Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

[scarefaux]

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

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[vsyourface]

A blinking white arrow zeroed in on Peter's arm, with a caption reading "SLING?!*" right above it. Below, on the opposite side, a small black box with an editor's note read "* - ouch". At least, that was how Scott perceived Peter's entrance, anyway. How come no one else viewed the world this way again? So much more conveniently organized.

"I should ask you the same thing. Is that part of what kept you out last night?" Scott asked, gesturing at the sling. "Man, now I feel guilty. I was gonna ask you about another run at some point, but now I'm thinking chicken soup might be a better thing to offer..."

He was getting off-track already. Peter had asked him a question, and he probably ought to answer it. Shaking his head, he continued: "Anyway, you haven't seen the bulletin feud at all? It was kind of a big thing, or it felt like it, anyway," Scott started to explain. "This guy, Porky? I kinda know him. The, uh, same way I know you." He paused, wondering if he should say anything yet. No, that could come later, he decided. "And. Uh. He didn't like that. Like really didn't like that. Like set my room on fire and almost burned my roommate alive didn't like that. Soooo. Yeah. Kinda aren't... weren't fond of each other," he finished, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. There was a "but" hanging in the air so heavily that one almost expected to see Wile E. Coyote standing around waiting to have it dropped on his head.

[vsyourface]

Scott waved his hands back and forth in the universal "Nonono! You've got it all wrong!" flail when Peter asked if they were going to the basement without him again. "Hey, don't worry, man! We didn't go to the basement at all last night. You didn't miss out on anything." Except seeing everything wrong with me on display in one convenient incarnation, he thought with a wince. "Might not go tonight either. Indy wants to check out this mine place first apparently. I was just gonna ask how soon you'd be okay to come with us in general and stuff."

He watched Peter's reactions to his Porky story out of the corner of his eye, not quite meeting the other boy's gaze as they spoke. Yeah, the guy definitely looked uncomfortable when the fourth wall implication was brought up. So this probably wasn't something Scott was going to be feeling much better about anytime soon, then. Good to know, he thought with a faint gulp of dread. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closed it.

He wasn't expecting quite that big a reaction to the fire thing, though. Something, yes, but he had kind of forgotten how out of the blue that kind of thing might sound to someone who wasn't him. "I didn't even know for a couple days after it happened!" Scott defended, though he knew Peter was probably right about him telling someone. "Like, I found some charred stuff in my closet? But I was out the night it happened. I didn't have a clue what that stuff meant until I got the story from Guybrush. Then after that was basement stuff, plus you and I had our own problems that one night-" Obligatory twitch. "-so I kinda thought it wasn't the most important thing to bring up."

Yeah, still pretty weak, but it was all Scott had. He had treated Porky like a problem that shouldn't have been anyone's but his, and maybe he shouldn't have. That was all there was to it. "Anyway, it looks like he's out of the picture now. It's all good now."

[vsyourface]

Scott shrugged at the gimpsville bit. "You can if you want? But if you're game to come sooner, then come. Heck, I was going for it again while I was still on crutches." A pause. Scott put a finger to his lips. "Of course, I'm a bit crazy. Annnnd more than a bit stupid. But still! That was the night I got furthest, either way."

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?"

[vsyourface]

Okay, so, recap:

- 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.

[emotionl4arobot]

[AND LO, FAILBOT DID DESCEND UPON THIS THREAD TO SPREAD FAIL AND QUESTIONABLE GAY VIBES. VERILY.]

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? /)_(\

[vsyourface]

That was a good point about the memories thing, Scott thought. God knew he had plenty of experience with forgetting things even without the help of a megalomaniac doctor from Hell. Maybe by the time this was all over, he could just forget all the bad stuff and keep the good. Heck, even if he did forget the good stuff, it was better than having to live with brain-breaking knowledge anymore.

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.

[emotionl4arobot]

For a moment he thought the other boy must have meant that there were other versions of his Peter here, clones like Kel-El, perhaps, and a surge of panic gripped him. How could there be clones of his roommate here without him realising? And why had Peter kept that from him?

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."

[vsyourface]

Scott blinked as Peter introduced him to his friend/roommate. Peter was clearly pretty comfortable with the prospect of them all hanging out, but the boy with the polka-dot tattoo, to put it bluntly, was not. There had been something resembling a panic in Brainiac's (really? really?) eyes for a second after Scott's initial comment, followed by a stiff awkwardness that made Scott immediately wonder if the guy was a robot, an alien, or a poorly coded game sprite. For the moment he was going to guess... (eenie-meenie-mineyyyyy) ...the third one. Scott could only hope that if that was indeed true, that Brainy wasn't going to spontaneously start bugging out before their eyes.

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.

[emotionl4arobot]

"I knew the Doctor before I knew you, Peter," Brainiac 5 answered, unaware of how that may sound. It was the truth, after all.

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?"

[vsyourface]

... Okay, guy was definitely an alien. No one seriously questioned a joke like that or used phrases like "different sex norms" in casual conversation unless they were trying and failing to impersonate a human being, like so many pod people.

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.