𝐷𝑜𝑝𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛, 𝑂𝑥𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑛- 𝑅𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝐹𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛- 𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑟

The door swung open with an annoying chime. There Steve was, hand escorting Rachel through the door and into the café by her lower back. He looked to of brushed up quite well- sporting jeans with a dark blue sweater and Farrah Fawcett compacted hair like always. Robin wondered as she made herself smaller into the corner whether he would even notice her or Joyce at all. His eyes seemed to be trained solely on McKinnon, watching her every move and making sure she took to her seat well.

Steve had always been a ladies man, constantly catering to their needs and assuring that they were comfortable in whatever they were doing. He was also terribly disgusting at being a constant flirt; something that Robin had come to watch on the daily.

The two of them sauntered in, smiles galore, and chose a cozy seat in front of the window, central to the middle of the establishment. Rachel took the left, Steve took the right- which wasn't the greatest arrangement, as Harrington was probably going to face Robin's exact angle at any moment. It was just a matter of time before he did so- which was bound to happen.
Strangely, it didn't.

Joyce was still upfront waffling about something or other, and if it wasn't Buckley who was spotted first, it would definitely be Joyce and Lucy's noise levels. They were making supposedly interesting conversation, catching up on every detail they could think of in the moment. It was sort of eye catching to watch the pure joy every time one mentioned something that the other recognised.

The coffee machine whirred and grumbled at the back of the kitchen, dispensing a hot and then a separate cold coffee. Robin's mouth was parched, rapidly drying at the realisation of the situation. It was a seriously inhumane thing to be doing, but it didn't stop her.
She was in it now; slap-bang at the centre of the scenario and there was no turning back.
Buckley was going to observe and figure it out even if it was the last thing she did- and she swore on the matter.

Steve and Rachel chatted peacefully, definitely too loud for the small space- but it helped the conversation to be passed on to the listener. Robin's position stayed natural, eyes tilted slightly over to their position.
McKinnon was smiling- Buckley could tell by the way that her side profile was sat in her peripheral vision- and her brown hair was pulled tight into a high ponytail. The sun reflected from the perfect shine of it like it was a gem.

In all honesty, Robin thought that she looked exactly as she did in high school; pristine, careful... neat. She could tell the exact reason that Steve had taken a liking to her complexion, but she couldn't see it working out at all. Rachel was too much of a snob for what Steve had become over the past few years, but he just hadn't realised it yet.
The two of them took to the drinks menu and closed the opening conversation.

On the other side of the space, Joyce had acquired the two drinks and was balancing them carefully on her way back to the table. A red and white striped straw sat bobbing alongside the ice, and the woman placed it down with a concentrated smile.

"There you go, dear."

"Thank you." Robin nodded with a grin, pulling the freezing glass towards her position.
It was cold on her palms, condensation dripping down the base of each hand. Grabbing the straw, she swirled the liquid around, mixing both parts of the milk and then the coffee together in a sweet, beige colour. Then, once she was finished, she took a sip.

"There's cake, also- if you'd like some when you've finished that." Joyce added, shuffling into the painful comfort of the chair.

"That'd be nice." She replied airily, attempting to not let the eavesdropping take over.

A nod.

"Had a nice catch-up with Lucy- her son's twenty now! I simply can't believe it... where does the time go?"

"Wish I knew." Robin replied, letting the straw sink to the bottom of the cup. The head of it stayed above, clashing with the large chunks of ice it was invaded with.

"It is truly indescribable, isn't it?" Joyce continued, taking a small sip from her dark beverage. She swallowed, pursing her lips to tame the burn before looking across the space to the front table directly at Rachel and Steve. "Oh look- it's Steve!"

Robin let go of the cold grasp she had on her coffee. She turned subtly, eyeing the side of the table like she hadn't noticed them beforehand.

"Oh, yeah." She spoke, turning her back to them as if their existence wasn't of importance. It was bound to happen, she knew that; one group would notice the other, and the plan would be fumbled... but as she turned back, even though she felt the blazing glare of Steve Harrington on her back- Robin acted like she'd never seen him before in her life. He must've overheard his name, seen as Joyce was smiling directly at him.
They were now both aware of each other's company; but the cards never seemed to change. The visit continued as normal.

Ms Byers continued the hold on the sides of her mug, warming her hands on the ceramic. She turned back to Robin's gaze and decided to start up conversation.

"Speaking of Steve," she spoke, eyes upon the woman in front of her, "is there something going on at his tonight? Will's getting picked up by someone- not sure who yet but I don't think he knows either. Shame Jonathan isn't here to take him."

Robin blinked.
"Oh, yeah, there's a D&D match going on, or something. Start of a new campaign."

Joyce paused.
"I'm going to pretend like I know what any of that means. I've only the slightest clue of the concept- it's so confusing- I just don't know how they do it all."

"Yeah, it is a bit advanced." She agreed, bringing her straw up to take another sip.

They stopped and light worry rose, concerned that that was the conversation over. She had no other subject to speak upon, and it was panicking her a slight bit. So, Robin decided to continue.
"Is Jonathan still studying?"

The woman paused for a moment, possibly deciphering an answer.
"Seemingly so! He was a bit blunt about it, to be honest. Something to do with college, though, that's for certain."

"Huh. Interesting."

"Always busy times in further education."

"Yeah... understandable."

The small talk ceased into closure. The main earshot was based back upon the two behind, and all seemed certainly boring. Talk about work, talk about future decisions- typical date talk, typically disgusting.
Steve was talking all about Family Video and how he 'enjoys the job'- which was totally wrong. He never even admitted to the fact that the only reason he found it manageable was because of the one and only Robin Buckley, which she thought was completely unacceptable.

She stared at her bike which was leaning up outside against the window. Steve was blurred in the corner of her vision, flopped over locks of hair bobbing in sight.
The observer had no idea what the subjects were speaking about in the moment, but she immediately cursed herself for zoning out from it when the left chair was scraped back and the occupant stood, threw her bag over shoulder, and walked out with a sour smile.

Confusion set in immediately.
Robin watched as Steve looked just as stunned, eyes blank and expression concerned. The two best friends met eyes for a moment with a telepathic 'what the hell?' seconds before he took his leave also, leaving the menu and practically full drink on the table. They had only recently ordered- so Robin assumed that it must've been some sort of emergency departure on Rachel's side.

The woman's two remaining cups were getting emptier, slowly drinking down the last of the beverage given.
She knew that Joyce wouldn't mind if they left soon since she was practically itching to figure out what had happened.
Even if it was an emergency- why so sudden?

Turns out she would have to visit the campaign after all.