Eddie& Steve Running Into Joyce& Hopper At An All-you-can-eat

Eddie& Steve running into Joyce& Hopper at an all-you-can-eat

I’m not even thinking a sexy story (tho Hop is HANDSDOWN my type, I know u said that wasn’t your thing) but yeah

Nothing sexy I just think it would be hILARIOUS

This place is new in town and Steve has been salivating at the prospect of plonking Eddie in that booth and going to town feeding him

But then..locks eyes with a Ruddy Hopper and they notice they’re sitting a couple of booths away from each other

The small town mom in Joyce can’t not say hi despite Hoppers protests

Joyce and Eddie are able to somehow remain friendly, polite and conversational, all brain cells retained and skirting around what they both know they’re all REALLY here for, like I KNOW YOU KNOW but they don’t even bring up the food in passing

Steve and Hopper however are both an embarrassed mess

Hop is obviously already on his way to full and standing there, grunting in place of small talk, clear he wants to escape this conversation and going redder in the face than Steve’s ever seen him

And Steve….it’s like his mom and dad walked in on him. His voice is breaking, he’s sweating, he gets up to excuse himself to go to the bathroom and collect his bearings and runs into a server carrying a tray of shrimp.

A total mess

At this point Joyce is holding back giggles and just winks at Eddie like “you boys have fun” and they politely excuse each other and Steve and hopper know they have a silent pact to NEVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN

Adore this!

I almost think it would be cuter if Eddie is completely calm, natural, happy to interact with Hop and Joyce, but when they see how much bigger Eddie is now, and how close he's pulling Steve to his side, heavy thick leg hooked over Steve's knee and arm around his shoulder, Steve's caught-red-handed expression is absolutely what gives him away to the parental figures.

Eddie keeps up casual conversation with Joyce and Hopper just fixes Steve with a sheriff stare that he can't meet.

Eddie excuses himself to the bathroom and Joyce has her no-judgement talk with Steve lots of "you two look happy" "Eddie's looking...healthy" "You two have fun, just be safe..." Hopper just gives him a curt nod which somehow just makes Steve squirm more and he's like "Eddie's been in there for a while I'm going to make sure he's ok."

Then he just keeps thinking the whole thing over in his head and he almost runs into the server who's carrying the refill tray, so he spins on his heel only to barrel into Eddie to brings him back to earth and he's like.

"Woah there, space cadet. You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"Ok good" big genuine smile, "Hey, sugar, mind being a doll and filling me another plate? Tried to get everything I wanted and ran out of room on this one. Thanks." Gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Now Steve is standing there in the middle of the dining room, dazed and hard.