BLOOM//steve harrington

SIX

"THE WEEK IS LONG. THE SILVER CAT FEEDS WHEN BLUE MEETS YELLOW IN THE WEST." The four of them had been standing there staring at the whiteboard for the rest of the afternoon which had bled into the night. Vivian felt sick from looking at it. And they still had exactly zero leads. 

"My brain hurts," Steve groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Come on, let's close up for the night." They walked out into the front of the store and out of the entrance, slightly defeated. Steve detached his key ring from his belt and pulled down the metal storefront gate, locking it behind them. 

"It just doesn't make any sense," he said for what felt like the millionth time. "It can't be right." Robin sighed; she'd been defending her translation to him for hours. "It is right," she said. "I think it's great news," Dustin added. "How is this great news?" Steve asked sarcastically. "So much for being American heroes," Vivian teased, earning a glare from him. "It's a whole bunch of nonsense," he spat, absentmindedly taking hold of Vivian's hand as they started to walk. 

"It's not nonsense," Dustin argued, rolling his eyes. "It's too specific, it's obviously a code." "What do you mean, a code?" Steve asked. "Like a super secret spy code," Dustin answered, grinning. "That's a total stretch," Steve denied, scoffing. "I don't know," Vivian said. "Is it?" "Oh, come on," Steve sighed. "You're buying into this?"

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility of it being a secret Russian transmission," Robin interjected. "What'd you think they were gonna say? 'Fire the warhead at noon'?" Vivian smiled proudly. "Yeah. What she said."

"And," Robin continued. "My translation is correct. I know that for sure." Vivian smoothed her hair down in vain. It was frizzy and reckless from her handling it in concentration the majority of the day. "'The silver cat feeds'," she mused. "Why would anybody talk like that unless they were trying to hide what they really meant?" "Exactly," Dustin agreed. "And why would anybody wanna mask the true meaning of their message unless that message was somehow sensitive?" 

"So I guess that confirms your suspicions," Vivian told Dustin. "Evil Russians," Dustin said, smiling, his happiness a jarring juxtaposition to what he was saying. "I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child," Robin began. "But, yeah. Totally evil Russians." 

Dustin adjusted his hat. "So how do we crack it?" he asked. "Translate the rest and hope some sort of pattern shows up," Vivian responded. Steve's fingers fell away from hers, but she didn't take much notice of it. "A pattern, right," Dustin confirmed. His enthusiasm was infectious. "Like, maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place?" he suggested. "Or a person," Robin added. "Or a weapon," Vivian offered, earning an approving point from Dustin. "It's probably gonna take a supergenius to crack it, but--" Robin froze. "Where's Steve?"

Vivian looked to her right where he'd been standing, but she was met with nothing but empty air. The three of them looked back to see Steve in front of one of the coin-operated kiddie rides, digging frantically in his pockets. He pulled out a handful of change, most of it falling haphazardly onto the floor with a clatter. "Steve," Vivian called. "What are you doing?"

"I need a quarter," he answered. "Do you have a quarter?" Vivian looked sideways at Robin, who was raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Uh," Vivian uttered, Steve urgently gesturing for them to come over to him. They strode forward, still unsure of what exactly was happening. "Are you sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Robin teased. "Quarter!" Steve yelled. Robin reached in her pocket and found one, tossing it to him. 

Steve knelt down in front of the ride, a horse. He put the coin into the slot, and the horse began to rock back and forth, a song coming out of the garbled speaker beneath it. Steve stared intently at the floor, frowning in concentration. "Need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin poked, snickering. Dustin giggled, and Steve waved his hand dismissively. "Would you guys just shut up and listen?"