come_sailaway | [open] dreams of you all through my head

Who: Vance Hopper & (mostly) ota
What: Fixing Judith and generally being around
When: Early November
Where: all around
Warnings: eventual discussion of child torture/murder

1 / it's all right now (the drunken sailor)

[ Before the party, Vance was gifted with the mangled remains of Fio's teddy bear, Judith. One of the ghosts did it, and he feels kind of silly doing something so sentimental for a teddy bear, but he knows it's because the ghost was avenging him for Judith's previous attack. So, in a way, he feels responsible.

He chose The Drunken Sailor because it's where Knife Club is held, and also because he thinks Fio is unlikely to wander in and see Judith before it's all fixed up. There's some threads in all different colors set out and everyone is encouraged to take a different one and fix the bear a little bit at a time. That way, Fio will know how many different people all came together for her.

Vance is sitting at the table with a bit of read thread, starting to sew the arm back on. He isn't very good at it, but this is a group effort anyway. ]

[ ooc note: If they know Vance, assume your character got a text and was invited. If they don't know Vance and you want to participate, feel free to handwave that someone invited them. ]

2 / but don't give yourself away

[ Sometime after fixing Judith, Vance can be found all around the ship. He's not as devastated as he was in the aftermath of the party, but he's not entirely back to normal, either. He's...somewhere in between.

If someone saw him take down not-Friday, he's willing to talk about it. He also wants to catch up with anyone he knows who was possessed and isn't anymore.

Once in a while, too, he lifts up the corner of his white tank top and (for the first time since he's been here) takes an actual look at the knife-wound scars that were left behind. He's hated those scars since the first time he saw them and has done whatever it takes to keep them covered. After seeing Judith - all full of stitches but still wanted and still okay - he thinks, finally, that they might not be so hideous after all. ]

3 / it's only teenage wasteland (closed to clarke)

[ As much as he tries to play the tough guy, the last month weighed on him something fierce and he feels like he's about to burst if he doesn't get some of his feelings out into the world. Clarke's been trying to nudge him into sharing a little ever since they went to beach, so he just lets it slip. ]

I lied. I am scared. Of a lot of things. [ About ending up like the ghosts here and being sent to the Nothing, yes, but also of the monsters from his past even if they aren't here anymore. ]

wildcard

[ surprise me. I'm at callico or chimera#5926 if you want to plot. ]

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[ There's a moment where his bare leg touches her bare leg and he's embarrassingly worked up about it, gripping the edge of the pool like it's his lifeline. ]

Yeah. I'll make sure the water's alright for you.

[ Good excuse to dive right in and distract from the whole leg touching situation. Vance is a mediocre swimmer, having never been taken to the beach or the pool much, but it's shallow enough here that it doesn't really matter.

When he resurfaces his long hair, stripped of its usual curliness by the weight of the water, clings to his shoulders. He looks like a wet dog. ]

All safe in here.

[It hadn't fully sunk in that hanging out at the pool would also mean hanging out with the boy she likes in bathing suits until she showed up and realized that he was, in fact, wearing swim trunks. It's not a problem. They've hung out before. He'd carried her all the way to Scoops that one time and that hadn't been a problem either.

So why is one brief little brush of bare legs giving her butterflies? Chrissy is probably just as grateful for the distraction as he is, at this point.]

Okay!

[It's not even the first time she's been to the pool, but being here now is different than being here at night. It's on the tip of her tongue to thank him for being so considerate when he resurfaces, but that has to wait while she tries (and just barely succeeds) to stifle a giggle at his expression.]

Thank you, Vance.

[Only now she's wondering if there was a chance of it being not safe. It's not enough of a worry to stop her from hopping in, but maybe it's something to keep in mind.]

[ He didn't think the pool would actually be unsafe, but it sounds cooler if he acts like he was checking it for hazards.

He swims in close to her, circling around a bit because it feels awkward to be standing still in the pool. ]

Too bad you weren't here when we went to the beach. Maybe we could go again someday.

[ The pool's alright, but he finds himself wishing he could have gone to the beach and enjoyed it while he was in a better mood. ]

[Regardless of the danger, real or imagined, it's her turn to go under. By the time she resurfaces, he's circled around behind her, so she brushes her hair out of her face, turns to face him, and starts inching away from the shallow end.]

That figures. I can't even remember the last time I went to the beach.

[That's a lie- she remembers exactly when it was because the summer before she started fifth grade was the last time her father seemed to care enough to bother doing things with her.]

What are the odds of going there again?

[ Not very high, he thinks. It doesn't seem like nice trips like that happen very often here. But that's not what he wants to tell Chrissy. ]

One hundred percent. I'll get us there if I have to fight a hundred captains for it.[ Hand over his heart like he's swearing an oath.

Now that they're both in the water he takes the time to look over Chrissy's bathing suit. ] You look nice, by the way. Most people can't pull off Tommy Bahamas, but you can.

[Based on what she's seen and heard in the month or so since she'd woken up here, it seems pretty safe to assume that fun little beach trips aren't happening enough to matter.]

My hero. [Truthfully, the idea is kind of ridiculous for a handful of reasons. But he sounds so earnest and she can't bring herself to point that out.]

Thank you. Would you believe I'd never even heard of Tommy Bahamas before waking up here? [Fortunately, they seem to have a little bit of everything, so she's been able to find things she actually likes.] You look good too. I like the red.

Neither had I. [ And most of the time he wishes he still hadn't heard of it. Can't the captain give them some cooler clothes to wear? He doesn't want to look like a dad on vacation. ] And, uh, thanks.

[ She thinks he looks good, that's a step in the right direction. ]

I'm not much of a hero, but for you, I'll try.

Hawkins wasn't really a Tommy Bahamas kind of place, I guess. [It's more of a small-minded, basketball-obsessed place, and she's honestly kind of glad to not be there anymore.] You're welcome.

[She's not sure what else to add to that, and she's still able to stand on the bottom, so... closer to the deep end she scoots.]

Being a hero isn't so much who you are as it is what you do. You've been kind to me for pretty much the entire time I've known you, and you gave up an evening to babysit me the other night when you didn't have to. You could have given me shit about it or tried to take advantage, but you didn't do either of those things. [There was never a point where she was even worried about either of those things happening, but they could have. She's known people who probably would have.]

I just used to be kind of a dick, that's all. Still am, sometimes.

[ He's sure she'll hear of his reputation eventually, so might as well come clean about it before someone says 'oh, you're hanging out with that bully?'. ] It's easy to be angry when bad shit's happening, but I'm trying to do better.

[ And he's not angry when she's around, something he hasn't quite realized yet. ]

Nobody's perfect.

[It's been her experience that a lot of guys turn into assholes and then eventually grow out of it. She'd been assuming it was a Hawkins thing, but maybe it's just a guy thing.]

It's a little hard to believe, honestly. But you're right. Being angry and not caring about the consequences is a lot easier than the alternative. But the fact that you're trying to do better is already better than most of the people I knew in Hawkins.

[Steve had mentioned it before in the spirit Halloween, and she'd shrugged it off at the time.]

[open] dreams of you all through my head

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