A Oneshot For Y'all Who Like My Agere Henry Headcannons

A oneshot for y'all who like my agere Henry headcannons

Work Text:

Henry stays curled up on the floor, refusing to move. He stares at Joyce who is cooking up lunch for everyone. Eleven is sitting beside him, he can't make out what she is telling him but is pretending to pay attention, it would be rude not to after all. The TV is playing softly in the background and Henry's attention is divided between Eleven and 'ThunderCats'.  "Are you listening?" Eleven asks, leading Henry to glance back over to her.  "Yes..yes I am.." Henry stammers, his mind feeling a bit fuzzy as he leans his back against the couch.  "No you aren't" Eleven says, her tone is not accusatory, more of just an observation. Although it does make Henry a bit nervous, he should be listening more! "Sorry.." Henry mutters, going quiet.  "Not mad," Eleven adds, standing up to go join Joyce in the kitchen. Henry remains where he is, watching Eleven talk with Joyce. Why didn't he pay attention back there? He's being a bad friend. He tries to go back to watching ThunderCats to think about something else, but his mind goes back to the past. 

"Now Henry don't start crying, you brought this upon yourself."  Henry stared up at Papa, terrified. A shock collar was firm around Henry's neck, he knew he messed up, but he just didn't want to do a test for a day, was that so bad? Yea and maybe he had borrowed some of the reward candy Brenner kept around, but that wasn't a really big deal. Apparently, it was more then Henry had thought. Brenner glared over him as Henry kept sobbing out apologies, knowing how this was going to end. Henry never thought he was the type to beg, but maybe he was.  Then the button was pressed.  It all happened so fast but so slow at the same time. Electricity raced through Henry as his muscles convulsed. He wanted to scream, but was in too much pain to do so. It almost felt like he was going to die but that was too merciful. Henry curled up on himself, trying to make the pain stop but it only seemed to get worse. He gazed up at Papa, who was unmoved by Henry's suffering.  Afterwards, he was dragged back to his cell like a rag doll. It was so cold, he knew that a fourteen year old shouldn't be acting like a child. Yet he remained curled up in a ball, sobbing his eyes out, just like a child. "Mom can you come get me? Mom.. Mom please..Mommy.." The words slipped from his mouth without a thought through his head. Henry chewed on his knuckle a bit, knowing that request would never be fulfilled. 

"Henry? HENRY?" Joyce calls, it is not a fun surprise to see the boy you consider a son have a full on PTSD breakdown while watching ThunderCats, but that is life sometimes. Joyce keeps Henry in her arms to keep him from hurting himself on accident. Henry's couldn't really hear much besides the blood rushing in his ears, and his head felt fuzzier then before. "Henry what happened?" Joyce asks, calming down a bit when Henry begins to relax slightly. Henry feels his words caught in his throat as the question registers only letting out a soft whimper, before leaning against Joyce. She sighs, more just happy to see that Henry is okay. 

Henry eventually struggles against Joyce before walking away. Joyce meanwhile is very confused about the entire situation, and decides to assume that twenty years in the lab affected his behavior, which is probably the correct answer. Henry storms off, mainly mad at himself that he blew up like that, it was a foolish thing to do. He opens his door to his room before closing it and flopping down on his bed. He curls up on himself, anger building up against himself now that he's alone. First he doesn't listen to what Eleven was saying and now he made Joyce worry about him? What is he doing? Henry sniffles, feeling like he is going to start crying again. He slowly stumbles to a stand, his at best toddler mindset deciding that drawing out his feelings is a better idea then sobbing his eyes out. 

So here he sits, crayon in hand as he draws a spider. Why a spider, because it is the best animal- bug?- creature in Henry's honest and reliable opinion. It also helps him calm down at least a little bit. The spider is purple, and in the center of the page. Henry babbles to himself while drawing, not really knowing what he is saying, when the door opens. 

Eleven walks in slowly, seeming nervous, but knowing what is happening at least. Now she doesn't know the word for it but she does know the symptoms. Henry has 'slipped' like this in the past, mainly in the Rainbow Room. She would see him get excited over some of the toys in there when he thought he was alone, or overall just getting a bit childish. Eleven doesn't think it's a bad thing necessarily, the lab was hell, whatever made it easier for him in her opinion. She stands next to Henry glancing at what he is drawing.  "Cool," she says, he nods not responding but Eleven expected this. "Are you mad at me?" Eleven asks. Henry quickly shakes his head, horrified at even the suggestion. "Okay," Eleven says, feeling a bit better. "Well I'm not mad at you either," Eleven proclaims. Henry relaxes at that, a small smile forming on his face. Eleven decides not to dwell on the topic too much, choosing to draw with Henry instead. She grabs a chair and sits by him, grabbing a crayon from the box. Henry nods and they begin to draw together. The quiet between them is nice, and Henry feels better again. 

"Kids lunch!" Joyce calls out, Eleven grabs Henry's hand, abandoning the pile of drawings temporarily. "Come on," Eleven says "and maybe after lunch we can see if ThunderCats is on"