you can color my world with sunshine every day

[deadboywalking]

Featuring: Will Byers deadboywalking and you~
What's happening: General March catch-all business
Day/s: Throughout March (3/02-3/31)
Content warning: panic attacks, ptsd, mentions of self-harm, possession, death, suicidal ideation (all in prompt 3)

i. casa de wheeler-byer

[So Will and Mike have a house now, which is an excellent thing for two eighth-graders to have. It's small, just enough for the two of them, and Will is obsessed with it. He's barely left it since the first day it appeared, busy painting every single wall with the variety of art supplies he got from Eddie.

One wall is a forest, one is a lake, another is a field with the sun shining and the sky a brilliant blue (and a rainbow ofc), and another is a literal castle. Will's working on this last one now, in the living room, sitting cross-legged so he can work on the details of every single stone in the outer wall, the links in the chain of the drawbridge, the sprigs of bright green grass along the moat. He's got paint all over him, in his hair, smudged on his face, on his clothes.

He hasn't been this happy in weeks. Since before coming to Reims. Since before the Upside-Down. He's in a focused, intent trance, but he's calm and happy enough that any visitors would be welcomed.]

ii. do you take commissions?

[Now that Will has his art supplies back, he's on a roll. He's already helped Kara and Faith redecorate, as well as made a sign for Majima, so why not offer his services to more people who might need it?

Hence:] un: willthewise - if anyone needs anything drawn or painted or any signs or anything done, let me or mike know. it's really grey and sad here, so i wanna help it be a little more colorful, if i can. mike's usually at fight club, and i'm at castle wheeler-byers. it's got a sign, you can't miss it.

i'll also be doing illustrations for mike's book of monsters thing, so if you gave him anything for that and want to make sure i did it right, come by.

iii. because a vision softly creeping left it's seeds while i was sleeping; open to close CR

[Most days are good ones. Will has settled in to a routine here in Reims -- go to Fight Club with Mike, visit his friends, draw or paint or sketch late into the night. Try and stay out of trouble -- nothing stupid or risky, stay away from the monsters. Help out where-ever he can. It's not perfect, it's not home, but Will's sort of happy here.

On the good days.

But then there are the bad ones. Sometimes it's a nightmare, sometimes it's a smell or a sight or a barely-audible sound. Sometimes Will just wakes up and he knows already it's going to be one of the bad days. He'll try to go through his routine like normal, try to pretend that everything's okay, but then there'll be that one tiny thing that flips the switch in his brain and --

-- and he's back, he's riding home from mike's and something is chasing him, he's in the shed with the rifle, no he's in the shed tied to a chair, no he's not in the shed he's in castle byers and there's something growingfesteringliving in his lungs and his throat and his stomach, no he's in the field behind school and it's in his ears in his eyes in his mouth and arms and legs and mind and bones and it's walking for him talking for him killing for him, he's in the upside-down and he's so so cold, he's in the lab and there are needles in his arms, he's in the lab and bob is dying bleeding screaming and he's happy he's so happy it's exactly as he planned, he's in the shed and tapping out C L O S E G A T E C L O S E G A T E K I L L I T K I L L M E K I L L M E --

and in reality Will is sitting hunched over on the front steps of his house in Reims, doubled almost in half, absolutely still, absolutely silent, because he has his wrist shoved into his mouth and he's biting down as hard as he can to keep from screaming.

Because he has to be quiet.]

Comments

[morphogenia]

[She follows after and does everything she can not to droll. This is like a dream come true for any kid much less one with a power that requires a steady flow of energy being ingested on the regular.] You're amazing!

[That's all the warning Will gets before she proceeds to pop some chocolate in her mouth. This is fantastic.]

[deadboywalking]

[Oh Kamala, you said the magic word. Will immediately turns bright red, ducking his head to hide the pleased grin. He thrives on attention, but he's also naturally predisposed to deny all positive reinforcement. It's an odd mental place to be.]

Nooooo... [He draws the sign out, grabbing a couple Starbursts (best candy) and carefully unwrapping them, setting the colorful paper wrappings to one side.]

[morphogenia]

[She's quick to sign back while also stuffing her face with more chocolate:] Yes! You're sweet. [Pun fully intended. She's not at the point where she can sign something like pun.]

Where candy? [She signs back somewhat lazily. She has a ways to go before knowing how to put it in a more complete sentence, but she thinks he'll get the message. Where did he get it?]

[deadboywalking]

[Will turns even redder, if possible, carefully folding the Starburst wrappers and joining them together to make a candy wrapper chain. The question makes him pause, then grab at one of his (many) notepads to scribble on it.]

Mike. [Because he doesn't know how to sign that.]

[morphogenia]

[Wow he's blushing after she asks. Is that romantic gift??? Is she eating someone's crush candy???? Kamala is intrigued.] Friend?

[deadboywalking]

[Nooooooo shut up Kamala j e e z sometimes people just blush!!]

From home. [He's still writing, so he adds a little Mike stick figure. Floofy hair and tall and some freckles. Mike, see?]

[morphogenia]

[Wow she could be right!!! But, mostly she's a bit jealous. She wishes Bruno or Nakia were here even if that would be a terrible thing to wish on them. Her smile is bittersweet as she asks,] Is it nice?

[deadboywalking]

[Will nods emphatically, adding a sword and some stars around Mike. Just because he can. His device is next to him on the table, so he'll poke at it (the paint on his hands is drier now).]

i'd go crazy if he wasn't here.

[morphogenia]

[Kamala smiles at the drawing even if what comes after does make her sad. She hates to think the only thing keeping her new friend together is one person. That seems dangerous. She keeps that to herself and resumes using her device.] Then I'm glad he's here. Every little bit counts, right?

[deadboywalking]

[Will nods emphatically, then hesitates for a moment before slowly typing out:] but a lot of people here are really nice too. i didn't really expect that.

[morphogenia]

[Kamala sighs softly. She wishes she could say she was thinking practically when she arrived, but no. Not really.] I don't think I had expectations. I was just really freaked out to be away from my family and home. I lucked out that people were nice while I was busy panicking.

[deadboywalking]

i think it's impossible to NOT be nice to you, kamala. so duh. of course they were nice.

[morphogenia]

[Kamala goes bright red.] What??? I was just some sad, lost puppy who needed a home!!!

[deadboywalking]

nah. i think you're cool.

[...says the kid with a bowl cut.]

[morphogenia]

[She's so flattered if her bright eyes and big smile are any indication. No words needed. She's just gonna glomp Will and give him the world's biggest hug.]