MHA #4; Tuesday Evening [02/01].

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer was pretty sure it should be illegal to have to have two sangria nights within less than a week of each other, but that was the dire state of affairs that they were in, and so they had to make the most of it. It did not take her long to know that she was going to be mixing up more of the now sacred drink for another session when she heard about John leaving, and she was determined to all but drag Rey here if she had to.

Thankfully, though, she didn't have to, and she had yet again foiled the cats' attempts to trip her as she brought a pitcher out to the living room in an odd sense of déjà vu, except for the fact that there was already a box of cookies from J,GoB on the table waiting this time.

What? That cookies-in-wine combo had been legit.

She wasn't sure Rey would be as onboard with it as she was, but, hey, it was good to have options.


[[ and for she who is mentioned in the narrative, although if anyone wants to poke at Summer before Rey in the timeline, I'm totes down for it! ]]

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

One of the good things about sangria nights was that it meant listening came with drinking, which Summer was doing as Rey talked, then let the drinking and the words settle a little before responding.

"Oof," she said, eloquently, still deciding which part of all that to focus on. "So...back home, huh?"

To war. In the, what, eighteenth century? NBD...

...although something was telling Summer it definitely wasn't exactly the same as Rey and herself flipping back and forth between here and their own various wars.

[thatwaslucky]

"Yeah. He's not coming back," Rey said flatly. "He has a life there."

She was absolutely sure he'd be okay. But she also was pretty sure he was just going to pick up where he left off.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer was definitely not concerned about whether John would be okay in this situation.

"He had a life here, too," she murmured into her drink, not really meaning to, but, well...she did have pretty complicated feelings about that sort of thing, and she sighed, taking that next drink and shaking her head.

"But...I guess," she added, feeling it was maybe a little unfair of her to hold against him what she had basically sympathized with Faye for, but somehow, this just felt different to her. Like she said, complicated, "if it was really what he felt he needed to do..."

[thatwaslucky]

"I can't even be mad," Rey admitted. "It really is what I would do. I never would have stopped trying in the first place, but still."

She'd checked every day during high school on whether she could get back to Jakku, where there had been nothing waiting for her.

"I kept trying to think up ways I could even go with him, but if I couldn't stay- and I couldn't- I think it would only have prolonged this."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Yeah, you definitely have your own shit, too," Summer pointed out, knowing she really didn't need to, just like she didn't need to point out that, as far as she was concerned, Rey's shit was probably a whole lot bigger than whatever piratey shit was going on back in John's world. Like, not even from a biased perspective, either, but on the general scale alone...

She gave Rey a weak sort of smile. "I guess it..." A few things came to mind to fill in the rest of that, but none of them really quite fit. Was inevitable? For the best? Nice while it lasted? "...well, like you said...probably good, but ugh."

Paraphrasing, of course.

[thatwaslucky]

"It'll be okay," Rey said. "It will. But I don't know how I'm supposed to get used to this."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"You will," Summer assured her, with a confident insistence. "I'm pretty sure you can get used to anything, really, and this is no exception. It'll...definitely take time, though. And, hey, if you ever just need to get out of that space for a while, because...I mean...well...obvious reason, my door is totally open. Honestly, I would be a total mess in that apartment right now."

But her knee-jerk reaction to these things was to always just hit space, as soon as possible, and as far as possible, so....

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm thinking about going home for a bit," Rey admitted, thinking much along those same lines at the moment. "The whole place feels empty right now. I think I've spent more time in the warehouse than there the last couple days."

[somethingwithturquoise]

There was also more to focus on in the warehouse, probably, that wasn't John-related, too, and she nodded.

"Might not be the worse idea," she said, with a faint smile. "There's always something for you to do out there, something useful, too, which helps...

"But," she added, with emphasis, "if you do go out there, you have to A) come back or two, at least spare a day in the very near future for a little trip. Honestly, between you and Stark and with it being the worst timing with being February now," like, seriously, all this stuff, around Valentine's Day? Rude, "I am definitely going to see who I need to blackmail to see about squeezing us into a space spa day, because we are clearly in desperate need of one but the whole place has been booked solid."

But, hey, now this might give her something to focus on other than her own crippling paranoia about being next! Sure, sure, yesterday had definitely done a lot of good in walking her back from the edge, but it was a slippery slope they were on right now.

[thatwaslucky]

"I'll definitely come back. I've been here for training, not John." She almost definitely would have asked him to stay out there with her if she wasn't coming back to Fandom. "Let me know when? As long as they don't have me doing anything big I'll be back."

She had not thought about Valentine's Day. She was more than likely going to not be here for Valentine's Day.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer nodded. "I am going to be on it first thing Thursday morning," she promised.

Because she was going to be making jello shots and bartending with her second hangover in less than a week, so tomorrow was definitely out of the question already.

[thatwaslucky]

"Sounds about right. I will definitely be training with a hangover tomorrow." Did Rey care now? Nope! Even Future Rey might appreciate the distraction.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer was definitely not going to appreciate the distraction even half as much, but she would take comfort in the fact that being hungover for half the week so far was just solid proof of her dedication to her friends. She grinned faintly, lifting her glass before drinking eagerly to that sentiment.

"It'll be a good challenge," she allowed. "We will definitely have to remember to drink some water later."

They would not remember to drink some water later, would they?

[thatwaslucky]

Summer really was the best that way.

"That would be smart." They would probably not drink water, and in fact Rey was going for a refill. "I just keep getting caught up in thoughts I don't want to be having. They're not helpful, and I don't think there's a way to turn them off."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"...what kind of thoughts?"

Did someone say refill? Well, no one did, but look at that, both their glasses would very soon find themselves suddenly a lot less empty!

"Maybe if you just let it out, that'll, like," a finger danced around her head a little, "purge them from your brain or whatever."

Probably not! But it was worth a tr!

[thatwaslucky]

Rey shrugged. "Whether he's safe right now. If I should finally Google him or respect that he told me everything about himself that he wanted me to know, or if I can see what happened to him. If he's going to mention me at all when he gets back together with his girlfriend there."

See, that refill was badly needed.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Usually, the google stalking happens before the relationship," Summer pointed out, "and, yeah, after's just a recipe for pain and I do not recommend."

The drink that followed definitely hinted toward personal experience on that one.

"Besides," she added, when she finally came up for air, "with multidimensionality, who's to even say the John Silver you google will even be the same John Silver you dated, anyway? You could be following up on a completely different one who'd never even heard of you..."

Was that part helpful? Or did it make it worse? Summer frowned because there was another point in there, too, that might help from too much dwelling on multidimensional bullshit.

"Did...he mention his girlfriend there when he got together with you?" A beat. "Would you want him to mention you?"

[thatwaslucky]

The multidimensionality thing was actually a really good point, especially when she knew how much the Long John Silver thing was a front.

"He mentioned her when I'd known him a while," Rey said. "I didn't know they were together when he got pulled here until the kids showed up last spring. But we didn't get together until he'd had time to move on, so it wasn't a big deal.

"I'd want to be mentioned," she continued, and paused to make sure her voice stayed steady. "I don't just want to be a... stopover. I hope I mattered."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer looked about ready to launch into a long diatribe at stopover, but that last part after it swept that all away, because there was only one thing to say to that, firmly and with conviction and without a shadow of a doubt as she looked at her.

"Rey," she said, "of course you mattered."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey nodded, and managed wryly, "This is why thinking isn't helpful."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"But sangria," Summer lifted her glass, "is!"

Because it helped dull the thinking, and she was going to do a little more dulling and getting closer to needing another refill here soon before adding, "Seriously, though, Rey, it's impossible for me to think that you could be in anyone's life and have it not matter, especially in that way."

[thatwaslucky]

"That's sweet," Rey said, because she was a lightweight who was feeling the sangria. "I just don't like being a secret, or an afterthought, or one of those things he never wants to talk about. And I can't even be mad about things like Madi, because she seems wonderful."

Seriously, Rey and Madi would have been friends.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Rey," Summer said, with the exact same tone as a second ago, "didn't you say part of why he went back was to be more like you?"

That was....half a legitimate question. The beginning of the conversation was getting a little fuzz around it.

"That's hardly an afterthought."

There was a bit more hesitation before she asked the next question. "So is Madi....?"

She trailed off, with a general gesture for whatever word would work for 'bestie's very-recent-ex's former-potential-future girlfriend from the past'.

[thatwaslucky]

"He represses harder than I do." Which was very honest, but it was a very legitimate worry that Silver would bury thoughts of her if it was hard to deal with. It was kind of how he worked.

"Is Madi... the girl? Yeah."

And really, Rey got the girlfriend title first because it didn't exist in the 1700's, so.

[somethingwithturquoise]

See? It was complicated! Leaving it just hanging seemed the safest route.

"Oof," Summer said, shaking her head, looking into her glass, and deciding, yes, it needed more.

Then she looked at the pitcher.

That could use more, too.

"And you can repress with the best of them sometimes, too..."

Like she was anyone to talk. Her repression was different, though.