somethingwithturquoise | MHA #4; Saturday Afternoon [07/15].

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MHA #4; Saturday Afternoon [07/15].

To say that this week had been an off week felt like a bit of an understatement, and the fact that Summer didn't even think of this until she decided to do terrible things to eggs yesterday was a good indication of just how off it really was. But also, in a way, she'd had a week to sort of...process things and had a better understanding of where she was mentally, physically, spiritually, blah blah blah, so now it was just time to smooth out the rougher edges in the best way she knew how.

By making some pot brownies.

She considered trying to do something fancy with it, but since Stark would also be baking something (she was putting money down now on what color his baked goods would be), but decided to just stick with something nice and classic. And honestly? By the time she was pulling them out of the over, she was already feeling better than she had almost all week.

Whether that was from the catharsis of baking or some liberal taste-testing of the batter while she was working was impossible to determine for sure, but did it really matter anyway?

[[ expecting an alien, but open if anyone wants to @ her before he shows up, and, clearly, a little CW for recreational drug use ahoy ]]

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"The brownies are a good start," Summer said, after a moment, tempted to grab another one, but holding back because she knew, when the others kicked in, she was probably going to just fucking destroy them. "And, like, there's not really much you can do? Because you can't exactly unring that bell, and everything else is just kind of...me stuff. Things I'm sort of figuring out."

"What sort of things?" Stark asked. He might regret that.

"You don't have to say, if you don't want to. I just...if I can help, at all..."

"Things like," Summer sighed, leaning back again with her arms folded in front of her and her eyes rolling to the side a little, "being pissed off when someone tells me to do something I was going to do anyway, because then it feel like an obligation and an expectation and makes me not want to do it anymore out of pure spite."

"I feel like I missed something," Stark said, frowning slightly. "Did I...I didn't think I did that? If I did I'm sorry. I wouldn't ever want you to feel obligated."

"You didn't," said Summer, and apparently the batter-buzz was not nearly enough to keep the scoff out of her voice. "She did."

"What did she say to you?" Stark asked, frowning more. "I thought she just wanted to meet you!"

"Meet me," said Summer, "and assess me and analyze me and go on and on about making you happy, and it's just all, yeah, obviously, that's what I've been doing, because I want to, not because you told me I should."

"You wanted to make me happy?"

Yes, that was what Stark was going to focus on out of that.

Which meant Summer was just going to give him a mildly incredulous look as she tried to figure out if she should even dignify that with a response.

"Stark," she said, reaching for one or her brownies. "Come on. You cannot be serious with a question like that."

"I...I just hadn't thought about it that way. Not in those terms."

Stark took another bite of his brownie.

"I try to make you happy. When I can."

"Of course you hadn't," said Summer, with a bit of a sigh. "And you know, while we're on the topic, one of the things we talked about," well, that Summer had talked about, anyway, "is you be better about making yourself happy, too. Depending on other people for your happiness is always a bad idea, because even the best people will still disappoint you."

Edited 2023-07-15 21:44 (UTC)

"I know that people will disappoint," Stark said. "I know that very well. And you know I'm trying."

He was a work in progress!

"Trying to do things just because I like them. And trying not to hide when I feel like I should. I'm not unhappy! I'm...more content than I have been in a long time."

"And I know you're trying," Summer acknowledged, "and you've been doing a great job."

Work in progress!

"But, you know, just some food for thought. Nothing kills a vibe like having something you enjoy bring turned into a responsibility that you didn't even sign up for. That you've explicitly stated you didn't want."

"I didn't know she would say that. I didn't know she did. I wish she hadn't. I don't..."

Stark sighed.

"I don't ever want you to feel obligated. At all. I hope you know that."

"Well," Summer allowed, with a pointed bite of her brownie, muffling the next few words slightly, "she didn't say that exactly, but it was heavily implied. And..."

She hesitated, filling the pause in with a thoughtful chew and a swallow, but she was apparently getting it all out now, so might as well...

"It kinda bugs me that I was the only one she wanted to see and that I can only imagine that meant I was a pretty hot topic of conversation, which really feels counterintuitive to this whole Not Serious thing we're going for here, you know?"

"You're my best friend," Stark said softly, watching her carefully. "Even if there was nothing else there is that and it's more important than any of the rest of it."

"There is that," Summer agreed, a little placated by that, or maybe it was just some of the brownies starting to really work their magic, "and that is the most important thing..."

And put into that context...she felt herself relax just a little more.

Then again, could also just be the brownies.

Stark let out a tiny relieved sigh and nodded.

Maybe he should have had more brownies. Or maybe he just needed to wait a little longer.

"It really is. I promise you that. You're the best friend I have." Maybe the best friend he'd ever had.

"I'm glad you told me."

"I'm glad I did, too," Summer said, her smile growing just a little bit more. "I don't actually like being mad at you, you know..."

"I don't like it either," Stark said quickly. "At all."

His hand lifted, as if he was going to reach toward her, but he dropped it back down. Maybe that wasn't the right move.

Edited 2023-07-15 23:25 (UTC)

And, of course, Summer noticed that lifted and dropped hand, and, after considering it for a moment, she offered a small smile and a slight scoot closer to hold out hers for his across the couch.

"Still friends, then?" she asked.

"Summer."

Stark hesitated but reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "There's nothing I can think of that would make me stop being your friend."

"Yeah," said Summer, grin going slightly crooked (and maybe a little pitying) as she gave Stark's hand a much firmer squeeze on her end; the extra brush of her thumb was the gentle part for her. "I know. That was mostly just a reassurance for you, really."

Stark sunk back into the couch a little but didn't let go of Summer's hand.

"Thank you. For that. For knowing I needed it. You know me very well."

"Better than most," Summer agreed.

Longer than most, too, apparently! But that was the sort of card you kept in your sleeve, just in case.

She leaned her shoulder against the back of the couch and tilted her head, thumb still moving with light brushes, not entirely consciously.

Things had moved just a bit beyond the batter-buzz by now, really.

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