Glitter-bombs, Web Fluid, and No Shampoo (Closed to Peter)

[st_x5_494]

"Son-of-a-" Alec's voice came from the bathroom. It did not sound pleased.

About ten minutes later the water turned off and Alec emerged in a towel looking annoyed. He shot Peter a glance. "If you used the last of my shampoo, tell me now, otherwise I'm going to start plotting that raccoon's demise." Because his shampoo and conditioner had been empty every day this week and they were running low in the boutique. While Peter's more generic brand was alright, it wasn't the same. Alec liked the full body, full volume with Argan oil in it kind.

He padded into his room and after another moment or two there was a little bursting sound and then another "Son-of-a-bitch."

Alec emerged with a head filled with blue and pink glitter. It stuck on his shoulders and cascaded down his back and chest. He had thought he thoroughly checked his room. Alec had been wrong.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

"If he's not bullying you, that means you did something to provoke him," Peter says, the paragon of logic. "You should apologize."

Peter picks up his pen and goes back to his formulas.

[st_x5_494]

He blinked, looked at Peter writing, and then walked over to where the teenager was sitting. He leaned forward and shook his hand in his hair - glitter sparkle dust everywhere.

[st_arkintern]

Peter bristles with irritation as Alec shakes the glitter off and all over him. "Hey, quit it!" he says, trying to brush it off of him. But glitter gets everywhere and the little that's not in his hair anymore is now and the floor of his room.

"I don't get why you can't apologize!"

[st_x5_494]

"For what?" He moved back across the room and into the bathroom. His voice comes from there. "Even if I did something to piss him off, this is not what normal people do."

The sound of the shower turns on and the off and in another moment of two Alec re-emerges still in his towel, but mostly glitter-free. It's hard to get glitter off of you and when you were already wet, it's even worst.

[st_arkintern]

"Neither is shaking glitter off on your roommate," Peter shouts back, but he's not sure if Alec can hear him over the sound of the shower.

Peter brushes glitter off his notebook and gets back to his calculations. He'll vacuum later.

Peter looks up at Alec when he emerges and shoots him a look.

"Why are you so against apologizing?"

[st_x5_494]

Alec walked over to Peter's dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. He kept a spare set of clothes there specficially for glitter or paint threats now.

"Because if he's so upset about something I did once, then he needs to get over it. Grudges are unhealthy." Said Alec who did a bunch of unhealthy things.

[st_arkintern]

Peter levels his gaze on Alec. "And you've never held a grudge," Peter pronounces, skeptical.

[st_x5_494]

"Grudges imply your revenge isn't quick enough." He looked back at Peter with a stubborn expression, then disappeared one more time into the bathroom and re-emerged fully clothed after a moment.

[st_arkintern]

"It's not all about revenge," Peter says, still looking at Alec with an expression of ardent disapproval. "Sometimes you just need time to work through your feelings and get over it."

[st_x5_494]

"So what you're saying is then eventually the raccoon is going to just give up?" Because that's what he just heard. That was what he was hoping would happen, too.

[st_arkintern]

Peter is on the defensive. "No, that's not what I'm saying."

Peter takes a breath. Why does Alec give him such a hard time sometimes? "Not everyone's going to react the same way," he says. "Rocket," he says, emphasizing his name, "might not. And you shouldn't call him raccoon, by the way. Would you like it if I called you human?"

[st_x5_494]

"I'm not really human, but sure. Or you could go with freak, that's what people call us back home." He mostly called Rocket raccoon because Rocket was glitterizing his life

"Besides, even if I did apologize, it wouldn't change anything. Whatever I did to piss him off -" Alec had a fairly good idea what it was, to be honest "- would still have happened. I can't make up for that, so he just has to get this crap out of his system."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, apologizing doesn't change what you did in the past," Peter says. "But that's not what apologizing about. It's about looking at the past and acknowledging what you did was wrong and saying you'll do better in the future. And yeah, sometimes it's not enough to make up for what you did wrong, but sometimes it is."

[st_x5_494]

"That would imply I actually think I did something wrong." And while Alec could acknowledge what he said was hurtful, he didn't think he was wrong in telling Rocket to fuck off (so to speak).

[st_arkintern]

"So you don't think you did anything wrong? There's absolutely nothing you could have done to avoid this?"

He's using the same technique Alec had used on him the other week when he insisted there was nothing else he wanted other than to help people.

[st_x5_494]

Alec gave Peter a stubborn look. "Yeah. I could have punch Star-Dork in the face out of view of the raccoon." Okay, so maybe that time he didn't call Rocket by his name to poke Peter.

[st_arkintern]

Peter remains skeptical. "And that's it?"

He saves the raccoon chiding for later.

[st_x5_494]

"Yeah." He looked at Peter. "Why, should there be something else?"

Alec was very stubborn.

[st_arkintern]

"I don't know," Peter says. "But if you tell me there's nothing else you'd do, I'll believe it. I trust you."

[st_x5_494]

Why did he have to look at him like that and say that stuff the way he had? Alec paused, then sighed softly.

"Look, Peter. There are just some people you won't be friends with in life, and that's okay. I'm okay with Rocket being pissed at me if he wants to me."

[st_arkintern]

"Are you okay with this continuing?" he asks, gesturing at the glitter that had fallen to the floor.

[st_x5_494]

"For now? Yeah." He shrugged. He was finding most of the traps now so he avoided most things, even though Rocket was still managing to get him frequently.

Alec walked disappeared back into his room for a moment and emerged with a small vial. He tossed it at Peter. "Here, by the way." In the vial was a chemical compound not entirely common at the inn.

[st_arkintern]

Peter wonders if Alec will get tired of it eventually and if he'd be willing to apologize then. Peter's not sure if Alec will ever apologize. When he apologized to a month or two ago, it seemed really difficult for him.

It was a lot less difficult for Peter.

Peter watches as Alec vanishes back into his room and looks back down at his notebook. Before he can start working again, Alec re-emerges with something in hand. Alec tosses a vial at him --

-- and Peter easily catches it. He looks down at the vial, frowning thoughtfully. "What is it?"

[st_x5_494]

"Ethylene." He had 'procured' it from somewhere Peter probably didn't want to know. Alec knew how he felt about stealing and Alec supposed, technically, it was stealing. "Thought it might help with your fluid problem."

[st_arkintern]

Peter's face brightens at the explanation. "Thanks!" he says. "Where'd you find it?" It'd been awhile since the portal opened, so he had to find it here at the inn, right?