Peter Parker (oldparkerluck) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-07-29 15:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, jaina solo, otto octavius / spider-man (616), peter parker / spider-man (616) |
Who: Jaina Solo & Otto Octavius (& Peter Parker)
When: July 29; evening
Where: Peter’s apartment
What: A date that spirals.
Rating: Low!
Martha Stewart couldn’t have done a better job. The set of the plates, silverware (or, rather, whatever Parker had thought passed for such a thing), the gourmet pizza steaming in the middle of it, and -- of course -- the bottle of wine plunged into a bucket of ice. Perfect. At least, perfect in this one regard. There was little to be done for the conversation, though. It was one thing speaking with Mary Jane Watson while having freedom to dig through Parker’s memories of her. The right answers were all there to pluck from, but... But this was nothing like that. Research had been done, tracing back to the point when Parker seemed to realize that his idiocy had limits. Of course, his idiocy then veered in the other direction of aloofness as to Jaina Solo’s hints, only to commence a relationship that, apparently, was working. And so was the problem of upholding the role. It was too soon to cut ties, and Parker had forged so many that the labyrinth was getting suffocating. May Parker, the clones, Gwen Stacy... Jaina. Nothing was ever so easy. Well done to Parker. Only he could still be an insurmountable pain without being present. “Imported,” Otto prompted, hoping it would provide an avenue back into an easy chat. “There’s a place in Little Italy, and I thought, for the occasion, it would be a nice touch.” It was the weirdest date she’d ever been on. And for a Solo? That was saying a lot. It wasn’t that it was anywhere outside of the realm of normal dates. She’d had dates with wine and delicious food and awkward conversation, she’d had moments where things halted and Jaina just ended up staring at the man across from her, she’d been to diplomatic functions that were far more stiff and restrained than this. But those didn’t involve Peter Parker. With Peter, it was webslinging, hotdogs, ordering in, late night movies... Granted, they hadn’t really had a night alone in a while, but Jaina was at a loss for how much things just felt off. At first she’d wondered if they lost the spark that had been there from the beginning, or if either of them were simply having an off week - but he was trying, and Jaina wasn’t going to do anything more than a little minor teasing. “Imported? Like that suit you’re wearing?” She snagged her wine glass and leaned back in the chair, a smile touching her lips the same time the rim of the glass did. After taking a sip, she raised both eyebrows. “Delicious. But you didn’t have to do all of this just for me, you know.” “Not on a teacher’s salary,” Otto grumbled. It was a sore spot to say the least. At least in the other world Parker had a lab job that paid for subpar engineering. It was all beneath Otto Octavius’s intellect, of course, but there were bills and Max Modell was nothing short of a willing signature on each paycheck. The ends justified the nonsense and hoop-jumping. But a teacher’s career? It was as if Parker hadn’t even tried. A mild look of disdain was masked by the raised wine glass. This was temporary. That was all. He’d begun from far less in the past. “I --” An alert on Otto’s phone culled his words down to just that one. He plucked the device from inside his coat and took a glance at the screen, his other hand reaching to tap the earpiece. Jaina wasn’t forgotten, as proven by a simple raised finger, begging for one moment so as to route the fire department to a contend with a fire that had started on the lower west side. With a satisfied last prod of the screen, he switched the phone off and gave Jaina a toothy smile. “Of course I didn’t have to. We haven’t had time to talk lately, and I...” Wanted to get to know the woman Parker had chosen. “Thought to make up for lost time.” Her eyebrows were already creasing slightly the moment Peter - Otto, unknown to her - began grumbling about his salary, and only further creased when he took a sip of the wine. It wasn’t like Peter to complain about his job, which she knew he loved, or drink. In her months of dating him, she’d never seen him take a drink, even when she had brought over beer and wine during their past dates. Being interrupted by important messages or a phone buzzing, however, was par for the course. But never with this new little ear piece, which gave Peter the look like he was some important business man bumping into her on the street. It was still unusual, and she forced herself to smooth out the lines on her forehead before jumping to any massive conclusions. She even stopped herself from reaching out to him with the Force, despite the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. But that was an invasion of privacy, and a step she didn’t take lightly when it came to her boyfriend. Jaina waited until he was done fiddling with his phone and took another sip of the wine. “I would’ve been happy with webslinging. You know that.” She paused, “But. This is nice. Sorry I didn’t dress for the occasion, I’ve been working at the shop a lot lately and didn’t have the time.” A minor lie, the shop didn’t exist, just her own little home workshop to build legos and small engines, but she was curious if he was paying attention enough to even notice it. The food was plated without much flourish, Otto distracted from the small showing of skepticism. If anything, this was leaps and bounds above any other dates that had occurred within the apartment. Surely any reaction was bound to be that of pleasant surprise. Conceit had almost entirely convinced Otto of as much, even as he nodded the appropriate agreement to Jaina’s insistence on something lower key. Her apology was waved off in tandem. “My dear woman,” he started again, glass balanced between two fingers in about the showiest manner possible, “don’t even worry about it.” Although, the lofty smile on his face dimmed slightly. A voice had called out something, he was certain of it. It sounded almost as if underwater, like a murky cry in protest. Of what? The words were too hard to make out. Otto refocused. Shop. There was some contextual help in that Jaina was an innovator -- an inventor in her own right -- and it seemed a safe topic to broach. “You’ve been working on something?” Jaina stopped herself from choking on her glass of wine when the words my dear woman came out of Peter’s mouth, but just barely. She covered it off like she needed to cough, and covered her mouth to give herself a second to recover. There was definitely something off about all of this, and Jaina was at a loss of how to deal with it. Deciding it was better to focus on the food in front of her, Jaina leaned forward to snag a piece of the fanciest pizza she’d seen since arriving on this world. He failed the tiny test she’d given him, but not enough to warrant her immediate suspicion. She knew he was busy, distracted. Jaina was no different, with all of the family drama and the continuing drama of things that had happened over the last month. Her head snapped up when she caught a whisper behind her, eyes focusing back on Peter’s face. “Did you sa-” She shook her head before finishing the question, waving it off when it obviously wasn’t Peter. “Uh, yeah. Something like that.” Going back to her pizza, an uneasy feeling settled into her stomach and she took a few more bites before wiping her mouth off with the napkin and pushing back from the table. “I’ve gotta go to the restroom but I’ll tell you about building a hybrid engine by hand when I get back.” Abrupt. That didn’t bode well. A glance was sent around the room, as if he might be fortunate enough to spot the offending voice. Or whatever it had been. Jaina had detected something, as well -- Then again, she was a practiced Jedi. He hadn’t been any fan of the Star Wars series, but there was base knowledge enough that mind games were plausible. The thought curled his lip as Jaina pulled away from the table. In plainer terms, he could well be dealing with a psychic. It was a foolish oversight, and one that drew an icy stare down on the unoffending pizza. Jaina. The name punctured the air, enough that Otto whipped immediately up from his silent vigil. Again, no one present. Teeth were set against each other with a lowly audible grit. Paranoid, now, Otto sent his hands frantically searching beneath the table on the outside chance someone had planted a broadcasting device. Unless it was merely someone outside, shouting in. The sheer volume of spider-powered individuals could account for as much. It was a thought Peter had no interest in, not as he pried away, fighting the resistance that came with being tethered to Otto’s every movement. The pull didn’t matter. Jaina heard him. Finally someone had heard his yelling, and... And that someone was walking away. His voice was clear to his own ears -- astral forms of them that they were -- but the words kept sinking away before reaching her. He tried again: WAIT. Jaina’s hand immediately stilled on the doorknob of the bathroom, the whispered words reaching her ears just barely enough to make her freeze in place. It wasn’t often she picked up on the words and projections from other people, not when she was keeping things contained and not without reaching out. The sinking feeling in her stomach got worse and she swallowed thickly, closing her eyes and giving herself a moment to calm the noises. Wait. She heard it, clearly. And that feeling of foreboding just grew, as Jaina realized the sinking feeling and the voices reaching out to her was too similar to when someone close to her was in danger. Starting to feel a little disoriented and even more worried with the passing seconds, Jaina yanked the door open and rushed in to give herself a few seconds, as if a wall would keep any voices out. Turning the faucet on for added background noise, she took out her phone and briefly debated calling her brother in for a little advice. Or texting Ben to make sure everything was okay on his end. She gave it a second, blowing out a breath. Maybe, whatever it was, needed her to reach out in return. Giving it a shot, she closed her eyes and focused her attention on reaching out. “You’re going to have to help me here.” It felt like trying to trudge through wet sand the further away from the table Peter inched. Knowing his luck, something would set Otto into a real spin and -- whoosh -- he’d be reeled back in before Jaina could get anything resembling a message. Just a minute. Just one singular minute would be enough, Peter pleaded. And it seemed Jaina had heard that, since her voice was crystalline, even over the running water and through the closed door. Maybe he’d been hoping so hard that someone would address him in return that nothing could muddle that sentence. The door held no challenge to a ghost -- not that she’d be able to see him, anyway. He just needed to get closer for her to listen. I’m right here! I’m -- can you hear me? Because any louder might risk nudging Otto. No good. Jaina jumped the instant she felt a gust of air not meant for this world, and calmed herself enough to stand still. Her eyes snapped open and the phone clattered to the hard floor of the bathroom with just one glimpse of a see-through Peter. “I only had one glass of wine.” Her immediate, whispered response was joking, even if she knew this was clearly a serious issue that needed her full attention. But she couldn’t help it. Jaina leaned down to pick up the phone and battery, which had predictably fallen off with the drop, and looked up again to find Peter still there. “Is this a new trick you picked up? Projecting yourself onto your girlfriend--” No. Things clicked in place as Jaina’s brain caught up to where it should’ve been minutes before. The man out in the living room wasn’t Peter - the wine, the suit, the ridiculous earpiece. Not knowing about the shop, a fancy date... Another clone? Hopefully this.. Ghost? futuristic communication device? Could give her a few answers. Still keeping her voice low, Jaina focused all of her energy on keeping Peter in this pane. “If you’re in here, who is that?” There was little freakier than your arm dispersing into wisps of ethereal smoke. Whatever Otto was doing, it was making it harder and harder to keep it together, literally. Peter snapped his gaze up; time was working against him in a more annoying way than it usually did. --tavius. He’s not ----- just b-d news. You ---------- Peter’s mouth was moving, but it was almost like static on the radio. The station wasn’t completely tuned, something was interfering. His side started to disintegrate into tendrils of other worldly smoke, although fading fingers reached for Jaina, gliding right through her hand. He turned to yell at the other room in a last-ditch plea. NO, JUST GIV ------ MIN-- No use. There was that pull again, sucking him away from her. He couldn’t fight it, even as it towed him halfway back through the door. The words, disjointed at they were, were spilled out in rapid succession. Get ---nd Steve. Tell -------oc Ock. They’ll --- “Peter,” Jaina’s words choked out, her hand darting out to try and grab his, but it was no use. He was already fading away, and she was only picking up every other word he was projecting out. She took a second to steady herself with the Force and reached out on a higher level, but it didn’t help. Peter was still fading quickly, being pulled away from her. She took the direction she had and ran with it, jotting down a few words on the notepad of her phone, now that it was back up and running. Tavius. Ock. Steve. Something about bad news, an obviously ghost-like Peter Parker and some guy that looked exactly like him but was acting nothing of the sort. Another clone? She knew enough about Kaine and Ben to know that they didn’t all come out the same, obviously, but neither of them were particularly bad news. But if it was a clone, and Peter was reaching out to her as a ghost, that meant he was gone and she hadn’t even known it. Steadying herself against the sink, Jaina refused to close her eyes on the off-chance something would happen while she was gaining her footing. If he had been there, Jacen would have told her that there is no death, only the Force, which did nothing to stop her heart from dropping to the bottom of her chest. But she knew she didn’t have much time, with the.. .Clone? Outside waiting for her, and she’d either have to take him out herself or do what Peter asked and find Steve for help. The latter seemed like the best option, following the directions she was given. There wasn’t anywhere that Jaina could go. That alone had given Otto the peace of mind to turn his chair around, half facing where she would have to emerge from. She’d dropped her phone -- he could hear her voice. It didn’t take a shred of his genius intellect to know that she was part of whatever was happening, and that brought with it an easy decision. Neutralize her. She obviously wasn’t going to be an ally, and this world would survive far better with himself free to roam than condemned based on whatever call she had just made. Fingers drummed idly on the table. “Everything all right, Jaina?” he called out. Letting the Force flow through her, Jaina righted herself and reached around to flush the toilet. She wrapped a hand around the doorknob and stopped, making sure she was completely composed before she even thought about emerging from the room. She’d have to have some kind of excuse to get out of there. “Fine, I’m just not so sure gourmet pizza agrees with me. Earth foods, sensitive stomach. You know.” The lie was pushed through with the Force, giving it a little extra backing so it didn’t sound so baseless and empty. She pulled open the door after a five second countdown and forced a small smile on her face as she called out. “Probably means tonight’ll be cut short, unless you’ve got something for stomach upset.” “Oh, I’m sure I have something around here,” Otto replied, voice oozing into a false sing-song register. His eyes had landed on the lightsaber left on the table; it was an easy reach and snatch. She might be a conditioned fighter, but she was likely disadvantaged without her weapon of choice. “Have a seat. I’ll go look,” was added, Otto using the motion of rising to his feet to guise shifting his webshooters into place. They were aimed and ready to hit Jaina before she could counter the lightning movement granted by supernatural reflexes, but the shot missed. Clear missed. By feet, even. Eyes widened, all Otto could manage in remark was a staggered, “What -- what are you --” Even with her fast reflexes and sixth sense, Jaina still wouldn’t have been able to make him miss that quickly. In bare moments, her stance was guarded and she was ready to pounce, hands out in front of her. Sparing a glance over her shoulder at the webs that would have clearly hit her, she smiled a little and turned her attention back on him. A hand whipped through the air, invisible force shooting out at Otto in an attempt to pin him against something. “Pretty sure that wasn’t me. Nice try, though. You probably should have done a little research on Peter’s girlfriend before trying to impersonate him without knowing what you were getting into.” She held her hand in place, using the force to push back against him. At least May was out of the apartment, and Jaina was already working ahead trying to figure out how to get things neutralized before shit hit the fan. He had misjudged? No. He wouldn’t. It was a given shot: close range, he’d improved Parker’s design for the webshooters, and it was from a stationary position. So what -- “NnnnNNRGH!” It was partially a cry of annoyance and frustration, but the force that Otto collided with the wall behind him was enough to pull forth an unwilling shout of pain. Focus. An arm was muscled upward, fighting the invisible restraints, and the earpiece was tapped. “Get her.” Around the room, tiny red spots glowed to life. A host of Spider Bots skittered across the floor and down the walls at Jaina on command. Jaina’s brain went into motion before her ears even picked up the noise of the Spider Bots headed her way, and Jaina kept one hand focused on Otto while sweeping around to see what direction they were coming from. “Kriff.” The muttered word left her mouth with a considerable amount of heat as soon as she spotted the number of little bots scurrying her way. Her free hand swept out and threw back several of them before they reached her feet, but Jaina was limited while still trying to hold her grasp on Otto. Willing an extra push, Jaina’s hand telekinetically pulled Otto back off the wall and slammed him into it again, hoping to dislodge the earpiece or knock him out to break the control of the bots. He thought he could feel a weakening of Jaina’s hold, but the relief was short-lived as Otto had the air forced from his lungs upon second impact. It could have been an underestimation, but there still had to be a way to reclaim the upper hand. He gripped her lightsaber in one hand even as he tried to catch his breath enough to speak. There was still distracting her while his bots recovered and started at their task again. More were on the way, after all. “What... what do you expect to do now?” The words were bitten off with a fair amount of frustration, but an unsteady laugh was layered beneath. The Jedi wouldn’t do anything to him. Nothing he couldn’t recover from. It helped that Otto was clearly underestimating the Jedi, whose eyes narrowed at him when he lifted her lightsaber. It would have been fairly easy to telekinetically pluck it from his hand, but that opened up a slew of problems - number one being that she didn’t want to kill him without gaining more information from him first. Information about what had happened to Peter. But with the bots still coming at her and without any backup, Jaina was at a loss for what to do at this moment. She needed to buy a little time and regroup, contact Steve, maybe Ben. “I expect you to realize that I was raised by Han Solo, you piece of bantha dung.” Jaina brought both of her hands together, waving them simultaneously. Her hold on him was loosened temporarily, but it allowed her to send a bot flying at his head at high speeds and recoil her lightsaber back to smack him on the head. There wasn’t anywhere Otto could go. The bot struck, shattering in a painful burst, then the solid metal of the lightsaber followed. Superhuman resilience or not, the blow was enough for the world to slip out of view, then to black. His arms and legs went limp; the bots shuddered slightly, although they kept on their task. Unfortunately for one individual, their numbers weren’t nearly enough to make a difference against Jaina. Jaina let out a breath and pulled her lightsaber back to her, clicking it on for a few seconds to take out her annoyance on the bots headed her way. Jaina sent the end of the blade clean through one of the bots that had reached her foot, stabbing it into Peter’s floor and causing the little tech to spark and die. She took care of the rest quickly, leaving only one incapacitated but available for inspection later on. Sparing a glance at the unconscious Otto, Jaina reached out to Peter with the Force again, hoping to feel him before she had to focus on other things. Receiving nothing but silence, she worried at her lower lip with her teeth and pulled out her phone to quickly shoot off a message to the two men, hoping to call in a little help to piece things together. |