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!]

Comments

[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?"