wake me up before you go-go

[curiosityvoyage]

WHO: Strangerhaus and visitors!
WHERE: De Chima #6
WHEN: uhhhh month of March
WHAT: it's a catch-all!!
WARNINGS: idk. possible discussions of monster-related trauma, and also ridiculous amounts of unhealthy food in the fridge seriously thank god for Max getting them Actual Food.

[Wham! is a classic, okay.]

Comments

Actual food is a suggestion, not a requirement, okay

[experiment011]

[El is still getting settled in, but luckily for her, her new home reminds her a lot of Hopper's cabin. The technology is fancier, sure, but aesthetic is key.

Today she can be found in her usual spot: sitting on the couch watching TV as she munches on a toasted waffle. She's put on... some show about a boy in a previous decade with Wandering Years or something. She'll occasionally mimic what's being said on-screen as she expands her vocabulary.]

[battysitter]

[ Steve arrives from his daily job, tired and wanting to relax - and he usually relaxes by sitting on the couch and watch some fake wrestling on one of the many TV channels this world has to offer. Of course when he gets there and he sees El, he realizes that his spot has been taken by a tenthirteen years old reciting some movie ]

What are you watching?

[experiment011]

[ El glances up at him and quickly averts her gaze back to the screen. The movie she's watching is much more interesting than Mike's sister's friend, and he's making her miss crucial elements in the plot. ...she thinks. She's focusing more on the mannerisms than the overarching storyline. ]

A movie.

[battysitter]

Really, I couldn't tell. [ yeah, no wonder this chick is dating (will date?) Mike, she is pretty much like him, the perfect pair of little shits ]

What's the name of the movie, dumbass? [ and with all his eloquence and elegance, steve flops on the couch with a tired sigh. ]

[experiment011]

[Eleven huffs and clenches her pant leg in frustration as he continues to disrupt her moviewatching experience. She's considering psychically lifting him out of his seat and dropping him on the floor behind the couch to get him to go away.]

[But maybe if she tells him the movie's name, he'll go away on his own.]

Wandering Years. A good movie.

[battysitter]

[ if she does that, he will use his force fields on her in return. Steve can be a little shit too ]

Uh, that so. [ he hasn't heard of it. Which is no surprise, it's not like steve is well versed with cinema. Eventually, he gets up again ]

What do you want to eat? [ he isn't asking if she is hungry; he is telling her he is going to make her some food ]

[experiment011]

[She scowls. He's physically going away, sure, but he's not leaving her alone.

Whether he's offering her food or just asking what she would want hypothetically, she answers as she would to either question.]

Eggos.

[Make her Eggos and she might consider forgiving this interruption.]

[battysitter]

[ of course she wants Eggos, what else would she want. Steve rolls his eyes, but he still prepares her some waffles as requested - and some for himself too ]

Icecream on top? [ because if they are going to eat healthy, might as well go all the way ]

[micycle]

[She looks different. That was the second thing Mike noticed when he walked into the house the other day and found her standing there, fresh from the Porter and smudged with kohl and hairgel.

(The first thing he noticed: the way air rushed back into his lungs, the way the world seemed to un-tilt.)

It isn't a new sight. After all, it's how she looked when she stepped into the Byers' house, shattered glass and fresh demodog blood at her feet, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But now, without the impending threat of apocalypse, he's free to notice the rest of the changes, past the cosmetic products. The fire deep behind her eyes seems wilder, and the shape of her shoulders more confident.

He sits down on the arm of the sofa, and watches her watch the TV.]

Um. [His eyes flick away, embarrassed by his own transfixion.] Have you seen this one before?

[experiment011]

[Eleven's eyes light up when he approaches and sits next to her. She still can't get over the fact that she now gets to spend as much time around him as she wants, just like when she first met him. Missing him for a full year was hard enough, but she was slated to go another year or so before she arrived in Florida. Their short-lived reunion before she closed the gate in the facility was bittersweet and far too brief.

She swallows the last bite of her waffle and scoots over to make room for him to sit. It's not a whole lot of room, but personal space is overrated when it comes to him.]

No. This is my first time watching it.

[micycle]

[If Mike's cheeks go a little pink at her sitting so close, the dim lighting and blue flicker of the TV hide it a bit. He leans back into the cushions, dramatically aware of his long limbs and pointy elbows, not wanting to intrude.]

A lot of the movies and stuff are different here. [And that's without even getting into the fact that some of his favorite movies seem to be real.] They don't have most of my favorites from home, but maybe we could watch some new ones sometime.

[He's had plenty of movie nights with the others - Dustin, Max, Will and El when they were both here before - but this tentative idea is something a bit different, something that makes his chest tight. Just the two of them and a bowl of popcorn.]

[experiment011]

[Eleven smiles at him and doesn't turn away.]

I would like that.

[TVs are wide here. Flat, wide, and crystal clear. She's learned to like it now that she can see two people on-screen without their faces being cut off down the middle like they would be on those square screens back home. It was jarring at first, the new technology, but overall, it's nice. An ideal movie-watching experience she can share with him. Getting to sit so close to him is a huge bonus.

She can tell he's been here longer than she has. That is, he didn't arrive at the same time she did. Fascinated now with him more than her movie, she speaks over the dialogue and seeks out some answers.]

Home. What do you last remember?

[micycle]

[After three months of Eleven being behind him on the timeline, question catches Mike off guard. He turns to face her, gaping gently, mind frantically sorting through all the things he doesn't and doesn't want her to know. But in the end, it doesn't matter. He could never keep a single thing from El, as long as he lives.]

The Upside-Down. The tunnels.

[Something snaking around his ankle, pulling him to the ground. The growing clamor of demodogs.]

We were trying to distract the monsters, to keep them away fro you.

[experiment011]

[Tunnels?

Her smile fades into a concerned frown. What had he been doing? Did he put himself in danger? Had he made it to the Upside-Down himself?]

They came back to me. Did they hurt you?

[He might have been the reason they left in the first place, but now she's worrying about him. Sure, he obviously escaped unscathed, but she had promised him he'd see her again. She didn't think she'd need him to promise her the same thing.

She refuses to let herself think about what could have happened.]

[micycle]

[His eyes shift, suddenly uncomfortable. Because for all he wants to reassure her right now, to promise her a happy reunion, this goddamn place pulled him in too soon to find out.]

I don't know. [A pause. He squeezes his fists so tightly that his nails dig half-moons into his palms.] We set the fire, and we were trying to get out, and something... something tripped me. I don't know. I don't remember. [Another pause. He wipes his eyes with the back of one clumsy.] I'm sorry. It was stupid.

[Mike doesn't know how to answer her question, because he doesn't know the answer himself. He could be fine, or he could be hurt, or he could be dead. The thought sends a cold stab through his stomach.]

[curiosityvoyage]

Hey, is that the one with the evil twin?

[says Dustin, as he plops onto the couch right next to Eleven. He's carrying what looks to be a tub full of sweet, sugary popcorn, because he's incorrigible and he spent good money on all this popcorn, so. He balances it on his leg, so Eleven can just reach over to steal a handful if she wants.]

I couldn't catch last week's episode. Do you know what's going on?

[experiment011]

[Eleven looks at Dustin and then down at his popcorn. Hopper's given her popcorn before, but she's never had any of that flavor and color. With a moment's hesitation, she reaches over, retrieves a kernel from the tub and sticks it in her mouth. Once the initial taste has set in, she smiles at him.]

It's good.

[She turns back to the TV and answers his question.]

A bad kid is being mean to Kevin. He has taken his school books. I don't like him.

[curiosityvoyage]

He's a dick, yeah. [A beat.] It's another word for mouthbreather, but a lot worse.

[Helpful, see? Anyway, he pops a few kernels into his mouth, watching the scene play out in front of them.]

He's gonna get his schoolbooks back—see? He's already talking to his sister about it. She's cool, she'll help him out. [Another pause, during which he recalls the last few episodes and the sister's romantic subplot.] If she's not too busy with her boyfriend, anyway.

Open to Eleven

[beyourzoomer]

[For the most part, Max has tried to stay out of Eleven's way since she showed back up. She's been trying to give the other girl space and time to settle in. She gets up in the mornings and does her paper route, goes to school, then spends a couple hours skating around up and down the streets before making her way back to the house, board tucked under her arm. She sets it carefully in her room, then washes up and goes to the kitchen, pulling the fridge open to start putting together something for dinner.

Max is tired this evening, so she goes for something relatively simple: spaghetti. There are meatballs in the freezer and ground hamburger, and she grabs some spaghetti sauce out of the cabinet, along with the pasta.

She catches sight of Eleven and offers her a small, hesitant smile.]

Do you like spaghetti?

[experiment011]

[Eleven would be appreciative of Max's avoidance if she actually felt like being appreciative. She's still apprehensive of the other girl. Seeing Max interact with Mike that one time was enough to put her on her shit list. And now they have to live under the same roof. Where Max and Mike can interact. Often.

She looks up at Max from her spot on the couch and shoots her a glare. Sure, she's pretty hungry, but look who's asking. Her.

Still, she is pretty hungry. She doesn't have to agree to anything; just a reply will suffice.]

Yes.

[beyourzoomer]

[She knew even before their first meeting that Eleven was more quiet than most. That she had a limited vocabulary, thanks to being locked up in some hellhole laboratory most of her life. So she doesn't take offense to the one word response. It's...actually the first word the other girl's spoken to her since she arrived.

Max nods, smiling faintly as measures out the water, dumping it into the large pot she'd found and then setting it on the stove, adding some salt and searching for a pan.]

With meatballs? They won't be homemade, but I think they'll still be all right.

[She casts another glance toward the other room, doing her best to ignore the glare she's getting.]

[experiment011]

[Eleven wouldn't know the difference between frozen and homemade anyway. All Hopper ever made her was frozen dinners, for the most part. If Max wants to worry about whether her cooking will be adequate, that's her problem.

Meatballs sound good though, much to her chagrin.]

Yes.

[She watches Max intently, fascinated by all the steps necessary to prepare a decent meal. It's almost like a dance compared to the act of inserting a tray into a microwave and removing it a minute later.]

[beyourzoomer]

[Max has had her fill of frozen dinners, particularly in the last couple of years. Her mom can cook, but more often than not, she prepares meals that you can just pop in the oven for forty five minutes and it's ready to eat. But before then, she used to cook all the time. Max kind of enjoys it. She's not sure she's very good at it, but she knows she can at least pull off spaghetti.

She offers Eleven another smile as she sets a pan on the stovetop, beside the pot of water that's heating up. She reaches for the package of hamburger, glancing at the other girl and noticing how attentive she is to what Max is doing and it gives her pause.]

Do you wanna help me?

[experiment011]

[Eleven's absolutely taken aback. She's never had to cook a decent meal for herself (assuming killing and skewering a squirrel doesn't count as a decent meal) and the idea has never entered her head. She's not sure why, but it's hit her by surprise all the same.

If it was Mike asking for her help, she wouldn't hesitate to jump up and learn with him, but this is Max doing the asking. Eleven is curious but still very uncertain and distrusting. She can't let her guard down — not around the person who might steal her best friend away.

Conflicted, she doesn't respond verbally. All she can do is stare at the pan and avoid saying 'yes.']

[beyourzoomer]

[She watches the other girl's reaction, sees the surprise that registers on her face, like the idea of cooking has never crossed her mind. It hurts to think that it probably really hasn't. She doesn't get up from the couch, though, just stares at the pan on the stove in response and Max tries not to sigh.

She'd known this wasn't going to be easy. She's not really good at reaching out to people to start with, but she wants to befriend this girl so badly it's almost physically painful.]

It's okay if you don't want to. [She adds, tearing open the package of hamburger and carefully dumping it into the pan.] Raw meat's kind of gross anyway.