Mr. Crayola Henderson
T | 1791 words | ao3 link | cw: minor ableism from a side character, also they swear, I always forget f-bombs bother some people sorry guys | STWG Prompt: Telling a story to get out of trouble
EDIT: I NEARLY FORGOT thank you @pearynice my beloved for the brainstorming GENIUS and @hairstevington for the sensitivity read! You guys are awesome!! Also thank you @saradika-graphics for making free dividers!!
((little bit of context for extra clarity: this universe is vaguely canon divergent, post season 2. Steve is hoh (hard of hearing) and already adopted by the Hendersons, and in this one they're in the middle of a sort of family reunion/gathering))
Steve went to duck inside the house, holding the door open for Aunt Tracy on her way back out into the backyard where the majority of the gathering was taking place. She smiled and said something, probably just a thank you that he would’ve heard if the batteries in his hearing aids hadn’t died. He smiled back at her and gestured to his ear and she nodded again with a smile that did its best to not be patronizing.
She left and Steve went inside, sighing a little and tried to not hold it against her, the lack of filter seemed to run in the family, but it was moments like that that made him grateful his mom was the most laid-back of the Henderson women.
Steve went over to the media room and dug through the little bin of batteries under the phone, pulling out an opened pack that had just enough left. He took both aids off, changed the batteries, and put them back on to make sure they worked.
He heard a strong thud from his bedroom, followed by muttering.
Steve put the dead batteries down on top of the table and stared at his bedroom door. The muttering escalated to hushed bickering.
Steve walked closer to the door, hearing the bickering more clearly, then opened the door.
Dustin and their cousin Aiden both jumped and turned to look at the door, Dustin relaxing when he saw it was him. Steve paused for a second, looking at both of them crouched on the ground, bright pink paint on their hand and clothes and the carpet around them with no bottle in sight.
Steve leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at Dustin.
“We were just… snooping through your shit. ” Dustin said.
Steve glanced back down at the paint everywhere, and gave him a look.
Dustin just smiled like a little angel, which worked on mom and maybe Steve-from-two-years-ago, but not now.
“Oh no, you found my secret stash of… bubblegum pink paint.” he deadpanned.
“The cheap kiddy bubblegum pink paint.” Dustin corrected, looking down at the carpet. “It’ll wash out.”
“Of course.” He looked over to Aiden, who had relaxed significantly as he realized Steve wasn’t going to blow up on them. “And… why is there totally washable pink paint in my room specifically? Weren’t you guys sticking to dicking around outside to avoid doing stuff like this?”
Aiden opened his mouth to give a better excuse, but Dustin started tapping his shoulder excessively to get his attention.
“He’d help us.”
Steve raised his eyebrows, not arguing because odds were good he’d end up doing something, but he still played it up like he wasn’t already planning to.
Aiden was turned mostly towards Dustin and muttered something he couldn’t catch, throwing a glance at Steve.
“Trust me, this is like a walk in the park compared to–” Dustin said.
“Hardly a fair comparison, man.” Steve interrupted.
“–compared to the other shit he’s helped me with.”
Aiden thought about it, then glanced towards Steve. “And he's not going to jump ship afterwards and get us in trouble?”
“Of course not, right Steve?”
Steve looked at the two of them and ran a hand over his face.
“You know step one of not getting in trouble for stupid shit is not starting stupid shit, right?”
Aiden groaned but Dustin agreed immediately, “Yes, 100% understood.”
Dustin elbowed Aiden, and he nodded despite his clear annoyance.
Dustin smiled and looked at Steve.
He rubbed his temple one last time before throwing his hand down.
“Okay. Step two then.”
Dustin jumped up and shot him a thanks before running around him towards the kitchen. Steve watched him go then turned back to Aiden who looked just as confused.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don't know.” Aiden lied, looking at him curiously, “What's step two?”
“Find me and let me finish the stupid shit.”
“Huh.”
Dustin came running back with a slice of deli-meat in one hand.
“Dustin, this isn’t looking much better than last time.”
Dustin paused his mad dash for just a second to look at him.
“It’s significantly better, I swear.” he said, then ran to sit back down, dropping the slice of meat on the floor in front of him, and waited.
After a few seconds of nothing, a fuzzy little white face poked out from under his bed. Cautiously, a opossum with pink paint splashed on its back came waddling out. It sniffed at the food given to him, nibbled at it, then opened its mouth as wide as it could to awkwardly chomp at its new snack.
It was a wild animal, Dustin brought in a wild animal inside, during a family gathering with some of the most worry-wart mothers he’s ever met–
But god, the tiny opossum was really fucking cute.
Dustin beamed at the little guy like a proud mom, then up at Steve. Steve shook his head in disbelief and joined them carefully around the opossum. He picked up the deli meat and placing it on his hand to get the little guy used to it.
“You’re crazy, Henderson, you’re fucking crazy.” He grumbled, playing up annoyance to avoid losing his better judgment.
Dustin said something probably cheeky as hell, but he didn’t catch it.
“One more time.” he said, looking away from the opossum for just a second.
“And what does that make you, Henderson?” Dustin smiled, definitely cheeky.
“Reluctantly, also fucking crazy.” he sighed, shaking his head before moving the deli meat further up his hand to lead little Mr. Opossum onto it.
He lifted Opossum gently, letting it have the rest of the deli meat so he could use two hands to hold it steady. He stood up slowly, and started walking towards the bathroom.
Dustin and Aiden went around him to get the door, lights, and sink ready– apparently, to continue where they left off. There were pink handprints around the edge of the sink and a bottle of dish soap sat next to the hand soap.
“Wow, I wonder what happened here.” Steve deadpanned. He looked over at the both of them, not a hint of guilt in their eyes. “And this is why there aren’t two Dustin Hendersons.” he bitched with no real anger, and set Mr. Opossum down gently in the sink.
“You mean this is why there aren’t two Aiden Haults.” Aiden said, leaning over the sink.
“Nope, Dustin gets the credit for this one.”
Steve closed the drain to make a pool of water and Opossum gravitated to it immediately, taking a drink before waddling into the pool and almost rolling in the water to get his fur wet.
Steve tried and failed to bite back a smile.
“His name is Sir Crayolan.” Dustin said.
Steve had no choice but to bark out a laugh.
“Sir what?”
“Sir Crayolan.”
“Oh god, I heard you correctly.”
“It’s a great name!”
“You know Sir Crayolan isn't staying, right?”
“Yeah, we were gonna let him go after we washed him, we just–”
Aiden muttered something and tugged on his sleeve, pointing out the bathroom doorway towards the back door.
Just out of the window, Aunt Tracy was caught in conversation with someone, looking like she was laughing, but clearly stopped just before she was going to come inside. Steve quickly rinsed some of the minimal paint on his fingers, careful not to scare Mr. Crayola or whatever.
“Does she know you’re in here?”
“No, we hid in your room–”
“Good, you guys wash him, carefully and quietly, I’ve got the rest.” He whispered, wiping his hands off on a towel.
“You’re the best, Steve.” Dustin said, giving him a quick side hug to avoid getting paint on him.
“Oh really? I’m gonna need that in writing.” He smiled and Dustin stuck out his tongue. Steve returned the gesture and slipped out of the bathroom, straight across the hall and into his bedroom.
He turned off the lights immediately to hide the pink mess on his floor and waited to hear the front door.
He heard Aunt Tracy’s laughing rather than the actual door open, heard her wave off whoever it was she was talking to through the door. He took one hearing aid off before he walked out of his room, closing the door behind him. He made his way back to the abandoned dead batteries and put his aid back on, messing with it a little longer than strictly necessary.
“Oh, Steve, there you are. Everything okay?” she said, joining him by the tv room.
“Yeah, just had to find batteries. What’s up?”
“Oh yes, well– now, I know I could be overreacting, but I haven’t seen Aiden anywhere for– oh, for god knows how long–”
“He was with Dustin earlier–”
“I know, I know, but they were near those woods weren’t they? And you know there were those missing kids stories–”
“Trust me, I know.” he said, dropping the dead batteries into their battery jar. “I can help you search for them if you want, but I don’t think Dustin’s ever gotten lost. He carries around a compass like it's his wallet. Worst case scenario? They’re messing around in the woods somewhere a little too far away and they’ll come running back once they realize we started eating hotdogs without them.”
“God, you know Claudia said the same thing, I just worry…”
“Ron just lit the grill, right? Let’s give them twenty minutes,” he checked his watch, “Until five… five fifteen-ish. If nobody sees them, I’ll help you look.”
“Twenty minutes, alright, I’ll tell Claudia.” She said, and circled back to the door.
“I’ll join you guys in a second, I’m grabbing a coke.” he called, jutting a thumb back towards the kitchen.
She called something back with a wave and Steve just waved back until she disappeared out the door. He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a cold can for himself and a diet pepsi for mom, then circled back to the bathroom.
He checked over his shoulder once real quick before tapping on the door and opening his coke.
Aiden answered the door, cracking it open just enough to stand in the doorway.
“You got all that, yeah?”
“Twenty minutes, we’ve been exploring in the woods.”
“Yup. Release your critter out the front door and circle around. I am not joining a search party for you guys today.”
Aiden nodded and gave him an overserious salute. Steve threw a more casual one back.
“Tell Mr. Crayola I said ‘bye’.” he said, then turned around to leave as Dustin came to the opossum’s defense. He hid his smile by taking a sip of his coke, and went back out the door.
(obligatory disclaimer uhhh dont pick up wild opossums please ok thanks guys love ya)
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I'm so so not normal about Kafka
Been trying to draw but I'm too tired to so instead I'll write a whole block of text about why I think this character is amazing and deserves way, way, WAY more love from the community
Starting with the looks. She's a little itty bitty sized gremlin jackdaw girl in an oversized gardening coat and a hypnotic rubisk's cube. How to not love her.
But of course where she shines the most is in her character. She's a Columbian orphan who became Infected and had to survive on her own, dealing with gangs and being part of one herself, fighting everyday to see the light of tomorrow. This way of life had her build a "mask", a new personality adapted to this environment; one that made her like she was unbothered by anything, as if she simply did not care, that she was unphased to kill someone or face these things.
Of course, in result, many people became scared of her, but she couldn't care; this way, nobody would bother her. That's how she kept herself safe.
That's when she joined Rhodes Island that she gradually let this mask of her fall and show her true personality; someone who cares deeply. She loves to take care of plants, she likes to give gifts or play with children, she worries about the ones she's close to, she also has been seen befriending some Operators like Perfumer...
And this is (holds my owl like that Lion King scene) all thank to HER. Silence my absolute beloved.
If she had doubts about if her efforts are in vain, Kafka is the proof that THEY'RE NOT.
Yes, Silence can feel bad that she pulled Kafka into this whole mess of a prison break, being involved with situations that were unrelated to her, but, does she even realize what she did? Maybe her goal was just "discover what the hell Rhine Lab is about with Simon Co", but the results are, she has brought Anthony, Kafka, Robin and Donna somewhere safe. Somewhere they can be appreciated and loved, and won't have to worry anymore about surviving.
Kafka wasn't that unsatisfied with her previous life, it was just all normal to her, but when she met Silence, she discovered genuine kindness. And Silence may be naive, she has a heart of gold. Kafka knows that and if she accepted to help her break Anthony, it's because she wished to return the favor to Silence.
Now our little gremlin bird is sure being an absolute chaos, but she's living a far better life. And she just worries for the one who changed this for her.
PLEASE HYPERGRYPH I NEED MORE OF KAFKA. IDK make a Mansfeld Break 2 or whatever, have Jesselton come back, but please I want to see Kafka again. I want to see my stupid bird interact with my tired owl and supporting her. They mean the world to me
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