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st_igmatized) wrote in
strangetrip2018-05-15 12:18 am
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[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.
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.
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"This is it, this is it," he whispers hurriedly to Liz.
And then when he speaks it, Peter mouths the entire thing perfectly, as if he has seen the movie a million times.
It's not long before the movie is over, and Peter turns to look at Liz.
"What did you think?"
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A little sheepish expression crossed her face as she drew up her knees. "Will you still say it for me?"
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"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe," he says, letting out a single, soft laugh. "Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like --" He coughs. "-- tears in rain."
A small pause.
"Time to die."
Peter theatrically collapses onto the mattress.
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"That was really good." He wasn't going to win an Oscar or anything, but it was so adorable. It was super silly, but Liz felt suddenly lucky to have been able to watch him do that. That he was comfortable enough to do that in front of her.
"How many other monologues do you have memorized?" Liz figured he definitely had more.
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Liz is going to know this one. They've watched A New Hope six times already.
"Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars; now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I’m afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I've placed information vital to the survival of the rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you’re my only hope."
He looks at Liz Very Gravely Indeed.
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A surge rushed through her and she leaned in to kiss him suddenly. He was just so damn cute.
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And when Peter finally pulls away, he's still smiling.
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And then the planed crashed.
Peter might have pulled away with a smile, but when he pulled away, Liz, who's breathing had increased during the kiss, was clutching her chest, eyes widen, and there was a pained expression. Not just scared, but actual pain. And she seemed to be having trouble breathing.
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"Liz... are you okay?" He looks at her, eyes clearly trying to catch her own.
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The pain quickly faded and Liz blinked - the pressure from that action releasing tears from her face. She wasn't crying so much as her body was processing what it had seen and felt. Shock.
Her eyes searched in front of her before they actually focused and she found him and his look of concerned was mirrored in her look of concern. A frown was heavy on her lips.
"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure what she was going to say, but that came out. "I'm sorry." Liz had been starting to worry about how her flashes had been affecting Peter. She knew it wasn't positive. That underlying worry masked with the fact Peter apparently did things without his suit. It was a lot to process.
Slight panic crossed her expression and she climbed out of bed, taking a few steps to the dresser, back to Peter. She wished she could just lie to him, but the thought of keeping a secret from him - she couldn't do it.
Finally her soft voice filled the space. "I, um. I saw you on a plane with the, um. the Vulture. And you - you... on the beach after." She couldn't bring herself to turn around. She held onto the dresser's door knobs nervously, giving her something to focus on.
Suddenly she felt a little nauseous again.
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Of all the memories that she could get from him, this was one of the ones he wanted her to see the least. It was up there with the time that she had seen him trapped under the building.
She had seen that, though. He should have expected she'd see this eventually, too.
He just hoped that she wouldn't.
Peter scrambles to his feet and joins Liz next to the dresser.
"Liz, it's fine. I'm fine -- I promise, I'm fine."
He tries to get her eyes to meet his. "I'm fine," he says again.
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"Are you okay?"
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"You were... you were on the outside of a plane." The idea still was hard to really wrap her head around. Just the sheer feel of the wind around him and when he almost got sucked into the plane jet - Liz's hands on the dresser handles tightened.
"How were you not scared, Peter? You should have..." Liz couldn't even say the word.
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It's too hard to explain, so instead he just settles.
"I don't know," he says.
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"...I'm scared all the time." Well, not all the time. Her gaze remained focused on her hands. "When I got shot and I was dying, all I could think about was how I wasn't ready. That I hadn't even passed my SATs yet and here I am, about to not exist anymore." She paused. "And even when it was stupid things like, like trying to expose Topolsky, I was scared because it wasn't safe, you know? Even when I jumped off a bridge and we weren't sure how deep the water was... Every time I was scared."
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"When you're doing the stuff I do, you don't -- you don't have time to be afraid," he says. The only times he was really afraid that night were when he was in the car with Eddie and when he was trapped under the building. Times where he couldn't do anything. But when he could do something, he wasn't afraid. He couldn't be. He couldn't afford to second-guess himself.
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Liz turned and embraced Peter tightly. The sort of tight embrace that wasn't just for comfort, but was as if to say I never want to let you go. She pressed her head against his chest.
"Remember... I'm your Spider-woman." She spoke it against his chest, wanting him to know she'd always try to help.
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Peter knows that he has no idea what he's doing, but it seems like the right thing to say.
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And a part of her hated herself for such a thought.
"... I'm sorry I saw that." A much smaller, softer voice against his chest.
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He's not. But he wishes that Liz could stop worrying. He might not know what he's doing, but he was good at thinking on his feet -- and that's saved him so many times already.
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"Sometimes I worry you'll stop kissing me or -" Well, maybe sometimes she worried he'd distance himself completely.
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