something_incredible | (no subject)

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lucy

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The morning after his bender, Hopper had woken up on Lucy's couch pretty damn embarrassed, some of his memories blurred to the point where he might consider it a black out, but he remembered two specific things very clearly. Lucy had been a hell of a lot kinder to him than he deserved, and he had decided, in his stoned and drunken state, that asking her on a second date at that moment had been appropriate.

But for some reason she had agreed to go with him.

Since then, it's been a lot easier to keep himself from drinking. That's down to Beverly, though, and he knows maybe it's not real recovery if he's not drinking because of a kid he's sort of looking after, but it's better than nothing. Those pills he'd bought, he'd held onto them for a few days, but after the first night Beverly had needed to spend at his place he'd flushed them down the toilet.

What he wants is to get back home. But maybe Darrow has a few things going for it, too, and somehow he's got a kid who trusts him enough to come to him when things get weird at the Home and a woman who actually wants to see him again after she finds him in a pretty goddamn terrible state and he thinks he should probably try not to mess any of this up.

So they're going bowling. It's a little cheesy, but Hopper likes cheesy and he likes Lucy, and when he shows up at her place to pick her up, he's bound and determined to do this properly. He's come up short of getting flowers, figuring a woman like Lucy would probably appreciate something a little more thoughtful than that, so he's going to leave gifts for a little later in whatever this might turn into.

But he does go up to her apartment to pick her up instead of waiting around outside and when he knocks on her door, he finds he's both excited and nervous.

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"Yeah," he says. "I think she's been through a lot."

He doesn't know all the details, but that somehow still feels like an understatement. The way Beverly had seemed so casual about her unsettling gym teacher doesn't sit well with him. The ability she has to just process the weird shit going on at the Home strikes him as unusual for a kid her ages. She's been through something bigger than what Darrow has thrown at her so far and he doesn't want to push for all the details, but instead wants to let her come to him with time. If what's what she wants.

"She says she doesn't know what's going on, just that it's weird," he tells Lucy. "People seeing things in the basement. Food going bad before it's supposed to. She said there are bugs where there shouldn't be and uh... there was some blood. In the pipes. Came out of the shower."

"That...okay, that's strange and I probably would have gone somewhere else too," she says, cringing. She's seen weird things, done weird things, but she doesn't know if she could stand showering in blood. She's been covered in blood, seen men bleed out all over the place, seen them die but that shouldn't be something that happens in a typical, mundane shower.

"I'm glad she has some place to go," Lucy tells him, nodding. "Is anyone going to check out the strange happenings? That doesn't sound like the house settling or the wind. Those are the excuses my mother used to give me when things got loud back home. That's more."

"I went by to talk to some of the staff, but they seem pretty intent on denying anything is going on," Hopper admits, frowning as he thinks about it. There had been a volunteer, a tall, lanky guy who hadn't said much but had seemed especially watchful, and Hopper thinks he might go back and talk to him as some point, but the staff don't seem like they're going to be much help.

"They've got the usual excuses. Their fridge went or the bugs are just a one time thing, they're getting in an exterminator. Shit like that. No explanation for the blood, but people manage to rationalize all sorts of shit, don't they?"

And it pisses him off. Kids are afraid and the staff doesn't seem to be doing much of anything to help them.

"Showering in blood is a little too much for me," Lucy says, grimacing once again. "I can deal with getting blood on me and I have dealt with it but actually washing myself in blood? They would have to peel me off the ceiling."

Literally. She would climb the walls and cling to something or someone until she was reassured about seventy times that the blood was gone and she would be able to shower with water and soap again.

"If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know," Lucy offers. "I probably won't be any help with investigations and police work but I can do some research on the history of the place, see if there's anything that might explain the strange happenings."

"Shit," he says with a laugh as they near the bowling alley. "Two years ago, I would've been convinced there was some logical explanation for everything that's going on, but now here I am, thinking it might be a really good idea to have you do something like that."

Because maybe she's right, maybe there's history in that building, something that might be causing all this stuff to happen. Hopper wouldn't know where to begin with that, but Lucy would. And if it's something that can help Beverly, he wants to do it. He likes having her stay with him, but what's most important is that she's comfortable and happy.

"You'd do that?" he asks with a small smile, looking over at her.

"I could try," Lucy tells him, shrugging. "I can't guarantee anything because this library is...lacking when it comes to the history of this city but there's really nothing to lose, is there?"

Maybe there'll be something. Maybe someone will know something if she asks around. Maybe she can go out to the home and take a look around, see if anything raises a red flag in her mind or jogs her memory. It's probably not going to be much of a help but it's something.

"There's not much I can do but I can try and do that," she offers. "If you think it might help."

"It might," he says and he squeezes her hand, unexpectedly touched by even just the offer. Lucy has met Beverly, but by the sounds of it, it was just the one time. She doesn't owe her anything, doesn't owe him anything, but it's a kind offer and he appreciates it.

And even something that only might help is still worth looking into. At this point he's willing to investigate just about any angle that might lead him to an answer. He'll dig up the entire city again if that's what helps.

"Thank you," he says with a small smile. Much smaller than usual, but genuine.

"It's no problem at all," she assures him, giving his hand an answering squeeze. "I'll do what I can. And what I can do might be a whole lot of nothing but I'd like to use my skills where I can especially since it's not like I can go back in time to figure out what the story behind the Home is and I can't teach a glass on it. But, I can research."

She's pretty damn good at doing that. It's not a hard skill to perfect but a lot of people get bored. She doesn't. She just wants more and more and more. The more she can learn, the better.

"And hopefully tonight I can also bowl," she quips with a smile. "For all mu talk, the last time I think I bowled was...in the nineties."

"If not for going with Beverly, that'd be more recently than me," he says, pleased with what he's sure is actually a pretty stupid joke. He hadn't even made it to the nineties, has no idea what they might have been like, and it's as weird as ever to think of just how old he'd be right now if he'd made it to this time the usual way. Chances are, unless something drastic had changed his lifestyle, he'd be dead. Heart attack, he's willing to bet.

Not that he's going to get into any of that tonight. Hell, maybe Darrow can change him.

"Come on," he says, opening the door for the bowling alley and letting Lucy head inside ahead of him. It's not the same as he bowling alleys he's used to back home, but he's been here already and so the lights and the music don't throw him off like they had the first time. "Let's see what you've got."

They step inside the bowling alley and Lucy's immediately struck by the sights and sounds. There are many lanes in use and she can hear the thump of bowling balls sliding down lanes and hitting pins. She can smell typical diner food and it makes her smile. She hasn't been inside a place like this in a long, long time. It's nice. It's new. And she thinks it'll be fun.

"I've just remembered that we're going to have to wear terrible shoes," she remarks once they're inside. "Shoes that other people have worn. Let's hope they clean those out and the colors aren't too terrible. I'm not a fashionista but no one looks good in bowlin shoes."

Hopper looks her over, as if giving it serious thought, then he grins and shrugs. "I dunno," he decides. "I think you'll probably still be beautiful."

He'll look like a damn idiot, but then, he usually does. That's not something Hopper worries about too much. He likes Lucy and he doesn't want her to find him unattractive, but he thinks if that were the case, she wouldn't have agreed to this second date at all. Still, he knows he's not as young as she is and he's certainly not in the best shape, but he's got his own appeal,

Probably even while wearing bowling shoes.

"C'mon," he says, approaching the counter to get their shoes and pay for their games. "What size?"

"Thank you," she says, a faint blush highlighting her cheeks. It's not that she doesn't like how she looks, it's just that it's never been a priority. She does her best, takes care of herself, and tries to dress in a way that makes her feel nice but she doesn't go out of her way to primp and prep for days.

"We'll see what you have to say once I get myself in bowling shoes," she tells him with a laugh. "Size eight. I think. I haven't bought new shoes in awhile but unless something's changed, that should be right."

She's even prettier when she blushes like that, a faint hint of colour that lights up her features and Hopper smiles as he steps them toward the shoe counter. Lucy says she hasn't bought herself new shoes in awhile and he has to admit, if he thinks about it, he can't remember the last time he bought himself any new clothes before Darrow. It had been necessary here, given that he'd shown up in a dirty pair of jeans and hospital scrubs, but before that, he'd just never bothered.

And here he's just gotten himself more of the same.

"Size eight for her," he says once they're at the counter. "And twelve for me. And two games. For now." He looks back at Lucy for confirmation. "Two games sound good?"

"That's fine," Lucy tells him, nodding. "That might be all that my fingers will stand up to. I spent awhile grading today so I've got a case of stiff fingers and bitten fingernails."

She flexes her fingers to demonstrates, shakes it out and then shrugs. "Two games gives me plenty of time to show you the extent of my bowling skills."

Skills that were virtually nil. She supposes that talking a big game counts as having some skill but talking was not going to translate over to bowling very well. "And then we can decide on further games or something else."

"Lane fourteen," the young man behind the counter tells them, sounding about as bored as he looks, passing them their shoes and taking Hopper's money to pay for the games. It's clearly just another routine evening for him, but Hopper's not the sort to be offended by a kid going through another boring night at work and he grabs their shoes, then leads Lucy toward their lane.

"Hey, better bitten fingernails than a bad back," he suggests as he takes off his coat and drapes it on one of the chairs in their lane. "A bad back would kinda screw up your bowling game, I'd think. Good thing I don't have a bad back."

He flashes her a grin before sitting down to change his shoes.

"Good thing. A bad back would probably prevent you from doing a lot of fun things," she says coyly. She takes a seat of her own, sliding off her shoes to put the garish, battered bowling shoes on. They fit fine and she wiggles her toes to make sure she's not going to get blisters.

"I don't have a bad back either," she tells him, getting to her feet and wandering over to the selection of bowling balls. "About the only thing that runs in my family is the ability to run away from your responsibilities and cancer. Let's hope I don't inherit either of those."

Not that she could run far in Darrow. She could leave, find other places to stay but it's not like she could find another city to disappear into. So, it's a good thing she has no desire to do that. She doesn't want to be her father.

Given their conversations before now, Hopper doesn't think Lucy would be surprised if he chose the more serious thread of what she's just said and went with it, but for once in his life he chooses levity. He grins as he finishes tying his shoes, arching his eyebrow over at where she's standing.

"That would be a shame," he agrees. It's not his intention to take her home tonight or to invite himself back to her place. He has no interest in doing anything she wouldn't be ready for, but he's also not about to take it off the table entirely. "A shame if our bad backs prevented us from doing anything fun together."

He stands, brushes his hands off on his jeans and approaches the lane as well. "Maybe you oughta let me go first," he suggests. "Since you're about to wipe the floor with me."

"A total shame," Lucy says, tightening her laces and then standing up, eyeing the shoes and shaking her head. It feels like she's gone back in time to when she'd been in school, trying to catch the eye of some boy and had gone to the bowling alley with a bunch of friends because she'd known he'd be there.

It makes her laugh, the memory, and she shakes her head before coming back to the here and now.

"I'll get everything programmed if you want to go first," Lucy agrees, sitting down to start typing in their names. For a second, she considers giving them both nicknames but dismisses the idea. It's only a second date. Maybe if they do this again, she'll call him something ridiculous. For now, it's just Lucy and Jim.

Hopper's not blind, he's found solace in the arms of women since his divorce, he's been honest with Lucy about that. But beyond some feelings for Joyce he'd been utterly unwilling to explore, he hasn't really liked anyone in that time. Not genuinely, not like this.

He likes her sense of humour, the easy way he can talk to her, the way she smiles. It's probably not the right thing for him to do, letting himself get close in this way, but it's just a date. That's what he tells himself. A date with a woman he actually likes.

"Okay, here we go," he says as he picks up a ball and steps up to the lane. He'd gotten a little practice with Beverly and he's not really as bad as he's made himself out to be, but the first ball he throws only knocks down half the pins.

"That wasn't too bad," Lucy says from her seat, leaned back and arms crossed. It's more than she thinks she's going to manage when it's her turn. She even gives him a little round of applause.

"So now, you're going to knock the rest down and I'm going to call you a hustler and I won't share my nachos with you later. I don't know if I'm going to get nachos but I won't share them if I do."

Her smile grows and it's nice to feel genuinely relaxed, genuinely happy in this moment. "Let's see if you lose out on nachos."

Hopper grins as he picks up another ball and the thought occurs for only a moment as he steps up to the lane again, but he's been smiling a hell of a lot more lately than he has in some time. A part of him says he should feel guilty for this, especially with Eleven back here, possibly all alone, Joyce dealing with Bob's death, Will trying to heal from all the shit he's been put through. Hopper isn't there for them right now, he's here instead, having a good time when they need him.

The guilt goes as quick as it comes. He can't do anything about it, he can't make himself go home no matter what he wills, so maybe he's allowed to have a good time for a little while.

The second ball rolls down the lane and for a second it seems like he might miss, but he ends up getting a spare and he turns back to Lucy with a sheepish shrug and a teasing smile. "Nachos sound good, but a man has his pride. And can buy his own nachos."

"See if I ever offer to share my nachos with you again," she jokes as she gets to her feet. When she reaches for the ball, she immediately realizes that she is not a good bowler. She is probably not even a mediocre bowler and all she can do is hope that she gets lucky. Not that there's any serious stakes but still. For all her talk, she'd like to get something that's not a big zero.

Taking a breath, Lucy steps up, tries to picture herself throwing a strike and then tosses the bowling ball. For a few seconds, it goes go straight before it veers off sharply and knocks down two pins.

Two.

It's better than nothing but still. Not a great start. She turns around and says, "Apparently I'm a little rusty."

"Hey, take your time. We've got all night," Hopper answers, doing his best not to grin too widely at her. Honestly, he's pretty sure that first spare was a lucky roll -- two lucky rolls, maybe -- and it'll all be downhill from here for him, but it's fun to give her a bit of a hard time. Especially with all her big talk, even when he knows she'd just been teasing him, too.

"You can clear 'em all," he encourages. "You've got two more balls to do it, now show me what you've got. Knock the rest of 'em down and maybe I'll share my nachos with you as a reward."

He can't remember the last time he's done something like this. Laughed and joked with a woman. He's had fun with Beverly and with Eleven, but it's different with a kid. That's always been easier for him, he just likes to be honest with them and give them what they need, but with women it's something else.

"If you don't share your nachos with me no matter what happens on this next roll," Lucy says, hefting the ball up and stepping onto the lane, "I'll be sad. I make a very good sad face. It's very persuasive."

It wasn't something she used very often because she doesn't want to manipulate people into giving her what she wants but if she needs to break out a frown and a quivering lip to get her way, she might think about doing it tonight of all nights.

She gives him a quick wink before turning and lining up her shot. When she tosses it this time, it's much more straight and it hits many more pins but it leaves two still standing when all is said and done.

"So, that was a little better," she says, making a face. "Good enough for nachos?"

When her back is turned, Hopper finds himself struggling with a smile, feeling a little bit like a fool because of it. She's pretty and funny and a hell of a lot smarter than he'll ever be. A hell of a lot better than he thinks he deserves and he doesn't want to get ahead of himself in any way, doesn't want to put any pressure on this, but at least they're having a good time.

He figures he's lucky enough in that.

When she turns back, he manages to wipe the grin from his face and pretends to give her turn a thoughtful consideration.

"I'm not sure when we got into bargaining with nachos, but I think you might have won yourself some," he decides, scratching his chin in a considering manner. "I don't think they'll taste as good if I keep them all to myself anyway."