Survival Of The Fittest

[Happy 18th, Hope Hynes!]

Much as she would’ve liked to make the full reference, Hope elected not to throw her glass on the floor. It was quite thick anyway compared to a coffee mug, and she didn’t have the impressive strength of a jacked-but-depowered Asgardian to throw behind a slightly dated reference either. She did make the reference though.

“This drink, I like it!”

Instead of attempting to smash it, Hope brought the now-empty milkshake glass down with an audible slam.

“Another!”

Well, it didn’t actually work like that, but she’d ask for a refill much more politely next time someone came over to check on the table. Until then, she had food to eat and good company to enjoy. Her actual birthday had been two days prior, but who wanted to go to a birthday party right after school? It did mean that she’d already received gifts from her family though, which was why she was very proudly wearing a brand new replica Portland Thorns FC jersey, number 13, Moultrie across the shoulders.

As for where she was sitting? Well Shakes ‘n’ Bakes offered the perfect combination of nice, inoffensive food that would suit most tastes, a neat retro aesthetic that appealed to Hope’s enjoyment of old-school vibes (even if they had politely, but firmly refused to add LeBrock to their playlist for the day), and perhaps most importantly of all, being pretty inexpensive.

Realising that there was still a little left, Hope leaned in to loudly slurp up the dregs of her shake.

((Meggy Roberts continues from Isn’t Everyone?))

Meghan smiled as she clapped her hands together, kicking her legs while sipping from her strawberry milkshake with glee. Hope’s slightly belated birthday party! And she was invited! She knew Hope well, they were on pretty good terms given her parents pub was attended by local cops, who knew her and her mom because from her dad’s many many transfers around big cities. So the two were basically arranged to meet and be friends.

To be honest, she always thought Hope was super cool! From her actually really cool prosthetic arms from her stamina and being on the soccer team. Plus she was very ambitious which made her even more cool.

“I really hope you’re having a fun times Hope!”

((Amber Barnes, Pregame Start!!!))

She never thought she’d end up saying this, but Amber was really glad she’d spilled an entire glass of orange juice all down her front earlier that morning.

This had not, of course, been an intentional act, and it sure as sun up wasn’t about to become a regular occurrence either. But on this very specific occasion, given she hadn’t been granted the gift of future sight just yet, a complete and utter S.S.S.S. (Shirt Soaking Spillage Situation) might just have ended up being a total blessing in disguise.

See, Amber had originally been wearing her own Portland jersey this morning - Timbers, rather than Thorns, in her case - and had been all set to continue wearing it to this little shindig. It had felt appropriate at the time, y’know? Them both being on the soccer team and all. But the birthday girl was wearing her brand-new gear - and that shit was new new, not a secondhand dealy, Amber could practically smell the synthetics from here - and coming in rocking her own soccer strip would have felt way too close to a fashion faux pas for her own liking. Like she was trying to out-glam the bride on her wedding day.

It did mean she had missed an opportunity for a ‘Well, one of us is gonna have to change’ joke, but sacrifices had to be made, and that one was starting to feel it’s age anyway. Then again, Hope herself had just made a Marvel reference, bless her, so maybe it would’ve been in fine company. Which one was she quoting again, Iron Man? One of the now-myriad Avengers films? The last time Amber had intentionally watched anything in the MCU had been, jeez, maybe Endgame? She had fallen off of that wagon hard, not that she would ever let Hope know.

She was also not going to count the time she’d watched the third Guardians of the Galaxy film four times in the span of one night. That had been solely to try and impress a girl she’d met at a party, it hadn’t worked out at all cause she’d fallen asleep during the fifth goddamn viewing of it, and it was something she really just kinda wanted to bury in the deepest recesses of her mind at this point.

At least until enough time had passed and it would work wonders as a funny anecdote without making her cringe her own face off.

Amber rested her chin on her hand and her elbow on the table, dressed in a much more predictable ensemble - at least, for her - of crop-top, cutoffs, and fishnets all over. Her own half-empty glass hit the table with a gentle clink, and a big, beaming grin appeared on her face.

“Pretty sure that means you’re obliged to make a speech, now, babes,” Amber said, before tilting her head to look at one of the other guests of honour. “Ain’t that right, Meggy?”

They made a weird trio at the birthday girl’s table, Meggy, Hope, and Amber. The cop, the cyborg, and… well, the one who her dad couldn’t help giving dirty looks when he thought nobody was looking. Or maybe he wanted to be noticed disapproving? Hard to say. He certainly hadn’t made it a secret at home how he felt about his daughter playing on a team with that lesbian who dresses like a hooker.

Hope wished her brother were here instead. He’d always been good at being diplomatic with the parents, but Seamus had been a good support pillar for this sort of thing, always pretty normal about other people’s life choices… even if he did like to tease her for constantly glazing Amber’s skill on the field and enviously commenting on how good she looked, implying she had (or just, accusing her of having) a crush on the pretty defender.

She didn’t, for the record. Honest. Just wished she looked that good, or played that well. Didn’t have to be attracted to another girl to like, aesthetically appreciate how attractive she was.

Anyway.

“Speech? What, since when?!”

Hope gave an awkward smile, looking to Meggy for support.

“That’s not a real thing, is it?”

Meggy started I giggle softly as she pulled out her straw, inserting it into her mouth and sucking out most of the cream before plopping it back in her drink to stir it. She could be the reasonable one:

No no, you don't have to give a speech Hope!

At least, she would if Meggy wasn't in a funny mood:

"Yout gotta do it now Hope!" She smirks a bit "Under Nevadan Jurisdiction of 2020, you gotta make a speech, or you could face a fine of 500 dollars."

For a hot second, Amber was convinced that the bit was about to be stopped in its tracks, before it had even really begun. Hope seemed to be taking her request for a speech at face value, and of all the people to carry along a gag, Meggy - sweet and sincere as she was - seemed to be right at the bottom of the totem pole. Besides, she didn’t think she’d be able to show her face around school any longer, if she did anything to actually upset the birthday girl on her special day. Some light teasing - and more, if the target was clearly into it - was kosher, but if folks ended up getting genuinely uncomfortable, that was a clear sign she’d failed miserably at her goal.

To her silent surprise, however, Meggy ended up coming in clutch, big time. She was properly leaning into the joke, and the little detail of the $500 fine to make it obvious that it was, in fact, just a goof? Mwah. Chef’s kiss. Amber was happy to admit that she had clearly underestimated the girl; if there was anything that she’d learned during her eighteen years on earth, it was that even the most boringly predictable person in the universe had something fun up their sleeve.

Anyway. She could roll with this now, no reservations.

“You heard the lady,” Amber said, looking back at Hope, with a grin so wide and bright it was visible from Idaho. “You finished first, you did the whole, uh-”

In lieu of the traditional wine glass and fancy cutlery that one would normally use to signify a toast, she rapped the back of her nails against the side of her glass. Much less impressive, but also much less likely to draw the attention of the entire restaurant. This was their silly little thing, baby, after all.

“- y’know, ‘lemme say a few words’ attention thing. Sounds like primo speech time to me! I expect to be hearing your hopes and dreams for the future, your thoughts on the guest of honour - that’s me, by the way, babes - and how exactly the Timbers are gonna choke in the playoffs this year.”

She leaned in to take a sip of her own milkshake, but paused, and tilted her head slightly to the side instead.

“Unless you’d like to pay the five hundred bucks ahead of time?”

Brazen as brass, Amber slid her hand across the table, palm up, a teasing, expectant look on her face.

"Shakes n' Bakes? Nice choice, Hope." Claude's been to this place a few times before. It was a pretty good choice to do just about anything anyone would want to do there. But considering he was attending a birthday party, as well as taking into account how cold it was during January, the gentle giant knew that he had to dress up appropriately for the event: a black leather jacket from the fifties–quite literally; a nice maroon hoodie with a black t-shirt beneath it; two brown leather gloves; a pair of old blue jeans; a pair of black boots. A real nice get up, all things considered.

A hefty looking box was held in both of his hands; gift wrapped in red wrapping paper with a yellow bow on top–reminiscent of Iron Man's color scheme. New comic books were inside the present, all of which were handpicked by Claude by taking into account just what Hope's preferences for comics are.

He pulled was dropped off by Lucie a minute ago, so he was going to be in the party for a while. Not like he was complaining. After a few seconds of standing outside the establishment, Claude walked into Shakes n' Bakes, pushing the doors open with his shoulder, before he looked around momentarily for Hope and her recognizable red hair.

Bingo!

There she was!

Claude didn't say anything or call out since that wouldn't be his style, and instead, he walked towards the birthday party at a brisk pace. Halfway there, the young man did finally call out to the birthday girl, "Happy birthday, Hope!" He called out as he walked up to the table with a smile.

Well, Meggy and Amber certainly made strong arguments, she sure didn't want to commit a crime and she didn't have $500 on hand to pay up, so in the hypothetical world where they were telling the truth and not just eager to hear Hope speak on... something, she'd surely be obligated to give a speech. Of course, living in the real world where it was just two close friends asking her to do a thing they'd really like her to do, well in that case, Hope'd just have to be kinda strongly against it or a bit of an asshole not to.

So one might say, in all two of those multiverse options, she was left with no choice but to get her supervillain monologue on. Hope looked to Amber vis-a-vis her threat of a big fine, and gave a theatrical shrug.

"You got me there, it's the law, and I can't go breaking the law with Officer Meggy here, I mean,"

She stood up, raising her empty milkshake glass in a clenched robotic fist. Her voice rose to project to the rest of the group, half-adopting a moderately-accurate British accent similar to, say, hypothetically, Tom Hiddleston.

"It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Of course, that was when Claude arrived, late for the event, but entirely on time to hear Hope announcing her ambitions for world domination. Oops.

Up came her left hand to give a sheepish wave, a light blush colouring her pale face. All thoughts of the actual words she wanted to say after laughing off the Loki-quoting left her head instantly, bye-bye words! Gone, bamf, like Nightcrawler disappearing in a puff of sulfur. Maybe they'd come back later, but for now she was caught very much short, with her thoughts focused solely on her own personal big, strong Thor and bewitching, gothy Hela. Okay maybe buff Natalie Portman wasn't her only weakness.

"Hi Claude, you uh, got here just in time for um... villainy?"

Meggy gave an amused giggle with Hope’s speech, sucking down her milkshake. She raised her hand up on agreement “Here here!”

She paused as low and behold, Claude O’Neil Porter walked into the diner, giving a smile as she let out an appreciative whistle for the big guy.

“Heyyy Porter, just in time. Hope here was talking about world domination. Care to join?” She cracked a sly smile as she leaned back.