Past In Sips

The rest of the day was spent in relative peace. Zephyr ended up taking Audra's feedback and testing the VR machine himself, only to come out of it with a frown on his face.

It seemed like there was no way it'd be fixed before tomorrow, so the delivery was delayed until the day after that.

With nothing left to do for the rest of the day and with most of Zephyr's work being software related, Audra decided to have a look at some of the other projects he had completed in the past but never got around to selling.

Some of them were interesting, such as a small drone that could play string instruments, and others were just weird, like an ancient tube TV that was modified to project a simulated terrarium inside. She was honestly unsure why anyone would want something like that, but hey, the world was a strange place. Someone would probably buy it if it was put out there.

Before she knew it, it was evening. Zephyr had gone off to take a shower, and she'd just finished helping him put away all of the tools and spare parts that littered the workshop.

As she closed the last storage cabinet, she paused, taking in the sight of the space. The room was dimly lit by the fading sun filtering through the windows. In the background, the soft sound of the shower running could be heard.

She felt her stomach grumble and glanced towards the door that led to the rest of the house. Even though Zephyr had already prepared dinner—this time around it had been a simple pesto pasta—her body still demanded more.

Maybe she should make something light for herself and Zeph.

With a shrug, she headed towards the kitchen. She was in the mood for something liquid, so perhaps a hot chocolate would be nice. She'd seen that he kept a stash of instant packets in his pantry. Maybe 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 and grabbed it along with two mugs. The first mug was a simple pink cup with a 'C' on it, and the other was one that had been towards the back of the cabinet. It was emblazoned with the text '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 at the thought of Zephyr walking around the workshop with this mug and set it down next to the sink. She then turned to the kettle, filled it with water, and set it to boil.

While the water warmed, Audra returned to the pantry and gathered the rest of the ingredients she needed. She grabbed a plate and laid out a few marshmallows and a couple of chocolate bars. Both of them seemed to be rather old, but she didn't mind too much.

By the time that Zephyr walked in, the kettle had boiled, and Audra was finishing up both of their drinks. The warm liquid inside looked tantalizing, and a chocolatey sweetness wafted from it. She felt a little proud of herself, especially when Zeph stopped and gave the cups a curious look.

"Hey Zeph, I made some hot chocolate for us."

"...I see." He stared at the mug Audra held out for him a moment. "Thanks. I was actually about to make a pot of coffee, but I guess this'll do."

He reached out to grab his mug, pausing as he saw her angling a s'more into hers.

"I see you found the marshmallows… And are you dunking a s'more in hot chocolate?"

"Yeah! It tastes great. You can have one too if you'd like."

"That sounds way too sweet. I don't know if my teeth would survive a sugar bomb like that."

Audra rolled her eyes. "You just don't have the palate to appreciate it."

He just sighed in response, taking a long drink from his mug.

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 open window. One thing Audra noticed though was that Zephyr was staring quite a lot at the mug in his hand.

"What's with that look?" she eventually asked. "Do you like your mug that much?"

He didn't reply immediately. His eyes instead shifted to the window where the darkened skyline could be seen.

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

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

Audra paused, taking a bite from her half-dunked s'more and giving it a thoughtful chew. "What's up with the quote by the way? I don't recognize it from anywhere."

"…" Zephyr stared into space with indecipherable expression. 

"It's a reference to an old movie from the mid twenty-first century. It's pretty dumb, but… someone I really cared for loved that line."

Audra shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable at the melancholic tone. She hadn't thought that the mug would make him act this way. She'd expected something funny, like a lighthearted quip or an embarrassing story. Not this.

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

"No, it's fine. And I wouldn't say they were bad memories, just… old ones," Zephyr replied quietly,  offering a light smile. "Like me."

Audra nodded slowly. She'd stopped doubting the man's age by this point. However, she was still curious about his past.

"Do you mind if I ask who that person was?" she asked tentatively.

"She was my wife."

His response was immediate and casual, yet his words still managed to catch her off guard.

"Did you love her a lot?" The question slipped from her mouth before she had time to even register what she was saying. "I mean… You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious."

He didn't take the out though. Instead he just continued.

"I did. We met in middle school, dated throughout college, and then got married shortly after we graduated. She was a wonderful woman. Always bright, cheerful, and full of life. I didn't deserve her."

That last part was muttered so quietly that Audra barely heard it. It sounded almost like an admission rather than a statement of fact.

"What happened to her?"

"…I, uh, I don't really want to talk about the details now. But I will say that she passed away a long, long time ago."

Audra bit her lip. Crap. She'd messed up.

Zephyr seemed to notice her expression and shook his head. "Hey now, it's okay. Don't kick yourself. I can at least tell you some things."

His gaze drifted to the window once more.

"I'll add onto my earlier statement and say that she was the kind of person that made you feel like you were special. Like you meant something to this world, even if you didn't really. She had that effect on everyone."

"…It sounds like she was a really nice person."

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "She was, and I'd taken that for granted. I used to think she would live forever. But life has a way of reminding you just how fragile everything is. I was too focused on a 'bigger picture' to notice what was happening right in front of me."

A heavy silence hung between them before he broke it with a weak laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I'm sure this is all boring to you."

"No, not at all!" Audra said, still feeling guilty from earlier. None of what he was saying was boring. In fact, she felt a little honored that he'd opened up to her like this considering how insensitive she'd just been.

"In that case, do you want to hear more about my past?"

"If you're offering, sure."

The melancholy that emanated from the older man mellowed out, and he offered the tiniest of smiles to her.

"Perhaps I'll tell you some things from my childhood then. Hmm, why don't I begin with the story of how I tried to build my own Mjolnir?"

"…Mio-what now?" Audra blinked confused.

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

If Zeph was talking about the superhero, Audra remembered seeing comics of the guy in the antique shop. Her mom had loved them, and Audra herself always thought lightning powers were pretty gosh darn cool.

"Sounds interesting. How did you do it?"

"I drilled a hole through some scrap, welded a steel pipe inside of it to act as a handle, then wrapped the pipe in electrical tape for both insulation and grip with some battery packs jammed inside. I just slapped a circuit board and a switch on the thing after, then wired it all up."

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

"Did you test it out? What happened?"

"Of course I did! But uh, 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.

"What? I never said I was successful."

He laughed as he took a sip from his 'danger' mug.