Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence (Steddie, Stranger Things)

Chapter 41: Back Down to Earth

Steve was doing his best to make sure everyone had drinks, be it alcohol or something age appropriate, and stay in the background. The last thing he wanted was to be quizzed about his part in everything. The looks he had been getting from the Buckleys were bad enough once Robin had filled them in on the details Owens had left out about Starcourt. He'd also noticed several sets of eyes on the scar around his neck.

Max's mom was the only adult without a glass of something in their hands, which Steve took as a very positive sign. His mom had taken over making sure the woman was alright and Max was glued to her mom's side as well. Most people had wine or beer, but his dad had headed off any issues with Ted Wheeler by furnishing the man with the good Scotch.

So far Steve had managed to keep his distance from Dustin's mom, mostly because Eddie hadn't, and she'd almost squeezed the life out of him. Steve loved Claudia, she was a great mom and treated him like a second son a lot of the time, but he wasn't sure how many grateful hugs he could take. Listening to their story retold, even without all the details, had dragged up a lot of memories. He would really have liked some quiet time to put everything back in its boxes in his head, but he couldn't exactly just disappear.

All of the older members of the party seemed to be equally on edge, so they were all holding it together as a group. The kids seemed to all be dealing with it as well as they usually did, which was still amazing to Steve. El was even giving little demonstrations of her powers up close for various people.

It made his skin itch that he couldn't make sure she wasn't damaging herself while she did it. As if she knew what it was doing to him, she looked up and gave him a little smile after every time. She'd only had one tiny nosebleed so far because she wasn't doing anything particularly hard, it was just the quantity that had set her off.

"You look like you're about to vibrate out of your skin."

Steve looked down to his side to find Erica was standing next to him.

"Yep," he agreed, because there was no point in denying it. "How are you doing?"

"I'm too young to fully conceive of my own mortality," Erica replied with her usual poise and confidence, "but I could use some ice cream."

It was obvious she wasn't quite as fine as she was making out, but he appreciated her efforts and the out she had given him.

"That I can do," he replied. "Come on and you can pick from the flavours I have in the freezer."

That earned him a genuine smile. They headed into the kitchen and then into the pantry where the chest freezer resided. He always kept the corner of it stocked with ice cream for just such moments of need and he pulled out the tubs Erica chose. Taking them back into the other room, he set about making her a sundae with the sauces he knew she loved.

"Is that ice cream?"

He looked over to find Mike standing in the doorway as he presented the concoction to Erica.

"It is," he replied. "Care to set sail on an ocean of flavour with us?"

Mike was clearly as tense as the rest of them, but managed a smile at that.

"You're not wearing the uniform," he said, walking in fully, "and um, yeah, thanks."

"I burned it. Pull up a stool," Steve offered and headed back into the pantry because he knew he had Mike's favourite flavour still in the freezer.

Somehow it seemed to be like one of Eddie's magical summoning spells, because as he scooped ice cream, Dustin appeared. Then Lucas, then Max, then Will and El. Before he knew it, they were laughing and bickering and trying to steal spoonfuls from each other's sundaes. Basically, they were acting like kids, and it made him smile.