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somerandomassguy · 1 year ago

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Warmth

The water was warm, Steve recognized. The hands touching him, running through his hair, gently stroking his skin were warm too. It was weird, in a way, to be surrounded by such warmth; such love, as he remembered it to be. Normally the water felt cold as it pooled around his feet, running off his shoulders in fat droplets. Even with the shower knob turned to be almost as hot as the water heater allowed for, it still chilled his bones and sent shivers down his spine in graceless waves.

The hands pressed firm into his flesh, allowing for him to process the feeling before tapping softly, as though asking a question. Steve quickly caught onto the fact that it wasn’t a question but a statement; a little informative gesture telling him that the soapy washcloth would be scrubbed over that part of his body when he deemed it so.

He leaned back against the edge of the tub, screwing his eyes shut to block the light. He felt a thumb rub over his thigh in vague circles. That’s how he knew it was safe. That it was safe to keep his eyes closed; to render himself useless with only the sense of touch left. He couldn’t hear worth a damn, anyways; just gentle throbs and thumps when someone made a loud enough noise. It was like he was deep underwater in the beginning; before he took one too many hits to the head. Now it was just silence.

When Steve finally drew his eyelids up, a soft, incredibly lovestruck smile met his eyes. Eddie half chucked half properly set the washcloth on the edge of the tub, leaning himself over to grab Steve’s face in his hands and press a kiss to his lips. Just a simple one, lust abandoned and in its place; love.

‘You feel safe’ Eddie signed, although his fingers moved in that clunky, unpracticed way and his sign language was distinctly lacking. But Steve understood it nonetheless; and brought himself to nod slowly. Eddie’s smile only seemed to brighten, eyes shining and teeth showing.

‘Always, with you.’ Steve attempted to mumble, very unsure of how it actually came out. He was positive he got the point across anyway, if the way Eddie practically melted and fell back onto the floor was any indication. Steve felt a soft smile paint his lips.

He was loved, content, warm. But most importantly; he was safe. He couldn’t even put a date on the last time he could close his eyes and relax. Eddie was here now, though; he’d keep Steve safe from the echoing horrors brought by the Upside Down, even if only for a little while.

To be quite honest; that brought a funny feeling deep within Steve’s chest, a feeling though not unwelcome, but strange nonetheless.

He later recognized it as a graceful dance between gratitude and devotion; his utter love for the man before him and how much he adored having Eddie in his life. His heart swelled with tender emotion at that; a little truth whispered in his head.

Slowly, slowly, slowly; the water drained away, dripping down his chest and off his legs. Stark cold wrapped around him like a thick, unforgiving blanket. The feeling didn’t last long before Eddie helped hoist Steve to his feet, one knee wobbling without the support from the brace. A towel fell around his shoulders, courtesy of one Eddie Munson; the very ratty fabric doing just about absolutely nothing to warm the chill of his flesh and to soak up the water still gliding off his wet hair.

He threw a faux scowl at Eddie, the man only shrugging with a sheepish smile and saying something probably along the lines of ‘It’s the best I could find.’ Still though, Steve tugged it tighter and scraped the water off his skin until the towel felt like it took a long dip in the ocean.

With barely a moment to spare, Eddie put his hand on the small of Steve’s back and swooped them both away to rummage through his closet (Mostly consisting of still unwashed items from thrift stores and clothing articles so worn through it would only take a single touch for them to fall apart at the seams.)

Steve could almost see when Eddie had a lightbulb moment, pulling out a pair of sweatpants in arguably good condition and a hoodie Steve had literally never laid eyes on in his life; no doubt because of the lack of holes, stains and shittily sewn patches. He eyed them both hesitantly, but Eddie had already practically flung them at him; leaving Steve just about zero choice in the matter.

He put them on with a sigh; after locating.. a halfway decent pair of boxers. Eddie had scampered away to retrieve something he didn’t bother to tell Steve about. He returned triumphant, it seemed, when he held something out in the palm of his hand; confidently proclaiming “For you, my liege.”

Steve eyed his hand first; before taking the hearing aids and slipping them onto his ears. He turned them on, a whiny mechanical groan emitting from the shitty electronics. He winced, scrunching his nose up as he managed to adjust it properly.

As he finished, Eddie’s arms wrapped around him in a fond hug. “You did great.” He beamed proudly.

“At what; sitting on my ass as you do all the work?” Steve snarked.

“You got it in one, Harrington.” Steve could feel the ‘Soon to be Munson.’ On the tip of Eddie’s tongue. (Even though one of them worked a shitty retail job and the other didn’t at all, therefore making the purchase of a ring basically irrelevant and homosexual marriage was very illegal.)

“Thanks.” Steve laughed, smacking his boyfriend on the back jokingly.

“You’re very welcome, my liege.”

Steve smiled, eyes crinkling shut as he stood there, holding Eddie as Eddie held him back.

Their life, the one they carved out from the stone blocks of text the Fates had written; was nearly perfect, in that moment. And he was quite glad for that.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #fanfic #stranger things #writing #my writing #yippee

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