strangetrip | [GP/status] OtherWorlds: Welcome to Asphodel Station

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[GP/status] OtherWorlds: Welcome to Asphodel Station

By the time the Crystal Room, recently and precipitously vacated by Kash, had closed itself off to begin its transformation, the incipient connection to a new world had already been reflected in the Inn's shops. Notably, after Valentine's Day, the boutique had begun to stock two new clothing trends. First came the heavily weighted apparel, almost like blankets for those on the autism spectrum, designed to hang against the body and stay against the body, most of them in fairly neutral shades and modest styles. Then came the exquisitely light, unusual fabrics, that seemed made for dancing and twirling. They often had extra fabric, tubes and ruffs, and layers that when caught in the wind would puff out into shapes. These tended toward the colorful, and while rarely what any 21st century Earth person would call scandalous, they often seemed to be playing peekaboo with spectators and the flesh beneath.

Other, less interesting, changes happened more suddenly. Every room had fresh water bottles delivered daily. The chef's chicken dishes inexplicably began to contain a great deal of cream, cheese, and cream cheese. The ice machines occasionally acted up and spit a stream of cubes at people passing without filling a bucket.

In retrospect, when the Crystal Room opened onto the deck of what might once have been some kind of space yacht but had become more the equivalent of an overcrowded tour bus for penny-pinchers and scholarship kids, it was more obvious than ever that where they'd be going, what they'd need when they'd get there, and the camouflaging of their arrival wasn't entirely random. The captain and passengers of the dirty, overcrowded space-bus SC Trolley couldn't possibly have cared less where the extra passengers came from, if they even noticed. And the docking crew on the pretentiously named Celadon Ring (third from the top, reserved for miner-leave ships and the odd 'leisure' travelers), was more interested in clan personal matters than in how many people were supposed to be on the ship versus how many left through its doors. After the first few hours of the ship's arrival, no one cared at all, which made it very easy for the people of the Inn to come and go.

Whatever intelligence lay behind their off-world jaunts could do little about their appearances, however, and their strange fleshy colors and hairstyles drew unpleasant looks from many on station. The Verineans in particular were none too thrilled by the appearance of a long-forgotten race, and behave more haughtily than ever. The Trovians poked them curiously and ran away. Most of the others avoided them. Only the Gunnii and the Diggers seemed to take them in stride.

Nevertheless, the noisy Hub with its welter of foreign tongues, the familiar patter of bargains and auctions, backed by the odd and occasionally terrifying structural creaks and groans, smelled of tarnished metal, less than fresh bodies, and commerce. Away from the pristine living quarters in the wealthiest petals, Asphodel was a trade station, and anyone with goods to trade and a will to trade them wouldn't be turned (too hard) away.

The rings and Paidia, the upper and the downbelow were something of a different story. Dangerous in the rings and the downbelow, downright welcoming in the Paidia, and off-limits without bribes on the upper, they had their own rules and their own essences. In truth, the station was large enough with so little in the way of true government, it might as well have been several small nations bound together by a gravitational system and air supply.

Regardless of where they planned to go, any visitor that exited a ship in one of the rings was made to watch a welcome video while waiting for the lifts. It contained the basic rules, offenses punishable by death, and an overview map of the station. Exchange rates in currencies unknown to the Inn were posted at the lifts exit doors. Yet whenever any first left the rings for the Hub or elsewhere on Asphodel they couldn't help but be unprepared.

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"I'm fine," Peter reassures her. "I heal really fast, and I mean, I've gotten into bigger scrapes in junior high." He really doesn't want her to feel bad about this, because it's really not that bad in the grand scheme of things.

"Ask me about my fight with the Vulture later," he tells her, because maybe, eventually, he should give her a better idea of the danger he was in on a regular basis, so she knew that things like this were small potatoes in comparison.

It's only when Liz stops mid-sentence that Peter turns around, prepared to waylay yet another cat-person. But the person standing there isn't a Meiki; it's a mole-person. The same mole-person that helped him later.

Peter reaches out for Liz's hand and trails after the guy. "He helped me find you earlier," he quickly explains as he tries to keep pace with him.

Then to the mole-person: "Thank you. You really helped back there, and you -- you didn't need to."

Liz filed away 'The Vulture' for future conversation as she followed Peter's lead to follow the mole person. Peter's hand seemed warmer than normal, or maybe it was that she was even more aware of it right now. it was hard to tell.

The mole-boy shrugged. "I don't like the Whiskers... besides, you're from this place, right?" He points to his hat, then gestured to Liz's bag with the same logo. He stopped for a moment at the corner and looked around it before back at the two of them. "I'm Yetu. And, sorry about those guys. We're not used to uh..." Yetu looked over at Liz and might have blushed if he had cheeks that could do it and quickly went back to Peter because the male humans - as he had been told was their race - were easier to look at. "Well you're all smooth and squishy and pink and new and rare things go for a lot. And you two are young."

Liz had no idea how to react to that at the moment and couldn't decide if that was a compliment or not, but it creeped her out nonetheless.

Yetu sighed. "Anyways, it's not all like that. You want to see a cool place? It's one of the best spots around here and I know a short cut."

Peter looks at Liz for her stamp of approval before he voices a solid yes or no. "You okay with that?" he asks. "We can always go back to the Inn and come back later, if you want." That was already a ton of excitement; he wouldn't blame her for wanting to go back. Especially since all the aliens here were being so weird about her.

That was a complicated question for Liz to answer since she had just been flung off a balcony and free climbed back up her boyfriend's web. She should have wanted to leave completely, but she supposed after fighting the Skins and all the other really weird and dangerous things she'd done back home in Roswell was setting her up for things like this. Maybe. But the biggest thing that made her want to stay was him. She wanted to spend time with Peter in more than one place. It felt like they were actually doing something together even if they already were doing things back home. It was different. This felt important, and special.

"I'm okay." She offered him a smile. "But, only if you're okay. You're the one who..." She gestured to his shirt, her smile turning a little meek.

Yetu stood there arms crossed, but he was admiring a little dangling Madonna Inn "M" that was hanging off the backpack's pull tab.

"Well, I'm okay," Peter says, gesturing to himself, his fingers grazing over the claw-like holes in his shirt. "But only if you're okay." His eyes narrow slightly on Liz, his brows furrowed with concern. "Are you -- are you really sure you're okay?"

That look made Liz's chest feel warm. She paused, then took a step closer to Peter, eyes on him the entire time, and slowly leaned in and gave him a long, slow kiss that lingered and pulled at their lips as she took a step back. Eyes back on him, she nodded. "I promise. As long as I'm with you, I'll go anywhere."

Peter's lips tug into a crooked, awkward smile -- the kind of smile that's trying to hide how happy someone is, but failing miserably at it. Peter's always had a hard time hiding his feelings, and this is no exception; it's clear that Liz's words have really touched him.

"Sure," he tells the mole-person. "We'll go. But, uh -- what's this great place you're taking us to?"

Peter likes a surprise as much as the next person, but given everything that just happened... it might be a good idea to know in advance, just so they're prepared for whatever might happen there.

For his part, Yetu had his eyes, or rather, goggles covered with his eyes when they kissed. When Peter seemed to speak to him, he peaks out from his stubby fingers tentatively before letting his arms drop to the side. "The hub. Really pretty. You can do more of ... that." He made a small face like a child talking about their parents kissing and gestured to them. "There's these gardens. Really pretty. Flowers that glow."

Liz looked over to Peter, letting him make the final decision. "Really pretty." She said it with a smile since Yetu seemed to really want them to understand it was pretty.

"Yeah, sure," Peter says to Yetu. "I'm Peter." He hesitates, then extends a hand down to Yetu to shake. He wasn't sure if this was going to be offensive culturally, but Yetu seems to understand that they're recent arrivals, and probably would be less likely to take offense.

"That's how we introduce ourselves where we're from," he explains.

"Oh," Yetu says, obviously pleased at this new knowledge. He extends a hand up to Liz to shake. "And you? Your name?"

"I'm Liz." She reached out and shook his hand. It felt different than a human hand, though she knew, of course, it should.

Yet smiled. "Okay. So we'll go? If I bring you.... Can I have that?" He pointed at the pull tab.

Liz swung her backpack around to get a better look and saw the M in bright sparkly pink. "Um, sure."

It took a bit of fandangling, but Liz was able to get it off and handed it to Yet who was excited. He even giggled a bit.

He pocketed the pull tab and then gestured for them to follow him through a tunnel that fit his size but would require Liz and Peter to duck a bit. The tunnel had faint lighting, probably used by workers for something. It curved several times and Yet ignored various offshoots of other tunnels and they worked their way through what felt like a labyrinth.

Peter ducks low as he navigates behind Yetu. He's a little confused why they're going down here like this, especially when there's so many wide, open spaces elsewhere. Even the alleyways were massive compared to the ones he changed into Spidey-gear back in Queens.

"Is there a main entrance, or is this just the only way in?" Peter asks.

"Not only way in," Yetu clarifies. "But safest."

"Safest?" Peter echoes, puzzled. Now he's starting to have second thoughts.

"Generally off-limits," Yetu explains. "Place for Ver."

Liz was trying to keep the direction they were going in her head, but she was pretty sure she had no idea anymore. Hopefully they wouldn't have to use this way to get back.

"The Ver seem very... strict." Liz was trying to be polite because who knew were the laws reached in this place. Her comment seemed to draw a heart laugh from the Yetu before Yetu paused and pushed when he reached a grate. He pushed it to the side and climbed out.

Liz looked at Peter - to late to turn back now, right? She took a step out, having to blink a little with the new light of the hub again. Around them was probably the most beautiful garden Liz had ever seen. There were tall plants and flowers of various colours that all seemed to illuminate. There was a pond not too far off either and there was the soft sound of rushing water. Liz turned in spot, eyes wide and a smile spreading across her features.

"Wow."

It's the only thing that Peter can think to say. Large, brightly-colored flowers protrude from the earth, large enough that he could stick his entire hand in between the petals and touch the plant's style.

One flower had thin, strangely shaped petals that seemed to shift from blue to purple on a whim. Another had a strangely-shaped stigma, and filaments that fell over long, thin pink-white petals like gently-bent wires.

There were so many others, and everything felt so strange and new and so unlike the many scifi games and movies and TV shows Peter had known back home. The steel, the dull grays and blues and near-blacks -- that he was used to in his scifi. This brilliant stretch of color and beauty, he'd never seen anything like it. Not in any of that scifi media he so vigorously consumed, or even back home in Queens.

And when Liz finally turns to face him and she smiles, Peter smiles, too. Yetu was right; this was a good place to kiss. And so he does, one hand reaching out for hers, the other wrapping gently against the nape of her neck a half-second before their lips meet.

He was really, truly glad they were both here together.

There was something about when Peter kisses her, when he took the first step forward, that made Liz go weak at the knees. She could feel what she described as a rush of energy hit her heart at rapid pace, almost making her heart ache a bit. A good kind of ache.

She kissed him back, eyes closed and her hand that wasn't holding his touched the small of his back. She'd probably never tell him, but Liz discovered every time she touched his back, it was hard for her to find the desire to pull away. His back was... really nice.

Cheeks flushed now from thinking about what the back might look like without a shirt on, and from the kiss, Liz kissed him again. This felt almost like a scene from a movie to her, except she didn't think any movie could think up this kind of place.

Yetu made some sort of embarrassed sound which caused Liz to smile against Peter's lips, but she didn't move away. She didn't want to move away ever, right now.

"Yetu," Peter says. "You mind if Liz and I go sit by the pool a little?" he says, gesturing to the pond.

"Don't mind, don't mind at all." Yetu says, turning around. It was clear he was still embarrassed, and Peter hoped some distance would help with that.

Peter leads her towards the pond and stops at an enormous purple-blue boulder nearby; it's the perfect height for them to sit down on, and it's close enough that they can still hear the trickle of water. He waits for Liz to sit down first, and then he sits down beside her.

"This is nice," Peter says. "We didn't really have any place like this in Queens. Even in Germany, I didn't really have a lot of time to sightsee." Mr. Stark had him back home pretty quickly after that big combat with the other half of the Avengers.

"But, I still want to take you on a date while we're here. A proper one."

Roswell was mostly desert and rocks. Liz definitely thought this place was the prettiest place she had ever seen. Later she'd realize she hadn't thought about Max or Antar at all, not since they stepped foot in that bar.

"You mean you don't save all your other girlfriends from falling off a balcony?" She joked with a smile, enjoying how close she was to him. Her eyes scanned the area around them for a moment before back to him. "What do you want to do, on a proper date?"

"I saved the entire Decathlon Team from falling down an elevator shaft after I missed the Nationals," Peter says, smiling lightly. "But yeah, other than that, saving people from falling long distances isn't something I do that often."

Spider-Man was a solo act most of the time. And Peter was thankful for that. The combats where he had to worry about someone other than him were the ones that were the most stressful for him. Especially when it involved someone he really cared about, like Liz.

He was just happy that that particular fight was short-lived.

"I don't know," Peter admits. "I mean, I've only been on one date before, and that was at Homecoming and I ended up ditching her to go fight her dad." Awkward.

"But like, totally ideal? If we were back in the real world?" Not that this world wasn't real, but it was definitely different. "I'd want to take you out to the movies, and then after we would go to that Thai place I told you about before. And then I'd take you out to Kissena after hours and I'd sneak you in and we'd just lay out somewhere and look up at the stars and just talk."

A beat.

"Or whatever stars we could actually see," Peter clarifies. "There's not many of them in New York City."

When Peter started to describe his ideal date, Liz's expression turned into this soft smile with bright eyes. His idea of an ideal date was pretty perfect and it caused her to reach out and take hold of his hand again. "That... that sounds like the best date ever." Even if he might never be able to actually do it with her, but she tried not to let herself think like that. At least not in moments like this.

"But... I mean, you did sneak me in somewhere." Maybe with some help, but that didn't count in Liz's mind. She couldn't quite help herself and she kissed him again, twisting at the waist as they sat there.

"Yeah," Peter says, smiling. "I guess I did."

Peter looks down at a strange red flower and mentally deliberates the risk of plucking it for Liz. Probably not a good idea; if it turned out it was against the rules, Liz would be the one to get in trouble.

But he still wanted to get one for Liz. Even if it wasn't here. This place had to have a flower shop somewhere, right?

"What about you?" Peter asks. "What would be your ideal date?"

"Mine?" Liz paused. No one really asked her that except when her and Maria would sit around and talk about boys.

"Well... I guess." As she spoke she pictured it, seeing all the little details that would make the whole thing perfect. "If we were back in Roswell. I think It'd be a picnic in the desert. There's this spot that's far enough away where you can see the whole town and at night it looks really pretty, but it's also far enough away to see the entire night sky. It's kind of like the sky at the Inn, actually." She just never felt comfortable leaving the perimeter of the inn at night to really get a good look because she knew it was dangerous out there by herself.

"Homemade sandwiches, fruit, and cupcakes." She looked at him at the last part and then laughed softly.

"You know, we could do that back at the inn sometime," he says. The stars out there are a lot more vibrant than they were in Queens. Part of Peter wishes that he had a telescope because he's sure he'd get a lot more use out of it at the Madonna Inn than he ever would at home.

"If you make the cupcakes, I can put together the sandwiches and the fruit," he says. "I like your cupcakes."

"Okay, yeah." Liz was actually practicing with Pike a little on how to improve her baking so she thought maybe the next batch would be even better. Less dry.

"I'd like that a lot, actually."

Just then Yetu came scurrying toward them, small arms waving. "Ver, ver, ver!" And in a panic the alien friend ducked out of view from her and Peter, disappearing somewhere to the left.

Liz stood up. "We should. Um. Hide?" She looked around the garden. There were some large plants they could probably squeeze between.

Peter looks around frantically, trying to find someplace to hide. Finally, he spots a cluster of purple-and-yellow mushrooms with stems thick enough for them to hide behind.

The one problem is that they're going to have a hard time squeezing in between the stems.

He races towards them, pulling Liz with him. "You first," he tells her when they finally reach a narrow opening between two of the massive mushrooms.

Edited 2018-03-06 18:06 (UTC)

She wanted to protest about going first, but she knew there wasn't time so she pushed herself into the stalks. It was harder than she thought it would be and wondered if this is what bugs felt like sometimes.

She turned enough so she could face where Peter should be coming from. There was no place to further in behind her anyways. She reached out, hoping to find Peter's hand and draw him closer. If he got caught she didn't know what she'd do.

Peter reaches for her outstretched hand and just barely manages to squeeze in just before the Ven pass by, talking; one of them looks at the boulder they had been sitting on until a minute or two before, and for a single moment, Peter's sure he forgot something there --

-- but when he frantically pats at his back, he realizes his backpack is still there.

He breathes a sigh of relief.

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