Auroradannon

Happy weekend and a very merry

Pink Undies Sunday

The original over-the-shoulder kiss drawing inspired by S3 before I just did a straight-up screepshot redraw instead ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

Still liked the sketch for this so i cleaned it up a bit for you guys ♡

the kids hatch their plan about wanting to go into the tunnels, set fire there and distract the hive mind so el can do her thing undisturbed. steve is against it. if you work these points backward, look at where the plot needs to go and where we are and how will we get from a to b, it's steve who's in the way. he's against the plan. he wants them to stay put.

Also, the kiss was a big deal not just because it was gay but because the trans actress was HIV positive. They wanted to show the world that you can't contract HIV just from kissing someone. Bear in mind, the AIDS crisis was still fresh on people's minds in the 90s.

This squirrel attempted to jump a full six feet (yes, I measured) from a nearby bush to the bird feeder. Its first two misses were spectacular, so much so that when it made it on the third try, I let it hang out and eat as many peanuts as it wanted.

i liked this one enough to colour it. this also gives me a great opportunity to ramble about billy :>

SO

It happens when Max calls. Her voice whispers over the phone. It doesn't sound like Max. And she's talking in that way of hers. Which means she's talking in circles. In code. Trying to say the thing without saying it. Like someone's listening. (Neil was always listening. 'Was. You got that, Max? Was.') Billy hears enough. She's with Will. They're in trouble. It sets him on edge. Every muscle in his body tenses. And Billy feels sick to his stomach. Drives too fast. Blows past one out of two. fucking. traffic. lights. in this shit-hole town. On any other day, that fact drives Billy up a wall. Makes him feel cagey. Like this town is too small. Too suffocating. But now it's too big. Too much. Nothing can be normal.

Like Max's voice wasn't normal.

Jesus Christ.

It's impossible, but everyone will swear that Billy's out of the Camaro before he even cuts the engine. He just sort of appears. Lifts himself out. Pinches a cigarette between two fingers. Shuts the door. Takes everything in at once. His eyes immediately lock on Max and Will. She's in her wheelchair. He's gripping the handles. They're outside Family Video. Max just wanted to feel normal. For once. She wanted to go out and pick a movie with her friend. Not have someone pick it up for her. Because she's in a wheelchair. And she's trapped.

Billy's eyes flick to the windows. Sees the faces pressed up against the glass. And then there's a cluster people craning their necks on the sidewalk. Mouths curve to spit out jeers. Eyes that won't stop staring. Like this is some goddamn show. And Max and Will are the resident oddities.

He catches wind of the whole damn thing. Hawkins' residents are calling Max Zombie Girl now. Because she came back from the dead. Like Will. And Will is Zombie Boy. And it's like the joke's too good to pass up. The dead girl and dead boy being friends.

It's sudden. Billy's at Max and Will's side. 'They're watching us,' Will murmurs. "Get to the car, Byers, and pop the trunk." A warning. Not to Will. But to everyone else. Billy's words carry an edge. An edge most people don't want to touch. It cuts through the air, and the gathering crowd steps back a bit. Like they don't want to get in the way of Will Byers making it safely to the car. Because Billy said it.

His teeth clamp down on the cigarette. Billy's puffing away, fingers gripping the handles of Max's wheelchair as he gets her to the car. And this is the part Max hates. She hates it because she can't even get into the car without help. And people are fucking watching.

Which is why Billy keeps smoking as he locks the wheelchair and comes around to the front. He bends down a little, arms bracing to lift her. Strong. Steady. Their faces are inches apart, and he keeps puffing away. Max's arms wrap around his neck. She scrunches her nose... and takes the bait. Max starts bitching about him smoking all the time. Calls him disgusting. Asks why he's gotta smoke all the damn time.

And the concentrated knot that's forming between Billy's brows lessens. A little bit relieved. Because he's smoking so Max can have something to be mad about. Something to throw her anger into when she can't throw her own weight. So she can focus on that instead of the fact that she's in a wheelchair. And she can't do this on her own. And people are watching.

Billy doesn't really lift Max. They just sort of stand up. And this is the part that kills him. Because Max is leaning against him, and he can barely feel any weight. She's sitting in the passenger seat soon enough. "You all right?" The question is serious. But his voice cracks, and his tone pitches higher. Because the worry's twisting his lungs until he can't breathe. Max only nods. Doesn't look at him. Just keeps glaring through the windshield at the gathering crowd. And Billy's fucking had it.

He straightens up. Looks at Will. "You all right?"

A metallic TING! from the bell above the door at Family Video breaks the silence. A balding man steps out. Bold. Stupidly so. "You should've stayed dead. All of you. Instead of bringing the whole town down with you."

That does it. Billy's stepping out around the car door. Shuts it gently. Too gently. And that's somehow scarier than anything else. The gathering crowd knows it. There's a collective breath held in the space between them. Billy shifts his weight, body blocking Will and the wheelchair from these people. And he looks like a fucking wall.

"Put the wheelchair in the car, kid." He says it without breaking his gaze with the bastard standing at the doorway. Billy's eyes are intense. A little wild. Pissed off. And the truth of the matter is that Billy's actually tired. His body is tired. His mind is tired. He's tired of this goddamn town. He's tired of these people and the way they stare. It was one thing when they were staring at him. Billy thinks (or thought), he could take it. But now they're staring at Max. And Will. Because they died. And that makes them wrong.

Billy pulls the cigarette from his mouth. Ashes it. "Didn't you ever learn to respect the dead?" The words roll out slow. It's dangerous. Loaded. And then he grins. It's not nice. It's like Billy's daring the guy to try him.