st_igmatized: (Blaxploitation)
st_igmatized ([personal profile] st_igmatized) wrote in [community profile] strangetrip2018-05-15 12:18 am

[GP/EP] Check-in Day

It was a musical day at the Madonna Inn, both inside and out. Curnen had taken her usual place up on the roof and was singing charms to the sky to keep any wanderers from getting lost (though that part of it was not immediately obvious). Unrelated to that, Sunny was on the dance floor in the bar, summoning songs of her own with her knife to keep her moving before she went to do her shift at the library later. It was one of those days where if she thought about it too hard she’d start thinking about that empty bed in her shitty room and the person she most wanted to be there.

This of course eventually seeped into her magic. She knew better. Maybe she’d even wanted that to happen.

Because just once, between different pop hits and dance beats came a rather unexpected French love song. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but the exasperation didn’t last. Before the lyrics started up she was waltzing. By herself and not caring how it might have looked. And for those three and a half minutes, she dared let herself hope for the slimmest chance that Orlu might come through that door.

She didn’t let herself hope too hard, though. There was admitting to feeling things and there was setting yourself up for certain disappointment. She’d lived too long with disappointment to do that to herself.
st_arkintern: (Smile.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-16 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah," Peter says, confused, as if he's not sure why Alec's bringing this up.

Peter continues to invade Alec's personal bubble, tracing a path a half-foot behind him over to the sinks.

"I told Rocket that you live with me because he seemed to have some problems with the security of the inn and I didn't want him to think you were breaking into my room because I didn't want him pulling a gun on you or something." Which seemed like it might be a real possibility.

"Then after that I came downstairs and I was just drawing in my notebook because I couldn't find anyone and I met this guy whose name is Star-Lord and he's from my future. He knows me, Alec! Future-me!"
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-16 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)

Alec spent time washing his hands - maybe even washing it more than normal - and was silent the entire time which was, in part, to irk Peter a little. He didn't say anything as he dried his hands.

"Alright, clearly if we're going to have this conversation, I'm going to need some booze." Apart from the fact he had been drinking since 10am already. He did a 'follow me' gesture. "Come on, kid."

He headed for the lobby. "So you met a talking raccoon and some guy who calls himself Star Lord?" Alec did a slight eye-roll. What was with the names of people in Peter's world.

st_arkintern: (Smile.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-16 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Alec's attempt to irk Peter is foiled by Peter's sheer amount of enthusiasm right now. Peter pads hurriedly behind, and later next to Alec.

"Yeah, the raccoon's name is Rocket," he supplies helpfully. He'd warn Alec not to call him 'mister', but he's pretty sure Alec has never called anyone 'mister' in his entire life, so he's not terribly worried about it. "And Star-Lord's the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy."

It's clear from the way that Peter says the name that he truly thinks it's the coolest.
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-16 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)

He looked at Peter as they walked. His enthusiasm was evident and maybe, just a little part of him, threatened to pull a smile to his lips, though it doesn't form. He's not scowling either, though.

"Rocket Raccoon." Oh good - Alliteration. And there was more of it with their group's name. "So I'm going to guess we're talking space people, right? Aliens and space ships and all that." He paused. "And one of them knows you?"

Somehow Alec is pretty sure that's not as good as a thing as Peter thinks it is.

st_arkintern: (Smile.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-16 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, Star-Lord," he says. "Mr. Star-Lord. He's the one who knows me. And Alec- Alec - Alec --"

Peter swiftly moves in front of Alec to grip him tightly by the shoulders.

"I'm an Avenger. An Avenger. And I got a new suit, and I-- I --"

Suddenly, Peter Parker, human talk machine, is at a complete loss of words.
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-16 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)

For some reason the news doesn't even remotely excite Alec. In fact, he felt the opposite. Still, Peter looked so... Happy.

"Congratulations kid." Which came out without enthusiasm but lacking the usual added tinge to it that indicated he was purposefully being an ass.

st_arkintern: (Smile.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-16 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Alec's reaction was about what Peter expected. But that was exactly why he came to Alec. Because Alec, unlike someone like Liz, wouldn't be upset by this revelation.

"Mr. Stark took me with him and this guy named Dr. Strange and we ended up going to fight this other guy named Thanos who's trying to erase half the universe." Peter shouldn't be nearly as excited about this as he is, but it means that Mr. Stark trusted him and thought he could help and maybe that didn't quite mean that Mr. Stark respected him, but it was close. It might be the closest he's going to get.

"And Mr. Star-Lord and the Guardians -- we ended up on some enemy ship and they ended up attacking us because they thought we were the bad guys, but we ended up partnering up so we could work together to defeat him."

Peter takes a breath, realizes that he's still holding Alec's shoulders, then finally lets go.
Edited (Not Quill. He's STAR-LORD.) 2018-05-16 22:03 (UTC)
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 03:13 am (UTC)(link)

Alec retrieved a bottle of whiskey - the whole bottle - as Peter continued. It sounded like a sci-fi movie, but it also sounded dangerous. Peter was still a teenager and suddenly Alec felt like what he imagined Max did with Joshua or her siblings. He felt... responsible for this kid.

When had that happened?

"Do you? Defeat him, I mean." Alec took a seat at a table and poured himself an ample amount before drinking it.

st_arkintern: (Smile.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Mr. Quill came before we defeated him," Peter says. "So I don't know, but I'm sure we do. The Guardians sound really capable and I know Mr. Stark's capable and I'm pretty sure that if that Dr. Strange person was with us, he has to be capable, too."

Peter nods seriously.

"I'm just -- I'm so excited," Peter says, as if this weren't already abundantly obvious to Alec. "I was fighting street thugs before I took down the Vulture," he explains. "And the Vulture, he could have done a lot of damage with all that tech on the plane, but he didn't get the chance to be the force he could have been. Thanos is my first big bad guy. The kind of bad guy that's gonna let me prove myself to the rest of the Avengers."

To Mr. Stark.
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 03:35 am (UTC)(link)

As Peter continued to talk and talk about big bads and Avengers and some dude named Thanos, Alec drank. Did the kid hear himself? This was exactly what was wrong with Peter. He had some messed up fantasy about what being a superhero was like. It didn't even seem to register on his face that he could die.

Suddenly Alec felt angry. Peter, who was usually so worried about the little details in things, was being so reckless. He downed some more whiskey and brought the glass down perhaps a bit harder than he meant to on the table top. "No one should ever be excited for a fight. You're going to get yourself killed if you treat it like a game."

Dammit, Peter.

st_arkintern: (:|)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm not treating it like a game," Peter argues insistently. "I'm going to get to save people, just like I did before. Just like after the ATM robbery and after the Washington Monument and --" Can he count the ferry? Probably not. "-- with the whole airplane thing. This isn't any different, except I'm going to get to do it with Mr. Stark and Mr. Quill and Dr. Strange and everyone else. I'm going to take it even more seriously because they're there with me."

Peter can't know it because he hasn't lived it, but he's sure of it.

"When I grew up, Mr. Stark was my hero. He saved my life, Alec. If you had a hero, you'd understand how much this means to me. How much it means to be fighting with him."
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 04:02 am (UTC)(link)

"You're not grown up yet Peter. You're fifteen. Like it or not, you're not an adult yet and god dammit, what the hell are you going to do if you die? What's your aunt going to do? Or your friends? Or Liz? Or your 'Mr. Stark'?"

That's when Alec realized he was standing and actually raising his voice. It wasn't quite a yell, but it was close. "You don't think someone who 'wants to erase half the universe' is someone you might want to even be a little afraid of? Cautious of? Or, I don't know respectful of? You're treating the idea of fighting this guy like some video game with friends. I'm sure you'll feel just as excited to fight with him when you die. Or you watch him die. People die Peter. All the damn time."

st_arkintern: (:|)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sixteen," Peter shoots back, and he can feel his anger rising. He pushes himself off his chair and looks up at Alec, defiant in the sort of way that only a teenager can be.

"Do you have any idea how many times I've almost died and survived it? I fought the Vulture on the outside of an airplane 35,000 feet in the air in nothing but a hoodie and sweatpants. I almost got sucked into a turbine twice, I almost fell off more times than I could count -- and when the plane crashed, I still didn't die."

Peter has to take a breath there because he's so angry and this makes him feel just like he did during that fight with Mr. Stark on the ferry.

"It wasn't just that, either. I was crushed under two tons of building. I had to jump over the moving blades of a helicopter to get enough momentum to be able to break a window made of 4-inch ballistic glass. When the Vulture and his goons used their alien tech, they could have sliced right through me, but they didn't because I know what I'm doing."

Peter knows, logically, that he should shut up here, but Alec touched a nerve and he can't stop. And he doesn't want to.

"I have done so many things and everyone -- everyone just treats me like a kid. You treat me like a kid. I'm not a kid. Kids don't -- they don't do the things that I do. So stop treating me like I don't know what I'm doing. Don't treat me like I don't know the risks. I know them, and even though no one believes in me, I believe in myself."
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 04:32 am (UTC)(link)

There was a lot to unpack there and Alec couldn't believe have of what Peter said. The kid was so clueless it was infuriating. How the hell did people choose to have children and raise them? How the hell did Manticore have hundreds of teenagers and the staff not go insane? Why were teenagers so damn annoying?!

Alec's voiced changed. It went from loud to dangerously low and calm as he eyes narrowed.

"If you don't think Stark or Starlord or Dr Strange or whoever the hell else isn't scared fighting that 'big bad' you talk about, then you are still a child. And you -don't- know what you're doing. You're still learning. Everyone is still learning. If you don't think you have things to learn, then you're good as dead anyways."

And then suddenly Alec drew out his knife and held it out, handle side toward Peter. "You're such an adult. You know how to handle every situation. You can win no matter what. Nothing you can't overcome.... then stab me. Show me you have the guts. Because from the sounds of that guy you're going to fight, there's only one way he is stopped and it's killing him. Are you ready to take his life?"

st_arkintern: (:|)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Killing," Peter says. "Why's it always got to be with the killing?" Peter takes the knife and throws it to the ground where it lands, spinning along the floor until it strikes the wall.

"That's what matters to you? Whether or not I can kill someone? I'm not going to kill people, Alec. I'm not like you."
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 04:44 am (UTC)(link)

Everything in Alec's body stilled for a moment as he stared at Peter. Stared at Peter in intense silence.

When he spoke, the voice was low and precise and cold. "You're right. You're supposed to be better."

For a split second it was as if he was going to say something more, but then he didn't. He turned, picking up the bottle of whiskey as he did, and with long, deliberate strides, left.

st_arkintern: (:|)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
Peter doesn't look away. Not even when Alec stares down at him in absolute silence.

You're right. You're supposed to be better."

Alec is acting like Mr. Stark.

He's acting so much like Mr. Stark that Peter can feel himself trembling a little. Not in fear, but in anger.

Peter strides after him and pulls Alec by his shoulder so he's facing him.

"I don't understand why you don't think I can do this," he says. "Why you think that just because this guy wants to wipe out half the galaxy that I'm not going to be able to take him on with a bunch of other people who are much stronger than me."

Peter's willing to admit that he's not where he needs to be.

"All you want to do is tear me down. The one time -- the one time I felt like like maybe someone believed in me and you took that away from me."

Peter looks at Alec, jaw set. And as angry as Peter looks right now, there's something wavering beneath the surface that isn't anger.

It's vulnerability.
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 05:19 am (UTC)(link)

Alec turned and listened to Peter's tantrum because that's what it felt like. Like a child, not even a teenager, cry because he pointed out something that maybe was true and he didn't like it. He waited until Peter got it all out. All the whining masked through anger. Alec's own intensity was still the low, quiet kind like when someone was disappointed rather than spurred on by something.

"No one is saying you aren't capable Peter. The only one who ever brings that up is you. You think whenever someone criticizes you it's because of your age. Well guess what? It's your attitude. You ask your other 'superhero' friends here if they would be so excited to face someone like Thanos like you seem to be. That they wouldn't just want peace instead of putting their life on the line. Putting their friends on the line."

He paused. The only part that actually stung was that Peter thought Alec wanted to tear him down. Still, that's not what he said. Instead, he heard himself saying more truth than he meant to.

"If you're so damn excited to risk your life and maybe die. You go tell Liz what you told me. I'm sure just like a good girlfriend who treats you like an adult, she'll be excited for you. And if she doesn't? Maybe she just wants to tear you down too."

Edited 2018-05-17 05:25 (UTC)
st_arkintern: (:|)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
Alec's verbal blows are landing. Hard. Peter feels his jaw clenching tighter and tighter every time Alec opens his mouth.

"You don't think I'd want peace? I want peace," he says. "That's why I'm fighting. I'm not going to just sit around while some asshole tries to obliterate half of the universe."

Even though Peter doesn't know what he'll think in the future, he's sure that's exactly what he'd think.

"I'm excited to be Spider-Man," he says, directing a hand at himself. "And maybe -- maybe it's stupid of me to believe that I might be able to play some small part in being able to save everyone and be excited about that, too. It's still better than being afraid."
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 05:44 am (UTC)(link)

"Being afraid is what keeps you alive you idiot!" And he couldn't quite maintain the lowness anymore and his voice exploded. That Peter couldn't see that you could be confident in yourself and realistically scared at the same time was so beyond Alec's comprehension. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. Mature." He resisted the eyeroll, but man did he want to. "If you can't figure out life isn't black and white, then you're going to die. You're going to die and maybe you deserve to."

The last part slipped out from anger rather than truth and he instantly regretted it.

st_arkintern: (I'm sorry.)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_arkintern 2018-05-17 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
Peter just looks at Alec. It's not an angry look like the one Alec gave him after he said he wasn't like him.

He just looks stunned.

Peter starts to open his mouth to say something, but nothing really comes out.

Instead, he turns around and leaves.
st_x5_494: (Default)

Re: Closed to Peter

[personal profile] st_x5_494 2018-05-17 05:54 am (UTC)(link)

Unlike Peter, Alec doesn't go after him. Alec felt like shit and then was angry because how did this become about him being shitty to Peter again? How did, after all the stupid things that teenage boy said, Alec's the one who felt like a jerk?

He watched Peter walk away, then turned himself. He had a "Star-Lord" to find.