revivalproject | Frankie said 'Relax'

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Frankie said 'Relax'

WHO: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, and YOU!
WHERE: Party at the PEANUT PARTY
WHAT: Steve chilling out and exploring his new home
WHEN: During the mandatory ship bonding time
WARNINGS: SMUT

Gym Rat
Steve, after all the shit that's been going on, has a renewed interest in keeping himself in shape. He has to be ready to fight at the drop of a hat, it seems. And now being dragged onto this ship without any warning? Yeah. He wants to make sure he's in top form. Unfortunately, Gladio is on the other ship so getting the daily workouts done with him is more of a challenge than it usually is. But they do have a pretty legit gym now. So that is going to work at least.

Especially with a device to help him work on sparring.

Steve's been here for awhile at this point, working on both his new Security knowledge gains and his existing fighting skills. He's coming to the end of the latest sparring routine and getting sloppy with exhaustion. It means a few more punches miss than normal. A few more strikes make it through than he would like. In the end he has to just call it quits and take a few steps back to catch his breath. How long has be been here? An hour? More? He pulls his shirt up to wipe the sweat away from his face and considers.

He could call it a day. But had he really done enough? The pilots said there was a sign saying '<i>Soon</i>' in the cockpit. Was he ready for that?

Steve sighs and looks around the room for whatever else he can manage right now. Maybe running? Yeah. He can do that...

Merman

Steve is pretty thrilled to know, if he is going to be trapped somewhere, it's somewhere with a pool. Sadly, he doesn't have a bathing suit to change into, but that's just fine honestly. It's been a long month or so and he deserves to have some fun. Besides, boxers and swimming suits cover the same area. It's all fine.

Steve is almost giddy as he makes his way to the "beach". It really is hard sometimes to remember this is a ship and not just another planet. At the moment he's just happy to not have green lobsters poking at him as he strips off clothes. He goes wading into the water with a grin and immediately dunks his head under. God, he misses swimming. And this one here is guaranteed free of Upside Down gates, dead girls, or anything else to worry about.

Steve smiles to himself and floats up on his back, happy to relax at long last.

Horndog (Closed to Eddie)

One of the great things about being Security turns out to be control over room assignments. Steve is pretty pleased to find out about this power once he looks up where rooms are and which ones are his and Eddie's. Turns out he can just assign himself to Eddie's room, easy as that! Which, of course, he does.

Did you see that bed? C'mon. Having separate rooms is just going to waste time.

Steve grins as he makes his way to Eddie's (and now his) room and opens the door straight away. When he was dragged onboard the ship by the music, he hadn't had time to pack anything so all he has is himself and the bat he'd taken to carrying around more often than not since the Upside Down incident. He sets it beside the door as he goes in and immediately goes to flop onto the new, bigger, more comfortable bed.

"HEY, BABE! I'm moving in! Hope you weren't suddenly excited about privacy, here!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ruthless?" Steve isn't exactly thrilled to have that word thrown at him. 'Show-off' he can handle. Hell, he can agree sometimes. But 'ruthless'? "What makes me ruthless, huh? Looking out for people? Kicking the ass of anything or anyone that wants to cause them problems?"

He can feel his hackles starting to rise and it takes a second for him to breathe deep and settle them back down. No poodle-ing. Not here. Not with the pound puppy.

"Whatever, man. Just... You can be good here, you know? Max is back. Robin seems to like you. So does Gladio. You got shit going for you. It could be good."

Billy feels his own temper simmering to the surface, and swallows hard to push it back down. The ship was huge, but it would feel so small if he and Steve left with another disagreement between them.

Maybe if they did that, Billy could finally move past what was never going to be.

He could stop hiding, stop avoiding Harrington like he had been for months. "Nevermind. Forget I mentioned it." He’s not looking at Steve again, and instead down at the base holding the dummy in place. His hands are tight on the handle of his axe. "I know Gladio is okay with me. Robin and Tommy, too. Maybe Eddie."

There were others he could name, but they were more acquaintances than actual friends (though Eddie being in that category was a slight stretch to Billy). "I’m trying to be good. Was living on the beach after the volcano situation. Max and Robin got me to come back in the city for the winter so both of us gotta play nice and shit."

The axe finally gets set mostly down on the ground, guarded blade down, and now he looks at Steve. He should be honest, right? Open a little to him and maybe he’ll feel less like Harrington hates him.

The words get stuck just thinking about them. About opening up just a little to the other guy like Harrington was in the wrong, not Billy. But the blond knows that’s wrong because he started it all that time ago.

When Billy finally speaks, it’s rough and a little strained, like he’s fighting every bit in his head to get the words out. "You don’t want me dead but I know you hate me, pretty boy," because Harrington was pretty damn it. Even Billy could admit that to himself. "You have ever since that fight in the house with pictures everywhere and Christmas lights in the living room."

"I...I don't hate you."

It's true. Somewhere down the line Steve ran out of hatred. He just didn't have enough fuel inside him to keep the fire burning. He doesn't think he hates anyone anymore except maybe Vecna. And even then the hatred is the scraping, desperate thing of a man trying to survive and keep those precious to him safe. It's the hatred a drowning man might have against the sea; useless and strewn with grief. But Billy? No. There's nothing in the tank for that. Nothing left to cast into the embers to get the flames up once more.

"Look, man. I did. I hated you so fucking bad. And we can fucking argue about that night until we're both blue in the face but just. It is what it is. Okay? I don't hate you anymore for it."

He looks down and bites his lip a second. He needs to be honest.

"I don't know that I forgive you for it. But I figure you've got some shit you haven't forgiven me for, either. Neither of us is on any high ground."

It would just… be so much easier if Harrington hated him. For the fight, for the mall, for the end of it all for Billy that night. But anger and hate and everything his dad was, was so much easier for someone like Billy as opposed to compassion and understanding.

The honest from Steve feels genuine and it almost catches the Californian off guard. It would have, if the talk between him and the girls hadn’t happened prior. He takes a step back. The axe doesn’t move with him, and is instead shifted to be in front of him, though not raised. A barrier. Just in case.

"I‘m not asking for your forgiveness," Billy says, rather bluntly. "I know I have a lot of shit to work through before I even scrape the surface of being forgiven for all of that."

Steve nods and thinks back to their last talk. Pulling Eddie in and taunting the other guy with his happiness when he knew it bothered him. He pauses a second before clearing his throat and somehow managing to get the words out:

"I...For what it's worth, on my side...I... Uh. I'm sorry for the...you know. Cave shit. I didn't think it would bother you that much but...Yeah. It was a shitty move. An old King Steve move which I am trying really hard to put behind me. So."

He coughs and looks at the ground instead of at Billy. He's trying here.

"I'm sorry."

It’s clear they’re both trying. It’s also clear that this is unfamiliar territory for the two teens, especially with such bad blood between them. He doesn’t know about Steve’s life behind private doors, but maybe his life wasn’t pristine either.

He sighs and the grip on the axe‘s handle eases a little. His foot does start to bounce - a visible sign of his own nervousness. Blue eyes look away to something else. Anything else. Should he elaborate why it hurt so much for Steve to do that? Would take Harrington advantage of that knowledge somehow?

No. Robin wouldn’t let that happen, she’d intervene first and yell at Harrington. And maybe Hargrove. To keep it fair.

"I’ve told one person this." Well that’s out before he can stop it. No sense backing down because Billy Hargrove didn’t back down from shit he started. "Before Hawkins and shit. Neil was out for the weekend. Business trip or something, I forget. But he came back earlier than expected. Way earlier. Found me… with… with—"

Billy found the rest of the sentence lodged in his throat, like a rock trying to suffocate him before spilling such a secret. Harrington was probably smart and could put the rest of the tale together.

Steve waits patiently for Billy to finish the sentence. When it's clear he's not going to, he tries to fill it in himself. This was apparently a big, important secret. One that Billy was having trouble saying. Steve frowned, wracking his mind with what the answer could be. Found him with a sex worker? With a metalhead? With a girl he didn't like? Why didn't Billy just come out with it?

Oh. And there it was. 'Come out'.

Steve's face immediately transitions from confusion to surprise and then, finally, understanding.

"With a...guy, right? Neil found you with a guy?" Steve lets out a low whistle and looks up toward the ceiling. "Shit, man. Like seriously. Shit. That... That had to be horrible. I keep wondering what my dad would do if he knew about Eddie and...fuck. I'm sorry, dude. Seriously."

A nod. Billy refuses to look at Steve in case it’s an expression he can’t handle. Every emotion in him churns, starting to rage into a maelstrom inside. He and Steve are trying, so to lash out now would break the tenuous peace formed in this moment.

"You were in my head. Saw what kind of man Neil was. How he treated my mom, how he treated me when she left." He sounds strained. Billy breathes in and out. It’s not exactly meditations but Gladio said things like that helped. And it was, for now. "It’s why I… lashed out. And stormed off."

Because Steve Harrington could be what Billy Hargrove wanted to be without repercussions.

(Or so Billy liked to think).

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in again.

Breathe out.

"I’m sorry, too."

"He is an asshole," Steve says honestly. "He was a complete and utter fucking asshole. And you...you didn't deserve that shit. Not because you liked dudes or for any other reason he came up with."

At the apology, Steve looks up at Billy and swallows back the instincts that want him to either brush it away or distrust it. Instead he just nods a thanks and winces.

"Yeah. I can imagine me just making out with Eddie was maybe...sort of painful with that kind of history. I won't do that again. I swear. And...uh..." He snorts a laugh and spreads his arms wide.

"Welcome to the bi club?"

Billy doesn't want to answer that part, because he feels like he's revealed enough right now. And all of it hurts, like tearing a fresh scab off of something trying desperately to heal. Or maybe this was getting debris out of a wound trying to heal in a healthy way.

He looks at Steve at last in time to see the nod to his apology.

"Felt like you stabbed me. And I could've beat the shit out of you for it. But the Walkman was broke enough so I had to walk. Met with Gladio, stayed out of everyone's way, and started training with the axe."

He sniffs hard, looking away for a moment. Sniffs again. "Well, it's part of my name, so I was already in it." A weak joke, but a joke is better than nothing at the moment.

"Gladio is good for that. He's helped me a lot and I'm glad he's helping you out too. Dude is gonna have a whole squad of us working out and training with him soon..."

Steve feels bad about what his thoughtless little taunt had done. He hadn't known, of course. How could he have? But still, knowing he hurt Billy so bad isn't the victory it might have been once. Steve just feels like an asshole. But he's apologized and Billy seems to be taking that in. No need to keep dragging themselves over those particular coals.

Steve snorts at the joke. "Cool, we'll make you president then. Fuck if I know anything about this shit; I just figured it out this year."

There's a little bit of a laugh at the thought of Gladio leading a squad of teens through Temba like a little army. Billy with his axe, Steve with his bat, and who knows what the others would wield. It didn't matter right now, but the image was amusing in his head.

"He thinks this training is good for me. It's a new workout routine opposed to beach running and my weights in the civic center." Which also doubled as his winter home for now. He thinks of Max and Robin, trying to pleads with him to come back to the city to live for the cold months. "I don't know anything either. I got other things to work through before I try to figure this whole... what'd you call it? Bi? Thing out."

Billy's hand goes down to his side and he lifts up the tape player for Harrington to see. "I got it fixed, by the way. Good as new if you ignore the crack." A thumb moves over it for a moment. That had been the other reason he had walked off - damaging the Walkman had been punishment enough for lashing out after all.

"He thinks training is probably good for everyone. Dude is jacked." Steve loves Gladio but the guy probably thinks sit-ups cure a cold. He might even be right, honestly. So far his instincts on how to take care of them has been spot on.

Steve looks at the tape player and smiles. Yeah, there is a crack, but it's fixed and clearly playing music again. "You show Max that?" He squints a little and frowns as he is pretty sure the tape inside isn't the one he remembered.

"Did you get more music for it?"

Gladio was jacked, and had arms like Billy had been training for since he could lift weights. He wanted that kind of look. Maybe one day, if he keep at it. "He's got an amazing physique that I'm hoping to get one day."

Billy moves, but only to go sit on a bench with his axe between his knees and the handle braced against his shoulder. "Yeah. She's got her own here, so I don't have to share this one. Tommy fixed this one, and Mu... Eddie let me borrow this tape so I could have something new to listen to for a bit."

The device clicks open and he pulls out a heavy metal mix tape for Harrington to inspect. "I've been meaning to give it back, but shit keeps getting in the way around here. That and I didn't want to show up at the door and get you to answer it, all sneering n' shit. Ruins that pretty boy look when you do that."

Steve followed Billy and sat next to him with just a little bit of a buffer space between them. He takes the tape and looks it over, vaguely remembering it. He smiles just seeing it and then passes it back. "Hang onto it for now. The longer you have it the less I have to listen to it. I love him but man, some of these artists sound like dying animals."

He runs a hand through his hair, trying to fluff it up now that the 'pretty boy' comment was made. He's sure he doesn't look much like that right now.

"Look. You're friends with my friends. You're friends with my boyfriend. Or at least exchanging mix tapes which...I'm watching you, dude." He offers a smirk to make it clear he's joking. Mostly. 95% joking. "We can be civil. Not saying we're gonna be braiding hair at sleepovers or whatever, but...you don't have to avoid me. I'm not gonna glare or be a dick if you come around. Okay?"

"They sound like dying animals because they had to listen to pop music," comes the easy tease back. With the apologies and vulnerabilities shown between them a bit, this hurts less. The ache was still there, knowing what he wants, he’ll never have, but it’s nice knowing that Steve doesn’t actually hate him.

Billy can’t help but watch that hand go through those fluffy brown locks. Hopefully Steve doesn’t notice that, or how quickly Billy looks away.

The playful tone gets a grin from him. For that moment he looks like his usual self. "Yeah? Now that you know I like both sides of the playing field, I can go after everybody. And you should only get worried about me stealing someone’s man if I start borrowing your tapes."

He breathes out and relaxes. There’s less tension in him now with a lot of that just… out of his system. "Promise? To at least treat me a little better?" Maybe not nicer, that was for someone who earned the forgiveness that Billy said he wasn’t after. "You can ask Max, I’ve been doing better with trying to be good."

Steve actually laughs at the joke with the mix tape. What? It's funny. "Yeah, yeah. I'll keep an eagle eye out for that."

When Billy asks him if he's going to promise, Steve pauses and thinks about it. It's an easy thing on paper. In practice? Well. It's something they both need to work on. Steve turns toward Billy and looks at him seriously. "Look. I am not opposed to that, okay? We live on the same ship and we share a lot of friends. But..."

He sighs and cards his fingers through his hair nervously. He can't believe how many deals he has to make with one person just to cohabitate peacefully.

"Look. How about another truce, just between you and I? I will stop being such a bitch, I guess. But you have to stop going after my buttons. Especially when it comes to Eddie. You know what Nancy did to me. I just. Call me Princess or Pretty Boy or whatever you want, but none of the taunting or shit like that. Deal?"

The laugh at his very subtle flirting gets his own... half-hearted laugh. Well, of course Steve wasn't going to pick up on his intentions when he's already with someone else. At least the flirting can't make this awkward. That would be shitty having to live in 'close' quarters and deal with an awkward thing like unrequited flirting between them.

"We live in the same city," Billy points out. "Especially since Max and Robin got me to come back into the city a few days before all of this," which gets gestured to with his hands.

And while Steve can't believe how many promises and truces need to be made, Billy can. He's rough to work with and an asshole in his own right. The blond knows this. However, he frowns at Steve. "I did it once. And I also met up with him and apologized for all of that bullshit I did to him when we first found each other. I figured he would've fucking told you that. And I don't know what Wheeler did to you. And I'm not going to guarantee I won't taunt you. Maybe just less meanly if you can't handle it."

Which, he's already falling back into his old ways. Because he doesn't realize entirely that he's doing it.

Steve sighs and figures he might as well just let it all out on the table. Maybe that would help.

"Nancy...at that party? The one we were both at? She got completely wasted and in the bathroom decided to tell me that she thought our relationship was bullshit. She didn't love me and that I was bullshit. Everything was bullshit. And then she fucked off and cheated on my with Jonathan before leaving me for him. Which...yeah. It all really sucked at a time I had pretty much chosen her over my friend and popularity and everything. It ended up being for the best but..."

He exhales and rolls his shoulders to let the old hurt off. He doesn't remind Billy of his own part during that whole thing because then they'll never get out of the past. And the point of this is moving forward.

"I just. I don't care what you did if you made up with everyone, alright? Just don't taunt me with it. Don't try to get a rise out of me because you're gonna be able to do it. And I'm trying here too, alright? I'm not going out of my way to test you, don't do that to me."

Oh. Oh. Billy remembers seeing Steve with the Wheeler girl sometimes, but hadn't thought anything about it. Snotty bitch like her wasn't the blond's kind of girl. Hard to give it to a girl like her when she's already got a stick up her ass.

He pulls out a lollipop from his jeans - the last one from the stash he grabbed from Tae - to unwrap and shove into his mouth. He teeth work at the stick like he would a cigarette, but he didn't bring those because of course he didn't.

"I should've said things to you first and not Eddie. But I didn't want to go anywhere near you after the volcano bu..." A pause. "The volcano shit. Robin's trying to remain fair, Max says if you look at me funny or with a sneer she'll beat you up."

Billy would put his bets on Max every time, too. Every time. There was a reason they were siblings after all.

"How about this. We only get to taunt each other if we spar against each other," with an indication by his hand to his axe. "And we set fucking boundaries on what not to taunt about. Like your friends, and you bringing up my home life. Because I'm going to taunt you and I know it, but I can at least try to not hit the shit you're a little bitch about."

And there that is. Already fracturing this truce before it's even off the ground. Billy looks away, already shamed. Said shame shows on his face even. It was like when he let the 'f' word out around Tommy (and Kavinsky at one point). "...I shouldn't have said that. Stupid of me."

There was a lot in that and Steve is stunned for a second. What struck him the most was how genuine the non-apology was. How Billy seems to realize what was wrong with how things went down. And then he pulled back on 'bullshit'. Not using the word like so many people who know about this story avoid it. Instantly and without Steve even really asking for it.

If there was ever proof of growth, it was that. And it let Steve take the rest of the stuff he said with nothing more than an eyeroll and a snort of laughter.

"Like you're not a little bitch about your shit too, Hargrove?" He says it with a grin as though to wave away the shame. Out of everything Billy could have said, this was almost nothing. If this was the worst things got, the two of them might even manage a friendship some day.

"Alright. How about you throw in a lollipop and we shake on that? Sounds like a solid deal."

Billy was learning that words could be super harmful. It started with Tommy and the word 'freak'. He could call Eddie that, but the blond was finding it was easier to only call him that, and no one else. Small changes that were making bigger impacts than Billy could see. He glances to Steve, waiting for the verbal retaliation that doesn't come for him taunting.

He's surprised to see the stunned look for a moment. So he says nothing and just chews over the candy a little bit longer as the silence hangs between them.

The remark about Billy being a little bitch instantly raises his own hackles. It gets him ready to fight, and he could. He has an axe. So his hand tightens but the grin takes the wind out of his fighting sails. A joke. A joke instead of a reprimand for his taunt. Now it's his turn to be stunned.

The remark for a piece of his candy gets a shake of the head. "Nope. You work on earning lollipops from me and I'll work on forgiveness from you. Maybe one day we'll be able to trade."

Steve smiles. Genuinely smiles. He extends his hand out to Billy. "You've got a deal. But the lollipops better be worth it."

After the shake, Steve feels tired. Not just from the exercise but from the whole conversation. He cracks his back and stands up to stretch the rest of the lactic acid from his body.

"Alright. I am going to call it a day. But I'm taking Lark's dog for a run in the morning and I'll probably hit the gym for a bit after that if you wanna get a start on the sparring." An olive branch. They were on a team together, once. Not the best time either of them had but still. They could be teammates again. "Let me know if you wanna join up anytime."

"They're Tae's. She gave a handful to me when I had to go in for stitches during the portals thing." His hand goes up to touch where the medical thread had closed him back up, running along one of the scars left in the wake of it all. "She's got lime though, so they're not all great."

He sucks on the lollipop for a long moment, then reaches to shake on their truce. Their promise. At least it wasn't all on Billy now to be better than he was before. Steve was going to as well. He doesn't say it, but it helps... it helps him feel less alone about what he's trying to deal with.

And he has no idea what you're thinking about Steve. He had a great time on that basketball team, wiping the floor with you during practice.

"Yeah, I'm usually up early to get my training and workouts done," because he had gotten that schedule in place picking times when it seemed Steve (or the other Hawkins people) weren't at the gym. And no one bothered his running on the beach. "If I'm not already in here, check my room or the beach. I'll push your limits."

"Your room, right." Steve had looked at the layout and noticed where his room was. All the way out as far as he could be. He clears his throat and goes for casual as a tone.

"Uh. So, my room is a little closer to the rest of us. I moved in with Eddie so it's available. I have the Security skill thing so if you want me to move you in closer, I can do that? I am sure if we're on this ship for any amount of time you're gonna want to be closer to your friends and all. Or, not. Whatever works for you. Just wanted to offer."

Frankie said 'Relax'

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gotta be careful with wording bc he already outed him in the other thread

he can’t even be mad since he accidentally outed Steve to Max