Who: Peter Maximoff maximoffp & Legolas youhavemybow What: Random Meeting When: Monday, October 28, midday Where: Horst's Little Bakery Haus Rating: Reader Discretion is Advised Warnings: Peter has no filter. This is its own warning. Status: Closed/Incomplete
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Peter entered the bakery fast enough to avoid the bell ringing. He stopped directly in front of the counter to smile at the girl who usually waited on him around this same time every day. They had a strange understanding in that Peter didn't pretend to be anything other than a mutant and they didn't pretend they were anything other than perplexed or scared by him.
His money spent as well as anyone else's and their food was good. Peter didn't see any reason not to keep going there just because it was taking them some time to get used to him. He knew he wasn't someone most people could tolerate for any length of time. It was a frustration he had only momentarily lost while spending time with his first not-quite-boyfriend in Madison. There weren't too many days Peter didn't miss the werewolf. He figured it would just take time for him to forget how it felt to be with someone else. That was all.
A man with pointed ears was already in front of Peter so he took a step back deliberately to give the guy more space. The pointed ears were a novelty to Peter. He'd seen them on aliens in movies or on faeries. There were a few mutants with pointy ears, but Peter just didn't feel right thinking of the guy as a mutant. He seemed too other to be like Peter.
"Are you a faerie?"
Peter asked without thinking about whether or not it would be rude or whether or not he should avoid asking in front of the human bakery staff. He wasn't very good at the whole 'tact' thing. Or being cautious. Or patient. Or pretty much anything other than the speed freak he was which would likely be the reason he was going to spend most of his life alone.
Legolas had not been to the bakery before, and he had been intrigued by the place when he had discovered it. He did like a good loaf of freshly baked bread, and he didn't want to have to go to Walmart for his need for baked goods.
While Peter had been too fast for the bell on the door to ring, Legolas had heard something when the mutant entered the bakery. He couldn't quite place what it was, though, and was a bit surprised when a young man appeared behind him. He wasn't used to being taken by surprise, not by an approach of a human.
So that must mean that this young man wasn't quite human, despite his appearance. That didn't really surprise Legolas, he knew there were many different types here.
"I am an Elf," he explained, in response to the man's question. "From Mirkwood. In Middle Earth."
"Woah. I thought being a mutant was a trip."
Peter tried to remember the things he could from science. The Earth was made up of different layers until it got to the center where it was like lava or something, right? He furrowed his brow as he worked out what the guy could mean about 'Mirkwood' and the middle of the Earth.
"I've never heard of Mirkwood. What's it like in the middle of the Earth? Are you like flame-retardant? Like you can stand in a volcano and it won't burn you or something? You look pretty pale to live somewhere surrounded by lava. Is there really not lava in the middle of the Earth? I always thought that sounded stupid."
Arguing with teachers had been pointless for Peter. He only showed up for school long enough to get counted in attendance so his mom didn't get in trouble. Most of the time? He'd skipped because what was knowing how to factor letters into numbers or name all the wars in Europe going to do for him in the future? Everyone knew he was weird and weird wasn't a good thing in Peter's world.
Legolas laughed softly as Peter started asking questions about Mirkwood and Middle Earth. "No, not the middle of the Earth. Middle Earth. It is… a bit like a country, if it was part of this world. Which it is not."
He considered how best to explain it. "Middle Earth is like nothing I have seen here. There are Men, Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits. There are various lands that these people come from. Mirkwood is where the woodland Elves live. Some of them."
He wasn't sure he was explaining it correctly. But at least he was trying. That was all he could do, right?
"What about you? Where are you from? How is it I could not hear you come in?"
"I'm just from Earth-Earth. This planet is exactly my planet? I mean, it's exactly like this place minus the whole invisible dome thing and people like me are starting to become a larger population. I guess it's a different dimension? I'm not the kind of smart where I can understand the science stuff. I'm more of a---I'm a different kind of smart."
Peter shrugged. He wasn't sure how to explain the fact he had barely graduated high school yet he could tell someone how fast he'd have to be moving to get anywhere in the world in any length of time just working the math in his head. It was possibly related to the way his brain translated things. Hank had tried to test Peter for some kind of learning disease only he'd gotten bored after three minutes and ran off to get more Twinkies.
"You couldn't hear me because I can break the sound barrier. That's my mutation. I'm fast. On my Earth, there are just regular humans and mutants. Mutants are people like me with an extra gene in our DNA which gives us abilities. My cells are in constant motion so I don't age the same as other people, heal differently, and I think and move faster than anything or anyone else I've ever come across. It's---just who I am. Do you have abilities since you're an Elf?"
He remained silent as he listened to Peter’s explanation of both his world and his mutation. He nodded slightly, somewhat understanding this explanation. “So you are like that blue man,” he said, after a moment. He didn’t know the blue teenager’s name, but he had seen him around. “I suppose you could say I have abilities. I can see at farther distances than a man could, I can hear better as well. I can be quiet, stealthy. And I am rather good with a bow and arrow.”
He had other abilities as well, such as tracking abilities. But then, so did Aragorn. So he didn’t believe the tracking abilities were solely Elf abilities.
“Do you like it here?” he asked, after a moment. “I take it there are no Elves in your world, like there aren’t in this world, either.”
"Blue man?" Peter searched his memory for blue people and laughed as he realized who the elf dude had to be talking about, "That's Kurt. He's a mutant, too, yeah, except he looks even more different than I do and his mutation is teleportation. He can literally just think about a place then be there. Instantly. I have to move to get to where I'm going."
Teleportation sounded boring to Peter. He supposed it was because the physical act of movement -running especially- made him feel nearly invincible even though he knew he wasn't. Apocalypse had broken his leg badly enough for any delusions of invulnerability he might have had to have been washed away.
Shrugging a shoulder, Peter said, "I like it here. The dome makes things weird since I can't go anywhere I want anymore. It means people have to deal with me more than they probably want. I don't like feeling as if I'm making people uncomfortable. I'm weird though. So. It happens. Do you like it here? Are there other elves here? I like I'm not the only mutant. I think I'd be really unhappy if I was the only one."
“Teleporting,” he said, considering this for a moment. Things were definitely strange here. Not just the mutants and their abilities, but everything. The vehicles, the Internet, the cell phones. A lot of things were different, but Legolas felt that he was growing accustomed to the things of Madison Valley. Adjusting well, even. “So it’s a different ability than yours. Do all mutants have different abilities?”
He was curious about mutants, as they didn’t have them in his world.
“I am the only elf from my world here,” he told the young man. “There is another, Link. But he is not from the same world as I am.” He wasn’t exactly sure what world Link happened to be from, but he knew it wasn’t Middle Earth. “I do not mind being the only one from my world, though I would not mind having some of my friends here.”
Like Aragorn, or Gimli. Just not Thranduil, please.
Peter knew some mutants who shared the same abilities. There were four or five he knew who had some form of telepathy and at least the same number who were able to move things with their mind using telekinesis. No one was fast the way Peter was fast, but he knew it wasn't out of the question for him to meet another mutant with speed as their mutation.
"All mutants have the same type of genetic mutation. That's the thing which makes us different from just humans. The abilities we show because of the mutation can be really different or they can be the same. I know more than one telepath and way more than one mutant with telekinesis. I just don't know anyone else who has speed like me."
Legolas seemed genuine when he stated he didn't care he was the only one of his kind. Middle Earth was a place though and it was his home. Wasn't he lonely? Friends were good, but what about family? Were families different for the Elf people?
"You really don't mind being the only Elf like you? I would think it would be lonely. I get lonely sometimes. Being the only one like me. Aren't you friendly with other elves? Like they're your family and all?"