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skepsiss · 9 months

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It's Snowing in Hawkins; Winter Exchange - Batboys

Here is my fic for the BatBoys Winter Exchange! @batboysxprompts I hope whoever submitted this request is pleased with what I wrote. I was a little liberal with the suggestion, but I think I followed along with Eddie's competitive streak like they wanted. I hope you enjoy!

Synopsis: This is all fluff. Steve goes over to visit Eddie during a heavy snow in Hawkins and gets roped into helping him build a snow fort. Both of them have been inching toward a romance for months now, and Steve adores how innocent and young their relationship feels. It’s the start of something real tonight, and it makes Steve feel brilliantly happy.

Season: Winter

Quote: The kids at the trailer park are having a snowman competition. Eddie joins in to one up them

Song: My Chemical Romance - "Every Snowflake is Different (just like you)"

AU/Place: Trailer park

Rating: T Words: 3,609 CW: Aggressive/degrading language toward the poor, slightly mature language/themes, mention of skin grafts/scaring, mention of mobility challenges from injuries

It’s snowing in Hawkins, and the fat, fluffy flakes caught on the windowpanes and the aspens of Mirkwood. Four children roam the deep fields of Forest Hills Trailer Park, gathering snow and shrieking their laughter skyward. The end of winter break is but a week away and time must be utilized well or be lost. A fifth joins them and the festivities begin.

–

It’s late afternoon and the sun is already starting its slow descent over the little town of Hawkins. It gets dark, fast, in the wintertime in Indiana, and the chill becomes biting as the wind rolls off the Appalachian mountains.

Steve had gotten used to this kind of cold; he had grown up in it after all, and despite the foot of snow he had still decided to trudge his way toward the trailer park. It wasn’t smart to drive in this kind of weather, and really, Steve lived fairly close to the park if he wasn’t being lazy. His proximity to ‘Mirkwood’ had been a black stain on his mind ever since Barb’s death–before that as well. His father had always hated the fact that their property backed up onto public land and just anyone could walk into their yard. That had been a point of contention in the Harrington household, even though Steve quietly noted that his father never went ahead and put up a fence. Likely, it had just been something for his father to complain about, and his intentions to erect a barrier between himself and ‘those varmints in their mobile homes’ had been all for show in the end.

It was convenient for Steve now, though, since he could walk out his back door and to Eddie’s house in ten minutes flat—a bit more with all this snow.

Steve had never lived this close to a friend before, and it made impromptu visits that much easier. It also spoke to what lengths Steve was willing to go despite only being ‘friends’ with Eddie.

They had started hanging out nearly a year ago now—just three more months, and it would be spring break again, even if Steve quietly dreaded the second coming of the holiday. Nothing had happened since March of ‘86 though, and Steve was finally starting to believe that the ‘other shoe’ wasn’t going to drop after all. He had been proven wrong before, though, if Halloween of ‘84 said anything about the pattern of these supernatural pains in the neck.

He was optimistic though… if only because he was willing it.

After the trauma of spring break, it had been difficult (like it always was) to fall back into routines. He had watched Eddie struggle the most with that and while his injuries had been nothing to sniff at, once he was stitched up and given some blood so he wasn’t going to die from blood loss he was… fine. The wounds had scarred, of course, and Eddie had more scars than wounds because they had needed a skin graft for the larger bites. It was sort of difficult to stitch someone back together when their skin was minced like that—or at least that was what Dustin had crudely explained.

Robin had asked him last week when he was going to stop flirting and actually do something about it.

Eddie had struggled, and Steve had found it was easier to talk to Eddie than it had been to speak to most of the others, with all this Upside Down crap.

Robin was fantastic—he adored Robin, and he talked to her more than anyone, but he never felt like he was quite on her level when it came to compartmentalizing all the trauma. The kids were the same way; they were all so smart, and they could puzzle away or focus on their nerd hobbies to distract themselves from the abuse. Steve on the other hand… Steve’s hobbies allowed for far too much space to think, so it was hard to escape the memories.

Eddie, similarly, seemed unable to just quietly shut up and focus on something. It came at him like waves, and Steve had noticed that he had been distracting himself almost as much as Steve needed. Maybe he was lying to himself about that, though. Maybe he was just making up excuses to be around Eddie because he had found—after everything was said and done—that he really enjoyed spending time with the Freak.

Steve hadn’t been such a dunce not to realize that he had feelings for Eddie, but his feelings felt so juvenile compared to how he usually reacted around women. It felt innocent and ephemeral in a way that reminded him of being thirteen. It was all small touches and little smiles, and Eddie seemed to fall into step with that behaviour easily. Eddie was older than him… but in a lot of ways he seemed less mature. That, in turn, made Steve want to slow everything down, too.

He’d bob and Eddie would weave, and they’d sit and watch movies together without saying a word about the fact that Eddie’s feet were propped in Steve’s lap. Or they’d go for a swim and all they would do was smile when they touched hands on the pool edge.

It was just so goddamn innocent… and Steve found himself liking the slow roll of whatever this was. He wasn’t exactly convinced that Eddie liked him back that way—Eddie was a physical guy with everyone, but he didn’t seem to pause and consider his contact with everyone like he did with Steve.

Or so Steve liked to think.

Steve rounded on the trailer park and shivered slightly as he brought his shoulders up to his ears. The forest was less densely packed with snow than the open field of the trailer park, and he struggled a bit until he made it to a worn footpath through the snow. He started getting a view of the open expanse beyond the mobile homes, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets as he walked.

Steve heard the laughter before he saw them, but as he made his way toward Eddie’s trailer, he could see some of the kids traipsing through the snow and rolling snowballs. He paused and watched them—Max, Lucas, Mike, and Eleven—and smiled a bit at how carefree they looked.

Max of course was struggling to move through the snow, but she was making the best of it and was commanding Lucas to do the heavy lifting while she took frequent breaks. Comparatively, Mike was taking it slow and stopping to explain exactly how to pack and roll the snow properly to Eleven, instructing her on snowman building.

“You’re doing it all wrong, Wheeler!”

Steve paused as he walked up the first step of the Munson’s trailer, and then hesitated as he caught snippets of conversation.

“It’s not dry enough snow for that, you’ve got to squeeze with the body!”

Steve could recognize that diction anywhere, and he stepped to the side of the trailer to see Eddie pointing at Mike and Lucas. They all seemed to be having fun, but there was definitely an air of combativeness to the scene.

“What’re you guys up to?” Steve asked, feeling like a dad talking like that to all of them.

They all turned, and Steve couldn’t help but smile at the way Eddie beamed at him.

“Good, good,” Eddie was saying before he said hello as he walked over to Steve.

Steve half waved as Lucas raised a hand to him, only for Max to scold him for losing momentum and letting the snowball he was rolling crack.

“You can help me out,” Eddie declared as he grabbed Steve by his forearm and started pulling him into the field.

“We’re building snowmen,” Eleven said happily, smiling at Steve as she helped Mike lift one of the large balls to place on top of another.

“Or at least we are,” Mike added as he looked toward the pile that Steve was currently being pulled toward.

“Shut your pie-hole, Wheeler. This’ll be a feat of engineering,” Eddie hissed, letting go of Steve and then handing him an empty bucket.

“Yeah, sure,” Max condescended, turning to focus on her own snowman.

Steve stood there a bit dumbfounded as Eddie picked up a small trowel and handed that over as well.

Eddie was doing that thing where he was so focused he forgot that not everyone thought the same way as him. Usually, Steve found it endearing—and he did right now as well—but he was equally confused and Eddie seemed to want him to be doing something.

“Uh…” Steve said quietly, looking at the bucket and the shovel he was now holding. “What am I doing with these?”

Eddie only took a moment to pause and look at him before continuing his work.

“I’m making a snow-dome, Steve,” Eddie said distractedly, “I need snow.”

“Igloo,” Lucas corrected as he rolled a large snowball past them.

“It’s not an igloo!” Eddie declared. “First of all, it’s not ice, and second of all, it isn’t fucking square-ass blocks. Snow-dome, you twat. Steve! I need snow.”

Steve flinched slightly, not really expecting to be put to work so quickly upon arrival. He moved, though, choosing a relatively large patch of snow to start digging.

“No—” Eddie chastised, trudging over to him and pointing farther west. “Grab the snow from out there. And I need you to pack it in, man. Like, really pack it. I’ll assemble, you can… dig or whatever.”

Steve sighed but did as he was told, he walked farther into the field and started to scoop and shovel the snow into the bucket before bringing it back over to Eddie.

“So… why are we doing this?” Steve asked as he was handed an empty bucket and shooed away.

“Said I couldn’t…” Eddie muttered, concentrating again as he plunked down the full bucket of snow and began making the base of his ‘snow-dome.’

“Before…” Eddie muttered, focusing. “It’s a contest, man.”

He wasn’t explaining much, and Steve didn’t press the subject as he diligently scooped up snow and brought it back to Eddie until he was sweating from the effort. Eventually, he was told to stop and was sent toward the woods to gather ‘tinder’ for Eddie’s elaborate plan to thatch his snow-dome so it was more structurally sound.

Really, Steve didn’t get it or understand Eddie’s vision, but he didn’t protest. It was a touch annoying to be trudging around in the snow though when he had expected to walk over here and share cocoa and maybe curl up on the couch with Eddie. He had been much more snugly with the cold weather and had started commenting freely on how warm Steve was. It was true, but it also felt like an excuse so they could press up against each other ‘innocently.’

“You’re not even close to being done,” Max said as she pressed two rocks into the head of her snowman.

Max and Lucas plodded inside, and Steve watched as the trailer lights came on.

Mike and Eleven were almost finished with their snowman as well, but Eleven seemed to be struggling with what she wanted to do with the face.

“You can’t rush perfection!” Eddie hollered as he began to leisurely weave the sticks Steve brought back into the ‘wall’ of his snow-dome.

“Perfection, sure,” Max said with a roll of her eyes. “Well, I’m freezing my ass off, so I’m going in. Come on, Lucas. We can judge the snowmen and the ‘snow-dome’ from the window.”

Max’s mom must be working late again and though she would never complain, Steve knew that Max still struggled to do basic tasks around the house like prepping meals and cleaning. He could see Lucas readily putting a pot of water on the boil though and seeing to her needs.

“So, what kind of contest is this?” Steve asked as he knelt in the snow with Eddie and began handing him sticks as he wove.

“Snowmen building,” Eddie answered simply, obviously concentrating.

“Well, this is the weirdest snowman I’ve ever seen,” Steve commented, looking up at the walls of Eddie’s snow-dome and wondering just how high he was planning to make it.

“No, well, obviously it’s not,” Eddie corrected, sounding annoyed that Steve didn’t understand. “The kids were building snowmen, and making a kind of contest about it, and I was going to show them up on that too, but… I don’t really remember how we got onto the topic, but one of those twerps said something about building a fort out of snow would be impossible, so it was like challenge accepted and boom, snow-dome.”

Steve listened quietly as he lazily handed over sticks to Eddie; well, at least he seemed energized by it and Steve didn’t really mind helping out, but it was starting to get dark already. How long were they going to be at this?

“We’re going in, Eddie,” Mike declared as he held Eleven’s hand and led her toward Max’s trailer. “You’re welcome to join when you finish.”

Mike seemed a bit awkward as he hovered, obviously not wanting to leave Eddie out here and wanting his attention. Eddie wasn’t even looking at him though and waved Mike off without a second thought.

“Yeah, later, Wheeler,” Eddie replied, waving over his shoulder at the teen.

“Bye, Steve,” Eleven said, waving at him. “I’m sure you can join too.”

Steve waved back lightly, smiling a bit forcefully at the teens. He appreciated the invite, but it felt a bit awkward to accept, plus, he had come over to spend time with Eddie.

“I need more snow,” Eddie declared, standing up as he started to pack the snow around the stick frame he had built. “We’re like… thatching this bitch. If we get it about—so—high, then we can start curving it inward to create the dome part. It’ll be more like a tapered cylinder, like a watch tower, but it’ll work.”

“Right,” Steve grunted as he stood up, grabbed the bucket again, and walked out into the snowy field. “I’ll be back then, Mr. Architect.”

Steve assisted diligently and didn’t complain as he brought back bucket after bucket full of snow and then stopped to help Eddie pack it all together. Eventually, Eddie was kneeling inside the dome and Steve was on the outside so they could sandwich the snow together and make it stick better.

It was nearly pitch black by the time they finished; it had stopped snowing a while ago, and the sky was clear enough to show the stars and the moon above. Their work was only being illuminated by the moon and the dim light coming from people’s trailers, but it left everything feeling rather private, and nostalgic.

“We gotta leave a hole at the top to let the air out,” Eddie declared, carefully packing the snow into place. Honestly, it looked like it was working and while Steve couldn’t say how long the walls would stay up, Eddie had succeeded in making a snow-dome.

“Wanna check it out?” Eddie asked as he ducked down and looked at Steve through the small opening in the side of his dome.

“Uhh… sure,” Steve said, before crawling through the entrance. “Make room, wide-load.”

He was teasing of course because Eddie was ridiculously thin and all he really had to do was move over to the side to let Steve in.

“See?” Eddie indicated, gesturing around the dome, before laying on his back.

Steve mirrored Eddie’s position and lay beside him as he stared up at the ceiling of the dome.

“This better not fall on me,” Steve said lightly, having to adjust awkwardly and stick his feet out of the entrance in order to fit.

“Enjoy yourself for once, Harrington,” Eddie teased, before sighing and looking up through the hole in the roof.

It was pretty to look at, even if they only had a small window. You could make out the blackness of the sky and the little pinpricks of light dotting across the expanse, creating a sort of telescope effect.

Really, the only thing Steve could properly appreciate at the moment was being able to rest for the first time since he got here.

He glanced at Eddie, though, who was staring at the sky and breathing calmly—the little puffs of vapour floating away from his lips—a slight smile on his face. He looked peaceful—happy, too. Steve didn’t get to see Eddie pause all that often, and it was nice to see him enjoying the fruits of his labour.

“Thanks for helping out,” Eddie said idly, not looking away from the sky. He dropped his hand slowly and nudged up against the back of Steve’s hand.

“Yeah… of course,” Steve replied, finishing the motion and taking Eddie’s hand to hold. He returned his gaze to the roof, looking at the darkness and the moon that was slowly inching into view.

The two of them grew quietly again, and Steve could feel his sweat slowly starting to chill his body. They should head in soon, but it felt terribly romantic to be out here together now that they had finished Eddie’s snow-dome.

“Steve?” Eddie said suddenly, his voice quiet and distant sounding.

“Yeah, Eddie?” Steve asked, rolling his head to look at Eddie again. He was still staring up through the ceiling, but his smile had faded, and instead, he looked thoughtful as he breathed slowly. Even in the dull light, Steve could tell that his nose was red from the chill and snow had clumped in parts of his hair. He looked young… and there was a wanderlust to him that Steve envied. He liked looking at Eddie when he wasn’t moving around so frantically—the pause always made him look like an artist, and Steve found himself drawn to that. This contemplation that Steve didn’t think he had ever experienced for himself, but that he valued more than anything in others.

“Do you like me?” Eddie asked, his tone quiet but lacking fear. They were still holding hands and Steve didn’t feel intimidated at all by answering him; they’d been inching toward this anyway, they just hadn’t said it out loud yet.

“… yeah,” Steve answered back, watching as Eddie slowly rolled his head so they were looking at one another.

Steve squeezed his hand and Eddie smiled, looking positively brilliant as he lay there.

“Me too,” Eddie sighed, which made Steve’s breath hitch slightly. It wasn’t always that Eddie looked so happy, and Steve felt softhearted being in the presence of Eddie’s bliss like this.

Steve reached over slowly with his free hand and touched Eddie’s cheek, stroking along his jaw. It felt right to do this now, and Eddie seemed to have much the same idea as he rolled onto his side and let Steve guide him.

They both scanned each other’s expressions as Steve drew Eddie in closer, their noses brushing together first as Steve felt the sting of cold against his skin. Eddie seemed to be transfixed by him, and Steve could feel the world stopping around them as he sunk into the moment. It felt innocent and romantic, and Eddie seemed to hesitate not out of denial, but out of uncertainty. As if he wasn’t sure what to do at this point now that they were here.

Steve smiled lightly at that and closed the distance between them, kissing Eddie softly as he felt the other man draw in a breath. It was still cold out, but Steve felt a bloom of heat against his skin as their lips met and Steve guided them into a slow roll of their tongues.

At every junction, Eddie seemed to hesitate and then follow suit, marking his actions as inexperienced and timid. That felt like a paradox for Eddie, but Steve didn’t mind as he smiled into the contact and squeezed Eddie’s other hand with his.

They parted eventually, despite Steve staying tucked in close. He could hear Eddie breathing a bit hard as they continued to watch one another quietly.

“Was that…” Steve asked, swiping Eddie’s bangs out of his face. “Your first kiss?”

As if to answer him, Steve saw Eddie’s face turn beet red as he ducked down and away from Steve. He was hiding, and Steve felt his chest explode with adoration at the action.

“Shut up,” Eddie mumbled, hiding as he pressed his forehead against Steve’s chin.

Steve had to close his eyes from how adorable it was. How Eddie had rendered him positively smitten and made Steve’s whole body light up like a Christmas tree.

“Was it bad?” Eddie asked, sounding incredibly small as he continued to hide.

“No,” Steve sighed, sounding almost dreamy as he slid his hand to Eddie’s back and soothed him slightly. “No… just… gentle.”

Steve wasn’t sure how else to describe the contact, and he wouldn’t press Eddie on it any further, but judging from this very likely being Eddie’s first kiss… that probably also meant he was a virgin. A twenty-year-old metal head that was supposed to be the scourge of the devil himself… and Eddie had never so much as kissed someone before.

Steve pulled in a breath to steady himself, his entire body tingling with affection as he held Eddie and just let them lay there in the snow.

“Can we go in?” Eddie asked, still sounding shy. “I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

Steve chuckled and let go of Eddie, rolling onto his back again.

“Yeah, course,” he offered, sighing happily and stealing one last look at the moon before shifting onto his knees and crawling out of the snow fort.

#BatBoysxPrompts #I don't usually write just pure fluff so this was fun #let them smooch in the ~snow dome~#I also don't usually write “Eddie has no experience with kissing/being intimate at all” so this was very somft feeling #steddie #my_writing #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #steddie fic #background #lumax #BatBoysPrompts

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