somethingwithturquoise | MHA #4 Sunday Afternoon [04/20].

So, Thursday had obviously sucked, and so had the entire lead-up as a squirrel and the revelation that had sent all of that into motion in the first place, and Summer was still feeling pretty shitty about it all. But she had two things going for her that was making her feel like things might be on the upswing again now that all the gross stuff was over.

One, as far as she could tell, she actually didn't have any kids showing up this weekend, thank god.

And two, today was the Holiest of Holy Days.

No, not Easter, you weirdos, or even the end of Passover, but, obviously, it was 4/20, and Summer wasn't going to let that pass her by no matter how much of a funk recent events had put her into.

She did feel kind of lame, just spending it at home with her cat, but at least she wasn't still a squirrel for it this year. Also, she considered hitting up some of her friends back home to hang for it, but that meant going back home, and she didn't really want to deal with people right now if she could help it, so at home with her cat it was. Which was fine. Pancakes was going to be significantly less annoying company than, say, Tricia. Not to mention, if her dad found out she was home during Easter and didn't even stop by? She's never hear the end of it.

Once she started considering how the real person to party with on this Holiest of Holy Day was Rick, well, yeah, that solidified it, this year really was best celebrated very chill, very low-key, very much not engaging with the most toxic member of your family post-break---

"Ohmygod," Summer realized, almost at the exact moment she had first toked up that afternoon, and immediately pulled up the GoTron Summers discord. "Why am I not getting high with myself right now??"

God, that could be a disaster, too, but at the same time, the fact that the discord started lighting up with several different dimensional version of her having the exact same thought at that exact moment at least made her feel a little less alone.

[[ open! albeit with a 'yes it's a holiday so of course i'm going to be suffering at work' slowness caveat ]]

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It was almost kind of impressive, how well Stark could babble even in text, and that was coming from a pretty expert text-babbler herself.

She felt another tug of guilt in her chest, peeked into the discord, and then responded:

u should definitely not eat them alone

Come on down. I'm making plans with some other summers right now but they're taking forever to make even a single decision and if there's anyone who can appreciate a little pre-festivities pre-game it'll be a bunch of mes

Stark hadn't given himself the opportunity to babble out loud so he was letting some of it out over text.

i'll be there soon

Trying not to think about times he'd bolted down the stairs to burst through Summer's door for a variety of reasons he made his way down there slowly. He was trying not to overthink in general but it came so naturally.

He knocked on the door hesitantly, other arm wrapped around the pan of brownies.

Yeah, speculation on potentially just putting in a staircase was likely to be reduced drastically.

Summer breathed out and reminded herself that the awkwardness should go down at least a little once the drugs she took in the meantime started to kick in, but for now, she was opening the door and stepping back so Stark could come in.

"Heyyyyyy," she said. "Thanks for making the brownies, that was really cool of you."

Another awkward beat before she asked, "Are they...'holiday-specific,' too?"

They could have had the best apartment on the island. Alas.

"H-, hello, Summer."

The 'hi' almost came out before he thought better of it. Maybe it would reappear eventually.

"I know you like them. And, yes. Your holiday. And the rabbit. See, chocolate eggs?" In pastel colors!
"The other...I had it, already, before..."

He'd been planning this. Planning more than this. Maybe he ought to stop planning.

"So. Yes. Brownies for both holidays today." He wasn't aware it was the end of Passover but brownies weren't really appropriate for that anyway.

Summer frowned a little bit, at that correction, but also, that was fair and understandable. This was going to take some time for Stark to find some footing on this, and, if she was honest, Summer wasn't really sure how all this was going to go, easier.

It really was much easier when you could just blow up your ex or abandon him in an apocalypse....

"Well," she said, "they sound awesome, thank you. And obviously you'll have to have some with me."

Her first inclination was to head to thr couch, but she seemed to redirect toward the kitchen. "Let's grab some napkins, maybe something to drink?"

'Hi' didn't seem quite right, right now. And it had only seemed right for her before. This was definitely going to be a process.

"I wasn't sure," he said softly, following her to the kitchen, "if you'd want my company or not. For this. Or..."

Or for anything. He had no idea how any of this was meant to go. "Drinks are good. Please. And...they might be strong, the brownies. I'm not sure. I didn't try any yet." That didn't need to be said since they were clearly not cut into yet but he said it anyway.

"But I'm glad. You want my company, at least for a while. I haven't had any, myself."

Yes, that meant no kids. Congrats, Summer, on not having your gross ginger children reappear?

Look, Summer had had weird ginger catboys and giant ginger babies show up before. Any weekend without any ginger kids bearing her name was a good weekend.

And while she was pretty sure it was probably best that those gross ginger children hadn't shown up for Stark, either (did you really need that salt in the wound, James?), she gave him a sympathetic sort of smile. She knew how much these weekend typically meant to him, so maybe it falling on today was also a good idea.

However, it would be interesting dancing around him not staying too long, else the timeline between threads be paradoxical.

But hey! Maybe he made them so strong, they'd just zonk him out soon enough and she'd just tuck him in under a blanket on the couch before meeting up with the other Summers!

She pulled out a knife from a drawer to hand it over to him before getting glasses.

"Anything in particular to drink? Milk goes pretty good with brownies, right?"

He was trying not to think too hard about the lack of ginger children and the continued lack of blue children... trying. Mostly failing. But trying.

"I think it does?" Stark shrugged. "Unless something else is traditional on your holiday? But we could start with milk. And brownies."

Brownies he was cutting a bit too large, honestly, but he had neglected to really eat any real food yet today. Oops?

Well, if Stark did his job right with the brownies, then that shouldn't be a problem for too long! Summer was loaded up on snacks.

She noticed the size he was cutting and decided to add small plates to their whole set-up, too, and once that was all done? She looked at him and lifted her brows, maybe a little hopefully.

"Couch?"

It felt a little like a gauge, a barometer, to measure just how off things might have gone now.

Things were pretty off.

Stark frowned, opened his mouth, hesitated, closed his mouth, and finally nodded.

"All right..."

He wouldn't have suggested it. He was exceedingly fond of that couch. He had wonderful memories of that couch. But that couch was also the place where everything had started.

"We can sit on the couch."

He'd just be perched awkwardly at one end of it like he might need to flee at any moment. You know, like the real old days.

That was what Summer was afraid of.

"I mean," she hedged, "we don't have to. I've got a perfectly good floor, too. Or balcony."

And thank god the premeditated drugs she took before he came over hadn't kicked in enough for her to add or bed to that.

Another frown.

"No. No. The couch is fine. Your couch is...I like your couch. It's... the couch is good."

The couch just figured heavily in a lot of memories he was trying not to focus on right now! But maybe it was better to try for new ones.

And if she'd said bed he might have just combusted right there from conflicted and confused feelings.

"We can sit on the couch. And have our brownies. And milk. And... it will be fine."

Right?

Summer had mostly been angling for a familiar, comfortable spot where things would be fine and Stark could see that things hadn't fundamentally changed tgat much, especially maybe once he started to relax and be less in his head so much and just...

Well. He needed the chill more now than ever right now, and Summer hoped, for his sake, that he really did make these brownies potent as fuck.

"It will be fine," Summer said, nodding firmly, and giving him a smile, that grew a little as she shrugged. "It's illegal for things to be Not Fine on 4/20, you know."

Stark was very good at retreating inside his own head. He knew everyone there!
At least a little bit.

He hoped the brownies were very potent too. That had been the goal. Even if he hadn't ended up eating any of them he wanted them to be good and strong. Of course, if he hadn't, he was with the right person to provide something additional. Right?

"I didn't know there were laws about that," he said with a ghost of an answering smile. "That's good to know. Thank you."

Two extra large brownies on plates in his hands he nodded towards the living room. "Wouldn't want to not to be fine, for your holiday."

MHA #4 Sunday Afternoon [04/20].

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