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)

Comments

[oorah]

you guys have a thing?

[ he's not her dad but he was A dad once. he has a sense for these things. besides, why else would mike tease her over it?? ]

sure
it's just you and him that remember all this?

[ not so fast young lady!!!!!! ]

[unchancy]

[ f i n e ]

We used to have a thing.
I don't think Mike remembers the "used to" part.

[ Or the Jonathan part, but maybe Will has an inkling. Hard to say, when her love life is the least important news flash from Hawkins. ]

Mike remembers through Halloween. Max doesn't remember much more. Will remembers a little more.

[ she keeps it vague, when she doesn't know what the boys have told him and would hate to lose their trust over tattling. ]

But then Steve and I remember a lot of important things that happened after all that.

[oorah]

[ maybe her love life isn't important. teen girls have whims that ebb and flow. but it makes him think of his lisa, how she would have been almost nancy's age this year. she would have boyfriends and a little brother who picked on her for it. ]

it's the same with people from my world. i think i remember the most so far. my brother is only a day or less behind me but the others are a year or more.

have you told them what happens next?

[unchancy]

[ hearing that it happens to other people is an utter relief. ]

I'm working on it.
I only have good news, so I don't think they believe me, y'know?

[ well, she doesn't only have good news, but the good news is what's most relevant to the kids. ]

Are you close with your brother?

[oorah]

guess i can't blame them
let me know if you need backup

[ if she were anyone else, he'd probably just say 'yeah' and be done with it. but her brother is here and mike is important to both of them. somehow it feels disingenuous. ]

we're not related, we've just been through a lot of shit together.
so yeah we're close

[unchancy]

Thanks.
I'm calling in Steve for now, since he can vouch for other parts of the story. Some of the kids look up to him, too.
But Mike really only looks up to you.

[ just... throwing that out there... ]

I'm glad you have someone that close to you.

[ closer than nancy and mike, definitely, but maybe like she and barb had been, or how she is with jonathan now. being understood is everything, when the world is crashing down all around you. ]

Someone has to keep the Mayor from overwhelming himself with other people's trouble, right?

[oorah]

just an offer.

[ but man that hurts. he knows that, of course, has known for a while. but it's hard hearing it from someone else, just how attached mike has become to him. ]

mike and me talked about how we didn't want our best friends here. next thing we knew here they were.

it's no trouble, nancy. i mean that.

[unchancy]

You don't know that your friends would be safer home than here.

[ a dour version of it's not your fault. she knows it isn't entirely true, but it speaks to her mindset after losing barb. death can come at any time, in any form. barb had disappeared at a party in a small town where no one ever died. not horribly, at least. not while screaming in the upside down for a best friend who couldn't hear.

at least they know the danger here. they're not naive and stupid. ]

I know, Frank.
You seem like a pretty straightforward guy.

[oorah]

you're right. we don't.
i just feel like i'm dragging him into my mess all over again.

[ frank he stalked you until you were at your breaking point and then forced you to help him. "oh yeah" ]

you're a smart lady. i know you pick up more than a lot of people here.
i'm just saying
i'm not gonna ever be too busy for you if you need something [ don't hesitate ]

[unchancy]

I think everyone feels that way sometimes.
Doesn't make it any easier.

[ it's a fair feeling, even when you know it's irrational. ]

I'll remember the offer. I swear

[ it's such a crazy thing to say. i'm not gonna ever be too busy for you if you need something. it's not the kind of relationship nancy has with any of the adults in her life, and while she recognizes that frank means what he says, as a rule, she doesn't know if she can accept it — not yet, anyway.

only jonathan had been there for her when she needed someone, and he isn't here now, so she's all alone again, at least until she allows herself to be otherwise. ]

[oorah]

you better.
see you soon nancy