Chapter Seventeen:
Spanish, Stupid
・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Russians?" Ramona questioned, clearly not amused as she leaned on the coffee shop's counter. She pursed her lips, glancing at Steve who nodded in confirmation. Dustin nodded, looking around the coffee shop to make sure no one else was around.

"We think they're plotting against America." He whispered harshly, raising his hands to cup his mouth. Ramona sighed, dropping her head momentarily as she processed what the two boys told her.

"Okay, right.. and you picked up on this thing-" 

"The secret Russian communication." Dustin interrupted, clearing his throat when Steve shot him a look. 

Ramona rose her eyebrows, straightening her back and crossing her arms. "Okay, and?"

"We want your help deciphering it." Steve said quickly, gently shoving Dustin to the side and resting his hands on the counter as he leaned closer to her. "Because you're bilingual, so it'll be easier. Right?"

"I speak Spanish, Harrington." Ramona deadpanned. "Not Russian."

Steve blinked slowly, shaking his head. "W-Well, yea-yeah. I know, of course I know. But they have some of the same, you know, uh, properties."

"Properties?" Ramona rose her eyebrows, resting her hands on her hips, "Harrington, you absolute idiot."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Ramona."

"Whatever, Harrington." Ramona mimicked, the corner of her lips turning into a smile as she locked eyes with Steve.

"So.. Will you help us?" Dustin asked, hope raising in his voice. "Please?"

A sigh left Ramona's lips as she let her head fall, "Fine, but if I die in a Russian lab somewhere, I'm Poltergeisting your asses."

~~

Ramona's eyes trailed from the recorder to Steve as he paced back and forth, a banana in hand. She pursed her lips, looking back down at the recorder quickly when Steve caught her eye.

"So, what do you guys think?" Dustin asked, pressing the red button on the recorder. 

Ramona sighed, raising her arms as she stretched. Steve gulped, tearing his eyes away from the girl and looking down to the banana in his hand. "U-uh.. It sounds familiar."

"What?" Dustin blinked, glancing at Ramona who nodded in agreement with Steve. 

"The music." Steve continued, "The music right there at the end."

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve?" Dustin groaned in annoyance. "Listen to the Russian! We're trying to translate the Russian."

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian!" Steve defended, tossing the banana peel into the trash. "But there's music!"

Dustin rolled his eyes in disbelief, "Steve!"

"The music did sound familiar." Ramona said as Steve gestured to her with a smile.

"See!" Steve smiled as Ramona looked away from him, clearing her throat awkwardly. Dustin knitted his eyebrows together, taking quick glances at the two of them. He shrugged the feeling off when the door was thrown open and Ramona jumped from the sudden sound.  "¡Me asustaste!"

"All right, babysitting time is over." Robin said, clearly annoyed as the break room door shut behind her. "You need to get in there."

"Erica and her friends again?" Ramona asked as Robin nodded her head, "Yeah. She shows up at the Lava Java asking for a taste of every hot chocolate on the menu."

"Hey!" Robin asked, glaring at the two boys as she spun on her heel. "My board! That was important data, shitbirds!"

"I guarantee you what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin said dismissively. Steve nodded in agreement, crossing his arms as he walked to stand next to Ramona.

"Yeah?" Robin countered, glancing down at Ramona.

"Yeah." Steve confirmed.

"And how do you know these Russians are up to no good, anyways?" Robin asked smugly, crossing her arms as she watched Steve and Dustin's face fall.

"How does she know about the Russians?" Dustin whispered harshly, looking in between Ramona and Steve. 

"I don't know.." Steve muttered, shaking his head quickly.

"You told her about the Russians?"

"It wasn't me!" Steve defended, "Ramona?"

"Vete a la mierda." Ramona scoffed, "Apuesto a que fue Steve."

"Hey, what'd you just say?" Steve pointed at her. 

"Nothing." Ramona hummed innocently, a giggle slipping from her lips.

"Hello?" Robin rolled her eyes, "I can hear you. I can hear everything, actually. All three of you are extremely loud."

"Grosera." 

"You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but you haven't figured out a single word because you didn't realize that Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do.. Sound about right?" Robin looked expectantly at the three. Ramona pursed her lips, looking away from her.

"Oh, woah, woah, woah!" Steve said, snatching the radio from the table before Robin could get to it.

"I wanna hear it."

"Why?"

"Cause maybe I can help." Robin shrugged, "I'm fluent in four languages, you know."

"Russian?" 

"Oo-yay are-yay umb-day." Robin spoke, causing Ramona to snicker and cover her mouth.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Steve grinned, nudging Ramona excitedly.

"Holy shit!" Dustin perked up.

"That was Pig Latin, dingus." Robin sat down beside Ramona. "But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian and I've been in band for twelve years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me."

"Uh.." Steve stammered, shrugging as he looked at Dustin.

"Please!" Robin pleaded, "Come on! It's your turn to sling ice cream and my turn to translate. I don't even want credit! I'm just bored."

Ramona grinned as he handed Robin the radio, "Good luck with Erica, Harrington."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, Garcia." Steve muttered, pulling the sailor's hat from her head and resting it on his head. Ramona laughed under her breath as she looked down at her hands. 

"Holy shit." Dustin swore, his eyes wide as he shared a look with Robin. Ramona knitted her eyebrows together, raising her head and looking at them.

"What?" She asked, looking at their smug faces. "Oh. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Estas loca!"

"We didn't even say anything." Dustin pointed out, "You're the one that thought it."

"Los odio a los dos."

~~

Ramona sighed, clicking her tongue as she stared at the ceiling. If she'd have to hear the final line in that Russian communication, she thought she might lose her mind completely. Robin paced back and forth, the sound of her sneakers tapping against the floor echoed around the room. She drummed her fingers against the wooden table she laid on as she tapped her foot mindlessly.

"Wait, that last part! One more time!" A groan escaped Ramona's lips at the sound of her voice. The sound of the radio rewinding flooded her ears, echoing in her brain as she inhaled sharply. "Okay! That word. That word right there. Um.. It's pronounced.. dly-nna-ya." 

"Dly-nna-ya." Dustin nodded as Ramona sat up, excited to finally have a breakthrough.

"Which is spelled.. D." Robin trailed off as Dustin stood from the chair and rushed over to the board.

"Uh.. Uh, uh. Chair! The chair looking thingy!" Dustin said, pointing to a Russian letter. Robin excitedly wrote it down, knitting her eyebrows together.

"Huh.." She said, looking up at Ramona who was hovering over the paper. "The week is long."

"That's it?" Ramona sighed, "I laid on a table for an hour and it's the week is long? Ni siquiera tiene sentido."

"We'll get there, don't worry about it." Dustin said, scribbling something onto the paper as Ramona slid open the window.

"We have our first sentence." She said, leaning on the wall. Steve handed the ice cream to the customers and turned around, a twinkle in his eyes as he walked over to her.

"Really?"

"Really." Robin confirmed, "The week is long."

"Well, that's thrilling." Steve said sarcastically, trailing his eyes from Robin to Ramona who still sat on the table, talking to Dustin. 

"I know, but.. Progress!" Robin's voice was overly cheerful as she stood up and slid the divider closed. 

"Well, this has been an absolutely... I forgot the word in English." Ramona trailed off. "Uh.. Riveting? Si, that's right. Riveting experience.. But I'm hungry. I'll be back later, you guys want anything? No? Okay. See you guys later."

・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: as you can see i didnt know how to end this ope }

{ Translations: You scared me, fuck off, I bet it was steve, rude, you're crazy, I hate both of you, doesn't even make sense, yes }

{ Edited: No }