ᴍᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ- sᴛᴇᴅᴅɪᴇ

14- sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ

"So then, Steve, what's up?" Robin asked, rubbing his arm. She wasn't normally that touchy with people, but by the blank glaze over her friend's eyes and the slow lack of movement- she could tell that something was definitely wrong. Whether or not it was just the change in his body from the weed, she wanted to check and make sure.

From next to her, Steve sat, slumped tiredly against the surface. A terrible wave of nausea had continued to hit him the more he tried to process what had happened- and it was quite honestly terrifying him. He wasn't fully there still, but the part of him that was was fighting itself intensely. New feelings had erupted that night, and it wasn't just from the blunts.

In a desperate attempt, he didn't let himself feel any more on the matter. Something was there, but it didn't matter to him. Just some sort of slip up, that's what it was. Nothing important.

With a sigh, Steve dropped his head.
"Can we just talk about it another time? I'm super out of it right now."

Robin pulled her hand away from Steve's contact. The whole scenario didn't exactly seem to be the sort of thing that should've been brushed under the rug as simply as that, but it made perfect sense in the long-run. For all Robin knew, Harrington was probably just re-living bad experiences.

And that's what Steve thought too, because just the same, he didn't know either. He didn't understand the emotion; had never felt it before, had never experienced the confusion that it had bought.

"Yeah," she breathed. "yeah, yeah, of course. You're okay though, right? I mean- I know you're not, but... you're okay."

The genuine compassion bought glorious relief and comfort. Steve nodded.

"But just before we close down this conversation..." she continued. "nothing happened? There wasn't a reason that you stayed at Eddie's that I should know about?"

Harrington swallowed, a borderline gulp. "We got high- it was chill, couldn't drive, of course- had to stay."

"Well if you're sure everything is fine, I will go back to being my normal, annoying self. Deal?"

She always knew how to brighten a mood.
"Great, can't wait."

The sarcasm led to a stuck-out tongue in response. Robin Buckley had returned once again.

"He'll be coming in again on Monday for that VHS."
A statement, as innocent as can be.
A twinge of guilt rushed through Steve's veins as his co-worker rose and took a stroll through the aisles. Covered by the counter, he could no longer see her, so tried extra hard to listen... even though he didn't want to.

"I know... and I didn't actually say bye to him this morning. Haven't seen him since last night, actually. Or early hours of this morning- God knows."

A voice trailed back. "Well then, be expecting a call as soon as he's up. No one leaves Eddie Munson hanging like that."

That could've meant one of two things; One, Eddie was a caring person, and made sure the people he knew got to their destinations safely, or two, that he was an egotistical narcissist who just had to have power over people. Strangely, and even though he hated to admit it, Steve was fading more from the second option and into the first.

"Y'know, Rob, can we just drop the Eddie topic for now?"

He could practically sense the eyebrow scrunch.
"Sure, I guess."

Unfortunately, though, after about another hour of meaningless conversation from the two of them, the Family Video telephone screeched in its cradle.

"Speak of the devil." Robin commented as she continued to order VHS, leaving Steve the depressing task of picking up the phone.
And just on cue, he picked up, leaving out the usual mantra of a speech they were normally required to greet with.

A voice crackled through the line.
"Steve, didn't see you off this morning. You doing alright?"