[ Shutting the door behind her with a loud click, Steve locks it on instinct. They live in a small town, sure, but it hasn't been exactly quiet or safe for years now. Despite the part of Steve that knows a locked door isn't a defense against what might be out there, it gives him a little peace of mind. ]
I guess so, they got out during that whole exodus. Said they're going to stay with my aunt in Indy.
[ He could have gone, maybe should have gone, but there were too many precious things to stay and protect. This wasn't the time for him to leave when the forces of good needed more help than ever.
Moving around Nancy, Steve leads the way towards the kitchen so he can get her a drink or at least one for him to wrap his hands around. ] Want a beer or something?
[ She nods. It makes sense to get out of Hawkins right now. Even more so for those few who know what's going on underneath it, but with that knowledge comes a need to stop it. She's glad he didn't go with them, even if it meant he'd probably be safer. She's really not sure she could've gotten through the last few days without Steve there beside her.
It's barely noon. And while she would've been quick to raise an eyebrow and possibly even point this out a week ago, today she simply swallows and nods. ] Sure. Thanks.
[ She follows him to the kitchen, watching the way his body moves under his shirt, clocking the stiffness in movement. Even if Steve wasn't an open book, it'd be obvious that he's not okay. Not that anyone could be okay a day after being nearly choked, bitten and drug to death. She leans against the kitchen island, her eyes on his torso. ]
[ Steve hasn't made it much of a habit to drink in recent years now that his partying days are behind him for a lot of reasons. He has a lot of negative connotations with them by now, has lost people because of his selfish desire to hold on to being a stupid teenager. Still, if there's any time to have a drink at noon, he thinks the present situation in Hawkins and having Nancy back in his house are pretty good reasons.
Opening the refrigerator and pulling out a pair of cans, he offers one to Nancy. The one benefit of his parents skipping town has been that they left almost everything as it was minus taking the most precious items. That means he's stocked on food and booze, at least for a while.
When his focus is back on Nancy, he sees what's probably the tail-end of a onceover and gives a wry smile while cracking open his beer. ]
Could be worse. [ He hasn't been able to stop thinking about Eddie and how that was almost his fate, too. There's also the guilt of being the one to survive that hangs over him all the time now. ] I think it's been long enough to rule out demo-rabies as a thing at least.
[ Her mouth pinches together when he says it could be worse. She still hasn't really let herself process that Eddie Munson is gone. Not after they'd tried so hard to save him. They'd almost gotten everyone out alive, but almost wasn't good enough.
She cracks open the can and takes a sip, not letting herself think about how close that fate had been for Steve. She forces a small smile. ] Robin will be relieved, at least.
[ She wraps both hands around her beer, feeling like a stranger in his house, before she sighs and drops all pretenses. ] I came to help you wrap them. I know it can't be easy on your own.
[ Sipping his beer and not really tasting it, he chokes when Nancy cuts right to the chase. She's always been braver than him in so many ways; he had wanted to ask why she wanted to come over but knew it would come across poorly. Steve didn't want her to think that she needed a reason to see him when that wasn't the case because they're friends despite the history they also share. They had been so close once, and even if they still care about each other now, the distance sometimes feels so immense by comparison. Steve knows that some of it is his fault—maybe a lot of it is—because he'd taken comfort in that space when his feelings for her were still too raw to think about.
He clears his throat and sets the can back down on the counter before looking up at Nancy. This really isn't the time to be dwelling on the past, and he does need help changing the gauze wrapped around his stomach. ]
Easier than you'd think. I've gotten pretty good at giving myself first aid. [ Which is a sad thought in itself but he doesn't sit on it too long. ] I've got everything upstairs in a bathroom.
[ She gives him an guilty smile when he chokes on his beer, straightening up slightly and setting her shoulders as if she expects some pushback.
Luckily, he doesn't really give any. Though the thought of Steve giving himself first aid does hit her a little low in the gut. She's gotten so used to seeing him and Robin together - well, honestly, she had assumed it was romantic, or a one-sided crush on one of their parts at the very least. That had been before the platonic with a capital P talk, though.
She nods. ] We can finish the beers first. [ As if they're on some kind of timeline. They're not. She didn't come over just for that. She wanted to see him. Wanted to make sure he's okay.
She takes a sip of hers as if to prove she's not in a hurry.]
[ That makes him raise an eyebrow but relax again, leaning against the counter with a little more of his weight against the tiled edge rather than his feet. He has to be careful with how he moves or the wounds may split, but he also doesn't want to baby them and have anything grow back too tight. ]
Alright, beers before bandages. [ Picking his can back up, he lifts it towards Nancy like a toast and then takes another gulp of it. ] Hows your family doing with all of this? Has Mike even been home since Eleven came back?
[ She raises her beer in turn and takes another sip to show that she's behind the order of things. There's a chance that the beer might be because of the bites, though there are about a dozen other things it might be because of also. As far as times go, they're not in the best of them.
She takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment, thinking through the answer. ] Mike's been home, but not for long. My mom is freaking out and we have to fight her to get out the door. My dad keeps blaming the government for not doing enough from his arm chair in front of the TV. They're all scared.
[ Probably not as scared as they should be. But she was the only one that had been witness to Vecna's plan and got to see first hand that this is just the beginning. This isn't over and they need to get ready. The hypervigilant part of her brain won't let her forget that.] Were you able to get some sleep?
[ Steve listens, bobbing his head along because it all makes sense. Sometimes it feels like another life away, but there had been a time when he was over there enough to get a read on the Wheeler family dynamic; Christmas traditions, Halloween rules, daily life and schedules. He can't help snorting at the part about Nancy's dad and then immediately feels bad about it because what else is Ted expected to do? ]
Of course they're scared, they're just learning about all of this for real. [ Licking his lips, he sets the beer down on the counter but keeps his hand around it, thumb pushing a shallow dent into the side and then letting it go to pop back into place. ] Have you told them about all the other stuff? Like before this, how we've— you've been involved in a lot more? Because I'd be freaking out, too.
[ Scoffing a little, smiling like maybe he can play this off, he picks his can back up to take a gulp. ] About as much as usual.
[ She sighs and shakes her head. ] No. Definitely not.
[ She'd forgotten. How easy it was to talk to Steve, to let down her defenses and just have a normal conversation. She's felt set apart from her peers for so long. Only Steve, Jonathan and the younger kids really understood what it was like to go from worrying about normal teenage things like dances and crushes to life and death stakes. She knows people think she's uptight, but there's a reason she's so guarded.
But she doesn't have to be that way with Steve. Even if he hasn't dealt with it the way she has, he understands. He knows. It's... a weight off her chest, not having to pretend like her biggest concern is Emerson in the Fall and not the war that's raging ahead of them. ] My mom is already losing it. She doesn't need to know about everything else. She'd never let us leave our rooms. [ She gives Steve a small smile and a shrug. He knows what Karen Wheeler is like. ]
[ She hums, raising his eyebrows at him as if to ask if he really thinks he can get away with that. She presses her lips together and turns the can in her fingers. ] Me either.
[ Having this bond with Nancy and the rest of the people in their ragtag group can feel both freeing and claustrophobic at times. Steve is forever grateful that he has people he can talk to about all of this shit, friends who aren't going to call him crazy for shining a flashlight out his bedroom window and into the woods every night before he tries to sleep. At the same time, though, he can't feel that same closeness with anyone else in the world, can't trust people to have his back when they don't know what they might be defending him from. Steve still wishes he could just be a normal guy who falls in love and has kids and goes on family vacations; he hasn't taken to this life the way that Nancy and Jonathan have or any of the kids. Robin at least makes him feel a little saner for trying to go on dates or not take shooting lessons, but having her as a metric for normalcy is its own kind of insanity.
Still, Steve is nothing if not a supporter. He can't come up with complex plans or build radio towers or throw shit with his mind, but he can help with all of the stuff in between. He can be an ear for Nancy, and he can lessen his own problems enough to focus on how she's struggling right now. Steve may not worry about normal teenage things like dances and crushes, but he misses the days when he did. ]
Are you kidding? She'd have everyone packed up and moving. [ He and Karen hadn't always been on great terms, but he respects her as a mother who cares for kids who are constantly getting into trouble and shouldering that without much help from Ted.
Raising his eyebrow back at her, he hums like he's not surprised she's reading between his lines. She's always been too smart for him. ] You haven't... There haven't been any more visions, right? No spooky clocks?
[ Nancy's expression closes up, her face going carefully blank as she shakes her head and looks away from him. The only problem is her gaze lands on the window and the pool beyond it. In the sunlight, the water twinkles as if winking knowingly at her. ] No.
[ There haven't been any more visions. No spooky clocks. No need for her to pull out the tape queued up to Pat Benatar. But that's the hard part, isn't it? Not knowing if he's still there, just lurking in her mind. He'd pulled her in so quickly that she hadn't had any idea until she was falling and then hitting the bottom of Steve's pool in the upside down.
She moves to the sink, pouring the rest of her drink down the drain. She hates what he did to her. How easily he scared her. How set she was that their plan would succeed. How certain she was that they could end it. How she'd failed.
She turns on the tap and then turns it off. ] I don't think he's going to show me anything else. He got what he wanted the first time.
[ Steve hates himself for asking even before he sees that look come down on Nancy's face, like shutters closing to keep something out or maybe in. He knows that all the insane events in Hawkins have brought them closer in a lot of ways, put them through things that they can't share with the majority of the world, but it's also added to the distance between them. Steve wasn't able to be there for Nancy in the ways she needed, couldn't give her what she ultimately found in Jonathan. It's one reason he hasn't fought for her because he sees it as his own failure more than anything else. Even now, he's bringing up something she doesn't want to talk about just so... what? So he can feel a little safer knowing that there isn't a new prophecy to fear? But the not knowing is just as scary, so he should be trying harder to make her feel better.
That's yet another thing he doesn't know how to do, though. Pretending to be normal people living normal lives hadn't worked for her, and he can't give her the closure they both want regarding Vecna. ]
Hey, no he didn't. He wanted us all scared and running away, and what he got was a badass fight thrown in his face.
[ She lets out a small breath and turns to face him again. She wants to believe him. Wants to believe that the risk they took wasn't worthless and reckless, but Max is across town in a hospital bed, her brave face muted in sleep. She wraps her arms around herself, her eyes serious as they settle on him. ] Or maybe he got exactly what he wanted from us. Maybe it was a trap all along.
Maybe I played right into it and drug you all along.
[ Now that the words are coming out of her mouth, she can't seem to stop them. She's replayed them over and over and over in her head all night. Turned them over and over until they've been worn smooth and feel familiar.] Maybe you were right when he said he wanted to scare me into action.
[ Shrugging away from his spot leaning against the counter, Steve steps up beside her and reaches for the now empty can. Beer was a bad idea, but he's full of those, especially when he doesn't know what to do to comfort someone he cares about as much as he cares about Nancy Wheeler.
He sets a hand on her shoulder, light though he gives a gentle squeeze. It's not his place to embrace her, wrap an arm around her and pull her into a hug, but he's pretty bad at all of the emotional stuff and falls back on physical comfort. ]
You really think getting barbecued and filled with bullets was part of his plan? [ Snorting a little, he drops his hand and leans next to her, bowing his back so he can vie for eye contact even though she's facing the sink. ] You should never listen to me, I'm a dumb coward.
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no subject
I guess so, they got out during that whole exodus. Said they're going to stay with my aunt in Indy.
[ He could have gone, maybe should have gone, but there were too many precious things to stay and protect. This wasn't the time for him to leave when the forces of good needed more help than ever.
Moving around Nancy, Steve leads the way towards the kitchen so he can get her a drink or at least one for him to wrap his hands around. ] Want a beer or something?
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It's barely noon. And while she would've been quick to raise an eyebrow and possibly even point this out a week ago, today she simply swallows and nods. ] Sure. Thanks.
[ She follows him to the kitchen, watching the way his body moves under his shirt, clocking the stiffness in movement. Even if Steve wasn't an open book, it'd be obvious that he's not okay. Not that anyone could be okay a day after being nearly choked, bitten and drug to death. She leans against the kitchen island, her eyes on his torso. ]
How are the bites?
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Opening the refrigerator and pulling out a pair of cans, he offers one to Nancy. The one benefit of his parents skipping town has been that they left almost everything as it was minus taking the most precious items. That means he's stocked on food and booze, at least for a while.
When his focus is back on Nancy, he sees what's probably the tail-end of a onceover and gives a wry smile while cracking open his beer. ]
Could be worse. [ He hasn't been able to stop thinking about Eddie and how that was almost his fate, too. There's also the guilt of being the one to survive that hangs over him all the time now. ] I think it's been long enough to rule out demo-rabies as a thing at least.
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She cracks open the can and takes a sip, not letting herself think about how close that fate had been for Steve. She forces a small smile. ] Robin will be relieved, at least.
[ She wraps both hands around her beer, feeling like a stranger in his house, before she sighs and drops all pretenses. ] I came to help you wrap them. I know it can't be easy on your own.
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He clears his throat and sets the can back down on the counter before looking up at Nancy. This really isn't the time to be dwelling on the past, and he does need help changing the gauze wrapped around his stomach. ]
Easier than you'd think. I've gotten pretty good at giving myself first aid. [ Which is a sad thought in itself but he doesn't sit on it too long. ] I've got everything upstairs in a bathroom.
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Luckily, he doesn't really give any. Though the thought of Steve giving himself first aid does hit her a little low in the gut. She's gotten so used to seeing him and Robin together - well, honestly, she had assumed it was romantic, or a one-sided crush on one of their parts at the very least. That had been before the platonic with a capital P talk, though.
She nods. ] We can finish the beers first. [ As if they're on some kind of timeline. They're not. She didn't come over just for that. She wanted to see him. Wanted to make sure he's okay.
She takes a sip of hers as if to prove she's not in a hurry.]
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Alright, beers before bandages. [ Picking his can back up, he lifts it towards Nancy like a toast and then takes another gulp of it. ] Hows your family doing with all of this? Has Mike even been home since Eleven came back?
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She takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment, thinking through the answer. ] Mike's been home, but not for long. My mom is freaking out and we have to fight her to get out the door. My dad keeps blaming the government for not doing enough from his arm chair in front of the TV. They're all scared.
[ Probably not as scared as they should be. But she was the only one that had been witness to Vecna's plan and got to see first hand that this is just the beginning. This isn't over and they need to get ready. The hypervigilant part of her brain won't let her forget that.] Were you able to get some sleep?
no subject
Of course they're scared, they're just learning about all of this for real. [ Licking his lips, he sets the beer down on the counter but keeps his hand around it, thumb pushing a shallow dent into the side and then letting it go to pop back into place. ] Have you told them about all the other stuff? Like before this, how we've— you've been involved in a lot more? Because I'd be freaking out, too.
[ Scoffing a little, smiling like maybe he can play this off, he picks his can back up to take a gulp. ] About as much as usual.
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[ She'd forgotten. How easy it was to talk to Steve, to let down her defenses and just have a normal conversation. She's felt set apart from her peers for so long. Only Steve, Jonathan and the younger kids really understood what it was like to go from worrying about normal teenage things like dances and crushes to life and death stakes. She knows people think she's uptight, but there's a reason she's so guarded.
But she doesn't have to be that way with Steve. Even if he hasn't dealt with it the way she has, he understands. He knows. It's... a weight off her chest, not having to pretend like her biggest concern is Emerson in the Fall and not the war that's raging ahead of them. ] My mom is already losing it. She doesn't need to know about everything else. She'd never let us leave our rooms. [ She gives Steve a small smile and a shrug. He knows what Karen Wheeler is like. ]
[ She hums, raising his eyebrows at him as if to ask if he really thinks he can get away with that. She presses her lips together and turns the can in her fingers. ] Me either.
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Still, Steve is nothing if not a supporter. He can't come up with complex plans or build radio towers or throw shit with his mind, but he can help with all of the stuff in between. He can be an ear for Nancy, and he can lessen his own problems enough to focus on how she's struggling right now. Steve may not worry about normal teenage things like dances and crushes, but he misses the days when he did. ]
Are you kidding? She'd have everyone packed up and moving. [ He and Karen hadn't always been on great terms, but he respects her as a mother who cares for kids who are constantly getting into trouble and shouldering that without much help from Ted.
Raising his eyebrow back at her, he hums like he's not surprised she's reading between his lines. She's always been too smart for him. ] You haven't... There haven't been any more visions, right? No spooky clocks?
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[ There haven't been any more visions. No spooky clocks. No need for her to pull out the tape queued up to Pat Benatar. But that's the hard part, isn't it? Not knowing if he's still there, just lurking in her mind. He'd pulled her in so quickly that she hadn't had any idea until she was falling and then hitting the bottom of Steve's pool in the upside down.
She moves to the sink, pouring the rest of her drink down the drain. She hates what he did to her. How easily he scared her. How set she was that their plan would succeed. How certain she was that they could end it. How she'd failed.
She turns on the tap and then turns it off. ] I don't think he's going to show me anything else. He got what he wanted the first time.
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That's yet another thing he doesn't know how to do, though. Pretending to be normal people living normal lives hadn't worked for her, and he can't give her the closure they both want regarding Vecna. ]
Hey, no he didn't. He wanted us all scared and running away, and what he got was a badass fight thrown in his face.
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Maybe I played right into it and drug you all along.
[ Now that the words are coming out of her mouth, she can't seem to stop them. She's replayed them over and over and over in her head all night. Turned them over and over until they've been worn smooth and feel familiar.] Maybe you were right when he said he wanted to scare me into action.
I should've listened to you.
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He sets a hand on her shoulder, light though he gives a gentle squeeze. It's not his place to embrace her, wrap an arm around her and pull her into a hug, but he's pretty bad at all of the emotional stuff and falls back on physical comfort. ]
You really think getting barbecued and filled with bullets was part of his plan? [ Snorting a little, he drops his hand and leans next to her, bowing his back so he can vie for eye contact even though she's facing the sink. ] You should never listen to me, I'm a dumb coward.
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[ She looks up at him, her eyes going soft. Fingers reaching to settle over his on her shoulder. ] You're not a coward, Steve. And you're not dumb.