#smol steve | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zenaidamacrouras1 · 1 year

Text

Writing Modern Steve Roger's Health Issues: A compendium

AKA How do Steve Rogers' MCU canon illnesses hold up in a modern setting?

I am writing something that is SO NICHE and so NERDY I feel absolutely, positively deviant about it. Who knew you could have this much fun while eating a burrito and sitting in the sun on your back porch?

OKAY! This one goes out to all of you writing modern AU's with a modern Steve Rogers. (There are literally dozens of us!). Let's go.

So, I find it somewhat problematic when people write disabled or otherwise medically complicated characters and are wishy-washy about the diagnosis they have. In real life, everyone I know with ongoing medical issues is a fucking expert on their exact shit. A great tumblr reference for disabled characters is Cripple Characters, but I also use reddit threads to read about people’s day to day experiences with different issues in their own words. If nothing else, just decide what your character has and take ten minutes and read through a basic website article about it.

So let's walk through what modern Steve's medical history and diagnoses might be. If you feel like I missed any details or got things wrong, happy to have comments to that end.

We'll start with the list of “ailments,” going with the MCU canon and combining the images from the museum exhibit and screen shots of Steve’s enlistment forms:

Asthma

Scoliosis

Fallen arches

Partial deafness

Scarlet Fever, Rheumatic Fever

Heart arrhythmia

High blood pressure

Palpitation or pounding in heart

Easy fatigability

Stomach ulcers

Pernicious anemia

Nervous trouble of any sort

Sinusitis

Chronic or frequent colds

Caveat: I am not a doctor, but I am a person who enjoys reading medical journal articles about illnesses I do and don’t have. The human body is a fascinating and terrible place to live. Talk to me about your medical complications - I will always find them interesting. I love small talk about Crohn’s disease and/or extremely graphic details about the time you had surgery because one of your wrist bones was the wrong length.

Sucks To Your Assmar: Asthma! How has asthma changed?

Kids who have their asthma well managed at a young age are going to have less scarring and lung damage (this is called airway remodeling). Thus a modern kid will likely have less severe asthma than a kid born in Steve’s time. Further, allergy medicines got way better from the 1990s, so kids with allergy induced asthma would have had fewer attacks. Fewer attacks as kids = less severe asthma as they age.

I would also note that asthma is highly connected to environmental issues. If Steve grew up in a house with cigarette smoke, cockroaches, rats, or mold present, as is fairly easy to imagine, especially without dehumidifiers in a swampy Brooklyn summer, those are environmental factors that would have made his asthma much worse.

They are also all factors that kids today certainly face, depending on how you write your modern Steve’s childhood. While people today certainly can have very severe asthma, it’s also entirely possible that modern Steve’s relationship to his asthma is pretty chill and easy to manage. (My partner has relatively severe asthma with a lot of environmental triggers; modern allergy medicine was a big game changer.)

Let’s talk about scoliosis ~~

There are a lot of variations to how scoliosis impacts people. I have very minor scoliosis and it's barely a thing in my life. I’m not trying to speak for everyone, but for what it’s worth, there are professional athletes with spinal fusion. I used Kyra Condie as my justification for writing climbing coach post-spinal fusion small Steve Rogers in one fic. My younger brother and best friend in high school both had spinal fusions.

In reality the athletic and physical abilities of people with spinal fusion vary pretty much exactly as much as people without spinal fusion, so you have a lot of leeway for how you decide to write a character with scoliosis. I recommend reddit threads to read about people talking about how their bodies felt before and after spinal fusion, or why they decided not to have the surgery, if you want to get a sense of how it might affect your character’s day to day life.

Wait, so how tall is modern small Steve Rogers?

You can see in this article that gains in height post scoliosis corrective surgery/spinal fusion varies, but the mean was 27 mm (1 inch) and the maximum was 66 mm (2.5 inches).

The more severe the curve in the spine, the more height gained with surgery.

We know Steve had scoliosis, we don’t know how severe it was (do we?). But if he was 5’4” without spinal fusion, and with all of his childhood fevers, and possible poor nutrition due to the Great Depression and untreated stomach ulcers, then it’s very reasonable that a modern Steve raised with proper nutrition and his gastrointestinal issues (see below!) properly treated and a spinal fusion could be easily 1-10 inches taller.

I think it’s great if you want to write modern Small Steve as 5’4” - but I tend to write him as 5’7” or so.

I think it is entirely likely that a modern Steve Rogers could end up being 6 feet tall given modern medical intervention and a healthy digestive system and adequate nutrition. As an example of how people with more or less the same genetics having different heights due to environmental factors, I know of one family of four brothers that immigrated from Italy in the 40s. Their height was 100% correlated to their age when they moved to the US/started having access to food: the oldest brother was around 5’4” and the youngest around 6 feet. The oldest was also a chain smoker and worked full time from around age 8, so you know, he was a fucking badass 5'4" Italian guy, if that's not clear.

What about fallen arches?

Fun story, but I have fallen arches/flat feet and had a lot of foot pain as a kid, but I thought it was normal. I wear custom orthotics and/or birkenstocks and do exercises to strengthen my feet muscles and it's fine now as long as I remember to do the things I just mentioned. My dad had to have multiple surgeries on his feet, so I think it helped that they caught it earlier in me.

Should I write modern non-serum Steve as deaf?

Maybe! I think it’s lovely when people write characters with hearing issues. There are great blogs that cover ways to do that well (a good link, another one, and another one and I think this one on hearing aids is particularly good if you are trying to bring in subtle day to day routine differences a character that wears hearing aids may have. Another great option is, again, reddit, especially for questions around how sexual intimacy might vary in small ways that can be nice to bring in. (I am working on a fic with a seeing character whose ex is blind and also read a lot of couples first hand experience with sexual intimacy around that dynamic on reddit).

But how likely is it that modern Steve would be deaf?

I think that it’s reasonably likely that Steve’s hearing issues were a result of Scarlet Fever, which is a bacterial infection that can result in rheumatic fever, an inflammatory condition that develops in more severe cases of scarlet fever.

Scarlet fever caused deafness - in fact, both Helen Keller and Thomas Edison had hearing loss due to scarlet fever infections. Further, sustained fevers of over 104 degrees can also cause hearing loss, so there is a reasonable chance that some other fever caused Steve’s hearing issues.

Today, the kind of hearing loss caused by fevers and infections can usually be surgically repaired or never occur because we have better antibiotics and better medicines to treat fevers. However, I have a friend who has partial hearing loss and lots of other life long nervous system and fatigue issues due to complications from childhood chicken pox in the 80s (this vaccine came around in 1995).

I don’t know if it’s canon or fanfiction, but I often see Steve as having one bad ear. For what it’s worth, hearing loss in one ear is much less common than hearing loss in both ears.

However, potential causes of hearing loss in one ear are infections that result in a high fever and some kind of head trauma, both of which are easy to imagine would have affected a Steve born in 1918, and while possible in a modern Steve, also easier to avoid.

Heart Stuff: Heart arrhythmia, High blood pressure, Palpitation of pounding in heart, Easy fatigability

The aforementioned fevers that can cause hearing loss can also cause heart issues. I think it’s reasonably likely that Steve’s heart issues were from his fevers as a young kid, but I often write him with a congenital heart defect, because why not?

These days, most of the time, such issues are detected at or before birth and fixed when the person is a baby, but there are plenty of heart issues that can require multiple heart surgeries at various points. Regardless, a modern Steve would most likely either have had access to corrective surgery or medication to manage these heart conditions. Which is not to say that he wouldn’t suffer mental and physical trauma from this medical complication.

There are plenty of professional athletes you can find who have all of the above heart issues. And plenty of people with heart issues who have no interest in being professional athletes, so like, follow your bliss.

Digestive System Stuff: Easy fatigability, Stomach ulcers, Pernicious anemia

I have easy fatigability under heart stuff too, because lots of shit can make you tired.

My personal head canon is that Steve Rogers has celiac disease and/or lactose intolerance, it would cause all of the above. Both can also lead to poor growth - in fact falling off growth charts is one of the most common symptoms of celiac disease in children.

While people have been aware of celiac disease since there were people, gluten wasn’t identified as the clear cause till the 50s.

I typically write modern Steve with some kind of food allergy, and I think that addresses quite a few of his canon medical complications.

Because so many causes of this category of symptoms are relatively easily solved with modern medical intervention/avoiding the problem, I would point folks towards Crohn’s disease if you are looking to write a modern character with medical issue that is more likely to be an ongoing source of similar medical complications today.

(Also, kids with Crohn’s are likely to have reduced height. I have a friend who has Crohn's whose 3 siblings are well over 6 feet and he is around 5'8" (so 4-6 inches aka 11+ cm shorter due to his severe childhood illness).)

Nervous trouble of any sort

Kids with medical complications and food allergies are much more likely to have anxiety. I’m so proud of all the kids making it through the day with anxiety. Luff you anxiety kids, I see you working twice as hard to be present as the non-anxious kids. Tough as hell. Give yourself a high five. I’m so damn proud of you.

Sinusitis and Frequent colds

I mean, god bless modern decongestants and allergy meds. Celiac disease and lactose intolerance can both cause sinus issues, so here is another one of Steve's ailments that can be "cured" through that diagnosis.

Other stuff

When you look at the above, you can see a lot of scenarios where modern era Steve, like many children/adults today, had multiple surgeries and serious and scary health complications as a child, but as an adult would appear as a relatively healthy able bodied person, with the possibility of even becoming a top athlete if he was so inclined. It’s also likely that some issues like chronic fatigue etc, might linger into adulthood as relatively invisible illnesses that nonetheless affect his everyday.

In some ways his character arc given the advances of modern medicine could mimic his arc due to the serum.

Being medically complicated as a kid sucks. Even if you have surgeries to treat and/or learn how to live with things like Crohn’s and celiac and reduce flare ups, lingering mental health trauma can have an impact.

Lastly and most importantly, I have a personal headcanon that young Steve Rogers of any era spent a lot of time sick in bed and staring into a mirror learning how to raise one eyebrow and perform other eyebrow gymnastics so he could more effectively sass his nurses.

IN CONCLUSION:

I think it's actually reasonable for an author to say, "My modern Steve never had any fevers, and got his severe lactose intolerance diagnosed as a baby, and had good nutrition, had medications/clean environment that prevented his asthma."

So this Steve is 6 feet tall and healthy as long as he doesn't eat dairy and takes his daily zyrtec (cetirizine - it's an allergy med). The only medical issue he has from canon left is scoliosis, flat feet, and an astigmatism.

You can also choose to write a Steve with more complex medical issues, and there are lots of things that can be good and interesting and value about that. I think the main thing is to pick a diagnosis and write it realistically, hopefully this helps some with that!

#stucky fanfiction #smol steve #writing disability #steve roger #pre serum steve rogers #modern steve rogers #honestly whats wrong with me #I don't even know but I feel like I'm dealing with my mental illnesses well enough and I had fun writing this #meta #headcanon #stony fanfiction

440 notes · View notes

kalee60 · 9 months

Text

Don't tell me - show me

Summary:

Bucky had always been a teacher of sorts in Steve’s life. He'd shown him how to sneak into movies, to charm the baker’s wife for hot bread rolls and later in life, to fight. (Much to Bucky’s dismay, Steve really took to that one). But one cool Autumn day, Bucky offered to show Steve something new. Something Steve had only ever allowed himself to want in the whispers of his mind.

It was shocking, exciting and could get them thrown in jail.

But was it just his best friend teaching Steve how to romance a dame?

Or was it much more than that?

Or: the pre-war ‘show me how’ fic that no-one asked for (except me).

Tags: Pre-war, Pre-canon, Alternate Universe, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Show Me How, Steve’s POV, Explicit Sexual Content, First Times, Idiots in Love, Not Unrequited Love, Internal Angst, Body Worship, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Top Steve Rogers, Inexperienced Steve Rogers

Rating: Explicit

Words: 9,100

~*~*~*~*~

Well hello there! I'm back...

I've been sitting on this story for a very long time and finally managed to find the muse to finish it and let it free. It's my first pre-war fic for these two and well, it's full of my favourite things - mutual pining, idiots in love and feelings reveals (oh, also a LOT of body worshipping...Bucky deserves it after all).

So if this sounds like your kind of thing - click here!

Big thanks to @darter-blue for listening to me talk about this for literally years. I don't deserve you but I'm glad you're with me on these crazy journeys ❤️

#stucky #steve/bucky #My writing #friends to lovers #mutual pining #a lot more sex than intended...#show me how #steve x bucky #prewar #smol steve #bottom Bucky

58 notes · View notes

cinnamoncascadian · 2 years

Text

https://twitter.com/roughscribss/status/1541320195398057985?s=21&t=Nbqwz7yI2tq-wh1kJJGPfg

#stucky fanart #my otp forever #smol steve #young bucky #making me feel things #emotionally and physically #excellent fanart #prewar stucky #preserum steve #shy steve #pretty bucky #smol steve in charge #cross dressing #slow dancing #sexy af #smitten kittens

131 notes · View notes

birdstooth · 1 year

Text

@thenhewaswrongaboutme I feel like Bucky should be better w remembering the names of baseball teams bc Steve seems like he would have taken a full 10 minutes to wind up so like what else is there to do while waiting for the ball to gently roll towards him? Could probably fit a couple recitations of the Gettysburg Address in there too tbh.

BTW I legit drew a premier ball (pokeball) at first bc I didn’t realize a baseball had multiple rows of red lines on it lol

#comics and doodles #Steve rogers #smol Steve #Bucky Barnes

15 notes · View notes

leydhawk · 11 months

Text

My very first attempt drawing skinny Steve

#my drawings #chris evans #smol steve #skinny Steve #skinny!steve #steve rogers

5 notes · View notes

jtargaryen18 · 1 year

Note

any updates on 40s skinny!steve x waitress!reader? 🥲

Okay, I had such an idea for this today at lunch. 💕🙏 I don't have an ETA because I'm a loser whose dug a deep hole but I haven't forgotten you. 💕💕💕

#Coming soon fics #Smol Steve #Tall reader #Oh yeah

7 notes · View notes

festiveferret · 2 years

Text

Makeup artist smol Steve gets assigned to News Anchor Tony Stark and the sparks fly...

#ferret does edits #stony #smol steve #moodboard #stevetonygames

19 notes · View notes

crossthread · 18 days

Text

making myself physically ill over stucky like its 2016

176 notes · View notes

harmonictechnicality · 1 year

Text

Eddie’s Memory Log: Day 2-5

part 1 here | part 3 here | part 4 here | part 5 here | part 6 here

(ao3 link here)

There’s chewed up bits of food splattered violently all over the hospital lunch tray.

“Are you trying to feed me or torture me, Harrington?” Eddie wipes his mouth with the back of his arm.

Eddie still remembers Steve’s name.

“Kung Pao Chicken.” Steve over enunciates each syllable.

“My memory is fucked - not my speech, asshole.”

“Your attitude is fucked worse than your memory is.” Steve grumbles. “You asked for this yesterday, remember?”

Eddie chooses not to answer verbally and instead, shoves the tray away from his bedside.

Eddie doesn’t remember asking for Kung Pao Chicken yesterday. If that weren’t already obvious.

He dramatically chugs down a styrofoam cup of water. “Seriously, my tongue feels like it’s been assaulted.”

Nah, his fucking behavior today is all very reminiscent of that Shakespeare play - Steve only read the cliff notes for it during his junior year English class. Taming of the Shrew? Take a wild fucking guess who is the shrew right now…

Steve spoons a bite of his food into his mouth without throwing a tantrum. “Maybe your taste buds changed.”

“Maybe you’re wasting your time.” Eddie snaps back. “Maybe you should leave.”

Steve is not in the mood for this. Not today. Robin is still borrowing his car and he didn’t get a window seat on the bus, so his Patience has clocked out early. Not even in the goddamn building anymore.

“Fine.” He gets up, packing up his meal that he can’t even enjoy. Look, Steve’s not asking for a candlelit dinner by any means. But changing the weather forecast - dramatically pouring food out of his mouth in that way? Munson is a goddamn piece of work (Pollocks probably, considering the mess).

That reminds him:

Eddie remembers how to be dramatic. Theatrics must be in his bloodstream or some shit.

“Are you leaving or what?” Eddie is flipping through the tv channels, not even looking at Steve.

“I swear on your stupid little board game, you better be an angel tomorrow.” Steve scolds, gathering all of his things underneath his arm.

“What was that?”

“You heard me.” Steve points a finger at him. “Your memory is fucked, not your ears.”

“Your tongue is fucked for having such shitty taste in food.”

“Nice comeback.”

“And you shouldn’t come back at all.” Eddie hits an imaginary cymbal at the end of his lame joke. At least there’s humor in his damaged mind. Too bad it’s at Steve’s expense.

Eddie remembers how to tell jokes again. Mean jokes. (tbd on the rest of his humor though)

Steve isn’t planning on saying goodbye, but he remembers the kids. They’ll whine him into an early grave if he doesn’t return to Hawkins with a little more insight on Eddie’s memory levels. So he decides to ask one more question before leaving:

“Hey. Munson.”

Eddie flips the volume down on the tv, and looks at Steve. “What now?”

Still remembers his own last name.

“When’s your birthday?” Steve asks again. He already asked this yesterday, but it’s worth a shot.

Eddie looks out the window, closes his eyes for a few seconds. For the first time today, his expression goes serene. All the frustration lines on his face relax. Ease up.

He opens his eyes and answers calmly.

“January 10th.”

Interesting.

Eddie knows his birthday.

Memory log: Day 3

Steve should consider a career as a psychic or some shit. Maybe he absorbed all of Eddie’s memory skills unintentionally or maybe his little DnD threat was worth the added bitchiness. Whatever it is, Eddie is actually tolerable today.

“That’s the least vomit-inducing shade of yellow you’ve ever worn, Harrington.” Which isn’t exactly a ‘hello, it’s nice to see you,’ but Steve will take it because -

Eddie still remembers Steve’s name.

“So you remember me wearing yellow?” Steve clicks his pen excessively. “Seems pretty advanced.”

Eddie turns the tv off today. Woah. “Last week, yeah. Wanted to join PETA just so I’d have a good excuse to throw fake blood all over it.”

Okay yeah, still mean - but also, his memory isn’t so shabby either:

Eddie remembers Steve’s yellow sweater he wore last Tuesday!? That seems impressive.

Eddie knows who the fuck PETA is (Steve makes a mental note to tell Robin about that one cause holy shit)

Eddie is making snort-worthy jokes today. (Are they still at Steve’s expense? Hell yeah, but who the fuck cares? There’s goddamn chunks of memory in his cynical comedy.)

Steve stays for the entirety of visiting hours. Eddie doesn’t ask him to leave - not once. They mock shitty soap operas on tv and theorize that all of the actors are actually rejected pornstars.

Steve likes This Eddie.

Steve hopes this version of Eddie is still here tomorrow.

“Did you think I’d forget?” Eddie asks slyly while Steve heads for the door.

“Forget what?” Steve isn’t following at all.

“The Chinese takeout.” Eddie says sort of irritated. “Kung Pao Chicken, remember?”

Oh. Steve does remember. Eddie does not.

Eddie doesn’t remember redecorating the hospital bed with his chewed up food.

His face suddenly drops at Steve’s change in posture. “What?”

“I did bring it.” Steve hates this. “Yesterday.”

“Oh.”

“Do you remember yesterday at all?”

Eddie whispers into his palm. “I remember you.”

“Right.” Steve’s chest gets tighter at his answer though.

While it’s encouraging that Eddie knows who Steve is everyday, and is comfortable dragging his style through the mud (or fake blood) - this puts such a damper on their good day. Steve can already see Eddie reaching for the tissue box, ready to soak his disappointment into off-brand snot rags. He can’t let the day end like this. No fucking way.

“Hey.” Steve knocks his knuckles over the wall, grabbing Eddie’s attention. “We’ll try again tomorrow, yeah?”

Eddie bunches up the unused tissue in his hand. “Whatever.”

“Take a good look at this non-vomit-inducing sweater.” Steve teases gently. “Don’t forget it.” He does a goofy twirl, and wiggles his ass while he turns around just to see if Eddie will laugh.

He doesn’t, but it seems like he’s trying incredibly hard not to. Always a good sign that ass-shaking is still humorous even after inter-dimensional brain trauma.

“Never said it was non-vomit-inducing.” Eddie retorts after fighting back his amusement. “I said it was the least vomit-inducing.”

“Ugh.” Steve rolls his eyes, gives Eddie a small wave as he heads out the door.

He can still hear Eddie trying to get the last word as he leaves:

“Maybe you’re the one that needs a brain scan, Harrington!”

At least it was a better day.

Memory Log: Day 4

Well so much for the Better Day. Somehow, Eddie’s attitude is now reaching Mister fucking Hyde levels today. He’s the bad dude, right? The Jekyll guy is a doctor, which must make him the chill one… ya know, medicine and shit. And seriously, doesn’t Eddie need to be on some more medications anyways? If Steve were smarter, he’d write the fucking prescription himself.

Whatever, Eddie is Hyde and that Shakespearean shrew lady all chopped up and tossed together today. He’s slinging insults like softballs and snarling his bruised upper lip every time Steve utters a single sentence. Steve is reconsidering his comment about not taking money from sophomores, cause this is bullshit.

“What sexually transmitted disease brings you to the hospital today, Harrington?” Eddie asks rhetorically. And annoyingly.

He remembers he strongly dislikes Steve Harrington, that’s for damn sure.

But… he still remembers Steve’s name so that’s a plus.

And wait -

“Hold on. Did you just make a Steve is a Hometown Slut joke?” Steve is way too excited about the prospects of Eddie remembering his promiscuous past.

Eddie tilts his head to the side. “Hometown Slut would be a good band name, actually.”

“Focus, Munson.”

“Uh, I guess?” Eddie reaches for his pudding cup. Huh. Maybe he’s sick of jello. “Why are you about to piss your pants over that?”

Steve flips to the first day of notes when Eddie didn’t remember jackshit about Steve in high school. He looks back up at Eddie. “Because that means you remember at least something about high school.”

Eddie shrugs. “I failed a lot of shit. It’s probably because there’s just way too much high school to remember. Something was bound to stick.”

Eddie remembers flunking Senior year.

And even though Eddie is living up to his satanic stereotype with his behavior today, Steve is beyond excited that memories are coming back. He just has to ask one more thing before leaving:

“Do you remember what color sweater I wore yesterday?”

Eddie examines Steve for a very long time. Hoping to spark the correct answer, Steve twirls again. Wiggles his ass. Gives a big, goofy smile.

“You’re weird.” Eddie looks away. Looks down.

Steve exhales loudly.

Eddie doesn’t remember Steve's least vomit-inducing yellow sweater.

Memory Log: Day 5

After Dustin analyzes Steve’s daily entries, they hypothesize that Eddie is struggling the most with short term memories (since he never quite remembers one day prior to the current day). It appears that some of his long term memories are gradually returning, so perhaps a little coaxing will speed those along.

“Well well well, if it isn’t -”

“Catch, Hyde!” Steve tosses a crushed velvety bag into Eddie’s lap.

Eddie pokes at the bag. “Hyde?”

“It’s either Hyde or Katherina.” Steve finally asked Robin the name of that bitchy character from the Taming of the Shrew. “But if you’re gonna play nice today, I’ll just call you Eddie.”

That solicits an audible gasp from him.

He must remember that Steve never calls him by his first name.

“Your references and gifts confuse me.”

“Maybe if you just open the bag, it‘ll un-confuse your sloshy brain.”

He dumps the jangly items onto his side table.

It’s slow - the smile that forms over Eddie’s face. It’s the first time Steve has seen Eddie smile with teeth since that night in the Upside Down. One of his teeth on the bottom row is chipped, but it doesn’t even matter. He’s smiling wide enough to show all of his teeth and that’s the fucking win for today. Everything else is just a bonus. Sprinkles and candles and confetti and party hats.

After so much loss, they needed this win.

“So?” Steve wants words now. Needs smiles and words combined. “See something you like?”

“My dice collection.” Eddie says it like the lyrics to a hymn. As if these geometric blobs are his religion and he’s praising their existence at the altar of his hospital tray.

“Do you remember what kind of dice?” Steve had Dustin give him some key definitions on this fantasy shit. Not for his knowledge, of course - for Eddie. Duh.

“D20s.” He answers fast.

Steve nods, walks over and tries to pick one up. Eddie slaps his hand away quickly. “Get your Grease Lightning fingers away from my children.”

Okay. Well.

Eddie remembers his dice/children (and what they’re called)

Eddie remembers Grease? (Of all the movies Steve thought this guy would reference… Grease? Is it the leather? Hm.)

“Do you…” Steve is nervous for this question because he desperately wants Eddie to get this right. “Do you remember the name of the game you play with these?”

For a second, Eddie’s face drops the same way it did yesterday when he couldn’t remember the color of Steve’s sweater. But the dropped corners of his lips begin to twist into a devilish smirk.

“My dearest Stevie boy,” Eddie’s voice is dripping in that poisonous tree sap kind of way. “Dungeons and Dragons isn’t just a game. It’s a fucking worldwide phenomenon.”

Holy shit. Within those three sentences, Eddie almost sounded like Name Brand Eddie Munson again. The tone he always used with the meatheads at Hawkins High - that tone is back. The eyebrows that inch along his forehead like witchy caterpillars - those eyebrows are back. It’s just three sentences, sure. But it was Eddie rising from his gurney of a grave in many other ways.

Eddie remembers how to use his snarky tone of voice.

Eddie remembers how to make his eyebrows dance around on his face.

Eddie remembers *Dungeons and Dragons*

Steve is so excited, he doesn’t know what to do with his hands? What do hands normally do when they’re excited? Clap? Stay at his side? Flap around? Fuck, he has no goddamn clue, so he just decides to give Eddie a thumbs-up with one hand and ruffle his knotted hair with the other hand.

Multitask the shit out of his excitement.

Eddie laughs along with him now, still admiring his collection. Not even bothering to stop Steve from his hair ruffling thingy. Huh… why is Steve still ruffling Eddie’s hair in the first place?

Okay. He finally stops himself. Has to pull his own wrist away but he stops.

“Guessing it was good day, Munson?” Steve wonders curiously, still watching Eddie roll the dice around in his palm.

Eddie nods. Multiple times. “Good day, Harrington. Good day.”

A prickly sensation hits Steve as Eddie says good day. A sensation that suggests to Steve that he wants Eddie to have more than just Good Days. Steve wants Eddie to have Great Days. Steve wants to give Eddie great days and present them to him in tiny velvet bags.

That’s definitely a turnpike of a thought.

He did this on purpose too. Dustin is coming on Sunday, which means Eddie will remember this moment. He’ll remember the dice and the Good Day. That’s part of Steve’s plan apparently. He’s making plans like that now. Strange.

“It’s funny.” Steve is pondering over his own discoveries, but also Eddie’s faulty memory patterns.

“What is?”

“You have the hardest time remembering the events from the day before…” Steve pauses to reflect. “But you always remember me.”

Eddie drops the dice out of his hands. He doesn’t look at Steve though, he just freezes up. His bangs have grown out quite a bit, but Steve thinks that Eddie’s face is redder than it was just a second ago.

Eddie remembers how to blush.

And Steve is going to milk that reaction completely. “You always remember that I’ll be here the next day. Isn’t that funny?”

Eddie kind of choke-answers him. “Funny sure yeah ha ha.”

Eddie remembers how to feel flustered as all fuck.

“Well,” Steve lifts up - still as smug and devious as ever. “I’ll let you have some alone time to catch up with your children. I’m sure you have lots of adventures to plan together.”

“Right.” Eddie finally sweeps his bangs back, watching Steve head for the door. “Does that mean I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“God willing.” Steve is sort of itching to ruffle Eddie’s hair again, but he doesn’t. “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Eddie waves and starts cleaning up his collection, swiping them back into their bag.

“Yellow.” Eddie mumbles very quietly. Almost inaudible.

Steve stops. “What?”

“Your sweater.” Eddie explains anxiously. “The tacky burnable one. It was yellow.”

Eddie remembers Steve's sweater again.

And Steve couldn’t be happier about that. Now he’s the one smiling with all of his teeth. The bonus type of smile on a day full of wins.

“It sure was, Eds.”

#steddie fic #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #I'll keep tagging in future parts unless you would like me to un-tag you ☺️#thank you for the love on this ficlet #this one is a little longer but I hope you like it #steddie ficlet #post season 4 au #I thought it might be fun to make my posting date Eddie’s birthday :)#just a smol thing

1K notes · View notes

harringroveera · 8 months

Text

Steve will never let go of the fact that he’s 1 inch taller than Billy

205 notes · View notes

fizzigigsimmer · 2 months

Text

Moonwood: Part 5

Thank you all so much for your patience. We're baaaaack with an update.

|Part One Here|

It’s pretty stupid in Steve’s opinion that he still needs to get his mom to sign a permission slip to go to basketball camp, even though he’s eighteen.

“I don’t want to hear it Harrington.” The coach says when Steve tracks him down. “I can’t let you on the bus without a permission slip.”

Hank says it’s because the school doesn’t want to be liable if something happens to them out in the woods – and Steve can’t help but shiver a little at the way he says it. Like he expects something or knows something Steve doesn’t. But he tells himself he’s being crazy. Anything could happen in a national park but that doesn’t mean something is going to. There’s gotta be like safe areas mapped out for the public, right? It’s probably a good thing the slip reads like a contract: I understand the risk my child is taking and waive my rights to be pissed about it if they get chewed on by a grizzly bear. It shows they’ve thought things through. At least Steve hopes they’ve thought it through – if he’s honest, he’s not sure how he feels about spending a week in the woods with a bunch of keyed up guys all jonesing to impress Billy Hargrove.

Because it’s pretty obvious after the first round that the team captains have a lot of pull with the coach.

“Hey sweetheart!” Steve’s mom is in the living room, working on some crochet toy for a neighbor who is having a baby. Steve had no idea she could crochet until she started making the toy. Apparently, she was pretty crafty before she met his dad. Steve’s dad didn’t think it was a sexy enough hobby or something. Said it was for old women and spinsters.

“How was tryouts?” Aunt Julie asks when he walks in. She’s knitting what looks like a hooded onesie with ears and a fluffy tail attached. It’s pretty damn cute.

“Wasn’t much of a tryout. The coach wasn’t even there, and the captains just ran us ragged the whole time.” He grumbles, shrugging his duffle off his shoulder and throwing himself down onto the couch beside his mom. She she laughs as the cushions sag beneath his weight.

“Coach Brown is a godsend to that school. He knows how to pick the right personalities, people who really work well together and form a solid bond.” Aunt Julie sighs wistfully. “It was much different when your mom and I were in school. There was a lot of tension between us and the Schiller folks. I felt like I was always on my guard, looking over my shoulder.”

“What’s up with that, by the way?” Steve asks, eager to finally have an explanation for the weird vibes everyone seems to have about Moonwood. “Why are people like, scared of this place? It can’t just be because of the forest.”

Steve’s mom and his aunt share a strange look.

“They’re scared of us. Because we’re different.” Aunt Julie says, but before Steve can ask her what she means his mom is shaking her head and hissing something at Julie in Lythan. They go back and forth like that for a moment and Steve just knows that they’re talking about him, and he’s sick of being left in the dark.

“Whoa whoa whoa, guys!” He snaps. “In english please! I’m right here and I want to know what’s going on. Mom?”

Steve’s mom looks tortured, like Steve is holding a lighter to her feet. His aunt heaves a heavy sigh and flips her long dark hair over her shoulder.

“It’s time to tell him Jess. The bonfire is tomorrow night.”

Steve wants to know what’s going on and why everyone keeps talking about the bonfire as if it’s so important, when it’s just a bunch of people from the neighborhood getting together to tell ghost stories and get plastered. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting his mom to say but it’s not that she’s a werewolf.

He thinks she’s pulling his leg at first, cause what else can she be doing but then aunt Julie chimes in and they both just won’t stop. They tell him that the people in their village have always turned into wolves and that they came to the new world to escape persecution. He’s kind of mad at himself, how long he listens until they get to the part with the witch.

“Time out! Time out! You expect me to believe you guys, grandma and grandpa and all the rest, you’re werewolves, and everybody knows about it because you fought a witch?” Steve laughs even though it’s not really funny and waits for them – but nobody laughs with him.

“Yes. She’d put a curse on the village and the people there to force them to pay tithes and make sacrifices to her.” His mom says and his aunt nods, continuing.

“When the townspeople rose against her, her coven came to exact their vengeance. The pack protected them, and in exchange we were given this land. Although the area has grown and many new people have come, there are people dedicated to keeping the old truce alive.”

“That’s why you needed to know before the bonfire. There will be representatives from the other towns there, new and old. There will be a demonstration and the pact between our communities will be renewed.” His mom finishes.

Steve gets up and stomps off. He is mad. He is so mad that she would play such a weird stupid prank on him instead of just being honest; but mostly he’s afraid. He’s afraid because it doesn’t make sense and he can’t figure out why she would do it or why aunt Julie would help her and when his grandpa knocks on the door of his room later and asks to come in, his heart sinks into his stomach.

He knows what his grandfather wants to talk about as he sits down on the edge of his bed before he even says a word – and it just doesn’t make sense. It can’t be real. It just can’t be. There’s no such thing as werewolves, and the only witches he knows are edgy girls who like to collect crystals.

“Your mom says you had quite the talk earlier.” His grandpa starts with a small sigh. “How ya doing Pip?”

“You mean with the discovery that my family is either insane or they’re werewolves?” Steve sneers, not looking away from where his gaze is fixed on the ceiling. “I’m still wrestling with it.”

“Well, go easy on your mom while you wrestle. She’s had a rough couple of months. It ain’t easy breaking with a soulmate.”

“Soulmate? I thought you hated my dad.”

“Don’t matter what I think of him” grandpa grunts. “Wolves mate for life. We’re born for someone, and common thought was they were born for us. But well your mom… she loved that man with all she had, but there wasn’t much in him for loving.”

And that’s how Steve discovered that it’s real – the stories his mom used to tell him about soulmates, and how one day he’d grow up and he’d meet someone, and when he’d look at them, he’d just know he was made to love them.

“This is crazy. I don’t – I don’t want…” Steve bites back tears, unable to get the words out. He doesn’t think his grandpa is a liar, and the whole family can’t be crazy. But he doesn’t want this to be real. Not if it means he might be made to love someone who will never love him back. His dad didn’t get it, why Steve would choose to be broke and struggle with his mom instead of have his future pathed for him and live in comfort with his dad.

The thought that it might be his destiny to live like that, with his hand out always waiting on love that won’t come… Steve cries and his grandfather pats his shoulder awkwardly, but lovingly.

“I’m awful glad to have you Stevie and I wouldn’t change a thing, but I’ve always hoped maybe she was wrong. You don’t know a soul bond until you feel it and it’s easy for a young girl to lose her head. In any case, she’s the only one I’ve ever heard of with a one-way tie like that.”

“What does it feel like?” Steve finds himself asking, but the strange thing is how he knows the answer even before he finishes the question.

When you see them, it’s like everything slows down so you don’t miss them. Like something’s forcing you to pay attention. And once you do, it’s like everything else pales in comparison. You’re always thinking about them, always bumping into them and trying to be near them without thinking about it, because that’s where you’re happiest. Even if you don’t know it yet. Nobody can lift you up or put you down quicker than they can. They see more of you than anyone else, and you see them too. You can try and ignore the pull, but the tide will always bring you right back to them.

Steve listens to his grandpa wax on and on about what it was like when he first felt the connection with his grandmother and it should be just a sweet story to him. Something to give him hope for the future.

But what happened is his heart starts to beat and his palms start to sweat as Billy Hargrove’s face floats to the front of his mind where it absolutely doesn’t belong.

Unless…

But they can’t be. Can they?

Friendly tags for those who have asked in the past:

@darleenjade @sweetwaterangel @dragonflylady77 @natchula @tip-tap-tired @sparklingsprinkles @adelacreations @bluetree76 @deadfromtheneckdown @heavensfinest @marklee-blackmore @slightlydepressedmelon @percabeth-trashcan @a-lovely-craziness

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #werewolf au #werewolf boyfriends #teenwolf adjacent #size difference #size kink #Billy is BIG and Steve is smol #fizzi writes fic #moonwood series

44 notes · View notes