Chapter Text
In hindsight, Steve Harrington was way in over his head. He should have minded his damn business and stood his ground. But fate, more commonly known as Dustin Henderson’s persistence, had other plans in mind.
The bell rang above the door of Family Video. Steve whipped around in borderline terror as he had forgotten he was even working and scanned his eyes around the store until he met face-to-face with Dustin Henderson, a sheepish smile lined across his cap-lined face.
“Steveee-“Dustin drew out, “Buddy! How are you? Been keeping busy haven’t you-” He patted the counter softly but got fingerprints over the pristine glass Steve had just wiped down an hour ago.
Steve’s eyebrows knitted together into a thick line. He crossed his arms, and in a concerned voice replied, “You never call me Steve.”
Dustin scoffed, “Uh, yes I do? All the time-“He maneuvered into one of the isles, ducking low in some pathetic attempt to make it seem like he was here to rent a movie all along. Steve didn’t buy it for a second. After saving the world 1, 2.. 4 times, you’d think Henderson would realize he couldn’t lie for shit, yet here he was.
“Noooo, you only call me ‘Steve’ when you want something from me.” He took out the spray bottle and rag from under the counter, seconds away from spraying Henderson’s fingerprints off, when Dustin zipped back in front of him, eyes wide and hands already in a pleading gesture.
“Please, please, please come to Hellfire tonight, Eddie’s been making this huge oneshot for all of us this weekend and wants each of us to bring a new member for the fuck of it and I kinda already told him that you were interested in playing, and he literally bet a hundred god damn dollars on your refusal to come. I wanna use the money to maybe get some better computer parts to talk to Suzie, and I swear to god Harrington if you don’t do this for me I will collapse on the floor and die of heartbreak! And your bet your ass won’t be in the will.”
Steve stood there dumbfounded as Dustin gasped for air, wiping the spit in the corners of his mouth while he rambled onto his shirt sleeve. “Gross dude… And why the fuck would I join your nerd club and do all that nerd shit if I’m not gonna get some of the cash on my name?” Steve set down the rag in his hand to rub his thumb against his index and middle finger, raising his eyebrows as he watched the gears in Henderson’s head turn.
“This is so not fair,” Dustin huffed out, slamming his hands on the glass, immediately prompting Steve to swat at him to get away from the counter. Dustin groaned and rubbed his eyes before exclaiming, “Fine! I get 75 and you get 25.”
“Absolutely not, Henderson.”
“70-30?”
Steve threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, “Do you even want me there?”
“Okay, Okay! 65-35 anddd I won’t tell Robin you’ve been smoking again.”
Steve followed Dustin’s pointed finger, leading directly to the pack of Marlboros tucked half-hazard in Steve’s front pocket. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said sharply, shoving the pack further into his jeans.
Henderson’s mischievous smile matched the glint in his eyes as he shrugged before turning around, “Pick me up at 4:45 Harrington, we can’t be late!”
Great. Now Steve had to close up early, at the risk of pissing off Keith, and listen to a bunch of nerds gush over make-believe for hours on end.
Like that, fate had walked into Steve’s job and thrown a wrench in his grand scheme. To live as much of an everyday life as he could before shit hits the fan again? Yeah, that clearly wasn’t in the cards for Harrington.
-•-
Steve’s shoes squeaked as he walked down the hallway of Hawkin’s High. Shaking off the droplets of rain that refused to sink into the cheap material of his employee vest, he chided over his shoulder, “If you had told me sooner, I would have had time to change and not look like an idiot.”
Dustin shoots Steve a confused look, “Who are you trying to impress?”
“Nobody asswipe. Eddie will just know that you were lying to him about me wanting to play this stupid game,” Steve taunted, turning the corner and scanning for the door closest to the Auditorium. He had been inside a couple of times, primarily because of his unfortunate run-in with the spring musical freshman year, but he remembered seeing Eddie a couple of times slipping into the prop room every couple of weeks during practices, or rehearsals, or whatever, so he figured it was where Hellfire set up shop.
“Vest or not, you’re still stuck with us,” Dustin left it at that, jogging past Steve to throw open the door to his left with his signature gap-toothed smile.
Steve wandered in after him, looking all around the room in awe. It was damn near dark, the only lights illuminating the place being the candles scattered across the trunks and tables that lined the prop room and a few extra stage lights that painted the center of the room in an orange and blue glow. Though the half-built sets crowded the room’s edges, all focus was pulled into the table ahead of him. It was littered with dice and paper, with a grid under everything that Steve couldn’t understand the purpose of, little figurines standing within its bounds.
Caught up in taking the scenery in, Steve had missed everyone in the room greeting Dustin with excited chatter and claps on the back. Instead, a loud whistle sounded from the end of the table, and Steve’s eyes were suddenly met with Eddie Munson’s smirking face.
“Well I’ll be damned… Steve’ The Hair’ Harrington, what a pleasure it is for you to join us lowlives.” Eddie’s voice rings out, earning a few chuckles from the kids sitting at the table.
Steve rolled his eyes, shrugging off his vest as he sat near the end of the table next to Dustin and Mike, “Yeah yeah Munson, let’s just get this shit over with.”
Eddie paused, hands frozen from shuffling through the bills tucked in his worn black wallet. He turned toward Steve, furrowing his brows and putting a hand on his heart, “I was under the assumption that you actually wanted to play. Henderson was very detailed on your enthusiasm.” He casts a glance at Dustin, who was trying his best not to look like a deer in headlights while kicking Steve’s leg under the table.
Steve swore under his breath but remembered Dustin’s promise of cash and secrecy, so he managed to pull himself together, “I mean yeah, with how many times Henderson has talked my ear off about your’ talents,’ I thought I’d stop by to judge for myself.”
He wears a smug expression, noticing how the corner of Eddie’s eye twitched for a moment before he pulled out a couple of twenties and handed them to Dustin, who looked like he had never seen money in his life.
This, however, was Eddie’s fortress, and boy did he love to impress.
“I hope you buckle up Harrington. Just because your new to Hellfire doesn’t mean I’m gonna take it easy on you,” He smiled something wicked, bitting the bottom of his lip before handing Steve a set of papers over the folders that hide what Steve assumed were more dice and figurines, “I did most of the handy work. I even took the time to explain the classes for your simpleton mind. Dustin will fill the rest out for you, all you have to do is take your pick.”
Steve looked at the papers, words and numbers scratched everywhere in heavy handwriting. ‘God damn this is complicated,’ he thought to himself, shuffling to find a notebook paper filled with words. ‘Druid, Fighter, Cleric, Thief, blah blah blah.’ He skimmed through a couple of the paragraphs Eddie had written before looking up at the rest of the table, who had been completely silent while he read.
Steve frowned, “What?”
“Everyone else has their characters already. We’re just waiting on you,” chimed Mike.
“Great, way to single me out Wheeler,” Steve looked back down at the page when something caught his eye:
Paladin- Subclass of Fighter, has the ability to hurt and to heal. Always wants what is right and lawful for the party; chivalry and strength are crucial for this class.
‘Hurt and heal,’ Steve repeats. It’s a good balance. It reminded him of himself, the balance he tried to keep protecting the kids and battling the monsters of the Upside Down. He took a once over of the page before setting it down, “I’ll go with paladin.”
The room erupted, people shouting all around Steve. Dustin stood up, hands flying to Mike’s shoulders to shake him. Steve finally realized in the midst of it all that Erica, Lucas, and Max were there, along with Eddie’s bandmates. He paned the room, confused as to why his choice was causing such an extreme reaction, and saw Eddie cackling feverishly between loud boasts of, “I told you all! I told you! What did I say?”
Then Steve’s eyes dropped to see everyone was pulling out wads of dollar bills, tossing them towards Eddie, “What’s with everyone taking bets on me today? You trying to hustle the kids out of money Munson?” He glares at Eddie, who was unfolding the bills that pilled near his D&D screen, clearly unaffected by Steve’s accusations.
“No, my dear Harrington. This isn’t dirty money. Hell, it wasn’t even my idea. After Henderson and I made the bet on your attendance, the rest of the group started to wonder what class you’d end up choosing, which transformed into a heated debate. Henderson and the Sinclair’s thought you’d be a ranger, Wheeler thought you’d be a thief, that and the like.” Eddie waved his now freed hands as he talked, “So we settled everything with a bet. And I chose paladin.”
Steve hit Dustin’s shoulder with his backhand, muttering something along the lines of ‘Nice going asshole’ before returning his attention to Eddie, “So you think you know me, Munson?”
“Not at all, Harrington. I’d just like to think it was Divine Intuition.” Eddie flashed him a cocky grin, irking Steve greatly. The fuck did Eddie know about him? They’ve been to the Upside Down together twice, and now Eddie Munson wants to act like he has Steve all figured out.
“Whatever you say Munson, just start the damn game.”