#Holly Emerson

[neutron669]

Fet-Erotica Magazine

Photoshoot with model Holly Emerson

Ph. By JC Starkphoto

#Holly Emerson #JC Starkphoto #pin up model #ooh wow #photography #art

[hauntedbythenarrative]

Regarding the Röttgen Pietà, Elle Emerson//Holly Warburton

#web weaving #quotes #words #poetry #mine #holly warburton #purple #elle emerson #pain #beauty #positivity #being kind #being kind to yourself #god

[idlecolossus]

in a fugue state doing cie sketches

#figuring out taylors face next then his web template can be donneeee #love having soft characters in dark horrible stories but also no:((( theyre so soft #my art #holly kilgrave #gabe cortés #heidi emerson #oh and #cie #conspiracy in emerson

[theoreticslut]

I loved Bruised body, broken heart. I hope you can make another fic of Gareth like that one day!! You are awesome!!!

Awee thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’d definitely love to try writing for him again - if you’ve got an idea you’d like to see for him feel free to send it in & I’ll give it a shot! 💗

#holly’s replies #anon asks #gareth emerson #stranger things

[darthhope999]

OC intro pt nine!

Feel free to send story or headcannon asks! I’d love to write them!

Rowan Adams

Rowan is a college student. He is not so focused on his grades, more so on messing around, playing sports, and gaming. Or at least that’s what he wants to think. He knows that if he doesn’t pass his exams he wont graduate. So he works very hard to pass. But he gets distracted much to easily whenever his friends call him or he just gets bored. Rowan is energetic and kind and has a very good relationship with his sister, Emerson. He has green eyes, brown hair, and wears a jean jacket paired with whatever else he can find, making his clothing clash much of the time.

Emerson Adams

Em is a veterinary medicine major in college. She is outgoing and enthusiastic, always ready to try new things… as long as they aren’t to dangerous. She loves to play soccer, the only sport Rowan doesn’t like. She and Rowan have a pet mouse named Holly who followed them to college. She has green eyes and red hair that she wears in a ponytail, she wears shorts and normally a jersey.

Michael Kartz

Michael is a mathematics major in college. He is quiet and very smart, usually being found staying up into the night reading or studying things he already knows just to make sure. He loves tutoring people, especially his brother, and is very patient. He hates nicknames and refuses to be called anything other than his real name. Mitch still calls him “Mike” just to annoy him. Michael has deep blue eyes and curly black hair.

Mitchell Kartz

Mitch focuses mostly on sports and coaching skills, wanting to become a fitness coach when he graduates. He is loud and outspoken and very committed to his football team. He is an identical twin with his brother and has the same black hair, but longer and worn in a bun, and the same deep blue eyes. He wears his football jersey most of the time, when he isn’t he’s wearing some color-block design.

Faye Cooper

Faye is a drama major in college. She loves to sing and act and is very loud, practicing her performances no matter where she is. She plays with Holly, probably more than Rowan and Em do, and jokes around a lot. She has brown eyes and obnoxious dyed pink and purple hair, and she constantly wears bright, loud colors with a matching raincoat that she wears even when it’s not raining.

Holly

#background #backstory #oc #OCs #OC background #oc backstory #defender tales #defender tales world building #world building #Michael Kartz #Mitchell kartz #Faye cooper #Emerson adams #Rowan adams #holly

[formosusiniquis]

intrada (sugar plum holly and her cavalier)

Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Steve Harrington & Holly Wheeler; Past Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler WC: 5708 | G | Tags/Themes: ballet, references to The Nutcracker, pre-relationship steddie, good babysitter Steve Harrington AO3

It was supposed to be a date that would merge their interests, something that had seemed classy enough for Nancy and athletic enough that Steve thought it would keep his interest. Supposed to be, in that when Steve had gotten the tickets -- begged his mom first for her and his dad’s season ticket seats and then for help finding a good seat when she said she wasn’t about to waste a sixty dollar ticket on a date -- he wasn’t even sure if it was the kind of thing Nancy would like. A year and a half into their relationship and he was only just realizing how surface level their conversations were, either talking about work or treating every conversation like an interview and parceling out information like they were afraid to reveal too much about themselves. So he was really working off of a jewelry box he vaguely remembered from her bedroom when he bought tickets for a ballet that wouldn’t even happen for another five months.

He wanted to have them when she got to Indianapolis, something to look forward to for their first Christmas together in the city. The Nutcracker, a classic supposedly but if anyone would know its cultural significance he figured it would be Nance.

And Steve isn’t an idiot, okay. He knows that Nancy isn’t exactly thrilled to be in Indianapolis, knows that she’s not happy to be at her safety school and not Emerson. Imagines having to wait to see if she made it up the waitlist all summer wasn’t the greatest experience; and he has to imagine because any time he wanted to talk to her about it she blew him off to focus on alternatives and next steps.

That’s why he does it. Hopes that having something to look forward to at the end of her first semester will help. Hopes that this is the first of many Christmases together, maybe a tradition that they can keep up. Going to the ballet together every year until eventually they’re bringing their daughter along with them. Maybe it’s too early to think about kids, but this is the kind of future he prefers to imagine over future careers and what he’s going to do with the degree he’s stumbling his way through. So he thinks about Nancy with pinned back curls in a nice dress humming along to songs they hear every year.

It was supposed to be that. Until it turns out that their relationship really couldn’t withstand being in the same city as one another. Until he’s forced to confront the hindsight that they never really talked about anything significant in the year they were doing long distance. Until Nancy tells him that she’s transferring next semester, and she isn’t interested in doing long distance; that she isn’t interested in continuing their relationship at all.

So Steve resigns himself to just being out the money for the two tickets. It’s not like he’s going to go to a ballet by himself, and it seems shitty to bring another girl to something that he imagined becoming a staple of his romantic future with Nancy. It’s not the first time Steve has cut his losses. (But he’ll die before he tells his mom she was right about not giving him her good seats.)

He honestly kind of forgets about the whole thing. Finals week has just ended. He’s pretty sure he flunked the one actual business course he took this semester to keep his dad happy, and he’s trying to figure out if he can change his major without screwing his whole life up. He’s ready to have a few weeks off. 

Then Karen Wheeler calls.

Karen is a nice lady, though if he’s honest he’s not that upset that she isn’t going to be his future mother-in-law. She’s a little… flighty, as his mother would say with a backhanded smile. He privately thinks she sometimes forgets that she has three kids, losing track of one or the other at any given time. So maybe he shouldn’t be too surprised when she calls him two months after her daughter broke his heart begging him to take Holly to the ballet.

“Nancy mentioned it off hand months ago, and Holly hasn’t stopped talking about it since. I know it’s a big ask,” she had said in a tone that made it very clear she didn’t entirely care and would think poorly of him if he answered the wrong way, “but if you still have those tickets it would mean the world if you could take Holly.” He hadn’t missed the emphasis on the you either. Clearly Karen had no interest in making the trip to Indianapolis and he hadn’t needed to ask about Ted.

He didn't think of himself as a pushover, but he did think of little, blonde, six year old Holly: too quiet and too shy for her age. Fighting to be seen by a negligent dad and a mom who loves her children, but cares about appearances just enough to be blind. And he finds himself saying, “It’s no trouble, Mrs. Wheeler, but could you meet me somewhere halfway?”

It’s not until they’re settled into their seats -- on the floor but in the back, a booth behind them occupied by a pretty boy in a headset that Steve refuses to look at for too long -- that he realizes that he has no idea what this show is even about. Holly has been quiet since he picked her up, the least surprising thing about this trip right above Mike glaring at him from the passenger seat of Karen’s car as he moved Holly’s booster seat, but she’s studiously flipping through the little booklet the usher handed them on their way to their seats.

“Thank you for bringing me, Steve. I’m sorry Nancy didn’t want to come.” It is somehow simultaneously the longest and worst thing Holly has ever said to him.

“I’d rather see it with you, Holly Jolly.”

He’s saved from having to find anything else to say by the lights around them dimming, a prerecorded voice letting them know that any photography is forbidden and to expect a fifteen minute intermission, a bright and bouncing song picks up once the talking stops. He relaxes in his seat a little, relieved to get a few minutes before he’s expected to entertain a six year old that he’s spent more time with today than he had the entire time he and Nancy had dated.

Now Steve, contrary to what he very much knows is the popular opinion, isn’t just a jock. He knows there’s no talking in ballet. He’s even been to one before this, when he was still a cute novelty in his suit and bowtie accompanying his parents to the theater. What he is, according to his old nanny, every teacher he’s ever had, and about half of his exes, is a selective listener. 

It’s not his fault though that his brain instinctively cues into different sounds. The buzz of the light above him louder -- and more interesting -- than a lesson on factorials. The sound of someone’s relationship imploding hard to tune out no matter how interested he is in his own conversation. So of course the sound of someone talking cuts straight through classical music.

“Someone remind David he needs to smile at his partner, he looks like he’s dreaming of a murder suicide.”

And it wasn’t hard to find exactly who the voice behind him was talking about. The only frowning face at this Victorian party who was glaring daggers at the magician who was bringing in new dancers.

“Well he should know better than to sleep around the cast shouldn’t he, Birdie?”

A practiced reader of body language, Steve could almost see, underneath the choreography, the traces of impropriety. David’s undisguised glare. The wistful way the woman in blue tracked him around the stage. The woman in pink who mooned at the woman in blue. It made him wonder what kind of things were going on backstage.

He expects that to be in. He doesn’t really do theater much, too many memories of pinched arms and snarling trips home, but he does remember the one rule is no talking. But it doesn’t stop, barely slows.

“If Mark sets himself on fire doing this stupid firepaper magic shit do we get to go home early?

“Sure, Robbie Bobby, I’ll swap out for the Rat King last show of the run. Jay can do my job and I’ll do his.

“Five bucks someone slips on the snow as they exit.”

He wants to know if that stranger wins the bet but the curtain closes and Holly is shy and asking Steve where the bathroom is. So instead of working up the nerve to turn and talk to the man behind him, he’s smiling his best mom-charming smile and asking the first woman with kids he finds to take his guest into the girl’s room.

By the time she’s out of line, and Steve buys her the doll and the novelty sucker she’d been pretending she wasn’t looking at, they slip back into their seats as the lights dim again. No chance to make his own witty jokes or observations, break the ice and show off some of the Harrington charm.

The first dance goes by with little fanfare and Steve’s almost disappointed. Holly is wiggling excitedly in her seat next to him, clutching her own little nutcracker, and he’s not even paying attention to the stupid show that’s got her so excited because he’s too focused on a snarky stranger he’d only even looked at once.

“Jeezus christ, is Tom stuffing his dance belt? That’s some Bowie level shit happening up there.”

He had almost given up, so it figures the guy decides to speak up once Steve’s attention started to shift back to the stage. He nearly chokes on his own tongue, eyes darting straight down to the issue in question. Holly, the sweetest kid he’s ever met, pats his back softly, hesitantly, like she’s only seen the gesture before. “There’s a water fountain by the bathroom,” she tells him in a library whisper, “I can stay here and not move.”

“I’m okay Hols,” he lies, ignoring the itchy, squeezing feeling at the back of his throat and forcing the cough away.

It’s easy to do when there's something else to focus on, “No, Lizzie, I’m not going to shut up. No one cares if I’m occupying the channel.” The stranger seems to be gearing himself up for a monologue, “I’m not going to miss my cue, I am the cue. Robin’s not going to miss her cue  because it’s to music. Her cue doesn’t exist without me and she knows all of these songs and what note her cue goes with because it’s the eighth fucking time we’ve done it this week. If you or props have something you’ve got to say clearly you can get a word in edgewise.”

A few numbers go by after that, quiet except for the occasional professional, “Light cue, go.”

And then a song he actually sort of recognizes starts. A pretty strawberry blonde with a dainty smile tip toes and spins across the stage to plucked strings. Holly is enchanted, perched at the edge of her seat she reaches a hand over to clutch at Steve’s sleeve. A ‘tell me someone in the world is experiencing this moment with me’ sort of gesture. Awestruck and world rocked, stars in her eyes. Any resentment, any hard feelings that might have still lingered at babysitting evaporated. He got to be the person that let Holly experience this. A moment just for her, no family to take second place for.

The dancer on stage spins, clearing the floor in a series of tight, controlled rotations. Her arms guiding each step, swinging out and pulling her in, the driving force of her momentum. She’s moving fast, it’s an impressive display. Something shoots off in the opposite direction of that controlled turn, almost distracting in its break from that clean motion.

“Tell Props Chris just lost an earring.

“Fine, tell Wardrobe then.

“I’m not being a creep, I know she’s your girlfriend, Birdie. I merely observed her earring launching across the stage like an arrow from an elven bow.”

It’s like catching half of an Abbott and Costello act, like who’s on first being done through a telephone. It’s a strange sort of connection, listening in on a conversation that isn’t meant for him. He thinks for a sad second that he hasn’t ever had a friendship like this.

The show is wrapping up, dancers from scenes past making their way through for quick appearances. Holly is vibrating in her seat. Dancers in intricate costumes glide across the stage to bow toward the petite dancer in the nightgown and the strawberry blonde, Chris, beside her. A few moments later it's finished, the lights rising up around them and he shifts his primary focus back to Holly. 

In the middle of the room, they had the best view of the stage and the longest wait to leave. Steve tries to be subtle as he shifts Holly in front of him, afraid of losing her if she's out of his eyeline. He doesn't want to baby her by making her hold his hand. She's wiggling in place, but she keeps herself small. Careful not to bump into the people slowly moving out of the aisle in front of them. 

“Hols,” he starts to whisper, not wanting to embarrass her before he asks if she needs to hit the bathroom again.

But she grabs his sleeve in a child's iron grip,  "Steve, I want to meet the princess."

It turns out, it's hard to find a way to tell an excited kid that there aren't meet and greets after a show like this. Pleading blue eyes and a nervous smile looking up at him, desperate but scared to ask for too much. The least he can do is try.

The guy behind them is still there. 

The back of their line, Steve isn't holding anyone up by taking a minute to look. He's lithe, all in black. Hair pulled up in a half-assed bun, a headset tangled in the curls. He's wrapping up a thick cord, Steve couldn't guess why, but it draws focus to a toned arm that he's curling it around.

“Hey man,” the booth is a little bit above them, forcing Steve to rise up on the tips of his own toes to make sure he's visible, “I know you're working but I wanted to ask. The girl at the end- I, uh, I overheard you say she's your friend's girlfriend is there anyway you could convince her to come meet us.”

The guy startled a bit, probably surprised at being addressed. If he’s embarrassed at being overheard it barely shows a soft flush that could be from the warmth of the room. "The girl at the end?”

"The princess,” Holly shouts, bouncing up and down to try to see over the lip that blocks her view of the booth.

A change falls over the guy, his smile softens and eyes widen. He carefully drapes himself across the board of buttons and sliders to look Holly in the eyes. "Oh she's even better than a princess, she's a fairy. The sugar plum fairy. Is this your first time seeing the show with your dad?”

“Steve's not my dad.” She tells him with a little giggle, no doubt comparing Steve and Ted in her brain.

“Holly is my ex-girlfriend’s little sister.” He places his emphasis carefully.

“There’s a lot happening in that sentence.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, my Lady Holly, I bet I could convince Chrissy to meet a fan.” He promises with a flourish, “As long as your companion doesn't care that her faithful company will definitely be there the whole time.”

“Are you part of the group?” Steve asks, confident enough in his read of the situation to lay on a bit of charm. Letting his eyes trail down the sprawl of the guy's back. A thrill of victory at the little nod he gets back. “Then I won't mind at all.”

“Rockin’ Robin, tell me you still have your headset on?” He directs into his headset, “Great, remember that favor you and Chris owe me? I've got a fair princess who would like to meet our dear Sugar Plum Fairy.”

There's a lengthy pause. Even without the music playing the response is too quiet to be made out through his headset. “I don't see how that's relevant.” He hisses, “and she didn't ask to see an awful hag so you don't really even need to be there.”

His face clears after a second, looking to Steve like he wants them both to pretend that the earlier conversation hadn't been overheard. “Go through that door at the end of the front row right beside the stage.” The auditorium has cleared out enough he's got a clear view of the door the guy points to. “You'll end up in a hallway with a locked door at the end, wait there.”

“And if someone asks us why we're waiting there?” Steve asks, “I can tell them..?”

“Eddie, I'm- I Eddie Munson told you to wait there, if someone stops you before I get there.”

It's hard not to grin now that he has a name, Eddie, so he doesn’t bother. He puts on his best smile, the boyish and winsome one that always flusters whoever it's directed at, at least a little. Eddie is no exception looking back down at his work quickly. Steve takes a little pity, turning his attention back down to Holly.

She's twisting in place, hands clasped in front of her, as she stares off into space. He feels bad immediately, too familiar with what it's like to be a kid forced to entertain yourself while adults talk above your head.“C’mon, Holly Jolly, let's go wait for your fairy.” 

She takes his hand the second it's offered, swinging it back and forth, humming one of the songs from the show. “Steve, do you think she's a fairy like Tinkerbell or a fairy princess like Barbie?”

“I don't know Hols, what do you think?”

“Tinkerbell is kinda mean to Wendy, but she can do magic and fly. But Barbie is really nice so if she were a fairy she'd be a fairy princess and have a crown and help people.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes! And this fairy looked nice when she was dancing, but it didn't look like she had a crown. Can you be a fairy princess without a crown?”

Holly was buzzing, bouncing in place, clearly over whatever earlier nerves she'd had about talking to him. With her back to the door that they were told to wait by, she’s started listing all the different jobs Barbie has had and why they should make a fairy princess doll -- Karen’s homemade Barbie clothes, he learns, are not as well made as the hand me downs from Erica and Mrs. Sinclair, so she needs the real thing. Holly misses the way the door creaks open, the woman from onstage inching her way out of the half opened exit. 

Chrissy presses a finger to her lips, happy to help her surprise Holly, Steve keeps listening to her talk about why there should be a Barbie movie. He only nearly ruins the surprise when the dancer pushes down on the front of her saucer like skirt and it smacks her in the back as it flies up, letting her exit the back room.

Focused on her story, Holly doesn’t notice as the woman crouches down beside her. Not until she says, “This must be the princess I was told about.”

The screech she lets out is so joyful he almost doesn’t mind that his ears are ringing. Steve finds his smile mirrored on a freckle-faced girl dressed in the same all black as Eddie who is sliding out the door now as well. She sidles up to Steve, letting Holly have her moment with the fairy uninterrupted. “And you must be the prince charming.”

“Shut up, shut up,” Eddie pants, coming to a bent over rest beside Steve, “whatever she’s saying ignore it. Fuck.”

“You jogged like twenty feet,” the girl says, clearly unimpressed.

“Sorry Nancy Reagan, I say yes every time.”

“There are children present, have some class, Munson.”

The child in question could be on another planet, that’s how much she’s aware of their existence, Steve thinks.

“I have class every Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Saturdays are fair game.”

“Oh! That’s why you look so familiar,” the girl says, she’s looking at Steve now but he’s not really sure why. “We were in the same Communications and Public Speaking class, Prince Charming. Steve, right?”

He did have that class last semester, the only one technically tied to the business major his dad wanted him to have that he actually passed. “I, yes- sorry I don’t. I spent most of that class zoned out waiting for my turn to speak.”

“No, yeah, I figured. You sat a row in front of me and always looked shocked when you got called on, then you’d brush your bagel crumbs all over the floor when you’d go to speak.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, not really sure what to say to that especially not when it’s being said right in front of a guy he was kind of into.

“Birdie holds the strangest grudges in the history of the world, take it as a sign of respect, Big Boy. She hated me for half of our music theory class because my handwriting didn’t look like it matched my general demeanor.”

“No, I hated you because you always smell like weed and never do the homework but somehow are still the professor’s favorite. And I still hate you for all of those things, but your unfortunate personality grew like mold on my girl- I mean grew on,” her face takes on a look of panic as she pivots her word choice. It’s confusing, at first, until he realizes he’s the source of panic. A familiar joke made with a friend, forgetting the new, possibly untrustworthy stranger until too late.

The siren song of new friends and a possible date is alluring, but with Holly in the room he does have to be careful of what gets back to her parents. He remembers Ted’s political alignments and gossip tends to reach his parents faster than he can. So he does his best at assurance, “Chrissy, right, she seems cool. It was nice of you guys to do this, Holly is probably only a little bit more into fairies than I am.”

Eddie sputters beside him, hard to tell if it’s a good sign or if Steve has just royally fucked up his chances at anything; but if it means easing Robin’s fears of queerbashing he’ll ruin his chance for a date every time.

“Into fairies,” Robin asks, nodding over to Chrissy, who’s showing Holly how she balances on the tips of her toes, “or…”

“I’m light in my loafers, or half, light in one-”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Eddie supplies.

“Right.”

“Worst way anyone has ever described being bisexual,” Robin says. 

“Sounds like a challenge,” Eddie says.

“It was not.”

“I really appreciate this,” Steve says again to avoid the argument. Chrissy is helping Holly spin around on the toes of her patent leather mary janes, she’s giggling as Chrissy holds her pointed finger helping her twirl and twirl. “How’d you all get involved in all this? You’re still in school.”

“They always need a little help around the holidays, normally the theater kids get first dibs but there’s only like five tech kids and they’re all working the school show so the music department gets next go.” Robin explains.

“Chis is a prodigy so she put in a word for us specifically,” Eddie adds. Before he leers and leans deep into Steve’s space, it’s not an unwelcome move. “Unless that was you fishing for friends, Big Boy. Trying to figure out if you’ll see us on campus?”

“Oh,” Robin exclaims, like the thought had never occurred to her. “Are you finished with your gen eds? Wait, what's your major? Eddie, show off your party trick.”

He isn’t a total loser, so he doesn’t fidget or blush as Eddie runs his heady brown eyes up and down the length of him, taking him in. “Business and Marketing,” he declares after a second, but he doesn’t sound sold on it.

“I’ve been thinking about changing it,” Steve isn’t sure if he’s admitting Eddie’s right or just trying out what it sounds like to admit that he’s sick of being everything he’s supposed to be instead of what he likes. “I took Children’s Psychology for the whatever requirement and it was a million times more interesting than Intro to Econ.”

It feels like it’s going well. When Nancy broke things off Steve had resigned himself to finishing out college without any real friends, dating around and hoping for something that stuck. Here with these people, he can feel something starting. He wants to take that feeling and capitalize on it, follow through on something so another good thing doesn’t slip away from him.

That’s not the kind of luck that he has though. 

“Steve,” Holly buzzes, grabbing his hand with no hesitation, “Fairy Chrissy said that I can be a dancer too! Can Santa bring me shoes like hers?”

Christmas is a week away, if Stever were guessing, he’d say the Wheelers have had Holly’s presents picked out and put away for most of the month. “I don’t know, Hols, Christmas is pretty close and the North Pole is pretty far. Do you think the mailman would have time to get all the way up there?”

Her shoulders slump, making Steve immediately feel like the worst person in the universe for crushing her dreams. “He's watching though, so I bet he saw you ask right now,” he does his best to smile, hoping it's comforting since it feels tight-lipped and desperate.

“Yeah!” She brightens, starts to hum along to the song just a little off pitch, getting more excited as she goes until she's murmuring, “Knows if you've been bad or good.”

“Hey Holly Jolly, why don't you tell Fairy Chrissy bye and thank you. We don't wanna be late to meet your mom.”

She's still singing but she nods, turning and shuffling back to Chrissy, still a few steps away.

“Would she know where to get those, Chrissy, the shoes that Holly would need?” He asks Eddie and Robin in a whisper, hoping Holly is distracted enough by her goodbyes that she won't hear.

“Are you..?” Eddie asks, a blush staining the tops of his exposed ears. “Ex-girlfriend?” 

The emphasis catches his attention and, yeah, he can see how that looks. “Her parents aren't going to drive up to the city before Christmas, but the town over does lessons.” Barriers to entry, that's what his marketing classes called it, maybe he did learn something. He wants to make it as easy as possible for Holly to get what she wants. “She's a good kid, she should get what she wants for Christmas.”

That blush spreads, bleeding down from his ears across his cheeks. “You're a good dude.”

“Steve, I said bye. Do we have to leave now?” Holly asks.

“Let me say bye too, Hols, and we'll grab a treat before we meet your Mom.”

There's a pen tucked behind Robin's ear that he snags before he can second guess what he's about to do. Grabbing her arm first, he scrawls his number across it. “I've got a place off campus, no roommates if you ever want someplace to hangout or to study,” he tells her. 

He grabs Eddie's hand next, rubbing his thumb along the palm and slowly writing the same number on his arm too. Keeping a hold of his hand for as long as he can. “I've got a place off campus, no roommates, if you ever want to come by and do something, have dinner?” He'll start there, let his interest be noted, and hope that Eddie is the type to like guys who dive in head first heedless of the water below. 

Steve can already imagine a future where he's sneaking into the booth with Eddie. Watching shows he's never heard of before with a warm commentary murmured into his ear. Gossip and behind the scenes rumor, distracting him from a plot that's less important than the company. Maybe next year, after double dates and a growing closeness, he'll be able to sneak Holly backstage and she can meet other dancers too.

Maybe next year, he'll be convincing Eddie, and the girls he hopes will be his new friends, to drive down to Hawkins with him to watch Holly do jumps and spins of her own in their small town showcase. Eddie was good with Holly, Steve hopes it isn't a fluke, he's always wanted kids.

He's probably getting ahead of himself. Falling into the same trap he'd built with Nancy that had gotten him here in the first place. The romantic in him wants to spin this all as fate, it could be true after all. 

Steve takes Holly's hand, they both wave goodbye, and leave the empty arts center. The winter sky is lit up by a full moon, fat snowflakes slowly float down to the ground beside them as they head back to his car, and for the first time since Nancy broke up with him he feels good about the future.

It's a long drive back to the McDonalds where he's meeting Karen, with Holly already dozing in the back seat, it's time that he can sit and be happy. Regardless of whether there's a message blinking on his machine to welcome him back home or not; what was supposed to be a relationship compromise ended up being the most fun he's had in weeks. So maybe Chrissy will tell him where to get Holly's shoes, maybe Robin will invite him for coffee or swing by to compare classes, and -- if he's really lucky -- maybe Eddie will invite himself over for dinner.

But, as he hums along to the waltz whose melody lingers in the back of his mind, the possibilities are something to look forward to.

#steddie #good babysitter steve harrington #my fic #steve and holly #steddie fic #holly wheeler #apologizing for my sins against nancy wheeler i'm sorry i needed plot #but also wait listing and getting rejected from first choices happens even if you are wonderful and smart #secondly know that steve does get holly her ballet shoes and then worries it's weird and everyone gets a present from “santa” #mike complains to the guys about the comics steve gets him (but also doesn't let anyone else touch them cause they're his) #and dustin has the epiphany that there's a cool adult figure that's now available in indy that he can use #mostly to explore stores and stuff that hawkins doesn't have without his mom cramping his style #babysitter steve and the henderfam bros forever in every universe

[eskawrites]

Pause.

Karen Wheeler gets Vecna’d.

She’s been a target since summer of 1985, since a shadow whispered to Billy Hargrove, shut her up, kill her, bring her to me.

And oh, what a target she is. So miserable with her perfect life. Already reaching for the bottle, grasping for any escape, however dangerous it is. Drowning in the guilt that she regrets her choices, regrets her family, regrets her children. Maybe if she didn’t, maybe if she could just be happy with her life, she could be a better mother. And maybe, if she was just a better mother, she could protect her kids from the danger that always seems to lurk in Hawkins.

So Karen starts getting headaches. She attributes it to the stress of sending Mike across the country, of figuring out what to do with Holly during spring break, of worrying about Nancy, wearing her Emerson shirt and standing with one foot out the door already.

It’s easy to forget about it in the chaos of everything happening after the championship game. And it makes sense that everyone else is too distracted to notice that something is wrong.

Meanwhile, the Hawkins gang saves Max and immediately decides to figure out who the next victim will be. They gear up with walkmans and cassettes and scribbled out lists of everyone’s favorite songs. Nancy feels herself pulled in all directions—trying to keep Max safe, putting on a brave face for the rest of the kids, coming up with plans to keep the group moving, worrying about Mike and Will and El and Jonathan half a country away, reconnecting with Steve while trying not to break his heart again, and fighting this increasingly overwhelming draw she feels toward Robin Buckley of all people. It’s too much for one person to deal with, but she’ll never admit that. What choice does she have but to keep going?

Until a police car pulls up at wherever the group is hiding out now, scaring everyone half to death. But the sheriff only asks for Nancy with a weary expression. “Your mother’s been acting strange. I don’t know what’s going on with you kids, or anyone else in this town for that matter, but your father’s no help and she seemed rattled enough we don’t really want to leave her on her own.”

Nancy presses for more information, tries to get details, but she already knows. Before the others piece it together, before Max realizes even, Nancy knows.

God. She doesn’t even know her mother’s favorite song.

They split the party, half of them going with Eddie to hide out at Steve’s house, but Nancy, Max, Robin, and Lucas head back to the Wheeler’s.

Cue trauma and shenanigans from there, like Ted really being no help at all, and Holly not knowing much but knowing that everything is wrong, and Karen barely even looking at Nancy no matter what she says or does. Robin searching the entire house for something that seems like it could be Karen’s favorite song, trying to get answers out of Ted and earning herself a place on his bad side as she does, bumping into Holly and awkwardly trying to make her feel better by asking for her help finding the right song. Max and Lucas hovering awkwardly, but Max refuses to leave because if Vecna strikes maybe she can help, and Lucas refuses to leave because it’s Max, he’s always going to be there for her. The rest of the kids staying in touch with walkies and trying desperately to get a hold of Mike back in California.

And maybe Nancy still has her vision, but this time Vecna taunts her with her mother, the final victim, standing right in front of her and she can’t do anything to help her. And Nancy has known she’s cursed, that she poisons everything she touches, since that stupid party back in 1983, but it has never been so paralyzing as it is right now.

#this post brought to you by a girl who should’ve gone to bed like 3 hours ago #just thinking thoughts #stranger things #stranger things au #and a hint of #ronance #there is a Venn diagram of ronancers and Karen wheeler stans and the target audience for this post is right smack dab in the middle #writing things #I guess idk I’m sleepy #someone gets vecna’d fic but make it mother-daughter trauma

[cantseemtohide]

URL Song Tag

Rules of the game: link a song for each letter of your username

Thank you to @deardiaryts4 for the tag always enjoy a music tag 😊

Condescending You by Julie Doiron Afterglow (Of Your Love) by The Small Faces Not HXC Enough by Rotten Blossom Tha Fonn Gun Bhi Trom by Brìghde Chaimbeul ft Colin Stetson* Sandrail Silhouette by Avalon Emerson Easy ft Ally McMahon by Cody Currie Ethel by The Murder Capital Million Ways by Sally Shapiro They Don't Know by The Impressions OK With Me by Nora O'Connor Handle with Care by abriction I Don't Want You Anyway by Look Blue Go Purple Desdemona by Hollie Cook Everything's Gone by Lydia Loveless

*While making this post I discovered the Brìghde Chaimbeul song has a brilliant video worth a look 👍

I will tag @changingplumbob @thefandangos @lilacacia @zosa95 @berrycactus @ethicaltreatmentofcowplants @corrienteallita @oasissarah @introvertedfox @thewalkingplumbob @plumloup @zmemily

As always feel free to ignore if you already did this/prefer not to 😊

#tag thing #url song tag #non sims

[intomusings]

﹒﹒  unisex   names   masterlist     !

back  again  with  another  masterlist  for  u  all  after  receiving  some  anon  suggestions  .  here's  250+  unisex  first  names  for  ur  next  character  ,  these  come  from  various  influence  points  but  some  of  them  really  are  just  pulled  from  thin  air  .  the  names  are  sorted  by  first  letter  but  not  alphabetically  within  each  letter  !  if  u  found  this  useful  ,  feel  free  to  like  or  reblog  to  boost  this  .

A : ashtyn , avery , adrian , anderson , abbott , aaren , aki , alix , amari , aden , arden , addison , angel , arizona , armani , ayla , austen , avani , august , ajay . 

B : bailey , beck , bellamy , blaine , blake , brooks , bryce , bodhi , beverly , boston , boyd , benz , banks .

C : cameron , camden , carter , casey , charlie , chicago , carson , courtney .

D : dakota , dallas , delaney , denver , dylan , drew , dua .

E : eden , eli , elliot , emerson , emery , erin , evan , everest , ezra .

F : fallon , finley , finn , forest , foster , finnick , frankie .

G : gem , gabe , gray , genesis , garnet , greer .

H : hale , harley , harlow , harper , haven , hayden , hayes , hunter , hero , holland , hollis , hudson , honey .

I : indy , indiana , isa .

J : jace , jack , jade , jamie , jay , joey , jordan , jude , juniper , julian , jagger , journey .

K : kali , keegan , kelan , kendal , kenzie , kieran , kit , knox , kyle , kaiden , karsyn , kourtney .

L : lake , laurence , lennon , lennox , landry , levi , logan , london , luca , lux , lyric , love , link , lincoln .

M : maddox , madison , manning , manny , marlow , marley , mason , max , morgan , montana , milo , michi , memphis , milan , mica .

N : nevada , nicky , noah , nye , nova , nash , nyjah .

O : ollie , ozzy , orion , onyx , oakley , owen , oliver , ocean , opal , otto , orlando , odelia .

P : paris , pratt , parker , pascal , pax , paxton , paxon , penn , peyton , phoenix , presley , psalm , pearl .

Q : quincy , quinn , quentin .

R : rae , ryan , reagan , reed , reece , rei , rem , riley , river , robin , rocky , rory , royal , rowan , ryder , ryker , reign , rue .

S : sean , sacha , sailor , salem , sam , sawyer , scout , shiloh , skye , skyler , sloane , sol , spencer , stevie , sutton , sydney , storm , sab , seven , saint , sage , shelby , silver .

T : tai , teagan , torrence , tyler , tristan , trevor , tove , toni , tommy , theo , terry , tatum , tanner , tate , tayler , taryn , tris .

U : uma .

V : val , vesper , vega , vaughn , vince , venus , vinny .

W : waverly , wade , whitney , winnie , willy , wylie , wren , wyatt , winter , winslow , wolfe , west , weston .

X : xio , xyla , xashary .

Y : yael , yves , yara , yensi , yale .

Z : zane , zuri , zoe , zion , zayden , zero .

#m:masterlist #unisex name masterlist #name masterlist #rpc #rph #rpt

[best-childhood-book]

#best childhood book #poll #the candy shop war #beacon street girls #rose #the chronicles of dragon #a traveler in time #the chronicles of egg #chronicles of the dark star #dragon slayer's academy #animal ark #time hunters

[lucassinclaer]

jancy + 18 ❤️

okay so first off this was so goddamn fun!! tysm for sending this! second, this isn't proof read and i hope it actually fits, adkfjhadf

send me a things you said prompt

18. things you said when you were scared

There’s this thing Jonathan does when he looks at Nancy. She likes to think of it as the photographer's eye. Sometimes people don’t say what they’re really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more. Ever since they'd entered each other's orbit he hadn’t needed a camera to make her feel that seen. It's just him and that uncanny observance he has, laying her bare with a look. 

When things are fine it’s a triumph, a string he plucks that makes something in her chest sing. But it's the thing that undoes her when it gets worse.  

It’s what gives him the ability to leave her speechless in the woods. It’s what coils around her heart like barbed wire when she’s scared. It’s what makes her cry into his chest. Or it’s what makes her lash out when she isn’t ready for it. 

The quick burning anger in her resents it with an acidic meanness. “I never would have thought you were a coward,” she tells him as her thoughts clamor to justify the words as they tumble out of her mouth. Because she can’t stand that gaze, needs to disarm him like he disarms her. She just wants him to feel this same helplessness. Loving Jonathan has always meant this excruciating vulnerability. Cost and reward in one. 

It works. The repentance of him turns in a complicated twist of his features. “My mom, my siblings—they need me, Nancy! And I couldn’t risk you giving up your dreams for me, but I can’t just leave them.” 

She scoffs. The answer of a martyr. A better person than her who's never let leaving Mike or Holly behind stop her from pursuing her ambitions. 

But there’s a different kind of fury in her, too. Less sudden, less prone to pass in a few minutes when she'll regret what she's saying. Something different. 

“What about your dreams?” she asks. 

He looks like she slapped him. Actually taken aback. Like this time she's the one who might have exposed him. It’s hard not to find a kind of sickening satisfaction in that. 

“What?” 

“What about,” she repeats slowly, feeling control come back to her, “your dreams? You used to talk about NYU. All the time.” He says nothing. Somehow, it unfurls more of that simmering rage. “You think I don’t know you, Jonathan? You think that I don’t know that no matter what, Emerson or California, you were already giving up?”  

He stares at her, then looks away and she wants to scream for him to face her but the wave of fury she'd felt had broken over her head and everything else was dragging behind in its wake.  

“It was a stupid kid's dream,” he says and Nancy’s heart breaks. He’s never looked young to her before. Most times he reflected her own age, sometimes he'd look older than he should be. Never like this.  

Like a boy who's afraid. Scared out of his mind. Of leaving behind his family for something to befall them. Of not succeeding. Of being left behind. Of falling into a pattern he can’t escape, dragging everybody with him. 

Silence stretches between them and he shrinks in on himself more and more. 

“Jonathan.” She longs to reach out and twist her hands into his shirt to pull him close, but it's not the time. They can do that later and she can wrap her arms around him and card a hand through his hair and mourn for the little boy who felt he needed to leave his hopes behind for other people. “I don’t want you to sacrifice everything for me either. And neither does your mom. Or Will. Or El.” 

The anger has passed over her and left the wreckage of fear that must inevitably be faced. “Can we just start there?” 

#stranger things #jancy #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #i hope i actually transferred what i wanted to express onto the page #also gOD jancy and vulnerability i will be taking a twenty hour walk #again tysm this was so good to write for me #*mine #*fics #*ficlets

[idlecolossus]

!! finally all of them! using @lune-hare 's template for new kids :)

using this as a masterpost for my new kid ocs for CiE :)

playlists kilgrave price sano

boards 🍓 🍂 🌀

#idrk who i'm gonna be romancing with tay I've yet to convince myself on anyone #but I DO know they think rain is extremely cool #rain doesnt deserve his niceness honestly lmao #my art #conspiracy in emerson #holly kilgrave #sofia price #taylor sano #if anyone would like to gush about their new kid or share playlists/boards I am RIGHTT HERE

[theoreticslut]

The Gareth fic killed me 😭 just imagining him being so sweet and gentle while you’re hurting just makes my heart melt ❤️ I could see him accidentally touching a bruise too hard and trying not to cry because he made you hurt more like ahhhh this boy is gonna be the death of me

He really is too cute!! He would definitely be so gentle and sweet, but I also think he’d be the type to get “angry” just because he’s so worried. Like if you try to hide your pain or injury he’d be demanding that you tell him what’s wrong, but once he knows he’d be the absolute softest. Literally doting on you until you’re all better.

As for him crying, he is so the type to get teary/cry if you are teary or crying. He’s just such an empath, it hurts him when those close to him hurt.

#holly’s replies #stranger things #gareth emerson #bruised body; broken heart

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Part One

Stancy Headcanon Part Two with a Side of Hellcheer and Rovickie with a sprinkling of Jargyle:

• Steve and Eddie bonding over their bat bites while talking about Chrissy and Nancy but also talking about their shitty fathers.

• Nancy and Chrissy bonding over trying be perfect all the time, Nancy talking about losing Barb and Chrissy about her mother blaming her for her brother's death (Chrissy has a brother, it's canon but I think they forgot they gave her a brother.)

• Steve, Nancy, Eddie, and Chrissy getting high as they talk about the difficult stuff. Steve and Eddie talking about being both comfortable in their femininity and masculinity, which led to Chrissy and Nancy talking about it.

• Nancy confesses to Steve about how she feels while Robin and Eddie decide to make it dramatic with a sprinkler. Nancy and Steve chasing them until they manage to push them into the pool. (Stancy still can't get in yet.) I firmly believe in Robin and Eddie being twin menaces.

• Robin finally gets with Vickie, but before Chrissy and Eddie get together, and after Robin comes out to Nancy, she comes out to them. Nancy and Vickie bond over their different writing styles. I believe Vickie wants to right fictional novels. Vickie revealing that she loves basketball and talks with Steve about it.

• Vickie and Chrissy find out they're related. Nancy and Steve meanwhile are loving having so many friends, but they also kind of want to be alone. It's almost comical. Finally, it's Chrissy who realizes and announces loudly that she wants to make out with Eddie in his van, effectively pulling him away from his conversation with Robin, then it's Vickie pulling her out of the room.

• Stancy spending all of the time in the pool once they start to work through their issues. Nancy was even the one to dare him to go skinny dipping with her. It was a different form of intimacy and a different form of freedom.

• A few months into their new relationship and, yes, new. They didn't pick up where they left off. That relationship is dead and buried. They've both changed. Anyway, a few months in, Nancy rescues a dog, and suddenly, it becomes their dog. Due to the fact that Holly is allergic, Ace Wheeler stays at Steve's.

• Nancy and Steve are stupidly in love with their dog and each other. Steve loves to dance around the kitchen with Ace while Nancy lays on the floor with the dog on her back while she reads Ace the rough drafts of her articles. Ace makes a noise. ("You're right, Ace, that's absolutely ridiculous. This sentence needs to go somewhere else.")

• Nancy is, of course, taking a year off from college, but she definitely is going to Emerson. After the hell that occurred, she needed some off of school. But in the meantime, she's free writing for the paper in the next town over. Steve is fully invested and supportive, while Nancy is fully supportive of him not knowing what he wants to do. ("We don't have to have it all figured out.")

• Nancy and Steve getting high with Chrissy and Eddie again, but this time, after discovering their own gender and sexual identities. Eddie and Chrissy accepted it while Chrissy admitted that she always knew about herself but didn't know there was a word for it. Eddie never did anything with a guy before but admits to being curious, which, of course, leads to Eddie and Steve making out. Chrissy and Nancy watch on for a while before doing the same, which leads them with somewhat of a tradition when they got high.

• Of course, there's Robin slipping into bed platonically with Steve and Nancy, as well as Ace, when she has her first fight with Vickie. It causes Robin to do it a lot more often over pretty much anything.

• And of course, there's also Argyle and Jonathan slowly incorporating themselves into the group once they pull themselves out of their love and drug haze. But also, everyone is just being fucking teenagers on the verge of being young adults who are dealing with their trauma and becoming a queer little family along the way. And as much as they love the younger and the adult members of the Party, it's nice just to have people your own age who just get it.

#stranger things #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #nancy wheeler x steve harrington #stancy #bisexual steve harrington #pansexual nancy wheeler #pan4bi #otp: unambiguous sign of true love #stancy is endgame #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #hellcheer #bisexual eddie munson #bisexual chrissy cunningham #bi4bi #robin buckley #lesbian robin buckley #rovickie #jonathan byers #stranger things argyle #jargyle #rueleigh's headcanons #rueleigh's thoughts #but also #genderfluid nancy wheeler #genderfluid steve harrington

[ashyblondwaves]

Jancy + “god, we’ve been together for ages! I didn’t think that borrowing a change of clothes would warrant this much attention.” Please!

Better Than Bacon Grease

Pairing: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler Rating: T Words: 707

GIF by @share-the-damn-bed

"I can't go out like this."

Jonathan stood at the foot of Nancy's bed; arms spread wide as Nancy giggled at his misfortune.

"It's not funny!" Jonathan bellowed, throwing his head back in frustration. "All because I had to dump out the bacon grease."

"And missing the canister completely," Nancy reminded him with another laugh.

"Come on, Nancy," Jonathan whined. "It looks like I pissed myself."

It would be the last time Jonathan tried to cook at the Wheeler's house. The cooking part went fine, perfectly even. He showed up at the Wheeler's house early and made breakfast for Nancy, Holly and Karen while Ted and Mike were off setting up for the block party that afternoon.

Conversation was light, breakfast was delicious and all that had to be done was clean up. But what is usually a coffee canister, at least at his house, the container the Wheeler's used to hold bacon grease had a lid far too small for pouring grease in it and as Jonathan tried to pour, he got it everywhere but the container, including his shirt and the front of his pants, right at the crotch.

"You were supposed to use the funnel!" Nancy said, shaking her head.

"Who uses a funnel to pour out bacon grease?!"

"We do!"

Jonathan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I have to go home a change," he said with finality.

"We don't have time for you to go home," Nancy reminded him. "We have to be at the block party in twenty minutes."

"We can be a little late," Jonathan said.

"Not when you're the photographer for the event, we can't!"

"What am I supposed to do?! Walk around smelling like a diner trash can all day?"

Nancy fell silent, chewing on her bottom lip. She looked down, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"What?" Jonathan asked.

"You can wear some of my clothes," she offered.

"Nancy."

"What? I have some oversized clothes you can try on."

What else was he supposed to do? He was not going to walk around full of grease all day.

"Fine. What do you have?" Jonathan finally said with a groan.

It wasn't bad. It really wasn't. Maybe a little tight. Maybe a little short, but it was better than wearing bacon grease all day.

The lavender Emerson t-shirt clung to Jonathan's lanky frame. Every time he raised his arms to bring his camera to his eye the shirt would ride up to his belly button.

Better than bacon grease.

The shorts left little to the imagination, black track shorts with white striping around the edges. They hugged places that would be considered indecent exposure in most states. But everything stayed covered, and nothing moved out of place. He just had to be careful when he bent down to snap a photo.

Better than bacon grease.

But the looks. The looks he was getting were making him uncomfortable, the center of attention. Long gazes that lingered on parts of him people had no right staring at. He just wanted to walk around and take pictures of the event like he was asked. He did need all eyes on his outfit.

But still. Better than bacon grease.

"God, we’ve been together for ages! I didn’t think that borrowing a change of clothes would warrant this much attention," Nancy laughed as she gave a tentative wave to Mike and the rest of the kids.

"I just don't think they're used to seeing the man wear the woman's clothes," Jonathan grumbled, pulling at the tight t-shirt and releasing the fabric with a snap.

"Well, that's sexist!" Nancy barked. "You have every right to wear my clothes, just like I wear yours. Nobody ever gives me looks when I wear your shirts."

"Probably because they fit you."

"Not the point."

"I think that's exactly the point. I probably look like I escaped from the insane asylum."

"Wouldn't be too farfetched," Nancy quipped.

"Har har har," Jonathan deadpanned. "Let's go get some pictures of the kids in the bounce house."

They walked together hand in hand, as everyone's eyes immediately went to Jonathan's outfit. A few people snickered, some gasped, but despite all that. It was better than bacon grease.

#musicalchaos07 #jancy #jancy fic #jancy fanfiction #nancy x jonathan #jonathan x nancy #st fic #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #writing shit #i write shit #jancy drabbles

[redflagsandbanners]

#Ronancetober _ Day 9

After years of sitting shut, the piano has become another piece of furniture. A stale presence, a fix in the picture of the grand house. An object and a surface to be cleaned every weekend, to shine by wiping the nonexistent layer of dust from the polished wood. A reminder to keep in mind and break the loop by calling in a tuner to keep it properly fixed for no reason other than - than something.

The last time Karen Wheeler sat in front of the piano was when Nancy had just turned eight years old and wanted to practice her new ballet moves to live music. It'd been a good afternoon. A bright one that keeps its most important details in Karen's mind even a whole decade later.

Today is a good morning. October's dark clouds have parted for the rare grace of honest, golden sunlight to shine for the Saturday's early hours. The car is already left to the mechanic. Ted is at work; Holly is at her best friend's house; Mike won't be up for a few more hours; and if Karen is to judge the loud sounds of her eldest daughter coming in at the crack of dawn from the party down the block, then Nancy will also not be coming out of her room until late noon.

It is an opportunity to clean the muddy stains from the wooden table and chairs in their backyard. They fell victim to the sudden storm that coated the world in stains of dirt, because no one had remembered to cover them.

The breeze is chilly, but in symphony with the warming sunlight. After the storms, the golden rays are gentle to one's eyes. They playfully illuminate with the droplets of water on the bright, green grass and the chipped corners of the fallen, yellow leaves.

Karen places her cup of steaming coffee on the table and folds the cleaning rag for the outdoor furniture, picking up a mental plan on going around the set and wiping the mud.

The world smells of wet soil. Life given by the traces of rain and the caress of sunlight.

It takes Karen a minute to register the music.

An eased melody coming from keys delicately pressed with expertise. The intensity sways out of the kitchen's closed door and to the breeze of October. The piano solo wraps along the scents of the world, carrying them as if with another prospect. The music dances in the golden rays of the sunlight.

Karen barely manages to keep herself upright at the wonder. The piano in her living room finally given life.

She can picture the fingers of one hand sway over white and black, the fingers of the other arm waving along the music to offer the deeper undertones to the oddly familiar melody. A breath of soul, exhaled from the depths of the house.

The girl sat in front of the piano barely looks awake; dressed in Nancy's favorite, purple, Emerson t-shirt and one of her daughter's sweatshirts, unzipped and with the hood pulled over her bowed head. Strands of short loose honey brown hair drop out of the fabric, hiding her face.

Fingers covered in rings wave their way over the keys. So much like the gentle reflection of a bird flying over the waving surface of the ocean. The girl plays with the kindest of laziness, not even trying to build her music but simply only living in its soft, morning sound.

Karen likes Robin with the same intensity a mother feels for her child's apparent happiness. The softness in Nancy's eyes when her best friend speaks; the hidden teasing comments about the world only shared between the coy meeting of their gazes; the natural posture of them simply standing by one another as if always meant to be paired up.

Karen knows how Nancy laughs when Robin leans close and mutters only a couple of words to her ear. Karen didn't know Robin played the piano.

Karen didn't know the kid could create such beauty to the world without even trying.

When Nancy rounds the kitchen corner with her back on her mother and approaches Robin with two steaming cups carefully held in both hands, Karen doesn't flutter at the sight of the kiss.

Her daughter tips down to naturally brush her lips on her best friend's own and Robin naturally tilts her head up to keep the contact for as long as one more breath can take.

At the gentle kiss, Robin's hands keep moving as if possessing mind and soul of their own. Robin doesn't reach for the offered steaming cup, but her eyes never stop following Nancy as she circles around and comes to sit on the stool too. The next melody drops to the pace of a ballad full of romance and peace only able to be conveyed by the wonder of this music and, even from here, Karen can see her daughter smile at the other girl with a loving illumination shining across her face.

Karen takes a moment to sit on the clean chair in October's warm sunlight. Wraps both hands around the hot porcelain of her own cup, listening to the wonderful music that takes her back a couple of decades, to a bar that doesn't exist anymore, to a grand piano placed on stage and the way she used to play for hours to no end, for patrons that came just for the music and a drink and a laugh with their love, with their friends, with their own loneliness.

Karen closes her eyes, listening to her daughter's laugh pairing with piano's music, and hopes Robin stays with Nancy for a long long time.

#ronancetober #day nine #robin buckley x nancy wheeler #karen wheeler #stranger things fic #ronance #SOMEONE HAD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PIANO IN THE WHEELERS' HOUSE #musician robin buckley my beloved #crawling my way to day 12 #blood and tears are shred