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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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."

"You're nacho generosity is appreciated," Lucy says, nodding and gesturing him towards the lanes. She takes her seat and picks up the menu that's been left on the table behind them. It's typical diner food, greasy and therefore, really good. And she has some kind of craving for nachos now. It's not something they ate a lot of back home considering her mother was sick when time was right and then she was too busy when time was wrong.

"I'm going to order the nachos you're going to treat with," Lucy tells him, looking up. "Do you want something to drink? A beer? A water? Something else?"

She waves the menu at him, brings it up so her face is right next to it and flutters her eyelashes at him.

One beer is safe. Hopper knows he's got a problem with alcohol, but it's not the sort of problem where he ends up in the gutter every single time he has a beer. When he's out, when he's not dwelling on Sara, even those evenings with Eleven, he'd always been capable of just having one or two drinks. Not enough to get him drunk.

It's only when he's in a bad place and he starts drinking that he ends up in an even worse place. That's not going to happen tonight.

"A beer," he says, looking at her over his shoulder with a smile. "And since I'm treating, feel free to get yourself something, too." He's still teasing, he hopes she knows she's welcome to get whatever she wants.

"Ooh, how gallant of you," Lucy jokes, taking the menu up to the nearby counter while he takes his turn. She doesn't order much, just some nachos, two beers, and some mozzarella sticks. It seems safer to stick to finger foods since she doesn't know how good the food is and she doesn't want to order too much if it's not good.

But, nachos are a must and mozzarella sticks just seem like a good thing to go along with them.

She comes back quickly and takes her seat, sitting back and crossing her arms. "Food is on the way. Let's hope we both earn it."

Hopper's next turn is far less impressive than his first, a fact reflected in the score displayed on the screen when Lucy returns and he frowns at it for a moment before he gives a big shrug. They're hardly playing a seriously competitive game here and if he loses, he'll just be happy to be here with her.

Damned if he knows how to say that, though. It's been so long since he's actually dated someone that he feels a little bit like an idiotic kid. Never quite sure what to do next.

"Let's hope you earn it at least," he says, turning to smile at her. "I think my first turn was a fluke."

"And here I thought you might be trying to hustle me," Lucy says with a smirk. She gets to her feet and, as she passes him, says, "The food should be here pretty soon."

She smiles at him before reaching for the ball. She sets herself and tosses the ball down the lane. It wobbles but stays fairly straight, knocking down seven pins. It's better than her first turn and she smiles, giving a little fist bump as she does.

"Time for the comeback. Maybe," Lucy says, laughing. "Or time to get lucky."

She realizes what she's said pretty quickly and blushes. "At bowling."

"At bowling," he echoes with a laugh, but he watches as she approaches the lane for her next throw and anyone watching him would definitely notice that he's looking at her ass. He'd say he can't help himself, but he knows that's a shitty cop out, so even in his head he takes responsibility. She's beautiful and he likes her and he's definitely attracted to her.

There's just a part of him that wonders if she feels the same. Or if he's doing this properly. It's been so damn long since he's actually dated someone that he's not sure how it usually goes. Were she another women, he'd probably just ask her home with him tonight, but if he wants this to maybe go somewhere -- and he thinks he does -- he knows that's not how to play it.

"Come on," he encourages. "You get that last three and you'll get a spare and have a higher score than me."

"Might be the only time that happens today," Lucy says, turning to smile at him from over her shoulder. If she catches him looking, she doesn't say anything but she doesn't mind either. It's not like she hasn't been looked at before and she, at least, likes Jim. Likes being around him and likes talking to him and so she also likes being looked at by him.

She takes a breath and aims carefully. Right now, there's nothing more she wants than to collect the rest of these pins. With a small prayer, she tosses the ball. It wobbles and slides but, amazingly, does knock over the three pins that remain.

She can't help the squeal of delight and the little twirl she does as she makes her way back down the lane. "That'll be the best shot I make all day."

Hopper leans forward in his seat a little as she makes the shot and for a second it seems like it might not work out, but then it does and the pins go over and he can't help but grin when she twirls. This isn't the sort of place where men like him end up. He had it all figured. His daughter died, he returned to his home town and he was going to die young, a sad, lonely man who didn't have a hell of a lot in his life.

Instead there was Eleven. And now he's here.

"Now that's what I call a spare," he agrees with a laugh, just as the food arrives. "You see that?" he asks the waiter. "Tell me that wasn't impressive."

The waiter looks at Hopper, looks at Lucy, looks at the pins then nods. "It was a good shot."

The waiter probably hadn't even the shot but his answer delights Lucy anyway. She smiles widely at him before walking up to join Hopper. She takes her seat and sighs like she's just finished a marathon and hasn't picked up a simple spare in bowling.

When the waiter leaves, Lucy snickers and says, "He's probably just hoping for a good tip."

"I guess it's not the worst way to do it," he says, because it had made her happy and Hopper figures he'll probably leave someone a nice tip for that. Not that he's got a lot of money to be throwing around, but he doesn't really go out and if he's going to spend it on anyone, it's going to be Lucy and Beverly.

"Don't eat all the nachos while my back is turned," he tells her before taking a sip of his beer and then getting up to take his next shot. His first ball goes straight into the gutter, an embarrassment if there's ever been one, but with the next he manages to take every last pin down. Another spare, not the strike he'd prefer, but it's not half bad either. When he turns back to Lucy, he's grinning, and he shrugs as if he can't explain it.