Chapter Text
It wasn’t a particularly thrilling day, it was mostly just Steve and Robin shooting the shit and rewinding tapes. Since Robin finally graduated they had a lot more shifts together, and a lot more time to hang out in general.
Their uneventful day was soon disrupted by a very familiar metalhead waltzing in like he owned the place.
“Greetings, confidants, I come bearing invitations!” Eddie announced as he slapped a piece of paper down on the counter.
Steve was more than happy to call Eddie his friend. Instead of just Steve and Robin, it became Steve, Eddie, and Robin. Three peas in a pod. The two men had spent more than their fair share of drunken, and sober, late nights together. It made every part of Steve wish he could go back in time and get rid of Tommy Hagan and Carol in favor of Eddie and Robin years ago.
Robin leaned against the counter and picked up the paper, “What’s this?”
“An address.” Eddie bounced on his heels, “I’m doing a drag show.”
She snorted, “Well, you have the hair for it.”
“What’s a drag show?” Steve joined Robin, bumping shoulders with her, “Like drag racing?”
A big smirk crossed Eddie’s lips and he tilted his head like a curious dog, “Not exactly, Steve. See, a drag show is when a man goes and dresses up like a woman and performs on stage, or vice versa.”
“Oh,” Steve’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion, “Why?”
“For fun.” Eddie pouted playfully, “Come on, I’ve been working on my makeup skills just for this. You should come.”
“I don’t know if this is my kinda thing.” Steve looked at Robin for guidance.
She smiled at Eddie and handed Steve the address, “We’ll be there.”
“You two are the best,” Eddie walked backwards out of the store, blowing them both kisses as he went, “Sit where I can see you!”
Steve shook his head and looked at the address, “Some place called Michael's on the outskirts of Indianapolis. I dunno, Robs, this place sounds kinda sketchy.”
“News flash, Steve, a lot of gay bars are.” Robin patted him on the back and pushed herself off the counter.
“How do you know it's a gay bar?” He turned around and was met with an incredulous look, “What?”
"Drag's kind of a gay thing." She shook her head, brushing the topic aside, “Look, we’re going, and that’s final. I’d hate to break Eddie’s little heart. You know how he gets, like when his eyes get all big and wet and pathetic?”
“Alright, alright, you're right. We'll go.” He stuffed the address in his pocket, “It might be funny to see Eddie all dressed up.”
Steve pulled up to a brick building with no windows and a sign outside that simply read ‘Michael's.’ There weren’t that many cars in the parking lot and the entire place was being illuminated by a single street light.
“It’s not too late to go home.” Steve turned to Robin, but she was already out of the car, “Or maybe it is.”
He sighed and reluctantly joined his bed friend out in the cool mid-summer night, “Okay, it says we need to go around the back and knock on the door.”
They walked around to the back of the building and were met with a single, plain metal door. Robin rolled her eyes at Steve as he got in front of her to knock on the door, but after all they didn't know what to expect so it was better to be safe than sorry. Pretty soon, a tall man with long hair and a goatee opened the door and stood so Steve and Robin couldn’t see in.
He eyed them up and down, “What’re you here for?”
“The…” Steve stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet a bit nervously, “The drag show.”
“Yeah?” The man held out a hand, “Let me see some ID.”
Steve and Robin quickly pulled out their IDs and handed them over.
He sneered and gave them back, “Alright, you can go in, but if I see you at the bar, you’re out of here. Capeesh?”
“You got it,” Robin gave the door man a friendly smile and he seemed to ease up a bit.
“Hope you two have fun,” he said with a small smirk as he stepped aside for them.
They walked through a short hallway and found themselves in what looked like, well, any old bar. The people inside were pretty alternative looking, which made a lot of sense for a place Eddie would go. It clearly wasn’t the whole building though, must’ve wanted to keep it separate from their regular affairs.
“Wonder where Eddie’s at,” Steve said idly as he gave the place a once over. There were way more people than he was expecting.
“Probably getting ready.” Robin looked around and pointed at a little stage area, “Let’s go sit down.”
They found a couple good chairs right up next to the stage just as people were starting to file in. A… woman(?) walked out on the stage and waved to get everyone’s attention. She had on a bright red wig and a purple sequin dress that fell to the floor.
“Thank you all for coming out for the show tonight!” Steve couldn’t tell if she was a man or a woman but her smile was contagious, “I see a few familiar faces in the crowd, a few new ones, so welcome one and all. We’re gonna start off the night with a new queen on the scene; the bad, the beautiful: Jade Hilt!”
Everyone clapped and cheered in anticipation and the tall woman disappeared behind a curtain of gold and silver streamers. The overhead lights dimmed and were replaced by a single spotlight pointed at the stage. A heavy rock — metal, it was metal, Eddie taught him the difference — a metal song started blasting out of some nearby speakers.
The last thing Steve was expecting was for Eddie to walk out on stage, even less expected was the way his heart started to pound out of his chest. He scanned Eddie from bottom to top; from the chunky black boots to the fishnets layered over ripped tights, beyond that was a nearly skintight black leather mini skirt that hugged Eddie’s body so perfectly. The skirt was coupled with a bullet belt, not that it was holding anything up.
Steve’s eyes lingered for a moment on a stretch of skin between the top of the skirt and the bottom of the bright red zebra print tank top Eddie was wearing. He had on a bra, Steve could see the straps, and stuffed it just enough for there to be a couple bumps there. Eddie’s arms were adorned with long fishnet gloves to match the leggings. A small smirk tugged at Steve’s lips as he noticed the same chunky rings he always wore still on his fingers.
Finally, Steve looked at Eddie’s face and just barely stopped himself from gasping. Eddie’s deep brown eyes were surrounded by a smokey black eyeshadow that sparkled under the stage light and his lips were donned with a deep red hue. To top it all off, his hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the crown of his head.
Eddie was lip-syncing to the song, but Steve couldn’t pay attention to the lyrics. Something about the way Eddie was dressed made his stomach churn and his face burn. The way his body moved to the beat of the music was intoxicating.
They locked eyes and the entire world seemed to slow around them. The noise of the music and the crowd deafened in Steve’s ears, leaving him with nothing but the sound of his own pounding heart.
Steve snapped himself out of whatever trance Eddie had put him under and gave his friend a big smile and two thumbs up. And god, maybe it was the makeup, but the way Eddie smiled back set his heart on fire.
Steve’s mind was fuzzy throughout the rest of the performances. They were nice and shiny, but all he could think of was Eddie.
When the show was over, all the queens came out and started walking around and talking to the patrons. Eddie b-lined for Steve and Robin and pulled them both into a big hug.
“Thank you so much for showing up.” Eddie pulled back, “Not exactly the kind of gig I could invite the guys to, y’know.”
“Yeah,” the word left Steve’s mouth a bit more dreamily than he intended, so he quickly cleared his throat, “Yeah, no, yeah. You were great up there.”
“Thanks, Stevie,” Eddie said with a sly little wink that was doing way too much for Steve.
“It’s uh…” Steve managed to rip his eyes away from Eddie, “It’s kinda humid in here, I think I’m just gonna go wait outside, okay, Robs?”
“Alright, I won’t be long.”
Steve pushed his way through the crowd and slipped out the back door into the sobering fresh air. He slid down the brick wall and put his head in his hands. What was he doing? Staring at Eddie like that, thinking of Eddie like that. They were friends, for god’s sake, nothing more.
Besides, Steve wasn’t gay, he wasn’t. He had never even thought of another man like that.
Not until he saw Eddie in drag.