"Get outta here if you don't know"

[takeitslow]

Who: Peter (takeitslow), Wanda (seeingscarlet), and You
When: 15th to early 18th in the medbay, late 18 to the 23rd in the hold
Where: Medbay and the Hold
What: Directly after this. Peter really screwed up and now he's hanging out in the medbay until he recovers. Later he hangs out in the hold. Wanda's around to feild all your questions about how stupid her twin is.
Warnings: Discussion of character death, violence, and severe injuries



[Comment under the toplevel for which sibling you want to talk to. If you want a specific starter, please just oocly contact.]

Comments

[seeingscarlet]

[That invitation comes in the form of an almost laughably failed half-smile. Wanda feels oddly numb and detached by this point; it's like all of this is happening to someone else and she's just stuck in the passenger seat.]

He will be all right.

[So better than her Pietro. It could have been so much worse.]

But I don't know what happens now.

[Are they going to seal his powers the way they did to Ade? That would destroy a small part of Peter, she's sure of it. And Rinzler's certainly not going to let this rest when they let him out.]

[skelepun]

[That small comfort, the knowledge that this time your sibling is alive despite all the rest, is one Sans reads in the creases of her expression with ease. Not too hard to recognize something you felt yourself not too long ago.]

Well, there's going to be judgement. [Sans settles beside her, laying out the next few steps as plainly as he can. Wanda doesn't need the walk through, he knows that, but it's comforting to have some sort of plan. At least, that's what people tell him.] And then after that, Peter will be free again and we can both give him a piece of our minds.

[He tries for levity, winking in her direction at the joke. His exhausted eyes cut some of the mirth, unfortunately.]

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda shakes her head. That wasn't what she meant.]

Rinzler is not going to stop.

[He can't, whether by choice or programming. And to think that all of this started over mostly harmless teenage trash talk.]

There are many people Peter cares about who wouldn't be as lucky as me if Rinzler attacked them.

[skelepun]

[For a moment, Sans perpetual smile falls just a hair. Levity, it seems, wasn't on the table.]

Yeah... you're not wrong about that. [Sans is forced to admit, and it's with a private, shameful, selfish note of relief that Sans remembers his own brother and Peter aren't that close.] But, y'know, there are was to keep even a program in check.

[seeingscarlet]

[Can he blame her? If it was Papyrus in the bed he'd probably feel the same way.]

I could give him reasons to be afraid of me. [If that would even work, if Rinzler is even able to feel fear. The urge to make him feel all the pain he's caused is strong regardless.] I can't let this happen again.

[skelepun]

[Quite the contrary, as it happens. But Sans doesn't blame her in the least -- if anything, it's a good thing. The less people covering their problems with bad jokes, the healthier this ship will get.]

I know the feeling. [Sans admits, perpetual smile taking on a thoughtful cast.] And I'm not saying it's a feeling you oughta ignore. But y'know, there're a few different ways to satisfy it. The way that feels good and the smart way. Y'get me?

[seeingscarlet]

[The super smart way would be not to tempt fate at all by calling on her powers in any capacity while she's so emotionally compromised.]

So what is your 'smart way?'

[Honestly, she's half-expecting it to be some sort of horrible pun and is unsure whether or not she'll be disappointed if it isn't.]

[skelepun]

[Super smart? Well now you're just being ridiculous.]

Do nothing.

[If there's a punchline to that statement, it seems to get lost along the way.]

[seeingscarlet]

[...definitely disappointed.]

And how will that stop Rinzler?

[skelepun]

That's for someone else to figure out, and they will. There are a lot of people on this ship, powerful people, who aren't happy with how this went down. There's gonna be a lot of talk about how to handle it.

[Sans looks tired, but earnest. For once.]

I think you should stay out of it.

[seeingscarlet]

They told me it would be handled last time.

[And it hadn't been Peter in the medbay that time, so she'd let it go as much as someone like her can. But it didn't get handled and now the situation is entirely past the point of handling. Can Peter and Rinzler even co-exist on the ship now? It doesn't seem likely.]

You know I can't trust them to fix this now.

[If this was Papyrus, could Sans really just leave it all in someone else's hands? At the very least, she has to go on the defensive to protect Peter.]

[skelepun]

[If she asked that question, she might be surprised by the answer.]

Well then we'll make 'em handle it. We won't take no for an answer. But if you're thinking going vigilante on this, kiddo, I'm telling you it's a bad idea.

Speaking from experience.

[seeingscarlet]

Chara.

[She was at both trials. She knows a little bit.]

And if this was your brother?

[skelepun]

[The question makes him bristle, imperceptibly. Not in anger, but in memory.]

It was my brother. Over and over. And maybe if things were different here, I'd be giving you different advice, but anyone you kill or hurt is gonna probably come back. You kill 'em now, they're going to be coming back angrier and more violent. You kill 'em a second time, the same happens. Over and over again until all you can do is watch yourself become a killer. Do you think that's going to keep your brother safe?

[He looks up at her, eye sockets genuinely curious.] I'm asking you for real here, Wanda. Do you?

[seeingscarlet]

['Over and over?' She frowns. What is with all of these people coming from places where you just die, with or without horrible torture, and come back? It's left marks on Billy that are obvious even if she didn't know him before.

For now, Wanda files that away but she's sure she'll see it in Sans's behavior now that she's looking for it. You don't just walk away from that kind of thing.]

Do you think I was planning to kill him?

[She's not an idiot. She can't risk losing her powers or accidentally dragging Billy into this.]

There are other ways to make someone afraid.

[skelepun]

[Exactly how much of that little speech was concern and how much was projection? Meditating too much on that ratio isn't something Sans relishes.

Especially since he's already pretty sure how it would shake out.]

What did you have in mind?

[seeingscarlet]

Only a little power. A warning.

[Because there's something to be said for making sure the person trying to use you against your family knows you have enough power to casually send them flying.

At the end of the day, Wanda wants Rinzler to leave them alone more than she wants to turn him inside out. It's a close call, but Sans does have a point that they're all stuck in a confined space.]

[skelepun]

Heh, yeah? Maybe. No guarantee he won't take it as a challenge, though. You gotta prepare yourself for the worst, kid.

[This will all be deeply ironic a week from now, when Sans takes a very similar course with the robot in question. Well, let it never be said hypocrisy doesn't flow thick in this skeleton's veins. If he had veins.]

Y'know... and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't think I've ever actually asked. [He tilts his skull to the side, lowering his voice.] What can you do?

[seeingscarlet]

And what good are these powers if I can't keep him alive this time?

[It's fortunate that there is skirt protecting Wanda's poor palms from her nails. Because she's already lived through the worst and she's not sure she can do it again. Sure, Peter would probably come back but there's always the possibility he'd end up dead-for-real like Athena.]

You know some of what I can do. The rest is...hard to describe. I can move things with my mind and there is an energy I can control. You've seen it before.

[There's more, of course, but without a reason to need to use it, that's a conversation for another time.]

[skelepun]

[With a nod, Sans slumps back slightly in the too-tall visitor's chair, eye sockets narrowed just a hair in thought.]

Sounds pretty familiar. [To his own abilities, but Sans doesn't mention that part.] Magic's a tough gig, kiddo. I hate to sound like a cliche, but there's a lot of responsibility there.

[He looks down thoughtfully, then back up.]

But hey, what the hell. Mind giving me a lift? [He gestures to himself, then lazily upwards. Fastest route to understanding is demonstration.] Got an appointment on the ceiling I can't miss.

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda looks oddly frightened at the prospect and immediately draw her hands close to her body, fingers lacing in an almost painful manner.

Her nerves are too raw and she's seen what can happen if she isn't careful. Every other time she's felt this kind of overwhelming emotion there's been something (or someone) close enough that she actually wants to hurt. It's easier to control when given some outlet even if she hates it.

But this time...there's nothing. And Wanda very much does not want to hurt Sans.]

I don't...I don't think it is a good idea right now.

[skelepun]

That's cool. [Sans says quickly, reading the spike of apprehension off her as if it were an alarm bell. In truth, it's not far from the reaction he expected; but you don't learn without testing once in a while.] Rumors about my meeting on the ceiling have been greatly exaggerated. I'll reschedule.

[Drumming his fingers idly on the armrest of his chair, he cocks his skull to the side thoughtfully.]

You ever get any training?

[seeingscarlet]

[The sad part about this is that there's nothing actually preventing Wanda from doing it safely. Her fear was learned in a large part from the reactions of others and all of the thoughts that call her a monster or a weapon or a thing.]

Billy tries, but this is not the same as his magic. I thought Loki, the one from my world, would know what it was, but... [She shakes her head. And now there's no one else from her home she knows of who's been through anything remotely similar with the Mind Stone.] Even D-E-L can't read it. No one knows what it is.

[skelepun]

Hm. [Sans murmurs, rubbing his jaw for a moment in thought as he sized Wanda up. Reading a soul wasn't like reading a book. You could read damage, you could read sins, and if you got good enough at it you could draw lines together into a whole.

Wanda, though, she was a puzzle. The last time they'd been here, Sans got to physically hold it in his hands, and still couldn't decipher it. It might frustrate a man of lesser patience. In Sans' case, he leans forward slightly, holding up a hand.]

Can I show you something?