Work Text:
Life is a net to Steve. It always has been, a net made of strings he can tie together or cut separate as easily as blinking.
His parents threads were frayed, they always had been, with only two strong knots lasting for each of them; the one to each other and the one to their jobs. It concerned Steve when he was young that the threads attaching them to him were of frayed ends. They frayed away when he was seven for his mother, and ten for his father. He’d retied them then, tried to imagine a thicker thread in better condition to force the familial connection to stay, but it kept fraying away. When he was thirteen he gave up, watching his father’s thread fray away for the fifteenth time.
He’d had other connections then too: Ones Steve had without knowing where the other end went to and only knowing his parents had nothing but vestiges of threads that might once have gone to the same place. Sometimes they had purpled with concern and made him want to follow them, but by the time he got his own car, those threads had faded to a hair and then nothing.
~
“What’s witchcraft?” Steve had asked when he was twelve. He was in a small shop that had just opened in Hawkins and his mother was already trying to orchestrate the closure of.
There were bowls of crystals and cards that didn’t look anything like the ones his father occasionally played with. The woman behind the counter looked at him curiously for a moment, before coming out from behind it to try explaining Wicca to him and how all of life was connected to each other. She ended saying, “Witchcraft is the practice of connecting with nature to influence our lives and find peace.”
“But I can already see the connections around me and influence them a bit.” Steve had protested. “I can even calm my father’s anger if I paint the strings between me and him and him and my mother yellow.
It was the first time he’d mentioned the strings to anyone else in years. He’d tried explaining to his mother and father before but had been told sewing was women’s work and he wasn’t allowed to join the scouts. It was easier to avoid nonsensical reactions like that if he didn’t mention them.
The woman didn’t react like that, instead reaching for one of the books she had on display. “A natural witch with magic focused on people.” She murmured to him. “I’ve only met one other natural witch and they didn’t agree with other things I’ve learnt, but this might help you. Do you want other books to study too?”
Steve had agreed and insisted on paying for the books he left with, though the woman had seemed convinced he was too young to carry that amount of money with him. He guessed she didn’t know what Harrington’s were or have any connection to either of his parents jobs, despite his mother’s threats against the shop.
~
The first time he realised the power of the net he could see was because he cut a string.
It was a childhood friend he’d rarely get to see because of his parents restrictions and they’d argued that day. Being an eleven year old and sure he could retie it later, Steve cut the knot, separating them in the middle of the argument.
It ended the argument and the friendship immediately. Steve watched his friend’s expression change as he became a stranger to the boy he’d known for years and wept after he was told, “I don’t know why I’m arguing this. We’re nothing to each other.”
A few days later, he tried introducing himself again, tentatively trying to retie their friendship. The knot took but unhappily, angrily as his friend viewed him now as an enemy. Nothing had removed the memories, or the feelings the other didn’t know were caused by the knot being cut, and for the first time Steve learnt how emotionally connected the strings were between people.
“I’ll still be here, if you’re ever ready to reconcile.” He’d promised his lost friend, looking down at the angry thread instead of at them. As long as Steve had that he could hope it would become a happier connection again.
~
There had been a web in Steve’s pool the night he invited Nancy and Barbara around. It was the first time he’d looked at the connection strings and seen a web instead of a net and at first he’d thought it was physical.
He’d learnt a lot about magic at that point, charms and spells beyond just influencing the strings around him, but had never seen a net of jagged edges and sharp corners represent any connections.
Tommy and Carol had complained when they arrived to find him in the pool and insisted there was nothing there, so he’d given up, glancing at the thin threads connecting them instead, and wondering at how much longer their friendship might last. Looking back he imagines the threads had already looked frayed but is sure they weren’t.
The threads had broken that night, even if the appearance of their friendship lasted slightly longer. The massive spread of the net and changes of the connections had happened as he and Nancy slept together and he still wonders if he could have saved Barb by reacting to the change immediately. That could have fractured whatever he’d had with Nancy immediately though, he thinks, since she definitely knew the party was a chance for them to sleep together from the moment the invite was said.
~
“If you’re looking for Nancy, she’s not there.” Steve turned to the boy calling to him, shocked by the rope reaching towards him. Usually people started with threads or string when meeting new people or trying to get to know acquaintances more, not rope that looked set on connecting them for eternity.
The web were there too, stronger than the last connections to it he’d seen. “Do you still have that nail bat? I need help.”
“With what? I’ll need to fetch it.” Steve agreed, watching the knot between them form and opting not to argue as Henderson headed straight for his car, talking about finding a lizard that became a dog for some reason.
Getting closer to the web again was not something he’d enjoy, but Steve was going to do it for the strongest connection he’d ever had apparently.