Now that she was more than one full glass into Steve’s dad’s stash of alcohol, it was amazing how quickly her anxiety had vanished about the theft being found out. Robin wouldn’t have dared to even go near the stuff a scarce few months ago --- but then, hanging out with Steve had never been about drinking or smoking or any of the wilder stuff that having Eddie as their friend brought with him. Some of it, Robin had declined or turned a blind eye to ( the smoking in particular ), but while Steve had gone out to drop the kids back off at home for the evening, Eddie had been so eager to make the most of being left alone in the fabled Harrington family home that Robin had found herself swept up in all the fun.
Alcohol made her giggle a lot, or so she’d discovered in the past hour. And gave her a fuzzy, light-headed feeling that reminded her of the initial high of that Russian truth serum --- more pleasant here for sure, safe in Steve’s home with Eddie by her side, with the knowledge that there were no evil Russians wishing to pry non-existent espionage intel out of her brain. Lying on the floor in Steve’s living room, her legs up on the couch, here she felt she could relax in a way that she always struggled to on a normal day.
Eddie was talking animatedly about something --- some of his words landed while others flew completely over her head, but she did catch the words Corroded Coffin, and her brain snapped to attention. The evening she’d spent, not that long ago, but long enough, with Eddie and his band at an Indianapolis gay bar was a memory that she didn’t think she’d ever forget. She was still buzzing just thinking about it. No alcohol needed.
“ So does this mean I can come again if you guys get another gig? ” She didn’t think that Eddie would say no, but the thought of going there again still filled her with excitement. Now that she’d already been there the once, of course: rebelling like that, going to a bar in the city without telling her parents when she wasn’t even twenty-one yet, had been a little bit terrifying until the moment she’d walked inside, been greeted cheerily by a drag queen, and caught sight of two boys making out at the bar. In an instant, she’d realised that these were her people, and no amount of fear of consequences was going to keep her away from here ( or anywhere like here ) ever again.
“ Maybe I should invite her next time, ” she paused, rolling her head to the side to meet Eddie’s gaze. “ Vickie. ” Her sober mind would have called it an absurd suggestion; her tipsy mind, an ingenuous one. “ Then I’ll know for sure, right? You know... whether she’s gay like me. Because I just can’t tell. She had a boyfriend who visited her over Spring Break, but Steve thinks she’s got the hots for Phoebe Cates based on her movie rental history or something, I don’t know. And, like, she could be bisexual, I know that’s a thing... but if she came with me to see Corroded Coffin at that bar we could actually maybe talk about it without me feeling like I'll suddenly get staked in the heart for admitting that I like girls. D’you know what I mean? ”
@munsontm ( & @harringtontm )