MHA #4; Saturday [09/30].

[somethingwithturquoise]

Well, look at that. Summer was doing the responsible, adult thing and sending a message over to the hotel that morning to be left with Hemorrhage to let him know that she'd be willing to have him come over so that they could talk, and coffee had been made and there was a blaster on the kitchen counter as he sat at the kitchen table not drinking his own coffee (what with the bucket helmet and all ) and she peered at him from where she was leaning against the counter and tried to figure out where to even begin.

"So," she said, "why are you here right now, exactly?"



There was a long pause, a bit of some awkward shifting in his chair. "I, uh...." He coughed. "Heard you were single again."

Summer blinked for a moment before staring at Hemorrhage. "Like, six months ago!"

"So you've already moved on? To someone else?"

"Well, no," Summer said, immediately, rolling her eyes, but then she faltered a little on the uncertain truth of that statement and pulled back a little. "I mean, there is kind of this one guy, but that's, like, nothing serious--"

"--the puny one with the half-mask?"

"That's not fair," Summer protested, "he's been really working out a lot lately! Not that it matters whether I'm with someone else or not right now, anyway, Hemorrhage. We're over. We've been over for a long time, we have documents and everything. Why would I want to go back and rehash old relationships that were bad ideas to begin with?"

"Well, Rick said--"

"RICK?"

"Rick said," Hemorrhage tried again, shrugging a shoulder, looking off to the side, "you seemed pretty interested in revisiting relics of the past lately, and so he thought, maybe..."

"Oh mygod," said Summer, sucking in a breath to keep a bit of her rage from boiling over, "that asshole went and found you to send you here for Parents Weekend, again, all because I decided to use Tiny Planet as a hook-up spot at the exact moment he decided to rehabilitate some pigs???"

WHY WAS THIS HER LIFE RIGHT NOW???

"Soooooo," Hemorrhage hedged, "you're not interested in getting back together?"

"No!" Summer declared, leaving it in absolutely no uncertain terms. "Never! Well, I mean, okay, there was maybe a few times I thought about it directly after the breakup, but that's got to tell you a lot that even in the wreckage of a two and a half year relationship, I still didn't get that desperate."

"Wow," said Hemorrhage, "okay. Harsh."

"Whatever happened to 'you're a total bitch, Summer, I don't need that in my life', anyway?" she said, throwing up a hand in frustration.

"Well, that was almost three years ago," Hemorrhage pointed out, leaning forward a little. "A lot can change in three years. And that bitch was exactly who I feel in love with all those years ago, when the world was just a merciless wasteland and we pissed on the grave of the past."

And, for a moment, there was a small tug of nostalgia in Summer's heart, as she nodded and gave Hemorrhage a small smile. "We did piss on the grave of the past," she said. "But that was then. This is now. I mean, I know you still dress like a Mad Max extra, but it's been a long time since even you've been in that world, right? I mean, god, what is it you're even doing these days?"

"Investment banking."

"Exact--, wait, what? Investment banking? Really?"

Hemorrhage shrugged.

"Wow, well, okay, I guess that just really proves my point, then, doesn't it? I mean, you used to roam the wastelands striking fear into the bowels those who dared to cross your path, and now you're an investment banker. I used to eat the hearts of my enemies to gain their courage, and now I make jello shots and run a general store. What we had, in that moment, was really special, Hemorrhage, but it was just a blip in time. We're different people now. And you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice.



"And also," she felt this part was particularly important, "you should really invest in some pants, dude."

Hemorrhage sighed, nodding a little forlornly as he looked down at that untouched coffee cup. "You're right," he said. "Of course you're right. I just...I just sometimes miss the times we had, the spark between us, destroying everything in our path with wild abandon for all the guts and glory....but the Apocalypse is behind us now. It is time to move on..."

With that, he lifted his hands to his helmet to pull it off so he could finally drink his coffee, and Summer immediately winced, cringing back like she'd just got hit with an eyeful of the burning hot sun reflected off a sheet of metal, which, really, with how pale his face was under that helmet, wasn't too far off from the truth, and she was now going to be finishing her coffee trying to look at literally anything else but that horrible moustache.


[[ expecting some visitors a bit later on, but definitely very open before them in the timeline, and CW for recreational drug use in the comments, because Summer. ]]

Comments

[girlofgrey]

"I'll help," Chiana said quickly, jumping up to follow Summer into the kitchen.

She thought Stark might need a microt to recover. He did.

"Whatcha got? Raslak? Something better?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

Which was fair, sure, but Summer sort of winced, just a little, at Chiana hopping up to her feet, too, because maybe Summer kind of needed a moment here, too, and that was what she was hoping to have gotten in her excursion to the kitchen, but, well....here they were, instead.

She did give Stark's shoulder a light squeeze and a small pat in passing, though, and was half-tempted to ask Chiana if she'd ever had Malört, but she was a guest here, and that was just mean.

"A little bit of everything, really," she said, offering Chiana a faint smile before moving over to reveal the impressive cabinet of booze that had been wrought from several years of becoming a goddamn boozy jello queen. "I was just going to get some water, because I get thirsty as fuck when I'm high," in more ways than one, it was true, but they could navigate that later. "And you can get raslak at home, you should really use the opportunity to have something new while you're here. Chocolate liquor? I could even mix you up something, if you want."

[girlofgrey]

Chiana was good at reading expressions and body language and she noticed the little wince.

"Surprise me?" she suggested. "Water's good too. We wouldn't want to overdo it, would we? I'll take some back to Stark too and you can make me a drink. Frell, I didn't know they made it into something intoxicating!"

She'd head back to the couch as soon as she had the waters.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"I'm definitely mixing you a chocolate drink now," Summer decided firmly, before lifting her voice to call out to the living room. "Staa~aark! What do you want?"

[stykera]

Complicated question, Summer!

"Something that will go well with the cupcakes," Stark called back. "I trust you."

And hey, if they all got drunk and high maybe they'd just fall asleep soon!

[somethingwithturquoise]

Someone may have been hoping for some kind of still-flailing Freudian slip, tbh.

What she got was something that gave her a little tug in her chest, and she focused instead on inspecting her liquor cabinet for a bit of inspiration.

"Okay," she said, "I think I got it. Here." A couple glasses from the cupboard, ice from the freezer, water from the fridge, and she handed the to Chiana to take out to the living room. "Just give me a few minutes to mix it up."

And even better than a moment to herself to process was a moment to herself to focus entirely on something else!

[stykera]

Chiana took the waters with her, pressed one into Stark's hand and said "drink" in a tone that implied he'd be sorry if he didnt. He blinked at her a few times and obediently took a few sips.

"Thank you," he said. "And...I am sorry."

"No," Chiana said firmly. "Don't start. When you start that you don't stop and we're supposed to be here having fun and eating chocolate. So we're gonna have fun and you're not gonna apologize anymore."

Stark nodded and took another sip of water. "All right."

[somethingwithturquoise]

And a few moments later, Summer emerged from the kitchen again, bearing two very fancy martinis with a little "ta-dah!" before handing them over.

"Drinks are served," she announced, "and at this point, if the pot or alcohol doesn't get to you, the sugar sure will."

Well, maybe not Stark, his sugar tolerance was probably insane.

[stykera]

Stark might be part hummingbird.

He set down his water glass so he could reach for the martini. "Strawberries," he said, smiling at her softly. Maybe the cupcakes were hitting. Or maybe he just always smiled like that.

Chiana's lip twitched as well and she sat down at the opposite end of the couch. Oh no, had she put Summer in the middle? How awful.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Strawberries," Summer confirmed, with a small smile and a nod back, as she took her water and joined them on the couch, the shifting positions duly noted. She pulled ip her legs, folding them in front of her and shifting a little to get comfortable.

"With chocolate? Classic. Just like peanut butter."

[stykera]

"Almost like the jelly sandwiches," Stark said.

He took a sip and nodded appreciatively.

"Very nice," he said.

Chiana, meanwhile, let out a noise that bordered on obscene when she took a sip of her own.

[somethingwithturquoise]

A response that could only draw a pleased, proud little snort out of Summer as she smirked over at Chiana.

"And you just wanted to have raslak," she said, with a fond shake of her head and a tsk-ing of her tongue.

[stykera]

"I think she's learned her lesson," Stark said, smiling over at both of them.

He had, in fact, started to relax more. Maybe Summer being next to him was helping with that.

"Thank you."

Chiana was just going to be enjoying her drink in blissful silence for a moment, thanks.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer just sort of met that thanks with a nod, with some of that satisfaction that was in her smile in it as well, before she looked back over at Stark (good; it looked like maybe he was finally starting to feel it; she was pretty sure she was now, too, although that might just be the high from validation).

"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "And what lesson is that, hmm?"

[stykera]

"To trust you," Stark said. "Especially when it comes to things like this."

Chiana let out a pleased sigh. "You can mix my drinks anytime. And bake. Anytime. Come visit. Both of you. Bring refreshments."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"You know," Summer mused, setting aside her glass to better flop back into the couch comfortable, "I'm pretty sure, at this point, Stark owes me at least a half dozen trips out to his space, anyway..."

[stykera]

"Your space doesn't try to kill me or lock me up," Stark pointed out. "Mine does."

"He's not wrong," Chiana said. "I bet we can stay away from any coup attempts if we try though."

Stark made a face at that and slid a little lower on the couch, stretching out his legs in Summer's direction.

"Maybe if we stay on Moya," he said. "Or somewhere we know isn't hostile towards us..."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Correction," said Summer, shifting a little so that if those stretching legs just so happened to end up on her lap, then so be it, "I don't take you to the parts of my space that try to kill you or lock you up."

Which would probably change dramatically once someone finally caught up on the last season.

"And it has been a while since I've been involved in a good coup or revolution or intergalactic uprising," she added, sounding far more wistful than anyone probably should for that particular list. "But honestly, even if it was just for a weekend or something to actually see Moya and meet everyone else, that'd be kind of nice."

[stykera]

"You don't want me killed or locked up," Stark said as he hooked one leg over hers. "I appreciate that. And I don't want anything to happen to you. But we could try to visit Moya. And everyone there. Hyneria ought to be safe enough if you wanted to see Rygel..."

"His Royal Frogness," Chiana chimed in.