#actually convinced at this point that max is the only person to ever treat el normally | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rainandhotchocolate · 5 years

Note

Hi. Just want to say that I love your writing. It's great. I wanted to ask if you could please do a Sirius Black x Reader fic, where y/n is the younger sister of Lucius Malfoy, and she and Sirius have this love-hate relationship with each other, but soon realize that they both really have romantic feelings for each other, and having to deal with that and the drama that follows. If you could I would really appreciate it

A/N oh hi! This has been in my inbox for a while lelel here is your fic! This will be a lil mini-series, so this is just the start I promise

Tension

“Sirius!” Y/N had spotted the short, curly hair of an 11-year old boy walking in front of him, wearing a slightly ridiculous looking suit. If he had heard, heobviously didn’t want to turn around, keeping his head rigidly to the front. Y/Nignored this fact and followed him down the station and into the train.

“Sirius! It’s Y/N!” Y/N continued to call out loudly,getting more and more frustrated with Sirius’ now clear attempts to ignore her.Finally, he huffed and turned around to face her.

“Can you please just stop,” he hissed at her,still not stepping close enough to have a normal conversation. Y/N wastaken aback. She had never seen this side of him, loud and feisty, his eyesboring into hers. Y/N was used to him being quiet and polite, eyes down and avoiding hers at all costs.

“I just thought you might want to sit wit-” Y/N mumbled, feeling increasingly stupid for thinking he’d want tosit with her. She was just the person dragged along to all his familiesparties, he probably was told he had to be nice to her, or else.

“Go sit with your brother.” He turned aroundbefore he couldn’t even see her reaction, going to find a compartment.

Y/Nstood, stunned for a minute, her face a bright red and arm hurting from luggingher backpack awkwardly on one arm. Suddenly the train jolted into life,bringing Y/N back to her senses. With a deep sigh, she continued down thehallway, looking in each compartment to see if there was room.

She passed Sirius, sitting with a boy with jet-blackhair who was chatting loudly, Sirius hanging onto his every word. Y/N quickly looked away and continued down towardsthe last compartments at the back of the train. There was only one left that was almostempty, with a sullen-looking boy sitting inside. Y/N carefully pulled back thecompartment door, trying to smile in a way that would hopefully make this boy immediatelywant her to sit next to him.

“Uh, hi! I’m Y/N, there aren’t any other emptycompartments, would you mind if I sat here?”

“Oh… um, I guess so” The boy said slowly,clearly not actually wanting any company but also not wanting to be rude. Hegestured to the seat across from him, still gripping tightly to the book he washolding. Y/N sat down, putting away her backpack and looked up at himexpectantly. He had already returned to his book, looking like he wasconcentrating incredibly deeply on the one sentence.

“Are you going to maybe tell me your name?” Y/Nsaid after a prolonged pause, tapping her fingers anxiously on the chair as sheforced herself to be friendly.

“Oh, right, sorry” He looked surprisinglydistressed for such a simple question but closed the book nonetheless and lookedup at her, “It’s Remus, Remus Lupin.”

“Lovely to meet you” Y/N beamed at him. Remus finallysmiled back in return, revealing light scratch marks across his cheek. Y/N bither lip to avoid asking about it, hearing her mothers voice in her head doNOT ask personal questions about people, it’s rude and insolent. You don’t wantto embarrass us, do you?

They continued to chat across the train ride,Y/N buying them both food to try from the trolley once lunchtime had rolled in.

“Have you ever tried any of these?” Y/N asked,looking at the mini feast she had purchased now covering the seats beside her.

“Yes of course! I’m always a sucker for the chocolatecauldrons.” Remus nodded his head, his eyes lighting up for the first time sincethey’d met, “What’s your favourite?”

“I’ve never had any of them.”

“What!?” Remus stared at her and Y/N laughedat his sudden burst of enthusiasm, “I thought you were a pureblood?”

“I am, we just aren’t allowed sweets in thehouse” Y/N shrugged, having never thought twice about it.

“Oh, you are in for a treat, try these onesfirst” He handed her a chocolate cauldron, getting started on a packed of BertieBott’s every flavour bean. Y/N opened the packed, watching the cauldron steamas the pulled it out and took a large bite out of it.

“Merlin’s beard, this is the best thing I’veever eaten!” Y/N eyes were wide as she felt herself salivating for more. Remusgave out a deep laugh and shook his head as Y/N grinned widely at him.

“I am very glad to have met you,” Y/N said,digging into more sweets sitting beside her. Out of the corner of her eye, shesaw Remus beam at her.

The train pulled slowly into Hogsmeade station,and Y/N and Remus rushed to pull on their robes and get ready to head up toHogwarts for the first time.

“You ready?” Y/N looked over at Remus, grinningwidely. He instead looked like he was about to puke.

“Uh, I guess” He gave a not very convincinggrimace and walked ahead of her out of the station. Y/N narrowed her eyes but followedhim out into the platform.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years this way!” a gruff, extremely large man called out from the right corner where the smallest and mostnervous-looking students were walking up to him, “alright I’m Hagrid, thegamekeeper ‘ere, I’m takin’ you up to the castle so follow me.”

His face broke out into a large grin softeninghis very rough features as he ushered the kids towards the castle. They reachedthe edge of a huge lake, a small pier leading off the edge where there was over100 boats sitting clustered around it.

“Everyone in a boat, max 3 to each one! Don’want any of you getting drenched before you even get to school.”

Y/N eagerly grabbed Remus’ arm and pulled him intoa boat at the front.

“Come on, come on, I don’t want to miss our firstview of it! My brother said it was amazing, I reckon he probably cried but don’ttell him I told you that cause he could hex you into next week”

“Your brother already goes here?” Remus didn’tlook at her, clearly trying to calm himself down by talking to her.

“Yeah he’s a sixth year, but I doubt I’ll see himmuch around here, his friends are not the nicest people” Y/N laughed, elbowingRemus awkwardly, cringing hard at her obvious attempts to cheer him up. He saidnothing but kept his eyes on the water watching intently for his first view ofthe castle.

And suddenly there were lights, seeminglyeverywhere. The castle came into full view, towering over them. There was agasp that came across all the boats as the first years took in the grandeur thatwas Hogwarts. Y/N could feel her heart beating wildly as she saw it up closefor the first time, her new home. Hopefully, it’s better than the one I justleft.

The boats pulled into a dock on the other sideof the lake, and Hagrid brought them all up to the entrance of the castle, bringingthem up to the huge, ornate Grand Hall doors where a stern-looking witch with emeraldgreen robes stood in the middle of them.

“Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall and the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly.”

Minerva’s gaze swept across the first years as she began herspeech. It was her time to try and take the measure of the new students. Seewhich of them might join her house.

“The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while youare here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. Youwill have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitoryand spend free time in your house common room.” She narrowed her eyes as theboy Sirius had been sitting with nudged him and grinned.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each hasproduced outstanding wizards and witches. While you are at Hogwarts, yourtriumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose housepoints.”

“At the end of theyear, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour.I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. TheSorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of theschool. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while youare waiting.”

She paused momentarily, piercing her eyes into the worried group in front of her.

“I shall return for you when we are ready for you. Pleasewait quietly.”

There was silence amongst the students for a moment, andthen an outbreak of whispers broke out across the hallway. The loudest wasSirius and his friends, and Y/N couldn’t help but roll her eyes, feelingresentful for how he had treated her earlier.

“I bet I can pick which house everyone is going to be in”the black-haired boy said cockily, eyeing the crowd.

“Well James, I can tell you an easy one – that’s a Malfoyover there, easy Slytherin” Sirius was obviously pointing at Y/N, and Y/N felther face flush as everyone around her stared intently at her.

“You’re a Malfoy?” Remus had turned to her, stared at her inthe exact way she hoped she wouldn’t be looked at.

“Yes, I hope you won’t judge me on that though,” She lookedat him, a little pleadingly. He frowned at her but said nothing. James andSirius were still talking behind them.

“You’re definitely a Gryffindor” James was pointing at agirl with bright red hair who gave a huge sigh to a boy standing next to her.

James was about to continue but the doors had reopened andProfessor McGonagall had stepped through.

“Follow me please” She opened the door behind her andindicated that the students should follow her. Y/N wanted to gasp again themoment she entered the Great Hall. There were more than 1,000 candles floatingabove the four tables where hundreds of students were watching the nervousgroup incredibly closely. The night sky was above them as if the entire roofwas open and Y/N couldn’t help but grab Remus’ arm.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing magic” Remus finally gave her asmile.

Sitting on a stool at the front of the hall was an old and raggedlooking pointed wizards’ hat. Professor McGonagall held out a long scroll of parchmentnext to it.

“When I call your name, you will come up and sit on thestool, and place the Sorting Hat on your head. ABBOT, SUSAN.”

Susan walked shakily up towards the stool, lookingincreasingly green. The hat fell a little down across her eyes. Y/N could seeher legs still shaking.

“HUFFLEPUFF” The Sorting Hat yelled out to the crowd, resultingin an uproar on what Y/N presumed was the Hufflepuff table.

“BLACK, SIRIUS” Some of the Slytherin’s gave out a cheer as he stepped up the steps towards the stool, avoiding their gaze. It tooka while to get out an answer, with Sirius seemingly mumbling at it every fewseconds.

“Well then, GRYFFINDOR!”

The Gryffindor table roared out a cheer, along with James.Y/N glanced over at the Slytherin table, specifically at another curly-hairedboy glaring over at the Gryffindor table. Ten bucks that Sirius gets ahowler tomorrow morning.

The group of people got smaller and smaller with theblack-haired boy, James getting into Gryffindor, House of the arrogant, Y/Nhad whispered to Remus, along with the red-headed girl, Lily Evans, who seemeda little disappointed.

“MALFOY, Y/N” Y/N felt like she could puke. She walked up ontothe stool and placed the Sorting Hat onto her head, careful not to have itcover her eyes.

“Mmmmm, another Malfoy, well this is an easy one” And beforeY/N could say another word the Sorting Hat yelled out, “SLYTHERIN!”

The table screamed out cheers, with Lucius’ friends bangingloudly on the table, as she walked over towards the other first years sittingthere.

Finally, Professor McGonagall called out Remus’name, looking down at them all under her glasses, waiting for him to shakilytake the seat and placed the sorting hat on him. It took almost the longest thananyone else, clearly undecided on where to place him. After over 5 minutes and softwhispering beginning to erupt throughout the Great Hall.

Finally, the Sorting Hat grinned and looked outat the crowd.

“Slytherin!”

Taglist: @averytruerayofsunshine @siriuslyjanhvi @blushingskywalker @blackpinkdolan @thebabblingbookworm @cherrie511 @imlukesnirvana @avengersassemblee @maraudersandco @sly-vixen-up2nogood @katbernoulli @sirius-lysad @evyiione @minerva26love @aikeia@gollyderek @greatwombatblaze

#sirius black fanfiction #sirius black x reader #sirius black x you #malfoy reader #Sirius Black #sirius #marauders #marauders fic #marauders imagine #harry potter fanfiction #hate to love #rainandhotchocolate

227 notes · View notes

dcbicki · 5 years

Note

I don't think the problem is fans don't like selfish characters - after all Mike is selfless a lot of the time and there're much more self-absorbed characters in the show. Fans just have favourite 'perfect cinnamon rolls' absolved from all responsibility and everyone else exists only to fawn over them or be hated on. And with ST, the show smh plays into this by setting up Mike as everyone's support and, when he is not, for a change, letting other characters being unapologetic dicks to him.

But if fans just ignore the fact that their faves are flawed, then surely that means they’re going to look for the faults in other characters as a means to justify their own faves’ behavior, no? And that it’s gonna be easier to spot a someone’s flaws if you’re not actively rooting for them – rather, you’re in direct opposition to them because seeing things from their point of view means the person you’re defending might actually be in the wrong, too?

Admittedly, I don’t think the fandom pays much (or any) attention as to which characters are selfish until they actually do something that displeases them… which they should because some of the most overhyped, over-praised characters in the show – most often their “perfect cinnamon roll” faves – also happen to be some of the most self-centered. Mike is no different, only he gets more hate from the fandom because the people his selfishness directly affects are fan favourites, so if his motivations don’t line up with theirs, then he’s just seen as an ass. I’ll get shit for this, but it’s gotta be said: Hopper and Will are highkey just as selfish as Mike in the third season (at the very least during the first half in Will’s case), and yet they don’t ever have to apologise for their wants.

Will’s almost egocentrism is glossed over by his fans because he’s been through trauma and he continues to be treated like a baby even though he’s just as flawed as every other character – despite his character literally saying that he doesn’t want to be babied, which should be a clear sign that he’s not to be treated as being *perfect* by the audience. “Will just wanted to play D&D and his friends were being dicks.” They weren’t, though. Not really. One of them was going through something personal, and the other was just being a supportive friend, which is something Will could have at least tried to do. He tags along, sure, but he complains the whole time, and he shows zero care for Mike’s feelings. It’s understandable that he didn’t want to grow up in quite the same way the other boys did but, at some point, you’ve got to put your own feelings aside when the one (1) friend who’d supported you in your time of crisis is now hurting in return. Hell, the boys even try to play for Will’s benefit, and they wanted to keep playing when Will got upset. They tried. It just so happened that Mike’s needs > Will’s wants, in that moment.

It wouldn’t have killed him to just wait until they resolved the whole “El dumped me” thing to bring up the idea of playing again. Instead, he victimises himself even more (which the fandom does, too), and Mike is villainised (which the fandom will do twice – I’ve already touched on the Max issue – over the course of the season because, for some reason, the writers wanted to put him through the wringer). Mike is portrayed as selfish (to Will fans) because he doesn’t want to play a game, and because he makes a rude comment that, essentially, is just something kids say when they’re being petty. Will is seen as nothing but blameless: he just wants to be doe-eyed and play a board game. In the eyes of the fandom: Will (1), Mike (0).

Hopper’s selfishness is a little more obvious, but it’s brushed off for the most part because he’s the main authority figure. He’s allowed to be gruff, and demanding, and threatening teenagers because he’s the chief of police, right? Well… It makes sense for him to be wary of Mike and El’s relationship, but he doesn’t exactly try to drive a wedge between them – no matter how small – purely because he has El’s best interests at heart. He’s sick of it; of Mike always being around, of them being all over each other, of them growing up. He’s tired and irritable, and he’s too prideful to even talk to them in a calm manner – no one can convince me Mike being a little shit threw Hopper off his game that much. He should have spoken to them, or at least explained why they needed space. But he went about it in a way that worked for him, and not for them. His weird dynamic with Joyce in season three isn’t even wholly enjoyable either, because he spends half the season pestering her about a date and acting jealous because she talked to another man.

Joyce having other plans didn’t work for him, and El and Mike’s constant clinginess didn’t work for him. But because he’s the adult lead who takes care of everyone, and because he’s an adult with authority and experience, we’re supposed to side with him when he acts like this; no matter if his actions are hurting his daughter’s feelings or if he’s (basically) pressuring a still-grieving woman into a date, so naturally Mike’s problem with the chief is treated like he’s just, you know, whiny and pissy (and so, yes, kind of childishly selfish) that he’s been stopped from seeing his girlfriend… not like a grown man threatened a teenager – with the viewer knowing nothing other than the fact that Hopper wanted Mike gone. (The letter doesn’t come into it until the end.)

Mike is easily one of the most selfless characters on the show but the problem with being a typically giving character is that when he finally acts in his own favour, and does something that he (and he alone) wants, it comes off as being entitled and ignorant to the wants and needs of everyone else…

For the first two seasons, Mike is a helper, Hopper is a leader, and Will is a plot device with a sad story. Naturally, people are drawn to the latter two because they’re respectively portrayed as strong and coddled, and they rely on Mike to bear the weight of everyone else’s everything, even if it means he’s putting his own wants aside. ‘Everyone else’ being the characters that do the exact same thing Mike does in the third season, only they get more general support from the fandom because they’re either babied, respected, or worshipped for being empowering.

#anon #answered #mike wheeler #i don't know if i just repeated more of the same tbh? :/ but it's late so eh #this is a whole mess btw #deepest apologies

22 notes · View notes

okaybutlikeimagine · 5 years

Text

{{Here’s that tiny fic I wrote that headcanon for. I’m gonna post it on archive right now too. Also I just wanna say you’re all too sweet to me and I’m glad people liked it and ♥♥♥ anyway here. I’m sorry.}}{{btw this has harringrove in it so if you don’t like that then don’t read this and then get mad me}}

~~~

It’s a late Thursday afternoon nearing the end of summer, the balmy weather and the late sun making the pain and anxieties of this past summer in Hawkins fade away so much quicker than the little family could ever hope for. The wounds will be fresh for a while, but the sun seeping in through the windows and the satisfying warmth of it makes most of the fear melt away like ice cream.

Joyce opens the door to Murray the Conspiracy Theorist with 2 cherry slurpees in hand and Alexei the Russian Scientist with 3. Alexei’s smile is splitting his face as he holds the drinks up a little higher and says something in Russian.

Joyce turns her smiling confusion Murray, who gives a tired grin.

“He says they’re for your kids. He insisted on buying your children cherry slurpees.”

“Oh! They’ll love them.” Joyce assures, giving Alexei a kind smile as she takes a couple of them off his hands and passes them around, putting one in the fridge for an absent Billy.

Even in the calm of the moment, Joyce and Hopper share a similar feeling of nervousness at their current guests. They introduce the two men to the kids with an expected difficulty, but it goes off about as smoothly as it possibly could and a couple of minutes later, here they are.

Murray the Conspiracy Theorist is currently speaking to Will and Jonathan about a plethora of crazy theories, the boys listening intently.

“There’s no doubt that they’re in contact with them but the question is why?”

“Mmhm, definitely.” Jonathan nods, sharing a wry glance with Will as they both chuckle quietly. The man is an absolute nut, but it’s entertaining to listen to. And hey… stranger things have happened than aliens conversing with the government somewhere in Nevada.

Alexei is on the couch with El, the two of them sipping their slurpees and looking at the TV intently. She’s bouncing a bit with her feet tucked under her as she watches Alexei flip through channels, the man mumbling Russian to himself every now and then and El getting a little irritated as he keeps skipping past her favorite soap operas.

This is... nice. Joyce thinks to herself from her spot next to Hopper as they lean against one of the kitchen counters.

It’s not like it’s not incredibly nice. Something about this feels so oddly comfortable. It’s just… strange. Inviting over a crazed and (typically) drunken conspiracy theorist and his Russian (former) mad scientist… friend? Into their little home with 4 lightly traumatized children? It’s not like they can’t both admit that this is so, so strange.

It took a bit of convincing on Joyce’s part to get Hopper to not throw a fit at the thought of the two men coming into their home, but she reminded him that they dragged these two men through a crazy adventure of being shot at and shooting at others and Joyce really feels that it’s the least they could do to invite the two of them over for dinner or something every now and then. Plus, she likes Alexei’s smile and thinks Hopper treated him poorly the first time around.

Murray is just getting into the dangers of new technology when a gasp comes from the couch. Alexei’s pointing to the TV, smiling widely and saying something in Russian.

El turns to look at him then, confusion written all over her face.

“Looney Tunes.” She points to the TV too.

Alexei turns his attention to her, eyebrow furrowing a bit at her, saying the same words in Russian.

They go back and forth a couple of times. Hopper stands in the kitchen, leaning forward on the counter and squinting his eyes at the scene because how the fuck is his little 14 year old girl going to speak to this Russian man? He couldn’t even speak to this Russian man.

But when it comes to El’s turn again, she doesn’t speak English. El starts to mimic the sounds that the man is saying to her, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty.

Alexei’s eyes absolutely light up at the little girl. This is the first person who has attempted to speak his mother tongue that isn’t Murray, and yes the words are very butchered, but she’s trying! She’s actually trying! He turns a bit towards her, nodding along to encourage her to keep trying. Someone not forcing him to speak English but rather trying to speak to him in a language he understands? He can’t believe this!

She tries again, tongue fumbling over the new sounds, but they both giggle away the errors so it’s fine. After a few attempts, Alexei attempts her English words too, and the two are smiling and laughing at their fumbled language.

“Hop look!” Joyce whispers as she smacks his arm repeatedly, as if he hasn’t been watching raptly in confused amazement. He just rubs his arm and nods to try to get her to stop.

After a fit of giggles, Alexei turns back to the TV, pointing at Woody Woodpecker on the screen and saying something else in Russian. He then turns to look at El again, saying a whole sentence that she has no hope of understanding.

So she looks to Murray, who she notices is looking at the man the same way that Hopper looks at Joyce and vice versa. The same way Mike looks at her after they kiss. The same way Max looks at Lucas when he’s turned away after a really bad joke.

“He said it’s his favorite. That he won him in a rigged game.”

El knows all but one of the words.

“What’s... rigged?” She asks. It takes Murray a second to understand her question.

“Rigged is… when something is set up for you to lose. But he won anyway.”

El is immediately impressed, eyes going wide and turning back to Alexei, who is watching the television again.

“You won!” She says through a smile. He turns to see her holding a thumbs up to him, and he gives one back.

It’s then that the front door swings open and two tall boys holding hands and smiling goofily stumble in before freezing in the doorway. They stare at the group like they’ve been caught in the act. They bring the faint smell of weed in with them.

“Hey.” Billy greets them awkwardly. Everyone is staring and Billy takes in the sight of everyone + 2 strange men. Steve slips his hand out of Billy’s to absently rub on his jeans. “I brought my boyfriend home.”

“Billy!” Steve yells indignantly, eyes shifting across everyone’s faces. “He’s just joking, we’re not-”

“I told you, they know already, princess.” Billy sighs on a smirk. “You don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“Oh.” Steve’s face goes red.

Jonathan just smirks around his straw, shaking his head and chuckling along with Joyce and Hopper. Will blushes at it, still always turning cherry red at seeing Billy being so happily gay with his boyfriend.

“So… who are they?” Billy asks with about as much tact as Billy typically has around strangers.

Joyce and Hopper flail to explain.

“Billy this is Murray and his… friend? Alexei.” Joyce gestures vaguely to them both. Alexei turns away from the TV when he hears his name. “They’re… friends of ours.”

Jonathan and Will sip at their slurpees, watching their mother fumble through her explanation.

It’s then that Alexei gives a Russian greeting, waving at the two and asking Murray something, to which he responds back in Russian and gestures towards Billy.

“Woah, wait, they’re Russian?” Steve immediately asks, confused and on guard.

“Well…”

“Alexei is. And he says there’s a slurpee in the fridge for you.” Murray gives Billy an unamused look.

“How the hell did you meet 2 Russian men?” Steve asks as Billy walks over to the fridge, ruffling Will’s hair on his way.

“They helped us. Back in July.” Hopper tries his hand at explaining. It confuses Steve more.

“The Russians helped you? Aren’t they the enemy?”

“There are no enemies on the day that you acknowledge the humanity that lies within every one of us.” Murray preaches suddenly, giving a very serious look to a more than confused Steve before turning adoring eyes to the Russian man on the couch.

There’s a beat of silence, everyone shifting their gaze between Murray and Steve.

Billy licks the cherry syrup from his lips.

“Welp! This was fun. Steve and I are going to be in my room.” Billy grabs Steve by his sleeve and pulls him towards the back of the house. “Thank your Russian boyfriend for me.”

Murray can only sputter.

“3 inches!” Hopper calls out to the retreating pair.

“I’m not 14! I know what condoms are!” Billy calls behind him, leaving Steve to choke on a laugh at the blatant words. “Plus I don’t think you’re going to see either of us getting pregnant.”

“Ew, stop!” El yells from the couch, a laugh in her words.

“I’d keep your eye on your precious John-boy, though.” Billy turns to face the living room, giving Hopper a sly grin and a wink towards Jonathan before disappearing into his room, leaving Steve to stand in the hall.

“Hey! Shut up, Billy!” Jonathan calls, face redder than his drink.

And there stands an awkward Steve at the end of the hall. He’s fiddling a bit with his jeans as he gives a smile to the family, fully aware that his boyfriend just made it painfully clear that they’re going to fuck.

“Uh… it was nice to see you guys. As always.”

A hand from inside of Billy’s room reaches out and pulls him in. The door shuts audibly and about a minute later there’s heavy rock music playing loudly from the room.

Hopper sighs.

~~~

20 minutes later and they’re all basically in the same spot, when the music stops playing from Billy’s room. The tape must have ended.

It takes only a second before there’s a very clear, very audible groan-like scream that comes from the back of the house. Everyone freezes, save for El, who tilts her head to look down the hall in concern before realization dawns on her face.

She turns towards Will, stating almost excitedly: “Good screams!”

Jonathan legitimately chokes on the last of his slurpee, cracking up laughing in-between labored breaths as Joyce rushes to get him a glass of water. Will’s face has never been more red, his eyes wide and body nearly frozen. Murray and Alexei just exchange an amused smirk at the sound.

Hopper’s just about on the brink of an aneurysm as he ushers El and Will out with the excuse of getting some sunshine before dinner. It’s moments like this where he thinks he might actually regret having children. Maybe. But he does know that whoever tricked him into loving the 4 little bastards played a real dirty trick.

43 notes · View notes

wantisamlindyla · 6 years

Text

strong and sudden and cruel sometimes

Summary:

Last year during summer El had been stuck in the cabin with only a noisy fluttering fan for company and the summer months had dragged on endlessly.

For El, who had grown up in a temperature controlled windowless room with neat rows of white tiles and to whom things like the wind, sunshine, rain and snow had only been concepts she had read about in storybooks, the relentless heat and humidity had been almost unbearable. _______

A collection of memories from El's perspective during the summer of 1985.

Read on Ao3

strong and sudden and cruel sometimes

1985

Hawkins was experiencing a record breaking heat wave, according to the weatherman on the news.

Last year during summer El had been stuck in the cabin with only a noisy fluttering fan for company and the summer months had dragged on endlessly.

Some days, after Hopper had left for work and the temperature climbed steadily, she had lain on the floor of the cabin (the doors and windows tightly shut) next to the noisy fan struggling to breathe.

But then the day would pass, the sun would set, the sweat on her skin would cool, and Hopper would come home, sometimes with a tub of ice cream or ice cold sodas, asking her how her day had been before rumbling sympathetically and affectionately touseling her short hair.

This year though, summer had been different.

Hopper had come home one day in May to tell El he had bought a home for them closer to town and that they would be moving from the cabin to live there, permanently.

El had been surprised, her dinner lay forgotten on the table between them as she contemplated the idea of living somewhere that wasn’t the cabin, which was quiet and safe (even if it had started to feel like a new prison last year) and was the first real home she had known.

Hopper must have been able to read her expression, he reached over and chucked her under the chin.

“Hey, what’s with the long face? I thought you’d be over the moon to get out of here. It’ll be great, you get your own bathroom, you won’t have me snoring right outside your bedroom every night anymore, it’s got air conditioning, and, you’ll be closer to your friends.”

At this, El immediately perked up, “Closer to Mike?”

Hopper had rolled his eyes and took a sip from his beer. “Well I’m on a public servant salary so it’s not next to the Wheelers’ place but it’s closer than you are now. The kids won’t have to ride their bikes all the way out here anymore every time they visit. Actually, you’ll be closest to Will.”

El liked Will.

Hopper had taken her with him to the Byers’ for dinner after the gate had been closed. El had a feeling it had been Joyce who had talked Hopper into it, because during dinner she’d piled up El’s plate with pasta, salad and bread and shot Hopper recriminating looks when El told her most nights, she prepared dinner for her and Hop with the microwave.

After that the dinners became a weekly event. Sometimes the boys and Nancy were also there, and she and Mike held hands under the table during dinner. But most of the time, it was just Hopper, Joyce, Will, Jonathan and her.

Jonathan was nice. He was quiet, like her. And he let her and Will rifle through his cassette tapes and look at his books.

The best thing about those dinners, other than the home cooked meals, was just sitting in Will’s room after dinner while Hopper and Joyce smoked and talked in the kitchen. El would watch him draw or listen to him tell her about the boys’ most recent campaign or what had happened at school that week. If silence fell, she’d return to her book and they both sat there quietly, content to just be close to each other.

The thought of living close to Will cheered her immensely, and her curiosity overrided her concerns and she started to pepper Hopper with questions.

Hopper said they would move in a few weeks’ time. He had already told some people at the Station that he had met his daughter, Jane, only last year and that she was now coming to live with him in Hawkins. He told them he hadn’t known about his daughter until last year but her mom couldn’t look after her anymore so she would be living with him from now on.

Hopper said the hardest lies to catch were those which aren't actually lies. Tell the truth as much as possible, but leave a false impression and the person would fill up the gaps on their own.

They moved into their new home just before summer started.

Her new room was easily twice the size of her old room at the cabin. The wallpaper was covered with big yellow flowers and there were two windows facing the street.

She even had her own bathroom which was covered in pink tiles.

She barely had enough furniture to fill up the room. After she’d finished unpacking the boxes, taking out the few toys and books she had accumulated over the past two years and stacking it on the shelf and on her new bedside table, the room felt too big and too bare.

Later that night she fell into bed exhausted.

The new bedroom was unfamiliar, her window was open and she could hear the late night news playing on the television next door. She tensed a little every time a car passed by the house. She missed the deep still silence of the woods. (Love this!)

Hopper came in after a while to kiss her forehead and say, ‘Night kid,” the bristles of his beard scratched her skin. The scent of cigarettes and soap on him was comforting and familiar. (Omg. Love this).

As she started to drift off to sleep, the thought came to her that the cabin had just been a place where she’d lived, it hadn’t really been her home.

***

As the days passed the heat that El was dreading returned with a vengeance.

However, this year she wasn’t stuck in the cabin with only fan and the television for company, these summer days were filled with noise.

There were trips on the back of Mike’s bike to the arcade and afternoons filled with the boys and Max yelling over each other’s shoulders while they played games.

There were arguments, swearing, laughter and jokes El didn’t really understand over ice-cream sundaes and milkshakes.

There were fireworks, a parade, and music on the Fourth of July.

There were multiple trips to the Hawk to see Back to the Future, and fighting over popcorn in the cool dark cinema.

One day they went to the quarry to swim.

El sat on the shore with Mike and watched the boys and Max play chicken in the water.

Will sat on Dustin’s shoulders and Max on Lucas’ trying to wrestle as they shrieked and laughed. El felt something twist inside her at the sight of Max’s long red hair falling over her freckled shoulders and the way she seemed to fit right in with the boys’ noise in a way that El did not.

She wasn’t sure how to be around Max.

They treated each other cordially when they were with the party, but they both seemed to make a conscious effort never to be left alone with the other.

They were like two satellites, caught in the gravity of the party, coolly orbiting the boys without ever coming into contact with the other.

But there were times, for instance when the boys got caught up arguing over time travel theory in Back to the Future, her and Max’s eyes would meet and El could see her own exasperation mirrored there. In those moments El had felt something like regret that she didn’t accept Max’s outstretched hand the night they met.

She looked over at Mike who was sitting next to her and inspecting his sunburnt shoulders with resignation. He sighed and said, “My Mom’s going to kill me.” He pulled his t-shirt over his reddened torso.

Mike had gotten so so tall over the past few months. He hadn’t cut his hair for a few months and the ends were curling from being in the water and the heat. He lay back on his towel with a wince. El followed him, lying down on her side with her head propped up on her elbow, she was so close she could count every freckle sprinkled on his nose and cheeks.

“El?”

“Yes?”

“My mom asked if you could come over for dinner next week.”

“With the party?”

“No, just you.”

El pondered this for a moment and before asking Mike why she was invited to dinner and the rest of the party were not.

Mike looked a bit sheepish and ran his fingers through his messy curls. “It’s Holly’s fault. Remember the other night when we were saying goodbye on the stairs?”

“Yes?”

“Holly went and told Mom last night that she saw us kissing. So my Mom turned it into a big deal and asked me if you were my girlfriend and started grilling me about how long we’d been dating and all this embarrassing stuff. Then she made me invite you over for dinner next Saturday.”

“Why does she want me to come over for dinner?”

Mike shrugged, “I dunno, to get to know you better I guess?”

She’d been over to Mike’s house for a few times with the party. They’d all stayed in the basement watching movies and Mike’s mom had only occasionally come down to ask Mike to go upstairs and help her with snacks.

Hopper always came to Mike’s house to pick El up even though the rest of the party was staying over for a sleepover. El had made sure to thank Mike’s mom for having her over and Mrs. Wheeler had smiled warmly and said she was welcome anytime.

When El had asked if she could stay over at Mike’s house next time Hopper had looked at her sideways and said flatly, “Nope.”

El had asked why. Hopper had replied, “Because I’m not letting my teenage daughter sleep over at her boyfriend’s house that’s why.”

El had pointed out that Max was allowed to sleep over. Hopper had said, “Yeah well, Max’s parents don’t know that Wheeler once managed to convince Max and the others to take an illegal joyride in her brother’s muscle car and climb into monster infested tunnels to set them on fire.”

“He did that to help us!” El had said crossly, annoyed at Hopper’s implication that Mike was dumb or reckless when in fact, Mike was very smart, brave, loyal, kind, and cute, he was very cute-

Hopper had only sighed, “Look El, I don’t tell Max’s parents how to look after their kid and they don’t tell me how to parent you. No sleepovers at Mike’s.”

Later that night as she was trying to fall asleep El thought about Mrs. Wheeler’s invitation to dinner. On Days of Our Lives, when the Hortons hadn’t approved of Don’s girlfriend they had plotted ways to keep Don away from Marlena.

With a sudden start of alarm, El thought of Mrs. Wheeler’s always perfect hair and clothes and her tidy home that looked like it was straight of a magazine.

What if Mrs. Wheeler asked El a question that she couldn’t answer? What if she answered wrong? What if Mrs. Wheeler decided El wasn’t smart enough, or she looked too much like a boy, or that she was just too odd for her son? What if she told Mike that he wasn’t allowed to see her anymore?

***

The party had gone to Steve’s house for a pool party a few days later when the temperature soared into the high nineties.

Dustin had said that Steve’s parents were away on a business trip and that Steve would be cool about it.

In actual fact, Steve had been annoyed, but he’d still let them in and turned on the outdoor grill to make them hotdogs and burgers while Dustin started a belly flopping competition.

El’s tummy was still sore hours later when the sun started to set.

She wrapped a towel around herself and made her way towards the house in search of Mike who had gone inside for a soda.

She was about to step into the kitchen when she realised Hopper was there in the kitchen and that he was talking to Mike.

“-risk, if they recognise her-”

“I can handle it. I can manage my parents. Nancy will be there too. I’ve already talked to her about it. If they start asking too many questions Nancy’s going to tell them that she’s thinking about not going to college to distract them.”

Hopper groaned, “Jesus, I feel for your parents kid.”

Mike ignored this and told Hopper, “Nancy also said that she and Jonathan can take us to the fair this weekend. El’s never been before right?”

“You know kid, this trick you keep using on me isn’t going to work forever.”

“What trick?”

“The guilt trips. El’s never been camping before, El’s never been to the fair before, El’s never seen the same movie three times in a cinema before. And you can quit badgering Joyce about getting me to agree to let El stay over at Will’s place.”

“I just...you know, I just want her to get to do everything, to be happy. She never really laughs you know. She tells me she’s having fun, but I’m not sure if she really is or not.”

“She’s not like you or me kid, she’s different. All this is new to her, you have to give her time to find her footing. Her happiness is not on you, it's not your burden to bear. ”

El slipped away silently, not wanting to hear anymore.

***

“C’mon El, lunch is ready.” El leaned down to kiss her mother’s soft cheek before heading to the doorway where Hopper was hovering.

El had come back to visit her Mama six times since her first visit last November. She came with Hopper now, instead of with nice men in big trucks, and usually on a Saturday afternoon.

Hopper had stopped at a gas station on the way in today, so El could buy a bunch of flowers for Mama. The bunch of bright yellow daffodils were resting in a glass jar on the table near the TV (“So she can look at them everyday,” Aunt Becky had said).

Mama had not spoken to her since El’s first visit, even when El visited her in the void.

El used to do that a lot, sometimes during the weeks they didn’t visit, El would visit her mother in the void.

She wanted Mama to look her in the eyes again and say, ‘Jane,’ like she did before, but she never did.

El knew Mama was there though, and that she knew when El was there.

Sometimes, when she visited she brushed Mama’s hair or just sat quietly with her mother and watched TV.

Most of the time though, El would talk. She told Mama how she had visited Hopper at the police station for the first time last week and how Ms. Florence had hugged El and told El she was such a pretty girl.

She told Mama how excited she was to be starting school with her friends soon, and all about the pool party and that tomorrow, she and her friends were going to the County Fair.

Sometimes she whispered in Mama’s ear secrets about Mike that she told nobody else.

She told Mama that she and Mike had gone to see Back to the Future at the movie theatre again, but because she had already seen it two times (three times for Mike) and because it was just the two of them, they spent the entire movie kissing in the back row of the theatre.

Today, she also told Mama that Mike had asked her to come for dinner to meet his parents, and that she was scared to meet Mike’s parents because she was worried about saying or doing something wrong and they would know that she was different and that she wished Mama could meet Mike and that Mama would love Mike because he was her best friend in the entire world. (So heartbreaking. Bbut beautiful.)

The visits didn’t last too long since it was a long drive back to Hawkins.

After about an hour she’d join Aunt Becky and Hopper in the kitchen. Then after lunch it’d be time to go home.

El padded into the next room to find Aunt Becky waiting. “I’ve fixed the hem of that skirt for you sweetie.”

El had been worried her Aunt would be angry at her for stealing money from her purse and running away without a word. But all Aunty Becky had done when she saw El again was give her a big hug.

“I was so scared I’d never find you again Jane.”

El had hugged her back surprised at the rush of emotion she felt at seeing her Aunt again, she who had offered her a home with her so readily, and forgiven her just as quickly.

During that visit, while holding Mama’s and Aunt Becky’s hands, she had explained that she wanted to stay in Hawkins with Hopper and Mike and her friends. Aunt Becky had simply nodded, hugged her again, and made her promise to visit often.

El took the bundle of clothes her Aunt had finished mending and placed them carefully in her backpack. “Thank you.”

Aunt Becky made them real mac and cheese (not out of a box) for lunch which El washed down with ice cold root beer while they chatted about El’s trip to the county fair tomorrow.

Aunt Becky slipped El twenty dollars as they were leaving and told her to have a good time at the fair tomorrow.

El waved at her from the window of Hopper’s Blazer as Hopper backed out of the long driveway.

El was leaning her head against the car window, feeling tired and sad, the way she usually felt after visits to her mother when Hopper asked, “You okay kid?”

El didn’t answer. She had been thinking about what it would have been like to grow up in that house with Mama and Aunt Becky and whether she would have grown up to be normal and known how to laugh when she was supposed to.

El conjured up in her mind, a version of herself who hadn’t grown up in a lab, who talked without having to carefully think about her words, laughed without reserve and knew all the right things to say to Mrs Wheeler to get her to like her without having to lie or leave false impressions.

El felt her chest grow heavy and her throat felt scratchy, like she needed to cry.

She hated that fake El, that El who was better than her in every way, that El who was a normal girlfriend that Mike didn’t have to worry over and would probably never get sick of when she became too much of a burden for him to bear.

***

Hopper dropped her off at the Wheelers early the next morning before leaving for the station.

Mrs. Wheeler had opened the door for El and her greeting had been different than usual. Instead of directing El to the basement she steered El to the kitchen and poured her a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and asked her questions like how she was liking Hawkins so far and whether she liked meatloaf and what kind of pie was her favourite.

El was rescued by Mike barrelling into the kitchen and ushering her to the basement before she could admit that she had liked Mrs Wheeler’s meatloaf very much when Mike had brought her some during her stay in the Wheeler’s home but she didn’t like pie that much and preferred eggos.

“So are we clear on the plan? We check out sideshow alley first, then deep fried boulevard, then there’s the afternoon pie eating contest, then we’ll do the corn maze before we head to the farm exhibits.”

Mike considered the large map of the county fair spread out on his basement table with the gravity of a five star General who was summarising his battle plans to the small war council gathered around his basement table.

“Why are we leaving the corn maze to the end when it’s right next to sideshow alley?” Lucas’ finger landed on the cartoon green maze on the map.

“Because last time we got stuck in there for ages before we’d eaten lunch. Remember? Dustin tried to eat the dried-out corn husks.”

“Hey! I will have you know that corn husks are one of the main ingredients for tamales.”

“You don’t actually eat the husks, it’s just the wrapping you moron,” Lucas laughed. Their bickering quickly devolved into a shoving and wrestling match.

El looked over the map that Mike passed her, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Ever since her “arrival” in Hawkins a few months ago, she’d started wearing glasses in public in the hopes that people she had previously encountered (like the Big Buy Manager or that woman with her young daughter) would find it difficult to connect the Chief’s shy and polite young daughter who had curly brown hair and glasses to the suspicious Russian child with mind powers.

Dustin had assured her that the glasses were a very cool superhero disguise, like Clark Kent. Lucas had said that now El looked like she fit in with their party.

Mike started to fold up his map of the fair grounds and put it away in his backpack. “Did the plan sound ok El? I wanted you to be able to try everything.”

El nodded quickly, “Yes, I want to try everything too. It’ll be fun.”

***

The fair was overwhelming.

The smells were the first thing that assaulted her; animal excrement, human sweat, sweet hay, baking pastries and buttered popcorn wafted past her as they got deeper into the fairgrounds.

Then there was the sounds, underneath the usual hum of conversations between people there were people screaming (happy screaming), loud music, babies sobbing, parents scolding their children all the while announcements about the sheep shearing competition blared at them over the loudspeakers.

Jonathan and Nancy had quickly faded into the crowd after making plans to meet up with them at the fairground entrance at the end of the day.

All of the carnival rides were garishly coloured and had funny names. El rode a rollercoaster called the Rampage which left her with sore neck due to its jarring stops and starts. Then she rode a ride called The Twister which spun her in tight circles while the arm the seats were attached to spun in larger circles. El had to sit down on the grass with her head between her legs for a long time before the world would stop spinning.

Then they paired off to go on the bumper cars. El was left slightly traumatised by the experience.

Dustin, Lucas and Max had conspired and formed some kind of unholy alliance and created a triangle around Mike and El’s car so that they couldn’t get away from any of them. Everytime Mike backed up and tried to go in another direction they slammed into one of their friends.

��Going somewhere lovebirds?” Max had cackled like a deranged movie villain as she rammed her car repeatedly into theirs.

After the bumper cars El looked over longingly at the gentle carousel ride which seemed to be for younger children.

Mike had gotten into a wrestling match with Dustin and Lucas over being ambushed while Max egged the boys on and Will had been so quiet most of the day she almost didn’t notice him standing next to her until he asked, “El?”

She looked around. Will gestured towards the next ride the party was planning on going on which involved being strapped to a seat that took you very high up in the sky and dropped you straight down back to the ground.

“I don’t think I really want to go on that one. Do you wanna wait with me?”

El hesitated, wondering if Mike would be disappointed if she didn’t want to go on the next ride. He had planned the entire day so meticulously to please her. She didn’t want to tell him that the thought of going on another ride made her break out into cold sweats, but Will was offering her a way to avoid this next ride at least, so El agreed.

Mike was concerned of course, asking El if she wanted to go on the ride and offering to stay back with Will in her stead but El assured him that it was fine.

While the others stood in line, Will said he wanted to get corn on the cob from a nearby food truck. El got one too, slathered in butter and salt. They sat on the grass in a shaded area to eat and wait.

“You don’t have to keep going on all the rides if you don’t want to El.”

El hesitated, but her instinct told her that anything she said to Will would be kept between the two of them. “Mike wants me to try everything.”

Will gave her a small smile, “Mike wants to enjoy yourself. He doesn’t want you to do something if you don’t want to. He’d be even more upset if he realised you were going along with everything just so you don’t disappoint him.”

“But…” El was still unsure, “He has everything planned already.”

Will shrugged, “He’ll throw his plans out the window the minute you say the word.”

El wasn’t too sure what window Will was referring too but she understood what Will was trying to tell her. She looked longingly over at the carousel again.

Will followed her line of sight.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He took one last bite of his corn before he stood up and brushed off his shorts.

El hesitated, “But...that’s for babies.”

Will smiled, “Who says? Even if it is, who cares?”

The line for the carousel was very short. El chose a white horse with a pink bridle and Will climbed onto a zebra next to her.

El loved it. She spent most of the ride watching the little girl seated on a nearby horse waving and shrieking at her mother who snapped photos of her daughter every time they passed her.

Mike and the rest of the Party were waiting for them when they got off the carousel.

Mike was frowning and pulled her gently aside to ask her if she didn’t want to go on the next rides. El didn’t want to lie, so she told Mike honestly, “They make my head hurt.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You spent so much time planning the day.”

“El, forget about the plan. I want to do whatever you want to do.”

Mike was so earnest and his voice was soft, not angry or disappointed. El told him honestly, “I want to go see the farm animals.”

So they did.

After that, the day passed by in a blur.

El got her face painted to look like a fairy even though the only girls she saw with the glitter face paint were a lot younger than her. Dustin got his face painted too so that El wouldn’t feel self-conscious about the only one in the group having her face painted.

Of course he was a lion and they all had to put up with him purring and batting his hand at them like a paw during the rest of the day.

They saw all the farm animals. El got very excited when she found out about the baby farm animal petting zoo. She fell in love with the baby llama she was allowed to cuddle and feed a bottle of milk.

Then the party went to get lunch on deep fried boulevard.

El had a chocolate milkshake, barbequed ribs, a deep fried twinkie, fairy floss, and shared funnel cake with Will.

She also ate small pieces of spicy fried chicken, and tried a corn dog, which El found gross.

They watched a pie eating contest and got lost in the corn maze.

There was a new ride which was the main attraction at the fair called “Gravity Fall” modelled after a machine that astronauts trained in before they could go into space.

For some reason the boys and Max got into a debate about whether any of them could survive astronaut training at NASA which led to a corn dog eating slash ride contest whereby whomever ate the most corn dogs and went on the Gravity Fall ride the most times without puking would be declared the winner.

Will decided to sit out the contest because he said he didn’t want to waste his money on corn dogs which he would inevitably throw up.

Mike and Lucas both had to tap out of the contest four corndogs and three rides in. El cradled Mike’s head in her lap while he moaned and complained about his stomach.

Max was declared the winner after five rides when Dustin stumbled out and ran over to the nearest trash can and promptly emptied his stomach.

“NASA here I come!” Max hollered, punching the air.

***

Mike and Lucas set off towards the medical tent with a green tinged Dustin propped up between them. Max trailed after them because she said she felt like the needed to revel in her glorious victory over Dustin some more.

They decided on a plan to meet up at the grassy knoll beside the ferris wheel in half an hour’s time.

El was left with Will who asked her if she wanted to go have a look at the fairground games.

They wandered around the brightly lit games before Will stopped beside a shooting game to watch the people play.

The sun was starting to set and it had dropped several degrees. El rubbed her arms and watched as a boy who looked about the same age as Jonathan try to shoot down several little targets shaped like people while the watchers cheered. He managed to get 3 out of the 8 little targets before he ran out of pellets. He laughed good naturedly and selected a small stuffed animal and presented to his girlfriend who squealed and laughed.

El looked up at the range of stuffed animals hung up and displayed around the game stand and admired a huge teddy bear, at least three feet tall, with a snazzy pink polka-dot bowtie displayed prominently above their heads.

She turned back to Will and asked him if it was possible for someone to win the stuffed bear.

“I think you have to get all the targets, but nobody ever does.”

“Why?”

“Oh, because the games are rigged,” he explained. “That’s what my mom told me anyways, they do something to make it impossible for people to make the last target fall over. It makes people want to keep trying so they keep paying.”

El frowned. “That’s cheating.”

Will shrugged, “Yeah, it’s totally unfair.”

Then Will surprised her by stepping forward and handing over a few dollar bills and picking up a rifle which was chained to the counter.

El followed him in confusion, “I thought you said…”

“I know,” Will told her calmly, “but it’s still fun to play sometimes.”

Will was really good. He managed to get five of the little people targets to fall over.

El wondered if she should have whooped, jumped and cheered for Will like Max would have, but she did clap as hard as she could along with some other onlookers.

Will smiled a little shyly at the attention. He chose a fluffy rainbow coloured unicorn and held it out to El.

“Here El, that’s for you.”

El took the stuffed unicorn gingerly, already half in love with the oddly coloured toy, not for any reason other than it was from Will. She smiled at him and started to say thank you when a loud obnoxious voice rang out.

“Hey guys look at that! Ain’t that sweet? The fairy got himself a fairy girlfriend!”

El and Will spun around. El’s eyes widened at the sight of Troy and a group of teenage boys jeering at Will.

El instinctively reached to adjust the glasses on her nose to make sure they were there in case Troy recognised her, but he was too busy laughing, nudging his friends and pointing at Will to really notice her.

Her face paint probably helped as well.

Her panic faded and anger took its place when his words sunk in.

Will’s smile faded and his shoulders hitched up to his ears like he wanted to disappear. He started to move away but Troy purposely shoved Will aside as he walked up to the game stand and picked up a rifle. “Let me show you how a real man shoots, fairy.”

Will took El’s elbow and tugged. “C’mon El.”

But El refused to budge. A white-hot ball of rage was rolling around in her tummy.

Fairy.

She remembered that word.

She remembered how Troy had taunted Mike that Will was somewhere with all the other fairies when everyone was supposed to be grieving and sad that Will had drowned.

Not Troy though. He’d laughed and made snide comments about Will that El hadn’t understood all through the principal’s speech in the school gym.

El didn’t need to understand what the boy was saying, she gathered enough from Mike’s, Lucas’ and Dustin’s faces to know what he was saying about their friend was ugly and cruel and it made them angry.

Angry enough for Mike to walk up to him afterwards and shove him to the ground.

She hated this boy. Hated how he liked to make others feel smaller than him. She hated that he had used to hurt and bully Mike and her friends and that he was still hurting Will.

The rage inside her hardened and turned to steely resolve.

She turned to Will and said calmly. “Will, can you try to win the bear for me?”

Will frowned and looked up at the stuffed bear where it was hanging. “El...it’s not-,”

“Just try.”

She pulled Will along with her up to an empty space next to the Mouth breather. She handed over three dollars and shoved the rifle into Will’s hands.

Will frowned at her, but picked up the rife while he studiously ignoring the catcalls coming over from Troy’s dumb friends while Troy laughed and taunted him.

El concentrated as both the boys lifted their rifles to take aim.

Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink!

All eight of Will’s targets fell over one after the other.

(Actually the last one had been set up to be quite difficult to knock over just as Will had said).

Will lowered his rifle in shock as the people around the stand erupted into cheers. His eyes shot over to El who gave him a little smile while she surreptitiously wiped at her nose.

He looked over to where Troy was staring at his rifle, his own eight targets standing defiantly upright.

“Holy Shit!”

“Woah, this kid’s got some skills!”

The spotty teenager handling the rifle stand handed over the big teddy bear and Will started to hurry El away leaving behind a red faced Troy who had started to hurl abuse at the teenager about rigged games.

El hefted the huge stuffed bear in her arms like a small child and Will graciously accepted congratulations and slaps on the back from strangers as they maneuvered themselves away from the crowd.

“El….” Will was holding onto the unicorn for her. El braced herself for admonitions and was surprised when she heard Will snort.

El stopped in her tracks as Will erupted into hysterical giggles. “Did you-did you see his stupid face?”

Their eyes met, and El recalled the look on Troy’s face as he stared slack jawed and speechless at Will’s knocked down targets and then she was laughing too.

She stood there in the middle of the fair, the sun setting rapidly behind the horizon, and she laughed until tears ran down her cheeks and her sides ached and she could barely stay upright. Every time they stopped, it only took their eyes to meet before they started up again.

***

Sometime later, as they started to head for the ferris wheel, El said to Will, “Can you...not tell the others I used my powers?”

Will looked at her in surprise. “How come?”

El bit her lip guiltily, “I promised Hopper I wouldn’t. And I think….Mike won’t like it.”

Will considered this for a moment. “He worries about you.”

She understood.

Mike and Hopper were both worried and afraid for her. El had promised she wouldn’t use her powers or draw attention to herself and promises were sacred things that you could never break.

But El remembered the sneer on Troy’s face and the way Will’s face had turned to stone at his words and felt a fierce pride that she could use her powers to make Will laugh until he cried.

Most days she felt like her powers were a curse, a lodestone hung around her neck which meant that she was different and set her apart from her friends. But not today, today her powers had felt like a gift, not a cumbersome weight pulling her down.

Will stopped walking and turned to her. “Hey,” he said gently, “Thank you. El. That was...really cool.”

He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, squishing the teddy bear between their bodies. El held on to him tight. “Thanks for, you know, having my back. Again.”

When he let her go, El looked at him, really looked at him. He had grown a lot taller since last year, but he was still so skinny. The perpetual eyebags he sported had taken up residence and faded into violet bruises on his too pale skin.

El took his hand and gave it a squeeze, and promised him solemnly, “I will always have your back Will. Always.” Then. “Thank you for my unicorn and my bear.”

They shared a grin.

Promises were important. But what had happened at the shooting stand had nothing to do with breaking a promise, and everything to do with helping a friend, and El thought that that made all the difference in the world.

Will and El arrived to find that the rest of the Party were already there waiting for them. Dustin was looking a lot better, taking gentle sips from a bottle a nurse in the medical tent had given him.

El’s new teddy bear caused quite a commotion amongst the party. Will said he had gotten lucky with no mention of Troy. Will was showered with praise and back slaps and it took El a moment to realise Mike was eyeing the enormous teddy bear with something like dismay.

El immediately thought that that Mike had seen right through Will’s story before her eyes were drawn to the pink ball of fluff he was clutching in his hands. He sighed and held it out to her. It was a stuffed llama just like the one she had been cooing over at the petting zoo.

El’s eyes widened. She quickly turned to Lucas and hurriedly shoved her teddy into his arms so that she could take the stuffed llama. Mike shoved his hands awkwardly into his pockets. “It’s no big deal, I won it at the ring toss.”

“Yeah, no big deal,” Lucas scoffed, “He spent like twenty bucks trying to get that for you El.”

Mike rolled his eyes, but El felt funny, like her insides were turning to hot liquid and pooling in her tummy. She couldn’t stop the pleased blush she knew was spreading over her cheeks and neck that everyone would be able to see.

“Mike,” she raised herself up to her toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, not caring that all their friends was sniggering and that Mike looked extremely embarrassed. “Thank you. I love my llama.”

Will called out, “Hey, I didn’t get a kiss.” That comment, coming from Will of all people, caused everyone but Mike to burst out laughing.

When her giggles died down, El found Mike staring at her with a funny look on his face.

She tucked a strand of hair around her ear self consciously, “What?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. Mike took El’s hand and gestured to the Ferris Wheel. “Do you wanna go? It’s pretty slow and you can see the whole fair from the top.”

El smiled at him, “Yes.”

She took the stuffed llama with her and left her teddy in the care of Dustin who used it as a pillow while he was resting on the grass.

They ran into Jonathan and Nancy while lining up for the Ferris Wheel. Nancy smirked at her brother and gave El a friendly smile. “Hey there pretty fairy, did you have fun today?”

“Yes,” El said, really meaning it. She held up her llama to show Nancy, “Mike won me a llama at the ring toss. And Dustin threw up from eating too many corn dogs.”

Jonathan and Nancy let her and Mike go in front of them in the line. Mike opened the door of their car to let her get in first before ducking in after her.

Mike’s arm went around her shoulders automatically as their little car rocked gently at first before it steadily began its ascent.

El peeked out of the side to see that the whole fair was lit up with fairy lights and the noise grew fainter the higher up they moved.

She snuggled closer to Mike, tucking her head under his chin and closed her eyes, enjoying the steady beat of his heart and this rare opportunity to be alone with him.

“El.” She smiled, her eyes still closed.

“Mike.”

She felt him shift to look down at her. “I...I’m glad you’re here. With me. With all of us.”

“Me too.”

“Were you happy today?” El opened her eyes and peeked up at his solemn face.

“The happiest.”

“I wish you could to be happy like this. Everyday.”

“Mike,” El sat up so she could look at him while they talked. “Nobody can be happy like this everyday.”

“You should be. You deserve it, you deserve...everything.”

El stilled.

She looked up at Mike’s serious expression, feeling something big building up inside her, a huge cluster of emotions that felt too explosive and too volatile for her body to contain.

It frightened her a little, this feeling, it felt like it could spill out of her and swallow the Earth whole.

She didn’t know what she could say to him to express how she felt at that moment, how much she felt for him, so she kissed him.

It helped a bit, to feel his lips, his shaky exhale against her skin, to wind her fists in the fabric of his t-shirt to pull him closer to her. It grounded her.

When they pulled apart sometime later they realised they were coming close back to the ground. They unglued themselves from each other sharing shy but pleased smiles.

When they met up with the party again, she saw Will stealthily make a face wiping motion at Mike.

Mike quickly swiped at his cheek and stared when his fingers came away covered in glitter. El tried to smother a giggle when Mike tugged up the collar of his shirt to wipe at his face.

He spun around when he heard her, a big smile on his face.

El just made a face at him. She was more than a little embarrassed that Mike was so excited to hear her do something that most people did everyday.

“You’ve still got glitter on your chin.” She told him smugly.

***

One morning, El woke up huddled under her blankets, and realised that the transition to autumn had already begun.

Over breakfast, Hopper told her she had better clean up the mess in her room if she wanted to go out with the Byers to get her school supplies later.

Surprised, El went to her bedroom to look at the mess Hopper was referring to.

The teddy that Will had won for her at the fair was lying face down in the middle of the room at the foot of her bed. She hadn’t made up her bed yet, and her stuffed unicorn and llama were tangled up in the bedsheets.

Mike’s blue jacket which she had borrowed from him last night along with yesterday’s t-shirt, bra, and shorts were hanging haphazardly off her desk chair.

Some shopping bags containing new clothes, a new backpack and shoes for school were lying carelessly around her bedroom.

Her camping gear from last week’s camping trip was still sitting in the corner waiting to be unpacked.

The vanity she’d recently inherited from Nancy had scrunchies and hair clips strewn across the surface.

Dustin had come over yesterday to teach her to play poker (because apparently she had an amazing poker face and if Dustin taught El how to count cards they could go on a trip to Vegas and come home rich) and the cards and plastic chips were still scattered in small piles on the floor.

A stack of photographs which she’d recently received from Jonathan was spread out over her desk where she had been sorting through them last night before bed.

There were so many photos of her smiling at the camera with her friends from their adventures over the past few months, she had been trying to decide which ones she wanted to hang up in her room.

She’d decided then that all the photos would go up on her walls so that she could treasure every single precious memory of Jane Hopper’s first summer in Hawkins.

THE END

#yes another summer fic #mike/eleven #oneshot #will byers #jane hopper #mike wheeler #jim hopper #dustin henderson #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #stranger things #kids go to the fair #there's some angst because its me

8 notes · View notes

nancykali · 6 years

Note

Would you mind doing some badass Staloncy headcanons about how they go after the lab people and bring down other branches/gates? And maybe Kali healing and learning that killing people isn't the only way to get revenge (not that I'm against her killing those assholes, but I just want her to heal and be happy, you know?)

They’re all very protective of each other. But Kali andSteve take it to a whole other level.

This of course starts off with a ton of arguments. Stevedoesn’t like when any of them put themselves in danger, and is very vocal aboutit, but Kali is not about to let anyone stop her from getting what she wants.Jonathan is all about compromise, and Nancy is all about supporting Kali. Steveagrees to help them hunt down the bad men, on top of hunting inter-dimensional monsters, but only if Kali and Nancy teach him to shoot a gun as well as them.

Jonathan knows his strength does not lie in firearms. He’sthe one always watching their backs, coordinating the intricacies of the planwith Nancy, making sure bullets don’t get fired at his girlfriends andboyfriend in the first place. Hopper is the one who teaches him the mosthand-to-hand combat. Hopper teaches them all a few tricks, but focuses on teachingJonathan the most. Jonathan may not be as tall as Steve, but he has more massthan his lankier boyfriend, and what he lacks in height he makes up for inmuscle. Kali begins calling him their warrior, and she also gives Jonathanpointers on hand-to-hand combat that she learned from Funshine.

There are a lot of long car rides, to get to whateverresidence of the bad man (or woman) they’ve targeted, to capture (if Hopper can convince them) or kill. Kali and Nancy do themost navigating, while Jonathan and Steve do the most driving.

Kali and Nancy are the ones who are best at finding thesepeople. El, who’s now started high school with Max and the boys, does stillhelp them, but they try not to need her help very often. Kali doesn’t want totake the small pocket of normalcy that Jane’s found from her, if she can helpit. But if Kali and Nancy hit a dead end, and even Hopper can’t help them, theyentreat El to give them a push in the right direction.

But Nancy and Kali, along with Hopper’s more developeddetective skills and connections, usually manage very well on their own. Nancy’sjob as a housekeeper in a 5 star hotel in New York City has gotten her a lot ofinformation they would’ve never gotten otherwise, or would’ve taken much longerto get. She has a memory that comes close to equaling Kali’s (and Kali’s memoryis very much aided by her gift), and can remember names and faces equally well.Her mother Karen taught her the basics of picking locks, and Kali helped herhone these skills. She sneaks wherever she wants, and Kali helps her manipulatethe security system (and the security personnel) of the hotel so they can gowherever they need to, and get whatever information they need to.

When they actually go to kill a monster, from the lab or the Upside Down, Steve and Kali work together to manipulate thesituation to fit their needs. Whether it’s the people from the lab, or any obstacle in tracking the monsters, Steve can charm the pants off anyone if you givehim the right set-up, and they always do. He’s acted as several different typesof repair man, delivery man, lost or confused civilian. They do everything theycan not to lure the cops, something Kali couldn’t manage with her gang before—theyjust didn’t have the resources.

And Kali had far less patience then. Finding Nancy gave hersomething she’d never really had—both stability and someone she could trust topursue their goal just as adamantly as she needed to. They both had equalstakes. They didn’t compare their trauma, Nancy implicitly understood her painwas not equal to Kali’s, but they knew they understood each other’s pain andneed for vengeance. And while Kali knew her sister Jane could understand herpain even more, she also understood Jane did not need what Kali needed, andshould not be forced to live the life Kali had chosen. Kali wanted to leaveJane to do as she chose, to live whatever life that gave her the mosthappiness. She had learned that did not mean continuing to hunt down the badmen, as Kali wanted to do.

Nancy’s training as an EMT gives her an edge over how tosubdue their targets, if they want to keep them alive (the Upside Down monsters they never do). Jonathan, or Jonathanand Steve together, usually do the actual subduing. During these operations,Steve and Jonathan mainly act as the bodyguards, the protectors. Steve usuallygoes in first, Jonathan usually leaves last. Jonathan has the best eye fordetail, similar to Kali—they both can spot something seemingly insignificant andmanipulate it to their advantage. Whether they kill or capture, he makes sureit’s done in a way that will leave the least evidence, so nothing can be tracedback to them. He and Nancy research together how to safely keep someoneunconscious, how to treat concussions and gunshot wounds and shock, how to tieknots that won’t come loose, and how to give stitches. Jonathan didn’t wantNancy to be the only one with this sort of knowledge, so he learns at least themost basic of these skills so he can help her.

Kali and Steve are the hotheads, but they also work the bestwith each other. Nancy is their offense, their firepower. Jonathan is theirprotector, their eyes. Steve is what Kali calls a soldier, their first defense.He doesn’t enjoy the fight (that would be Kali and Nancy) but he wants to bethe first to put himself in danger, so the rest of them won’t. That’s mainlywhy he and Kali argue so often. Kali wanted him to back down, until sherealized they could be the best first defense together. Steve can read peoplephysically better than anyone Kali’s ever seen, save perhaps Funshine, andBrenner. He knows where to strike before the other person can make a move. It’smore than just knowing hand-to-hand combat, it’s knowing how to read anopponent better than they read you. For Steve this is a natural skill, and forthat reason, Kali keeps him by her side when their enemy is right in front ofthem. She trusts Nancy and Jonathan to have their backs, and she trusts Steveto be at her side. Because sometimes he sees things in their target evenquicker than she can.

It’s when they go back to the hotel or motel, after a longpay phone conversation with Hopper, a secret drop off point where they leavethe unconscious body, that they all surrender to emotions, in different ways.Kali and Jonathan are strangely quiet, while Nancy and Steve are strangelyloud. From the driver’s seat, Jonathan cranks up the music, Steve sings badlyto nearly every song, and Nancy fusses over all of them. She’s the one with thefirst aid kit, and the most knowledge. If there are bruises she ices them, ifthere are cuts she bandages them. If there are worse injuries, she’s already theparamedic she’s being trained to become.

And Kali is the one to watch each of them closer than theysuspect, and find who needs the most attention, on the inside. If it’sJonathan, it’s usually because one of the others got hurt worse than him, andhe’s drowning in guilt. If it’s Steve, he’s had to see one of the others be inextreme pain, and he can’t give voice to his own pain without fear of seemingselfish. He becomes a worse mother hen than Nancy, when really he’s the onethat needs comfort, and is afraid to ask for it.

Nancy, if she is suffering, it is usually for Kali. Kaliknows Nancy wishes she could fight all her demons for her, like she wishes shecould have saved Barb a thousand times over, turned back time and reversedevery mistake she ever made. Nancy wants to save everyone, and deep down sheknows she can’t. Kali sees that clearer than anyone, and knows how to bringNancy out of that darkness, at least partially. Because Nancy was the first totry bringing Kali out of her own darkness.

After long hot showers in the hotel, sometimes four separateones, sometimes two, sometimes one messy bath time with all of them washingeach other’s hair, the four of them will lie down with the two beds pushedtogether. Their conversation will go from chatting, to deep and serious, tolighthearted again. Kali or Nancy will inevitably mention their newest lead onfinding the next stolen child. The ones Kali suspects might still be alive.009. 006. And 004. And when they eventually find them, what they’ll do. WhatHopper will do.

And eventually this day comes and Kali is confronted againwith the question—how long can she do this? She knows Steve wants to settledown the most. Jonathan will soon have a career, and she will not hold himback. Nancy makes it the hardest, because Kali knows Nancy will go to the endsof the earth for her. Nancy wants to save people, but knows the saving onlygoes so deep. Kali understands this. And they have already found each other,they won’t separate for anything. Kali knows this too, and knows she can’t puther vengeance first anymore. Soon she makes the choice to stop hunting, so sheand Nancy can heal together in a different way. When they find 009, Kali is 22years old. The four of them have been hunting together for six years. Notconstantly. There were breaks for school, studying and tests, big projects,visits to Hawkins, Christmases, birthdays, Joyce and Hopper’s wedding.

But when they find 009, when Jane and Kali see those sameeyes staring back at them for the second time, something in Kali shifts. Sheknows the fight isn’t over, but her place in it has to change. She looks atNancy, at the woman she loves most in the world, and knows the answer has beenin front of her for a long time. She wants to fight to save, not to kill.

The need for vengeance is still there, it always will be.But Jane, and 009, and Nancy, they soften that need until murder isn’t all thatgets her to sleep at night. She has Jane’s deep understanding, the need toprotect her and 009. She has Nancy’s undying love and support, and a differentsort of understanding, one that comes with an endless electricity between them,whenever they touch or even look at each other. And she has Steve and Jonathan,who love her differently, but still love her. She would not only kill for themall, but die for them. And that’s what makes her stop wanting to kill. She hastoo much to protect.

And she has family. Not just Funshine, Mick, Dottie, andAxel, who she stays in contact with until their dying days. But Hopper, Joyce,and Jane’s friends, all but siblings. Save for Mike, who Kali sees so much ofherself in. She’s now their daughter,their sister, and they accept everything about her. Not just her anger, hertrauma, her gift. But her need for their love. That need is stronger than herneed for vengeance. It was Nancy that first showed her how to love someoneoutside of her trauma. And it was love for her found family that showed hervengeance didn’t have to be achieved through bloodshed alone.

(continuation of this Staloncy meta, this Staloncy post-s2/High School meta, and this Kali-focused Staloncy meta if you’re curious about this rare ot4 I love so much)

#kali prasad #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #jonathan byers #jane hopper #eleven #stranger things fic #i guess this ended up being a character study? idk what it is #i wish there was more detail but it was getting so long already #my writing #staloncy #stoncy x kalancy #stevekalinancyjonathan #message #blamethebowers

34 notes · View notes