keeptheselights | (no subject)

It takes her so long to get ready that she might as well be a teenager again. She dresses carefully, layering the lingerie that she'd cricled back to buy with a black velvet dress that's fitted across her chest and flared slightly around her thighs. She puts on heels and agonises, for a long moment, about which lipstick to choose before she goes for red.

She wants to be as far away from how worn down she's felt for a long time as she can. She wants to feel like she did when she was young, and full of promise.

Hopper wanted to pick her up but, because Will hasn't headed out yet, she'd said she'd meet him at the restaurant. She arrives early, standing outside with her arms folded against the cold, a cigarette between two fingers.

She's so nervous she actually laughs at herself.
Jesus.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

something_incredible

"Are you trying to make it so we have to skip dinner?" Hopper asks, also pretending to be interested in the menu. His eyes skip over the wines on offer, but then he looks away, back to the food. Doing this right includes not drinking, even if it's what he would have done once. Even if wine on a date is standard.

Joyce can still have some, but he's come too far to ruin his sobriety now.

From:

keeptheselights

"Absolutely not," says Joyce, glancing at him over the top of her menu, the corner of her mouth catching in a smirk. "Just, you know. Giving you something to think about." It has the side-effect of her making her own face warmer, too. She flips the dark wing of her hair back out of her eyes.

From:

something_incredible

"Besides lasagna?" he asks. That day the memories had crashed over him had felt a little like living through a tidal wave, but now he's grateful for it. He remembers those moments, the way Joyce had looked at him when he'd started talking about food instead of her.

"Don't need to worry about that," he continues. "I've been well fed here."

From:

keeptheselights

"You'd better not be thinking about lasagne right now, James Hopper," says Joyce, doing her best stern voice and shooting him a look. Under the table, she extends one leg, slipping it between his feet and nudging him. "And I can tell. I know I've said this already, Jim, but it definitely bears repeating: you look good." She smiles. "Really good."

From:

something_incredible

"I mean, it's right here on the menu," Hopper protests. "I'm not drinking anymore, but someone told me once it pairs with chee-ante very well."

At the nudge of her foot between his own, Hopper's smile grows, but they're interrupted by the waiter arriving at their table. He gestures for Joyce to go ahead and order first.

From:

keeptheselights

"Oh, did they?" says Joyce, idly tracing the toe of her shoe against the inside of his leg as she scans the menu. When the waiter comes, she orders a salad, a pasta dish with clams and a soda.

"Glad to see we're both having something with garlic, anyway," says Joyce.

From:

something_incredible

"Why? Are you planning on kissing me later?" he asks after ordering that lasagna he's been craving, as well as a glass of water, and he hands the menus back to the waiter. The waiter is doing his best not to listen to their conversation and Hopper thinks he'll give the man a good tip for that alone.

"That sounds a little like trying to take advantage of me," he says.

From:

keeptheselights

"Oh, I'm absolutely trying to take advantage of you," says Joyce, mildly, leaning her chin into her hand and giving him a little smile. She reaches out her free hand to him across the table, wiggling her fingers. "Is that a problem?"

From:

something_incredible

Hopper reaches out and catches Joyce's fingers, then leans forward to he can lift her hand to his lips. He presses them against her knuckles, her skin warm under his mouth, then he smiles, tight-lipped and genuine.

"No," he says. "No, ma'am, no problem at all."

He might earn a kick for calling her ma'am, but he thinks he's okay with that.

From:

keeptheselights

It's hot, definitely, but it's somehow also deeply romantic, and Joyce feels her core go warm and liquid as she looks at him, as she sinks into the warm brush of his lips against her knuckles. She doesn't try to take her hand back.

"Well, good," she says. "Might as well start as we mean to go on."

From:

something_incredible

Hopper doesn't know quite what he expected. He'd built it up for so long back in Hawkins, this date, and now that it's here, he's tried to do away with all the expectations. He's just happy to be here.

And if this is how they mean to go on, he's happy with that, too.

The dinner is delicious and he enjoys it, but more than that, he enjoys the conversation and he likes how easily it comes even without drinking. Once they're done, once he's paid, Hopper grins at Joyce across the table.

"And now what?" he asks.

From:

keeptheselights

"And now," says Joyce, getting up from the table and starting to put her coat back on. "I was thinking that you could walk me home, and I could make you a coffee?" she says, one eyebrow raised. "Will's staying over with El, after all, so we've got the place to ourselves."

From:

something_incredible

"I'll probably drive you home instead of walking," Hopper says, rising to help her with her coat. "But otherwise, yeah, I like the sound of that plan."

Chances are high he's getting lucky tonight. He's pretty sure they've both waited long enough, they both want it, but even if it didn't happen right now, he'd be happy with having finally had their date.

From:

keeptheselights

"Semantics," she says, with a fond smile, fastening her coat and then slipping her hand into his. "Don't really care how you get me there, though. Just as long as you come in."

From:

something_incredible

"As long as I'm invited, you won't get rid of me," Hopper promises as he leads Joyce out of the restaurant and down the block to where he had parked earlier. The truck isn't anything special, but it gets him where he needs to go, and it feels better than the unmarked department car he drives when he's on duty.

He hopes the passenger side door for Joyce before going around and getting in his side, then pulling out from the spot.

"It's gonna be sort of weird, going back to one of the apartments," he admits.

From:

keeptheselights

"I'll get you a key cut," says Joyce, and she's only half joking. She settles into the truck, her head turned so that she can watch him as he drives. "I guess you were in one when you first got here?" she asks. "Will and I got lucky. It's two bedrooms, and we've got it feeling like home already. I guess I'd already left Hawkins, so...it doesn't feel too different to moving to California, honestly."

It feels odd, making small talk like this when she's so aware of him close.

From:

something_incredible

That makes Hopper's chest warm and tight, good feelings honestly, and he grins as he drives, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, I was in a two bedroom on my own for awhile," he says. "Didn't really know what to do with the extra space, but I guess this place had plans for me. It worked out pretty well once Bev started needing a place to stay."

They'd lived there for years. Made it into a proper home. But once Eleven arrived, too, they'd had to move into a bigger space.

From:

keeptheselights

"She seems so nice," says Joyce, and means it, utterly. She hasn't had much time to spend with Beverly just yet, but she likes her already, can tell she'll love her, given the chance. "You're a good dad, Jim. It's a very attractive quality."

From:

something_incredible

"She's a good kid," he answers. "It's easy."

Hopper loves being a dad. At the time Diane had gotten pregnant, he hadn't been sure, nervous and constantly worried he was going to mess everything up, but when Sara was born, it was like everything had just sort of settled. Apparently he's always been meant to be a dad.

"Attractive, huh?" he asks, glancing over at Joyce with a grin as he turns down her street.

From:

keeptheselights

"Oh, stop fishing for compliments," says Joyce, rolling her eyes fondly. "You're driving me home, you're coming in for coffee, and I am wearing really uncomfortable underwear solely for your benefit. And anyway, I've found you attractive since we were sixteen, and you know it."

From:

something_incredible

"Hey, I didn't," Hopper protests as he drives. They're close now and he's just thinking about the really uncomfortable underwear Joyce is wearing solely for his benefit. He's also hoping she knows he would find her gorgeous in anything at all.

"Not when I was sixteen anyway. Or seventeen," he continues. "Probably not until all those memories crashed into me not too long before you got here."

From:

keeptheselights

"Well, I was trying to let you know," says Joyce, and she reaches across, her hand coming to rest on his thigh and squeezing gently. "We were both dumb kids. I'm not sorry we didn't get together then - Lonnie's an asshole, but I love my boys more than anything - but I'm glad we've figured it out now." She smiles. "Yeah. I'm glad you remember that, too. Even if we did, you know. Get interrupted."

From:

something_incredible

Hopper isn't surprised to hear any of that and he would say the same. No matter how much it had hurt to lose her, he wouldn't trade his years with Sara for anything in the world. Not even this.

He knows Joyce would understand.

The hand on his thigh feels nice, too, and he smiles as he pulls into a parking space on the street, then kills the truck's engine.

"Ready to head in?" he asks, laying his hand on top of hers.

From:

keeptheselights

"I am," says Joyce, threading her fingers with his, squeezing firm muscle under her palm. "Is it bad that I kind of want to kiss you here, though? We could make out like teenagers for a minute." She hasn't kissed him since Russia. It's been...a challenge.

From:

something_incredible

"We'll get cold," he warns, but he's already leaning across the console between them, his free hand coming up to touch his fingers against her cheek.

The memory of kissing her is somehow so fresh and so distant. He remembers, but the real experiences of being anywhere near Joyce are five years in his past. This is what matters, this moment right here.

He lips brush hers and he exhales slowly, then deepens the kiss.