A few days later, the normal routine had been resumed. It was an expected warm day; breeze lacking and heat rising by the minute.
"The break'll be over soon enough." Steve mentioned as a thought to the passengers in the back seat of his car. "You guys got anything planned for the rest of it?"
The two best friends had been instructed to drive Will and Eleven back to their forest-planted cabin after spending their time round at Dustin's. They'd been recruited earlier in the day to gather at the location, and since the journey was a fair few steps away from the base, the local taxi service had been called again. However, as much as they rallied against it, Robin and Steve never really minded the business.
Buckley glanced into the wing-mirror, catching eye on a confused girl turning to her sibling. She opened her mouth in question before turning back to the front and shaking her head.
"I don't... think so?" She murmured, shrugging her shoulders and peering over to the questioner. Steve nodded slowly in reply, tapping the steering wheel as he cruised down the road.
The woman in the passenger seat beside him blew out a breath, angling herself towards the back of the car and tilting her question towards the opposing.
"You played anymore D&D?"
Will blinked at the mention. He seemed to still be sour about the tragedy.
"Uh, no."
"You've talked about what happened with them?"
He yet again stayed quiet.
"No, and I'd rather not... it would cause too much trouble."
Looking down, Byers looped his sleeve fabric around his fingers. He was wearing his classic flannel- a core Will item- and a pair of plain jeans.
"Yeah, I understand that." Robin smiled, turning towards the front again but still angling her questions towards the back. "What do you guys even do all day- since you used to play that game, like, all the time, right?"
As the continued question drew to a close, not one answer sprouted, but two. At exactly the same time, Robin heard one voice that said 'yeah, we did', and another that said 'he makes paintings for the girls that he likes.'
Or at least that's what she thought it had said.
A pause. A moment.
"He what?"
"He makes paintings-"
"El-"
"-for the girls..." she shifted her eyes from Robin, to Will, back to Robin, "that he likes."
The mirror reflected a message that Buckley had seen before. At least perhaps it was similar- but then again, perhaps not.
Steve grinned from his seat, basking in the familiarity. It was common knowledge that the boy was nothing but a professional painter by that point.
However, Will hushed, staring daggers into his lap and continuing to nod his head. Eleven looked proud of her reveal, proud of her sibling for finally making moves in the right direction... but still the sadness ensued.
Robin carefully bit the inside of her cheek, furrowing her eyebrows as if it'd help her to read the boy behind.
"And how do they like them, Will?"
A few more seconds.
"I don't know yet."
"Hm..."
And that was the end of the conversation.
Eleven seemed confused as to why nothing more was said; as to why he was so secretive and mundane over the whole ordeal of it all of the time.
Steve kept his eyes plastered on the road ahead as he cleared his throat and turned into the tree-encased road. It had always been quite an odd location to keep a house- but supposedly, since it was a cabin, it was typical.
Buckley uncrossed her leg from the other, feeling the muscle growing numb. She had been intrigued by the topic, even though her theme of 'arts' wasn't specifically artwork. However, she knew that all creativity perfectly swirled into one by the end of the day, anyway, so didn't allow the barrier between them to stop her from throwing out a question.
"Hey, Will," she grabbed his attention as the car grew closer to the yard of the destination, "could I maybe see your paintings? I'd love to have a look."
When he had looked up to the central mirror to meet eye contact, he tilted his head very minimally. He returned the question with a weary nod, grimacing slightly at the thought.
"Uhhh..." he echoed, looking towards El as her face slowly dropped. "Yeah, I guess so."
"What?" His sibling then questioned, scrunching her eyebrows in offence. "I never get to see them- I've only ever seen the one you showed to Mike."
Will shrugged and Robin pondered, returning the girl's scrunched expression.
"Thanks- I guess it's an honour?"
The BMW rolled to a stop, crunching over stray sticks and starved branches. As the engine paused in its rumble, the backdoor was thrown open, and out jumped the nervous Byers.
"Uh, come on, then. I'll show you."
Robin nodded.
Steve continued to cross over his legs at the stop in motion, making himself comfortable as Eleven also made her leave.
"Alright guys, don't be too long, yeah?"
Buckley grimaced.
"I'll be as long as I want to, thank you very much."
"Yeah, if you want to walk home."
"Oh- shut it."
-
"Oh, Jeez." Robin huffed as she stepped into the building, peering around at the dusty interior. She didn't seem to recall if she'd ever been so far in before, but it didn't seem awfully apparent.
Joyce and Hopper weren't around, probably milling around town doing God-knows-what, but it seemed apparent that Joyce had attempted a clean up before she left.
However, a clean up wasn't possible when the building wasn't even big enough for a family of four, let alone five- albeit missing one.
"There's not a lot of room in here, is there?" She continued, speaking to Will as Eleven wandered off into her green-doored bedroom.
"Uh, not really. It works though, I guess. Mom and Hop are looking into buying back the old place, anyway- since it's still on the market."
"Oh, that'd be good- having your old home again."
"Suppose. A lot of bad memories though, I guess. But then again, where in Hawkins doesn't?... Follow me."
Robin shrugged into the acceptance that there wasn't many safe places in town anymore, and sauntered her way towards the trail of the leader.
He weaved through the furniture, mulled towards the back door, and opened it.
"Why're we going outside?" Buckley questioned, still obeying the trail.
"Oh- Hopper built a shed a while back. It's quieter in there so that's where I do most of my work."
"Fair play, fair play." She nodded, appreciating the qualities of a quiet workspace.
They both stepped down the stairs, trudged over to the wooden door a few paces away, and let themselves inside.
It seemed to be a typical work shed; a few shotguns here and there, hammers, mallets, tool kits- anything build-worthy that you could desire, it had got within its shelving.
However, placed strategically in the centre of the open middle, stood a weak and makeshift painters easel. It was very beaten up, very DIY, but a small unrolled canvas still stood proud upon its props.
"There's a, uh, box down there with a few, if you want to have a look."
Buckley nodded in reply to the words, perching herself down onto a wooden box as she reached towards the rolled canvases. There were only a few- which would make sense, since they were all only visiting- but Will had seemed to be quite busy either way.
He stood nervously in the corner as his prized possessions were being revealed.
Pulling the elastic band off of the first that she had grabbed, Robin unrolled the piece, making sure to be careful around the edges and delicate with the creasing.
Floods of patched colour entered her vision, filling the dull space and exciting the decor. What was uncovered was beautiful; locations and creatures of all shapes and sizes- locations and creatures that didn't even exist but still stood powerfully upon the page.
The boy watched on with anticipation, awaiting the reaction and trembling in his nerve. His proper paintings hadn't had much of an audience before then.
"Will- these are great."
He laughed cautiously, trying to hide the grin that was forming on his face.
"Thanks."
"Whoever gets these will certainly be lucky."
His smile faded and he reached towards the art, carefully pulling it from the woman's grip.
"I don't think any girl would like them, honestly. Too many monsters- it's hardly a gift."
Robin blinked, hands still in the same position as they were when holding.
"Ah, well, you never know. Everyone's different."
"Yeah, but, like I say, probably no girl would want something like that."
His words were becoming uncomfortable.
"What about a boy? Perhaps a boy would."
The question seemed like a crime to say, even though it wasn't on the topic of her own self. Will reacted like it was a crime, too, stepping back slightly only to nudge and knock a balancing object.
When he didn't reply, she continued.
"You made one for Mike, right? He liked it, I hear."
"...yeah."
"Are these similar to that one?"
Will seemed small.
"Mhm."
"Well- there's the answer."
Buckley believed that her calmness after voicing such an earth-shattering hint was concerning the boy in front of her. She hated that she had made him tense, and was prepared to do anything in her power to calm the nerve that she had created.
Will blinked, and Robin took a deep breath out.
"Y'know," the continuing words were quiet and peaceful, "I could help you get back on speaking terms with the rest of them- maybe even D&D terms, if you want."
A pause. She carried on.
"Look, I'm not great with words, even though I do talk a lot... but I know what it's like to lose people over things they don't understand."
Both of the people in the shed were silently communicating on the same level. They didn't know what yet, but they could sense something.
"Yeah," Byers replied, looking down to the floor and then slowly back upwards, "that'd be nice."
A smile, and then another.
Robin took a stand, angling herself towards the door.
"You know where I am if you need me."
And with that, she smiled and walked back out of the building.