#genderqueer steve harrington

[wrayofmoonshine]

whatever you do, don’t imagine eddie doing a running jump at steve’s back while he’s trying to talk to someone, and steve catching him in a piggyback without even breaking away from the conversation. then eddie starts to attack his neck with little nibbles while going “BITING you BITING you BITING you BITING you” over and over again until steve turns his head just enough to catch his lips with his own so eddie gets stopped mid sentence like “BITING you BIT—oh! kissing you! :D”

#they’re already in a relationship in my mind but you can make this pre-steddie too and it literally works the same #cause they’re both little freaks like that #steddie #steddie fluff #stranger things #stranger things s4 #steve harrington #eddie munson #genderqueer steve harrington #appalachian eddie munson #<- those tags not directly related but always relevant and applicable on my posts

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Steve and Eddie lay on the floor of Steve’s living room, staring at the ceiling fan as it moved on the lowest setting. They were both equally high, floating together like they were laying on clouds.

"Eddie?" Steve asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?" Steve asked.

"Anything, man," Eddie said.

"I like more than one thing," Steve said. "So much more."

"More than one thing of what?" Eddie asked.

"You know how some people like one thing and the opposite thing, but some people like one thing and the opposite thing," Steve said. "I like more than one thing, you know?"

"Like some people like Star Wars and some people like Star Trek, then there are people who say it's the same thing," Eddie said. "Which is bullshit. Some people like both of them, like me."

"You like Star Wars and Star Trek?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, problem?" Eddie asked.

"Nah, man, I'm friends with other nerds," Steve said. "I also like Star Trek and Star Wars. I also like basketball. I like so many things. Is that weird?"

"Nah, man. I don't have a problem with basketball, not anymore," Eddie said. "There's just so many things out there to like, you know. Gotta keep my mind open."

"I think there's a word for what we are. I just can't think of what is," Steve said. "My head is so foggy."

"Yeah, I think your ceiling fan just turned into a helicopter, man," Eddie said.

"Oh, man. I do not want a helicopter in my living room," Steve said.

"You're right. It is better that we're both sober," Vickie said.

Vickie and Robin were sitting on the couch, a bowl of popcorn between them.

"Told you, highly entertaining," Robin said. "Don't worry, once they sober, they'll remember that they're boyfriends and that this is the fifth time they're coming out to each other."

"Eddie?" Steve asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something else?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"Like sometimes, I don't feel like a man. Sometimes, I feel like a woman, but other days, I also feel like a man, and like other days, I don't feel like a man or a woman," Steve said. "Is that crazy?"

"Nah."

"Okay. Okay. We are encroaching on a territory I didn't know existed," Robin said with wide eyes.

"What do we do? Do we pretend like we didn't hear that?" Vickie asked.

"I mean, I think so. I don't know," Robin said. "Yeah, I think so. He's got to be the one to come to us on his own with that like he came out as bisexual. So, yeah, I think we just forget."

The next morning. . .

Robin walked downstairs and into her friend's kitchen. He was standing at the counter, drinking coffee. Robin stared at him, her heart full of affection and love for her platonic soulmate.

"Good morning, Robin," Steve said.

"It certainly is, good that is," Robin said, her eyes filling with proud tears.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

Robin sobbed and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"I love you, no matter what shape you come in," Robin said.

"Uh, okay?" Steve asked. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Like if you ever decided to become. . . Astronaut shaped, I think it would be cool. Stars are beautiful, you know, and it's a beautiful thing because we're all made of stardust. And if even if you didn't want to be an astronaut, it would still be beautiful stardust," Robin rambled.

"Robin. . .did you wait until this morning to smoke weed? Why didn't you smoke with us last night?" Steve asked.

"I wanted to see what you and Eddie talked about when you guys were high," Robin said.

"And?" He asked.

"So many wonderful things," Robin sniffled. "I'm so proud of you, and just so you know, I'll support whatever decision you make."

"What if I decide to shave all my hair off?" Steve asked.

"Even then, I'll still love you," Robin said.

"Even my eyebrows?"

"I still love you. . . Dingus."

Robin kissed his forehead and skipped back upstairs to Vickie, leaving Steve with the same wave of affection that hit her just moments ago.

#stranger things #stranger things s4 #eddie munson #joseph quinn #eddie stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson lives #steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #bisexual steve harrington #bisexual eddie munson #genderqueer steve harrington #genderfluid steve harrington #robin buckley #lesbian robin buckley #stranger things vickie #bisexual vickie #rovickie #rockie #rueleigh writes #robin & steve #platonic stobin #platonic with a capital p #platonic soulmates

[findafight]

Okay I kept thinking about this post and Steve being a BNF of Corroded Coffin message board of the internet of yore.

Alright so way back in the nineties Suzie hooks everyone up with the internet, yes? Yes. Eddie and Steve got together in '92 after some mutual pining and a few disastrous relationships that couldn't handle 1) Steve and Robin's general QPR clinginess 2) Eddie's intensity 3) the secrecy required if having multiple years of monster fighting and subsequent NDAs and the trauma associated therein. They're older and more settled and ready for an Adult Relationship.

Corroded Coffin is gaining traction and doing really well and the internet is still a brave new frontier, so Steve says to Eddie something like "I'm going to see if there's some message boards about you 🥰" and find them he sure does. So he makes accounts and posts under the username EddiesOnlyGroupie because he's hilarious and also the mods banned him from using EddieMunsonsHusband (he figured it was fine on the internet because nobody actually knew who he was but APPARENTLY NOT homophobia lives on in the digital age). He gets pretty well known in the Corroded Coffin fandom, most assuming he's a woman because he will go off on how hot Eddie looked at a gig. Like. Saying unhinged internet shit because 1) true and 2) he and Eddie think it's so funny. Everyone kinda believes the groupie thing too because of all the performance pics he's able to post and how he'll sometimes offer tidbits if knowledge about the band.

When they transition from chatrooms to livejournal etc he follows, with the same username. He's kind of a legend by the mid aughts. EOG is the acronym people use when discussing theories on his identity, and he's like "guys I'm literally his only groupie it's self explanatory. Guys why don't you believe me Eddie hasn't slept with anyone but me since 1992. We're basically married". He goes "it's not a mystery we literally are in love and Jeff and I go to Cubs games and cry when they inevitably lose together. Gareth is Godfather to my cats" (Eddie is still offended that he was not named Sassafras and Moonshine's godfather when Steve and Robin adopted them in '89). No one believes him.

Possibly because he still thirsts after Eddie and whenever someone posts a new Eddie pic those in the know wait for him to pop up with comments like "I want to bite his neck omg" "he has no ass but nobody is perfect I'll settle between his thighs anyway" and "literally a crime I am not married to him right now what the fuck" As twitter grows he swoops in to grab his handle, and follows a bunch of other CC fan accounts (some of them old friends, some of them new to the scene)(EOG 100% has his own fanlore page, which also has speculation on who he is and how he gets all the bts pics. It also doesn't believe when he says what it says on the tin. He's Eddie's only groupie.)

tumblr and tiktok come round and Steve is like. Openly horny on main. He's seen some shit go down on the internet but he's still commenting on Eddie fan edits that are title shit like "why am I attracted to this middle-aged white man" and "retro cc fancam" with things like "I'd let him lick the inside of my ear and only bring it up to tease him on special occasions" "his FINGERS" "back in '89 Jeff and Howie and Claire staged a mutany over this song because they were 'sick of Eddie only writing about biting bats' lmao" and "Jeff is my favourite member of cc"(just to stir the pot)

Eddie comes out in the 2010's and he's like "yeah I've been in a long term relationship with someone who is usually mostly a man kinda (gender is fucky) for the past twenty years, lol. His name's Steve. I love him a lot even if he mocks me online." and of course EOG comments "the mods of that old message board should have let me keep my original handle of EddieMunsonsHusband. When're you gonna make it reality, Munson? smh" and everyone is like Huh?? EOG is a MAN? And he's like yeah? Sometimes?? Not always?

(He 100% thinks this is him telling people he's Eddie's Steve. They don't get the message)

Anyways life goes on Steve continues to thirst under pictures of Eddie, he has his pronouns and name in his bio on twitter (Steve, he/him, she/her, Eddie Munson's first and only groupie 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ ) and continues to post behind the scenes photos that shockingly few people question (she always says "because I'm his groupie" though. He and Eddie think this is VERY funny and also true. Robin groans. They've been making the same joke for two decades.) and people believe it because Eddie has interacted EOG sometimes, liking photos or videos, commenting sometimes. (Steve has a more professional realname account that he rarely uses but Eddie usually tags Steve there)

And THEN Internet user EddiesOnlyGroupie says he's taking a few weeks off for her honeymoon because "I'm finally marrying the man of my dreams!" And people are happy for him but also bummed because Eddie is also taking a two week hiatus but EOG promises wedding and honeymoon photos. (Face reveal! Sorta!)((he doesn't get why people are excited because he's pretty sure he's been in a lot of Eddie's recent pictures, but whatever)

Imagine the Internet's surprise when Eddie Munson posts a collection of pictures spanning '86 to his 2016 wedding of him and Steve, including one of Steve looking seriously at an old desktop computer, captioned "Steve starting his internet career" and tags EOG.

Steve qrt with "I told yall. I'm his only groupie, and they should've let me keep EddieMunsonsHusband even if they WERE homophobic. Because now it's TRUE"

Niche internet community drama chaos ensues.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #rockstar eddie munson #rockstar!eddie #cc bnf steve #stranger things #this is cleaned up from a version i word vomited in a discord group lol #also Sassafras and Moonshine are steve and Robin's rescue cats they got when they went to adopt one but then found out they were bonded #and stobin had already agreed that theyd eventually get two cats and call them sassafras and moonshine after Stone Soul Picnic #so when faced with platonic soulmate Cat Edition with the names they already wanted. it was a sign. #finda's rambles #finda writes stuff #genderqueer steve harrington

[munsonkitten]

“Can I tell you something?” Steve whispers, tugging Eddie in closer to his body.

Eddie hums in response, nuzzling his face into Steve’s neck. “Sure, baby.”

“You know how we got you out of the Upside Down and brought you back here?” Steve asks. He rubs his hands up and down Eddie’s back, and continues without waiting for an answer. “I carried you up to the bathtub in my parents’ bathroom, got your pants off, and you were covered in so much blood, and I was already fighting off an infection myself, so I wasn’t all there, and I honestly… Man, I honestly thought the bats ate your dick and that I’d have to break the news.”

Eddie snorts, a quiet laugh pressed to Steve’s skin.

“Then you said to me, and you were half-conscious and kind of delirious, you said ‘if you wanna look at my pussy, at least buy me dinner first,’” Steve whispers. “Figured maybe it was fine, then.”

“Wait,” Eddie says, pulling back. “Is that why you always brought food when you started coming over?”

Steve laughs, then shakes his head. Quietly, he answers, “Nah, man, that was because you lost like forty pounds from not eating.”

“Well, that’s not as fun,” Eddie huffs. “Can we pretend you’ve just been trying to catch a glimpse ever since?”

“Sure,” Steve whispers. “I mean, not that I wasn’t trying to catch another glimpse, I mean that much is pretty obvious at this point, but, nah. I was just worried you weren’t eating enough.”

Eddie hums again and rolls over onto his back. “I don’t remember much. Being here, I mean. I just… I mean, I have bits and pieces, but then I remember waking up in the hospital with Wayne next to my bed. I didn’t think that was real, to be honest.”

“Yeah,” Steve sighs. “Yeah, it, uh… I tried taking care of you, and after I kinda put the pieces together, I wasn’t gonna let anyone else see you or touch you, I mean, I kind of knew what it meant, you know, to be transsexual, and I didn’t know everything, but I figured it was enough that I found out without your permission. I mean, I think about… Never mind, just… Yeah, so I tried taking care of you, but, like I said, I was sick, too. I think, um, it was Nancy… She kind of found us half-dead in my bed after not hearing from us for a couple days. She got in contact with Wayne, got us both to the hospital. You were there longer than me.”

“Does Nancy know?” Eddie whispers. “I mean, we talk a lot, and she’s never… She’s never mentioned it, but would she if she did?”

“She doesn’t know, baby. As far as I know, she doesn’t. I’m telling you, man, I didn’t let anyone else see you for days. I was…”

“My guard dog, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Steve chuckles.

“Mhm,” Eddie hums. “Should give you a treat.”

Steve smiles, presses a kiss to Eddie’s temple. “I’ve got it already.”

“Fuck off,” Eddie mumbles. “You can’t break out the Harrington charm right now.”

“Why not?” Steve asks.

“Because I’m gonna need to fuck you again for that and I don’t think I can move.”

Steve laughs and curls himself around Eddie. “Alright, I’ll cool it with the charm, then.”

They both sleep soundly that night, but Steve finds himself thinking about all of those complicated things before he drifts off, and again when he wakes up in the morning, as he watches Eddie fix his hair and slide on his rings over painted nails.

from chapter 5 of “you make me feel like i am whole again” on ao3

#steddie #steve x eddie #trans eddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fic #steve/eddie #stranger things #my fics #fic snippet #transmasc eddie munson #genderqueer steve harrington

[fag4dykestobin]

yesterday, i wrote a little snippet of a steve coming out scene that had been living in my head for a bit, and i thought that that was it. and then i kept writing little snippets until this was nearly 3k words long <3 so. enjoy!!

-

Steve looks up at the popcorn ceiling, heart beating, beating, beating, nearly out of… his… chest. Steve doesn’t look at Robin, but… he… knows that Robin is looking at… her?

“Feel like we should be in the bathroom for this,” Steve croaks. Robin huffs out a laugh.

“We can move in there, if you want. My parent’s probably won’t need to use it, they’re in bed already.”

Steve shakes… her…? his. His(/her?) head. “No. I feel better in here.”

“Okay.” And then it’s quiet, between them, and it’s up to Steve to fill that silence. Awesome. Steve can do that. Well, Steve could do that, usually, but unfortunately there is something in Steve’s throat that is blocking everything and anything from coming out of it. Maybe Robin will just let him(/her?) sit here in silence forever, until they both fall asleep, and then when they wake up in the morning they can go along with their lives like there’s nothing building up in Steve’s soul, clawing and raging and desperate to come out.

Robin shifts, so that their feet, propped on the wall in front of them, are touching. It’s enough to get Steve going.

“You know when we were in the Russian base, and you said the thing about your life being one big error?”

Robin made a noise of affirmation.

“Were you talking about, like, being gay?”

Robin sits with the question for a few moments. “... Mostly,” is the answer she decides to go with. Steve waits for her to elaborate.

“I guess it was like, well. Some of it had to do with how we ended up in the Russian base, right? It didn’t feel real. Or like it was supposed to happen. But it also felt like just one more thing in my life that went wrong, and I kinda connect all the bad things that happen to me with me being a lesbian.” There’s a beat of silence. “Which I know isn’t really good. But I’ve been doing it for a while, so it’s hard to stop.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you feel like that? About being, um, half-gay?” The term they’ve landed on for Steve’s sexuality is kind of ridiculous, but neither of them could think of anything better for it. And it’s not like they really refer to it by name outside of hushed and rare conversations like this one. 

“I guess?” Steve thinks on it a little. “Not really. Not like you, at least. It’s, like…” Steve lets himself(/herself?) brush against the problem in his(/her?) brain. Think about it for more than a fleeting moment.

Terror envelopes him(/her?)(cut that shit out pick one and stick to it). Steve tries to think through it, but it’s kind of hard to breathe.

“It’s more about, um. I don’t know. I… It feels stupid.” It feels wrong. It feels criminal.

“I won’t think you’re stupid,” Robin says, so earnestly, like she believes it. Oh, that’s horrible to think about her. Steve screws his eyes shut. Steve screws her eyes shut.

Pick one. (pick he.) And stick to it.

“Sometimes I… mmm. Sometimes I… Robin, if you—” Steve cuts himself off. This feels evil, what he’s about to say. Maybe more evil than what he is. “If I what?” Robin sounds concerned. Like, worried concerned. It makes Steve want to stop everything and wrap her up in a big hug and never talk about this again. Besides, what was Steve even going to say? Robin, if you hate me after this… what? What does he want her to do? Robin, if you hate me after what I say, please don’t.

If Robin hated Steve for this, he might just die.

“Steve? Are you okay?” Robin takes her legs down from the wall and sits up, leans over Steve, trying to get a good look at his face. Steve covers his eyes with his hands.

“I don’t know. I don’t— eugh.” Steve gulps in a big breath, “Robin, if you— hate me, um—”

“No! No no no no no! No! Steve, look at me! Right now!” Steve wants to, but that might make him actually cry. Steve digs her palms into her eyes. No. His palms, his eyes.

God.

“Steve, Evie, please. Please.” The nickname makes Steve’s eyes water. He swipes at them to make them go away, but they keep flowing. Okay, this is going a bit disastrously. The most important thing to do right now is keep his eyes closed and not look at Robin, or else he might shatter into a million little pieces.

“No, I— let me just— I don’t want you to—”

“I won’t hate you, ever. For anything. Are you okay?” Robin sounds miserably anxious. You can’t promise that, Steve wants to bite out. He swallows it. Steve has to trust Robin, because if she can’t, maybe she truly isn’t meant to be like this. Maybe Robin won’t hate him, maybe Robin will help him fix it.

“Sometimes I think about being a girl.”

The words sit heavy between them. Steve kind of wants to throw up about it.

“... Okay.” Robin says. She sounds a little breathless. Steve tries to imagine the look on her face, but can’t imagine it through the fuzz of terror. And like hell will he open his eyes.

“... Okay?” Steve croaks, after Robin fails to elaborate.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” She still has that breathless note in her voice, but it’s more like an aftermath-of-anxiety breathlessness than still-actively-anxious breathlessness.

Steve worries that he’s(.../she’s?) downplayed the problem here. Steve swallows, mouth dry, throat dry.

“No, I, I don’t just think about it, I like thinking about it. I like it when, um, the kids make fun of me by calling me, a, a mom, and I like when you or Max or El paints my nails, and I, I think about stealing your clothes sometimes and it makes me want to kill myself but I can’t, I can’t stop, I…” Steve is now hyperventilating. 

Robin tackles Steve, and Steve’s horrible, traitorous mind wonders if she’ll wrap her hands around his(/her?) throat and kill her(/him?) rather than let him(her?) leave this room.

Steve opens her(/his?) mouth to, who knows, tell her that it’s okay? That he(/she?) understands? That she(/he?) loves her? But nothing comes out, and after a second, Steve realizes that it’s a hug. Obviously. And then Steve starts sobbing.

It takes a few minutes for Steve to stop losing… his? her? God, the thought of either makes Steve want to puke. It takes a few minutes for Steve to stop losing Steve’s mind. And Robin strokes Steve’s hair the whole time, and holds Steve the whole time, and whispers that it’s okay and that she loves Steve, the whole time. It kind of prolongs the sobbing, in a way, because Steve just can’t believe it. But Steve does eventually calm down.

“Steve,” Robin whispers.

Steve sniffles and swallows thickly. “Yeah?”

“It’s fine. You’re fine.”

“I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Well,” says Robin, and then she pauses, like she’s thinking. Steve lets her. There’s a headache brewing in Steve’s temple, and the silence is nice, in a way.

“Well,” Robin starts up again. “I don’t think you’re weird, or messed up, and I definitely don’t hate you. We’ve seen bad things and bad people. And you’re not bad.”

“Well, I… if I’m not bad, or weird, for this, I don’t know what I am.” Steve can hardly believe how well Robin is taking this. It really shouldn’t surprise Steve at all, because Robin is so, so good, but this is something that Steve hates, and they’re usually a united front on that, when it really matters.

So… maybe Robin is right.

Robin climbs off of Steve, lays down next to Steve again. But instead of propping her legs up on the wall, like Steve for some goddamn reason is still doing, she curls next to Steve, facing Steve. Looking at Steve. Still holding Steve’s hands.

“We’ll figure it out.” She squeezes. Steve squeezes right back, and keeps the grip tight.

“Okay.”

They sit in silence, and Steve just… breathes. Tries to will the headache away; not happening, ugh. Drops the legs from the wall. Steve plays with Robin’s fingers, not even trying to process what had happened yet. That can wait til later.

After a few minutes, Robin speaks up again. “Are you okay with questions? If not, that’s fine.” And Steve knows she means it. She will totally drop it for the night and let them settle down and watch a movie or three. But Steve doesn’t really want that right now. Steve wants to stay in this space where, at least for now, what Steve is feeling is fine, and alright. Steve’s never had that before, for this.

“Yeah,” Steve says. “They’re okay.” Maybe they can do the figuring out thing right now. Maybe all of Steve’s problems will be solved tonight. Wouldn’t that be a relief? Robin pulls her hands away, and Steve hears the rasping of her shirt material being rubbed together between her fingers.

“So… do you want to be a girl?” The question doesn’t sound harsh leaving Robin’s mouth, but the words are heavy. It makes alarm bells ring in Steve’s head, forbidden question! Don’t think about it! Don’t think about it! Years of routine repression make it hard for Steve to even consider the question, but Steve tries. Slowly and agonizingly, Steve thinks about it. It genuinely takes a few minutes, but Robin can clearly sense that Steve is thinking about it, so she doesn’t interrupt. Steve loves her so much.

“Kinda,” Steve whispers. “It’s… I don’t know. Really. It’s stupid.”

“Nuh-uh. No stupid stuff right now. Just say how you feel.”

“I kinda wanna be half-girl. Like how I’m half-gay.” It feels stupid. It feels evil. It feels way too indulgent. Even in a perfect world, it’s one or the other. Steve can’t, like, hog them both. They cancel each other out. Right?

“Uh-huh?” Robin is prompting Steve to go on. Oh God.

“Um. Like. I still… like the guy parts of me, you know? I still like being a guy.” That feels really important to emphasize. Steve feels kind of insane, talking like this, actually getting Steve’s thoughts out into the real world. But Robin is still listening, no judgment. It kind of makes Steve want to cry again, but that would make the headache worse so, no thanks. “But I… I like the girl parts, too. I like when you call me Evie, but I don’t want you to stop calling me Steve.”

Steve can feel Robin shift, like she’s nodding. “Okay,” she says again.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. You can… you can be a half-girl, half-guy.” And it sounds simple and a little obscene, when she says it. Maybe not obscene. Maybe more like tantalizing.

“I don’t know,” Steve whispers. “Is that, like… allowed?”

Steve finally turns to look at Robin. Her eyes are big and full of thought. It feels stupid, thinking like that, but there’s nothing else to describe it. Steve can see the thoughts dancing around in her pupils and irises and whatever else is in an eye. It’s so beautiful. Steve loves her so much.

“... I think that you can do whatever you want,” Robin whispers back. “And be whatever you want.”

Steve’s face crumples, just a little bit. Not enough that it means tears, but enough to bring the idea to mind. Steve pinches Steve’s nose. “It can’t be that simple, though.”

Robin tilts her head in a way that can only be described as birdlike. She hates when people compare her to birds, just because of her name, but it fits right now, in the secrecy of Steve’s brain. She looks serious and intent. “Why not?”

“Nobody has ever done this before. I think.”

“Nobody that we know of. We live in Hawkins, Steve, we know like, 500 people. There are probably people in New York, or Chicago, or whatever, that feel exactly like you.”

Steve can’t reconcile with that. It feels so lonely, being like this. It feels inherently lonely.

“And even if you are the only one in the world that feels like this… Well, that’s fine! You can be whoever you want! Especially around me.” Robin grabs Steve’s hands in her own. Her hands are always so cold. Steve loves to hold them and feel them warm up bit by bit. It’s grounding, especially right now.

“I don’t want you to hide yourself. Not from me. I hid for so long, around everyone else, and it was killing me.” Robin’s eyes bore into Steve’s. “And I didn’t know it was killing me, but looking back, it’s like, wow, I was going to die.” Her voice cracks, just a little bit, and Steve makes an involuntary noise. Holds her hands just a little tighter. The warmth is already equalizing between them. “And, I don’t know. I don’t want you to get there. Or, if… you’re there already, I don’t want you getting any further.”

Sometimes it astounds Steve, just how much Robin gets things. This isn’t one of those times, though. It feels deeply right, and deeply sad.

“Alright,” Steve says.

“You won’t hide this from me? After this?”

A shake of the head. “No.” And it sounds so easy, promising this. Maybe it can be easy. Steve hopes it will be easy.

“I love you,” Robin says, and she pulls Steve into a hug. Steve melts into it. Robin gives very bony and kinda twitchy hugs, minute movements every few seconds, and Steve loves them. Robin, a while ago, maybe a couple months after Starcourt, had expressed anxiety about her hugs being ‘godawful uncomfortable,’ her words, but Steve had denied that fiercely. Her hugs were God’s gift to mankind, and if everyone else hated it, fine. More for Steve.

“I love you too,” Steve says into her chest.

They lapse into silence again. Steve thinks about asking for some water, but that would mean one or both of them leaving this room, and all possible configurations seem worse than the lack of water, right now. Steve presses closer into Robin.

“Another question.”

“Yeah?”

“So, you like Steve and Evie, and you’re a girl and a guy. Do you like he and she?”

There’s the dreaded question. Steve can’t hold back a groan. “I don’t know,” Steve says into her chest. “I’ve kinda, thought about it a bit, but… both of them feel weird, by themselves. I guess I like both, but only when they’re next to each other. I can’t really decide on one.”

Robin hums in consideration. “I mean, we’re making all this up as we go. If they don’t feel right by themselves, then why do they have to be by themselves?”

Steve thinks about it. “It feels like they’re supposed to cancel each other out,” Steve says, voicing a thought from earlier.

“They clearly don’t, at least in your case.” Robin presses her cheek to the top of Steve’s head, flattening the hair there. “Don’t think about how things should be. Think about what you want.”

What Steve wants. Okay.

He thinks about he. She thinks about she. And how, apart, they really only feel like half of himself, but together, they feel like they tell the whole story and show the whole picture.

Steve can’t help but think about those optical illusions Dustin had shown her a while back. The one with the two faces. If you concentrated, you see whichever one you wanted at will. And they seemed so opposed, yet so intertwined, and you couldn’t have one face without the other. Maybe he’s an optical illusion. It’s better than being evil.

“Okay. Yeah. Both are good.” Steve can feel Robin smile into her hair.

“Do you want me to use them both?”

Steve feels a flash of panic. “Um— augh. Not… not around other people, um, but—”

Robin squeezes him closer. “Oh, God, obviously!” she says, and Steve is so grateful that they’re on the same page, like, 90% of the time, and that this falls into that 90%. “I can sneak them into conversations between us. Pronouns don’t really pop up in conversations between two people, but maybe if we got a cat or a goldfish or a turtle I could talk to it about you in front of you. Or is that weird? Hm. It might be weird.”

Steve can’t help the smile dawning on her face. Maybe everything will be okay. “It’s kinda weird. But we should do it anyway.”

Robin laughs, and Steve still has his face buried in her chest, so he can feel it. “Yeah,” she says fondly. “I guess that hasn’t stopped us before.”

#steve harrington #robin buckley #stobin #trans steve harrington #genderqueer steve harrington #bigender steve harrington #stranger things #little by little. everyone will believe in my vision of bigender steve #and okay this wasn't really 'edited' or whatever the kids are saying these days but thats fine i'm still proud of this :) #i just love them so much <3 steve and robin figuring things out... #do not know how to write them without having a sappy ending its kinda just inherent in the stobin of it all #anyway ENJOYYYY me and my girlfriend are gonna go out and have a date day :) #quincy.txt #my fics

[therandomfandomme]

The tabloids that are loosing their shit about rockstar Eddie Munson, bc he's been spotted around with a boy and later a girl, like full on making out both times, and while he doesn't like talking about his private life they know he has a partner that he talked about in interviews. And this is quite the scandal, it's plastered on every cover, yet there hasn't been a public fight, no one trying to come and cash in by doing an exclusive interview about being cheated on my Eddie Munson and they just don't understand. Meanwhile at home genderfluid Steve is reading the tabloids to Eddie as they lounge on the couch and laugh about it, bc it has always been Steve in the pictures, so the tabloids are claiming Eddie is cheating on Steve... with Steve

#rrrambles #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #famous eddie munson #genderfluid steve harrington #genderqueer steve harrington #trans steve harrington #eddie lives au

[halfadoginatank]

Ooooh Stephanie!

A Steph for the real ones, based on an image of Cindy Crawford from the 80s bc she just exuded stevie energy there.

Her tattoos are an ice cream scoop with S+R and Dart the demodog with a few flowers and a four leaf clover. Because if any other dog was in the tunnels they woulda been toast <3

#illustration #platonic stobin #stobin #genderqueer steve harrington #steve harrington #stranger things #transfem steve harrington #stevie harrington #dart the demodog #funfact I showed my dad the ref for this and he proceeded to show me George Michaels music video for freedom '90 where she comes in halfway #also I didn't know George Michael was gay until he confirmed it but I watched the video and went 'oh he's gay isn't he' #I faked the brick wall #im not drawing all that

[strangerthingscharityzine]

The Zine Is Live!!!

IT'S HERE!!!!!

The Stranger Things LGBTQ+ Charity Zine is officially available! For a donation of at least $5, you'll receive a 55 page zine of 13 original works of art and writing that celebrate LGBTQ+ themes and characters in the Stranger Things Universe.

All proceeds from this zine will be donated to TREES, Inc., Transgender Resource, Education and Enrichment Services, advocating for the wellbeing of trans people in Indiana and beyond!

GET THE ZINE!!!!!

#stranger things #steddie #eddie munson #ronance #steve harrington #jargyle #fruity four #robin buckley #elumax #byler is canon #robin x chrissy #chrissy cunningham #platonic stobin #love is love #lgbtq #lgbtq rights #protect trans kids #trans rights #genderqueer steve harrington #corroded coffin

[charlie-jl]

Stevie

Lyrics from Not Strong Enough by Biygenius

Love her

#genderqueer steve harrington #genderfluid steve harrington #steve harrington fanart #bi steve harrington #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things 4 #deaf steve harrington

[augustjustice]

Genderqueer Steve Harrington is like...simultaneously both a soft butch and a drag queen stacked together in a single trenchcoat. To me.

#stranger things #steve harrington #genderqueer steve harrington #genderfluid steve harrington #the point is steve is gender™ #ping ponging all over the spectrum in my mind and i love that for him

[missingthemantaray]

there’s something so trans about steve harrington

#genderqueer steve harrington #t4t steddie #transfem steve harrington #trans steve harrington #babygirl steve harrington #stranger things #steddie

[wrayofmoonshine]

i love you flamboyant gay steve harrington i love you boring gay steve harrington i love you polo shirt gay steve harrington i love you punk aesthetic gay steve harrington i love you trans man steve harrington i love you trans woman stevie harrington i love you intersex steve harrington i love you genderqueer steve harrington i love you non-binary steve harrington i love you bi-gender steve harrington i love you agender steve harrington i love you any pronouns steve harrington i love you he/she steve harrington i love you they/them steve harrington i love you trans but still he/him steve harrington i love you cis but gnc steve harrington i love you bisexual steve harrington i love you pansexual steve harrington i love you homosexual steve harrington i love you unlabeled steve harrington i love you unmatched gaydar steve harrington i love you clueless about it all steve harrington i love you steve harrington with internalized homophobia who is terrified i love you steve harrington who is immediately kissing boys i love you recovering comphet steve harrington i love you twink steve harrington i love you otter steve harrington i love you bear steve harrington i love you polyamorous steve harrington i love you demisexual and/or demiromantic steve harrington i love you aroace steve harrington

i love you every single variation of queer steve harrington out there you are so so important to me you are what makes the whole world go round <3

#steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things 5 #bisexual steve harrington #genderqueer steve harrington #trans steve harrington #steddie #queer steve harrington #babygirl steve harrington

[ghosttotheparty]

lessons in femininity

part two of pretty girls part 1 also on ao3

Steve never intended on telling anyone.

Not a soul.

But Eddie fucking Munson pried it out of his chest, so patiently and tenderly and lovingly that Steve let him.

And now Steve is on his way to his best friend’s house because her parents aren’t home, and his hands are shaking, and he can’t really breathe, but even though he feels like he might die, he has a weird feeling he’s going to be fine.

He stops his car about a block away, taking a deep breath and squeezing the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white. And then he steels himself, tensing as he pulls into Robin’s driveway.

———

No, I’m fine, I just… I need to tell you something.

Robin’s had a pit in her stomach since Steve called her and asked if he could come over, anxiety and a little bit of fear knitted inside her because of the way Steve’s voice was shaking.

He gives her a weak smile when she opens the door for him, and she pulls him inside.

“What’s wrong?”

He laughs lightly, pushing his hands in his pockets. He does that when he’s nervous.

“Nothing wrong, I just… gotta tell you something.”

“What is it?” Robin asks anxiously.

“Uh.” Steve pauses, pushing his hand through his hair. “Can we sit?”

“Wanna go to my room?” Robin asks. Steve nods.

He follows her down the hall, and she shuts the door as he sits cross-legged on her bed even though there’s no one else home. He’s looking at the painting on her wall that she did when she was fourteen. A shitty ufo abducting a cow. He loves that painting.

“What’s going on?” she asks, crawling onto the bed.

“Uhm.” He takes a deep, shaky breath and pushes his glasses up. “I’m, uhm.”

“Steve,” she says softly. He shakes his head, smiling weakly.

“I’m fine, I swear,” he says, because sometimes he can read her mind. She wishes she could read his right now. He takes a deep breath, his hands on his knees, straightening his arms out like he’s bracing himself. “Okay. I’m— I’m queer.”

She stares at him, wide-eyed, and she relaxes, slumping, and her lips curve into a slow smile. His eyes cut up to hers.

“Oh,” she says softly. “Steve, that’s…”

He takes a breath.

“It’s not— It’s not just…” He pushes his hair back again. His hands are shaking. Robins’s stomach twists, and she reaches out, taking his hands in her own, pulling at them until Steve shifts. Their legs wrap around each other and she cradles his hands gently.

“What is it?”

“So…” He exhales shakily, playing with her fingers. “I like… I like men. Also.”

“Cool,” she says softly.

“But I also, uhm…” He blinks hard, swaying slightly, his hands tightening on Robin’s.

“Steve?”

“Sorry,” he says softly. “Just got a little lightheaded, ‘m fine.”

“Are you gonna have a migraine?” she asks worriedly. “Should I close the curtains?”

“No, it’s okay, don’t worry.”

“You can’t tell me you’re lightheaded and then tell me you're fine--"

"I'm fine,” he insists, laughing softly, squeezing her hands. “I’m just nervous, I’m okay.”

“You don’t have to be nervous, you can tell me anything.”

“I know,” he says adamantly. “‘S just— I wasn’t ever gonna tell you because it’s— I think it’s weird, but Eddie says it’s not weird,” he says quietly, looking at their linked hands. “And you’re my best friend in the world, so I want you to know, but I just— I don’t know how to say it.”

“You told Eddie?”

“Yeah,” he says, looking at her nervously.

“Tell me what you told him.”

Steve takes a deep breath.

“Okay. Uhm.” He looks at their hands again, tracing a line on her palm carefully like he’s drawing it. “So. I don’t think…” He hesitates, wincing. “I know,” he corrects. “I’m not just… a guy.”

She blinks, closing her fingers around his hand, listening intently.

“Okay,” she says softly.

“I’m— I’m a girl too. Kind of. I’m both,” he says choppily, anxiously, his hands trembling. She squeezes. “Eddie says he— he’s met people like me. Transsexuals and…” He takes a gasping breath, and she leans forward and presses a kiss to his forehead.

“‘S cool, Steve,” she says gently, squeezing his hands. “That’s okay.”

“I don’t— It’s not that I want to be a woman,” Steve says anxiously. “I’m just… I wouldn’t mind it? I like… being called pretty, and— and Eddie called me a girl and I really liked it.”

Robin listens, ignoring the curiosity that’s curling in her chest. (She wonders why Steve started all this by saying he likes men. Why Eddie was the first person he told about all of this. But at the same time, she doesn’t really wonder. Maybe she can read his mind the way he can read hers.)

“But at the same time I don’t, like, mind being called dude, or being seen as a man.” He’s quiet for a second. “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah,” Robin whispers. “That makes sense.”

He swallows nervously, biting his lip.

“Steve,” she says softly. “It’s fine. I’m not… judging you or anything. Not about this.”

He shoots her a look, scoffing, blinking tears out of his eyes. She wipes one away.

“Your taste in movies, sure,” she teases, and he laughs softly. “But not about this, not about who you are.”

She leans in, resting her forehead on his, and he takes a soft, gasping breath.

“I love you, Steve,” she murmurs. “Okay? No matter what.”

He lets go of her hands and wraps his arms around her neck, pulling her into a tight hug. She squeezes her eyes shut, moving forward so she’s sitting between his legs, her legs around his waist, and she runs a hand over the back of his head when she feels him inhale slowly.

She sighs when they separate, patting his cheek. He laughs softly.

“If I talk about you to Eddie how should I refer to you?” she asks.

“Uh.” He looks away, smiling softly like he doesn’t even realise he’s smiling. “He. I think. I don’t really know.”

“That’s okay.”

“We’re gonna go to, uhm, a queer bar in Indy,” Steve tells her, smiling crookedly, happily. “And he said I can try new things out. Being a girl.”

She smiles back.

“Eddie, huh?”

His face flushes red and he rubs his cheek bashfully, his eyes shining. Robin pokes his stomach, cooing, and he rolls his eyes, throwing himself onto his back.

But Robin’s legs are still around him, and she goes down with him, shouting his name. He wraps his arms around her tightly, laughing loudly.

“You’re so annoying.”

“You love me.”

“Ugh.”

They’re quiet for a moment, still giggling as they hold each other, until she sits up abruptly and looks down at him.

“How do you feel about makeup?”

“Uh. I’ve never worn it.”

“Would you like to?”

“…I’m open to the idea.”

She beams, scrambling to get up off of him, and he sighs heavily.

When she comes back with her makeup bags in hand, he’s sitting cross-legged on her bed, looking at the mural again.

“God, you really like that painting,” she says, sitting across from him.

“I want one,” he says. “When I get my own apartment.”

“I’ll do it for you,” she says lightly. “If you supply the paint.”

“Deal.”

“So, Eddie,” she says as she pulls his glasses off his face and hooks them on the front of her shirt. He rolls his eyes, blushing again. “Come on,” she says adamantly, rummaging through a bag. He watches, squinting. “I never got to gush about crushes and stuff with my friends.”

“‘S not really a crush,” Steve mutters quietly. She freezes as she’s pulling blush out.

“What’s that mean?”

Steve looks down, his fingers tangled in his lap.

“‘S my boyfriend,” he mumbles.

She smacks his shoulder.

“You asswipe, why didn’t you tell me?”

“It only happened like a few days ago,” he says defensively.

“Fine,” she says, reaching for the blush brush. “Strong tally on the You Rule board.”

He beams brightly, and the apples of his cheeks rise. Robin grins and puts the blush on them.

“So how’d it happen?” she asks, leaning back to make sure the blush is even. His left cheek is pinker, so she adds more to the right. “You and Eddie.”

“Uh.” He closes his eyes. “I think we’ve always had, like. A thing.”

“Uh-huh.” She brushes it over his nose.

“He was over with the kids for Hellfire at my place the other day. And we— Oh you’re gonna hate this.”

She rolls her eyes as she puts the blush away.

“Just tell me.”

“We went out for a smoke.”

Robin groans loudly. He laughs. She looks through her eyeshadows as they talk.

“Whatever.”

“I only went because I wanted to be near him.

“Sickeningly romantic, Steve.”

“Thanks. Anyway, I followed him out, and when I went to light my cigarette, he stopped me and said that pretty girls never light their own cigarettes.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah, it like… did something to me.”

“Gross.”

He laughs, and she finally settles on a colour, using her finger to brush it over his eyelid. He flinches back for a moment before he relaxes again.

“And?” she prompts. She can’t stop smiling.

“It felt nice,” he says softly. “I haven’t been called a girl since I was a kid. At least not in like… a nice way?”

“Yeah?”

“I couldn’t really, like… laugh it off. And he could tell something was up, so after the kids left, we… talked.”

“Talked,” Robin repeats slowly.

“We talked,” he insists. “I explained everything, and he was really… sweet. And then we made out for a while. And stuff.”

“Oh my god.”

He grins.

She rummages for her brushes and looks though the eyeshadow again.

“Is he a good kisser?” she asks as she starts working again.

“Mm.”

“Don’t moan—”

“I didn’t moan, that was an affirmative noise. You’re so dramatic.”

“Whatever.”

“How’s Vickie?”

“Vickie…” She sighs, smudging the makeup carefully. “She’s great.“

“But?”

“But. I don’t know,” she sighs again, touching his chin to make him tilt his head. “We’re, like… really similar. Which I didn’t know until we started hanging out. But like… We even have the same haircut, Steve.”

Steve snorts, and she swats at his nose.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not. Anyway, she’s really cool, and I do like her, ‘s just… We went out a while ago and our waitress and another customer both thought we were sisters. Not even friends, Steve. Sisters. Which, like, I go out with you, people think we’re siblings, that’s fine, that’s kinda funny, you know? We’re best friends, we can be siblings, whatever. But a girl I wanna date? God, it was so awkward, Steve.”

“So you’re not seeing her again?”

“I don’t think so,” she sighs. “Maybe it’ll be more fun to hang out with her without, like… trying to be in a relationship with her? Think I’d like to be her friend. And…” She trails off, pulling her hands away from Steve’s face.

“And?”

She exhales, his chest tightening.

“God, I’m an awful friend.”

“I just told you I’m a girl with a dick and you said ‘That’s cool,’ and promptly started doing my makeup. You’re a good friend, Robin.”

He opens his eyes and looks at her. The makeup looks nice.

“And what?” he prompts softly.

She fidgets with the makeup brush in her hands, spinning it the way she spins her pens.

“I think… maybe part of the reason I’m not super into Vickie anymore because I might be kinda, really into, uhm. Nancy.”

She looks up at him nervously, but he just smiles.

“Cool.”

“Steve. It’s not cool.”

“It’s cool.”

“Steve.” She glares at him halfheartedly. “…It’s not cool.”

“It’s fine,” Steve says, smiling, leaning forward in emphasis.

“She’s your ex.”

“She’s my friend.” He reaches up and holds her chin. She can tell that Steve can’t see her clearly, his eyes not entirely focussed on her, but it doesn’t seem to matter. “And you’re my best friend. And I want you to be happy.”

She frowns, her eyes burning.

“You should go for it,” he says, letting go of her. She pulls his face closer, and his eyes fall shut.

“She doesn’t even like girls,” Robin grumbles.

“You don’t know that.”

“And you do?”

He shrugs.

“I didn’t know I liked guys for a good while.”

“‘S true,” she mutters.

Steve smiles absently as she finishes his makeup, even when he tells her not to stab his eye with the mascara.

She leans back when she finishes, satisfied. His eyelids are a shimmery pink, soft blue fluffed out around his lash lines. His eyelashes are dark and long, his cheeks pink, and they flush even pinker when Robin says softly, “You look pretty.”

“You think?”

“Here.” She pulls his glasses off her shirt and hands them to him, reaching for the pocket mirror as he puts them on. His eyes widen when he looks into it, his smile softening.

“Oh.”

“You wanna try on a dress, pretty girl?” Robin asks, grinning.

“Can I?”

Her grin widens, and she scrambles out of bed to her closet.

He goes to the bathroom down the hall to change, and she sorts her makeup out as she waits.

“Robin, I don’t know…”

She looks up, and the makeup bag slips from her fingers. Steve is standing in the doorway, looking down at himself. The dress is blue, matching his makeup, and the skirt flows when he shifts his weight.

She sits heavily on the bed as he looks up at her.

“Woah.”

“Woah?” he questions, rubbing his hands over the dress. “Good woah?”

“Yeah,” she says, grinning, looking him up and down. She picked the dress for him to pick because it fit her weirdly, but it fits him perfectly, hugging his waist and chest. “You’re keeping that.”

“Wha— I can’t just keep your dress, Robin.”

“It doesn’t even fit me, Steve,” she says, still looking at him. “You’re keeping it.��

He looks back down at the dress quietly, running his hands over it slowly, and his lips curve into a small smile.

“…Okay.”

“Do you feel pretty?”

He pauses, swaying slightly and watching the skirt twirl.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “I do.”

“Gimme a spin.”

He does, grinning brightly when she squeals excitedly as the skirt twirls around his legs.

“You gotta show Eddie,” she says, bouncing up and down in excitement. “He’s gonna love it.”

“You think?” Steve asks in a small voice, nervously.

“For sure.”

He tackles her onto the bed, and she cackles, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

“Can I do your makeup?” he asks after a minute. “Will you teach me?”

“Oh my god, yes.”

Steve is a fast learner. His hands are gentle as he runs the brushes and his fingers softly over her skin, and she thinks she could fall asleep here.

They take photos with her Polaroid when he finishes. One for her, one for Steve, and one more for Eddie, the bottoms all inscribed with S + R 1989.

She makes Steve take some makeup home with him the next day, just for days he wants to feel pretty. And for when he goes to Indy with Eddie.

~~~~~~~~~

“Munson residence.”

“So formal, Eddie.”

Eddie grins, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes to listen to Steve’s voice, slightly staticky over the phone.

“Gotta be, just in case. What’s goin’ on, sweetheart?”

“Not much, I just…”

Eddie tilts his head.

“Just?”

“Uhm. Can you come over?” Steve asks softly.

“Are you alright?” Eddie asks, standing up straight, furrowing his brows. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, no, I’m— I’m fine, baby, I just… I have something to show you.”

“To show me?” Eddie repeats, raising his eyebrows. “Is this a surprise?”

“Yes?”

“Am I gonna like it?”

“I think so?”

Eddie grins, licking his lips and looking across the room at his shoes.

“I‘ll head over in a few minutes. ‘M cleaning the kitchen for Wayne.”

“Okay. More time for me to get ready.”

“Get ready?” Eddie repeats, raising his eyebrows, smiling and biting his lip. “My interest is piqued.”

“Good.” Steve is quiet for a moment, but Eddie can practically hear his smile. “I miss you.”

“It’s been two days, babygirl.”

“God, tell me about it.”

“…I miss you too,” Eddie says quietly, pulling his hair to hide his face.

“Lame.”

“Okay,” Eddie says, rolling his eyes, still smiling. “I’m gonna clean faster than I’ve ever cleaned in my life and then I’ll head over.”

“Okay. Uhm. Just come upstairs when you get here, don’t knock or anything.”

“Oh, I am so curious,” Eddie says adamantly, his stomach fluttering.

“Go clean.”

“Going cleaning. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Lame.”

Eddie hears him snort as he hangs the phone up, and his hands flap joyfully as he heads back to the kitchen.

If he speeds on the way to Steve’s, that’s no one’s business but his.

He kicks his shoes off at the door, looking around happily at all the shit the kids have left behind. Jackets and hats and worksheets and pens and dice.

“Stevie,” he sings as he heads up the stairs, and he knocks a quiet rhythm on his door before swinging it open. “Hey, sweet— Oh.”

He freezes, his smile falling as his eyes land on Steve, sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling up at him.

He’s wearing a dress.

A pretty blue dress that fans out over his knees as he kicks his socked feet, holding the edge of the bed. His eyes blink behind his glasses, his eyelids shimmery and pink, his lashes dark. His cheeks are flushed.

“Hi,” he says softly.

Eddie leans against the wall, shutting the door without blinking, and he slides to the floor. His mouth is hanging open, his eyes wide, and he exhales sharply. Steve giggles softly.

“Stand,” Eddie says softly, absently, and Steve does, standing and holding his arms out, swaying to make the skirt twirl a little bit.

“Wow,” Eddie breathes.

“You like it?”

Eddie blinks at him, his eyes scanning over the way the fabric of the dress stretches over his waist, the way the neckline dips to show his chest hair, the way the thin fabric of the short sleeves flutter when he moves. Eddie looks at his face, at the blush on his cheek and his shining eyelids, the way the mascara makes his eyes even brighter.

“Eddie?” Steve says softly, and Eddie blinks.

“You look beautiful, princess,” he whispers.

Steve’s face turns even more pink, and he slides his hands over the dress.

“Really?”

Eddie scoffs, gazing up at him. His whole body aches with the desire to touch him, and his chest is tight. He can’t really breathe.

“Jesus, Stevie.”

Steve grins, twirling the skirt again, and then he sits in front of Eddie, crossing his legs and draping the skirt over his lap carefully.

Eddie moves forward, swallowing thickly.

“Can I touch you?”

“Please.”

Eddie reaches out and slides his hands over Steve’s arms, squeezing his biceps gently, and he leans in, pressing a kiss to his shoulder over the fabric.

“So pretty, Stevie,” he murmurs, kissing the side of his neck.

“Robin showed me how to use her makeup,” Steve says quietly. Eddie looks at him, at the shimmer of his eyelids.

“You did a good job.”

“You think so?”

Eddie reaches up and touches his face gently, brushing his thumbs over his cheeks, under his glasses. He gazes at him, at his eyelashes and the moles that spot his skin. His lips.

He runs his thumb over his bottom lip, pulls at it a little bit, smiling with Steve is pliant and parts his lips like Eddie’s going to press his thumb into his mouth.

“You ever think about lipstick?”

He kisses Steve before he can answer, and Steve smiles against his mouth, reaching to hold his face. His hands are soft.

“Might be a problem if I can’t keep my lips off you, though,” Eddie adds softly, holding Steve’s chin.

Steve hums.

“Could be fun to get it all over your face.”

Eddie’s eyebrows raise.

“You are… awakening things inside me.”

Steve giggles brightly, tugging at Eddie’s shirt and moving up onto his knees, pulling Eddie forward and then pushing him to lay on his back on the floor.

Steve crawls over him, straddling his waist, setting the skirt delicately, and Eddie feels like he could cry.

“You look like a fucking angel,” Eddie says softly. “Holy shit.”

“What’s your favourite colour lipstick?” Steve asks, grinning, settling his weight on Eddie. His hands press over Eddie’s chest.

“Red,” Eddie says softly.

“What kinda red?”

“…Bright.”

“I’ll find some,” Steve says softly, leaning down, pressing on Eddie’s chest. He presses a slow kiss just beside Eddie’s mouth. “Mark you up.”

“Oh my god,” Eddie says weakly, keening as Steve starts to press kiss over his cheeks and jaw. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

Steve is gigging against his skin, gripping the front of his shirt.

“You okay?”

“Stevie, I got the prettiest girl in Hawkins holding me onto the ground and lovin’ on me, I’m so fucking okay.”

Steve sits up to take his glasses off, and he sets them aside before burying his face in Eddie’s neck.

~~~~~~~~~

It’s starting to rain by the time the girls get to Steve’s house. Erica pulls her hood up over her head and El is covering her eyes with a hand as they follow Max up the stairs, where she bangs on the door obnoxiously.

It takes a few seconds before Steve flings the door open, his eyes wide.

“Jesus,” he says when his eyes meet Max’s. “What the hell?”

“We’re having a girls’ day,” she says, looking up at him. He looks different these days. Lighter. His hair looks softer. His cheeks are pinker. And he smells different, warmer, less like a guys’ locker room.

“Okay?” he says, looking at Erica and El. “Why are you here?”

“They’re doing maintenance at my place,” Max says. “The guys are all at the Sinclairs’, and Jonathan and Argyle are getting high at the Byers-Hoppers’.”

Steve blinks blankly at her.

“We’d hang out at the quarry or something, but…” She gestures at the sky, and his eyes follow, looking at the dark clouds and the sprinkling rain. “Can we come in?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

He holds the door open for them. Max punches his side gently as she passes.

They go to the living room after kicking off their shoes. Steve takes their coats and hangs them up by the door.

“You guys need anything?” he asks as they get settled on the sofa.

Erica sets her chin on the back of it, looking over at him in the entry of the living room.

“Can you feed us?”

“Uh. I can order pizza.”

“Ah, fuck yeah,” Max says. Steve clicks his tongue.

“Language.”

“Can you get one with pineapple?” El asks. “Please?”

She’s Steve’s favourite.

“Yeah, sure,” he says, smiling. “Even though it’s gross.”

“Try before you deny,” El says lightly, turning to open her backpack. Steve scoffs.

“You spend too much time with Argyle.”

“He’s funny.”

Steve goes to order the pizza. Max puts on a movie while Erica and El sort through their nail polish collections, discussing which colours they want.

Erica chooses a vibrant purple. El chooses a coral pink. Max chooses a dark blue.

While they wait for the pizza, Steve brings them soda. Mello Yello for Max and Pepsis for Erica and El. Max sees his eyes linger on the nail polish, on Erica painting El’s nails carefully, meticulously. He seems to get stuck for a few seconds, watching almost curiously.

So the next time he comes in with a bowl of chopped apples and grapes and strawberries, she stops him.

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“…Can I paint your nails?”

She’s almost joking, prepared to laugh it off, prepared for him to scoff and roll his eyes and say whatever. But he looks back at her for a moment, and then—

“Yeah, sure.”

El gasps in excitement, wiggling for a moment in her seat as she reaches for the bag of nail polish, careful not to mess up her nails.

“Wait, really?” Erica says, looking up at him, her eyes and smile wide.

“Yeah, why not?”

“What colour do you want?” Max asks as Steve sits on the floor in front of the sofa, looking up at her.

“You guys pick.”

He listens as they bicker together, and they eventually settle on a shade of pink so pale it’s almost white. Max expects Steve to argue or wrinkle his nose at it, but he just smiles and sets his hands out on the sofa for them to work.

“How do you do that so neatly?” he asks curiously, watching El’s hands.

She shows him, reciting everything Joyce told her a few years ago, carefully pressing the brush up near his cuticles, holding the tip of his finger to avoid getting paint on the skin around his nails, and he watches raptly, open-mouthed as if in awe. Max catches Erica’s eye over his head and they both giggle.

The pizza arrives as El is painting his right hand, holding it up close to her face, her brows furrowed adorably in concentration, and Erica goes to get it. Max holds slices in front of Steve’s face for him to take bites from as his nails are painted, and Erica does the same for El.

El asks Steve if he wants to try putting the top coat on her nails. He does, seemingly remembering everything she said, his eyes wide, brows furrowed, tongue poking over his lips in concentration. El smiles the whole time.

They put on another movie when they finish with everyone’s nails. Steve won’t stop smiling, glancing at his while they finish the pizza and fruit. El curls up against his side after she finishes eating. He presses a kiss to the top of her head.

Max lays her head on El’s lap, closing her eyes when she feels her fingers run through her hair, carefully untangling it.

When she wakes up, her glasses are on the coffee table next to the empty pizza boxes. She sits up slowly, squinting, and finds them before she looks at the others.

El is still laying against Steve, her cheek squishing against his chest, and Erica is on his other side, her legs across his lap, her face on his shoulder. Steve’s glasses are crooked, and his mouth is hanging open, his head resting on the back of the sofa. Max smiles, rubbing her face.

She stands, wobbly, when there’s a noise in the kitchen, and she quietly exits the room, squinting again, this time out of suspicion.

Eddie is at the stove, humming to himself as he scrapes eggs on a pan.

“Eddie?”

He turns, raising his eyebrows. He’s wearing a frilly apron, the words #1 MOM across his chest, a gag gift from the boys to Steve.

“Mornin’, Red.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Came by to see Stevie,” he says lightly, turning back to the stove. “Walked in on that sweet cuddle fest in the living room. I considered joining but I didn’t wanna wake you guys up.”

“Huh.”

She stretches, yawning and looking around the kitchen. Her eyes catch on the fridge. There’s a new Polaroid photo stuck to it with the drawings Erica and Will have given Steve. (There’s one of him as a knight. Max thinks that’s Steve’s favourite. He wouldn’t stop staring at it when Will handed it to him.)

She gets closer. Even with her coke-bottle glasses, her vision isn’t very good.

“You took a picture?”

She stares at it. Her own sleeping face, partially hidden by her hair, El’s hand resting on her head. El’s face on Steve’s chest, his arm around her, his other around Erica. In the photo, the pink of his nails is barely visible, but the angle shows the bottles of nail polish on the coffee table.

“Yeah,” Eddie says, scooping the eggs into a bowl. “Had to. Walkin’ into a cute scene like that. I’d paint it if I could.”

She snorts.

Eddie sits on the table when he finishes cooking. (Eggs and french toast, like was in a mission to use every egg in the fridge.) She sits down she can lay her head on his leg as he sips her coffee.

“Will you give me a tattoo when I turn eighteen?”

“I don’t know how to tattoo people, Red.”

“Will you take me to get a tattoo when I turn eighteen?”

“Yeah, sure. What do you want?”

“Hm.” She nuzzles into his leg, and he sips his coffee noisily, running a hand through her hair. She’s grateful he doesn’t have many rings on. “Maybe some Kate Bush lyrics.”

“Fuck, that’s smart. I should get some.”

She snorts.

“You a Kate Bush fan?”

“Definitely,” he says, his voice echoing in the mug before he sips again. “Kept you around, didn’t she?”

She tries, unsuccessfully, to suppress a smile.

The others join them after a while. Steve looks more awake than El and Erica, and Max wonders if he woke up and just stayed there for a while.

As the girls are serving themselves, Steve joins Eddie at the coffee maker. Max watches as Steve holds his hand up so Eddie can see his nails, smiling almost proudly. Eddie smiles in a way Max has never seen before. He looks like he might cry. They exchange a few words that Max can’t hear, and a nod, and then just as Max is about to look away, Eddie lifts Steve’s hand to his lips and pecks the back of it, his eyes shining.

Max’s eyebrows fly up, and she expects Steve to smack him away with a good-natured laugh, but Steve twists his hand to hold Eddie’s chin for a second, and then he turns away. He’s smiling. Eddie is gazing at him.

Max tears her eyes away, trying to suppress her own smile.

It makes sense, she guesses as she places slices of french toast on her plate. Why Eddie walks into the Harrington house like he lives there. Why last week he was wearing a red sweater that Max knew belongs to Steve. Why he calls Steve Stevie. Why Steve’s eyes follow him around every time the Party hangs out. Why he wears Eddie’s red guitar pick around his neck. (It’s usually under his shirt or sweater, but he has a tendency to fidget, and Max is observant.)

She douses the french toast in maple syrup.

“That is so much syrup, holy shit,” Steve says, staring at her plate, wide-eyed.

“It’s the food of gods, Steven.”

“Christ.”

She sits next to Erica so Steve and Eddie can sit next to each other.

#decided to turn it into a three part series #part three is the indy trip :)))))) #v excited about it i have so many ideas #steve harrington #genderqueer steve harrington #robin buckley #max mayfield #eleven hopper #erica sinclair #eddie munson #steddie #stobin #platonic stobin #stranger things #stranger things fanfic

[findafight]

I am a hardline Steve is a "boring queer" truther. Yes he's bi and genderqueer!! Does he change pronouns? Nope! It's easier to use he/him and he doesn't care. Does he wear anything other than high waisted mom jeans and sweatshirts? Absolutely not. Just because gender means next to nothing to him both for himself and in regards to attraction doesn't mean he's going out of his way to do anything about it. He knows he looks like Just Some Jock but he's comfy!! His ass looks good! What more is there to clothes than that!

He goes to bed at ten and wakes up at six-thirty for a run before work. His favourite show is M*A*S*H. The most outlandish thing he's done besides Monster Killing is name his rescue cat WoodChipper because it kept trying to eat his porch.

#genderqueer steve Harrington #steve harrington #listen okay. let queer people dress and be boring. #let him be boring not everyone is exciting or looks queer or is Weird #steddie #eddie is like bro you are so aggressively normal why. and steve is like huh. idk. im comfy? i like sleeping early? #also YES this is nd steve with texture and temperature sensitivity because he's my blorbo i can project on him #stranger things #finda's rambles #he doesnt wear makeup because it Feels Gross it is such a bad Feeling.

[munsonkitten]

pregnancy, transmasc eddie, genderqueer steve - read on ao3

October bleeds into November, and over the course of the month, Steve notices some changes. Eddie doesn’t really get naked around him anymore, is the first thing, and Steve doesn’t feel like Eddie owes him that, but it does strike him as odd. They’ve both been very comfortable with each other, sharing their bodies for months now, but Eddie doesn’t take off that sweatshirt. He doesn’t let Steve slide his hands up it when they have sex, and he doesn’t let Steve shower with him anymore.

It’s all well and fine on its own, but then there’s everything else that comes along with it. Eddie wakes up sick a lot, rushes to the bathroom to dry heave into the toilet. Steve makes him plain toast, has him nibble on it until he’s feeling better. It’s not unusual, but Steve can’t help but think about everything he knows and how it lines up with the things going on with Eddie’s body. He makes a list on a scrap piece of paper when he’s working alone one day.

Gaining weight, but isn’t actually eating very much.

Sick a lot. (Morning sickness?)

Chest is sore. (Different than when it was still healing post-bats)

Unprotected sex while inconsistent with shots. (No period?)

The thing is, Steve fully believes Eddie actually thinks he can’t get pregnant, and he understands why Eddie would think that since his period didn’t come back, it means it couldn’t. He’s been thinking about it ever since Eddie admitted he hasn’t been doing his shots as often as he should. He’s been wondering about it, hoping that they started using condoms quickly enough, but he has this feeling in his stomach and chest that maybe they didn’t.

He doesn’t know how to broach the subject.

Steve goes home that night, thinks about just going over to Eddie’s after his mom asks too many questions Steve doesn’t want to answer, but he needs time to think. He tries to sneak away from his mom’s questions about work and friends, he tries to sneak away from the look on her face when he says he’s been hanging out with Eddie lately.

Just before he finally manages to run up the stairs, his dad comes into the hallway and says they won’t be home for Thanksgiving in a couple of days. That’s fine, it doesn’t really matter. They usually aren’t, taking the time to go on a trip just the two of them ever since Steve was old enough to be left alone. He doesn’t really care, already got an invitation to the Byers’ for the holiday, but it still stings, for some reason.

He pushes that down. It doesn’t matter.

He waits a second longer to see if there’s anything else they want to say to him, but the silence stretches on for too long. He runs up the stairs before they can change their minds and locks his bedroom door behind him. He sets his bag on the floor and puts on a record, one of Robin’s Bowie records she brought over and never brought back home. Diamond Dogs.

The music fills his room and he goes to his bag, double checking the door is locked before he pulls out the satin shorts Eddie bought for him. He runs his fingers over the material, over the lacy trim on them. The shorts slide through his fingers, cascading in a way too delicate for his large hands. He sets them down on his bed and looks at them. It’s not much, really. The shorts are just a little bit shorter than the ones he wore for basketball, but they’re thinner, prettier. They’re from the women’s section.

He likes them, but there’s something in his mind telling him he shouldn’t.

He looks over at the lock on his bedroom door again, strains his ears to make sure no one is coming down the hallway.

With a deep breath, he pushes down his jeans and underwear and steps out of them. As the blue shorts slide up his legs, his hands tremble, his throat tightens. He thinks about what Eddie said the last time he wore them.

Beautiful, Steve. Pretty baby.

He pulls them up, waistband snug around his waist. His dick threatens to fall out of the leg, but there’s not much to be done about that. He thinks about his jockstraps hidden away in his closet along with his old sports stuff. He thinks about the way that might feel, to have those two contrasting layers of masculinity and femininity, one on top of the other. Something comfortable and secure beneath the loose flowing garment.

Yeah, that… That doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea.

Wearing the shorts alone feels like too much in one direction, but when he puts on the jockstrap and then the shorts over them, it’s… Comfortable. This masculinity, underlying but there, keeping him comfortable and secure, and the added layer of delicate fabric…

It makes him start to cry, but in a way unlike how he felt that first time. The first time, he felt too raw, too flayed open, too unlike himself. He likes the way they look on him, but he had this feeling that it’s not quite right, not exactly.

This, looking down at himself, seeing the waistband of his jockstrap peeking out above the lace, this makes the tears fall in relief.

Rebel, Rebel plays in the background as the first side of the record winds to an end. Steve stands in front of his mirror and runs his hand down his bare chest, plays with the lace positioned over the dark hair beneath his navel. He looks at his scars, the raised pink peeking out of baby blue. It’s this perfect combination, he thinks. Not quite one thing or the other. Just Steve, comfortable and feeling pretty.

You’ve got your mother in a whirl.

‘Cause she’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl.

Hey, babe, your hair’s alright.

Hey, babe, let’s stay out tonight.

Steve doesn’t really remember what he needed to think about tonight.

* * *

It comes back to him, of course it does. He sees Eddie two days later, comes in after another shift Eddie called in sick to. He’s been doing that too much, three or four times in the last two weeks. Steve doesn’t think he can keep covering for him; Keith’s going to find out soon enough.

Eddie’s laying on the couch with Elrond sleeping on his stomach. The cat looks up at Steve when he walks in, blinks a few times, and then gently lowers his head back down. Eddie has a glass of water and a can of Sprite sitting on the coffee table, a half eaten sandwich on a plate beside them.

“Hey, baby,” Eddie says when he walks in. He sounds tired.

He tosses Elrond to the floor as he stands up, one hand immediately going to rest over his stomach.

Shit, Steve thinks. He doesn’t think Eddie knows. This morning when Eddie called him to tell him he wouldn’t make it in, he said he thinks he caught a bug. He sounded convinced it’s just regular sickness.

Eddie pulls him in for a kiss, and pulls back when Steve doesn’t immediately reciprocate.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asks skeptically.

“You’re sick,” Steve says.

“I’m feeling better,” Eddie says. “Honestly, Steve, I’m fine.”

“Eddie, I think you’re—”

“I’m good,” Eddie says before Steve can finish the sentence. He picks up the sandwich from the coffee table and brings it into the kitchen. “Let’s go to my room, yeah? Haven’t seen you in days.”

“Eddie,” Steve sighs.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Steve shrugs. He doesn’t know what to say because he could be wrong. And if he’s wrong, then what’s Eddie going to think? How embarrassing would it be to ask if someone’s pregnant just to find out they’ve only gained weight?

“I’m just tired,” Steve says. “Long day.”

Eddie nods, understanding falling over his face. He takes Steve by the hand and guides them down the hall to his bedroom. There, Eddie helps Steve out of his shirt and presses a soft kiss to his shoulder.

“Let me take care of you, then,” Eddie whispers.

“That’s my job,” Steve tells him.

Eddie shakes his head, a small smile on his lips. “Trust me, I’m not even going to try being on your level. Just want you to get comfortable.”

Instead of saying anything, Steve just lets Eddie undress him down to his underwear, and he lets Eddie guide him into bed.

Eddie settles beside him after kicking off his sweatpants, leaving him in just a pair of boxers and the sweatshirt he hasn’t taken off in weeks.

* * *

Eddie wakes up the next morning and races to the bathroom just as he does most mornings. It’s starting to concern him just a little bit. And not to mention the way Steve was acting last night, like he was about to say something, but just couldn’t get it out.

It’s not like Eddie hasn’t noticed the signs. At first, he thought it was because he quit smoking that he felt off, but then he evened out a bit and kept feeling weird, so he thought it might be testosterone withdrawals, but he’s been doing his shots for a few weeks now, back on track with it. And then, well, he started thinking about how diligent Steve’s been with condoms lately, how they haven’t fucked raw since the night before Eddie’s birthday because Steve’s been scared of pregnancy.

And Eddie gets that word in his head. He has it in his head when he pulls up his sweatshirt this morning and looks at the weight he’s gained. As he looks at the shape of his hips he associates too much with femininity and has been trying to hide. As he looks at his tits, the one and a half he has left, and considers the soreness, the swelling.

At first he was just hiding it because he didn’t like the way his weight gain was settling into his skin, adding onto his bones. He didn’t like the way his body has been shaping into something he’s never wanted. He thought, maybe, if Steve saw him like this, he wouldn’t be man enough for him anymore.

Now, the last few days, at least, he hides because he thinks it’ll go away.

He really wants it to go away.

* * *

Eddie comes back from the bathroom just as Steve rolls over and opens his eyes.

“Morning,” Steve says, reaching his hands out, an invitation to come back to bed.

Eddie looks uneasy as he climbs into Steve’s lap and settles over his thighs. He looks like he has something to hide. He got sick again, Steve thinks to himself. Eddie doesn’t like Steve to know how often it happens.

“Eddie,” Steve whispers. He runs his hands up under Eddie’s sweatshirt, feeling the roundness of his stomach, the extra weight. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough, enough for Steve to wonder, to need to ask. “Baby, I think—”

“Don’t,” Eddie says firmly. His eyes are screwed shut and he takes Steve’s wrists in his hands and drags them away. “Don’t say it, Steve.”

“I have to,” Steve whispers. “Eddie, you need to take a test.”

“I can’t.”

“It’s not gonna go away.”

“It could be nothing!”

Eddie climbs out of Steve’s lap, hand resting over his stomach.

“It could be nothing,” Eddie whispers again, hand rubbing lower, gentle up and downs, and then he stops, lip trembling. They both know. That instinct to protect, even if Eddie doesn’t believe there’s anything that needs protection.

“I’m going to the drug store,” Steve tells him. He climbs out of bed to find his clothes, slips into his shoes and finds his wallet sitting on Eddie’s desk. “You can come with, or not, but I’m going, and I’m getting you a fucking pregnancy test, and you’re gonna piss on it, and then if it’s negative, you can say it’s nothing.”

“When it’s negative,” Eddie insists.

“Sure,” Steve says impatiently.

And it’s barely an hour later that they’re sitting on the floor in the bathroom, hands clasped between them and a test sitting on the bathroom counter out of sight.

When enough time has passed, Steve reaches up and takes it into his hand, turning it over to see the result. He holds his breath as he tilts it toward Eddie to see, holds his breath as he hears Eddie suck one in of his own.

Doesn’t stop holding his breath as Eddie pushes himself to his feet and leaves the bathroom.

Steve doesn’t even know what to think. He sits there for a few minutes, waves of shock overtaking him. He feels like he can’t breathe, can’t think.

Positive. It’s fucking positive, which means Eddie’s pregnant, which means—

A baby. Eddie’s having a fucking baby.

And it’s gotta be Steve’s, right? Eddie hasn’t been with anyone else, wouldn’t do that.

Steve pushes himself to his feet, test still in his hand. He’ll have to dispose of it somewhere Wayne won’t see. Eddie needs to tell Wayne himself, it can’t be found out by accident, and Eddie would never forgive Steve if he didn’t take care of this.

The thing is, Steve’s always wanted kids. He’s always wanted them, somewhere down the line. Always figured he could only really have them if he fell in love with a woman who also wanted them. He figured he’d be married already when it happened, figured it would be a planned thing, a joyous occasion, that a positive pregnancy test would mean cheers and kisses, calling parents and friends.

And this is none of that. Nothing about this is how Steve planned, and well — figuring out he’s gay, that kind of took away half of his dreams. He didn’t think it would end up happening at all, but if it ever did, if he stayed with Eddie until their relationship cemented into something stable and long-term, that maybe, when the time was right, they could talk to doctors about their fertility options.

This stick in Steve’s hand, the indication that Eddie is pregnant — it all comes at the opposite of the right time, in a relationship that’s only been going on for a few months, unplanned, no celebration.

Just Eddie getting up and walking out of the bathroom.

Eddie leaves the trailer and gets in his van before Steve can even make it into the living room. He drives off, and Steve doesn’t know where he’s going or what he’s going to do.

He gets in his own car and drives, but Eddie had too much of a head start. After an hour, Steve has to pull over, pregnancy test sitting on his passenger seat, hands shaking so hard he can barely punch the right number into the payphone.

“Can I talk to Wayne Munson?” Steve asks when someone at the plant picks up.

There’s some shuffling, then there’s a few minutes that go by, and Steve can only grip the phone to his ear and focus on his breathing.

“Hello?” Wayne answers, voice gruff.

“Wayne? Hey, it’s — it’s Steve. Look, I, uh,” Steve says, searching for the words. He doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to ask for help without giving up this secret. “Eddie and I had a fight, and he left, and I don’t know — I don’t know where he is, or if he’s coming back, and I’m just… scared. I’m real scared, Wayne.”

“Slow down, boy,” Wayne says gently. “You check Rick’s? No, I think his house sold, didn’t it? There is a place he goes sometimes when he needs to think. You got a pen? I’ll give you directions.”

Steve runs back to his car and grabs a pen and a napkin out of his glove box. He listens as Wayne tells him where to go, scribbles the directions down on the napkin. He rips the paper a few times, but it’s good enough. It’s good enough.

“If he isn’t there, just wait at home. He’ll turn up,” Wayne says. “He always does eventually.”

excerpt from chapter 6 of “you make me feel like i am whole again” on ao3

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fic #steve/eddie #my fics #stranger things #trans eddie #trans eddie munson #genderqueer steve harrington

[audhd-nightwing]

thinking about steve and max noticing that el never got to just. be a little girl? because max had to mature at a young age (neil & billy’s abuse, her moms drinking) and used being a tomboy as a defense mechanism / steve had to learn to take care of himself as a little kid because if he didn’t no one would.

so steve and max realizing this and doing everything in their power to help el experience the things she missed out on. they paint each other’s nails and read teen magazines and watch romcoms. steve takes them shopping and buys them both a bunch of clothes (el especially likes bright colors and patterns). they get nancy and robin to do el’s makeup (steve and max 1. don’t like stuff on their face and 2. know nothing about makeup) and she absolutely adores it, makes them teach her how to do it herself. while her hair grows out steve manages to find a couple of good quality wigs and helps her style them.

steve convinces hopper to let them paint el’s room pink and he agrees immediately after steve explains why. steve jonathan and nancy all love to spoil her and get her things so her room is filled with stuffed animals, posters, makeup, beauty products, etc.

steve lets el pick out whatever she wants (max too but she’s more chill about it, tries to hide how much she enjoys getting gifts and hanging around steve). as a gift for both girls, steve gets every wonder woman comic he can find (el cries and hugs him when he gives it to them, steve has probably never been happier).

and while max enjoys being able to be “girly” without feeling vulnerable, she still prefers her tomboy-ish energy (bi-gender she/he max!!!). so steve lends him hand-me-downs and buys him a new skateboard, tells him that he feels like that too some days, that it’s not gross or bad.

……idk how this turned into he/she max and steve bonding but here we are

#stranger things #steve harrington #max mayfield #el hopper #steve and max #elmax #max and el #let them be kids #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #jim hopper #steve and max as siblings #steve and el #a dynamic i need more of #he/she pronouns #genderqueer steve harrington #bigender max mayfield #femininity