Past In Sips

After Zephyr took Audra's feedback and tested the VR machine, he went back to work. There was no way it'd be fixed before tomorrow, so the delivery was delayed until the day after that. She'd tried apologizing, but he kept insisting that there was nothing to apologize for. Rather, he thanked her for saving him the trouble of hooking in.

Now with nothing left to do while Zephyr troubleshot pod's software, Audra distracted herself from her traitorous thoughts by looking at other projects Zephyr had finished while she helped tidy up the workshop.

Some were interesting, like a small drone that could play string instruments, and others were just weird, like an ancient tube TV that was modded to project a simulated terrarium inside. She didn't know who would want that, but hey, the world was a strange place with stranger people.

Her stomach grumbled as she turned around, finishing putting away a few of the tools and spare parts into a storage cabinet lit by the fading evening light. Even though they'd already eaten a combined lunch-dinner her body still demanded more like a greedy calorie furnace.

Maybe she could make something light for herself while she waited for him to finish his shower, just enough to calm her appetite. Something liquid would probably do, maybe a hot chocolate or something. She could even make a s'more to dunk it in if he had the ingredients for it.

After a quick search, she found the box of hot chocolate packets she'd spotted earlier and grabbed two mugs from the back of the cabinet, deciding that she might as well make one for him as well. The first was a pink one with a 'C' on it. The other was emblazoned with 'I need no weapon; I AM the weapon!' in large, bold letters.

It was probably a quote from some old web series or movie that she didn't recognize. Either that, or someone had a high opinion of themselves.

Audra chuckled as she imagined Zephyr walking around the workshop with the mug and set it down next to the sink.

While the kettled warmed, Audra gathered the rest of the ingredients she needed from the small pantry. She laid out a few marshmallows and a couple of chocolate bars on a plate. Both of them seemed to be rather old, but she didn't mind too much. Sugar was sugar, and it always tasted good.

By the time Zephyr walked in, a chocolatey sweetness that she was proud of wafted from both steaming mugs.

"Mmm. Looks like you've been busy," he said, stopping to give them a curious look.

"Yep. I made some hot chocolate for us. Here, take one."

He stared at the held-out mug before taking it gingerly.

"Something wrong?" Audra asked.

"Er, it's fine. Just—Hold on, are you dunking a s'more in hot chocolate?"

Half of it had already disappeared down her gullet before he could finish.

"Yep yep! Tastes great." She flashed a thumbs-up and stuck her tongue slightly out. "You can have one too if you'd like. Got all the ingredients right here."

"I uh, don't know if my teeth would survive such a sugar bomb."

"Pft, never thought you were this lame. Do you not have the palate to appreciate such a gourmet treat?"

"Maybe not." He sighed in response.

The pair drank in a comfortable silence for a bit, enjoying the warmth of the beverages and the soft sounds of the night filtering in through the window. However, Audra noticed Zephyr continued to stare a lot at the mug she'd chosen for him.

"What's with that look? You've been staring at your mug like some philosopher."

His gaze shifted toward the darkened skyline.

"I'm just surprised that you chose this one. I haven't uh, used it in a while."

"Makes sense with how far back in the cabinet it was. I just saw it and thought it was funny."

Audra took a bite from another half-dunked s'more and gave it a thoughtful chew.

"What's up with the quote by the way? I don't recognize it from anywhere."

"…" Zephyr stare transitioned into some kind of indecipherable expression.

"It's a reference to an old movie from the mid twenty-first century. The character that said that was a scientist turned genetically enhanced supersoldier. It's pretty dumb, but… someone I really cared for loved that line. Said I resembled the guy in some ways."

Audra squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable at the sudden melancholic shift. She'd expected something funny—like a lighthearted quip or an embarrassing story. Not… whatever this was.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Hey, it's fine. And they're not bad memories. They're just… old ones."

The reassurance didn't make her feel much better, and her guilt sunk her further into her seat—something that Zephyr immediately noticed as his gaze flickered between her and his mug.

"Sorry… I just miss my wife."

Audra nearly did a spit take. "C-crap! That's uh—I'm so sorry."

"Nono, that's not what I—Look, it's fine. It's good to think of her from time to time—second best way to keep someone immortal after all."

After getting the last of cocoa out of her windpipe, Audra buried her head into her hands. Was that why he spaced out from time to time? He was remembering her?

"I'm still super sorry. Losing someone close to you… that really sucks."

"Like I said, it's fine. She passed away a long, long time ago."

Audra squirmed in her seat, mentally kicking herself for doing this to Zephyr, though he just continued with a half-glazed over expression.

"I was too focused on some 'bigger picture' to notice what was happening right in front of me. Before I knew it, I'd lost everything important and—Never mind. I'm sure this is all boring to you.'"

"N-no, not at all!"

"I can tell when you're just being polite."

"I swear I'm not. Thanks for telling me, seriously. I'm a sucker for stories. It's just… nice to know I guess. Like, I've always had a thing for history and stuff. Even the more personal ones."

"So you like stories, huh?"

"Y-yeah."

"I see… would you be interested in a slightly brighter story then?"

His eyes were softer now, still lost but clearly genuine.

"Oh… As long as you're fine with it," she said, trying to stop herself from drawing any more comparisons to her dad.

"In that case, I'll tell you some things from my childhood. How about… when I tried building my own Mjolnir?"

"…Mio-what now?"

"Mjolnir. You know, the hammer of Thor?"

The refresher stirred her memory well. She remembered seeing comics of the superhero in the antique shop. Her mom had loved to read them, and personally, Audra thought lightning powers were pretty damn cool.

"I think I do. How the heck did you manage that though?"

"Drilled a hole through some scrap, welded a steel pipe inside to act as a handle, then wrapped the pipe in electrical tape with battery packs jammed inside. For the finishing touch, I slapped on a circuit board and a switch, then wired it all up."

Audra put together a mental image in her head as Zephyr described it. To her, the entire thing looked janky yet surprisingly promising.

"Did you test it out?"

"Of course I did! But uh, didn't go so well. All I got was a fire in my grandparent's workshop and a trip to the ER."

Audra went silent as that triumphant image disintegrated from her head.

Zephyr took a sip from his 'weapon' mug.

"What? I never said I was successful."