[EP] Frustration of a Caged Animal - OTA

[st_x5_494]

It was Max's fault, really. She had shown him what freedom looked like back home in Seattle and he had gotten used to not having to follow orders or be stuck within the confines of a complex like this. Had she just left well enough alone, he might have at least been okay with the routine here.

Deciding he needed a snack, he walked over to the vending machine filled with chocolate bars and chips and inserted a coin. Nothing happened. He pressed the retrieve button and still, nothing. He gently shook the machine and still nothing. Frustrated, Alec turned to drive his elbow into the glass to break it. Extreme? Maybe. But he was sure it would be satisfying too.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

It didn't occur to Peter until this very second that he didn't know Alec's name.

"Peter -- Peter Parker." Peter starts to offer his hand to Alec, but withdraws his hand before he can extend it for him to grab. This guy doesn't exactly seem like the hand-shakey type.

Once Alec is done unscrewing the panel, Peter pulls it loose, to reveal --

-- a lot of empty space.

Peter always thought there was something down there to keep it ground-heavy, but apparently not. Now that he thought about it, chances are there was a cooling system that would probably be stored here if these weren't room temperature-friendly candy.

"There's one more panel," Peter says, prodding what's probably the one panel separating them from candy. "And then we can check to see if there's anything else that might be missing a few parts."

[st_x5_494]

"I'm Alec." Alec was pretty sure this was a lot more effort than even a vending machine maker would do to their product for food.

"Alright." He unscrews the panel and gestures for him to try it. "You take a look. Try not to break anything." He was teasing since he had tried to break it, really.

[st_arkintern]

Peter sort-of crawls into the husk of the vending machine. "You know," he says, voice echoing slightly. "I'm pretty sure we could have gotten through here through the back, too."

Not that that made much of a difference now; they were already in it too far for them to go backtracking now. Peter just hoped that no one actually saw them.

Peter pulls out his cell phone and turns the flashlight app back on. And then he spots it -- another weird panel, right near where the candy would drop off. It's clipped into place, so no need for the Swiss Army knife.

He switches to camera, takes a photo of all the wires and where they're connected, and then starts unplugging the cables. And as soon as that's done, he manages to pop it off neatly, revealing a long metal bar that extended the length of the machine and smelt --

Peter sniffs.

-- vaguely burnt.

Still stationed inside of the husk of the candy machine, in the middle of a hallway, no doubt looking as though he was in the process of destroying the very machine he was trying to save, Peter extends an arm out just far enough for Alec to easily get a look at the device.

"Here, can you take a look at this? I think this might be what's wrong."

[st_x5_494]

Alec smelled it before Peter said anything, but he crouched and took a look anyways. "Looks like something's fried. Not sure how we're going to fix that with a knife and some gumption." But the kid probably fixed a lot of things with gumption.

[st_arkintern]

Peter shimmies out of the machine and sits down on the floor.

"I don't know," he admits, feeling a little despondent. "I mean, if there's something wrong with that--" he gestures to the part that Alec's holding, "I'm not sure there's really anything we can do."

It's not like Peter to give up so easily. And maybe, with the internet and the proper tools and a junkyard, it'd be easier for him to have a go at it. But right now, he really doesn't have any of those things.

Finally, he says: "I can probably squeeze my hand in there and get you a candy, though." A beat. "I mean, as long as it's one of the lower-rung ones."

[st_x5_494]

Alec looked at the kid, then the machine, then to kid again. He was trying to decide how desperate he wanted a Snickers. "You're really one of those guys who has to help people and make things right, huh?" Alec was maybe more shocked than critical about it since there weren't a lot of people left like that in his world. Even Logan had a dark side and this kid didn't seem to have any darkness to him.

[st_arkintern]

"Well," Peter says, panting a little (it was really weird and cramped and strangely hot down there). "I- I try to be, yeah."

A beat, and then:

"Did you decide what you want?"

[st_x5_494]

Well now he felt a little bad for the kid.

"Surprise me, kid." Pause. "But pick a good one."

No pressure Peter.

[st_arkintern]

Peter crawls back in and manages to wring his arm through. It's hard for him to really get a good look at what his fingers are touching, though, so it's probably for the best that Peter didn't get a concrete answer.

The first bar he can't wring loose; it gets stuck on the rung and Peter's pretty sure he inadvertently broke the bar in half. The next one, he has better luck with. Once he manages to pry it loose from its coiled prison, he tugs out his arm and blindly hands it to Alec as he shimmies out for a second (or was that third?) time today.

[st_x5_494]

Alec took the offered item and discovered it was a Payday bar. His lips pressed with a subtle sign of disappointed. Not even something with chocolate. He paused, looking at the wrapped food another moment in silence before he shrugged and opened it up. He took a big bit, then looked at Peter. As if realizing something, he held out the half eaten bar and spoke around the food in his mouth. "Want some?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter shakes his head, smiling lightly. "No," he says. "It's fine. I should, uh, probably put this thing back together anyway."

He gestures over at the machine, and looks down at it. It's in an even sadder state of affairs than when he first found it.

"And hope that the building just repairs it overnight."

[st_x5_494]

With a shrug that said 'more for me' he took another bite as he surveyed the machine and nodded. He spoke after he swallowed this time.

"Considering I broke the glass on this thing last week, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet."

[st_arkintern]

Peter has to stop himself from collapsing against the base of the machine.

"You do this all the time?"

Peter flings out an arm behind him, at the dismantled snack machine.

[st_x5_494]

He did a palms up gesture that also sort of gestured at the machine. "Only when it stops working. It's kind of its own fault that in a place apparently filled with magic and whatever that it stops working."

[st_arkintern]

Peter presses his lips together and doesn't say anything for a full fifteen seconds.

And then finally, when Peter thinks he won't be as angry, he finally opens his mouth to ask:

"Is this what you're like back at home -- when there's no magic to just repair your broken candy machines?"

[st_x5_494]

"Actually, you'd be lucky to find one of these intact anymore. The world kind of went to shit so it's every man for himself." He offered a shrug in a 'it is what it is' expression. "And honestly, if I did see one intact, I'd break it. The city's corrupt and people could use it more than some brown-noser in office."

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks at him, totally perplexed, though Alec's explanation does sort of clear up why he acts like this though.

"But aren't things --" Peter has to stop himself from saying normal "-- not like that anymore? You don't have to do the things you used to do."

[st_x5_494]

"Sure." Except this was easier since it wasn't like there seemed to be any real consequences for breaking the machine. Still, the kid seemed pained. "Alright. Alright. I promise next time I'll just come find you so you can stick your hand back in there to get me something."

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks pleased with this turn of events.

"Yeah!" he says, and he gestures down the hallway. "My room's 215. I'm not there all the time, but if you're going to look for me anywhere, it's gonna be there."

Negotiations complete, Peter goes back to trying to put the machine back together. This was going to be a much bigger pain than taking it apart.

[st_x5_494]

Alec watched him for a minute. He couldn't quite believe the kid agreed to doing such an inane task for him in the future (and of course Alec was going to have to see if he would actually do it now).

"Remind me to buy you a drink sometime. You need to totally loosen up."

[st_arkintern]

"Thanks," Peter says, popping pieces back into place. "But I think I'm okay. I don't really drink."

Really drink meaning he doesn't drink at all.

[st_x5_494]

"Everyone drinks, they just haven't found their drink yet." Alec was a big fan of drinking and it solved a lot of problems, too.

[st_arkintern]

"Somehow I doubt that," Peter says, continuing to tinker with things. Dammit, how did this get back on again?

"Did you enjoy your candy bar, at least?"

[st_x5_494]

"Chocolate would have been better." Alec was perfectly happy to just watch him put it all back. "Hey kid -" Alec threw a punch at Peter's chest. It was faster than what should be normal, but he was holding back the intensity. He was testing out a theory.

[st_arkintern]

In one supernaturally swift movement, Peter catches Alec's hand in his palm. Peter's frown deepens.

"What was that for?" he demands. "Did you hate the candy bar that much?"