Day 55: Cafeteria

[bodhiandspirit]

Though five days without bathing was hardly unusual for Rita, she was actually looking forward to showering today. To her, the last shift had been somewhat enjoyable, if only because it allowed her an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Of course, she couldn't be completely alone in the communal showers, but no one was rude enough

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[autophoenix]

Given that her frustration was more guilt-driven than anything else (seriously, how had she missed that it wasn't Peter?), the honest edge of concern in Peter's voice and the way that he boiled it down to being worried about her made her bluster deflate. Her shoulders sank a little and her stubborn look relaxed into a slight frown, partially because as a genuine emotional response to what he was saying, and partially because she wasn't sure how he could manage to be so well-balanced all the time and not let her moodiness get to him.

Not to say that the bad mood wasn't still there, of course, but it was hard to be bitchy about it when he was trying to push through it and do the hero thing like always. She mirrored his movement with a kind of begrudging exasperation, folding her arms on the table and leaning forward. This felt stupid. Everything about this felt stupid, and it was made worse by the fact that it was because of her inability to tell Peter from Clone #584 or whatever apart.

"I'll come by your room tonight and heal you and we can see if it's better or something then. Maybe Aguilar was just messing with you or something, or maybe it's something worse. We can find out one way or the other." A sigh followed and her lips pursed into a narrow, unhappy line. "And we can try out this code word thing. I guess. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. But it's still stupid."

All right, so maybe she was being just slightly petulant, but who could blame her. It was kind of a mood-crusher to realize that she sucked this much.

[human_sponge]

It seemed like the fact that he was acting levelheaded was helping to calm Claire down, which was something Peter was going to keep in mind for any future discussions. The argument they'd gotten into yesterday had been a waste of energy as far as he was concerned, which was why he was making sure to keep his cool now. More than that, he really didn't have it in him to start fighting when he was putting half of his attention into the pain he was in. It was good that he was being distracted, but he couldn't completely put it out of his mind either.

He was relieved when Claire suggested that she could come and heal him tonight before he even had to ask. He knew that she would do just about anything for him, but that didn't mean that he didn't appreciate it. He quirked a smile. "Thanks a lot. It feels kind of weird that I'm the nurse and yet you're the one healing me, but..." Powers sort of turned everything upside-down, didn't they? Still, he wished he could do more. It felt like he was always one step behind in this place, and his injuries meant that he wouldn't be able to head up to the experiment rooms tonight.

Even if Claire was still calling it stupid, she was at least asking for suggestions for the code word, which was a step in the right direction. Still, it was hard to think of something that was both obscure and yet had some meaning. He realized it could be something completely random, but it seemed like it'd be easier to remember if it at least held some importance.

"Anyway, is there a name or a phrase from your childhood that would work, maybe?" Peter even considered using Claire's dog's name, but that seemed too well-known.

[autophoenix]

"It's more like you're healing yourself, anyway." She shrugged it off. Okay, maybe it was a little of her frustration with her own ability not being able to help others that had her compartmentalizing it in her mind that way, but still. It was true. She wasn't healing him, he was doing all the work. Borrowing her ability, healing himself. Her power wasn't cool enough to involve healing other people. Just herself.

And with that, she dismissed the subject. It'd get dealt with, but they should hammer out the whole code word thing for future use now anyway. Especially since she'd be heading down the same path to the same exact hallway tonight and run the risk of the same stupid situation happening. This time, she wouldn't make the same mistake. But the double had known enough of how to act like Peter that Claire couldn't help wondering. Was it really going to make a difference? She tried to push the thoughts of pessimism from her mind but it was kind of hard to ignore.

"I don't know, though, uh … I mean, there's Mr. Muggles?" She purses her lips, looking thoughtful for a long moment then straightening up. "Wait," she reached into the front of her uniform shirt and fished out the dog tags, holding hers up for Peter to see. "We have these. I mean, maybe not forever, but for now shouldn't it work?"

[human_sponge]

Regardless of what Claire said, Peter didn't see it that way at all. It was true that it was his own ability that allowed him to use Claire's, but he wouldn't even be able to do that if she wasn't around, if she wasn't there at his side. She mattered just as much as he did -- if not more so, considering what her blood could do. Then again, it was pretty common for kids her age to be down on themselves, especially considering how she was already in a bad mood for a number of other reasons.

Peter smiled to himself when Claire came out with the same idea that he'd briefly thought of. Still, he thought it was something that was too easy to guess -- it wasn't like the name of the Bennet family dog was a secret by any means.

The dog tags, on the other hand -- that might work. Peter carefully grabbed for his own, taking in the number there. "These are personalized and I'm guessing each number is unique. There's no way that a copy of me would have it, right?" Unless this whole thing had been fabricated by the institute, in which case they could give his clone an identical pair...

This was all just too ridiculous. Peter sighed, resisting the urge to lean back in his wheelchair. That would not end well. "How about... a nickname you used to be called, something that no one would ever know. Or just an uncommon word that you think is cool."

[autophoenix]

She could see the enthusiasm for the dogtag idea whittling out of Peter's expression and she slowly deflated as she processed the issues with it herself. Right. They could fabricate the rest of Peter, apparently, and they'd made the tags. They could probably make an extra set. It left her with a nagging curiosity of what they'd been trying to do by sending something that looked just like him after her without hurting her -- project 2911 maybe? But what kind of experiment was it?

A headache. That was for sure. However, his next suggestion considered her mood to lighten just slightly at a memory. Something she hadn't thought about the whole time she was in the institute since she'd been busy being pissed at her father for partnering up with Sylar of all people. A quiet kind of smile appeared on her face briefly but disappeared as quickly as it had come and she cleared her throat, looking up from the table at Peter's face.

"Clairebear. My dad calls me that all the time. What about you? Did you and Nathan ever have a pet or something? A favorite … I don't know. Football team or something?"

[human_sponge]

Judging from the smile, brief as it had been, he'd asked the right question. Then again, most parents had nicknames for their children, so it made sense. Clairebear, huh? It would feel kind of odd to call her by a name that usually only her father used, but if it meant that it kept them safe, then he would do it. He offered a small smile of his own and then nodded.

At the mention of a football team, Peter's mind immediately went to baseball and the grief that he had had with Nathan because of that whole issue. Probably not the best thing to use, if only because it was just going to bring back bad memories when he really should be worrying about his brother.

The pet thing, though... That wasn't something he talked about often, but it would definitely work. "Yeah, we had a dog when I was younger. Her name was Izzie." The last time he'd even talked about that dog was when his father had died, so... also not the best memories, but he thought it would work a little better.

[autophoenix]

Most days, Claire would probably press with at least some genuine interest the topic of Peter's dog, both to be polite and to find out more about him. After all, her Petrelli family history needed some serious brushing up, and he was definitely the one she'd rather hear it from (most days). But for now, she just wanted to get away from the conversation so she could fume at herself privately and bat down that queasiness in her stomach that the slow playback of the last night in her mind was causing.

"Izzie. Great. So, code word achieved." It was a short, curt response but it was all she was offering so that she didn't snap something rude that she'd regret later. It wasn't Peter's fault that she had mistaken someone else for him, or rather, that she'd been totally fooled by something pretending to be him. But it was still something she felt like taking out on him because that's what she did when she got like this.

And when it came down to it, thinking about her dad had done more harm than good to her mood. It might have been a positive at first, remembering the better moments, but it was all sourly tinged by the knowledge that while she was in here, he was out there working with Sylar or something. Or however that worked with the whole … timeline weirdness. It was still a headache for her, even if she'd come to terms with it because of what it meant for being able to kill Sylar.

Her gaze flickered hastily around the room, giving her a distracted appearance, but it seemed like lunch was wrapping up. So, she got to her feet.

"I'll come see you tonight. Try not to get yourself in too much trouble before then." And this time, she'd just go into his room instead of trusting someone waltzing around the same hallway. Augh. How could she be that stupid?

[human_sponge]

It looked like they'd found a winner. Claire was satisfied, at least, and at this point that was the most important thing. Peter nodded. "And Clairebear as a back-up." With all of those ideas having been thrown out there, he figured they would be set.

However, it looked like they were just on time, since the shift was ending. He hadn't managed to eat much, but between the pain it caused and the fact that it would be rubbing his better privileges in Claire's face, he hadn't really planned on it in the first place. He could always make up for it at dinner.

"Right. And it's M24, don't forget." If she showed up at the right room, then the chances of her running into some clone wasn't likely. He doubted that a copy of him could imitate his wounds right now, either.

"But don't worry," he said with a shake of his head. "It'd be pretty hard for me to get into any trouble when I'm like... this." He made a small gesture with his hand to the wheelchair, and then waved to his niece, waiting for a soldier to come collect him.