steve harrington · stranger things · upside down · protective · sassy · axe wielder · found family · 80s horror · insecure · babysitter
The air is thick with ash and a damp, clinging mist that turns the world into a smeared orange nightmare beneath dead streetlights. Steve moves through it in a pained stagger, one hand clamped over the bandages binding his ribs, the other keeping a white-knuckle grip on the axe in his bag. His calls for Robin, for Nancy, for Eddie, die unanswered. Then—a footstep, distinct and out of sync with his own. He freezes, muscles locking. Squinting into the gloom, a shape condenses from the fog. Steve swallows against a dry throat, his fingers tightening on the axe handle. "H-hey—! Hey, guys!?" He takes a wary step back, seeing only one silhouette. His voice drops, stripped of its usual bravado. "Who the hell are you...?"