Chapter Text
Steve Harrington, King of Hawkins High, was reasonably not thrilled to be working at a sailor-themed ice cream parlor at the Starcourt mall. However, without the financial support from his parents, he had no other choice. After getting dressed in his new unsightly sailor uniform and spending his usual 40 minutes on his hair, he finally set off for the day.
While walking through the mostly empty mall, Harrington had the opportunity to have a minor panic, influenced mainly by the distance between him and the children he was so protective of, as well as the prospect of having new coworkers. Soon enough though, he reached the front of the store named “Scoops Ahoy”, and his coworkers seemed to already be inside. A few deep breaths later, Steve managed to push the anxiety he was feeling down enough to step through the door of his new workplace, although there was almost instant regret as he laid eyes on the people he would be spending his summer with. The girl he assumed to be Robin was currently sitting on the counter, laughing her ass off at the other guy in the room, Eddie. Said boy was standing on a table, ascot tied around his head and wearing what Steve assumed to be a napkin folded into the form of an eyepatch over his left eye. Eddie was in the middle of what Steve was fairly sure to be a monologue about something pirate related, although he stopped dead when he laid eyes on Steve, hopping down from the table rather ungracefully and holding out his hand with possibly the largest smile Steve had ever seen. Resisting the urge to run away, Harrington grasped the other boy’s hand and shook it, introducing himself with a hopefully steady voice and a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. This was going to be one hell of a summer.
Taking the opportunity to introduce himself to Robin as well, who was luckily wearing the uniform correctly, unlike their other coworker, Steve began to feel his heartbeat slow down a little, although he did take multiple opportunities to try and convince Eddie to wear his outfit properly, not wanting to get fired on his first day. By the time the store opened, the three were at least comfortable around each other enough that they could effectively work in each other's company, although every so often one or the other would do something that caused at least a minor panic in Steve.
While Steve didn’t necessarily have to worry about being fired for the actions of one Eddie Munson, he still panicked every time the boy would start weaving tales of pirates and treasure to the children who would enter the store. Perhaps he was worried about losing customers, seeing the forlorn looks on parents faces when Eddie would approach, or perhaps he was finding the acts a little bit too charming and already feared losing his co-worker to the hands of their manager. Either way, when the day finally ended and nothing bad had happened, Steve let out a sigh of relief and mumbled a rushed goodnight to the duo, stumbling out the door with the aim of getting to the bus stop and making it home in one piece to check on his kids.
Eddie, however, seemed to have other plans, rushing out to walk by his side.
“Sooooo,” He stared with a grin. “How are you getting home, King Steve?”
Steve just stared incredulously in his direction.
“I was thinking, you know, if you needed a ride I could drop you off, seeing as we should definitely get to know each other better and all.”
While there were a thousand thoughts running through Harrington’s head, the main ones being about whether or not Eddie could turn out to be dangerous or actually insane, he heard words of agreement leave his mouth before he could even think about it. Besides, he thought, he may as well take the opportunity to ask why exactly Eddie decided that a sailor was the same thing as a pirate.
Eddie looked a little shocked that Steve had agreed, but it soon passed as he grinned again and led the way to a rather beat-up van, opening the passenger door for Harrington. When both were inside, Eddie turned to look at Steve, starting a conversation about how he could definitely be a serial killer and Steve was maybe a little bit insane, laughing the entire way through the sentence. Steve decided to take that as an invitation to talk, and they held a steady conversation the entire way to Steve’s house, at which point he almost regretted having to leave. After thanking Eddie for the ride, he walked into the large empty house with an air of sadness, making sure to call every single one of the kids he thought of as his friends. When he was sure they were all safe and it hadn't returned while he was at work, he settled in for the night, almost happy that he had to work again the following day.