Red Lightning / (Kas Steddie)

Chapter two - Stay Hungry

"Steve? Hey, Earth to Steve!" Robin called. She waved a hand playfully in front of her friends' eyes. Steve blinked. "Jeez dingus, thought I'd lost you there. You look like you saw a ghost. Well, more than normal."

Steve sighed. "Yeah, you could say that. God, I've got a killer headache."

"Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you pulled another all-nighter. Humans will die without sleep, you know."

"I didn't mean to , I just really couldn't get to sleep last night." He explained groggily, running a hand through his hair. "There was something... at my window. And it freaked me out."

Robin's mouth fell closed and her eyes widened. She knit her eyebrows slightly, leaning further over the counter to look over at Steve's face.

"Your window is on the second floor." She eventually said, quietly. "Do you... know what it was?"

Steve didn't respond. Instead, his hands slowly moved up to cover his face and hide the possible tears he felt brewing up.

"No, no- I mean, not really- but-" He stammered.

"But what?"

Robin was impatient, as always. It was like she didn't understand the idea of waiting for people to finish their thought before they formed the right words. It was helpful when interrogating or convincing people as they'd had to do before, but other times it just stressed Steve out.

"But- hhh ..." He sighed and flopped down further. His hands raked through his hair and rested on the back of his neck, the countertop now hiding his face. "Whatever it was, it spoke to me. I think. It had these eyes that- I dunno, this sounds so stupid, I'm probably just hallucinating again."

He felt a gentle hand on his back. "No, Steve, this sounds... kinda serious." Robin's voice was calm. "Do you think Vecna's back somehow? Or, I don't know, one of your crazy exes somehow found a ladder?"

Steve managed a small laugh and rose up a little more, his elbows still on the countertop.

"No. They're all- too busy worrying about their manicures and shit."

The two laughed together. They were interrupted by a small bell signalling a new customer. Robin pat Steve's back somewhat firm as a "hang-in-there" and went to tend to the new customer.

- - -

"Morning, Harrington~" Eddie would have said. "Got anything in the romance section? I'm really craving some of that good ol' lovin'."

Steve would laugh and glance around, paranoid of another customer walking in, or Robin coming out of the break room and overhearing them.

"Munson, hey- What are you doing here? Don't you have school?" He'd say in a hushed tone, meeting those dark brown eyes squinted by the man's grin.

"Let's just say I managed to get out of it for a little while. Tuesday mornings aren't usually busy here, I thought my Stevie might get lonely. Y'know?"

"Hah... you really are fucked, Munson." Steve would hit his shoulder and continue to talk as he led him through the shelves. "You need someone to watch that movie with?"

"You know, I just might. My uncle's out of town for the next few days on work business, maybe you'd like to come over?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just tone down the flirting in public, man... I've still got a shift to cover, can't get caught doing anything."

Steve would reach the shelf he'd been searching for and pick out something that caught his eye.

"Well, this is... ' Valley Girl '. ' A story about star-crossed lovers-'... You seriously want a romance movie? I've never seen you even touch anything but horror and fantasy crap."