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Steve shuffled over to the counter with a box full of VHS tapes in his hands. His expression looked exasperated, and Robin smirked as she swiveled around in her chair.
“Busy day, Harrington?” Robin said, popping a piece of Hubba Bubba into her mouth. Steve frowned at her and set down the cardboard box on the counter with a thunk.
“You’d think they’d do us a favor and rewind it for us. We ask them kindly,” Steve says, ignoring Robin’s comment and sliding a tape into the rewinder. The machine makes a loud whirring noise as Steve continues to rant about the hassle. “We have a sign that says, ‘ Please be kind, rewind!’ . How difficult could it be?”
“Your life must be so hard,” she says, laughing at the look Steve sends her way. She flips a page in the magazine she had picked up in the backroom. Phoebe Cates is all over the page, pearly whites on full display. Robin has never seen someone as pretty as her. She was like an angel sent from heaven. Well, that was partially a lie. There was someone whom she thought was prettier, and funnier, and-
“Phoebe Cates, really?” Steve says suddenly, and Robin’s thoughts are interrupted as she realizes that he’s been looking over her shoulder for the past fifteen minutes. She scoffs and flips the page. Immediately she sees Tom Cruise in all his glory, aviator glasses and all.
“Y’know, instead of drooling over Phoebe Cates, how about you help me?” Steve says, rolling his eyes and turning towards the rewinder. He slides in another tape, and while she sees he’s distracted, she kicks her leg out towards the back of his knee. Steve folds and lets out a howl.
Robin innocently looks down to her magazine, trying to seem very focused on Tom Cruise and his glasses. She can feel Steve’s glare and can practically envision the look on his face right now. How the corners of his lips would be turned down into a frown, with his hands on his hips. He was truly such a dork. Even better, a dingus.
“That was uncalled for. But seriously, can you help me? This is going to take forever.”
“I’ll think about it!” She chirps, flipping the page and chewing on her gum. Steve sighs and runs a hand down his face, but smiles. This was good. The highlight of his days. Messing around with Robin without the nagging fear of monsters or evil Russian spies running around tearing everything he has away.
(He thinks back to the weeks following the events at the Starcourt Mall. Him quietly comforting a sobbing Robin that had just awoken from a nightmare on his couch.)
It had taken a while to readjust. He still had vivid memories of his time with the Russians. Could practically still feel the sting on his face, on his body as they pummeled into him several times. The only thing he could think of at the time was ‘Keep Robin safe’ and ‘Keep the kids safe’. As long as he could hold out, as long as he had that mantra, he took every single punch and hit the Russians served him.
He feels a hand rest on his shoulder. He looks up and sees that Robin had gotten up from her chair and was standing next to him, a very worried look on her face. “Steve? You OD over there?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Sorry, I was thinking about something.” He grabs another tape and puts it into the rewinder after realizing how quiet it had become. The whirring noise helped smooth out the awkwardness, and Robin was back in her chair, swiveling around and kicking her feet up onto the counter. But they were no longer talking or laughing. Just quiet.
Occasionally, he heard her flip a page in her magazine. He turned when he heard her let out a loud sigh and slam the magazine down onto the counter. She stood up and stepped to Steve’s side, grabbing a tape and turning it around in her hands.
“So, Suzie. Dustin really thinks that she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates and a genius?”
Steve laughs, and suddenly, the mood of the room brightens. Robin lets out a relieved sigh, relieved to have eased the tension. Whatever Steve was thinking, she was sure that it was dark enough to wrap him into an awkward silence. She wouldn’t push, but if he wanted to tell her what he was thinking of, she would listen.
She knows deep down exactly what he’s thinking about. But she won’t tell him that.
“Yeah, he does. When that kid believes in something, he believes in it. But I’m glad he found someone. Someone who could make him happy. I’m proud of him.”
Robin knows who he’s thinking about now, and feels dread for bringing up Dustin and Suzie. Nancy Wheeler, Hawkins’ biggest heartthrob, had gorged onto Steve’s poor heart like a fruit. Suddenly, the awkward silence is back. Robin doesn’t hate Nancy, but she does wish that the girl wouldn’t have led him on. No matter how many times he denies it, Robin knows that he hasn’t moved on. She guessed that they were both unlucky in the love department. Robin feels slightly guilty for being Steve’s second heartbreak but was glad he took it well. She was sure he was well over her, and that they could continue being friends. She would’ve been devastated if their blooming friendship had ended then and there, on the floor of a bathroom, without a chance to flourish.
“Robin? Rob? Did you OD over there?” Steve jokes, mimicking earlier. She was the one to go into silence this time.
“Nope. No, I’m here. Sorry. I am definitely here and I definitely heard what you said please continue,” Robin rambles. Steve laughs at the way the words quickly tumbled out of her mouth, and she smiles. Dustin wasn’t the only one who had someone who could make him happy. Steve had someone too. Not a girlfriend, like in Dustin’s case, but a best friend.
“Do you ever wonder how you’ll die?” she says randomly.
Steve lets out a breath, happy thoughts dissipating. “Well, that got dark.”
“No seriously! Because I wonder about it all the time! Like, what if I bite into a sandwich and it has something I was allergic to that I didn’t know about?”
“Or get eaten by a massive spider looking monster made out of human flesh,” Steve says. “That one almost happened.”
Robin chuckled. “Yeah. Or, overdose on drugs given to you by secret evil Russians.”
It was a little dark, talking and laughing about their almost demise down there. He thought that they would actually die down there, and was sorry for dragging Robin into it. Steve found that Robin had an incredibly dark sense of humor, but it helped her cope in bad situations. Like the time Steve had found her crying in the backroom after being called horrendous nicknames by his former classmates. While he attempted to make her feel better about it, Robin poked fun at it through heavy sobs. He wished that she took her own problems more seriously.
Though the same could be said for him. He brushed his problems off in favor of someone else’s. He’d rather help someone with their trauma instead of his own.
They end their shift rambling on and on about some random topic. This is his biggest fear. The thing he’s most afraid of losing. But he didn’t have to worry about that now. No, for now, he could debate with Robin about what the better flavor of ice cream was.
It was cookie dough, of course.