Summer, of course, had seen space from a countless multitude of perspectives and positions, from various planets, ships, of different universes, galaxies, and dimensions. Driver's seat, passenger side, docking bays, from down in the trenches and from the top of a throne, and she never got sick of it. As she followed Stark in and her eyes began to rove around, it was easy to seen why the Terrace would be Stark's...or anyone's, really...favorite spot.
And then her gaze drifted to the wide-open glass above and all around them, eager and excited to add yet another gorgeous, sweeping, mind-bending nebulous vista of endless stars and space to her already expansive experience, and...
...and...
What was it, just then, as she lifted her eyes and really looked at the view from Moya's Terrace that did it? That suddenly struck her in the chest like a slug of a blaster bolt right into the hardest part of her core and made it feel like it had cracked and splintered? Was it the particular hue of space? A certain color to the star dust and gas clouds? The arrangement of stars in some sort of subconscious orders that settled into her brain and unlocked...something.
Summer's breath caught. She blinked.
"Oh," she said, staring up at the view like she'd never seen space before in her life.
But she had, dozens, hundreds, millions of times. And, in that moment, the view of space in her eyes was not the one surrounding them now, but a different space, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, in a ship much smaller than this one, after what was anything but just another routine flying lesson...
And then the view didn't look like much of anything at all, just a blur of space behind the curtain of tears she was trying to ignore were in her eyes as she took in a shuttering breath.
"I--"
Maybe he wouldn't notice if she just played it off, super cash...
"It's beautiful, Stark."
Goddamn, goddamn, goddamn it! Why here? Why now? After all these years, all that space...she sucked in a slow breath, because don't you dare start crying right now, right here, of all the fucking places, Summer Smith, don't you dare...
A small sound wrenched out of her. One she didn't think she could pass off as a hiccup, but, goddamn it, she was thinking of trying...
"Thanks for showing me."
Totally normal response, see? Nothing to see here. Everything was fine. Totally fine. Never been finer!
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And then her gaze drifted to the wide-open glass above and all around them, eager and excited to add yet another gorgeous, sweeping, mind-bending nebulous vista of endless stars and space to her already expansive experience, and...
...and...
What was it, just then, as she lifted her eyes and really looked at the view from Moya's Terrace that did it? That suddenly struck her in the chest like a slug of a blaster bolt right into the hardest part of her core and made it feel like it had cracked and splintered? Was it the particular hue of space? A certain color to the star dust and gas clouds? The arrangement of stars in some sort of subconscious orders that settled into her brain and unlocked...something.
Summer's breath caught. She blinked.
"Oh," she said, staring up at the view like she'd never seen space before in her life.
But she had, dozens, hundreds, millions of times. And, in that moment, the view of space in her eyes was not the one surrounding them now, but a different space, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, in a ship much smaller than this one, after what was anything but just another routine flying lesson...
And then the view didn't look like much of anything at all, just a blur of space behind the curtain of tears she was trying to ignore were in her eyes as she took in a shuttering breath.
"I--"
Maybe he wouldn't notice if she just played it off, super cash...
"It's beautiful, Stark."
Goddamn, goddamn, goddamn it! Why here? Why now? After all these years, all that space...she sucked in a slow breath, because don't you dare start crying right now, right here, of all the fucking places, Summer Smith, don't you dare...
A small sound wrenched out of her. One she didn't think she could pass off as a hiccup, but, goddamn it, she was thinking of trying...
"Thanks for showing me."
Totally normal response, see? Nothing to see here. Everything was fine. Totally fine. Never been finer!