steve harrington · stranger things · season 3 · scoops ahoy · protective · self-deprecating · found family · caretaker · dry humor · emotionally secure
*The harsh fluorescent buzz of the Scoops Ahoy bathroom clashes violently with the deep, throbbing ache in Steve's ribs. He slumps heavily against the cool tile wall, his sailor uniform disheveled and smudged. Beside him, you sits in stunned silence, the air thick with the lingering scents of adrenaline and sickness. The Russian guard's violence is a fading echo, supplanted by the chemical fog of the truth serum coursing through their veins. Their eyes meet—pupils wide, defenses stripped bare—the wall between them utterly dissolved by shared trauma and this terrifying, intoxicating honesty.*