thinking love was fairy tale and trouble was made only for me

[escapedpandora]

Who: escapedpandora and askedtobe
When: after sirens June 2.
Where: Out in the streets in Sector 4, in the Darkness.
Summary: All skills need to be practiced before you can use it with confidence. Darkness monsters are extremely convenient when you're practicing how to area-of-effect magically poison your enemies. Of course, Peter gets to pick up a dangerous technique.

Comments

[askedtobe]

It was even further in the distance, that the darkness was seeping in; things were growing, growling into life with no reason to stop, and Peter wasn't going to stand here and wonder just exactly what they were. Snap decisions constantly needed to be made, and this was one of those. Standing here trying to figure things out wasn't a choice, action had to be taken.

Electricity crackled further into life in the palm of his hand while he tried to reach out with his mind, sense what exactly was out there. What he found amongst the shadows wasn't just the thick sense of evil but also a person's thoughts, which he never liked to invade unless he really thought he needed to. But that meant somebody was out there with the things screaming in the night. Cutting off that part of his mind, he was already running forward. Peter doubted that anybody who would be out here with the monsters piling up wouldn't be able to handle themselves, but there was always a chance that that wasn't the case. Even so, he wasn't just about to go shooting off blasts until he knew what he was aiming at.

The thing was, though, that maybe there was one thing Peter needed to work on more than his abilities: having some semblance of grace. Nearly running into the kid wasn't exactly what he'd planned on, narrowly avoiding a collision and coming to a halt a few steps beside him.

"Hey, sorry- You okay?" Illuminated by the blue glow of the electricity sparking from his hands, Peter glanced over at him before staring back out into the darkness, watching the trail that the boomerang was taking through the slow crawling monsters. Apparently he could hold his own, but that didn't mean that Peter wasn't going to keep himself at the ready. He didn't need to steal the kid's thunder unless absolutely necessary. It seemed only fair.

[escapedpandora]

It was lucky that Hope had enough practice in battle that he actually hadn't been startled by the sudden appearance of someone else, and even had enough control not to automatically attack. It was reminiscent of his teammates, actually, whenever they ran into battle to help him; and for just a moment before he glanced to the side, he actually thought maybe they had come back to the Port. Maybe Snow, barging in on the fight with a cocky grin and all too ready to run up to an enemy to throw a punch at its face even if that face was overstuffed with fangs. Or Lightning, gunblade at the ready with her calm words of encouragement correcting his posture or timing.

But that only lasted a moment.

His eyes widened slightly to see someone else out, though, before the caught the returning boomerang, stepping back slightly to take the weight and velocity of it without harm. He had talked to Spike before about it to confirm that most people out in the Darkness moved unseen. Enough that the streets looked empty at night.

"I'm-- okay." He recognized the voice, he thought. It was familiar, most likely someone he had talked to over the NV before. His attention was distracted when another creature, a larger one, joined in the fray from the shadows, it's movements much faster than stronger than its poisoned comrades. Guess that spell had worked, after all.

Still, he cast another wide poisonga to sap at the strengths of the monsters close by again, just in case he had missed something or something managed to get a little too close for comfort.

And then he looked back at the other when the creatures were all hissing from the ground, slowly sinking back to the earth. They were the easy ones, but more than suited his purposes. "Are you-- out working on your, um, abilities too?

[askedtobe]

"Yeah. Well- That and going after the monsters," Which was more than obvious just by the fact that he was out here, but he figured he might as well mention it.

But of even more interest to Peter was exactly what the kid had just done -- the kid whose voice sounded familiar. Which meant that they'd spoken over the network, and gave their conversation a slightly more awkward edge. It would take a bit more conversation before Peter figured that he'd be able to tell who he was since there was just no way to put names and faces and voices together and come up with the right answer.

Watching the weakened monsters retreating to where they'd came from, it was obvious that the other had done something apart from simply using his boomerang, not that the weapon wasn't effective on its own, that was more than apparent.. Peter just didn't know what. And then a second later, it occurred to Peter that he might as well find out, because he was going to need to if it was something that he'd picked up. He had no idea if he had indeed absorbed another ability... but around here, it was more likely than not. This was going to take a little bit of explaining, and this wasn't exactly the place to do it. But that wasn't really a choice anymore.

Letting the blue crackling glow encompassing his hand dim slightly until it just snapped across his fingertips, not wanting to rid himself of the source of light just yet, Peter took the plunge and started with a simple question and one that would only fuel his own curiosity. "What was that- what can you do?"

[escapedpandora]

He shuffled awkwardly at the question. If he recognized the voice, it was usually a good sign. Hope tended not to talk with those he figured would be crazy over the network, and if he somehow made a mistake and the person he talked did turn out to be slightly... off, then he made a mental note of it to always recognize the voice.

Still, after months of being careful enough about his magic, he hesitated. It didn't matter if the other was okay or not... he wasn't ready to reveal more than what he was going to use as a cover. And his healing abilities were definitely not going to be the thing that could take out Darkness monsters.

"Oh, um." He shrugged, trying not to appear as awkward and nervous as he felt. It was easier to keep an eye on the monsters on the proximity, watching as the old ones withered away slowly from the poison and new ones started creeping up from the ground, keeping their distance when seeing what happened to their comrades. "It's just-- something new that I'm trying out. I haven't really-- well, I'm not entire sure yet. Not really."

It was... almost truth. He wasn't exactly sure how far he could take his Saboteur abilities yet, especially when it didn't feel as natural as his other roles.

Turning his head slightly, he eyed the blue sparks with interest. It looked liked the beginning of a thunder spell, actually. It seemed as bright as the dimmed streetlights. "Different from yours, I think."

[askedtobe]

Peter completely understood why someone would want to be vague about the abilities they had. He avoided telling nearly everyone about the fact that he could manipulate radioactivity; it just made it easier to keep tabs on his guilty conscience. Not to mention, he didn't exactly feel up to telling everyone he was his own nuclear reactor. It just wasn't something he felt up to admitting, and the last thing he wanted to do was make people scared of him. Even if he usually expected it.

Glancing down at his hand at the comment, he lifted it, taking aim at one of the monsters creeping hesitantly forward. Letting loose a crackling stream that looked more like a lightening bolt than anything, he winced at the hollow shrieking sound the monster made, pulling back when the darkness beast started to retreat back towards the shadows it had created.

"This? It's, uh- Just one of the things I can do." He forces a smile, not because he's upset, but because he's on edge-- keeping track of the darkness frothing just at the boundaries of where they're standing, crawling up the walls of the buildings like vines, made it hard to be anything but serious, on constant red alert.

Glancing back over, Peter still refused to rid himself of his light source, not to mention keeping at least one ability so close at hand made him feel slightly more comfortable. "You don't have to tell me what you can do. If you don't want to- I get it. Just warning you though, I might have picked it up. Not taken it or anything just.. absorbed it."

It was always the reaction to that particular statement that he worried about the most. Whether it was fear or irritation or just outright disbelief, he never knew what to expect.

[escapedpandora]

Definitely like a thunder spell, although it seemed to come from the person rather than the sky. Wouldn't that hurt, though? Still, curiosity about that satisfied, he looked back up at the other at the ending words. ...Absorbed it?

"What do you mean?" He had a glancing thought for the rest of the creatures out in the Darkness, but only because he was on the lookout for Void Darkness creatures. And in that case, he just needed enough space to move away from its path to use his powers again. But he had never thought about an ability that might... absorb another ability? Was that even possible?

...Obviously, it must be.

"Does that mean you have different things--?" Too, was the idea and the tone behind the statement. But he shook his head lightly in the dark, bringing them back to the subject at hand. If he had the type of ability to absorb other abilities... that was enormously powerful. And if he just learned the poisonga... "It-- it really is new. I mean, what I was practicing. I wasn't sure if it would work right or not."

Although he had been fairly certainly. His spells had never failed him before, after all, even at the very beginning when he had denied his magic until the time he needed to use it or die. Even then, it had risen to the occasion as if trying to prove to him that it would be trustworthy and counted on.

[askedtobe]

"So you're just learning about your abilities." That, Peter could probably understand more than anything. Not necessarily more than anyone, but considering his abilities had put him through the ringer, he felt like he could relate far too well on that front. The not knowing, the not understanding -- it was all immensely frustrating, especially when no one was around to help. But he knew it made him, at least in the beginning, want to work all that much harder to figure it out.

But he nods, remembering the earlier question, his attention slightly fractured. "Oh, uh- Yeah, i've got different things." He smiles crookedly, almost a partially embarrassed look, brow furrowed. He felt like he was developing a list that he had to read off, or maybe like he was bragging. Except he wasn't anywhere close to bragging, more like the opposite. At home, he hadn't talked about it this much, he'd barely had the time to, and he still didn't know how to deal with it.

Another moment spent flicking his gaze out towards the darkness, keeping part of his focus tuned in on anything distressing noises, making sure nothing was crawling closer again. Everything was still in the clear, save for whatever darkness monsters were staying just along the edges, but that was good enough and Peter looks back to the kid. "I don't know if it always works the way it did back home. But anybody I get even kind of close to, I pick up their ability. Most of the time without even knowing about it, it just.. happens."

[escapedpandora]

Now he felt uncertain; awkward. The possibility of picking up abilities just by walking past a person or something of the like... maybe on his world that wouldn't have been so bad. There were no one there with abilities, after all, although the people who had something usually had multiple things.

Still, he wasn't given much time to think about it when the Darkness creatures decided to test their perimeters. At least, the perimeters that Hope had set up in his head about safety zones and where it was best to keep clear in case they ever tried to swarm him.

And whatever the ability, he thought even as he drew his boomerang again, it was rather nice (strange?) of the man to actually share without trying to conceal it. As a warning, maybe, or just being a good person in general and warning people when he walked past them. But he could barely imagine doing that, especially in a place like the Port where everyone was supposed to have some kind of ability or another. Would that mean having to talk to everyone you walked past? Either way, Hope wasn't sure if using his other abilities was the best idea at the moment... what would that mean?

He shifted his weight forward as he threw the boomerang, once again following the arc (only three in his proximity this time) with his new poisonga spell. He was here to test it, after all, and if the other managed to pick up abilities like that... there might be a chance he already had it.

--And that meant using the others ones were a bad idea. What would happen if he managed to pick a spell from three separate paradigms? That was generally what l'Cie were given to work with (although he was biased since the others might have mentioned starting with less, but he had started with three); would the curse, the brand, be considered something to be picked up as well? In that case, it was only fair to warn him about it, and--

A quick glance at the Darkness creatures showed that they were falling weaker faster than he expected. Maybe because they were the weak ones to begin with, but it was a good sign for that spell.

"That's a scary thought," He admitted as honestly as possible. "There has to be some scary powers out there-- and curses. What if you accidentally pick up the bad things? Could you accidentally pick up the bad things?" Would Saboteur abilities by considered bad, for one? And for another, would he pick up the consequences for l'Cie magic?

[askedtobe]

Peter was, admittedly for the time being, a little more invested in watching the teen use his abilities than using any of the ones he possessed. And the kid seemed like he was handling his own well enough, Peter didn't feel like he needed to help. Granted, he was keeping an eye out on the rest of the area, glancing over his shoulder into the retreating darkness. He knew well enough from his experience with Sylar that watching his back was a necessity. Unless he felt like ending up brain dead for the third time in his life.

Wondering exactly what part of all of this had to do with the other's abilities pulls him away from the conversation for a moment, the kids words snapping him back to reality. Peter wasn't one for being pushy, and all things came in time, but he was still curious as to what was being done to the retreating monsters. Considering it was more than likely that he'd have to learn how to use it soon enough, lest it learn how to use him instead.

"Yeah, I can pick up... bad things."

Running a hand through his hair (the one obviously still not glowing with electricity) , almost a nervous gesture more than anything, Peter sighs, sparing a second to loose himself in thought. He wasn't entirely sure what constituted a bad ability, but he knew from experience what abilities were problematic. "I used to have a really hard time controlling the abilities I had. Took me awhile to be able to use any of them, actually. I turned invisible without even knowing it, I couldn't use telekinesis, I could only.. read a guy's mind when he was reading mine. There were these... things I could do, but I didn't know how to make any of them work. It just took a lot of practice."

He tosses a fleeting smile towards the kid, almost as if he's trying to sound hopeful even though his abilities undoubtedly worry nobody more than they do Peter himself.

[escapedpandora]

The list of abilities were interesting, to say the least-- useful ones. Telekinesis, invisibility... Hope had never even dared to think much on things like that. The most he had allowed himself to be wistful about had been back with Tifa had wings, and even then he realized his own magic wasn't ever going to do things like that. But it was useful in other ways, and he'd just have to keep reminding himself of that.

"Bad things. Not things with practice. Things with consequences." Because consequence was a very important word. L'Cie magic was little more than an extremely dangerous bomb, nearly impossible to diffuse. Still, he wondered how much damage might already have been done even as he kept his gaze on the Darkness creatures. Hope had never thought he'd meet someone who might be able to pick up his abilities just from... walking close to him. He'd have to be more careful in the future. It wasn't a fate he would wish on anyone.

For a moment, though, he wanted to ask how he dealt with having all those things, with having all those abilities and powers and not feeling overwhelmed by them. Because he was feeling overwhelmed, and he was just delving into his fourth paradigm. There were two more to go that he knew of.

"You probably don't want to stand too close, then." He added, trying to mask the disappointment with neutrality. He would have to make a mental note to stay away from people in general, especially during the day when more people were up and about. He had never thought about other l'Cie being created here-- there were no fal'Cie to create them, right? But he had never imagined that someone else might be able to just... pick it up. He kept his eyes on the crawling forms in the dark. "....And I'm poisoning them. That's why they're not coming that close."

[askedtobe]

"Poisoning," he repeated the word, as if he could understand the ability just by letting the sounds roll off his tongue. But he knew there was all sorts of questions he needed to ask. How to make it work, how to control it; what were the ins and outs of this ability that seemingly neither of them knew enough about. Hell, he should probably ask how abilities even worked back where the kid came from. It was starting to dawn on Peter that his ability was becoming even more complicated here, that maybe he was going to have to work at this even more than he'd previously expected.

But then his brain backpedals for a second, latching onto words that the other had said just moments before. Words that could mean a million different things, most of which seemed like bad news. "Wait, why shouldn't I stand too close?"

Looking more concerned, brows furrowed, Peter wasn't sure just how much more concerned he needed to be. Maybe this had something to do with what he was talking about: abilities with consequences. It was entirely possible that the kid was holding back information because he was worried about what his abilities could do, which meant Peter should undoubtedly be worried about the same exact things effecting him. Or, even worse, effecting the people around him. The only way he could find out any of this, though, was to ask.

"Would you mind- Could you tell me more?" He's hesitant, pulling questions out of himself that he wouldn't usually ask someone that he hadn't even introduced himself to. Even though he was becoming more skilled with his abilities, Peter remained an awkward people person. "I've probably already got your ability at this point, there's not any going back."

[escapedpandora]

There was that awkwardness again-- he had kept quiet about fal'Cie and l'Cie curses ever since he first talked to Vanille here and realized that this world didn't have fal'Cie... that it seemed like no other world had fal'Cie except for Cocoon and Gran Pulse.

He backed a few steps, though, when he saw larger forms coming in the Darkness, perhaps called by the shrieks of the smaller ones that bubbled away at the ground, too weak to withstand more than just the poisoning. Small fry. But the big ones would be harder and would require more spells and Hope wasn't sure if it was a good idea to use those spells if the man beside him had the ability to pick things up.

"It's not an ability, it's an effect." Not the cause but a symptom. That's what his magic was. If there were no fal'Cie in these worlds, it should be alright to talk about them, to make people understand without the bias of the Sanctum coloring their thoughts. Because being a l'Cie wasn't contagious and the Purge should never have happened--

Except, it was contagious in this case, wasn't it? Possibly. The realization made his eyes widen even as he edged away as subtly as possible.

"Effect of a curse. One that--" He couldn't seem to force the words out. It was easier when people already knew and just assumed the worst and he could argue that l'Cie weren't monsters, but when no one knew, then he would have to explain the bad things as well... which were much too numerous to count. No, he couldn't explain it out here. Instead, he shuffled his feet awkwardly and kicked at the rot with his sneakers. "We should probably... head somewhere else before those things get here."

He tilted his head in the direction of the oncoming shadows, much larger and menacing than the ones before.

[askedtobe]

Though Peter wasn't exactly cocky, he had all the faith in the world that he could undoubtedly take the larger things that were now seeping from the ground, bringing the scent of death and evil and wrong along with them. But maybe trying to go after them while simultaneously holding an important conversation wasn't the best idea, and the kid seemed pretty adamant about it. He could tell explanations were just on the edge of the horizon and Peter was far more interested in those than he was in trying to kick some monster tail back into the ground.

"Yeah, sure- Where do you want to go?" He took a few steps back, though he was keeping his attention on the darkness the whole time. "I can even get us there faster."

He didn't care where they ended up, as long as it meant he could get some answers from the other. And maybe a name, that was probably a good idea too. Trying to keep his own worries off the surface of his expressions and from clouding the rest of his judgement was challenging enough without the kid getting even more awkward, seemingly back away from him. It just made it all the more imperative that he find out sooner rather than later what was going on with all of this.

"Anywhere you feel like you can talk," Peter says it, sparing a quick glance towards the other, trying to remain as calm as possible.

[escapedpandora]

"Get there... faster?" A repertoire of abilities, then. Unless he had a vehicle. And if he did, Hope would be just as impressed about being able to drive in the Darkness, never mind having hidden something that the creatures wouldn't get to. "I don't know. Probably just... somewhere brighter."

Although he wasn't sure if that would help at all. There would be less monsters, yes, but he still wouldn't have the nerve to talk about his abilities and explain things. Because no fal'Cie meant that he would have to explain from scratch, about magic and the two planets and... so many other things.

"But... would that be a good idea?" He stuck close to the light even as he tried to keep away. "I mean, uhh... if I've got more than one ability and some of them aren't really... good."

That was a light way of putting it. He didn't want anyone here cursed to be a l'Cie, especially if there was no Focus to fulfill. That was just cruel and a hopeless thing.

[askedtobe]

Peter didn't know what to do. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place when all he wanted was an explanation. Something he was starting to think he was never going to get, and something he was starting to feel bad about asking for. Not that he was upset, no-- Mostly, he was worried. Without an explanation, how could he know what to expect? How could he stay safe, how could he keep anyone else safe, when he didn't even know what abilities he had laying just beneath the surface of his own skin.

Sighing, worry etched across his features, he finally turns and looks directly at the teen. The monsters were the least of his concern right now when the other was still practically inching away from him, as if both of them were contagious. Maybe if he stops staring at the monsters and focuses himself completely on figuring this out, they can actually get a real conversation started.

"Look, it's up to you. You don't have to tell me anything. But the more I know? The better chance I have of learning about it, of keeping it under control. If I don't know anything, I can't- I can't do anything about it." Chancing a quick look at the monsters, just to make sure they're not encroaching too close, Peter turns back, maybe pleading a little bit more than he means to. "Even if it's bad, especially if it's bad. The more I know, the safer everything stays."

[escapedpandora]

"It's not that-- I don't want to say anything." Even if it was, and that statement was a complete lie. Because Hope didn't really want to relieve that time, even talking about it. He hadn't said anything to people about it for months, and he still didn't want to. It didn't feel like time was making it easier; in contract, it felt even harder to talk about now. Especially since it was now a while ago. Why was he so hung up about it, right?

"It's just that it's a long story and if you want to control the poison spell, it's easy enough. At least, it should just come to you." Because that was how magic had always come to him. He practiced as a personal point, because he wanted to keep up his accuracy, because he wanted to make sure his reactions were up to par. "I don't know how to explain magic, or spells, or even just poisonga. You won't cast it accidentally if that's what you're worried about. You have to... actually cast."

He flailed for a moment trying to explain it, not entirely sure if he'd be able to go a good job or not. Especially out in the Darkness where his mind was constantly distracted by his surroundings. He wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down, after all, even for a casual conversation.

"Even if you don't need to say anything or do any movements for casting, it's... more willpower?"