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The scene went like this: Eddie and Chrissy had walked into the stables on a weekday, fully expecting to see their knights napping together in one of the spare stalls like barn cats on a break. It wouldn't have been the first, second, or even third time.
Instead, they saw Robin holding up her phone to Steve as he leaned far too close to the screen, his eyes squinting in an attempt to read the many lines of tiny words.
After a minute, Steve looked up from the phone and blinked at Robin, who grinned back at him.
"We got it?"
"We got it," she confirmed, tucking her phone away in her back pocket just in time for Steve to pick her up and spin her around. "We got it!" Robin shouted louder, hanging on tight to Steve's shoulders.
"Holy shit," Steve said in a daze, finally setting his sister back down on the ground.
"It's part-time, but over twenty hours, so we get benefits," Robin read reverently. "Benefits."
"Which is great, because if only one of us had gotten it, we were definitely going to have to get married," Steve said in a tone that suggested he and Robin had actually discussed the possibility many times before. He said it so casually, as if committing insurance fraud was the easiest thing he was going to do that week.
It might be, Eddie thought, all things considered. Those tournaments were no joke, even scripted.
"One of the jobs?" Chrissy asked excitedly, bouncing up to her girlfriend and letting Robin spin her around. Steve perked up immediately when he noticed Eddie had come through the stables with her.
"For fish and wildlife. Well, in partnership with land management," Steve answered Chrissy while looking at Eddie. He held out his hand and Eddie took it, content to watch Steve excitedly explain the job.
"They need a mounted patrol for a couple of state-run lands. Covering ground and keeping an eye out for people and loose animals."
"Animals?"
"Some cattle, some sheep. Really anything that's gotten away from their fields."
“You’re going to be a real life cowboy," Eddie laughed in disbelief. Steve mimed tipping a cowboy hat in Eddie's direction and phew, Eddie hoped the job came with one of those hats. Maybe Benny could make two for Steve and Robin anyway.
“Apparently, there's enough farmland around that cattle come into the parks and campers have gotten hurt. They need people to wrangle them.” Steve shrugged. He tugged on Eddie's arm but he didn't come closer, not just yet.
“You know how to wrangle?” He teased instead and pretended to size up Steve.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Steve winked at him. He mimed lassoing Eddie and bringing him closer. Eddie rolled his eyes, but that didn't stop him from walking right into Steve's arms. "Turns out, they like it when people come with their own horses. One less thing for them to worry about."
"They'll still feed them and stuff, right?" Eddie asked. He looked over at Robin for confirmation. She was showing Chrissy the offer on her phone.
"Yep. Care and food. They'll be employees just like us. And it won't be too hard on them. Easy terrain. We'll still be able to do the shows on the weekends," Robin assured him.
"When are you gonna sleep?" Eddie asked, worried. The two of them were exhausted enough after two show days. Adding more riding days to that sounded like a lot.
Be happy first. Logistics later, Eddie chastised himself. He could bring all the concern out later. Now, he could be excited that his boyfriend and his sister got jobs that they might very well enjoy, along with benefits.
"Whenever Robin tells me to?” Steve tried and Robin shook her head, a wry smile on her face.
She didn’t argue though and Eddie’s mind went back to the day where he saw Robin checking their bank accounts, how Wayne insisted on buying the batteries for Steve’s aids. These two really had just showed up with horses and nothing else.
"It's only part-time. We'll still have two days off a week, even with the faire. Plenty of time for sleep," Robin said confidently. "I bet we can ask to bump up days once the season is over too. Or at least look into overtime or loan outs."
Eddie took advantage of their planning to look over at Chrissy, who shrugged at him. She might know more, since she had read the email, but she also had a concerned expression on her face. Robin and Steve didn’t seem to notice, with Robin already planning out their new work along with their shows.
Eddie reminded himself that this was their life. The Buckley siblings were finally going to get something stable that wasn't just a weekend gig playing pretend at a Renaissance Faire.
"If it gets to be too much, you'll let me know?"
Steve finally really looked at him, seeing the wariness in Eddie's eyes. He shifted so his arms were loose but still locked around Eddie's waist, keeping him willingly trapped against Steve's chest.
"I promise," Steve said quietly.
“I just mean. If you need to— quit, you know?”
Steve seemed hurt by Eddie’s words and he wanted to take them back. But he also didn’t want Steve to have to schedule out his extra sleep during the day time. And even then, he’d be working on horseback far too many days a week with little breaks, at least until the end of the faire season. Which, sure, wasn’t that far away but—
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Eddie,” Steve promised. “I love it here. So does Robin. You and Chrissy and Wayne…you guys make this a home for so many people. I want to be here as long as I can. With you.” Even with his arms around Eddie, Steve leaned back, like Eddie's comments had created an invisible barrier between them and Eddie wanted it gone so badly.
“With me?” Eddie checked, straightening up to take it upon himself to close the distance.
“Was that not clear?” Steve matched Eddie’s movements, arms tightening around Eddie’s waist. "With Robin and I sorting out a whole schedule? And getting a job ten minutes away from here?"
He didn’t wait for answer. Instead, Steve just kissed Eddie, as if all the energy he put into a kiss could say more than his words.
And well, he wasn’t wrong.
"You're right,” Eddie said breathlessly, once he came up for air.
Steve smirked and his thumb started to inch its way underneath Eddie’s shirt to stroke at warm skin on his lower back. “You should be used to that by now.”
"Menace," Eddie breathed. "It's not even that. I just want you to know that you'll both always be part of the family here. Even after you stop getting a paycheck from Wayne," Eddie said, quiet but still loud enough for Robin to hear it. He didn't need to look away to know Chrissy was probably holding her too.
"Yeah?" Steve beamed at him and kissed him again. Shorter this time. He pulled back just to smile at Eddie, like he wanted to just keep looking at him.
“You know, there's room for another trailer right next to ours,” Eddie suggested before he could stop himself. "You could still house the girls in the stables through the winter when you're at your other job and--"
“Hey.” Steve kissed Eddie again, soft and slow, very much not caring that his sister was a whole twenty feet away away. “I’m not going anywhere, remember? We’ve got time to plan. But thank you,” he said, barely stopping his kisses to get the words out.
"For what?" Eddie asked in a daze. Steve’s whole hand was underneath his shirt now, stroking the small of his back in a way that Steve probably thought was comforting, but really just had Eddie grateful that he didn’t have to put on his tight costume pants today.
Steve broke his hold on Eddie’s waist with the other hand, only to reach up to move a stray curl out of Eddie’s face.
"Giving us a place to come home to."
And well, shit. Eddie leaned forward and buried his face in Steve’s neck, relishing in the vibrations he could feel from the quiet laughter.
"I love you both, you know,” he murmured into Steve’s skin.
"I know."
"Wayne does too."
“Yeah,” Steve nudged Eddie up so he could lean in for one more kiss. “We're really lucky."
Next Spring
The main perk of Eddie mapping out all the plots for Forest Hill’s upcoming season was that he quite literally wrote himself into the story. Well, his character, at least.
Not all of the shows. But it made sense for the Forest Hill bard to show up to the tournament and sing of the knights' triumphs and the daring princess.
Right?
"Aren't you a sight." Steve whistled low, letting his gaze eat up his boyfriend in his new bard outfit. Eddie had been saving up for a custom jacket for a few seasons now, a well-made and handcrafted piece he helped design. It was his first time really trying it out, getting a feel for it during a full rehearsal schedule.
"Sorry," Eddie told Robin, pointing towards the other end of the stage where Chrissy was practicing shooting arrows out of her window to the targets below. "Your princess is another tower."
Chrissy took a break just to flip him off, indicating that she had absolutely heard him,
"Very unbecoming of royalty," Eddie shouted at her before Steve caught his attention again. Even with Eddie on the elevated stage, Steve had to lean down from his place atop Betty to kiss Eddie hello.
He took his sweet time with the kiss too, not letting Eddie move away until they both needed air.
“Well, good day to you too Sir William," Eddie managed to get out.
"I won't be able to do that during the actual shows, so I figured that I should take advantage of the rehearsals if I want to ravish my bard."
My bard, Eddie's mind repeated on loop.
Steve winked at him and pulled Eddie back for another kiss.
And another.
And another.
God, it was going to be a good summer.