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[fawcetted]

characters: steve harrington, nancy wheeler
location: miner's castle #2
date/time: jan 7
content: young adults growing up dead gotta cope, and what better way than through ust
warnings: just some basic pg-13 smoochies, probably — will mark if anything changes

[ As far as afterlives go, it's been something of a rollercoaster ride. It's not exactly surprising, considering where they'd come from before all this but Steve feels like he could really use a win, you know? Just a period of nothing happening, nothing exciting, nothing but the sweet, calmness of mundanity. Yeah. Steve Harrington is wishing for mundanity; he really is in the afterlife (or whatever this is).

Eleven is out for the evening, which, you know, is totally fine, he's not worrying or anything. It's just a little harder to keep an eye on things when he's not out there, nailbat and all. Fact of the matter is, he's been pretty much housebound since the ghost invasion and that time a creepy web monster tried to eat him. He's fine now though, just a few weeks healing from a broken arm and some bruising. Practically good as new — which means he'll be back to figuring out just what the hell they're all doing in this place, and how to get out of here.

He's thinking of grabbing a bowl of cereal, or better yet: maybe seeing if Nancy wants to grab some dinner at the Invincible, when he hears the soft rapping sound against his bedroom door. Definitely a knock. ]

Yeah? — come in. [ he says, looking up. Speak of the devil. ] Heeey. [ He shifts to a sitting position. ] I was just thinking about bugging you.

Comments

[fawcetted]

Can't really blame them, right? I miss the light. I miss the sun. I feel like I barely remember what it's like to be outside when the sky's blue and not ... you know, dark.

[ Steve misses playing baseball or running track in the field with the blue skies and bright sunlight, sometimes way too hot in the summer, sometimes not hot enough. He hates to say that he misses Hawkins but your priorities really shift when you're stuck in a place that eerily resembles the Upside Down, only with a lot more green-eyed spirits and less fleshy human-eating monsters. ]

But — uh. Yeah. I'll talk to some people, see what we can figure out. Man, it feels kinda awesome to have an actual gameplan.

[keenely]

[ nancy sighs, her smile turning a little softer around the edges, but she's trying hard not to let herself get sad again, even though- ] I miss the sunshine, too. [ it's hard not to feel more than a little low when thinking about how every minute of every day here is so gloomy.

but he's right, it's good to have a plan. she likes having a plan. plans are great. plans beat sitting around feeling sorry for herself, at the very least, which is what she's been doing the majority of her time here. either trying to make this cabin feel a little bit like a home, and just... y'know, sitting in her room, staring at the ceiling and contemplating every choice she made in life to land herself here. it's fine.

she perks up a little bit after a moment, even shifting to sit closer to him on the bed, very- clearly pulling a nancy "i'm good at distractions and i know it" wheeler move ]

Hey. I know we're talking about trying to get out of here, but- What's one thing you wish was just a little bit different about this place, or what we can do here, so that it wouldn't feel so ..blah? What's something you miss that we could try and make happen here?

[fawcetted]

You mean, aside from getting some real sun in this place? [ Steve tilts his head, glancing in Nancy's direction with that kind of familiar teasing half-smile she probably remembers seeing a lot, way-back-when. He realizes that since he got here, he hasn't really had a whole lot of reason to smile, or laugh, or do anything that wasn't being worried or trying to survive or making real efforts to cheer up the kid when she was down.

It's been ... kind of exhausting, really. Steve doesn't generally think of himself as the responsible type, the kind who takes on the burden of other people's feelings but it's kind of what he's been trying to do here. It's not a bad thing but ... sometimes he misses when he didn't know monsters existed. Like, actually existed.

He shrugs. ] I don't know. I miss movies. Music. [ He turns away from Nancy to stare straight ahead, running a hand through his hair. He huffs an exasperated laugh. ] I miss when my hair used to look awesome.

[keenely]

[ hm. she's pretty sure there isn't much they can do about the lack of movies - tvs, vcrs, and even projectors all need electricity. but music? that... might actually be doable, and the fact that she's followed that train of thought is probably reading all over her expression - something like optimism, or at least 'i've got an idea'. however, the third thing he says makes her jaw drop, playfully, but still very serious. so serious.

she lifts up to move closer to him on the bed, just so she can level her eyes with his, obviously about to say something Very Serious that she needs his full attention to address. ]

Your hair will always look awesome, Steve Harrington. And don't let anyone make you feel that it isn't. Including yourself.

[ ah, she almost manages to say all of it without smiling, but she doesn't pull it off. and her eyes end up drifting from his up to his hair, which makes her grin even more, and without- really thinking about it, she reaches up to lightly push her fingers through it. it's longer than the last time she, uh, went out of her way to play with it, but it still falls the same, something she apparently finds a little amusing as she pushes it back and watches it fall back into place. she's not going out of her way to make it look messy - it kind of does that all on its own, in that effortlessly cool way it always did. okay, not effortless, but nancy never really preferred it one way or the other. so even now without all the product, she's impressed.

she doesn't seem all that embarrassed by the fact that she felt the need to play with his hair, just resting her hands on her lap and m o v i n g o n like it ain't no thing ]

There's a chance we could get some music here. El's been gifted things before, so- Maybe we can ask for a walkman and some tapes. And batteries, I guess. It might be a little bit of a pipe dream, but it's possible.

[fawcetted]

[ It's crazy unfair how Nancy still manages to have that kind of effect on him, where she could just ... reach up like that and touch his hair and his brain will suddenly be on the fritz. He'll forget how to react or think, and in the past he might get away with sweeping her up into an embrace, teasing a little before he kisses her, but now ... Steve just stays where he is, motionless and just this side of perplexed. Really, the familiarity of the gesture is so sharp, it almost feels like a punch to the gut.

Yeah. Sure. He's totally over Nancy Wheeler.

Harrington, you bold-faced liar. ]

Uh. Yeah? [ He shifts in his spot to buy himself some time for refocusing his thoughts, but he can't help watching Nancy just a little closer. ] I mean, that would be pretty cool. It'd make this place feel less quiet. You know? Not that it's ever all that quiet with three people living here, but everything in this town feels so ... [ Dead? No, no. Poor choice of word. ] ... it's got those don't-talk-in-the-library vibes.