[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_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?"

[st_x5_494]

Alec smirked a little and withdrew his hand. "Just seeing if what I thought was true. You're a lot stronger than you look, kid."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, so?" Peter's frown only grows as he releases Alec's fist. He hates being called a kid. He's not a kid, and it really makes him mad that Alec thinks so.

[st_x5_494]

This was the first time Alec saw the kid actually look like he was upset. So it seemed he had some backbone to him, too.

He offered a shrug. "Just an observation. I guess here it doesn't matter, but if you're hiding it back home I'd at least add some huffing and puffing."

[st_arkintern]

Peter feels a surge of frustration rise up in him. First, calling him a kid, now telling him what to do? He knows what to do.

"I don't need to be told how to use my powers," Peter counters, his shoulders held back. "I've had them for over a year now, and I know what I'm doing."

[st_x5_494]

Alec saw the change in his posture. huh. Something was pent up there and Alec was bringing it out - he seemed to do that, Logan would probably point out.

He gave a single nod as if agreeing, but in almost a blur of speed Alec round-house kicked out at Peter's chest from what had been a very casual stance.