Work Text:
To say Hope had a lot of mixed feelings about the destruction of Pym Tech would be an understatement. But for once in a very long time, she got to care a little bit less about her appearance, which saved her a lot of trouble. Being chairwoman felt like being under a microscope and to not have to worry about perfection in every little thing at the company did feel like a relief. She could put her perfectionist tendencies towards other things, such as the current construction and design of the quantum tunnel in the lab.
Cassie was spending the night at Scott’s, a now once-a-week occurrence. Scott was happy, and Hope couldn’t deny that his joy made her happy too.
He asked if she’d come over for a little bit, with a follow up text asking if she could possibly pick up pretzel Goldfish from the store, because they were out, and that he’d pay her back. She replied that he didn't need to, she was glad to just pick them up.
Hope stopped at the store, unaware that there were so many kinds of Goldfish, but she found what she was looking for eventually.
And she noticed as she went to pick up the bag just how chipped her nails were. Maybe that was another thing she could be a perfectionist about.
On a whim, she went to the makeup aisle and bought herself a bottle of nail polish and a bottle of acetone to bring over to his apartment, giving her something to do if they watched a movie like they usually did.
It was a good evening, and Hope liked the rhythm they had gotten into. And maybe she was getting a little less awkward around Cassie now, which was good, because Hope was convinced she’d forever be terrible with little kids.
His daughter picked out a movie, something with brightly colored heroes, as a lot of movies seemed to be these days. Hope had never heard of it before, but that didn’t surprise her.
I don’t know any of the new kids movies these days, Scott had told her one evening. There’s too much to catch up on.
Hope sat on the couch and carefully painted her nails, a bright red that strangely enough boosted her spirits, so focused she didn’t notice Cassie walking over to her.
“Hey Hope?”
Hope looked up.
“Can you paint my nails?” She extended a hand.
“Please,” Scott suggested to his daughter.
“Please,” Cassie added quickly.
A smile tugged at the corner of Hope’s lips. “Sure.” She patted the seat on the couch next to her. Cassie happily hopped up on the seat.
Hope held out a hand and Cassie put her palm on top. “You have to be still,” Hope said gently.
Cassie nodded. “I am.”
Sitting there, painting Cassie’s nails, Hope was reminded of the nights they stayed up late at boarding school. She wondered where those girls were now.
Not even the movie could take Cassie's attention away, her brown eyes focused on Hope's every move.
“You can blow on it,” Hope said after she finished painting. “To help it dry.” Cassie did.
“Thanks, Hope,” she said, beaming up at her.
“Of course.”
And Hope could not lie to herself about how fond she had grown to be of this little girl, her big smile, and her newly painted tiny nails. She screwed the bottle lid tight, her heart warm.
“So Cassie picked something out at the store,” Scott said, sitting next to her on the couch, a few days after their movie night.
“What’s that?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pink glittery nail polish. “If you’re up for it next movie night.”
“I’m up for it,” she said. He handed her the bottle. “She’s most definitely going to paint your nails next time,” she told him.
“I’m fine with that.”
“Glitter nail polish’s hell to get off.”
“Eh, we’ll deal with that when we get there.” He grinned and gave her a brief kiss and she couldn’t help but smile.