Shrugging away the thanks, Peter avoided looking at the guy. It was rude to stare. He hated it when people stared at him even though his mother insisted it was his fault they were staring. He steadfastly maintained dressing appropriately for his life was not attention-seeking. The goggles helped and Peter wasn't about to go back to standard button-downs when the polyester literally blistered his skin when he ran.
It was startling to be asked to race. He remembered the guy who he thought was from a crazy house talking about how fast he was and he'd told him there was no way he was getting beaten in a footrace. People didn't ordinarily remember the simple things Peter said or did. Could be the guy was just bored enough to ask. He might not remember him at all. He might not even be the right guy.
Sure was a funny thing to ask him to do though---but what did he know? There were real aliens in Test City.
"Okay," Peter pulled his goggles down with a manic grin, "You want a head start first? I give my wizard a head start. It's the polite thing to do. You can just start running if you want one. Don't worry, I won't mind."
He waited a moment to see what the man would do. There was something interesting about him but it could just have been he was talking to Peter. People usually weren't too inclined to strike up a conversation with him. Add in that he also hadn't seemed to be in the greatest of moods? Could be he just needed a way to blow off some steam which Peter absolutely understood. He hated being still.
"Oh, and do me a favor? Really try for it. You could say I'm curious too. No one's ever beaten me, but that doesn't mean they can't, right?"