ᴍᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ- sᴛᴇᴅᴅɪᴇ

11- ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ ᴍɪʀʀᴏʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ

A few hours later, it was safe to say that the two were absolutely zooted. On another planet, perhaps. And even though Steve had only taken a few drags, compared to Eddie's many- they were just as gone as each other.
Both of them laid sprawled out on the bed, staring at the ceiling not saying much, but when they did, they found it the funniest thing in the world. Between ripples of laughter, they had quite the conversation.
Or at least, they did. Any witnesses to it would've been completely confused on the topic. A whole load of nonsense.

Steve sat up carefully, surveying the room with his hand on his stomach. He chuckled at the colours as they morphed into shapes on the wall, dancing and singing at him as he stared.
"Dude," he spoke, jolting Eddie's leg. "This music is so cool, man."

From the other side of the bed, Munson lifted his head, pushing his bangs out of the way of his eyes.
Vision being glazed over, he turned his head to the direction in which Harrington was staring.
"There's no music."

Confusion. "What?"

"There's no music on, H."

Steve huffed, pushing his fingers through his hair.
"Munson, look." A finger pointed at the wall. "It's dancing."

Eddie dragged his next word out for a while, seemingly trying to process his findings as he straightened himself up onto his pillow.
"Whaaaaat-"

The two sat in awe, jaw slightly dropped at a shelf full of vinyl. Nothing was moving, nothing was singing, but to them, the covers seemed to be other-worldly.

"Yeah, no," he continued, seemingly coming to his senses. "It's definitely worked."

"You know, I don't actually think it has."

Munson slowly trailed his eyes over to Steve's, compressing a laugh of disbelief. 'I don't think it has?' If only he could've seen himself.

"Maybe you're not as bad as I thought, Harrington."

This caught Steve's attention, sobering him up just enough to tune his ears into the conversation.
"What?"

Munson cleared his throat, sinking slightly back down into his pillows. "You're not as bad as I thought."

The person of topic blinked. He didn't know what to say, but the moment of sobriety was soon over when something caught his eye. "What's that?"

They both looked over to a pen-looking object on Munson's bedside table, placed strategically next to a pot of what Steve recognised as black nail varnish.
It was very obviously some sort of writing tool, but he still felt the need to ask.

"It's eyeliner."

"Why'd you have that?"

Eddie scrunched his eyebrows.
"To put on my eyes?"

Understandably, that made perfect sense to Steve.
"Wait, that's like... actually cool."

"Well, yeah, to be expected... why?- you want some?"

Harrington pursed his lips slightly, seemingly thinking very hard. Truthfully though, there wasn't a thought in his mind at all.
"Yeah- yeah why not."

Eddie nodded slightly, cautiously reaching over for the makeup. Once grasped in hand, he crossed his legs and shuffled further down the bed. Steve crossed his too, and they were then facing each other directly.
It was like the world went silent. Steve leaned in slightly and Eddie did too, lifting his elbow to rest it on his knee as he steadied his aim. But it wasn't working, his grip was too shaken, and there was only one possible way to do it.

He raised his two hands, cupping Steve's face gently as the two stayed in silence, too scared to say anything. Steve's breath caved on itself as Eddie's thumb carefully strained his cheek, leaving enough space for the eyeliner to be comfortably drawn on.
He paid close attention from the contrast of the rings and his fingers on his skin, the temperature, the quirks of his hand. The way the calluses sat and the way the bones were shaped, perfectly resting on his face.
The stick swayed back and forth, leaving the residue of darkness on his waterline- then it was time for the other side.
Munson carefully swapped the pen over to his other hand, and started again.

Steve watched the man in front of him, studying his concentration face more than any books he was given in school. It appeared that Eddie Munson was a lot more interesting than Science or Mathematics. A lot more interesting than a lot of things in general, actually.

In the next moment, Eddie was pulling away, lips turning into a smile, not his normal smirk. "Done."

The lid clicked back onto the pen.
Steve sat there, still slightly stunned from the contact. "Right," he managed to stutter, uncrossing his legs and turning to his side. "thanks. I'll uh, go and look at it."

"Bathroom's on your right- there's a mirror in there."

"Thanks."

Steve stood himself up, and headed out of the door into that direction.