Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.
You Say Bark, I Say Bite
Prompt Day 1: Open Mic Night | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language, Smoking | Tags: Pre-S4, Pre-Steddie, Platonic Stobin, Corroded Coffin
"No, no, no," Steve says, waving his hand in front of him. He's not doing this.
"Steve, please," Robin begs, "it's just one night. For me. You love me."
There are so many other ways they could spend a Saturday night that don't involve listening to shitty musicians. They'll all suck. He knows that. They've done this before, and he's never heard anything he's liked.
"Steve. For me," she pleads, giving him the eyes.
He sighs. He was always going, but he's not happy about it. And he wants Robin to know that.
"Tammy Thompson sounds like a Muppet," Steve says.
"You've said," Robin mumbles, annoyed.
That's the whole reason they're here in Indianapolis tonight, at some under twenty-one club, listening to teens and college kids play shitty music. To hear Tammy Thompson nasal her way through a song or two.
Someone brought a goddamn flute. To an open mic night. A flute. These people are all weirdos. No talent to be found.
Then the little stage is suddenly bustling with movement, bringing in actual instruments and equipment. Okay, maybe they're getting somewhere. This has to be better than another douchebag with a guitar.
Oh, no.
That's definitely a douchebag with a guitar.
"Is that…Eddie Munson?" Steve asks, cutting Robin a look.
"Well, duh," Robin says, totally unbothered by this very weird turn of events, "he has a band, you know that."
He knows that? He doesn't know that. He knows Eddie Munson is a dealer. He knows Eddie Munson is a freak. But he didn't know Eddie Munson played the guitar.
"I didn't fucking know that," Steve says, confused, wrinkling his forehead.
"They play at The Hideout every week. Eddie, Jeff, Gareth and Goodie. Corroded Coffin. You know that. Everybody knows that. Eddie is always hanging up flyers everywhere."
News to him. He doesn't know any of these guys. Who the fuck is Goodie? That's not even a name.
"I think you're making shit up. I don't recognize any of those guys. Like, not at all. Did they go to Hawkins? While I was there?"
Robin looks at him like he's an asshole. Okay, they must have.
"They gotta be way younger," Steve finally says, indignant. "I know Eddie. Because he's been a senior for the last five years."
She gives him a withering look, "Three years. Last three years."
Like that's better.
Eddie is quietly helping the drummer get his shit set up as fast as they can, and Steve watches. This should be good. This will be way more entertaining than Tammy Thompson. Because he can't fathom what Eddie Munson might think is good music. God, Steve hopes he tries to sing.
He's positive this will be worth the cover charge, for sure. A trainwreck.
It's not a trainwreck. Eddie Munson falls back, and the black kid takes the mic. Okay, he didn't expect that. He expected Munson to be front and center.
"Who's the singer?"
"Jeff Williams. His sister was in your class," Robin hisses.
Oh, okay. Molly Williams was fun. She wouldn't give him the time of day when he tried to get her to go on a date with him, but fun. He didn't even know she had a little brother.
They start playing a song, and Steve doesn't recognize it.
Jeff shouts, "All aboard!" and laughs as the drummer starts clicking his sticks together, then playing, and it's okay. Fine.
Then, Eddie starts playing the guitar.
Goddammit.
Steve hates to be wrong, and hates that this is really working for him. Eddie Munson looks at ease, happy, and kinda hot. Steve's never seen him look like that at school. Not once. Munson is snarky, snappy. Always quick to bite back. Funny, for sure, but Steve would avoid him, because Munson never shied away from trying to make Steve look stupid at every fucking turn.
But he can play the guitar, apparently.
Robin nudges his shoulder, "They're good, right?"
He nods, not looking away. They're good.
They play another heavy song, but it's Queen. They're doing a metal cover of Bicycle Race, and that amuses Steve, he likes Queen.
After they're done playing, Steve makes excuses, and slips outside into the alley. He's pretty sure Eddie Munson isn't going to stay to watch this other shit.
Eventually, there he is, guitar case in hand. Steve thinks he'd like to ride him like a bicycle, and that's a new thought.
About Eddie. Not about men.
"Oh, hey," Steve says, leaning against the wall of the alley, smoking a cigarette he bummed. Robin will kill him, but he needs an excuse to be out here. Like he wasn't waiting. Even if he totally was.
"Harrington," Eddie says with contempt, "what brings you out here with us freaks?"
"Robin," Steve says, and Eddie gives him a look.
"Buckley's really friends with you? I thought that was a terrible rumor."
Steve pretends that doesn't hurt, and just nods.
"Too bad, I like her," Eddie says, and this was a mistake. What the fuck was he thinking? Eddie Munson will just give him a tongue-lashing, and not in a fun way. He's an idiot for thinking otherwise. Steve isn't this hard up.
"Okay, well, you guys looked good," Steve says, pushing himself off the wall.
Eddie laughs, incredulous, "You thought we looked good?"
"Sounded," Steve corrects.
"You, King Steve, thought we sounded good? I've been to your house parties. You don't listen to metal. Do you even know who Ozzy is?"
Steve doesn't, and shakes his head. And Eddie's been to his house? Since when? Nevermind. Doesn't matter.
"You guys were good compared to all that other shit I had to sit through tonight. You sounded like, you know, actual music. I guess."
Eddie raises an eyebrow, like he can see right through Steve.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
Steve suddenly feels like he's in big trouble. Trapped. Backed into a corner.
Eddie smiles and takes a step towards him, and it's predatory.
Steve swallows.
Oh, he's definitely in trouble.
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Modern Inheritance: Three Types of People (Supershort)
(Iunno, I wanted to write this and it's not good writing at all but it's written)
THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE
Eragon stared.
Saphira could tell something had caught his eye. She lowered her head and pushed her snout through the doorway from the warehouse, curious. The boy wasn’t answering her when she questioned him, and he wasn’t letting her see through his eyes, so this would have to do.
Ah. That’d do it.
“What?” Arya rubbed the side of her head with the damp towel still draped around her shoulders, skin flushed from her recent shower.
Eragon stammered. The elf cocked an eyebrow at him before looking to Saphira. “Is he okay?” Her voice took on a troubled edge. “Is he seizing?”
The dragon huffed, an amused rumble building in the hollow of her throat. Eragon’s increasingly frequent moments of flared cheeks and confusion when around Arya were easy enough for her to interpret, but still so difficult for her to understand. ‘He’s fine.’ She mulled over it for a second before settling on only revealing half the truth when her partner wasn’t forthcoming. ‘He’s never seen you with your hair down. It’s very different.’
“Yes!” Eragon sputtered. His gratitude came off in a slumped wave of relief, a mental hug. “Yeah. You’ve only ever had it braided. It looks…” The blush that colored his cheeks was certainly noticeable to Saphira, but in the low grey half lights of the transition between the kitchen and sitting area the dragon wasn’t sure if the elf could see it as well. “It looks very nice.”
“...Thanks.”
Murtagh took that moment to shuffle into the kitchen. He looked around, saw the glittering blue that blocked the warehouse door, Eragon’s pink cheeks, and the still-wet elf wearing jogging shorts and a loose tanktop in the kitchen, and immediately understood the awkwardness in the air.
As always, it fell to him to break it.
The young man walked past the elf to get at the cereal on the shelf behind her. “You look like a drenched coon cat.”
Arya let out a half snorted laugh, shaking her head as she gathered her hair into a loose ponytail. “There are two types of people….”
“You’re getting water on the floor.” Brom grunted from the pantry, still searching for the elusive coffee grounds.
“Nevermind, there are three.”
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