16. Epilogue

“They’re making fun of the character you made me,” Steve said as Eddie took his seat next to him in the Wheelers’ basement. It was finally time for Will’s campaign, and Eddie had roped Steve into playing.

“Really, a human fighter, Eddie?” Dustin critiqued, taking his spot across from them. “I was hoping for a little more pizazz from a seasoned dungeon master.”

“Gimme a break, Henderson,” Eddie leveled. “It’s Steve’s character, afterall. Baby’s first D&D campaign.”

“Hey,” Steve looked over, offended in the way that entertained Eddie to no end. “You said I did well on the crash course you gave me.”

“And you did,” Eddie assured, rubbing his hand over Steve’s shoulder, but met Dustin and Lucas’ gaze, quietly shaking his head.

“I’m… right here,” Steve looked between them, as if in disbelief over his audacity. “I can see you.”

“At least tell me you came up with a good name,” Lucas chimed in.

“We didn’t come up with a name yet,” Eddie told him. “I didn’t come up with one for mine, either.”

“I expected more from you, Eddie,” Dustin said blankly, and his sincerity brought a snort from Eddie.

“It’s just a name, Henderson,” Eddie placated. “It’s the least fun part of making a character.”

“What?” Lucas and Mike exclaimed in sync. “It’s literally used more often than backstories,” Lucas added.

“So all our other campaigns you just,” Dustin waved his hand around flippantly. “Chose NPC names with reckless abandon. No care for how it could deepen the character.”

“When you ask me the name of a random merchant that you’re never gonna talk to for more than three seconds, yeah,” Eddie retorted. “For recurring characters I put a little more effort in. But it’s different when I’m DM’ing. Anyway, don’t get your panties in a twist. I can come up with a perfectly fine name on the spot,” he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms haughtily.

“So do so,” Dustin gestured with a high pitched voice.

Eddie puffed up his cheeks, blowing out a tight exhale. “Kevin,” he said finitely.

“Kevin?” Lucas, Dustin, and Mike yelled in unison.

“And you’re proud of Kevin?” Lucas deadpanned, eyebrows raised. “You think this is something to be proud of?”

“Alright, Sinclair, since Kevin isn’t good enough, come up with something better,” Eddie challenged.

“I did my job and came up with my name on time,” Lucas raised his hands in defense. “This is your burden to carry.”

“Kevin isn’t even a fantasy name,” Mike critiqued.

“Fine!” Eddie threw up his hands. “If that’s too realistic for you D&D snobs– which I didn’t think I raised you to be–”

“Raised us?” Dustin asked pointedly, but Eddie ignored him.

“I’ll make it more ‘fantasy,’” Eddie mocked as he air-quoted the word, pausing as he searched his brain for a name, but for the life of him nothing was coming up. “Jevin.”

“You think that’s better?” Dustin stared at him, incredulous.

“How is Jevin a fantasy name?” Lucas countered.

“People aren’t named Jevin in reality, therefore it’s fantasy,” Eddie argued emphatically, throwing a rubber eraser at Lucas, who jumped in his seat as it smacked against his chest. Steve snorted.

“That’s a very generous use of the word ‘fantasy,’” Dustin stated, Eddie sticking his tongue out.

“What are you gonna name your character, Steve?” Mike asked. Steve had been watching the interaction mirthfully.

Steve shrugged. “I dunno. Probably just Steve.”

Lucas, Mike and Dustin collectively made noises of disapproval. Dustin rolled his eyes, but it was more a full body movement. “You can’t just use your name.”

“Why not?” Steve opened his palms to the ceiling in question. “You told me you can do almost anything in this game, and I can’t be a guy named Steve?”

“It’s not fantasy if you’re just you!” Mike argued.

“Fine, I’ll be…” Steve sighed, shaking his head in thought. “Sleeve.”

“Sleeve?” Lucas, Dustin, and Mike once again exploded in unison as a cackle erupted from Eddie. He leaned his elbows on the table, shoulders shaking as he laughed into his hands.

“What is wrong with you two?” Dustin shook his head. “Steve, I expected this from you,” Steve once again held out his hands in confusion, eyebrows furrowing at the jab. “But you, Eddie? Get yourself together.”

“Hey, at least mine was better than Sleeve,” Eddie retorted, Steve looking at him confounded.

“How is Jevin better than Sleeve?” He rounded on Eddie.

“At least Jevin is kind of a name,” Eddie lolled his head to look at Steve frankly. “I mean, c’mon. Sleeve? How is that the name of any intelligent lifeform?”

“What do you mean?” Steve sat forward in emphasis, bewildered. “I’m Sleeve… Carrington. Just rolled in from Sleeveville,” he said it so seriously, Eddie wanted to mock him but another laugh racked his body, sounding more like it came from an elephant’s trunk as it forced its way through tight lips.

“Your parents named you after the town you’re from?” Lucas held his hands parallel to each other, shaking them at Steve in an attempt to get him to see how ridiculous this was.

Steve chuckled, sharing in Eddie’s hilarity as he doubled down, “Yeah.”

“Is Sleeve Carrington the brother of your evil twin, Stue Carrington?” Laughter still clung to Eddie’s words.

Steve pursed his lips, looking at Eddie as if he were stupid for asking. “No. He’s his husband, obviously.”

Eddie chuckled hardily before saying, “Right, of course. How could I be so bigoted?”

“You really gotta work on that, Munson,” Steve teased, humorous eyes laid on Eddie.

Dustin gave an exasperated huff, rolling his eyes to look at Will, who had been observing in idle amusement while writing something in his notes. “Will, you done yet? If we don’t start soon I’m worried about what we’ll have to witness.”

Steve made a face at him while Eddie slid down in his seat, looking under the table to hook his foot around one of the legs of Dustin’s chair and giving it a hard tug. Dustin jolted forward with his seat, hands slamming onto the table for stability.

His face fell into one of genuine annoyance, looking at Eddie with severe eyes as he pointed his finger at him, “Child abuse.” Mike laughed at this, Eddie quirking his eyebrows in an almost challenging response.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Will informed, a smile on his face. Amidst the bullying, Eddie couldn’t help but soften at the brightness behind Will’s eyes as he watched all of them. After all he heard about what the kid went through, he was glad Will was finally getting to have a modicum of a childhood. Even if it were long overdue.

“Are we just letting them be named Jevin and Sleeve?” Mike asked, looking between the three younger boys.

“Honestly, I couldn’t give less of a shit anymore,” Dustin shook his head in tired defeat. “I want to actually start this thing before Steve’s hairline starts receding.”

“Never speak of such horrible things, Henderson,” Steve pointed a finger at him.

Soon, the campaign was underway. The general premise Will had set up for them was that Steve, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike traveled together, completing risky jobs for high paying customers. All of them were essentially doing it against their will, since not a single one of them was an Evil alignment, and the jobs typically called for less-than-savory actions. They worked for a powerful man who paid them to complete the requests of his clients, and while they did get a pay cut, their loyalty to the man was based on him threatening people close to them if they failed to comply.

Eddie helped Will one-on-one with a few details, and when he did they came up with the idea that Eddie would actually oppose the group, at least at first. The group’s characters were unaware of Eddie tailing them in the shadows, and were currently in the room with an enchanted dagger they were meant to be stealing.

“And the dagger is in the chest we just opened?” Mike asked Will.

“Yeah,” Will clarified easily, giving a half shrug.

“There’s nothing else?” Lucas was the one to ask.

“Nope,” Will might’ve been the most innocent, but his answer was too innocent.

Dustin narrowed his eyes at Will. “And the chest wasn’t trapped? For such an important item that we barely survived to even see?”

“The chest wasn’t trapped,” Will affirmed, the lightest of smiles tugging his lips. Eddie scrutinized the boy himself, unaware of most of the things he had planned for the campaign besides the details he helped with.

“Can I just pick up this thing, or what?” Steve asked, seemingly growing impatient.

“You can pick it up,” Will confirmed.

“Great,” Steve seemed like he was going to end his sentence there, however Will kept looking at him, expectant but patient. Will did a pretty good job of pushing players to interact, especially since Steve really had no idea how much you could do in D&D. “I… do that.”

“Make a… constitution saving throw,” Will requested. Eddie, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike all side-eyed him, knowing something was up, but not what.

Steve picked up Eddie’s d20 and rolled, as they were sharing his set. He looked at the number, then his character sheet. He seemed to be struggling to remember what stats he needed to check, Eddie leaning over to point at his saving throws. “Add that one.”

“Thanks, uh,” Steve looked up at Will. “Five.”

“Five?” Lucas repeated, eyes widening. “What’s your modifier?”

“That’s the plus, right?” Steve asked, Lucas nodding. “Plus one.”

“He rolled a four,” Eddie informed with a smirk.

“God, Eddie’s the only one out of all of us who knows how to roll tonight,” Dustin ran his hands over his face. It was true, Eddie had stayed completely hidden due to his high rolls, and the group had only narrowly avoided death in order to get to the room due to their long string of bad rolls.

“You walk over to the chest,” Will started, leaning forward on his forearms. “You pick up the dagger, and as soon as you do, your head spins like a runaway carousel, instantly nauseating you. As you double over and begin to violently throw up, the dagger clatters to the stone floor beside the chest.”

Eddie smiled, having a feeling he knew where Will was going with this, and already loving it. The three younger boys’ brows furrowed in confusion, Dustin being the one to ask, “Does he take damage?”

“No,” Will supplied in an airy tone. “But even as he thinks he’s done throwing up, another wave of nausea crashes over him, and he hurls again.”

“Why?” Steve asks.

“You don’t know why,” Will answered simply.

“I wanna pick up the dagger,” Mike stated, Lucas rounding on him.

“After it just made Sleeve– and I quote– ‘violently throw up’?” He asked.

“We’re gonna have to pick it up at some point,” Mike pointed out before looking at Will with a light smile. “I pick it up.”

Will held his smile with his own for a brief moment before saying, “Constitution saving throw.”

Mike rolled his d20, glancing at his sheet before saying, “Shit! I have a plus three in constitution and I still only got a nine.”

“We’re gonna be dead by the end of session one,” Lucas muttered as he closed his eyes, propping his elbow on the table and leaning his forehead into his hand.

“You pick up the dagger and are hit with the same nausea and dizziness, enough to make you drop it in order to steady yourself, but you manage to stop from hurling,” Will notified.

Mike gave a high pitched hum as he looked at Will skeptically. “Really? You sure I don’t manage to hold on, too?” He laid on a thick smile, turning to face Will fully.

Will rolled his eyes with an idiotic grin. “I can’t play favorites, Mike,” he glanced to the side before adding, in a more quiet tone but with no real attempt to hide his words, “And I already halved your fire damage in one of the combats.”

“Yeah!” Dustin exclaimed in outrage. “Quit trying to flirt with the DM to get out of consequences.” Lucas snapped and pointed at Dustin, nodding in agreement.

“Okay, fine,” Mike rolled his eyes. “Maybe we stop touching the dagger.”

“I’m gonna pick up the dagger,” Lucas immediately said, already picking up his die to roll.

“What?” Mike reeled. “You just thought it was a bad idea!"

“No, Lucas is onto something,” Dustin chimed in, leaning forward as his brows knitted together in thought, attention turning to Lucas. “I think you should pick it up.”

“Finally,” Lucas sighed in relief as his d20 clattered on the table. “It’s still not high, but it’s at least above a goddamn ten. Twelve.” Eddie had a pretty strong theory forming in his head, but he wanted to let it ruminate before he acted on any ideas.

“You pick it up, and while you suddenly feel off-balance, you’re able to hold your ground, and your grip on the dagger,” Will told Lucas. “However, with each second you hold it, the spinning in your head worsens, and you feel your mouth salivating, bile creeping up your throat. Do you continue to hold it?”

Lucas seemed to weigh his options in his head before saying, “Yes.”

“Make another con. save,” Will directed, Lucas obliging.

“Shit,” Lucas hissed. “It’s a fuckin’ eight.”

“You projectile vomit all over Torc, who is still recovering in front of you,” Will smiles widely.

“Hey!” Mike cried out. “Why on me? He could’ve thrown up on himself!”

“It’s the least he could give us after your bullshit halved fire damage,” Dustin pointed out bitterly.

“Hang on a second,” Eddie sat forward, suddenly sidetracked. “You three were giving us shit for our names,” he shook a thumb between him and Steve, “But your name is Torc?” His eyes bugged at Mike.

“What’s wrong with Torc?” Mike furrowed his brows defensively.

“You’re kidding. Torc the half-orc,” Eddie said dryly. “That’s such a lazy name!”

“Not lazier than Sleeve,” Mike defended, gesturing to Steve emphatically.

“Can we get back on track?” Dustin cut in, Mike and Eddie slumping back into their chairs, Eddie giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “What’s everyone’s alignment?” He looked around the group. Eddie smiled at Dustin, a wave of pride rushing through him as he realized he and the kid were on the same train of thought.

“I thought we said those didn’t really matter, considering we have to do whatever The Hunter tells us to do,” Mike brought up, ‘The Hunter’ being their boss.

“Of course they matter,” Dustin said simply. “Will wouldn’t have put emphasis on us needing them if they didn’t matter. I’ve just been trying to figure out why they matter in this campaign, and I think I have.”

“True neutral,” Lucas answered Dustin’s question, before adding, “And I think you’re right.” It seemed he was also on the same wavelength as Eddie and Dustin.

“What about you two?” Dustin pointed with his pencil between Mike and Steve.

“Chaotic neutral,” Mike supplied, Steve scanning his sheet.

“Uh… Lawful good,” he informed, Lucas and Dustin both having an emphatic reaction to this information. Eddie smirked in amusement.

“I knew it,” Dustin dropped his pencil onto the table aggressively.

“It’s a fucking cursed item,” Lucas sighed, Mike rolling his eyes with a short groan. Will watched on in delight.

“What’s a cursed item?” Steve asked, looking between Lucas and Dustin.

“What it sounds like, Steve,” Dustin said flatly, earning a snort from Eddie. “Basically, it’s having negative effects on us because of our alignments. Not all cursed items work the same, but it seems this one doesn’t agree with our morals.”

“Which makes our job of carrying this thing through the Sea of Thieves a lot harder,” Lucas informed. The ‘Sea of Thieves’ wasn’t an actual sea, just the name of a seedy area in the world run by those who have to act drastically to get by. It was dangerous, but especially if you were carrying anything even remotely valuable.

“I’m gonna take a guess that it would be pointless for me to try picking it up,” Dustin said, glancing over at Will for confirmation. Will shrugged, once again using his innocence to his advantage.

“Can I do an arcana check on the dagger?” Lucas asks.

“Go for it,” Will encouraged, Lucas rolling his die.

“Thank god, a decent roll,” Lucas rejoiced. “Fourteen on the die so… eighteen.”

“Damn,” Mike said. “Evander the wood elf is smart as shit.”

“And don’t forget sexy,” Lucas grinned superciliously, running a hand over his chest smoothly and doing a couple of body rolls. Eddie chuckled at this, the corner of Steve’s mouth twitching up with an entertained huff.

“With an eighteen,” Will paused for a moment, biting his lip in thought. “You know for sure this is a cursed item. And the magic radiating off of it is… one that makes your own crawl in your skin. How does Evander go about this?”

Lucas pressed his lips together. “I think he hovers his hand over the item but doesn’t touch it, fighting through the uneasiness as he tries to connect his own magic with it. When he realizes what it is, he turns to the group and says, ‘none of us are going to be able to carry this thing. Not with our bare hands.’”

“Uh, dear Willis,” Eddie chimed in, holding up his pointer finger.

“It’s William,” Will corrected with a laugh, giving Eddie his attention.

“I’d like to emerge from the shadows and make my entrance,” Eddie smiled over mischievously.

“Alright, how are you doing it?”

“I’m still in the rafters, right?” Eddie asked.

“The rafters…” Steve muttered more to himself than anyone, chuckling with a small shake of his head.

“Correct, you are still in the rafters,” Will confirmed.

“I’d like to drop down as close to the dagger as possible and grab that shit,” Eddie snatched the air with his hand.

“Roll for…” Will looked up as he contemplated. “Let’s start with dexterity, and if all goes well I’ll have you do a sleight of hand check, even though they’re obviously going to see you.”

Eddie rolled for dexterity first, as Will asked. “That’s…” Eddie let out a low whistle. “Nineteen for dex and…” he clapped his hands together once in triumph after seeing his second roll. “Twenty fuckin’ three for sleight of hand, baby!”

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin said with a shake of his head.

“What’d you get on the die?” Mike asked, baffled.

“Nineteen,” Eddie waggled his eyebrows at him, a smug smile still on his face.

“Can any of you idiots start rolling like that, please?” Lucas looked between Steve, Mike, and Dustin.

“You land lightly on your feet, bending at the knees and falling gracefully into a crouch before swiping the dagger mere inches away from Evander,” Will paused, eyes narrowing in consideration. “Since you essentially sneak-attacked them, I’ll say you can do one more thing before they have time to react, especially since all except Nubjorn are looking worse for wear.”

Steve chuckled, earning an eye roll from Dustin. “Why do you keep laughing every time they say my character’s name?”

“Because it sounds like they’re saying ‘newborn,’ dude,” Steve’s chuckle bubbled a bit more. “And you’re a dwarf. Was that not on purpose?”

“No,” Dustin defied indignantly. “Lucas and I are the only ones who put more than three seconds of thought into our names.”

“Clearly you didn’t think long enough, Henderson,” Steve’s levity continued at Dustin’s brustleing. “You named yourself ‘Newborn.’”

“Wait a minute,” Mike said suddenly, it dawning on him that he’d just been insulted as well. “I put thought into my name.”

“And you only came up with Torc?” Lucas raised his eyebrows at him, Mike merely scrunching up his nose and bobbling his head in response.

“I thought it was clever,” Will offered with soft, rounded eyes at Mike, who returned the look with a genuine smile.

“Can we get back to me, thank you very much?” Eddie looked amongst the younger kids.

“Attention whore,” Steve muttered, garnering a pointed ruffle of his hair from Eddie. “Hey– would you–” Steve batted his hand away, leaning out of his reach as much as possible from the close proximity of their chairs. “It’s all the time with you.”

“I draw my rapier and hold it at the ready, in case any of them try to take the dagger from me,” Eddie told Will, who nodded.

“How do you guys react to this?” Will asked the rest of the group.

“Is he able to hold the dagger?” Mike asks.

“Yeah,” Will shrugs. “He holds onto it fine.”

“I pull out my whip–” Dustin started, Eddie cutting him off.

“You have a fucking whip?” His eyebrows shot up behind his bangs.

“Yes, I have a fucking whip,” Dustin repeated back. “And I want to snap it at the hand holding his rapier.”

“Dustin instead of having you roll to hit his AC, I’m gonna have you roll your dex against Eddie’s constitution saving throw,” Will directed, both Eddie and Dustin rolling their d20’s.

“I got… shit,” Eddie frowned. “A six.”

“It’s your first bad roll of the night, calm down,” Dustin countered before saying, with a smug smile, “Sixteen.”

“Jevin’s rapier falls to the ground, I’m not gonna say you take damage, though and…” Will tapped the eraser of his pencil against his chin. “Technically we could go into initiative for this if we really wanted, but I don’t think it’s worth it. I’ll just say Sleeve, Evander, and Torc can all do one thing before Jevin can react, and it will happen in rapid succession to each other.”

In the end, Lucas kicked away the rapier, Mike smacked the dagger out of Eddie’s hand with his club, and Steve restrained him. As cool as Eddie’s entrance had been, he certainly lost the upper hand fast, but he somewhat expected that when dropping into a confrontation of one versus four.

“As much as I enjoy being manhandled by a buff guy,” Eddie smirked, addressing the group as Jevin. “This is not exactly making me wanna help you four with your little predicament.” The four of them had been trying to threaten Eddie into carrying the dagger for them as they traveled through the Sea of Thieves, after seeing that he could hold it without issue.

“It’s either that or we kill you right here,” Dustin responded.

“Uh, Newborn–” Steve chimed in, Dustin instantly cutting him off.

“It’s Nubjorn.”

Steve ignored this completely. “If we do that we’re right back to square one with no one to carry the dagger.” While Eddie was restrained, they’d tried picking the dagger up with cloth or putting it in a bag, but no matter what the effects eventually got to them.

“You have a better idea?” Dustin raised his eyebrows at Steve.

Steve smirked over at Eddie, glancing him up and down as he said, “What if you get to share my bedroll.”

All the younger boys, except for Will, who was chuckling, groaned in disgust. “Dollar. In the jar,” Dustin pointed to the empty cookie tin they set up for every time someone flirted grossly. So far, Steve and Eddie were the only ones who had to put anything in. Though Eddie argued hard for Mike to toss one in when he told Will he had nice eyes in an attempt to get out of being spotted stealing a necklace.

“Oh c’mon,” Steve rolled his eyes. “It makes sense! We gotta convince him to help!”

“Gotta say, that’s definitely sweetening the deal,” Eddie defended.

“Jar,” Lucas backed up Dustin. Steve rolled his eyes again with a huff, digging in his pocket and putting his fifth dollar in the cookie tin. And they’d not even been playing for two hours. “Besides, isn’t Sleeve a married man?”

Steve shrugged with a coy smile. “He knows I like to have fun.”

“What if we give you some of our cut?” Dustin offered.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Mike chimed in. “We didn’t agree to that.”

“Well, it’s either we give him a cut to help us, or we don’t get paid at all, and let The Hunter kill and torture our loved ones before leaving us to die an agonizing death,” Lucas rambled off matter-of-factly. “What sounds better to you?”

“Fine,” Mike sighed, Lucas looking at Steve and Dustin for confirmation. They merely nodded. And so Eddie joined the party officially, but also under the condition that he was to have his hands restrained.

“Ya know,” Eddie simpered over at Steve, lowering his voice as the younger boys went over a detail from earlier in the session. “Nice change of pace, you tying me up for once.”

Steve’s eyes widened as he glanced over at the younger guys, a flustered smile twitching his lips as he said. “Careful, or we’re both gonna be broke by the time we leave here,” under the table, Steve’s hand splayed over Eddie’s thigh, just above his knee, giving a squeeze. “But, uh, we could always… give it a try. In real life.”

Eddie’s smirk widened into a devious grin. “Promises, promises, Stevie,” Eddie leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Maybe that’ll be your reward for indulging me tonight. All wrapped up at your disposal.” He leaned back to examine the damage done, smugness seeping out of him as he took in the redness of Steve’s face and his glazed over eyes.

Steve cleared his throat, snapping himself out of his stupor before addressing the group. “So how much longer we goin’ for, exactly?” Eddie chuckled to himself.

“Uh…” Will checked his watch. “Probably two more hours.” Eddie reveled in the way this deflated Steve.

“Alright, executive decision,” Eddie said, standing up. “Smoke break for the adults. Be back in ten.” He shrugged on his jacket and vest, Steve following him as he put on his windbreaker.

“Get out all your sick sex jokes while you’re at it,” Dustin called after them, Eddie flipping him off without looking back as he ascended the stairs.

There was a crisp breeze outside, but not harsh enough to make them shiver. It would be one of the last few warmer nights, Eddie suspected, considering summer was quickly giving way to fall.

“God, two hours,” Steve complained as they leaned against the side of the Wheelers’ garage, both of them pulling out their own cigarettes.

“You’re not too bored, are you?” Eddie asked, leaning over to light Steve’s cigarette before his own.

“What? No,” Steve said genuinely after blowing out a puff of smoke. “But now you got me all worked up with… images in my head.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eddie asked coyly. “What kind of images?”

Steve rolled his eyes, but there was a smile there. “I think you know what kind of images.”

“Haven’t a clue, Stevie,” Eddie supplied innocently. “Care to fill me in?”

“No, because I don’t want to make these next two hours more painful.” They both took a long pull from their cigarettes.

Steve and Eddie had been going strong the whole summer, with no sight of slowing down. He came around to the trailer a lot more, especially after Eddie told Wayne what his parents were like. Wayne started inviting him over for dinner more often, warming up to Steve quite quickly after their first meal. This was no surprise to Eddie, of course, as he knew Steve was a great guy and there was no reason for Wayne to dislike him. Plus, it finally gave Wayne someone to talk sports with.

“By the way, you think Wayne is gonna like the mug I got him for his birthday?” Steve asked, looking over at Eddie with eager eyes. He also found it ridiculously endearing at how much Steve enjoyed Wayne’s approval, as well as how well he treated his uncle. They hadn’t been going out for that long in the grand scheme of things, but Steve was just as thoughtful towards Wayne as he was with Eddie. Sometimes to a fault, at least for Eddie, because Steve refused to be as handsy with him when Wayne was home, even if the man was in his room for the whole night.

“He’ll love it, but I keep telling you not to encourage his addiction,” Eddie smirked. This was the third mug he’d gotten the man, and Wayne’s collection was already concerningly large.

“Well, I wanted to get him that watch, but you said he wouldn’t accept it,” Steve muttered, flicking the ash off his cigarette before taking another drag.

“He wouldn’t. It would be a waste of money,” Eddie shrugged, taking his own puff. “It takes him a while to accept expensive gifts from people. Maybe by Christmas, though,” Eddie shot him an amused look. “Assuming you plan on sticking around.”

Steve sighed, draping his arm over Eddie’s shoulders and pulling him closer. “Keep tellin’ ya, Eddie,” he placed a loud kiss to the side of Eddie’s head. “Not gettin’ rid of me that easy.”

Eddie smiled to himself as he leaned into Steve, pursing the cigarette between his lips as he wrapped his own arm around the man’s waist. He took the cig with his free hand, exhaling out smoke as he said, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

They finished their cigarettes and headed back inside, the guys not-so-patiently waiting for them. Well, Will was patient, but Will was always patient.

“Finally,” Dustin rolled his eyes dramatically. “Can ya shrivel your lungs any slower?”

“Yeah, we were worried you guys started…” Mike grimaced. “Other activities.”

“I don’t wanna hear it, Wheeler,” Steve pointed a scolding finger at him. “Not after what I found you and Byers doing in my hot tub.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at Mike, who had his face in his hands, then Will’s bright red face as he averted everyone’s gaze. Dustin and Lucas winced in disgust. “Yeah,” Steve said. “Scarred me for life. I’d rather watch a demogorgon eat a small fuzzy animal.”

“I’ve… never been so conflicted about asking a question,” Eddie stated, his curiosity eating away at him but also incredibly fearful of the information he might gain.

“I wouldn’t tell you anyway,” Steve shook his head minutely, a haunted look in his eyes as he stared at the table. “That’d mean I’d have to say it out loud.”

“Anyway!” Will interjected loudly, face still firetruck red. “Let’s start again, shall we?”

“Dear god, yes please,” Mike mumbled into his hands, and so they continued. It was proving quite difficult to get out of the dungeon they were in, however, as everyone besides Eddie was rolling horrendously. And Eddie was currently tied up.

“Okay, I vote we release Jevin so he can help,” Mike said, frustrated as he just started making death saving throws. Needless to say, combat was not going in their favor.

“I second the vote to release Jevin,” Lucas held up his hand.

“And if he just takes the dagger and runs?” Dustin retorted.

“He’s not gonna take the dagger and run,” Mike argued back.

“Hey, you never know what a Jevin on the loose might do,” Eddie held his hands up in defense.

“You’re not helping,” Mike said flatly.

“You guys can vote all you want, on my next turn I’m freeing Jevin,” Steve stated simply.

“You can’t just free Jevin!” Dustin retaliated. “We have to agree.”

“Three against one, we’re freeing Jevin,” Lucas declared.

“It’s your turn, Lucas,” Will said. “You wanna use your action to free Jevin?”

“It takes my whole action?”

“And your full movement, from where you are in relation to him,” Will informed.

Lucas sighed. “Yeah, I guess I’ll free Jevin.”

“When he betrays all of us, prepare for me to tell you ‘I told you so,’” Dustin grouched.

“Nothin’ we’re not used to, Henderson,” Steve shot back in a bored tone, Eddie smirking.

“You unwrap the cloth binding Jevin. He’s now able to wield his weapons, cast spells, and take his full movement,” Will says. “Just in time, because it’s your turn, Jevin.”

“Alright, uh… how far am I from Torc?” Eddie asked.

“It’s a big room, it would take you two turns to get to him,” Will says with a sympathetic look. “You could only make it to about where Sleeve is.”

“Well, since our druid is currently being throttled by an orc, I guess I’ll take my full movement to get as close as I can,” Eddie settled, knowing he needed to touch Mike’s character in order to heal him. “And I’ll cast Hideous Laughter on the orc that’s got Newborn.”

“It’s Nubjorn,” Dustin corrected for the millionth time that night. “Jesus Christ, I preferred it when you and Steve didn’t get along. At least I only had to deal with one of you buffoons at a time.”

“Buffoons?” Steve repeated, arching an eyebrow at Dustin. “Do you make a conscious decision to talk like a sixty-five year old?”

“And careful, Henderson. This buffoon is about to save your ass,” Eddie pointed out, before looking at Will with less confidence. “I’m about to save his ass, right?”

“The orc failed the wisdom save, so yes,” Will smiled. One of the things Eddie enjoyed about Will’s DM’ing, was that it was very clear he enjoyed watching the players succeed. There was a time and place to make them suffer, which Eddie got a huge kick out of doing, but just as equally, there needed to be wins. This was why Eddie actually wasn’t opposed to Will halving Mike’s fire damage, as it prevented him from making death saving throws in the first combat. “The orc drops Nubjorn, and doubles over in hysterics. Anything else you wanna do? Still got a bonus action.”

“Yeah, uh, give…” Eddie glanced around at the three younger boys before his eyes settled on Steve. “I give Sleeve Bardic Inspiration.”

“Great. Steve, you get a d6 to use on an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw,” Will looked at Eddie. “How do you do it?” He prompted.

“Uh…” Eddie squinted his eyes in thought before shrugging. “I smack him on the ass and say ‘go get ‘em, tiger.’”

“I wink back,” Steve said immediately, sharing an intimate smirk with Eddie.

“Can you stop flirting when I’m making death saving throws right next to you?” Mike asked, judgment clear in his voice.

“Jar. Both of you,” Dustin nodded at the cookie tin.

“What?” Eddie protested. “I just said the first thing that I came up with!”

“That was the first thing you came up with?” Lucas criticized.

Eddie shrugged. “I like playing bards for a reason.” In the end, they both paid the cookie tin toll. Eddie was able to get Mike up by the next round, and with a random stroke of luck for all of them, they managed to turn the combat in their favor and escape from the dungeon with the dagger. fJevin was once again tied up, however, a decision pushed by Dustin.

“And, with the party setting up camp on the outskirts of the Sea of Thieves for the night, I think that’s where we end the session,” Will smiled, closing his notebook. “So, how’d I do?” He looked to Eddie first, which had a smile breaking across the latter’s face.

“Kickass, Byers,” Eddie praised genuinely. “You got a real skill.”

“It was really good, Will,” Mike chimed in with a smile that crinkled his eyes, gaining Will’s attention. Eddie’s heart warmed at the way Will’s eyes sparked when they laid on the other boy.

“Besides the obvious Mike-favoritism,” Dustin teased lightly, pink dusting Will’s face as a sheepish smile crossed it. “It was really fun. I’m glad we’re making this a full length campaign.”

Lucas nodded in agreement, before jutting his chin at Steve. “What’d you think, Steve? Too nerdy to come back?”

“Nah, like Henderson said; it was really fun,” Steve said as he shrugged on his windbreaker, Eddie doing the same with his layers. “I’d play again. And I dunno much, so it doesn’t really mean anything, but you’re good with words, Byers. Felt like a bedtime story.” Will beamed up at Steve before looking away bashfully.

“Alright, think it’s time we take our leave,” Eddie stretched his arms over his head, walking languidly towards the stairs. The younger kids were all staying at Mike’s for the night, so luckily he and Steve weren’t on chaperone duty. “These bones weren’t made for sitting for practically four consecutive hours,” he reached out to ruffle Will’s hair as he passed by, adding, “Nice job again, Byers. Glad you did the books I gave you justice.”

The group chorused their goodbyes, and soon the brisk night air was welcoming Eddie with open arms again. “Thanks for humoring me,” Eddie smiled lightly as he walked beside Steve, carding his fingers into the back of Steve’s hair as they made their way to his car. It was pretty late, so they didn’t really have to worry about eyes being on them.

Steve gave a slow blink as he let out a content sigh. “Yeah, ‘course. Think that was the most I’ve used my imagination in… well, ever,” he snorted.

“Now, that’s not true,” Eddie teased as they stopped next to Steve’s car, pulling his hand out of the man’s hair. Steve leaned back against the driver’s side, Eddie stepping into his space and lightly placing his hands on Steve’s hips. “If I remember our phone call a couple of nights ago correctly– and I do– you had quite the vivid imagination.” Even in the low, pale light of the moon, Eddie could see the blush creep onto Steve’s face as he turned a bashful smile to his feet.

“Yeah, well,” Steve met Eddie’s eyes again. “Guess you’re very… inspiring.” Steve hooked his fingers in Eddie’s belt loops and pulled him flush against him, his eyes flicking down to Eddie’s lips in a silent plea.

A smirk lingered on Eddie’s face as he placed a kiss to Steve’s lips, pulling away long before he wanted to. “We should finish this back at the trailer. Wayne’s only gone for another…” Eddie removed one of his hands on Steve’s hips temporarily to check the time. “Five hours.”

“Jesus,” Steve chuckled. “I’m not sure if even I have the stamina for five hours, Eddie.”

“We’ll just have to see, I guess,” Eddie shrugged purely. “We still have to talk about that reward, remember?”

Steve’s eyebrows raised at this, an eager smile growing on his face. “You were serious?”

“As a heart attack, Stevie,” Eddie supplied smoothly, relishing in his excitement.

“Yeah, let’s hit the road,” Steve said certainly, instantly turning out of Eddie’s gentle grip and digging out his keys, rushing to unlock the car.

Eddie couldn’t wipe the grin on his face as he walked around to the passenger side, sliding in when Steve got in and unlocked the door for him. As Steve sang along in a pointedly obnoxious manner to Dancer by Queen, getting nearly all the words wrong, Eddie’s entertained laughter surely gave way for an overwhelming fondness. Watching Steve’s goofy grin, expressive eyes, and hands tapping off-beat on the wheel. It was something so simple, but it left Eddie speechless.

This was a side of life Eddie never knew if he’d get to see. Even before Vecna, he just didn’t think this kind of story was made for him, no matter how often he dreamed for it to be. Enamored with the man beside him, Eddie finally felt confident that he was far from the conclusion of whatever the world had in store for him– for them. Eddie knew he’d ever stop being mesmerized by Steve Harrington, the man who told him he was important and helped him see a future.