Topaz and Molly: Wise Words and Ice Cream

[x-topaz.livejournal.com]

Molly finds Topaz back in their room. The conversation gets a little baffling - for Topaz, at least.



It was always a strange feeling to return to a place after being away for a while.

Granted, a week and a half wasn't really a while, but it still felt that way as Topaz puttered around her room, stopping every now and again to pick up something off her desk, only to put it right back down again. She wasn't even sure what she was doing, really. Everything just felt a bit...off.

The pitter patter of tiny glittery sneakers was heard before Molly even opened the door. She carried a rainbow tote bag that was filled with comic books as she flipped through one while she walked.

"This is for dropping the bus on my head!" she read out-loud to herself. Her hands were full so instead of doing it with her hands she whipped her head back and forth.

"Wham! Pew! Rar!" It took her moment to realize Topaz was back in the room so then closed the comic book and put it back into the tote bag.

"Hi!" she said, flashing a grin.

A small smile pulled at Topaz's lips as she watched Molly. It was always amusing, watching her read a comic book. "Hullo," she replied softly. Of everybody in the mansion, Molly was probably the one she was least worried about holding a grudge against her. But somehow that didn't make her any less nervous about facing her.

Topaz was looking at her funny and Molly tilted her head as she closed the door and pulled out her long white comic book box from under her bed. The amount of comic books made the box heavy so her eyes glowed when she grabbed it.

She sat down between their two beds and started to put the comic books away. Pausing, though, she held up a comic book.

"Did you wanna read it?"

Maybe that was why she was looking at her that way?

"What? Oh - no." Yeah, this was a great way to start things. "Thank you." Topaz settled down on the edge of her bed, crossing her arms and leaning them against her knees. "Hey, Molly..." When in doubt, just come out and say it. "I'm sorry."

Molly put the comic book in the box, then grabbed a bag of Reese's Pieces that she'd hid up in the box springs. When Topaz apologized she was midway through tossing one of them in her mouth and missed.

"Why?" she said with confusion.

"Just..." She waved her hand, trying to sum up what was in her head. "If I worried you last week." She'd eventually asked what had made Mr. Summers go looking for her in the first place and traced it back to something Molly had said to Catseye. She hadn't thought Molly would notice she was gone.

"Oh!" Molly said. She shrugged, biting her lip.

"I was a little worried. Cause...y'know, you normally are here. And....then you weren't. I shoulda said something earlier but...you come in late sometimes so...."

Topaz was surprisingly touched that she'd realized it at all. "I'm just glad you noticed." She really didn't want to think about what she'd have been like if she'd been left to herself for much longer. "I owe ice cream. Or a comic book. Or somethin'."

Molly grinned broadly. "Really?" she said, excitement creeping into her voice. She shook her head. "But...that's what good guys do. They help people."

Not that she didn't want ice cream or a comic book!

"Yeah...guess I'm still getting to used to that." Topaz smiled a bit more despite herself. Molly's excitement was still fairly obvious. "But if you don't want ice cream or a comic book..." Her voice took on the slightest of teasing tones at the end.

Biting her lip, Molly fidgeted and tried really hard, making all sorts of faces. "I....do...want those...but...but...Supergirl doesn't take them," she squeaked, then gave a bit of a sad huff. It was a big struggle. She wanted the ice cream and the comic books. Good guy stuff was hard.

It was really hard not to watch Molly and smile. "Then...how about we just go get them anyways?" She suggested after a moment. "Not for anythin' in particular but just because we can."

Molly tilted her head, raising her eyebrows with a little too much hope and glee. She quickly tried to squish it though. "Really? I mean---yes, we can totally get those for no reason at all because ice cream and comic books are the best ever and should be had all the time," she said, voice low, trying to sound all serious and convincing with her back straight and her chin up like a professional person.

It would've been convincing if it hadn't been for the fact that Topaz was a little more in-tune to Molly's emotions - a byproduct of living with her. "Great. Maybe...next week or somethin'?" She needed to adjust to being out of the Box first. The mansion was bad enough, never-mind trying to go out to the city. With Molly. "Although we can probably get ice cream right in the kitchen too...."

Molly tried to hide her disappointment but Topaz did look really tired so yeah, it wasn't a good idea. She nodded. "Okay!" she said, hopping up from the floor.

"I got all the good comics this week anyway. They were having a sale!"

She held out her hand for her to take. "Have you had a jelly bean sundae?"

There was no time to feel guilty about the disappointment - Topaz was too busy being surprised at the offered hand. "Jelly bean sundae?" She repeated finally as she placed her hand in Molly's and stood up. "Can't say I have, no."

Molly started to drag her (gently) downstairs. "It's pineapple sherbert and strawberry syrup and cherries and jelly beans and whipped cream and..." she tilted her head.

"There was something else but I forgot. It's really good though!"

Topaz let herself be pulled along, listening as Molly listed the ingredients. That sounded like a lot of sugar. "It sounds good." She didn't eat a lot of ice cream herself, so she didn't know much outside of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. She'd have to take Molly's word for it.

"Oranges!" Molly said, nodding quickly. "That's the last one. I made it up myself! We can split one though if you wanna?"

"It sounds fruity." Topaz smiled a bit. "Good, though. Sure, we can split if you don't mind sharing."

"Wademan says if I have too much sugar I get too hyper so if I just get a LITTLE then I can be half hyper?" Molly said. That made sense, right?

She practically hopped down the stairs, then peeked over at Topaz after a few moments.

"So Mr. Haller's post said you....drained some people?" she said curiously.

Wouldn't want her to get too hyper, would they? Topaz's tentative smile wavered a bit at Molly's question, though. "Yeah. I...messed up a little. A lot. Let my empathy get out of control then I decided tryin' to make everybody stop feelin' was a good idea." The week that separated her from what had happened made it all seem so stupid now. What had she been thinking?

Molly blinked quickly. "Why?" she said.

"So you couldn't feel it anymore?"

"Yeah," Topaz replied quietly. "It was just gettin' too crowded in my head. You didn't get caught up in it, did you?"

Molly shook her head, squinting thoughtfully. "Nope, not that I know of," she said as they made their way onto the first floor.

"Was it scary?"

"I think you'd know." Molly was such a ball of energy...yeah, she'd have known. Or someone else would have been able to tell. Topaz blinked, a little surprised at the question. "A...a little, yeah." It felt strange. "More...overwhelmin', I guess. Too much goin' on at once."

"But Mr. Haller and Amanda helped?" Molly said. She stopped before they went into the kitchen, curious. Topaz seemed calm all the time, a little grumpy but....It just didn't seem normal.

Topaz nodded, stopping with her and meeting her gaze. "Yeah. They helped. They're still helpin'." It was all very much a work in progress. With a lot of therapy in the near future.

Molly smiled. "That's good!" she said. She headed into the kitchen.

"Cause you don't gotta do it alone, y'know?"

Topaz blinked, entirely stunned as she watched Molly go into the kitchen.

"Yeah...still gettin' used to that too."

She hurried after Molly, still just a little surprised.