MHA #4, Thursday Night
Summer had gotten them back to Fandom almost immediately after Stark had retrieved the portal gun after their arcade adventure.
She'd gotten in to the shower almost immediately to wash off the bits of alien still stuck to her. Stark, having not fallen onto any people who exploded all over him, was just sitting on the couch waiting for her to emerge.
She was fine. Everything had turned out fine. He knew that. He also knew he had no desire to be alone tonight. He needed to reassure himself that everything truly was fine. Until he could do that he was just going to pet Pancakes who was being very accommodating while occupying far more space on the couch than a single cat ought to be able to manage.
[Ginger Not-Girlfriend and apartment modded with permission, of course.]
She'd gotten in to the shower almost immediately to wash off the bits of alien still stuck to her. Stark, having not fallen onto any people who exploded all over him, was just sitting on the couch waiting for her to emerge.
She was fine. Everything had turned out fine. He knew that. He also knew he had no desire to be alone tonight. He needed to reassure himself that everything truly was fine. Until he could do that he was just going to pet Pancakes who was being very accommodating while occupying far more space on the couch than a single cat ought to be able to manage.
[Ginger Not-Girlfriend and apartment modded with permission, of course.]

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He ran his fingers through her hair carefully, gently removing a few small tangles as he went. He took his time, wanting to be sure there were no small knots or remaining tangles before very carefully lifting it back off her neck and sliding the hair tie around the ponytail.
"There."
He let his hand linger on her shoulder, rubbing his thumb against the base of her neck gently.
"I was worried. I know I said that and I know that maybe I needn't have been but I was and now...now I'm just glad you're here. We're here. Safe and home and able to talk about somewhere warm, with a pool and a bar."
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"God," she said quietly, "if it was nerdy fanboys LARPing as terrorists that finally managed to do me in, I would not be happy abput it."
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"I wouldn't be either," Stark said quietly but firmly. "And they didn't."
He brought his other hand up to her shoulder and gently tugged so she could lean back against his chest if she wanted to.
"You're fine. We both are. And no one is still trapped in any video games and we didn't even blow up the building."
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"Honestly," she said, tilting her head back to look at Stark a little, "the collateral damage on that one was pretty minor, compared to what we usually have to deal with..."
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"It was," Stark agreed, relaxing a little as Summer settled herself. "It's easier to see that now than it was earlier."
He'd been so worried. The way he tightened his arm around her a little more was a result of that residual worry. So, perhaps, was the very gentle kiss to her forehead when she turned a little. He wanted to do more than that but holding her was good, for now.
"At least for us." The arcade had insurance for that sort of thing though, right? And the space terrorists had had it coming. Especially Jons.
"Still. I think we should try not to repeat it."
There was no reason to Die Harder. Or Die Hard With a Vengeance. Or find A Good Day to Die Hard. Or even to Live Free or Die Hard. But surely space terrorists wouldn't repeat themselves like that 4 more times! What self-respecting terrorist franchise organization would do such a thing?
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But there did seem to be a trend with that kind of thing, didn't there? It was always something...
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"Situationship?" he repeated, trying out the word. It felt odd in his mouth. "I didn't know that was a word. And...yes. Why does your grandfather do that?"
Was it him? Had Stark offended the Smith/Sanchez clan unknowingly?
"The trip to New Zealand went well. And the planet you took me to with the ocean, where we danced. And your spa."
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She just sighed and rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "There isn't enough time in the world to go over just why Grampa Rick does what Grampa Rick does," she said. "He's just a bitter, old, lonely old man who's too smart for his own good and constantly thinks that means he's better than everyone, but he's just as much a piece of shit as the rest of us."
A beat.
"Maybe we should just go somewhere warm for Christmas," she suggested. "Just, you know, in this dimension, just to be safe."
Stark might get way fewer stares in her dimension, but she wondered if it was really all that worth it, considering....
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"We could do that," Stark agreed. "If you like. Somewhere warm with no family."
He could live with a few stares.
"I don't know where would be a good place. Do you? Have you gone somewhere before? I still haven't been that many places here...But you know I'd be happy to go anywhere with you."
He tightened his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Anywhere you like."
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"But would you want to?" Summer asked, frowning a little at that response, which was a very Stark response, yes, but the kind of Stark response that drove her a little crazy sometimes. "And not just because I want to. We can also totally stay here, too. If you want."
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"The tree will still be here when I get back," Stark said. "I want to be with you. The where is much less important."
He smiled softly at her. "And I do like to be warm. You know that. Somewhere with a beach, maybe? I like beaches. Quiet ones better than ones full of people but I like the sound of waves and I like watching the water."
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He still had the pink one from the Indonesia trip and a pair of black trunks as well.
"Can we have Christmas cookies with our Christmas drinks?"
Another soft smile before he leaned in a bit for a kiss. The positioning was a little awkward but he could make do.