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is-emily-real · 5 months

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have sum steddie! maybe modern!au, no upside down!au & a meet cute <3

Steve sits in the booth, his foot tapping away mindlessly under the table, with half a mind to abandon the table entirely.

In fact, the only reason he hadn’t yet was because of the $20 he was hanging out for at the end. And the bragging rights, of course.

Robin had set him up on this blind date, plied him with all the promises in the world that he would enjoy it — said she’d spent a decent amount of time hunting for the right first gay date for Steve.

She also conceded that if he, for whatever reason, didn’t enjoy it, she would cough up 20 whole bucks for his wasted time. But he had to actually see the date through for the prize to be claimed.

And the bragging rights were so that Robin — with her uppity, healthy, and happy relationship that Steve was only a little bit envious of — could ease onto the breaks when it came to Steve’s love life.

So it was looking a little bleak at the moment, so what? Every stallion or… lion or whatever had their moments, right? Moments where their mane is a little uncouth and food is low and…. Where was he going with this?

The point was, that Robin got into one relationship and suddenly decided she was fit to become a high and mighty matchmaker. Never mind that Steve had reminded her numerous times that he had dated a lot more than she had.

So, for 20 bucks and the right to stick his tongue out at his best friend when she tried to meddle, Steve could stick one night out.

Besides, she was right about one thing. They weren’t in Hawkins anymore — and San Francisco had a hell of a larger dating pool than his hometown.

Still, that didn’t make people anymore for prompt for dates though, apparently. Steve’s foot taps incessantly under the table, his knee bouncing up and down in his nerves. He runs a hand through his hair and checks his watch again.

7 o’clock, Harvey’s Diner, a cute little Italian place that Steve had begun to frequent since they moved to the city, and a date with a dude called Daniel whom Steve had no idea what he looked like.

This was his Friday night plans.

His watch reads 7:12pm and Steve sighs, his fingers beginning to fiddle with the strap of his watch just for something to do. Great. He had gotten all dressed up for this? To be stood up? How was this any better than his usual Friday night plans that Robin claimed were so pathe—

“Hi.”

Someone sits down in the booth across from Steve, landing with a thump loud enough to give him a fright.

Steve’s head whips up from its focus on fiddling with his watch and— woah. Steve blinks once, twice, and feels his jaw unhinge a little, his lips parting an inch as he gazes at the stranger across from him.

Holy shit, this dude was hot.

He’s got curls for days, dark chocolate ringlets all messy and unkept spilling over his shoulders— long and probably perfect for burying your hands into. Steve flushes a little at the unexpected thought.

He has beautiful brown eyes, widened with a smudge of eyeliner and framed with long lashes. Steve thinks he can spy a smattering of freckles across his forehead. His nose is long and his lips are plush and pink and holy shit, this dude was pretty.

“Oh— hi.” Steve manages to remember his manners. Only after he fully checked this dude out, of course.

God, couldn’t Robin have given him a better warning than just ‘he’s probably your type’? Couldn’t she have warned him that this dude was ‘do-a-double-take-on-the-street type hot?’ What the fuck Robin?

The man across from him grins, wicked and alluring all at once, and shucks off his heavy leather jacket. His eyes do a once-over on Steve, taking his time to check him out— which is great because Steve is stuck on all the glorious tattoos that have just been revealed. So much skin shown in his roughly chopped muscle-tee, swirling ink all down his arms. This dude is hot.

Silently, Steve curses Robin and the 20 dollars that is totally slipping away from him. Why did she have to be right all the time?

“Been waiting long?” The man, Daniel, asks as he makes himself comfortable across the table. He pushes his hair back with both hands, using one hand to gather it into a ponytail, holding it up to air out his neck and Steve now realises he is slightly puffed.

He must’ve run part of the way here, to avoid being later than he was. Steve can’t help but be slightly endeared by that fact.

The man grins again, “Promise I was trying to be on time but, you know how the subway is.”

Steve huffs out a laugh, any annoyance at being kept waiting melting away at his date’s sincerity.

“Not too long,” Steve admits, smiling to ease Daniel’s apparent concern. Across the table, Daniel slumps a little and releases his hair, his curls pooling back around his shoulders. Steve watches, entranced.

“Well, that’s good,” Daniel smiles, eyes bright like he really means it, and his hand darts out to steal the drinks menu from the edge of the table. He looks back over to Steve, a furrow in his brows. “You didn’t order anything?”

“I thought I should wait,” Steve says with a shrug. No point paying for food if your date never shows up.

Daniel looks up from the menu through his lashes and smiles, placing his elbow on the table and dropping his chin in the palm of his hand. “Aw, you’re sweet.”

Steve is a little embarrassed by how easily the compliment makes him blush, feeling his cheeks glow lightly. Across the table, Daniel seems to revel in it, drinking in the way Steve’s face filled with colour with a cheeky smile. His eyes flick back down to the menu.

“You know,” Daniel begins, keeping his eyes on the menu, scanning it with a hum. “Chrissy said you were good looking but I think she seriously undersold you.”

He takes his eyes off the menu to trail up Steve’s body, his gaze heavy. Steve feels a delighted zing go up his spine, feels the way he preens at Daniel’s attraction. Steve opens his mouth to respond, more than ready to return the flirt when—

“Can I get you two started with anything?”

The waitress interrupts. She’s poised with her notepad, standing at the edge of the booth. Daniel perks up and nods.

“Can I get a chocolate milkshake please?” He asks with a polite smile. Steve laughs lightly at his selection and Daniel’s gaze cuts from the waitress to Steve.

“What? Not a milkshake man?”

Steve tries to contain his grin, all too endeared by the man before him. He shakes his head and raises his hand in defense. “Nothing against milkshakes just… for dinner?”

Daniel gasps theatrically and his head snaps back to the waitress. “This man has never had the delight of a Harvey’s milkshake with his dinner. Please bring us two chocolate milkshakes!”

Steve watches as the waitress dutifully writes down the order and turns on her heel, heading for the kitchen. He turns back to his date and gapes, taken aback by the forwardness.

“Did you just order for me?”

“Did you just diss milkshakes?”

Steve scoffs, but even then he can’t stop his lips from curling up into a smile. He can’t believe it but he’s genuinely glad he waited this date out. It's not at all like he was expecting. Even Robin's short description of this dude pales in comparison to the real thing. Steve nudges his foot forward into Daniel’s shin lightly.

“I did not diss milkshakes,” Steve argues, his smile widening at how Daniel’s eyes dart to the table before back up at Steve with a grin.

“Uh huh,” Daniel nods, his voice sarcastic and 100% unbelieving of Steve’s insistence. “Just wait, okay? You’ll be changing your tune soon enough. Harvey’s milkshakes are class. I’ve had a thousand of my best ideas in here, sipping on a chocolate milkshake.”

Steve grins and leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. Under the table, he feels Daniel’s boot nudge against his leg gently— and he laughs to himself. This has gotta be the most teenage way of flirting and he’s fucking loving it.

“You know,” Steve begins hesitantly, letting his forearms lean up against the table. “You’re not quite what I expected, Daniel.”

Across the table, Daniel scrunches up his face, his expression one of pure befuddlement. He puts his hands flat on the table and leans forward.

“Wait, you think my name is Daniel?”

Steve splutters for a moment because even though the answer is duh, yes, it’s become increasingly apparent that the man across from him is not who he was expecting. But if he’s not Daniel, who is he?

Suddenly, the door chimes and someone else is entering the diner. It’s a man dressed like Steve — on the preppy side with hair that must’ve taken at least an hour. He scans the booth and spots Steve’s booth, wandering over, his eyes fixed on the man across from Steve.

“Hey, are you Eddie?” He asks confidently, ignoring Steve’s presence on the other side of the booth.

The man — Eddie — freezes as he glances up at the newcomer and then back down to Steve ahead of him. Steve deflates a little inside as he realises abruptly what’s happened— a mix-up of wrong dates that was completely warranted because this dude dresses exactly like Steve. Steve doesn't stare too long to see if he's any hotter.

Instead, he tries to give Eddie the all-clear with his eyes. He smiles polite as he can and gives a little nod to let him know it was alright to abandon him for the date he was supposed to go on. Not to get stuck with Steve.

Eddie clears his throat and smiles, not cheeky like he had with Steve, but stiff and polite. “Ah sorry man, I think you’ve got the wrong guy. My name's Daniel.”

Huh? Steve takes his eyes off the table to steal a glimpse at Eddie (is his name even Eddie?) and something inside him burns hotly when the man glances across at Steve and winks.

The man standing by the booth wavers for a moment, glancing between them in the booth as Steve schools his expression to neutral. After a moment of silence, there's a half-assed apology as the man retreats, heading back out the door he had just come through. The door chimes again on his way out.

Steve straightens up and peers over his shoulder, watching the door slowly swing shut. He turns back to the man across the booth and squints at him. The waitress returns briefly, dropping two large chocolate shakes onto the table, topped with a mountain of cream. She murmurs something about coming back to take their order in a moment.

"Wait, so who are you?" Steve asks, gently sliding his shake closer to him. "Daniel or Eddie?"

His date —well, his new date— has already begun taking a big long sip from his own milkshake, so enamored with it that when he pulls away there's a dot of cream on the end of his nose. He swallows with a satisfied ah and grins across the table at Steve, not noticing the dairy on his face.

"I'm whoever gets me talking with you a little bit longer."

Steve grins, an endeared roll of his eye at the blatant flirting but he can't deny how it makes his chest warm. He grabs one of the napkins and reaches forward, adoring how Eddie goes cross-eyed as he watches Steve smudge away the cream on his nose. He laughs sheepishly, giving his nose a little wipe with his own hand.

"I'm Eddie." He says, finally introducing himself. He doesn't offer his hand, just gives Steve a little nudge under the table and a grin over his milkshake. "And I think you just saved me from a terrible date."

Steve laughs, giving a little shake of his head. He finally goes in for a sip of his own milkshake— and it's just as heavenly as Eddie had promised, glorious chocolate dancing over his taste buds.

Steve groans quietly, eyes bright when he glances at the other man over his glass, entirely amused by how wide-eyed Eddie has become. He releases the straw and sits back, more invested in this date than he has been in... years. Stallion's got its mojo back. Or lion. Whatever.

"I'm Steve," He responds, giving a little nudge back under the table and a grin of his own. "And I think you saved me from being stood up."

#they’re so cute I’m gonna die #steddie

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is-emily-real · 5 months

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resolutions

The den was warm, the smell of cinnamon and wine drifting from their mugs as they spoke. It was that liminal space between Christmas and New Year’s, that time when the days seemed to pass like hours and years simultaneously.

Their number was quite diminished, what with Robin and Argyle visiting family out of state and Eddie dutifully DMing a campaign for the kids while he had the time. Chrissy thought being fourth-wheel to two guys and the girl they used to date would have its oddities, but the atmosphere had stayed surprisingly pleasant.

“You all have any resolutions for 1987?” Nancy asked, cuddling her mug. The alcohol brought a pretty flush to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes. She got why the boys fell in love with her.

It was an innocuous question, but it made her lose herself in thought, half listening to Steve and Jonathan as they discussed the concept.

She’d never had any before. They were always prescribed to her, handed down like jail sentences by her mother and rigorously enforced. Study more, look pretty, lose ten pounds, twenty, thirty, more and more and more until she felt like a shell of herself, barely able to stave off a headache at the slightest stressor.

Then, all of a sudden, the night terrors started, and she thought it was just Jason being sweet when he asked her to talk to the counselor, wrapped her in his letterman jacket and prayed over her, but it helped a little.

After a few days, the comments started, backhand statements about how terrible it was she was so fatigued, how much it was stressing him out, how she should already be better and was she sure she was trying enough? But he was always doting in front of her friends, the picture of a perfect gentleman when others could see.

When Eddie offered her something that could make her sleep, she jumped at the chance, surprised to learn he genuinely wanted to soothe her worries. He was a point of hope, a soft heart in a hard world despite his spiky exterior.

She hadn’t expected hell in the place of help.

That thing took her, spun her like a top, snared her in those awful vines and made her watch as he tortured the others, as he destroyed her home, as children stepped up to keep him at bay. They were so brave, all of them, and they got cut to shreds for it.

But the girl, El, came, and the bonds burned Chrissy’s skin until the red sky overhead faded to black, and when they turned to ice, she swore the sleep deprivation wasn’t that bad.

Gentle hands lifted her, pulled her back into a reality she could understand, held her close until she was free of the shadows. She came to in her aunt’s bed with only swirling pink scars to confirm her story.

She idly traced one along her arm. Did she have any resolutions beyond preventing the coming year from being as bad as the last? Was there more to life after the worst of it was over?

“I’m just saying, the question’s a bit disingenuous,” Jonathan said. “It’s like asking what part of someone they hate most.”

Nancy scoffed. “It is not.”

“Is too! You either have a stupid answer or an honest one, and the honest answers just make you feel worse in two weeks when you give up.”

“Everyone’s got an idea of who they should be,” Steve commented. “I don’t think any answer’s stupid.”

“Be real, how would you feel if my resolution was to smoke more?”

“I’d be fine with it as long as you shared.”

Chrissy couldn’t help her chuckle. “Your boyfriend’s a drug dealer. You don’t have enough?”

“Hey, he’s a former drug dealer, thank you. Besides, no getting high on your own supply.”

Nancy slapped her knee. “Alright, Mr. Philosopher, since you don’t think they’re stupid, what’s yours?”

He thought for a second. “I want to get my own place.”

“That’s what you’re doing with your hush money?”

“If the government put me at risk of demo-rabies, they can buy me a house to make up for it.”

“Please never say that in front of Robin.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not that stupid, Nance.”

Chrissy caught the little twitch in Jonathan’s lips. She’d keep that to herself. No need to hurt Steve’s pride.

“I’m going to take an actual vacation this year.” Nancy snuggled deeper into her blanket. “Somewhere warm and sunny and not ready to kill me at any given moment.”

“You would love California,” Jonathan offered. “Come visit me and Argyle this summer.”

“Only if you give me an actual resolution,” she teased.

“Ah, well, Florida it is, then.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning her inquisitive gaze on Chrissy. “What’s yours?”

Chrissy took a breath, took in the shimmer of her eye, the soft smile on Jonathan’s lips, the weight of Steve’s arm slung across the back of the couch. She wanted this, as much of it as she could get. She’d never had it before, not when she was trying to be someone she wasn’t.

“I think I want to finally be Chrissy this year.” She let her lips curl around the words, felt the depth seep into her skin and settle in among her scars. She’d live how she wanted, not how Vecna or Jason or her mom or anyone said she should.

Her favorite cousin wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “That’d be a good look on you.”

@thefreakandthehair for the prompt resolutions from the Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge

#spicysixwinterfanworkschallenge #i like to call this group the bi squad #chrissy cunningham #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #delayed due to illness #but i think more character studies of chrissy are in order #she's so compelling for only one episode of screen time and its a crime we didnt get more #stranger things s4

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