runtowardsomething | (no subject)

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eleven

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Technically speaking, Beverly has an ulterior motive for today. She's been working up to this for a little while, ever since she first talked with Hopper about it on her birthday. Now, finally, the pieces are all in place, the papers ready to file, but she's not about to go through with anything until she has one other person's approval. It isn't just Hopper whose family she's a part of, but Eleven, too. A name won't change anything, really. She would probably have done this long ago, otherwise. But especially now that she's a legal adult and thus no longer in need of a legal guardian — now that she's about to graduate, with her name on a diploma to be read out as she walks across a stage — it feels important. This is the family she chooses, and though she doesn't need a name for that, it still feels like the right choice.

Even without that, though, she might well have suggested this today. The weather is finally nice enough for a day at the boardwalk to be worthwhile, and she knows a lot of this was new for El when she first got here. Busy as Beverly may be with the end of school and finals that she doesn't think could possibly matter any less, it's definitely worth carving out time for a girls' day. A sisters' day, really. It's still nice to think about it like that.

"Alright," she says, looking over at El with a grin once they've arrived. "What should we do first? Food, games?"

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"Games," she says decisively. "I'm getting better at winning them without cheating." She's also getting better at cheating, but she doesn't tell Beverly that.

The more she uses her powers, the easier they come to her, the stronger she feels. The better she can protect her friends. There's a part of her that hopes, one day, she'll be strong enough to find her friends outside of Darrow — Mike, Dustin, and Lucas and Max, but now Fraser, too. She just wants to know she can see them, check on them, and know they're safe. She still can't, not yet, but she tries all the time.

"I know they're broken," she adds, and she means rigged, "but Stan brought me here, too, when the city was empty. I practiced." It'd been easy to practice with no vendors making her pay for turns.

Beverly gives El a conspiratorial smile at that, ducking her head toward her like she's sharing a secret. "If you do cheat, I promise not to tell," she says. It's not like there could be any real harm in it. The prizes are never anything exorbitant, mostly just a variety of plushies, and considering how many people sink money into games it's virtually impossible to win, it can't hurt for the house to lose once in a while. What really matters is the fun of it anyway.

"Come on, games it is. I bet we can both win the one where you throw a ball to knock over the bottles or whatever."

She's always had good aim.

Eleven grins and follows Beverly to the games booth that has the bottles stacked into a precarious pyramid. She'd practiced on that one a lot, too. Throwing well seems to be a good skill no matter what it's for. She pays for their first round, and copies Beverly's stance when they both prepare to throw.

"Next game's on me," Beverly promises, giving El a quick little grin before throwing the first of the three balls that make up the round. There's a trick to this, she knows there is, and while she may not know exactly what this trick is, she's determined to beat it all the same. With that in mind, she aims for one of the bottom bottles, a move she intends to replicate in order to send them all toppling.

They have to knock down more than half the bottles to get a prize, and all of the bottles to get the 'grand prize.' Eleven throws her first ball and completely misses. It sails harmlessly over the right side of the pyramid and hits the soft foam backboard, then falls into a long trough beneath it. She frowns. Throwing with her hand isn't like throwing with her powers, she remembers. She has to aim with her body, not her mind.

She tries again, and plinks the top bottle off the stack.

"You got it," Beverly says, warm and under her breath, just loud enough for Eleven to hear. Whether at this game or not, she has every intention of both of them winning something today. It would just be particularly satisfying to win one that she knows is rigged. The bottom ones are stuck down, she thinks — not glued entirely, but sticky or something, making them harder to tip over. She means to do it.

Certain of her aim, she throws the second ball a little harder. It hits the same bottle; the force jostles a couple of the upper ones hard enough to topple them over, but she has one more throw to try to get the grand prize, and she isn't going to give up now.

Edited 2022-07-07 06:31 (UTC)

Eleven watches her instead of taking her last throw; it feels important, and she thinks Beverly is more likely to succeed than she is, anyway. She debates helping with her powers. She's gotten really good at hiding public use of it, though she'll never tell Hop that. It just feels important to be able to use her powers without other people seeing, even where she can be seen. She wants to make sure she can help if she ever needs to.

As Beverly braces for her final throw, Eleven glances at the man running it so she can gauge where his attention is. He doesn't look like he's too worried about the teenage girls playing his game. Good.

Beverly pauses, taking a breath, before her last throw. Her aim, she trusts; she's hit the same spot twice, and she's sure she'll be able to do so again. The trick is hitting it hard enough to dislodge all the bottles, which might be possible but might not, depending on just how rigged this game is. Noticing that Eleven has stilled in her peripheral vision, Beverly glances sideways at her for just a moment, the corners of her mouth quirking into a smile.

Turning back to the game, her aim set, she lets her last ball fly.

Eleven wants Beverly to have this win, to earn it with her own strength and aim and know she did it.

But as soon as the ball leaves her hand, El can see it isn't strong enough or fast enough. The game is too broken for fair fights. So she narrows her eyes and gives the ball a burst of speed that hopefully isn't immediately noticed. It collides with the bottle, jostles it backwards, and sends the ones stacked above it toppling. They knock the other bottom bottles down, clearing the stack.

El grins, and discreetly checks her nose, then throws her last ball. It clunks harmlessly against the stack and barely jostles it. It doesn't matter, though. Beverly won.

There's a moment where Beverly isn't sure if it's going to work or not. She's good at this, she knows she is, but no one is supposed to be able to beat these; that's how they make money. Determined as she is, she knows there's a good chance that she won't be able to win, and that that's why. The ball hits harder than she expected, though, and the bottles knock over, and she lights up, beaming as she turns to El.

She doesn't know if this was luck, or skill, or if El might have helped her win, but as far as she's concerned, it doesn't matter. They came out here to have fun, and that's exactly what they're doing.

"I won!" she says brightly, pleased and surprised. "Help me pick a prize?" She intends to give it to El, anyway.

El nods and grins wider when the man running the booth looks surprised that they'd won. She moves closer to Beverly's side so they can choose one together.

This is what she likes — having fun, and spending time with her family, her friends. Beverly is one of her closest friends here, and someone she looks up to. Like Max, Beverly knows more about people and the world than Eleven does, and she values that a lot.

Once they've settled on a prize — the sort of oversized plushie that's customary in carnival games — Beverly beams, offering a quick thank you to the man at the booth before heading away. There's so much here they can do, from other games to snacks to get, and she means to try to fit in as much of it as she can. With one victory down, though, she's tempted to get out of the way what the initial purpose of this trip was. They're both having a good time, and they'll continue to do so after, so it might just be best now.

First, though, some food. "Do you want to get some funnel cake or something?" she asks. "It's on me."

El's learned by now that 'it's on me' doesn't actually mean the food will be on Beverly, but the phrase always catches her off guard, and she laughs a little when she hears it. She's feeling bright and cheerful now that they've got their prize from the game, and it comes easy.

"Yes," she says. "Funnel cake, and root beer." She likes the pop and fizz of root beer better than other sodas, and she likes pretending she's an adult when she drinks it — because it has 'beer' in the name, even if it isn't the same kind of beer that Hop used to drink.

"Perfect," Beverly says, shooting El a grin before looking around to try to find a stall selling them. There are plenty of places on the boardwalk that do, at least, and it isn't difficult to spot a sign for what they want just a little ways down. There are some benches on the other side, too, by the railing, looking out at the water. She doesn't think she could ever get sick of that view.

There's still no telling how this will all go, but she thinks she made a good decision in coming out here for it. making it something fun and relaxing and theirs. It isn't just Hopper who's her family now, after all.

Once they've gotten in line, only a couple people back, she asks, "Anything else you want?"

"Mm-mm," she assures. For now, she just wants funnel cake, and root beer, and time with Beverly. She carries the plushie against her back, 'piggie back' style, so it's not jammed between them and makes sure no one stands too close to them. Eleven knows they can both take care of themselves, but the buffer is nice, anyway.

Once they get up to the counter, Beverly orders two funnel cakes and two root beers, grabbing a handful of napkins while she waits for them to be brought out. She glances over at El as she does, too, smiling at the way El is carrying the plushie. Really, Beverly never thought she would be a sister. If she's honest, she never wanted to be, if only because she wouldn't have wished her home life back in Derry on anyone else. This is so different. Now, she just hopes it goes well, even if it's not like they all need to share a name to be family.

"That bench is free," she says once they've gotten their order, nodding toward one she spotted before, facing the beach. "Wanna go sit?"

Eleven's ready drinking her root beer by the time Beverly asks, so she hums a quick sound of agreement as she pulls from the straw.

She leads the way to the bench and shrugs their plushie prize down to sit beside her.

"Thank you," she says. She plucks a piece of funnel cake off to pop into her mouth.

"Of course," Beverly says with a shrug, her smile warm and easy. She never had a sibling before El, but she's pretty sure this is just the kind of thing that big sisters are supposed to do. And that's what all of this is about, really. Paperwork and shared last names don't make a family, but she still wants that last official step, and she hopes El takes well to the idea.

"I actually, while we're here, had something I wanted to ask you about," she says, her voice light, as she breathes in deep the salty sea air. "A good thing. I hope."

"Okay," she says, plucking another piece of funnel cake. She pops it into her mouth and gives Beverly her attention. She'd said it was a good thing, she hoped, and that was kind of strange. There were a lot of things that could be good, and other things that could be good only in certain circumstances, but Eleven can't imagine what she might be about to ask.

"It's kind of been on my mind for a while, but especially with graduation coming up," Beverly starts, realizing that, for all the time she's spent thinking about this, she hasn't actually figured out how to say it. She thinks, again, that it has to be a good thing, so it probably shouldn't matter if it comes out a bit awkwardly, but even so, if nothing else, she wants to be clear.

"Hopper is... Well, he's more of a dad to me than mine ever was. And I've been thinking that I want to change my name to show that. Beverly Hopper, instead of Beverly Marsh. I know a name doesn't make a family, but..." She trails off for a moment, then gives El a small, hopeful smile. "And you're part of that family, too. I wouldn't want to do it without making sure it's okay with you, first."

Eleven bites her lip, tugging little bits of fried dough up and off the greater whole as she listens. Her face is, as always, an open book: nervousness, curiosity, and then, suddenly, excitement and hope.

"You... want to be my sister?" she asks.

"Of course," Beverly replies like it's the easiest thing in the world, her own expression equal parts nervous and hopeful. "Not... that we need to have the same last name to be sisters, but I want to make it official like that. With Hopper, and with you."

She never really had a family before Darrow, not in any worthwhile way, not in the sense of what a family is supposed to be. As far as she can see, there's no point at all in keeping any unnecessary pieces of it when she could share a name with her real family instead.

Eleven nods, gripping her cup tightly so she doesn't drop it and grab for Beverly's hand.

"I want that, too," she says. "To make it official. Hopper is my papa, and you... you are my sister." She grins when she says it, feeling special, important to Beverly in a way she hasn't been to anyone else. This is different from Mike and Hop and even Kali, who is El's sister, but in a different way.

Beverly all but beams at that, nodding in agreement. It's true regardless of what their names are, but the gesture is one she thinks is important anyway. It means something — to her, to Hopper, and now to El, too, which is the most she could have hoped for. She didn't think El would hate the idea or anything, but it still feels good in an almost overwhelming sort of way, having a family that chooses her rather than one who didn't want her.

"And you're mine," she says, though that goes without saying, given the subject at hand. "Good. I'm really glad."

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