when robin starts working at WSQK, she collects everybody’s favourite songs so they’ll be on hand if somebody gets vecnaed. mike feels insanely vulnerable as he tells her “smalltown boy”, hiding his nerves and praying she won’t listen to or already know it and somehow See Him.
robin doesn’t think much of it at first, but as the week passes she starts curiously making her way through everybody’s songs, just to feel closer and understand them better. so when she gets around to giving “smalltown boy” a listen, she’s really paying attention to the lyrics.
and it’s so familiar to her, the feeling in the song, that she wonders, less a question and more amazement, if it could really be what she thinks. eager for a second opinion, she asks steve, without mentioning mike, “hey, what does this song… make you think of?” and replays it.
steve wanders over to listen, and as the song trails off he’s already asking, “is this one somebody gave you?”
“why?” she asks, suddenly thinking maybe she shouldn’t have shared. she trusts steve, duh, but if mike likes the song for That reason, it’s not her secret to tell.
he squints for a few seconds before softening in understanding, nudging her reassuringly, and quietly asking, “mike or will?”
“what? how?” she demands.
steve wrinkles his brow, confused. “what? it’s not like it’s gonna be anybody else. like, we all see it, right?”
robin makes a face, then spells it out. “no?”
steve raises his eyebrows, frowning. “okay,” he says dubiously.
quietly, robin checks they’re on the same page. “so you think…?”
“gay? yeah. a hundred percent.” he pauses, then asks, “it’s mike, right?”
“what the hell, dude.” she stares as if she suspects he has some strange superpower.
he shrugs. “i dated nancy. spent a lot of time at the wheeler house. i’ve been seeing those two dance around each other for like four years now.” he hesitates, then adds, “everybody kinda knows about will, but mike dating el sort of threw me off for a bit. not that i was, like… theorizing about it. just noticed. but then i was right about vickie, so i was like, oh, okay, cool, mike is gay. or something.”
robin nods slowly. “holy shit, dude. if it was ethical you could totally make money off this.”
“i think you’re just really bad at it,” he says. but he looks pleased.
robin squawks indignantly, spinning in her seat. “i noticed the song!” she protests.
steve levels his gaze at her. “rob. what other meaning could it possibly have?”
robin shrugs half-heartedly and mutters something about mr. hauser’s english class and the many symbolic layers of art.
steve groans. “sure. or the dude’s just gay.”
“of course you’d say that, mr ‘i hate essays’.” she knocks her head against his shoulder like a friendly cat.
“hey! what’s that supposed to mean?” steve nudges her head and they dissolve into laughter.
“d’you think i should, y’know…” she hesitates and nods toward the song.
“talk to him?” steve asks.
“maybe. probably. but he might freak out. wheeler can be a bit antagonistic.”
robin nods, frowning. “and i think he already doesn’t like me much.” she pauses and quirks her brow. “are you trying to use essay words now?”
“what’s the matter with you? that’s a normal word. i know that word. it’s not even a big word.”
“i’m messing with you!” she tilts her head. “i dunno. maybe if i go about it real subtle.” at steve’s dubiously scrunched face, she insists, “i can do subtle! i can totally be subtle.”
he raises his hands. “i didn’t say anything!” softer, he says, “you’re a good person. you make people feel okay to be themselves. i think whatever you do will work out.”
robin blinks rapidly, then gives him a watery smile. “really going for the heartstrings there, huh?”
steve chuckles, a crooked smile on his face. “you’re just getting soft.”
after a pause, she says, “i think he feels really alone.”
he nods. “probably, yeah. i mean, lonely face, crying to your soul, nobody understands. it’s a rough song.” his eyes tighten looking down at her.
“yeah,” she finally agrees. it comes out heavy. “i’ll talk to him.”
steve smiles, squeezing her shoulder. she looks up and grins bravely, sniffling and wiping her eyes. “alright! let’s get a move on. we don’t get paid the big bucks to slack off.”
one day, robin plays “smalltown boy” for the town. before it starts, she says, “this one’s for a friend of mine who i think feels pretty alone. if you’re out there listening, you should know there’s people who do understand… even here at home.”
as the opening notes play, steve smirks and nudges her. “subtle.”
“shut up,” she says, grinning as her heart thumps nervously. “i thought it might help if he knows i’m cool first.”
“yeah, you are,” steve agrees, even though that’s not what she meant.
across town, mike wheeler is listening to rockin’ robin’s broadcast and feeling incredibly, vulnerably seen. but as the falsetto vocals fade out and his startled heart slows down, it’s a lot less scary than he thought it would be.
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