stranger folks.

[retromix]

Who: steve, robin & chrissy
What: catchall
When: after the girls arrive
Where: the strange apartment and about the cities
Content Warnings: lmao all kinds of trauma probably


( ROBIN )

[ Steve shoves his head into Robin and Chrissy's bedroom without knocking when he knows the former is alone in there, swinging inside a little on the door. ]

Robin! Come watch one of these new-age movies with me, I ordered pizza. C'mon, chop chop! Cold pepperoni sucks.



( CHRISSY )

[ It's one of those days where everyone seems to have plans. Eddie has left the house with Billy for God knows what reason (Steve doesn't want to know what they get up to together), and Robin has gone exploring. Steve is about to head out himself when he thinks That's weird, where's Chrissy? and backtracks into the apartment, calling her name. He knocks on the bedroom door. ]

Chrissy, you in there?

Comments

[grivences]

[ Robin's never shared a bedroom with anyone before, but Chrissy's not a bad first roommate to start with. They've each carved out their own little portions of the room, with most of it decorated in Chrissy's favored pastels, but Robin has her little corner she can call her own. She's just wrapping up painting her nails when Steve swings into the room, looking up as she blows on her nails to help them dry. Her eyebrows raise at Steve's sheer audacity to expect her to drop everything and follow him to the living room at the drop of a hat.

But who is she kidding, that's exactly what she's going to do. ]

What sort of new-age movies are we talking about?

[ Careful not to smudge her still-drying nails, she gets up and pads towards the door to follow him out into the living room. ]

[retromix]

Ones that definitely wouldn't have been on the big screen in our time.

[ He notices her nails and hums at the choice of colour. ]

You got any blue of that?

[grivences]

[ She pauses, gives Steve a curious smirk, then turns to go rummage through the few beauty supplies she's managed to gather so far, coming back with a bottle of blue polish, pretty closely matching the shade of their old Scoops Ahoy uniforms. ]

Are you asking me to paint your nails, Harrington?

[retromix]

[ He sticks his chin in the air and palms a hip, making a careless gesture. ]

Modern men get their nails done, I'm technically now one of them. What's the worst that can happen? Some guy yells at me for having girly nails, I summon a bat and knock his lights out? I'm okay with that.

[ Jerking his head at the main living room he heads to the huge couch against the window and hops up, bringing one of the pizza boxes of the coffee table with him. ]

[grivences]

[ She follows, settling in beside him on the couch. ]

No, I like it! I'm seeing a whole different side of King Steve.

[ She shakes her hand a few more times to finish drying off her own nails, before she reaches for that pizza box. ]

Lunch first, then nails. I don't want you messing up the polish with pizza grease.

[retromix]

King Steve was a myth, he never really existed. And he never did something without worrying what people would think about him first.

[ He separates the pizza slices for her so she doesn't have to mess up her nails, then sits back and presses play on the remote as he stretches out with his own pizza. ]

The movie's about a girl who meets another one across their balconies on holiday, they start to fancy each other but the main character's supposed to go home for some reason. Her job, I think? I thought it sounded cool.

[grivences]

I know. [ She smiles as she takes her slice and digs into it. ] I never really bought into the King Steve mythos. Especially not once I actually knew you.

[ When he was just "that upperclassman who Tammy would stare at all the way through Mrs. Click's class," she thought the King Steve persona was overrated bullshit, even if she might've believed that was who he really thought he was. When they started working together, that's when she realized it was all a front. But, she likes the real Steve much better, so she's glad to let the story of King Steve die.

As Steve presses play on the movie, she leans back chewing thoughtfully. ]

Hm. I never thought they would actually make a movie about... You know.

[ She knows the word. Lesbian. But old habits of never speaking it aloud hold strong. ]

[retromix]

[ Steve rolls onto his side and munches his pizza, stuffing a cushion behind his head so he can lean his head back on Robin. ]

Oh, there's some graphic scenes in these new movies, not in this one though. If they had showed this in the theater at Hawkins it would've been vandalised the first night. I'm glad this place is more open-minded.

[grivences]

If they'd shown this movie in Hawkins, there would absolutely be a riot outside the theater.

[ It's wild, to think how different things can become in the span of a few decades. What was once taboo is now mainstream. ]

There's apparently a support group for this stuff, happening this month. I think I might go check it out.

[retromix]

What do you need a support group for? I'm here.

[ And Steve is clearly the authority on help. ]

You okay?

[grivences]

[ Robin exhales a quick laugh under her breath, peering down at Steve where he's leaning on her. ]

No offense, Steve, but I don't think you can help me in this particular area.

[ A sigh, and a pause to eat some more pizza as she thinks over what she wants to say. ]

You've got Eddie, and that's great. He clearly makes you happy, and I'm happy for you. I just... I want that. I want to meet someone who I can have that with.

[retromix]

We could go out to a club, they have those here in the city. Find you a nice girl ...

[ Waggling his brows, he waves his pizza. ]

You could go dancing, have a few drinks, get her number.

[grivences]

Have you seen me try to dance? If it was possible to have something worse than two left feet, then I would have it.

[retromix]

We could also get drunk, that's totally an option. Maybe not as drunk as the last time when Billy carried me home ...

[grivences]

[ Robin laughs, eating some pizza again while on screen, the movie shows the young protagonist settling into her temporary flat in some picturesque European city, walking through the beautifully decorated living room and out onto a balcony with a perfect view of the city skyline, directly across from another balcony where another woman sits at an easel, painting.

Robin sighs again, and shakes her head. ]

No, I don't think I want to get so drunk that I need to be carried home, by Billy or anyone.

[retromix]

[ He pats her, wherever he can reach above his head. ]

We could take Chrissy, she'd give him a reason to behave. He's on his best behaviour with her. You notice that?

[grivences]

[ It ends up being somewhere vaguely shoulder-ish, and she swats away his hand playfully, before ruffling his hair with her non-pizza hand. ]

Yeah, they seem to be pretty close. Did they know each other back home or something?

[retromix]

[ Swiping his hair out of his eyes, he watches the TV without really seeing it, head stuck back in Hawkins. ]

Even when me and Billy were seniors, Chrissy ran in the same circles. [ And then, ] I knew her back home, kind of.

[grivences]

Yeah? [ She guesses that would make sense. ] I only ever really saw her at games. And even then, I wasn't exactly paying attention to the cheerleaders.

[ Her focus was on Vickie first, the music she was playing second. ]

[retromix]

[ Oh, Robin, he can guess why. Steve's smile is brief, fading as he nibbles his crust. ]

Yeah, she was a year younger but our group was pretty large. I didn't see her much at parties but she hung around like a few of the other pretty girls, cheerleaders and whoever. I spoke to her a few times but it wasn't like ...

[ He didn't want to date her, she was too young for him. He was so shallow back then, everything revolved around what he could get out of a person. ]

Anyway, I knew her a little.

[grivences]

[ Robin nods, knowing what Steve means. She had been aware of Chrissy the same way she was aware of everyone else in their small school. Could put a face to a name, but aside from that had nothing but assumptions of personality. ]

She's not how I thought she would be. But I guess that's the rule, not the exception for you popular crowd, isn't it?

[ First, Steve had surprised her. Now Chrissy. It's almost like one's social standing really didn't matter. ]

[retromix]

She's always been really sweet, I remember her as being shyer than the other girls. Felt like shit when I realised she'd ben here six months getting put back together and we had no idea.

[grivences]

I can't even imagine what that must have been like... I was panicking enough thinking I was alone here for a day before you came and got me. And I was completely uninjured.

[retromix]

[ Twisting his head up to see her upside-down. ]

She said they had to re-set all her bones and her eyes were healed with magic, because they were ... [ He makes a pop! noise with his lips. ] Which is the only thing that could bring them back, I guess.

[grivences]

[ An exaggerated frown, and Robin leans over to dump her crusts on the coffee table. ]

Yeah, I don't think I want any more pizza.

[ Not after that disgusting eye-popping sound effect. ]

[retromix]

What? Gimme those, then!

[ He'll eat the crusts! Waste not, want not. ]

It's amazing she's so well-adjusted. I'm glad. Do you think ... because those three are technically dead back home, that more people like that will turn up here?

[grivences]

What, like... like Patrick? [ ... ] Like Barb?

[ It's been years since Barb died, and while Robin knows the circumstances behind her death now, it's still hard to think about. Even if they had grown apart by the time she died. They had been friends, once. ]

I don't know... Maybe there's no limit to who could show up. We got Chrissy, Billy, and Eddie.

...Eddies.

[retromix]

[ Munching all those crusts at once, mrrphmprhpmphh. ]

[grivences]

[ The sound of his munching is comforting, in its own gross way. She just leans back and keeps watching the movie. The two women are having pleasant, flirty conversation, from one balcony to the other. ]

[retromix]

[ Avoiding discussing vampire!Eddie, Steve gets comfy and settles in for the movie. It's sweet and well-shot, he can't say he's gripped by it but his attention flickers to Robin a few times to see how she likes it.

Then there's a sex scene, and his eyebrows go up. ]

[grivences]

[ Robin's into it. Romcoms aren't usually her favorite, and even this one is a little trite at times, but... There's something that hits different when it's two women saying the cheesy lines to each other.

Her eyes widen when the sex scene starts, and she sits up a little straighter, glancing down at Steve to see his reaction. ]

[retromix]

[ He's peeeeeking up to see hers. ]

[grivences]

[ She locks eyes with Steve, and then just erupts into laughter. ]

[retromix]

[ Cackling and snorting, the sex scene is tastefully over by the time he settles down. ]

They better be dating now, is all I'll say.

[grivences]

[ Still laughing, ] How are they supposed to date, she has to leave to go back to San Francisco in three days, haven't you been paying attention?

[retromix]

I haven't paid attention to much of anything in this movie, it's kind of slow-going. Not enough explosions.

[grivences]

[ Robin rolls her eyes. Of course Steve hasn't been paying attention to the movie. ]

It's actually... [ She shifts to shrug a shoulder. ] It's fine? It's not groundbreaking cinema, by any means. Aside from the genders of the romantic leads, there's really nothing remarkable about it.

[cheerleader]

[Chrissy doesn't necessarily do well all alone. She's left to her thoughts for too long, and then she gets all weird. So when she knows everyone else is out, she blares music from her phone. In this case, it's Uptown Girl. Which she's dancing and singing to when he knocks on the door and sticks his head inside.

He gets a smile and she makes her way over to pull him into the room and dance along with her. It only lasts for about thirty seconds before she goes over to grab her phone and turn off the music, tossing her phone onto the bed.]

I didn't know anyone else was home.

[But she's glad he is.]

[retromix]

[ Uptown Girl is wildly familiar and he smiles as she drags him inside to dance with her, twirling her under his arms and bopping along with his hair tossing as he sings along. He rakes it back once the song ends, hand on a hip. ]

I was about to head out, actually. Shopping. You can come, if you want? Everyone else is out doing their own thing.

[cheerleader]

[Steve Harrington is currently in her bedroom, hand on his hip as he messes with his perfect hair. Wild. She's so taken by that and the fact he's just invited her somewhere that she stares a little in disbelief. Someone wants to do something with her? Her smile is instant, as is the eager nod she gives him.]

Yeah, I'd love to. It's too quiet to stay around here by myself.

[No thank you to letting her mind wander. She quickly hurries over to slide on a pair of sandals, and grabs her backpack purse from beside the bed. Her smile is still intact when she follows him out of the room and through the apartment.]

Where were you thinking about going?

[retromix]

[ He's glad he asked her to come along, sure it would have been rotten for her to stay cooped up in the apartment all alone. One the way out he slings his own backpack on, light unlike the heavy ones kept in his car's trunk. ]

Only to the mall, I need some new clothes. Did you know that's where I first ran into Billy? He scared the hell out of me.

[cheerleader]

Billy Hargrove, scaring someone?

[Her tone is dry, but it's clear she's amused. There's even a soft laugh as they head down toward the ground floor. It's while they're on their way down that she realizes Billy had probably scared the hell out of Steve because he's supposed to be dead. Just like she is.]

I guess that's why you weren't too freaked out when you saw me. You had already run into Billy and Eddie.

[retromix]

That and he was sort of evil, controlled by Vecna and trying to kill everyone last time I saw him. Even before that he was an asshole at school, so.

[ Shrugging, Steve shakes his head. ]

Anyway, it was less the other thing and more "oh great, is he going to split my lip again?" which I didn't think when I saw you. No offence, I'm sure you could if you were angry enough.

[ She's a little wildcat. A Hawkins tiger. ]

[cheerleader]

Me?

[She squeaks the word out, laughing.]

Really? I've never punched anyone in my entire life!

[Chrissy's still laughing as she lightly pushes at his arm.]

But I promise that you can be the first one that gets a split lip if I take up boxing.

[retromix]

[ He sways with the push, laughing. ]

I can show you how to throw a punch, if you like. It's easy to do it, make sure your thumb is tucked around your fingers, not inside, [ he shows her on his own hand, ] and you hit with the knuckles straight on. Otherwise you might bust up your bones.

[cheerleader]

You better be careful. Eddie might lecture you for teaching me how to punch.

[It's a playful warning, not at all serious. She has no idea if Eddie would even care what other people teach her. But she does copy his hand, holding it up for him to see.]

Like this? I've had enough busted bones.

[So the position of her thumb has to be perfect.]

[retromix]

[ He checks once they're in the car, leaning over to check her thumb. ]

Yeah, that's good. Hit my palm. [ Holding it up for her. ] Try and get it right in the middle.

[cheerleader]

[Oh god. He really wants her to hit him. Chrissy stares at him like he's crazy for a few seconds before shrugging and throwing a punch right at his palm. She's seriously doubting she can hurt him.]