myresponsibility | 021

[Peter's sitting on the roof of the greenhouses. He hides up here a lot when he's feeling crappy, because it's one of the highest points on the Barge and for the most part, it's a good place to go when your room's feeling a little too claustrophobic and familiar.

Not that anyone listening to the network post will really be able to tell, aside from the fact that he sounds like his jaw's a little locked in an attempt to stop his teeth from chattering. It gets cold out here at night now.]

So, I think there's kind of been some like, miscommunication about how things actually are, for people like me? Like, I get it, some of us are fictional where you're from, and that's cool or whatever- [And pretty creepy, if he's really thinking about it, but he prefers not to think about how people might know about things he'd rather keep secret.] Or we've got stuff that you don't have in your world, like superpowers or magic and stuff, but that doesn't mean our lives are like, an episode of My Little Pony or something.

I don't think any of us would be here if something bad hadn't happened to us, and like, I've never read these comics or anything? But seriously, if anyone thinks being a superhero is easy just because I've got superpowers, or because someone else has monsters or giant robots or whatever to fight, you really, really don't get it. Good people - people you don't know and people you really care about still get hurt. They might even die. [Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, the billion times Bond's gotten himself hurt or killed on the Barge and he hasn't been able to do anything about it. A lot of good having superpowers did him then.] Maybe in front of you. And you might not be able to stop it.

Or they'll leave, because it's safer.

[Because while Captain Stacy's alive now, he'll still want him to stay away from Gwen. And Bond's gone, and he's been back before, but there's no guarantee that he will this time. It's stupid to be upset about it or miss him, because the Barge sucks, and he's better off at home. Really.]

So just... think. Before you start saying you get it, or how I don't get it because you think having superpowers means my world's "less real" than yours. Because if someone made a movie about my life? I seriously doubt it's something you'd want to trade for.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I want to be.

I'm in training. Not much training, so far. It got a little... interrupted.

[ She sits down on the roof, knees tucked demurely underneath her. ]

[He sits down next to her, letting his legs dangle off the edge again and looking up at the stars, wondering vaguely if he was ever going to see anything familiar up there.]

I'm sorry. I know ending up here sucks.

... Or, you know, not personally, but.

[ She dismisses this, with a wave of her hand. ]

Momma always said, when the going gets bad, the good gotta get going. You take what you get.

I'll be all right.

[ This is soft, and genuine. Raven pushes faith into her tone; maybe if she makes Lily believe in this, she'll believe it herself. ]

Most people are.

[... Which isn't really true, but he doesn't exactly want to tell her that he's seen a lot of people vanish before they could graduate, or get their deals. It's easier to pretend like she'll be okay, because facing the reality that she's probably going to either be stuck here for years or vanish before she gets a fair shot is just too depressing to process right now.

He misses James, and Uncle Ben, and Aunt May and Captain Stacy and Gwen and Tim and even Dr. Connors, and it's not going to help if he starts thinking about how talking to her might not even be worth it.]

[ She reaches out, and puts her hand on his. It's the gesture of a friend, a comfort. ]

Nobody's life is a fairy tale.

I promise, I know that.

[It gets a small smile out of him, still sort of shy, but he's working on it.]

Thanks. I mean, I wish it was, you know? But life's not that simple, no matter what you can do.

No, it's not. Bad things happen to everyone.

I'm sorry people don't understand.

Thanks. Kind of makes me feel like a jerk for all the times I wished I was like, Luke Skywalker.

... He's a character, from a movie.

Everyone wishes they had someone else's life sometimes. Grass is greener, right?

[ She takes a breath, and decides to risk a little more. ]

I think you sound awful brave. That's why I wanted to be a nurse, you know - to help our boys when they go off and fight. No one really wants to fight. Sometimes you just gotta.

Where are you from?

[ Raven has thought about this, but she hadn't actually decided on a place yet. So: think fast. ]

Georgia. Savannah.

[ First town that comes to mind, in the general area. ]

Cool. [He's never been, so maybe that's not an accurate assessment, but.] Is it nice?

My favorite place in the world.

...not sayin' much. I barely been out of Georgia before. This is all... a big change.

It's a big change even when you have seen more stuff. But I get you, I mean... there's a lot of weird stuff here.

The world's getting smaller every day. And it's full of new and incredible things...

It's just my fault that I ended up missing it.

I mean, at least you're getting a chance by being here. That's better than some people get.

I guess so. I hope so.

Is that why you're here? To give people chances?

Well, yeah, that's part of it, I mean. I guess this is kind of selfish, but I came here because, you know. The deal was pretty good, too.

[ She pats his arm, apparently absently; in reality, every one of these gestures is calculated. ]

Selfish is all right, once in a while. We're only human.

021 | VOICE

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