Summer wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing at this party, except that about half of New York’s superheros had landed an invitation, and she’d been in that half. It was really high time she got out of the apartment and found a social life anyway, she rationalised, knowing perfectly well that she was really going to go stand in a corner and feel ill-at-ease and ogle all the pretty people.
Well, it was an excuse to dress up, and those didn’t come as often since she’d stopped going to sci-fi conventions. Out came the burgundy velvet corset and matching lace dress, the knee-high black boots, and the garnet jewellery. She made her sister lace her up and make her up, and so now she was, as envisioned, standing out of the way at the party.
Just for random amusement, she brushed random partygoers with her gift, dipping in and out of various emotions. Most of them were pretty drunk, cheerful socialite masks firmly on. Dr. Richards and his wife actually were genuinely enjoying — oh. He was talking to another scientist, that was why.
And there was a heart that was neither drunk nor pretending to have fun. Outright boredom … Summer was curious, and slipped through the crowd to find it.
According to his phone, the Giants were down by ten points.
Just not my night.
Johnny pocketed the handheld device once again. Several people had approached him to ask about Reed, but honestly the fire hero didn’t have much to say. He didn’t know anything about Reed’s life other than he was married to Sue and had no actual concept of fun. He knew even less about the genetic manipulation of the mutant genome… so most interlopers moved on quickly.
He recognized a few friendly faces, but he honestly did not have the energy to listen to science talk. So when he saw one of Reed’s old school buddies start to make his way towards him, Johnny panicked.
He quickly scanned before settling on an attractive lone female, a perfect escape route. He made a beeline for her, turning his back on the approaching doctor.
“Hey, I’m Johnny.” He smiled charmingly, holding out a hand.
And there was her target, moving right toward her. Before Summer could slip sideways into the crowd again, he was right there in front of her, and her heart sank just the tiniest bit before she recognised who it was.
Johnny fucking Storm.
Introducing himself to her as though it was a normal kind of thing.
Telling the little voice in the back of her mind to ‘shut the hell up right now’, she clasped his hand, giving him a small smile. “Hi. My name is Summer.” She let herself scan him up and down, openly admiring the tuxedo.