little things; stranger things littlespace oneshots

♡ 16 - together ♡

cg!robin
little!billy (5)
little!steve (2))
question: if i were to change the cover and put any of the ST characters, which one(s) do y'all think should be put?

Billy pushed his toy cars around on one end of the carpet. Stevie sat at the other, building towers with colorful wooden blocks. Normally they'd play together, but sometimes it was difficult because of the difference in age. Stevie was younger than Billy, and was hardly verbal. He didn't quite understand concepts like sharing and such, but he was a good kid anyways. As he focused carefully on his new creation, he noticed Billy in the background, who seemed to be having a great time with the toy cars and his imagination. His playful noises and bright toys intrigued Stevie, he wanted to have fun with Billy too!

He crawled over to Billy, grabbing one of the idle cars and messing around with it. He didn't know how cars worked, but he shook the toy around and admired its colors happily.
"Stevie! Stop!" Billy whined, dragging out Steve's name.
"Play!" Steve smiled.
"Yeah, play! And you can do that over.. here." Billy responded, getting up and sitting Steve down with the blocks before returning to his cars.
Stevie's smile wilted slightly. He didn't entirely understand what Billy was saying, but he heard "play". Why was Billy putting him back? Though he trusted and loved Billy, so he figured he must've had a good reason. Stevie focused back on his blocks.

Stacking shapes can only be entertaining for so long, and eventually Steve grew bored of it. He crawled to Billy again, gently grabbing a car and holding it. He hoped Steve would let him stay this time.
"Stevie, no!" Billy exclaimed. "You can't play, you don't even know how to!"
Billy grabbed the toy from Stevie's hand. Steve stared back at him innocently.
"Don't you understand? No. No play, go away!" Billy said sternly, then disregarding Steve and putting his attention back to his toys.
Steve's eyebrows furrowed slightly in a saddened expression. Billy took the toy away, his tone was harsh, he kept using the word "no". Steve could tell that Billy didn't want him there.

Disappointedly, Stevie moved back to the blocks again. Only this time, he didn't play with them. He rest his head on his fist as he solemnly pushed the blocks around with his finger, desperately trying to be interested. Every so often, he'd see Billy out of the corner of his eye or hear him playing by himself, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He looked around in silence for awhile, then stared off into space, trying to pass time. Alone. Billy was with him, so he shouldn't be alone.

He glanced over at Billy and saw that he had forgotten about the cars. He was now drawing on some pages he'd taken out of a coloring book. If he couldn't play with the cars, at least they could share the book. Stevie came to Billy once more and grabbed the book, looking for a page to color.
"Hey, what are you doing?" said Billy.
"color," said Steve, looking at Billy hopefully. Billy only huffed at that, but let him be. That is, until Steve had the green marker that Billy wanted.
"Stevie, I need that, give it!" Billy frowned.
But Stevie politely complied, handing the marker over and returning to his own coloring. Billy was a little taken aback that Stevie would still treat him so kindly, but he brushed it off. He chose to stick to being a brat.

"Stevie's not better than me just because he's nice." Billy thought, annoyed. "Why does he have to copy me all the time? He doesn't even know how to play. He just takes everything."
He colored more angrily on his paper. Truthfully, Billy was insecure with himself. It was wrong and unjustified to take it out on Steve, and he knew that. But he didn't mean it. Sometimes he just couldn't help the violent and abusive nature that controlled
him. The abuse that he had suffered at the hands of his father affected him deeply, and Billy was frustrated. He was angry that he had to suffer like he did, but he expressed it poorly, meaning that in turn, it would be taken out on those around him. He truly didn't want to hurt anyone. Though his littlespace helped him cope greatly, he would still have his bad days, and this seemed like one of them.

He looked over at Stevie, whose coloring page seemed like a disaster. It was full of colorful scribbles, in and out of the lines, with no regard for the actual image, but Stevie was proud and he enjoyed it. It was a contrast from Billy's, whose drawing was rather neatly composed and within the lines. Billy grabbed Stevie's paper angrily.
"Ugh. See, Stevie? You don't even know how to color! It's all bad. You're just wasting everything." Billy shot, throwing it down.
Steve didn't understand entirely, but what he could comprehend clearly was "Stevie" and "bad", as well as Billy's harsh tone and upset expression.

Steve's lip began to quiver and he let out small whimpers, a definite precursor to loud cries. Billy knew this, and was instantly alerted at the noise.
"Oh, no, no... Stevie, don't.." Billy pleaded, but it was too late. The wails had begun.
Tears poured down Stevie's face and massive cries echoed throughout the house, sure to alert Robin. Robin rushed into the living room, picking up a crying Stevie on the floor. She locked eyes with Billy, who gave a guilty look back, telling her that something was wrong.
"I'll deal with you later, mister." Robin said sternly, before carrying Stevie away.

She set the boy down on his bed, soothing him as he cried.
"Don't cry, honey! You didn't do anything wrong, it's okay." she said, rubbing his shoulder. His sobs were reduced to sniffles and hiccups.
"Can you tell me what happened, peanut?" she asked him calmly.
Steve stared at her desperately. He was too young to be able to explain anything. Fortunately, Robin understood that.
"Was Billy mean to you?" she questioned. She knew that Billy sometimes had trouble regulating his emotions, and with his guilty face she figured as much.

Steve didn't want to rat out Billy. He shifted his eyes nervously and Robin noticed.
"It's okay to tell me. I promise neither of you will be in trouble. Did Billy do something?"
Steve paused before nodding slowly.
"Yeah? Was he mean to you?" she asked in suspicion.
Steve quickly shook his head.
"No?" asked Robin.
"Play, together." Stevie tried to explain. She nodded in understanding.
"Alright, bub. I'm going to talk to Billy, stay here okay?" Robin confirmed with him.
Stevie nodded and wiped his eyes, kicking his feet quietly.

Robin shut the door and left, expecting to meet Billy in the living room. However, he was curled up against the wall just outside of Stevie's room. He undoubtedly heard the conversation- well, the half of it, anyway. His head was in his knees and soft sniffles came from him.
Robin sat down next to him, letting Billy rest his head on her shoulder.
"Billy, what happened?" she asked gently.
"He just wanted t-to play with me." Billy cried quietly. "I was mean.. and I'm really sorry.. I don't know why I do it. I hate me." he trailed off, a weight seemingly lifted off his chest.

He was upset with himself. How could he have treated Stevie that way, especially when Stevie was patient and kind the entire time. Even now, Stevie wouldn't tell Robin anything unless Billy wouldn't get in any trouble. He felt like he didn't deserve him, and Steve certainly didn't deserve someone like Billy.
"Billy, listen to me." Robin said sternly. Billy looked back at her through watery eyes.
"It was a mistake, but Stevie still loves you very much. You're amazing just the way you are, and even if you hate yourself, Steve and I love you enough for a million people. You're a good kid."

Billy was stunned. Nobody had ever told him he was good before. Those around him had always told him he was wicked, and he grew to fit into those perceptions. But now it was different. Billy knew it was in his control. Billy knew he could be good. He nodded and wiped his eyes, before getting up and confidently entering Stevie's room. There, the boy sat on the bed with a thumb in his mouth, a plushie hugged to his chest. He looked up at him innocently. Billy met his eyes.

"Stevie, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to be mean to you. Billy was just a big meanie." Billy apologized, his voice breaking a little. He felt like he could burst into tears at any moment, but he tried to keep it together.
"I think you're really nice and you are good at coloring. We can even play cars together, if you still want." Billy said sheepishly.
When he finished, Stevie giggled and clapped his hands. He reached out for Billy, making grabby hands towards him.

Billy sat next to him, letting Stevie climb onto him and latch onto his side, hugging Billy to his hearts content. Billy couldn't help but laugh at the way Stevie attached himself to him.
"Play?" Stevie asked, his head buried in Billy's shoulder.
"Yes Stevie." Billy laughed.
"Play together."

- 1557 words
goodnight yall!
i haven't checked new notifs yet but i will tomorrow :-) thanks for reading!