Chapter Text
“Robin, I swear to God, I’ll be fine. I can actually exist without you.”
“I know I just…” Robin looked at Steve from behind the Family video counter with a defeated expression. “We haven’t spent, like any time apart since last summer and this is our last summer together before I go off to college and I hate leaving you to take double shifts and it’s not like I even really want to visit them, but my parents-“
“I know, they’re making you. Don’t worry Rob, I’m gonna be fine. It’s only two weeks, anyway, and then we have the rest of the summer.” He stacked a few tapes in their correct places and adjusted their signage. “Maybe you’ll find a hot babe up there in Maine and not wanna come back.”
“Pfff. Yeah right! I don’t know much about Maine but I don’t think they have a killer gay scene.”
“Never know,” Steve teased. “You’ll have some whirlwind romance by the sea and come back a new woman. Actually, why not take me with you? I want a whirlwind romance by the sea.”
Robin laughed out loud. “Likelihood of you having a romance is even lower than mine.” She sighed. “I really don’t wanna go.”
Steve sighed and walked to the counter. “Me either. But try to have a good time with your grandparents anyway. Grandparents are supposed to spoil you and shit, right?”
Robin shrugged. “I see mine every couple of years so I guess they do try to overcompensate. It doesn’t matter. I think I’m actually going to miss you Steve.”
“God, you can just call me, you sound like you’re sailing across the world not just hopping a few state lines.” Steve crossed his arms and hip checked the counter, and turned his face to the front windows.
“You’re so repressed. Even after everything.”
“What?!” He threw his hands up, incredulous. “What are you-“
“Just say you’ll miss me too, dingus.” She waved away his scrunched face. “Besides, I’m allowed to be worried about you. Beyond me, who do you even hang out with?”
“Ah- I have- people. I see a few people regularly.” He leaned his forearms on the counter and stared down at his fingers tracing circles.
“Let’s see, there’s Dustin,” she ticked a finger, “there’s Dustin’s mom,” half a finger, “and who else?” She waggled the rest of her fingers.
“Well, you know how it is with the whole world saving and people dying and coming back to life stuff and so on. Plus a job? Plus, like, life stuff? And friends? I have time for you and sometimes Henderson, so, yeah maybe it’s good that you’ll be gone, I can have time for someone else.”
Robin raised her brows.
“You know what, Harrington?” She nodded her head. “Yeah, you know what? I dare you to make a friend. I dare you.”
Steve frowned and shrugged. “Yeah. You’re on, Buckley. Easy. I won’t have you here crowding me, I’ll finally have space to breathe. Oh, did you hear Henderson call us codependent? He had such a tone when he said it.”
Robin looked toward the ceiling and shrugged. “We might be. I kinda latch onto people. I don’t mean to.”
“Hey don’t listen to Henderson. Like he even knows what codependent means. Anyway. You wanna have dinner at my place? I’m thinking pizza and a movie? It is Friday after all. We deserve pizza.”
Robin rolled her eyes with a smile. “We do deserve pizza.”
…
The first two days after Robin left, Steve didn’t mind the new silence in the store during his double shifts. Since the town had truly begun to recover from March’s mishaps, with Vecna gone and the rubble cleared, much was the same, but many hadn’t returned to the town. Already a quiet place, it now felt too quiet some days.
Still, he didn’t feel the need to fill the silence until the second day when an overhead light flickered.
Just once.
But it was enough.
He grabbed the nearest VHS and put it on. Anything to fill the silence.
He slept like shit that night.
On day three, he only had one shift, the evening one. He resigned himself to the lonely slog of rewinding, reshelving, and sorting, and put Back to the Future on as background noise. It made him think of Robin.
On day four he had a day shift that was blessedly interrupted in the worst way possible.
Near the end of his shift, Dustin came barreling into the store, wide smile on his face.
“Steve! Just who I wanted to see.”
Steve quickly cycled through emotions- happy as ever to see Dustin smiling (not at all like the night they thought Eddie died, Dustin’s sobs ripping apart his insides), relieved to be talking to anyone who wasn’t a customer (plus Robin hadn’t called since she left), and annoyed (because he knew that look on Dustin’s face, that too big smile scrunching up his eyes).
“Whaddaya want?”
Dustin reeled back, then laughed. “I can’t just want to see my friend?”
Steve stared him down.
Dustin deflated. “Okay,” he began, and pleaded with his hands, “Hellfire needs a place to meet tonight. We were gonna do it at Mike’s but his dad is being an ass, and we can’t do it at the school, so I thought I’d ask you? I would really, really appreciate it Steve.”
Steve pursed his lips.
Dustin continued pleading with his hands. “Please, please can we use somewhere in your house just this once for D&D? We won’t make a mess and we won’t be too loud, probably.”
Steve eyed him. “Just this once?”
Dustin dipped his head, staring Steve in the face. “Promise.”
“Fine.”
“Yes!” Dustin’s fists pumped the air. “Eddie will be so happy. Thanks Steve!”
Dustin ran for the door as Steve shouted, “Wait, what time?!” But Dustin was already on his bike, walkie in hand, pedaling away.
“Little twerp.”
…
Steve cleared the dining room table of its dusty centerpiece and counted chairs, wondering if he would need more. The doorbell rang then, just after 5, and damnit if he just knew he’d end up ordering pizza for them all.
Robin had dared him to make a friend. A friend. Singular. Surely out of however many kids plus Eddie (the recently graduated adult) one of them would think Steve a worthwhile friend if pizza was on offer. Would that be buying friends? No. He was already offering his house, his space, out of the goodness of his heart, pizza could be too, he decided.
Steve felt more confident in his delusions as he opened the door and ten teenagers entered his home. They looked eager. And hungry.
They settled in and Steve didn’t even bother asking for pizza preferences. He ordered on the phone and by the time he returned to the dining room the group was still setting up their arrangement. Max looked the comfiest, one casted leg propped up on a pillow on Lucas’s lap, another pillow tucked under her casted arm. Steve smiled as he made his way over to her, listening to the various conversations around him.
“I didn’t think this was your thing, Mayfield,” Steve said playfully and took a seat next to her.
Her milky eyes turned to him and she smiled. “It’s… not, but I like listening. And it’s definitely better than sitting at home by myself.”
“Yeah I bet. How you been?”
“I’m okay. It’s been… hard. But I’m just happy to be here, I guess.”
“We’re happy you’re here,” Steve said, far too sincerely for his liking.
“We are,” Lucas added.
Max hid her smile.
“Before we begin,” Eddie’s voice cut over the general din, “I wanted to thank our good Sir Steve Harrington for the use of his facilities in tonight’s quest. Thank you, Sir Steve.” He stood and bowed.
Heads around the room bowed as well. Steve frowned with his mouth and raised his eyebrows, uncomfortable. “Yeah, no problem.”
“Since you were so kind and gracious, we would like to invite you to be a guest adventurer with us this evening.” Eddie smiled small and his eyes sparkled with challenge. “If you so dare. I have a few options for your character, and Dustin has volunteered to answer any questions you have.”
Eddie paused for dramatic effect, Steve thought, before leaning over the table and lowering his voice. “What say you, Sir Steve?”
Steve glanced around the room at a mix of faces; some (like Mike and the older boys he wasn’t sure the names of) were indifferent, some (like Lucas, Max, and Will) looked interested, and others (like Dustin and Erica) looked excited- though maybe for different reasons.
“Um, sure, yeah. I can try.”
“Excellent. Dustin, help him pick a character.” Eddie tossed over a few sheets of paper and Dustin went to task, going over options and explaining the pros and cons of different races. Steve just had him pick for him.
“Alright, so you are now a barbarian with a stupid amount of hit points, and your best stat is… charisma? Eddie, what the hell is up with this character?” Dustin shook the paper for emphasis.
“You don’t think it fits?” Eddie glanced up from behind his DM screen.
“No! Why is his strength so low? He’s a barbarian!”
“Rage and strength aren’t mutually exclusive Henderson,” Eddie waved him off and turned his gaze toward Steve. “What’s your character name?”
“Uh, I don’t know, something cool. What’s a cool name for an orc barbarian?” Steve stared down at his character sheet, like perhaps it would hold the answers.
“Oo!” Lucas shouted, “how about ‘Steven, The Frantic?”
Mike laughed the loudest but everyone was amused. “How about ‘Steven, The Motherly,’” Mike added.
“‘Steve, The Perpetually Annoyed,’” said Max.
“‘Steve, The Unwilling,’” offered Will.
“Oh I like that one,” said Max.
Steve caught Eddie’s amused gaze and pleaded with his eyes.
Eddie stood and raised his hands. “Alright, Steve The Reluctant,” his smirk grew wider at Steve’s face, “please introduce your character.”
Steve sighed. “Fine. I’m Steve. Apparently, I’m reluctant to be here but I am, so. Yeah. I’m here to smash heads or whatever.”
Eddie nodded in acknowledgment and took his seat. “Where we left off, you all were about to enter the cavernous halls of the Giants, in search of answers and to defeat the fire Giants. You’ve just come from a long rest and your hit points are full. As you approach the entrance to the long and winding halls before you, you smell the stench of hot and smoky decay. Something has died here. Something has happened in the days before your arrival.”
Steve glanced around the room at everyone. All were still, waiting for Eddie’s next words.
“A hulking orc steps out from behind a pillar. His massive spiky club swings from his hand and smashes at your feet. Before you can attack, he waves shyly and introduces himself… as Steve.”
“Woo, Steve!” Dustin cheered. Steve smiled.
“Sir Steve, mind telling everyone what you were up to before they arrived?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah I was just scoping out the place and it’s pretty gross in there. Real gross, like guts everywhere. Don’t worry, nothing’s alive. Anymore.”
Dustin laughed and he saw Max smile.
Mike spoke up. “Would you like to join us Steve? We are on the hunt to find out why these giants have been destroying towns. If we don’t come back with their heads… well, it’s our heads on the chopping block.”
“Giants, huh?” Steve waffled a bit, crossing his arms. “What’s in it for me?”
“More like, if you don’t join us I’ll kill you right now,” Erica said.
“Ah. I see. And you are?” Steve asked.
“Lady Applejack, and I’ll cut a bitch.”
“Erica!” Lucas chastised.
“Yeah, no, that’s fine, not trying to be cut today. Let’s go or whatever.” Steve looked to Eddie again, wondering if this kind of animosity was normal. Judging by the look on Eddie’s smiling face, it was.
And on they went. Eddie’s voice guided them through rooms, throwing demon dogs and fire giants at them, and his party seemed to handle any adversary with ease. Perhaps it was the number of good guys in their party, but Steve was almost let down with how easy the monsters were to defeat.
About twenty minutes in, the doorbell rang and Steve retrieved the hot pizza and yelled for everyone to come dig in. Once everybody had a slice, Steve sidled up to Eddie.
“Is it always this easy?” Steve asked.
Eddie clutched his heart. “What are you saying, Stevie? This dungeon is child’s play to you?”
“I’m just- I mean, no I was just wondering if it’s because it’s my first time or something you’re pulling your punches.”
A terrifying gleam came over Eddie’s eyes. “Don’t you worry your little head about it. I’m not pulling my punches.” He stood taller and punched Steve’s arm. “Just you wait.”
“Ow.” Steve rubbed his arm as Eddie resumed his position at the head of the table and everyone returned with their cheesy spoils.
Eddie was not, in fact, pulling his punches.
As they progressed, the monsters became nearly overwhelming, and Steve was now used to rolling his dice to see how he stacked up against them. He rarely missed his hits but Dustin complained loudly when Steve’s strength did nothing against a demon dog.
“What kind of beast is it that a 20 doesn’t hit?” Dustin held his head in his hands.
“Funny you should ask that,” Eddie began, “because as Steve’s club swings and misses, a cloud of smoke rises from around your feet. Overwhelming heat fills the cavern. The ground shakes and rumbles and from the dark cloud rising you hear snuffling.”
Eddie sniffed and crouched, making mewling, snorting sounds. Steve cringed internally at his play acting, but he had to hand it to the guy, everyone was invested, leaning forward in their seats.
“Boom, boom, BOOM!” Eddie stood and swept his arms out. “As the smoke clears, you see a giant, red, scaled beast clawing its way toward the group, vapor curling from its nostrils. It roars and rears back on its hind legs, about to strike. Gareth, first in initiation, what is your action?”
“A fucking dragon?!” Gareth says, turning to the group. “Were we expecting a fucking dragon?”
Steve looked to Dustin, whose hands were pulling at his cheeks, then to Erica, whose eyebrows were raised, incredulous.
“Of course we have to fight it!” Mike said to Gareth.
“Okay so a red dragon, which means it’s vulnerable to cold. Does anyone have cold spells?” Dustin asks.
“I’ve got something but I go after you,” Will replied.
“Okay just go for it Gareth,” Mike insisted.
Gareth struck with his sword doing minimal damage. Erica landed a blow and Lucas took his turn to deal damage to the demon dog still on Steve’s trail. Dustin swung his great sword and Will cast cone of cold.
“Finally! Some real damage!” Dustin high fived Will.
Mike went, then the guy Steve still didn’t know the name of, then finally it was his turn.
“Um, I guess I’ll try and get on its back?”
Eddie raised his brows. “Ah. Interesting. Dexterity roll.”
“Okay, uh… 18.”
“Steve runs and jumps, clawing his way up the mountainous side of this huge dragon. What do you do now that you’re there?”
“Maybe I could sing to it?”
“Sing?” Eddie asks, as scoffs and ‘what!’s ring out around him.
“Yeah like a lullaby. Maybe it just needs a nap.” Steve shrugged.
“You’re not a bard! I’m the bard, Steve!” Dustin cried.
“So? Other people can sing, you don’t have the corner market on singing,” Steve said, pushing Dustin’s shoulder.
“Can you really sing?” Eddie asked in his normal voice, head cocking in curiosity.
“Yeah,” Steve shrugged again. “Not a big deal but yeah.”
“I have to hear that sometime,” Eddie said thoughtfully, before returning to his DM voice. “Steve the Reluctant begins singing the most beautiful song this great red dragon has ever heard and it bellows long and wailing, like it’s trying to sing along. Now, it’s the dragon’s turn.”
Eddie sat behind his screen and began rolling dice, muttering to himself the whole while.
“I don’t like those sounds Eddie,” Lucas complained.
“God he’s gonna fuck us up,” Dustin sighed putting his head in his hands again. “You should’ve attacked, Steve, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I couldn’t hit it so I’d try something else! Its scales are like metal!”
“And Steve was smart to try it,” Eddie interjected, still looking down at his papers, “as the rest of you take 25 points of fire damage from the dragon’s breath.”
“Fuck!”
“Ugh, are you serious?”
“I’m down,” said one of the teen guys, knocking his character figure over.
“I’m down too,” Lucas added.
“Fuck!”
“Okay we have got to move and Will you better fuck him up,” Erica directed.
The next round went much the same and Steve hummed to himself, doodling in the margins of his character sheet.
“Sir Steve, how are you faring on the great beast’s back?” Eddie asked, signaling his turn.
“Great, it’s kinda warm up here but the view is great.” Steve hunted around in his brain for his next move. “I’m gonna make my way up it’s neck and as I’m singing I’m gonna take my boot dagger and stab it in the eye.”
“Perfect, roll for a nice eye stab.”
“Does a 22 hit?”
“22 does hit,” Eddie said with a smile. “Roll damage.”
Steve quickly added up his die. “18 damage.”
Eddie marked it down. “With a great shriek the dragon flails around trying to dislodge you. Its arms try and claw you and you take 10 points of slashing damage. It bellows and whines, blinded as it turns its sights onto-“ Eddie paused and glanced down at the board, the characters circling the dragon figurine- “Will, the not-so-wise, standing directly in its good eye line.”
Steve watched as Eddie rolled his dice and smirked.
“32 points of fire damage to Will the Wise, directly in the path of its cone of fire.”
“Damn it! I’m down now.” Will pushed his little figure over.
“Aaaand that is where we will leave it for this evening!” Eddie announced.
Everyone groaned while Steve glanced at his watch, then out the window. “Has it really been four hours?”
“Time flies when you’re killing monsters,” Eddie replied.
…
After everyone left, he cleared plates and tidied in general when the phone rang.
“Harrington residence.”
“Steve! Oh my god! How are you?”
“Robin?” Her voice sounded higher through the phone.
“Yes! Hi! How are you? Are you taking care of yourself?”
Steve sat himself up on the counter and sighed.
“Yeah I’m fine, like I told you I would be, Jesus. How are you? How’s Maine?”
“Ugh, so boring. Driving was more interesting than actually being here. We have a few little things planned, but honestly I’d rather be home.”
“Same. But I got to say, I think I’ve made some friends while you’ve been gone.”
“What!” Robin shrieked. “You did?!? So quick! How?”
Steve paused. Did he really want to say he was inducted into the biggest group of nerds in town? Then again, it wasn’t like Robin could have a lower opinion of him. She already thought he couldn’t take care of himself or make any friends.
“Uh, I just had Hellfire, you know, the nerd group over. It was pretty cool.” He tried to sound chill about it.
Robin cackled. “Steve. That is truly wonderful. Did you guys take pictures? I need pictures. Did you actually play? I can’t believe Dustin convinced you!”
“Yeah I played, and I was damn good too. Didn’t die or anything. And Eddie kinda sprung it on me, so I just went with it.”
“Aww, Eddie, how is Eddie? We’ve hardly seen him since the apocalypse.”
“He seems okay. He’s a really good leader- or dungeon master but there’s no way I’m ever calling another man ‘master,’ that’s a little too gay for me, so. Anyway, it was fun.”
Steve wandered into the dining room, straightening the chairs and replacing the centerpiece before he noticed a notebook left on one of the chairs.
“Max was here, too. It was good to see her out and about.” Steve flipped through the pages, looking at the chicken scratch on the lines. “And Erica was as terrifying as ever. I can’t imagine what she’ll be like in a few years.”
“Sounds to me like you had a good night but did you really make friends with anyone? Like, really?” Robin prodded.
Clearly it was a gaming notebook, full of notes on gameplay. He figured it was one of the teens’ but no name could be found. “I’m laying the foundation. And really the only one I can see spending any real time with is…”
He flipped back to the inside front cover and written plainly were the words ‘Top Secret.’
“I think I just found Eddie’s DMing notebook.”
“Ooo, whatcha gonna do with it?”
“I think I’ve just leveraged a friend.”
“Oh Steve, you crafty bastard.”
…
On day five of Robin being gone, he spent his double shift reading through Eddie’s top secret notes.
Most of it was gibberish, numbers and letters scattered across the page like little snapshots of importance at one moment in time, but to him it was a mess. Unfortunately, there was no new info on the campaign they had played- this must have been the notebook Eddie used strictly for gameplay, not planning. Didn’t seem that top secret to him.
He waffled on calling Eddie all day. He had his new number, and he was sure he’d be home. It was summer break and thankfully the government had gifted the Munsons a new apartment on the other side of town (the part untouched by the ‘earthquake’) and as far as he knew Eddie didn’t have a job. Well, an official job, with regular hours.
Still, he procrastinated and messed around on the computers and shuffled VHS’s around and cleaned the windows and by the time it was 6:00 he was seriously wondering what was wrong with him.
It was just a phone call. Just a courtesy. Just a friendly offer.
At 6:05 he picked up the store phone and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Hey, hey there, Eddie, hey it’s Steve.” Steve felt his cheeks heating and he lost his breath for a moment.
“Well hello Sir Steve, to what do I owe the pleasure of speaking?”
“Huh- uh yeah,” Steve chuckled, “I think you forgot something last night.”
“Did I?”
“Yeah, your notebook. I can bring it by after I’m off. I get out at 10, if that’s alright.”
“Sure, yeah, that would be great. I could always come by tomorrow, no need to trouble yourself.”
“No, no, it’s no problem. I wanted to talk to you anyway about last night. It was cool. Do you think I did alright?”
Steve waited but when no answer came he continued. “I just mean, because it was my first time and I don’t know half the stuff you guys were talking about, but I mean, I liked it and I thought you were great, I mean you know how to command a room and that was really cool to see. Like you, all in your element.” Steve trailed off, suddenly unsure. But again, Eddie didn’t jump in and save him so he kept babbling.
“But I know everyone was giving me shit so I don’t know if I really like, fit in, you know? Everyone seemed to have a thing, like a role, but I didn’t really know where I fit, or what I was meant to do.” Steve paused. “So… what do you think?”
Steve heard Eddie take a sharp inhale. “I think we can unpack… aaalll of that later tonight. When you come over I’ll smoke you up and we can talk about your need to fit in.”
“It’s not a need to fit in, I just-“ Steve scoffed, “I just wanna know how I did.”
“Oh, you were excellent, Steve. Just- top notch, really. The Madonna of role players.”
“Okay, now you’re just mocking me. Thanks.”
Steve could hear Eddie’s smile through the phone. “One hundred percent honest-to-God truth, Stevie. You’re a team player, you think outside the box, and aren’t afraid to go for it. One of my favorite kinds of players.”
A customer walked in and he greeted them quickly before turning back to the phone.
“Hey I gotta go but you have to tell me about other kinds of players tonight, okay?”
“Sure thing, Steve, I’ll be here.”
Steve hung up and felt a wash of happiness rise in him. He had plans.
Take that Buckley.
…
As soon as he knocked on Eddie’s door, he realized he still had on his stupid work vest. He quickly shrugged it off and threw it into his car’s open window. Eddie opened the door and was obviously watching him.
“Hey,” Steve said, absolutely chill.
“Heya. How was work?”
“So boring. But I only wanted to kill myself for about two hours today so it was better than some days.”
“Well, come in, Sir Steve, your after work libations await.”
Steve wanted to ask how the fuck he knew so many weird words but he thought better of it, remembering how many times Eddie had taken certain high school classes. It wasn’t like Eddie was dumb.
The apartment had sufficient ac, thank god, and Steve made his way to the couch. The coffee table was covered in smoking paraphernalia, but the rest of the apartment seemed bare and boring, a stark contrast to the lived-in hominess of the Munson trailer.
“How’s this place treating ya?” Steve asked.
“It’s fine,” Eddie waved his hands dismissively. “Important thing is that I was able to retrieve my baby before the whole trailer fell into the upside down.” He pointed to the closed door off the living area. “Can’t imagine how I’d be able to buy another. Not like people are lining up to buy from me anymore.”
“Oh really?”
Eddie picked up a joint and opened the sliding glass door that led to a small patio area, pulling the screen door closed. “Yeah something about a serial murderer and a witch hunt. Crazy stuff.”
“Truly insane. I know for a fact you’re not a witch.”
“Jury still out on the murderer part?”
Steve sniffed and shrugged. “I seem to remember a broken bottle pressed to my neck so, you know, we all have our limits.”
Eddie huffed and picked up a lighter, sparking the joint between his lips. Once he had a cherry going he passed it to Steve. “I think I apologized for that.”
Steve inhaled and slowly let it out, savoring the taste of Eddie’s weed. “I think you think you apologized for that.”
Eddie rolled his eyes and flopped on the couch. “So sorry Steve, for threatening your life while mine was already being threatened.”
“Apology accepted.” He took another puff and passed it over. “Where’s your uncle?”
“Working. He does nights.”
“Oh cool.”
Steve listened to the sounds of crickets and frogs and watched Eddie as he savored the joint. It was nice seeing him smoke and not be frantic about it. He was totally relaxed and that put Steve even more at ease. The churning in his stomach from earlier dissipated.
“Did you really like it?” Eddie asked, and passed the joint back.
“Like what?”
“Playing. D&D. Did you actually like it?”
“Oh yeah. It was cool.” Steve choked a little on his next inhale. He cleared his throat. “I get why all those little nerds love it so much. Lots of risk and reward but no actual blood or monsters? Yeah, I can get behind that.”
Eddie snorted and smiled. “That’s a ringing endorsement coming from Steve Harrington.”
Steve rolled his eyes at the use of his full name. Sometimes it didn’t feel like it fit him anymore.
“Are you gonna tell me about your favorite kind of players yet?”
Eddie smirked and grabbed the quickly dwindling joint back. “Sure. My favorite players are chaos players.”
“Chaos players. What does that even mean?”
“I like when players get creative. But sometimes there’s a player who thinks so outside of the box that it creates chaos. One time, a few years ago, this guy in Hellfire was playing a ranger, but he always, and I mean always, would try to seduce the monsters. Monsters, NPCs, queens and kings, didn’t matter. It got him into a lot of trouble.”
“You can seduce the monsters?”
Eddie laughed. “No. That’s the whole point. You really can’t, unless you have fantastic charisma and a knife up your sleeve, but he would try every time, without fail.”
“So chaos players are… stupid?”
Eddie passed the nub of a joint back and giggled. “Not stupid. Creative. And it did work a few times.”
“How… how would that work? Seducing someone in the game. Wouldn’t that mean you’re flirting with like, the guy running it?”
Eddie raised his brows. “Yes, Steve,” he began patiently, “you would in fact, be flirting with the DM. D&D is a safe space. You can flirt with whoever you want.”
“Huh.” He took one last drag then crushed the end of the joint into an ashtray on the coffee table. “Seems kinda gay.”
Eddie inhaled sharply. “I guess it is kinda gay, but you’re forgetting it’s all made up. Rules about sexuality don’t exist in D&D.”
“Yeah,” Steve nodded to himself, “yeah that makes sense, it just feels gay.”
“You telling me you couldn’t flirt with a man to avoid a fight?”
“Flirting with a man would lead to a fight, Eddie. We live in freaking Indiana.”
“I mean in game, dumbass. Here, let’s try.” Eddie got up suddenly, and went to the kitchen area and filled up two water glasses. He set those down on the coffee table then went into a different room (probably his own) and returned with a little velvet pouch.
“You’re in a tavern, the lights are low and you have a pint of ale in front of you.” Eddie resumed his seat, but turned so he was facing Steve. “A huge hulking man approaches you. He glares and crosses his arms and says, ‘You’re in my spot.’ What do you do?”
Steve picked up his glass and chugged half. His mouth was so dry.
“And you want me to flirt with him?”
Eddie tilted his head. “What would your character do in this situation? Steve the Reluctant wouldn’t possibly want to get into a fight with this guy, but he doesn’t want to give up his seat. What would he say?”
“He’d say… why don’t you join me? There’s room enough for two. And I’d pat the table across from me and invite him to sit.”
“Excellent,” Eddie said and opened his velvet pouch. He pulled out a die and set it in Steve’s open hand. “Roll for persuasion.”
Steve rolled his eyes and tossed the die on the table. “11.”
Eddie nodded once. “The man slowly looks you up and down and finally sits across from you. He steals your pint and swallows it down in one.”
“What the- hey!”
Eddie puts on a tough guy voice with a British accent. “‘Oh, was that yours? Guess you’ll have to buy another.’” Eddie threw his thumb over his shoulder like he was pointing towards a bar.
“This guy just wants me to leave! How is this flirting?”
“You tell me, King Steve. How is this flirting?”
“Fine. I go to the bar and buy two pints and make sure his is absolutely full so it sloshes all over when I set it down.”
“Very flirty, Steve. This guy is nearly ready to go home with you.”
“Oh fuck off.”
“The man eyes you over his pint and asks about you. ‘Haven’t seen you in ‘ere before. Think I’d remember a pretty face like yours.’”
Steve raises his eyebrows. That was definitely a come on. Okay. Okay. He could do this.
“Oh you’d certainly remember me. I’m unforgettable.” Steve winked.
“There it is. That’s what I was waiting for. I knew you had it in you, Harrington.”
Steve threw his head back against the couch, letting Eddie’s amusement wash over him. “Yeah yeah.”
“How gay did that feel on a scale of one to ten?”
“Pff, I don’t know, like a five. I’m definitely horny now though. Does weed make you horny?”
“Or do big hulking guys flirting with you make you horny?”
“Fuck off, Munson, I’m not gay.”
“Yet here we are, flirting like it’s no big deal. Proud of you, Steve. You’re not as repressed as Robin says.”
“Wait, Robin? When did you talk to Robin about me?”
“We talk. We’re friends.”
“Since when? She doesn’t talk about you.”
Eddie clutched his heart. “She doesn’t? That bitch.” Eddie grabbed another pre rolled joint from a metal tin and lit up. “She’s your best friend, right?”
“Yeah. Well. Yeah.”
“What?” Eddie prompted, seeming to know there was more he wanted to say.
“She’s my only friend.”
“What about Wheeler? Last I checked you two were pretty close.”
“We dated, we aren’t… friends. I don’t know.”
“So you can’t be friends with people you dated?”
“You can, sure, we just. Aren’t. Not really.”
“And guy friends?”
“None since Tommy H.” Steve paused as he took the joint from Eddie’s hand. He inhaled and wondered if he should be smoking more as he was already fuzzy around the edges. “You know, for a long time I thought… well. It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter?”
“I thought… I thought me and Tommy would be friends for life, you know. We told each other everything, did everything together. We even jerked off together, a few times. I thought that was like, totally lifetime-best-friendship material, you know? But he turned out to be a bigger asshole than I was. So.”
“Okay… so your definition of best friendship involves jerking off together?”
Steve waved the joint around. “Sure. Nothing weird about it. It’s like, a connection, but it’s not gay or anything. I wasn’t fucking him, we were just separate but together you know? That’s a best friend.”
“I’m rethinking my earlier statement.”
Steve passed the joint back. His head felt heavy so he let it fall back down on the couch. “What statement?”
“Oh nothing. Feel free to jerk it around me whenever you want.”
Steve huffed a laugh. “Are you trying to be my best friend?”
Eddie stayed silent so Steve looked over. Eddie’s eyes were half-lidded, mouth parted around smoke. “It would be an honor to be your best friend, Steve.”
Something curled in Steve’s stomach, something hot and not altogether pleasant. He pushed the feeling away.
“Same, dude. You’re good people.”
Eddie took another drag. “Don’t hear that often.”
“I’ll say it again. To whoever the fuck I need to. You helped save this town, man. Everyone deserves to know that.”
“Well, you and the merry band of munchkins did more than me, I was a bit busy with these.” He pulled at his shirt, revealing the intense scarring on his torso.
“Yeah, but still.” Steve glanced away when Eddie pulled his shirt down.
“We kinda match,” Steve added, pulling up the side of his polo. “That’s best friendship material: matching scars.”
“Your definitions of best friendship are something else, Harrington.”
“Who’s your best friend?”
“Mine? Don’t have one.”
“What about what’s his face, from D&D?”
“Jeff?”
“Jeff? Who’s Jeff?”
“He was there. You sat across from him for three hours, Steve, and you didn’t learn his name?”
“But he’s not your best friend, so.”
Eddie gave him a look that said ‘are you kidding me?’
“What about the other guy, Gary?”
“Gareth. And nah. We play together and we have the band… even though that’s kinda fallen apart. No, I don’t think I’ve had a bestie since middle school.”
“What happened in middle school?”
“Not so much what happened, it’s what didn’t happen. Nobody wants to jerk off with me, Stevie.” Eddie punched his arm playfully. “Best friendship has always eluded me. Everyone is so worried about what people think, conforming and all that bullshit.”
“Yeah, bullshit.”
Eddie snorted. “Says the man worried about fitting in with a group of ‘nerds.’”
“I wanna fit in in the game. I have a role in real life. I’m the babysitter. The… ride giver.”
“The mom.”
“No. Not- not the mom. Just like an older brother or an uncle or some shit. Not the mom.”
“Sure. Sure.” Eddie nodded and stubbed the joint out.
Steve was definitely high and warm, getting warmer with the door letting out the cold ac.
“You know, Robin dared me to make a new friend before she came back.”
“Did she?”
“She did. Like I have any problems making friends. I can be friends with anybody.”
“Then why aren’t you?”
“Huh? Why aren’t I what?”
“Friends with anybody.”
“Oh, ow. Fuck you, too.”
“Were you ever friends with the Byers kid? That’s who Nancy is with now, right? What was all that like?”
“Nah, we uh. We’ve never been friendly. He’s got a mean right hook.”
“Wait. Byers punched you? Wait.” Eddie cocked his head to the side and raised his brows. “Did you deserve it?”
“Oh yeah. I deserved it. But you know, he was making moves on my girl, so.”
“Making moves? Byers has moves?”
“I guess, they’re still together so he must. God. I still don’t know what she sees in him. I mean, sure he’s like, alright looking, but he’s weird as fuck.”
“Nancy must like weird as fuck. What about you? What do you like?”
Steve pushed his palms against his face. “God I don’t know anymore. The last date I went on was a disaster. We were at a diner and a chair scraped weird but I swear it sounded like a fucking demobat.” He covered his eyes with one hand. “I practically ran out of there. She was all like, ‘what’s wrong, Steve?’ And I had to play it off. Not like I could talk about it.”
“Right. Not exactly dinner conversation.”
“Yeah, anyway, I think I’m done looking. Maybe I’ll move when Robin does, go to a bigger city. Cast my net wider.”
“Yeah, sounds like the problem is definitely them, not you.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Nope, we are friends now Steve, I’ve declared it. That means I can call you on your bullshit.”
“I… am not bullshit.”
“You aren’t, but the shit you talk, is.”
“Whatever man.” Steve waved his hand and closed his eyes, head still back against the couch.
“I’m just saying. You can broaden your horizons right now. There’s more than just pretty girls out there.”
“Broaden my horizons… to ugly girls?”
When Eddie said nothing, he glanced over to see Eddie’s head in his hands. “Never mind Steve. Jesus Christ.”
“What? What’d I say?”
“There’s a learning curve, to,” Eddie flapped his hands around in a circle, “-to understanding how your brain works. I think I’m starting to get why you and Wheeler didn’t work out.”
“I think I’m offended? Should I be offended?”
Eddie flapped again. “We are past being offended. We’ve saved each other from terrifying deaths, we should be able to say things without getting offended.”
Steve squinted and pulled his head back, frowning. “That sounds like best friend territory, Munson, and I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Eddie dramatically threw his hands up and let them fall while letting out a pshhh sound. “You’re so right, we still need to jerk off before we’re besties. Well,” he began unbuckling his belt, “whip it out, big boy, let’s seal the deal.”
“What, right now?” A flush went from his cheeks to his balls.
“Why not. Come on, I wanna see what King Steve’s been packing. You’ve got a big name to live up to.”
His hand went reflexively to his groin, and he pushed down with the heel of his palm. It was hot in here. Did the ac go out?
“Tell me about the last chick you slept with.”
Steve groaned. “It was months ago. God, it’s been so long.” Almost against his will, his dick started to harden in his jeans. He glanced over to see Eddie definitely had his dick in his hand, slowly stroking, shirt covering everything. “Oh fuck, are you already hard?”
“Getting there. Tell me about it. Who was it?”
Steve swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “Her name’s Kathy. We had dinner and then we drove out to the quarry. My parents were actually home for once, so I couldn’t take her back to my place. So we just… well, I fucked her over the hood of the car. She was… god she was tiny. Sometimes they feel breakable and she definitely was like that.”
Steve was fully hard now, so he quickly unzipped and pulled himself out and began stroking.
“She was tiny but she had great tits. A perfect handful. And so… enthusiastic, yeah, she got really into it.”
“You finger her?”
A smile burst across his face. “Oh yeah. She was so wet. I love it when they’re wet.”
“Fuck.”
Steve stole another glance at Eddie. His tongue was pointed against his upper lip and his eyes were scrunched closed. Heat rushed through him and his hand sped up.
“She was so tight. And so wet. She even asked me to fuck her, I didn’t have to do anything but flick her clit and she came so hard.”
Eddie groaned. “And then you fucked her?”
“No, first she blew me for a while.”
Eddie hummed. “Bet that was good.”
“Oh yeah. Hot and wet, but god her mouth was small, she barely took any of it. Her tongue was good though. Fuck.” He fucked up into his fist. He was getting close.
He heard Eddie spit into his hand and then resume his rhythm and some primal part of him liked the sound. Heat raced through him and his balls pulled up tight. He matched up their hand speed and far too soon he was spilling over his fist, abs clenching and hips rocking.
He heard Eddie come with a groan. It sounded like a fucking porno. Not that he watched a lot of pornos, but he did have plenty of access. Would Eddie watch porn with him? His dick twitched in his come-covered hand.
Eddie said ‘here’ and handed over a wad of tissue. Steve was so far gone he didn’t question where it came from, just silently cleaned himself up and tucked his dick back in his jeans, throwing the damp wad on the coffee table.
Steve sighed and collapsed back into the couch. “Fuck. I needed that.”
Eddie sighed too, repositioning himself next to Steve. “Yeah.”
They relaxed for a moment, cooling off, and listened to the sounds of summer. Eventually, Eddie leaned forward and plucked another joint from his tin. He lit up and offered it to Steve.
“Nah I’m good. I’ve gotta drive home… somehow.” He felt his eyes closing against his will.
“You’re welcome to the couch. I don’t really have any extra pillows or blankets or anything but…”
“No, no. I just need a minute.”
“Sure, Steve.”
He inhaled the oddly comforting scent of weed and relaxed further into the couch, completely boneless.
He roused himself when Eddie was putting out the joint. “Well, new best friend,” Steve began and Eddie smiled at him, “I think I should go home now. I have a day shift tomorrow.”
Eddie smiled, a soft sweet smile, stood and offered his hand. “Make it home safe.”
He took his offered hand and was pulled up to standing, swaying on his feet. As they made their way to the door, Eddie seemed like he wanted to say something.
“What? Spit it out.”
“Well, it’s summer, you know, and the group has more time, so I was thinking we could meet a few times a week. But you know, Wheeler’s dad has been giving him shit, so I was wondering…”
“Wondering what. Come on, my brain is off.”
“Could we meet at yours? Again?”
Steve shrugged, thinking only of his bed. “Sure, why not.”
Eddie smiled, big and bright. “I knew there were advantages to being your friend.”
“Yeah, yeah. My big house is one of many perks. I’ll see ya.” He walked to his car in a daze.
“Don’t fall asleep at the wheel!” Eddie called after him.
Steve threw up a thumb in acknowledgement and got in. He drove away and it wasn’t until he parked at his house that he looked over and saw Eddie’s DMing notebook sitting in the passenger seat.