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softsnzstuff · 2 years

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Whining/Crying

@sicktember Day 19

Fandom: Stranger Things; My New Broadway AU

Summary: Broadway!Eddie is leading a musical but is so so sick and wants to sleep BUT he also doesn’t want to disappoint his fans or give a bad performance. Steve is a backstage volunteer. (Established Steddie) Based on my own experiences in theater. 🖤

Comments: Feel free to send me any asks about this new AU because I love it

Word Count: 1.7k (oops)

“Igt’sch’IEW! H’etsss’EW!!”

Eddie sneezed into the sleeve of his jacket. They sounded undeniably sick, due to the fact that the young actor had been losing the fight against this cold for a few days now.

“Bless you! Are you sure you don’t want to call in your understudy?” Steve rubbed a hand on his boyfriends back as they walked the several blocks to the theater.

“I’ll be fine.” Eddie sniffled thickly against his wrist.

Steve felt his chest fill with concern. The dedication that his partner had to the craft was one of his favorite traits, but it could also end up being his partner’s flaw. “You sound worse today, Eds.”

The older man coughed, “Gee thanks.”

They arrived at the theater at 5pm, entering through the stage door. They had two hours before curtain call. The men headed down the stairs stage right that led partially to the dressing rooms below.

“Try to take it easy, okay?” Steve kissed Eddie on the cheek as they went their separate ways - Eddie to his dressing room and Steve to go find the other volunteers.

Eddie’s dressing room was his safe space. He’d been in this role for a few months now, and he’d turned the little room into his home away from home. He had a cheap sofa inside, a sink, a little rack of his costumes, and of course the makeup table with mirror and lights.

Currently his makeup table was half-covered by an assortment of cough drops, tissues, and teas. The long haired man filled up his small electric kettle with water and turned it in.

Today’s pre-show was a lavender and chamomile day for sure. He’d been so sneezy the last few days and his throat was killing him, both from post-nasal drip and from the sneezes themselves scraping his throat as they came out.

While he waited for his tea to steep, he leaned against the table and looked at himself in the mirror. God if it was even possible he looked sicker than he felt…and he felt pretty bad.

“HRD’zzIEW! Isssh’EW! snFF TSCHEW!!”

“Bless you! I was gonna ask how you were feeling but I guess that answers that.”

Eddie jumped slightly, started by the sudden company. Robin was leaning against his doorframe.

“Jesus Robin, warn a guy…”

He plucked some tissues and blew his nose as she waltzed over to him. She had a small role in the show, but they’d been friends for a few years. She looked over his shoulder at the steaming tea.

“Oof, chamomile and lavender…you feeling that bad??”

Eddie nodded, a sigh triggering a wet cough. He ran a hand through his hair looking up at her, “Feel like shit, Birdie. Gonna try and power through this one though since tomorrow is an off day.”

His counterpart raised an eyebrow, disapproving of his too-literal ‘the show must go on’ attitude. “Okay,” she shrugged, “Let me know if you need anything.”

---

By 40 minutes to curtain, Eddie was mostly in costume. He had Roger’s plaid pants with wallet chain on, as well as shoes and the tank top. He just needed the fleece sweater when it got closer.

Steve was sitting at the hair and wig table with one or two other volunteers. He was pinning a straggler strand of hair back in a wig when a wet sneeze made him look up.

“Bless-”

“IKT’schi’EW! snorFF”

“Bless you.” Steve frowned as his boyfriend approached, looking like a sad puppy.

“Can you help me fix mby bangs? I tried and they aren’t staying in place it’s so stupid.”

Steve tried to hold in a chuckle. Was Eddie whining?? It sure sounded like it. “Have a seat babe.”

Eddie sniffled again and sat in the hair chair, Steve pulling out some hairspray, a rounded brush, and a few Bobby pins. He started to use his hands to move the bangs into place, but pulled back.

“Eddie.” The older man looked up, confused, “You have a fever now.”

“That would explain why I feel so gross.” Steve shot him a look and Eddie knew exactly what it meant, “I’ll be okay Stevie. I just don’t want to let down the audience by giving a bad performance.”

“They’ll love you Eddie.”

---

Eddie peeked from backstage, seeing the full house. He took a deep breath and rubbed at his nose, grabbing his guitar and taking his place on stage in character.

The show opens with Roger tuning his guitar sitting on a table so that’s what Eddie did while the house lights were coming down getting ready for the show.

The first numbers went decently well. With all his experience, he was more than used to discretely sniffling where it wouldn’t be picked up by the mic. “One Song Glory” definitely strained his voice a little more than he’d hoped for, but he managed to hit all the notes with no issue.

After “You’ll See”, Eddie stepped backstage and quickly grabbed a few tissues from the box Steve had stashed in the wings for him. He buried his face in them as his breath hitched.

“H’NxxT! NxxxT! IxxxxT! snffSNF H’MPTSCH!”

“Bless you.” A few of his cast mates whispered.

He nodded his thanks and headed downstairs, blowing his nose. While “Tango Maureen” was going on, he touched up the makeup around his nose.

This went on every couple of numbers. By the time they’d reached “Christmas Bells”, Eddie was really feeling worse for wear. His energy was depleting, he felt too hot and too cold, and his throat was so sore and scratchy.

The most energetic number was coming up, and he wasn’t sure how capable he would be. He took a swig of water before going onstage for the act one closing number.

“La Vie Boheme” was split into two parts, A and B, with one of Eddie’s songs in between. His voice cracked once as he was singing and he tried quickly to recover and pretend like it didn’t happen.

As soon as the curtains closed for a 20 minute intermission, Eddie bolted off stage and went down to his dressing room and sat on the couch. Steve had been watching from the little tv backstage and followed Eddie to his room.

“Eddie?” He spoke softly, knowing the other man was feeling extra sensitive right now. A shaky breath came from the couch where the long haired man was in a ball, hugging his knees.

“Aw Eds… don’t cry.” Steve sat next to him and pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back. “What’s wrong?”

Eddie looked up, quiet tears rolling down his cheek, nose streaming. Steve got up to grab the box of tissues and returned, handing some to Eddie.

“I… I don’t feel good.” He said between sobs.

Steve hated this. He hated seeing Eddie sick, hated seeing Eddie upset, and he didn’t know what he could do.

“I’m sorry babe.” Steve pulled the older man closer, Eddie burying his face in Steve’s chest.

“My performance is so shit! Did you hear my voice crack? That’s so embarrassing!” Eddie looked up at Steve, the younger of the two wiping away a stray tear with his thumb.

Eddie put his face back in Steve’s chest as Steve stroked his hair. He didn’t like the heat radiating off his boyfriend, but he would handle that later.

“I feel so sick, Steve. I’m sweating but I’m freezing and my throat hurts and I keep heh H’ikk’shiew! KT’chew! H’aktch’IEW! snfff doi’g that.”

Steve froze as he felt a warm, wet patch form on his shirt. Eddie sniffed soupily and Steve handed him another couple tissues, Eddie coughing into them.

Steve did a quick glance at his watch. They still had maybe 12 minutes left of intermission. “What do you want to do Eddie? Do you want me to tell Murray you need your understudy to take over? Extend intermission a little bit?”

“N’do N’do I can do it.” He had stopped crying and was trying to compose himself.

“Okay. Why don’t you use your steam inhaler until you need to go up? I’ll fix your hair and makeup while you do that.”

Eddie nodded. The steam inhaler was on his table. Steve filled it with water and turned it on, Eddie pressing his nose and mouth to the inhaler hood. Steve knelt down and touched up the makeup that had come off from Eddie crying. About five minutes later, he stood up and touched up Eddie’s hair.

A knock on the open door and another volunteer said, “Five minutes, Eddie.”

“Tha’gk you five.” He said, muffled through the vaporizer.

“Okay, I think you’re all set if you’re ready!” Steve took a step back, looking Eddie up and down, making sure they didn’t forget anything.

Eddie turned off the steam inhaler and blew his nose one more time. He pulled the man into a big hug, “Thank you Stevie.”

---

The rest of the show went pretty smoothly, Eddie was still a sneezy mess, but he was able to sing easier after the steam inhaler. When bows were done, Eddie got changed back into his civilian clothes - loose jeans, a crewneck and his jacket.

“Eddie, the stage door is wondering if you’ll be signing tonight?” One of the volunteers asked.

“Umb… not tonight. Sorry. I feel like anyone who gets an autograph would also get this shitty cold.”

The girl smiled and nodded, heading back upstairs. As she left, Steve walked in. “There’s my talented guy! Ready to go home and get some rest?” He reached out and felt Eddie’s forehead again.

Eddie leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder. “Oh mby god, rest sou’ds so good. Let’s go home.”

He threw on his backpack and turned off the dressing room light, rubbing his nose against the sleeve of his jacket. “IGT’chiew! snlrp ughhh… this is gonna be a lo’g weeke’d…”

---

When they got back to their shared apartment, Eddie dropped his backpack by the door, steve hanging up his blazer. He pulled Eddie into another hug. “You, Eddie Munson, need some cold medicine and a nap.”

“And a ndew ndose…”

The older man looked at the slightly darker spot on Steve’s button down shirt. He traced it with his finger, “What happe’ded to your shirt?”

Steve laughed, clearly Eddie had forgotten, “You sneezed on me during your breakdown, silly.”

“Oh…” Eddie’s voice suddenly got all small, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Eddie, let’s get you to bed!”

#NEW AU #sicktember 2022 #Broadway AU #Broadway!Eddie #Backstage!Steve #kb AU’s #not me thinking about Steve catching the cold #and they both have to call out #s/tranger t/hings #s/teve h/arrington #e/ddie m/unson #snzblr #sickfic #colds #kb writes #steddiesnz #fruity 4

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