If it makes any of you feel better, Will got queerbaited in season 4 too
You guys I think I cracked it- I donât think vecna is going to try and kill will, I think heâll try to BECOME him.
From what we saw in the flashbacks Henry is described as sensitive, a word also used to describe will (obvious queer coding canât lie) and theyâre both in a sense outsiders even in their own families. Will is also a wizard in dnd, will the wise, whilst vecna is an evil wizard, implying heâs a dark version of will-
If will was taken to the upside down for a reason, which volume 2 is going to establish he was, and heâs part of vecnas plan, then itâs possible 001 wants him as a host body since heâs stuck in the upside down and canât reach Hawkins physically, only through getting into the minds of his victims.
Maybe Vecna knows will also has the potential to lock into some kind of internal mental power, like he did when he was young, and this whole thing, the stuff with the mind flayer, all of it, has just been to prepare Will as a host body and possess him so he can return to the real world?
Imagine the tragedy of wills friends (MIKE especially!!) looking on as heâs taken over by Vecna and the chaos begins
EDIT: I stand by this theory for season 5 fyi
*GIF not mine*
Summary:
Prince Henry of the Creel Dynasty is finally in search of a wife, and in the spirit of courtship, King Victor has invited young royalty from all neighboring kingdoms to vie for his hand. But with so much royalty introduces the need for many more maids in the castle than usual.
Enter: You.
Youâre nothing but a servant in his home, an intruder in his prized library, and an utter nuisance in his mind. But then you survive his attack, and in an unexpected way nonetheless. That makes you⌠interesting.
Youâve caught his eyeâcongratulations! Now, you must deal with the consequences of loving a heartless prince in a world where far worse things lurk in the castle than dirty garderobes.
Chapter 1
A/N: yay, another chapter! and not a million bajillion months later, either, arenât u guys lucky? I worked hard on this one! Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy!
Word count: 4809
The maids of the castle did not have an organized way of awakening. The first one to rise from her cot never rang a bell, nor did she make a sound as she bumbled about the room. The others simply roused at her activity and moved to follow her lead. A soft ray of warmth would peek through window curtains, illuminating the rumpled sheets and the scuffling shoes as the ladies donned their uniforms: white pinafores over black smocks, black sleeves down to the wrists with white cuffs, white bows, black slippers.
A light chatter had begun after one maid, a new recruit hired for the season, had asked another for assistance in tying the pinaforeâs bow at her back. By the time the bow was finished, the rest of the room had followed suit. Conversations erupted, and some of the more experienced women had taken to helping the newcomers with their garments. When one began to brush her own hair, so did another. When one adjusted the strap on her own shoe, so did another.
They moved as one body and looked as one body, as was expected of them. None dared to lose their opportunity to work with the castle's wages and living, especially during such a season.
The prince of the Creel Dynasty was finally searching for a wife.
The kingdom had long awaited this announcement from the handsome young heir. In preparation for the many balls, galas, and other festivities promised by this news, the castle staff had welcomed a myriad of new members, all of whom had to be trained before the kingdom could host any visiting royalty.
The maids, therefore, had the strictest schedules and regimens. The nature of their duties made it most plausible to come in contact with a royal, and such required a level of propriety unobserved by them in their previous homes.
But a new fear had struck the collective consciousness of the trainees.
One that made the threat of interacting with royals all the more potent.
You rose from your cot at the tap of the girl beside you. A fierce spasming fired along your spine, where your new wounds must have reopened from the movement.
Briefly, you considered lying back down, letting your headache swallow you whole. Considered Miss Miriam, in a devilish state, screaming at you, dismissing you, dragging you out of the castle. Crawling back home with no money, nothing to show for your promises of dragging them out of the village and whisking them away to a life of less hell. You consider coming out of the castle like you came in. Still nothing. Having nothing.
But a pretty sight struck youâMiss Miriam, with her crop, coming up behind you, and you, twisting and grabbing her by her gray hair, shoving her face into a used chamber pot.
Then swatting the old harpy with her own weapon.
A smile split your face, causing the bruise on your cheek to throb.
One day.
But until that day, you were stuck here under the shameless eyes of your own fellow maids. The show Miss Miriam had put on for the others was one that must be burned into the backs of their eyelids, because the maids did one of two things.
They watched you, or they blinked.
You folded in on yourself, turning away and grasping your uniform tucked neatly beneath your bed. When you rose back up and reached for the hem of your nightdress, you hesitated.
The gazes were so heavy you could drown. Even now, you could feel the oozing blood sticking to the thick fabric. However prominent the bruise on your face was nothing compared to artwork that mangled your back; something was peeling, another splitting, and much was bleeding. It was all one collective wound, one scab healing so slowly that any movement you made renewed the process.
You did everything quickly and quietly. You tore off your dress, peeling off fresh skin with it, and stretched the other one over your head, thankful the black smock wouldnât stain so evidently. The gasps didnât slow you down. You tugged on your shoes and straightened your sleeves. You whisked your hair out of your face as you worked, tightening and adjusting and grimacing your way through it.
Tears burned at the corners of your eyes, but you didnât let them fall. You were surprised you had any left after last nightâyour own tongue sat as dry as a rock in your mouth. How could there be more?
But they sprang forth when you pulled the pinafore over your sleeves and realized you couldnât tie the bow yourself. Not as tightly as it should be. Your own body wouldnât let you do such a thing to your wound.
You needed help. Would any of them be willing to even speak to you? To be seen associating with the first pariah of the group?
You couldnât imagine yourself doing it. Self-preservation was at an all-time high after your public whipping. Would anyone even believe that you hadnât wanted any of this? That you hadnât been a crown-hunting girl begging for trouble? That something bordering on preternatural had invaded your mind and drowned out your senses, and all you could do was cling onto another human as you grappled for realityâwho gave a damn if the man just happened to be Prince Henry, the one person women in all the known kingdoms were trying to obtain?
No.
No one would believe you.
Dear God, you sounded deranged. One step away from fleeing into the woods waving sticks and crying demon at every creature you crossed.
The church bells, of all things, being the sounds youâd heard when your own life was slipping away before your eyes. You may as well hang yourself right now, if the king couldnât decree it any faster.
You dropped the two fabric strings of the pinafore with a muffled snivel, cupping your bruised cheek and letting your eyes fall closed.
Three months. Just three months to shed the new label and secure yourself a permanent position in the castle. Real servantsâ lodgings, proper pay, daily meals. You could live the rest of your life not acknowledged by another soul if you could just stay here, safe and content and unheeded.
What more could a person want out of life?
A gentle touch at your shoulder blade drew your attention, and you flinched away before it got any closer to your injuries. You spun around and bumped into your cot, eyeing the other maid warily. Her gaze was kind and bordered on innocent, vibrant blue barely peeking out from behind a wall of curly brown hair. She looked about your age, and at first glance, you would never notice the proud, acute way she held herself.
Like she always knew what she was doing, and yet always knew too much.
And when she offered her hands like a sign of peace, you did not try to back away again. Far be it from you to reject the first kindness you had experienced since you had arrived here.
âI can tie your bow, if you like?â
That same accent, unrefined when compared to what usually bounced off the gilded walls, and you surmise that she must have come from another small village like yours. Unlike you, however, she seemed to have less fear when navigating through unfamiliarities like castles and cruel maids.
Why else would she bother offering the one persona non grata a helping hand?
You pause at her offer, gnawing on your lip as though you had other options to consider. Perhaps there was some ill intent to her aid, but even if there was, you couldnât figure out what and why and why bother.
âYesâŚâ you swallowed. âPlease.â
She smiled gently and gestured for you to turn around. When her hands tied the bow, it was all light fingers and quiet conversations.
Her name was Nancy, and you learned she had come from the village next to yours. When she couldnât get a job working for a seamstress, she wound up as something of a governess in the kingdomâs walls, traversing back and forth between her home and those of higher standings nearer to the castle. She was good at watching children, but the castle was offering far more than royaltyâs butlers and vicars could afford.
And she was also very sorry for you. What happened yesterday was hard to watch.
You asked her to tighten the bow, dismissing her small hum of concern, and swallowed the bile that rose when the pinafore dug securely into the gashes of your back.
You both knew she had been fixing to leave it loose, letting you decide if the risk of an untidy uniform was worth the comfort.
It wasnât.
The other maids, it seemed, had grown uninterested the second your wounds were covered for what would be the remainder of the day, and returned to normal conversation. Few glances were thrown your way since Nancy had tied your bow, and you noticed yet another phenomenon.
Caught up in a sea of black and white, the only difference between you and Nancy, between any one maid and another, was her hair. Brunette and blond hair intermixed with black and ginger, all blended seamlessly when plaited or swept up into a bun.
Yours hung loose and knotted down your back, and without a word, Nancy began to wisp the tendrils into a braid. You wanted to stop her, but you couldnât. Your own arms could barely raise as high as your heart, and your hands shook the second they entered your vision, lifted to stop Nancyâs at your nape.
âThere,â she murmured, dismissing your thanks, ânow you really blend in. By tonight, the others wonât even remember which bed youâre in.â
âShould I be concerned they know that now?â
She laughed softly. âI suppose not, although I have overheard a few girls bitter about you being with a royal.â
You blanched. âWhat? Thatâs what theyâre focused on?â
Maybe⌠maybe you should have guessed some of them might focus on that fact. But look where it got you, and you hadnât even been trying.
Properly flogged, and now in the sights of one Miss Miriam.
Nancy shrugs. âJust a few. Most have been scared for you. But,â she pauses, pursing her lips, âyou must understand that weâre⌠thankful, in a cruel way.â
Of course. You could understand that.
It terrified you, angered you to no end, but you understood it. Someone had to be a lesson for the others. A demonstration. The new maids needed a spectacle to understand where the power liedâthat power did not lie solely within royalty. There were pockets of it left scattered throughout the castle, and cruel-enough servants snatched it up whenever possible, and lorded it over whoever would listen.
But⌠you wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all. You never thought it would be you.
The collective consciousness reigned over the servants once more, and they began to line up. You spotted a girl, younger-looking than most, step away from the door, and guessed she must have heard footsteps. Nancy nodded at you before joining a line, and you followed.
Like clockwork, the door slammed open, and Miss Miriam entered with a silencing swoosh of her black smock. When her second-in-command entered, goosebumps ran down your spine.
You could still feel yourself struggling in her arms, sobs wracking their way through you as she steadied your form for another lashing. Your heartbeat began thundering in your back, right underneath the bow of the pinafore.
âLadies, today is a day of utmost importance.â With small, black eyes narrowed and surveying each and every young girl before her, Miss Miriam furrowed her brow and frowned, wrinkles tracing the expressions with ease. Her face pinched together so tightly it resembled a sun-dried grape. âThe royal family will be welcoming four promising princesses today, and it will be your duty to clean every inch of the castle they will roam upon before they arrive. Am I understood?â
âYes, Miss Miriam.â
âWe will work as one. We will bow as one. We do everything as one, today and all days, ladies. Efficiently, and quietly.â Her eyes fell on you. âNo one will cause trouble today. Understood?â
You gulped. The maids chimed together once more, and you could only mouth along with them.
âYes, Miss Miriam.â
Her gaze left yours, and the tightening of your throat eased.
âMoira will delegate assignments. Those tidying halls will follow me.â
The hallways, all gilded columns and glistening marble, flared victoriously in the morning sun. Most aspects of the castle seemed to emphasize the Creel Monarchyâs pride, their devout sense of self-satisfaction the principal aspect of every painting, vase, and snuffed sconce.
A portrait of the long deceased King James, great-great-great-great grandfather to Prince Henryâthough, you pondered calling the number of greats preceding his name into question (and the word great itself)âsneered down at you, seeming perpetually pleased to be two hundred years in the ground and still lording himself over every subject that roamed his halls.
Disdain for all others must have been passed down the family line religiously.
You dragged your eyes down and away, busying yourself instead with dusting the marbleized snoot of Julius Caesar. The crystalline windows of the castle acted like a magnifying glass against you as you worked, adding a heat to the already aching skin of your back. You were a cockroach wandering too close to a flame, and any second now you could burn up from the inside out, crushed with a crunch rather than a squelch.
Using the back of your hand, you wiped the sweat from your brow, eyes wandering dangerously to the maid who worked beside you.
Nancy, owning the more bearable appearance between the two of you, had been sent out to deliver and replace new bed sheets along with thirty other girls. But the girl beside you, taller and owning a mess of dirty blonde hair swept into an apathetic bun, had somewhat of the same spirit of Nancy. A small glimmer of rebellion shone in her eyes each time Miss Miriam wandered far enough down the glittering hallway so as to only be seen by squinting.
Then, with a wry twitch of her freckled face, sheâd rasp five blasphemies sheâd decided described the witch in that moment.
Musty shrew appeared to be a favorite.
The girl glanced up from where she had been polishing a rickety wooden chair and flashed you a smile, glancing each way before rising from her knees and approaching. She reached out and plopped the brush she had been using on the table holding the marble statue head, and plugged a finger into each of its ears.
âI donât suppose Jesus here will strike me down for my profanity, will he?â
You looked down. Chiseled above its wrinkled forehead was a laurel crown, and you couldnât recall a Bible passage describing Jesusâ sabbatical in Rome. You blinked at her.
âIâm pretty sure thatâs Julius Caesar.â
The blonde glances at the statue again, gray eyes darting over it before she shrugs. âSame difference. If there is a sculpture of Jesus somewhere in this castle, I have no doubt heâs going to receive the same mouthful of feathers youâre forcing on poor Caesar here.â
âOnly if Miss Miriam deems it so.â You nodded your head in the skeletal maidâs direction. âHer words are as good as gospel, after all.â
âAnd yet, each time she speaks, I feel like Iâm taking orders from Satan.â
You let out a ghost of a laugh, biting your tongue when your wounds contract and throb.
Her face splits into a smile, and she lets out a short laugh too. Something flits along her face, though, and you get the sense you didnât hide your pain well enough. The subject is easily danced around; the maid releases her grip on the statue and instead grasps her skirt, lowering into a teasing curtsy. âThe name is Robin, milady.â Her eyelashes flutter rapidly and she waggles her fingers in the air, perfectly, in your opinion, mimicking the interactions between royalty that youâve seen thus far. Haughty, majestic, and filled with intentions barely skin-deep.
You do the same.
She lets your name roll off her tongue a few times, letting it thud against the crisp white walls in her hoarse tone before saying decidedly, âVery fitting.â
Before long, Miss Miriam decides the hallway is clean enough and herds all the maids, the vast majority of them being newcomers like you, out and away into the next wing.
A chill wracks through you when the word âresidentialâ gets passed down the line of one hundred girls, followed by âprinceâ and âbedroomâ and âhandsome.â You scan the white, stone columns as you pass, watching them curve into elegant archways shadowed through the frosted windows. This wing is covered in significantly less dust, and a faint scent of roses and pines floats in the air.
You try to flood out the memories, thinking vigorously about the red carpet before you, the soft slap of two hundred clogs, small shuffles and whispers. Everything around you you swallow up whole, eyes wide as though it will help you take in everything and think about nothing. But you cannot avoid it for long; not when you pass by the entrance to the royal throne room, in all its scintillating enormity, golden thrones set with silk, inlaid with gemstones, all wide open spaces.
And hovering above all four was a single, large oil portrait of the living Creel sovereigns.
King Victor, with his light blue eyes caving underneath the lustrous crown, crisp white beard neatly trimmed. His hand hovered over his wifeâs shoulder, smile thin and pale.
Queen Virginia, known for her devout faith and kindness, her amber hair falling in ringlets down to her sides. She sat prim and proper on a ruby-cushioned chair, hands folded prettily, eyes dim.
Princess Alice, the spitting image of her mother, bar her fatherâs eyes and the last twenty years. Second only to her brother in terms of popularity in the kingdom and out, something distinctly complacent set her brows in such a way you knew instantly why she was desirable to royals and dodged by anyone below them.
And then him.
A part of you hadnât believed Miss Miriam when sheâd called him so.
Your Highness.
But as you looked at him now, standing taller than the rest of his blood, proud and ramrod straight, broad shoulders held back by an invisible force, you knew the portraitist had gotten something wrong.
The hair was right; the golden crown of tousled waves, parted neatly and befitting him far more than any scrap of the earth. The lips, pink and pronounced, and the softness of his brow, and, of course, his posture. All perfect.
But it wasnât Prince Henry. Not quite.
The eyes. Slate blue and cold, cold, cold. How could the artist have not seen that?
Instead, they were warm and too dark a blue. Almost navy, and gentle, and so soft he almost looked like he was frozen in a smile.
No, no. That wasnât the Prince Henry you had seen.
Where was the darkness? The cruelty? The evil that shadowed every inch of him?
This was some sterilized version of the crown prince, some unattainable, unreliable, utterly purified visage of him being displayed to the kingdoms in pastime.
He radiated divinity, in and out of the portrait. But without that quality of his that effused danger so potently, you could not help but feel the kingdoms were being sold a lie.
The nervous hiss of your name and a strong grip rattling at your wrist spared you from Prince Henryâs trance once more.
Too much power, he had. Too much⌠something.
âI get it,â Robin whispered, eyes flitting back and forth as the herd marched on, âcompletely, I understand. But, you cannot just stand and stare at royalty all day. Thatâs kind of how youâŚâ she gnawed at the inside of her cheek, âyou know, got into your situation in the first place. Iâd hate to think what Miss Mule would do if she caught you with a Creel of all people.â
You hesitate to tell her that it was, in fact, a Creel that had gotten you in this position. But if Miss Miriam had decided to hide that information from others, you could only guess there was some merit to hiding that youâd thrown your arms around a prince that was already in high demand.
You had wound up committing one of the worst possible treasons with the worst possible man. You supposed it was quite like learning to swim a day prior and diving into a deep lake the very next dayâyouâd hit rock-bottom, and youâd only just begun.
To think you shouldnât already be swinging by your neck right now, face blue and tongue swollen, had the head maid hoarded some minute amount of mercy for you.
That, or sheâd known your actions had no great impact upon the integrity of the princeâs pursuitsâwhether it be accidental or otherwise, Miss Miriam viewed yesterdayâs nightmare as a tragic attempt to escape your fate, some sick wishing turned to action wherein you wooed the prince and thus he would marry you.
Of all people. You.
You could retch at the thought.
Youâd been raised proper, your parents teaching you well about respect, understanding who deserved it and who did not. They had also taught you that people could be born deserving respect, that it was some inherent betterness of their circumstances that, in turn, warranted curtsies and bowed heads.
Which, in your humble opinion, seemed utter tosh, but so be it. For now, you had a head on your shoulders, feasted somewhat regularly, and slept in warmth. Your clothing had not been sewn by your own hands, and your family was receiving enough coins to not worry about your wellbeing.
No matter that they probably should.
Far be it from you to look gift horses in their mouths, but you felt yourself afforded a nice level of circumspection after your back had been torn to ribbons for a mishap over which you had no control.
You didnât want to marry the prince. You didnât want to touch him, and you didnât want to think about him. And, ignoring all the memories of his larger hands, his blue gaze, his golden strands, and how he may haunt you for years to come, you were quite certain you never wanted to see Prince Henry ever again.
Your back twinged in agreement.
The multitude of fluttering pinafores ahead of you slowed their swishing. Clomping clogs eased into a gentle tapping and finally stopped, and the movements were imparted upon the rest of the maids. A smaller form bumped into your back, and you flinched away, spinning and biting back a cry.
A maid a few years younger than you gaped her mouth, innocence and fear mingling in her expression as brown curls fell over her brow. She seemed so much smaller than the others, more unwitting. Your eyes fell to her hand, a clenched fist in the creases of your skirt, as it hesitatingly fell away.
More distanced shuffling disseminated down the corridor, and you watched the assorted heads of hair in front of you split and separate, clinging to either wall, leaving a wide breadth of distance for someone to pass through. Sunlight filtered between the silent shadows of maids and formed a golden glow of a path.
You followed the others and split off to one side, opposite a window, and grasped blindly for Robinâs hand when she didnât move to follow. A gentle tug at the fabric of your backside conveyed that the other, younger maid had restored her grip.
From your position, the sun blinded you heavily, and you squinted as a yellow shine overtook everything you saw. White spots splattered your vision when you blinked, but you looked past the maids anyway, curiosity jostling its way down the two lines.
âYour Highness.â
So far ahead, you couldnât see and only heard Miss Miriam and her staunch and clear-cut announcement. That same loyal tone, somewhat saccharine, frayed your nerves in a second.
The prince?
Curtsies flowed like a wave through the maids, and when you bent low, head bowed, Robin and the young maid followed on either side of you, just as gawky. Nobody rose, and, per Miss Miriamâs orders, nobody would rise until the royalty had passed.
But⌠dear God, wasnât it an awful affair that you could tell who it was without even looking? That you could feel a quiet sizzle over the rows of women and girls alike, heard the soft, prideful gait of his finely polished boots.
Back in your village, youâd hated how slowly people could walk. How theyâd force you to flounder behind them as they puttered, how they could wander one way and then the other, each footstep a guess. Like they had all the time in the world.
You never would have guessed that a fast pace could be just as troubling. Like he couldnât stand to be in the same corridor with so many servants, Prince Henry was a brisk wind over the ruby carpets. Even so, you could feel the rise and fall of elation, soft gasps partnered with perfectly timed peeks.
He was a sight to beholdâthat much had been imprinted on your mind. But he couldnât possibly be as rumpled as heâd been in the depths of the frosty library, hair thoroughly rakish, white tunic clinging to his golden skin. No; royals held a certain standard of propriety, even as they indulged in the most hedonistic of lifestyles. He must be sheathed in some proper velvet tailcoat, and his face must be severe and sharp, slicing along everything he saw.
Breathtaking in an entirely different way, you were sure.
No, you didnât look. You couldnât. You canât.
Not even as his footsteps approach.
You focus your gaze on your swinging braids, watching them refuse to settle against some unknown breeze. A strain forms in your knuckles with how hard you grip your skirt, and your spine throbs with each heartbeat against the tightened back of your uniform.
Prince Henry slows.
The atmosphere tightens around your little grouping of maids, sun soaking into your black clothing so heavily you can barely breathe. Â
We must be in front of a door, some corner he needs to turn to. Something.
Some disturbed pulsing blossoms in your gut when he stops just before you, black boots just inches away. Lithe fingers laden with metal rings hover in your vision.
Prince Henryâs too close all over again.
You want to cry out; you want to say nothing and everything. You want to sink into the furthest recesses of your home miles away just as much as you want to stand at the top of a hill and hold your arms out, waiting for it all. Â
Your heart is racingâwild, damned little thing. An insufferable hypocrite after all the ways it had condemned him yesterday for what had happened.
Fingertips, gentle and soft as a single breath, rise and brush over your flaming cheekbone.
A tingle of pain jolts through the bruise so suddenly you flinch away, followed by an indifferent grunt that hangs in the air.
No pity in the sound. No remorse. Barely a hint of acknowledgment.
You want to cradle your cheek and press, hard, at the bridge of your nose, will those wobbling tears to stop. His hand hovers again, twitches near, and, when you lean some scant distance away, falls back to his side.
Within that same second, the boots that hadnât even turned toward you stalk away. Still fast and proud, no more slows and stops. No more grunts.
But, without a doubt, it was Prince Henry. Youâd peeked as the other maids had peeked.
Youâd done all that they had done, yet you knew that single touch had doomed you.
That must have been his game. A nice bit of teasing for the maid who'd embraced him; let her be thoroughly beaten down to her station. It was some cruel recognition of what happened to you, some silent sanctioning of a proper punishment. Â
Servant does a bad thing; servant gets punished by her peer.
Royal approves. No blood on his hands.
You were right, of course. That portrait was missing Prince Henryâs most vital characteristic: Wickedness.
When the maids rise from their curtsies, trembling thighs and huffed breaths, all eyes fall on you. A range of emotions bombard you before you can rub your cheek.
Wonder.
Awe.
Envy.
Andâyou can only assume from the thundering footstepsâMiss Miriamâs unparalleled rage.
Previous  Masterlist  Next
*GIF not mine*
Summary:Â
Prince Henry of the Creel Dynasty is finally in search of a wife, and in the spirit of courtship, King Victor has invited young royalty from all neighboring kingdoms to vie for his hand. But with so much royalty introduces the need for many more maids in the castle than usual.
Enter: You.
You're nothing but a servant in his home, an intruder in his prized library, and an utter nuisance in his mind. But then you survive his attack, and in an unexpected way nonetheless. That makes you... interesting.Â
You've caught his eye---congratulations! Now, you must deal with the consequences of loving a heartless prince in a world where far worse things lurk in the castle than dirty garderobes.
A/N: All i ask is that u imagine henry creelâs evil face on jace waylandâs body thatâs it thatâs all u gotta do, the fic will do the rest. this may or may not be a series, i do have a few ideas for it (but let it be known begging will not speed up the process). one final comment: henry creel hot. Hope you enjoy!
Word count: 4328
Amongst the cobwebs, the dust, and the black widows, in the abandoned royal library surrounded by the scent of mildew and what once was and is no longer, a pair of eyes watched your every move. Like two frozen fingers poking into the back of your skull, the gaze ran chills down your spine and tightened the muscles in your shoulder blades.
Every move you made was stiff. Despite the season outside being spring, winter had found perpetuity within the four towering walls. There were no windows nor any lit chandeliers; the only light was provided by the brass candlestick that had been forced into your hand before you were thrown into the library, with the promise of being released after ten hours or at the the sight of one hundred spotless, unblemished bookshelvesâwhichever came first.Â
Decidedly, you had three hours left.Â
The candle was almost completely diminished to a pool of wax, and the flame on its wick had long weakened and begun flickering. You suspected one last breeze would leave you in complete darkness and at the mercy of whomever was watching you from the shadows. No matter how many times you weaved in and out of the bookshelves that stood at twice your height, five parallel rows of grimy mahogany stacked with fading leather spines, you could not escape the unmistakable feeling.Â
This person had not made a sound when they had entered the room. There were no new footsteps tracked in the dust layered on the floor aside from yours, and you had not even heard the twin doors creak open as they had when you entered. You couldnât hear them over your own breathing and certainly not over the pounding of your heart.Â
With every precarious flick of your feather duster over the worn titles, the clouds of your efforts mingled with those of your own exhales. You kept your gaze low, eyes focused on only the task in front of you with the hopeâartificial hopeâthat if you did not disturb them with your own attention, they would eventually remove theirs from you.Â
Time trudged by as you shifted from bookshelf to bookshelf, the clogs on your feet scraping the hardwood floors. You kept a wooden chair in tow, collected from one of the tables arranged in the center of the room, and dragged it in closer to the nearest bookshelf, clambering atop the seat and lifting onto your toes to dust the top row of books. The cobwebs were thickest here, spiders having been left to their lonesome far too long and creating their own colony.Â
You could barely reach and dusted blindly, allowing the length of the feathers to do most of the work as you ignored the cramps festering throughout your calves. A soft gust of wind floated past and tousled the flyaways at your brow, and as you purse your lips to blow them back and out of your lashes, the room flickered and fell into darkness.Â
The candle had finally gone out.Â
You squinted and hissed a curse under your breath, your gaze snapping to the outline of the table, where you could barely make out the bowl of wax and nothing more. Just my luck, you thought as you withdrew your feather duster from the bookshelf top. You would have to retrieve a new taper from one of the maidsâ closets, though you sincerely doubted the head maid would be all too pleased with your explanation.
Excuses, excuses, you could imagine her barking at you, ire swirling in her small, black eyes. Candles donât just go out on their own.
âSheâll probably just set my hand on fire and lock me back in here,â you grumbled, huffing as you grabbed the backing of your chair to dismount. A faint tickle on the back of your hand drew your attention. âHell will freeze over before sheââ
Spider.
You yelped, a blasphemy falling from your lips as your clogs slipped on the polished wood seat. Your back hit the ground first, a pained shock shooting from your tailbone up to where your head smacked against the ground with the whiplash of your fall.Â
White sparkles lit up your vision, and you sputtered out a cough, not bothering to blink them away. An ache throbbed at your lower back, pulsing at the same wavelength as the ringing in your ears and drawing a groan from your lips. An odd smarting festered up your spine, not unlike a chill.Â
Carefully, you slumped back, your head resting against the hard floor and your legs straightening out. You didnât want to get back up; you didnât want to move. For a few moments, you let the pain overcome you while you wheezed for breath, choking on the dust that had become unsettled by your fall. It rose and hung in the dark air around you, blurred and wavering with your heartbeat.Â
For a few moments, you forgot that someone had been watching you.Â
And you certainly didnât want to know where the spider had wound up.Â
The smallest vibration of light footsteps trembled underneath your fingertips, and a sharp pain shot through your skull. Light, blinding and bright and excruciatingly insistent, is all you can see when the vibration stops and some glowing form hinges over you.Â
âNot dead,â are the words you think you hear, husked in a monotonous, low gravel and feeding into the loud hum in your head. Itâs muffled between the blood pounding in your ears and the hazy confusion that had begun to fog over your mind.Â
âNot yet, at least.â
You licked your lips, eyes fluttering closed, then open, then closed again. âWhat?â you mumbled breathlessly.Â
The glowing form dims, gradually painted by an orange hue. When metal thuds on wood, you guess it must be a candle joining your pool of wax on the table, and before long the presence hovers over you again. Tree sap swarms where the scent of mildewed books had been lingering, and, in a cruel twist of fate, you hazard a guess that this is one of the courtiers the head maid had shrilled about avoiding at all costs.Â
Or worseâa member of the royal family.Â
But how? And why? None of them would ever idle about in a damp, endlessly cold library. The smell bordered on revolting, half of the volumes were wrinkled and illegible, and you couldnât walk two steps inside without grime caking your face and clothes. Not to mention, the spiders. Disgusting, horrid spiders.Â
Black widows, if the head maid was to be believed.Â
The wintry library would never be home to festivities of the upper class, not even the occasional unsolicited rendezvous. There were dining rooms and bedrooms and poor, innocent gardens for all the horrific things they did to one another; entire wings dedicated to the sybaritic tendencies of royalty.Â
But this man before youâoh, how otherworldly he was.Â
You could believe that he had been the one watching you with how his eyes pierced you in this moment, a being such as him the only one capable of having a tangible effect with a single glance.Â
You took in his sharp cheekbones, the soft slope of his nose, his slate blue eyes. His face was haloed by mussed, golden hair, and two pale pink lips set against each other as a look of disinterest with ease. His entire appearance, from his lithe figure to the way his eyes dragged over you, exuded a superiority that had been trained to perfection.Â
Staring at him felt like drinking a sweet wine, far too indulgent and alluring to ever be truly satiated, and yet you know all too well it would be condemning to keep on as you are. You know this man has a rank heavens above yours; his skin, tanned and unblemished, has never felt the dust and dirt that encompasses you every day, and his body has never held your scars.
In your muddled daze, you imagined barreling headfirst into damnation for acquainting with this handsome being. Whether he be a marquess or a lord or, God forbid, even a duke, being seen in such close quarters with him was strictly forbidden, especially with the royal princeâs season for courting beginning in a week.Â
And then you felt yourself spiralingâyou imagined him curling over you, his deft fingers sliding underneath your nape, tracing the curve of your scalp and feeling for injury. You imagined his eyes warming pleasantly as he found you safe and unharmed. You imagined he gave a damn.Â
But he didnât. He never would.Â
His hands fell to his hips, the loosely fitted, half-unbuttoned white tunic he donned exposing more toned skin while he glowered down at you.
He certainly wasnât going to wax poetic about your welfare.Â
âNo blood.â His head tilted to one side slightly, blond tufts of hair following suit. âAnd thankfully no mess. Iâd have hated to invite yet another servant in here, even if it was to drag your body out.â
A shiver tore through your spine, and you had the most horrible feeling that if you died somehow in this moment, no one would bat an eyeâespecially not the man before you.
His voice had that regal lilt, the one you could have never gained in your small village outside of the castle. Youâd only ever heard it on a few of the higher-ranking maidsâcertainly none of the girls you had been hired with had such accents eitherâas well as some passing royalty on your first few days of traipsing the castle with a guide. His voice was deep and raspy, as though he spent his days either growling out orders or not speaking at all. You wonder if that was how he found it so easy to watch you mutely.
Feeling entirely too vulnerable, supine as you were, you brace your hands against the floor and writhe your way into a sitting position, head swimming with vertigo. Bile rises in your throat, and you press your eyes closed, tight, waiting out the wave. The idea that dragging your gaze away from him had played a part in the nausea tickles the back of your mind.Â
He watches, seeming somewhat interested, as you struggle.
Once, in your small village, a wolf had snuck into the farmerâs fields. You remember watching from your doorway that morning, the sun barely risen, as the wolf tackled a single lamb and began eating it alive.Â
The blood coated its paws and muzzle. Bones crackled with the snapping jaws. Even after the lamb had stopped squealing, the hunger in the wolfâs eyes never quite seemed satiated.Â
Something in the manâs and the wolfâs gazes made them indistinguishable to you in that moment.Â
The cruel sneers and jeering laughs of the royals youâd seen so far could only contain so much antagonism. This man was cut from a different cloth.Â
His body, all relaxed muscles and agile limbs, had a vigorous, agitated thing running within the veins of his arms, sleeves rolled to the elbows; the cruelty in his mien was something you had only ever encountered in wild animals.Â
Panic chills the sweat on your brow. Laboriously, you wrench one hand on a bookshelf, hoisting yourself up despite the blaring pain climbing up your spine, and onto your feet. You can feel the weakness in your knees the second you try to take another step, the defiant outcry of your mind and body as you try to move, but the man is so close. The warning sirens in your mind wail.Â
A hand grapples around your free wrist, insistent and rigid.Â
âStop.â
You flinch, and your first instinct is to twist away and run. His grip is iron-tight, though, and without much resistance, he spins you back to face him. Frantically, your eyes once more swallow up his bronze, toned skin in the shadows of his candle, waiting for a strike.Â
In return, the weight of his gaze bows your shoulders, fostering an urge to find a corner and curl up until you canât anymore. Something you can scarcely identify flickers through his blue eyes. Heâs staring at your wrist, locked in his, and then heâs staring at you, his lips tight and his face hard as stone. Like before, you can feel him searching you, taking note of your every move.Â
Heâs scrutinizing you like a bug, uncertain of just how and in what way to crush you under his heel. Itâs the way he had when his gaze was all you knew about him, and you have no trouble imagining yourself splatting underneath his boot.Â
But a sound rings in the distance, drawing your attention away from him entirely.Â
Ringing. Ringing like church bells. Ringing like the clang of the metal clapper striking tarnished ocher and rust. The kingdomâs clock tower made the same sound.Â
A chime, maybe.
Or a knell.Â
But you were almost positive that sound couldnât be heard so far away, crammed deeply within the towering castle walls. Especially at its volume.Â
It chimes again, and you slam both hands to your ears, heart pounding. Itâs deafening. You canât breathe, and you can barely see, still tangled up in the manâs eyes. Theyâve grown so cold and strike you so much harder your teeth begin to chatter.Â
âNo,â you whisper, though youâre not quite sure what youâre protesting. âPlease.â
His pale lips turn red as he smirks, and every angle of his face sharpens into focus. The room fades into black and white. Musty bindings and rotting pages no longer invade your nostrils. Itâs like your brain is shutting off each sense one by one so you can take in more of him.Â
And you canât seem to look away.Â
No.Â
By the third chime, you can barely feel the pain that had been radiating through your body, and the release is almost blissful. Beckoning. Youâre swathed up in the tranquility, ears stuffed with cotton and head buzzing in the silence. When your whole body starts rocking back and forth, waiting for another agonizing chime, your knees begin to feel like rubber, suddenly too malleable to stand upon.
A fourth chime, earsplitting.Â
They buckle.Â
You snap your hands forward in a panic, yelping when you stumble.
All your senses return as fast as the pinch of a needle. Blood roars in your ears, and soreness floods your every limb. Itâs like trying to squeeze into clothes that have become too small and completely ripping the seamsâall the sights, the smells, the feelings overload your brain too quickly, causing it to swell and split open.Â
Your only lifeline is a radiating source of heat, and you cling to it so hard you're half afraid you might smother it. But when your embrace tightens, so too does your grip on reality. You can almost unscramble your own thoughts againâall the curse words youâve ever known combined with prayers to the heavens above. Giving yourself into refuge becomes second nature, and you burrow further into the cradle of warmth.
A jolt runs up and down your back, and your skull feels cracked in two.Â
But the eerie quiet of the library registers anyway. The chiming is gone.Â
Blissful silence remains, only occasionally pierced by your gasping breaths. You want to nuzzle deeper, the warmth firm and solid, as the simmering underneath your skin wanes, yet there seems to be no space left that your form hasnât already curled into.
âWhat just happened?â Your voice wavers, and it echoes back so loudly that you flinch.Â
You canât see a thing. The dim outlines of the room fuzz and blend, and if you werenât standing on your own two feet, you wouldnât have been able to tell up from down. But the chill still nips at your skin. The library hasnât changed. Nothingâs changed but you.Â
But thereâs no explanation for the bell-ringing, the sensory overload. It must have all been in your head; it feels like any second now, your ears are going to pop and reality will flood back in. Youâre alive. But whatever had just happened was as close to death as you could have imaginedâ
A breath away from becoming nothing.Â
So what stopped it?
Even moreâwhat started it?
The questions slipped your mind the second you heard the library door creak. The pitiful sound allowed the entrance of sunlight directed by the hallwayâs window, and the stiffness of your bones crackled at the thought of even more warmth. You felt half-thawed and left for dead, save for the fount of heat caught in your white-knuckled grasp.Â
You went still.Â
Heat.Â
Heat in the library.Â
That had to have been one of the most preposterous realities you had imagined since you had first stepped foot in here seven hours agoâand you had raked through your mental fantasies quite thoroughly in that time.Â
Carefully, as though jaws might snap at you from the darkness, you withdrew your arms from the motionless frame and craned your head upward.Â
Dear God.Â
The man was even more beautiful when washed in distant sunlight. Heart-wrenchingly so. More alluring when his hair glowed golden, combed back waves ending neatly at his nape. More potent when his gaze speared yours, his arms limp at his sides, elbows brushing the backs of your hands at his waist.Â
Terribly heady.
Five seconds passed before you caught on to your ill deed, and his white tunic fluttered from the speed at which you pulled away from him. When his slender fingers twitched in tandem, you could only assume that, had you waited another second, he would have grasped your wrists so tightly the bones would have snapped.Â
How could you? Oh God, this was it. Itâs all over.Â
Youâre seized under his watchful eye, his face washed over with rage, or vexation, or downright disgust at your entirely-too-close, worthy-of-execution contact.Â
Certainly, it could not be the wonder you had initially thought it was.Â
That was just not possible.Â
Impossible.Â
Maybe.Â
âYN!âÂ
You jump when the libraryâs twin doors slammed open, a crotchety, accented voice rattling against the shelves. The clomping of two clogs no different than yoursâthough, possibly better polishedâthunder towards the pair of you, located by your and his candlesticks, stained brass and glossy gold sitting side by side on the oak center table.Â
The head maidâMiss Miriam Swinebottom, which, in your humble opinion, was evidence that fate did in fact understand the concept of justiceâwas a woman of an angular, acidic countenance. Two beady eyes sunk deep into her skull like snakes nestled within a tumbleweed, and she had the capacity for two emotions: disappointment and fury. With a distaste for all things insouciant, the skeletal woman wielded the newly hired maids like an army of rats; she sent all of you scuttling over every inch of the castle and cleaning until your bodies were slow and stiff as though submerged in deep water.Â
And you had no doubt that, the second that gaze fell upon you, she was out for blood. The terror that began pulsing in every nerve was no different than when you had first noticed the foreboding air around the blond man. You were not going to get out of this without a scratch.Â
Miss Miriam took in you first, but not for long. Soon enough, both of you, as one incriminating sight, were being ascertained.Â
You knew what she saw.Â
One of her new maids, no better than the grime beneath her shoe, inches away from a royal.Â
Unseasoned in the ways of the castle, naive to the new problem youâve just sprouted, a true simpleton for what youâve done. You.Â
You, with unsteady eyes and flushed cheeks, his shirt unbuttoned, blond hair tousled.Â
Fresh meat.Â
Dead meat.Â
And you hadnât even done anything.Â
You stumble back another step and hesitate to make an excuse. Words, youâd learned, were no better than handing Miss Miriam a switch. Best stay silent and pray for mercy.
Or, rather, for a quick recovery.Â
Curiosity slips out of your hands, and you sneak a glance at the man.Â
Heâs wicked all over again. Somewhat unimpressed by the turn of events, he appears, but the emotion mingles with a strong sense of antagonism no nobility can seem to restrain. Youâre only half-glad looks canât kill. Miss Miriam would be worse off than six feet deep by now.Â
To your surprise, she does not snatch you away with promises of a beating. She doesnât get a step closer.Â
Instead, the head maid folds into a low curtsy, then rises back up, bowing her head. âYour Highness.â
You tense at her actions, mind falling blank.Â
No. He couldnât be.Â
Your Highness? Your Highness?
But as his gaze trails away from her and back to you, his face abruptly void, you can only stagger back another step, knees giving way into a curtsy as you copy Miss Miriam.
Waiting.
He is.
His Royal Highness, Crown Prince of the Creel Dynasty.
And here you had been, none the wiser, completely ignorant to the danger youâd just placed yourself in.Â
For a long, excruciating moment, nothing happens. He does not touch you, nor does he move. The only sound filling the room is bated breath and whispering winds.Â
Prince Henry. The prized catch of all the kingdoms. Aristocracy whoâd never even scoff at a servant like you were here to court him.Â
And youâd been so closeâyou could still feel the ghost of his warmth under your fingertips.Â
A huff perks your ears, but you bite your tongue, waiting. He moves, one slow footstep at a time, nearing you with his polished, leather boots. You watch them as they grow closer.Â
You watch them as they hesitate in front of you.
And then you watch them as they pass, each thump of leather against hardwood further and further away until thereâs no doubt he has left the library.Â
The older maid hitches a second longer before she rises, spitting your name like bile. âYN.â Her footsteps thunder toward you, and you barely have time to straighten before she has an iron grip on your upper arm, hauling you out of the room.Â
âYou had such a simple task. Clean the library and get out.â She grits her teeth, eyes flaring. âNo one has used it in a decade, and yet what do I find but a dusty library and you. You, whoring yourself around the prince. And you said you werenât a wench before I hired you.â
 She leads you down the castleâs marble hallways, dim from the setting sun yet well-lit by the sconces lining the walls. No matter how much you stumble and grunt, she drags you after her into the servantsâ wing, swiftly finding the maidsâ hall and barging you through the doorway.Â
The room falls silent when the door slams shut, and while no crowd gathers, you are certainly the center of attention to the maids awaiting attending dinner. Stomachs are rumbling, but you have no doubt they would rather feast their eyes on this spectacle first.Â
Tears pinch at the bridge of your nose. You canât cry; you didnât want to be one of the maids that cried. Those that did were in the latter half of the new hires who were younger than you. And you werenât a little girl anymore.Â
No crying.Â
But, oh, you were scared when Miss Miriam paraded you in front of the others, hissing warnings and threats of punishment for girls who did what you had done.Â
â-traipsing herself around in front of a most respected royal.â Black, burning eyes latch back onto you. âTell me, YN, what did you think would happen?â
You flinch.Â
Thereâs no point in looking to others for help. You donât know them well enough to have friends. Itâs been three days, and only one name has stuck.Â
But you know itâs a sea of pity, disappointment, and nervous movement flowing back and forth.Â
âIt,â your voice cracks, and you pause, blinking rapidly. Another older maid, same regal accent, same strict demeanor, same gaze hissing you deserve this you deserve this you deserve this, approaches from behind. âIt was an accidentââ
You reel back into her waiting arms with a yelp. A stinging burn lances at your cheek, and if you hadnât seen Miss Miriamâs bony hand fall back to her side, you would have thought sheâd slashed open your cheek with an average kitchen knife.Â
A seasoned backhand. Was there anything worse?
Miss Miriam stepped back, her appearance leaning more towards irate than strictly furious. She turned away from you, searching the walls of the dormitory. Though you had never seen it before, it hung on the wall with a single nail and a small, looped string on the handle.
A riding crop, yet you had the distinct feeling it had never been used on horses before.Â
âNo,â you plead when swift fingers begin untying your garment backing. âPlease, itâit was an accident!â You try to yank away, but the crop swings at your head. When you lurch back, the fingers resume and Miss Miriam simply tilts her head.Â
Dread claws up your throat. The edges of your vision begin contracting with your heart beat, while a shrill voice in your head begins screaming to run, to get out, to escape. Cold air assaults your bare back, and when you feel the tears begin to fall, the maid spins you around, presenting the stripped canvas of flesh to the others.Â
âLet this be a lesson to you all, girls,â Miss Miriam announces. âThis is not a whorehouse. You are not here to prostitute yourselves to royalty. You will not even look at them.â Her voice directs towards you, âThey will certainly not look at you.â
You scream when the crop comes down, the white walls blurring, and the skin of your back wails at the betrayal.Â
The tears donât stop for hours.
Masterlist  Next
Wait...... is henry becoming my favourite character?
Wait..... was my gaydar right abt henry??
STRANGER THINGS S5 IS SO CLOSE GUYS THEYRR ALMOST WRAPPING UP PRODUCTION RN, IT DOESNT TAKE THAT LONG TO EDIT STUFF (LIKE IT SHOULDN'T TAKE A YEAR) SO ITS MOST LIKELY COMINV IN EARLY TO MIDDLE 2025, I CANT FRICKIN WAIT AHAGSWUAJANA
Steve has a bit of anger issues and a problem with repressed trauma, so i thought it would be so funny if he had got vecna'ed and talked back at vecna like if the mf can't just kill him on the spot.
I just imagine Steve being done with all his bullshit villain talk and calling him a manchild freddy krueger wannabe who is so full of himself even when he has been defeated for three consecutive years by literally kids and teenagers.
Anyway, something something, here is something i wrote about it that i never finished.
â
And okay, Stress Steve didn't know how not to say things; he just gave away whatever thought he may have, it didn't matter if it was venomous or vulnerable, but most of the time just works to embarrass himself saying out loud his dumb thoughts, he just talks and, oh boy, he talks.Â
Stress Steve didn't know when to shut up. Steve would say that he could be a Robin 2.0, but it was more about what he said than how much he talked (or rambled in Robin's case), which was more than he liked to admit.
Now, Afraid Steve wasn't much of a talker; he was more of actions, from freezing in place to just move. He gave barely any thought to what he would do, but he did. Maybe just a few seconds, but he analyzed and thought about it.Â
Contrary to popular belief, he did think before acting, probably not enough, but he didn't have time to do that (Robin wouldâ and didâ argue with him about it).
The point is, when Upside Down shit happens, Stress Steve and Afraid Steve kick in, so he has a weird combination of saying dumb shit and doing even dumber shit, like when he was literally yelling at a child, that child was Erica, and she didn't even bat an eye, but still, you can get the point.
[Insert Steve and Vecna's talk]
So now not only he has Stress Steve and Afraid Steve in his system, Angry Steve has joined the mix, and⌠listen, Steve is trying really hard to be a better person, he really is, scout's honor, but he knows that he can hurt people with his words.Â
He would see the deepest insecurity and sore spot he could find and spit in it to make the other bleed, make them hurt, and if he couldn't find it, he would instead make them snap. Yeah, he is trying to stop, but it is a part of him that it doesnât quite go. It's in his blood. His DNA, or whatever.
He knows himself (he had to know himself if he wanted to be a better personâ he doesnât dare to think he can be a good person, just better, never good). Thatâs why he tries to just have Stress and Afraid Steve around when shit hits the fan because in the first round, Angry Steve appeared, and everyone knows how that went (I'm sorry Jonathan, I did deserve that punch). So Angry Steve is most of the time locked in a cage, deep down in some part of the still healthy brain that Steve has left.
Anyway, that doesnât matter now, because Angry Steve has come out and is ready to spit at anyone who crosses his path, and maybe Stress and Afraid Steve can keep him on a leash, but that doesnât mean he isnât there. Steve is just lucky enough that the one who crosses his path is Vecna.
How good is his luck that the moment he wants to make someone angry just like him, the other one is a monster from another dimension that has quite literally his life in his hands and can kill him in any moment, ha.
Just his luck.
â
âSteve, What did you do?â
"I may or may not have called Vecna a Freddy Kruger wanna be"
Mom: We have Vecna at home
The Vecna at home:
Skyfall by Adele
guys guys reblog with the first song on your upside down playlist i want to know how to save you from vecna
This is me until season 5 airs. I will hold onto this theory with my LIFE!
Mike Wheeler: Whyâd I ever choose to be your boyfriend? *Awkward Smile* WellâŚMaybe (We) BothâŚWe thought we *Small Shrug* âŚCould live a happily ever afterâŚ
*Eleven responds and Mike smiles a bit pursing his lips twice and blinks twice*
Mike Wheeler: WellâŚyou helped. *Stares into the distance as if considering* Wherever youâve always been *shrugs* âŚYou always helped. But itâs to much, you knowâŚgoing throughâŚall of this. I mean if we winâŚ
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
*Mike stares into the distance*
*Eleven Speaking*
Mike Wheeler: I hope so!
Mike Wheeler: Heâs been really weird todayâŚ
*Eleven speaking*
Mike Wheeler: AngryâŚlyingâŚfrightened? Not himselfâŚ
*Eleven speaking*
Mike Wheeler: What are the chances? Heâll beâŚbe trappedâŚ
*Eleven looks like sheâs crying*
Mike Wheeler: I mean, if the firefighters didnât give a shitâŚwhoâs gonna go through it? But we canât win (?) But we canât wait (?) Maybe we will. All this town (?) Only now (?) Hawkins tower (?) We have to (fight?) We have to (win?). Weâll think of somethingâŚWeâll find a wayâŚGive it all youâve got (?) Youâre all weâve got (?) itâs what friends are for (?). Boyfriend, friend, or not? (?) Youâve done this before.(?)
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
In the Upside DownâŚ
Vecna: *Speaking to Will Byers* âŚWe are going to do such beautiful things together, WillâŚSuchâŚbeautiful things. You were my vessel. My spy. My builderâŚ
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Will Byers: *Screaming* Do you hear me? You need to run!! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!
Since S1, Will has proven he's the most mentally stable out of his Party and the older teens/adults. He knew to grab a gun when he was being stalked, he self-soothed by singing while stuck in the UD, he communicated using Xmas lights, used Morse code while possessed, loves Mike but isn't afraid to humble him (she dumped your ass, Lucas didn't agree to be Winston for Halloween, you're mad I didn't talk to you, Vecna still alive etc), and can sense the UD happenings.
We see Hopper take pills and alcohol in S1 cuz of his regrets and finally open up in S4. Joyce is a bit of a scatterbrain and almost fell for Lonnie's 'I care for our son' BS in S1 when they thought Will was dead. The older teens barely escaped the UD alive in S4 without the younger kids' help.
Will not only knows how the UD works, telling Mike Dart was a baby demodog, but he also has a strong mind. He won't be easy for Vecna because he's the one that got away TWICE. Yes, Will hid his feelings for Mike, but he understands why he does it, he's selfless. Joyce proved that when he gave up his toy to another kid. With Chrissy and the other victims, they hid who they were and assumingly had no support system. Max had her friends, but because she isolated from them she had no support system.
Will has his fam, his friends, and he's accepted himself as gay since he doesn't feel like a mistake due to Mike being in his life. Chrissy still thought she needed to be skinny to please her mom. Will was told by Jonathan to not care about Lonnie's opinions. If Vecna feeds off insecurities, Will is a challenge because he doesn't let his insecurities control him. Chrissy wanted drugs, Mike lashes out, but Will never looks to toxic outside sources for relief cuz he can just draw or talk about what's bothering him, or let out a stress relief cry.
There's got to be a reason he was taken 1st too.
Not only was death in his first name but his last name too-
âHi, how are ya? Iâm⌠normal.â
Him: âI will not accept defeat. I either win or I die.â
You: âok, dude, calm down.â
He could talk about spiders for hours at a time and you let him; not because you care all that much, but because you know he just needs someone to listen.
Him: âIâm different. How am I supposed to live in this mundane, tedious world?â
You: âidk, donât you have like⌠a hobby or smth. A pet? A fave food, maybe?â
Kids at school think heâs weird and ignore him. When you become friends with him, they start ignoring you and looking at you funny too, but you donât care what they think.
âYou wanna do WHAT to your parents?? Henry, thatâs illegal in most countries.â
He loves to go out for ice cream, but he only gets ever vanilla. Even when you get a crazy flavor and let him try it and he says he likes it, he never orders it for himself. Only vanilla.
*You had the bright idea to cut your own hair; Henry is supportive. Youâre sitting in front of the bathroom mirror with scissors in your hand, your tongue stuck between your lips as you focus on finding precisely the right spot to cut. Heâs sitting on the lid of the toilet, watching.* âI think Iâm gonna give myself bangs.â
âThat looks nice.â
âWant me to cut yours?â
âAbsolutely not.â
Heâs INSANELY good at board games. Sometimes he lets you win.
You occasionally commit arson togetherđĽş
You give each other book suggestions and sometimes read to each other. He likes horror, but knows you get scared easily so he skips over the really gory parts for you.
He hates his birthday, but he NEVER forgets yours. He always gets you a present, and itâs always something really thoughtful.
âYou wanna come over and summon demons with me?â
ââŚâ
ââŚâ
ââŚâ
âuHM YESâ
You do homework together and he helps you with subjects youâre not so good at (heâs extremely smart).
When he finally tells you about his powers, he thinks youâll be freaked out. Heâs surprised when youâre actually amazed.
âNO WAY, THATS SO COOL!â
âArenât you afraid?â
âOf you? Never.â
A few weeksâ worth of you annoying him by asking him to make everything float, but he complies every time.
Then⌠an idea strikes you.
âCan you make me float?â
âI can try.â
It works.
You decide to see how high he can lift you into the air. You both go into an empty field and try it.
You get about sixty feet in the air when he loses control of you and you come plummeting back down.
Somehow, you make it out with only a broken arm. You tell your parents you fell out of a tree. Henry is scared youâll be mad at him, but youâre absolutely not. Heâs the only person youâll let sign your cast. Itâs like an inside joke between the two of you.
And of course, when the cast comes off, you wanna try again, but he says no:(
Youâre the only person who doesnât treat him like heâs different. You feel like a bridge between him and the rest of the world. You make him feel normal. You make him feel accepted.
Jamie Campbell Bower signing an autograph, not knowing itâs actually my adoption papers:
Jamie Campbell Bower & the wall in his apartment with the Stranger Things universe and how everyone and everything connects with Will in the middle:
context:
vecna really said âlemme just trauma dump on nancy rq..â
Iâm telling my kids that this is eleven from stranger things:
The duffer brothers after the entire internet became obsessed with Eddie Munson, knowing what happens in vol. 2:
I KNEW IT, I KNEWâ