Eddie rushes down the narrow hall of the trailer, his cereal bowl still in hand as he chuckles away at whoever has awakened a grumpy Steve from his beauty rest by pounding on the door at 7am.
He opens the front door to find an equally frustrated Dustin Henderson, all prim and proper, dressed ready for school. Dustin practically shoves a large cooler bag into Eddie's hand, giving him a split second to hold his cereal bowl at arm's length so as not to spill it.
"What's this?" he asks, frowning.
He attempts to peer into the bag but can only see the tops of at least two plastic containers at the angle his full hands have forced him into.
"Lasagna," Dustin informs - though it's more like a droning deadpan.
"Goody," he beams, bopping up and down on the spot as his young friend rolls his eyes.
"Dusty!" Claudia chides from the car. She spots Eddie looking directly at her and switches to a motherly smile, "Oh, hi Eddie, darling."
He waves, "Thanks, Claudia."
"Come on, Dusty, we have to get over to Steve's or I'll be late for work."
"Okay!" Dustin calls over his shoulder a little too sweetly. He narrows his eyes as he conjures up his most threatening tone, "You know who doesn't get any lasagna because of you assholes and your cartoon cat-like appetites?"
Eddie grins, "Stevie isn't home, Dustybun!"
"Eddie!" he stomps his foot.
He cackles in the face of the kid's annoyance. And maybe also because Steve is literally here in the back room, likely still grumbling away with his cute-as-hell bed hair as he tries to go back to sleep.
Dustin turns back to his mother, "Mom! Eddie said Steve isn't home."
"He isn't?" she asks so innocently, Eddie's heart swells. Bless this woman, "Well where - oh," Eddie can see her clutching her proverbial peals, "Well, never mind. I'll just keep it in the fridge at work for the day."
He smirks for a moment before he turns his attention back to Dustin, who looks like he is trying to telepathically channel El's superpowers so he can smoke him to smithereens.
Eddie blinks and feigns interest, "Oh, I'm sorry, who doesn't get any of Claudia's mouth-wateringly delicious lasagna?"
He rocks back and forward on the balls of his feet as he bats his lashes waiting for a, surely deafening, response.
"Me!" Dustin screeches, "Mom is so busy making you guys food all the time that now when she makes lasagna, saying, 'Oh, this is for the boys' that doesn't include me - her son!"
"Well you'd better learn how to cook some for your hungry wittle self," he teases. If his hands were free, Eddie would lean forward and give Dustin a condescending pat on the belly. But alas, he has to settle for wiggling his fingers through the bag's straps as he smiles, "Toodles, Dusty."
He only just catches Dustin's gaping stare for a split second before he closes the door on him completely like he's poor Kay Corleone. He cackles away as he heads for the kitchen. Steve, though hard of hearing - especially when he's all bleary-eyed and half awake - must have heard at least some of it because he calls out a smile-filled, "Eddie?".
"Coming, pretty boy!" he calls down the hall.
He sets his bowl down on the bench and makes quick work of dividing four servings of lasagna between the fridge and freezer, both spaces crowded thanks to Claudia's cooking.
"Guess what we are having for dinner..." he coos as he makes a beeline straight for Steve once he heads back to the bedroom.
Meaning, he jumps on the bed and tickles his boyfriend silly.
"Whaaaaat?" Steve whines as he attempts to duck under the blankets before settling shoving a pillow over his head.
"Lasagna!" Eddie shouts to the heavens, fist-pumping while he's at it.
Steve slides the pillow off his face and stares at the ceiling with absolute dread.
"Oh no, not her lasagna!" he dry-sobs, clutching the pillow to his chest.
Eddie drops his hands in his lap, offended.
"You don't like Claudia's lasagna?" he recoils, clutching his own nonexistent pearls.
Steve shakes his head, looking both worried and apologetic as he admits, "It's just too much food, man. Like, it's a kind gesture. And I love Claudia and all but, it's only me at home. And the servings are huge!"
"Oh, please!" he scoffs, "You practically inhale food."
"Not that much!"
Eddie flops back onto the mattress, narrowly missing Steve who is totally crowding the single bed. He places his hands over his own belly, rubbing at it as he hums contentedly.
Steve props himself up on his elbow and slowly quirks his brow as he looks Eddie over with a worrying level of amusement. He watches as Steve's eyes flit to the Garfield plushie sitting at the foot of the bed - a gift he had forced his boyfriend to buy him in commemoration of their first weekend away together in Indy a few months back.
Steve pinches his nose and mutters, "Jesus Christ."
"What?" Eddie asks, genuinely curious.
Wait.
"I'm dating Garfield!" Steve exclaims before falling face-first onto him in a fit of giggles.
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