jackwabbit | New Fic: Repurposed (Reply)

Repurposed

Fandom: Stranger Things
Rated: G
Category: Gen. Vignette. Friendship. Eleven and Will.
Time Frame: Shortly after Season Two.
Spoilers: Stranger Things, Season Two.
Summary: Some things are just meant for a higher purpose.
Word Count: 534

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Will rummaged through the closet for a few minutes before he found what he was looking for.

"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed, slowly extricating himself from boxes and bins. "Got 'em!"

Then he shoved his find in his backpack and ran out the front door.

Joyce called after him.

"Where are you going?"

"Hopper's!" yelled Will over his shoulder.

Joyce sighed and waved him off easily, because although Jim wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the situation, his cabin was one of the few places she'd let Will go on his own.

She still picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number, though, just to let Hopper know to expect Will. She might be ok with him biking there now, but she still kept tabs on him.

After two rings, Eleven answered.

"Hello?"

Joyce smiled. "Hey, El. It's Joyce. Is Hopper there?"

"No."

At that, Joyce blinked.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Outside," said Eleven simply.

Joyce exhaled. For a moment, she'd forgotten that El was so very literal.

"But he's there at the cabin?"

Eleven looked out the window and saw Hopper by his truck.

"Yes. Do you need to talk to him?"

Joyce shook her head.

"No, sweetie. That's OK. Just... When he comes inside, can you tell him Will is on his way over? That he just left?"

"OK," said Eleven.

Then she hung up the phone, still pretty shaky on things like etiquette.

Joyce chuckled as she hung up too and continued getting ready for work.

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Two miles away, as the crow flies or the bike goes through the woods, Will slid to a stop in front of Hopper's cabin.

Hopper wasn't home. He’d left for work shortly after El had seen him without coming back inside, so Eleven hadn’t passed on Joyce’s message, but she also hadn't lied. Not exactly.

And in this case, what his mother didn't know couldn't hurt him, so Will grinned as El opened the door.

"You bring them?" she asked.

Will nodded enthusiastically.

Eleven smiled widely and let him in. Then they got to work.

Two hours later, they were done. They admired their handiwork for a while, then Will headed back to his house.

He was home before anyone was the wiser about his and El's afternoon adventure.

That is, until Hopper got home from work that night and discovered his nondescript cabin had become a winter wonderland inside.

Paper snowflakes adorned the walls and windows, and strings of holiday lights hung from the rafters.

Hopper didn't even ask where El had gotten her supplies. He just sighed, shook his head, then started to laugh.

He laughed for a good minute before El spoke.

"It's OK?"

Hopper pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah, kid. It's OK."

And he meant it. While he wasn't too keen on making the place more noticeable, everything El had done was inside. It wasn't any more obvious than a light in the window.

So he was fine with it.

And when Joyce came over later in the week, she had to agree.

Her Christmas lights looked far better in the rafters of the Hopper home than they did nailed over a sloppy alphabet on her living room wall.