The ballroom was filled with socialites of all shapes and sizes, an abattoir of pressed suits, shiny tuxedo shoes and hair spray stiff up-dos. In the middle of it all was Johnny Storm, clean and pressed and dressed sharp enough to kill. After all, if you’re going to get dragged to your brother-in-law’s Nobel Prize after party, you might as well look good.
Reed stuck mostly to the edges of the room, meeting and greeting people in waves who were desperate to shake his hand and congratulate him. Sue was attached to his arm, a life-size accessory in a tight black dress. The only member of the family who hadn’t been forced to attend was Ben, no sense making him wrestle into a giant tux if he was just going to spend the entire night complaining.
For his part, Johnny didn’t complain. He just scowled down at his phone every five minutes, willing time to move faster. Hoping with all of his might that something would happen to kill the dull mood of the party.
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.