Chapter Text
In Steve’s defense, Toby had been uncharacteristically early. He and Steve hadn’t been paired together for patrol often, so he hadn’t quite gotten the hang of how much time it took to get to Steve’s house.
Plus, Aaarrrgghh and Blinky had, like, date night or something, and Jim was like a week behind on his homework from being kidnapped by that sorcerer (Toby was officially over wizards; they were clearly inconsiderate jerks down to the last man). So maybe Toby was looking for company, even if that company was Steve.
So he waved at Steve’s mom when she answered the door.
“Hey. I’m here to pick up Steve for patrol?”
She gave Toby a wide smile; he was pretty sure she thought the trollhunters were all close friends, and clearly thought the rest of them were a fantastic influence on Steve. “Come on in. He’s in his room, getting ready.”
In Toby’s defense, there had definitely been the implication he could head on into Steve’s room.
So he went on back, opened the door, and hurriedly slammed it in response to Eli’s yelp, and a more delayed, “Don’t you ever knock, Domzalski?”
Patrol was quiet. Toby wasn’t certain about Steve, but Eli had clearly been mortified, face flushed when he’d excused himself back home. Which was perfectly understandable, really. As compromising positions went, it didn’t get much more compromising than shirtless with your hand down a guy’s pants.
“So, uh. You and, uh, Eli.”
“What?” Steve demanded, practically a growl, and Toby wished he maybe hadn’t said anything. Because adding Steve’s defensiveness of Eli to Steve’s own prickly jock persona meant this was the sort of situation that would have gotten Toby pounded two years ago.
But Toby had lost control of his own mind, because the next thing out of his mouth was, “Are you two like, friends with benefits, or-“
“No,” Steve snapped, face flushing more than Toby had ever seen it. “He’s my-“ Steve stopped abruptly, looking away from Toby. “You can’t tell anyone, anyway, got it?”
Toby’s chest hitched a bit, concern for Eli pressing him to ask, “This isn’t like when you were an ass to him in public because you thought being friends with him would hurt your image, is it? Because that was a shitty thing to do.”
“I know, okay?” Steve actually looked distraught, not surprised, but like he was rehashing an old shame. “We’re working on how to tell our parents and, well - everybody. I really like him, okay? So don’t ruin things by running your mouth.”
Toby shrugged. “Alright.” Unable to help himself, he nudged Steve until the other boy looked over at him, wary. “Of course, if you two keep making out in unlocked rooms, you aren’t going to have a secret to tell.”
“Shut up, Domzalski!” Steve retorted, punching Toby’s arm. “Some of us knock before we barge into other people’s bedrooms!”
Toby just shook his head, laughing, because the blow hadn’t been any harder than Steve would hit Eli’s arm, and that probably meant he and Steve were okay.
“But seriously dude, if Eli’s gonna be macking on you the way I saw, you’re gonna wanna get ahead of the story before the two of you manage to out yourselves making out in the janitor’s closet or something.”
And Toby could have been happy not knowing any more than he did, but seeing the sudden renewal of Steve’s blush (and who knew it was so easy to embarrass the guy? Eli, probably) and the certainty that whether or not they’d been caught, Steve and Eli had made out in the janitor’s closet, sort of made him wanna give Eli a high five, because the dude had game.