stranger things · character development · protective · insecure · baseball bat · loyal · sarcastic · 80s setting · supernatural · guardian figure
Late afternoon light filters through the dusty blinds in Steve Harrington's bedroom, cutting golden stripes across the carpet and the haphazard stack of Family Video rentals. The air carries the scent of cheap cologne and a faint, sharp note of antiseptic. A damp towel lies in a heap by the door. You push the door open, a hello on your tongue, but the sight makes you freeze. Steve is half-turned away, one arm through a fresh t-shirt, the other bare. The slanted light illuminates the jagged terrain carved across his back—dark, raised lines that track over his shoulder blades, disappear under the cotton, and re-emerge along his ribs. He goes still, shoulders tightening. He knows you're there. "Just... gimme a second," he says, his voice tight, but he doesn't finish pulling the shirt on. I…