[for Chase and Pepper] The Troll's Speech

[daretodo]

Mary Jane's the one who nominated me for council last May. Seems like a lifetime's passed since then. I remember thinking she was crazy. That there was no way I'd ever possibly win. With great power might come great responsibility, but my powers weren't something I actively sought out. Fate tapped me on the shoulder all those years ago, and I've

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[daretodo]

I don't even make so much as the pretense of stopping until we've hit the treeline, and even then, I just change direction, going up instead of forwards. There's relief to be found in something simple as climbing, the sheer physicality of throwing my body around a release in and of itself; with no one watching save Pepper, I don't have to worry about hiding my skill, even as it occurs to me I've never really shown off around her before. Not that anything I can still do here holds a candle to what I was once able to do back home, but the muscle memory hasn't gone anywhere, and I've worked hard this past year to keep my limited abilities sharp, fighting through pain and exhaustion to make sure the next time someone like Osborn rolls into town, I haven't gone soft.

Even so, when I stop in my ascent to walk out onto a sturdy looking branch, I keep one hand curled around the bough above me to keep my balance. Breakfast was a long time ago, and adrenaline's only gonna make up for so much lightheadedness.

"You know what I miss about home?" I ask, not waiting for an answer before I launch into my own. She said to talk, but she didn't specify what about, and as far as I'm concerned, what I just laid down at the stage speaks for itself. "I mean, there's lots, obviously, but right now, Pep, I'm tellin' ya, I could go for a real slice of New York pizza." Eyes narrowing, slightly, I add, "Actually, I could probably for the whole pizza. There was a great place around the corner from my old apartment in Chelsea."

[wildlyconflictd]

Hands on her hips, Pepper peers up at him, lips pursed. Fine, then. If he doesn't want to talk about what just happened, she certainly can't force him into it. At least this is something she can work with.

"What do you want on it?" she asks, calmly tracking his progress down the branch.

[daretodo]

I grin again, though it doesn't reach my eyes. If she's willing to humor my detour, I'm not about to fight it. Casting a glance upwards, I consider the branch I'm holding onto, trying to figure out if it'll bear the brunt of my weight.

"Why, you got a pizzeria tucked into that fancy mansion of yours?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"I can get you pizza," is Pepper's prim reply, her eyebrows arching. "Not New York pizza, but good pizza. Just don't ask for pepperoni." Maybe she ought to just be grateful he has an appetite at all, considering the way things have been since Mary Jane disappeared.

"And it isn't free," she adds on impulse, canting her head.

[daretodo]

I can get myself pizza, I'm inclined to point out -- New York pizza, for that matter -- but I'm working on a longer timeline than she is. Satisfied that the branch up won't break, though, I don't answer right away, instead hauling myself up, my body held vertical for one incredibly strained moment before I curl my legs inward, and lower myself down into a seated position. Leaning forward to look at her, I plan my elbows on my knees, my expression not outright challenging, but definitely more than just curious.

"Everything's free."

[wildlyconflictd]

Pepper's gaze remains steady as she lets a pause draw out between them.

"Is it?"

[daretodo]

I didn't exactly live in the lap of luxury growing up, and my adulthood's been just as plagued by financial worries, of missing rent payments and letting notices pile up on bill after bill. I may want to get the hell out of Dodge, but that's one thing I'll grant this place: the financial cost of living here's about as low as it gets, even if you end up paying in other ways -- years of your life, for example, or, oh, your overall happiness.

"Well, lemme just pull out my bamboo wallet and see how many coconuts I've got left," I reply. "Unless you accept Mango Card? It's everywhere you want to be."

[wildlyconflictd]

Unable to quite help herself, Pepper rolls her eyes. Do all men behave like children under emotional stress, or is it just the ones she happens to know?

"There will be a pizza in my kitchen tomorrow at six. If you want it, you can come and get it, under one condition. You have to sit down at the table and have your dinner with us. If you don't want to do that, I'll just let Tony or the dogs have it." One slender shoulder lifts in a barely-perceptible shrug.

[daretodo]

"What if I don't have a watch?"

I do, in fact, have a watch. Actually, I'm wearing it right now, which I'm consciously aware of because it's digging into my wrist thanks to getting caught underneath my web-shooter, but all of it's hidden under the cuff of my button-down shirt, out of sight.

"No, but seriously, that's it?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"I can't imagine what you thought I was going to say, but yes, that's it." Perhaps, now that she considers it, the idea of genuinely wanting to spend time with Peter these days might seem a bit strange. The most welcoming he's been was the day she let him hug her and he ruined her shirt. But she needs a way to get him up there, to let him see how quiet and isolated it is, and she needs some time to talk to Tony between now and then. Bringing home a dog she can get away with. Bringing home a volatile and sarcastic adult man probably requires a bit more warning and diplomacy.

Pepper looks down to her own wrist, unclasps the watch upon it and holds it up. "Shall I lend this to you?" she asks, a knowing set to her mouth. As if, in nearly two years, she's not noticed he happens to own a watch.

[daretodo]

"Usually when people tell me something isn't free, it's attached to a threat more menacing than 'have dinner with me and my boyfriend,'" I point out, waving off the offer of her watch. "Just saying."

[wildlyconflictd]

"Apologies for not being more menacing," Pepper replies as she returns her attention to her wrist, where she's refastening her watch. "Does this mean we can expect you, then?" She cuts him a look, eyebrows arching.

[daretodo]

I drop from the tree in stages. First, by letting go of the branch with my hands, hanging upside down with support from my legs only, then by grabbing hold of the branch below, and swinging forward, managing a single free rotation in the air before I land, a little winded, in front of Pepper in a crouch. I straighten immediately, though I'd be lying if I said the whole thing didn't just make me a little dizzy.

"I'll pencil it in," I say, matching her expression with a similar one of my own. "Can't save the Island on an empty stomach."