"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" A heavy hand snags the material of her jacket, the seams protesting at the rough movement, but it does stop Jane Hopper from toppling headfirst into a river bend. "Jesus, watch your step, kid. We almost lost ya there." The hand moves to brush the clods of dirt it left behind on her shoulder, then rests there. "Good?"

She meets her father's worried gaze as he kneels in front of her. His blue eyes, usually hidden beneath the brim of his hat, peak from underneath his heavy brow instead. The corner of her mouth perks up, and she places her hand atop of his. "I am good."

The worry lines melt from his face, and mold into something resembling a smile. He looks tired, but being the Chief of Police "does that to you." So says the Party, and she's inclined to agree. He pulls her from her thoughts with a tug of one of her thick curls. "Good. Hate to lose ya before the inevitable board game fiasco."

"Hey!" A woman's voice protests from somewhere behind Hopper's large frame as he straightens up, and he has the good grace to grimace. "They are not a fiasco. You're just a sore loser, Hop." Joyce appears, comically dwarfed by the sheer size of the Chief, with brown eyes wide in sudden concern. "You okay, sweetie?"

"Fine," she replies with a punctuated nod. A throat being cleared pulls her from her navel-gazing, and she adds: "Thank you." The look of approval is fine, but she thinks the flashed thumbs up is slightly overkill. She directs their attention to her sneakers instead, pointing at the already well-worn set of Converse she had only just been gifted a few months ago. The shoelace of one is muddied and hanging limply on the ground. "Lace came undone. I got clumsy."

Hopper's mouth twists up into a proud smile. "Clumsy, huh? I see you learned a new word." He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, glancing fondly at Joyce when she places her hand on his bicep before moving away to check on Will. Jane smirks at the gesture. Hopper narrows his eyes in response. "Can it. You know that expression?"

"I already do, yes." She smirks at his glower. "I also learned the word 'oblivious' today."

"Oh, yeah?" Hopper's expression goes from mildly annoyed to flat. He knows what's coming up next, and he's not quite feeling that conversation. Again. "Is that the one that means mind your own business?"

Jane scrunches up her nose. "It means-"

"Nah, uh-uh." Hop wrestles a hand from within his pocket to raise it, as if to physically stop the words from spilling over. "I was being sarcastic." He pinches the bridge of his nose as he huffs out a laugh. "Now that is a word you definitely know."

She puffs out her cheeks in exasperation. "We just don't understand why-"

"'We?'" Great, now he's doing the squinty-eyed thing. He jerks a thumb over one of his broad shoulders. "You mean you and Will? Listen, kid, you don't need to understand. Hell, I barely understand." The last part is muttered to himself, but he regains his composure and starts again. "It's comp-" His hand curls in the air. "It's none of your-"

"Business." She smirks when he falters.

He glowers down at her, and she beams right back up at him. It takes a moment longer than she'd like, but he finally relents by squaring his shoulders and jerking his chin back towards their make-shift camp site. "C'mon, brat. Watch your step. Don't need you cracking your damn head on any rocks today."

Jane scampers to his side, and nudges him in the softness of his belly with her elbow. He grunts, looks down, and curls his lip upward at her offered hand. He gently grasps it within his much larger one, and points with his free one to a particularly large rock.

"Careful. I need you in one piece."

She looks up at him from underneath long lashes.

"For the board games?"

She can hear him audibly swallow over their steps.

"No," his hand squeezes hers, "For more than just that."

TBC...

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