ArchivedLogs:Bugs, Blankies, Boys

Bugs, Blankies, Boys
Dramatis Personae Peter, Rasa
In Absentia	2013-05-28 Peter and Rasa catch up on sensitive issues.
Location <XS> Rec Room - FL2
School this may be, but life for Xavier's students certainly isn't all studying. Outside classes, this is a popular spot to find students in their downtime. An enormous tribute to slacking off, this room is a wealth of fun and relaxation. Comfortable armchairs, couches, and beanbags offer plentiful seating scattered throughout the room, and the cushioned windowseats by the high windows offer a cozy nook to curl up and look out on the grounds. The room is often filled with the noises of gaming -- whether it comes from the big-screen television (tall racks of DVDs beside it, if nothing can be found on the multitude of cable channels), tricked out with consoles from retro to the latest releases, or the less electronic clatter and thump of the pool table, air hockey, or foosball. For those a little more subdued in their gaming, the cabinets hold stacks and stacks of board and card games, ranging as classic as chess and go to as esoteric as Dixit, Catan, and Gloom. Peter has been spending what time he has since mutant fight camp -- and Georgia field-trip -- playing EVERY VIDEO GAME AVAILABLE in the rec room. It has actually been, maybe -- a little hard? -- to get him away from the video games. Maybe he was suffering from video game withdrawal and this is his way of trying to overdose. He can be -- and currently is! -- found on the rec room couch, upside down, feet poking up over the back -- black toes wiggling -- controller cradled in his lap as he plays a rousing game of SKYRIM. Fightin’ dragons, shoutin’ at bears. Peter’s clad in a pink collared shirt with BUTTONS! And dress-slacks. No clip-on tie today; the tie’s been taken off and set down on the arm of the couch, to keep it out of the way of his face. He is a little calmer when playing Skyrim -- no relentless /wriggling/ from side to side. But he is clearly intently focused on it, currently sneakily archering people inside of a cave. The people actually kind of look like sinister, grotesque elves. Gross-Elves. THWUMP. Arrow to the face, BITCHES! Rasa wanders in later in the night, after most people and finally settled down after the LOCKDOWN. Ze is a little listless, moving slowly and eyeing the game that peter is playing before focusing on the limbs extended upward against the couch, then finally drawing closer to them. Ze takes off a black tie ze acquired at some point during the day, and drapes it over those wiggling toes and the feet they are attached to. The rest of hir is dressed in a white long sleeved shirt, gray and white pinstripped vest over, baggy jeans modified for tail comfort below those. Hir feet are sandaled, hir hand gloved in black gloves. Hir skin is an almost human shade of orange, like ze had a incident with fake tanning solution (but didn't!). Hir tail curls up as ze slips out of hir sandals and pulls hirself onto the back of the couch and then over the back, watching Peter's reaction to the tie. If he doesn't notice, ze is pulling it off in a tickling manner. There is a brief /clench/ of those toes as they find themselves adorned with a scarf; Peter does not complain, although he /does/ proceed to manipulate the tie with his toes -- stretching it out a bit, folding it between them -- actually, though his toes aren’t remarkably long or agile, he’s /pretty/ good with them. If/when Rasa tugs the tie, Peter’s face scrunches up and his feet clench, the soles of his feet apparently dangerously ticklish. “Hey, Rasa,” Peter comments absently, just as he is sneaking up on another evil underground mushroom elf. SPROING. Arrow to the face. SUCKER! Peter doesn’t seem to look up to see hir; just a brief flicker of his eyes toward hir shape, hovering over the couch’s back-end. “I really do like the tail. I don’t think I told you that, did I?” he says, LOOTING the poor, deceased Mushroom Elf. RIP. Rasa smiles a little at Peter's ticklish feet and starts rewrapping hir tie around hir neck. "Hey Peter. I … don't remember. Maybe. Yes? I don't remember specifically. The weekend was a blur of hugging people and getting lost in the woods." Ze leans back in the cushions on the couch, shifting hir shoulders until one plumps up behind hir neck the way ze wants it to. "Everything calm in here now? Seems like everyone's hiding out in their rooms after full panic mode." Ze tucks hir feet up on the couch as well, slumping in a strange little v shape. "You okay?" “Yeah,” Peter comments on the whole GEORGIA situation. “It was -- nice. Really, uh, nice.” There /might/ be a flicker of violet in his face when he mentions this, continuing to play the game. “I’m a little worried I might be overwhelming Ivan though because, holycrap. Plus I found out he’s -- going to Russia,” Peter adds, nose wrinkling as he mentions this. “Just two months but, /man/.” At the question of calmness and panic modes, Peter gives a little upside down shrug; he does send a peek up Rasa’s way as ze perches in that curious V-shape, though. “Yeah, I think so. Alarm really hurt the twins’ ears. Kai kind of freaked. I mean, a lot of the people here -- uh, loud noises and metal stuff slamming down -- /probably/ gonna make them, uh, skittish. But, I think everything’s okay /now/.” "Nice?" Rasa sounds a little distance. "Good. Glad it was nice," like ze wasn't actually there. "Wait, overwhelming Ivan how?" Ze starts to focus when Peter starts talking about hir person. Hir brow furrows and a darker, murky brown begins to filter into hir face from hir hairline. Ze watches him instead of the videogame, watching his weird little shrug. "It makes people who have never been locked in a cage jittery, so yeah, I can't really imagine it from other angles." The hint of violet intensifies in Peter’s face; he is /decisively/ watching the game, now. “Uh, just. I mean. The chitin, and the fight camp, /and/ when we were at Georgia Shane kind of -- um, was, uh.” Deep violet. “--kissing me. In front of Ivan. And, I kind of -- I guess I kind of --” Peter’s head /pushes/ down into that cushion, now. “...s’just not, man. I /probably/ should have, like, told Ivan? To kind of prepare him but I mean it’s still /weird/ for me uh.” He /dares/ to peek up at Rasa at the mention of cages, but it’s just brief. “Yeeeah I mean, Kai was really -- I mean, I just thought it was a /fire/ alarm or something, but. Actually the twins were okay with it, I think they kind of almost expect that sort of stuff. I just. Jeez. Didn’t even know the school had, like, metal window shutters.” "Yeah..." Rasa frowns a bit as ze listens quietly to Peter stammer over some of the details about the trip. "Well..." Ze hrmms quietly and looks over at the television as well, face, definitely darkening. "The purpose of the trip was about you three, for the most part, and your attempts to get support from those who care about you to start to recover from what happened. Was the situation comfortable for Ivan?" Ze chews on hir lip. There's just a subtle shake of hir head. "But you were also … in a shitty place making shitty decisions. But that's what happens when terrible things happen." Ze takes a deep breath and focuses back on Peter. "You've got a good heart, Peter. When you're ready to wake up and get out of what happened - which is HUGE and may take a while - you'll be better able to handle the rest of the world again, you'll make it up to Ivan somehow. But, you know, the trip is coming up, so maybe... you want to try something now?" “I want Ivan to be -- I mean, I know this has been rough for /him/, too,” Peter adds, JOINING Rasa in lip-chewing. Although Peter’s only chewing on his own lip. “I kind of, um,” the violet threatens to spill into indigo, “/left/ him up there for a bit I dunno maybe that was -- really rude.” This bit is rushed out, as if Peter really doesn’t want to /say/ it! But he does. “I dunno if it was comfortable for him I mean Ivan’s pretty much -- /quiet/,” Peter finishes. The video game, for a moment, is paused; Peter looks up to Rasa, still upside down. “Y’know, I think -- I’m pretty much okay,” he says, with a slightly lop-sided smile. “I mean, I still been having -- bad dreams? But, it really hasn’t been -- the first few days were /really/ bad. After uh, I mean,” Peter again flickers toward indigo! “After crying a lot and talking to a bunch of people about it I’m feeling a lot better. About it all. I -- yeah, I just want to, uh. I guess, before he goes, do some. Cool stuff.” This last bit is enough to propel Peter’s eyes back to the video game, though he has /yet/ to unpause it. "Left him up where? You were too busy kissing Shane to help him down from a height? I guess that'd be rude." Rasa agrees wholeheartedly with his assertion. "I know you're excited about Shane, but leaving a guy hanging? Was he carrying stuff?" Ze lets him talk about the other stuff, watching him quietly, something like an uncomfortable itch forming in between hir shoulderblades, causing hir to shift around to alleviate it. "Sure. That'd probably be good. But maybe just you and Ivan, right? I don't need to be there. You guys... gotta reconnect or something, maybe? He's... not happy. I think he misses you, even though you're here." “Oh, no, it was -- in the hay-loft, uh. I was climbing around with Ivan, and we went to the barn to see Shane and Sebastian and Daiki and -- uh,” /dark/ indigo, “Shane got all kissy and, um, I kind of -- slippedoffwithhim. And told Ivan I’d talk to him later.” /Peer/. At video-game screen. Still paused. Like it’s going to promptly explain his behavior to Rasa. “Yeah,” Peter mentions, at the last bit Rasa says, sighing with maybe just a /bit/ of melodrama. “I, yeah. I mean, this is all really confusing, and. Yeah. We should both go -- do something. Fun. Together. Something non-dangerous,” Peter quickly adds, as if it is IMPORTANT to add this bit. "You skipped off on Ivan to ... oh, you're having sex with Shane..." We all learned that earlier today. "Peter." Oh no! A note of disapproval! It's mild. "You... you know how flustered you get when you just /talk/ about this stuff? He's... like twenty times worse. I mean, we've been together for a while now and ... we still don't do stuff like that because it's not him. It's not his culture either." Rasa wiggles uncomfortably again, like ze has that itch. "Don't think as an American born person I'd feel great about that." Ze pauses, then expounds, "Not that you can really take my perspective... as I don't really have a sex drive aside from what I borrow from other people - but I do know they are very nice things and really feel good..." /NOW/ Peter turns a dark shade of indigo. At the s-word. His head descends (or is it ascends?) for his hands as Rasa goes on to explain hir /situation/ with Ivan and OHGOD. But, he manages to grit his way through it without /exploding/. Maybe time spent with Shane is slowly /desensitizing/ him to discussing these things with other people. “...yeah, I. Um. /Yeah/. I--we’ll. Do something. Together. I just, holycrap I am not /good/ with this stuff.” "See? That thing? The thing you're doing with hiding your face? That's what I'm talking about." Rasa reads most likely too much into his gesture, wrapping hir arms around hir legs, crunching up in a ball of worry as he turns that embarrassed shade. "Now, I feel like I'm shaming you. God, Peter, I'm sorry. You should be... Yay! Sex! Because that stuff feels good. Yay! Don't be ashamed! You're not doing anything wrong, per se. Just, not everyone likes to /observe,/ right? Maybe? Fuck, I don't know." and then ze starts to turn a shade of pink in hir musty brownness. "Just... start by talking to him about this stuff, okay? I mean, don't be like, 'hey Ivan, I want to make sure you're okay with my sex life because I have a sex life now,' but something like... 'Dude, I feel like our friendship isn't as close as it used to be and I want to work on repairing that with you... by going on a bug hunt or to the Museum of Natural History or a comic book store.'" “Ohmy/God/,” Peter says, still a furious shade of indigo. He looks like he wants to -- well, melt into the floor. And maybe, slither away. Slither, slither. “Ohmy/God/ how do these conversations /keep happening/?!” Then, to Rasa: “YES. Okay. I am. NO. I am not going to -- I am /not/ talking to Ivan about /sex/ that is--ohGod.” His hands are now firmly /clamped/ to his face. “We will go to the MUSEUM. Or find BUGS. Or something, something, something that has absolutely /zero/ to do with conversations like this,” he continues, very /firmly/. “And it will be FUN. So, YES. Everything. Is. Perfectly. Fine.” Through gritted teeth. “Good. Idea. Rasa.” "I'm sorry!" Rasa starts moving forward, hovering around and over Peter, staring at him like he may break any second. "I.... just wanted to help. I'm sorry!" Hir hands do not touch him at any point, but fretting demonstratively in the air. "Please... tell me what you need. Water? A paper bag? More videogames? Do you have a special blankie?" Ze swallows hard. "Sorry." “A special...” Peter flings a look up at Rasa that is kind of, well. This: D:< But then! He is maybe-slightly grinning. Even as his face collapses back into his hands. “No,” he announces. “I do not need -- I am okay. Just, hhnggh. These sort of conversations. They kind of, freak me out. I’m getting used to them, I guess, I mean I’m going to /have/ to because holycrap Shane just /does not/ understand the idea of, um.” Peter’s head emerges from his hands as he waves his wrist at Rasa. “...verbal restraint? I guess? He’s, I guess I can understand /why/, he’s just really confused about, when it is okay to say this stuff and when it’s not, I guess he kind of sees it all as really weird... uh, rules. I’m okay,” Peter repeats, as if to /reinforce/ this. The indigo has faded back to a more even violet. "Don't tell anyone," words one should never say to one Peter Parker, "but I have a special blankie. I just... don't let anyone know where it is." Secret special blanket. Rasa relaxes a little when Peter reveals a grin, curling back in on hirself as he continues the head holding and stressing. "It makes sense because he kind of grew up without a social culture ... of polite people, but yeah. As long as you two are together, it's probably a thing." See? Ze can do nice, generalized comments and totally not say anything about sex. "So... you going on that field trip?" At the mention of having a special blankie, Peter looks up at Rasa with a tilt of his head; as if to ask, ‘wait, REALLY?’. After mentioning it, he cannot /help/ but ask, ever-so-tentatively: “...do you have it... /on/ you? Like right n--right, you don’t--tell anyone where you put it. Okay,” Peter says, nose scrunching up: “...man now I’m all curious,” he mumbles, /frowning/ at this as he turns back to the screen. “...but yeah, he -- uh, he kind of. I mean, I don’t know the whole story, but he kind of grew up in a really...” Pause. Word-search. “.../bad/ place. But,” Peter adds, thinking for a moment, “he’s really --” Whatever Peter was going to say, he just shakes his head, as if he can’t find the right way to put it. “Yeah, I’m going. I kind of want to -- I guess, it’s a good chance to see how it feels, to be out in public? With a group.” "He grew up in cages. He told me." Rasa has like a month more of knowledge of twins since ze's been at the school longer. "He told me when I told him that my parents kept me in my room." Rasa's in share mode! "But your aunt and uncle, they don't mind how you look, right? They still hug you and talk to you, right? That's good!" And a little positive to keep things on the up! "A group is a good idea. Your friends will be there to help you out." Ze smiles a little and unwinds a bit. "You are going to be okay, Peter. You're surrounded by people who care. In the long run, that's the best thing." Ze takes a deep breath and then wets hir lips. "You can borrow my hijab, if you... want, as a blankie, if you want." “Your parents kept you in your--?” Peter blinks at Rasa. Then /frowns/. “Jeez what the hell why did everyone get sucky--uh. I mean. I don’t know if your parents are -- is it okay to call them sucky, I mean they /sound/ kind of sucky, but I don’t actually--uh, know, hm,” Peter says, before diplomatically SHIFTING GEARS: “Yeah my folks are -- they really don’t care. I mean, I think it weirds them out a little? But they’re totally okay with it. Oh -- your --” Peter grins. “Thank you. I’m okay, though. I think, uh, I kind of feel that way maybe about my -- thwippy things. I actually have ‘em in my pocket right now.” He makes a sneaky look to the left. “--but thank you.” "And no, my hijab is not my special blankie. That will remain a mystery. If you /can/ figure out where it is or whatever, I'll um... Hmm. Something nice. I'll take you out to dinner or something. Or just give you twenty bucks." Rasa grins now, pressing hir cheek against the cushion ze is leaning against to make it a little more comfortable. "Yeah, my parents are a little sucky. They're dealing with their own issues, or not dealing with them, as the case may be. I … wish them luck, but probably won't see them again. Generally, they are really great people. They just... couldn't handle how their child made them look to other people." Ze exhales and looks at the ceiling, gnawing on hir lip. "I think you're really brave, by the way. I … still am not good with dealing with people... in the public. I still kind of cover up rather than go out proud. It's... kind of stupid of me, I suppose. If physical mutants aren't seen, no one will get used to their appearances, but it's also not the easiest thing to just... go out and do." Rasa looks guilty, fingers picking at a bit of lint on hir jeans. "I hope it goes well." “Oh jeez I’m not -- you know,” Peter mentions, “I’ve pretty much looked -- uh like no one could tell I was a mutant until, a month ago. I mean, I don’t even /know/ how to hide, I think -- I mean, I’m not brave I’m just kind of too dumb to be scared, sometimes.” Peter’s nose wrinkles. “I keep /forgetting/ that I have the chitin, you know? That probably sounds weird but, like, people say ‘oh wow interesting’ and I’m like ‘huh?’ and then it’s like ‘Oh right I’ve got CHITIN now’. I’m, uh, probably not going to -- I mean, yeah I hope it goes well,” Peter just finishes with this, lifting one of his hands to /peer/ at it. “It’s not stupid, though, I mean, crap they were snatching us off the streets, a little hiding seems kinda /smart/.” "It doesn't sound weird. I kind of get that when someone points out how I look. Even if I did look in the mirror every morning, I still could change color by the end of breakfast." Rasa stretches, right leg straightening out over the floor, toes pointed, left leg remaining close to hir torso, bent, toes splayed. Hir right arm curls up by hir head, left stretching straight up, back of hir hand at a ninety degree angle to hir forearm. "It takes a while for a person's self to really sink into the subconscious. It's kind of like a habit, for me at least. Which is why my tail is really hard for me right now. I have to keep thinking about it to make it be there. But if I do it enough, it'll become unconscious... part of me." Ze pulls hirself out of hir slouch and sits on the couch in a little more regular fashion. "You could always look in the mirror and tell yourself, quietly, in your head, that you've got chitin now. Call yourself the chitin crusader or champion, Chitin the Fabulous and Magnificent, if it helps - the Great and Powerful. CHITIN MAN, or Face of CHITIN." Ze is perhaps a little too into this now. Peter rolls. WHUMP. It’s a bit of a sudden motion, brought on by a hoist of his waist and legs, a shove of his hands -- sending him flipping down off the couch and to the floor -- landing down onto the floor with a thud. He turns to sit on the couch /proper/ now, slinging himself to lay down beside Rasa and /peer/ at hir as ze assumes a more regular position hirself. “Chitin man,” Peter says, as if /testing/ it out. “Chitin /is/ kind of badass, but I mean, I’d have to... think it over. I think /Spider/ is pretty badass too, like some sort of -- bikerdude.” "The other point in its favor is the fact that it's a little more original. The Spider is great, but yeah, every biker and his brother is going to be fierce and threatening with SPIDER as their moniker. Where as, you're pretty much the only one I know who has chitin, and it's more protective than threatening. You know?" Rasa bumps shoulders with Peter when he sits beside hir, give him a small smile. "I'm also not trying to sell it to you for /actual/ use. Just, until you have it ingrained in your brain that your body is new, different, and rather awesome." “Maybe,” Peter agrees, bristling a bit at the shoulder bump, but in a good way! Then, with a sneaky glance at Rasa: “...is your special blankie your /pillow/ case? Mmm, I guess I could call myself /Chitin/ in my head that might be a little weird but chitin /is/ an awesome word and...” Peter pauses, cocking his head in thought. “I’m going to take Ivan to a bug zoo,” Peter suddenly says, rather /firmly/. “I’m sure they got those. Somewhere in New York. I’ll /find/ one. And, uh, maybe ask if, uh. Someone could take us there,” he quickly adds, with a sly glance from the left to right. As if realizing, oh right, despite having just turned sixteen, HE HASN’T LEARNED HOW TO DRIVE YET. Because, mutant fight camp. Rasa raises an eyebrow at Peter when he guesses pillowcase. It's a long enough pause that there's some indication that it's /clooooseeee/ but ze shakes hir head in the end. "No. Not my pillowcase." Ze keeps shaking hir head quietly, amused at the conversation, but then, Peter shifts gears again and ze halts the shaking and just smiles. "Sure, bug museums. That's a thing. I mean, I've seen a few on the roadsides when we were moving here, but I don't know if anyone's going to drive you several hours into the middle of nowhere to see bugs." Ze purses hir lips. "But sure. To the internet! It knows all!"