Chapter Text
“Okay, seriously, movie night ideas?” Robin asked. She stacked a bunch of tapes on the counter in front of Steve and dropped her arms onto the counter beside them. “Nance and Eddie are joining, which makes everything way more complicated.” Nancy and Eddie had such polar opposite tastes in movies, so finding middle grounds that everyone was happy with was next to impossible.
“Hmmm…” Steve scanned the pile of cardboard spines in front of him, but nothing stuck out. “What if…we get a bunch of stupid kiddie movies, and play them first to get everyone in a false sense of security, then put on The Shining?”
Robin just rolled her eyes and moved the stack of movies to the return cart. “At least you didn’t suggest Rocky again.”
“Hey, we could always go that route!”
“No.”
Steve scoffed and hauled himself over the counter, going to find something mindless to put on their store TV. “Let’s see, what do we have in the new stuff…” He laughed suddenly and held up a tape with a big grin. “Speaking of stupid kiddie movies- they made a second Care Bears movie!”
“Oh yeah?” Robin snickered, trying to lean nonchalantly against the counter. “You should play that one, then.” She’d never admit to him that she actually enjoyed the first movie and kind of wanted to watch the second one. Yeah, it was cheesy and predictable and so very simple…but sometimes, especially after everything they’d been through just a month before (oh, god, it’d only been a month), she liked cheesy and simple.
“Alright, let’s do it.” Steve slid the tape out of it’s box and popped it into the VCR. Before long, the movie started, and Robin tried not to look too interested. It started on a boat in the middle of a storm, with a happy song that had Robin’s head feeling stuffed with soft, fuzzy feelings. All the bears were babies! So cute!
And then the big serpent monster made her jump.
Steve looked toward her and quirked a brow. “You good, Robin?” he asked. She just barely looked at him as she nodded, and she turned her attention fully back to the movie. Care Bears weren’t supposed to be scary.
The movie continued on, and soon the baby bears and cousins were playing in the Kingdom of Caring (that should’ve sounded so cheesy, but Robin loved it). The song was adorable, she thought, and she giggled when Grumpy Bear ate the little heart. She couldn’t wipe that happy grin off her face. She didn’t want to. She wanted to play with all the cute baby bears.
And then the door opened. Robin grabbed the remote and paused the movie quickly, spinning around to face Nancy. “H-hey!” she greeted a bit too loudly.
“Hey…?” Nancy gave her a half-wave, and Robin blushed. She had half a mind to hide behind Steve for some reason. “Are we all still on for the movie night?”
“Yeah, we’ve been trying to pick something out,” Steve said. He glanced at Robin, still confused as to what was going on with her. “So far, the suggestions are The Shining and Rocky.”
Nancy groaned. “Not Rocky again,” she said. She peeked around Robin to see what they were watching. “Is that…Care Bears?”
“Oh yeah,” Steve said with a laugh. “We were just watching it to see how bad it is.”
Robin nodded and crossed her arms. “I-It’s really bad. Um, but it is kinda cute.” She hated that questioning look Nancy shot her, so she focused on the countertop mats. “But it’s still dumb.”
“It diiiiid manage to make her jump already, though,” Steve teased. “Which is hilarious.” Robin whined and smacked his arm. “Ow, hey, that’s not very caring of you!”
“Dingus.” Robin pulled a pout, and Nancy just snickered.
“Okay, well, I’ll leave you two to figure out movies, then…” she said. “I’ve got some stuff to get done first.” Nancy backed out of the store and started down the sidewalk, and Robin was about to turn around and resume the movie when Nancy came back. She tossed open the door and stuck her head in. “Robin, come out here for a sec.”
“Um…okay?” Robin made her way outside and leaned against the window. “What’s up…?”
Nancy gave her a gentle smile, and her eyes seemed so knowing. Knowing what, Robin wasn’t sure. “Which Care Bear’s your favorite?” Nancy asked.
“Uh…” Robin had no clue why she was asking that. “Probably the rabbit…why?”
“No reason,” Nancy said with that scheming little smirk. “And, by the way, it’s okay if you like that movie. It’s sweet.”
Robin totally didn’t blush. Totally not. She nodded and stumbled back into the store, ignoring the way Steve laughed and begged for details.
“Okay, we’re watching Ferris Bueller,” Steve said, plopping down popcorn on the coffee table in his house. He sat down beside Eddie, who just groaned at the movie choice.
“Seriously, dude? Are we watching it just so you can get more inspiration for all…this?” Eddie gestured to his entire self, and Steve just rolled his eyes.
“I seriously don’t get where you guys see Ferris Bueller when you look at me. You’re delusional.”
“No, other way around, Harrington.”
“Whatever…” Steve shoveled a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Where’s Nance and Robin?”
Eddie shrugged. “Last I saw Robin, she was in the kitchen. Nancy said she forgot something in her car.”
Robin came in with a tray of drinks. “Okay, we’ve got all the assorted colas here,” she said, laying out each cup by brand name. “Aaaaand we’ve got candy, and Steve’s weird peanut butter jar.”
“Hey, protein’s important!”
“Then make a sandwich, weirdo.”
“I don’t want a whole sandwich!”
Nancy just laughed from behind them, and all three heads snapped toward her. Behind her back she carried a plastic bag, which bulged in a rectangular shape that threatened to split that bag apart. “Steve, the peanut butter jar is super weird," she said, and Robin let out a "ha!" as she pointed a finger at Steve.
“I see how it is,” he said. “You always take her side.”
“What’cha got, Nance?” Eddie asked, seeming to be the only one able to actually realize she carried the bag for a reason.
Nancy hummed and held the bag out in front of herself. “Robin, care to take a look?” she asked. Both boys looked back at her, and Robin’s face lit aflame. Oh, she knew exactly what was in that bag. Robin felt that same fuzzy, soft feeling from earlier in the back of her head, and for some reason she found it difficult to get her feet to move. Still, she made it around the couch and took the bag from Nancy. She pushed the bag off the contents and gasped.
Yes, she absolutely knew what was in that bag, and she still gasped when she saw it.
“Rabbit!” she whispered-yelled, hopping in place. “Rabbit!”
Nancy just gave her a big grin and nodded. “Thought you’d like that.”
“I need it off the box!” Robin shouted. Nancy just snickered and took out a pocketknife to cut the rabbit free. Robin squealed once the rabbit was free, and she hugged it close as she twisted at the hips and hopped around. “Thank you, Nancy!”
“Of course!”
Robin quickly hugged her close, which Nancy didn’t expect. She took her hand and dragged Nancy over to the couch, plopping down with her close. “Wanna watch the movie now!”
“Uh, yeah, o…kay?” Steve loaded the movie into the VCR and sat back down between Nancy and Eddie. He kept a curious watch on Robin, quickly noticing just how the girl snuggled that rabbit close, and how she chewed on her hair. She acted weird, and he had no clue why. By the end of the movie, Eddie hopped up for a bathroom break so Steve and Robin could argue over what to watch next while the VHS rewound. He passed by Robin from behind and ruffled her hair, which usually made her groan and shove him, but this time she just giggled and reached to grab his elbow. He quirked a brow at her but smoothed her hair back out before going to the bathroom.
And Steve noticed. “Hey, Robin, you okay?” he asked. “You’ve been acting weird.”
Robin peeked around Nancy, and she gave a shrug. “I’m ‘kay,” she said. “’m not the weird one, you are.”
He rolled his eyes, giving Nancy a look when she laughed. “You just haaaaave to encourage her, huh?”
“Hey, when she’s right, she’s right.”
Steve didn’t know how to describe it, but even Nancy was acting weird. Did these two know something he didn’t? Were they an item or something? Even if they were, that didn’t explain Robin’s weirdness.
“Roarrrrr!” Eddie tumbled over the back of the couch right between Nancy and Robin, earning him fussings from Nancy and a big whine from Robin. He laughed and looked right at Robin, big grin practically splitting his face. “Think Swift Heart can save you from the big bad monster?” he asked, and her eyes grew wide as saucers.
“Nonononono- Eddie!!”
Eddie picked her up and spun her around, growling at her as he tossed her just barely up in the air and spun once again. Robin laughed and laughed, and she still giggled uncontrollably as he set her back down on the couch. “Guess that’s a no, huh?”
Robin shoved his shoulder, but she couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped her. She curled in on herself, and one of her rabbit’s ears found its way into her mouth for her to chew on. “Weirdo.”
“You wound me, Buckley.” Eddie splayed a hand dramatically over his chest, grinning wide.
“Swift Heart can do better,” Robin said. She held the rabbit up and aimed it toward him. “Care Bear Stare!”
“Ohhhh noooo!” Eddie dramatically fell to his knees and clutched his chest. “My one true weakness- marketability!”
Robin laughed in satisfaction and returned the rabbit’s ear to her mouth. “I win.”
…And now Steve was even more confused. And so was Nancy. At least he wasn’t alone. “What was that?”
Eddie looked up from where he sat on the floor, and he shrugged. “Death by Care Bear?”
“I got that far,” Steve said. He scooted to sit on the edge of the couch cushion. “What in the world kind of game was that? It looked more like you were trying to entertain a five-year-old.”
Eddie just glanced back at Robin, then to Steve and Nancy, and it hit him. “Am I the only one who figured it out?”
“Figured what out, Eddie?” Nancy asked.
“She’s age regressed?” He said it like it was a question, but it far better worked as an explanation, a name, for what Robin felt.
“What the hell’s that?” Steve asked.
Eddie got off the floor to sit beside Steve once again. “It’s when your brain goes back to a younger age,” he said. “Happens ‘cause of anxiety…depression…trauma…lots of reasons.”
“Oh.”
Three sets of eyes landed on Robin, who flushed under the attention. She held her rabbit closer to her chest. “Does it sometimes make your head feel all fuzzy…?” she asked. Eddie’s look softened, and he just nodded.
“That’s one way people describe it,” he said. “Some people feel it like that, but some say they just feel small, y’know?” She nodded. That felt familiar, too.
“Why do you know so much about this, dude?” Steve asked.
“Don’t worry about that,” Eddie said, waving off the question. He grabbed a drink and downed the whole thing in two gulps. “Who wants to watch Back to the Future?” He didn’t wait for an answer, getting up and popping the movie into the VCR. Eddie flopped back down and shoveled popcorn into his mouth. He refused to look at Steve, knowing if he didn't acknowledge the look he gave, then he wouldn't have to explain anything.
Robin just smiled as she snuggled down in her seat. She didn’t know quite what to think of this, but it felt nice. She liked feeling small and safe, and she liked having her friends around. She rested her head on Nancy’s shoulder and snuggled her rabbit close. Nancy’s arm wrapped around her and held her close, and Robin couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be.