( at all? to anyone? Steve can tell things didn't go super well for Laurie, at home — and the behemoth in a rheumy white mask after her says a lot while saying nothing at all. still... nobody? )
My mom would. Unless the lab covered it up. Maybe that'd be better.
[ it is depressing and Laurie probably shouldn't have said anything at all but Steve, obviously loopy from lack of sleep, told her this sad ass story and she knows what it's like to lose friend(s), the sick burn of guilt. but it's kind of hard to articulate. ]
(don't think about it. well, if it makes Laurie feel better, 99.9998% of the time, Steve does make a point of not thinking about it. or talking about it! he's not sure it actually makes anything better, or easier. maybe not talking or thinking about it is what tore Nancy up inside, trying to be okay because he insisted they should be, when neither of them were.
he sighs. )
So are you tired or what? Scary stories never make me wanna sleep, you should have asked for a happy one.
[ way ahead of you, Steve; Laurie, whose eyelids had begun drooping while reading his story, leans her head against his shoulder and stifles a yawn, then taps out a one-handed message: ]
( that makes one of them. not thinking about it is a great suggestion, only it's too late, he made the crucial error of thinking about it, and you can't unthink things. you just gotta dwell on them awhile, pull it over and over in your head like it'll change something.
Steve was this close to suggesting they go put pull out the tape of the Clown's creepy VHS or hammer a couple of Trickster's stupid glass knives just for the distraction, because doing is better than thinking. and then Laurie's head lolls against his shoulder, more confirmation that she's barely holding on to coherent than the text really is.
she wouldn't lean on him if she was awake enough to think about it, he figures. she makes a point of not leaning on anybody. which he gets — or would get it, if it weren't for Dustin, and then Robin, and then the fog and Nancy and Jonathan and Quentin all the other survivors just trying to not entirely lose it, here. Steve's learned the value in having someone you can lean on, is the point.
and even if it's a half asleep decision, and she might elbow him in the gut when she wakes up and realizes, Steve thinks Laurie could use someone to lean on. even just a little while.
he responds, but it is awkward texting with one hand because one arm is being dedicated to feral girl pillow. ) We're not talking. We're texting. ( okay grandpa. if that doesn't put her to sleep, what will. )
[ later, she'll find a way to blame it on Steve, or the collective exhaustion that had rolled through the campfire. maybe she'll even blame it on the Entity. either way, once she leans her head on Steve's shoulder, Laurie doesn't move, even though a) she knows she should and b) this bony jerk isn't all that comfortable. but the fire is warm on their faces and their fronts and Steve's warm in his own right, so even though the phone buzzes in her hand, alerting her that if she wants the last word she'd better lift the thing up and reply, Laurie stays put.
she's fucking tired. it's exhausting spending all of her energy trying to survive while simultaneously keeping everybody at arm's length. but it's what must be done. she'll be furious when she wakes up, mostly at herself, but for now, Laurie dozes off, the phone slipping from her hand into the dirt, hair catching the light of the fire like a wild halo around her head. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 02:31 am (UTC)You think that's how it works? We're all just gone and things go on without us?
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 04:18 pm (UTC)idk
doesnt really matter for my life but im sure your parents miss you
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 06:24 pm (UTC)( at all? to anyone? Steve can tell things didn't go super well for Laurie, at home — and the behemoth in a rheumy white mask after her says a lot while saying nothing at all. still... nobody? )
My mom would. Unless the lab covered it up. Maybe that'd be better.
...Jesus, this is depressing.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 07:41 pm (UTC)yup. doesnt matter
sorry
just dont think about it
whats the point
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 09:34 pm (UTC)he sighs. )
So are you tired or what? Scary stories never make me wanna sleep, you should have asked for a happy one.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 09:52 pm (UTC)tired as hell but you keep talking
[ :) ]
🎀 here? or you could wrap on yours?
Date: 2022-12-26 11:14 pm (UTC)Steve was this close to suggesting they go put pull out the tape of the Clown's creepy VHS or hammer a couple of Trickster's stupid glass knives just for the distraction, because doing is better than thinking. and then Laurie's head lolls against his shoulder, more confirmation that she's barely holding on to coherent than the text really is.
she wouldn't lean on him if she was awake enough to think about it, he figures. she makes a point of not leaning on anybody. which he gets — or would get it, if it weren't for Dustin, and then Robin, and then the fog and Nancy and Jonathan and Quentin all the other survivors just trying to not entirely lose it, here. Steve's learned the value in having someone you can lean on, is the point.
and even if it's a half asleep decision, and she might elbow him in the gut when she wakes up and realizes, Steve thinks Laurie could use someone to lean on. even just a little while.
he responds, but it is awkward texting with one hand because one arm is being dedicated to feral girl pillow. ) We're not talking. We're texting. ( okay grandpa. if that doesn't put her to sleep, what will. )
🎀
Date: 2022-12-29 03:25 pm (UTC)she's fucking tired. it's exhausting spending all of her energy trying to survive while simultaneously keeping everybody at arm's length. but it's what must be done. she'll be furious when she wakes up, mostly at herself, but for now, Laurie dozes off, the phone slipping from her hand into the dirt, hair catching the light of the fire like a wild halo around her head. ]