Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 96
Part 1 Part 95
Mom makes him go home when he starts dosing on Steve’s hospital bed. But it’s okay because she kisses Steve’s cheek before she leaves, and Eddie and Wayne stay parked by his side.
The connection’s easier now. It’s like all that time straining for Steve has snapped something into place. He can feel them all the time, a warm buzzing in his chest. He wonders if he runs hot now. If the warmth will diffuse through his whole being, make coats obsolete even in the dead of winter.
Hopper is waiting for them in the waiting room, El burrowed into his side. She looks wan, and tired, drooping into her extravagant coat, eyeliner running down her cheeks like she’s been crying. Something inside him twists when he looks at her.
Before he can untangle that knot of emotion, Hopper stands up, both hands slapping against his knees first the same way Mike’s dad does before he gets up from his recliner. “You ready to go?” he asks, not looking away from Mom.
When Will glances up, Mom’s smiling up at Hopper in a way he doesn’t want to think about. The adults talk quietly in front, leaving El to stumble tiredly along beside Will. She’s staring at the side of his face. Will can’t bring himself to look back.
“Steve,” she says, sounding the word out and making it longer like it still tastes foreign on her tongue. “He is okay?”
When Will gets up the courage to look over, her eyes are big and worried. He smiles at her helplessly. It’s almost funny how innocent she looks; like she’s a bunny dressed up in punk clothes. “He’ll be okay.”
She smiles, small and close lipped, but it still beams out of her like the sun. Will tilts his head to the side and tries to see what Mike sees in her. He wants to hide her in Castle Byers, build a fortress around her, and keep her away from all the lab people for the rest of her life.
Is that howMike felt, hiding her in his basement, giving her frozen eggos and keeping his mouth shut?
But then her lips thin and she looks forward again. The feelings vanishes. It’s just El, hia friend, despite how much of Mike’s attention she’d snapped up just by being herself.
“I’m glad,” she says, looking at Hopper’s broad back as she takes two steps for each one of his.
It’s quiet after that, the way it always is after; all of them too brittle and bruised and bone-deep tired for conversation.
Hopper’s truck rat-a tat-tats itself to life in the hospital parking lot. The radio croons out something quiet and thrumming until Hopper reaches over to shut it off.
El’s heads smushed into the window, vibrating against the pot-holed roads of Hawkins.
Will’s so tired he’s wide awake.
He watches the familiar buildings of Hawkins flicker by. It's been a long time since knowing his surroundings brought any comfort.
Monsters could live behind every door, every tree, every smiling face.
He’s not sure any of them will ever feel safe again.
Will closes his eyes, locking the scenery out so he can focus on the bundle of warmth in his chest. They’re still huddled together, two sparks merging in his chest.
The past couple days have been a necessary violation of Eddie’s private feelings. He’d bared them all with love confessions and grasping hands, trying to pull Steve back from the edge of immolation.
He’s not even sure Steve knows, hopes he does. Steve deserves to hold that love delicately between his palms and choose what to do with it.
He won’t crush it, even if it’s unreturned. He’ll hold it gently like he always does.
Will doesn’t realize he fell asleep, or that they’d arrived home until he’s in free-fall. It feels like one of those falling dreams where you wake up solidly in the middle of your bed, but this time he really is tumbling, only Jonathan’s arms keeping him from hitting the gravel.
“Are you okay?” he asks shakily as he pulls Will into his chest, holding him tight enough to hurt. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Mom murmurs, wrapping them both up in her arms, chin landing solidly on Jonathan’s shoulder, sandwiching Will between their bodies. “Everyone’s fine, right Will?”
Will murmurs his affirmation, feeling groggy and confused in the light of day.
“I was with Nancy,” Jonathan whispers. “I was just with Nancy, and you were–I almost–”
“Shh,” Mom cuts him off, reaching up to cradle his face and smile up at him. Will barely catches the edge of his watering eyes from his restricted vantage point between them. “Everyone’s fine.”
“I should have been he–”
“Jonathan,” Mom interrupts again, sharper this time. “Everyone is fine. You deserve a normal life.”
“But Will–”
“I’m fine!” Will cuts in this time.
Jonathan pulls back, looking down at him with worried, droopy eyes. “And Steve? Mike said he was possessed.”
Will feels that bundle of warmth in his heart, lets it shine through his smile as he looks up at his brother. “He’ll be okay.” As Jonathan droops with relief, Will feels his smile turn cheeky. “Eddie will never let you forget that you were on a date while we were fighting monsters, though.”
Jonathan closes his eyes, pained while Mom laughs.
It’s not until they’re walking toward the front door that Will notices the lack of demo-dog bodies. There’s still puddles of black oil-slick blood, but everything else looks normal. Who covered their tracks? The lab? Hopper?
He settles down for the debrief, pillowing his head on Jonathan’s shoulder as Hopper’s even tones flit through his brain.
Maybe familiar places no longer hold any comfort, but Jonathan’s bony frame is enough to lull him into a peaceful sleep.
Part 97
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DP X DC Prompt: Portal
A portal had opened above Gotham, alerting the Bats within seconds when Oracle said; "The radioactivity of the portal isn't dangerous but I definitely wouldn't go through it. Whatever opened it - whatever is about to come out... you're better facing it on this side."
A radioactive portal? That was the last thing Bruce wanted to deal with on a Friday night, but if something came through they would take care of it quickly then call it a night. Kick it's ass, send it home, get home safe.
At least that was the plan until there was a flash of light and a figure slipped through the portal. A single figure, rather small and hard to see from where he was standing. Whatever or whoever it was dropped a good twenty feet before it managed to catch itself and started to float mostly limp in the air held up by nothing as the portal closed up as quickly as it opened.
A million things began to rip through his mind but it was once again Oracle speaking up that made the panic go from 'protect Gotham' to 'get there'.
"B... it's a kid. Teenager around 14, he's floating but he doesn't look fully conscious. He's hurt, bad."
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Bit of a rant, but a lot of y'all spend too much money on things you don't even enjoy. This applies to many things, but what started me on this line of thought is video game consumer habits.
This last year I did an independent study on xbox games that involved looking at a lot of player data, including looking at achievements to see how much of games people have actually played.
And I was staggered to find how common it is for people to buy a game and play it maybe once before putting it down for good. Like, it's one thing if you start a game and can tell right away that you don't really like it (although at a $70 price tag for some new games, I sincerely hope you're doing at least a little research beforehand to try to avoid that!). But a lot of people not only never beat a game, they hardly even start it.
I'm not as familiar with the PC market, but anecdotally it sounds even worse. I've looked at some of my friends' Steam libraries, and it seems like a common habit is buying a ton of games on sale, but never playing the majority of them even once. This should be obvious, but getting an item on sale is not a good deal if you won't use the item. It's just a waste of money.
And to be clear, this isn't an attack on "avacado toast eating millenials" mocking them for struggling financially with the deck stacked against them. I'm a hedonist, and I fully believe that entertainment has importance and value. You should buy things that you like. But I also think you should be a rational consumer and spend your hard earned dollars in a logical manner to maximize your enjoyment. Or at the very least, not throw your money away.
I see this with other hobbies like reading or crafting too. People with dozens of unread books they bought at the store, or knitters who have spent hundreds of dollars on yarn but haven't made anything in the last year. It's like people want to buy an identity for themselves. "I buy books because I'm a Reader!"
I just want to let you know that it's okay. You're still a reader even if you haven't read anything lately. I'm sure there's a good reason you haven't. Or maybe you've changed, and no longer enjoy a hobby you once loved, but you don't want to accept that. That's okay too! Just don't think that your love of something can be judged by how much money you spend on it.
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