Stark Industries - Monday

[slothbabyproductions]

Kamala returned to work feeling rested and reinvigorated after her winter break at home. If there were any other interns around on a Monday morning, they’d probably find her chipper attitude downright irritating.

But what was more troubling was the fact that Starbucks was still empty. Not a gremlin in sight.

Kamala couldn’t explain why, but the silence felt... ominous.

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[what_big_teeth]

For all her eagerness to get back to the island for a multitude of reasons, there was absolutely one reason that towered above the rest, and that was seeing Kamala again. Even if she felt oddly worried and nervous about it. They said absence made the heart grow fonder, of course, but that hadn't really been true in Eleanor's experience. In her experience, absence usually just bred distance and doubt.

No matter how great things were, she would always have difficulty shaking the dread that one day, Kamala would just....change her mind about all of this. It would be Lucy Spencer all over again, only a hundred times more devastating.

But the need and the desire to see her again far outweighed her fears, and nothing could keep her from coming into Stark's that day with two red Squishies in her hands and a sigh of relief as if she half-expected to see the whole place as abandoned as the Starbucks.

"Hi," she said, offering out a cup.

[slothbabyproductions]

As soon as Eleanor entered the room, Kamala's face lit up and a wide smile crossed her face.

"HI!"

She practically bounced across the room to greet Eleanor with a giant hug and an even bigger smooch. "I missed you so much last week! Jersey City is so boring. There wasn't one tiny horse wearing a sweater."

She rolled her eyes at the thought. Such a travesty. It was only then that Kamala noticed the squishy. "Oooo! Icy squishy goodness! Thank you!"

[what_big_teeth]

Sorry if Eleanor didn't get all of that; she was too busy keeping herself from just turning into a dazed and relieved pile of mush right now. If it weren't for the Squishies, there may have been clinging, but since there were, it was mostly just swooning and wondering if her knees might never fully solidify again.

"Y-you're....you're welcome," she finally managed, the dopey smile on her face hopefully distracting from what a mottled mess her blushing was likely making her skin. "I missed you, too. This break was exhausting, I would have much rather have just been bored with you the whole time."

And that gushing finally put of her, she just leaned in to kiss Kamala again.

"Even without tiny horses in sweaters."

[slothbabyproductions]

“Ohhh. I’m sorry your break went that way,” Kamala said, pouting on Eleanor's behalf. “I should’ve visited. Or made you visit me. Or maybe we could’ve gone somewhere else together. Is everything okay back home?”

Excuse her rapid-fire babbling, Eleanor. She’s just so happy to see you.

Screw you, Lucy Spencer, wherever you are!

“If it helps, I brought some prizes for you to make up for your exhaustion. I packed them just in case you showed up, but if you hadn’t, I was fully prepared to track you down later.”

[what_big_teeth]

"Everything's fine," Eleanor assured her, because that, in all the babbling, seemed to be the important thing to cover, and there was a generally grateful smile for all of Kamals' Kamala-ness and existence before she sighed slightly and shook her head. "It's just a lot of work, getting everyone settled in the new place, especially with what Luma and Aunt Margaret can do being so limited. But my cousin Charlie has offered to help out a little, so that's been good. But what we really nee--"

She cut herself off, though, shaking her head, because Kamala didn't need to hear about all of that. Not right now, anyway, and, really, Eleanor didn't want to talk about it, either. She wanted to put all of that aside for right now, and just focus on what was right in front of her at that moment. Which was why a slightly webbed hand was reaching for Kamala's now.

"Never mind that for now," she said. She smiled, tempted to tell Kamala that she didn't need to bring her anything, but she already knew how that would go. So, instead, she just asked, "What did you bring?"

[slothbabyproductions]

Kamala heard the word "need" and Eleanor's dismissal of it and hesitated for just a second debating on whether they should talk first and have prizes second.

Then Kamala's desire to give Eleanor all the items she brought quickly overrode that thought.

Kamala gave Eleanor's hand a squeeze before dashing back to her desk and pulling out an overstuffed tote bag. There was a lot of stuff crammed in there so she started digging through and pulling items out of it which included a container of home baked cookies and treats, a book and a gift bag.

"Okay! So we don't do Christmas at all so these are technically 'prizes' not presents," she said coming back. "The cookies and treats are from my mom. The book is also from her. I told her how much you love The Waste Lands and she got a recommendation from one of her book club friends. The author apparently won the Nobel prize for poetry or something? Oh, and the gift bag is from me. I saw it and had to get it for you."

[what_big_teeth]

"Does them being prizes and not presents mean I don't have to feel as bad for not having something for you in return?" Eleanor asked, in which there was an implied yet, because of course she was going to try and make it up to Kamala, especially in the wake of not really knowing how to navigate through this sort of thing. But she was already feeling eager to start in on a new book and look into the author a little while curled up with those cookies and probably Kamala's gift as well.

Which was getting a small laugh out of Eleanor as she extracted it from the bag. "It's adorable," she gushed, taking a moment to sort of admire the plushie. She could feel that strange, still unfamiliar feeling that came with Kamala (and her family)'s particular kind of unrequited generosity washing over her, so she had to stop before she started to feel a little overwhelmed. Which meant it was a good time to just turn back to Kamala and throw an arm around her for a tight hug.

"Thanks, Kam," she said, and the hug got a little tighter, thinking about how barely even ten minutes ago, she'd been so worried, and she really didn't have to be, did she? "You're so amazing."

[slothbabyproductions]

Kamala let out a delighted sigh as she wrapped her arms around Eleanor and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Kamala said, feeling her face flush a bit at Eleanor's words and reaction to the prizes. "I'm glad you like it! And you totally brought me a gift, remember?"

She picked up the Squishy cup.

"My first Squishy in over a week. My red dye #5 levels were very low. This is highly prized stuff. Can't live without it. You're literally keeping me alive."

[what_big_teeth]

"I always bring you a Squishy," Eleanor pointed out, giving Kamala an extra withering look, spoiled terribly by her grin. "So that doesn't count. Especially if it's practically life-saving medicine. I'm an unofficial apothecarist now, you know." She lifted her chin somewhat importantly. "It's pretty much my job."

And so help her if she wasn't genuinely considering adding an entry for the Restorative Properties of Red Dye #5, Specifically in Iced Slush Form, to her building book of potions and spells.

(Results may vary greatly).

[slothbabyproductions]

In other realities the concentrated form of Red slushies worked as healing potions for wayward adventurers. That's the narrator's position and will die on that hill.

The withering look only made Kamala laugh. “It totally counts,” she insisted. “Squishies are literally one of my favorite things in the world. And for some reason, the ones you bring always taste extra Red and delicious. It must be your unofficial apothecarian skills. And yes, that’s totally a word.”

She nodded sagely as if that made it true.

[what_big_teeth]

"Oh, sure," Eleanor said, trying to adopt that serious look for herself,but that nod pulled out of her something that could very much be a giggle, or dangerously close to it. "That is an ancient apothecarian secret. But just telling you that, I've already said too much!"

[slothbabyproductions]

It may not have been a true giggle but it was enough for Kamala to lean in for one small kiss. She thought back to the girl she first met in a plant shop and how that little moment brought them to this place and their relationship. Kamala just beamed at her in simple joy.

"Your secrets are always safe with me, unofficial apothecarian."