Day 56: Tasty Burger (Noon)
Peter didn't know if he and Firo had left on the best terms, if only because the younger man was still so confused about what was going on in this place. The change in time period had a lot to do with it, but it had also sounded like he'd had a lot going on in his life before ending up here. Then again, who hadn't? Peter had just exploded before
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Up until now, Claire had always been the one who was pushing to go out and explore, to rebel against their captors, to do something. The two of them shared that determination, although Peter's had been curbed by his own concern for the girl. But for her to now want to stay in even though she was clearly in good physical condition could only mean...
Well, that something had gone on last night that she wasn't telling him. Peter didn't distrust the girl to the point that he thought she was lying about wanting to remain in her room so that she could go out without him bothering her, but that almost made it worse because it meant that something was really wrong and she wasn't willing to talk about it.
It was hard to know what step to take next, and suddenly Peter's food didn't look as appetizing. Despite that, he ate a few more fries, not wanting to let on how worried he was. He could either ask her directly what was happening with her, which might not get the best response, or he could just give her some space. It was hard to accept the second option, but if she was staying in her room then he could at least rest assured that she wasn't putting herself into any more upsetting situations.
So, after a pause that had probably stretched out for far too long, Peter nodded to the girl. "Sounds good. It's probably a good idea for you to get some rest."
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Still. She didn't like knowing that he realized something was off, mostly because that meant he realized she was hiding something. Not that she'd ever been the world's best actress, but … Peter knowing she was being dishonest was worse than someone else knowing, because she hated being dishonest with him.
It just happened to be the best option for this. He didn't need to hear that her first time out by herself ended in tears, because he'd never let her do it again. And she didn't need to tell him, because she needed to just … get over it. The monsters weren't real. Everyone she'd seen hurt in that hallucination was fine. Perfectly fine.
So, she just took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yeah, I haven't exactly been feeling rested from the sudden curtain drop at the end of the night. Might as well get some real rest." A beat. She frowns a little. "But, tomorrow," she offered with a hopeful edge to her expression.
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Like she'd said, tomorrow. Claire would be safe tonight. She could take that time to gather her thoughts and maybe recover from whatever was bothering her. Tomorrow, Peter would have another chance to try and get her to open up.
Not much of his food was left, but he couldn't bring himself to eat it. Still, it was such a small amount that it wouldn't seem strange that he was leaving it on the tray. This was a lot of food, after all.
"Well, I guess we can't hang around in here all day," he said with a small smile. It didn't have quite as much feeling to it as normal, but hopefully the girl wouldn't notice. At this point, Peter's thoughts were just all over the place since he was still trying to somehow work out what was bothering his niece. He wasn't coming up with much.
He was sure that Claire wanted to make the best of this trip and search the town some more, though, and so Peter grabbed his tray and dumped the rest of it in the trash, setting it down to be picked up by one the workers. "Take care today and rest well tonight, okay?" he said as he turned back toward the girl.
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She turned to shoot him a smile, nodding. A part of her was bummed that she couldn't just spend the day wandering with him, but he probably had other people he wanted to see, and it'd be less painful to have generally less contact, anyway. It meant lying less. So, she could pretty easily accept not getting to make up for the general lack of niece-uncle bonding time. After all, she'd seen more of him in the institute so far than she had her entire last year of school at Costa Verde.
That was kind of sad to think about.
"You too. Stay safe out there, Peter, I don't want to spot you tomorrow morning trying to work the wheelchair look again. No matter how indestructo I can make you afterwards." She fixed him with a serious almost mothering look, but it dropped away into a small smile. With that said, she moved to head out the front door of the burger joint, disappearing down the street.
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