Ice Cream
HEYO
So I know I literally just posted a thing, but this is also a thing that’s done, so here you go. Have some OC fluff with El because my momma bear instincts MUST PROTECC that precious child. Granted this is just fluff, so nothing major happens.
tagging @negansdirtygirl22 because reasons
link to the first one of my HopperxOC nonsense Bruises and Medicine:
https://imtherain.tumblr.com/post/184563327943/bruises-and-medicine
ANYWHO
Ice Cream
Warnings: Nothing major. Ice Cream, disguises, fines. You know, basic stuff. (Still lacking pancakes)
“Hey, El, I have the day off,” Alma said, standing in El’s doorway. She looked up at Alma with confusion. “What do you want to do today?”
“Do?” El asked.
“Well, Hopper left for work already, so he won’t be here to be a stick in the mud, we could do something he’d normally not agree with,” Alma said with a mischievous grin. “Like go outside! It’s a beautiful day, what do you say?”
“Hopper will be mad,” El said.
“I’ll deal with him when he gets home,” Alma grinned. “So, what do you say? We could even go for a long ride in the El Camino,” Alma said. El thought for a moment before she nodded. Alma knew El got cabin fever not being allowed to really leave, so whenever she could, Alma took her for a drive. Hopper knew about the drives, and Alma had argued with him about them, but at the end of the day, and with promises of being so, so, so, careful, Alma got her way.
“Ok,” Alma smiled. “First, you gotta get cleaned up and dressed, yeah?” El climbed off her bed and headed towards the bathroom. Alma ruffled El’s hair as she went past.
Alma puttered around the kitchen as she waited for El to finish in the bathroom, picking up the leftover breakfast dishes and coffee cups, washing them up in the sink. Alma was just drying the dishes when El came out with her hairbrush.
“Can you brush my hair?” El asked. Alma smiled softly and nodded.
“Of course, sweetheart,” She told the child. “Come sit,” El sat at the table and handed Alma the brush. “Did you sleep well last night?”
El nodded as Alma began to run the brush through her hair.
“Any fun dreams?” Alma pressed. El shook her head no. “Bad dreams?” El shook her head no again.
“No dreams,” El said.
“That’s ok too,” Alma finished brushing El’s hair and gave a nod. “All done, how’s it feel?” El touched her hair, which was still short and getting curlier by the day.
“Pretty,” El said looking up at Alma.
“Yes, you are very pretty sweetheart,” Alma grinned down at her. “Let’s go play outside,” El followed Alma towards the door, where Alma paused. “Wait, we should take extra precautions, just so Hopper can’t yell at us for being stupid, right? We need disguises.”
“Disguises?” El asked.
“Yes! Oh, where did I put those…” Alma began moving around the cabin, flipping open cabinets and things until she remembered. “Oh right, in the closet, that makes sense, right?” She laughed at herself. Alma went off into the room she and Hopper shared and came back with a pair of scarves and sunglasses.
El was still standing by the door, curiosity clear on her face. Alma came over and set one pair of glasses on El’s nose and then wrapped one of the over-sized handkerchiefs around El’s neck. El touched the silk, confused.
Alma put on her own glasses and wrapped herself in her own silk scarf with a dramatic flair.
“Now no one will know who we are because we’re in spy gear. They’ll just think we’re super models or something,” Alma said, unlocking the door.
“What’s a super…model?” El asked, following Alma out the door.
“You know the pretty ladies on the magazines I bring by?” Alma asked. El nodded. “Those are super models. Supposedly when they go out in public, they dress like this so people don’t know who they are, and they can pretend to be normal people.” Alma explained. “Can you lock the door for me sweetheart?” El nodded and they heard the lock click into place. “Thanks, love,” Alma jumped down the stairs all at once and El copied her.
Alma was wearing jeans over work boots and a t-shirt under one of Hopper’s old flannels. El was dressed pretty much the same, except she had overalls on.
“What do you say we go check on the river on the way to the El Camino?” Alma asked.
“I want to go for a drive,” El said.
“Ok, we can check on the river later then,” Alma was still smiling as they trudged through the underbrush to where her El Camino was parked.
El stopped once, hearing something. Alma stopped too and watched the girl looking up into the trees in the midmorning light. Alma thought, not for the first time, that El looked so small amongst the trees, almost like a lost fairy, waiting to go home.
Alma waited patiently until El came back from wherever her brain had wandered. Alma smiled at her when she blinked at Alma, as if confused. Alma just nodded and started heading for the car again.
Once the shiny black of Alma’s El Camino came into site, El stopped again, just inside the tree line. Alma stepped out into the light of midmorning and turned back.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Alma asked. El shook her head.
“We shouldn’t go out,” El said, shaking her head again.
“Do you want to go back?” Alma asked. El thought for a long moment.
“Hopper said we shouldn’t be stupid.” El said. Alma nodded in agreement.
“That he did, but how are we being stupid? We have disguises, and we’re just going for a drive. I was planning on driving us west where no one knows who we are. I heard they put up a new DQ a few towns over and I was going to surprise you with ice cream. But if you’d rather go back, we can do that too.” Alma said with a shrug. El thought for a long time.
“DQ?”
“It’s Dairy Queen, it’s a place for ice cream and hamburgers and French fries.” Alma explains. “I haven’t been to one in ages, and they were my favorite for a while,”
“Ice cream?” El asked again.
“Have you had ice cream yet?” Alma asked, offended. El shook her head. “It’s up to you then, we can head back, or we can,” El strode passed Alma and stopped next to the car. “Or we go to DQ.” Alma laughed. “Let’s go!” Alma got into the driver’s seat and unlocked the passenger door for El, who climbed in and rolled down the window. Alma started the El Camino up and rolled down her own window as she backed onto the road and headed west, towards the newest DQ in the area.
After they cleared the Hawkin’s town line, Alma turned up the radio over the wind from the windows and sang along with all the songs. She glanced at El from time to time and was happy to see the girl smile. If nothing else, for the moment, they were free.
Alma and El spent the day driving around on the backroads until they made it to the new DQ. Alma ordered them burgers and fries and ice cream cones and then off they drove again. El quickly made a mess of her face with the ice cream cone.
“I should have asked for extra napkins huh?” Alma said, handing one to El. “Wipe your face, honey, or it’ll get all sticky.” El looked at the napkin before taking it and doing as Alma suggested. Alma showed her how to lick the cone without making such a mess.
Right as they crossed into the Hawkins town line a tan blazer zoomed past them going the other direction. El turned around in her seat and watched the truck slam on it’s break before turning around in the middle of the road.
“Trouble,” El said. Alma rolled her eyes when she saw the blazer come up behind them at an alarming speed, lights all blaring.
“Luckily, it’s just Hopper,” Alma said, casually pulling to the side of the road, careful not to drop the ice cream cone she’d been nursing since DQ. Alma put her car in park and waited as Hopper jumped out of his truck, slamming the door behind him. As he approached the car, Alma leaned on her window, trying to appear unaffected by his anger.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hopper had his angry cop voice on.
“How did you know it was us?” Alma asked.
“You’re the only one who owns an El Camino in 100 miles, sweetheart, and I’d recognize it anywhere,” Hopper said. “You shouldn’t be out.”
“Well, I had the day off, so…”
“So, you went off galivanting, risking…” Hopper held his fist to his mouth to keep the rest of his sentence inside. He glanced around as if afraid someone had heard him, which was unlikely, seeing as they were in the middle of nowhere.
“We wore disguises,” El said. Hopper looked at the girl like she was crazy, but didn’t rebuke her.
“You two need to get your asses back home, now.” Hopper said, gesturing angrily with his hand. “No more stops.”
“To be fair, we never got out of the car,” Alma tried.
“Not the point, sweetheart,” Hopper snapped. Alma shrugged.
“We just went to the new DQ, got lunch and ice cream. Went through the drive through,” Alma explained. “Want a bite of my ice cream?” Alma offered him the cone. He glared at her for a long moment before taking it from her. He made a big show of taking a taste of it.
“It’s good, huh?” Alma asked.
“Go home and stay there.” Hopper said, turning and heading back to his truck, still licking the ice cream cone.
“Hey, I wasn’t done with that!” Alma called out her window after him. He waved at her.
“Consider it a fine,” He called back.
“You’re an asshole!” Alma called, restraining a laugh. He shook his head.
“Love you too!” He waved in their direction and then disappeared into his truck.
“Mad?” El asked when Alma didn’t pull away right away.
“Not really,” Alma said. “I think he’s just worried. I bet we’ll get a lecture when he gets home.” Alma smiled at her. El sat back in her seat with a silent groan. Alma couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. Hopper would certainly give them a talking to when he returned for the night, but hey, at least they had a good day.