Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

[right-handed.livejournal.com]

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

Comments

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

So Eddie hadn't been making any effort to figure out what was going on, or to even work out an escape plan? That was a little surprising - didn't he feel cramped in this place? Maybe it was better that he was settled here as opposed to being out on the streets of New York if he was still so set on being one with the symbiote, but it would have been helpful if he had made an effort to uncover a little more.

It was good to hear that the monsters weren't much of a problem. Peter realized that Eddie now had a bit (okay, a lot) more strength to him, but their powers seemed to be more or less the same. If Eddie could handle them, then he probably could, too.

"Hey," he exclaimed, sounding a little indignant and perhaps almost childish, "I'm not going to kill anyone!" It wasn't like he ever meant for anyone to die. He'd rather they ended up in prison, since they were going to suffer a lot more that way, anyway. Most of the people who had died under his watch had lost their lives because of accidents--not because he had much of a killing intent.

That didn't mean he hadn't been filled with the need to kill before, and he had felt it particularly potently when he'd had the symbiote.

Which brought him to another point. He let out a sigh before glancing over at Eddie. As if one person possessed by a symbiote hadn't been enough... "Do you know a guy who calls himself Carnage?" If not, well, Peter was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

[blacksustenance.livejournal.com]

Brock only snorted at Parker's protest. For someone with his track record, you'd think he wouldn't make any promises he couldn't keep.

He was sorely tempted to bring up poor, corpse-y Uncle Ben, rotting in his cheapass grave...but nah, maybe for another time when he wasn't feeling surprisingly good just basking in the Spider's unexpected presence.

The blond's face went stony as the Spider mentioned Carnage. So had Kasady already run into Parker, or did he already know about him before getting tossed into Landels? It had better be the latter, because Brock hated the idea of the other, younger symbiote-host pairing getting to their property before they did. It made him all riled up and cranky, and for some reason he had the urge to bare his fangs and go right for Kasady's jugular. Lucky for him that he couldn't see the other Host lurking around the cafeteria...

He knew the symbiote was territorial, but it was another thing entirely when your "property" was sitting only a few feet away instead of miles.

No point playing it cool like he didn't recognize the name. "Yeah," Brock said, eyebrows furrowing. "If you're smart, you'd stay away from him."

It wasn't friendly advice. Brock didn't know anything about Kasady aside from what he claimed (he knew his Other needed to replicate and soon), but he had to shudder at why he'd choose Kasady of all people to be the host. They should remember replicating, but it was just a big blank for Brock. He didn't remember popping off any mini-symbiotes, much less running into certain red-headed hicks from Hicksville. What he did know was that he didn't want Parker anywhere near the other symbiote.

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

What Peter really needed at the moment was someone to vent to, or just to tell about what had happened. Since Eddie seemed to know the guy, and also didn't seem to think very well of him, he didn't see why he couldn't tell him about what had happened.

"Yeah, well, he found me in the showers. I had no clue who he was, but he wouldn't leave me alone. He seemed pretty offended that I didn't know who he was," and actually, that was sort of interesting in the aftermath, when he didn't have to worry about the whole being naked thing, "but he still wanted to make a point of the fact that he had the symbiote."

This was where it got confusing. Well, if anyone was going to know about what had happened, Brock would. "I figured it had passed from you to him, but you still have it, so... What's going on?" There was one conclusion he could draw, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. Were there two different symbiotes he was going to have to worry about while in this place? And that Carnage guy hadn't seemed exactly friendly. At least he knew Eddie, though their relationship was rocky at best.

[blacksustenance.livejournal.com]

So Kasady had approached him. The very thought of the other, younger symbiote intruding on what he knew was off-limits made Brock see red for a moment. His breathing hitched slightly. Brock had to fight off both his and his Other's rage, and the only way he managed to remain seated was the promise that he was going to give the hick a beat-down of epic proportions next chance he got. Kasady might be stronger, but they were older and more mature, with experience on their side. Not all battles were won on brute strength and youthful recklessness, as Kasady would soon find out.

Brock liked to think he could be a reasonable man, despite all the shit that happened to him. But butting in on his turf was way out of line, nevermind it was in the goddamn showers. Brock already knew what Parker looked like naked from his genetic memories, but that was beside the fucking point. They had warned Kasady to stay away.

He didn't want to repeat himself.

"I don't know myself," Brock gritted, feeling his fangs grinding together. "But we'll deal with him soon enough."

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

Peter couldn't help but notice the way Eddie had reacted to that. He seemed genuinely pissed off, and while he hadn't been a particularly happy person since he'd gotten the symbiote, this was beyond his normal bad attitude. What had he said that had gotten him into such a mood?

It seemed that the other man was able to get a hold of himself, though, since he wasn't making any drastic moves or lunging across the table at him. Which was good, because Peter was hardly in the mood for a fist fight right now - especially not in the middle of a room packed with people. Besides, it seemed stupid to fight when he didn't even know what had upset Eddie in the first place.

But he didn't know what the deal was with Carnage, either. That was just great - a big help he was. Peter fought the urge to sigh and roll his eyes, focusing instead on what Eddie said next. That sounded a bit ominous, and he was starting to get the feeling that the two were enemies. Maybe he would just leave them to fight it out while he worked on more important stuff, then.

It was probably best to switch topics so that Brock didn't lose it and blow a gasket, though. "Yeah, well, someone else had come up to me before then acting like he knew me. It's really starting to get on my nerves." For one thing, people knowing who he truly was made him intensely nervous; for two, the implications he was slowly starting to accept about who those people were and why they knew him when he didn't know them was giving him a headache.

[blacksustenance.livejournal.com]

And who was this first person? Brock had all of Parker's memories and, searching them, there really wasn't that big a list of who made the connection between resident, mild mannered photographer to Spider-man. It helped matters when at least two he knew were dead as nails, and MJ probably wouldn't tell anyone else. That left Harry Osbourne, but from what he could glean from their Spider's memories, it didn't really seem very Harry to go blabbing something like that.

Brock was also interested in this person, to say the least. He'd have to keep an eye on Parker, see who this man was. They didn't like the idea of other people - especially those who knew - getting buddy-buddy with him.

"What did he look like?" Brock said, and was gratified to find that yes, he could still put on a game face even now. It was a bit more difficult to act normal around the Spider, considering what it felt like to be around him, but somehow they managed.

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

Why did Eddie care so much, anyway? Then again, Peter had been the one who'd decided to tell him about it, so it was only natural that the other man would be curious about it. He might even have something of an idea of who the guy was, so he might as well answer the question.

"Uhh, a little on the short side, but pretty big. Kind of... hairy..." Okay, this wasn't working so well. Maybe he could pick him out? He was sort of distinct as far as his features went. It wasn't exactly easy to see over all the tables, so Peter stood up and tried to be as discreet as possible about scanning the cafeteria for the man in question.

It didn't take all that long to find him, luckily. He was talking to someone else, so hopefully he wouldn't notice. "He's over there," he said with a small tilt of his head, resisting the urge to point. With any luck, Eddie would spot the guy just based off of that and they wouldn't draw any attention to themselves.