riverview | video. un: p.parker | the morning of september 20th (aka an epilogue to bad choices)

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video. un: p.parker | the morning of september 20th (aka an epilogue to bad choices)

[There's a muffled and pained groan, one of a boy who has made terrible mistakes and is suffering horribly for it.

... And also a clear sound of someone sliding out of a bed and thumping on the floor — blankets and all, legs barely hanging onto the lip of the mattress.]

I am so, so sorry.

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[His eyebrows raise.]

... He said you did more than drink 'a bit'.

[It made him feel like shit, but he supposes he deserved that.]

It's — there are people around who know, I just try to keep it quiet. I wouldn't have been up on the roof if it wasn't safe though. I mean, to me it felt safe. But I know it didn't look that way for some people. S-so...

[Alex is just going to frown and quietly mutter:]

Traitor. He shouldn't have done that. You just scared the hell out of me. I know you didn't mean to, but you did. I sort of have... a fear about people I care about getting hurt.

[Which probably isn't a surprise considering Alex is who she is.]

And I mean even if I had known you were Spiderman before, I still would have worried because it doesn't matter who you are, doing stupid things while drunk is never a smart idea, Pete. Even if it sounds like it at the time. Trust your elders on this, okay?

[He pushes up on his glasses, brows pinched. The light hurts a lot, but it feels kinda' assholish, looking at someone being so honest while he's in shades like some weird jerk you'd see walking with them on at night.]

... I know...

I'm not used to having so many people to worry. I usually just have May.

[Ned worries sometimes, too, but May's the one who frets most.]

Peter, you a great kid. You're a great kid who's dealing with a hell of a lot. And I don't just mean the responsibilities of being Spiderman or being a kid away from home, or everything that we talked about before. There's a lot just being a teenager. I don't care that you cut loose. Hell, I would have done it too if I was your age.

[Alex, you do it too. Shut up.]

But what if you had fallen in front of someone else who wasn't me, and who wouldn't just spill your secret to their partner? Which I realize I probably shouldn't have done, honestly, and I'm sorry for that. He doesn't know about the rest of it.

Next time you want to get wasted or do something stupid, come over. Or do it somewhere else safe with someone you know, okay? No one wants you to get hurt, and I don't want you to do something that hurts the second chance.

[He squirms uncomfortably, because he's a dweeb who can't handle praise of any kind without being obvious about it. That turns into him feeling terrible, of course, and he hates to envision accidentally spilling the beans to one of the people he deals with as Spider-Man or something. It wasn't very responsible.

He knew that upon waking up, too. But. Ugh.

She says second chance, and his gaze whips up to her, ache in his expression.]

... I — I know. I just, I just wanted to... Everything's been so much, and I thought if I drank last night, I'd be able to have a good time with the people there, and... I won't do it like that again, I swear.

[Alex just frowns, and she puts a hand on his arm at that, her eyes meeting his own.]

I'm not saying it's not okay to go out and do stupid things and just to cut loose. God, if any kid has ever deserved that, it's you, Pete. And I know Richard is going to tell you to come over, and you're welcome but I also know that I mean, parents ages and all of that.

[There's no way that she ever would have done that shit, man. Richard may not remember being a kid, but Alex does.]

We, all of us, we just want you to be safe. Safe in more than just the physical way too, safe in the ways that are important to you, like with Spiderman and having a secret identity and all of that.

[There's a beat, and a little laugh.]

God, I'd never thought I'd ever have to say that. But anyway, next time, a friend's house, or throw a wild kegger here or whatever. But no more roof tops, okay? At least when you're that drunk.

[He smiles, and though he still looks like warmed-up crap, he seems to appreciate the pep talk she's administered. It reminds him of Aunt May — and lord knows she'd tell him all about her wild times as a youth, before she ran into Ben.]

... Honestly, I'm not much of a party guy.

The last one I went to was because I had a crush on the girl having it.

Hey you don’t have to be one. Sometimes it’s better not to be.

[Alex herself normally lands somewhere in the middle between partying and not. At least now a days. But she’s not talking about her past here.]

You can just drink quietly but always try and drink with someone. Drinking alone isn’t all that great for you. And if you need to I know there’s a lot of us who are all ears for you.

Yeaaaah... Drinking alone is more... uh. Like what sad detectives do in old movies.

[He laughs a bit, rather painfully, like the effort hurts his head.

(It totally does.)]

Yeah.

[Sad detectives, sad rational skeptics, still the same thing, right? But she does give him a little bit of a sympathetic frown when he laughs.]

Water next time. It actually does help.

Yeah... I'll drink a lot before my night-shift.

[Oh. Um. Right.

... Spider-Man.]

I swear I'm way better on my feet at work. Sober.

[Alex just laughs softly at that.]

You don't need to convince me, Peter. I mean, I'm a reporter, if you didn't do your job and stay on your feet better at work, then I would have heard about it a long time before now.

[At least there's no J. Jonah Jameson here in Riverview, right?]

[Rubbing along his eye with his palm, he laughs meekly.]

Does that mean Spider-Man's work gets a decent score?

[It's weird. He's used to talking about it with Ned, how he'd saved so-and-so or whatever... And now here he is, collecting people who know what he does for a living. Life's weird that way.]

Edited 2018-10-11 08:40 (UTC)

I've heard some good things. People think he's a nice guy. No one thinks he's all that much of a menace. All the more reason to keep who you are wrapped up, right?

[He breathes sweet relief.]

Oh, good. I was worried I wasn't getting good scores on Yelp.

[Oh look, the boy is not too hungover to say a dumb joke.]

[That makes her laugh hard enough that she winces too.]

Now I'm wondering if your world has superhero Yelp. Like "Spiderman is better at rescuing than Tony Stark. Five stars."

... I never thought of that before.

[The wide-eyed wonder has defeated his hangover. Momentarily.]

What if people're rating me and I don't even know?

Well I guess when you get home you’re gonna need to google the crap out of that huh? I’m sure someone’s got it somewhere.

[The laugh is there inside Alex’s voice even if she doesn’t speak it.]

[His shoulders slump a little. Get home... right. Ha...]

I'll definitely look.

Maybe — maybe there's one here somewhere. Like how this place has friendr?

[Alex catches her mistake and just frowns quickly.]

There could be. I mean, I'm sure someone would start it. I'd offer but tech building stuff really isn't my thing. And I'd cheat and skew the results.

... You, cheat at something?

[He looks shocked and awed, Alex! Shocked and awed! You seem like such a straight-edged adult!]

[Sorry Peter, hangover or no hangover Alex is just going to dissolve into laughter at that.]

Hey! I’m human too. And of course there are some people I like more than others. You’d get full marks from me!

[Nothing like turning red-earred under the covers on typical a hangover morning.]

Oh man, thank you. I don't know what to say.

Say that you won’t go jumping off roofs while drunk and that’s all ya gotta do, okay. No more worrying everyone.

[Alex is just gonna nudge him with her shoulder at that.]

[He gives the best 3u3 smile he's got, Alex.]

I swear. No more drunk roof acrobatics.

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11calls - 2018-10-29 22:51 (UTC) - Expand

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