Work Text:
“Good morning, Hawkins,” you greet into the microphone, clicking play on a pre-recorded rooster sound to start off the day. “It is another lovely day in our quiet town, and I thought we’d start off the morning with a love song. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s because our friends over at the WSQK radio station seemed to have brought us up yet again! This time, saying my voice makes her absolutely sick! You know, Rockin Robin, I can’t help but wonder how many times your boyfriend, the sound guy there, has asked why you’re always talking about me! I would be annoyed, but I can’t help but feel charmed by you. I mean, I don't think anyone's ever spent this much time on me. It's almost… romantic. Anyways, here’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police!”
Robin sighs, turning down the volume of the nearby radio so that The Police can be drowned out by the Blondie song she currently has playing.
“Can you believe her?” Robin asks Steve, dragging an exasperated hand down her face.
Her friend only shrugs. “You did say she sounded like a chihuahua,” he mutters, handing her a Tears for Fears vinyl.
Robin glares at him. “'Cause she called us tacky!” She says, in defense.
Robin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan only just taken over the now-abandoned radio station in order to use it as a secret hideaway spot to plan out their future travels into the Upside Down. And Robin was having so much fun being a radio host. So much so, she had (lovingly) forced Steve to join her and be her soundboard guy.
Nancy and Jonathan didn’t seem to mind and left the two of them to their own devices, saying the radio station might come in handy one day.
And Robin was having fun with the radio station. That is, until she and Steve were driving to the diner, the WOW radio station playing in the car, only to hear the radio host insult the WSQK station. She doesn’t remember what exactly was said, just that it left a sour taste in her mouth and resulted in the now ongoing WSQK and WOW radio station rivalry.
Steve sighs, sinking into the seat beside her before gently kicking her foot.
“I’m not crazy,” Robin grumbles, already knowing what he was going to say as she queues up the next song.
“I didn’t say you were,” Steve responds through a laugh.
Robin only glares at him. “You were thinking it,” she says, “I’d know, I can read your mind.”
Steve rolls his eyes at that, and she cracks a smile at that, joining in on Steve’s laughter with a sigh.
“I still don’t get why she has a problem with us,” Robin mumbles, “We were just minding our business, running the radio station, and out of nowhere she hits us,” she finishes her sentence with her hand hitting the table, pulling Steve’s attention from the ceiling to his friend’s hand.
“Uh, yeah,” he answers, not fully there, “mhmm, totally.”
Robin’s eyes narrow at his response, or lack thereof. “Are you paying attention?” She asks.
Steve nods unconvincingly. “Yes," he deaspans, "WOW station is bad.”
Robin only sighs, sinking more into her chair as she drapes her legs over her friends, rolling her eyes. “It wouldn’t kill you to listen,” she grumbles.
Now it’s Steve’s turn to sigh as he drags a tired hand through his hair. “Don’t get mad,” he starts, but he can tell by Robin’s glare that she is definitely going to be mad. “It’s just, you do talk about her a lot.”
“You’re taking her side?” Robin asks, eyes wide.
Steve quickly shakes his head no. “No, no! I just think you guys should try to make up or something. I’m sure there’s some kind of misunderstanding for all this, right?”
Robin doesn’t say anything, just crosses her arms and gives Steve a hard glare before letting out a reluctant sigh. “I’m not apologizing over the radio or anything.”
“I wasn’t saying that,” Steve explains, gently pushing her feet away and rolling his chair to the nearby telephone. “I was thinking you could give her a call.”
***
You were in the process of queuing up the next song to play, “Starman” by Bowie, when you heard the work phone ringing.
“WOW radio, how can I help you?” You answered, placing the phone between your shoulder and ear so you could finish queuing up the song.
“Uh, hi,” a very familiar voice says.
“Rockin Robin?” You asked, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. You didn’t know why Robin would be calling you of all people; the two of you have never spoken or seen each other aside from your frequent radio bantering, so why would she be calling now?
“Yeah,” she answered after a beat. “I was wondering if you’d want to meet up sometime? Maybe tonight at the diner? My sound guy’s coming too,” she says nervously.
You think it over in your head, still trying to make sense of why Robin was not only calling you, but wanted to meet up after all this time. It didn’t make sense, why until now? “Um, okay,” you answer tentatively, twirling the phone cord in your hand as you lean back into your chair. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you want to meet up anyway?”
You hear the girl sigh into the phone and some background talking that you assume to be coming from Steve, her sound guy. “I think we should clear things up between us,” she answers, sounding like she doesn't fully believe her own words.
Still, despite feeling reluctant about meeting up with the girl yourself, you nod your head yes, even though she can’t see you. “Okay,” you respond, trying to not sound as confused as you are. “See you at seven?” You offer.
“Yeah,” Robin agrees, “Seven’s good, see you then.” And before you get the chance to say anything else, you hear the sound of a click followed by the dial tone.
***
You were sitting at a corner booth near the back as you waited for Robin and Steve. You weren’t sure what Robin looked like, but you did remember Steve Harrington, so you were mainly looking out for him. When you finally caught sight of him and a girl with blondish hair, you knew it had to be her. Rockin Robin. And wow, you were not expecting her to be so pretty.
The two of them were looking around the diner, and when you finally caught eyes with the girl, you raised a shy hand to wave at her. You could see her look of momentary shock and something else before she cooled her expression into a more relaxed one, and tapped Steve’s shoulder to lead him towards your booth.
“Hi, guys,” you greeted them with a smile as they slid into the seat across from you.
Steve waves at you while Robin gives you a shy smile. “Hi,” she greets, clearing her throat. “So, um, Steve here,” she says while gesturing to the guy next to her, “Thought we should try to clear the air between us.”
Your eyebrows furrow in confusion at that. “Yeah, you said that on the phone,” you say with a soft laugh, “But, clear the air about what?” You ask gently.
You can see Robin stiffen slightly in front of you as her eyebrows meet in the middle as well, mirroring your expression. “The radio?” She says, as if the answer should be obvious. When you don’t say anything and only stare at the girl in complete confusion, she sighs, dragging a hand down her face. “I told you this was a bad idea,” she whispers to Steve, who only shushes her in response.
“I’m confused,” you say when the pair returns their attention back to you. “Are you talking about our ‘fights’ on the radio?” You add air quotations to the word “fights” as Robin continues to stare at you as if the answer should be obvious.
“Yeah?” She answers, still looking at you like you just told her that the sky isn’t blue, but is actually red. “When we took over the WSQK, you guys insulted us, which is why all of this started! I," she pauses before gesturing between Steve and herself, "We just wanted to know why you were so against us from the start.”
You’re sure Robin can see the gears turning in your head as you try to make sense of everything. “Oh,” you murmur, when it all finally clicks. “Robin, whenever there’s a new radio station host, it’s tradition for the last newbie, in this case me, to tease the newest host. They did it to me when I started, now I had to do it to you, and theoretically, you’d do it to whatever station in Hawkins gets a new host… whenever that is. I didn’t mean any harm by it. I thought your response was just you bantering with me.”
You catch both Robin and Steve’s faces turn from confused and slightly annoyed to understanding and surprise in almost complete unison.
“Wait, so it’s like a hazing thing?” Steve asks.
You shrug in response. “That’s one way to explain it, I guess, yeah,” you say with a nod.
“Oh,” you hear Robin breathe out, her features softening. You can’t believe the girl you’ve been “fighting” with this whole time had no idea it was all just teasing, and you can’t help but feel bad about it.
“Hey, I’m sorry I never called you up personally to explain it to you or anything,” you say, reaching across the table to take her hands in yours. Her very soft hands. “My boss explained it to me when I got hired, and I assumed yours did too.”
You can feel Steve eyeing your joint hands, but you ignore it. Especially since Robin laces her fingers through hers, making your stomach feel a little funny. “Yeah, Jimmy Fast Hands ran out once the quarantine was announced, so we had to figure everything out ourselves,” Steve explains, eyes still trained on Robin and your hands.
Robin gives your hands a quick squeeze as she lets out a small sigh. “No, I’m sorry. I should’ve realized you were only teasing, I’m just not the best with social cues. Like, my mother reminds me daily, and–“ You see Steve shift beside her, causing Robin to cut herself off with another sigh. “Point is, I’m sorry,” she repeats.
You shrug your shoulders with an easy smile as you squeeze the girl's hand one final time. “Water under the bridge,” you tell her before pausing. “Wait, does this mean you actually think I sound like a chihuahua?” You question through a laugh. “Cause I was always just teasing, but if you didn’t know,” you trail off as Robin begins to vehemently shake her head no in response.
“No, no,” she says quickly, almost as if the words were fighting to get out of her mouth so she could explain herself. “I actually really like your voice! I think you have a nice voice–“
This time, Steve is more obvious in trying to get Robin to stop talking, as he shoves her a bit and coughs into his hand the word “Robin,” giving her a very pointed glare.
You’re glad the pair seem to be more interested in each other at the moment, both looking at each other as if they could read each other's minds, as you can feel the heat burning in your neck and face at Robin’s comment. You’re just glad both of them seem too preoccupied to notice your flustered state.
When they finally turn their attention back to you, you shoot them a nervous smile as you gesture to the menus that have been lying on the table since you got here.
“So,” you say, clearing your throat through a cough. “Should we eat?”
The two of them both nod and agree in unison before looking at their menus. You try not to stare at Robin too much as you try to decide what to order for yourself, but it’s hard when the girl in front of you is just so pretty. And, you’d be a liar if you were to say you hadn't enjoyed waiting to see what she would say next about you and the station. She just had such a nice voice.
“Hey, if you guys ever need help with something at the station, feel free to call me,” you offer with a smile that’s more directed towards Robin than Steve. You take a pen out of your bag and scribble your number down on a napkin as you slide it towards Robin’s direction. “I’m sure the WOW and WSQK stations can’t be that different, so let me know if you guys ever run into any trouble.”
Robin’s eyes light up at that as she takes the napkin from you with a wide smile, her fingers brushing against yours for far longer than necessary. “Yeah, thanks,” she replied before scribbling her own number down and handing it to you. “Just in case you’d, uh, need to call us for some reason,” she explains, sounding almost nervous.
You hear Steve stifle a laugh from beside her as he mutters the word “Smooth” under his breath, but you both ignore him. Instead, you just shoot her a shy smile as you focus your attention back on the menu.