017 | SPAM

[myresponsibility]

[AT ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE

Peter Parker is a servant. His father was a servant, and his father before him, and pretty much on and on as far back as anyone can remember. His family's always worked for St. Michael's College, and they're fiercely proud of being able to serve such a prestigious institution.

Peter's proud too, really, but there's a part of him that desperately, desperately wants something more. Really, it just means he wants to know more, even if he's never going to actually get to do more than clean up after people who just had been born into different circumstances.

So while he can been seen doing chores, helping out in the kitchens, repairing the roofs and basically anything else that needs to get done, he spends a suspicious amount of time dusting in the library, and lingering just outside classrooms. His daemon - a common ringtail possum named Arachne - usually perches on his shoulder to keep watch and make sure no one's going to catch them listening in to lectures on philosophy and politics.

He does it when people are visiting too, or when he's running errands to some of the other colleges, so feel free to wonder what's taking this kid so long in doing whatever task he's supposed to be doing. He's definitely not eavesdropping on your conversation about the North, nope.

THE STREETS

At fifteen, with a settled daemon and more responsibilities at the college, Peter doesn't have as much free time as he used to, and it's just the sad truth that he's largely outgrown a lot of the games he used to play with the other collegers and townies. That said, he and Arachne can still sometimes be found having been roped into playing along with some of the other kids, especially if Arya and her various cronies are involved at all.

Otherwise, he's usually running errands, or using what meager pocket money he's got to purchase books on pretty much every subject imaginable. Sometimes, when he's got time for it, he finds a (relatively, anyway) quiet spot to sit in the market or around the college to read, and takes his time getting home.

He still looks young, but he's too tall and Arachne's too obviously permanently a possum to really attract the attention of any GOB members looking for a new catch, but he still can't help but feel a little of apprehension go down his spine whenever people mention another kid's gone missing. That's never a good thing, and whether the Gobblers are a real thing or not, he still tries to make sure the other college kids get home safe.

He really hopes it's just a silly urban legend.]

Comments

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

There you are! [Arya calls from the other end of the hall, but Baleron is already trotting toward them on his short hyena legs, bouncing around Arachne with the trademarked laugh. Arya's not far behind, ignoring the general quiet of the library to tug at his sleeve.] Come on, I've been looking for you everywhere!

[myresponsibility]

Keep your voice down! The librarian- [But he shuts his mouth, because it's not like Arya's going to listen no matter what he says - she never has before, why would it be any different today? - and Arachne's already jumped up onto Baleron's back just because she can, so it's basically a lost cause. Not that he really minds. Arya's younger than him, but she usually can bully him into doing just about anything.] Where are we going?

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Just as he expects, she utterly ignores him, tugging him along instead toward the door. Baleron wriggles with Arachne on his back, and he shifts into an artic wolf, too small to carry her, and rolls away with a swishing, eager tail.] Jimmy Kelevra says there's a ghost in the attic, so we're going to prove him wrong. [Baleron leans in toward Arachne.] And he called her a chicken, [he whispers. Arya sends him a glare.]

[myresponsibility]

Jimmy Kelevara doesn't know what he's talking about, [Arachne scoffs, running along next to Baleron with her tail held high. It's sort of frustrating to be settled sometimes, if only because it was fun to shift and play with the daemons of the other kids. They don't mind being settled, and they don't mind her being a possum, but it's still... weird.] He's the one who's too chicken to go in the attic. He's just a kid, [Peter adds awkwardly, to which Arachne just rolls her eyes.] You know as well as I do that he just wants someone else to go see what's up there. Did he hear something? [Peter doesn't sound scared. He doesn't really believe in ghosts, never really has, although the various nooks and crannies of the college definitely can be kind of creepy, and he's not really Jimmy's biggest fan, so he's not going to be complaining about the idea of proving him wrong.]

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Baleron scurries along, and shifts into a lion's form to lope along with big paws.] I told her that, but she wants to prove him wrong anyhow. [Arya glares again, then huffs, because it's true.] I'm no chicken, [she mutters, then brightens a little and darts toward the stairs, trying to take them two at a time and resorting to just running when her legs are too short.] He says he heard a moaning, like some dying animal, and that things twitched and moved. He thinks we'll be too scared to go look. And when we're done, we'll go Gobble him. [So. Smug.]

[myresponsibility]

So, lock him in the closet again, or what? [Because playing Kids and Gobblers had taken on several guises since the game was first invented. Peter could hardly remember when the word even started coming up in conversation, and he's pretty sure it's just another legend or something. It's not like kids have been going missing in Oxford. Arachne climbs back up to sit on Peter's shoulder while he does take the stairs two at a time. The benefits of being freakishly tall. His daemon's considering what the options are.] Maybe it's just a squirrel. It could be hurt.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

This time we'll lock him in a trunk. [She says it decisively, because it's much worse than being locked in a closet, and he'll scream and cry and it will be very funny.

Arya jogs a little faster when she sees that he can take the stairs faster, because like hell is she going to be beaten. Baleron shifts into a sparrow, flapping above them before settling on Arya's head.]

We could eat it. [Arya grins, and forgets that she was about to shoo him off her hair.]

We could. We could build a fire, and roast it up.

[myresponsibility]

That's what you always want to do when we find something like this, [Peter grumbles, but he doesn't sound particularly bothered by it.] I bet squirrel tastes terrible anyway. It can't be worse than that bird they caught and wanted to eat, [Is the helpful input from Arachne.]

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Baleron sticks his chest out, twisting his head to look down at Arachne.] It would have been good, [he complains, leaping from Arya's head and shifting back into a lion, gnashing his terrible teeth.]

It would have, [Arya mutters, frowning up at Peter.] It would be like real adventurers. We'd be eating only what we could catch!

[myresponsibility]

Yeah, but you catch plenty of food from the kitchens anyway, [Peter points out, to which Arachne snickers a little.]

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[Arya just turns and smacks his arm. She's so kind.] That's not the same and you know it!

[tactical_alert]

[The police haven't given the case of missing children the kind of manpower Reed would want. That is to say, they've barely looked into it and have, at times, outright dismissed it. So technically he shouldn't keep looking into it. Not his job, not his assignment.

But he still manages to do just that all the same. Interviewing people, sometimes jogging memories with a little coin for good measure, for any information about the disappearances. And sometimes it's fellow kids that are the best way to get that.

Not that Peter is a kid. His daemon looks to be settled, and there's enough confidence about him going hither and thither that he isn't the target demographic. Still, Malcolm steps up to him in the market when he's spotted, nice and quiet and out of the way, as he's reading.]

Excuse me. [Izzati stands beside him, looking relaxed. She tends to be playful around the younger sort to put them at ease. Her black tail wags slowly, tall ears perked.] Young sir, I hope you don't mind the bother, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.

[myresponsibility]

[Arachne spots Reed before Peter does, so he's not surprised when he comes over to speak to him. Well, maybe a little surprised, if only because he doesn't know what a police officer would want with him. But it doesn't seem like he thinks Peter's done anything wrong, so he lowers the book and meets his gaze pretty levelly.] Of course, sir. What's wrong?

[tactical_alert]

You're not in any trouble, before you think of it. I've just been wondering if you might have any information about the children around here. [He imagines he doesn't have to elaborate, but Izzati nudges his leg after a beat or two.] Have you seen anything or anyone strange in the recent weeks, that you recall?

[myresponsibility]

[Peter and Arachne exchange a brief look before they both turn back and shake their heads more or less in unison.] No, sir, I don't think so. Why would that involve the children? [Arachne asks before Peter gets a chance to, looking at the police officer with large, curious eyes.] It's not the Gobblers, is it? [She asks almost like she's not expecting him to say yes.]

[tactical_alert]

We don't chase fairytales.

'Well, he does.'

Iz--

'It doesn't matter if they're real or not. We hear that some of the children go missing, and we have to take that seriously, all right?' [She sits and looks up at Malcolm, tail still wagging along the ground.] 'Anyone that takes a child is a monster.'

...Ahem. Yes, she's quite right. Even if it's just runaways, it's worth looking into. Any leads, anything at all that anyone's seen, even if it doesn't seem worth mentioning.

[myresponsibility]

Well, the Gobblers aren't real, anyway, [Arachne offers, sounding more or less certain of the fact. It was just a game the kids played, and one Arya was especially enthusiastic about, so she and Peter just went along with it. Still. Peter looks at the officer with worry in his expression, because of course he's heard the rumors, but that's all they've been so far. Rumors. No one he knows has been taken, or gone missing.] So, kids really are going missing from Oxford, then?

[tactical_alert]

There have been reports. I'm afraid I cannot comment much further on an ongoing investigation, and I don't mean to scare you. Children get lost or kidnapped or become runaways in any city, I'm afraid, but such statistics don't make finding them any less imperative.

[What neither of them will comment on--and Izzati only doesn't because she understands the danger of spilling that kind of information to anyone on the street, else she'd sing it from the highest rooftops--is how the investigation is unofficial and consisting of only them. And that talk and rumour has the numbers much higher than any official reports. Hard to want to talk to the police about it when they won't spare the manpower to bother.]

'We just want to make sure everyone stays safe.'

[myresponsibility]

We understand, sir, [Arachne answers seriously, even though her already wide eyes look even wider, if that's even possible. Peter looks similarly worried, but does his best to hide it, because he doesn't want to seem like he's freaking out or anything. Arachne doesn't just let it go, though.] But you do know about the Gobblers, right?