text; | @poison

[writtendestiny]

[A few conversations have led her to mulling more on this than she would do normally. Maybe it's the lack of having to fight for her life constantly, or certain questions she's been asked, but...]

Is there a way to find out if you're a clone? Does it matter if you are?

Does it mean you're worth less?

Comments

[writtendestiny]

[It wasn't really how she intended to say it for the first time, either... but when something like that wants to come out, it comes out.]

If it's you. I'm in the park.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Such is life, alas.]

It'll just be me. I'll be down in a minute.

[And since he's too cool to take the stairs, Peter web swings himself down to the park after putting some stuff in the lab away, and immediately starts looking around for Poison. She's not hard to spot, thankfully, and he quickly makes his way over to her.]

Hey, hope I didn't keep you waiting.

[It's a bit of a joke, but y'know.]

[writtendestiny]

[Not hard to spot at all, sitting cross-legged near one of the pools with her shoulders hunched forwards and knees drawn up to her chest. She's frowning at the water when Peter appears and the expression doesn't really ease when he joins her, but after a moment or two she presses a smile forwards and pats the spot on the grass beside her.]

No, you didn't.

[The moment he sits, she leans against him and rests her head on his shoulder.]

I'm sorry. I'm know I'm not very fun to be around lately.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Once he's seated, he wraps an arm around her shoulders, leans over a bit to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head.]

It's okay, seriously. You've got a lot on your mind, you don't have to apologize for it.

[writtendestiny]

Hmm.

[... This is nice. It's good to have someone to rely on like this. Someone she doesn't have to pretend for. She nestles herself up against his side and lifts a hand to clasp her fingers around his.]

I meant what I said.

[itsnotaonesie]

[He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze, his lips lingering against her hair absently while he processes that statement.]

Which- which part? I mean, I'm sure you meant everything you said, because that's just- that's you, you don't say things you don't mean. But just, um. Which thing specifically?

[She's said a lot of things, like that she's sorry she hasn't been fun to be around, she's worried about the clone thing, I love you.]

[writtendestiny]

You know which thing.

[Don't be obtuse, Peter. She feels like he just wants her to say it again, and it's a little different to say it out loud, in person...]

I love you, Peter.

[itsnotaonesie]

[HE JUST WANTS TO BE SURE, she'd been really upset before!

But no, this is good. Like sure, they'd said it over text before, but this kind of makes it more real, saying it all in person. He's trying not to let himself grin too dopey of a grin, and he more or less keeps his face buried in her hair because his face may just be reddening a bit and he's a manly man who doesn't blush OKAY.]

I love you too, Poison.

[writtendestiny]

[She's still really upset!

But having him next to her is different. Having these kinds of feelings and not having the person disappear before she can really tell them is... different. She leans her head slightly against the grin she can feel being pressed into her hair and she allows him to keep his dignity by not looking to see if he's turning red.]

Having you here makes it easier, you know.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter appreciates that very much, don't watch him blush.]

I really hope it does. I know that I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you weren't here.

[writtendestiny]

You'd be alright... [She tells him, but the way she searches for his hand and laces her fingers through his doesn't lend much weight to her words.]

I never really had the time to think about it before. About any of it. Someone in Hadriel told me I might have something called 'PTSD'.

[itsnotaonesie]

[That's fair, he doesn't believe it for a second anyway, but he is happy to let her take his hand.]

Post-traumatic stress disorder. To be perfectly honest, after everything you've told me, I'd be way more surprised if you didn't have it.

[writtendestiny]

[She hums quietly in agreement. If everything she'd gone through to reach her role at home wasn't enough already, then everything that had happened since surely was.]

I haven't even told you half of it.

[itsnotaonesie]

[He doesn't quite look surprised, but knowing that she's suffered even more than she's already let on is just... it makes him feel helpless. He hadn't been around when those things had happened, but it still makes him worry. What if something else happens to her and he can't protect her? Her life is fucking bananas, man.]

You can tell me more, if you want to. But only if you want to.

[writtendestiny]

[Poison nods. There's nothing in her life that she hides, only things she doesn't mention because they never come up. It's not easy to slip most of the things she's been through into conversation - it has to be deliberate.

She picks something to start with. One of the least terrifying things.]

Have you heard of kelpies?

[itsnotaonesie]

[He's relieved that she seems comfortable enough with him to open up about her life, even if it's just something small at first.]

Kelpies? Nah, that's not ringing any bells.

[writtendestiny]

They're Phaeries. They live in water, and look like beautiful men and women... until they're not. Until they catch you.

[And then you drown, is the implication of that little tale, but she's not implying that it ever happened to her.]

One of the first people I met after I left the village was a man called Lamprey. He'd been caught by a kelpie, a long time ago, when he tried to draw it out of the water with riddles. He got one wrong. [Even after so long, she can still feel his rotted hand on her wrist.]

It pulled him in, drowned him, but Phaerie rivers aren't like normal rivers, so he didn't die. [Poison trails off distantly, looking out in front of them both.] He wanted to kill me. I think he very much wanted to kill me.

[itsnotaonesie]

[This kind of sounds like some fairy tale weirdness, drawing spooky pharies out of the water with riddles and shit and the rivers that drown you but don't kill you. It's not the weirdest thing Peter's ever heard, though.]

Holy shit, why would he want to do that?

[writtendestiny]

[And it's not even the scariest part of it all!]

I wanted an answer to a question, but I had to answer his riddle, first. He didn't like how flippant I was about it, but I don't think it was really me he was angry at...

[No, he just needed to lash out at someone, anyone, and a young girl sobbing with fright made far too easy a target.]

I got his riddle right, so he had to help me. If I hadn't... I don't think I would have made it any further than Shieldtown.

[itsnotaonesie]

That straight up sounds like some D&D stuff.

[She has no idea what D&D is Peter come on.] That's really freaky, Poison. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

[writtendestiny]

[She has absolutely no idea what D&D is, but maybe she will ask about it later.]

Don't be. I chose to go and speak to him. [Though, in fairness, she did not know at the time that he'd been cursed like that.]

The Bone Witch was worse. She nearly did kill me after all.

[itsnotaonesie]

[he is so gonna figure out how to DM a D&D campaign here.

and just because she wanted to go talk to this dude doesn't mean he has to be okay with her almost getting murdered by him GOSH.]

Bone Witch, like literally a witch made of bones?

[writtendestiny]

[Poison stares at him for a moment, her expression full of incredulity, then she laughs.]

No! No, not-- Oh, Peter.

[Not everything where she comes from is that literal, honest.]

She's called the Bone Witch because she kills everyone who tries to pass through her house.

[itsnotaonesie]

Wh-- Why pass through her house, then!? Just cut through her yard!!

[THIS IS ALL SO BAFFLING your world is weird, Poison. Super weird.]

[writtendestiny]

Because there's a portal to the Phaerie Realms in her house. I needed to get there.

[Obviously.]