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Steve walked through the door of the Munson trailer without a word, he threw himself over the arm of the couch, face colliding with Eddie’s stomach knocking the air out of him.
“Oof,” Eddie grunted.
Steve didn’t comment on his entrance or the fact he’d just launched himself at his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist. As Steve breathed a deep sigh he felt Eddie’s hand tangle in his hair.
“Hard day?” He asked, amusement in his voice.
Steve hummed a yes then buried his face impossibly closer into Eddie’s stomach, he felt it shake as Eddie laughed.
“Wanna talk about it?” He asked, Steve could hear the smile on his face.
“No.” Steve mumbled. “Just cuddle.”
“Well you’ve got,” a pause, Eddie’s hand shifted in his hair, as he checked the time on his watch, “ shit , ten minutes ‘cause I’ve got hellfire.” Eddie’s hand returned to Steve’s hair this time massaging lightly at his scalp. “we can cuddle after though. I shouldn’t be that long.”
Steve turned his head so he could look up at Eddie, he raised a brow at him, “Liar.” Steve puffed. “Can’t you cancel?” He pouted, knowing full well what the answer would be.
Eddie looked down at Steve’s fake pouting face and said, “Sorry, Stevie, we just started this campaign I can’t bail.” Eddie really did sound apologetic.
After a while of silence, Steve just enjoying the rise and fall of Eddie’s breath and the feel of his hand in his hair, Eddie smiled at Steve, who squinted in return. “You could come with? Watch the game? You can even sit next to me.”
Steve turned his face back into Eddie, his worn-out, was meant to be black but is now grey, Judas Priest tee soft against his face. “Not close enough.” He mumbled.
Eddie laughed and again, Steve felt him shake. “My throne’s not really big enough for two, princess.”
“Then I’ll…” Steve hummed. “ sit in your lap.”
Steve felt Eddie shake his head. “Do you really want to have to get up that often? You’ve seen how… animated , I get.” Steve could hear the grin in his voice as he said it, and Steve in fact did know how animated he got and did not want to have to get up every other minute; or risk being flung from Eddie’s lap for that matter.
Again Steve hummed, thinking, “Then you sit in my lap.” He stated seriously, still muffled by Eddie’s shirt.
Eddie let out a breathy laugh, “you’re determined, huh? Okay but don’t expect there to be no questions from the scooby gang.”
That got a laugh out of Steve, he turned his head back so he could see Eddie’s face again. “Don’t care about them.” He scoffed.
“Okay.” Eddie said softly, “ we gotta get going then, Stevie, ‘cause we’re already,” he looked at his watch again, “ five whole minutes behind schedule. An’ you know how Dustin gets.”
Steve very reluctantly, and with a lot of over-exaggerated groning, peeled himself off of Eddie.
They headed to Eddie’s van. Once Steve had settled in the passenger seat, Eddie started the engine. The low sounds of Black Sabbath filled the air as Steve watched Eddie put the van in gear. After Eddie had reversed and they were on the road he took Steve’s hand and linked their fingers, the back of Steve’s hand in Eddie’s palm so that Eddie could still shift gears.
Steve hums along to the songs while Eddie sings them at him; Steve joining in when he knows a chorus or bridge.
The drive to Hawkins high was short but even still Steve had to flip the tape in the deck before they reached it. Steve always found it odd being back, he’d graduated, two years ago at this point, and so had Eddie but the kids and the rest of hellfire still had school so the club remained in the drama room of Hawkins high.
As Steve got out of the van, Eddie rummaged around in the back for his DM screen, dice and notes. Steve waiting for him by the doors into the school.
“Come on.” Eddie said as he pushed the doors open, grabbing Steve’s hand as he did. “You ready to be barated by the ankle biters?”
“No.” Steve groaned, “can’t you, like, make me invisible with your magic DM powers?” He lamented, a smile creeping into his lips.
“Hummm I could , but what do I get for my troubles?” Eddie pouted, stopping them before they entered the doors to the drama room.
Steve tapped his chin as if he was deep in thought and hummed. “ How about,” Steve clicked his tongue, “this.” As he said the word he threw his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and pecked him square on the mouth. The force Steve flung himself at Eddie made them both stumble back into the wall next to the entrance to the drama room.
Steve pulled back, arms still over Eddie’s shoulders, with a smile.
“Oh, I don’t know, Stevie, one little kiss for that kind of spell seems pretty cheap.” Eddie smirked.
Steve rolled his eyes but lent back in to kiss Eddie again, less chased this time. They lost themselves there for a moment making out in the hall of the empty school like a couple of teenagers. They only broke apart when they heard the doors beside them open with a squeak.
“Seriously! This is why you're late!” Dustin's voice cut through their moment like a hot knife through butter.
They didn’t reply to Dustin and just turned back to one another trying, and failing, to hold back laughter.
“Sorry man, I- I’m coming,” Eddie said through the remains of his laughter.
“Ew.” Was all Dustin said scrunching his face at them.
Steve just raised his eyebrows at him, unimpressed. “Really?” Steve said sternly.
Dustin just retreated into the room with a glare and a “hurry up.” Thrown over his shoulder.
And they did, they finally made their way into the room where everyone was sitting around a long table and loudly discussing something Steve didn’t understand.
They made their way to Eddie’s throne at the head of the table. Steve sat straight down on it as Eddie set up his screen and shuffled through his notes.
“You can’t sit there, Steve,” Mike shout-whispered at him from his seat just to the left of Steve, “ that’s Eddie’s chair!”
“It’s actually our chair tonight, Michael.” Eddie said, with a smirk Steve could just hear, before Steve could say something very similar.
“What?” Mike said, looking between them.
To illustrate his point Eddie sat down on Steve’s lap, leaning back so that his back was flush with Steve’s chest, their heads beside one anothers. Eddie turned and smiled down at Steve. “ Our chair.” He said not turning his head but looking at Mike, whose eyes flew wide but his brows furrowed.
The boy's reaction made Steve and Eddie smile at each other, just before they were about to burst out into laughter Erica chirped up beside them.
“As long as this,” she waved her hand in a circle at them, “ doesn’t affect the session I don’t care, but if it does I’m killing myself.” A chorus of ‘no‘s’ and ’what’s’ rang out between the group. Apparently everyone had been listening to this conversation.
“Erica you can’t do that, you're, like, our strongest, most stealthiest player!” One of Eddie’s band members exclaimed, Garth or Gareth Steve could never remember.
“Well they better not get distracted from the game then.” Erica replied with a stern look at both of them. How could such a young child strike so much fear into a group of men, it probably had something to do with how she’d helped save the world a couple of times.
“Your right lady applejack, no distractions.” Eddie said, aiming his last words at Steve, who nodded.
And with that, the game was underway. Eddie leant forward so he could engage the group and began recapping where they had left off.
After Eddie had recapped and Steve was well and truly lost he decided to tune out the rest of the groups chatter and focus on the drawl of Eddie’s voice as he wrapped his arms around his torso and lent his head between Eddie’s shoulder blades. Eddie returned his embrace with his hand on Steve’s forearm, giving it a little squeeze.
Steve very rarely let himself indulge in this amount of PDA around others, to Eddie’s surprise when they first started dating, he's the kind of guy who loves to be wrapped up in his partner whenever they have a moment to themselves; he's just not the kind of guy to snog them in the middle of the street or be all over one another while they’re with friends. That's not to say Steve doesn’t do that, he just doesn’t do it often. This right now, being wrapped around Eddie while he does something that has nothing to do with Steve, is Steve’s little treat to himself after his rather atrocious double shift at family video.
Steve didn’t want to think about work right now. All he wanted was to soak up Eddie’s warmth and listen to him spin his fantasy story. Steve would never admit it to anyone other than Eddie but he loved listening to him, listening to Eddie read to him or make up his own stories that he planned to incorporate into his next campaign, it made Steve feel like he was being read a bedtime story - something he never got when he was younger - but a bedtime story he would always try his hardest not to fall asleep to just so Eddie would keep going.
Steve started stroking gentle circles into Eddie’s hip with his thumb, over Eddie’s top. The small movements lulled Steve further into his sleepy comfort, his eyes falling closed. He knew he couldn’t fall asleep, for fear of being startled awake, so he made sure to tune back into everything, hearing some of the kids arguing with one of Eddie’s band mates. And finally actually listening to the words Eddie was saying.
Almost as if Steve could read Eddie’s mind.
Feeling the rumble of Eddie’s voice get deeper Steve could tell what was about to happen, so in preparation he loosened his grip from around Eddie just in time for the man in his lap to spring forward as, if Steve caught it right, an ogre though it could have been an orc, sprung out from the shadows at the group.
Eddie stood in front of Steve leaning over his DMs screen spiritedly waving his arms as he spoke to the group, in a gruff voice, as the creature. Steve lent back to take in the view. He couldn’t help it really, though it’s not like he tried, when he placed his hand at the bottom of Eddie’s thigh, right above the back of his knee, and lightly ran his hand up. His goal obvious to Eddie as right before Steve’s hand could make contact with Eddie’s arse, Eddie gently slapped Steve’s finger making him retract his hand. Turning when he’d stopped talking to give Steve an unimpressed look, that Steve just gave a smirk to in reply.
When Eddie finally sat back down in Steve’s lap he got the true consequences to his actions. Eddie ran his own hand up the side of Steve’s thigh giving it a too tight squeeze as he turned to look Steve in the eyes, “Though we agreed on no distractions, Harrington.” He whispered.
“How was I meant to resist that though?” Steve said frankly, his voice matching Eddie’s.
Eddie just rolled his eyes fondly, turning back to the group, where luckily the rest weren’t paying them any mind.
The rest of the session went on with much of the same, Steve in his comfortable trance until Eddie would lerch forwards to emphasise what he was saying; or taking advantage of the extra weight on the flimsy fake thrown and standing on the edge so he was high above the group - which at first scared Steve as he thought they would both go flying if the chair broke, but was eventually nice as, if you asked Steve, it gave quite a nice view.
Steve was still wrapped around Eddie, had been for a while now uninterrupted, stroking the same path of circles into Eddie’s hip, though this time under the hem of his shirt, when Eddie tapped Steve’s arm and rose gently from his lap.
“You ready Stevie?” Eddie asked quietly.
“Hum? Are you finished? We’ve only been here like an hour.” Steve grumbled, he didn’t want to have to let Eddie’s warmth go just yet.
“Yeah, baby, we’ve finished and it’s been nearly 4 hours. We kinda ran over.” Eddie said, the corners of his mouth turning up in amusement at Steve.
Steve just blinked at Eddie, disbelieving, then he turned to the clock on the wall of the room and saw it was almost ten o’clock. “ Holy shit, erm, yeah let’s go.” He said, dragging himself from the chair. “I didn’t even realise it was so late. How did that happen.”
Eddie chuckled, “You seemed pretty comfy back there, thought you’d fallen asleep a couple times honestly.”
They walked out of the drama room and back into the empty halls. “ I might have a little.” Steve chuckled.
Before they had hardly taken a step into the hall though, Dustin, Lucas and Mike ambushed them with questions all at once, speaking over each other so none of them could be understood.
“Whoa whoa, slow down. One at a time, Christ.” Eddie said, stopping their ramblings.
Surprisingly it was Mike who got to ask his question first, “ so is this goin’ to be, like, a thing?” He said, wrinkling his nose at them. Steve really had to talk to this kid about his attitude at some point, preferably soon.
“This?” Steve asked.
“You, coming and gate crashing our D an’ D sessions with your, clinging and whispering.” Lucas added.
“Yeah!” Dustin practically shouted. “ I can’t believe you finally come to an official hellfire meeting and that is what you do! I mean come on! You make Eddie late- I need to bleach my eyes now by the way- and you just act all,” Dustin made a disgusted face at Steve, “all- I don’t know, lovey.” Dustin puffed a sigh and continued his rant, “ I’m happy for you guys, but this is not what we need while we’re in the middle of battle.”
Eddie chuckled lightheartedly, “ Christ, kid did you even breathe then?” Dustin just scowled.
Steve just smiled and answered Mike's original question, “No I don’t plan on making this a… thing, it was just a one off you can all calm down.”
“Really?” It was Eddie who asked, he looked at Steve with maybe a bit of sorrow in his eyes.
Steve saw it, “ I mean, yeah, I'm at work most of the time anyway. But I guess we could do this again If you want.” Steve smiled at Eddie, sweet and full of emotion that Eddie wanted him to be there. “Every now and then.” He tacked on.
“I’d like that. It was fun, sitting in your lap.” Eddie said, smirking at Steve with what could only be described as bedroom eyes.
Steve returned the look.
“Yeah this is what we mean guys!” Lucas said, breaking the spell that was each other’s gaze.
“Right!” Steve scoffed, “Welp, It won’t be often so keep your pants on, Sinclair.”
“Now scram. You guys should be home already.” Eddie said, shooing them away with his hands. “Go. Go!” He shouted as they scurried down the hallway.
“You really weren't gonna come back? Did you hate it that much?” Eddie asked once the kids were out of sight.
“No, no it was, well, not fun - I didn’t really do anything- but I liked it. A lot. I like watching you in your element, and well, I wasn’t going to complain about my lovely view.” Steve smirked.
“Perv.” Eddie shook his head. “ I liked having you there while I was ‘ in my element’, I always like things more when you’re with me.” Eddie’s smile was sweet when he looked at Steve.
Steve’s smirk turned into a shy smile, “ you're such a sap.” He said, looking away from Eddie to hide the blush that was creeping into his cheeks.
“Shut up, you love it.”
“Yeah I do.” Steve said quietly, with a laugh.
They finally began to make their way down the corridor and outside. Once they got back to Eddie’s van and hopped in they spun out of the parking lot. “ your place or mine?” Eddie asked before he had to make the turn to either of their places.
“My mom's home, so yours?” Steve asked.
Eddie sends a quick smile Steve’s way, “Okay, you wanna grab food before we go back? We could go to Dixie's, have some burgers?” Steve just pulled a face that said definitely not . Eddie caught it through his peripherals and laughed, “Ooor, we couldn’t heat up the frozen pizza I have? Think It’s pepperoni.”
“Yeah that sounds good.” Steve smiled, lacing his fingers through Eddie’s on the gear shift, in the opposite position they were in before, the back of Eddie’s hand to Steve’s palm. They drove in comfortable silence only the sound of side A of Black Sabbath’s Seventh Star filling the van.
The pizza turned out to be Hawaiian but it was good enough, Eddie threw it in the oven and they waited for it to cook, standing on opposite sides of Eddie’s small kitchen propped against the counters.
“You wanna tell me about your day?” Eddie asked Steve, poking his socked foot against Steve’s own.
Steve grumbled, “Worst, day, ever.” He paused, sighing. “Frist off, why I ever agreed to come in early is beyond me.”
It took Steve the whole 15 minutes the pizza cooked to tell Eddie how he’d showed up early like he was asked to just for Keith to be late- as always- “just because he’s got the keys he thinks he can do what he wants!”- And to recount dramatically how some tweens had stolen some pornos from under his nose - “ I didn’t even know there were people in the store so how could I know there were kids in the 18 plus section.” - plus the ordeal with aprantly the whole elderly population for not having the movie they wanted for there bi-monthly movie night, - “ like I’m sorry Doris but how I’m I meant to know you wanted to watch dirty dancing today I’m not psychic!”- by the time the ovens timer went off Steve was breathless but ultimately satisfied that he’d gotten his horrible day of annoying work colleagues and customer service off his chest.
“That’s quite the day you had, my love.” Eddie sympathised. While he cut the pizza into eight, wonky, slices.
“Yah.” Steve puffed.
Eddie nodded towards the living room. Steve walked with him and sat on the couch, Eddie brought the pizza with him, putting it on the coffee table he asked, “Movie?” As he went over to where he kept his ever-growing stack of VHS tapes that were definitely meant to be returned to family video by now (Steve overlooked it though).
Steve nodded and waited for Eddie to put in whatever he wanted. Eddie chose the labyrinth, put it in the player, pressed play and flopped down right next to Steve on the couch.
As the first tones of David Bowie's voice rang out through Eddie’s shitty tv speakers Steve made grabby hands at the pizza on the table, not wanting to move now he was comfy again.
Eddie huffed a laugh and got the pizza off the table, putting it on his lap so it was easier for them both to grab slices. Steve, as was customary in Eddie’s Munson doctrine, took the biggest slice. (It was a new rule to the doctrine, as Eddie put it ‘ pretty boys get the best slice’)
The pizza was gone by the time Sarah had met the worm in the labyrinth, Eddie put the plate the pizza was on back on the table and put his arm around Steve. Who snuggled right into Eddie’s chest where he could finally feel his heat again and smell his citrusy shampoo.
Steve made himself comfortable next to Eddie putting his feet up on the couch beside him and leaning all his weight on Eddie, who just put his head on top of Steve’s nuzzling his hair like a dog before he was comfortable himself.
They lent together for the rest of the movie or well the rest of what Steve saw.
They had already seen the movie a handful of times by now and the familiarity of it, and Eddie, put Steve to sleep cuddled up to his boyfriend on his uncle's couch.