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alleiwentcrazy · 1 year

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The point is, Steve can’t hear.

A person can get hit in the head only so many times before it takes effect and does permanent damage. Steve’s incessant claims that being in the front row when the fight breaks down does nothing to him, that he’s safe and alright as long as everyone else is, mean very little in the face of cold, evident facts.

His hearing isn’t intact. It takes him a while to adjust to this reality, but with the help of his friends, he eventually does. Thanks to Nancy’s fierce bullying of the government guys who come to Hawkins to assess the situation and cook up some half-assed excuse for everything that’s happened, Steve now has a small army of well-paid doctors that really seem to be eager to help. He also gets state-of-the-art hearing aids that, well—they work, but Steve’s range of possibilities is still quite narrow. Let a few people into the room, let them speak simultaneously and all he can hear is static, rustles and crackling.

But he’s pliant. He listens when Robin tells him they have to get in the car and hit the road to get to his appointment on time. He lets her help with inserting the aids properly on the days he’s just too impatient and too bugged about how they feel and look to even care if they help him hear. He’s not dismissing her enthusiasm when she starts learning sign language before he even gets a chance to discuss it as his option.

He’s doing a lot of things for her, even if they’re supposed to be important to him first. To be honest, these days it’s mostly doing things for Robin that keeps him going. He would have gone completely numb ages ago if it weren’t for her and her unique ways of picking up the severed pieces whenever he crumbles.

He’s also doing it for Dustin. If Robin is his twin sister, Dustin is the little brother he’s never had. And Dustin… It’s just been too rough on him. It’s been rough on everyone; how could it not be if the only thing they seem to be able to do is wait? Wait for the lab guys to figure out a way to end this. Wait for the panic to cease. Wait for Max to wake up.

Wait for the grief to pass.

They wait and wait, but it never stops—on the contrary, it brings fresh, equally unwanted feelings. They’re always there, lurking behind the corner like a kitten that wants to launch itself at an unsuspecting owner – only with them, there won’t be any playtime involved. Steve recognizes this feeling. It’s the same feeling he’d had in that Winnebago when he was dropping off Max, Lucas and Erica at Creel’s doorstep. An awful anticipation of doom waiting to happen.

He doesn’t like it. He’d like to find a way to do something about it, but he can’t seem to get to the core of it.

Maybe that’s why he thinks he’s hearing things when he really can’t be hearing them.

At first, Steve writes it off as him being paranoid. It happens only when he’s home by himself, so it’s the only logical explanation – he takes off his aids, he gets too attentive about his surroundings, right? He thinks he hears something, but it’s only his tired mind playing tricks on him.

Especially because what he hears are mostly usual, non threatening things. The sound of water running in the bathroom (he goes inside, everything is dry and quiet). The sound of kitchen drawers being opened (he goes to the kitchen, the cabinets are exactly the way he left them). The sound of cutlery being dropped on the floor (but he hasn’t even taken anything out in the first place).

He even gets used to it. Things happen, his brain is weird. It’s confusing, sure, but hasn’t he seen worse things? He definitely has.

But it doesn’t keep him away from sleeping with his bat perched on the side of the bed. If he sleeps at all, if a sudden sound of breaking glass doesn’t keep him awake until his morning shift with Robin, when he can finally leave this goddamn house and take his mind off of things.

Steve tries to ignore it. He really tries, but the point is—Steve can’t hear things like running water in the bathroom when his aids are off. Hell, he only makes it out if he focuses on it when they’re in, so why the heck can he hear it so well? Why are the sounds multiplying?

It goes on for weeks. He avoids the topic for as long as possible, trying to shoo away the obvious similarities between his house and the house that made him hate spiders and cringe at fireplaces not too long ago.

It gets a little too real on just some random Tuesday, when his kitchen positively explodes with sounds the second he gets the hearing aids off. Cabinet doors slam left and right, mugs fall to the floor and shatter, forks and spoons seem to be getting thrown around like ragdolls—but Steve sees nothing. He hears it, he hears it so loudly it hurts, the cacophony of noises he’s never even heard before, but his eyes register no proof of it. He curls down on the floor, expecting sharp glass pieces to cut his skin, but nothing happens. Nothing’s here.

He still covers his head, tucked away in the furthest corner of the kitchen, waiting for it to just stop, to leave him alone—

Steve doesn’t know how long it takes, but when it’s finally done, his knees are shaky and his breathing is ragged. He snatches his aids and takes off, straight to Robin’s house. He doesn’t even lock the door, a thing his parents would kill him for if they knew.

It’s the first time he explains everything to her. It would be hard not to, because she sees right through him. His panicked, restless eyes are enough indication of things not being right.

“Maybe, uh—I think I’ve read something about hearing loss and auditory hallucinations? That they happen, sometimes, especially if the loss of hearing is sudden?” she says, already flipping through her notebook where she keeps all Steve-related stuff and pacing around the room with enough force to make a hole in the carpet.

Steve’s not convinced. “It seems pretty real to me,” he mumbles and frowns. “But that’s the point of it, right?”

Robin shrugs. He notices that she has a small set of wrinkles around her eyes. Steve looks at them for a second in total disbelief. They already have some worry wrinkles, and they’re not even well into their twenties.

He’s gonna lose all his precious hair in a span of months if this doesn’t stop.

They decide to bring it up during his next appointment, still hoping that it’ll maybe go away on its own. Robin tries to make him get a consult straight away (what if it is rabies after all, Steve, like a really really really weird, belated presentation of rabies?), but he waves it off. The option of hallucinations doesn’t soothe his nerves, but as long as it’s not a chiming clock, he can avoid confronting it for a while longer.

It doesn’t go away, though. Steve can’t quite pinpoint it, but it almost feels like—well, it obviously doesn’t feel like it’s real enough to be real. But there’s something that accompanies the sounds, the lack of evidence, the missing of this ominous feeling that Creel’s house inflicted on him.

The sounds—it feels like they bear a presence. Steve’s still scared and gets spooked by them whenever they happen, but he’s no longer truly afraid of them.

Some of them are even comforting. The sound of his pillow being fluffed up before he gets to bed, the sound of pen scratching on paper whenever he leaves his journal open on the desk, the whooshing sound of a lighter being opened and closed – they all make this eerie place his parents have left him a little less empty.

He rarely lets himself think about it that way. He may be a little kooky, but admitting that he’s lonely enough to find hallucinations comforting would be way too much to handle at the moment.

So Steve can’t hear, but he learns to accept the fact that, apparently, sometimes he can. He doesn’t know how it works—to be quite honest he doesn’t know a lot about experiencing hearing loss at all, despite now being hard of hearing himself—but it just makes its place in his life.

He thinks about it a lot, but he tries not to overthink it too hard. It just happens. Things fall to the floor in his house, curtains get torn, the fridge gets opened frequently. He just can’t see it. His mind hears it, but his eyes don’t get the memo. He lives for longer than a week. It’s probably a good sign; nothing’s going to make his bones snap in two now, probably. Hopefully.

Things change suddenly.

Steve tries to spend as much time with Dustin as possible. Between work, his appointments and Robin, Dustin, Max and the kids are his top priority. He doesn’t think he would be able to function if he let himself take a breath and step down from his piled up responsibilities that he chose to take on himself. They keep him together. They keep him going.

Besides, Mrs. Henderson gets really worried. Sometimes it’s just better for Dustin to stay with Steve, and Steve is more than happy to be with him, even though it seems that Dustin doesn’t really like his cold house either.

It’s one of Dustin’s quiet days. He gets them, sometimes—Steve knows that trying to get him to talk on one of those days is a lost cause, and his ears are killing him. He was in such a hurry this morning he didn’t take the time to put the aids in properly. Work was overflowing with people, too, so now his temples are throbbing from trying to pick up the chatter from the static. Seriously, how is it possible that people still spend so much time watching movies in the face of almost-apocalypse, Steve doesn’t know.

“Would you mind if I took my aids off for a while?”

“Go ahead,” Dustin mumbles, bending over his new book.

Something flips inside Steve’s chest. He knows it’s not supposed to be like that, it’s unlike Dustin to be so… not himself. But what can Steve do? He can’t make him talk. He can just wait, nothing else.

He gets up to leave his aids on the counter and pour himself some coffee. He should probably start making dinner soon, but he decides to take a few peaceful sips first.

It’s weird. To sit with Dustin Henderson, of all people, without a single word. Steve glances at him every once and again, but Dustin either ignores him or genuinely forgets that he’s there.

Steve’s so deep in his thoughts about Dustin, he doesn’t even look to the side when a sudden sound of kitchen chair toppling over cuts through the silence. His eyes are trained on the kid.

Who flinches. And frowns. Steve can swear that he fights the urge to look around.

Each and every chair Steve keeps in the kitchen is standing where he placed them in the morning after breakfast. Nothing real has happened. But Steve heard it. And, apparently, Dustin did too.

Steve’s brain is working overtime for the rest of the evening, and he desperately tries not to show any of it. He’s jumping into conclusions. It was an accident; dumb luck. It’s nothing. He’s working himself up, nonsensically.

But it doesn’t feel like it’s nothing. It was only one chair, one sound, but the feeling that accompanied it was strong. Too strong to be nothing.

He waits to drop Dustin off at home like he’s on pins and needles, fumbling with his fingers and keys and pacing around. Maybe it’s better that it’s one of Dustin’s quiet days, he mostly gets away with it, getting only a few side glances.

When gets back home, it’s late, but he’s buzzing with anticipation nonetheless. He can finally do something. He discards his aids haphazardly, not nearly as carefully as he should, and starts running around the house. The house his parents built is huge—but the kitchen turns out to be quite small when he’s finally done with arraying at least a dozen lamps there. He has to raid three of his father's garages to get enough extension cords.

When he turns them on all at once, he has to take a step back and shut his eyes, because it’s too much light.

Just the right thing he needs.

His heart is beating so fast he can almost feel it ramming against his ribs. That’s about how far he’d thought this plan through.

“Come on,” he says and clears his throat, trying to gauge how his voice may really sound now. He repeats himself, hoping that it’s louder this time.

Nothing happens for a while, but he knows he’s close. The feeling is here. The presence that hasn’t left him in months. It’s here.

Steve walks around the kitchen, moves the lamps a little, shakes some of them. His hands are clammy and it feels like he’s chewed through his cheek at this point, but he can wait. He’s waited for a long time. He can wait a while longer.

When the microwave beeps, he stops breathing for a second.

Until it beeps again. And again.

“Oh god,” he breathes. He doesn’t know if he speaks clearly or not, he doesn’t even care. “Come on, show me that it’s you. Come on, come on—”

The lamp furthest to the left starts blinking, slowly at first. Then the one next to it, then another one, and another one, like someone’s walking around and making them flicker one by one.

They’re blinking so much one of the bulbs goes out. Steve doesn’t hear it hiss, so he knows it went out here, now. He knows it’s real.

“Oh god,” his hand goes to his mouth. His eyes are weirdly itchy. “Oh god, is it really you, Eddie?”

The lamp directly in front of Steve goes wild. When he reaches out, it’s almost like he can touch the presence that’s here with him.

And it’s Eddie. Eddie’s here with him.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #is he a ghost??? is he a zombie????#a vamp- is he a vampire?!?!?!?!?!?#well he's definitely a creature #robin buckley #dustin henderson #dustin and his dads #!!!!!#steddie #stranger things #st4 #fix it fic #of sorts???? at least a beginning of one #im telling you people.... there are explanations #hard of hearing steve harrington #hoh!steve #platonic stobin #because i love them

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rogueddie · 6 months

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I love that Steve and Eddie both have an attitude where they talk shit to and about Dustin all the time because fuck that kid haha right? 😎🤘

But if anything happens to Dustin or he so much as frowns slightly they'd start tripping over each other to try and fix whatever the problem is because they're actually painfully overprotective

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #dustin henderson #dustin and his dads

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disjointed-art · 7 months

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I never posted these guys finished!

Here’s the doodle page turned coloring style practice! They will all be stickers when I eventually open shop again :3

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tennant-the-tigger · 2 years

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Dad Hugs

Just some wholesome love.

My Stranger Things Art | Steve’s Mcnuggets |

#your honour i love them so much #dustin and his dads #steve and his mcnuggets #steddie #stranger things fanart #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #dustin henderson #steve and dustin #eddie and dustin #my art #steddie fanart

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estrellami-1 · 11 months

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Steddie Week 2023

May 25th Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

@steddie-week

Eddie’s waking up when Steve bursts into the room. Dustin, already at his bedside, excitedly waves Steve over.

Eddie groans, coughs twice, then opens his eyes, looking blankly around. His eyes sharpen in recognition when he sees Steve, and a small smile cracks his face when he looks at Dustin. “Hey, dude,” he mutters, trying to lift a hand to reach Dustin.

Dustin meets him halfway, grasping his hand, practically bent in half with emotion. “You asshole,” he gasps. “You- that’s- not fair, I thought you-” he bites his lip, shakes his head, and bursts into tears.

“Oh, hey,” Eddie says, trying to pull Dustin closer. “C’mon, man, it’s alright, I’m okay.”

Eventually Dustin calms down, moving away just long enough to drag a chair close enough to keep hold of Eddie.

Eddie looks up at Steve. “King Steve,” he says. “To what do I owe the honor? Or are you here to finally finish me off?”

To his surprise, Steve backs up, eyes suspiciously glassy. “I- sorry. Um. I’m gonna… check on Max.”

“Steve!” Dustin calls.

“Stay here,” Steve responds, not looking as he quickly walks out of the room.

Dustin turns an unimpressed eyebrow on Eddie. “I know you’re in pain and all that, but that was a dick move. I thought you and Steve were okay.”

Eddie laughs, then just as suddenly winces. “I haven’t talked to the dude since he was in high school, little buddy.”

“What? No, but you- he- the gates, Lover’s Lake- wait, holy shit-”

“Language.”

“-do you remember why you’re here?”

Eddie shrugs. “I heard something about an earthquake? And I vaguely remember trying to keep you safe.”

“Oh, fuck,” Dustin breathes, and runs out of the room yelling for Steve.

“What, what, what?” Steve asks, irritated.

Dustin pauses to catch his breath. “Eddie doesn’t remember,” he tells Steve, whose eyes widen. “He thinks you haven’t spoken since you were in high school. He thinks he’s here because of an earthquake.”

Steve’s head drops to his chest as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay,” he says. “So what do we do?”

“We have to tell him,” Dustin says. “He’s still wanted for Chrissy. He needs to know what’s happening.”

“Okay,” Steve says, taking another breath. “Alright. Let’s go then.”

They make their way back to Eddie’s room, where he’s looking out the window. “Eddie?” Dustin asks.

“Henderson,” Eddie responds, smiling. “What was all that about?”

Dustin sighs, sits heavily in the chair. “Do you remember Chrissy?”

Eddie frowns. “Cunningham? The queen of Hawkins High?”

“Former queen,” Dustin says softly. “She died.” Eddie’s eyes widen. “In your trailer.”

Eddie’s eyes are saucers. “What?”

Dustin nods. “We know you didn’t do it, but a lot of people think you did.”

“Jason Carver,” Steve cuts in, scoffing. “Fuckin’ prick.”

Eddie raises a brow. “I woulda thought you two would be friends.”

Steve makes a face. “Maybe back when I was in high school. You do remember Byers beating the shit outta me, right?” He smirks. “I deserved it. Actually thanked the guy, if you can believe it.” He shrugs. “I haven’t been king of anything in a while, and I’m fine with that.”

“Well, shit,” Eddie says. “Sorry about what I said, then.”

Steve offers him a half-smile. “Considering you have no memory of what landed you in the hospital, you’re forgiven.”

Eddie frowns. “But I do remember. Or- not remember, per se, but while I was out I heard people talking. There was an earthquake.”

Steve screws his face up. “That was a cover up,” he says quietly. “The real story is way harder to believe.”

Eddie looks between Steve and Dustin. “Okay. You have my attention. What’s the real story?”

They slowly tell him, trading points, adding details when the other forgets.

“We were just about to separate,” Steve’s saying. “Me, Robin, and Nancy, and you and Dustin. You said my name, so I turned back around, and you said-”

“Make him pay,” Eddie whispers. “I remember. Holy shit. Holy shit.” He takes a few deep breaths. “Henderson?” He asks, not taking his eyes off Steve. “Give us a few minutes?”

Dustin looks between the two of them, but must see it on their faces, because he simply walks out without a word.

“Eds?” Steve asks, tearing up.

“Stevie,” Eddie answers, wiping his face. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” Steve mutters, curling into Eddie. “Eddie.”

“‘M right here,” Eddie murmurs. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve leans up, brackets Eddie’s face in his hands. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispers. “I was so scared-”

Eddie grimaces. “And then I scared you even more, huh? I’m so sorry, babe.”

Steve shakes his head. “You didn’t know. It’s okay. I just-” he sniffles. “I thought you’d finally wisened up, y’know? I thought you finally realized I’m always gonna be that douchebag I was in high school.”

“You’re not,” Eddie whispers, trying to tilt his face up. “Hey, give me a hand, here, I’m trying to kiss my boyfriend.” Steve laughs wetly, but seals their mouths together. “You’re not him,” Eddie whispers into Steve’s mouth. “You’re so much better.” He starts to grin. “You’re still bitchy, though, which personally I love.”

Steve looks at him hopefully. “Yeah?”

Eddie softens. “Yeah, sweetheart. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve whispers, pressing a last chaste kiss to Eddie’s lips. “What’re the odds Henderson’s right outside and heard everything?”

“It’s not my fault you’re not being quiet!”

#steddieweek2023 #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #dustin henderson #dustin and his dads #prompt: hurt/comfort #more emotional hurt/comfort than anything #I hope this still counts #starambles

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your-stranger-halfblood-things · 1 year

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Eddie: Ow ow ow-

Dustin: You good?

Eddie: Yeah. I'm just having a headache. But with pictures

Dustin: A what?

Steve: An idea. He's having an idea

#stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #dustin henderson #steddie + dustin #dustin + steddie #dustin and his dads #dustin and steve #dustin and eddie

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stupidfreakingthoughts · 1 year

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steve and dustin’s relationship makes me so happy

Thinking about how the Hellfire Club would respond to them being friends because how the HELL did nerdy dnd player Dustin fucking Henderson become friends with the former king of Hawkins High, Steve “The Hair” Harrington? Because the last they knew of Steve, he was a jock, he threw parties in his giant mansion (that no one in Hellfire had ever been to) and he was just an all around asshole.

The first time Steve shows up in his fancy car (that was actually his fathers) wearing his preppy clothes and waiting in the parking lot, they assume he’s there to beat them up. Of course, they’re the freaks, the losers who don’t go to the basketball games and instead spend their time sitting in an empty classroom playing fantasy games. So what else would they expect?

When Dustin tells the club, “Oh, no he’s basically our mom he’s driving us home tonight”, they don’t believe him. They don’t know why he would be lying, but the people in the club who were at Hawkins High when The King was at the peak of his reign were honestly scared. They were at the bottom rung of the social ladder, if anyone was gonna bully anyone in Hawkins High, it would be the Hellfire Club. Although they were scared, they had formed some sort of bond with these 3 freshmen and they decided to walk out with them to the car. The kids leading the pack, Eddie, Gareth and Jeff slightly behind.

When they reach the car, the older kids try to get in front of the freshmen, but Mike and Lucas rush to Steve, each giving him a fist bump before Dustin reaches him and they perform an intricate handshake that has obviously been practiced a lot. The older kids can’t get exactly what’s happening, but they know there’s a lightsaber part and that it is a very complicated handshake that you wouldn’t learn for just anyone. Mike and Lucas fondly roll their eyes before getting into the backseat of Steve’s car, obviously having seen this same routine done before. Dustin laughs before getting in shotgun and Steve turns to Eddie. Eddie is dumbfounded, because whatever he was expecting Steve to do, it’s wasn’t this. As Steve turns to him and the rest of Hellfire, thanking them for giving the kids something to do that’s fun after school and sticking his hand out for Eddie to shake, Eddie can feel his old crush returning and he hopes he’ll see more of Steve soon.