maskormenace | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ So here's a new kid on the network tonight. Trying to find an angle that lets him hide at least some of his nervousness. Or at least lets him use it to channel his best impression of a Definitely Normal Team, No Superheroics Here Honest. He mostly just looks awkward and nerdy, which is … accurate anyway, so let’s go with that. ]

Hey - um, so I’m Peter. Peter Parker. And I just got here, and -

[ He’s read through what’s left of his files, he’s read through the last couple weeks of posts just to get a feel for things. After that, he has one incredibly important question: ]

Did I seriously just barely miss out on a Death Star being here? For real? That’s not fair. Please tell me it’s coming back at some point.

[ That’s probably an objectively incorrect thing to want, but. Look. That would have made his entire life. He could die happy. For the second time. Well, the second time dying, first time dying happy. Anyway, he turns reluctantly to the list of actual serious questions he made. Not enough time to ask them all (unless he just takes in a breath and rapid fire asks all of them in thirty seconds) so he’ll just pick one for now. ]

So, school. How is that working out for people who still hafta go? And can you like … argue with it at all? Because I’m all for finishing high school, but this is my third time going into sophomore year and I’m starting to feel like that movie with the Ghostbuster being depressed in Pennsylvania.

(( OOC: Spoilers for Far From Home are likely, but I can avoid them if necessary! ))

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[Police? That doesn't seem likely. Peter's a hero.]

Have you considered that here you could?

[ He sort of stares at that. Clearly he hadn’t. ]

I - uh - no? Is that actually possible?

You think them caring for us after their world kidnapped us doesn't include that?

[Again, he's not going to mention his own psychology qualifications right now. That makes things awkward.]

There are probably specialists.

Look, man, I have no idea. I only got here a few hours ago.

If you want, I can try and help find someone. It's never too soon to consider. Maybe I should vet some professionals if our 'hosts' don't have ideas.

[Still he's watching his phone for timing. Yeah, definitely correlation between longer touch and longer information.]

If that isn't comfortable, though, you can always talk to me, Peter. I know what it's like to get into this too young and have things go wrong.

[ And there’s the actual question. Does he want to see a therapist at all? He probably should, given everything; his aunt had gently recommended it to him after Thanos, but they could never get over the alter ego thing.

He can’t answer that right now. Because he doesn’t know. ]

Is that what happened to you?

A... lot of things happened to me.

[And many of them bad. David just frowns. Should take his own advice. But the only time he could handle seeing therapists they weren't exactly people he could talk to. And then he couldn't afford one. Such is life.]

...

[ He’s quiet a moment, wondering if it would be kinder to ask or just let it go. ]

Maybe we could swap stories over pizza?

[Pizza? With a New Yorker?]

Maybe something other than pizza? You're going to judge me for judging the pizza. I'm from Chicago.

[ He laughs a little at that. ]

It’s okay, I can work with that. As long as you’re okay with being objectively wrong.

Pizza shouldn’t fold.

[He is smiling though, amused. He has known enough New Yorkers to know these people are just wrong about their pizza. But there definitely isn’t something to make him stop. He smiles instead. And, as he feels knowledge fading he stands.]

Let’s see what we can find.

[ Maybe you should keep that knowledge of what a proper pizza is, David. Rude.

Anyway, Peter brightens a little. ]

I think I saw one on my way over? Nothing special but.

[He does know. He’ll have to make real pizza sometime and insist on people eating it. Good thing he isn’t business minded, or he would have to open a shop.]

Guide on them, Parker. Let’s see if this pizza is even any good by your terrible, New York standards.

Look, yours isn’t even a pizza at that point. It’s like a lasagna without noodles.

[ He’ll take them to a small parlor not too far from the imPort housing. Not great, but not terrible. And most importantly, there’s an all you can eat option. ]

Pizza pie, Parker. Not Pizza Paper.

[He does follow to the parkour and definitely pays for all you can eat. Been a long time since he ate. Lovely. He gets them a booth, loads up on Hawaiian style and bbq chicken, and even smiles as he waits for Peter.]

[ All you can eat for Peter too, of course, with an apologetic look to the proprietors. Whatever, they can probably take pictures and make back their money later. Anyway, he laughs, sitting down with a whole bunch of pepperoni and jalapeño. ]

All I’m saying is that there’s a happy medium. And it isn’t deep dish.

Deep dish is an abomination. Almost as much as anything that is made in California.

[Jalapenos? Lovely. He does reach over to snatch a fallen one off of Peter’s plate. Lovely.]

Have you ever actually had proper Chicago pizza?

I’m with you on California pizza just being awful. If you don’t have tomato sauce, it’s just flatbread with cheese.

[ Or, god forbid, cauliflower. Blech. Anyway, he’s happy to share as many jalapeños as David wants. ]

I don’t think so, actually. I mean, I’m sure you can get it in New York, but I’ve never had it.

Hey. Don’t know bbq sauce as a replacement. In fact...

[David lifts one piece of his own barbecue chicken pizza off of his plate and puts it on Peter’s.]. It’s kosher, if that is a concern. But yeah, flatbread was the worst thing done to pizza.

As for real pizza, New York never had any places with quality Chicago style anything. Not pizza and sure as hell not hot dogs. There is nothing more suspicious than your street vendors.

It’s okay. I’m kind of bad at remembering to be kosher anyway.

[ As evidenced by the pepperoni on his pizza here, and generally mixing any meat with cheese to begin with. But he appreciates the thought. Peter gladly tries out the chicken David offers him. ]

I actually agree on the hot dog thing. Like, I don’t have any personal stake in that one, so you can claim Chicago superiority there.

Knew a few Jewish Mutants in my time. Got used to assuring them that the weird things I was eating wouldn’t break dietary laws. But hey, at least I win the hot dog fight. A dog without a pickle spear on it and pickled jalapeños just isn’t good.

[What? He thinks it’s the right way. He does get a few bites of his own pizza before shrugging.]

I think we can agree this is sub par. So, while we glut ourselves, did you have questions for me?

I can agree with you on that one.

[ Both the pizza and the hot dogs. Anyway, they didn’t come here to talk about food, did they? ]

You - uh, sound like you’ve been through a lot.

[Understatement. Such an understatement. But this Peter would definitely understand it a bit better than the one back home. Still David looks uncomfortable for a while before taking a sip of water and pulling his glasses off. If he’s doin. This to comfort Peter, he doesn’t want distracted by the networks.]

A number of things. Losing my powers. Seeing most of my friends die. Having my heart ripped out. Life is fun for a mutant.

[ There’s a lot to talk about there, but he’ll start with the obvious ]

You had your heart ripped out? Literally?

Literally. And then metaphorically the next day, but that hardly matters.

[So much to unpack. But David smiles like it doesn’t matter. That the past is something he has moved past. Which isn’t true, with him having to face more immediate reminds of that day just down the street from his house.]

A demon pulled me and some friends down into a hell dimension called Limbo. Decided I was lying to it about something it wanted. Made an example of me. So my heart is pretty young.