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

[unchancy]

[ She swallows. Okay, good. Seeing him is better than not, but she feels nervous. Nancy Wheeler can't even hold down a boyfriend, for god's sake, let alone comfort a kid who thinks the worst is inevitable. ]

Be there soon.

[ and she will be, slipping the door open and closed carefully. Then, she needs a minute to lean back against the door and steel herself for this. Time to be an adult, Nance. ]

Will?

[ Even with the soundproofing, Nancy keeps her voice low. ]

[deadboywalking]

In here. [The first thing Nancy will likely notice is the murals -- there's an intricate one of a castle in the living area, and one of space (stars and planets and spaceships) in the kitchen, which is where Will is. He's hard at work on the Monster Book, pages spread out in front of him, device open so he can reference the description from the Network.

He glances up as she enters, offering a hesitant little smile.] Hi.

[unchancy]

[ Nancy wanders in slowly, taking in the murals and the floorplan. It's not what she would imagine a young boy's dream house to be — but Will and Mike aren't stereotypical boys. ]

Hi. [ She peers over Will's shoulder like a nosy parker, eyes skimming over the drawing. It's been ages since she really talked to Will, probably as long as it had been since she spoke to Mike sincerely. She moves her hand, as if to reach out for him before deciding against it. Instead, she settles into the seat nearest him, resting her elbow on the table and propping up her chin.

Try to be cool, Nance. ] I already told Mike, but this monster book — it's impressive.

[deadboywalking]

[It's odd, because in Will's mind, Nancy had been at his house with everyone else -- not that he'd been able to tell, not as himself. But the Shadow Monster knew, had the demodogs surrounding the place, aware of every person inside.

Still, he's firmly not thinking about that. He's focused on his current drawing -- one of the vampire monsters Faith had told him about. There's a stack of other drawings nearby, all following the same template, ready for review from the people who knew the monsters firsthand.

The compliment has his shrugging a little, cheeks reddening with pleased embarrassment.] Thanks. It was all Mike's idea. I'm just happy he let me help.

[unchancy]

[ His reaction reminds her of Dustin at the Snow Ball, and it earns a warm smile. Everyone in their little group (the kids, the teens, and the adults) have grown closer after the Upside Down came back to haunt them. Before everything, Nancy hadn't often looked out for them, but she needs to do that from now on — especially when she knows Jonathan would look out for Will and Mike, if he were here, and if Joyce were around, the boys would be as safe as it gets. ]

Well, you're best friends, right? [ like she and Barb had been, so of course Mike wants his help. Then, softer — ] Does he know that you remember more than him?

[deadboywalking]

[The plot twist about this terrifying place is that it's made everyone closer. Everyone watches out for each other more. Everyone's got each other's backs.

At the question, Will goes quiet, looking down at his feet.] ...yeah. I told him what I did. All the people who died because of me. I told him that...I told you all to close the gate, even if it killed me.

sorry for the delay!!

[unchancy]

[ Not because of you, she wants to say, but that can't be the battle she picks right now, when she needs to convince him that he made it out alive. ]

Right. [ She looks to him, watching his reaction. After a moment, she reaches out to grip his shoulder, touch gentle. ] We heard you. Me, your mom, and Jonathan. We took you away from everyone else, so we could it make it too hot for that — thing to bear.

worth the wait!!

[deadboywalking]

[Will is tucked in on himself -- the same way Jonathan does, the same way Joyce does, shoulders hunching in, head down, like he's trying to make himself smaller. Less noticeable. A Byers family trait, it seems. Nancy's touch makes him twitch a little, glancing up at her with those wide, solemn eyes.]

Did you kill it? [It. Not "us", this time, but his attention is still firmly on making sure the monster was defeated. That was the priority.]

♥!

[unchancy]

[ Did they kill it? Or did they just send it crawling back to the Upside Down to lick its wounds? Eleven locked everything behind the gate, regardless, but Nancy knows better than to assume everyone is safe now. We don't know that.

But looking at his open features and seeing Jonathan in the way he moves, she decides to be optimistic. ]

Yeah, we did. [ she musters a small smile, nearly reassuring. ] Everyone did their part to make sure we got it and not you, Will.

[deadboywalking]

[Almost imperceptibly, Will draws in his breath, hands curling together in his lap. He doesn't want to hope. He doesn't want to, he doesn't want to make her be the one to tell him it didn't work. And yet. And yet.

When he speaks, it's barely above a whisper.] Did it work?

[unchancy]

It did. [ She rubs her thumb in reassuring circles on his little shoulder. ] I saw it happen, Will. [ with more confidence: ] And then Eleven closed the gate. I promise.

[ She realizes her promises don't carry the weight of Jonathan's or Mike's own, but it's something — the only thing she can think to offer him. ]

[deadboywalking]

[Promises are still promises, and friends don't lie. Sisters of friends don't lie either, hopefully. Either way, it's got quite a bit more weight than Nancy knows, and Will's trying really hard not to tear up and he's failing dismally.

His voice cracks on the last word as he manages:] So...so I'm okay?

[unchancy]

[ It's one of few promises Nancy knows she can keep. She shifts to perch on the edge of her seat, moving to take Will's hand, lacing their fingers together. ]

Yeah. [ Nancy's a crier on her own and when someone else loses their composure, it's hard not to follow suit. Her eyes water, but she bites the inside of her cheek, willing her own tears away. ] You're okay. You're you. [ her voice lowers, soft but firm. ] Just you.

[ No Mindflayer, no monsters. ]

[deadboywalking]

[Will's been here for weeks already. He's pushed himself to face and accept the fact that he probably isn't around in his world anymore, that he's never going to see his mom or his brother or his friends again. He's lived with that for days and days, and told himself it was worth it, if he saved everyone. It had to be worth it.

So it's sort of understandable that when Nancy tells him this his reaction is to slowly lean against her and hide his face against her shoulder, so she can't see him crying.]