mind_blown | (no subject)

And yes, I know that spiders aren't insects, but do YOU know how many times I get called a variation on 'bug-guy'? With AND without the hyphen.

There really isn't a good pun on 'antsy' that involves spiders, is there?

...

you need some other fixations
ANYWAY
i'll meet you out there

The scenery in Beacon isn't very exciting, I can't help it.

It's like looking at the same four walls, you know? And that one song

I want to break free?

But sure, I'll see you there. I have a question for you, anyway.

only one?
because i have about a dozen for you

[ all that to say, he's taking the path from the museum to meet peter halfway, like promised. ]

One. And I need you to be honest with me, not honest in the way that you're honest with your girl when she asks how she looks in THAT pair of pants.

[ he sends the message when he's on his way; it takes him a little longer than it would ordinarily, something peter puts down to a general lack of movement for two weeks straight. there's a thought there, something about why is it always two weeks. it'd occurred to him mid-conversation with jason, which had been half (two-thirds, really) the reason for the remark about antsy and spider puns.

that's not touching on the slightly more recent trauma of the party and the lighthouse expedition — he's only been able to pick up bits and pieces since awakening, nuggets of information here and there, and in some ways he's glad for the distraction, the chance to focus on something other than spending two weeks unwillingly unconscious.

two weeks with being protected by someone else. ]

[ well, that... was an unwelcome reminder of Artemis. and all of that mess with Essence, but he puts that down to "Peter doesn't know any better." how to explain that your love life is kind of a wreck and a series of crushes, and then the only two serious options have either... ended up dead, or tried to kill you. successfully, if the hallucination that sent him to this place is to be believed.

needless to say, he doesn't believe it.

but when he can finally meet Peter, it becomes obvious why he's sticking to the path, and not to any roofs. His arms have loose bandages over them-- honestly, all of his clothing seems loose compared to normal for your average vigilante. there's a bandage on his neck, extending down below his shirtline.

and maybe he really should have rested more, but he can tell the lazarus pool is continuing to be both a blessing and a curse. ]

[ given what jason had said, peter shouldn't be surprised by the way that he looks when he approaches. there's definitely more than one question to be asked, but jason had said he was fine and he's up and moving which is — well, it's pretty much the definition of 'fine' peter tends to use for himself. sure, he might not extend it for anyone else, might not be inclined to want to use it for anyone else, but he can't say it comes out of left-field.

stubbornness tends to be part and parcel of them. ]

All I'm going to say is: at least none of this took a page out of Sleeping Beauty's book, right? Because hoo boy, I don't know how I'd have explained that one back home. [ he glances up at the sky and waves a hand semi-theatrically. ] "We met in another universe, I don't expect you to get it." [ a glance back at jason. ] I had enough issues with "yes, a cephalopod with a doctorate stole my body for a year, no, I'm really not lying, I didn't suddenly swallow a dictionary and start speaking solely in $10 words"... [ beat. ] I've also done the several girlfriends at once thing, and I can confirm it doesn't work out well, so...

Shall we alternate questions?

[ ignore the issue at hand so you don't have to deal with your crippling emotional issues: the peter parker way. ]

[ sure he looked rough. but also. he can tell peter's going a mile a minute to not deal with anything. those were tangents and ties Jason wouldn't have made-- and well. he can respect that this isn't how his family deals with things they don't want to acknowledge. but jury was still out on whether this was better or worse. ]

Hey, good to see you too. [ to some effect. whoever was taking care of him did good. so, that's one less worry for Jason, after everything. but he can't really relax, not like this. ]

Trading questions is good, so let's start with mine.

[ he keeps walking-- this is enough of being close to Bruce. It's time to go back to where he was holed up, and to really see the damage to the invincible. see what they did with that crazy plan to stay there-- a truly awful plan, judging by how burned he got from just one god damned spirit. he's still a little bit bitter. ]

How about we start with the non-Cliffnotes version of what you saw. What you and Bruce saw? Focus on the important stuff before I really drill into whether or not I should be concerned by how much time you spent with Bruce.

I didn't—. [ peter exhales and runs a hand through his hair. ] You didn't come up, Gotham didn't come up, nocturnal winged mammals didn't come up, either. There's nothing to be concerned about. [ is what he starts with; it's a little more clipped and a little more terse than it would ordinarily and otherwise be, but he's not about to start running his mouth on issues that absolutely don't concern him.

would he have liked to have brought it up? sure, especially when bruce decided to play that game of 'how much of this pew can peter parker carry before the both of us notice?', but it's not his secret to spill. he gets it. his secret on the other hand—. well, that's something else entirely.

there's a moment's silence before he continues. before he answers the actual question asked. it's hard not to think of the few parallels, hard not to think about how much he misses mj. that'd been the only reason he'd managed to get through being buried alive by kraven, in a series of events that managed to feel like a lifetime ago. ]

It was daylight — still Beacon, but Beacon as it probably was before any of [ he waves a hand again, but this time it's a little less emphatic. ] this happened. From what I could see of the town and the structures, it was more or less what we can see now, but lived in. Better attended to. [ beat. ] The planet only had one sun.

—We were just outside the church; the bell was ringing. I don't know what it was, but it felt like— [ peter pauses, glances at jason, and then exhales, the corners of his lips quirking into a slightly bemused, almost bitter smile. now it's not hard to wonder about how manipulated he was into running into the church. ] It felt like the church would be safe, y'know? Don't ask me from what, I didn't sense that anything was wrong the entire time—.

[ "the important things". sure. he holds up his hands, both of them. ] The bell was ringing, so I went up to see if there was anyone there. Bruce stayed on the ground floor. [ a sideways glance. ] Something about how heights make his hands sweaty. [ another breath; whatever. bruce playing pretend really isn't his issue and mentioning it would be hypocritical — not that he's above hypocrisy, but when it comes to the matter of privay and secret identities, it's very much a topic he'd prefer to ignore right at this moment in time. ] You know how in dreams, time doesn't make any sense? It was like that. I don't really want to guess at how much of it was guided and how much of it was organic.

[ there's a pause between when Peter stops speaking, and before Jason replies, but the shift in his expression is... not exactly relief, but something akin to relaxing. Just slightly, because Bruce is still, even now, a frustrating subject. A frustrating person. And also, presently, only tangentially important to the story he's trying to get answers to.

so for now? and probably forever? he'd rather not talk about Bruce. So, he opts to not answer the obvious question about sweaty hands. is it possible Bruce was sincere? at that age? maybe. but, it ultimately... wasn't important.

there are gestures Jason would like to make, movements that come naturally when he's feeling expressive, but moving right then is a matter of focus, being aware of what feels too tight and what feels like too fast. he doesn't want to push it to match Peter's expressiveness. he just raises his eyebrows.]

I'd guess very little was "organic." The angry spirits said something interesting to me-- that they wanted to show something.

(no subject)

no subject

1/2

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject