MHA #8, Tuesday evening after class

[stykera]

Class had presumably gone well and once things were cleaned up Stark had headed back to his apartment where, he assumed, there would still be a squirrel waiting for him. Hopefully just the one squirrel he was expecting and not any stray wildlife.

“Summer? I brought snacks back with me,” he called out as he opened the door. “Plenty of nuts to share.”

Had he said that on purpose to see if he could inspire another fit of squirrelly laughter? Maybe he had.

“Are you back to yourself yet? Or still a squirrel?”

He stopped in the kitchen to put down the food he’d brought back before heading to the living room to look for his temporary resident squirrel. There were plenty of blankets lying around to make cozy squirrel nests in. Not quite as many blankets as there were in the bedroom but he didn’t think she would be in there. He’d find her soon enough. The apartment really wasn’t that all that large.

[For that ginger squirrel!]

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[somethingwithturquoise]

The wry, amused snort that emerged from one of those aforementioned blanket nests probably confirmed Stark's questions fairly well before Summer dug herself out enough to poke her head out. Her nose went up in the air to sniff things out for a moment, and she looked like she was almost ready to abandon the nest for snacks, but she hesitated a moment, gave a reluctant paws, if you will, of doubt. These thigs never really worked on a perfect schedule, but enough of one that she felt she was going to change back at any moment, but then her little squirrel stomach rumbled and she decided food was a higher priority

It wasn't the inevitable nudity she was worried about so much as the inevitable awkwardness that was sure to follow in its wake, because she'd be willing to bet all the nuts in this joint that Stark was definitely going to be weird about it.

But if she had to deal with that, she might as well do it on a full stomach, so she clammorred out of the nest and went scampering toward the kitchen to claim these alleged snacks.

[stykera]

Stark, being weird and/or awkward? Yeah, probably.

"Not yourself yet then," Stark said regretfully. "Although if you were you probably would have left for downstairs already." Which would have inspired a panic until he figured it out.

"I brought back the party nuts and the nut bites. You can have what you like," he said, waving a hand at the food on the counter. "I'm sorry this hasn't gone away yet."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer expertly scurried up onto the counter with the practical use of drawer handles and squirrel parkour, shrugging her shoulders a little once she landed, because, really, it couldn't be helped. She was definitely entering that window where it was likely to finish up, anyway, and only if she was still like this next week was she going to have to start worrying about it and figuring out how to get the cops (or Asses!) to investigate and figure out if a certain normally-a-squirrel was guilty of some kind of curse or deal with (a different) the Devil.

(She liked to think that Lucifer wouldn't agree to something like that, but Lucius sure as fuck would have).

But, of course, she wouldn't need to worry about any of that, because as soon as she had her paws around one of the nut bites, she did change back.

While on the counter.

Knocking over all the food Stark had just put there with her expanding human legs.

Slamming her head right into the cupboards overhead.

"Ow! Goddammit!"

At least she hadn't broken through it like she had the garage roof that one time she'd accidentally blown herself up, but wincing and rubbing at the goose egg definitely forming already under her hair, she was convinced it hurt so much more.

"Son of a bit--" Mid-sentence, her tone turned from injured and annoyed to triumphant and victorious. "Ha! I knew it was going to be too risky to go to class today! Fucking called it!"

[stykera]

Stark gaped for just a second before letting out a little yelp of surprise and turning away. And covering his eye as he bolted towards the door and a bag he'd left there days earlier.

"I have something for you," he said, carefully walking back into the kitchen with his hand still in front of his eye. "In the bag. For now. If you want it."

Yes, he'd seen all of Summer in great detail in recent weeks but she'd said she needed some space and maybe she didn't want to be seen right now so he was just holding out the bag (which contained a very soft and very fluffy and very pink robe) and very resolutely Not Looking.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer was still just sort of rubbing and holding her poor head, shaking head when Stark came back, because of course, she'd change right when she was in the most inconvenient spot. She felt that was pretty good proof that, if she had gone to class, it would have happened there, and she filed it away for her mental imaginary thesis on how this island will do precisely the most annoying thing in these cases when given half a chance. And she thought about taking a second to help clean up some of the nut mix she'd sent scattering all over the kitchen floor before she realized there was a bag being blindly shoved at her.

She blinked a little as she took it and looked inside and started to pull the robe out, because at first, she couldn't even tell what it was beyond it being very pink and very fluffy.

"Awwww," she said. "Look at you, being all prepared."

After all, any oversized robe that would fit on a squirrel was going to do even less good than an oversized robe one might put on, say, a koala.

[stykera]

Stark would be concerned about that bump on Summer's head once he got a good look at her. If he managed that.

"I thought you'd want something to wear. If you turned back here. And it was soft and it was pink..." And he'd just thought she'd like it and it had reminded him of a very pleasant interlude on her couch wrapped in other robes eating pie.

He was still Not Looking.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Yeah," Summer said, setting the bag on the space on the counter where she'd just previously occupied and disappearing a little into the fluffiness of the robe as she slipped it on, "I don't think Jon would appreciate me traipsing through the halls back to my apartment butt-ass naked, although I'm sure I could fit into your clothes just fine if I had to."

She would have remarked that the robe was better than any of his clothes, but...she'd picked out some of his clothes, so, clearly, that was categorically false.

[stykera]

Stark did have a few nice clothing items! And the idea of Summer in, say, his fancy suit jacket would be appealing if he took a moment to consider it.

"I didn't think you'd want to be walking the halls naked," Stark said, having now just turned his back rather than covering his eye. "And I thought... you might like another robe. Just in case you needed one."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Definitely not a bad idea to have an extra lying around somewhere for the next time this happens," Summer agreed, with a nod and a tightening of the robe's belt and a faint grin. "Thanks, Stark; that was pretty thoughtful of you. And thanks for keeping an eye on me this past week. And, obviously, keeping Leroy away."

[stykera]

"I wanted you to be comfortable," Stark said softly. "Once you were yourself again. And I was happy to help. You helped me."

He paused. "Is it... can I turn around?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer's first impulse was to give Stark a hard time and to shrug and claim she didn't know, he'd just have to turn around and find out for himself, but she felt a little pang of guilt for even thinking of it. Especially when he was being so good and not weird about it. That would be kind of like complaining about bee stings and then going to town on a bee hive like it was a pinata.

"You can turn around," she assured him. "It's safe. Just fair warning, though, I definitely knocked all the snacks off the counter..."

There was a slight pause, a wrinkling of her nose, and a reminder that she was trying to be good, but she was never going to be a saint, as she added, practically against her will, "I just really spilled your nuts all over the place."

Look, she tried, okay??

[stykera]

Stark turned around, relieved. "I can clean them up," he said. "It's fine."

He looked at the nuts all over the floor, then looked at Summer when she made her final comment. "Summer!" He was trying not to laugh. He was failing.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"What?" asked Summer, entirely innocently. "I haven't been able to make terrible quips like that for a straight week! Cut me a little slack."

She was, though, (carefully, mindful of the robe and various gaps) kneeling down a little to at least try to pick up some of it from the floor. "But I can help," she said. "I made the mess, after all. But, gotta admit, this part probably would be easier as a squirrel."

[stykera]

"Are you sure you weren't making them in Squirrel?" Stark asked as he watched her respectfully for a moment before kneeling down to help.

"You didn't make the mess on purpose. Is your head alright?"