open;

[takeitslow]

Who: Peter and you.
When: 15-20th
Where: Lounge/Mess/Hallways
What: Peter avoids dealing with life via games, TV, and being an annoyance
Warnings: Will update as needed.



Lounge;

[For several days, Peter takes control of the TV in the lounge. At first it was trying to learn the games that BB had left him, but after talking to Wanda its become his way to stop thinking about his conversation with Wanda. It's hard to think about the death of his alternate dimension self when playing Mario Cart.

Maybe he invited you over to play a few rounds. Maybe you catch him watching 90s comedy shows at four in the morning. Maybe you just want to yell at the kid who's been hogging the TV all day and has the volume turned up way too loud on Duck Hunt.]

Mess Hall and Cafe;

[What's another great way to avoid feelings? Eating.

Peter has commandeered a table to himself and has gathered a huge mess from the sheer amount he's packing away. He looks like the food has personally offended him, glaring down at every bite and stabbing everything viciously with his fork. Someone's moved into the anger portion of the process.

You could approach, but that glare says you might not like what happens when you do.]

Hallways;

[And now he's moved into follow someone around and annoy them part of the process.]

I'm just saying, if you work for a family like that, you don't get away with being dicks to them. No rich person is putting up with that.

[He's spent the past few minutes explaining the plot of 'Fresh Prince' to you. Engage?]

Comments

[allyisun]

[She makes a little face at him at the snarky comment.]

Wanda? Yeah, I know her. She's a regular.

[Easy to remember someone when her name is your middle name.]

Um. She's kind of not the same age as you?

[takeitslow]

Yeah, well. Alternate universes exist? So you know. She's technically my sister in another dimension. And like also from the future. [Thinking about it too much makes his head hurt. It's easier just to call her his twin and stop thinking beyond that.] It's complicated.

[allyisun]

[Allison just nods along with the explanation. She's watched more complicated anime.]

Okay. Older twin sister from another dimension, got it.

...are you upset you don't match anymore?

[takeitslow]

What? No. I don't care, I'm still the oldest anyway.

[Deep down in his heart he will always be the older brother and his family knows it. Or Wanda and Billy are just nice enough to humor him. It's possibly more the latter than he's willing to admit.]

It's more about the me from her universe. What he was. What happened to him.

[allyisun]

You're the- [Gosh, Peter, you're so ridiculous. But also sad, so Allison won't rib you about it this time.

She purses her lips at Peter's extremely cryptic reply, and then she gasps.]

You're dead aren't you! Or a murderer?

[That's how these alternate timeline went, right? People were either dead or evil. Or sometimes were never born, but then Wanda wouldn't be his twin? And sometimes your spouse was married to someone else, but that didn't apply either because Peter being married to Wanda would be gross.]

[takeitslow]

[He can't comment on the murderer part. So he might have seen what Pietro and Wanda had been willing to do to the Avengers, who they'd worked for and what he'd caused. Peter would argue it wasn't the twins' fault, but that's not a debate he wants to get into.]

The dead part, yeah. Really, really dead.

[He sighs, taking a long drink to hide his grimace.]

[allyisun]

Damn. That's heavy.

[Allison is silent and contemplative for moment. Then she has lean forward to punch Peter in the arm.]

It's totally okay to be upset about that! It's weird, like, existential crisis bullshit.

[takeitslow]

[He should have been expecting the punch, all considered. But it still startles something like a strangled laugh out of him.]

You think? Cause I feel kind of stupid moping about it. She's got it worse, you know? Why am I freaking out when she's got it all together.

[allyisun]

Dude! Of course it's okay! If I met my best friend from another universe and she was like 'Allison, you're dead!' I'd be pretty freaked out too. Nobody likes being forced to think about your own mortality, you know?

Just give yourself some time to let it sink in, and don't beat yourself up for having feelings.

[Says Allison, who has frequently yelled at herself internally for being upset over dumb things. Do as she says, not as she does.]

[takeitslow]

[He gives her a tight smile, for a moment just glad someone else gets it and doesn’t think he’s being too over the top. ]

I’ll just let you beat me up instead, right? [It’s a weak joke, but it’s more on the level of what he’s used to with her. An attempt at normal.

Still, his expression hasn’t quite leveled out. There have been other things on his mind.]

Can I ask you something else?

[allyisun]

No way, I don't beat up nine-year-olds. [Jokes make everything better, right?

Leaning her chin on one hand, she gives him her serious listening face, though.]

Yeah, what's up?

[takeitslow]

You're a girl.

[This is starting out so well. Even Peter's cringing at that.]

And you have powers! And you had a boyfriend. And, um.

[He pokes at his food, shakes his head. It's weird. He's being weird. But he's curious and still worried about the fight with J and there's not a chance in hell he's asking Wanda about dating.]

Did it ever freak people out? In a dating context. What you are?

[allyisun]

[Allison is tempted to snark at 'you're a girl', but decides to let the poor guy finish. Peter has a lot on his mind.

She does let out a bit of a nervous laugh at the mention of her boyfriend. The one she's kind of wishing she could break up with right now, even though she still plans on saving him.

She rubs her head as he finishes.]

Shit, um. Well, it hasn't exactly come up for me? Zaid was kidnapped at the same time I got this jazz, and I haven't exactly had suitors lining up at my door since I got here...

[Not here to talk about her relationship woes, though.]

So you've got you eye on someone, huh? Is it... J?

[takeitslow]

And there hasn't been anyone since?

[Because he might be asking a serious question about himself, but it's never a bad time to get into a friend's love life.

But he can't keep being cheeky when she's went and hit the nail on the head. Suddenly his food is far more interesting that anything else in the room,. The color rising up his neck? He'd rather it be ignored.]

It's just a question, Allison. Who said anything about anyone specific? I don't even know what you're talking about.

[allyisun]

Jeez, Peter, who exactly are you expecting to date me here? Plus, Zaid is technically still my boyfriend. I can't exactly break up with him while he's kidnapped in another dimension-

[Nope, this is veering back into discussing her relationship woes territory. Abort!]

Oh, of course, definitely not J.

[Honestly, Peter. Even if your response wasn't so telling, both of you are regulars at the café and she isn't blind. Teenagers.]

[takeitslow]

You're not married. You can totally make exceptions for inter-dimensional space kidnapping.

[No, Allison. Your life is suddenly much more interesting. He didn't mean for is crush to be figured out so quickly, he wanted to ask without having to talk about it.]

I was asking in general, you know? Being one of the only mutants and people not always liking our kind and- you know, I could totally find you a date around here. You're not old or ugly, someone here could be very into you.

[allyisun]

That's- I- I mean, it just seems like a jerk move? [Hey buddy, I'm here to rescue you from being kidnapped by the way I broke up with you while you were gone?

Oh god, now Peter's talking about matchmaking for her! She slowly turns red.]

Anyway we were talking about your dating troubles! I mean, do people around here actually care that much about the mutant thing? Like, we've got aliens and machine-people and ponies, you'd think going real fast would be really low on people's Weird-Shit-o-Meter.

[takeitslow]

Not really. You'll just have to explain it's been a long time for you and then he can't really get mad about it.

[What a fascinating color she's turning.]

They care. [There's something bitter in his tone.] Not making a big deal about it isn't the same as accepting it, you know? It doesn't have to be loud and violent to be bad.

[allyisun]

It's only been a couple of months?? I mean, that's not long is it? [It kind of is when you'd only been dating like, a week.]

Really? I mean, I don't not believe you, that's just... That sucks. Superpowered humans are kind of... I mean, you're a lot easier to accept than a lot of things I've encountered.

[takeitslow]

A couple of months is, like, forever!

[That's not the type of question to ask someone with such a skewed view of time.]

Than tiny demons you eat, you mean? Not everyone has that kind of experience to fall back on.

[allyisun]

Maybe when you're two!

[Are you two, Peter. You're definitely two.

She huffs a little.]

I was thinking more about the kung fu angels and giant paper death soldiers, but that too. And also, like, on board? I mean, superhumans seems more normal than giant alien robots and living skeletons and stuff.

I'm sorry if people are being crap.

[takeitslow]

Come on, no! For everyone. Dude, how long were you even dating him before?

[He is not two. He's at least three, thank you very much.]

Matter of perspective, I think. The others are so weird it's easy to deal with. We're just like them, but just different enough to be creepy. No one is going to suddenly pop out a skeleton baby, but they could have a kid with a mutated DNA strand. We're a possibility.

[It's a little obvious he's put actual thought into this.]

Yeah, thanks.

[allyisun]

I mean... A bit. A little bit...

[She's sweating here, man. She's legitimately been apart from Zaid for significantly longer than they were dating for.]

I mean, I guess? But I guess I just don't really see what's wrong with it. Having a kid with superspeed seems pretty neat. But I guess people can be shit about anybody who's different. It's, like, superpower homophobia.

[She's doing a lot of guessing here, but this shit is weird.]

[takeitslow]

That's not an answer.

Tell that to my mom, I'm pretty sure it drives a person half-crazy. [Not that he's ever blamed her for it, he thinks she did as well as anyone could have.] Or racism or whatever's going on with the bra burning movement. Everyone's got something against someone. We're just a convenient target.

[allyisun]

[Allison purses her lips and tries to avoid the subject of her dating life.]

That's not the super speed, Peter, it's your bratty personality.

[Bra burning- Sometimes she forgets Peter is from a different era than she is, never mind the addition of mutants. She looks at him a little sadly.]

It'll probably get better, you know. Like, bit by bit maybe. I mean, there's still racism and sexism and everything else where I'm from but it's like... improving? In fits and starts. So, like... people can learn.