The Scarecrow of Oz (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scarefaux) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2010-11-26 02:48 pm
scarefaux) wrote in damned_institute2010-11-26 02:48 pm
Entry tags:
- aerith,
- aigis,
- anise,
- austria,
- bella,
- brainiac 5,
- buzz,
- castiel,
- chuck,
- claire bennet,
- claire littleton,
- claire stanfield,
- damon,
- dean winchester,
- depth charge,
- edward cullen,
- elle,
- ema skye,
- erika,
- gambit,
- goku (dragonball),
- guy,
- haseo,
- ilia,
- ishida,
- izaya,
- jo,
- kairi,
- kaito,
- katniss,
- kibitoshin,
- kirk,
- kratos,
- lana skye,
- leela,
- leon (so2),
- lightning,
- lunge,
- matt,
- maya,
- mccoy,
- mele,
- mello,
- minako,
- minato,
- niikura,
- peter parker,
- prussia,
- riku,
- rita,
- rubedo,
- ruby,
- s.t.,
- sai,
- scar (tlk),
- scott pilgrim,
- snow,
- sora,
- soren,
- stefan,
- taura,
- the doctor,
- the scarecrow,
- tifa,
- tsubaki,
- tsukasa,
- two-face,
- venom,
- watson,
- xemnas,
- yomi,
- yue,
- yukari,
- zack
Day 53: Sun Room, Morning
With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he could have thought of something!
As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.
The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.
[Kibby]
As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.
The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.
[Kibby]
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Technically he shouldn't be feeling selfish for that, because exploration equaled escape and not something trite like money. (Though he wouldn't mind snagging himself a nice pot of gold if there were any dangling off the rainbows here. If paying bills wasn't an issue, Peter wouldn't be living in Queens.) In spite of that sound reassurance and Scott's reaction, there was still a little nagging prickle telling him to suck it up and stop being such a baby. He didn't invite Indy and the gang to every one of his parties, so why should he assume they'd do it for him?
He grimaced and waved off the issue. "Augh, I didn't mean to freak on you. You're totally right. I should probably spend another night or two in gimpsville before I try tagging along. I'll find myself a nice book or something."
Worry continued to overwhelm his expression as Scott carried on. Peter was failing to see the part where this was 'not a big deal'. Paraphrased, but the same idea there. "Um, okay. And if you had been in the room when he set it on fire? This kind of is an 'important thing', Scott. All it takes is one wrong move. Deciding to sleep in, or posting your meeting spot for the night on the board." He sighed, pinching his temples. So Scott had been suffering under the thumb of a tubby old pyromaniac version of Grell this whole time, and he was only finding out about this now? What kind of crap superhero was he? What kind of crap friend was he? "I mean...Like it's good he's gone and stuff, but if something like this happens again you cannot take that on alone. Okay? It may not seem like a big deal to you, but..."
It was a big deal to Peter. The last thing he needed was another Brainy, another Harry, another Gwen. It was far too sappy to say aloud, and he was sure that Scott would find that kind of creepy considering they'd known each other for a sum total of a week and a half, tops. The silence would have to hammer that point in for him.
Speaking of worrying over freakishly short-termed attachments, there was something really odd in Scott's overall tone there. Peter couldn't quite place if it was a gesture or some weird tick in his words or his expression, but something wasn't right. Call it his other spider sense, but Scott was definitely acting a titchy bit off today.
His brows drew together. He didn't want to pry, but after the astounding revelation that Scott had nearly combusted in his sleep, did he really want to take that risk? Peter tilted his head at the the older boy, perplexed. "Are you sure you're okay?"
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And then WHAM! KA-THWACK! BAFFO! The young superhero assaulted him with an onslaught of totally sensible and well-founded concerns. Scott was cringing back by the time Peter was done, one arm raised in front of his chest. Peter was right: he had slept in on some nights, and whether that was the fault of Landel's poison turkey or not, it didn't change the fact that any one of those nights could have been the night of the fire. Also, what if Porky hadn't stopped at just the fire? What if he had somehow come up with a bigger, badder plan before his death? Couldn't Peter have helped him fight back? Or Indy? Or Keman? "Okay, okay, okay!" he said, flailing some more. "'kay, you're right. Porky was dangerous, I should've told you guys, and I should've asked for help. I just... I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. Next time I'll say something."
Scott let out a shaky sigh, lowering his arm again. A short silence between them followed, after which Scott managed to find some words that weren't simply reactive. "...And you know that offer to help goes both ways, right? You don't have to, like, bum around in your sling by yourself at night. You know. If you don't want to."
...Awkwaaaaaaard.
Ah, and then Peter asked the question Scott had wondered if he would ask. Even without the whole Porky thing, Scott was still feeling four or five different stripes of messed up right now, and he wasn't surprised that it showed. Thankfully, his previous bit lead into his answer neatly. That, at least, was convenient. Now, if only the rest of it could follow suit. "Well... There is something else I've kinda been having trouble dealing with. I was thinking maybe you could help," he admitted slowly, trying to put the words together carefully in his head. "I met another guy yesterday." He put up a hand preemptively. "Don't worry! This one doesn't hate me or anything. But, uh. He did tell me something. Like. Something you might've had some liiiiiiittle bit of experience with."
Scott took a deep breath. Get it all out in one go, he told himself. Okay. "How exactly do you cope with someone basically confirming that your life is a series of comic books and a movie?"
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It would seem he'd hit the nail on the head with Scott this time, since he was trying to shield himself with his arm. (What was he trying to guard against? Spit takes?) He pinned Scott to the spot with steely eyes, scanning him for any sign that he was dragging his heels on this. "Good." He bit his lip and drew back into his seat. "The last thing we need is to put another 'missing' notice on the bulletin."
Though he went silent when Scott gingerly offered the same back to him. Peter's face turned unreadable. You could call him a mighty hypocrite here, and you'd be right - but Scott wasn't ready to deal with Grell. He was not foisting that lunatic off on anyone unless he was one hundred percent certain they could walk away from a fight with a death god and not be missing three limbs and six pints of blood. At this point in time? Logan was the only contender. Everyone else was too innocent, too human, or too much of a question mark to risk. God, he wished Matt and Steve were still here.
Peter wasn't about to say any of this to Scott's face. Instead, the other boy got a crooked smile and a perky, "Sure thing."
Lying was okay when it meant having friends with a pulse.
But that wasn't all for today, either. Just as Peter suspected, Scott began fidgeting even harder and launched into his next traumatic tidbit. Peter frowned and leaned in closer, fully intending to face the issue with a trusting, sympathetic buddy-friend air.
Yet once the words spilled out of Scott's mouth, all he could do was gape. There was a pregnant pause.
"...Oh."
Peter must have looked a bit like a turtle, shrinking into his seat like that. His eyes dropped to the ground and his mouth turned into a thin line. He couldn't help it.
If he was being honest here, he might have been a little bitter about the comic book thing ever since he'd seen Scott looking at him with that doofy grin. It had pissed him off. He wasn't some mook pretending to be Mickey Mouse for the kids at Disneyland, he was a real...or at least, he felt like a real guy. Real enough to make him hate the starry-eyed staring. Peter had wondered how Scott would feel when the joke was on him, when he found out everything in his world was just cheap thrills for kids. Just like the rest of the Saturday Morning all stars here.
But seeing his face now made it hard to keep a grip on that grudge. It melted away and left him totally blank. What was he supposed to do? How would you even counsel somebody about this? It was the most awkward, impossible thing in the world - there was no precedent for it. Nothing. Zilch.
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There was a heavy sigh. Peter put a hand over his eyes and let them fall shut. "I can't even look at anyone else without wondering where I know them from...and like, it just means that everything that happens to you is for entertainment's sake, right? Like that Porky guy - pointless drama. You needed a bad guy, so they gave you a bad guy. If you're feeling lonely, they give you a girlfriend. If things are too peachy, they knock off your mom. Or your dad, or whoever, so you can cry about it for a bit and let everyone feel sorry for you in the five minutes it takes to play out that scene in the movie. Book. Whatever. Everything's so cheap because it doesn't really mean anything anymore. Maybe all the people here keep disappearing because their actor's contract ended or some bullshit like that, or maybe they were too boring to keep around or just..." The hand dropped and Peter's eyes were on the glass ceiling. It was grey out today. How wonderfully fitting, the weather matched their outfits. Almost like it had been coordinated that way.
"I'm sorry, Scott, but it sucks. It really, really sucks, and I'm sorry that you had to find out at all. I don't even know how you're supposed to deal with it." Nothing for it but half a shrug and a pair of sympathetic eyes. He tried a smile, but the result was only a wan grimace. "It's not like it's something you can find a self-help book for."
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- Peter was hurt, Scott offered to let him come along on the next run anyway, Peter politely declined, Scott was okay with this and nodded/responded accordingly.
- Scott admitted to being terrorized by a walking lard bucket, Peter (rightly) gave him hell for not saying anything, Scott accepted said hell, and Peter clinched things just to be sure his words stuck.
- Scott offered help to Peter in return, Peter was a gigantic hypocrite in his own head but was like "Sure thing, bro" anyway, and Scott was like "A'ight, cool."
Skip to the end.
Scott was a mix of surprised and relieved when Peter didn't give him a total stink-eye straight out the starting gate, even though he had every right to. Being on the other end of the fourth-wall bazooka now, he could really see what a total ass he must of seemed in Peter's eyes on that rec field day. True, Other Matt wasn't really a fanboy over him the way Scott was a fanboy for all the Marvel people in the Institute, but still, it did make looking at the other guy all kinds of uncomfortable. That Peter considered Scott a friend at this point was some kind of goddamn miracle.
In any case, that didn't make it any harder to hear the words "You... don't cope." Scott wasn't really the best at coping with bad situations in the first place, even more down-to-earth ones. This? With no chance in hell at getting over? Kind of devastating to think about, especially with the way Peter went on to describe life events/plot points.
"No, I wasn't really expecting there to be one, or for you to be one," Scott sighed, scratching the back of his head again and tugging a little on the hair there as a kind of way to remind himself that he was real enough to feel it. "I was just... I guess I was hoping there would be something more I could do than just lay back and let all these thoughts take over my mind." He ran the edges of his teeth over his bottom lip as more thoughts came together, shifting into sharper focus than they had been in a long time. "I've done enough lying down and just taking things in my life. I wanna do more to sort out my own problems, you know? I don't want to just let myself be life's butt monkey while fooling myself into thinking everything's going to be okay."
He had done some of that in the past few months. Getting a job, resolving the UST with Lisa, saying the L word to Ramona, moving out of Wallace's place: that was all good stuff. And Scott felt good for having done it all (EXP tended to have that effect). Now, though, with all the shitty stuff being thrown at him here, including but not limited to injuries, unwanted body warping, embarrassment in front of childhood icons, finding out he was no more real than said childhood icons, and running into NegaScott again? All the while with no sign of Ramona, plus the possibility that he was starting to lose friends to Landel, both new and old? It was all starting to just compound and compound in his head. He could actually feel his head throbbing.
For a second - just a hair of a second - it might have looked like Scott's head glowed. Or, it could have been a ray of the sun catching his hair a certain way. Either way, Scott didn't notice.
Scott bit the inside of his lip, willing the swirling thoughts to go back to the corner of his mind again for just a little while. "If it helps you at all, anyway, I promise I won't geek out on you or anyone else here again. I mean, I was already trying not to, but from now on, if I even look like I'm gonna start, can you just punch me right in the balls or something? I mean it, dude. I don't want to be to anyone else what I was to you."
More awkward silence followed when the two were finished.
Scott and Peter could both have used a big bear hug right about then.
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Scott's proposal earned him a good-natured snort. The strain between them was too reluctant to leave the room just yet, but talking was getting a little easier. "I'm not going to punch you in the balls, Scott. That's just low. Maybe try blowing up the world and then I'll consider it." His expression lifted just a tick, and Peter snorted again. It almost turned into a laugh. "But honestly, don't worry about it. You should have seen what a jerk I was to Indy my first day here. He was ready to flip a table, I swear. All you did was like. Have secret glee."
What had seemed like a high calibur dick move at the time was in fact pretty innocuous, if you looked at it objectively. Hard to think so in the moment, or even long after the moment when you're sitting there grumbling about your miserable, fictional life. But it wasn't fair to hold it against Scott. He wasn't doing it for the sake of being malicious, he was just gobsmacked. In a sense. It was like meeting a celebrity, only twice as unlikely and therefore all the more shock-inducing.
Regardless, Peter had to at least try squashing that irritation from now on. If Scott was going to make a genuine effort to stop ogling like a fanboy, then he could totally respect that. Like he had said, he'd done far worse damage himself. When he had met Indy he had outright mocked him and branded him crazy.
Thank god they had somehow gotten past all that.
"I think our best bet is to just focus on getting out. Right? That's the biggest thing here that we can deal with. That we can actually get our hands on. And who knows?" He gestured widely at the grandiose building around them. "This place gets so funky with your memories. Who's to say we'll remember this fictional crap when we leave, anyway? Nobody who's left and come back seems to remember what happened the first time they were here. It's possible. And it's not like anything back home would trigger it again."
It was weak, but there was a grin. Finally. "Sweet ignorant bliss, am I right?"
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Brainiac 5 had awoken late, which annoyed him more than usual. Whatever had been happening the night before was strange, worth paying attention to, and sleeping late meant that he may have missed any worthwhile discussions about it on the information board. Not to mention he had to leave a note of his own there for the Doctor as well, now that he knew his injuries were healing well enough. It was, as far as he was concerned, time to begin testing.
He supposed that was one advantage of the faster healing rate he'd observed (unfortunately first-hand, more often than not) in the institute. It meant it should only take a few more days before the marks of the surgery were completely gone, only a few pale scars on the skin to imply it had happened at all. Already his forehead was apparently healed, or at least enough that the nurses had seen fit to remove the bandages there. His wrists were less wrapped as well, which was another bonus. He should be able to manage better on his own now.
Having taken stock of his situation, Brainiac 5 waited patiently for his nurse to arrive and escort him to the sun room for the current shift, which also allowed him a chance to write up the note that he'd needed to leave for the Doctor and take a look at the general topics of discussion there. That done, he looked around for something to do or someone to talk to, automatically picking Peter out of the crowd and making his way over to his roommate--
Who had company.
Brainiac 5 hesitated, caught between the desire to find out a bit more about who Peter was spending time with (which, he rationalised, was only fair considering that Peter seemed to be equally concerned about anyone he spoke to) and turning around and walking away. Unfortunately he was also aware that he was a bit too close to make the other option seem natural, so he would have to make it obvious that he was avoiding them both or...
Do what he was currently doing, which was standing in place looking indecisive.
"...Peter?"
Sorry for the wait for such a short fail!tag, but at least it gets us moving again, right? /)_(\
And for the time being, brain-breaking knowledge or not, he still had crazy awesome new friends to help him get through all this. Scott let himself smile again. "And until we find out what happens, we can just imagine the day we kick Martin Landel from here to the asteroid belt. That'll make things a little better, I bet." He paused for a moment, then corrected: "'scuse me, kicking Landel from here to the asteroid belt while he's wearing a tutu, I mean." Much better.
Scott caught a movement in their direction out of the corner of his eye before hearing the other boy's name spoken. He blinked, turning to find a boy with round, pale splotches on his forehead standing there looking awkward. "I can confirm that this is, indeed, one of the Institute's many fine Peters. You a friend of his?" Scott asked, curious. He wasn't someone Scott recognized right off the bat - which, after the conversation they had just had, was kind of a relief, honestly.
Shut up man all your tags are awesome, be they long or short. X(
There was some awkward shuffling involved with turning around in the love seat to see, as he didn't want to jam his shoulder into the couch doing it. It was already in enough pain as it was. Whipping his head around would not help. Yet Peter managed, even if he didn't get a chance to beat out Scott's colourful introduction.
He blinked up at the newcomer. As fate would have it, this was an oh so familiar intrusion.
"Oh - hey Brainy! You look a lot better today. Scott," he met eyes with the older boy, "This is my roommate, Brainiac 5. Brainy, this is Scott Pilgrim. Um...wait, Pilgrim is your last name, right? I was pretty sure I've seen it on notes before so...ha ha, wow. Now I'm going to feel like a jerk if it isn't."
Peter's smile had widened by half a notch and he scooted over, signaling loud and clear to his roommate that the seat was free. If Brainy was here, then they were morally obligated to stop talking about depressing things like being fiction and move on to something happier.
He thought back on his recent talks with Brainy.
...Happy might be a bit of a stretch, but he could dream.
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But then realisation set in, followed swiftly by embarrassment as he realised how idiotic his assumption was considering the situation - he was supposed to be a twelfth-level intellect, not an ignorant child - and Brainiac 5 blinked.
"Oh, you meant-- Yes. We're friends."
And hopefully neither of them would ask what conclusion he'd initially come to.
Also hoping the slightly heated feeling of his face wasn't an embarrassed flush, the Coluan sunk down into the seat next to Peter and addressed Scott stiffly. "Peter's never mentioned you."
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Rather than the "Man, what's eating your pixels?" response that was on the tip of his tongue now, Scott gave a nod with his own brand of awkwardness. "Yeah, I think I'd remember if Peter mentioned you too." He paused, then added, "Heh, you're not the secret other man in his life, are you?" trying to ease the tension with a laugh and a bad joke. In retrospect, this was probably a bad idea.
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Good old, fun time Peter who didn't quite get why his roommate was being so awkward with Scott, but he was willing to chalk it up to being a Coluan thing and unfamiliar with the basics of human socialization. That was okay. They could work on that. They were off to a good start with Scott's stellar effort in the lame joke department. It had Peter's eyes rolling to ceiling and put the smile back on his face. "Actually Scott, I've been meaning to tell you. You're the other woman."
He supposed some form of explanation was needed here. It was only fair to both of them. "I met Scott something like a week ago? We met through a mutual friend, and there's a group of us that's been trying to get a crack at the basement. I've only gone with them once and we didn't...get very far, but you said you've been down there already? Right Scott?"
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What did strike him as odd, however, was Peter's comment to this Scott. "...but he's male, isn't he? Or..." He glanced at Scott curiously. "Were you a different species before you arrived here? With different sex norms?"
That had to be as disconcerting as the first day or so after he suddenly found himself organic, and the Coluan relaxed a little more, trying an almost apologetic, yet hesitant, smile.
A smile which disappeared almost immediately when Peter began talking about the basement. "Isn't that dangerous, Peter?"
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Scott squinted at the splotches on Brainy's forehead, now wondering if they were for calling the mothership or something.
Whatever, though, he thought. If Pod Brain here was okay by Peter, he was probably going to be okay by Scott too. He couldn't fault the guy for being awkward if he wasn't from 'round here. Maybe he just took some getting used to was all. "Sacre bleu! And here I thought we had something special, Peter!" Scott said with a swoon, putting a hand to his forehead. "Am I just a cheap whore to you? Is that it? You only want me for my boobs, don't you?"
Of course, getting to know a potentially awkward alien-ish guy didn't preclude messing with him at the same time.
Scott sat back up after a moment, letting his little moment of "drama" pass before he could remind himself too much of the boobs he was trying to forget ever existed. "Uh, yeah, I did get down there once, but not far in. Only to, like, the first room." He turned to Brainiac at that. "And you're right, it is dangerous. All the more reason to go in a group. I only went with one other guy last time. It was... not fun."
Memories of nearly getting lightly roasted and making an ass of himself in front of Wolverine.
"Yeah. Not fun at all." Twitch.
This entire tag was composed to the dulcet melody of Trolololo
Augh, whatever. Moving past that.
The question prompted a short pause from Peter. Largely due to the fact that he was confused as to how his roommate came to that conclusion, but then he remembered. Alien planet. Zillions of years into the future. Gender-swapping folk like that probably existed somewhere in the fictional universe.
Well he was a woman that one time.
Tempting as it was, Peter was not going to mention that. Scott would likely retaliate with the fact that he'd been blessed with boobs once, too, and his life would be ruined. (Moreso than it already was.)
"The only special thing in our sordid love affair was your special wallet." Peter delivered a friendly kick to Scott's shin. "Your boobs aren't all that."
He then turned to Brainy again, explaining the deal with an easy smile. "Scott's definitely a guy. He's from Canada - the country above this one. Calling him a woman was a figure of speech. In a sense. Usually this joke is about like, a guy dating two girls, and it doesn't quite roll off the tongue if you change the wording. You get what I mean?" He shrugged, skipping to the next question.
"Well yeah, it's dangerous. Anything worthwhile around here is dangerous. But from the sounds of it, Landel might be down there. Or something equally important. There wouldn't be so many safeguards down there if there wasn't."
This was the first time he was hearing about the basement itself in any sort of detail. Which was a generous description, because Scott was not expanding on much of anything right now. Peter squinted at him, rolling his hand in the universal 'Carry On' sign.
"Aaaaand...?"
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"You seem to have become good friends despite not having known each other for very long," he commented icily. Not to mention the jokes centred around the possibility of them dating and...
He glanced at Peter sidelong, then back to Scott. Was that what he'd walked in on? But, hadn't Peter said he had a girlfriend? Not that that precluded the chance of him having interest in same-gender relationships necessarily, but most humans tended to only have relationships with one person at a time, in his experiences.
Not to mention in all honesty, it shouldn't even be his business at all. It was Peter's personal life, not his. Brainiac 5 should be more interested in the talk of the basement; the data Scott had would be useful in figuring out more about this place and how it might be possible to escape. Or he should be considering the chances of him getting his own tests underway.
But instead he butted in with; "Are you dating Peter?"
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He nodded and let Peter do some 'splainin', but of the more relevant kind. If he had to spell this out to Brainiac 5 in this much detail, it was pretty much confirmed that the guy was not entirely one with Planet Earth.
And it was that fact alone that stopped Scott's brain from flipping over inside his skull at Pod Brain's next question. He had been about to continue telling Peter about the basement when suddenly the matter of his dating a fifteen-year-old boy came up, and frankly, Scott had not been expecting to answer that kind of question today.
"Are we—? You mean in that—? Oh, no, no, god no! What gave you that— No! Ew! Sick, dude!" In the middle of that blabbering, Scott had inadvertently gotten a vision of him and Peter having some kind of illicit secret affair and making out in a closet. Now he was scrambling to find the brain bleach because never should that happen in any way in any universe and you should feel ashamed of yourself for even thinking about it good god you creepy pedophiles what the hell.
Scott managed to calm down quickly enough, though, because again, alien. He shouldn't have been surprised that their remarks would get taken seriously by someone like this. "No, we're just joking around, relax," he assured Brainiac, forcing an awkward smile. "If there's one thing guys do when they're friends, it's tease the hell out of each other. You can't take everything so seriously, man."
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What on earth was going on - oh god WHAT?!
Peter was stricken with a vision of that one night with Mary Jane in his basement. They had made out in the dark with only the computer blinking in the background, way past curfew just because they were teenagers and totally rebellious like that. Except now, instead of having a gorgeous redhead in his lap and attached to him by the lips, there was now a man seventy pounds heavier crushing his legs and sticking his tongue down Peter's throat like he was fishing for a stray piece of asparagus.
Something inside him screamed in agony and perished in a burst of flames.
"Dude, no!!" Debunking this myth right the hell now. Even if he had to do it in a pitch only meant for dog ears. "He's like ten years older than me, never ever ever! That's pedo-central - a-and I have a girlfriend! She'd gut me if I even - no no no!"
Scott, in a surprising show of maturity, came down from the hysteria faster than Peter did. He was still pushing himself back into the couch cushions as if they could swallow him up entirely and trying to hide his beet red face when the other boy offered a sane explanation. All Peter could do to help was give a meager, "What he said."
Man, hadn't he just explained that this was a joke two seconds ago? What the hell Brainy?
A+ on the FoC reference! XD
"It just seems like an odd topic to joke about, that's all," he grumbled, settling back down into his seat and avoiding looking at Peter. Unfortunately this meant he was stuck with looking at Scott or not looking at either of them, which made conversation awkward.
Eventually Brainiac 5 settled on a halfway point, which was gazing somewhere slightly to Scott's left. Call it petty, but he still resented the other patient for the initial mix-up between the three of them and while he wasn't going to be open about it and would try to keep it from affecting their ability to work together too much, should it come to that, that didn't mean he was willing to just forget it either.
"And anyway, shouldn't you be focussing more on the serious matters here? Like this information you supposedly have on the basement?"
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"It's honestly not much," Scott answered, poking Peter in the shoulder to make sure the kid hadn't died of embarrassment. "I made it to the basement once with this guy Logan by just running the hell through the Sun Room and not stopping to let any hidden nasties take us by surprise. We got about as far as the first room, a ballroom-type place, which was being guarded by a two-headed fire-breathing boss monster. It was already holding its own against three other guys, and nearly toasted us too. Night ended around there."
Scott conveniently left off the part where he had fallen on his butt and gotten sent back upstairs with his tail between his legs on orders from Wolverine. That part wasn't even really necessary to the report or anything, right?
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He really could have died at that moment. At least nobody had put the icing on the cake: Indy had yet to conveniently walk by and overhear anything. Thank the lord.
Luckily, everyone had opted for a change in subject matter. The basement it was. Much safer. Perhaps not in the physical sense, but conversationally it was something he could handle right now. Pity Scott didn't have much of a story to tell.
And hold the phone. Peter suddenly frowned. "Logan?" he parroted, regarding the older boy curiously. "You knew Logan?"
Scott had mentioned having knowledge of the basement ages ago, so this trip had to have been from a while back. That didn't stop the tiny bubble of hope from rising up. As far as Peter knew, there had only ever been one Logan here. It wasn't that common of a name.
The guy had already come back from the dead once. Who was to say it wouldn't happen a second time?
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He was tempted to sarcastically add a question about exactly how many people Peter knew, and why he seemed so suspicious of anyone Brainiac 5 asked to meet of a night when he apparently knew all these people he'd never mentioned before now. But... he was a little afraid that he might not like the answer he got, for one thing.
Another aspect was that Peter was a lot like Clark in a way; he seemed to have that personality that seemed to make people like and trust him easily. As with Clark, it had made the young Coluan a little uncertain and on edge, especially when he made friends with people whom might not be the best of influences (in his book anyway). But all the same he couldn't deny that Peter had that affect on people, and it was the sort of trait a hero should have. So... he supposed he could put up with it.
At least until it proved more of a problem, like Clark's temporary friendship with Alexis had been.
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"Uh, yeah, I know him, unless something happened that nobody told me about?" Scott wondered whether Peter was talking about the Logan that had apparently disappeared not long into Scott's stay in the Institute, or to the one that (as far as he knew) was currently running around getting his mutton chops into things. Come to think of it, he really hadn't seen or heard from the fellow Canuck for at least a couple of days now. Possibly not a good sign. "I just met him kinda randomly one night. Literally bumped into each other in the hall."
Scott wasn't going to get into the whole thing with how he had recognized the guy, considering the conversation he and Peter had just had. Save that for another day. Or no day, maybe.
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Brainy was feeling left out.
The conversation was mostly between him and Scott, and Brainy had only wandered in halfway through and didn't know any of the people they were talking about, wasn't involved with any of their nightly escapades or anything else that had come up so far. And the awkwardness that came from being raised in a cold alien society seemed to only amplify his reactions. Oy. Maybe he should explain a this to Scott later because Brainy wasn't exactly giving off a stellar first impression here.
And let's face it: Brainy needed friends. (Ones that weren't tools.) Maybe if he tried to smooth things over with both of them later they could eventually work their way up to that. Scott was a nice guy, and so was Brainy. There shouldn't be a reason for anyone to get snippy here.
Still, the clock was ticking down on their stay in the Sun Room. Nurses were already whispering to one another and the bustle on the balcony had already begun. No time for a rousing chorus of Kumbaya.
"Logan's a guy from my world, or another version of it or something. He's short, super hairy, super manly. Uh - he has metal claws that can shoot out from between his knuckles-" Peter mimicked the motion with his hand, "-and his power is basically healing from anything. He took a couple bullets to the head once and his forehead just squeezed them right back out. It was gross."
Not a pleasant memory, that one, but still rather tame in his collection of Happy Tales of the Majestic Mr. Wolverine. Peter smiled at Brainy, trying to draw out a less dour face from the other boy. "He's kind of hard to miss. You'd know him if you saw him. He has more hair than skin and his face is like, set in a permafrown."
He turned back to Scott, the smile fading a tick or two as he thought the matter over. "I don't know. I haven't seen or heard from him in a few days and he's already disappeared once before, so. I don't know, maybe I'll try grabbing him on the bulletin sometime."
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It was really all he could think to say in answer to that. Both Scott and Peter knew this Logan person, and he knew that Peter apparently had other friends, and Scott likely would too.
Clearly he'd interrupted something he wasn't really welcome in.
The information hurt, no matter how much Brainiac 5 told himself that he hardly had reason to feel this way. It wasn't as though Peter had an obligation to tell him everything that was going on in his life.
Possibly it was fortunate that the nurses were starting to move to collect patients, then. Brainiac 5 stood up quickly, doing his best to try and control the heat rising to his face through sheer willpower.
"I... wanted to check the information board before we're moved again," he lied. "I'll see you tonight, Peter."
And then he left.