[ It's confusing enough to break Mike's spiraling thoughts, for just a moment, the question repeating and repeating in bits and pieces until it makes sense. He blinks at Eddie, giving a jittery shake of his head. ]
No, it's- Not Nancy. [ Nancy's fine, he almost says, but even that's a fact he can't lean on. He hadn't seen Nancy in hours before he woke up here, and that's plenty long enough for even more of his world to get torn to shreds. ] Holly. My little sister, Holly.
[ Mike wipes his hands across his face, under his nose, up into filthy hair. If it was unthinkable to talk about what happened to him, talking about Holly feels world-ending. It feels like failure, like sorrow, like he's going to puke right onto his shoes. ]
She's ten. Fifth grade. [ Please ignore the fact that she was recently six. ] Didn't- didn't even know about any of this shit before.
[ Eddieā eyebrows knit together, and he looks a if heās been smacked in the face by the knowledge that thereās another Wheeler, and literally the whole goddamn family without exception has been dragged into this entire thing. Shaking his head, he mumbles: ]
Jesus Christ, you being a middle child makes so much senseā
[ But this is not the time for that! He takes a deep breath to steady himself and begins again. ]
Alright. Alright. Weāllā
[ Weāll what? Fix it? How? His frown deepens. He canāt fix his own death, canāt fix Mikeās, canāt fix anything going on back home. Heās utterly helpless here. All he can do is try to offer something of use; something to smooth this over enough just a little bit. ]
Weāll figure it out, okay? What about your girlfriend? The one with the superpowers, right? You said there was no way we could handle Vecna without here, andāwell, you were right. Whereās she in all this?
Upside Down. [ He thinks. Everything is a horrible unknown right now; everyone he cares about out of his reach, dead or alive or anywhere in between. ] She went after Holly. So did some of the others.
[ There's a short, rasping breath where he considers list them, but his voice refuses. It stop on the first consonant, and dies still in his throat. Still, he ticks them off in his head: Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan. Hopper, too. More people he doesn't know if he should mourn. ]
And what is there to even figure out? [ He looks over at Eddie, eyes dark and wet and so, so young. ] This is- it's basically our afterlife. We can't do shit for any of them anymore.
[ Eddieās mouth tightens into a thin, straight line. Mike isnāt wrong. This is their afterlife, isnāt it? Itās not lost on him, not when heās spent night after sleepless night spinning the entire situation in the back of his mind, noting how badly he fucked up and how it could have affected the people and plans involved. The fact that he canāt go home to actually apologize is just one aspect that keeps him awake at night.
Thereās a vague sort of hope: their friends could show up here. Eddieās initial arrival was right from the Upside Down. The odds of someone else showing up arenāt awful, but he doesnāt put that hope out into the universe, just in case it never happens. Instead, he sighs and reaches over to ruffle Mikeās hair. He can't offer much more than his company and support. ]
Well, at least youāre in good company. We should make t-shirts.
[ Like...heās joking, but they could. ]
Not to take away from you and your angst, but likeā¦how pissed is everyone with me?
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satanicpanics) wrote2025-05-14 05:18 pm
no subject
No, it's- Not Nancy. [ Nancy's fine, he almost says, but even that's a fact he can't lean on. He hadn't seen Nancy in hours before he woke up here, and that's plenty long enough for even more of his world to get torn to shreds. ] Holly. My little sister, Holly.
[ Mike wipes his hands across his face, under his nose, up into filthy hair. If it was unthinkable to talk about what happened to him, talking about Holly feels world-ending. It feels like failure, like sorrow, like he's going to puke right onto his shoes. ]
She's ten. Fifth grade. [ Please ignore the fact that she was recently six. ] Didn't- didn't even know about any of this shit before.
no subject
Jesus Christ, you being a middle child makes so much senseā
[ But this is not the time for that! He takes a deep breath to steady himself and begins again. ]
Alright. Alright. Weāllā
[ Weāll what? Fix it? How? His frown deepens. He canāt fix his own death, canāt fix Mikeās, canāt fix anything going on back home. Heās utterly helpless here. All he can do is try to offer something of use; something to smooth this over enough just a little bit. ]
Weāll figure it out, okay? What about your girlfriend? The one with the superpowers, right? You said there was no way we could handle Vecna without here, andāwell, you were right. Whereās she in all this?
no subject
[ There's a short, rasping breath where he considers list them, but his voice refuses. It stop on the first consonant, and dies still in his throat. Still, he ticks them off in his head: Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan. Hopper, too. More people he doesn't know if he should mourn. ]
And what is there to even figure out? [ He looks over at Eddie, eyes dark and wet and so, so young. ] This is- it's basically our afterlife. We can't do shit for any of them anymore.
no subject
Thereās a vague sort of hope: their friends could show up here. Eddieās initial arrival was right from the Upside Down. The odds of someone else showing up arenāt awful, but he doesnāt put that hope out into the universe, just in case it never happens. Instead, he sighs and reaches over to ruffle Mikeās hair. He can't offer much more than his company and support. ]
Well, at least youāre in good company. We should make t-shirts.
[ Like...heās joking, but they could. ]
Not to take away from you and your angst, but likeā¦how pissed is everyone with me?