Even after all these years, Ed still couldn't get enough of how fucking adorable Stede was when he got excited.
"Stede, babe, I was only gone for a week," Ed laughed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend as Stede showered him with kisses.
"I know," Stede whined, burying his head in Ed's neck. "But I missed you."
Ed kissed Stede's forehead and sighed happily. "Missed you too."
Stede grinned. "I missed you more."
"Missed you most," Ed countered and booped Stede's nose with a wink.
They both dissolved into giggles, and for a while, they just stood there in the hallway, grinning happily and holding each other close, until Ed broke the silence. "So, what have you been up to while I was gone?"
At that, Stede's eyes lit up. "Oh! I discovered this new queer horror podcast, and it's so good, Ed!"
Ed smiled fondly at him. He would never understand how Stede, his golden retriever of a boyfriend, listened to horror podcasts, of all things, to fall asleep. Something about eldritch monsters being less scary than other people, Stede had told him once—Ed would rather take his chances with the horrors of public transport than with a werewolf. But Stede always got so excited about the new podcasts he discovered that Ed couldn't help but be excited with him.
"Yeah? What's it about?"
Ed knew immediately that he had asked the right question because Stede lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. "Oh, it's so cool, Ed! It's set in this post-apocalyptic world—well, not world, exactly, it's mostly set in a forest in Northern Canada—anyway, the narrator is an eldritch god with hundreds of eyes, but the story is told from so many different perspectives! I think there are at least 20 main characters who are all connected! And also, they're all queer, and some of them are—"
Suddenly, Stede paused, looking down at his hands with something between embarrassment and guilt. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I've been rambling again, haven't I? You don't want to hear about this."
"What?" Ed asked, tilting his head in confusion. Where did that come from all of a sudden? "Of course I do, that's why I asked."
Stede raised his eyebrows. "Really? But you just got back from your conference, you must be exhausted! And I don't want to bore you—"
"Stede," Ed interrupted gently, "you couldn't bore me if you tried."
Stede chuckled softly. "That's very sweet of you, darling."
"No, seriously! Try it! Try to bore me!" Ed demanded, and Stede laughed.
"Alright, give me a second—oh! Did you know that a peanut is neither a nut nor a pea, but a legume?"
"Not boring, love legumes—and nuts," Ed answered with a wink.
"Ed!" Stede giggled. "Okay, how about this? Did you know that a "jiffy" is actually a proper time unit for 1/60th of a second?"
Ed raised an eyebrow. "Really? Need to remember that the next time we watch Good Omens."
"Why—" Stede began, "Oh, right, Aziraphale says that a lot, doesn't he? I wonder if angels are really that fast…"
"See," Ed pointed out, "not boring, either."
Stede frowned. "Hmm, you're right. Well, how's that: did you know that most spiders are nearsighted?"
"Ew," Ed shuddered, "is that why these creepy fuckers always come so close? Ugh. But," he added, remembering the point of their conversation, "still not boring."
Stede giggled. "Okay, okay, I believe you." He sighed, cuddling closer to Ed. "Thank you, love, seriously. No one has ever really cared about my special interests before. It means a lot that you do."
"Of course I care about them, babe," Ed said softly. "I care about you. And your special interests are a part of you and your identity, you know? So they're special to me, too."
Tears were gathering in Stede's eyes, his lips wobbling dangerously, and nope, Ed absolutely couldn't have that.
"Also," he added with a grin, "can you please go back to talking about that podcast now, because it sounds fucking fascinating."
At that, Stede practically vibrated with excitement. "Okay, so like I said, almost all of the characters are queer, but some of them are also monsters, or even dead!"
Ed frowned in confusion. "Wait, like, in a 'bury your gays' way?"
"No, in a zombie and ghost and weird creature way! Like, imagine if Frankenstein's creature got love and support and was also nonbinary and in love with a transmasc ghost? That's my favorite character from the show. And I know it's a horror story, but it's also so cozy and bittersweet and—"
"Stede?" Ed interrupted suddenly. "Can we please listen to an episode together? Because that sounds fucking amazing."
Stede's eyes widened. "Really? Is that okay?"
"Okay?" Ed laughed softly, giving Stede a quick kiss on the forehead. "Babe, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be obsessed with this podcast. I mean, you love it, and there's a nonbinary Frankenstein?"
"Frankenstein's creature," Stede corrected immediately.
Ed chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, Frankenstein's creature, you know what I mean. Point is, I want to listen to this story with you."
Stede's timid smile quickly turned into a wide grin, and Ed's chest hurt with how much he adored this silly man. He took Ed's hand and pulled him to the couch, quickly opening Spotify on his computer to start the first of—
"Wait, 155 episodes?" Ed gasped. "Stede, holy fuck, how did you listen to 155 episodes in one week?"
"Well," Stede said, blushing slightly, "I told you it's very addictive. And like I said, I missed you."
"Aww." Ed smiled, wrapping his arms around Stede. "I missed you, too. Wish I'd thought of distracting myself with a podcast, though. I mostly just sat around all bored, wishing I was home with you."
Stede smiled at him. "You're home now."
"Fuck yeah, I am. And I'm not leaving anytime soon. Can we start the podcast now?" Ed asked impatiently.
"Oh, yes!" Stede nodded eagerly and handed Ed his phone. When Ed gave him a confused look, he clarified, "The transcripts. So you can read along."
Fuck, Ed loved him so much. He often had trouble focusing on audio-only media because of his ADHD, but he and Stede had discovered that reading along with the subtitles—or, in this case, transcripts—helped a lot. Ed probably wouldn't even have thought of asking for them until halfway through the episode, but of course, Stede had remembered—he always did.
"Ooh!" Stede interrupted his thoughts. "Did I tell you there's also a demon who's in a queerplatonic—"
"Stede!" Ed whined. "I'm already far too excited for this, if you tell me any more, I'm going to explode."
"Sorry," Stede giggled, giving Ed a quick kiss, and pressed play. The opening music was soft and soothing, and Ed could feel himself relax. Stede was right: for a horror podcast, this was really cozy. The story was fascinating, too, but even with the transcripts, the only thing Ed could focus on was Stede.
He was mouthing along with his favorite parts, happily wiggling his shoulders when something funny happened and nervously rocking back and forth whenever one of the characters was in danger.
Ed could have watched him like this forever, so adorably excited as he got to share something he so obviously loved with his boyfriend. And even when the scary parts made Ed want to hide under his blanket, it was more than worth it just to see Stede so happy.