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_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?

[st_x5_494]

"Do you really want to know?" Alec looked at him. Sometimes knowledge was better off stored away.

[st_arkintern]

Alec's answer tells Peter everything he needs to know.

"Maybe not," he says. "I took your suggestions into account and I made a couple of changes," He gives the vial a little shake. "This will help."

He sets it down on the table.

"I'll probably start initial tests next week," he says. If it manages to come out the way he wants it to.

[st_x5_494]

"How did you even start making this to begin with? Did you get bored one day and decided climbing walls wasn't enough?" He couldn't really picture how you went from A to B. "And how clueless is your teacher?"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, basically," Peter says.

"I didn't really want to beat up anyone too bad, so the best way to handle things was to find some way to bind them up," he says. That was the original problem he was trying to solve. "After I did that, I thought up other ways to use it, too."

Like swinging around with it.

"I did a lot of the early experiments in the lab after school," he says. "But sometimes I did it in class. Most of the teachers don't really care what I'm doing in class as long as it's not a distraction 'cause I make good grades."

[st_x5_494]

He pursed his lips together and nodded. Peter using that to his advantage was pretty smart and even tactical.

"You ever get yourself stuck in your own web?" He almost said fluid, but he was playing nice at the moment.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, once, at school," he says. "My hands got all caught up together and I couldn't break free of it. I ended up skipping class and went straight home with my sweatshirt draped over my arms to cover it up."

That'd been Ned's idea.

"I looked weird, but at least no one saw it when I walked home."

[st_x5_494]

Alec would have paid to see what probably was a fantastically amusing moment of panic when it happened.

Then Alec had an idea.

He disappeared in his room and came back with the glitter bomb. It was useless as it was, but with some fixing...

"You ever explode your web?"

[st_arkintern]

"No," Peter says firmly, shaking head. "I'm not helping you do that."

[st_x5_494]

He pursed his lips together and nodded. "Alright, fine. I guess I could make an old fashion real one." He shrugged casually and began walking back to retrieve the left over bomb part.