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@zoomingupthathill is due for a surprise....

ㅤThe hardest part of Lucas's little scheme was definitely getting Billy on board, but talking Steve into running them around for the errands and saving up for the supplies (and then being slightly short and listening to Steve bitch like he wouldn't have paid for them outright if necessary) had been no small feat, and then he'd had to make sure Max wasn't home without giving her any reason to be suspicious or think he was dodging her. It was a lot of planning and a group effort, but when Max got in, he had a little box ready with a light pillowcase draped over it and a dumb little sticky bow stuck to it very unsteadily. It wasn't made to stick to fabric, in fairness.

ㅤ"Hey, so I got you something," he told her, cracking a grin and offering the box to her. Inside it? A little orange kitten that was blessedly napping so that it wasn't mewing and giving itself away prematurely. "Your brother's okay with it, promise."

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Aimz’ 4k Celebration: Top 10 Stranger Things Dynamics (as voted by my followers)

4. Lucas & Max (45 votes)

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he was not, in fact, a skater boy :/

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ㅤHe had no real defense because the Party had always been a bunch of dramatic shits who were strong personalities really invested in each other and everything they did, so they treated everything like it was more serious than it probably was. In his case, he thought Max finding out that he'd said she did anything 'soft' was probably not exaggerating the seriousness, but he got why Billy might think it was overdramatic, especially compared to the actual life and death they'd dealt with. He also didn't know how much weight his threat carried because to him, telling the other party members about taco night was the real danger because they'd never let it go - he hadn't realized that telling the others in front of Steve carried the actual weight. It was definitely in Billy's best interests to keep that from the group of them as long as possible or the blackmail would get real intense.

ㅤYes, he was 'dumb' enough to understand the social politics of liking someone, dating, and wanting to be liked by someone, and he would absolutely use it. He wasn't vicious the same ways that Erica was, but he'd grown up with her and he had his moments, especially as the older sibling. Of course, he also wasn't quite prepared for other older siblings to try to big brother him in that babysitter way Steve did or whatever Billy was doing.

ㅤWell, whatever he was normally doing, cause his face was currently doing something new, something maybe softer or more caring? What was this? Hadn't Dustin said he was hanging with Steve a lot? It passed quickly, but Lucas' eyes narrowed a little, noticing, and then he rolled his eyes with a full motion of his head, sighing dramatically over the shove and correcting his balance quickly. It wasn't as smooth as he'd have liked it, especially because he was doing his damnedest to not be nervous around Billy (and mostly succeeding), but the physical still made him tense a little. The shove being light and not followed up by anything aggressive helped, but he was not prepared for the sudden about face after Billy told him to get lost, no cat and go get her to leave the arcade. His entire expression froze for a beat, eyes on Billy before a grin broke out, excitement impossible to stop. "Yes? Yes! I know someone whose cat had kittens! Orange ones, like I said."

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.   It seemed like every member of the party treated every situation like a life and death thing. Billy rolled his eyes as Lucas stated his threat, making it super clear that he couldn't share this information as though it were some top secret government conspiracy. Then again, most things they deal with were exactly that. "Fine, whatever," Billy agreed, only partially concerned about the threat. He didn't think Lucas was actually dumb enough to spill a embarrassing anecdote of Billy's. Of course, a lot had changed since the Upside Down ---

Billy was silent a moment after Lucas's explanation. It actually made a lot of sense. Max was forced to have a game face on twenty-four, seven. He was a big reason for that, rarely allowing her a moment of weakness when they were growing up together. In some twisted way, Billy had genuinely believed that being so hard on her was good for her. That if Max was tough, then she wouldn't grow up to be a victim like his mom had been. After everything that happened, after seeing her unconscious in that hospital bed, Billy began to lament the loss of her childhood. Maybe the kid had a point about doing something to allow Max to bring out her softer side.

He was silent, contemplating it, before he realized that he'd started to look a little too soft in front of the kid. He put on an annoyed expression, and changed his demeanor to overcompensate. "Jesus, get lost, Sinclair. I'm not getting her a damn cat. Go see if you can find the brat and get her out of there," he said as he gave Lucas a little shove. Then he shook his head in disbelief. "Fuck. We're getting a cat, aren't we?"

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@zoomingupthathill keeps pushing him away...

"You always stare at people, Stalker?"

ㅤHe knew by now that the 'stalker' thing was part of her way of keeping him at a distance, just like everyone else. He wasn't the best boyfriend around and he sure as hell didn't match up to the likes of Steve Harrington in the smooth flirting or the looks department (the way she'd stared at him through the binoculars would live on in his memory for a long time), but he was learning far faster than his friends, and he cared so damn much about Max that he wanted to. "Just you, Mad Max."

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ㅤBelieve it or not, Hop would have waited to interrupt their sleep if he'd had even the slightest clue what exactly he was interrupting, but he was still watching Hargrove closely. He sure as hell looked like he'd just crawled out of sleep, but it didn't look like the kind of sleep that happened on a stiff couch or the floor. Sure, the Harringtons had to have plenty of beds, so that wasn't terribly surprising, but he really expected them to be camped out in the same room thanks to paranoia, or something. The living room looked more lived in despite the utterly unreal decorations set up throughout the place, but it didn't look like someone had just woken up there. There was also no sign of Steve Harrington, which meant that Jim still needed to get a look at him before the morning was finished. "I don't think I've ever seen that kid show off any of his scars, but I'd like to see the new ones," he said like he was agreeing with this set being bragged about, particularly in the most casual sense he could and also very soon, but there was nothing pushy about it. He was going to see and he didn't have to throw any weight around about it because he trusted that if Hargrove was willing to let it wait, it wasn't so urgent that he had to insist immediately. He could let the guy sleep a little longer.

ㅤ"So you said it came out of the woods? We haven't had any issues since '83 involving a gate back here, and that one seemed temporary." Hop walked through the house with his boots on and only really thought about it when Billy stopped at the back door to pull his on, and by then it was too late. He'd apologize later if he'd left a mess, but he needed his shoes for the backyard and he wasn't taking the time to take them off and on. Then, of course, he saw the backyard and forgot about manners and rich people as he stepped past Hargrove to push the sliding glass door open and start outside with a soft whistle. He hadn't even seen the corpse yet, just the mess that was the cement of the patio around the pool, the water itself and the poolhouse with the various weapons of opportunity strewn about. He looked back over his shoulder at the young man who was definitely not a child, but still struck something in the back of his brain to scream that he was just a kid. "Billy, I'm gonna need you to tell me what happened here cause this looks like there should be a couple of bodies. Are you hurt at all?"

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.  Breathing in deeply, consciousness slowly began to seep into Billy's mind. Soft morning light was coming in through the window and he slowly blinked his dark lashes against it. There was something strange about that moment, something that felt amazing and yet all too fragile. He felt warm and safe. Opening his eyes fully, Billy found that he was nestled in the crook of Steve's neck, the man's back pulled against his chest as his arm rested carefully over Steve's hip. He'd never woken up with anyone like that before and he wondered if he was really awake at all.

Then he heard the knocking again and knew someone was at the front door. He was definitely awake. Steve was snoring lightly, seemingly lost in a good dream. Quickly, Billy unwrapped himself from the other man, threw his jeans on, and downstairs to the front door. He shouldn't have been surprised to see the chief there ––– after all, he was the one who called him the previous night ––– but Hopper's presence still stopped his brain long enough to ask the dumb question. "Uh, yeah. Yeah," Billy mumbled in reply as he stepped aside and opened the door wider. He shivered against the cold air that came in and quickly went towards the living room to grab his boots from where he left them. "He's fine. Passed out, will probably have a couple new scars to brag about, but he'll be alright. The asshole is out there," he said as he pointed towards the backyard beyond the sliding glass doors.

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ㅤBringing up the tacos had been a ballsy move and he knew it, which was why he wasn't going to let that be the last thing brought up for fear of losing his point in the middle of Billy's indignance. He wasn't wrong about the smell, he knew it, Billy knew he knew it, and that was that. The reaction he'd gotten before Billy was cut off by his continued argument still said everything that Billy hadn't gotten to. They weren't buddy buddy, but there hadn't been the same animosity since Billy had come back and a new normal had been developing slowly. Lucas wasn't about to be stopped by a non-murderous former jock when he'd dealt with an actually murderous jock not that long ago.

ㅤHe gave away the accidental nature of his last comment - namely that he hadn't known it would matter as much as it seemingly did - with a quick surprised look before he pulled a face like he was concerned about the Hargrove-Mayfield sibling that he was actually afraid would kick his ass. "If you tell her I said this, I'm telling the entire party about taco night when Steve takes us to Hellfire this week. I'm serious, she'll kill me!" he threatened, though he softened it with the plea for his own situation with Max if Billy ratted him out for saying she was anything but tough and cool. "She was like, soft with it, man. It was a baby, she was gentle and she talked all nice to it and was taking care of it. She doesn't do that with anything else, so I think a kitten would be good for her. Something soft that she can be soft with and not feel like she has to be anything extra, you know?"

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.  The day after Billy had eaten those pork tacos continued to live in infamy. He held up a stern finger in warning. "Sinclair, I swear to God-" But the kid kept going, cutting off any threat about altering his expression permanently. It wasn't like the pair were buddy buddy or anything, but Lucas made Max happy, and in turn, that appeased Billy. He'd never stop being protective of his stepsister, of course, but he'd started to see the other guy as a sort of little brother. After all, being the oldest in the Sinclair household, Billy figured he had a right to be knocked down a peg or two every so often by an older sibling.

Argumentative thoughts stopped when Lucas finished speaking. Though Billy had been trying to make his relationship with Max better since he returned, there was still so much she hid from him. She was his sister, and yet many times, she felt like a stranger, and that was something he wanted to fix. "What do you mean?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "What was she like with the fox?"

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@hargrove didn't tell him how bad this was...

❝how long was i out?❞ / jim hopper

ㅤ"Depends on when you passed out, kid. It's a little after seven in the morning," he offered, watching Hargrove carefully because frankly? He hadn't expected him to answer Harrington's door, and he tilted his head just the slightest to look past him into the rest of the dark house. Billy had been the one to call him and say that there had been a demogorgon at Harrington's place, but there was a difference between some kids who'd beaten the absolute tar out of each other making friends enough to hang out for some beers and Hargrove staying the night after a monster attack. Jim had questions.

ㅤ"Mind if I come in? Figured Harrington could show me where this monster you found was," he said, tone conversational and he even cracked a smile like it was some joke he'd just thought of. He knew something wasn't right and he didn't think Billy had done anything wrong, but he also didn't really trust any of these kids to make smart decisions about anything to do with monsters. He needed to figure out if Steve was bleeding out in the laundry room because he didn't want to go to a hospital or something. "Speaking of, where is he? It's a little weird he didn't get up to answer his own door, don't you think?"

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@godsdeal has no room to talk, okay?

' please don't get hurt while i'm not around. ' ( lucas? 🥺 )

ㅤ"Me? I'll have you know I have a great track record for not getting my ass kicked, which basically no one else in this group can say," he pointed out, voice getting a little louder for just a second around that one particular point in case anyone wanted to try getting nosy about what they were talking about, but he was putting on a great front of being amused instead of stressing aggressively about her safety. Which he was absolutely stressing out about. "I promise I'll be okay, Max. I promise, okay?"

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ㅤ"Who told you about that?" he asked suddenly, alarm flashing over his features for a split second before he redirected again, back on task. Billy had been in the Upside Down and he'd been possessed by the mind flayer, so who knew what he knew or how. The cat was the important thing and time was of the essence. "That was the first cat and that just proves my point! Dustin's an idiot about animals!"

ㅤHe had a point about the shitting indoors, but that was easy enough and Lucas had done his homework, as always. "Litter deodorizer, they bury it. Scoop it once a day and it's way less bad than that day after you had tacos," he pointed out, eyebrows going up. He'd clearly been spending a bit more time at the Mayfield house than Billy gave him credit for, which contributed to his comfort in coming to the guy. They didn't talk much or interact a whole ton, but Billy was right that it was a small trailer and it would have been weird to be nervous around him all the time. At least he was allowed there now that her stepdad was gone. He gave a shrug, eyes tracking the cigarette butt before flicking back to Billy. "I'm gung-ho about it because Max really wanted that fox and it wasn't a good pet, but a cat would be. You didn't see her with it like I did."

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.  Billy stared at Lucas for a moment, his expression entirely blank. Finally he asked, "Didn't Dustin adopt a demodog that ate his cat?" An eyebrow raised over the rim of his sunglasses, making his point clear with the rhetorical question. Truthfully, he was surprised that Lucas was even comfortable enough around him to put forth such a debate. In most ways, it was a good thing since he didn't actually want the kid dead. After hearing about how he had risked his neck for Max, Billy found a new respect for him, and was quickly learning that even though the pair argued a lot, Lucas was nothing like Neil.

He flicked his cigarette butt away and shifted his weight, giving the other his full attention. "Cats shit indoors. You know how small that trailer is? Why the hell are you so gung-ho about this?"

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ㅤSomeone had beaten Max's high score on one of the games she'd claimed, so Lucas had a pretty good idea how long he was going to have before she'd reclaimed the top three spots, and it was long enough to argue his case or die trying. "Yes, because it's actually brilliant! Just listen, even Dustin can handle keeping a cat taken care of, which I know because he bitches about his mom making him do the litter box all the time. Cats are easy! They don't take up as much space as dogs and like I said, total hero. She'd love it."

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.  Billy stood leaning against the Camaro outside of the arcade, lazily smoking his cigarette as he waited for Max. Clearly she was going to be a while, though, since Lucas felt it safe enough to talk about surprises for her. Exhaling smoke, he slowly turned to set his aviator-hidden gaze on the younger guy. "Are you seriously trying to talk me into getting a cat, Sinclair?"

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@hargrove deserves a few props, maybe...

ㅤ"Wow, welcome back, dude. I heard you pulled some Road Warrior shit, but wasn't sure if I believed it," he offered, cautious enough that he wasn't in his space because he'd seen what had happened to Steve's face back in school and he knew Hargrove's reputation, but there was something about him now. It wasn't obvious, but he'd always had this coiled up thing under his skin that Jonathan recognized all too well, and now it seemed more relaxed, less like it was prepared to strike at a second's glance. He had no doubt it could draw back to full threat if needed, but the hair trigger? He just had a feeling.

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@hargrove should have seen this coming...

ㅤ"Sooooo, hypothetically, since a fox is a 'wild animal' and can't live in the trailer but we both know that Max is in love with the idea of a pet," he started, tone trying for fake casual and failing utterly, but he wasn't expecting to fool Billy, anyway. "It'd probably make you some kind of hero if a kitten appeared in here instead. Maybe an orange one, like the fox?"

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CHARLIE HEATON for PACO RABANNE

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Hey all, hope everyone's weekend has been fantastic! I've been a very busy little menace and I figured it was time for an update on what exactly it is I've been doing!

To start with, I have to come clean on something that people have probably already figured out - my muse has been low in a lot of areas and the ones I'm interested in have been more niche than I'd like. It's been a bit frustrating that I love the characters I have on this multi, but I can count on one hand how many I actually feel up to writing right now, so I've opted to pull a few characters off of the multi onto solo blogs to put more of a spotlight on them!

What this means: This blog may regrettably be quieter, but I will be sliding in here still to write characters as the muse strikes. Right now, the highest inspiration is in my horror muses, so if you'd like Mark Kincaid, Jim Hopper or Jonathan Byers, please let me know! This can change at any time and I have both drafts and asks to start sliding out as the mood strikes! Don't hesitate to bug me if you're interested in something - hype is contagious!

What this doesn't mean: I'm abandoning this blog, so long, bye! I'm not, I swear! I love this thing way too much to give it up, it's my brand!

I'll still be checking in here alongside all of my solo blogs regularly, just like I have been, but if you'd like some action from some of them, here's where you can find me:

@thebabysittertm : Steve Harrington (Stranger Things)

@nodunkiing : Heather Holloway (Stranger Things)

@drumatic : Gareth Emerson (Stranger Things)

@sparkflight : Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

@kaneinvestigations : Jamie Kane (original character)

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Jim Hopper in every episode → s2e2: Trick or Treat, Freak ↳ “Nothing’s gonna go back to the way that it was. Not really. But it’ll get better. In time.”

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