Come Sail Away - Styx

[playingtough]

WHO: Billy Hargrove, Tommy Shepherd, & everyone else!
WHERE: Agrii Village
WHAT: to the New Tick! AND BEYOND!
WHEN: Jan 10th - Jan 17th
WARNINGS: Silent Lucidity by Queensrÿche Section contains spoilers! Any other spoilers will be marked, along with content warnings ♥︎

"I thought that they were angels
But to my surprise
We climbed aboard their starship"

Thriller - Michael Jackson
"You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it"

January 9th

It’s pretty known amongst the Hawkins crew and some others in the city, that Billy Hargrove is pretty awful at keeping up with comms from the phone thing that rarely leaves his pocket. He’s maybe communicated on it…twice? Maybe. That’s not the strange part.

And being lured back onto the ship, flying up through a portal and all of that, that’s not the strange part either.

Getting down to the snowy planet with these multi-armed aliens is the strange part. And after his dealings with the Upside Down back home, Hargrove isn’t sure he wants anything to do with them. Were they friendly? Was it a trap? Mostly the blond tries to keep others between himself and the Agrii as they head into the village.

Major trust issues.

He glides this way and that around people before finally ducking into one of the cabins. On his person, there’s not a lot. The Walkman for certain, with a couple of extra tapes shoved into his pocket to change it up.

[Hargrove can be approached coming out of Peanut Party, dodging around your character, or going into the cabin!]

Surfin’ U.S.A. - The Beach Boys
"A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin’ U.S.A."


January 10th, Presents

Well, Billy doesn’t like it here. It’s too cold. He hates it. He keeps the cabin very warm, when he’s in it, needing a safe spot from the cold and the memories that threaten him in it. But when the Agrii open the mysterious… barn?

Either way, it feels warm, so he goes in. He’s surprised by the sight of presents. Sure, he’s gotten gifts before from his family, but he’s not expecting anything great. Practical, maybe. That’s what Neil would get him. It’s when he comes across not one but two for him, wrapped and set to the side. One is huge and immediately Billy knows what it is. So he goes for it, pulling down the long, thin package to unwrap the paper from it.

It’s a surfboard and those pretty blue eyes light up at the sight of it. He had been in Hawkins for a year or two and figured he’d never go surfing again because of… well, things. Things that happen. But now he had a brand new one, with what felt like a fresh coat of wax on her. She was ready for the waves and suddenly Billy wanted to hop on the shuttle and go back to Temba, everyone else be damned, to take her on the water. 

But he doesn’t. Because Billy Hargrove knows it’s too cold for surfing there right now.

So he sets the board aside and goes for the other gift. It feels heavier, but it’s a familiar weight. When it’s unwrapped, Billy says nothing. He stares. Stares at the blue vase in his hands filled with sand and shells. The memories flood back like an incoming tide as he holds it. Doesn’t even realize he’s tearing up silently as he looks at it. The memories of the woman on the beach with him, collecting the shells and ocean’s stars from where they washed up on the sand.

One tear manages to get past his defenses to streak down his cheek.

Silent Lucidity - Queensrÿche [Stranger Things S3 spoilers]
"You're lying safe in bed
It was all a bad dream spinning"

January 10th, Fireworks
CW: PTSD, possible violent reactions to other characters, descriptions of past incident, self-harm in the form of scratching

He’s just left the… not-quite-a-gingerbread house when they start. Bursts and flashes of color in the sky above, raining down colorful sparks in the air. People usually see something beautiful and fleeting during events like this, and enjoy it, but Billy isn’t.

The first burst of light above gets him to stop dead in his tracks. He looks up, eyes wide but instead of being filled with awe and joy, it's terror. He can see the sparks turn into neon in his vsion, lengthening until they look like the neon signs of the mall. Billy's entire body is shaking as a vision of the creature from the mall looms up and blacks out the neons, the sparks, and everything until it's just that thing.

The thing he was controlled by until he was saved and defied it.

The shaking intensifies before it's hitting him and he screams. Doubles over, arms going around his body to hold where he knows he's bleeding. One hand scratches hard at his arm. Billy doesn't want to be possessed again, can't let it happen again, he has to keep living here—

The blond screams again, pained but... defiant, too. Doesn't realize that none of what he's seeing is happening, that he's just curled up in the snow trying to keep from dying to a creature that's not actually there...

Live And Let Die - Wings
"When you were young and your heart
Was an open book"

January 12th - 13th, White chocolate

He figured having a little bit of chocolate before going to sleep would be a treat. After the ups and downs of this whole ordeal, it was a wonder Billy was functioning at all at the moment. So a bit of white chocolate and the guy tucked himself in for a night burrowed under blankets.

That's not who emerges out of the cabin the next morning.

The clothes are big on him, this scrawny kid that hasn't hit being a teenager yet. The wind tosses his dirty blond curls as he walks around in too big clothes (he had found shoes that sort of fit at least).

"...Mom?" This wasn't San Diego. They didn't get snow in southern California, not like this. And he's never been in a cabin before. He can't even smell the ocean here. "Mom, where are you?!"

Never calling for his dad. Always calling for his mom because there was a little part of him still beating in his heart for her.

But whirling around in this strange place, he starts to jog, trying to find her. "MOOOOOM!!" he calls, feeling very alone and very small, like he did at home.

The Kids Aren’t Alright - The Offspring
"The kids are grown up, but their lives are worn
How can one little street swallow so many lives?"

January 10th, Closed to Tommy

Stars aren't anything new to Billy. They were all over in Temba, and Billy had snuck off more times than he had fingers and toes to go to the beach to look at them there. But now out here, there were so many. Like a pinch of a universe displayed before them. He pulls his sweater closer and straightens out the blanket he had brought before laying back on it. There were some snacks from the dining hall that Billy had swiped before leaving. The aliens gave him the creeps. Made him think too much about the Upside Down bullshit.

This was... nice. Billy's spot was over by the Glitter Food's shuttle, nearly out of immediate view. Almost like he wanted to be left alone as he stargazed. Something that was just familiar on this planet filled with aliens and people that he tolerated and shit.

Though the snow made him miss California.

Comments

Live And Let Die

[lvl1dm]

A door opens, hearing all the yelling, a young boy in a too big band tee and a head of his own curls tilting his head at Billy.

"I don't think she's here," he calls out in offer to the other kid, having all ready gone through his own panic and now able to be the one playing it cool.

I only have one bitty icon but oh well LOL

[playingtough]

Like everything else around him, Billy doesn't recognize this kid. He looks like someone his dad would have a problem with. He looks like someone his mom would give him cookies and milk without question. There's panic on Billy's face as the kid approaches him. "Where is she then? She was with me last night at dinner, and then I-I-I went to bed!"

Then he woke up in some strange place. Tear prick at the corners of his eyes and he angrily wipes them away. He wants his mom back!

<3

[lvl1dm]

"...I dunno," Eddie admits, "I woke up here too though, so...you're not the only one." It's not much of a comfort, but it's something.

"Are you from Hawkins?" The boy doesn't look familiar, but Eddie doesn't know everyone from town.

<3

[playingtough]

Well at least he wasn't the only one. Maybe it was alien abductors? Billy frowns, blinking back most of the tears. A couple manage to streak down his cheeks.

"Hawkins? No, I live in San Diego. Never heard of Hawkins. Where's that?" He doesn't sound anything like his older self. This version of Billy sounds more curious and less threatening for certain

[lvl1dm]

San Diego...that's out in California. Eddie frowns in surprise before answering, "Indiana. Middle of nowhere." He shrugs look kind of embarrassed. "You should come inside, it's too cold out. If you're Mom's around she'll find you easier if you stay put," he reasons.

[playingtough]

Indiana? What the hell? They had to be kidnapped then. It was the only thing that made sense to him. Billy shivers hard in the snow, arms wrapping around his chest with hands rubbing his arms.

Then he stubbornly shakes his head. "No! I can't, I have to go find her! S-she could be in trouble, or m-mayb-be c-captured." His teeth were chattering so hard it was starting to get difficult to speak without the clacking at syllables.

[lvl1dm]

"You're gonna freeze," the younger boy argues, cold himself and very much wanting to go back inside but afraid to leave him. "If she here she won't want you to freeze, and if she's not- then she's back in California, and you're not going to be able to get all the way back there on your own."

He looks back towards the cabin and then reluctantly back to the boy, "You at least need a coat or something."

You Know Which

[doubled_speed]

The shuttles hadn't been something Tommy intended to return to in the process of living in this place he'd been dragged back to. But sometimes you've got to check in on friends, right? And since Tommy hadn't been able to find Billy anywhere else in town lately, he'd poked a guy he knew with Comms to try and ping the guy's device for a location.

Which of course meant slogging his way back, in the DAMN COLD, to the ships. So there's Tommy, bundled up in a ton of layers with a thick scarf and even earmuffs he found somewhere, hands in gloves inside of mittens tucked under his armpits, shuffling and grumbling as he makes his way through the snow to find the damn idiot.

"Yo, California Dreaming," he calls out as he approaches. Sorry, not going to be along for long. "Where the fuck have you gotten? You're going to freeze your tits off!"

:3 <3

[playingtough]

He can hear the crunch of shoes in the snow. At first, Billy ignores it. Probably just someone going to the shuttles. Then it gets closer and that gets his attention. Tommy calls out to him in greeting before Billy can decide whether or not to look at who it is.

But then he does, turning his head to look at Tommy with a grin. "My tits aren't going anywhere, Tomothy. I've got enough clothes on for stargazing," with a hand waving his fingers upwards to indicate them winking above. "I haven't really sat down and seen them since California."

A little pause.

"And it's... it's quieter out here."

[doubled_speed]

Tomothy? Tommy has to laugh at that. What a fucking thing to call a guy. Tommy shakes his head. He supposes he's owed that, after all the names he uses for people.

"I don't know. They seem covered for a change. Impressed that this is the time of year you and Muscles McGee actually understand the concept of a shirt."

Still, he looks up, toward the stars. For a moment he looks... hurt by them, then he shakes his head.

"Stars are more my brother's thing. When he's in his full hero mode, his latest costume actually displays galaxies. Guess that's what happens when you're married to a Space King. And might be... Well, that's a whole other matter."

[playingtough]

"More like I know the concept of having a shirt all the way closed," he points out. Which was true, since he kept most of his shirts either low cut or unbuttoned to show the top of his chest. No further, to keep people from asking about the scars.

"Well good thing he's not here then. No heroes or glittering capes."

Billy shifts on the blanket, clearly making room as an invitation. "Stars are stars here. You could probably race to them and back before I could blink or some... superhero shit. Now are you gonna sit and look at them or wander off sulking because you got a brother or some bullshit?"

[doubled_speed]

"Oh, I'm sure he's got a glittering cape for Agrii New Year or whatever."

Stars are definitely stars here. But he laughs at the very idea that he could race to things like that.

"Can't go fast enough. You'd need to surpass the speed of light. And I also can't fly, so yeah, not possible. So for this moment they can just be pretty stars."

[playingtough]

"A glittering cape? Fucking stupid. I got a surfboard." Billy flashes a grin up at Tommy. It's white with green trim. I can't wait for spring already."

Said surfboard was in his cabin, propped up against the wall so he could admire it before going off to sleep. A great present.

"I bet you could go fast enough." Billy motions with his hand going horizontal then vertical. "Up a building with enough speed and you could launch up that high. Then kick off of the star like you're turning around in a swimming pool."

Lucidity

[butterfly_kiss]

Fireworks are just fireworks. Not that Tae doesn't like them. Actually, she prefers them when it's a warmer time of the year, some summer get together where she can get out a kimono and head out with friends to look and then maybe hit a bar later. These Agrii ones aren't so bad, but they also aren't that impressive. She doesn't expect to be wowed.

But all thoughts of them are gone the moment she hears a scream. Tae doesn't think. She just moves. Nothing goes together with fireworks and screaming so much as burns or explosions, and those have to be treated quickly. She drops what she's carrying (her new coat) and holds onto the other one as she runs. And comes around ac orner to find him.

Hargrove.

Because of course.

The usual annoyance doesn't even begin to come into her mind though. She's at his side, hands on a shoulder to try and stabilize him.

"Where are you hurt?" she asks. "Hargove, hey, look at me kid."

She's got to get him out of the snow but she isn't strong enough. Maybe one of the staring and concerned Agrii can move him for her once she can get him stablized enough for it.

[playingtough]

Billy isn't present in the snow, mind back in the inside of Starcourt. He can hear the roar of the monster, feel the pain of against his sides. It feels hot, more on his face where he doesn't realize tears are streaming down his face, than it does on the sides. It's where she stitched him up all those months ago. There's no way he ripped those injuries open. Not after all this time.

His hand digging into the skin of his arm moves quick when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Thinking it was the creature, trying to get to him, Billy swings that hand back to try and backhand her off of him. "GET OFF OF ME! YOU'RE NOT GONNA KILL ME!!"

His scream echoes around them, his blue eyes wild. Billy's not here, Tae. "I'M NOT GONNA DIE YET!!" At least he gets onto his backside, trying to scoot away from him. Aside from the red welts on his arm, everything else seems... okay...

[butterfly_kiss]

The hand flails out to strike and Tae barely avoids it. Well no, she catches a little of the nails across her skin, but she'll live.

"Hey, it's okay," 'she says, trying to keep her voice soothing. "Your taste in music may be shit and you are too much of an idiot to not smoke near an oxygen system, but I'm here. I have you, kid. You're going to be okay. I've got you. Just let me see how you're hurt. I'll fix you all up."

[playingtough]

He can't really hear her. He hears that thing and his sister screaming off in the distance. Where was Max? Was she even safe? She better be, the little brat. If Billy was going to die here, she better be somewhere where it can't find her.

Between screaming and trying to breathe, his air intake is irregular, getting Billy to start hyperventilating.

'I have you, kid.' He can hear someone. Next to him? No, still far, too far, she can't save him. 'You're going to be okay. I've got you.' Billy pulls away, rolling over to hands and knees to heave. Thankfully nothing comes up and he sobs, too wrapped up in his own head.

[butterfly_kiss]

"It's okay," she says, voice soft before gesturing an Agrii over. "We're going to take you inside, so you're not in the snow. No more cold, okay?"

[playingtough]

Despite the cold around him, under his hands and knees, Billy sweats like he's running a race. He hears that female voice again, and the faint sound of other footsteps joining them. "It's... c-cold. But— noise— I can't—"

Billy is trying so hard to pull himself out of the mall, out of the cold darkness that threatens to smother him back down so his hands could do unspeakable things again. He doesn't want to go back, he can't, and he doesn't want to die—

Live and Let Die

[stitch_witch]

The voice definitely draws attention. Probably from the Agrii. Maybe from other He Rows. Definitely from someone with a loud, answering bark. It takes a minute, but suddenly from around a corner there comes a dog. A large dog. A wolfhound with curly blonde fur that is probably larger than the boy, wearing a knitted winter sweater, matching winter booties, and trailing a leash. Somewhere a woman shouts, but the dog isn't daunted.

No, he runs right up to the kid, whimpering, and tries to snuggle up to him. Little Bear just can't tolerate the clear distress.

[playingtough]

"MOOOOOOM!!" he calls out again, one hand cupped around his mouth to help with the volume. Then he hears something running in the distance. The distance getting smaller. It was heading towards him? Around the corner comes a dog that's as big as HIM and he startles. He hears a shout from a lady, but it didn't sound like Mom.

Billy startles as the dog comes straight up to him, falling on his rear and giving Little Bear plenty of time to get in some snuggles. "What?! Get off of me, don't bite me!" Even though Little Bear was doing no such thing. Billy had never had a pet before. "Get off of me, I gotta find my mom!"

[stitch_witch]

The dog isn't biting. Just licking the boy's face to try and make it better. Surely the boy needs help. This should make him happier. Why isn't he happier? Little Bear whines.

Meanwhile Lark, all bundled up and warm, finally comes around the corner seeking the dog.

"Little Bear. Sit."

The dog's butt immediately thumps down next to the boy. See, he's a good dog.

"I'm so sorry. He got away from me. Are you okay?"

[playingtough]

In this small boy's defense, he's in a strange place with snow, with a dog now in his face. Billy turns this way and that, trying to get away from Little Bear's insistent licking. Then the licking stops and the dog is sitting down at the command from the woman.

Billy wipes his face, breathing hard and looking between the two. This obviously wasn't his mom.

He scoots a little away from the dog. Out of his control comes a sniff - mostly because he's distressed about being lost and separated from his mother. "...'m fine. Well, I can't find my mom. I don't know where I'm at."

[stitch_witch]

Very obviously wasn't his mom, yes. But Lark looks very sadly down at the young man and then takes her scarf off. One of her own creation of course, and spelled for warmth.

"Here, put this on, it will keep you warm and protect your face from Little Bear. I am Lark. How about we go to where they are serving food. Everyone comes by there sooner or later. If there is somewhere to find our mother, it will be there."

Not that Lark believes she will find his mother. She has seen these candy issues.

[playingtough]

He doesn't like how she looks down at him. Is it pity? Maybe. He frowns, until the scarf is offered. It feels warm and so he takes it, carefully looping it around his neck. It is warm and he pulls as much as he can around his head to soak in the heat.

Then he looks over Lark. "...Mom said I'm not supposed to go with strangers. I need to go out and look for her."