TEST THREAD - Jim

[keeptheselights]

Darrow isn't that different from Hawkins, not really. Yeah, it's over thirty years in the future, so the technology is a little bit confusing (and, honestly, the speed with which Will has taken to having a cellphone is baffling to her) and, yeah, she misses Jonathan like a part of her, like a limb, but there's enough familiar faces here to be a comfort and, at the end of day, it's just another small town, isn't it? Joyce knows small towns. She knows how they work.

Speaking of familiar faces. She picks up her cellphone and, after a moment, manages to make it light up long enough so that she can check the time. He's running late.

Of course he is.

Comments

[something_incredible]

After years -- years -- of waiting for this particular arrival, Hopper still can't quite believe Joyce is here, to the point that, when he opens the door to the coffee shop, he doesn't fully allow himself to believe she'll be there.

But there she is, looking at her phone, checking the time, most likely, because he's late.

"Sorry," he says, slumping into the chair across from her. "Got called into the lieutenant's office last minute to go over some stuff for court next week."

[keeptheselights]

"I'm used to it," she says, but she says it fondly, her smile warming dark eyes. She hasn't touched him, not really, not since Russia, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't feel warm just looking at this wholer, healthier him. "And, anyway, that sounds way more important that a coffee date with me."

[something_incredible]

Hopper makes a face at that, because he doesn't think there's much in the world more important than a coffee date with Joyce Byers. Especially when hearing her call it a date does something to his chest where everything kind of seizes up tight for a second.

"Nah," he says. "My lieutenant is just a micromanager. I get up there, I tell the story of the arrest, my partner does the same, done. Easy."

[keeptheselights]

"Oh, well," says Joyce, and she can't help but smile at what his face does for a moment, it's so wildly endearing. "In that case..." She feels her face heat, just a little, in a way that makes her feel like a teenager again, sneaking off to smoke with him when they should have been in World History. "I kind of tried to guess your coffee order." She glances over her shoulder, checking if the waitress is coming yet. "Hopefully, it's not terrible."

[something_incredible]

Hopper, while having been in Darrow for several years now, still has a different set of memories from Hawkins than most of the others here. Despite that, he's pretty confident Joyce can guess most things about him without much effort.

"It's coffee," he says. "Pretty sure it'll be better than the shit at the precinct."

He smiles, small, and looks at her. "So how're you doin'? You're taking to your phone quicker than I did."

[keeptheselights]

"Oh, well, teenager at home, you know," says Joyce, and she can't help but preen just a little bit, at the idea that, even after all these years, he still thinks she's a little bit cooler than him. She brushes her hair back from her face, her mouth open to say something else before the waitress interrupts with two flat whites.

"If it's terrible, don't tell me," she says, nudging his foot with hers under the table. "Okay?"

[something_incredible]

"I've got two of 'em at home," he reminds her. "Three for awhile, before you got here."

Christ, that had been chaotic. Two teen girls, one with super powers, a teen boy trying to figure out his way in this new world, but he had loved it. Every damn second. It's better for Will to have his mother, but Hopper hadn't minded stepping in at all.

"Okay," he agrees, nudging her back. "But again, I drink police precinct coffee. Nothing's gonna be that bad."

[keeptheselights]

"I'll rent him back to you," says Joyce, picking up her coffee. They both know she's kidding; honestly, the fact that she's let Will out of her sight at all is kind of a miracle.

"Kind of suits you though?" She says. "Living in this kind of chaos."

[something_incredible]

"You want me to pay you for goin' back to three sets of hormones in the house?" Hopper asks, giving Joyce a look as he picks up his coffee. After years of drinking whatever was in the station back in Hawkins, he's not picky and doesn't know much about coffee, but the sip he tastes is strong and hot, with just the right amount of milk. It's pretty damn good.

"Yeah, you know I didn't mind it," he agrees with a shrug. "I love Bev and gettin' El back, then Will..." It was good. It's still good, even better, really.

[keeptheselights]

"When you put it like that," says Joyce, and she brightens when he sips his coffee and she can see the pleasure fleet across his face. She did that, made it happen, and whatever they're figuring out between them, that feels good.

"Getting El and Will back must be really something," she says, gently teasing, her smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

[something_incredible]

"It was," he says, looking down at his coffee. He doesn't want to say it, but he'd sort of given up on El ever coming here before she did. Hopper has spent years in Darrow, years longer than Eleven remembers, and it's not that he replaced her with Beverly, but that he'd had someone else who needed him.

Besides, he'd trusted Joyce to look after El, if he couldn't.

"And it's been good for El to have a sister," he says, looking up again. "Really good for them both."

[keeptheselights]

"I loved having her with us in California," says Joyce, wistful for a moment, the point of her chin leaned into her hand. "I would have rather had you around..." Her dark eyes flick to his face and linger. "But she's very, very special."

[something_incredible]

"They all are, yeah," he agrees.

He knows there are times right now when Bev feels a little out of place, like she doesn't belong, given how many people from Hawkins are here now, and he wants to make sure that never happens. Beverly is his daughter, that's all there is to it.

[keeptheselights]

Joyce absolutely didn't mean to make it sound like she didn't count Bev as just as valuable as El, just as lovely. She's quiet for a moment, sipping her coffee.

"So," she says, fixing him with a shrewd, warm look over the rim of her cup. "When're you going to make good on that dinner date you promised me, Hop?"

[something_incredible]

"Any time you want," Hopper answers, smiling at Joyce over his cup. He sets it down and stretches his hand across the table, his hand sliding over her forearm.

"Tonight," he offers. "Tomorrow. Any day you'd like."

Every day, if she wants.

[keeptheselights]

His hand is on her arm, broad and solid, warm even through the sleeve of her sweater, and Joyce feels herself blush like a teenager. After a moment, she sets down her coffee and covers his hand with hers, stroking her thumb against the bones in his hand.

"Tonight sounds good," she says. "For a start."

[something_incredible]

"There's no Enzo's here," he tells her, his close mouthed smile warm and pleased. "But I think we can find something even better."

Honestly, after everything, Hopper isn't sure he'd want to set foot in a restaurant called Enzo's ever again. Between the last time he'd been there, drunk and stupid, and every time he'd uttered the name after that, he thinks a different restaurant will be a much better place to begin.

[keeptheselights]

She loves it when he smiles like that; for a long time, when he smiled, it didn't entirely warm up his eyes. She understood, at the time, but this suits his face better than that bone deep sorrow ever did. She keeps up the slow, small touch of the pad of her thumb against his skin.

"Oh, I don't mind," she says. "As long as it's you and me, and there's wine? Sounds good to me, Jim."

[something_incredible]

"Wine for you," Hopper agrees easily. It's been almost three years now since he last had a drink, longer than the eight months another version of him spent in Russia, but the result is the same.

Sobriety isn't as hard as he always figured it out be. It's actually kind of great.

[keeptheselights]

"Oh, God," she says, because it hadn't even occurred to her - that he's sober now. "I'm sorry, Hop. I can have as much fun drinking a Coke, I'm sure." She shifts her hand, curling her fingers around his, squeezing gently. "As long as we're both there, that is."

[something_incredible]

She doesn't have to be sorry. Not for anything. Hopper just smiles and shakes his head and says, "You can have all the wine you want. But I might stop you before you get sloppy."

Still, he's seen Joyce Byers drunk before, back in the days before she was Joyce Byers. That girl was cute as hell.

[keeptheselights]

It occurs to her, in that moment, that they're essentially holding hands, and they were a lot closer than this, back in that hangar but it still makes her blush like a teenager. She raises both eyebrows, blushing and smiling and a little giddy, even if there's nothing in her system but coffee.

"You got plans for me, Hopper?"

[something_incredible]

"I think I'm just tired of getting interrupted," he answers, still smiling, as his thumb sweeps over the back of her hand. "Any chance we can banish Will to the townhouse for awhile? He and El and Bev can hang out."

What he and Joyce will do can be up to them when that time comes.

[keeptheselights]

If Joyce hadn't been blushing already, what he says combined with the brush of his thumb against her skin would definitely be enough to do it. She pretends to think about it a moment, her dark eyes fixed on his face.

"Oh," she says, finally. "I think that can probably be arranged."

[something_incredible]

"Good," Hopper says, smiling.

He doesn't know how this will all go, he doesn't know if he'll manage to do things properly this time, but he hopes so. He hopes, given everything they've been through, everything he's learned, he hopes it makes him able to do things better.

[keeptheselights]

"I might need to go shopping or something," says Joyce, reaching for her coffee with her free hand, not making any attempt to disengage from Jim, her fingers still twined with his. "I don't think I have anything to wear for a dinner date."

[something_incredible]

As far as Hopper is concerned, Joyce always looks amazing. She could be wearing a paper sack and he would still look at her like she was the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, because she is.

But he still says, "Okay. Guess I should do a bit of shopping, too."

[keeptheselights]

"Oh, you don't need to do that for me," says Joyce, even if she does like the idea of him suited and booted. "I like you just the way you are, Hop."

[something_incredible]

"Yeah, I like you just the way you are, too," he agrees. "But I kinda like the idea of making an effort. For you. Giving a shit, y'know?"

He'd done so once and it hadn't gone so well, given that she'd stood him up and he'd reacted like a complete jackass. But that's the past and he wants to make that effort again. For her.

[keeptheselights]

She's already holding his hand but she wants to kiss him so much right then that it kind of makes her dizzy. She settles for squeezing his fingers and sipping her coffee instead.

"I'll have to put some thought into my whole, you know. Ensemble," she says. "Especially if you think you might want to stay over."

[something_incredible]

Hopper kind of feels like a teenager again, heart thudding heavily in his chest at the thought of a pretty girl taking off her shirt for him. Joyce isn't any pretty girl, though. Joyce is the one he's held a flame for since he was seventeen years old, even if he didn't always realize it.

"I think I might want to stay over," he confirms, then lifts her hand and ducks his head at the same time so he can press his lips against her knuckles.

[keeptheselights]

Even at her age, Joyce isn't really prepared for the swooping feeling in her belly when his lips brush over her knuckles like that, the heat of his mouth against her bare skin. "Well, that's convenient," she says. "Because I think I might want that, too."

[something_incredible]

"Whatever you want," Hopper says, meaning it sincerely. At this point, he knows all the ways in which he's messed up with Joyce in the past and he doesn't want to do any of that again. He wants to let her set the pace, set the rules, and he'll do whatever the hell she wants. As long as it makes her happy.

[keeptheselights]

"Sounds like a plan then," she says, and she feels like she has to be glowing, she's so damn happy in that moment. "Do you want to come and help me shop or would you rather it was a surprise?"

[something_incredible]

"Maybe let's make it a surprise," he says. "I'll find us a place to go, we'll meet up and we'll see how it all goes."

It's going to go well. For the first time in a long time, Hopper feels certain of something. He knows where he and Joyce are finally meant to be and he's not going to mess it up this time.

[keeptheselights]

"Yeah, okay," she says, nodding. "I like that idea. And I'll definitely talk to Will about sleeping over at your place, maybe. So we can, you know. Have the option of a sleep over of our own?"

Her mind's already going, thinking about what kind of things she might shop for. She's still not entirely got the hang of her taste, now that fashions have changed, but she'll figure it out. After knowing him for so long, she's got an idea of what Hopper likes, anyway.

[something_incredible]

"Oh, he's gonna kill me," Hopper says with a laugh. As if there's any chance in hell Will won't know exactly why they're telling him to stay overnight at the townhouse.

And people might not think of Will as much of a threat, but that kid has been through more than anyone Hopper knows, himself included. That kid is tough as nails and he'd do anything for his mom.

[keeptheselights]

"He's old enough to understand that I get to have a ilfe, too. And anyway, he was fine with Bob, before...You know. Everything."

She wonders, as she does it, whether mentioning Bob is a mistake. Her fingers stay curled firmly around Jim's, and her dark eyes study his face for a moment. "It's not just the kids who get to be happy, Hop."

[something_incredible]

Bob was a different sort of guy. Hopper doesn't say as much, he doesn't feel like it's his place, given what happened, but Bob is the sort of guy someone like Will might prefer to be dating his mom. Bob was... gentle. Hopper is anything but.

"He's doin' okay here, right?" he asks instead. "Will is?"

Eleven is thriving. With all the shit back in Hawkins, it feels good to see her here.

[keeptheselights]

"Seems to be," says Joyce, her expression shifting a little, eyebrows drawing together in the way that they always do when she's worried about her boys. When she's worried about Will in particular. "He misses the others a lot. He's got friends here, and El, obviously, but he misses Mike and Dustin and Lucas a helluva lot."

[something_incredible]

Having been there, Hopper nods. He wasn't missing his childhood friends, but he was here for a long time without any of them. And then, for a long time, with Steve alone.

He never imagined he'd be close with Steve Harrington, but here they are.

"It's pretty different here," he agrees.

[keeptheselights]

"But different doesn't necessarily mean bad, does it?" says Joyce. She'd tried really hard to keep her chin up in California, to convince the kids that they were living their best lives, even if she'd been grieving, at least at first. "Feels like a good place to be."

[something_incredible]

"No," he answers. "It doesn't."

It had taken him awhile to adjust. The world has moved on pretty far from what he was used to, but Hopper has been here for years now. He thinks he's made a lot of progress in that time. That he's a lot more accepting than he used to be. Being sober probably helps.

"It can be good," he agrees. "And bad."

[keeptheselights]

Joyce's eyebrows tug together at that. Will's told her some of it, of course - the dreams, and the other weird things that can happen around here. But sh eknows what they've all seen. They know what the bar for bad is.

"You want to tell me about it?"

[something_incredible]

"Ice bees," Hopper says, even though it's been a lot worse than that. "There are attacks sometimes. People we don't know about until suddenly we do."

He pauses, then says, "And the mistletoe at the lodge is enchanted around Christmas. It's goddamn annoying."

[keeptheselights]

"Oh. Well." Both of Joyce's dark eyebrows raise at the idea of ice bees. She looks down at their hands for a moment, still joined on the table top. It feels like the most natural thing in the world, and she thinks that there's nothing she couldn't do in the world, not if she had his hand in hers.

"Enchanted?" she asks. "Sounds fun."