heavymetals | ( pixie led ) inbox

Yes.

[ She just stares back at him. For a long, looooong moment. As if that explains..... everything, and no follow up information is required. Then she remembers Clint's entire SPEECH about this and she sighs. As if it's such a burden on her that adults question this. ]

It's normal. I'm not dying.

[ ~~Probably~~. She gestures at the mess of blankets and pillows in the room, trying to get him to focus on what's relevant here, which is not her, but her project. ]

It's for Laura. It's a... blanket castle. But it's not right. You need to help.

[ He looks anything but convinced by that. It certainly isn't normal, and whether or not she's dying, well, she can't say with certainty any more than he himself can tell. He'd be happier with a doctor's opinion, but as he senses that's not an option, he sets it aside (for now) and focuses on the actual reason why she called him here. ]

You... want my help. To build a blanket fort.

[ Just to make sure he got that right. ]

And this is why you called me here?

Yes.

[ She looks up at him, again with that note of impatience, like she's not seeing why this is a hard concept to grasp at all. Perhaps Erik needs to have this explained to him some more? Eleven contemplates the very, very poorly built structure. She picks at the corner of one of the blankets she tried to drape over the thing to give it shape. ]

Laura never had a blanket fort. I thought... you're her dad. You can help. For her.

[ Laura never had a blanket fort.

The words stun him visibly, lips parting, eyes vulnerable. Nina never had a blanket fort, either. Just not something it had ever occurred him to do for her. Doing it for Laura isn't going to make anything better, or change the fact that there were so many experiences Nina didn't get to have, but it is an opportunity to give Laura yet another thing that would make her happy. Another thing to bring her closer to a normal childhood. Anything that might make her smile, he'll be more than happy to do. ]

Well, then. We should get to work.

[ He moves closer to Eleven's attempt at a fort, leaning down to have a look at what she's using to keep the precarious structure upright. ]

Have you built one of these before?

[ He's on board, and she perks up, relieved. To Eleven, the blanket fort is important in ways she can't quite quantify. She never had one either, but Mike had a blanket fort. And he hid her there, and he was her first friend. And then he sat it in, every day for 353 days, hoping Eleven was still out there, still alive. ]

No. When I escaped. I lived in Mike's blanket fort. In the basement. Just a few days.

[ There's a chair in there, and a coat rack on top of the chair to prop up the high point of the fort. Was the coat rack in the room, or did she steal it from somewhere? Anyone's guess, really.

She tried to make a floor with a blanket and too few pillows, and there's altogether not enough structure here to hold anything up, really. ]

I asked Hopper. But he looked sad. We built tripwires instead. No blanket fort.

Edited 2025-04-05 21:13 (UTC)

[ He doesn't know who either Mike or Hopper are, but he expects they must be friends of hers, or close to her in some way. It's not so immediately important that he must ask now, but that's enough for him to get some notion of her past... blanket fort experience. ]

Then this is for you, too.

[ He sees it that way, anyway. With a small smile aimed at her, Erik then turns to the window, getting it open with the flick of a finger, then looking out as if he's searching for something. Any piece of metal he can use that won't be missed, or at least immediately noticed. He brings a few items to him, mostly long, smooth items he can fashion into makeshift tent poles, something that'll definitely hold much better with the weight of several blankets over it. ]

[ Her eyes snap to him at his words, something between surprise and curiosity. Like she didn't expect that, but is quietly, happily thrilled to be included so easily.

And then he begins to work, opening the window with a flick of his finger, gathering metal, and Eleven watches him. There's nothing sort of complete and utter awe in her big brown eyes. He doesn't even look like it's hard for him. Like it's nothing.

Laura and John and Erik. They're not her family. They're like the box in Hopper's cabin, the one he keeps tucked away, with the name 'Sarah' on it. The one that makes him sad, but also kind. She knows the box has photos of a little girl with blonde hair. Pigtails held up with the same blue hair tie Hopper wears on his wrist. Eleven has seen him look into the box. But she will never open the box to look for herself. Some selfish impulses even she knows to let rest. But she likes to look at the box, sometimes. Trace her finger over Sarah's name.

It made her sad, when she saw Hopper in Erik in the kitchen, that first time. Now she thinks it makes her sad in a kinder way. Laura is her friend, but Eleven doesn't need to be a secret from Laura's family. It's nice.

And seeing... powers, like this. People who are like her, but so much more.

Eleven looks at Erik with quiet admiration and awe for a long moment as he works. She watches him shape those makeshift tentpoles. Frowns at the metal he has gathered, picks some of it up with her powers, too. Tongue between her lips, she begins to try and bend it, too. Metal does now bow to her the way it does for him - her power is pure telekinetic pressure by contrast. ]

[ It wasn't always this easy, for him. There's still a memory so vivid in his mind of when a simple coin was impossible to budge, or when a satellite disk was too insurmountable a challenge. There are still a few things that take more focus and effort from him, but that's when he's trying to access the deeper, more powerful parts of his mutation. This, however, feels easy. Sensing the metal around him, drawing it to him and shaping it at will is almost like an extension of himself, and it takes no particular effort to make it happen.

He glances over to her when she tries to do the same, only for a smile to show when the most she can do is bend the piece of metal. He draws his fingers in the air just over the piece, and it shifts seamlessly into a pole, which then connects to another at an angle, beginning to shape something that looks much like a large tent to encompass most of the space between the two beds. ]

Is this better?

[ The awe does not abate in the slightest. Other adults would absolutely get a stink-eye at this point - Eleven hates nothing more than feeling shown up, condescended to, or like someone is not letting her do the work she tries to do. But this is different, and she appreciates it. Admires Erik with the hungry gaze of someone looking for connection, for similarities.

The first thing ~~she remembers~~ she ever crushed was a soda can, and it took all she had. She's since upgraded to being able to pull train cars. Kali taught her how to channel her anger and pain into her power. It works, even if it takes a lot of her yet. Her powers grow, though, and the well of how much she can tap into it before she needs to let herself recharge grows with passing time, too. ]

Yes. You're strong.

[ She holds out her hand, palm out. Dismantles the existing structure to make room for what Erik builds. The chair and coat rack drag along the floor and get unceremoniously shoved into a corner of the room for now, the blankets and pillows are heaped on her bed, so they can drape them over Erik's frame when it's ready. ]

Are you strong because you're angry, too?

[ He's not doing it to show her up at all, in fact he tries only to contribute where her powers lack, shaping the metal while she still keeps her own hold on it. As if borrowing his own powers to become an extension of her own, a joined effort rather than him taking over completely.

Leaving it to her to clear the space, he then brings the new structure into place, then turns his attention fully to her at the question. A complicated one for him, and for so many reasons. ]

Sometimes. But I'm stronger when my powers draw from something else.

Pain?

[ It's.... strange, what they're doing. Nice in a way Eleven is trying to wrap her head around. The way it feels so natural to hold things in place and watch as Erik molds the metal however it needs to be molded.

There's a strange feeling sitting in her throat that she has to swallow around.

It feels like setting up tripwires with Hopper. It feels like taking his hand in the car. It feels like Mike, even. She cannot name it, she does not realize it fully yet - but she's starting to feel like she belongs. ]

I learned. I'm stronger. When I'm angry. When I remember the hurt.

Grief, yes. Longing. Love.

[ When he remembers Hanukkah with his parents, his mother lighting the candles, his father's songs. When he thinks of Nina speaking with all her animals, running to him begging for a bedtime story. He's lost them but he did not lose that love, even if much of it was once so deeply buried in his mind. He has Charles to thank for having gotten that back. ]

Anger is an intense emotion. It makes me strong, as well.

[ He picks up one of the blankets, a glance back to Eleven before he adds. ]

But anger will only destroy everything in its path. It almost destroyed me.

Longing. Love.

[ She... thinks she understands one. The ache for Mike, for Hopper, for... for home. For her friends. She wants to be home. She wants to see them so bad it hurts, and sometimes at night she has to curl up with her back to Laura's side of the room to make sure she does not wake her up. She wants to go home.

The other... Love. She's not sure she understands.

She has not been taught about this. She has not learned about it. She would not recognize it.

Perhaps that shows, in the blank way she looks at Erik for a moment.

Then she reaches out. Curls her hand around Erik's wrist - the right one, not the left. ]

You can't die. [ he can't let anything destroy him. ] Laura needs you.

[ There's so much power to draw from anger, from resentment, from all the things that were done to someone, all the hurt they've been put through. Erik knows this, because he's been there. Drew from the depths of his rage, his desire for retribution, but it only took him so far.

Perhaps they're different, in that. Their powers might work in different ways. He can only speak from his personal experience.

He looks down when she takes hold of his wrist, heart squeezed tight in his chest. What horrid things must have been done to these girls, that they live with the constant fear of losing the people in their lives. ]

I'm not going to die. [ He pushes a smile, his free hand resting over Eleven's, where it holds onto his wrist. ] I promise.

[ Lessons not yet learned. Perhaps in time, Eleven will. She takes her guidance from those around her - that will be something observed soon enough. Eleven is surprisingly easy to guide - and just as easy to manipulate. To bend, to sway.

Her anger does not consume her - but whether it is the be all end all answer she believes it to be remains yet to be seen.

Erik promises. And that's good, but... adults don't always understand what that means. She looks at him with all the patience of someone about to impart great wisdom. ]

A promise is a thing you can't break.

[ She squeezes his wrist a little. Gentle. Then she nods. He is important to Laura. So... ]

I can help. I will protect you.

[ And just like that, is if they've had a whole discussion and decided on things, Eleven pulls her hand away, taking the edge of the blanket. Good talk, Erik. She gives a light tug so he will help her spread the blanket over the frame. ]

[ He doesn't say what he thinks, when she says that. That some promises are broken, that some people can't be trusted, and that he has been exactly that man, before. He's given his word only to further his own goals enough times before, and he thinks it would not matter to her if he said he believed he was doing the right thing for his people. That he was doing what was necessary.

There was always another way, another path he could have chosen, but he didn't. The path he chose instead lead him so dangerously close to a precipice, that he still wonders how he managed to come back from that.

Instead, what he does say is, with a nod— ] That's right. So you know that I mean it.

[ He certainly intends to do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. You know I can look after myself just fine, he nearly says, but instead just takes her offer in silence, as if agreeing to it, and takes the other edge of the blanket, moving it over the structure so they can finish their (clearly superior) fort. ]

[ She's not used to that being entirely true. She's the one who saves her friends, never the other way around. The adults try to protect, but there is nothing in Eleven's life nearly as strong as her. She's not invincible, and she knows it. Her power grows with every passing day, the well of power inside of her deepening. She doesn't get tired from crushing soda cans or levitating one boy anymore. She can do more. She is stronger. But her powers, able to recharge, are not unlimited at any given time.

Still... her mind is also not all too imaginative. Erik can shape metal. Eleven does not see how that will protect him from danger. She is a bit naive like that. They begin to drape the blanket over the structure. After a moment, Eleven offers: ]

I protect Laura, too. [ She slides her eyes to Erik briefly. ] I save my friends. You do not lose her.

[ To be fair, not many people here (if any at all) know the full extent of his abilities, just how much he can do with them. He's not keen to show it either, not only because there's no need to risk causing that much widespread damage, but also because he'd rather the Fae just didn't get to see that either. Call it paranoia, but Erik thinks it's perfectly justified.

He eyes El over the structure, not immediately answering, and instead finishing tucking the blanket into place before he comes closer to her. She's tiny compared to him, so he crouches down so they can be more at eye level. ]

We protect one another. That's also what friends do. [ He's not taking 'no' for an answer here. As much as he dislikes it, he knows he can't stop El from fighting any more than he could Laura, but he can damn well make sure that they know they can rely on each other for protection, no matter what. ] Because I don't want to lose you either.

[ No one is going to die. He wouldn't tolerate El sacrificing herself when there's no need or reason for it. So, this is the compromise he will accept, and he will take no alternatives.

He reaches a hand out to her, so they can shake on it. ] Deal?

[ El's face can be surprisingly sombre and impassive for a girl as young as she is - something she shares with Laura. It's never an emotionless wall, though. Her eyes, at the very least, are always expressive, and more often than not, the rest of her small face follows, growing more expressive as she gets older, as she is free.

It's therefore more than likely that Erik will be able to follow along on Eleven's little journey here, as she looks at him and tries to parse his words.

Surprise flits over her features first. Because I don't want to lose you either. She knows that there are people who care. Hopper does, and so does Joyce Byers. So do her friends. She doesn't quite understand why Erik cares, why it matters to him. She wanders if it's because she's Laura's friend, and decides for now, that this must be the answer. It hurt Mike to lose her - it would hurt Laura to lose her. Therefore, Erik does not want to lose her.

Right? Right.

But then she tracks back to the other words. We protect one another. A small frown on her face. The gears are practically visibly turning behind her big eyes. Her nose scrunches up a bit, and then her lips part in a soft 'oh'. That's also what friends do. Erik is her friend. She hadn't quite figured that out yet, with no statement on it. She looks at him, long and with a growing understand. ]

We are friends.

[ It's like a light bulb has gone off. Hearing it said to her is what makes it real. They're friends. Her and Laura. But her and Erik, too.

And that means his words matter different, too. Because he's not just some adult. She thinks on it for a moment longer, and then she nods. Erik will see it, the way she churns his words over and over and then lets them settle, the way what he tells her has just shaped the way she thinks, the way she regards the world around her.

So easily influenced, at the end of all things. ]

We protect one another.

[ She echoes it back to him. And in doing so, she speaks it into being, too. They are friends. A friend is someone you do anything for. Friends don't lie. A promises is a thing you don't break. We are not stupid. They will always see us as monsters. We protect one another. Her small but growing list of life lessons that she hoards like gifts and treasures.

She slips her hand into his with a solemn little nod. And she looks at him like he hung the moon - because he told her that he is her friend. ]

We have an accord.

[ In all fairness, she was the first to make such a connection, however distant. Because her friends call her El, and he's allowed to call her El— not that it's so simple, and he was well aware she permitted it only because of Laura, but he means what he says nevertheless. It's obviously different than being friends with Laura, or anyone else her own age, but Erik is just as determined to offer her protection, a sense of safety. Someone else she can hopefully learn to trust.

But it's still clear that it's something she struggles to work through, in every expression that flickers through her face, clear as day. He waits then, ready to accept if she decides not to agree to it (not that it's going to stop Erik from doing whatever it takes to keep both girls safe, but still), and finally smiles when she takes his hand. ]

Good.

[ He squeezes her hand after that shake, then lets go. ]

Laura likes stories. [ Real stories, not happy ones. ] We can try to get some books from the library, for your fort.

[ Some even play as though it's a movie, so it would be like a movie night for the girls. Something fun for them to do together. ]

[ Information to store away. Laura likes stories. Horses, too, Eleven has gathered that much. She has seen westerns on TV with Hopper. She knows all about horses. Books for Laura, then. Well, and for Eleven. She can read, but it's still hard, and she lacks imagination. ]

Do you read for Laura?

[ Hopper reads to her sometimes. She likes to listen to the sound of his voice. Likes that she doesn't have to listen only to repeat, like when Papa read nursery rhymes and made her parrot the words, back when she had no words of her own. He'd lost patience for that soon enough. ]

[ Erik knows they won't find familiar stories here, certainly not movies either, but there are some books at the library with stories that at least make sense to them, tales they can relate to, perhaps even compare to stories they know from home. He never paid much attention to the movie-style books, but it seems ideal for this particular instance. Laura's never had a fort, and she's never had a movie night either, he imagines. If it's a normal experience that he can make happen for her, then he will. ]

Sometimes, yes. She likes bedtime stories.

[ He hasn't really come by the room since El moved there, usually they stick to the common area, where he can read some story to her before walking her to her door, leaving her with a goodnight kiss. But it's one of those small habits that Erik has grown more and more fond of lately. ]

Do you like stories, too?

[ Does she like story? Eleven looks contemplative for a moment. ]

Hopper reads, sometimes. For bedtime.

[ It's not quite an answer to his question, of course. Eleven hasn't quite thought about whether or not she likes stories. Hopper reads them, and she listens to his voice. Enjoys the slow and steady rumble of it, when he gets calm and soft by the light of Eleven's bedside lamp.

She shrugs a shoulder. ]

I don't know.

[ It doesn't particularly surprise him if she struggles to know even that much about herself, what she might or might not like. Even from how little he knows of her background so far, it's entirely understandable. So he just nods instead, and smiles like there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Even if there are so many things wrong with that— but not with her. ]

I can also read for you sometime, if you want. Then you can figure out if you like it or not.

For both of us.

[ An immediate nod, eyes large and gleaming. There's a hunger there that she's too shy to put into words. She tries to hold herself so calm, to keep the eagerness contained and subtle. ]

Sometime. If Laura wants.

[ Eleven did not like seeing Mike with Max, and she doesn't have the emotional intelligence to pick those feelings apart. She recognizes that Laura shares things with her - and she never wants Laura to feel angry the way Eleven did in that moment. ]

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