Peter Parker (_peter_parker) wrote in freedomtownic, @ 2015-08-16 09:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, peter parker (_peter_parker), ~karolina dean (youglowgirl) |
It's a bird! It's a plane!
Who: Karolina and Peter
Where: Outside, then Java the Hutt
When: Friday, August 14th
What: Making a new friend
Rating: Low
Since Peter had no reason to hide his identity anymore, more and more frequently now he could be spotted outside in civilian clothing, webslinging around the larger buildings. It helped him pass the time until he could see Jean again, or bother Clint. His mind was itching to do something scientific lately, but for now he was--"OHSHIT!" Peter exclaimed, weaving out of the way of a rainbow that just shot right past him. A rainbow that curiously was in the shape of a girl. Curious, he followed. "Watch where you're goin' next time! You'll give a guy a heart attack!"
The girl in question, the teenaged alien named Karolina Dean, stopped in mid-air, turning to look at Peter with wide-eyes. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't expect anyone else to be up here!" She flew back over to him, her beauty only accentuated by the gorgeous light that seemed to make up her entire being. "You're not hurt are you? I'm totally failing at this 'helping out' gig..."
Aw, she was so quick to apologize! He was only joking. He swung over to a building ledge and perched on it. "No! Not hurt. I'm completely okay. And WOW. Totally digging the colors there."
"Oh, thank you! I'm Karolina. Who are you, Spider-Boy or something?" She asked, not even trying to be mean. She'd simply met this universe's Spider-Man, and knew he was older than this...
"Spider-Man. But you were pretty close!" He grinned at her, obviously not taking it the wrong way. "But most people call me Peter."
"This is another alternate-reality or time-travel thing, huh." She asked with a comical eye-twitch. "Because I've met Spider-Man and granted, he had a mask on, but... I could tell he was older."
"My girlfriend said that she's met him. I like to think that I'm cooler, anyway. Or at least better looking," he said, giving her that boyish grin of his. "So I'm guessing you're from THIS universe?"
"I am." Karo said with a nod. "I wanted to help out, especially when I heard there were some kids affected by this too. My friends and I... we try to look after our own."
"You know, out of everyone I've met here it's hard to believe that there's so much misery in your universe. Everyone I've met seems to genuinely want to help others. It just boggles my mind."
"Yeah, well... for every person like The Avengers, there's people like my parents, or beings like Ultron, who just wanna watch the world burn." She said, sighing. She was trying to be more trustful, but found herself occasionally still mistrusting adults in general on basic principle.
"I had a guy who turned into a lizard." It didn't sound as dangerous as it actually was, come to think of it. Peter chuckled. "I guess I can't help it but hope for the best sometimes."
"Are we talking a big deadly lizard or a cute little gecko?" Karo asked, giving a cheeky little smile. "Just so I can put it in perspective." Figuring he'd follow her, the blonde flew down toward the ground, landing gingerly in front of Java The Hutt.
He followed her easily enough, landing on the ground with a little stumble. "The dude was MASSIVE. Like, we're talking the size of an SUV here."
As she hit the ground, Karo shifted back to her more "human" look, laughing at the way Peter described his foe. "That... sounds way scarier than than the little guy from Geico, I'll give you that..." She quipped, walking toward the entrance of the coffee shop. "Wanna join me? My treat..."
He blinked at her. "Whoa. Sorry. Wasn't expecting," he shook his palm in front of his face to indicate what he meant, "that's really cool that you can do that." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And like I could ever turn down free coffee."
"Oh, it's ok... it took me a long time to except what I am... but I'm very comfortable with it now." She said, her words having a double meaning, although Peter would only know the obvious one. "So... Spider-Man, huh? Is it weird for you to be someplace where an older version of you exists?"
"I guess it probably would be if I'd met him," he replied, rubbing the back of his head, ruffling his short hair. "In a way it's good. It gives me a chance to be a kid again, you know?"
"I'd be so freaked to meet an older version of myself." She paused, a sad smile spreading over her face as a memory came over her. "We met an older version of our friend Gert once.... that was interesting."
"Was she the same person that you knew?" Peter couldn't help it but ask curiously. He'd read a lot of sci-fi books in his youth and had an active imagination, so forgive him for being curious.
"She was.... different. More centered, more fit.... seemed to really have it together. She came back in time to warn us, to help us... she died in the arms of the boy our version of her was dating." Karolina gave a small sigh, closing her eyes. "Our version died not too long after. She was grumpy, sarcastic... but I miss her so much." God knew Gert would have bitch-slapped all of them for how things had fallen apart between them all...
Peter's expression softened as he took a seat at one of the tables in the cafe. "I'm really sorry to hear that. She sounds like a cool lady." He rested his elbow on a table and his chin on his open palm. "I wish that... well, I think it wouldda been nice to have met her, just from the way you talk about her."
"She was. Gert was kind of... the glue that held us together. She was irritable, snarky, and a pain in the butt at times... but she also was the first one to call us out when we were being dumb." Karo said, sighing. "None of the drama going on with us right now would be happening if she was here. I know it."
Peter nodded, nibbling lightly on his bottom lip. "Is that something you wanna talk about? I can be an excellent ear, or a shoulder, if you need it."
"Nah. I appreciate it, I really do... but it was a while ago now. I miss her... but I'm ok." Karo told him, impressed with his kindness. "So how've things been for you since arriving here? Everyone treating you all well?"
"Oh yeah, totally. I made friends with Deadpool. And we've made it out mission to razz Hawkeye when we can, so that's always fun." He grinned cheekily. "Annnnd, I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the whole world, thanksabunch."
Aw! Karo actually beamed when he said that last part. "Lucky... I was dating a really wonderful girl before I came up here. We've just both been so busy... we had almost no time together. She's SO beautiful though..."
"Aww. Well if she's half as nice as you are then I think that you're very lucky." What was sweet about him was that he didn't even bat an eye when she said she was dating a girl. Love was love, in Peter's eyes. It didn't matter who you loved, but how you loved. Simple as that.
"Julie Power. I met her when my team and hers briefly... came into conflict." Karolina laughed, remembering their first meeting. "So who are you dating? Someone you met here?"
"I can't say that I know her by name, but I guess I do now," Peter realized with a laugh. "And maybe you know her. Jean Grey? The younger woman, just to be clear." Although he thought that the older Jean Grey was kind of a fox too. Shh.
"Oh! She's such a sweetheart. When I first got here, she helped me get settled and showed me around." She blushed then, before admitting. "And yes... you are a VERY lucky guy. Not going to pretend I wasn't noticing how hot she was. Holy crap." Hah!
Peter laughed. "I know, right? I'm totally the luckiest guy in the universe." He really was just smitten. "I try not to smother, but sometimes it's just hard to stay away from her."
"I can completely understand why. She's gorgeous AND sweet. And you're a really nice guy... I bet you make a great couple." Karo said, glad to be making a new friend, especially with how royally her friendship to Nico seemed to be screwed right now.
"I think we do. I'd love to introduce you sometime." Peter figured they BOTH could use a new friend, honestly. "Or reintroduce you. You know what I mean."
"I do. Like... as friends, not as a formal thing." She went silent for a few moments, before asking: "So... do you like being up here? In space, I mean?"
"It's really cool. It took me a few weeks to get used to the artificial weather here and 'day' and 'night', though, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that I'm not the only one." Peter liked it now. Life was always interesting on board.
"It messes with me a little, because my powers are solar-based. But this artifical sunlight... it's enough to keep me energized, but not fully." She thought about it, before giving an example. "Like... if I was a cell phone? The artificial sunlight here is like using a weak charger. It'll charge the phone, but it takes like 4 times longer."
"That totally makes sense. Sucks, but totally makes sense," Peter said with a nod. "I'm sure you could ask for shore leave sometime. Recharge the batteries?"
"I might... eventually... it's just, I dunno... there's not a lot back there for me right now. I miss Julie, but I really just need to NOT be there for a while. Be up here, where I can feel more comfortable being ME." She said, just finding him to be utterly sweet and sincere. This was the kind of person she needed as a friend.
"If I'm being honest, you don't strike my as someone who's uncomfortable being themself," Peter pointed out. She seemed very comfortable talking about herself, honestly.
"It took me a long time to be ok with admitting I was gay." Karolina told him with a soft smile, shuffling her feet. "But I did get there. But the alien part? Yeah, it's still hard being 'me' on earth, you know? People just still get freaked out by the idea of aliens, I think."
Peter nodded. "Well, if they'd give you a chance they'd know how much of a sweetheart you are."
"Oh, you ARE a charmer." Karo laughed, blushing cutely. "No wonder you landed a girl like Jean with lines like that..."
"Naw, it's not a line. It's the TRUTH. If people just got past their predjudices or whatever they'd see what a decent person you are," Peter replied.
"Thank you, Peter. That's really... a kind way of looking at people." She said, reaching over to give his hand an appreciative little squeeze. "Sounds like you had amazing parents. Which granted, I have no experience with, but hey."
"My aunt and uncle mostly raised me, so I was doubly lucky to have two sets of parents," Peter told her, honestly very proud of his family, despite the fact that his parents had to leave him so early in his life. "Were your parents... not good people?"
"They were alien ambassadors who wanted to end the world. And they made me wear what they told me was a medic alert bracelet... but was really a device to keep my powers from manifesting." She paused, before giving a sheepish grin. "In other words, they were jerks. At least I had it better than my friend Victor though."
"Apart from wanting to end the world and keeping who you are to themselves, did they treat you okay, at least?" Peter learned very early on from the manifestation of his powers that sometimes "villains" weren't necessarily bad people. Or maybe he just wanted to see the best out of everyone. "And what was bad about Victor's family? Or is that something that I should be asking him?"
"They weren't bad to me... until I tried to leave. Then they hunted us and tried to kill my friends." She smirked, blushing again. "Sort of what I imagine being a Kardashian must be like. And Vic... most people in our circle know it already anyway... his father is Ultron."
"Oh dude, that SUCKS," Peter replied, wrinkling his nose. Yes, he just called her 'dude'. What of it? "...And the name doesn't ring a bell. But Ultron doesn't exactly scream "good", you know?"
"Oh... Ultron is a robot bent on world domination and yes I know how ridiculous that sounds." She told him, giving a wry giggle. "Long story. But it really doesn't get any more logical if that helps..."
"That's... that's actually okay. I mean, considering where I am and what's been going on ... I'm understanding things a whole lot more than I used to." He paused and gave her a genuine smile. "I'm glad that we bumped into each other."
"I am too!" She said with a bubbly little grin, rocking on her heels slightly. It had been SO long since she'd made a new friend, or had so naturally bonded to someone. "You're a really sweet guy, Peter. I hope we can hang out sometime."
"Karolina? It's been a genuine pleasure. I mean that," Peter replied. He didn't have that many friends, to be honest, but Karolina was totally up there.