little things; stranger things littlespace oneshots

♡ 7 - tired ♡

cg!eddie
little!steve (3-4)

request from Alli-Kai-Chaos  :-)!
i do not like the way this turned out. i'm sorry! feel free to drop a different request if you would like me to make a better one.
i will try to make my future writing less subpar😭

tw - mild swearing once or twice

"Maybe if you were actually useful, you'd be heading to college and not wasting your life being a failure." Steve's father spat at him in the midst of an argument.
"Oh, like you're any better. How's your successful life? Where's your girlfriend? Or your job?" Steve fired back.
"I could say the same for you, asshole. Buckle up, cause' this is where you're life's headed. This is as good as it gets." his father retorted.
"Yeah, whatever." Steve mumbled under his breath, heading out the front door and slamming it.

He sat down in his car and dropped his head onto the wheel. This morning was not off to a good start.
He drove along the roads absent-mindedly, thinking about his earlier argument. He had a strained relationship with his father, no doubt. Sometimes he just wished he didn't care as much about him and his words. They got to him sometimes. But anywho, this was not something Steve wanted to think about right then.

He arrived to Scoops Ahoy at 11:15 for his 11 AM shift, quickly heading into the back room. Robin suddenly burst through the doors.
"You dingus! You're already fifteen minutes late, you're lucky it's not twenty, or you'd be fired. Now, get on your uniform and help me, I'm getting eaten alive out there by angry customers who want their ice cream!" She lectured, before running back out to the front.

Steve began putting on his uniform.
"God, this crap looks stupid." he complained, putting on the hat.
Steve sighed. "This is as good as it gets." he mumbled to himself. He adjusted his necktie one more time and then headed towards the front.

He was instantly met with the loud chatter of customers out and about the ice cream shop.
Robin stood behind the counter, scooping ice cream rather aggressively.
"Thank god you're here! Finally, we can start cranking out these orders." She exhaled. Steve looked up and saw a long, long line of impatient looking customers. The store wasn't all that large, so it was rather crowded.
"Don't just stand there like a moron. Help!" Robin pleaded.
"Oh- oh yeah, gotcha!" Steve said, zoning back in.
He took a register and got to work.

Roughly five and a half hours in, Steve began eyeing the clock more and more frequently. It read 4:30 in the afternoon.
"Just a half hour to go." Steve thought.
For the majority of his shifts, he went into overdrive while he took orders and scooped ice creams all day. However, he zoned back in a little when he felt aching in his feet. He was exhausted from being on his feet all day and wrestling rock-solid ice cream with a scooper.

The rush of customers had ended a long while ago, leaving the shop virtually empty. He leaned against the wall, sighing again. He was tired of this job, really, but he desperately needed the money to support himself and his father, and hopefully get somewhere better one day.
"But this is as good as it gets." The thought popped up again.
He just wanted to go home and hug his teddy bear and blanket, and maybe watch a movie.
He was tired. His feet ached. His dad thought he was a total loser. His head pounded, and he hadn't eaten or drank anything that day. He looked weary.

Robin glanced over and saw Steve, who looked ready to drop.
"Yikes, Stevie. You look like a corpse. Are you doing alright?" she asked, waving her hand in front of Steve's face, who seemed to be in a daze. He zoned back in.
"Oh- what? Yeah, I," he exhaled. "Just a little tired today, that's all," he tried to play it cool.

"Yeah. Not buying it. It's okay- go home early today. I won't tell. I'll take care of the shop! There's hardly anyone here anyways." she offered.
Robin truly was so sweet.
"Are you sure?" Steve asked. He felt bad leaving her there, but he was just all over the place.
"Yeah, take care of yourself." she nodded.
"Oh thanks Robs, you're the best." Steve said gratefully, giving her a quick hug and heading out.

He didn't leave the store just yet. He went into the bathroom and sat against the wall. Thank god it was over, he seriously needed some fluids and maybe a nap.
"A nap, that sounds nice.." he thought, as his head began to feel fuzzy.
"No, not now, don't do this now," he panicked, but it was too late. The exhaustion had taken over and he had fully slipped.

To say Stevie was scared is an understatement. He looked around and he was confused and frightened. He didn't understand where he was, or why he was there. He knew just a minute ago, why didn't he know now?
Tears began to fall down his face. But just then, someone burst into the bathroom.
"Oh! Ah, sorry man, I didn't realize-" they paused.
"Steve? What's wrong, man?"

Steve looked up. It was Eddie! Stevie breathed a sigh of relief. He had concern about how Eddie would react to his little self, but it was mostly washed away at the moment because Eddie could help him get away from everything.
"Why're you crying? Can I help you, please?" Eddie asked. Stevie nodded back.
"Tired," he whined, with a childlike lisp. This alerted Eddie.

Eddie kneeled down. He had seen littles before, so this wasn't anything new.
"Stevie, how old are you?" he asked.
Steve was hesitant to answer, but he didn't really know how to lie. He held up four fingers.
"m' three," said Steve.
"Uhh, bud, that's four." Eddie smiled, putting one of Steve's fingers down. He was glad that Eddie took his regression well.
"oops!" Steve giggled quietly.
While Eddie didn't know for sure, he had a pretty good idea of Steve's regressed age now.

"Alright, kiddo. I can take you to my house, but you're going to have to pretend to be a big boy for a bit. Can you do that?" Eddie asked him. A quick look of uneasiness passed Steve's face, but he nodded nonetheless.

Eddie grabbed Steve's bag and they walked out. Stevie's approach at pretending to be a "big boy" was just to stay completely silent and not make any eye contact. He knew he probably looked a little strange, but he wanted to leave too much for him to care. He sat in the back of Ed's car. Eddie drove them home while Steve slept soundly against the window.

When they parked onto the driveway, Eddie got out and opened the door for Steve, gently unbuckling him and shaking him awake.
"C'mon, bub. You can go back to sleep in a nice, warm bed inside." Eddie bribed, grabbing his hand.
Steve groggily let Eddie lead him inside, and he collapsed onto the bed once Eddie brought him to it. Steve truly looked drained. Eddie hurt for him.

He sat down next to Steve.
"You can nap for now, but I've gotta get some food and water for you later. Actually, I'll go get a glass now." Eddie said, trying to get up.
"no.." Steve stirred, half asleep, putting his arm on Eddie.
Eddie sighed.
"Okay, bud. I guess I can stay for awhile." he accepted defeat, laying down next to Steve, who now had his thumb in his mouth.
"t'ank you," Steve said around his thumb before drifting off, and a comfortable silence filled the air.

- 1256 words
thank you for the request!
question: do y'all think nancy should end up with steve or jonathan?🤔