Story [Stranger Things] Songs That We Had Never Heard - Fanfic Summer Olympics - Harringrove Decathlon

Title: Songs That We Had Never Heard
Characters: Steve, Billy, various
Genre: Various (which will probably just mean variations of 'soft fluffy fluff' )
Notes: My third entry for the Fanfiction Summer Olympics. I doubt I'll actually finish any of these decathlons but I'll see where the muse takes me! As always my completed events are linked in the list of events in this post, and for details on any event, see the Olympics thread.

Some of you already know that, although I love Stranger Things, the third season broke my heart. I'd grown to love these two characters so I started reading all the fix-it fics I could find and somewhere along the way they became one of my favorite ships as well. So here is some more self-indulgent fluff and fun and sunshine and roses and brighter futures all around!

Thread title is taken from one of my all-time favorite songs, We Danced Anyway by Deana Carter.

Thank you again to @devilinthedetails for hosting this awesome challenge, and thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoy.

Star Wars and Non-Star Wars Decathlon:

400 Word Cross Country

110 Word Hurdle: Because The Night

Prime Time Coverage

1500 Word Dash

100 Word Sprint

AU Archery: One Man's Trash

Fantastical Fencing

4x100 Relay

200 Freestyle: Come Sail Away

Single Sentence Shot Put

 

Title: One Man's Trash
Characters/Pairings: Steve, Dustin, Billy, Max (no pairings)
Notes: No one:

Literally no one:

Me: Here's the Stranger Things meets Storage Wars fic nobody anywhere, ever, wanted!

Written for the AU Archery: A story of at least 100 words set in an alternate universe with your character, family, friendship, or couple.

This is the first time in a long time I've written something that's supposed to be utterly stupid and it still didn't turn out quite like I planned but it was fun. I have a real thing for idiots bickering and petty competition.

Also, Storage Wars is one of my biggest guilty pleasures and any mocking is done out of love. A few more notes at the end!

Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoy!

*****

One Man's Trash

*****

Steve peers into the shadowy depths. The space is filled with broken furniture, piles of overstuffed trash bags, and sagging boxes with papers spilling out.

"See anything?" he asks.

Dustin shakes his head. "Looks like junk. But the bags are an unknown variable. Could be garbage, could be something good." He shrugs. "It's a risk, but if we can get it for the right price, it might be worth it. Are we gonna go for it?"

Steve's about to answer when someone jostles him.

"Planning to throw your money away again, Harrington?"

Steve turns his head just enough to see Billy, smirking over his shoulder. Max is standing next to him with sunglasses on and arms crossed, looking just as smug.

"Why, need a loan, Hargrove?" Steve says.

Billy just laughs and turns to whisper something to Max. She nods.

Steve notices Dustin staring at her, and he elbows him. Dustin's crush on Max has already cost them a few lockers. He's not in the mood to lose today.

"Okay, people!" Hopper's shout brings everyone at the auction to attention. "Bidding starts now. Don't forget to pay the lady after!"

His assistant auctioneer Joyce smiles and waves, although everyone already knows who she is.

Nancy and Jonathan, always looking for stock for their trendy little thrift store The Upside Down, place the first bid. Billy bids higher. Steve quickly deduces that Mike, Lucas, Will, and El are sitting this one out, since this locker doesn't appear to have any of the Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, or Eggo waffles collectibles they're most interested in, and soon it's down to him, Jonathan, and Billy.

The bids continue to climb, fifty dollars at a time, and finally Steve sees Nancy shake her head. Sure enough, Jonathan drops out of the bidding.

"Steve!" Dustin hisses. "It's too high! Abort!"

"No way!" Steve says.

He knows rationally that the price is already higher than the locker's worth but he doesn't care. Every loud, grating "YUP!" from Billy makes him more determined to win. Before Billy and Max came to town he was the undisputed king of storage locker auctions in the greater Indianapolis area and Harrington Vintage was one of the most popular secondhand stores around. He's not letting this obnoxious pair of siblings who don't even have their own store get the better of him.

They've reached eight hundred and fifty dollars now, and Steve calls out, "A thousand."

Dustin clutches at his baseball cap and winces.

Hopper calls going once, going twice, waits a second, and then says, "Sold for a thousand dollars."

"He totally bid you up, Steve!" Dustin says, jabbing a finger at Steve. "And you totally fell for it! Again!"

"We'll make our money back later," Steve says. "They're not getting one damn locker today."

As everyone starts to move on to the next unit, Steve feels a hand slap his shoulder.

"Enjoy your garbage dump, amigo," Billy says. "The broken box spring looks like fun."

"Ask nicely and I might let you try it out." Steve gives Billy a smug smile of his own. "Besides, the auction's not over yet, amigo."

With Dustin in tow he pushes past Billy and Max and saunters away.

*****

Spoiler: Notes

Fun fact: If you google 'Eggo collectibles' at least half of the results are Stranger Things related!

I don't watch much TV but do I have a weakness for shows of the Pawn Stars and Storage Wars kind? YUUUUUUUUP! I started binging Storage Wars again when things got really bad a few months ago and the idea of the Stranger Things people being storage locker hunters instead popped into my brain and I've been trying to do something with it ever since. Maybe one day I'll manage to turn it into an actual fic or a vignette series or something (I have IDEAS, it's just actually writing them into a coherent story that's hard!), but I figured for now this was a good place for it.

Thanks again for reading!

 

I know very little about Stranger Things (never seen a single episode) and even less about Storage Wars. But I did enjoy the interplay between the characters. Steve seems a bit...impulsive? Definitely going to keep reading and I feel like I should check out Stranger Things now. I feel so uninformed.

 

@JediMaster_Jen Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I don't even like a lot of TV, but I highly recommend both these shows! I'm so glad you enjoyed that vignette, and it means even more to me that you'd read it despite not being familiar with these fandoms. Thank you again!

*****

Title: Come Sail Away
Characters: Steve/Billy, Max, El
Notes: Written for the 200 Freestyle: A 200 word story about your character, family, friendship or couple with a free choice of any theme.

This was a rejected drabble idea, and it really should have stayed in the rejected pile but it's been a long day and I just wanted to do something soft and happy. Not canon-compliant, not very in-character, but maybe it will make you smile.

Title is from the Styx song of the same name, because that's what popped into my head and I couldn't think of anything better.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

*****

Come Sail Away

*****

"I could really use some ice cream," Max says.

"Yeah!" El agrees. "Ice cream!"

"Billy!" Max throws a handful of sand at her stepbrother. She can't tell if he's sleeping or just ignoring her.

"What?" Billy says.

"We want ice cream," Max says.

"You've got your own money now, why don't you buy it?" Billy says.

"Because we're guests," Max says.

"You're family, not guests," Billy argues.

Max grins wickedly. "Maybe Steve will get it for us. Then we can - what was it, Steve, set sail on an ocean of flavor? Do you remember that?"

Steve groans and throws an arm across his face. "I'll remember it until I die."

"I never got to hear you say it," Billy says mournfully. "Or see the uniform in person."

Steve sits up. "Are you actually upset that you didn't get to make fun of me?"

"I didn't want to make fun of you!" Billy says. "At least, that's not all I wanted to do."

Steve ponders that for a minute. "Oh."

Max points down the beach, El giggling beside her. "Ice cream. Go."

"Ahoy, baby," Steve says into Billy's ear, and he thinks the starry-eyed grin on Billy's face matches his own.

 

Love the interplay between Max, Billy and Steve.

 

@JediMaster_Jen I'm so glad you enjoyed! I just want them all to be happy. Snarky, but happy. Thank you so much for reading!

*****

Title: Because The Night
Characters: Steve/Billy, Max
Notes: Written for the 110 Word Hurdle: 110 words in which the name or names of your character, family, friendship or couple aren’t mentioned.

Soft self-indulgent post-S3 AU of course!

Title is from Because The Night by 10,000 Maniacs. Well, technically it's a Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith song, but even though I'm a huge Springsteen fan this has always been my favorite version.

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy!

*****

Because The Night

*****

The nightmares get worse after Starcourt.

Sometimes Robin comes over and they stay awake together. But she's not always around and he feels guilty for getting her involved.

One night Max shows up on his doorstep, clinging to her stepbrother's hand, both of them looking exhausted.

He lets them in, because his parents are away again and probably wouldn't notice if they were home.

Max goes to the guest bedroom and leaves them on the couch, waiting for the sun to rise.

One night Max isn't there.

They end up in bed, all tentative touches and apologies and forgiveness.

They sleep that night, and wake up to sunlight and hope.