Piña Coladas, Señoritas (or A Dead Howard Fic)
Warnings: deathfic?
Pairing: none
This fic is dedicated to Q-sama, my lovely muse. It contains Sally, Noin, and a dead Howard, but not in the way you think! Um... enjoy?
Sometimes, you never realize how precious a thing is, until it is gone.
"You gave your life for peace."
"You died so others may live."
"It was never your war, yet you chose to fight with us."
"And paid the ultimate price."
Noin and Sally, both dressed in somber black, carefully laid a wreath of flowers over Howard's body lying in a plain casket. The flowers were bright red hibiscus, entwined with luscious dark leaves of some tropical plant, and looked altogether too festive to be draped over a corpse. But it seemed to suit Howard. He lay, calm and peaceful with his eyes closed, and looking rather distinguished without his customary sunglasses and loud shirt. The flowers were according to his wishes. After his death, Sally had discovered files that Howard had obviously prepared before leaving Earth. They stated that should Howard die, he wished to be buried in a white tuxedo, and with a wreath of bright and cheerful flowers.
Sally sighed. If it hadn't been for the signatures of his lawyers, she would have thought the whole thing was a joke of some sort. He wanted a ukulele to be played at the funeral, for God's sake! She shook her head. She still couldn't quite believe that he was gone.
Noin bowed her head in front of the casket. When she looked down at Howard's face, she could hear his gruff voice, and almost imagine that he winked at her. "Don't I look fine, Miss Noin? How about dinner? I can cook a mean chicken cacciatore!"
"You do look fine, Howard," she whispered. "Very fine indeed." She stepped away and stood by Sally as one by one, all the other surviving crewmembers of the Peacemillion walked by the coffin to pay their last respects.
When the final words were spoken, and the last flowers placed in the coffin, the box containing Howard's remains was placed in the ground by blank-faced workers who had performed this duty countless times before and would doubtless perform them countless times in the future, and the gathered mourners began to leave. Sally took Noin's hand.
"Wanna go somewhere and get a drink?"
"Sure."
They were silent during most of the drive, and as they entered the small bar and ordered their respective drinks.
The bartender, sensing their thoughtful mood, set their glasses in front of them without saying a word.
Sally swirled the dark amber liquid and contemplated the clear chunks of ice in her glass. A voice spoke to her in her mind. "Whiskey! What a dour drink! When you want a drink, you want something fun! Let me mix you a Howard special, baby!" In spite of herself, Sally smiled.
Oh, Howard, she thought. How I will miss you.
The ice clinked as it melted and resettled in her glass.
She cleared her throat and called out to the bartender. "Can I get a Piña Colada?"
Noin looked up from the cocktail napkin she was slowly shredding.
"Make that two," she said.
The bartender brought them their drinks in sugar-rimmed glasses topped with slices of pineapple and festive paper umbrellas. There was a strong scent of coconut. The girls looked at each other, then lifted their glasses.
"To Howard," said Sally solemnly.
"Howard," said Noin.
The End