Chapter Text
Don’t tell this to anybody:
Steve honestly doesn’t mind his new job.
Sure, he’s not a mechanic, or police officer, or a famous sportsman, but, now that he’s been here for a week, he has to admit; working in an ice-cream “restaurant” isn’t too bad.
“Steve!”
Well…
Until your local group of monster-fighters show up.
Then it might be a pain in the ass.
“Oh hell no.”
He turns on his heel, intending to walk straight to the back.
“You can deal with these little shits.” he says to his co-worker, Robin.
She started the same day as Steve – essentially the day the new restaurant opened its doors inside the new Starcourt shopping Mall – so they’ve gone from strangers, to co-workers, to friends, to near enough best friends in a matter of the week they’ve been there. Idle times with no customers gives them plenty of time to talk and get to know each-other.
“I don’t think so!” Dustin calls, nearly trying to dive over the counter had Max not yanked him back.
Directly behind her follows Lucas, who’s trying his best to contain his laughter at their antics.
Then roams in Will with Jennifer. The Snowball had been the start of their relationship, and slowly, they’ve been getting more confident in such.
And finally, behind them, is Mike and Jane, hand-in-hand. She’s looking around, trying to take in every possible detail of the place, while Mike, who’s rolling his eyes at Dustin and his apparent lack of self-control, can’t help but watch Jane as if she’s the only thing that matters in the word.
(To him, she is – but we won’t get into that just yet).
“Steve!” Robin demands, grabbing him by the back of his uniform before he can get too far away, and yanks him back into place.
“You will not leave me with this crowd of lunatics who are – for some reason – excited to see you!”
“But-”
“No buts, or I’ll hide under the counter all day tomorrow.” Robin orders.
S teve rolls his eyes, letting out a groan. He know she’s joking, but she has a point – there’s no use in hiding now that they’ve already seen him.
“What do you shitheads want?” Steve questions, earning a light punch in the arm from Robin.
“That’s not a way to speak to customers!” Robin reminds him.
“They aren’t customers-”
“Yes we are!” Dustin interrupts Steve. “We’re all here for ice cream as well as to annoy you!”
He glances to the side then, remembering Steve’s co-worker.
“And, uh… Hi, Robin!”
Steve groans, running a hand over his face as he wonders what he ever did to deserve this kind of torture. When he drops said hand, he looks to Robin, practically trying to beg with a poor attempt of puppy eyes, to which she fails to hold back an amused, quiet giggle. She does still manage to shake her head.
“Fine.” Steve groans. “What you do all want?”
He quickly remembers how hyper these kids can be, and just before they all get into an uproar, he reminds himself to demand;
“One at a time! I can’t listen to all of you at once.”
And so, they all slowly state their flavour of choice. All except Mike and Jane, who are standing back; Mike pointing to things in the menu which Jane is holding.
“Honestly, I’ve only really stuck to the things I know I like.” Mike tells her. “There’s no shame in not knowing what all of these are, because I really don’t either.”
She offers him a warm smile – her way of thanking him for making her feel better in herself; making her feel normal. It’s a smile that he automatically returns, whether intentional or not.
“So, you know you like chocolate, right?”
She nods – of course she likes chocolate. Who doesn’t?
“And you told me about the ice cream Benny gave you. That was vanilla, so you like that too.”
Again, a nod.
“Have you ever tried strawberry?”
And this time, a shake.
Steve can’t help but feel for her – he’s seen first-hand how easily overwhelmed she can feel by new information. He supposes a menu full of ice cream is no different.
“Hey, lovebirds.” Steve finally calls, grabbing their attention.
Mike used to roll his eyes at this name, but now, much to the others’ continued snickers, he wears the name with pride, as does El. They come up to the counter, El now looking with wide eyes at the signs above Steve and Robin’s heads.
Steve leans forward, whispering just loud enough for them both to hear.
“How about, you two just grab a flavour. El, if you don’t end up liking it, just give it back and you can try something else.”
El’s eyes shine with excitement, whilst Mike’s widen with surprise.
“You can do that?”
“I shouldn’t.” Steve admits. “But for El? I’ll make an exception. As long as you don’t go telling my boss.”
“No, of course not!” Mike knows Steve is joking about this. “Dude, you’ve become such a legend.”
“Hey!” Steve scoffs. “I’ve always been a legend.”
Mike just rolls his eyes, making Steve take the opportunity to ruffle his hair, which causes Mike to back up quickly, making a poor attempt at repairing the “damage” that Steve caused whilst El smirks at their antics.
“So, what do you want to try first?”
El’s eyes slowly move to Mike, who’s already looking at her expectantly. She smiles slightly, and Mike already knows what she’s going to say, just from the look she gives.
“Strawberry.” she says, turning back to Steve.
Without a word, he scoops it up, placing it into a cone, before handing said cone to El.
“And for middle-Wheeler?”
“I’ll take the same.”
It’s now Steve’s turn to roll his eyes. “Of course you will.” as he begins scooping Mike’s up too.
“What? Strawberry’s my favourite!” Mike exclaims.
“As of ten seconds ago?” Steve raises an eyebrow.
“No!” Mike laughs, taking the teasing well these days. “No, really. It’s always been one of my favourites.”
“If you say so.” Steve says, handing Mike’s cone, then taking the coins Mike has already laid on the counter for both his and El’s.
“Thanks, Steve.” Mike says, in a way that is supposed to say ‘I’m not paying attention to your teasing, Steve’.
“Thanks, Steve.” El says, softer.
“You’re welcome, lovebirds.” Steve replies, to which Mike slips his hand back into El’s, smirking at Steve as he does.
He watches them walk off to the table where the rest of the party reside, and once again, Steve finds himself rolling his eyes again.
“So, mind telling me who they are?” Robin slides to his side once again, leaning against the counter.
Steve takes a glance to her, before looking back to the table that they reside on.
“Christ, where do I start…”
“Well, how about the two that just left us?” Robin proposes.
“Those two, Mike and Jane…” he starts.
“Mike is the brother of my ex girlfriend, Nancy. Used to be a little shit, but now… I guess he’s tolerable.”
“Jane is Chief Hopper’s daughter – adopted. Came from a pretty shitty place, so she barely knew a thing when she first got out. Still learning, but getting there. Mike was the first person she met, which led to… that.” he hints towards them, where Mike has just placed a quick kiss onto Jane’s cheek.
“They’re basically a package deal now. Can’t get one without the other.”
“They’re kinda cute.” Robin comments, smirking.
“If you really wanna call them that.” Steve huffs a laugh. “More sickening if you ask me.”
“Oh, leave them. Young love is the best kind.”
He mumbles some kind of acknowledgement – whether agreeing or not, Robin can’t tell.
“Then with them comes the rest of the ‘Party’ as they call themselves:
Lucas and Max, who are the other two lovebirds.”
Robin nods as she identifies exactly who Steve is referring to.
“Then you have Will and Jennifer, the shyer ones of the group. He’s… been through a lot, but she’s really helping to get him back out of his shell.”
“Well if that isn’t cute…”
“And then you have the hyper one; Dustin. He’s pretty much always excited.”
“So where do you fit in all this?” she asks then.
“Oh man… it’s a… long story. But, I guess, I had to keep an eye on them all at some point, and now its kinda… stuck.”
“Steve the Babysitter?”
His eyes snap to hers in surprise.
“Not you too…” he practically begs.
She laughs. “It has a ring to it.”
Steve huffs, rolling his eyes.
“Great.”