Just Another Incident (Steve, Stranger Things)

[Skylacticon]

Hi guys.  So, I did finally watch season four of Stranger Things, which I ended up binging with my brother. I had an idea, so here goes.

—

 

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.”

”Yeah, me too.”

”… So what’re we waiting for?”

 

 

Will was right about this place. The Upside Down was just like Hawkins, but dark, empty and cold. So cold.

 

Steve tried to steady his breath to keep his teeth from chattering. His abdomen pained him with every step, and the sharp chill made it feel like his whole torso had a dull ache. He glanced down. The makeshift bandage around his waist was steadily darkening with a crimson stain. Looking at it seemed to make it hurt more, so he diverted his gaze. He’d definitely had a few bad tumbles before here and there. A fractured rib in football. That time he got a beating from Billy and ended up getting a broken nose and a concussion. Feral alien bats were just another incident, and he’d been in situations where the pain had been much worse, definitely. Probably.

 

God damn, it was cold. It was the middle of spring, sure. But it felt like winter - or towards the end of winter, when the snow had mostly melted but the greenery was all dead, and the skies were always overcast. Steve could practically see his breath, rubbing his hands over his arms to generate some warmth. He was trying not to think about how his bare feet were practically going numb. He avoided rough patches on the ground, watching out for vines as he lagged at the tail end of the group, walking in the direction of the Wheeler’s house.

 

The spores in the air were starting to make his throat itch. He’d seen that remaining in the Upside Down for a long period of time had caused people to get sick, possibly to life-threatening extents. But it had been, what, five minutes? Pull it together man, he thought to himself, seeing as the other three didn’t seem to be getting ill. Either it was that or the cold or some beginning infection (god he hoped not), that was also causing a growing irritation in his nose. He felt a sneeze coming, and turned his head to the side. “Huh’TSCHh!!-ahh,” With minimal relief from the scratchy particles, Steve felt a sharp jab of pain in his abdomen and winced, his hand flying to his wound.

 

Eddie glanced back from up ahead. “Harrington?”

 

Steve felt the pain rise to a certain amount, and stayed still, hoping it would just die back down to the way it was. He gently pulled away his hand, which was damp with his own blood. Fuck.

 

“Hey.” Steve blinked, startled, and looked up to see that Eddie had stopped walking. “You, um…” Eddie scratched the back of his neck. “You gonna live?”

 

It would hurt too much to laugh with sarcasm, so he gave a weak scoff. “‘M fine.” He felt Eddie’s gaze pinned on him, and opted for humor. “Just hope my hair doesn’t freeze off.”

 

Eddie’s eyes lingered over Steve’s expression, which looked to be suppressing a pained grimace. He blinked and tore them away to glance around the dark, foggy woods, finding some words that strayed from his growing concern. “Yeah, no kidding. It’s like this place had all the warmth and life sucked out of it,” a beat, then: “as if it had any to begin with.” Eddie’s dark musings were interrupted as he heard a choked back sneeze from behind him.

 

“Huh’xXgck!!-unhh….” Steve winced, clutching the fabric at his abdomen. “huh’Eschh!” He clenched his teeth as the sneeze came inevitably, the spores and freezing air seeming to double-team his sinuses. Not only did the stifle hurt his head, but the exertion was rough on  his bleeding abdomen. He swallowed hard. 

 

“Gesundheit,” Eddie stood awkwardly, then stepped forward when Steve stumbled shakily. “Whoa,” His hand caught Steve’s shoulder. Eddie caught a glimpse of Steve’s shoulder blade through the sleeve of his denim vest - he’d seen it earlier from a distance as they ran. But up close, the scratches looked tender and painful, and he suddenly felt an untainted wave of genuine worry for him. “Jesus,” he breathed.

 

“What?” Steve grunted, breathing steadily as pain coursed through his side.

 

Eddie removed his hand from his shoulder. “Nothing. You good?”

 

“Peachy,” Steve huffed. 

 

Eddie took a step back, watching him for a second to make sure he wouldn’t topple over. He nodded vaguely. “Come on,” he breathed, and turned to continue walking, trailing behind Nancy and Robin. 

 

Steve cleared his throat and rubbed underneath his septum. Yeah, whatever was in the air could not be healthy to keep breathing in. He blinked and looked up to see Eddie up ahead, trekking further into the woods. Heaving a sigh, he continued onward.

[claire h]

omg loveeee this! such a sucker for steve fics and this one has such believable characterization and great sneeze spelling! 

[Ivorygrace27]

This is amazing! Please write more, i can’t get enough of Steve  Made my day!

[Ivorygrace27]

I love this so much! Please continue writing, especially when its about Steve  this made my day! 

[Ivorygrace27]

This is amazing! Please continue writing, especially Steve! Made my day  

[Ivorygrace27]

Please continue! Amazing

[ThatSneezyGirl]

I logged into today looking for a stranger things fic 😍 so happy that this popped up. Can’t wait to read it 

[Ivorygrace27]

I am so sorry for all the messages i left, i thought they were deleted and I had to restart each time but i guess i wasn’t patient enough and they built up instead of erased. I really do love your writing, I’m so sorry for all the replies haha

[Sneesee]

Love, love, LOVE this!!!! 🥰 Steve, being cold, the interaction between him and Eddie? Just love it!!! Thank you for sharing!!! ❤️

[Skylacticon]

On 7/25/2022 at 12:00 AM, claire h said:

omg loveeee this! such a sucker for steve fics and this one has such believable characterization and great sneeze spelling! 

thanks!! ❤️❤️ 

 

On 8/2/2022 at 4:56 AM, Ivorygrace27 said:

I am so sorry for all the messages i left, i thought they were deleted and I had to restart each time but i guess i wasn’t patient enough and they built up instead of erased. I really do love your writing, I’m so sorry for all the replies haha

don't worry about it, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it ☺️

 

On 8/2/2022 at 4:02 PM, Sneesee said:

Love, love, LOVE this!!!! 🥰 Steve, being cold, the interaction between him and Eddie? Just love it!!! Thank you for sharing!!! ❤️

thank youu ❤️🥰

[Ivorygrace27]

Will you write more? I just love this