logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: october 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. scavenger hunt prizes are awarded. the ferry capsizes in a blaze of glory.
warnings: n/a.

welcome to beacon.

It's dim, and the room won't stop swaying, gently rocking you back and forth. A loud sound startles you fully awake, a deep, moaning call: a foghorn. As your eyes adjust, you note faint red light streaking through the room from a tiny, round window.

You've found yourself in a private room, lying on a bed. The last things you remember are the events that led up to your death. Beside you is a folded tablet and a lantern that glows steadily with a healthy flame.

You're on a ship. And that ship is docking.

Making your way to the deck, and eventually the pier, you find only moonlight to greet you, and a dark forest beyond. There are other people here, each with their own unique lantern, and many of them look just as lost as you are. On the ferry you've just disembarked from, the speaker system begins to play a song.

In the distance, across the waters of the lake, you can see the tall silhouette of a lighthouse, its red light slowly turning.

•••

Luckily for all the newcomers, the tablet and the town have some resources available for playing catch up! In fact, as soon as they're prompted to enter a network username, an app containing all sorts of useful welcome information will launch. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records in town hall as well, and everyone's welcome to get in touch with the NPCs through their inboxes.

When the ferry docks, it seems as though you've been spared from any weirdness this month! It's good to have a break now and then, isn't it? And if you participated in the scavenger hunt, you're probably eagerly awaiting your promised prize—

But, ohp, what's that sound? Is that the ferry's engine firing up again? The ship roars to life again as some brave mutineers overthrow its autopilot system. Crowley and the Winter Soldier man the ferry's control room while Aziraphale flits between the cargo hold and the deck, attempting to assuage any accidental kidnapees with reassuring words and cake.

Unfortunately, the joyride is shortlived. Between the ferry's complex control panel and the haphazard attempts to override it, all the group manages to do is send the boat charging full speed ahead—which would be great if it wasn't facing the beach. The ferry jolts forward and careens smack into the dock, tearing down the entire structure and punching a sizeable hole in the ferry's hull.

Well, that could've gone better. But there's no time to dwell on the mistakes of the very recent past! The ferry is sinking, and quickly! Looks like you'll have to scramble if you want to save what's left in the cargo hold before the whole thing goes under... And that's gonna be awfully tricky without a dock.

Oh, and maybe save the new arrivals? Make sure they don't drown? But, then again, if they go down with the ship, they'll just show up again in the church... The same can't be said for the restock for the general store!

As smoke billows from the damaged ferry and the last the harbor disappears into the lake, the Lighthouse Keeper appears on the network with a pretty straightforward question. Also, the ferry's song changes, so. That happens.

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! For this intro log, you are officially without a chaperone. Rastus is back at the bonfire, Will is characteristically elusive, and Robin is, well, you know where she's at. It's up to the veteran residents to fill in the new folks.

And regarding the ferry disaster... Well, you have some options. Here's what you need to know:
This is a player plot organized by MJ, Xy, and Gail! A big thank-you to them for providing us with this intro log event!

Whether or not your character and any packages addressed to them are affected by this plot is up to you! If you would like to assume your character avoids dealing with this chaos and somehow grabs their delivery without issue, go right ahead!

Similarly, if you're looking for an opportunity to make your character's life harder, injury and death are always on the table! Or maybe it's your package that takes the abuse, lost forever to the lake's depths or washing up all waterlogged a week or two down the road. In short: How you engage with this plot is entirely up to you.

What happens to the ferry and the dock? Within a couple of hours, the ferry will sink completely, and anything on board when it goes down is lost forever. Which bodes super well for the ferry, huh? Sure hope the next batch of newcomers has some strong swimmers. Oh, and the dock is gone, too. If you want it back, you'll have to rebuild it.

As for Crowley, Aziraphale, Bucky, and anyone else on the ferry or dock during the collision... Hope you boys like concussions, bruised ribs, and a broken bone or two, because you've got 'em! The exact injuries are up to you, but they're the equivalent of a semi-serious car accident.

One last thing: The fate of the shop restocks, including all of the food for the month, depends on you! Let us know if your character will be participating in the rescue attempt. In exchange for letting us beat up your character, you can save a portion of the month's supplies! We'll let you all know on October 3 what the rations for the rest of the month will look like.

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock
For Daylight: A variety of gardening tools piled into a wheelbarrow, as well as packets of seeds for the following plants: Boneset, dogtooth violet, starflower, Carolina springbeauty, pipsissewa, bloodroot, red columbine, narrowleaf blue-eyed grass, harlequin blueflag, and purple pitcherplant; he will also receive a translation for the following: An invitation to join the speaker as company
For Aziraphale: A record player, the complete discographies of a variety of bands (Abba, Rob Zombie, Tool, Hanson, Eiffel 65, and Spice Girls), a two-tiered wedding cake, and packets of seeds for the following plants: Strawberry, cherry tomato, cucumber, blackberry, carrot, potato, raspberry, and pumpkin; he will also receive a familiar copy of a familiar book: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, along with a blue ribbon that reads "BEST IN SHOW"
For Bruce: A handheld metal detector and a rechargeable battery for it, a chisel, a climbing harness (that, according to the packaging, is the #1 Safety Rated!) and a 50 ft. coil of rope
For Cao Pi: A go board
For Rosinante: A sextant, and 3 cartons of cigarettes; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Danger! Run and hide!"
For Kuai: A basket of 16 mooncakes, as well as incregredients for more
For Javert: 3 pairs of handcuffs, a greatcoat in Javert's size, and a trunk full of swords in varying styles and conditions; he will also receive an electric chainsaw
For Kol: A record player, the complete discographies of a variety of bands (New Kids on the Block, Weird Al Yankovic, Sound Garden, Ke$ha, INXS, and Spinal Tap), a cooler full of blood bags and ice packs, and an assortment of stamps; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "I'm lost" or "Need directions"
For Elena: A journal; she will also receive a portable generator (powerful enough for a single power tool or small appliance; can be charged through a typical wall outlet)
For Xayah: A thick journal and a glass vial of black ink; she will also receive a sizeable roll of barbed wire, as well as a stuffed animal
For Ignis: A spice restock (with a few new ones mixed in!), 3 paired of leather gloves, and... 12? pairs? of glasses? They're all in slightly different prescriptions, though. A variety pack!; he will also receive a power drill (runs on a rechargeable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Riku: A wood stove, a set of paints, and 5 canvases; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Looking for water" or "Thirsty"
For Matt: A rosary and a Braille Bible... which is more of a collection of volumes, really; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Looking for food" or "Hungry"
For Noctis: Two complete sets of the Lord of the Rings series (except, wait a minute... they appear to be the novelizations of the movies); he will also receive an SD card that, when plugged into a tablet, will upload GPS directions to a new location...
For Rosalind: A crate of basic all-purpose lab equipment, a fancy microscope, an emergency eye wash station, a mortar and pestle, a lab coat, a Lite Brite, and... the things she needs to make things float, whatever those are; she will also receive a pair of dousing rods (that will actually point in the direction of water, checkmate atheists)
For Jason: A translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Sympathy" or "I'm sorry"
For Coraline: A translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Teach me"
For Eliot: A bottle of hospital grade painkillers (it contains 10 doses and functions similarly to Vicodin)
For Allie: A bottle of strong antibiotics (it contains 10 doses and can fight off most any infection)
For Vanitas: A portable camping stove (runs on a portable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Hope: A soldering iron (runs on a portable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Quentin: A cannister of foaming bandage (can be used 5 times to immediately close a wound/stop semi-severe bleeding)
For Mary: An SD card that, when plugged into a tablet, will upload GPS directions to a new location...

If you submitted an item request last month and we've missed it here, let us know!

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[Tablet.

She mouthes the word after he says it, commits it to memory. She's not had many words for very long, and is always eager to find and claim more for herself.

During his explanation, she's focused, tip of her tongue poking out between her lips as she follows along, taps the flat machine - the tablet - and then the right application tool, startling a little when the desired result - the map - shows up.

Thirty flavours - that's a lot. She looks surprisingly wistful at this, though, not es excited as she clearly wants to be.

She thinks back to the mall, to getting Vanilla with extra whipped cream and sprinkles from Steve, and rushing away. She hopes Steve is okay, back home. She hopes he's safe. At the question, she blinks, comes back to the here and now.]

It's how I find people. It's how I can see them.

Uh, [ is what peter utters at first. it's an involuntary noise, one of him mentally trying to work out if anything's been jigged, as it were. he thinks again of the x-men, of xavier again and specifically, of cerebro and he wishes, for a moment — almost — that logan was here. he gets it, he does — he's not one of them, he's not a mutant, he'll never know how that feels. they had some shared experiences, but he couldn't say, really, that he could relate.

he exhales, slowly. ] No. [ he holds his tablet up. ] These just use electronic signals to transmit information from one place to another. —Normally, anyway. [ the corners of his lips quirk upwards into a crooked smile. ] Inside is just a load of wires, small magnets, things like that. [ god, what would he have had as a kid that he could compare it to? he glances up at the sky. (yeah, no, he's got nothing.) ] Nothing like a void, unless—

—Is it a thing? Something that helps you — focus?

No. The void is...

[She stops herself then, thinks. Makes a vague gesture, as if that'll explain anything. In the end, Eleven shrugs.]

It's here.

[She taps the side of her head. Really, that's about as accurate as she can explain it without demonstrating, and she's not sure she wants to. Tapping into her powers is easy but... well. The Mind Flayer killed her in the void.

Eleven is scared of going back. Scared of what she might find. Scared she won't find anything at all.]

[ she taps the side of her head and peter gets it (he thinks): she can find people and she thought it could, too, because she's her only point of reference for anything like that. ] No, [ he repeats, definitively, although he's not sure if that's the answer she wants to hear, or if she'd prefer it if he said yes. the closest they had was his spider-tracers, (which definitely aren't spider tracers here.)

he weighs up his options: he doesn't know why she asked — if he had to guess, it'd be because she's afraid of losing people, wants to know that she'll be able to find them if she needs to, that she isn't alone — but at the same time, peter concedes, he might just be projecting. (that'd be why he'd ask.)

or maybe she just wants something familiar. ] Nothing like that, but if you're worried, I can show you a trick later.

[Her face is serious at his reply, and she nods in understanding - not disappointment, though. She takes bad news in stride, and she prefers honesty over someone trying to spare her feelings - especially adults. Friends don't lie, but boyfriends do, and adults don't always trust her to understand.

Peter gains some respect for being open, and honest.

Truth be told, the thought had... well, not quite excited her, but she'd have liked to be able to find people without the Void. The Void is hers, should be hers, but the Mind Flayer has made it feel unsafe. She's not sure she wants to go back - but she will, if she needs to find someone, if she needs to help someone. Eleven will never hesitate to risk herself, no matter how scared she might be, for the people she loves and who need her.]

A trick. Like... magic? Or like prank?

Like — science. [ beat. ] When I say trick, I mean an easy— er way to do something that should be hard or complicated. It's kinda like you're cheating, but you're not really, you're just using a shortcut. Does that make sense?

[ he can't quite work her out — there's a strength to her, obviously, despite the stilted, careful replies; a quiet thoughtfulness and understanding, but then there's the rest of it — the literal way in which she took his first question, the lack of surety about what he meant by 'trick'. there could be a simple answer for it, and peter would like to think it'd be a pleasant simple answer, but how often is that the case?

(maybe for once. it does happen occasionally.) ]

—Hey, Eleven, d'you mind if I ask you a question? Do you mind if I ask where you're from? [ there's a breath of a silence after he asks, before he almost immediately continues with: ] I'm from New York — it's a city, on Earth. [ he doesn't know if the clarification's needed, but he's not going to make assumptions either way. ] We've got people from space here, [ he tells her, with a quick smile. ] I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, [ he adds, more to himself than to her ], and people from other worlds. It can be pretty creepy at times, [ he gestures loosely at their surroundings ], because there's no sun, but that part's pretty cool.

Edited (A WORD....) 2019-10-08 07:36 (UTC)

[Her eyes grow wider as he talks, both fascinated by what he says and confused in equal measure. He's almost like Mike when he's excited, and there's an ache in her chest Eleven has to take a moment to brush past. The fast almost overload of information has her mind reeling to keep up, and she ends up feeling like she missed bits and pieces here and there.

She filters bits and pieces though - New York, people from space, astronaut, other worlds, creepy, no sun.

Right.]

Hawkins, Indiana. [She mispronounces Indiana slightly.] Other worlds... like the Upside Down? Like here? [That one she says as if she expects he'd know what that is. The similarities are at the forefront of her mind, after all - always dark, no sun... Then she wrinkles her nose, confused.] From what... spaces? And... how do you know what you want to be. When you're a child?

[ oh, boy.

indiana, she says, and the feeling of discomfort in the pit of his stomach twists slightly, because as much as he'd liked to have thought that there wasn't a terrible reason for the small, albeit slightly endearing idiosyncracies, the fact that she's from earth pretty much says that's an impossibility. it's the last question, the how do you know what you want to be? that really makes him pause, and his expression flickers for a moment — a frown, first, then hesitance — before softening.

(he thinks, for the briefest of moments, of maude and how she'd inevitably make fun of him—.) ]

Upside Down? [ beat. ] I don't know, [ he admits. it'd be easy to say yes, like the upside down, but he doesn't know what that is — he could guess, based on what she calls it: an inverted reality, and frankly, it's possible — they've got alternate earths, alternate timelines, but without knowing the specifics—. his gut says yes, but his gut also says that eating three-day old leftovers is totally fine and then vehemently disagrees, so like, who cares what his gut says? ] Other worlds, like other planets. You see— [ he leans forward and points up at the sky, ] —the stars? Some of those are planets, and some of those have people on them. Some of them are too far away to see, and the rest of it, all of that black in between? The— [ the corners of his lips twitch, ] —space? That's space.

—I had a lot of books on it, when I was a little bit younger than you. I wanted to travel up there and explore.

[ he glances back towards eleven, cautiously and carefully. there's a thought, one that says don't ask if she had books and toys and dolls to play with because he's pretty sure he already knows the answer, so instead he runs a hand through his hair — it's already slightly messy, like he does that a lot and has never quite worked out the finer points of hair styling, or like it gets flattened a lot, maybe by a mask—

(or both.) ] There's a library, near the ice cream stand. You wanna check it out one day?

[When Peter leans forwards and points up, Eleven scoots closer a little, leans in to align herself with this arm and peer up, following the line of his finger as directly as she can, as if that would make a difference. in doing so Eleven puts a hand on his arm, too. It is, perhaps, the most childlike way she's behaved so far with him, and she stares up at the sky in wonder for a moment.

For a moment, she just stares, lost to memories of mike who likes a movie about stars at war.

Different species, indeed.

She wishes she could take back how harsh she was to him in how she felt slighed.

Wishes she had another chance to forgive him for lying, once.

For now, she looks at Peter, face a little less guarded, a little more open.]

The library - yes. Books are good. I learn with them. Words, and I'm practicing writing. It's not very good yet. But talking has gotten better now.

[ eleven placing her hand on his arm catches him by surprise, and he's startled, just for a moment; and he doesn't speak or move, not until she does — he wonders, briefly, what she's thinking of. if the stars were familiar, he thinks he'd think of home, but as it is, they're not, and—

he still thinks of home. thinks of how far away it all seems, despite the fact that he knows it could be (could) just one short trip through a questionable portal or wormhole, or like — honestly, he still doesn't really get what doc strange does (which is why stephen's the sorcerer supreme, and peter is just, well, peter), but he still feels like something like that could come in handy in a situation like this.

(sure, it'd be accompanied by a lot of serious looks, some warning about how one step slightly too much to the right could drastically alter and-or destroy their world(s), the timeline(s), or allow for some horrific creature of destruction with a disturbingly alliterative name to indulge in the above. or it'd be accompanied by a 'I can do it, but it's going to take a lot of time and energy, and I've got an appointment at 4pm (and question for self: how does a guy like that have so many appointments, anyway?), so you're going to need to use this instead, but it means you're going to have to not talk for two hours and—'.)

the library, eleven says, interrupting his thoughts, and peter looks back down at her. talking has gotten better, he notes, and it's punctuated by the question of when did she start talking? it couldn't have been long ago, which explains a few things. and if it wasn't long ago, she's remarkably advanced, actually, there were studies that—

(a quick frown; more questions that answers.) ]

Yeah? [ a quirk of a smile. ] You got any favourites?

Yes.

[It's easy to see how she starts getting more comfortable around Peter, the natural suspicion she has with new people and adults slowly but surely bleeding away, the more serious, hard set of her features opening up.]

Right now, it's "Using Good English". It helps a lot. I also like "Wonder Woman". Max showed me... two days ago.

Using Good— [ peter starts to repeat, slightly incredulously. sure, his favourite book had been the poetry of science, but that'd been a choice. he's not sure if eleven's decision to read using good english and selecting it as her favourite were quite the same thing. ] Right. It's up there, sure, but I can do you a few better. [ a beat; a flicker of consideration, then: ]Wonder Woman's a good one. [ and peter had definitely had a crush on lynda carter, but he's just going to not mention that. (when did that come out, anyway? the seventies, right? shame they don't have a tv and a vcr here.)

—what did young teenagers like? it's been a while since he'd had to think about it, and even then, his students just called him a nerd (fondly, he liked to think). the important thing had been channeling their interests into learning, into their studies, into giving them a chance when most other circumstances in their lives wouldn't. he wasn't so arrogant to think that he'd made a difference for all of them, but if he'd been able to make a difference for some of them, just for a while, that was enough. ]

So here's the plan: we'll go to the library, and you can pick out a couple of books, I'll pick out a couple of books, and then we'll get ice cream. [ a pause. peter's attention shifts back to eleven's bare feet and the slightly grubby state of her and her clothes. ] But first, you've got to get cleaned up. You remember that map I showed you? [ he'll pause long enough for eleven to answer. ] It's got a store, where you can choose out some clothes, and—

Have you found somewhere to stay yet?

[She feels like it always takes her a while to sort through everything he says. Peter isn't too fast, and doesn't use words she can't follow, but like Mike he talks a lot, and she's still getting used to that. But she listens very attentively, brown eyes wide on him, lighting up a little when he mentions liking Wonder Woman.]

Yes. Castle Miners, with Nancy and Steve. They're... from home.

[At that, the gleam in her eyes dulls a little, corners of her mouth turning down. She doesn't look sad per se - more wistful, somber. Not how a child should look, but he knows that. He knows Eleven is many things, and few of them are things a child should be.

Perhaps he knows, too, the conflict of having someone from home here with you - the relief at not being alone, at seeing a familiar face, at knowing you have these people here whom you can trust... and then, crushing you, also the the knowledge of what their presence here implies.

Eleven tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. It falls forwards again immediately. Her hair looks choppy in places, in the way all hair does that is being allowed to grow out.]

Books... and ice cream.

[Eleven looks up at Peter, lips tugging up a little again.]

I would like that.

[ the wistfulness says something in and of itself. it says that she's not surprised they're here which — honestly, so far, it seems like the only common denominator between all of them here is that hey'd all been through something. peter hasn't yet met anyone that just died of natural causes. that'd be sad in and of itself, but that was life. everything else though? well, he supposes someone has to go through it, but that didn't make it any better for that someone to be a child.

(although the irony that he was only fifteen when he got bit by that spider and became spider-man is not lost on him.) ]

Castle Miners, huh. Over in the village? [ not far from the library, then. that's — convenient. pause. wait— he'd spoken to a nancy, hadn't he? she'd arrived last month. seemed like a nice girl, a couple of years older than eleven, but still so young. (jeez, indiana...) ] —I think I met Nancy. [ punctuated by a curious, sidelong glance at eleven. other than the questionably 80s fashion, there's nothing in their appearance to say they could be related. ] She seems nice. [ another pause, and peter's lips twist together for a moment. there's more he could add to that — something about how it's good to have people here who'll watch your back, how it's good to not be alone, but they're all mixed sentiments, things he's not sure he wants to say so soon after eleven's arrived.

he imagines she knows, but there's always something about vocalising it that makes it feel that little bit more real. ]

—It's a date, then. [ he adds finally, at length, before— ] This Steve going to kick my ass if I don't ask his permission to take you out for a couple of hours?

[If he's met Nancy, that's good. Nancy is smart, and knows things, figures things out. She's going to be a journalist - Eleven learned that word for her. And she knows - Nancy is going to be amazing. So if Peter has met Nancy, she'll ask Nancy for her thoughts. Eleven may make her own rules, but she still listens to others.

On occasion.

And then an expression crosses her face that is perhaps the penultimate facial expression of every teenager. And with matching 'I can't believe you're not aware of this' tone in her voice, she looks up at Peter and stresses:]

I have a boyfriend.

[And just as quickly as the sass came, it evaporates, and Eleven presses her lips together, shoulders slumping.]

... had.

[ he looks affronted, just for a second, at the tone she takes when she says she has a boyfriend, though it's tinged with amusement he either doesn't or can't quite hide; it dissipates just as quickly when eleven's expression shifts, when she seems to fold in on herself at that present tense shifts to past.

peter inhales, the precursor to a sigh that doesn't quite come. ]

I — have a girlfriend. [ peter admits. there's a breath of a pause, a quick flicker of a smile, and: ] Mary Jane. [ he adds. it's been four months since he's said her name out loud — he thinks of her, more often than he'd ever to admit to anyone (except maybe mj herself), but saying her name would have made the fact that she's not here all the more tangible, like he's not just on a vacation somewhere really, really far away. (and really, really creepy.)

he still has nightmares on occasion, about gwen, about norman, but here they've been joined by nightmares of mary jane. nightmares about what might have happened to her when he'd been lured right into kraven's trap. in it, he hears her voice yelling his name. (peter, not spider-man.)

right now, she's kind of like schrödinger's cat — whilst he's here, there's the thought that she could be alive on one side of his mind, with the thought that she could be dead on the other, with nothing he can do about it. somewhere in the middle is the thought that for as long as he's here, she doesn't know what's happened to him, either.

he shifts his weight a little and crosses one ankle over the other; considers his next words. he doesn't think they're dead, not really — there's evidence for it, sure, but it's not like he hasn't been through something abstractly like this before. it's not like he hasn't known people to die and come back to life (in a manner of speaking.) it's not, he thinks, as cut and dry as all that.

the benefits of being peter parker, he guesses. ] You know, I don't agree with how it was done [ he says, meaning the everything with the ferry ], but I do think there's a way out of here. [ beat. ] So that boyfriend of yours? Let's keep him in the present tense.

[Eleven listens, feeling the slow swell of an ache in her chest she's kept tucked down, somewhere in a small corner of a ribcage, protected and safe and guarded carefully. But Peter has a girlfriend, and her name is Mary Jane, and perhaps she sees an echo of that ache in his eyes when he says her name.

Lost and dead and gone from the world, she's started sharing pieces of herself with some people, like trinkets she hands over and entrusts them with.

The trinket she entrusts to Peter is:]

Mike.

[She smiles a sad smile.]

His name is Mike.
[His name is Mike, and he was scared to lose her again because he loves her. And instead of taking back the break up, instead of taking the time to ponder saying it back, she prioritized their current predicament, and asked him to trust her.

And then she died.

And now...]

I... broke up with him.

[Her voice cracks on the admission, small hands clenching in the fabric of her pants. Eleven's lip trembles, and she tries, she tries to hard to cling to her walls, to her strengths, to the way she guards herself, but ever since she arrived, she tucked the ugly questions into this pocket behind her ribs, and something's coming apart at the seams at the thought of Mike back home.]

I just want... him to be okay...

[And it breaks, her resolve, as the tears start falling. Because she's dead, and that's okay, but the Mind Flayer is coming for Mike, and Hopper, and everyone she's ever loved in her tiny, small little existence turned life so recently, and she will never get to take Mike back, or say 'I love you', or keep him safe, or look at his face, his stupid, lovely face, ever again.]

Woah, hey.

[ and he's off the bench, in front of eleven with one knee bent and the other in the dirt. the movement's accompanied by a quick wince because wow, he'd forgotten about his wrist. he crouches so that he's eye-level with eleven, so that she can see his face. there's an earnestness to his expression, almost as if he's asking eleven to believe what he says. ]

You wanna know how many times MJ's broken up with me? More times than I can count. [ he tells her, in a hurried breath. they'd even tried to get married, and— well, things hadn't worked out. but somehow, they'd always ended up back together again, and peter had thought that maybe this time, they could make it work — really work, without anything getting in the way.

(that'd been a thought, because then he'd ended up here.)

but that doesn't matter, not right this second, because this isn't about him. it's about a heartbroken girl, who's never had to deal with this before. ]

You wanna know something else? I always find her again, or she finds me, and it is okay. Whatever else there is? None of that matters, not really, because when it comes down to it, we've got each other. I'm not going to say it'll be easy, and I'm not going to say things are going to be okay now, 'cause they're not. This — everything here is messed up and none of us are supposed to be here. But d'you know what else that means? Because we're not supposed to be here, we'll be able to go home and make things okay. [ beat. ] Okay?

[ he doesn't know how much of it is the truth — about making it back home, about things being okay, but he's got to believe it because if he doesn't, what else is there? he'd like to think he'll find his way back, too, but if he doesn't, that's — it's not okay, but he can live with it if it means kids like eleven get a fighting chance. ]

You've just gotta hold tight. Mike'll be there.

[It's painful and comforting, the way his words ring of what Max had said.

Eleven had been so sure, because Max had been - that breaking up was no big deal, because Mike would come back like Lucas did, that it would be fine, and Eleven had no reason to assume otherwise or know better.

... because I love her and I can't lose her again.

Mike...]

What if... what if the Mind Flayer gets him?

[And she rubs at her eyey, tries to quell the burning, hot tears that leave her skin tingling and make her breath hitch and the words catch in her throat.]

It wanted me first... and then.. then all my friends... if I'm gone...

[It's why she hung her heart so hard onto Aziraphale's promise of trying to get her home. She needs to go home - she needs to save them. Her own life or death doesn't matter unless it's the difference between saving them and leaving them vulnerable.]

Wh-what if I come back.. and they're gone?

[What if she never gets to reconcile with Mike - never gets to call Hopper 'Dad' for him to hear...

There's something tight in the way her shoulders shake, too small for the weight they carry.]

It's... all my fault...

[ it wanted me first, she says, and then all my friends. peter's heard those words before, countless times, in slightly different variations, but hearing them from a child is different. he doesn't move, but he does lower his head, just slightly, just for a moment. ]

I can't answer that. [ peter admits. ] But you can't let yourself give into thoughts like that. All we've got are what ifs and it's — human nature, I guess, to think that maybe we'll go back to the worst, because we weren't there to help.

[ he thinks, suddenly, of mj calling his name, and it's a thought he swallows. mj had beat the chameleon, right? she'd be fine, she would be—. ]

I could lie to you and say that I know it'll be fine, but— [ he presses his lips together into a line, then sighs, resolutely. he doesn't have the answers, not here. there's still so much that none of them knows, and if robin or the doc know, they're not telling. ] But Mike's not here, right? So that's gotta count for something. [ he catches himself before he says your friends aren't here, because he doesn't know what nancy or steve mean to eleven, and even then, he can't say he'd wish this place on many people. ]

I'm going to tell you a secret though, alright? [ pause. "it's all my fault". ] A couple of secrets, but you can't tell anyone, okay?

[It's calming, and Eleven doesn't quite understand why, just accepts it. Someone else might theorize it's because in the fact of her storm of emotions, Peter remains calm and patient and earnest, and she needs that. Her own emotions are quick to turn volatile if aggravated, and they don't need the risk of her powers going haywire right here and now. More than anything though, it's his honesty that helps her, that feels like Hopper's hand in her hair. Soothing. Good.

Eleven still sniffles, breath hitching on the intake every now and again, but she's calmin down, the onslaught of emotion ebbs and is gentled. Still she reaches up, wipes at the tears, and then drops her hands back into her lips. She doesn't look at him for a moment, instead reaches down to the hair tie around her wirst. She pulls it up, off her wrist and into her fingers instead, so she can twist it a little, toy with the material. If he happens to look when she does so, he might spot it in the light of their lanterns and the bonfire; "011" in black against the thin skin on the inside of her left wrist where she wears the blue hair tie that is now clearly something of a physical reminder to her, of comfort and good things.

Finally she looks up at Peter, eyes still wet and red and puffy, but tear tracks drying on her cheeks. Eleven nods.]

Yes.

[And then, carefully, as if she's unsure whether he'll understand the importance and what she says in between the words:]

Friends don't lie.

[ he waits for her to calm, patiently; his attention's caught by the movement, by her fiddling with the hair tie on her wrist. he'd guess it's important to her, from someone important, and maybe he'll ask her about it one day, but not now, not when she's processing the fact that the people important to her aren't here.

but then she speaks — friends don't lie, she says, and he glances down, expression flickering into a momentary wince. it's a nice, neat sentiment, one that says, he thinks, more of her age than anything else. it'd be great if it were that simple, if sometimes the truth didn't get people hurt or worse. sometimes it's safer to tell a lie than to tell the truth.

a breath then, and he looks back at her. ] Right, [ he answers, the corners of his lips quirking up into a slight smile. ] Friends don't lie.

[ he shifts his weight and moves until he's sitting on the ground, legs crossed, looking up at eleven; he opens his mouth as if to speak, then pauses, just for a second. glances up at the sky, lips twisting; his expression says, just for a moment, 'so how am I going to say this?' ] —I have a friend. Something like this [ he holds a hand out, palm facing upwards. (this.) ] has happened to him, a couple of times. He always thinks it's his fault, too, but d'you know what? He's an idiot. He blames himself for everything, even when it's not his fault. Sometimes things just happen, Eleven, and there's nothing we can do to change them. The things that we can change? The things that we can make better? That's what we've got to focus on.

Can you promise me you'll try?

Edited 2019-10-14 16:06 (UTC)

[She listens, because that's something she's good at - listening, learning, understanding - or trying to, at the very least. She gets it wrong sometimes - or gets only the very basic idea of it.

This, though, she thinks she gets.

We are not stupid.

She pullsher legs up and folds them. If Eleven's aware that there on the bench, she's copying Peter's posture, it doesn't show. It just appears that she's thinking, and mirrors him quite unconsciously. It's what she does - he'll notice that more and more the longer he knows her. She mimics people. It's how she learns. it's how she becomes a person - by taking on bits and pieces of the people she attaches herself to. Eleven has barely ever been her own person - she is, instead, a reflection of the people who help her grow.]

Focus on what we can change.

[She repeats it, earnest and attentive, like a valuable lesson learned.

Friends don't lie.

We are not stupid.

Focus on what we can change.

Right now, she can't change many things - she can't fix the fact that she's here, that Nancy and Steve are here. She can't fix the losses that Hopper and Mike and the others have to go through as a result. She can't fix the danger she's left them in.

But she can help keep Nancy and Steve save here. She can help this place, in whatever ways she can. She can't save her friends, not yet - but she can still try to save who and what she can, here and now.]

Yes. I promise.

[Andthen she repeats the other lesson she's learned:]

A promise is something you can't break. Ever.

[So she'll keep trying to focus on what she can do, not what she can't do for home.

Eleven looks at Peter, and nods as if to underline her conviction. She's still sad - she will never not be sad - but she'll be okay. He's given her a rope to hang onto for the time being.]

[ peter's learned over time that there are some things that aren't so black and white, some things that make a lot more sense in theory than they do in practice. promises, though? she's not wrong, although it's less a case of can't and more a case of shouldn't, and the ones that you do, you take responsibility for.

(he should know.) ]

Good. [ and he exhales. it's an audible breath, not exactly one he'd been holding, but it still manages to be a tangible release of tension. ] I promise too.

[ he pauses and all at once seems to relax, leaning backwards and resting his weight on his (good) arm outstretched behind him. ]

So, El— Eleven. You've got to be hungry, right? [ or, what he means by that, is he's hungry and this has been quite the conversation, and food is one of those things that helps to make everything a little more tolerable. the food in beacon isn't exactly good, and there are things that peter misses, intensely, like his aunt's wheatcakes; and there are things that he misses a little less intensely, but still manage to be intrinsically linked to home, like joe's or cucciniello's, or that one place that mj likes that does the bagels the size of her face.

food, for peter, is kind of like home. ]

[ Something in her demeanor changes, then, very subtly. Turns the troubled soul back into a child. And with that she seems...

Shy.

She's shy with Peter, then. ]

Friends... call me El.

[ Not a statement. An offer. It means something. ]

Mike suggested... El. I tried Jane, but... El.

[ Eleven swallows a little, but then nods, to herself and to him. ]

I'm El. Also, yes. I'm hungry.

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