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momotonescreaming · 2 years

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In the scene where Joyce goes over to Scott Clarke's house, he has what looks like a terrarium in his garage, so @unclewaynemunson and I decided he should have a pet snake. And now I have a small fic for it. Clarkson. (2.5k)

Eddie feels his knees creak as he squats down on the dirty floor of the pet store, holding back a grunt as his body strains with the effort. He sounds like Wayne when he pulls himself out of his armchair — it’s an old thing; the fabric soft and worn, the springs creaky, and the filling so deflated it’s easy to just sink into it. Wayne makes the same grunt when he heaves himself out of it, and hunched over on the floor Eddie feels much the same.

He ignores his body’s aching protests, shifts his weight, and contorts himself to better see the bags of cat food that have been crammed all the way at the back of the shelves. The cheap food is always at the bottom here, hidden and hard to reach so you’re more likely to go for the more expensive stuff at eye level.

There was a small colony of stray cats that hung around Forest Hills, and one had decided to make their home underneath the Munson trailer. He used to feed them bits of his dinner — torn off chunks of meat he’d save on his plate for them — until Wayne told him to quit pissing about and eat his damn dinner already.

He can’t just let the cat starve, and if he keeps saving them bits of his own meals to feed them Wayne will keep bugging him about not finishing his food. He didn’t use to be as bad — not since Eddie was a kid — but after everything, with Eddie’s recovering body, the old man worried.

So Eddie found himself on the floor in the aisles of the pet store, trying to do the mental math on which bag of cat biscuits was the better deal. Comparing overall price versus weight of the bag, counting on his fingers until he thinks he’s figured it out. D&D math was way easier than whatever the fuck this is.

Wayne will forgive him, Eddie thinks. His penchant for taking in strays had to come from somewhere. And with the cat living directly underneath them, they’re like, basically roommates. It would be rude to not feed them. Isn’t that what Wayne’s southern hospitality is all about?

Pulling a bag off of the shelf, Eddie tries to hold back another grunt — debating whether it’s easier to just give up and sit on the floor. They have animals in here, they must keep the floor relatively clean right? He manages to get the bag off of the shelf and resting in his arms with only minimal complaining, wallet chain jingling with every movement.

Standing up, his knees do click, and Eddie shakes his legs out as he leaves the cat food aisle, ignoring the way his Reeboks squeak against the tile floor. He turns the corner and finds himself almost face to face with Mr Clarke. Scott? Eddie’s never sure what to call him these days.

In the comfort of their new trailer he can tease Wayne about his boyfriend Scott, but before all that he was just Eddie’s teacher Mr Clarke. And now he’s in this weird middle zone where he’s not sure how personable he can be with the man. Especially not in public. He’s dating his uncle, but that’s not exactly something people can know. Should he call him Mr Clarke to be safe?

Fuck it, Eddie can probably go a conversation without addressing him by name. Maybe. Probably.

Scott looks up from the piece of paper he was engrossed in with a startled oop noise. His shocked expression quickly melts away as soon as he sees who he’s bumped into.

“Eddie! Funny running into you here.” Scott exclaims, tucking his piece of paper into his pants. He looks down at the bag of cat food Eddie’s clutching in arms and furrows his brows with a confused look. “I didn’t know you and Wayne have pets?”

“We don’t,” Eddie says with a shrug. “I feed stray cats and Wayne grumbles about it.”

Scott startles out a laugh, eyes crinkling at the sides with a smile. “Sounds like Wayne.”

Eddie smiles back. It’s nice, seeing that even the mere mention of his uncle will draw a smile out of Scott. He got to see how happy Wayne was every day — the way he’d smile when he’d pick up the phone and realise it was Scott on the other end, the way he always seemed lighter after one of their dates. It was nice to confirm that on the other end Scott was exactly the same.

“I’m hoping that if I just keep feeding them, Wayne will cave and let me keep one.” Eddie adds, shifting the weight of the bag of cat food in his arms.

“I don’t doubt you’ll be able to manage it,” Scott adds, looking at him a little conspiratorially. It’s a dorky move he know Wayne would smile at. “I won’t tell him your plan.”

“Thanks,” Eddie laughs. “But what are you doing here? I imagine you’re not also feeding a small army of stray cats.”

“No, I’m upgrading to a bigger terrarium,” Scott starts, still smiling. “And wanted to see what we have locally before I make the trip to the bigger store in Indy.”

“Terrarium?” Eddie replies, furrowing his brows. Wayne hadn’t mentioned anything like that. And he’s been over to his house many a time, he must have seen it. “You have a lizard or something?”

“Snake actually,” Scott replied happily.

“A snake?” Eddie blurted out before he could even think about holding the words back and pretend to be normal about this. “Mr Clarke, that’s so fucking metal!”

Scott rubs his hand across the back of his neck, slightly awkward and more than a bit flattered. “Thank you. Wayne tells me that’s quite the compliment coming from you.”

It doesn’t surprise him that his Uncle talks about him to his boyfriend, but it was nice to hear. That Wayne thinks about him when Eddie’s not there, that Wayne wants Scott to know more about how Eddie works. That it’s a compliment if Eddie calls something ‘metal’. Something to bridge the gap between two of his favourite people.

Wayne had sat him down one morning, when Eddie was still pyjama clad and bleary from sleep, and talked about him and Scott. It seemed a little like pulling teeth, that Wayne was forcing the words out of his mouth. But he had done it, the pair of them sitting together at the dining table, coffee clutched in their hands, and Wayne had talked about Scott.

That him and Scott were officially together now, and he cared deeply about the man, but he wanted to remind Eddie that he would always come first. He was his boy, and nothing would ever change that. He was his son and he loved him.

It meant a lot, hearing those words that were previously left unspoken. Eddie knew that Wayne loved him, that he took care of him willingly, but Wayne was never one for words. Eddie was, and he remembers the way his heart clenched when Wayne told him.

But he made sure to remind his Uncle that he was allowed to think about himself. What he wants. And if he wanted Scott Clarke, if he wanted to go out with him then that was okay. Eddie wouldn’t hate Wayne for putting himself first for what seemed to be the first time in his life.

He wasn’t sure if Wayne would listen, but that was okay. Eddie had hugged him over the dining table, feeling the corner of it dig into his side as he clutched at the soft fabric of Wayne’s flannel shirt. His uncles hands were rough and calloused, yet a comforting warmth as they rested on Eddie’s back. Neither of them mentioned the teary eyes.

“You can call me Scott, if you’d like,” Scott says, breaking Eddie out of the trance he found himself slipping into. “Mr Clarke feels a bit formal.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what you— “Eddie starts, before cutting himself off with another shakes of his head. “Never mind. What’s your snakes name?”

“Ada,” Scott replies softly, letting Eddie redirect the conversation. “After Ada Lovelace - the mathematician. A bit nerdy, I know.”

“Nah, I think that’s cool.” Eddie says. “If Wayne ever lets me get a cat I am absolutely naming it after a Lord of the Rings character.”

“Good choice,” Scott laughs. “You’re welcome to come see Ada, if you like.”

“Really?” Eddie asks excitedly, blurting out the words. It wasn’t everyday you got the offer to go see a snake, especially in a town like Hawkins. Eddie always thought snakes and ferrets and lizards and other such exotic pets were more for big city people. Not small town Hawkins. And yet. He felt a bit like a kid again. “Can I?”

“Of course,” Scott replied happily, smiling all the while. “I’d love to show you her. Come over on Wednesday with Wayne.”

Wednesday. Date Night. The one day a week Wayne was guaranteed to trek over to the suburbs to have dinner with Scott. It was slowly becoming a tradition.

Eddie was torn.

On one hand, he really didn’t want to interrupt Wayne’s date night. The man deserves his privacy, his space to love and be loved back. Especially now that the pair were finally on the same page that they were in fact going on dates.

But on the other hand Eddie really wanted to go see the pet snake. It could be nice, to bond with Scott. To spend some time with him and Wayne.

But what if Wayne didn’t want him there? Wanted time alone with just him and Scott. But Scott did invite him personally, so maybe it would be okay? Eddie wasn’t quite sure what his thoughts were doing.

“I’ll ask him,” Eddie eventually says, deciding it’s absolutely not a cop out answer — before excusing himself to go and pay for his cat food.

---

“WAYNE,” Eddie exclaims as he bursts into the trailer. The door slams open, banging against the wall with the force of it. Eddie kicks it shut with another loud bang before continuing, looking over at the armchair his uncle is resting in. “Why didn’t you tell me your boyfriend has a pet snake?”

His Uncle merely raises an eyebrow at him, peering over the top of the newspaper he’d been reading. Wayne is in his comfy home clothes - his worn jeans with the rips at the bottom that he claims are more comfortable than any other pair, the pair of blue fuzzy socks Eddie got him for his last birthday, one of his usual flannels. It’s all very Wayne.

“Well, hello to you too, boy.” Wayne replies, voice steady. He folds up the newspaper — careful to keep his place — and puts it down on the side table next to a steaming mug of coffee. He was using one of his older mugs this time — a chipped white thing that read WORLD’S BEST GRANDMA, another gift Eddie got him years ago.

“Wayne,” Eddie continued, toeing out of his sneakers, still looking over at his uncle on the armchair. “This is very important information I feel I definitely should have been told about.”

He leaves his shoes where they landed after he kicked them off his feet, and shrugs out of his jacket. Wayne continues to watch him, taking a sip of his coffee, and Eddie could see how carefully he was steeling his face as to not smile. “And don’t you dare tell me you didn’t notice the fucking snake tank in the living room, you’ve been over to Scott’s place how many times now?”

“It just didn’t come up,” Wayne eventually said, smiling in that subtle way he did where if you didn’t know him — you could barely tell he was smiling at all. But Eddie knew him, and he could see the sparkle in his eyes, the curl of his lip. Wayne thought this was fucking hilarious. Eddie bit back his own smile as he whirled around.

“Betrayal! From my own Uncle!” Eddie replied, waving his arms around as he talked, playing up the dramatics. It was a bit of normalcy that was easy and familiar to slip into. It was nice. Eddie, being dramatic and making a spectacle of himself — and Wayne, stony faced and entirely too used to it. “I cannot believe you found out your boyfriend has a metal as hell pet, and didn’t tell me.”

“Couldn’t let you start thinkin’ he was cooler than me, now could I,” Wayne joked, watching in amusement as Eddie flopped himself down on the couch.

“He is pretty cool.” Eddie replied, looking over at his Uncle. He sobered slightly, voice quieter and more serious. “He invited me over on Wednesday. To come see.”

“And…” Wayne prompted. The man could always tell when Eddie wasn’t saying something, and he was even better at knowing when to push and when to let it lie. It had taken some time, and a few missteps but they had gotten there. “How you feelin’ ‘bout that?”

“Well I really wanna see a snake,” Eddie starts, voice slow and hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. The threads were starting to come undone, and he picked at it as he talked. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Wayne adds quietly, his voice a comfort. He puts his coffee down, and watches Eddie. “Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”

“But it’s Wednesday.” Eddie adds, with all the emphasis on the word. He throws his hands up in the air as he sinks further into the couch, melting into the cushions. “It’s date night.”

It’s quiet for a bit. The words sitting heavy in the air between them. Wayne takes his time before speaking.

“Me and Scott are dating yes,” Wayne starts, leaning forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees — holding back the same grunt that Eddie did trying to pull himself up off the floor. He almost smiles at the thought. “And we have dinner on Wednesday’s, yes.” His voice softens, and Eddie can tell that if they were sitting on the same couch right now, Wayne would be giving him a hearty clap on the shoulder. His palm rough and warm. “But that doesn’t mean you’re always excluded, Eddie.”

Eddie shrugs bashfully, and squirms himself into a sitting position. Wayne seeing straight through to the heart of the issue — he was good at that.

“Scott invited you, so that means he wants you there.” Wayne said, looking intently at Eddie, words soft and carefully spoken. Every word chosen with care. “And I always like spending time with you Eddie. You’re my boy.”

Eddie continues to squirm under Wayne’s knowing gaze, picking at the loose threads on his shirt and running his socked feet along the carpet. It all felt a bit silly, all these muddy and tangled emotions sitting thick in his chest. His voice is quiet as he speaks, and he can feel the vulnerability sitting on his tongue. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Wayne replies, picking himself up off the chair with another grunt and sitting down on the couch beside Eddie. He drapes his arm across the back of it, open should Eddie choose to take the unspoken offer. “You’re coming with me on Wednesday, and you’re seeing that damn snake.”

Eddie laughs, and lets himself fall into Wayne’s side, curling himself up like he was a kid again.

#Eddie Munson #Wayne Munson #Scott Clarke #Stranger Things #Stranger Things Fic #Clarkson #My Writing #not sure how i feel ab this one tbh #writing it was like pulling teeth #but i needed a distraction #so #*jazz hands* here u go

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