Eddie and Steve didn't know each other well before the upside down threw them together. They didn't interact at school, and they wouldn't have considered each other friends in any real capacity. But there was one night. One night where Eddie found Steve curled up in the bathroom at a party, drunk and miserable, mumbling about how he wishes somebody could love him just a little bit.
Eddie had taken him home, not willing to let Steve try and walk or, God forbid, drive when he was so wasted. He talked, joked, anything he could do to lift the sad former kings spirits even a little bit. It seemed to work a little bit. Steve didn't look like he was on the verge of tears anymore, at least. He got Steve to his room, helped get him out of his jeans, and his shirt. He rummaged through the other boys' drawers and closet until he found a nice soft sweater, and he pulled it over Steve's head. He didn't say much. Just gave Eddie a nod as he got tucked into bed. Eddie was about to leave, to go home and shake off the bizarre turn his night had taken, when Steve actually spoke up for the first time since he had stepped into his house.
"Hey Munson...you're in a band, right?"
"Yeah, sure am Steve."
"Can you sing?"
"A little bit."
"Sing me something? It's hard to fall asleep when it's so quiet here. Doesn't have to be good, just something nice."
And if Eddie was smart, he would have hummed some Metallica and high-tailed it out of there. But he isn't smart, and he's suddenly reminded of when he first left home and came to live with his Uncle Wayne. How he had nightmares the first few weeks because he was somewhere new and he was scared. Wayne would curl up next to him and hum that dumb little song from the Muppet movie because it was Eddie's favorite.
And Steve just looks so goddamn sad, so Eddie sings.
"Why are there so many songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side..."
And maybe it's stupid, but Steve gets this sweet smile on his face as he falls asleep, and Eddie can't bring himself to regret it.
Over a year later, Eddie is bleeding in the upside down, doing his best to hang on as Steve Harrington holds him in his arms. He had changed the plan at the last minute, opting to come with Eddie and Dustin, and now here he was cradling Eddie, blood covering his hands. Eddie knows he doesn't have very long left, and it's a shame, really. He would have liked to get to know Steve better. He would have liked to spend more time with Dustin, to hug his uncle one last time, to celebrate saving the world.
"Hey Steve?"
"Don't talk man, you're gonna- fuck you're bleeding so much Eddie."
"It's okay, it's okay-"
"It's not okay! I told you not to do this shit, I told you not to be a hero."
It's quiet for a moment. Eddie swears he feels a tear land on his cheek.
"Remember that time I sang to you?"
Steve sniffles, and Eddie thinks maybe he forgot. He was really drunk. But then-
"Yeah, yeah I remember Eddie."
"Can you-" He coughs and there's blood on his lips now. "Can you sing for me now?"
"Come on don't so this- you're gonna be okay, we're gonna get you out of here, you've gotta hang on man."
"Just wanna hear one more song, please Stevie?"
A choked sob breaks through the quiet of the upside down, and then Steve starts to sing. His voice is shaking, and he has to choke out the lines when the tears come too strong. Eddie wishes he wasn't crying, wishes he could comfort Steve somehow, but he doesn't have the strength for words anymore.
"Why are there so many songs about rainbows..."
He sings softly, and his voice is choked with tears, but Eddie is sure it's the prettiest sing he's ever heard. He lets it fill his ears as thinks about all the people he's going to miss, the things he won't get the chance to do. It's a little easier with Steve's voice in his ears.
"The lovers, the dreamers and me..."
And Eddie let's his eyes slip shut.
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I love the tsu'tey lives au and the Spellman siblings! 💙🩵
I can't help but wonder how'd Tsu'tey react to them and their situation, especially if he didn't realize/notice the whole thing (the siblings adopting/raising Spider & living at Hell's Gate) till later on when the twin where like 13/14.
((I know he'd probably notice earlier bit we can pretend that he was busy with adjusting to life with his injuries/helping Jake be olo'eyktan))
he knew of the infamous 'spellman siblings' around the village, a group of 3 - previously four - children who were incredibly intelligent, prone to violence, and extremely protective of spider. he also knew they were raised by norm spellman, the 'nerd' as jake called him.
spider talked of them frequently, he was practically obsessed with the kids, many would argue they were family. tsu'tey, as much as he loved the kid, was happy to have another set of hands helping him out when he was stretched thin. he had a lot on his plate, jake needing guidance as the new olo'ekytan, his own disabilities to learn to work around, a rambunctious toddler/child (why did they grow so fast? he looked away for five seconds and the little five year old clinging to his leg was suddenly almost 10 and very much not a toddler anymore. it broke his heart a little more then he'd like to admit). he had met the kids a few times, though they seemed weary of the village people, himself included; he knew some had harsh feelings on them taking spider in, he faced it himself, and had attempted to squash it with little success. but even when he tried reaching out to the little ones, they shied away from him as well; knowing they lost so much so young, has been raised by an avatar in a lab, and had formed a bit of a secluded bond to spider, made him assume that they were just shy kids who clung to familiar family.
he had just assumed that spider was in their care while out in the world, and went home with them to his adoptive family, or at very least the 'nerd.' he was wrong. sure he saw the signs of neglect in the little human, it was easy when he was the odd one out, when the reason for his neglect was obvious (even if it was wrong, tsu'tey knew, and had excepted why it happened). it was a lot harder to spot it in kids that already had their own issues before the neglect began; the loss of their elder sister, amongst many other children they were close with, shot in front of them. the death of their parents, their people, their home. it spelled trouble for their young minds, so tsu'tey stupidly assumed that had been the reason the whole time, not the fact they were being raised by people on screens and raising an orphan on their own.
he realized it slowly, over the span of a few months, something was off, more off than he could stomach. it was little things; the older two were defensive against any adults, including the man that should be their father, being near spider. this extended to him, and it took spider begging and promising that tsu'tey was ok, "he's not like them" he said. then he realized how they never spoke of parents, not their own, not norm, not the scientists, or the adoptive family of spiders. they didn't have parents, they had each other, and that was it. then as they began spending more and more time at Hellsgate, their stuff, their voices, there presence began to dwindle from the village, until one day they were gone. as spider trained under tsu'tey the kids became more and more used to his presence, and clung to him more and more each day. something was wrong, so wrong, and he couldn't put his finger on it.
then he talked to norm, who claimed they had 'aged out' of his care, said they stopped seeing him as a dad, so he let them go on with their own lives. he assumed they were fine, and not wanting to overstep as the 'second' parent.
he talked to the siblings, hoping, praying, that somehow, someway, what they were going to say would fix this, make this normal. it didn't. when they took on spider, and norm didn't take him in as his own, didn't try, even when he knows the poor thing needed it. when norm rejected spider, the twins rejected him, and set out to be parents to their two younger siblings.
after that, he slowly built a relationship with the kids, inviting them to stay with him and spider (he stayed with him once a week), sleeping their hammock, eat meals with them, join them for lessons. eventually he works them back into the village, not completely, norm may not be there home, but the lab was, and spider couldn't stay out in the village every night, it was too dangerous. but he did make them feel like they had a place, a home, someone to love them and take care of them and their fragile baby brother.
he has a bone to pick with the people of hellsgate by the end of his little discovery and attempts to mend the damage of said discovery, but, at the end of the day he had 4 kids instead of one, a little family to call his own, and he got introduced to digital media, which movie nights are a win in his mind. cause listen, he is disabled, stressed out with jake and all the other adults being stupid, and 4, wildly smart and energetic kids. having a time where he can lay out and relax in a pillow fort, with his kids in his arms, watching some shitty (amazing, cause the siblings have amazing taste) human movies, that sounds pretty nice to him.
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