- RUBI INBOX -

[verbol]

Leave a message -

Hello from...

RUBILYKSKOYE

25/09/----

Sorry I missed you, but stay out of my goddamn head.

— JH

---

Rubilykskoye

@rubilykskoye

CODE BY TESSISAMESS

Comments

[verbol]

He’s himself here, so how about we leave the firearms in the hunting lodge for now.

[He’s wildly ill-prepared to handle teen drama, let alone teen-drama with possession trauma. ]

He and Eddie and their - [a beat, tired,] girlfriend, know the ropes. They’d keep you safe.

[gunshooting]

[ Somewhere, Nancy Wheeler mouthing "their girlfriend" to herself, doubtful. ]

I'm not going to shoot Billy [ unprovoked, Nancy doesn't add. ] when I see him.

[ Rather than ask about girlfriends or what the ropes entail, Nancy asks quietly: ]

Are you sure it's only us?

[verbol]

[Still weary: ] Good. [One less mess to worry about.]

Far as I know, it's just us. No one else has reached out, and I haven't seen anyone else in - a long time.

[Too long. Such a long, long time now, since he last saw his family. ] I don't hope for anyone to come here, Nancy. Neither should you.

[gunshooting]

[ A long time nags at her. How long does he mean? What's the last thing Hopper remembers?

She's quiet for a minute, thinking, before she tells him: ]

It's better here than where I was. Steve would agree with me.

[ Though she softens this with: ]

But not better than Hawkins.

[verbol]

I've heard. From Quentin, and from Danny.

[More from Quentin. Danny is - complicated. A complication so vividly miserable that he isn't sure how to explain it to himself sometimes, let alone himself. He braces, for a moment, and adds: ] He staying away from you?

[gunshooting]

[ A beat. Quiet. ]

I don't think he knows I'm here yet.

[ Unclear what will happen when he does. (Nancy knows, she does, but Hopper might not need to.) ]

[verbol]

Try and keep it that way for as long as possible. He's already a pain in my ass.

[don't ask, pls Nancy.]

bow on this?

[gunshooting]

[ she won't ask. yet. ]

I'll try. I promise.

[ however— ]