces for a moment, takes a couple of steps to the left, then a couple of steps to the right. he turns, again, standing just in front of where eddie is still sitting on the counter. ] We've gotta- I don't know. Get out of here? [ a beat, and then steve decides to fuck it, to not think that hard, to not question it. he leans forward, putting his hands on the counter on either side of eddie's legs. ]
Get wasted, party, I don't know. You're the creative one- you figure it out. But it has to be something.
no subject
Eddie doesnāt hate it here. He likes the people heās met, he likes the magic, and chances are that this is kind of the end of the line for him, but he can feel himself growing more and more disenchanted with with Abraxas by the day and he doesnāt expect that will be remedied any time soon. He's fully prepared to just mope here about all of it for a few more hours, living in denial for just a little longer. Heās just thinking that maybe heāll go lay down in the new releases section and contemplate how many Mad Max movies heās going to miss out on in the future when Steve suddenly moves to his side of the counter, and moves much closer than before. Eddie is momentarily flustered, but heās quick enough to recover, quick to not end up in a spiral of overthinking things. He pulls himself together by rolling his eyes and sneering: ]
You know, Steve, I wanna know what makes you think Iāve ever partied in my life.
[ Thereās no real bite to it, especially when he can no longer hold back a grin, and itās clear that he isnāt actually asking. He knows that itās pretty much everything about him that implies heād be a party type of guy. ]
But, uh, I am excellent at getting wasted, so youāre not too far off. Alright, alrightālet me think.
[ He tries to wave Steve out of his space, but when he doesnāt move quickly enough (as in, within a millisecond), Eddie grabs his wrist himself and moves him aside so he can hop down from the counter. Itās probably the first time in months he hasnāt actively shied away from physical contact and if heās lucky, his brain wonāt catch up to him and totally overthink it later.
For now, heās preoccupied. He paces the floor, eyes on the ceiling and hands fidgeting with those rings again. He does this for several moments, then suddenly claps his hands loudly and turns back to Steve with a grin. ]
Alright, Steve. Four proofs of concept. Oneāyou pick a movie, could be any movie, could be Back to the Future. Iām not gonna judge. We get Horizon-wasted and watch that while I continue to violently critique the DeLorean. [ Because he hasnāt forgotten. ] Twoāyouāre already slowly rebuilding the better parts of Hawkins here anyway, so you go ahead and use that brain of yours to put the arcade next door. Ideally a version where Dragonās Lair isnāt always out of order. We get Horizon-wasted and do that. Threeāwe get out of hereā [ He gestures to the store around him, almost grandly. ] and go find someone elseās domain to get Horizon-wasted in. Or four. Dealerās choice.
[ Are they his most creative ideas ever? Not at all, but a distraction is a distraction, and he grins a grin thatās almost impossible to say no to. ]
no subject
the hole of it is hard and hold, wedged somewhere in his ribcage, and it threatens to finally break. to shatter through his ribs, down his spine, to take his legs out for good and leave him there.
but then there's eddie - who is quiet, who is lost, who, if disappeared, wouldn't have anywhere to go. even with the clicking of keys in the back room, the static of a radio, the ghost of dustin locked back in a room that steve can never quite get rid of - he's thinking about that. about this. about eddie.
( maybe clarisse had a point. )
when steve gets close, Eddie falters - barely, not even completely, but enough. something about it settles steve's resolve for all of this, whatever this is, and as eddie sneers and makes some comment about how he doesn't party and about getting wasted, steve rolls his eyes. ]
Dude- you played in a band. You might have been a nerd, but you still partied.
[ eddie tries to wave him away, to create some distance, but steve doesn't move. he's not actively thinking about it, really, but some part of him wants eddie to have to do something. make him move, if he wants it - and with eddie's hand around his wrist, he does. steve watches eddie hop off the counter and pace, watches him think, and something starts to bubble in his stomach. something that makes him feel young, something that makes him want to laugh.
there's a mention of the delorean (which, god, he really screwed himself with that one, didn't he?), mentions of a lair, mentions of getting wasted and getting out of here and it's only when eddie says dealer's choice that it all clicks into place for him. an idea, something kind of stupid but the kind of stupid he thinks he can get away with. ]
How about a combo? [ steve steps into eddie's space again, and now it's his turn to grab eddie's wrist, or forearm, or sleeve of his jacket. whatever he can get his hands on.
and then he grins - brows up. ] You trust me, right? [ it feels silly, asking, but there's a reason. there's a purpose to this whole thing.
he just needs eddie to buy in. ]
no subject
[ Those places were usually more sad than anything, but a venue was a venue and Eddie is quick to leave the argument there, turning his focus toward racking his brain for ideas instead. When he turn back to share them, heās aware they arenāt his most creative, but he feels like heās offered a variety of options, andā
Shit. Shit, shit, shitā
Before, it could have been written off as a fluke, but now Steve crowds into his space and it seems very purposeful. Eddie would know. Invading peoplesā space is his thing, and more often than not, itās just to be strange and off-putting. But this isnāt strange or off-putting. Itāsā¦kind of charming and it all shakes Eddie to his very core.
Ironically, outside of the feeling of fear, it really does take a lot to properly rattle Eddie. He was never thrown off by the disinterested, lukewarm crowds he performed to back in Hawkins. Not one of the daily insults or judgmental looks ever made him stumble. But nowāhe feels really rattled now. Not enough to run, but enough to make his eyes widen and his head swim, andāshit, there it is again. The way his heart skips a beat and then leaps right into his throat, so quickly and with such force that heās afraid itās going to leap out of his chest and onto the dingy Family Video carpet.
Itās a bizarre feeling, and one seems to be growing more and more acquainted with. Heās kind of afraid to put a name to it, but he finds himself thinking that, yeah, maybe Clarisse kind of did kind of have a point...and, shit, he absolutely doesnāt know what to do with that.
You trust me, right? Luckily, that snaps him out of it--sort of. Heās still very aware of Steveās hand on his wrist, but he manages to blinks back to some semblance of reality. ]
UhāHonestly?
[ Only with all that remains of my young life, dude is what he would like to say. But god, that seems like too much. Entirely too much, so Eddie reels it all in and does what he usually does. He puts on a show of pretending like he needs to think about it, like heās weighing every possible optionāand in the end, he just grins like he canāt carry his own joke all the way through to the punchline. ]
Iām almost offended you even need to ask. But, uhā¦obviously.
no subject
but right when steve is about to keep arguing, he sees it - that. that flash of something in eddie's eyes that confirms the whole thing for him.
because here's the thing - steve knows that look. it's been a couple of years, maybe. maybe a couple before that, too. it doesn't matter, though, because he recognizes it now - the widening of eyes, the pause in eddie's expression. steve is close enough to see it, to get that front row seat, to know (or, rather, to have it confirmed) that this isn't just something he's been crazy to cling to since they woke up from the crater. clarisse had all but yelled at him to do something about it, and steve... steve had been so terrified of eddie's reaction would be that he hadn't.
now?
now they're close, and steve's smiling, and eddie's right there and his eyes are so wide and ah, yeah, for all king steve might be a thing of the past, he has been in this place before. he knows this look. and that familiarity, plus the sudden rush of his own heart pounding in his chest, steve's smile grows just a bit wider.
eddie asks honestly and puts on a show, and steve feels...good. giddy, excited, young almost. it doesn't completely remove the rest of it, the clicking of keys in the back room and the hole in his stomach are all still there. but its quieter, for a moment, as eddie takes up space in the room. all the space, it seems, the second he grins back at steve.
obviously. ]
Good- c'mon.
[ steve doesn't let go of eddie's wrist, instead turning and all but dragging the other behind him. he pulls him out into the parking lot, and steve waves at shadow where she sits atop nero's fan in the front parking lot. he lets go of eddie when they get to his car, sliding over the top (because he can, okay, let him be as cool as he thinks he can right now) and climbing in. there's a general sense of urgency to his movements, one he assumes eddie will pick up on, as he turns the keys and his bmw comes to life.
( part of steve wishes he had the imagination to be able to upgrade his car, he guesses there's something to say about it being his. not that it matters, that's going to come into play a little later. )
the next however long goes by much faster than it probably should. steve might be speeding, the horizon might be helping, there might even be something to say about the nerves and the low-thrum of excitement, or maybe it's just the music playing out of his speakers - another one of eddie's tapes. whatever it is, it helps, and before either of them know it steve is pulling into the roadhouse in dean's horizon domain and stepping out of the car.
he turns, his back to the front door of the roadhouse, and shoots a grin at eddie. yeah, okay, he's definitely trying to at least appear cool here, which is probably backfiring, but let him live. ]
You mentioned getting wasted, right?
[ at least to start. steve has another idea, a bigger one, but this is going to be step one. ]
no subject
And Steve just doesnāt let go of his wrist. Not until he absolutely has toāwhen heās dragged Eddie out the door and slides across the BMWās top just to get to the drivers seat. Eddie rolls his eyes, but itās hard not to smile. Itās hard not to chuckle. And, shit, itās even harder not to be totally charmed.]
Jesus Christ. Okay, okay, okay. Okayā
[ He mumbles beneath his breathāhopefully out of earshot if heās lucky, but nothing about Eddie Munson is subtle, and itās easy to catch the way he pauses to shake out his hands in an attempt to relieve some of his nerves before approaching the passenger seat. Does he know what this is or where any of it is going? Absolutely not. But heās still interested in seeing it through.
Stop overthinking, he commands himself. Just stop. Because overthinking is how he ends up spiraling and questioning everything. Overthinking is how he gets scared. And sure, he's nerves are jangled as hell, but heās not quite petrified yet. So he takes the plunge, takes a deep breath and ducks into the passenger seat. ]
That trick normally get you a lot of compliments, Steve?
[ Itās not cruel, not mocking, just light and amused, all mixed up in a tone of fondness and a smile. With his stomach and heart doing cartwheels over one another, he truly feel like heās dying all over again, but he doesnāt need to show it.
(He is actually impressed, though. That trick doesnāt work on a van unless you want a broken arm and a head injury).
The drive isā¦itās normal. Eddie chooses the music without asking and refuses to sit still, fingers tapping along with the musicāas always. But this time, rather than staring out the window at the strange scenery that passes, he finds that his gaze keeps drifting to Steve, almost drawn like a magnet, and it doesnāt stop until they reach the Roadhouse. A familiar enough place. ]
Did I?
[ He knows he did, and he probably needs a drink at this point. Just something to soften his nerves a bit. ]
Yeah, I guess I did. Once or twice.
no subject
Yeah, actually. Why? Do you feel like complimenting me?
[ it's cheeky, cheekier than maybe steve has any right to be given the situation, but eddie's in the car and he's already reaching for the music (a familiar enough movement, to steve - watching eddie fiddle with the tape player, the radio, comfortable in steve's car in a way that does a lot to those knots in steve's gut).
steve feels eddie's eyes on him for most of the drive, feels the kind of tingling sensation of being watched. every now and then steve glances over, just to catch eddie watching him, and his smile lingers, his confidence building, and building, at about the same rate his nerves do. he's already made his decision for what the rest of the day, afternoon, evening, whatever this is going to be. now he just needs to make it work.
and then they're here, and steve rolls his eyes at eddie's question - turning and walking through the front door, assuming eddie will follow.
just like every time steve steps through the front doors of the roadhouse, the familiarity of it strikes him. the music, that he knows. the wood of the dive bar. the way the whole place, while not in any way his, could have easily been on a highway leading out of hawkins. steve goes straight for the bar, stepping behind it and searching the bottles. ]
How're we feeling? Jack? Tequila? [ steve looks...overly familiar with his surroundings, back here. like he considers this place as much a home as his own domain.
but this isn't it, either. this is only the first stop. ]
no subject
Letās not get too ahead of ourselves.
[ Spoken with a grin and a tone that implies that, yeah, he would like to give out a compliment, but heās going to be stubborn and hold onto it for a bit.
He doesnāt intend to be caught looking, but he doesnāt bother to pretend like he isnāt either. Half a dozen times he considers just outright askingāWhat is this? Put a word to it. I dare you. But he stops himself every time. In a situation like this, maybe itās just better not to know. That way, at least there are no expectations to make or break, and Eddieās nerves remain only moderately jangled rather than severely jangled.
Eddie does follow, watches as Steve makes his bar like he owns the place before beginning to drift toward the jukebox with faux nonchalance. Like itās not his intended location when it so very clearly is.
This was one of the first places Eddie ever found himself in the Horizonāstood like a statue right here in front of this jukebox for at least an hour, hoarding it from the other visitors and absorbing to every new-to-him Metallica song he could find. Thereās probably plenty more thatās worth his time, but as he scrolls idly through the jukeboxās offerings, heās not really looking for anything in particular. Maybe this is just a quick stop. Maybe they wonāt be here for long, but that doesnāt mean he canāt peruse. ]
Uhhā
[ He mumbles out loud in response to Steve, momentarily distracted by the jukebox. Because he spots Journey on that list and for half a second, he considers it. God, why is he considering it? He is absolutely not giving Clarisse any opportunity to be painfully smug. He grimaces at himself and quickly chooses something a little more his speedāsomething a little more guitar-driven and a lot lessā¦crooning lead singer-driven. Pleased enough with his choice, he pushes away from the jukebox. ]
Now, I donāt know about you, but I say we dream a little bigger and take both.
[ He leans against the bar and tilts his head, watching Steve open cabinets with a familiarity that goes beyond that of a casual visitor. Even Eddie, who actually worked in a shitty dive bar back in Hawkins, wouldnāt dare to assume he knows whatās what back there. ]
When have you been here before?
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and every time he glances over and sees eddie looking, it feels... right. like he's headed in the right direction. like maybe all of this isn't for naught. but he doesn't jump quite yet, and since eddie doesn't seem like he needs anything spelled out for him just yet, maybe the timing will work out too. maybe he'll have time to really lay it out. maybe-
they make it to the roadhouse. steve makes it behind the bar. eddie wanders off to the jukebox, and if every nerve of steve's weren't vibrating under the surface, this would be a hell of the way for the night to settle. music, worn wooden walls, a television in the corner that is playing who knows what, and they can feel safe. calm, for two seconds, in the midst of it all.
but this isn't where the night ends, and when he calls out for eddie it's in equal parts for the question and to bring him back, to not let him get too distracted. it works, and as eddie wanders back and mentions both, steve laughs and sets them on the counter - grabs a couple of beers, too, for the hell of it. it might be the horizon and none of it might be real, but there is that sort of thrill of stealing bottles from your dad's liquor cabinet - even when he knows dean wouldn't mind. ]
Here? Oh- all the time. Dean's been teaching me how to fight for a while, since the uh- basement explosion thing, and we usually meet here. [ a couple more bottles of beer, a few bags of shitty off-brand chips, and steve is turning back to face eddie - motions for the bottles he can't quite hold with everything else. ]
Now grab those, and follow me.
[ because yes, there is still more to all of this. steve walks back from behind the bar, and heads off across the room to a couple of doors along the back wall. ]
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It keeps his hands and mind busy for a moment, though; a little reprieve before he has to take a deep breath and turn back to try to keep his focus on the topic of which alcohol is best to bring along on this mystery venture. ]
As you wish, my liege.
[ Eddie grins and dips into a mock bow, but he does as he heās told, gathers up the remaining bottles without a complaint and follows after Steve. It occurs to him that the only part of this place he really knows is the jukebox, because heās fairly certain he never even saw those doors before. But thatās fine. As long as Steve knows where heās going, which seems very likely. ]
Yeah, well, next time youāre here, feel free to tell him there is not nearly enough Judas Priest on that jukebox.
[ Itās not exactly a real request. Eddie can absolutely critique Deanās jukebox offerings on his own, but heās really just looking for an excuse not to stop talking. So far, heās doing a decent job of keeping his jitters at bay, but the music grows fainter as they put distance between themselves and the jukebox, and he knows his brain will take any beat of silence to interfere. ]
Or, uh, donāt. Your choice.
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Judas Priest? That's your only suggestion?
[ inside the door is a reinforced set of concrete steps that descend underground to the far larger, more expansive structure beneath. steve moves quickly down the hallway, the slight nervous energy of feeling like he's sneaking in somewhere he's not supposed to be. if eddie wants to try and look, the bunker they're moving through is much more inviting than anything steve had cooped up down in his own bunker, with wooden paneling and bookshelves, warm lamps and marble floored hallways.
he'll continue down a long door-lined hallway, trying his best to move quickly but still look casual. there is a flutter in his stomach that he knows, though it feels...weird. or- not weird, actually. these nerves have been around for a while now, probably before even the singularity dream, but it's only been recently that steve feels like he knows what they're related to. what this might be about.
it's why they're here, after all. dustin's disappearance is a heavy shadow over every thought they've had, every decision they've made, but steve... god. he knows exactly what dustin would say, has heard exactly what dustin would say, back in those memories, back in those years that didn't really exist. it's what pushes steve forward even now, through the hallway and towards a large garage door.
he presses a button, and the door lifts - revealing a massive underground garage full of expensive, beautiful classic cars, sports cars, muscle cars (the impala, too, just there). it's a sight, takes steve's breath away every time he sees it, but they're not here for him. he looks to eddie when the door is fully open, knowing that while they don't feel the same when it comes to cars, it's kind of hard not to be impressed by the sight.
he waits for eddie's reaction, his eyes on him instead of the sight before them. ]
Not bad, huh?
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I mean, I could write you a list. Might get kind of long, though.
[ And maybe he will, because, no, itās never just Judas Priest. Eddie can come up with an infinite amount of music heād like to hear added to that jukebox, and he canāt help but grin just a little about the fact that Steve has realized as much.
He stops for as long as he can to poke around the bunkerājust long enough to try read the spines of a few of those books, but itās never more than a moment or two so Steve doesnāt slip too far out of sight. And itās really rather interesting how willing he is to follow Steve, because ordinarily, he might balk at the sheer unknown ofāwell, all of this. He doesnāt know where this tunnel goes or where this entire trip is leading, but he know that he puts a hell of a lot of trust in Steve, and thatās enough to keep him from jumping out of his skin.
Eddieās eyes widen as they step through that door. Heās not sure what heās expecting, but itās not thisāa garage packed full of beautiful classic cars, the likes of which heās really only seen in the movies. ]
Whoaāwait--holy shit.
[ Itās true, theyāre not really on the same when it comes to cars. The way Eddie feels about beautiful guitars and new gear is probably the closest comparison to how Steve feels about cars. But o matte the difference, it doesnāt mean that this sight isnāt absolutely incredible. ]
Jesus Christāwhat
[ He laughs in disbelief, shaking his head as he peers out a the sheer cavalry of cars before them. ]
Youāre telling me this has just been here this whole time?
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[ it has only been a couple of years worth of music education that steve has gone through to know this much, but he'll take the wins where he can. he doesn't quite notice is eddie pauses at any point during their walk, his focus on the plan. the steps, where they're going. the hallway is a familiar enough sight for steve, so he's not even thinking about the library, the books, the warmth of the space. this is the home of the men of letters, one of the few places that steve has really felt comfortable. really felt like it could be home.
but that's not the focus here. this is. and so as the garage door opens and gives way to the entire garage, and steve can't help but grin. it's not even his to show off, but eddie's eyes go wide as he wanders through the door, and steve holds onto that grin for a little longer - follows eddie inside the garage like he has any right to the swell of pride at showing it off. ]
Right? [ if steve had a little more self awareness, he might have tried to find a different equivalent of an event. like a concert venue, maybe someone who had a record store somewhere in their horizon. as it stands, he's still trying, and hoping this works, and eddie's reaction is making him feel like it is. ]
They're Dean's, or I guess they used to belong to the Men of Letters or something? Some kind of group from Dean's home world who all died in the fifties or something. [ steve walks in behind eddie, looking around the place like he has any reason to feel this pleased. ]
Take your pick. [ he says, his grin widening as he glances to eddie and then to the lineup again. ] Oh- except that one. [ he motions to the impala, parked among the other cars. ] But the others- fair game.
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[ Because now it feels like a challenge, and Eddie is incapable of anything completely normally, so heās likely going to write down every band and obscure song he can recall ever hearing in his life and what Steve is going to receive to pass along to Dean is going to look more like a book than a list. ]
Man, youāre really going to honor my ridiculous request, huh?
[ Itās not exactly shocking that Steve is willing to do something Eddieās asked of himābut goddamn if something about that doesnāt just make his head spin. Maybe itās because itās something that really doesnāt matter, and yet the only question thatās been asked is āthatās your only suggestionā? Itās small and difficult to put a word to, but thereās just something about it. ]
Got it. Impalaās strictly off limits.
[ He grins like heās going to try to figure out a way around that rule, just because. It really doesnāt take genius to work out why the Impala isnāt an option here. Itās clearly the favorite out of the bunch, well cared for and parked in a prime location. He wouldnāt bat an eye to learn itās Deanās own car.
So he says nothing. Instead, feeling just a little emboldened (or just annoying), he slides his hand across Steveās shoulders as he steps around him, then proceeds to take off down the line of cars, politely tucking his hands behind his back as if nothing happened at all.
He surveys each car carefully, not really looking for anything particular. Theyāre all beautiful vehicles and as far as he can tell, all well maintained. Finally, he stops in front of what he knows is a ā77 Pontiac Trans Am, if only because heās seen Smokey and the Bandit enough times to recognize it as such. ]
Hell yeah. Right this way, Bandit. Iāve made my decision.
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[ and it's said too fondly, punctuated by a smile that may or may not be a little too soft. there's an interesting combination somewhere in there, where steve knows what to expect when he casually offers eddie a chance to go way too hard in any direction for any task at all, so much that he assumes it will happen every time. so much that it doesn't bother him, and if anything, he feels off whenever eddie doesn't.
it's not meant to be a ridiculous request - Eddie knows so much more about music than steve ever will. but still, the feeling he's just signed his soul away settles in and steve knows, he knows some part of him might regret it. but that's just the way these things go, now. the way eddie goes. the way eddie is.
and still, steve will pass the book along. and probably give dean some kind of apologetic smile before he just...runs away. because he'll do just about anything for eddie, big or small, and that is a fact that steve has lost track of how long it's been true. ]
Strictly off limits, yeah. [ steve doesn't really elaborate, beyond that. he might be willing to sneak off down into dean's private collection of sports cars, might be more than okay stealing alcohol and wandering through the bunker, but there are some lines you never cross. and this is one of them.
eddie knows it, too, judging from how he doesn't press for more info. but steve's doesn't really linger on that, considering how eddie (probably just to be annoying, he's definitely doing it just to get a rise) slides his hand across steve's shoulders and just goes on his way. the touch feels- god, it's stupid, it's silly, but steve feels a kind of electricity shoot down his spine at the touch. and the reason that's silly, that's ridiculous, is because he is here because of that - isn't he? so why does it surprise him?
it doesn't matter, he has a plan, and steve follows after eddie as he expects each machine - the bottles and beer still held in his arms as they all but shop. he doesn't rush eddie, more curious about what it is the other's looking at, before they come to the pontiac and steve's eyes roll back. ]
I should'a guessed. [ a beat, and then- ] You wanna drive? Or me?
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[ Eddie has always known he doesnāt have the most easily digestible personality. He's loud and abrasive, takes things further than they really need to be taken, and turns every dial up to ten just for the sake of drama. He also knows that if he was ever going to change any of that, he would have done so a long time ago. Acceptance is kind of the only possibility hereāand thatās clearly what heās gotten.
He canāt see the way Steve smiles fondly as he trails behind him, putting full trust into his navigation of this place, and Steve canāt see the way Eddie smiles in the exact same way--like this is all starting to call into place and make sense, and itās probably made sense for a long time but neither of them were willing to acknowledge it. Itās at least partially evident in his voice, though, as he softly tacks on: ]
Good to know.
[ When he drags his hand across Steve's shoulders, he absolutely is trying to get a rise, though maybe itās not just about being annoying. He takes off before he can catch any reaction, doesnāt look back to even try to discern a facial expression, but he doesnāt hear any complaints, soā¦
Steve joins him by his car of choice and, of course, rolls his eyes. Those will roll out of your head someday, he wants to quip, but Steve offers him the opportunity to drive, and Eddie grabs for it just as soon as itās placed on the tableābefore Steve can remember that his reputation as a driver is less than stellar and take it back. Despite what Robin and Max seem to believe, he is perfectly capable of driving carefully. Heās aware that this car isnāt his own, and this is the Horizon. The Pontiac will get back to the bunker in one piece no matter what. ]
Oh, no. No, no, no. My turn is long overdue.
[ Grinning ear to ear, he pulls the door open, tosses the bottles heās holding into the backseat (carefully), and seats himself behind the wheel. The key is already in the ignition, an he turns it immediately, practically cackling as the engine roars to life. Itās one thing to ride in a nice carāitās another to be behind the wheel, especially when the chances of that happening back home were slim to none. ]
Guess that makes me the Bandit, then.
[ Steveās hands are still full with half of the Roadhouseās stock of alcohol, so Eddie takes mercy. He leans across the seat and opens the passenger side door, already looking like heās having he time of his life. ]
You know, youāre probably gonna have to finally tell me where weāre headed, though. Unless you want to end up in Nanaueās fish realm or something.
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