Day 56: Twin Pines Restaurant (Early Afternoon)

[girlsandgadgets]

Having spent almost the entire morning in the cold, Edgar finally decided it was time to address his groaning middle. It was hard enough to focus as he thumbed through the coupon book without his stomach doing flips: he was shivering, but still felt tremendous heat radiating from within him. The attempt at a nap on a park bench hadn't helped his

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[emotionl4arobot]

The morning had been busily spend and, surprisingly enough, not entirely unproductive. Brainiac 5 was almost disappointed to realise that he needed to take a break from more interesting things in order to find something to eat. If the situation in the institute was unchanged from his first few weeks here, he might have even followed his instinct of losing himself in work-related activities instead, but considering what his meals had been like yesterday, he'd much prefer something more... palatable

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 smiled immediately as Peter spun around to face him; apparently he'd been needlessly concerned that Peter was busy after all. Then the other boy rushed forward and before he could quite process what was happening, Peter's arms were around his shoulders and his roommate was hugging him. Peter was hugging him and Brainiac 5 was at a complete loss as of what to do, so it was probably for the best that Peter released him a moment later, otherwise it would have been painfully obvious that he wasn't sure how to react to the gesture.

Instead, the Coluan cleared his throat awkwardly and instead attempted to focus on what had apparently brought this on-- ah.

"Oh, he did? I must not have noticed him in the dark..." he mused, briefly distracted. "But it's not a big deal, Peter. I'm fine now."

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 sighed. "I'm not keeping it from you on purpose, Peter," he said reasonably. "I don't know what it was. It... looked like you and sounded like you, but once it became apparent that it wasn't you I... dealt with the problem."

Of course, he supposed he couldn't blame Peter from wanting more than that, since he would have had the situation been reversed, so he continued. "It attacked me, but I was able to use my new-found abilities to defeat it easily enough. There was nothing to worry about, really."

He decided it wasn't worth mentioning the cat, however, nor how curiously detached he'd been during the confrontation. He had his own theories about that, and sharing them with Peter at this point would only worry his friend. So instead, Brainy offered the other boy a smile and indicated a nearby booth.

"We can talk about it more if you like, but I think it would be better if we sat down, don't you? I'd like to hear about what you were up to last night as well."

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5's stomach clenched strangely at the sight of the scar on Peter's hand. It wasn't really a logical response; he knew that with Peter being a hero, not to mention being in this institute, he likely got injured much more frequently than the average human in his time period and culture, and that these injuries would result in scars. But... for some reason the actual sight of them made him wish they weren't there, that he could somehow make them disappear from his friend

[emotionl4arobot]

"No," he admitted, his expression becoming less certain now. He wasn't sure how Peter would react to being told more of what happened, but on the other hand, as it were, he had wanted to prove to his roommate that his abilities weren't automatically bad. This was a chance to do that.

"I used the abilities I gained the other night. They were... surprisingly effective."

Fortunately he was saved from going into further detail as the waitress returned with their drinks and his muffin. It had been warmed a little, and the steam rose from it and the mugs in a lazy coil that was surprisingly relaxing. And the warmth from the mug was welcome as well, he had to admit as he wrapped his hands around it and made an automatic, soft noise of approval.

"Olympus..." Brainy tried the word out as he tasted his cocoa. "I like it. I'd be happy to use it if we ever need to."

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 was both a little hurt and a little relieved that Peter dropped the subject there. On one hand, he would like to use his experience to try and convince his friend that his new abilities weren't inherently bad (it was the controlling force he needed to be concerned with, not that he intended to share that knowledge if he could avoid it), but on the other, he could understand Peter not wanting to discuss what was essentially his own death, albeit via a doppelganger.

And he himself had to admit he didn't want to dwell too much on how easy he'd found it all. It was something that would wait for another time.

Fortunately a distraction presented itself in the form of Peter enjoying his drink, and Brainy laughed quietly at how eager his friend was. He was enjoying the beverage as well, but not quite so enthusiastically as Peter did. It was oddly refreshing to see

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 wasn't really familiar with what a Sphinx might be, but he nodded for Peter to continue regardless. Unless he felt like facing down the challenges himself, it wasn't as necessary that he know that just now, and with the name in his memory, he could always research it himself later.

Besides, he was more interested and concerned with Peter's own experiences than those of the rest of this mysterious 'group'. ...which he was trying not to point out that he hadn't been invited to be a part of, though the thought did worry at the edges of his mind. He didn't even know who this Harvey might be.

As Peter's story came to a close, Brainy frowned, concern even sharper in his face now. "You should try and recover before you do anything further," he pointed out, likely unnecessarily. "Especially if you were burned last night. That needs time to heal, Peter."