somethingwithturquoise | MHA #4; Saturday Evening [10/28].

Boy, with everything going on lately, homecoming sure kind of snuck up on everything, didn't it? But of course Summer was prepared for it. She didn't care that she was several years past graduation at this point, she just fucking loved a school dance still, okay, and wasn't about to let some weird Fandom stuff get in the way of knocking it out of the park by being a knockout. And, really, she should have figured, with homecoming this weekend, that everything would have either blown over by now or just gotten really weird by now, but she was definitely glad it ended up the way it did, because not busting out this amazing look would have been nothing short of a crime.

She did end up spending far too long deciding whether to go with her hair up or her hair down, and ultimately decided on up, since she did have a pretty sweet hair clip in the tones of the dress that would work nicely.

And then all she needed was her ~date~~ to pick her up, and she was making little final touches to her make-up and hair while also half-wondering if said date was already lingering outside her door right now, anxiously flailing about whether or not he was too early or too late or if he should wait because technically it wasn't the agreed-upon time yet, but if he knocked at exactly the right time, would that be too suspicious, but if he waited until a few minutes after, would she be upset, and...

[[ mostly for said ~date~~, although definitely open should anyone else want to get in touch beforehand as well! ]]

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"I got you a gift," Stark said simply. "In New Zealand. I just hadn't had a good chance to give it you yet and then I saw your dress and...I thought you should have it now. If you want it."

His expression was definitely leaning more towards nervous now. He always worried he was too much or doing too much or somehow not enough.

"And what if," Summer asked, "I didn't want it?"

Because while that clear nervousness was enough to soften her grin a little, she really couldn't help herself from teasing him a little bit for that 'if you want it.'

"I think you will," Stark said. "I hope you will. But I can't make you want it. "
Not that he'd want to.

"You should open it. So we can find out."

"I'm sure I will," Summer assured him, after a moment of just sort of watching his response and seeming to weigh whether or not it was sufficiently confident. "But you're right, only one way to know for sure."

And so she was opening it and her eyes went a little wide to see the little necklace nestled inside, and she immediately went to fish it out and hold it up so she could admire it better.

"Oh, this green is perfect for this dress!" She held it over the shining sequins for a moment as if to verify, then looked back over at Stark with a beaming smile and a quick kiss on his cheek. "I love it, Stark, thank you!"

"They mine the stones there, in New Zealand," Stark said, beaming back at her. "So it seemed like a good gift to remind you of the trip. I'm glad you like it. I...hoped you would. And then I saw your dress and I thought..."

He gestured between the dress and the necklace. "I thought it might work for tonight so I didn't want to wait longer. I meant to give it to you earlier but this week was...odd."

Between the island being the island and his conversation with Liliana.

"Would you like to put it on?"

"Last week was very odd," Summer agreed, but she was distracted, dangling the necklace up in front of her again to admire it, especially as she twisted it a little to appreciate the smoothness of it, the design, lower lip caught between her teeth in an expression of delight.

"Will you help me put it on?" she asked, and she was already turning away from Stark, holding up the two unclasped ends of it over her shoulders for him to take, glancing back at him in a way that made her very glad she'd used the good mascara tonight.

"Of course," Stark said.

Would he ever turn down an opportunity to help, particularly when helping meant an excuse to be close.

He took the ends of the necklace gently, carefully clasping it before trailing fingers up the side of her neck and giving her a questioning look.

Summer was going to be so disappointed if that opportunity to make the most out of the exposed back of her neck went wasted, and with the barely suppressed little shudder of approval that went through her, it was pretty clear that she was not disappointed.

Well, there was some room for improvement, sure, but she'll take it, and she grinned as she turned back around, taking advantage of the closeness to press into him a little as her hand went to center the necklace against her sternum and smooth it out.

"Thanks, Stark," she said. "How's it look?"

Stark left one hand cradling the back of her neck as she turned, shifting it only so he could brush his thumb along the underside of her jaw.

"Beautiful," he said, thought he was looking at her face when he said it. He did drop his gaze to appreciate the necklace though, eventually, before looking back at her face.

"It's perfect."

And that was a near perfect response right there and Summer was just going to take a moment to just look at Stark, look him right in the eye, although all she could think about was his thumb against her jaw. Finally, though, she moved her hand up to cradle his cheek and tilted her head, so she could lean into him and kiss him and let him really know what she thought of both the gift and his timing on giving it to her.

"Love you," Stark murmured against her lips after giving that kiss all the attention it deserved.

"'M very glad you like it."

"I love it," Summer assured him, "and I love you, too."

And she loved when he got her thoughtful little gifts and that all she seemed to need to do around him was just exist and that was enough and she loved when he was brave enough to touch her in the little ways she was hoping he would, and she loved kissing him, like she was kissing him again now, hands cradling his face and pressed up against him.

"...think we should get going?" she then asked, once that was out of the way, though she was absolutely not making any effort to move away quite yet.

Stark rested his forehead against hers, careful of the mask.

"We should. Someone told me once it was criminal not to dance when you looked so good. And you look amazing."

No, he wasn't ready to move yet either.

"That person sounds pretty smart," said Summer, grinning softly as Stark's forehead against hers, sliding her hands down to his neck now and curling her fingers against it there. "You look pretty good, too, you know."

Not as good as her, obviously, but this dress was doing a lot of heavy lifting.

"I have a wonderful stylist," Stark said, tilting his head just a little toward her hand. "She makes sure I look good."

He loved that about her. That she cared enough to do it.

"But thank you."

MHA #4; Saturday Evening [10/28].

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