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[babysitters]

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[babysitters]

( is it rude to be so surprised? maybe. unintentionally. mostly Steve is just sort of astonished Eddie was searching around and managed not to mention it or vibrate out of his skin with nerves. therefore resulting in Steve asking what was going on and finding out that way. it's completely out of nowhere, but not in a bad way. )

Holy shit. You're serious. That's... congrats, Eddie. I mean it. That's amazing.

...I mean, I think it's amazing. Do you think it's amazing? ( because there's mixed messages, here. why would he get a real job if there's all this complaining about taxes and capitalism? )

[guitarpicks]

[ he kind of wanted it to be a surprise, is all. like look, babe, i can be responsible.

after all, steve's the one with a legit job and not a complete mess to live with even if eddie's making strides in cleaning the apartment and also, honestly, hygiene. ] I don't know about amazing but it's kind of cool.

Shitty to give up money but, hey, now I'm a real law-abiding citizen and can help out with rent more steadily on the slow party months. [ and maybe, maybe, eventually stop dealing. ]

[babysitters]

Kinda cool. Sure. It's kind of cool.

( he'll pull back from amazing, then. fine. at the very least, he can meet Eddie's vibe about it — though Steve is more excited than a kind of cool about it. some months can be tight, consistency can sometimes be more helpful than unexpected windfalls.

and he's proud. at least a little. Eddie complains about the man and he might have a point on some of it. still, getting a job with responsibilities and expectations is sort of a part of life. at least, for most people. and Steve didn't exactly ask but it's going to make things easier, on both of them. )

We can still celebrate for "kinda cool", can't we?

[guitarpicks]

we can celebrate kind of cool. have a party just the two of us or something else?

[ he is excited, he is. it's just the whole thing doesn't really feel real when no one's been willing to even give him a chance when he looked into it over the last few months.

sure most of the town still thinks eddie's responsible for some shit and no-good trailer trash (he lives in an apartment now, jeez!!!) but he'd thought that hawkin's wouldn't be so shitty about it when the town's a literal hell-scape and it's slim pickings. ]

anyway. do you thik i'll look good in the uniform?

[babysitters]

Dustin is going to lose his shit, if we don't rope him in on this you're dead meat. ( which probably means all the rugrats will be involved, probably the arcade, and pizza that Steve gets to pay for. ) I think I can manage an afterparty after curfew hits.

Ed. You're gonna look like Michael Myers without the mask. And the knife. Hopefully.

( giant coveralls aren't exactly on Steve's horny bingo, is what he's saying. )

[guitarpicks]

[ that's true and eddie's not going to piss off dustin, no way. ] can't have that when i'm the favorite dad.

yeah? show me one last good time as a free man? [ which is probably in poor taste because munson men have a tendency to get locked up and eddie was almost actually facing murder, a job isn't that serious. but steve's dating a drama kid so this is the price. ]

so you're saying i shouldn't have kept the mask?

[babysitters]

You are so not the favorite. ( so Eddie is more fun, speaks nerd, and plays D&D. Dustin is his lil buddy back from senior year, he is clearly the favorite!!! he needs to be SOMEBODY'S favorite, he's not losing Dusty to charming bambi boys!!! !!! )

I think I can spare some good times after you've got a job too, actually.

[guitarpicks]

i'm totally the favorite. he told me today. [ then again the kid's fickle about these things and it was campaign related, so maybe he's not as solid in that position... ]

i'm highly motivated by good times, you know. we should celebrate milestones.

[babysitters]

He doesn't tell me I'm the favorite, that's how I know.

( does that. make. sense. no? probably not??? maybe Steve just wants to be the favorite, is that a crime? )

Okay, then we'll celebrate. What sort of milestones are we talkin', here?

[guitarpicks]

that's not how that works. [ or it could be. damn steve for planting that seed of doubt!!!

and henderson for being a lovable little shit.]

i sayyyyyyy... firsts seems totally reasonable. [ there's also a whole lot of firsts to celebrate. ]

[babysitters]

Maybe we're just both the favorite.

( that's a good compromise. right? it's probably morally questionable to expect Dustin to have a favorite, anyway. )

Firsts? Do we even have that many left? ( the slight downside of ending up dating your roommate you pretended to not be that into, you do a ton of firsts and can't even celebrate them. a little depressing, for a secret (""""secret"""") romantic like Steve. )

[guitarpicks]

i guess we're already sharing custody. and it’s not the worst sharing with you. [ which is a good thing given they're dating and all. ]

i meant more like celebrating first day at work, first week at work, first paycheck but... a few? we could always re-do some things and count them as our first time since we started officially dating.

[babysitters]

Not the worst? Gee, thanks.

( Steve is slightly stuck in downer hours, he's pretty sure their firsts are lost for good without any celebration whatsoever. however, it is at least charming the guy would offer. so maybe he shouldn't be a complete stick in the mud about it. ) Second firsts, huh? Yeah, maybe that would work.

[guitarpicks]

i wouldn’t want to share with anyone else, stevie.

you’re a lot of my firsts and you can be a lot of my second firsts. [ some of it eddie still gets embarrassed about admitting, sure, but really anything they do together is the first time he’s done something in a relationship. ] hey, pick a first to re-do.

[babysitters]

Yeah? I am? ( steve is aware of... one first in particular.... but there are others?? he NEEDS to KNOW. )

First... uh... first date. I'd say the first time staying over but I'm pretty sure we already second firsted that.

[guitarpicks]

yeah, you are. anything to do with a relationship is all you but i have a list of other stuff. ( which you're not getting that easy, steven. )

oooh a first date? are you going to plan it this time? give me the harrington treatment?

[babysitters]

What, because I'm a guy?

( surely Eddie did relationship stuff with past girlfriends. ... right? )

First, can you not call it the Harrington treatment. Second, no, because I feel like the tried and true impress a girl schtick isn't really gonna do it for you. I'm gonna have to think of something else.

[guitarpicks]

no? you're my first relationship???? [ it's not like he was a virgin before steve but he was the sort of guy you hook up with quick, for a thrill and then tell no one about it. ]

then what do i call it? and what do you think would impress me, babe?

[babysitters]

Are you serious? ( Steve feels a bit foolish that he had no idea. he's well aware Eddie hasn't had another boyfriend, all right? ... but still, not a girlfriend either? Steve has almost had more girlfriends than he can keep track of, and he feels like a bit of an asshole that he never thought to think Eddie had never been in a relationship before. especially when he spent months avoiding being in one. ) Why didn't you... Nevermind. I know why you didn't tell me.

You don't have to call it anything. It's just you and me, we do that all the time. ( he's not really the guy Eddie is talking about, anymore. the one that had a reputation, certain beats to hit when he took a girl out. practiced moves that got him into somebody's pants. ) Uh... music, probably. Like a concert. See a band. Or something.

[guitarpicks]

[ 'why would i not be serious?' is eddie's first instinct but then he bites his slip, stares at his phone for a little while. they're really shitty at this whole communication thing. apparently. eddie's pretty sure he's been open but then again they're not always speaking the same language.

eddie's learning steve-speak and steve's learning his but it's a process. it's them getting there. so sometimes he can't assume. like now. ] why do you think i didn't tell you?

okay. it's just us. a steve and eddie thing. [ which does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it. ] or something, he says. would you tell me what show?

[babysitters]

Because everybody knows I went out with half the girls in my graduating class.

( which is an answer, and it isn't. the point is that Steve has all sorts of experience, and everybody knows about it. if the shoe were on the other foot, Steve would be slightly shamed to admit he'd never been in a relationship when compared to someone constantly in one. though, maybe he shouldn't assume Eddie would react the way he would. )

An us thing. ( that sounds pretty good, too, to be fair. ) Depends. You like surprises?

[guitarpicks]

are you counting every girl you went out on a date with? [ because, technically, by a very loose definition of 'date' then eddie's numbers just went up a little. ] it is really embarrassing that mike wheeler managed to check that off the list years before i did.

[ or pretty sad, bordering pretty depressing. not that eddie's upset now but hopefully how self-deprecating the joke is doesn't come through text. ] guess i just had to get there at the right time.

yeah. as long as they don't involve sand.

[babysitters]

I was pretty bad, freshman year, but I wasn't just one date and done bad. ( ...mostly. though, he really didn't seem to date anyone longer than a month until he got down bad for Nancy Wheeler. )

We both got there at the right time, huh? It worked out.

What? What's so bad about sand? ( no beach related surprises??? that's so SAD, Steve loves the beach!!! )

if only "i don't like sand" was a meme in the 80s

[guitarpicks]

yeah, it worked out. i'm pretty fucking happy with how it turned out. [ not sarcastic!!! ]

it gets everywhere if you're not prepared for it! [ how is he supposed to pack enough sunscreen and an umbrella to avoid the sun if he's not aware they're going to the beach, steve??? ] i'm not saying no sand, i just want to know i'm going to be dealing with nature's glittery for hours after and digging it out of uncomfortable places.

ok anakin (said with ok boomer inflection)

[babysitters]

Yeah, yeah. Me too, Sapmiester.

( 🫣🥰❤️ maybe one day these warm-and-fuzzies will calm down when Eddie says stuff like that, but, today is not that day! )

So what? Dry off a little and it just rubs off. ( clearly Steve is not thinking about the big picture implications of sand, oops. ) It's not glittery, but fine. No sand surprises. Deral.