a deep and dreamless love (steddie love month, day 11)
For @steddielovemonth, day 11. 'Love is saving the last bite for them,' from (@acasualcrossfade) Thank you <3
Rating: M WC: 1,630 CW: blood drinking and mild horror. Tags: Vampire au, vampire Eddie, angst and whump with fluffy softness!
…
“You sure you can make it home all right?” Robin climbed out of Steve’s car and paused at the driver’s window. “It’s awfully dark already.”
“It’s cloudy, Robin! Cloudy daylight fries vampires as good as any July scorcher. Now get inside. Before you have to run and fall on your face.”
“Low blow, Dingus.” She curled her lip, muffled her overlong woolly scarf tight beneath her chin. “You know you can always crash h—"
“Robin! If you don’t quit yammering, we’ll BOTH end up as vamp juice-boxes.”
“If we’re gonna play that game, Shit-bird, don’t catch sight of your stupid hair in the rear-view mirror and start fiddling. Don’t wanna find your shrivelled body with my mail.”
“Hilarious. Get inside. Please?”
Steve waited to check she was safe indoors before driving off. He felt bad for being extra cranky, because she was right. He was running late. Their boss had made them stay for extra cleaning at the store, and thick clouds brooded low across an already darkening sky. However, crashing with Robin wasn’t an option.
She was safe now.
Eddie needed him more.
He drove fast, burning rubber round the corners. Nobody enforced speeding laws in Hawkins these days, not this close to sundown. He was halfway home, when the engine spluttered. Then clonked. He hit the break, thrashed at the gearbox. The BMW choked pathetically and conked out completely.
“No.” Steve flicked the ignition key. Nothing. “You gotta be kidding.”
He jumped out, opened the hood. Oil, water. Is the battery disconnected? He could hardly see in the dim light, plus he’d little faith in his basic car maintenance skills.
Especially with his damn stupid hands shaking.
He slammed down the lid, sprinted the hundred yards back to the nearest phone booth. He fumbled a coin into the slot and dialled.
It rang. Once, twice, three times, four times. Steve pushed sweaty hair from his eyes. “C’mon, Eddie, pick up! I really don’t wanna die, 'cos you’re moshing to Van Halen.”
The rings finally cut off: “Munson Mansion.”
“What took you?” Now Steve spoke, he realised he was practically hyperventilating. “I’m in serious shit. My car broke down.”
“Dammit, it’s dark already? Shiiiiit! Must’ve overslept. Okay, calm down.” Eddie sounded, if anything, even less calm than Steve. “Where are you?”
“C-corner of Mason and Sherman.”
“Hold tight, Sweetheart. I’m a comin’.”
Steve pulled the collar of his jacket up—redoubling the defences of the scarf he’d worn all day—and started swiftly back toward the car. The shadows of night slinked across the grey front lawns, swallowing up broken picket fences.
Then swallowing up Steve.
He considered running up a driveway, hammering on somebody’s door—a better option than hunkering down in the car, though only if someone let him in.
Too late.
A tall figure in a hoodie appeared as if from nowhere, and blocked Steve’s path. The vampire’s toothy grin flashed in the chilly twilight.
“It’s rude to sneak up on people." Steve squared his shoulders, battling to keep his voice low and steady. “You hear me, knucklehead?”
He reached into his jacket, gripping the wooden stake he always carried. Before he could line up any kind of aim, the vamp was on him, knocking the stake from his hand. He grabbed Steve by the front of his shirt, lifting him clean off the ground. Goddamn vampire super-strength! Steve kicked the bloodsucker on his leg. Hard. Son-of-a-bitch didn’t even lose his grip.
“Payback time, Harrington.”
“What the—”
Steve attempted a punch, which fell short. He then registered the face behind the leering fangs. It was a football player, who’d graduated a couple of years before Steve.
“Chad Lloyd? Seriously? You’re not still pissed about—”
“You kissed my girlfriend, douchebag.”
“I was lifeguarding! I had no idea she was fake drowning till she shoved her tongue into my mouth. Gimme a break.”
Chad beamed, cheesier than ever. “Oh, I’m gonna break you, Harrington. Before or after I drink you dry.”
“Look, if you wanna keep a date, you really need to work on your one lin—”
He hurled Steve to the ground. Steve landed with a bruising, stunning thud. Then the vamp was upon him, rolling him over, ripping off his scarf and pulling down his collar. Steve kicked and struggled, though he’d almost no hope of escape.
“Hey, what’s this?” Chad tore away the neat dressing tucked under the side of Steve’s chin. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that slutty Steve Harrington is someone’s sloppy seconds.”
No. Not there! Nobody else drinks from there!
He rammed his knee up into the vamp’s happy-sacks. Then shoved the tender side of his wrist—and that throbbing latticework of veins—right in the sucker’s face.
Chad snarled, grabbed Steve’s arm, hoisted the whole of Steve upright with it. His freshly erupted fangs ripped deep into Steve’s wrist, and he chugged greedily.
Steve’s vision spotted. The usual woolly, sicky feeling swelled in his guts, fogged his brain. He slumped, helpless and terrified, against the vampire. Who just kept drinking.
Okay… I screwed up… Screwed up bad... I always tried so damn hard to save myself for you... Miss you already, Babe… Oh, Jesus!
He was unsure if he heard the distant roar of a motorcycle engine. Could’ve been the fading thunder of his own blood. Then the whoosh of a crossbow bolt gashed into his waning consciousness. Once more, the sidewalk flew up to meet him. He’d a vague notion that the vamp fell too, smacking down beside him.
Eddie’s worried face filled his vision. His heart squeezed sluggishly, aching with love, and the world disintegrated to nothingness.
…
“Steve? C’mon. Wake up. Please wake up.”
Steve’s eyes fluttered open. “Huh?”
“You’re back!” Eddie squeezed him tight. “You scared the crap outta me.”
This was nice. He’d never object to waking up in bed with his naked boyfriend, and half-naked himself. Apart from… Actually, not feeling so awesome.
Unsettling memories trickled back.
“How you doing?” asked Eddie. “That bastard drank waaaaay too—”
“M’fine.”
To be truthful, the whole right side of his body felt like it’d been slammed by a truck. He lifted his bandaged arm to drape around Eddie’s shoulders and struggled to disguise the effort.
“Nothing the usual routine won’t fix.” He smirked. “You know, water, spinach, lentils. Gourmet steak dinner with red wine.”
Eddie planted a sizzling kiss on Steve’s cool, sticky brow. “Only wish we could afford that for you, Sweetheart.”
“I’ll take sex for dessert. Plus we don’t have to pay for your food.”
Steve’s fingers had barely touched the fresh bandaging on his throat, before Eddie snatched them, kissed them, tucked them away again. “You’ve lost too much already.”
“But—”
“I can go a night without feeding, Baby.”
“If you skip dinner, you’ll be grouchy and pathetic in the morning.”
What Steve really wanted was to wrestle Eddie into submission. He’d tease and goad him into unleashing that vampire super-strength, grappling till Steve was the one pinned to the mattress and then...
Annoyingly, Steve was too feeble to even try and sit, so he sneered. “What happens if I’m dumb enough to get jumped again tomorrow? Or Robin, or Dustin, or any of the kids? As much as I hate to admit it, they need a tame vamp looking out for them, way more than they need me these days”
“Answers still ‘no way in Hell.’ Which I’m heading to for sure, but at least the music will be—”
“Don’t change the subject. Look, I nearly got my arm torn off offering that moron my wrist. All to save the best bite for you.”
Eddie stroked Steve’s hair. “Emotional blackmail ain’t gonna work tonight.”
Good job I’ve learned to play dirty.
This time, Steve ripped the dressing from his neck before Eddie could stop him, revealing the twin fang marks Eddie left last night.
And every night.
“What? Why!?! Don’t want…” Eddie flinched away. “I don’t like this, Stevie.”
Steve snaked his good arm up, threaded his fingers through Eddie’s lush tresses. He tugged Eddie down toward his throat.
As if on cue, a drop of hot blood trickled from the barely healed punctures. A groan shook through Eddie. He clamped onto Steve’s lifeblood, incisors piercing deep.
Steve bit his lip against a keening, desolate cry. Love didn’t only suck—it stung like a bitch, and the tide of Eddie’s hair smothered him. Still, the slip of Eddie’s tongue against his blood-slickened skin always flipped him out, in a not-entirely-bad way. From the corner of his eye, he strained to catch glimpses of Eddie drinking.
Gnnng! Too damn hot.
Soon, little stuttering gasps escaped him, as he teetered on a knife-edge. Damn, if Steve wasn’t already so shattered, so woozy, he’d be so up for sex after this…
…until he wasn’t. It hurt too much.
Eddie ripped himself free, jumped from the bed, and was gone.
Steve lay there, trembling violently, his blurry vision further misted with tears. Completely at Eddie’s mercy.
I’m safe. I'm safe.
Soon after he grew too weak to keep his eyes open, he sensed the skitter of featherlight fingertips. Eddie had returned to bandage him up again. Then Eddie gathered him into his arms and roused him with a tender kiss.
“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” mumbled Steve, lips moistened with his own blood.
“Holy shit, Stevie.” Eddie stuck out his tongue, kinda silly. His eyes shone with fear. “I’m a vampire. A goddamn evil, blood-sucking predator. One day, I might not be able to stop.”
“That’s bull.” No evil could overcome a nature as sweet and soft as yours. “I trust you.” I trust our love. Steve nuzzled into his favourite tattooed parts of Eddie’s chest.
I’ll save the last bite for you. Always.
He slipped away, warm and cherished in Eddie’s arms, and into a deep and dreamless sleep.
...
(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3.)
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Hetalia Cars Headcanons
Germany: Ludwig is a big fan of cars. For him, it is a hobby; he likes getting his hands dirty, repairing, checking, etc. On a daily basis, as in my head, he is environmentally conscious; he drives a nice electric Mercedes or uses public transport in Berlin. But, give this boy a few free hours, and he will take his Ferrari (yes, Ferrari; Feliciano chose it) to the Autobahn (Highways), which in Germany are mostly with no speed limits, and he will show you all his talents. He still drives safely and is careful, but he is a speed devil.
Prussia: Gilbert drives well; he is not as into cars as Lutz is, though he still knows what he is doing. He also drives something German, maybe a BMW or Audi. Classic one, with manual gearbox, black, because black cars are awesome. Prussia actually sticks to the rules on the road, although he still, after all these years, tends to forget about seatbelts. He is also in possession of a Trabant, a car produced in Eastern Germany. It is one of the oldest models from the late 1950s, in a light blue colour. It is well maintained, and you can still drive it, which Prussia does from time to time to let the old boy breathe a little. He won't admit it, but he kept his Trabi out of pure sentiment.
Austria: Roderich can drive, sort of. He learned how to do it very quickly, but he dislikes it. Austria always had someone to drive him around, and nowadays he usually uses taxis or someone else like Ludwig or Gilbert is driving him. In the early days of cars, it wasn't that bad; there were just a few machines around, but in the 21st century, he is simply slightly afraid (he won't admit it aloud, of course). of the number of people on the roads, it is way too fast for him, and with him being easily distracted, it is just hard to drive. He has a car; Ludwig chose it, it is sensible, comfortable, and German. Roderich spearly uses it, but if Germany, Prussia, or anyone else visits by plane, they usually take the car.
Bonus headcanon: Alfred once made a comment about Ludwig driving rather slowly in the city and having a boring town car. Germany took Al for a drive in the Ferrari. Americ's life was never the same.
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Hey, hi and hello, it's @brick-enthusiast coming at you from the sideblog again!
As part of a friendly agreement with @things-about-cars-in-posts, I am here to introduce another race car.
You know Peugeot? In recent years, the French brand is probably best known for fighting tooth and nail to shake a reputation of dullness. However, you've probably heard - or perhaps you remember - that Peugeot used to be a whole lot more cool.
Well, this story takes place a little bit after that. Less than a year after the last story I told, in fact, in 1995. And the similarities between the two don't end there.
The car in question is the then-new Peugeot 806.
By all means a run-of-the-mill, boring people carrier, unveiled in 1994.
PSA Group had co-developed it with Fiat, so it was also sold as a Citroen, a Lancia and a Fiat.
(As you may remember from a recent post by @things-about-cars-in-posts!)
Anyway! Peugeot wanted to do something to promote their version of the so-called Eurovan. Someone, half-jokingly, suggested to take it to the racetrack.
That someone was Pascal Witmauer, the man in charge of Peugeot's advertising in Belgium, as well as marketing for the Belgian Procar racing series. Peugeot's "promotional event" was set to be 1995's running of the Spa 24 Hours.
A 24-hour endurance race, yes.
A 24-hour endurance race that was happening at the end of July. It was May.
The project was handed over to Kronos Racing, a Belgian racing team that would go on to build successful Peugeots and Citroens for the circuit as well as dirt. And well, they did complete it.
As much as a parts-bin-special it might have been, the Peugeot 806 Procar was a serious racing machine. Its interior was stripped of anything non-essential, the 8 factory seats were replaced by a single carbon bucket and a roll cage.
The engine and drivetrain were a mix of parts from the 306 Maxi rally car and the outgoing 405 Mi16 circuit racer, while the then-new 406 Supertourisme donated a 6-speed sequential gearbox.
The van's speed certainly didn't lag behind. It qualified 12th overall and third(!) in its class. Not to mention that it certainly stood out in a field full of contemporary BMW 3-series and French hot hatchbacks.
By the start of the race, the big white box was already the crowd favorite. Pascal Witmeur (who also happened to be one of the 806's three drivers) recounts:
“Every time we passed by Raidillon¹, people were applauding. The public liked it, because apart from being atypical, it was often on two wheels!"
¹ a corner on the Spa-Francorchamps track
Unfortunately, mechanical issues didn't take long to show up. The team ran into brake problems an hour into the race. The engine itself gave out before the 10-hour mark, leading to a DNF for the Peugeot.
Not that it mattered to the public though. The touring van single-handedly improved the image of all MPV's² - not just the French-Italian quadruplets. Peugeot of Belgium had 5000 posters printed - all of which were given away signed by Witmeur.
"For a few hours, I was more more famous than Johnny Hallyday³!"
he laughs, admitting it was likely that many workers from Peugeot's local Sevel Nord⁴ factory came to see the race.
² multi-purpose vehicles in case you don't know, European for "minivans"
³ iconic French singer, composer and actor, regarded as "the French Elvis Presley"
⁴ that's where the 806 was assembled. Note the logo on the side of the race car's front bumper!
The very same Peugeot 806 Procar is still around to this day. After the race, it was reportedly kept by one Jean-Pierre Montron - founder of Kronos Racing - until his passing. It went up for sale in 2020 (wherein it had a bunch of articles I could use as sources written about it) and again in late 2022, when it failed to sell at auction.
Thank you for reading <3
image links: [one through four] [five]
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