There were two methods that Steve used to use to get someone infatuated with him.
The first is just as he told Dustin. Pretend you don't care, and it drives the ladies mad. He used it a lot in high school, and the success rate was pretty good. It hadn't worked fully on Nancy, for reasons unknown to him, but it had at least worked enough for her to date him. It just hadn't been enough to keep her.
It didn't work on Eddie either. Like, at all.
The guy was just too busy to notice he was being semi ignored, in between his tattoo apprenticeship, part time job at Thatcher's, prepping his D&D campaigns, band practise and evenings with Wayne. It was insane.
The other method though, was something pretty new in Steve's repertoire. Something that he knew drove Eddie absolutely nuts. Pretending to know about his nerd shit and getting it wrong.
And it was so easy.
'Stevie that's star TREK, completely different franchise.'
'No, that's the one with the weird portal thing, I know what I'm talking about dude.'
'That's star GATE. Jesus H Christ.' It's not even a film, it's a book that I KNOW you haven't read.'
It was so easy. Eddie was a great guy, he really was, but he was so particular about the things he likes, and it made it so easy to wind him up. It as as though those years of mockery at high school had had an effect on him, even though he claimed it didn't. He was protective by nature, of the kids (his little sheepies), his hobbies, the music he listens to, the place he lives. If an outsider tries to invade and conquer his little world, Eddie's already pulled up the drawbridge and summoned the defence.
Too bad Steve was already in the castle.
Just those big, vacant, Harrington eyes, and a look of innocence was enough. It was so funny to watch Eddie twist himself into knots trying to explain the minutiae of his hobbies, or films, or even (on one occasion), the bands that Eddie listened to, because he just had to correct Steve, or have him see things the right way.
It took far too long for Eddie to catch on, and the moment he did, Steve found himself pinned against the van, laughing his head off at Eddie's very outraged but somewhat impressed expression.
'Maybe I just like getting you all worked up, Eds.' He says, not so innocently running his hand up Eddie's arm.
A myriad of emotions runs across his face before Steve leans up to place a very chaste, gentle kiss on the corner of Eddie's mouth.
'You sneaky little -' Eddie says, softly shaking his head in disbelief, 'this all a part of the great Harrington seduction technique, huh?'
Steve shrugs, leaning back to settle against the van.
'Took you long enough.' He says, and waits, all cocky smirk and tilted chin, for Eddie to kiss him this time.
100% success rate (so far).
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"Run to Daylight" WIP snippet
“Why do you love sports so much?”
“‘Cos I’m a dumb jock,” Guy laughs, bunting the question away. “Plus there’s beer. And it’s easier than readin’ books and shit.”
“Shut up,” Kyle laughs, shakes his head.
It’s about dinnertime, and he wonders what he has in the fridge or if Kyle might want to get something in a bit except he’s probably not hungry after all the beer and hotdogs.
“I dunno. I guess it’s just. When everything else in my life was shit, sports seemed like the real thing. Like the only real thing in a world of bullshit.”
Kyle hums. “It’s weird, I mean. I always thought the opposite, to be honest. Everyone cared so much about the football team, or how the basketball team was doing, and just seemed like a distraction from…from actual life. From more important things.”
Guy’s heard this spiel a million times. Mostly from chicks.
Kyle clears his throat. “I mean I--I’m not saying I’m right. It just seemed like everyone always acted like winning on Friday night was like, it’d be the end of the world if the guys lost. But I mean…I didn’t get it. It’s just--it’s literally just a game.”
“And paintin’ pictures, what’s that?” Guy almost tries not to sound too dickish.
Kyle sighs, rolls his eyes, looks away. Oh, but there’s an edge there. Something old. “I don’t think you’d understand what…what that gave me. Art. What it still gives me. It’s making something…something meaningful out of,” Kyle gestures in the air. “Out of what was meaningless.”
Guy knows if this was a movie, he’d be the asshole. Well this ain’t a fuckin’ movie.
“And the football team, just a bunch of morons tossin’ a ball back and forth?”
“That’s not what I said!”
“It’s what you meant.”
“No it’s not--”
“Listen, you say it’s only a game. And you’re right but you’re wrong too.”
There’s a long pause. They’ve never really dug into this truth between them. The gulf of difference. The dumb jock and the sensitive artist thing. Kyle tilts his head at Guy, giving him his full attention. “So tell me.”
“You can’t just put it down on a--on like a postcard. It’s…you gotta see it, right?”
“Sure. Like coming to this game? Green grass and red dirt and, and all that.”
Guy shakes his head, it’s not what he means, he hates trying to say what he means.
“It’s more like…it’s Michael Jordan’s jump shot.”
Kyle stares back blankly.
“David Beckham’s corner kick. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice on a Sunday. And it’s--it’s Bob Gibson 1.12 ERA and refusing to shake Joe Torre’s hand ‘cos it’s war and not a picnic. It’s Zizu’s head and Materazzi’s big mouth. It’s Curt Schilling’s bloody sock. It’s Derek Redmond limping to the finish line and Bronko Nagurski crawling to the end zone. It’s a routine ground ball rolling under Bill Buckner’s glove and Steven Gerrard slippin’ on the grass. It’s Barry Bonds’s hat size and Pete Rose’s bookie.”
Guy doesn’t know how else to say it. It’s just all of it. It’s life but boiled down to the stuff you need. Forget tax returns and the DMV. Just good guys and bad guys. Pure love, pure hatred. Grief, agony, pain you wouldn’t believe. Outrageous joy. Selfishness, sacrifice. Blood, sweat, tears. War. Love to last a lifetime.
“It’s everything. All of it. It’s all there. On a pitch, or a diamond, or a gridiron. Just…everything. Waitin’ on a whistle.”
“Wow.”
“Fuck off.”
“No, really!” Kyle laughs, clasping Guy’s forearm. “I mean I don’t know who any of those people are--”
“You fucking know David Beckham--”
Kyle laughs, looking away with his eyebrows raised, his dimples deep, his cheeks a little pinker. He looks so good in the ballpark lights, they should wash him out, but they can’t. “Yeah, I know David Beckham.”
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Goran Višnjić as Nikola Tesla in Doctor Who 12.4, Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror.
image descriptions below the cut
—
[1] A still from an episode of Doctor Who, showing Goran as Nikola Tesla in front of Niagara Falls with an audience of men in suits and top hats, only their backs shown to us. Nikola is gesturing towards the waterfall as he speaks. He's a tall, slim man of about fifty in an old-fashioned suit with a tailcoat, pinstriped trousers, a waistcoat and watch-chain. He has a moustache, and brown hair parted in the middle, a few inches long and styled neatly with a bit of a wave.
[2] Goran as Nikola Tesla gesturing towards a device I don't understand well enough to even describe except that it's two corrugated metal cylinders and electricity is arcing between them, blue and dramatic, while he gestures like a magician. His other hand is on a lever, his face obscured by a starburst of blue light.
[3] A close-up of Goran as Nikola Tesla with a lightbulb in the foreground gleaming with warm light. He's looking off-screen and smiling slightly, eyes large and grey-blue, eyebrows raised, creases in his forehead and around his mouth. He's wearing a butterscotch-yellow tie with a wing or tuxedo shirt collar.
[4] A side-on view of Goran as Nikola Tesla bent over a workbench doing something with a tool we only see as a faint gleam of metal. He's bent almost double, intent on his work, a curl of hair falling down above his forehead, his coat gone and his shirt sleeves rucked up to the elbow so that his arms are bare and evidently hairy. The scene's dark, lit only by a candle lamp.
[5] A view of Goran as Nikola Tesla looking at a figure mostly out of view, visible to us only as blonde hair at the side of the screen. Nikola's eyes are a little wide, his mouth slightly open, making him look bewildered, and perhaps wary - I thought of it as his "okay, either you or this situation is bonkers" face. His thumb is just visible at the bottom of the screen, suggesting he's gesturing or fidgeting with his hands.
[6] A view of Goran in a crowded street, no coat, standing almost a head taller than everyone else and gesturing with one hand in a way that signals frustration or defensiveness, his eyes closed, mouth open as he speaks. A few bowler hats are visible around him, and a few of Nikola's companions - Dorothy, a serious-faced woman of thirty or so with tightly curly hair and smart clothing; the Doctor, currently a woman with straight blonde hair looking curiously past Dorothy; and just a glimpse of Yasmin in the background in a flat blue hat.
[7] A side-on view of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor and Goran as Nikola both paying rapt attention to a glowing green mechanical-looking ball in a dish, with the Doctor pointing her sonic screwdriver at it and Nikola bending down to watch at the opposite side of the desk, hands folded together as if he's fidgeting, intent on her work. The Doctor's in a long light grey coat with a hood, incongruous for the era, and it's clear she'd be a lot shorter than him if he weren't currently courting back pain.
[8] The same scene as before, minutes later - the Doctor only visible as blonde hair in the foreground, Nikola's face transformed like he's realised something wonderful, eyes on the Doctor and leaning forward slightly, or still leaning on the desk. His mouth is open as he talks, his eyes bright, skin creasing faintly at the corners with a real smile.
[9] The same scene as before, seconds later. Goran as Nikola is looking to the side, no longer smiling but serious and thoughtful.
[10] The same scene as before, seconds later. Nikola is looking back at the Doctor and raising his eyebrows in a question at something she said, his forehead creasing, his expression perhaps a little doubtful.
[11] A close-up of Goran as Nikola in a room with warmer and dimmer lighting, his hair coming loose a bit as short curls on his forehead, frowning as he talks to someone off-screen. The angle exaggerates his nose, emphasises the lines around his mouth.
[12] A different view of the scene, zoomed out. Nikola is bent over a worktable beside Yasmin, a young woman with curled hair and a smart navy-blue jacket, and they're looking at each other as though discussing a problem, Nikola folding or rubbing his hands together. The desk of a mess of wires and oddments, lit bulbs in metal cages and what might be the odd green ball from earlier.
[13] Nikola and Yasmin in a very different location, dimly lit, with strange red lights in the background and a green light over their faces. (They're on an alien spaceship.) Yasmin is looking down at the floor like she's stunned, mouth open, and Nikola is holding her arm like he's just pulled her back, but his eyes are on something or someone else we can't see. His eyes are wide, his expression startled and openly afraid.
[14] Nikola and Yasmin still on the spaceship, blurry machinery behind them, but Nikola is almost level with Yasmin now and they're standing close, both looking at a third party off-screen. Yasmin's expression is one of distaste and a little anger, and Nikola's eyebrows are drawn down, expression somewhere between bewildered and worried.
[15] A different scene, different lighting - deep blue in the background, warm light on Nikola's face. It's an odd angle, his head ducked as though looking at something, his expression serious.
[16] A different scene, perhaps daytime with electric lighting, Nikola in conversation with someone off-screen who's clearly shorter than him. His hair's a little disarrayed, eyebrows raised and forehead creased, but there's something of a smile to his eyes and his mouth that gentles it.
[17] The same scene, seconds later, slightly zoomed in. Nikola's eyebrows are lower, forehead still creased and eyes a little scrunched, like he doesn't understand yet what the other person means. There's something tender about it still.
[18] A different room, darker, Nikola grinning while the Doctor is mostly off-screen, just a little of her hair visible, except she's raising a hand for a high-five that he isn't reciprocating. Creases are splayed out from his eyes, deep ones around his mouth, his nose sharp from this angle.
[19] A different view of the high-five moment, focusing on the Doctor as she realises he doesn't know to reciprocate - the high-five wasn't invented yet - and starts to lower her hand. Her mouth is wide open, teeth showing, somewhere between a grin and talking, and her body language is open exuberance. The creases around Nikola's eyes are still very visible from this angle, though most of his face isn't.
[20] A view of Goran as Nikola with his eyes closed as if he's blocking something out, and a look of forbearance and faint frustration on his face.
[21] A side-on view of Goran as Nikola, a shorter man in the background and the TARDIS behind them both, its windows glowing white. Nikola's expression is determined and a little grim, more hair curling messily against his forehead.
[22] A view of Goran as Nikola outside, trees in the background, a blurry blue-white sky and what might be yellowish grass. He's wearing old-fashioned aviator goggles on his forehead, where they're pushing his hair up so it's even messier, and he's looking down at something with a troubled expression.
[23] A view of the Doctor and Goran as Nikola in the TARDIS, the scene awash in electric blue and peach-pink, and no other lighting. The Doctor's leant over the TARDIS controls doing something there and looking back at Nikola, who has picked up some sort of contraption and is looking down at it, expression either troubled or focused. The light on his face is blue, throwing his features into sharp and unflattering relief.
[24] A view of Goran as Nikola in the TARDIS still, the lighting blue, the angle of his shoulders suggesting his hands are on his hips, and his expression now one of open joy. His eyes are large, his mouth open and smiling slightly, soft creases on either side.
[25] A view of Goran as Nikola on the street, looking with his head tilted at someone in the foreground - barely visible, except for the bowler hat. Nikola's expression is tolerant, a restrained smile with narrow eyes, and his hands are probably clasped behind his back.
[26] A view of Goran as Nikola on the street, now talking to the Doctor, only the back of her head visible. Nikola's in the same pose as before, hands behind his back, only leaning slightly towards her now, his expression warm as he talks to her. The creases around his eyes are back, and it's another angle that emphasises his nose.
[27] The same view as before, only now Nikola's ducked his head, almost like he's shy, or needs a moment to collect himself. The creases have gone from his eyes, but the smile's still there at his mouth.
—
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