𝒸𝕆Ň𝓽Δ𝔠ᵗ 👌😈

[oorah]

𝓜𝓻. 𝓜𝓪𝔂𝓸𝓻

𝖙𝖊𝖝𝖙, 𝖛𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖔 (𝔲𝔫;𝖍𝖔𝖙𝖉𝖔𝖌)

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 (𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖋𝖊 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊)

𝖋𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖇 𝖛𝖕 (𝔰𝔞𝔣𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔢)

𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝕶𝖔𝖚𝖙 (𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯)

𝖔𝖈𝖈𝖚𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 (𝖘𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖍 : ₁₀₋₃ | 𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖑 : ₁₁₋₇ | 𝖋𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖕)

𝖛𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖗 (𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫, 𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔠, 𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔩)

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ishhh

[oorah]

[ frank is up like a shot and opening the front door which leads up through a wide, flat porch. a brown pitbull edges around his leg to peep their company and frank waves out at her. he's dressed in a black jumpsuit with black combat boots and a black beanie. bro has a palette going too so he's not about to judge her scrunchie.

he steps aside so she can come in. his house with micro is still a work in progress since they only got it at the beginning of the month. there's the beginnings of soundproofing up in the kitchen and the house itself is a big, cavernous echochamber of a place. max the dog predictably wants to be greeted first, and frank has absolutely no qualms about that, even as he tries to slouch a little and make himself appear less intimidating. ]

[unchancy]

[ while nancy doesn't hesitate, she follows slowly. frank sure is a big guy, huh. not as tall as hopper, if she remembers correctly, but still a good bit taller than her. it isn't intimidating, mind you. it might have been, a year ago, but there are things with a hell of a lot more teeth out there.

she crouches to meet max properly, reaching out to scritch behind his ear, even as she keeps one eye on frank. after a minute, her mouth hooks into a little smile, a silent thanks for having me. ]

[oorah]

[ a smile starts to tug up one corner of his mouth when she greets the dog, and max couldn't be happier for the attention, his tail whipping through the air a mile a minute. when she smiles up at him, frank breaks and offers up a more permanent expression of his own. he isn't sure if she knows the sign language, but he signs Welcome anyway. to... his home. apparently. since he has one of those here. it's almost more surreal than the monsters, which kids like nancy and mike could appreciate since they had shit like the sound eaters on their world already. or in the 'upside down.' he picks up things as he goes.

he waves for dog and girl both to follow him through the house. a lot of it is still empty, and max quickly finds his place at frank's side again once they get moving. he leads into the garage, pushing the door open soundlessly and letting her go on ahead. the soundproofing is obvious and everywhere, a slim workbench at the back with computer equipment and scraps of wood and other materials piled up around it, and a thick curtain hung in front of it. it's pulled back so there's enough room to walk through. as they walk, the cotton dummies and handwraps are obvious enough, as is a big banner with a skull hung up over the soundproofing. there's a boxing ring in the center of it all, bulky and wrapped in canvas to lower the sound levels, bolts of cotton under their feet to muffle any sound. he shrugs and turns to her once they're in the center of the room. he doesn't need words even if he could speak them here - this is fight club. this is her brother's brain child. ]

[unchancy]

[ nancy has picked up enough sign language to recognize the word. although she doesn't think she has frank sussed just yet, the warmth is still somewhat surprising. she thought she'd get a few words in with him and a tool for free, if she was lucky, but the proper tour is appreciated. she follows in silence, scanning every area they pass through along the way. the visuals help her better understand the steps required to survive out here.

and then there's fight club. when they enter the room, nancy's mouth forms an o, all widened eyes and arched brows. mike had all this in him? her twerpy brother mike. she'd be lying if she said she expected it, even if she knows how clever he is. they really do need to talk more often, huh.

nancy walks to the boxing ring, peering over the edge. after a moment, she sneaks a quick glance back at frank. by now, her smile has broadened, impressed despite her hesitance. this place looks like something out of late night tv. ]

[oorah]

[ he folds his hands behind his back as if standing at attention and waiting for her verdict. when she turns back to him and seems to approve, he nods in solidarity. he thinks it's a good thing, what he's built here. people who didn't understand would criticize, but nancy seemed to understand just as readily as her brother. ]

I'm gonna assume that means you like it. [ he calls softly to her, even the low raspy words sounding thunderously loud to his own hearing. ]

[unchancy]

[ she thinks about how disconnected mike has been since eleven disappeared, how much he'd pulled away from school and his family. eleven has disappeared here, too, and he hasn't done that. he's done this — fight club, a monster guide, and a house with will. it's honestly moving, so much so that she scrubs a hand over her face to stop any emotion from spilling over.

frank's voice startles her back to the present. she hadn't realised they could speak in hear, but of course they can. right. ]

[ after a long moment, she speaks quietly. ] Mike wasn't — he wasn't doing well when we were home, y'know. [ because of eleven and the upside down and her parents not getting it at all. she swallows then, looking down before her face betrays her worry or frustration with the world before now (with how little she paid attention to her own brother). when she looks up again, her voice lifts. a little louder. firmer, too. ]

And this [ she throws her hands up, gesturing at the room around them. ] is impressive.

[oorah]

[ frank nods, having gathered that especially with conversations with mike from the early days. he was so happy to have eleven here, and then she left and will came. he's nearly... flourished, really. in a place that should be beating him down. he's proud of that kid, moreso than any of the others not that he'd ever play favorites with them. mike was here with him since day one and he was the first one who got frank to open up. and now his big sister is here and a part of him worries that he'll lose the bond they'd forged. his expression might dull visibly as a result. ]

He wanted to learn to fight, so I started building somewhere safe. Then it turned out a lot more people wanted to learn, or just train. Spar, that sort of thing. You're welcome by any time. Don't let Mike tell you otherwise. [ like he had tried with max. frank goes to a weapons chest at the juncture between the workshop and fight club, opening it with a key from his pocket. he pulls out a long, jagged knife and moves to hand it to her, hilt first. ]

Here. I'll show you how to sharpen it and use it, if you want. [ since apparently he's in the business of giving wheeler children whatever the hell they want. ]

[unchancy]

[ nancy notices the shift in his expression, but she doesn't know what to make of it. she doesn't consider herself to be close with mike — certainly not as close as she should be. she knows him enough to recognise when he's off, but it's hard beyond that. everything she has done since arriving here has been an extension of her feeling at the end of the year at home: everyone in their little group needs to stick together. and nancy, in particular, needs to step up her game with all the adults of hawkins gone.

she walks back over to frank, and his comments earn a smile. ]

I'll remember that next time my little brother tries to boss me around. [ teasing, but that's so her brother. ]

[ she'll be a fight club regular in no time. when frank offers her the knife, her brows arch and her mouth drops open. listen, nancy wheeler doesn't look for approval from anymore (not anymore), but she doesn't expect people to go along with her ideas easily, let alone give her useful tools. ]

Yeah. [ she tries to temper her smile, but it's not happening. ] Yeah, that'd be great actually. [ ah, she should belatedly grab the knife now, right? she takes it by the hilt, looking it over with unabashed curiosity. maybe this could have done more damage to the demogorgon. after all, the bear trap had punctured its skin better than bullets. when she looks up, her expression remains unguarded and her voice softens. ] Thank you, Frank.

[oorah]

[ he nods, no hint of a joke to the way he readily agrees. mike is literally that kid, but it's okay. he's good, just also- ] He's a good kid, just... a thirteen year old boy. [ he takes any show of brattiness as some sort of favorable indicator that mike isn't completely fucked up. not like will, who's had that all beaten out of him.

frank isn't good at accepting gratitude so he just nods again as she takes the knife. if she hadn't told him she could shoot a gun he would wait until after their lesson. but something tells him she isn't going to be irresponsible with it. ] There anything else you need?