[late june]

[something_incredible]

By now Hopper knows who's here and who isn't. He knows his people are here, he knows they're safe, and he knows the ones who have disappeared are all those who claim to be from Darrow. Makes it pretty obvious he doesn't have much to worry about when it comes to his people, but he'd liked a few of those Darrow folks, well enough that he might call them something more than just acquaintances.

He's got other stuff to worry about, though. The entire DPD is down to just a few of them, never mind the hospitals, ambulances, and fire trucks. Hopper doesn't want to think what might happen in the event of a massive emergency, not when so many people are gone, and he's doing everything he can to try and lend support, make sure the city is as safe as it can be.

There are only so many people available and willing to help, though. And the pressure mounts.

He's thinking about doing something really shitty in order to deal with it.

Right now, he's standing outside a bar. It's far enough away from the townhouse that he's pretty sure neither Eleven or Beverly will see him. It's far enough away from the precinct that he thinks he's safe in that regard, too, although he knows the smart choice right now would be to go find Vimes and tell him what he's been thinking. Vimes might not be his damn sponsor, but he's a friend, and he's one Hopper trusts to know exactly what he's talking about if he were to go to the man and tell him he really wants a drink. Vimes would find him something to do, something to take his mind off how badly he wants a beer.

He should go to Vimes. But instead he lingers outside the bar, his hand on the door.

There's plenty of booze inside and no bartender to answer to. It wouldn't be much of an issue for him to just go inside and have a drink. One drink. As long as he doesn't get drunk, no one will ever know. He can have a drink, brush his teeth, and head back to the precinct to find Vimes to give him some work. No one will know.

But he'll know. He will. And he'll feel like shit.

Comments

[already_lost]

She knew that look. She knew exactly what it meant. Exactly what he felt, because she was feeling it, too. She wanted so badly to find a drink, maybe find a little coke... She actually had a stash hidden, taped up under the inside of her bottom drawer. She knew it was wrong, and it was there just to sabotage her one day, but it felt like a lifeline.

Only pull in case of an emergency. So, was this an emergency?

No, she didn't think so. But maybe...

"Want some company?" She called, her heels clicking along the sidewalk, announcing her approach.

[something_incredible]

At the sound of her voice, Hopper feels a rush of guilt, though it fades into a dull shame when he reminds himself Laura is one of the few real friends he has in Darrow. Probably the only one, besides Vimes, who would even understand if he pulled open the door and went and poured himself a drink.

"Company for a drink or company to keep me from drinking?" he asks, turning away from the door to look at her. Away from the door is a step in the right direction and his hand falls away from it, too, which is another.

"Should probably go for the latter."

[already_lost]

"As long as you're doing the same for me," Laura said, giving him a knowing smile as she stepped forward, offering him her hand.

"Walk with me." She wiggled her fingers, playfully encouraging. "Or we're going to have to find somebody to talk both of us down off the ledge."

[something_incredible]

Hopper snorts softly, then reaches out and takes Laura's hand, linking their fingers. Casual affection like this with someone he's not trying to take home is still unusual to him, but he's gotten better over the years in Darrow. He's had to, with the people he's made into his little family.

"You think there's anybody left in this damn city who'd be up to the task?" he asks. "Pretty sure my sponsor disappeared with all the rest of 'em."

[already_lost]

"Probably not. I think we're stuck with each other," she said, giving his hand a squeeze.

"I'm so bored. It wouldn't be half this bad, if there was anything to do. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss work. That's how desperate I am."

[something_incredible]

"Good thing you're one of the least annoying people I know," he answers with a smirk, then laughs again when Laura says she misses work.

"Hey, you wanna come run interference at the station, you're more than welcome," he tells her. "We're down to two cops and one uh... I dunno, he's a techy guy. I don't know what the hell he actually does, but three is better than two. And four is better than three. I'm sure we could find you somethin' to do."

[already_lost]

With a bright burst of laughter, she said, "I take it back." She looked at him with an affectionate grin, similar to what she might give to a particularly adorable puppy. "No offense, but I'd rather step in front of a car than work with law enforcement. And I know you're pretty forgiving, but how would your buddies on the force feel about sharing an office with an ex-call girl, recovering coke addict, who maybe saw her boyfriend shoot a fed one time but was too fucked up to know if it was real?"

[something_incredible]

"Well, I wasn't gonna tell 'em all that," he answers, grinning back. "Besides, me and all my buddies amount to me and two other guys not from Darrow at this point, so they got a little bit more understanding than the regular folks do."

He sighs, as if he's being extremely put out by this decision, then says, "But I get it. You don't wanna fetch coffee for a couple middle-aged cops. I wouldn't wanna do that either. We're all pains in the ass."

[already_lost]

"If they're all as cute as you, I might reconsider," she said, smiling wide. It was harmless flirtation, or perhaps not so harmless, depending upon her mood at any given moment, or what he might allow.

She was never sure what she wanted, now or five minutes from now, and would probably never decide if she was grateful or frustrated by his willful obliviousness.

He was comforting and supportive and there, in the way few men had been in her life, but he confused her. Their relationship was a hazy, unknowable thing, which she felt deep down could only be made sense of if she could make him want her.

Or maybe she was just bored. It was hard to tell.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael keeps forgetting that he means to find Hopper and talk to him about Eleven. He'll be thinking about it, then it slips his mind. Thinking about it, then he remembers he's got something else. Right now, he doesn't have much else at all, other than home-schooling Luke while everyone else just went on a complete ghost vacation, but he pops into the city from time to time to gas up, and to grab food and leave cash in the till.

He's on his way back to the truck when he catches sight of Hopper and remembers, shit, he's supposed to talk to him. He checks his bag, makes sure nothing is going to melt, and then heads over.

He's opening his mouth to tease him, but then he catches sight of where Hopper's standing. Yeah. Fuck. "I know I'm not supposed to go in there, and I'm pretty sure neither are you," he says evenly.

[something_incredible]

"Good thing you're not my mother or my sponsor," Hopper replies, but he turns away from the door, lets his hand fall away, and there isn't much heat in his words. He knows he shouldn't be going into a bar, not now, not ever, it's just that it's easier now. The opportunity to drink is right there and no one would ever have to know.

He can lie right now. Tell Michael he's not going to go inside and then come back later. In fact, when he finally does speak, he's genuinely not sure if he's being honest or not.

"Yeah, you're right," he says. "Bev would kick my ass."

[littleorphanalien]

"What, you don't want me to be your mother? I'm offended," he deadpans, in the way that a man who's going to go in the opposite direction from a guilt trip would. He nods away from the bar, not just because he doesn't want the temptation either, figuring they can figure out something else to do that'll be just as good.

He raises his brows, and makes a face, deciding to just dive into it. "I mean, or your other kid," he offers. "I don't know if she knows the intricacies of booze, but she'd definitely smell it and she's curious, if nothing else."

[something_incredible]

"Yeah, but she wouldn't kick my ass," he answers. Eleven would just ask a lot of uncomfortable questions and he's not sure if that's better or worse than having Beverly be angry with him. Either way, it'd be a shit thing for him to do, so he keeps his back turned on the bar door and hopes that's enough to keep him from giving up and just going back inside.

Then he smirks a little and says, "I'm a more practice alcoholic than that. I wouldn't go home smelling like booze."

[littleorphanalien]

"I mean, not unless she figured out that it'd do something," he agrees, nudging Hopper onwards, trying to get him away from the bar and not just because he doesn't want to talk about this shit where there could be people eavesdropping.

"I kind of wanted to talk to you about Eleven, anyway. Kept meaning to, and it kept slipping my mind. Pretty sure a bar's not the place to do that. You know anywhere better?"

[something_incredible]

"Bar's probably a perfect place to do that, especially right now," Hopper points out. "There ain't anyone here."

Just those of them who had come from outside of Darrow. The bartender is gone, all the regulars are gone. That big guy with the red hair might be inside, but Hopper doubts he gives a shit what they talk about.

Still, Michael's right and Hopper gestures. "Take your pick, man, the city is pretty much empty."

[littleorphanalien]

"Yeah, I'm not talking about my powers and shit where there's booze an arm's reach away," Michael says, trying to keep himself from being actively an asshole, but given that he's used to sitting in a bar, drinking acetone mixed with booze, and just generally living, he's not wanting to go back there.

He searches for a nearby spot that'll be far enough that he doesn't rethink his decision.

"Park?"

[something_incredible]

Hopper nods, because he doesn't want to go into the bar either. Well, he does and he doesn't. There's a big part of him that wants to just grab a bottle and down half the thing in one long swallow. Luckily, a bigger part of him doesn't want to fuck this up.

"Yeah, you wanna spread a blanket and have a picnic?" he asks, giving Michael a little smirk before he nudges him with his shoulder and then sets off in the direction of the park.

"So you wanna talk about El?" he asks. There's a wariness in his tone, because she's his kid and he needs to protect her.

[haplesshairpile]

Steve is kind of a mess. All of his most important people are still here, but what if they suddenly aren't? His boss is gone. Does that mean that he's not going to get paid? How long will the power last? Where will they get food? What of the children?

He's trying to keep his cool, really he is, but this shit is weird. Very weird, and kind of terrifying, and-- oh, what the fuck. Hopper, no.

"Nope!" Steve bodily crashes into Hopper, who is reaching for the handle of an unattended bar, and pushes him away. "Nope. As much as I would also love to get shitfaced, it's not gonna help anybody, big guy. Cooler heads!"

He keeps pushing at Hopper, but then stops and ultimately ends up just kind of clutching at him desperately, pinning his arms to his sides. "That's a saying, right? Cooler heads! Fuck, what's the rest of it?"

[something_incredible]

Hopper drops his hand from the door, though he doesn't really move much, instead looking at Steve with an arched eyebrow. It's sort of funny, skinny Steve Harrington trying to bodily move him, and that's enough of a distraction that Hopper feels a little bit less like he wants to head straight into the bar and down the first bottle he sees.

"Let cooler heads prevail?" he asks. "If that's what you're aiming for, kid, you might wanna relax a little."

But that helps, too. If Steve is in a state, that's something he can deal with. It's a distraction, a better one than getting himself a drink and fucking up all these months of sobriety he feels like he's clinging to so tenuously.

[haplesshairpile]

Okay, well, he doesn't really move Hopper at all. But that's fine. He's a point guard, not a linebacker.

"How am I supposed to relax if I have to worry about you doing stupid shit?" Steve asks, shifting himself until he has his arms around Hopper's shoulders from behind and his feet aren't even really touching the ground. His toes skid and then he pulls his feet off of the ground entirely, letting his weight hand from Hopper's back.

"I'm not letting go until you promise me!" Steve tells him. He tries to sound stern, but he's still a little screechy and manic. "You can't fuck off and leave me to take care of all these damn kids."

[something_incredible]

"Jesus Christ, you're like a goddamn backpack," Hopper grumbles, but he turns away from the door completely and takes a few steps away from the bar with Steve hanging off his back. Like Sara used to.

The thought makes him feel less inclined to just throw Steve off.

"Yeah, okay, I promise," he says. "I didn't go in, I'm not goin' in. It's just a lot of shit right now. There are three damn DPD employees left in the whole city. Three. And there are a lot more people than that."

[haplesshairpile]

Steve is not a big enough idiot to think that Hopper couldn't just throw him to the ground if he felt like it, so he's allowing this to happen. Which means that he isn't pissed, and probably even knows that Steve is right. Which is good!

"So, you just need help. I can help!" He lets go of Hopper and then comes around to stand in front of him, excited by the prospect. "I'll be an apocalypse cop. Deputize me, or whatever."

[something_incredible]

"Oh, hell no," he answers. He wants to say that he's not going to give Steve a gun, he's not going to be stupid enough to do that, but the truth is that he doesn't want Steve to get hurt. A lot of shit could really go wrong in a situation like the one they're in now and he's not just going to put Steve out on the street and ask him to be a cop without any training.

"You can come with me to the station and answer phones," he decides. "Direct calls to those of us who're left."

[haplesshairpile]

"What do you mean hell no?" Steve asks with an affronted gasp. Answer phones? How insulting. "I went up against some of the same shit you did back home. You were there when we took out those demodogs last year, and you want me to answer phones?"

He scoffs and holds his thumb and pinky up to his ear as if it were a phone receiver, putting on his best and most sarcastic customer service voice. "Hello, one of the few people who are left? You're being looted? That sucks. I'd come help you but I'm stuck behind a desk like some schmuck!"

[something_incredible]

"Perfect, yeah," Hopper says. "I like how that sounds because I like how it involves you not getting killed."

He's not a fool. He doesn't believe all the people left in Darrow now are the good sort. Chances are a good number of them are assholes and criminals, the kind of people who wouldn't necessarily think twice about hurting someone inexperienced at law enforcement.

"You'll make a perfect desk schmuck. Now c'mon. If you wanna be involved, I'm heading to the station now."