"Stink" (Stranger Things, Steve)

[Skylacticon]

~The brain rot continues~

Hey guys, I’m back at it again with another Steve fic. Hope you like it.

-

 

 

Robin wasn’t lying on the phone. It really did look like it was going to rain. Steve drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, casting occasional glances at the front door of the house. His gaze fell on the cassette deck. He let out an exhale and hit the eject button. As much as he loved Robin (and the Beatles), there were only so many times he could listen to the Magical Mystery Tour album on repeat. And definitely not this early in the morning. He popped open the centre console and began rummaging around for something different, when he was startled by a knock on the passenger window. He glanced up to see Robin grinning and waving, her other palm pressed up against the glass.

 

“Jesus,” he slammed the console lid shut and unlocked the door. “What took you so long?”

 

“Sorry,” Robin slid into the passenger seat. “Couldn’t decide what to wear.”

 

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

 

“You?”

 

“What, you don’t think I have style?”

 

“Just drive.”

 

Steve backed out of her driveway and onto the road. He was used to Robin’s usual caffeine-fuelled jitters and nervousness about being late. He usually made it to the high school in a jiff, no worries. Although, today something seemed different. He cleared his throat. Well, it was definitely quieter in the car.

 

“What happened to the music?” Robin was clicking buttons on the empty cassette player.

 

Steve scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, sorry, yeah, Dustin must’ve taken it out, he’s been playing Munson’s stuff.”

 

“Hm, that must be fun.”

 

“Oh yeah. It’s a real treat to have your ears blown out right after clocking out of an eight hour shift.”

 

“Come on, I know you like it.”

 

“It’s alright.” Steve smiled out the driver’s side window. There was definitely something different. A flowery scent hung in the closed space, one that hadn’t been there before she got in. It was nice. Steve casually tossed a short glance over at Robin, who had opened the centre console and was looking through the cassette tapes.

 

“Sick of Mystery Tour?” she asked.

 

The scent was making his nose sting a little. Steve wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Nah, go ahead.”

 

“Mm, but we’ve been playing that one a lot.” Thank god. “How about Rubber Soul?”

 

“Yeah, go for it.”

 

Robin slid the cassette tape into the contraption and hit play. The opening guitar riff of ‘Drive My Car’ came on, and Robin slumped back. Steve snuck another glance at her. Her eyes were far away, her fingers tapping absentmindedly on her lap. This was more than early morning jitters.

 

“So you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

 

“Huh?” Robin looked slightly startled. Steve just grinned gently and turned his gaze back on the road.

 

“What’s going on with you?” They slowed at an all-way stop. Paul McCartney’s voice filled the silence for a bit. It sounded scratchier in that song than the others.

 

“Nothing’s going on, why?” she replied, with the amount of confidence as a child afraid to get punished.

 

“Oh, I don’t know, you took over an hour to get ready this morning, your… eyelids are all shiny, and… you’ve bathed in this new type of flowery perfume that’s definitely gonna make me sneeze.” Steve glanced left and right before turning, his nose wrinkling as he spoke.

 

“Is it that bad?” Robin asked softly after a few seconds.

 

Steve rubbed his nose with a curled knuckle. “No, I never said it was bad. It’s kinda nice, actually.”

 

“Thanks. My aunt gave it to me. I thought I’d try it.”

 

“So, uh… big plans with Vickie?”

 

“Uh… Well, I kinda sorta…”

 

“Kinda, sorta…”

 

“-kinda sorta signed up for this bake sale fundraiser and it turns out she’s doing it too, and I know it sounds incredibly stupid because it’s probably gonna be a lot of sweat and mess considering all the work and how clumsy I am, but I signed up for it to help raise money and you know, I thought it might be good if I also didn’t look and smell terrible while doing so, Vickie or no Vickie.” Robin took a necessary breath, spreading her hands over her thighs. “Sorry. But yeah. I did sign up initially for the cause. But… I mean, doesn’t hurt, right?”

 

“Yeah, I get you." Steve replied. He tilted his head, eyes fixed on the road. "...Maybe this time, you think you might ask her out?”

 

Another big breath. “Maybe. You think I should?” Robin muttered out loud. A couple of seconds passed. She glanced over at him. “Steve?”

 

His eyes were squinted, and his body was stiff. His chin turned away a little, as his eyes kept narrowing. “Hold on, I’m gonna sneeze,” he uttered breathily. It was only then that she noticed his nostrils flaring, and his lips part slightly. His frame rose with a huge breath, and his fingers managed to grab the collar of his shirt and quickly pull it over the lower half of his face before pitching forward with a harsh, yet contained sneeze. “HRRISCHHhiuhh!! - *snf**ahemm*” He let the collar of his shirt fall, sniffling softly. “‘Scuse me. Wow.” He muttered, and blinked a couple of times rapidly.

 

“Bless you.” Robin said. Jeez, he wasn’t kidding.

 

Steve sniffled again, raising a knuckle to rub roughly at his nose again before replying casually. “Well - yeah, I mean, you’ve been wanting to do it for the longest time.”

 

“Yeah.” Robin looked out the window. The next song was playing. A soothing mix of guitar and sitar mixed melodically.

 

Steve felt an itch growing from the slight stinging of the scent. He needed some fresh air, or he was probably going to sneeze again. He rolled his window down slightly.

 

“Sorry about the perfume,” Robin looked at him apologetically.

 

“I’ll be fine, you’re good.” Steve rubbed his nose and cleared his throat.

 

“You know, I heard that Andy Warhol said he might want to create a perfume line called ‘Stink’. Which - would be a lot worse, in this situation.” Trivia began to spill from her lips, a habit in situations that made her nervous. Sometimes they at least served some humour.

 

“Who?” Robin looked at Steve, beginning to understand Eddie’s frustration with him. Then they both heard a sound crescendo outside the car. “…Oh, shit. Shit.” Steve quickly rolled his window back up.

 

As promised, it began to rain. “Here we go.” Robin stared as the windshield and windows got covered in tiny droplets, which thickened to heavier showers.

 

“Glad you called for a ride.” Steve switched on the windshield wipers. “We’re almost there.” He wrinkled his nose. A tickle was forming in nose, growing with each breath. He cleared his throat and rubbed his nose roughly again.

 

Robin peeked at him guiltily. “You know that if you press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, you can stop yourself from sneezing. Not that- Not that I'm grossed out, and it's totally my fault, but just so-"

 

"Just so we don't spin off the road and die? Yeah."

 

"Something like that."

 

“I'm fine. Don't worry. *snf!*” Steve sniffled hard, and tried to focus on driving. He sniffled again, and sighed, lifting a curled knuckle to scrub at his nose. It might have been fine with the window open, but now the itch had latched on, causing an insistent tickle. “Jesus,” he breathed, turning away and lifting the collar of his shirt again. “hrr'ISSCHhhioo!! *snrf!* Oh, man. ‘Scuse me.” He blinked and wiped moisture from his eyes with his palm.

 

“Bless you,” Robin said again, startled by the loud sound. She half-braced herself in case she had to grab the wheel for him.

 

“Thank you. *snf!*” Steve glanced around, wondering if he had any tissues or napkins lying around. He secretly felt the urge to keep the collar of his shirt pulled over his nose, but he didn’t want to make Robin feel bad or more nervous about her plans that day. So he actually tried her advice - dumb as it sounded. It wasn’t entirely working, and he also kept sniffling, causing the itch to stay as it was. But he somehow managed not to sneeze for the next few moments.

 

Finally, he pulled into the school parking lot. He drove closer to the entrance so that she would have less of a distance to run in the rain. As soon as they stopped, Steve turned away and lifted the crook of his arm to his face.

 

“Huh’rRRESCHH!! Huh‘ESSCHHhiu!! *snrf* Oh my god, excuse me." He sniffled and paused for a second, then turned to face her. "Alright. Get out." He said teasingly, twitching his nose around.

 

“Thanks, I-I’ll pay you back somehow, I swear.” Robin insisted, unbuckling her seatbelt and grabbing her bag.

 

Steve just laughed, looking a bit dazed. “Don’t sweat it. *snrf*" He lowered his voice a bit. "Look, just be yourself, alright?”

 

Robin smiled. “Always.” She jumped out of the car, squinting against the pouring rain. “See ya.” The car door slammed shut, and off she ran.

 

Steve lowered the window. “And hey, bring me back a cupcake or something, will you?” He yelled after her.

 

“You got it, Dingus!” Robin shrieked. Steve watched as she ran for cover, stumbling precariously but managing to catch herself and keep running. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

[Sneesee]

Ahhhhhh more Steve!!! I love their interaction and of course his reaction to her perfume! This is great! Thank you!!! 💜

[ToastedBagel]

Oh I absolutely love this 😍 I'm always here for a Steve sneezies. I feel like you captured the characters so well. If you happened to do a part two I wouldn't complain ☺️

[Ivorygrace27]

This was amazing! I love the dynamics between Robin and steve. You are a great writer and please please please continue!!!!

[Prongs]

Oooh, you decided to write more Steve! 😍Every time you do, I die of happiness lol. I love how, polite as ever, he said excuse me after every time he sneezed, and honestly just how you described everything. 1000/10! 

[ThatSneezyGirl]

I love your characterization here 😍 would love to read more!!

[rockbell]

this is so cute!!!!

[Skylacticon]

Hey all. I seem to have taken a break from writing for a while, but I had some inspiration to continue this lil fic so here goes. A late thank you for the all the sweet comments, and I hope you like the next bit. ❤️ 

 

 

Part 2

 

Robin was screaming into her pillow.

 

“But, in theory-” Steve began slowly and calmly, through a mouthful of chocolate muffin. “-she didn’t say no.”

 

Robin groaned some more. “But that’s the whole thing, she didn’t say no, but she didn’t say yes, so what if- what if she was trying to give me a hint, that like…” Her head raised from the pillow, her mouth left open as she trailed off. A tiny piece of glitter, presumably from her purple eyeshadow, glinted on her cheek. 

 

“That what, that she’s not into you?”

 

“Yes, that.”

 

“But she said- okay, take me back, what did she say?” Steve inquired, and took another bite of the muffin.

 

“She said ‘Maybe another time.’”

 

“So maybe she meant, ‘Maybe another time’.”

 

Robin quickly swung up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, facing Steve, who was rotating casually in her squeaky desk chair. He paused mid-chew, the chair coming to a halting squeak as he put his foot on the ground.

 

“But what if she really meant just ‘maybe’, which would mean like, ‘probably never’?” Robin asked, making gestures with her hands as if asking a force from above.

 

As Robin had made the quick move of sitting up, it wafted a strong, sweet-smelling scent towards him. He felt the same stinging itch from before appear in the back of his nose. Unable to think for a second, he muttered something breathily.

 

“Oof-….”

 

Robin glanced up at Steve, whose eyes were crinkling into what first appeared to be a sympathetic wince, but then his eyes kept narrowing. He quickly moved back, causing the chair to bump against the desk, and swivelled to his left. He quickly swallowed the muffin he was chewing, and raised his fist. 

 

“Sorry, h-hold- huh’ESSCHHIU!! *snnf* ‘scuse me. *snrf* Sorry, the scent’s still getting to me.” Steve sniffled and rubbed under his nose with his free hand.

 

“Yeah, I warned you. I need to shower, I think I still have batter in my hair,” she sighed, pulling on some of the golden strands.

 

“Wait, here-“ Steve inched the rolling desk chair forward and reached out to help her. He carefully pinched one of the tiny pieces that had bits of dried sugar and flour, and attempted to use his other hand to get it off, pulling at it lengthwise.

 

“OW, Steve-“ Robin exclaimed.

 

“Sorry.” Steve froze and softened his movements. He resorted to trying to break the dried bits up by rubbing his pinched fingers together and letting the dried batter fall off. As he leaned in to get a better look, the itch in his nose spiked, causing his breath to hitch suddenly. “hih-!”

 

Robin heard the soft gasp and glanced up quickly. “Don’t you sneeze on me.”

 

“I’m not gonnhh- … *snrf!* Not gonna sneeze on you.”

 

“Is this not what apes do for each other?” she muttered. 

 

“You calling me an ape?”

 

“I am with the way you’re- ow- you’re balding me.”

 

“Just stay-“ Steve blinked. Then, he turned away and lifted the crook of his arm to his face. “hhr’USSCHHh!! *gsnf*” Steve winced a little as the strong chemical scent grazed his sore nasal passages. “Scuse me, *ahemm!*”

 

“You just sneezed on me!” Robin accused in a teasing manner.

 

“No I didn’t, I turned away-“ Steve began with a sheepish grin, immediately embarrassed at the chance he might have accidentally sprayed her. 

 

“Did you get it?”

 

“Almost, just give me a second.” Steve leaned in again and pinched at the batter-y strands. Robin stayed still and stared at the striped rug on her wooden floor. “How did you get this much batter in your hair?”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“There’s like a good half-muffin’s worth right here.”

 

“Shut up, Martha Stewart, I’m not a professional chef, okay?”

 

Steve sniffled again, and pressed the back of his wrist against his nose. “I mean, I’m not-“ Another hard rub. “I’m not a professional chef *snff* either. *snf!*” Steve moved back, feeling his eyes start to water. He lifted the palm of his hand to wipe at them, sniffling hard to try to contest the itching. It seemed to backfire a little, as more of the flowery scent invaded his nostrils. “Hold on,” Steve breathed, and his fingers felt for the fabric on top of his collarbone, pinching his shirt collar. He pulled it over his wrinkling nose.

 

“hih-“ It was right there. Steve’s dark eyes were narrowing, awaiting the itchy sneeze. But it took its time, teasing and tickling but not letting him near the edge. He sat there, eyelids fluttering shut, eyebrows furrowing. After a moment he lowered the collar of his shirt, and his eyes opened, looking dazed and itchy. He blinked rapidly and sniffled thickly. “Ugh, sorry.”

 

“You okay?

 

“Yeah. *snrf!* I’m… agh, *snrf!*” Steve chuckled, and sniffed. His sniffles were getting more frequent, more wet. “I keep thinking I’m gonna sneeze. D’you have any tissues?” he asked, pressing the back of his hand to his nose.

 

“Yeah, hold on.” Robin got up from the bed and left the room, returning with a box of tissues a couple of seconds later. She set it down on the desk, next to Steve.

 

“Thanks. *snrf!*” Steve pulled a tissue and swivelled the chair to the side to blow his nose.

 

“How do you, like…” Robin began, as she sat back down on her bed. Steve emerged from behind the tissue and peeked at her, waiting for her to go on. She was wearing a strange smirk, her eyes drifting curiously across the floor.

 

“What?”

 

“I just find it kinda funny that you’re allergic to perfume.”

 

“I’m not *snf* allergic,” he replied, swiping under his nose with the folded tissue. “Sometimes, like… strong scents? Set me off? I don’t know. Why would that be funny?”

 

“No, cuz like, you’ve gone on how many dates? Has this ever happened with any of them?”

 

“Uh-” Steve gave a fidgety sort of spin in the chair. Suddenly he was the one not looking at her, and Robin was staring at him, with rapt attention. “Maybe, once.”

 

“Oh no,” Robin said, with a wide grin. “With who?” 

 

“Listen, okay, this allergy and sensitivity thing is fairly recent, so-”

 

“Was it Lisa? I always found her kind of obnoxious.”

 

“No,” he said quickly. “Aha, no.”

 

“Heidi?”

 

“No.”

 

“...Nancy?”

 

“Rob,” Steve barked.

 

“Oh my god,” Robin breathed. 

 

He looked up. “What?”

 

“It was Eddie, wasn’t it?”

 

Steve let out a long sigh and went for another spin in the squeaky, old chair. “Okay, so-”

 

“That’s why he doesn’t wear that cologne anymore!” Robin blurted out. Her grin was huge now.

 

Steve let out a flustered laugh, and hid his face in his hands for a brief moment. He stopped the chair from moving and dropped his hands onto his lap. He was grinning too, and his face had gone red. “...Yeah.”

 

He knew Robin was not going to be subtle about this. “Oh my god.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Damn,” she said in a suggestive tone.

 

“Well, before you start thinking things, *snf*” Steve leaned forward and rubbed his nose. “It’s really not what you think.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

Steve opened his mouth to say something - then exhaled, leaning back in the chair. “So… he got me to agree to go to this car racing thing, and so we go together, right?”

 

“A car race? Sorry, that is the most straight thing-”

 

“I know. I-It was his idea, anyway. And it’s not just straight, it’s also like a guy thing-”

 

“Mm-hm.” Robin smirked. “Well, I guess he is a mechanic.”

 

“Yeah. Anyway, we go. It’s super crowded. And so me and him are like, squished together in this one corner-”

 

“Okay, okay,” Robin sat cross legged, leaning forward with her chin resting on her hand.

 

“And before you say that that’s romantic- *ahem, snf* Uh, before that… He picked me up in his van. And as we’re going, I notice that he’s wearing the cologne. And- I’ve never minded it- … I actually kind of liked it, *snff!* but, I don’t know, I guess because we were in a closed space or whatever, it was like, starting to make me sneeze. And I didn’t really think anything of it, until…”

 

“Mm-hmm?” Robin leaned more forward, grinning from ear to ear.

 

Steve paused, and let out another breath. “Well, so we were just watching, sitting in this corner together.”

 

“Right, squished in the corner.”

 

He shot her a look, then continued. “Right. And I start thinking, ‘Wow, I need to sneeze again’, and I didn’t want to sneeze with him, like-” Steve rolled the chair right next to the bed where Robin was sitting, touching his right arm and leg to hers. “-this close, so I actually got up and left for a hot second.” He backed up a little to give her space again, wrinkling his nose.

 

“You left?”

 

There was a brief pause as Steve rubbed his nose. “No- well, I said I was going to the bathroom, and I did.” Steve paused, and turned his head. His eyes were narrowing again. “hihh- huH’ESSCHHiuhh!! -oh my god, excuse me. *snrf*”

 

“Bless you.”

 

“Thanks," Steve breathed, wrinkling his nose. "*snf!* Agh. *snrf!* ...So I kinda go off, and like, my eyes are itching, and my nose is getting all stuffed up,” he gestured at his facial features, which in this moment happened to be becoming exactly like he was describing. “And I’m like, okay, it must be just allergies or something. So… I just splashed some water on my face, and I was gonna go right back.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Then as I’m leaving the bathroom, I see him coming in my direction.”

 

“Aww.”

 

“Yeah.” A tiny grin softened his expression for a moment, and he went on. “And he’s just like, ‘You okay?’, and I’m like, ‘Yeah’.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And so we’re about to head back, and you know Eddie, he throws his arm around me… and then out of nowhere, I get this *snrf!* really bad itch, and um. I just started sneezing, like before I could say anything. It really wasn’t the most glamorous moment.”

 

“Oh no.”

 

“Yeah. Um… Fuck,” he laughed, pivoting back and forth in the chair, running his fingers through his hair. 

 

“Oh man.”

 

“Yeah... Anyway, he was cool about it.”

 

“Well, he likes you, of course he’s not gonna get mad about that.”

 

Steve looked at Robin. “Well yeah, but…”

 

“I know, I’d be mortified.”

 

Steve sighed, cringing from just reliving it. “No, yeah. Turns out there’s this weird half base before first or second, which is called ‘Sneeze All Over Them’, which we hit that day,” he muttered sarcastically. “It wasn’t even cute at that point, it was just…” he gave another embarrassed chuckle, and ran his fingers through his hair again.

 

“Dude, I am so sorry.” Robin said, still smiling gently.

 

“Ah, it’s fine. Like I said, he was pretty nice about it. But… Yeah, I guess that was the last time he wore that cologne.”

 

“Which is… kinda sweet, on his part.” she said thoughtfully.

 

“Yeah. I suppose.”

 

“Well…” Robin let out a big breath and laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her expression had gone a bit more serious. “Is there a base for staring at someone too hard and almost accidentally showering her with the batter you’re making? And getting it all over yourself instead?” she wondered aloud.

 

Steve glanced over at her with a softened expression. Then, after a while-  “...Yeah, there could be.”

 

Robin snorted. She peeked up at Steve and started to laugh, resting her head back on the bed. Steve started to laugh a bit too. “It’s chivalrous,” he joked.

 

Robin laughed a bit harder. “Chivalrous,” she repeated, giggling. She covered her face, and sighed, sounding a bit more at ease. Then, slowly, she sat up, and gazed down at the rug. Her eyes drifted up to the container on the desk that had a few leftover muffins. “Come on,” she said, standing up. “I have to start dinner.”

 

“Want some help?” Steve offered.

 

“Yes, please.” Robin stretched, and cast a soft smile in his direction. She stepped over to the desk and picked up the container. “You can take another one.”

 

“Oh. You sure?”

 

“Yeah. Or, give it to Eddie,” she suggested. Steve let out a humoured breath. “What do they say, ‘when a door closes, another one opens’?”

 

“Aw, come on, don’t say that,” Steve said gently.

 

Robin turned to leave the room, and Steve followed behind her. “Mm, yeah. What was I thinking? That door was wide open regardless,” she teased.

 

“Are you done?” Steve chuckled.

 

“Eh,” Robin shrugged, starting down the steps. “I might have a few more. Whoa-” Her foot seemed to slip, and she quickly grabbed the railing.

 

“You good?”

 

“Yeah." She stood there frozen for a second, a bit spooked, but then kept going.

 

“That’s what you get,” Steve teased back.

 

“Pff, shut up, Dingus.”

 

[sprinkles287]

So CUTE! I love the two of them. And now I’m off to imagine that Eddie’s reaction to Steve sneezing all over him. Mmmm. Yep. Thanks for sharing!

[Prongs]

👍🏼👏🏼🙌🏼 love this addition!!! You nailed how Steve and Robin interact with each other. One of my favs of yours ❤️

[HPG]

This is awesome! And the sneeze spelling is perfection.

[Xsneezelover3932]

This is sooooo good!!!

[pollenfeathers]

how have i never read any of your writing before this is seriously perfect