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raineandsky · 8 months

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#64

tw: implied violence, blood

The concrete is rough against the henchman’s hands. He makes a naive attempt to get back up, but the blossoming pain of the hero's shoe connecting with his side is enough to keep him down. Tears are making his surroundings blurry, his voice trapped painfully in his throat.

“Look who I caught lurking in the shadows,” the hero spits coldly. “Outside. One of [Villain]’s playthings, no doubt.”

The superhero hums approvingly. “Good find. Maybe this one can actually tell us something.”

A moment of silence follows, suddenly unsure. “Are we doing it now?” the hero asks.

The superhero tilts her head thoughtfully, regarding the henchman shivering at her feet. “Would you like to?”

“No, no.” The hero lets out a flat laugh. “Just wondering.”

The superhero turns to throw them a pleased smile. “He won’t be leaving any time soon. No rush.”

The hero nods shortly, and she waves them off a little dismissively. “You’ve done a splendid job this evening, [Hero]. Take this thing to a cell, and we can discuss what we’d like to know in the morning.”

The hero wordlessly heaves the henchman off the floor, shoving him past the superhero and into the corridor beyond. His footsteps stumble irregularly, cutting through the hero’s own perfectly rhythmic step. Their united shuffling echoes dully off the walls.

The hero stops him in a seemingly random corridor, gently nudging him into the bathroom. He points his gaze down to avoid the mirrors against the sinks, but he catches a glimpse of his reflection all the same—dusty, bloody, a bruise blooming cruelly against his cheek. He never knew the hero could be so vicious. Not to him.

The hero pulls a cleaning sign out from behind one of the stalls, glancing into the corridor outside before placing it on the floor beyond the door. The henchman doesn’t even look at them when they move back towards him.

“You’re a damn good actor,” he snaps, and he can’t keep the sharpness out of his tone.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” the hero says softly. “I– I didn’t mean to do this much. Here, let me clear you up a bit.”

The henchman scowls, but he doesn’t stop the hero from running a wad of tissue under one of the taps. Their hand drifts under his chin, carefully tilting his face towards the shabby overhead lights. “You’re so beautiful,” they breathe after a moment, and the henchman scoffs.

“I’m covered in dirt and blood.”

“And yet you still shine like the only star in the sky.”

The hero gently takes the tissue to his face, their touch purposely delicate. They sit in silence for a minute, the hero diligently wiping at his skin and the henchman trying not to scrunch his face up at the earnest attention he’s getting.

“You know I didn’t want to do this,” they continue once they’re satisfied with their work. The tissue in their hand is dotted with crimson stains.

“I know. I saw the camera.”

The hero sighs as they toss the tissue into the bin behind them. “I’ll make it up to you, my love. I promise.”

The henchman nods shortly and they take his face in their hands, gentle as to not disturb the wounds they’ve caused. He really is a pretty thing—they couldn’t believe their luck when he asked them on that first date along the river. They were both in too deep by the time they realised who the other was.

“Safe to say your boss doesn’t know?”

The hero snorts amusedly, tracing a thumb idly over the freckles splayed over his face. “Safe to say yours doesn’t either?”

“[Villain] was never one for romance.” The henchman graces them with a lopsided grin, but it dies down after a moment. “I feel like this is the closest we’ve been in weeks.”

The hero’s schedule has taken up most of their days; the henchman’s has taken up most of his nights. Their shared flat is feeling lonelier and lonelier every time they have to arrive home to no one.

“I’ll fix that,” the hero says certainly. “I’ll get you out, and I’ll come home.”

The henchman gives them another wonky smile, hopeful if not a little pained, and they can’t help but kiss him. It’s soft, like he’ll fall apart, but they feel his hands on their waist all the same, pulling them into him. The hero can only hope it says everything they wish they had the time to say— I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you, I need you, I miss you, I love you, I love you, I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you.

They pull back from him after a moment, offering him a content grin and getting one back. The way the lights dance in his eyes looks like stars. “I should probably lock you up for the crime of coming here now,” the hero points out quietly, and the henchman barks out a short laugh.

“That’s fair.” His hands move away from them, much to their disappointment. “I only came here for one reason, anyway. I’ve nothing else to do but go to jail now.”

The hero sighs, planting one last kiss on his forehead. “I’ll get you out by morning.”

“I love you,” the henchman says, and the soft smile he gives them feels like they’re staring into the beauty of the rising sun.

#creative writing #writblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writing community #heroes and villains #hero x henchman #so. i caved. i watched someone play faith the unholy trinity #aha #i was gonna play it and now i dont think i will #it didnt seem so bad watching someone else play it but i know if that were me id be SHITTING my PANTS #god. i love horror i hate it #i hate enjoying horror cause im ALWAYS SO SCARED OF IT

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trensu · 1 year

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ETA: now on ao3 as Hawkins Halfway House for Homeless Horrors

ETA2: now with an additional snippet

okay, how's this for an AU

We know that Steve wants to be a dad. Like, his literal life dream is to have a minimum of six children. SIX. who wants that?? crazy people, that's who. but we forgive him his insanity because he's sweet and will actually probably be a really good dad and there's not enough of those in the world.

the downer is that it's the late 90s, he's a (still) single guy in his thirties, and every adoption agency on the planet would rather give their children to a heteronormative couple who don't even want kids than to a single dude who would dedicate his heart and soul to giving his kids a happy healthy home.

He's bemoaning his fate to Robin at a bar they recently discovered. It's a weird little joint, kinda tucked away on the outskirts where Steve could've sworn didn't exist just last week. The patrons were kinda weird too but neither he or Robin could put their finger on why or how. If Steve had been a little less miserable, and Robin a little less caught up in comforting him, they might've noticed how everyone else in the bar kept sneaking curious glances at them or how they somehow always kept most of their features hidden.

They didn't though. Even when they were interrupted by a handsome black gentleman who called himself Jeff. Jeff said that he couldn't help but overhear their dilemma and that he's actually part of an agency that is more open minded about potential foster or adoptive parents. Steve's a little deeper in his cups than he intended, and doesn't question that some random guy in a bar is offering him a chance of having children. Robin is not as far in her cups and finds it a bit suspicious.

She was going to say something about it but Jeff looked her in the eye and said, "Everything is fine. There's no reason to worry. I'm only trying to help."

"You're only trying to help," Robin murmured back blearily. "Everything is fine. Yeah. Yeah, 'm not worried."

Jeff gives Steve his card and tells him he can stop by the very next day if he'd like, since his schedule is open.

The next day, Steve is regretting having gotten so drunk. Not really because of the hangover (though holy shit, he is NOT twenty anymore he needs to stop drinking like one). No. It's because Jeff had just finished giving him a tour of the facility full of rambunctious children in need of a home.

Actually, that had been pretty okay even if the other adults in the facility startled at the sight of him and the children kept ducking into other rooms to hide from him.

No. It's because Jeff had just introduced him to a child named Dustin who sneezed unexpectedly and somehow turned into a kitten.

"Um," Steve said. Jeff sighed.

"Dustin hasn't gotten back control over his shapeshifting since his mother's passing, but I assure you he's been improving."

"...shapeshifting," Steve said, numbly.

"Yes. Dustin tends to go for cat shapes, like his mother did." Jeff bends down to pick up the loudly mewing tabby kitten. "We've managed to get him to shift mostly into a domestic shorthair, rather than a cougar cub."

"That's great," Steve squeaked as he tried to tamp down the growing hysteria in him. "Really, really great. Y'know what, Jeff, this whole thing's been great but I think I'm still kind of drunk so I'm just gonna go--"

"No, wait," Jeff says, quickly placing the Dustin kitten on his shoulder before reaching out to grab Steve by the elbow. "Please. Look, you seem like a good guy. I did a quick scan of you and everything, and I really think if you'd take a moment to sit down and--"

"JEFFORD BILLANY JONES."

Jeff's shoulders hunched, nearly dislodging Dustin from his shoulder. He sighed again and turned to face the man storming towards him and Steve.

"Eddy, you know none of that is my name."

"I'll call you whatever I want since for some unfathomable reason, you've brought a human into my sanctuary. Why is there a human in my home, Jeffamy."

"Eddy, let me explain."

"It's Eddie in front of the human," Eddie said.

Steve's brain was experiencing some sort of malfunction because Jeff had been calling this man Eddie, except if he concentrated, the way Jeff said Eddie and the way Eddie had said Eddie sounded very very different except it hadn't because they both sounded like Eddie except for how Jeff's Eddie sounded different from, the same as, different, just like--

A pair of ringed fingers snapped aggressively in front of his face, startling Steve from an impending aneurysm.

"You. Who are you, who sent you, what do you want."

Steve stuttered something incoherent. He's pretty sure he's had a mental break from reality. There was some sort of sentient black sludge creeping across the tiled floor, wrapping a tendril around Jeff's leg.

"What is that?" Steve squawked. Jeff beamed at him.

"Oh, this is El! She's a Monster Under the Bed. She hasn't decided on a form yet, but that's okay, we love her just as she is."

"Jeff," Eddie snapped. Jeff looked at Eddie stubbornly.

"You told me we needed all hands on deck."

"How dare you, I'd never stoop to using boat metaphors."

"Don't distract me with blatant lies. Eddy, you said we needed help. You said you'd take anyone at this point."

Steve has not been able to stop staring at the sludge creature (El?). He's beginning to realize that he can't quite remember what Jeff looked like, or any of the adults they had seen. He's noticing that some of the children that have been scampering about had looked off. Like the boy with the bowl-cut they had passed by earlier who had looked...frosty around the edges. Or the girl he thought had had red feathers in her hair but is now suspecting the feathers were something more than decorative.

Ringed fingers snap in front of his face again. Steve finally focused on the man named Eddie who was actually named Eddie which was different from Eddie somehow. Now that he's able to shove away the confusion that is this man's name, he's struck by the fact that Eddie was quite possibly the most gorgeous man Steve's ever seen. He had wide, dark eyes that made Steve think of seabeds in the deepest of waters. His hair was a riot of dark brown curls that for some reason brought to mind swirling schools of fish.

"Answer my questions," Eddie demanded. Steve blinked and, with some difficulty, remembered the previous interrogation.

"Uh, I'm Steve. Jeff invited me because I want to be a dad."

Eddie barked out a laugh.

"Oh, is that right? In that case, welcome to Hawkins' Halfway House for Homeless Horrors! I'm sure Jeff would love to finish introducing you to the rest of our children. Have you met Mike? He's a ghoul! Or Lucas! He's a werewolf and his dream is to become a basketball star. They both have very sharp teeth so watch out for their tantrums."

Jeff scowls at Eddie before turning back to Steve. Steve was starting to feel faint and he was no longer sure if he regretted drinking the night before or regretted not drinking more.

"Steve, it's okay. Eddy is making it sound scarier than it actually is. You said you wanted to be a dad, and we need foster parents that can help these kids learn how to blend in with humans. That's what the halfway house is for, but there's only so much they can learn while living in sanctuary. We need a way to have them experience the human world more directly while still keeping them safe, and I think you're the solution we've been looking for. What do you think?"

"I think I need to sit down," Steve said thinly. Eddie snorted derisively. Steve was slightly offended but honestly everything was a bit too much right now and he really would like to sit down for a moment just to process. Because monsters are real, apparently, and some of them need parents. Which was terrifying to think about but also not so much? Because all kids were little monsters some of the time right? If Steve could have a moment to get his bearings...

"This was a terrible idea, Jeffathan."

"I think it was a great idea, actually. I really think this could work."

"No. I forbid it. Don't do this again."

Then there was a sweet and beautiful humming. It made the edges of Steve's mind go fuzzy and soft. He blinked slowly and looked for the source of the sound. Eddie stared at him intently and when he spoke, his voice was like music.

"Steve," Eddie said. "Steve, do you want to make me happy?"

Steve nodded dumbly. He wanted that more than anything in the whole world. He wanted to make Eddie smile. He wanted Eddie to never stop singing.

"It would make me very happy if you went home and forgot everything you saw here today," Eddie continued.

Steve made a sad sound. He didn't want to forget. He didn't want to forget beautiful, gorgeous Eddie and this place that could make his dream come true.

"Please, Steve," Eddie's lyrical voice took on an aching mournful tone. "If you don't, you'll break my heart. I'll never be happy again."

The sadness in the song made Steve feel like the world was ending. Eddie couldn't be sad! Steve would rather die than make Eddie sad!

"I forget," Steve mumbled through the fog in his mind. "And you'll be happy?"

"So happy. I'd be the happiest man alive if you do that one little thing for me, my sweet Steve."

Steve nods again. "Okay."

"Good boy," Eddie croons. Steve felt like he swallowed the sun at those words. He followed Eddie as Eddie guided him through the halfway house. Eddie hummed his lovely song the entire way.

"Go home and forget," Eddie sang one last time as he helped Steve get behind the wheel of his car.

"Yeah," Steve replied dreamily and drove away.

The telephone rang shrilly through his apartment. Steve stumbled out of bed and picked up, only fumbling it a little bit.

"H'llo?"

"Steve, what the hell, I've been trying to get a hold of you all day! Where have you been?" Robin's voice rang out, making Steve flinch. He scrubbed his free hand over his face tiredly.

"Home? I just woke up," Steve said. It was weird that he was fully dressed, he thought dazedly, but it wouldn't be the first time he's passed out drunk in his street clothes. Was he wearing this shirt yesterday? He could've sworn he'd worn the navy one.

"What? Just now? It's like five in the evening!"

"Huh. That'd explain the weird dream," Steve mumbled.

"Was it the one where you get seduced by a giant squid? Because I don't need to know more about your weird tentacle fetish."

"I don't have a tentacle fetish! I had the dream ONE time, and I wasn't being seduced, I was getting drowned and it was terrifying!"

"To-may-to, to-mah-to."

"Whatever, this one was weirder anyway."

"I find that hard to believe but now I'm morbidly curious. Hit me with it."

"...I don't remember."

"There goes my entertainment for the evening."

"Was there a reason you called, Robin?"

"Yes! I met this girl named Chrissy and I swear Steve, she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen..."

Beautiful. Steve had the faint impression of dark eyes and silver rings, but it was quickly washed away like a child's sandcastle in the tide under the onslaught of Robin's ramblings. As he listened to his best friend, he couldn't help but feel there was something he'd forgotten. There was something he'd been planning on doing today, wasn't there...?

...oh, well. If it was really important, he'd remember eventually.

#stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #trensu tells stories #jeff doesn't understand why eddie hates humans so much #the man who raised eddie was human after all and eddie loved him #eddie: uncle wayne is a god among men how dare you compare him to a human #jeff: well i think uncle wayne would've liked steve and he'd totally agree that my idea was awesome #eddie: BLASPHEMY #jeff sighs the sigh of someone who has unfortunately grown used to the nonsensical dramatics of sirens #look guys i just want steve to adopt a horde of monster children #and for eddie to slowly fall in love with single dad steve #is that too much to ask for?#hawkins halfway house for homeless horrors

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