[video] un: eleven

[savingthrows]

[ The video clicks on to a young girl, perhaps 14 years. Her round eyes look a little unsure, brows drawn together in concentration as she figures out how to work this new tablet machine with the stupid name - it's not liquid. She's learned how to operate the application tools back in Beacon, so it's a transition rather than a completely new skill.

Eleven sits cross legged on her bed, half cast in the light of the strange lantern sitting right next to her. She sets the Fluid down on the nightstand, then briefly leans out of frame and picks something up that looks like a beak shaped, half plague doctor mask, distractedly scratching at her neck, where healed scars looks as though something once grabbed her by the neck. Finally, she stops fidgeting and looks at the camera. ]

Hi.

[ She speaks with a pattern that might strike as odd. Sometimes halting in odd places, or saying words slowly, as if she has to place them on her tongue very deliberately. ]

Is there an angel? Here? I need a... miracle. Or maybe. Someone old, with magic?

[ She glances down at the mask, worries her lower lip between her teeth, then adds: ]

There's something in here. It smells like... where I'm from. Home. It's fading. I lost my friend who did the... miracle. So it's fading. But it's important. [ She swallows, lips pursed. ] To me.

[ The things unsaid sit deep in her chest and ache - the home she lost months ago. The friends she lost along the way. A short, deep breath, she gathers herself, serious face relaxing into something softer, but still somber. ]

I can pay. With glitter pens. Or birds, if you have paper.

[Another small pause. She's about to reach out and shut the video off, when she remembers lessons learned. Right - manners. Or the attempt at them. ]

Thanks.

Comments

[savingthrows]

[ It was - awful.

Eleven hovers on the edge of the topic for a moment, but then perches on the edge of Brianna's bed instead, pulls her legs up onto the covers. ]

Tell me more? About you. Being a superhero.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Brianna opens her mouth, but the words don't come. She can't remember how she got her powers, or... anything about what she used to do before she came to Deerington. It's like walking up a set of stairs in the dark and misjudging where they end, stepping out into nothing. She can only remember being here. ]

I... um. [ She takes a breath, lets it out. Stay calm. ]

I can show you once I stop feeling so gross. One time—Mike and me fought zombies together.

[savingthrows]

[ Fought together - protected him, or so Eleven hopes. Mike and Will and Dustin, Steve, Nancy. They need protection, and people like them can provide it. ]

Yes. When you're... okay again.

[ Eleven shifts a little. It seems she has missed the subtlety of Brianna avoiding anything from before Deerington. ]

I can... show you mine. My powers.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Well, yeah. But Mike has such a constant death wish that he tries to fight, too.

Brianna grins, her eyes lighting up again. She genuinely thinks superpowers are the coolest thing ever. ]

Yeah! Show me.

[savingthrows]

[ A flicker of excitement in Eleven's face. She... enjoys showing them off, her powers. There's something not quite allowed about it that makes it all the more fun. She unclips the lantern from her belt, puts it on the bed between them, then stretches out her hand - tattoo of a deer skull on her palm, with vines and flowers growing from it.

The lantern wobbles slightly, then lifts into the air. Eleven moves her arm to the side, and the lantern, hovering, moves with it. ]

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Despite feeling like crap, Brianna's face lights up as she watches Eleven move the lantern. It's not a huge demonstration, but it doesn't have to be. She can see on Eleven's face that this is just the bare minimum of what she can do, and that just makes it cooler. Even her tattoo is cool. Eleven is cool. ]

That's badass. I bet you can kick serious butt when you want to.

[savingthrows]

[ Eleven glances at Brianna, and something about her expression shifts, from something somber and hesitant to soft delight, like any other kid getting to show off a cool trick.

She looks younger like this, too. ]

I can also. Spy. On people.

[fayzedandconfused]

What do you mean?

[ This girl is officially the coolest. ]

[savingthrows]

[ She's bitchin'. ]

With my mind. I can spy on people. See what they're doing. See what they're saying.

[fayzedandconfused]

No shit?

[ Brianna is grinning, thrilled. She leans forward, caught up in the excitement of it. ]

So what's everyone doing right now?

[savingthrows]

[ Eleven chuckles a little at that, shakes her head a little. ]

Not that easy. I can look at.... one. At a time. Maybe people they're with. I can look at Mike, and if Mike is with Will and Dustin, I can see them, too. I need.... a blindfold. To see. And... white noise? Like static.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ That deflates her a little, but not by much. ]

Oh. Sounds complicated.