So I've consulted with Holly and she said she needs to know your top five favorite colors.
After gently informing her that some people might not have five different favorite colors, she begrudgingly admitted that she can work with three, but you would be "seriously limiting her creativity". So. No pressure.
Well, you certainly just made her day. I haven't seen that smile from her in a while. Not since her favorite park became a giant hole in the ground, and my mom won't let her play with her friends for more than thirty minutes or so after school. Honestly, none of the parents are taking any chances, which is good, but... It's still such a bummer for the kids. They don't really get it, you know? So at least this will give her something to do while she's stuck inside.
Not that you actually have to wear it, or anything! Obviously. She'll definitely want you to try it on when she finishes it, but after that... Maybe just keep it in your car, in the off-chance you'll be [ ... what? at her house? when she invites him over again? is it possibly going to really be that regular of a thing? ... is it totally fucked up that the thought of it not happening again makes her frown, before she catches herself? probably. shit. ] around when she's around. [ AROUND? brilliant. ] I just know it would mean a lot to her. [ just like him humoring this at all means a lot to her. as in herself, yes. ]
( it's not surprising that parents are keeping kids on tighter leashes, now. with everything going on it is probably for the best. it is just hard not to think it's pretty damn sad Holly can't run around at the park or with her pals because this Upside Down shit never stops and just gets worse, every year. obviously, if making a friendship bracelet made Holly brighten, Steve will wear the damn thing until it shreds to pieces. he likes Holly a lot. they made fast friends when she was a baby and he'd make funny faces for her waiting for Nancy.
now she's old enough to make faces back, which is even more fun. )
It sucks for them to be stuck inside, but we barely know what it means that Vecna almost opened the gate, right? Safer for her to be in. At least for now.
No, I'll wear it. Sounds pretty wicked. I can't make those things, the ones with all the knots? If she can do that without making a yarn ball on accident I'll definitely wear it.
Does it totally blow your mind that she's big enough to do complicated crafts now? I swear she's still little enough to hold above my head like an airplane, and then I see her and she's a full fledged tiny human, actually. Crazy.
It's surreal, to say the least. And for once I'm completely in agreement with my mom's overprotectiveness. I'd stay at home with Holly all the time if I could.
It really does. I mean, she's so smart, and so curious. And she's also COMPLETELY obsessed with math, which I never would have guessed. Oh, and reading bedtime stories, that's been the big thing this year. Filling out those addition and subtraction worksheets as fast as she can, and bedtime stories. She absolutely will not pick up a book just to pass the time on her own, but okay, so.
Around Christmas time she started doing this thing, about once or twice a week, whenever my parents tell her that it's time to get ready for bed - she starts insisting that it's my bedtime, too. Always very serious, trying to sound just like my mom, and tells me to brush my teeth and change into my jimjams, the whole thing, just so she can sit with me and read me a story. Meanwhile she's always about half asleep herself by then? So reading anything tends to be a challenge. But she gets so grumpy if I try to help, it's so cute. Because she can read it herself, and how dare I suggest otherwise.
[ this just in, nancy actually kinda loves it. all of it. being a big sister is- well, okay, it's a pain in the ass when it comes to dealing with mike. but holly really is a full fledged tiny human now, and it's impossible for her not to get caught up in it. ]
( this is an adorable snapshot of Nancy's relationship with her sister. back when they were dating, they agreed Mike was an asshole and Nancy would smile and nod when Steve pointed out how adorable Holly was. it wasn't really... a conversation, though. Mike was an asshole and Holly was adorable and that was that. they'd make out, or cram for a Chem final, or watch some movie Steve had insisted Nancy would like. they didn't talk about her siblings. they didn't talk about a lot of things, really.
it's nice. to get this puzzle piece of who Nancy is now. who Nancy is with her little sister. instincts to protect something small, still growing, that needs her and looks to her as they learn exactly how to be a human. it's just... it's just nice. that's all. )
Sounds like Holly is an unexpected ally in getting you to sleep every once and awhile. I should get her a bunch of new books to read to you, if it convinces you to do the whole jim-jams in bed at a reasonable hour thing.
[ later on nancy might realize how it might be coming off, talking so much about one of the sweeter parts about taking care of her 7 year-old sister like this... but at the moment? nope. not a single second thought. ]
We both know that even the greatest bedtime story won't make a 7:30pm bedtime possible, but it does sort of force me to wind down and relax earlier than I would have on my own, sure.
But you know, that whole plan carries the not-so-subtle implication that you have better sleeping habits than I do, which... No way. I'm sure I sleep just as much as you do. So if you're going to weaponize her bedtime stories, that means I'll have to retaliate by weaponizing speakerphone.
( it's coming off fine. right? it's totally chill to tell stories that highlight that you're really embracing your maternal instincts lately to the guy that dreamed of having a family with you one day! to be fair, Steve isn't reading much into it. besides thinking past Steve was really on top of thinking Nancy would be a great mom one day. )
That's half the battle sometimes, isn't it? If you're halfway there you might as well try and sleep. So look, if she gets half a dozen Dr. Seuss books, I don't know where she got them, all right? ( totally worth it, if it has become a calming routine for Nancy. he'd dedicate a paycheck to that. he realizes half the dark circles she'd been sporting the last time he saw her were from the hangover, not that she never sleeps, ever.
he's just guessing it isn't as easy for her as it used to be. that's all. )
I dunno, my problem isn't getting to sleep, it's staying asleep. You know? ( does she know? maybe she doesn't know. well... now she does! that seems like a fair friend thing to tell each other, huh? she's not gonna totally fixate on this like his sleep patterns are a problem she has to personally solve? better not. ) I don't know if Holly can help with that one.
[ she just! likes being a big sister. most of the time. and it's not like- okay yeah, it's pretty similar. the vibes are there.
but, anyway.
he asks "you know?" and yeah, she does. but luckily she stops herself from specifying that she hasn't been able to fall asleep, or stay asleep, very easily since she uhhhhh fell through a tree that lead to another dimension where she got chased down by a monster with a murder-flower face almost 3 years ago. or that the best sleep she's had in months was the night they were all piled into her basement, taking turns staying up with max. ]
I do, yeah. I definitely do.
[ .............but they both know that pretending things are fine with someone who knows perfectly well that they're not has never really worked out for her, so- ]
This time feels different, too. In the past I could kind of convince myself that it would get easier? That eventually I wouldn't see some kind of monster every time I shut my eyes. But "eventually" keeps getting interrupted by a new threat, and this time there's reminders of what happened literally all over town.
[ plus there's the tiny fact that robin, steve, and herself were the last people vecna saw before he was lit on fire and repeatedly shot in the chest, but that they didn't manage to kill him, so there's a solid chance they'll be the first people he comes looking for whenever he's back up on his feet. so. that hasn't really helped either, no. ]
( usually there's more of a bookend. Mindflayer is melted. the Demogorgon is dusted. the Russian base exploded. this time... well, this time it's not like that. the dust has settled, literally, but it doesn't feel like they have long to catch a breath. everyone knows that Vecna didn't die, not like he was supposed to. and while the shit with the gates didn't work the way it was supposed to, since Max isn't dead —
how long before Vecna recovers? before he tries again? will he start from square one, or do they have to keep their eyes peeled for a new victim in the midst of all the warning signs? someone they can hopefully protect, like they hadn't been able to protect Max?
no, it does feel different. and considering Vecna tortured people in their sleep, the fact neither of them are sleeping great isn't particularly surprising. )
Yeah. Yeah it is. At least I feel like I am doing something useful if I get up and do something. Run, or work out, or get gas so I'm ready to get Robin to school in the morning, or... get 3am pancakes at the 24-7 truck stop on the outside of town. Okay that last one isn't the most productive. They just make really good pancakes.
Yes, I go running, yes it is outside, yes I know Will disappeared a mile from my house. I run towards town, not towards the creepy woods. And I've never had reason to think some Upside Down creature is stalking me and besides, Vecna does the whole... hear a clock and bad dreams and waking nightmare thing, right? I listen to music, so, it's fine.
( is it though? it's as close to fine as he can reasonably get, when nothing is fine. so... good enough. )
Yeah. That one. Great pancakes. You should try it sometime. It's almost like they're even better at 3am. I don't know if that's true, but it feels like it is.
[ lort he is TESTING HER she promised not to lecture and then he goes and says all of that and maybe a few weeks ago that was all well and good and fine but the town is in literal pieces and he's-! it's! well, it's obviously fine, because he listens to MUSIC-!!!
she did need to put her phone down for a moment, yes. she had to actively avoid even looking at it until the urge to call him some very choice names fully passed. ]
I'm gonna weaponize recordings of Holly reading to you, Wheeler. Team up with your mom to ambush you with sleepy snoozy storytime. Let's see you stay up all night after 1am pancakes then.
( is this a plan he could POSSIBLY execute? uh... no, probably not. he's mostly joking. but also kinda cranky. cuz goddamnit, Nance!! it's only okay when HE does it! )
If you're ever not sleeping for hours on end, you might as well check in. Maybe I'm not sleeping for hours on end, either.
[ it's just good timing that his last message sends before she starts in on her reply back, because it's just, like, soft enough to deflate her defensiveness a bit. not that she was suddenly guards up, ready to fight, but like. she's entitled to some questionable decisions too, tyvm, and he needs to remember that-! ]
First of all, Harrington, I usually order waffles. And second, unless you're listening to exactly one song on repeat the entire time you're out running, you don't get to cut me off from my truck stop breakfasts. Or dictate my bedtime.
So maybe I will check in, yeah. Which means you better have your phone on you whenever you go out running, because if you don't answer my text then well
It is just one song, all right? We've had this discussion.
( and it is annoying to have to listen to foreigner on a loop, okay!!! but Steve does in fact remember how Vecna works, and that he's not quite as dead as anyone would like him to be. so, their song on loop, that's about as safe as his runs are gonna be. )
[ yeah no she definitely didn't think he'd actually do that. but. like- not that he didn't know to, just that maybe it would be on the same tape look they have cellphones but maybe they still also have walkman(s) whatever #80smuserperproblems just in case of an emergency or something. so. alright, fine. ]
Yeah, but So How is this going to work? I'm supposed to check in when I can't sleep, in case you also can't sleep, to... avoid going out for 1am waffles, or 3am pancakes? [ not to keep each other company via text message, no way. they're platonically looking out for their sleeping and eating habits, that's all. ] Only you might not answer because you might be sleeping. But how am I supposed to know that you're just sleeping, and not in some kind of trouble after you went out for a run?
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no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 03:12 am (UTC)Okay, you've convinced me. Tell Holly I really need it, all right? Without her I might forget before I run around punching sophomores.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 03:25 am (UTC)After gently informing her that some people might not have five different favorite colors, she begrudgingly admitted that she can work with three, but you would be "seriously limiting her creativity". So. No pressure.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 03:32 am (UTC)And she can have as many artistic liberties with accent colors as she wants. Seems like that should be her right, as the talent.
( AKA FUCK HIM UP WITH A RAINBOW, HOLLY )
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Date: 2022-07-29 04:04 am (UTC)I just need to be sure that you to know what you're signing up for.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 04:12 am (UTC)Plus, neon colors are eye-catching. Better reminder to keep the guns holstered, all that.
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Date: 2022-07-29 04:49 am (UTC)Not that you actually have to wear it, or anything! Obviously. She'll definitely want you to try it on when she finishes it, but after that... Maybe just keep it in your car, in the off-chance you'll be [ ... what? at her house? when she invites him over again? is it possibly going to really be that regular of a thing? ... is it totally fucked up that the thought of it not happening again makes her frown, before she catches herself? probably. shit. ] around when she's around. [ AROUND? brilliant. ] I just know it would mean a lot to her. [ just like him humoring this at all means a lot to her. as in herself, yes. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 04:59 am (UTC)now she's old enough to make faces back, which is even more fun. )
It sucks for them to be stuck inside, but we barely know what it means that Vecna almost opened the gate, right? Safer for her to be in. At least for now.
No, I'll wear it. Sounds pretty wicked. I can't make those things, the ones with all the knots? If she can do that without making a yarn ball on accident I'll definitely wear it.
Does it totally blow your mind that she's big enough to do complicated crafts now? I swear she's still little enough to hold above my head like an airplane, and then I see her and she's a full fledged tiny human, actually. Crazy.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 05:28 am (UTC)It really does. I mean, she's so smart, and so curious. And she's also COMPLETELY obsessed with math, which I never would have guessed. Oh, and reading bedtime stories, that's been the big thing this year. Filling out those addition and subtraction worksheets as fast as she can, and bedtime stories. She absolutely will not pick up a book just to pass the time on her own, but okay, so.
Around Christmas time she started doing this thing, about once or twice a week, whenever my parents tell her that it's time to get ready for bed - she starts insisting that it's my bedtime, too. Always very serious, trying to sound just like my mom, and tells me to brush my teeth and change into my jimjams, the whole thing, just so she can sit with me and read me a story. Meanwhile she's always about half asleep herself by then? So reading anything tends to be a challenge. But she gets so grumpy if I try to help, it's so cute. Because she can read it herself, and how dare I suggest otherwise.
[ this just in, nancy actually kinda loves it. all of it. being a big sister is- well, okay, it's a pain in the ass when it comes to dealing with mike. but holly really is a full fledged tiny human now, and it's impossible for her not to get caught up in it. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-31 03:05 am (UTC)it's nice. to get this puzzle piece of who Nancy is now. who Nancy is with her little sister. instincts to protect something small, still growing, that needs her and looks to her as they learn exactly how to be a human. it's just... it's just nice. that's all. )
Sounds like Holly is an unexpected ally in getting you to sleep every once and awhile. I should get her a bunch of new books to read to you, if it convinces you to do the whole jim-jams in bed at a reasonable hour thing.
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Date: 2022-07-31 04:08 am (UTC)We both know that even the greatest bedtime story won't make a 7:30pm bedtime possible, but it does sort of force me to wind down and relax earlier than I would have on my own, sure.
But you know, that whole plan carries the not-so-subtle implication that you have better sleeping habits than I do, which... No way. I'm sure I sleep just as much as you do. So if you're going to weaponize her bedtime stories, that means I'll have to retaliate by weaponizing speakerphone.
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Date: 2022-07-31 11:07 pm (UTC)That's half the battle sometimes, isn't it? If you're halfway there you might as well try and sleep. So look, if she gets half a dozen Dr. Seuss books, I don't know where she got them, all right? ( totally worth it, if it has become a calming routine for Nancy. he'd dedicate a paycheck to that. he realizes half the dark circles she'd been sporting the last time he saw her were from the hangover, not that she never sleeps, ever.
he's just guessing it isn't as easy for her as it used to be. that's all. )
I dunno, my problem isn't getting to sleep, it's staying asleep. You know? ( does she know? maybe she doesn't know. well... now she does! that seems like a fair friend thing to tell each other, huh? she's not gonna totally fixate on this like his sleep patterns are a problem she has to personally solve? better not. ) I don't know if Holly can help with that one.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 01:06 am (UTC)but, anyway.
he asks "you know?" and yeah, she does. but luckily she stops herself from specifying that she hasn't been able to fall asleep, or stay asleep, very easily since she uhhhhh fell through a tree that lead to another dimension where she got chased down by a monster with a murder-flower face almost 3 years ago. or that the best sleep she's had in months was the night they were all piled into her basement, taking turns staying up with max. ]
I do, yeah. I definitely do.
[ .............but they both know that pretending things are fine with someone who knows perfectly well that they're not has never really worked out for her, so- ]
This time feels different, too. In the past I could kind of convince myself that it would get easier? That eventually I wouldn't see some kind of monster every time I shut my eyes. But "eventually" keeps getting interrupted by a new threat, and this time there's reminders of what happened literally all over town.
[ plus there's the tiny fact that robin, steve, and herself were the last people vecna saw before he was lit on fire and repeatedly shot in the chest, but that they didn't manage to kill him, so there's a solid chance they'll be the first people he comes looking for whenever he's back up on his feet. so. that hasn't really helped either, no. ]
Not sleeping is easier, sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 02:46 am (UTC)( usually there's more of a bookend. Mindflayer is melted. the Demogorgon is dusted. the Russian base exploded. this time... well, this time it's not like that. the dust has settled, literally, but it doesn't feel like they have long to catch a breath. everyone knows that Vecna didn't die, not like he was supposed to. and while the shit with the gates didn't work the way it was supposed to, since Max isn't dead —
how long before Vecna recovers? before he tries again? will he start from square one, or do they have to keep their eyes peeled for a new victim in the midst of all the warning signs? someone they can hopefully protect, like they hadn't been able to protect Max?
no, it does feel different. and considering Vecna tortured people in their sleep, the fact neither of them are sleeping great isn't particularly surprising. )
Yeah. Yeah it is. At least I feel like I am doing something useful if I get up and do something. Run, or work out, or get gas so I'm ready to get Robin to school in the morning, or... get 3am pancakes at the 24-7 truck stop on the outside of town.
Okay that last one isn't the most productive. They just make really good pancakes.
1/3 i think
Date: 2022-08-01 03:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 03:19 am (UTC)But how do you know
Nope, never mind, no lecturing. Promise.
ye done
Date: 2022-08-01 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 03:40 am (UTC)( is it though? it's as close to fine as he can reasonably get, when nothing is fine. so... good enough. )
Yeah. That one. Great pancakes. You should try it sometime. It's almost like they're even better at 3am.
I don't know if that's true, but it feels like it is.
( they're more comforting, somehow. )
1/2 lmao sorry 4 ur inbox
Date: 2022-08-01 03:51 am (UTC)she did need to put her phone down for a moment, yes. she had to actively avoid even looking at it until the urge to call him some very choice names fully passed. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 04:03 am (UTC)( NANCY 1AM PANCAKES AND THEN SLEEP RIGHT??? ?!!!?!?!? )
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 04:14 am (UTC)[ which means the answer to that question is no but that's fine because it's only sometimes. and never on a school night! so. y'know. it's fine. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 04:19 am (UTC)( is this a plan he could POSSIBLY execute? uh... no, probably not. he's mostly joking. but also kinda cranky. cuz goddamnit, Nance!! it's only okay when HE does it! )
If you're ever not sleeping for hours on end, you might as well check in. Maybe I'm not sleeping for hours on end, either.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 04:35 am (UTC)[ it's just good timing that his last message sends before she starts in on her reply back, because it's just, like, soft enough to deflate her defensiveness a bit. not that she was suddenly guards up, ready to fight, but like. she's entitled to some questionable decisions too, tyvm, and he needs to remember that-! ]
First of all, Harrington, I usually order waffles. And second, unless you're listening to exactly one song on repeat the entire time you're out running, you don't get to cut me off from my truck stop breakfasts. Or dictate my bedtime.
So maybe I will check in, yeah. Which means you better have your phone on you whenever you go out running, because if you don't answer my text then
well
doesn't matter.
You just need to answer.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 05:00 am (UTC)( and it is annoying to have to listen to foreigner on a loop, okay!!! but Steve does in fact remember how Vecna works, and that he's not quite as dead as anyone would like him to be. so, their song on loop, that's about as safe as his runs are gonna be. )
Fine! If I'm awake, I'll answer.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-01 05:21 am (UTC)Alright, good.
[ yeah no she definitely didn't think he'd actually do that. but. like- not that he didn't know to, just that maybe it would be on the same tape
look they have cellphones but maybe they still also have walkman(s) whatever #80smuserperproblemsjust in case of an emergency or something. so. alright, fine. ]Yeah, but
So
How is this going to work?
I'm supposed to check in when I can't sleep, in case you also can't sleep, to... avoid going out for 1am waffles, or 3am pancakes? [ not to keep each other company via text message, no way. they're platonically looking out for their sleeping and eating habits, that's all. ] Only you might not answer because you might be sleeping. But how am I supposed to know that you're just sleeping, and not in some kind of trouble after you went out for a run?
If I need to check in, so do you.
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