#ANYWAY HERE VALENTINES

[aparticularbandit]

Claire Makes A Call

Summary: In the unseemly event of Eve's very unfortunate death, Claire demands help from a certain scientist who probably should know better.

AU of The Valentines Collection.

Rating: T.

Note: This is your reminder that I write Claire as trans and that within the context of Valentines AU she doesn't come out until after her presidency. Her immediate family mostly knows. That's it.

AO3

“No.”

The word slips soft through President Valentine’s lips, but no less firm for its quiet hush.  Her deep eyes take in the still, unmoving ones of her wife, and for all that the hand still in hers has grown limp, she tightens her hold on it.  She does not cry in the same way that her wife does not breathe.

“No,” she says again, firmer this time, louder, barely audible over the single long note through the machine broadcasting her vain ignorance.  Not ignorance.  Obstinacy.  Like maybe if she says it enough, it’ll be true.

When the nurses try to speak to her about funerary options, when they use the name they know for her but not the one she wants right now, Claire stops them.  Cuts them off.  “Take her to Doctor Octavius,” she says, and when they give her a harsh look and try to convince her otherwise, she repeats herself, even more firmly, dark blue eyes growing dark like steel, “Take her to Doctor Octavius.”

Eventually, they obey, although their expressions of disgust do not change.

There are certain perks to being president, after all.

~

Liv doesn’t let her look at her wife’s body.

Probably because Claire refuses to refer to it as her body, because that’s like saying Eve is dead, when she’s not.  She’s just—

“I don’t know what you want me to do with this.”  Liv doesn’t even look up from her clipboard.  She glances over her shoulder at something just out of Claire’s sight – at Eve, maybe, behind one of the many, many walls in Liv’s laboratory – and then raises her eyebrows before returning to the clipboard.  “I’m not Frankenstein, Christopher.  That’s not what I—”

“Lionel will get you everything you need.”

Liv looks up then.  There’s no pity in her gaze, no empathy or sympathy, just a keen sense of boredom with just the barest hint of curiosity.  “I don’t need anything, Valentine, because I can’t—”

“You’re telling me the greatest scientific mind in over a century—”

“You’re overselling it.”  Liv gives her a flat look.  “You’re overselling me.”

Claire meets her eyes.  Raises one eyebrow.  “Am I, Doctor Octavius?  Am I really?”  She steps to the sitting woman, brushes her finger along her jaw, presses her thumb against her chin, and then lifts it so that Liv has no choice but to look directly at her.  “Do this for me.”

Liv’s expression shifts.  Her jaw sets.  “And what will you do for me in return?”

“What do you want?”

Liv’s lips spread into a wolfish grin.  “I’ll tell you later.”  She jolts her head out of Claire’s grasp and swivels the chair away from her.  As she does, she begins muttering something under her breath – a long string of things that Claire doesn’t understand and likely aren’t for her benefit in the first place.  Then Liv lifts a hand and waves it dismissively.  “Come back in a few days, and I’ll see what I’ve got.”

No price.  Yet.

Claire doesn’t care.

~

“So here’s the sitch.”

Liv leans forward in her chair, elbows on her knees, long noodle arms stretched out in front of her.  She yawns.  “There’s this whole procedure.  You can do it.  I can do it—”

“Then why haven’t you—”

“Shush up and let me talk.  Questions are for the end of class.”  Liv holds up a hand and leaves it up as she grabs a golden mug of coffee and takes a sip, her eyes shifting elsewhere.  “Mm.  Apple spice.  You want some?”  She holds the mug out to Claire.

Claire stares at the mug, one brow lifting.

Liv sighs.  “Fine.  Trust me with your girl, don’t trust my coffee.  Fine, fine.”  She waves her hand dismissively again.  Then she taps her finger on her desk.  “Someone who actually knows the deceased has to be here.  Tell her who she is.”  Another, smaller swallow of her coffee.  “Being dead makes you forget.”  She shivers once as she mentions it.  “I’d make you go – that place gives me the creeps – but science.”  She waves her hands in the air, waggling her fingers, and starts muttering under her breath again – something about tests and experimenting and modifying perimeters—

Claire cuts in and stops her again.  “You’re not going to jeopardize—”

“No, no, no, no.”  Liv shoots Claire a look.  “I’ll get your girl.  But I might need some funding to….”  Her voice trails off as her gaze moves away, and her fingers build a spider shape atop her desk.  “Later.  You’ll owe me one.”

That sits wrong in the center of Claire’s chest.  To be fair, she’s paying as much attention as she can, but certain words make her head buzz.  Deceased and dead.  She tunes them out.  Eve’s not like that.  She’s just…sick.  Of a kind that only an experimental scientist like Doctor Octavius can help.

To be fair, Claire doesn’t really like Liv.  In point of fact, the spindly doctor should probably be in jail somewhere.  But Eve….

Eve was always the better of them when it came to people like this.  Hopeful.  Interested.  She’d gone and visited Liv a few times when Claire was busy with presidential duties, only to tell her about it later over dinner or when they were curled up in bed.  It sounded like they were friends.

Maybe that’s why it bothers Claire so much that Liv seems to be dangling Eve on a string, like maybe Liv doesn’t care at all that she’s—

Well, why should she?  Eve isn’t dead, after all.

“When do you want me here?” Claire asks, trying to keep the guttural growl out of her voice.  “Pick a day.  A time.  I’ll—”

“Tomorrow.”

Liv turns full away from her, so that Claire can’t see her face, and her voice lowers to a kind of reverential hush.  “Be here tomorrow.  I won’t be – it’ll take a while to bring her back – but get here as early as possible.  After a good rest.  You’re going to have to….”  Her voice trails off.  “You’ll see.”  She turns back around and taps a finger on Claire’s chest with each syllable, emphasizing them.  “To.mor.row.”

~

The lights seem to be off when Claire arrives the next morning, but they flicker as she shifts through the cracked door.  Then they hover half-on, liming the room in an industrial waste color that isn’t quite green but isn’t quite yellow either.  One of the laboratory doors swings in place; a note taped to it indicates Claire should go inside, so she does.

At first, there’s nothing, not even Eve, but then Claire sees it – a shimmering transparent something on one side of the room.  The two of them must have gone on a trip.  Liv just took Eve with her through that portal, and they’ll be back any second.  On a normal day, Claire would be upset about that, upset that Liv would endanger Eve like that.  But this is part of what will heal her sickness, so it’s…it’s what has to be done.

It’ll be okay.  Eve’ll be better.  Just a little longer.

~

Liv stumbles through the portal all at once, thick lime green glasses huge over her eyes, wrapped in a much more technological outfit that Claire has only seen her wear for more tricky experiments, hair pulled back up and high.  She doesn’t turn back, although she breathes heavily.  Claire stands as soon as she sees her, hands clenching instinctively into fists, dark eyes looking for someone she doesn’t see.  It’s another heartbeat – too long – before Eve stumbles through the portal after Liv, and it disappears entirely.  When she passes through, Liv looks up, meets Claire’s eyes with her own, haggard gaze, and then nods.  “You have to make sure she doesn’t go to sleep.  Tell her who she is.  Keep her warm.  I’ll be right back.”  Then she dashes from the lab without saying anything else.

Eve doesn’t look like Eve.  She’s a shallow, hollow shell of herself.  Faded.  Dark hair and soft skin varying shades of grey tint.  Even her eyes, which once reflected the sky, only look like storm clouds.  No, not even a storm.  That’s too much effort.  Just the overcast grey of a dreary drizzle.  She looks up at Claire with indifference, blinks twice, and then looks about the room.

It isn’t like Claire forgets what Liv said.  It’s that part of her didn’t believe it.  So when she says, “Eve,” she still expects her wife to react.  It’s only when she doesn’t that it hits her.

Claire presses her lips together and crosses the room to her wife.  She pulls her into her arms – Eve feels like ice – and holds her against her.  “Eve,” she says again, but Eve just stands there against her.  Doesn’t hold her back.  Doesn’t bury her head in her chest.  Doesn’t do anything.

“Your name,” Claire says, brushing her hand through her wife’s hair, “is Eve Valentine.  You’re my wife.”

Eve doesn’t react, but she seems to be listening.

That’s a start.

~

Liv comes back a while later with a platter full of food and mugs of what smells like that same apple spice coffee.  When Claire looks up at her with narrowed eyes, she gives her a blank stare back.  “She hasn’t eaten anything since she died.  She’s probably hungry.”  But it isn’t food she offers first; it’s one of the mugs.  “This will help warm her up.”

Eve doesn’t feel nearly as ice cold as she did when she first came through the portal, but Claire can’t tell if that’s because she’s actually warming up or if she’s just gotten so used to Eve’s chill that she can’t quite feel it anymore.  She doesn’t look like someone who hasn’t eaten; she looks like a worse form of Agatha after she’d lost Lillian Rose.  That’s another thing they don’t talk about.  In the future, she’s certain this will become just like that.

Claire presses a kiss to Eve’s forehead.  “You need to drink something, dear.  It’ll help.”  She takes a baby blue mug from Liv, hands it to Eve, and then takes her own bright pink one, raising it in both hands and sipping at it.

As she does so, Eve mimics her, clasping her mug in both hands and raising it to her lips.  She swallows as Claire swallows, her eyes widening, lips steaming.  Then she licks her lips and winces.

“Here.  Let me cool that off for you.”  Liv places a hand over Eve’s, draws her mug down, and drops an ice cube into it.  “Give it a few seconds.”

But even as they eat, as they teach Eve to eat again, Eve doesn’t let go of her mug.  In fact, she holds it closer, stealing as much warmth from it as she can, sipping at it occasionally in an action reminiscent of how she’d acted before she died.

Didn’t.  Die.

Got sick.

Just about the time that Eve finishes her first mug of coffee, the phone in Claire’s pocket starts to vibrate.  She wants to ignore it – to ignore her duties – but Liv catches it, head tilting to one side, muddy brown eyes fixating on the phone, on Claire’s pocket.  “You gonna answer that, sunshine?  Might be something important.”

Nothing is more important.

But she’s president.  She’s president, and Eve is supposed to be – but isn’t, she’s better, she’s getting better – and while there should be a certain amount of mourning time, the job doesn’t stop.  It’s constant.  They wake her in the dead of night, in the earliest hours of the morning, in the few moments she gets to spend with her wife and remaining child (which, in her opinion, is worse), so of course, they would call her here and now, when she needs to be here.

“I’ll take care of her.”

Claire looks at Liv in her white shirt, sleeves rolled back, noodle arms not as clammy white because she’s wearing white, and sees only a scientist wanting to be left with a new toy to play with.  Her lips press together in a thin line.

Eve thought she was more than that.  Eve thought she was better.  Eve thought—

“If you do anything, I will—”

“Stop your threatening, Valentine.”  Liv turns to Eve and waves that hand dismissively at Claire again.  “I don’t want to bring her back again.  She’ll be fine.”  She gently takes the still warm mug from Eve’s hands, and when Eve whimpers with displeasure, she taps the center of her forehead.  “You’re out, Eve.  Give me five minutes.  It’ll be better.”  When she passes Claire on the way out, she nudges her again.  “Return the call, Christopher.  Some of us have important jobs.”

You have an important—

Claire moves to Eve.  Brushes a hand through her hair and tucks it behind her ear.  Meets her eyes and sees the slightest glimmer of blue sky beneath all that gray.  “Liv’s going to keep an eye on you while I’m away.  Don’t….”  She doesn’t finish the sentence, just bends down and kisses her forehead again.  “Stay safe.”

~

Claire hears it before she even gets there, hears the sound of her wife crying out as it echoes down the hallway toward her, louder as she draws closer – louder and clearer and she’s suddenly glad that the entire wing of this building belongs solely to Liv, that Liv has sent everyone away for the day – but she doesn’t want to think about Liv hearing this, about how much and how often and how loud—

“Claire!”

Her wife yells her name.  That single word.  Over and over and over again.

“Claire!”

Once she understands what Eve is saying, she races faster, harder, stronger – she hadn’t been on all those athletic teams in high school for nothing, and she hadn’t been keeping all of that up for nothing either – and throws open the door to Liv’s primary office with a huff.  “What’s wrong?”

Liv glances up from her paperwork.  “Nothing.  This is part of the process.”  She shuffles the papers.  “Process would go faster if I knew who she was talking about, but I did deep search into all of her records and couldn’t find anyone—”

Claire pushes past her and into the lab where Eve sits curled up in one corner of the room, gently rocking herself.  She sweeps Eve into her arms and holds her to her.  “I’m here.  It’s okay.  I’m here.”

“Claire,” Eve says, burying her head in her chest.  “It was bad, it’s bad, it’s really bad, I can’t, I can’t—”

“It’s okay,” Claire repeats, running her hand along Eve’s hair.  There’s a smell – bad – rising from her that wasn’t there before.  Probably that’s part of the process, too.  It would be nice if she knew what the process even was, but she doesn’t expect Liv to tell her what any of that is.  But Eve’s warm now, too, so much warmer than she was before, so Claire settles as she rocks Eve against her.  “You’re safe now.  Nothing’s going to hurt you again.”

Eve nods against her and quiets.

But Claire can feel her tears wetting her shirt, and she glares up at Liv when she hears the soft clunk of her shoes on the cold tile.  “You were supposed to help her—”

“Can’t help with something I don’t know.”  Liv looks between the two of them, and her head tilts ever so slightly to one side.  “Claire?”

Claire doesn’t say anything.

Liv nods once to herself, and to her credit, she doesn’t grin at the realization.  That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have that frustrating scientific expression of filing something away flicker across her face before she says with the barest hint of a smile, “No payment necessary.”  Then, reconsidering, “Consider that payment enough.”

That should be comforting.

It isn’t comforting.

Liv goes back into her office and returns with another mug of coffee.  “Here,” she says, holding it out to Eve.  “This will help with the chill.”

Eve stares at the mug.  Blinks twice.  Then takes it in her hand easily.  “Thank you, Liv.  I don’t know what I’d do without—”  Her words cut off, and she flinches before drinking.  She doesn’t finish her sentence.

~

Claire doesn’t leave again.

The lab isn’t the best place to try and sleep, but if it isn’t the best for her, then it isn’t the best for Eve either.  They curl up together with blankets and pillows that Liv provides.  Liv doesn’t provide enough, but Claire makes her way through the other offices (ignoring the shadows she sometimes sees in the connecting lab rooms) and finds more.  There’s enough to build a nest of sorts, and between what they’re given and what she finds, they survive.  Curled up together, breathing in near unison, Eve mimicking the pattern of Claire’s breathing with her own.

Until she doesn’t.

~

When Claire wakes, Eve isn’t there.  She panics, feels the thrill of fear like a stab through her chest, and startles, shoots up, lets her gaze sweep the room, and finds nothing.  “Eve—”

“She’s in here,” Liv calls from the office.  “We’re just having a nice chat.”

Claire doesn’t take time to straighten her rumpled shirt or find her tie, and she doesn’t make any apologies for the bedding she’d smuggled from the other rooms.  She goes into the office, finds Eve sitting across from Liv as she normally does, with a mug of that apple cider coffee in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other.

Eve looks up at her.  Blinks.  Eyes that color of the bright blue sky.  “Christopher?  What are you doing here?”  Her brow furrows.  “Why are you in one of Liv’s lab rooms?  She’s not running tests on you, is she?  I told her that we were not available for any of her fun family games.”  She bends forward, whispers.  “They’re not fun, and they’re not games.”

“I was just.”  Claire struggles to think of what to say.

“He needed a nap and just happened to be here, Eve.  I thought this would be a good place to keep his people from finding him.”  Liv lifts her own mug and coolly takes a sip.  She gives Claire the slightest of nods.  “Eve just got here.  Seems she missed our little chats.  But I’m in the middle of a few things, so if you’ll just take her with you….”  Her voice trails off, but she meets Claire’s eyes briefly enough.

Enough.

Claire squeezes Eve’s shoulder gently.  “I think we should get out of Liv’s hair, dear.  We wouldn’t want to get lost in all that frizz.”

“Christopher—”

“No, no, he’s right.”  A corner of Liv’s lips swerves upward in a haggard smile.  “You wouldn’t want to get lost again.”

Eve’s brow furrows again, but she nods.  “Well, I guess….”  She pauses.  “Rowena will want to see us, won’t she?  I feel like something’s happened, but I can’t remember what.”  She smiles and glances up at Claire.  “Liv says I must have breathed something in on the way down here.  Temporary memory loss.  You’ll have to fill me in.”  Her gaze moves to Claire, hardens the slightest bit.  “You’ll turn whatever that thing is off before we leave, right, Liv?”

“Already done.”  Liv taps her fingers on her desk.  “But if you’ll have Christopher wait here for a moment.  I need to discuss something with him before he leaves.”

“Oh.  Of…of course.”  Eve sets her mug down.  Her head lilts ever so slightly.  “Was it…was it me?” she asks gently.  “Did…did something happen to me?”

Claire kisses her forehead again.  “I’ll explain everything when we leave,” she says.  “Just give me a few minutes with Liv.”

Eve nods and heads outside the office, taking the rest of her cookie with her.  But there’s something…misplaced to her.  Not off, not wrong, just…misplaced.

When Eve’s gone, Claire turns to Liv.  “She’s—”

“As back to normal as she’ll ever be,” Liv completes for her.  “You can take her back to that pretty little mansion of yours.  She’ll be just fine.”

Claire nods.  “Thank—”

“Don’t thank me.”  Liv gives her a harsh look.  “I’m a scientist.  You paid me.  I don’t need your thanks.”  She glances outside, briefly focuses on Eve, and then glances back.  “She won’t know to thank me.  You won’t tell her that.”

“No.”

Claire considers in the silence, then says, “She was sick.  Very, very sick.  You gave her an experimental drug, and she got better.  That’s all she needs to know.”  She meets Liv’s eyes.  “I can tell her that much, at least.”

Liv nods.  “Sure.”  Her gaze meets Claire’s, then, and hardens to steel.  “Don’t let it happen again.”

Claire doesn’t respond to that.  She doesn’t have to.

Instead, Claire leaves the office and takes Eve’s hand in hers, giving it a tight squeeze.  “I missed you,” she says, and her throat tightens without thought.

Eve glances up at her, confused.  “I wasn’t gone very long.”

“It felt like much longer.”

Eve nods, contemplating, and then says, “Not in one of Liv’s labs.  They’re full of all sorts of—”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

~

Claire never calls on Liv in that same manner again.  Not because she doesn’t have a need for it, but because it seems to her better to not.  Eve’s fine.  Eve’s safe.  That’s really all that matters.

It’s roughly a quarter of a century later, however, when Eve finds Liv, hair streaked with grey, and says in a dark, unnatural voice, “I know what you did for me.  Now bring Claire back.”

Liv gives her half of a wolfish grin over a mug of apple spice coffee and says with a glint in her eye, “Now, Eve.  You and I both know you’ll be able to do that yourself, won’t you?”

#bandit fic #claire call with claire and liv and eve #claire debella #glass onion #eve fletcher #mrs. fletcher #olivia octavius #liv octavius #itsv #into the spider verse #spiderverse #someday i should have a series tag for valentines stuff #alas oh well #this isn't valentines canon btw #but it is using valentines canon for spooky story #i may or may not spooky valentines and spooky agave at some later point in time #bad stuff's happening let bandit provide nice things #.... #just i might be slow #ANYWAY HERE VALENTINES #the valentines collection

[verflares]

meteorologists report sky just a little bluer today, and it's because skyloft residents link and zelda are in love :)

#zelink #link #zelda #skyward sword #loz #loz fanart #ss link #ss zelda #hi. we're still normal here #this is 'Officially' a practice doodle bcus i wanna do a bigger piece for them on valentines day #but i wanted to make it look nice too . for however much my brain would let me bcus i kept getting distracted while drawing #i dont think these two outpace botw/totk zelink for me but they Do come very close... they are like comfort food zink #same as spirit tracks i guess but ss is a fun game in comparison. im sorry. #anyways. gay people! #my art

[mito-itokondrria]

Who's the nerd thinking about comic scenes now?

#anyway- a biiit late but happy valentine's <33 #bakudeku #bkdk #bakudeku fanart #dkbk #dekubaku #midoriya izuku #deku #bakugou katsuki #mha #bnha #bnha fanart #valentines day #felt inspired by spider man as you can see JHSJSHS #in Katsuki's mind: 'ohh boy- r we about to k-k ii s s???' meanwhile Izuku is overthinking about the flowers #couldn't miss this day so now i'll proceed to return into the shadows jhjsjshwh #click here to see my silly drawings

[ratrrriot]

“Wishes”

little comic based on that one line Sonic might say when it rains in Frontiers. (you know the one).

#in frontiers sonic will randomly say the corniest shit ever and i'm here for it #anyways i wanted to have this done for valentines and failed miserably #i love making comics like these but they take so long to do and with uni i barely have time for myself #but hey its done and i think it looks nice #sth #sonic frontiers #sonic frontiers spoilers #amy rose #sonic the hedgehog #sonamy #fluff #rain #fan comic #rosy the rascal #classic sonic #my art #my sonic art #queerplatonic

[transvampireboyfriend]

Had this “Steve only hates impersonal nicknames” idea in my notes for a while and then after seeing @cholvoq​ ‘s wonderful art I had to turn it into a real thing for Valentine’s Day. This is 2.4k, i’m SO sorry edit: you can now read this on ao3 :)

Eddie’s a nickname guy. It’s always Dusty this and Gare-Bear that and JeffJeff here and Bobbie there and it’s Mikey and Maxxii and Nance-pants and Johnny and… big boy?

Him being a nickname guy makes it near impossible to hide his crushes. Thankfully, Steve had been really cool about it. Sure, he seemed a little stunned, but Eddie still had all his teeth in place by the end of that interaction, so he had called that a win.

He hadn’t known then that Steve was… different. Or he was starting to see it but what he thought was shocking then had really been just the tip of the iceberg. He hadn’t expected Steve to be nice. Or funny, or caring, or protective, or understanding.

He had learned all of that after everything. During chats on Hellfire nights while the kids cleaned up after themselves, during hangouts at the diner with Robin and Nancy, during Saturday afternoons when he went to pick out a movie only to end up talking with Steve, their conversation flowing until it was cut short by Steve’s shift ending.

After some time, Eddie had gotten to know Steve even more during long weekday nights when one came over to bring the other something they left behind, or to share a record, or to demand the beers the other owes or to show the other a stupid article in a stupid magazine only to end up making dinner together and watching a movie afterwards.

They stopped making excuses about two weeks ago.

Eddie had asked “do youuu… wanna come over?” on Saturday night, while nervously twirling his keys as Steve locked the front doors of the Family Video.

The evening chill had cut right through Eddie’s leather jacket as his keys clanged against his rings. But Steve had nodded with a smile and asked “pizza?” on their way to their cars, and Eddie had forgotten all about the cold.

Point being, Steve had been just fine with ‘big boy’ when it happened. Eddie’s a nickname guy. Him and Steve are hanging out more now, and so, Eddie’s been calling him more nicknames. Some of them are very intentional, others come completely without thinking, and it turns out, Steve takes issue with a few of them.

The first time it happens, Eddie’s underneath his van trying to get the damn thing to cooperate, the recent winter was tough on it, and it keeps dying out on him.

Steve sits nearby perched on a little stool, wearing his Family Video vest since he came by right after finishing his morning shift to see if they could make plans for lunch. Eddie suggested they grab something at the diner if and when he finally gets the van to start back up and Steve had agreed to wait.

He’s been telling Eddie about tonight’s basketball- game? match? super bowl? Is there such a thing as the major leagues of basketball? Eddie’s not sure, but he adores the sound of Steve’s voice and he’s kind of invested in the drama of players switching teams and retiring and whatever else Steve wants to tell him about. So, he’s been listening, not really bothering with asking for clarification for what he doesn’t understand yet. He’ll figure it out as they go.

He's blindly patting the floor around his legs for his rag, when he feels Steve put it right in his hand.

Eddie’s relieved. "Thanks, bud!" he says, the nickname just rolling off his tongue effortlessly, no meaning attached.

It gets kind of quiet all of a sudden. After about five seconds of Steve not talking, Eddie comes out to check on him, and finds him frowning at his legs.

"Don't call me ‘bud’" Steve requests, looking up at his face, his tone just a tad harsh. Eddie would think he ran into King Steve if he didn't know any better.

As it is, Eddie gets Steve probably thinks the nickname is childish or patronizing, so he doesn’t think twice of it, just gets a little sheepish and says "sorry, Stevie".

Steve smiles at that, a little cocky. He does his little mean girl shaking his head thing like he just got exactly what he wanted. Eddie feels his face twist a bit in confusion, but he likes it when Steve gets a little mean so he doesn't say anything about it and just dives back under his van as Steve resumes their conversation.

 The second time it happens, they’re outside the supermarket. The kids shot out of the van as soon as it rolled to a stop, Steve calling out a warning after them while still listening to Eddie explain why Star Wars and Star Trek are actually very different but really good in their own way. Their conversation carries on as they hop out of the van, lock up and walk to meet at the front.

“I’m telling you, Star Trek is great. You would love it,” Eddie says, “you just have to give it a chance”.

Steve rolls his eyes at him, but Eddie can see his smile.

“Ok, alright,” Steve answers, “you can show me tonight then”, it’s almost too nonchalant. Eddie has to hide his grin.

Steve’s been suggesting they hang out more and more lately, and he can’t help but feel a bit hopeful. They clearly enjoy each other’s company, their time together is never dull, Steve seems to be really comfortable around him and maybe, just maybe…

“Should we get beers then?” Eddie asks, excited at the prospect of some more time alone with him.  They haven’t had a weeknight hangout since Eddie fixed his van last week. He kinda misses the very specific color of Steve’s eyes in the Harringtons’ yellow living room lamplight.

“Yeah,” Steve says, his eyes get soft in a way Eddie only started noticing a couple of weeks back, “we can watch it at my place” he adds. Eddie thinks he definitely hasn’t seen him look at anyone else like that.

To shake himself out of the spell of the prettiest boy he’s ever met making the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen at him and ONLY him, Eddie grabs Steve by the wrist and starts marching them towards the supermarket’s front doors.

Without thinking, Eddie says "c'mon man," as they go.

Steve, who started easily following him (like he always does these days), suddenly stops in his tracks. Eddie gets pulled back and almost stumbles on top of Steve. He'd get flustered if Steve wasn't frowning at him like he’d just said the most insulting thing he’d heard this month.

"Don't call me ‘man’" Steve says. Eddie feels his eyebrows raise a bit.

He debates asking why but doesn't question Steve in the end. He’d rather offer understanding than judgement to him any day.

So, Eddie takes advantage of Steve's wrist in his hand, and squeezes there a bit, says "I'm sorry sweetheart" sincerely, looks into Steve's eyes so he can see Eddie means it.

Steve blushes a bit then, not really used to the nickname yet, Eddie just got the balls to start using it last week. Eddie himself is not really used to seeing Steve blush, and at something he says? It’s too much power for one metalhead.

But he gets distracted from Steve’s blush because it happens again, Steve basically preens like a peacock once Eddie switches nicknames. Looks smug, like he has Eddie wrapped around his finger and well, Eddie guesses he does, so, no arguments there either.

He just smiles back at Steve, really, has no other choice, it’s not like he can control how he reacts to the most gorgeous fucking face the universe could ever come up with. But he tugs him along again, Steve happily following this time.

The next time it happens, Steve’s leaning against his kitchen island, with Eddie leaning across from him against the counter.

The party is watching a movie in the Harringtons’ living room and at some point, Eddie got up to get himself another soda, Steve not so subtly followed after him, taking the empty popcorn bowls to the sink. He struck up a conversation and there they stayed.

Eddie’s been turning the small gesture around and around in his head. Clearly Steve’s not shy about seeking him out, and he’s obviously good with the party knowing, which means a hell of a lot because those are Steve’s people, that’s his family.

Eddie’s honestly running out of excuses to not ask him out. Seeing him reaching out to bump his sneaker against Eddie’s boot when he says something funny, laughing just a little too hard at Eddie’s dumb joke; seeing his eyes widen a bit when Eddie compliments him; seeing him notice when Eddie is holding back from talking too much, and not letting it go until he thinks Eddie’s shared all of his opinions on the subject; Eddie thinks maybe he can be brave, when it comes to Steve.

And this week might be the perfect time.

Here they are still, the movie long ended and several easy conversations floating from the living room to the kitchen, where they’re still engrossed on their own.

“I mean I taught the kid how to do his hair for god’s sake!” Steve is saying, Eddie’s laughing easily, and he has a slight suspicion Steve’s acting way more annoyed than he really is because he knows Eddie dies laughing every time Steve roasts the kids.

“Just, if he’s gonna give me hair advice, he should work on that goddamn tone. At the Very Least.” Steve finishes, Eddie giggling all the while at his Annoyed Mom tone.

"Yeah, dude!" Eddie agrees, wanting to egg him on, but Steve's face suddenly falls and whatever remark Eddie had locked and loaded just fades away.

Eddie blinks perplexed; he’s getting déjà vu.

Steve frowns at him, says "Don't call me ‘dude’".

It’s eerie, only he sounds a bit annoyed this time.

Eddie thinks, maybe someone called Steve ‘dude’ before in an unpleasant way, so he doesn't pry.  Instead, he takes the chance to call him a nickname he likes more, and says "Sorry, pretty boy", his heart fluttering in the milliseconds he has to wait for Steve’s reaction.

And it happens one last time: Steve absolutely beams at that one, his smile so bright it makes Eddie want to jump in place.

He leans further back on the counter returning the smile, not noticing the common thread in Steve’s reactions to him switching nicknames.

But then the glint in Steve’s eyes suddenly brightens a dim corner of Eddie’s brain. He gets this feeling that reminds him of a perfectly set up riddle or finding that one perfect note for his latest song. It’s like everything suddenly just makes sense.

Eddie feels realization dawn on his face as he pushes himself off the counter to walk right into Steve’s personal bubble, grabs both of Steve's hands.

"Steve" Eddie says, not even caring that he sounds like the name is dripping in honey when it comes out of his mouth. With how sweet Steve is, it might as well be.

Steve just looks at him a little stunned, but doesn't say anything. Eddie draws circles in the back of his palms to reassure him.

"Why don't you want me to call you ‘dude’?" Eddie asks, trying to find out if this whole thing is what he thinks it is.

Steve looks down at their joined hands,.

"You call Nancy that sometimes..." Steve mumbles.

His answer would sound inconsequential to the unsuspecting, certainly would have to Eddie as late as last week, but Eddie thinks he’s finally getting it, and he hums his understanding.

"How ‘bout ‘man’?" he asks

Steve replies "You call Robin that sometimes..." his eyes still on their hands.

Eddie nods his agreement.

"I call everyone those things" he points out.

Steve agrees. "Exactly" he says, finally looking at him again, sounding annoyed and confirming Eddie’s suspicions.

Eddie feels his face split into a smile. He wants to grab Steve’s beautiful freaking face and just plant one on him.

"Can I still call you sweetheart?" he ventures instead. The nickname brings the hint of a smile to Steve's face but then he seems to realize something not so pleasant.

"Do you call someone else ‘sweetheart’?" Steve asks in return.

"No one" Eddie says, shaking his head, his tone vehement.

"Then yes" Steve finally answers. Eddie's heart wants to beat right out of his chest.

He interlocks their fingers to ground himself, Steve looks down at their hands and smiles at the sight.

"So, you don't want me to call you something I call someone else?" Eddie states, more than asks, calling Steve’s eyes back to his again.

"Anyone else" Steve confirms, holding his gaze.

Eddie lets out a small shuddering exhale and feels his heart fluttering in his throat, he really cannot believe this boy.

"Steve" Eddie drawls, dripping in honey again, his hands coming up to cradle Steve's face because he really can't resist anymore "Sweetheart" he says.

Steve's eyes grow a little wide and he starts blushing so much that Eddie can feel it in his palms.

"Steevieeee" Eddie sinsongs, squeezing Steve's face a bit "Pretty boy" Eddie calls him. Steve just keeps looking at him and a small smile blooms in his pretty, pretty face.

"Would you let me take you out to dinner this Friday?" Eddie finally asks him, his fingers curling to the back of Steve's head to play with his hair there. Steve's eyes get even wider.

" 's Valentine's this Friday" he points out. Eddie knows.

"Mmhm. Want you to be my Valentine." Eddie tells him, tugs his hair gently, "How's that sound?" he asks, bold in a way he never has been before. Steve blushing does things to him.

"Sounds nice" Steve answers. He smiles and nods while his hands hook on Eddie's belt loops.

"Then it's a date?" Eddie asks, trying not to sound too eager. He thinks he fails spectacularly but Steve beams and pulls him in to kiss his cheek.

"It's a date" Steve tells him, his breath ghosting on Eddie's cheek and making him shiver.

Steve pulls back, lets go of Eddie’s belt loops and tugs on a strand of his hair gently, smiling like the cat that got the cream as he walks back out into the living room.

Eddie’s gonna make this the best Valentine’s Day date Steve has ever been on.

#steddie #steddie fanfic #steddie fanfiction #steddie headcanon #steddie fic #Steve maybe gets a lil emotional the first time Eddie calls him 'sunshine' #steve harrington #eddie munson #adhd/autism eddie my beloved #fanfic #stranger things #sigh. im not really satisfied with this I wish I could get more of Steve in it #i ESPECIALLY wish it was better so it could live up to that AMAZING ART OMG IM INLOVE WITH IT 😭 #but it's almost not Valentines anymore so here #have it #i just want it to leave me alooooneeeeeee #but anyways #i might put it on ao3 later #i just get so embarrassed about my other fics but i also dont wanna orphan them idk #asdfghjkllkjhgf #whatever. good night #i hope your Valentines was nice <3 #bossy mean girl princess steve supremacy forever #.

[mroddmod]

happy belated broppy day :3

#this drawing is the bane of my existence and i don't really want to share it but i also don't want it to go to waste bc i invested time #in it. so. #here 😁😁😁 valentine's day 😁😁😁 #ANYWAY BROPPY!!!!! #ITS THEIR DAY!!!!! #broppy #dreamworks #dreamworks animation #dreamworks trolls #trolls #trolls band together #trolls poppy #poppy trolls #queen poppy #trolls branch #branch trolls #mods art #mods draws #my art

[acekindaneat]

I don't want this to end.

A cute little date scene that I really liked from the fic The Big Woo by @tinkertoysdamn !!!!!

#it's a very fun and insane/pos AU #it's like those silly afternoon reality tv shows ;] #thats why it's still one of my favorites honestly #anyway as u can tell i kinda disappeared from making things and i can explain #1 there was something wrong with me health-wise so i kept getting check-ups and doctors just Guessing #until we got it right which I won't go into detail but finally figured out why i get fatigued so easily .. #2!!!! i've been grinding and levelling up on genshin bc i want to hangout with my pookie bear 😘😘😘😘 also i've been wanting to play it so #okay anyway done rambling hello tag readers i love you #happy valentine's day here's multiple treats pick one or more mwa 🍓🍒🍉🍉🫔🍧🍡🍨🍦🥧🍰🍮🎂🧁🍭🍬🍫🍪 #okay here's the normal tags LOL #reigen arataka #serizawa katsuya #serirei #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #mp100 fanart #mi art stuff

[dangoulains-devotion]

to catch a falling star

#final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ffvii #ff7 #cid highwind #vincent valentine #valenwind #my art #genuinely!! kind of v proud of this one fellas!!! #the original version was the right hand one (falling/catching) but bc of the perspective you couldn't really tell vincent was falling #so i liked how the left side version looked too in a descending/catching kind of way. so u get both #my friend said he liked both versions bc it made him think of a tarot card and i will be chasing that high #anyway shout out to the tenebris ad astra project for existing bc it finally gave me the power of inspiration for the first time in months #i tried to mix vincent's hair between the dirge style and remake style. idk if it worked but fuck it we ball #i forgot a tag. i am moonlight elegy on twt #(its meant to be next to the my art tag) #swings back in here to mention its hard to see but it is v important that vincent has hip dips. thank u

[mayosmelting]

who up looney tuning

#guilty gear #ggst #jack o valentine #anji and zato are kinda here #i hate liking a character that is notoriously drawn Like That #anyways i am always gonna draw the looney tunes guy. of course

[berlingotesque]

Interrupting my 40+ asks to post this experimental illustration I did for Valentine’s Day to practice painting backgrounds + featuring my favorite batim ships on romantic dates

#don’t look at the perspective too much please #anyway happy valentine’s day everyone !! #late I know but shh #don’t mind me #linda stein #henry stein #joey drew #henry x linda #creatorship #norman polk #susie campbell #sammy lawrence #normmy #not tagging it samsie because Sammy’s emotionally cheating on Susie here lmao #allison pendle #thomas connor #thomson #batim #batdr #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the dark revival

[emry-stars-art]

They really do just deserve each other I think

(N: “Oof”

N: “Ugh why are you so HEAVY”

A: “How tf else am I supposed to keep you from running off”)

#anyway time to outperform my own post #here’s your Valentine’s Day post 💕 #aftg #fan art #my art #all for the game #neil josten #andrew minyard #andreil #I just imagine sometimes they fall asleep with Andrew’s hand still on the back of Neil’s neck #Neil likes it but Andrew is also a brick wall and it’s impossible to get up

[imorphemi]

Fjord and Jester <3

#my art #arts #critical role #the mighty nein #fjord stone #jester lavorre #fjorester #theyre very cute #just in time for valentines #kiwi thank you for teaching me how to use gradient maps #i did it less here #just a overlay was fine #but it was more prominent in the beau and molly one #i really really like that one #anyways happy valentines day yall

[mito-itokondrria]

☆ float ☆

#*scrambles to put together silly doodles after a year* hi ✌️- hope u like it jshjsh #bnha #mha #mha fanart #my hero academia #midoriya izuku #bakugo katsuki #bkdk #bakudeku #dekubaku #dkbk #not exactly valentine's day themed but dorky-moments-with-float themed :] #and yess I thought of that one a-hobit's dkbk fan art when I was drawing the orange one #anyway- have a lovely day guys <33 #click here to see my silly drawings

[arkiwii]

Valentines far away from where you are

I think a lot about how Silence and Saria are so busy that they can barely spend time together. About how when they finally fixed their bounds, they had to be taken away by their responsibilities. About how much Saria might miss her and struggle without her. About how they might be unable to communicate with nothing else but letters that take several days to come. About the fact that Silence is so crushed by her duty and work that she feels not allowed to have a personal life.

No matter how far from each other they are, they only wish to be able to be together without all this unecessary stress on them.

#happy valentines. cry #angst hits harder when it's regular real life things #anyway this took way longer than expected because it's now 6 am here and i am tired as fuck and sick #arknights #olivia silence #saria #ifrit #stalkiwiart #art #fanart #valentines day #sariasil

[koipalm]

more akira outfits

#i wanted him to have valentines day skins SOOOO BAD... oh god or a cherry blossom skin. i should draw that #because ATLUS wont facking do it.... tch...... #thats a joke. atlus hire me #my art #akira kurusu #persona 5 #p5 #p5r #kurusu akira #persona 5 royal #i realized that all of my tumblr content of akira was all talk i needed to prove it...m #i really am an akira fan guys i promise. i wouldnt lie about this i am so so serious #ive been getting sick of twitter and tktk anyway better to post these here #where i will actually have fun with it #OK OK. just one more post after this i promise

[steveshairychest]

It's raining.

Eddie leans his forehead against his bedroom window and sighs. It's raining on Valentine's Day; his first Valentine's Day with a date. He knows that there are plenty of things they can do inside to avoid the heavy downpour of rain, but he'd had a plan! He'd even told Steve not to worry about anything because he had everything sorted out. Now, he has nothing.

He'd spent the entire day yesterday making perfectly cut triangle sandwiches, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a heap more of Steve's favourite snacks for a picnic. He was going to spread his favourite blanket out right on the spot where they had their first kiss at skull rock and he was going to tell Steve he loved him. Because Valentine's day felt like the perfect time to say it. The words have been perched behind his lips for weeks, but he was afraid every moment he wanted to say it was too soon. So he's waited.

And now the day has been ruined by rain.

Steve doesn't seem to mind the rain. He knocks on the front door of the trailer and greets Eddie with a beaming smile even though he's saturated from head to toe. He's wearing that ridiculously bright yellow sweater and a pair of jeans that Eddie ripped at the knees for him; it's crazy how good he looks even though he's drenched.

Steve runs a hand through his wet hair to pull it off his forehead. Eddie wants to lean forward and plant a kiss on the exposed skin. "Are you going to let me in?" Steve laughs while wiping water out of his eyes.

"Shit, sorry, get in here." Eddie smacks a quick kiss to Steve's wet cheek before running off to get him a towel and a fresh change of clothes. He'll admit he loves any excuse to see Steve in his clothes. He ignores the pile of Steve's clothes in his cupboard and pulls out an old band shirt and shorts for Steve; seeing Steve's thighs will cheer him up.

Once Steve's all dry and bundled up in Eddie's clothes, they sit on the couch as close as possible and just bask in the joy that comes from being in each other's presence. If Steve notices the permanent pout on Eddies face, he doesn't mention it. He does, however, poke Eddie in the side and ask, "What's the basket for?" He nods towards the picnic basket he'd borrowed from Nancy that sits by the front door, all packed and ready to go nowhere because of the rain.

Eddie groans and buries his face in Steve's shoulder; he sighs and tries to drown himself in Steve's signature smell of cinnamon and apples. "I had such a stupidly romantic idea for a picnic date, but the rain has ruined it. I was gonna take you to the movies instead."

Steve rests his cheek against the top of Eddie's frizzy hair – the rain makes his hair have a mind of its own – and hums thoughtfully. "We can still have a picnic."

"I don't want soggy sandwiches and wet clothes." Eddie whines.

"You won't have any of that. Get up. Go grab your picnic blanket." Eddie has no idea what Steve has in mind, but he's not going to deny Steve on Valentine's Day. If Steve wants to go outside and eat food in the rain, then fuck it, he'll do just that to see his boy smile.

Eddie drags the old picnic blanket out of the bag he packed for their date, there's also other items in the bag that he puts back in his bedside drawer. Later, he tells himself. "OK, love, what now?" Eddie comes out of his room with the blanket wrapped around him but he stops just outside his doorway and watches with curious eyes as Steve rearranges the small lounge room. "What... are you doing?"

Steve stands in the middle of the lounge room and holds his arms out wide. "We're having a picnic, obviously." He steps into Eddie's space, plants a kiss to his lips and slowly unwraps the blanket. "I'm sorry we can't do it the way you originally planned, but this will still be fun. You set it up exactly how you want while I run out to the car to get your present. Sound good?"

Eddie wants to cry. He wants to kiss Steve's smiling face and thank him for being the best boyfriend in the world because Eddie hadn't even considered a picnic inside. He was fully intending to mope around and cuddle. Steve really is Eddie's better half. "Sounds great. Go get my present while the rain isn't torrential." He gives Steve's ass a cheeky smack before focusing on the task at hand.

Making the perfect indoor picnic.

Steve shuffles back into the trailer just as Eddie is spreading out all the food on the blanket and pouring them both a glass of wine – he doesn't even like wine, he just thinks it looks romantic. "You're just in time! Come sit – " He freezes when he sees the present wrapped up in Steve's arms. "Shup up. You did not."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Eddie."

Eddie doesn't even realise he's crying until Steve gently passes over the small bundled up present and places it in Eddie's arms. Steve sits down next to him on the picnic blanket and kisses away the happy tears that stain his cheeks. "I spoke to Wayne already. He said it's completely fine for the little guy to stay here. He's been having sleepovers at mine and Robin's for the past week."

Eddie smiles down at the black kitten in his arms and tries not to sob too loud in case he frightens the poor thing. He's always wanted a cat, and he's said as much to Steve, but to actually have one in his arms is overwhelming. He doesn't care that his picnic idea was changed, doesn't care that he's getting snot all over Steve's (his) shirt as he cries into his shoulder. "Thank you so much. He's perfect. You're perfect. I love you so much. I'm so happy."

Steve pulls away slightly, his eyes wide and his mouth open in surprise as he whispers, "You love me?" He's crying now and it's not exactly how Eddie expected his grand Valentine's Day plan to go but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Eddie places the kitten down in his lap and cups Steve's face in his hands. "Steve, I'm so in love with you it's disgusting. I made chocolate dipped strawberries! And cut watermelon into little hearts!" They're both laughing and crying now and Eddie wants nothing more than to freeze time and stay right here with Steve, he never wants to stop seeing that gorgeous smile.

"I love you."

Steve pulls him into a kiss, mindful of the kitten now exploring around their indoor picnic, and whispers against Eddie's lips, "I love you more."

#HAPPY LATE VALENTINE'S DAY I GUESS #steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #st4 vol2 #steveddie #stranger things s4 #WROTE THIS AT WORK SO IM NOT SUPER HAPPY WITH IT BUT ANYWAYS HERE U GO