#eatbitch.

[quistley]

continued from here ft. @eatbitch

eyes wide, hurt -- "of course not! why would you say that?"

somewhere, natalie is fulfilling their plan, their promise, trying to get the transponder to higher ground. undoing the biggest mistake misty's ever made. nothing in the world could sway her loyalty now.

but she still needs to stall. the longer, the better.

and the thing is, misty's good at lying. really good at it. back home, part of that was how easy it was to be underestimated -- a mousy girl with good grades, someone nobody paid attention to or wanted to be friends with. her parents overlooked her, her teachers. it was so easy to tell a little lie here or there. who would suspect her? who would remember she even exists?

but shauna... shauna knows what she's capable of. shauna looks at her and sees, and the thought pools heat in misty's belly, electricity in her veins. it's harder to lie to someone when they see you, when they know you the way that the surviving yellowjackets know each other now, but misty wouldn't trade that connection for the world. lying to shauna makes her feel alive. she'll just have to do better. be better. for natalie.

so misty lowers her eyes at the mention of natalie's death, like she's trying valiantly to hide her sorrow. "do --" like she's scared to ask. looks back up at shauna: beautiful, terrifying shauna. "do you really mean it? about her heart?" because she's misty, who always does what she's told, who always falls in line when the bigger dog barks. don't look behind the curtain, shauna.

[quistley]

@eatbitch: YOU NEED TO BACK OFF. NOW. / scream verse

"why, shauna? am i making you uncomfortable?" here she stands, school-outcast, sure, but more importantly, misty quigley is right. and with shauna getting in her space, teeth bared, all intimidating, misty now knows what had previously just been a hypothesis. misty reaches out, pokes shauna in the chest between her collarbones, accusatory. "or maybe you just know that i'm onto something. onto you, to be exact. you're the killer, aren't you? what, are you gonna kill me next?"

to be honest, shauna is terrifying, but misty's high on self-righteousness and the joy of knowing that shauna is an outcast, an even worse freak. "i'm not scared of you." lie lie lie. "leave natalie alone, or else." she'd even heard some theories that nat was the killer, that she was making it all up for attention.

schoolyard gossip spread by the same brain-dead degenerates who liked to make up lies about misty. it still made her furious. not secretly gentle nat, who wouldn't hurt anyone, not really, even if they deserved it. who was an outsider because she chose to be, because she was too cool for everyone else. nat needs someone in her corner, even if she doesn't know it, and that someone is going to be misty.

[shadowedvales-bye]

the cabin is vastly different upon reentry. clean and lawless. the blood, like hopper, is nowhere to be seen, and only the echo remains, humming faintly in every inch of the room. eleven's barely through the door when shauna ushers her inside, relief, and something else she can't quite fathom, falling in delicate shapes on her expressive face. there's no opportunity to speak before @eatbitch promises: "i'll take care of this, alright?" and open palms fall to the child's shoulders, desperate to be believed. elle doesn't understand love pooling in crimson on the floor; love that looks like someone who is here one minute, and gone the next. but she understands this: when outside forces tried to throw her back in that twelve year cage, shauna barricaded her very existence and yelled no.

the words back to the lab cycle without rhyme or reason, disastrously wrong. they didn't belong to his mouth, but another place, white, screaming, endless⸺ the moment he said it, she was no longer surrounded by the present scent of pine and warmth. walls thinned as lights sharpened. restraints, needles, papa's disappointed, furious gaze. she took a step back, bumped into the table. a sharp, wet squelch followed. a heavy thud. final. eleven screamed. she ran.

breath shudders in uneven pieces. SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS. it feels like safety, but that's always conditional, it comes with locks and orders and pain disguised as care. shauna's hand is steady on her shoulder. AN ANCHOR. a concealed sob releases, an ugly sound escaping into their dark night. she lunges forth, colliding harshly into shauna's chest, shaking arms tightly squeezing. she stirs, uncertain, responding to the intensity of her emotions like a nervous animal, afraid of the consequences if it spills out. a man is already dead. muffled, she asks: “ m-my fault? i left. BROKE RULES. ” she has broken enough. she won't break this, too. eleven rests an ear over her heartbeat, listening to firm insistence. each beat a quiet defiance, refusal to collapse under the weight of what's been done.

elle pulls back, snot and tears fused together on her red raw face⸺ the sleeve of oversized flannel, ( oh god. it's his… ) wipes it away. she silently counts to six, steadies herself, and looks up to shauna with large, careful eyes. “ people... look for him? for me? i go back. like he says. ” images bloom uninvited: flashlights slicing through trees, doors kicked in, voices barking her name. I DON'T WANT TO RUN FOREVER. “ not safe now. ”

[shadowedvales-bye]

》 @eatbitch [ SHAUNA SHIPMAN ] → " I PLAY THAT MOMENT BACK IN MY HEAD ALL THE TIME. "

Jane considers this the greatest achievement of her death thus far: Shauna speaking to her in words of importance and meaning, opposed to scattered, half-hearted conversations. The gentle smile on her lips is hidden just-so by the sweep of knotted curls cascading around her face, head dipped while she listens to open confessions, purposely avoiding eye contact, lest Shauna feel cornered by her burning gaze. I remember, she wants to say ⸻ the screaming, the chaos in our happy home. I was forced away, but I heard your pleas. Pat had ushered Jane and Kitty [ followed swiftly by a nervous Captain, though he'll never admit it, ] to the ballroom when things started looking dire on that fateful day, when a father and child departed and left the mother behind; an action unappreciated and misunderstood at the time. HE WAS PROTECTING THEM FROM WITNESSING THE INEVITABLE HEARTBREAK FIRST HAND. He knew Kitty would sob at the mess of a family torn apart, and Jane would retreat into shadows she took so long to emerge from. " I do not think it is a ... bad thing. It is good to play it back. Even when it is hurting. It helps you remember your girl here, always. " Index finger uncurls and pokes at her heart thrice, finally glancing up to her housemate, sharp edges softened enough for Jane to get closer than ever before. " She will remember you forever, also. I remember my mother ... and I didn't know her. "

A non-existent breath is pulled in deep, to steady herself amongst all else. [ There are still times when the mother-that-never-was unnerves her, even against better judgement. ] IVES BELONGS TO NO ONE AND NOTHING IN THIS LIFE / SHIPMAN OWNS NOTHING AND NO ONE IN THIS LIFE ⸻ it was only a matter of time until paths crossed. " I think you would of been a really ... good mum. " She continues quietly, tempted to cross the small space between them and close it off, to understand her fully. She holds back for the moment: one step at a time. Cold runs rampant throughout her limbs like a disease, taking root and preparing its crusade inside the rest of her. Why is this world so intent to keep its mothers away from their daughters? These people give her warmth, and she longs to know that closeness with Shauna, whatever the circumstance. " Do you feel very lonely here? Without her? "