Hullo my dear, it's the less-pretty Nancy. A few people have mentioned you to me lately, so I thought I'd reach out, say hello again.
[She's not absolutely sure why, but maybe it's because this girl is hardly older than she was when she started going with Bill, but Nancy's been thinking of Eleven a lot more, too. And so she reaches out, thinking what she would have liked to hear when she was thirteen and surrounded by boys and men and would have done anything for a warm female figure.]
I was wondering if perhaps you wanted to come out shopping with me? There's a new booth in the market I saw. Looks like they sell sweets- I'd be happy to get you a bag, if you'd like.
[She wants this girl to have a childhood. She, like all children, deserves it, and something about her makes Nancy wonder if hers had been ripped away from her, too.]
[ Nancy will not see that, but the first line actually does make Eleven smile. ]
hi, less-pretty nancy
[ There's a part of her that recognizes she was mean to Nancy. Perhaps it can be a joke instead of a mean thing, though. (And perhaps she will change her mind on the unflattering moniker soon enough). ]
you want to buy me sweets even though I was mean to you?
[ Strangely, she's reminded of Max, whose entire presence in Mike's life made Eleven seethe, even when the girl was excited to meet her. Eleven tragically doesn't quite have the self-reflection to wonder if she should stop letting her own pettiness drive her sometimes. Oh, to be 13 and poorly socialised. ]
[Nancy is secure enough in her looks to know that it's okay if someone else is prettier than her. There are plenty of women here prettier than her, as she was learning first-hand. Oh, pretty women, her newest weakness.]
I do. [And now comes the part where she says 'we should talk' but she doesn't know what about and really she just wants to see a thirteen-year-old girl who looks like her and realize how wrong so much of her life was, and feel good about putting it behind her. But that's too much to put on anyone's shoulders. So she doesn't say it.]
Are you telling me you're going to turn down sweets? If that's the case, maybe I can offer a pretty dress, or a hair comb?
It might be very easy to bribe this girl, honestly. Sweet tooth confirmed. ]
we can meet and shop
[ It's a novelty that she hasn't yet gotten to experience. Back home she was so isolated, always in hiding. Here, she skirts the edges. She's gotten some new clothes, but her only guide has been Laura, a girl basically as much of a gremlin as Eleven herself. ]
you don't know? it's the most important word. mouthbreathers are mean bullies who pick on other people and hurt them, so it's fine to hurt them back.
so if someone is mean to you, you can call them a mouthbreather and hurt them. or you tell me, I'm stronger than you, and I can take care of them for you
[ there's no response, because sometimes Eleven just lacks basic manners like that. Oftentimes, she's not rude on purpose. She just puts her leaf away, and makes her way downstairs after letting Laura know where she's going. She arrives soon enough. Her hair's grown out since she first talked to Nancy, almost a shaggy bob at this point - does look like someone trimmed it though, so it's not as messy as it could be. Definitely still growing out though. She has a few flowers braided into it, and is wearing what can best be describe at a mad mix of clashing colours and patterns.
Whether Nancy arrives after Eleven or is already waiting by the bridge, she gets greeted with a small, soft: ]
[One of the things Nancy's father had made sure to train his gang of thieves in was their manners. They might have been poor, but that didn't mean they were rude. They knew how to use forks and napkins, curtsey and bow, how to give people that were due respect that respect. She knows lots of people weren't raised like her, so Eleven's lack of response wasn't read as rude, but she did hope she wasn't going to look like an idiot waiting for Eleven at the bridge.
She smiles when she sees her younger doppleganger, gives her a warm wave. Nancy's hair is held back from her face with a few braids, though she keeps the length- long enough it would reach her mid-back, as was the fashion for young women in 1838. Her dress is much more put together than Eleven's, but there's no judgement. She was still figuring out how all this worked, too.]
Hullo, my dear! [She's not going to push for a hug.] Well, you look ready, don't you? Then let's not tarry- Shall we? [She offers her elbow to Eleven to take.]
I was thinking sweets first, then we see what they've got to dress us in, what say you?
[ The offered arm gets a long, puzzled glance. After a moment of having no idea what to do with that, Eleven reaches out and gently pats it in a very 'there, there' kind of gesture before she starts walking. It's not a rejection of the gesture - Eleven simply doesn't quite get what to do with it. She's never walked arm in arm with anyone like that. ]
[What a strange girl.] Alright, no walking arm-in-arm, I can respect that. [She's got no problem with that boundary, though boundaries are new things to her.]
Sounds perfect! What type of sweet is your favorite, Eleven? [She knew people liked to talk about themselves, and she knew a teenage girl was certainly going to be no different.]
[ Eleven's face scrunches up briefly, as if trying to puzzle something out. ]
Waffles. With whipped cream. And sprinkles. And chocolate syrup. And... I really wanted Halloween candy. But I didn't get any. Not allowed to trick-or-treat.
[ Welcome to that mostly nonsensical answer that lacks any and all context and is of no help in terms of shopping for sweets here. Eleven already makes liberal use of the waffle iron Tony made her, and can often be found making stacks of waffles in the kitchen.
After a moment, she turns her puzzled, unsure expression up to Nancy. ]
Wow. That's quite a lot of things- I'm not familiar with trick-or-treating, but I know chocolate. That's probably one of my favorites, though I never got it back home unless I stole it. [She gives Eleven a little conspiratorially grin. Kids thought criminals were cool, right?]
Maybe we should see if we can find chocolate in the market? Or something similar to the Trick-Treating Candy. [Nancy can mess-up modern things, too.]
It's- it's a way of walking. We link our arms at the elbows, so we can keep close and walk together. [She holds her arm out to Eleven again.] You just put your arm through the space between mine, then put your arm on your hip, like mine, and that's all there is to it!
[ A slow blink. Eleven hesitates for a moment, then steps closer and links her arm through Nancy's. She's stiff for a moment - and then she relaxes, nodding a little to herself. Arm-in-arm just got Eleven's stamp of approval. ]
Arm-in-arm. We can find something. Like the Trick-Treating Candy.
[ And yeah, now? Now Nancy earns a small, shy smile as they begin walking. ]
Sounds like a perfect plan to me, [she agrees, returning the smile. She really is incredibly cute, but so young. Was that how she'd looked, she wondered. Young and, well, not innocent, but deceptively innocent looking.]
What do they have in Trick-Treating Candy? That way, we can find something as close to it as possible. Like- is there fruit, nuts? Caramel? [She's going to lose her mind when she is introduced to peanut-butter cups.
With El in tow, Nancy leads the way toward the market.] So, you must tell me where you're from- I don't think I've heard an accent like yours here. Me, I'm from London, England. [She sprinkles information about herself in, to keep El at ease, and to let her know that this goes both ways.]
All kinds of things. Nuts. Caramel. Peanut Butter. More chocolate. You can buy them at the store... or steal them. [ Eleven's lips quirk a little more, looking at Nancy. Stealing is cool, actually. And Eleven has learned that it's allowed because of the corporate overlords. Does she know what that means? No. But Kali said so. ] But... on Halloween. You wear a costume. And you go to houses. And you get the candy. That's trick-or-treat.
[ Eleven doesn't know what the trick is, just the treat part. Since she never got to go do it. It's a mystical theory of something she really wants to do one day. ]
Hawkins. Indiana. [ Her face brightens though. ] I know London. [ She pronounces it wrong, like Lonn Donn. She also may or may not pronounce Indiana like 'Indy Anna'. Just ever so slightly off. ] Kali is from London. Before she was stolen.
That sounds heavenly, [she admits.] But we shouldn't steal anything here... [She wonders, should she offer? Would it be cool of her to show Eleven how to pick pockets? Or would that make her just like Fagin?
No, she would be different from him. She wasn't doing it for personal monetary again. She'll consider it.]
That sounds so much fun! We wouldn't do costumes, but if we could we'd do bobbing for apples, or we'd take turns telling scary stories. I think I like the idea of Trick-or-Treating, though. Your Halloween sounds loads of fun.
[She's never heard of Hawkins, or Indiana, but she nods like she knows them.] I see- American, then. And who's Kali, love? [Stolen, though. That sends a chill down her spine.]
What d'you mean, stolen? Like taken? Is that how she came to meet you, or? Is she alright?
[ Ah, the moral quandary. Not that Nancy would know, but Eleven is so easily enabled, so easily led astray. The moment she even remotely trusts someone, she can be swayed into doing things so very easily. Her like of self-sustained moral compass makes her tragically malleable. ]
Stories sound fun, too. [ She's quiet, for a moment, then admits: ] I never did the Halloween things. I wanted to. But it's not allowed. Too dangerous. The bad men could find me.
[ The mention is casual, almost off-hand. Like it doesn't matter. ]
Kali is... Eight. Like I'm Eleven. [ She hesitates a moment, then she holds out her free arm for Nancy to see - there, on the inside of her wrist, a tattoo. Stark, black ink on her pale skin. 011. Eleven. ] Papa stole us. For the lab.
Well, you're safe here now, ain't you? This Halloween, we'll be sure to do the trick-or-treating. I'm sure there's others here who'd like to join in, too. [She has no idea, but she likes the sound of it.] No one'll let the bad men get close to you, I promise.
[She doesn't like that, though, and it stirs that maternal instinct in her that ran so strong. She would not let anything happen to Eleven.]
So you're... [This was so strange. Babies stolen from cribs, brought to a lab and marked. Kali was the eighth child, Eleven was the... Eleventh.] My god. Eleven is that- [The tattoo reminds her of Erik's. She takes a moment, collects her thoughts.]
For a time, I almost hoped my father had done that, stolen me away from my mother, raised me the way he did with the other boys. But he didn't have to steal me, when I was his the whole time. [She puts a hand on Eleven's elbow in comfort.] Is there another name you'd like to be called? [she asks softly] Other than just a number?
[ The idea has Eleven visibly excited, but she tries to look nonchalant. The definition of a teenager attempting to play something cool that they are very much not remotely chill about. ]
It's okay. If the bad men come. I can kill them.
[ She sounds matter-of-fact about that. The kind of nonchalance that comes not from boasting but from knowing.
Nancy's story makes Eleven listen intently, though. Papa is not her father, but took that position over Eleven and over Kali and over... her mind draws a blank here. She knows there were more children. She's seen the closed doors with the numbers on them. But something happened, a few years before she escaped the lab and she can't... remember. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Nancy is kind, and asks. And Eleven thinks of 'Jane', the name Mama wanted to give her, before Eleven was stolen. The name Kali used for her, that felt like a costume. Jane is like a fake identity, the remnant of a life she never got to live, the idea of her that Kali wanted to shape. So after a moment: ]
My friends call me El.
[ And she shares it in invitation for Nancy to do the same. After a moment of quiet hesitation: ]
Absolutely. If I'm here, I'm going to try to make it happen. [It'd give her something to do, something to look forward to. Especially if it would make this young girl, and likely others, smile.]
It's wonderful to meet you, El.
[She is taking that invitation and running with it.] My friends call me Nance, sometimes.
[El's words hit, and Nancy gives her elbow a gentle squeeze.] Yes. A very bad man. He did good things, too, he kept me and others alive, taught us how to survive, but that doesn't outweigh the bad he did, too. [She has a feeling that El will understand what it is to both love and hate someone at the same time.]
And if he ever comes here, I won't let him do it again [There's conviction in her voice, she's sure of this. She owes Fagin nothing, now.]
[ A soft nod. And a quiet acceptance - they're friends now, by virtue of what name they allow each other to go by. And Eleven takes her friendships very seriously. That shows in her face when she listens to Nancy talk about her father - the way her features harden, her eyes seem far away for a moment. Yes, she understands that. Papa, from what she knows, cared for her, like one cares for a useful tool or weapon, and he taught Eleven how to use her powers.
Papa is a bad man and he did bad things - but for years, he was the sole source of what little affection Eleven sometimes experienced, as much as he was the source of pain.
So when it comes to Nancy and her father... well. ]
[Friends. Nancy beams. She knew the girl would come around eventually, and to have it happen so fast? She's practically on cloud 9.]
Thank you. But I would never want to ask that of someone. [Certainly not someone that Nancy considers so vulnerable.]
And you tell me if yours shows up. I'll give him a round of fisticuffs'll have him thinking twice about stealing you away. [She puts up her fists to demonstrate.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text, un: mrssikes
A few people have mentioned you to me lately, so I thought I'd reach out, say hello again.
[She's not absolutely sure why, but maybe it's because this girl is hardly older than she was when she started going with Bill, but Nancy's been thinking of Eleven a lot more, too. And so she reaches out, thinking what she would have liked to hear when she was thirteen and surrounded by boys and men and would have done anything for a warm female figure.]
I was wondering if perhaps you wanted to come out shopping with me? There's a new booth in the market I saw. Looks like they sell sweets- I'd be happy to get you a bag, if you'd like.
[She wants this girl to have a childhood. She, like all children, deserves it, and something about her makes Nancy wonder if hers had been ripped away from her, too.]
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hi, less-pretty nancy
[ There's a part of her that recognizes she was mean to Nancy. Perhaps it can be a joke instead of a mean thing, though. (And perhaps she will change her mind on the unflattering moniker soon enough). ]
you want to buy me sweets
even though I was mean to you?
[ Strangely, she's reminded of Max, whose entire presence in Mike's life made Eleven seethe, even when the girl was excited to meet her. Eleven tragically doesn't quite have the self-reflection to wonder if she should stop letting her own pettiness drive her sometimes. Oh, to be 13 and poorly socialised. ]
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I do. [And now comes the part where she says 'we should talk' but she doesn't know what about and really she just wants to see a thirteen-year-old girl who looks like her and realize how wrong so much of her life was, and feel good about putting it behind her. But that's too much to put on anyone's shoulders. So she doesn't say it.]
Are you telling me you're going to turn down sweets? If that's the case, maybe I can offer a pretty dress, or a hair comb?
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[ Oh that message comes REAL quick.
It might be very easy to bribe this girl, honestly. Sweet tooth confirmed. ]
we can meet
and shop
[ It's a novelty that she hasn't yet gotten to experience. Back home she was so isolated, always in hiding. Here, she skirts the edges. She's gotten some new clothes, but her only guide has been Laura, a girl basically as much of a gremlin as Eleven herself. ]
I will be nicer
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But I do appreciate it.
Alright, sweets and shopping it is. Thank you for humoring me, I’m looking forward to it.
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I just got upset because you look a bit like me but old and pretty
I get mean when I'm upset
when do we go?
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It's alright. You're very pretty yourself, you know. Probably prettier than I was at your age.
Whenever you'd like.
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so if someone is mean to you, you can call them a mouthbreather and hurt them. or you tell me, I'm stronger than you, and I can take care of them for you
I want now
[ She's a demanding little girl. ]
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[She doesn't know anything about Eleven's powers, so as far as she's concerned, they're probably equally matched.]
Luckily, I haven't run into any mouthbreathers here yet. But you'll be the first to know!
Right now it is, then! Meet me at the edges of the common room by the bridge? We can go from there.
-> action
Whether Nancy arrives after Eleven or is already waiting by the bridge, she gets greeted with a small, soft: ]
Hi.
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She smiles when she sees her younger doppleganger, gives her a warm wave. Nancy's hair is held back from her face with a few braids, though she keeps the length- long enough it would reach her mid-back, as was the fashion for young women in 1838. Her dress is much more put together than Eleven's, but there's no judgement. She was still figuring out how all this worked, too.]
Hullo, my dear! [She's not going to push for a hug.] Well, you look ready, don't you? Then let's not tarry- Shall we? [She offers her elbow to Eleven to take.]
I was thinking sweets first, then we see what they've got to dress us in, what say you?
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I like sweets first. Yes.
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Sounds perfect! What type of sweet is your favorite, Eleven? [She knew people liked to talk about themselves, and she knew a teenage girl was certainly going to be no different.]
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Waffles. With whipped cream. And sprinkles. And chocolate syrup. And... I really wanted Halloween candy. But I didn't get any. Not allowed to trick-or-treat.
[ Welcome to that mostly nonsensical answer that lacks any and all context and is of no help in terms of shopping for sweets here. Eleven already makes liberal use of the waffle iron Tony made her, and can often be found making stacks of waffles in the kitchen.
After a moment, she turns her puzzled, unsure expression up to Nancy. ]
What is. Arm-in-arm?
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Maybe we should see if we can find chocolate in the market? Or something similar to the Trick-Treating Candy. [Nancy can mess-up modern things, too.]
It's- it's a way of walking. We link our arms at the elbows, so we can keep close and walk together. [She holds her arm out to Eleven again.] You just put your arm through the space between mine, then put your arm on your hip, like mine, and that's all there is to it!
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[ A slow blink. Eleven hesitates for a moment, then steps closer and links her arm through Nancy's. She's stiff for a moment - and then she relaxes, nodding a little to herself. Arm-in-arm just got Eleven's stamp of approval. ]
Arm-in-arm. We can find something. Like the Trick-Treating Candy.
[ And yeah, now? Now Nancy earns a small, shy smile as they begin walking. ]
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What do they have in Trick-Treating Candy? That way, we can find something as close to it as possible. Like- is there fruit, nuts? Caramel? [She's going to lose her mind when she is introduced to peanut-butter cups.
With El in tow, Nancy leads the way toward the market.] So, you must tell me where you're from- I don't think I've heard an accent like yours here. Me, I'm from London, England. [She sprinkles information about herself in, to keep El at ease, and to let her know that this goes both ways.]
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[ Eleven doesn't know what the trick is, just the treat part. Since she never got to go do it. It's a mystical theory of something she really wants to do one day. ]
Hawkins. Indiana. [ Her face brightens though. ] I know London. [ She pronounces it wrong, like Lonn Donn. She also may or may not pronounce Indiana like 'Indy Anna'. Just ever so slightly off. ] Kali is from London. Before she was stolen.
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No, she would be different from him. She wasn't doing it for personal monetary again. She'll consider it.]
That sounds so much fun! We wouldn't do costumes, but if we could we'd do bobbing for apples, or we'd take turns telling scary stories. I think I like the idea of Trick-or-Treating, though. Your Halloween sounds loads of fun.
[She's never heard of Hawkins, or Indiana, but she nods like she knows them.] I see- American, then. And who's Kali, love? [Stolen, though. That sends a chill down her spine.]
What d'you mean, stolen? Like taken? Is that how she came to meet you, or? Is she alright?
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Stories sound fun, too. [ She's quiet, for a moment, then admits: ] I never did the Halloween things. I wanted to. But it's not allowed. Too dangerous. The bad men could find me.
[ The mention is casual, almost off-hand. Like it doesn't matter. ]
Kali is... Eight. Like I'm Eleven. [ She hesitates a moment, then she holds out her free arm for Nancy to see - there, on the inside of her wrist, a tattoo. Stark, black ink on her pale skin. 011. Eleven. ] Papa stole us. For the lab.
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[She doesn't like that, though, and it stirs that maternal instinct in her that ran so strong. She would not let anything happen to Eleven.]
So you're... [This was so strange. Babies stolen from cribs, brought to a lab and marked. Kali was the eighth child, Eleven was the... Eleventh.] My god. Eleven is that- [The tattoo reminds her of Erik's. She takes a moment, collects her thoughts.]
For a time, I almost hoped my father had done that, stolen me away from my mother, raised me the way he did with the other boys. But he didn't have to steal me, when I was his the whole time. [She puts a hand on Eleven's elbow in comfort.] Is there another name you'd like to be called? [she asks softly] Other than just a number?
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[ The idea has Eleven visibly excited, but she tries to look nonchalant. The definition of a teenager attempting to play something cool that they are very much not remotely chill about. ]
It's okay. If the bad men come. I can kill them.
[ She sounds matter-of-fact about that. The kind of nonchalance that comes not from boasting but from knowing.
Nancy's story makes Eleven listen intently, though. Papa is not her father, but took that position over Eleven and over Kali and over... her mind draws a blank here. She knows there were more children. She's seen the closed doors with the numbers on them. But something happened, a few years before she escaped the lab and she can't... remember. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Nancy is kind, and asks. And Eleven thinks of 'Jane', the name Mama wanted to give her, before Eleven was stolen. The name Kali used for her, that felt like a costume. Jane is like a fake identity, the remnant of a life she never got to live, the idea of her that Kali wanted to shape. So after a moment: ]
My friends call me El.
[ And she shares it in invitation for Nancy to do the same. After a moment of quiet hesitation: ]
Is... your father like Papa? A bad man?
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It's wonderful to meet you, El.
[She is taking that invitation and running with it.] My friends call me Nance, sometimes.
[El's words hit, and Nancy gives her elbow a gentle squeeze.] Yes. A very bad man. He did good things, too, he kept me and others alive, taught us how to survive, but that doesn't outweigh the bad he did, too. [She has a feeling that El will understand what it is to both love and hate someone at the same time.]
And if he ever comes here, I won't let him do it again [There's conviction in her voice, she's sure of this. She owes Fagin nothing, now.]
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[ A soft nod. And a quiet acceptance - they're friends now, by virtue of what name they allow each other to go by. And Eleven takes her friendships very seriously. That shows in her face when she listens to Nancy talk about her father - the way her features harden, her eyes seem far away for a moment. Yes, she understands that. Papa, from what she knows, cared for her, like one cares for a useful tool or weapon, and he taught Eleven how to use her powers.
Papa is a bad man and he did bad things - but for years, he was the sole source of what little affection Eleven sometimes experienced, as much as he was the source of pain.
So when it comes to Nancy and her father... well. ]
If he ever comes here. I will help you, too.
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Thank you. But I would never want to ask that of someone. [Certainly not someone that Nancy considers so vulnerable.]
And you tell me if yours shows up. I'll give him a round of fisticuffs'll have him thinking twice about stealing you away. [She puts up her fists to demonstrate.]
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