Magickizu - MagicKizu

Steve: I can’t imagine what Billy is planning to get rid of his dad. But I can tell you two things

Steve: We won’t like it and it won’t be legal

Steve: And we’re gonna do it because we all love and support him

Dustin: We do?

El: We do

My Friends/Family: Hey can I see your phone? I need to look something up.

Me, closing like 80+ Ao3 Tabs as fast as I can:

I recently saw some clips of the movie ToyStory3 and then I saw this!!!!

SINCE WHEN?!? AND HOW?! WHEN EVEN?!???

tell me please...have you known this? if so...since when?

Even MORE of Casual

Steve’s phone rang just as he was pulling the meatballs out of the oven. He slid the pan onto the range top quickly, tossing the towel he used as an oven mitt over his shoulder as he grabbed the phone off the wall. 

“Yello,” he greeted the caller.

“...Steve?” The voice was young, feminine, familiar.

“Max? Hey. How are you?”

In response, the young woman sobbed.

Oh shit.

“Oh shit. Max? Are you okay?” Steve was frozen. He and Max were not exactly close and Billy was still keeping very mum on their…non-relationship. Despite this Steve’s first thought was that there must be something wrong with Billy.

“Billy told me to call you.”

OH SHIT. Steve’s blood ran cold. If Billy told his little sister to call him, things were bad.

“What’s going on, Max? Is Billy okay? Did something happen in California?” Billy had left to visit his mom’s family earlier that week.

“Oh. Yeah, he’s fine. He told me to call you if I, um, if I needed anything while Billy was gone?” The statement sounded like a question. Steve was stunned, then felt heat flood his system - Billy had told Max to call him. Before he let himself get lost in the knowledge that Billy trusted him with his family, Steve refocused on Max.

“What do you need, Max? I’m here.”

She sniffed, hard.

“Um, my mom and Neil are having a huge argument, and usually when this happens I call Billy and he’ll come pick me up and we’ll go to his apartment, but he’s gone, and mom is REALLY upset, she’s, like, trying to kick Neil out of the house? And-,” she hiccuped. “- I know I’m, like, a little old for this, but I hate it when they fight, it reminds me of when Billy lived here and Neil would, would-. Steve, I don’t know what to do.”

“I’m gonna come get you, okay? Can you get out of the house and wait for me somewhere? There’s a park nearby, go to the swings and wait there and I’ll be there in 15 minutes. Okay, Max?”

Her voice was small but relieved when she whispered “Okay,” back.

“I’m leaving right now, Max. I’ll see you soon.” He waited for her to hang up, then grabbed his keys and wallet, barely remembering to turn off the oven, leaving the meatballs on the stovetop, and running out of his front door. 

Ten minutes later he was pulling into the park. It was dusk and the area had only a few older kids hanging out. Max was sitting on a swing, casually pushing herself with one leg back and forth. She spotted Steve as soon as he pulled in and jumped up to run to his car. He had barely parked before she was throwing open the passenger seat and sliding in.

In the brief glow of the overhead light, Steve saw her eyes were red but dry, and she looked calmer than she had sounded earlier. As soon as she was buckled in, Steve put the car in drive.

“Where to, Mad Max?”

“Can we get something to eat? I’m starving. This ALWAYS fucking happens at dinner, I swear.”

“Language,” Steve muttered, unthinking. Max scoffed then giggled.

“You’re such a grandpa.”

“Yeah, yeah, smartass,” said Steve the hypocrite. He smiled. “Spaghetti and meatballs sound good?”

“Are you kidding?! Holy crap that sounds perfect. I have been CRAVING pasta.”

It took the full 15 minutes to get back to Steve’s place. Max filled the drive with chatter, about Lucas, the classes she was taking, and the car she was saving up for. She carried on when they got into his duplex. While he heated sauce (his mom’s) and cooked the spaghetti (store bought), she complained about her job at the arcade. As she scoured his kitchen cabinets for plates and cutlery, then loaded up their plates, she bragged about her high scores on five of the games they carried. When they sat down in front of the TV and Steve put on the news, Max had something to say about every story. An hour later, after she’d gotten seconds, perused his VHS collection, and told Steve about a book she was reading (in detail), she finally seemed to lose steam. It was getting a little late, but Steve didn’t want to take her back to someplace she didn’t feel safe. Before he could figure out how to broach the subject, she piped up.

“Could I use your phone?”

“Of course!” Steve stood up to take her to it, then sat back down when she whizzed past him to grab it from the wall. As she was dialing, Steve gathered their plates to take to the sink. He didn’t want to eavesdrop but also felt a strange responsibility for the girl that demanded he stay near, so he leaned back against the counter to wait with her. 

Max was tense, but she shot him a grateful smile when he took up his post. Whoever she was calling answered, and Max relaxed.

“Hey mom. … I’m at Steve’s. … What? … I don’t know! … Can’t I- Okay! I’ll ask! Hey, Steve, can I stay with you tonight?” 

Steve was flabbergasted. His face must have shown it.

“Please? Mom doesn’t want me going home.” Max was putting on a strong facade, but there were large, obvious cracks in it; Steve could not turn her away.

“Of course.” 

She nodded quickly, her eyes wide and wet.

“He said yes, mom. Will you tell me what’s going on?” Max got quiet as she listened, and Steve decided that this was something he could leave her to. He went to his bedroom to change his sheets - Max could sleep in his bed, and he’d sleep on the couch. He found a pair of Dustin’s sweats that the boy had left here the last time they’d had a movie night and an old tshirt of his own that he’d grown out of before it got too ratty, and put them aside for her to sleep in if she wanted. Then he changed into his own pajamas - flannel pants and a too large shirt.

He made his way back out toward the kitchen. Max was still on the phone and she looked like she had cried, but there was a lightness to her face. She saw Steve and gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, mom. I love you, too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Max hung up the phone and walked to Steve, then surprised the hell out of him by throwing her arms around him and hugging him tight.

“My mom’s leaving Neil,” she whispered.

“Oh. Um, wow. Is that-?” Steve did not know how to respond to this.

“It’s a good thing. He isn’t a good person.” Max burrowed her head into Steve’s chest. “Something bad happened tonight, she won’t tell me what, but. Mom says she’s getting a restraining order against him for her and me.” Steve didn’t know what to say to that. A restraining order? Jesus. 

“Are you going to be able to go back home?” He asked. She shrunk in on herself. “Sorry! I don’t know what happens with restraining orders. I don’t know how they work.” He awkwardly patted her back; strangely, it seemed to help.

“Mom says the sheriff says Neil will have to leave the house and find somewhere else to live. I guess there’s a lot of court stuff involved? I don’t know, but she said I should be able to go home tomorrow.” 

Steve nodded, then asked the question that had been burning in him.

“What about Billy?”

Max looked up at Steve, her face worried.

“I- I don’t know. Mom didn’t say anything about him! Oh god. Do you think Neil will hurt him? Can Billy get a restraining order?” She seemed to be genuinely asking Steve, who was left grasping for calm.

“Billy’s not going to be back until next week, right? Your mom needs to call him and tell him what’s going on. I don’t know- he doesn’t tell me-.” Steve took a deep breath. “Max, does Billy need a restraining order against his dad?”

Her voice was small and her eyes shifted away when she said, “I don’t know.” She was quiet a moment, chewing on her lip, before she finally met his eyes, held them, and nodded her head. Steve nodded back, his mind racing.

“Tomorrow, we’ll talk to Billy. For now, I think we should watch a movie, eat some ice cream, and get some sleep.” 

Max obviously wasn’t expecting this response, but she agreed readily. Steve offered her the sleep clothes, which she accepted, and gave her the spare toothbrush that had come in the two-pack he’d bought last time. She closed herself in the bathroom to change, and appeared moments later, demanding ice cream and to watch Fright Night. Steve sighed at the movie - not his first choice, especially after an emotionally wrought night, but if that’s what would take Max out of her head, then that’s what they would watch.

Thirty minutes into the movie Max was nodding off against the back of the couch. Steve paused the tape and chivvied the girl toward the bedroom. She didn’t argue, drifting sleepily down the hall and climbing into the bed, face soft and eyes half closed. She laid down and turned over with a quiet “Night.” 

“Good night, Max.” Steve left the door open and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare to sleep. He kept the light in the bathroom on and pulled the door almost fully closed, so Max could find it if she needed it in the middle of the night. Then he grabbed a spare pillow and blanket from the closet. After making sure the front door was locked and the kitchen wasn’t a disaster, he made up his couch nest, turned off the lights, and put on Sixteen Candles. 

~

This came in fits and spurts after a long day on the road. I read over it to check for any glaring errors but I know I missed some stuff.

ANYWAY!!!! I really enjoyed writing this scene. It would definitely come after the last scene I posted, but I'm not sure if there will be anything in between.

I have a good bit written for this story, but I'm kind of just writing as it comes to me, and posting little bits here and there. I will be editing it into a cohesive THING at some point and posting it in its entirety.

I really hope y'all are enjoying this! Cause I am LOVING writing it.

Today I randomly discovered these pigeons and OF COURSE I needed to draw Billy in similar form (and I drew him in his 3rd form that exists but I never use lolol)

(it's a stupid doodle I made during work but I still thought it was too cute to pass on it)

Lex Luthor hates Superman, Lex Luthor hates the Justice League, bla bla bla… You know who Lex must really hate? Bruce Wayne.

Because he knows that bitch is Batman. He’d worked it through that big brain of his and he’s without a doubt certain that the same idiot who spilled champagne on him last New Year’s Eve moonlights as the Batman.

But he can’t fucking prove it. So he’s resigned to a lifetime of having to make stilted conversation filled with double meaning while Brucie just flutters his eyelashes and pretends to be a ditz. And Lex just has to sit there and take it, because Bruce knows that Lex knows and absolutely uses that knowledge to fuck with Alex at every opportunity—he says the absolute shittest, godawful pickup lines and flirts to his heart’s content, knowing full well that he helped Superman kick Lex’s ass last week and that Lex knows it was him.

billy isn't a character.

hes a plot point. an object used for max's development. but he could've been. but the duffer brothers were too lazy to actually put the effort in to redeem him properly. so they took the easy way out and hoped it'd work to kill him off in a hero's sacrifice. which feels hollow and unemotional as he was literally a puppet for 95% of the season.

but they dropped all these hints to deeper shit they could've used to make an actual character-an interesting one too. that they did absolutely nothing with and is never mentioned again.

billy being abandoned by his mother and left with his abusive dad who punishes him for his stepsister's perceived bad behavior. that same father ridiculing him over his perceived masculinity, and calling him slurs when he doesn't perform. a step mom who sees it but doesn't intervene. moved from his hometown against his will. hes alone in a town he hates. no friends, no freedom. he cant even surf any more.

the animosity betweeen billy and max being about the move to hawkins. something mentioned several times but never explained. they both blame each other for it. billys performative masculinity, yet his clear obsession with steve harrington. calling steve pretty boy, the one earring, the very specific slur his father uses against him.

ALL of that is just canon.

now, billy is an asshole straight up. he threatened to run over a bunch of kids for no reason and broke max's skateboard. like yeah. hes such an ass. but theres a lot of complex shit packed in there.

he was screaming for help when he gets possessed, watching himself kill people. he's literally screaming. and nobody gives a single fuck (except for max) and that makes sense for the characters as they've been treated pretty horribly by billy. but he was 17 years old. he never got a chance to change or to even realize he wanted to. thats fucking depressing. him being an abuse victim (and nowhere near a perfect one) means he never got to grow outside of the box hed been shoved in. he never got to be anything else.

he's not a character. not with any motivations or anything. he existed to be in the way and then to die to further max's development. and i can't just be okay with that.

"Nice earring by the way."

Robin said, from behind the counter with, a knowing smile on her lips as she punched numbers into the register, slamming the door with a satisfying chime.

Billy's brows furrowed as he reached to get his change back. Robin outstretched her hand as well, deliberately showing off the silver ring on her thumb, it shone in the fluorescent light of the ice cream shop.

"Thanks Buckley." he huffed a laugh, face falling back to the usual smirk as he stuffed his change into the front pocket of his jeans.

She grinned cheerily back at him, he shot her a wink and sauntered out of the store, purposefully swaying his hips.

"The hell was that all about?" Steve spluttered, jaw agape at the scene he just witnessed.

"I think Hargrove and I just became best friends."

Steve only rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, completely oblivious.

Y'all we need to normalize polyamory for when multiple ships have so much chemistry and your multishipper heart wants all of them at the same time so instead of choosing you throw them all into a polyamorous relationship