Piper’s enthusiasm was going to be infectious, Summer could tell. All to the good. Leading the way to the car, she motioned Sleipnir to the backseat. “Normally you’d be right about the leg room, Sleip, but you might have noticed I’m short. Therefore, you sit behind me, where you get all the leg room I don’t need. Piper, are you directing from the back where you can cuddle with Sleip, or from the front? And where are we going? Details, kids.”
Hopefully, a lot of chatter would keep either of them noticing how much she envied them. They were cute, separately and together, and that old familiar jealousy wanted to sneak its way back in. A little verbal distance and a lot of talk would keep that in its place — forgotten, as it should be.
And maybe she could sneak a few hugs out of Sleipnir later.
Taco stand…? Sleipnir was absolutely mystified at what that could be. He decided he would look it up later. It sounded intriguing. He climbed in the backseat of the car, studying it carefully. It seemed comfortable enough. He froze when he heard Summer’s words, however, and immediately began to protest. “Summer, Piper and I are certainly not-what is the word for it? Dating, I do not know why we would cuddle.” His brows furrowed in confusion. “And what is this strange contraption?”
He had picked up the seat belt, eyeing it distrustfully. “What does one do with it? And why does it stretch?” He’d begun to pull it out, to see how far it could go, when he noticed the place where it buckled in, and let go of the stretched out seat belt. “And what is-” He yelped as the seat belt whacked him in the face. He grumbled, rubbing his face. “I do not think your iron horse likes me, Summer. Does it distrust all strangers? Piper, does it get along with you?”
Piper choked on thin air as Slep denied dating her. Of all the-?!
“I, uh, no, we’re not- not like that, I mean, Slep’s a cute human don’t get me wrong, but no offense or anything he’s probably going to turn back into an eight legged horse and that would be really awkward and how did you even get that idea?” she asked, flustered.
Not to mention his dad is Loki. And not the nice Loki. Or maybe both Lokis. Or something. Either way, the Loki I met was… creepy. And evilishy. Lord, Asgardians are confusing!
Slep got in the car. Piper hurriedly took the front seat.
“Yeah, here, see the buckle? It goes in there like this,” she said, showing him helpfully. “The car isn’t alive. It just takes some getting used to. As for where we are headed…”
Her grin returned.
“…We are going to the most wonderful place in New York, where the food is fab and the games are great and the prizes abundant. We,” she declared grandly, “are going to Mr. Gatti’s!”
Summer chuckled. “There’s a place I haven’t been to in ages. Show me the address, will you, hon? Everybody set?” She threw the car in gear and popped out into traffic, flashing the finger to a honking cab driver behind her.
“I’m just teasing about the dating, kids. You know people are going to think that, though, right?”
Sleipnir winced at the loud noise of the cabbie behind him. “I haven’t heard of this Mr. Gatti’s, but if it is as good as you say, I am sure it will be fun.” He looked curiously out the window at all of the bright lights coming on from the buildings around him. “They might think that, but they’re incorrect,” he replied. “Besides, they could just as easily assume I’m dating you, Summer. It does not matter either way, since outside opinions do not matter.”
He gripped the seat as they weaved in between a couple cabs, but was not overly uncomfortable in the car. It just took some getting used to.
“21st and Vine, second door on the left,” Piper told Summer. “That’s a good attitude to have, Slep. Sometimes people are jerks.”
Move it, Puny Parker!
Hey Parker, ten points!
Look, it’s Parker!
Puny Parker!
Puny Parker!
They moved through the city traffic easily. Piper looked at Summer, curious, trying to shake off the sudden stab of memory. Since becoming Spidergirl, and besting Flash at his own game, she got less of that… but it didn’t meant that she was free from the tyranny of highschool.
“So- how did you meet Slep, Summer?”
She didn’t know much about the woman behind the wheel. Summer was a little mysterious and a little bit strange, and Piper was a sucker for a mystery.
Summer chuckled. “That, my dear, is a very long story. Let’s just say, magic plays strange tricks some times. But I know his … parent, as well. Loki happens to live in the same apartment complex as I do.”
She fell silent a moment, concentrating on navigating the city’s tangled streets.
“I call him a friend, though I doubt he feels the same for me. Sleipnir, however, is definitely a friend.” Spotting a parking garage, she began to maneouvre into it.
