Young Justice: Red Comet

Chapter 18 - Ice Cream

—Bart

I force my hands to stop tapping against my thighs as I walk into the kitchen. Remy and Nova sit there, talking and laughing.

"Hey, Bart," Remy acknowledges me with a mischievous smile.

"Hey guys." I say, taking a seat next to Nova. She turns and smiles warmly up at me.

"Hello, Bart." She says, her bright blue eyes looking at me through her eyelashes.

I forgot how to speak while I stare at her for a moment. Remy clears her throat loudly and brings me back to the present.

"So, um, Nova. I have a question for you." I ask, balling my hands up into fists to avoiding tapping.

"Yes?" Nova asks.

Remy stands up, "I've got to go meet Jaime. See you guys later." She leaves with a very pointed look towards me, then to Nova.

Oh mode.

"You had a question for me?" Nova reminds me, and I focus back on her.

"Yes! Yeah, um. Do you like ice cream?"

She gives me a blank stare, "Ice cream? What is that?"

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Of course she doesn't know what ice cream is. She probably won't like it because it's cold and she's so hot and warm and beautiful and wonderful and...

"Um, basically a dessert that's sweet and cold. But, if you don't like that kind of stuff then just forgot about—"

"It's cold?" She interrupted, very confused by this. I nod.

"I've never had cold food before." She looks up at me with a smile that nearly makes my heart stop.

* * *

"Oh my goodness." She licks the chocolate ice cream again. Closing her eyes as she leans back and smiles.

"That is the most deliciously sweet thing I have ever tasted." She states, opening her blue eyes and looking at me.

"I told you, ice cream is pretty grand." I smile as I lick my mint chocolate chip ice cream.

"It still confuses me how you humans have cold food." She says thoughtfully, licking the ice cream again. Her tongue pink as she brings the dairy treat into her mouth.

I look away at that, wondering why I'm thinking about her tongue.

"So, um, why is that? Is all your food hot?" I ask, finally looking back at her.

"Oh yes. Everything. There's just never a need for it to be cold I guess. Our bodies would heat up anything remotely cool near us, so any cold food wouldn't last." She looks over at me. "Our food is hot, but it's also spicy. Do you have many spicy food on Earth?"

I smile up at her. "Yeah, like Mexican food. It gets pretty spicy depending on what you get. I'll have to take you to a restaurant some time."

She nods, "I would love that, thought, I hope you can handle it."

I drop my mouth in mock horror, "You think I can't handle spicy food?"

Nova giggles, and it's so cute. "I don't know yet, but I'd love to find out."

"I'll show you sometime," I promise her. I almost stiffen in the realization we just made plans for a date. A real, genuine date.

While I was lost in thought, Nova roughly stands up from the small table outside of the ice cream shop.

"I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Her words quick as she walks into the shop.

"Oh, okay. I'll be here." I call after her. The door closes behind her, and I slump into my chair.

She was tense, angry even. What did I say that set her off? Was not being able to handle spicy food considered weak in her culture? Oh mode, that would ridiculous... Or is it?

I can't help but let my hands tap quickly against my thighs as I wait for Nova. Slowly, minutes past. Then five minutes, then ten.

Girls don't take this long in the bathroom, right? Maybe I should go check on her, see if she's okay.

I stand up and head inside, getting close to the girls bathroom before I realize I can't go in there.

"Um, excuse me," I ask the girl working at the register. "Did you see a white hair girl go into the bathroom recently?"

"Long white hair?" She specifies.

I nod, "Did she seem upset at all?"

She tilts her head to the side as she ponders. "A little bit, but she didn't go into the bathroom. She went out the back door, into the alleyway."

"Alleyway?" I ask, looking towards the back of the shop.

"Yup."

"Thanks," I tell her as I force myself not to race to the door. I open it up. There's a dumpster, and the back of another building here. But what grabs my attention is the two Torran's shouting at each other.

Masks steps forward, and with a closed fist hits Nova center in her face.

That's when I lose it.