[peter sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the hammock and just barely missing the empty bottles. he scrubs a hand over his face and pushes his hair back, beer dangling loosely between two fingers of his other hand.]
[he rubs at his face again, wincing like his head hurts. and it does. but drawing this out isn't making it any easier to tell, so he takes a deep breath and forces the rest, not looking at isaac.]
And he thought he was just disarming her. Taking away a gun, or something. He doesn't get it.
The trap sent anybody who tried to teleport in into a closet. A locked closet. And it caught somebody, and she hurt herself trying to get out. So that's why he did it.
[Isaac goes still at that, his gaze on the bottle as Peter keeps speaking. A closet. A locked closet. She hurt herself trying to get out. She hurt herself- teleportation, I hurt myself in Tempest's trap.
It's Steph. Steph had been locked inside of a closet, apparently for a long enough time to cause her to hurt herself. But really, how long would that take? How long did it take him to turn on Allison, for the simple sin of being in there with him? Isaac's head tilts down toward the ground, his fingers tight around the bottle, and he still remembers pounding on the door of the closet, still remembers kicking at the lid of the freezer.
It feels like he can't breathe. Why would Tempest do that? She doesn't know- she doesn't know, and he knows that, but she did it. Just like the alphas, just like-
The bottle suddenly just slips from his fingers, and Isaac doesn't really try to catch it as it clatters down the steps. He seems to notice a moment too late, and he jumps to pick it up before too much of the beer is spilled, forcing a laugh at his clumsiness and shaking his head as he grabs the bottle.]
Crap- sorry. [Isaac kicks some of the dirt over the spilled liquid in a halfhearted attempt at cleaning it up.] The condensation- these things are kind of slippery if you're not paying attention, you know?
[there's a reason peter is in the vr now, a reason he called isaac there instead of going back to the close, cramped space of their room. but it's painfully obvious that isaac doesn't want peter to know what he knows, he doesn't want to mention steph, and peter is very good at making things about peter (and it is about peter, it's at least halfway about peter), so he does.]
Kinda flipped my shit at her for a minute there, because what if it had been me, fuck. She gets it now. And feels like shit.
But it happened.
[and he has no idea how to deal with that, really. he wasn't prepared. but this is all going to come out, because it's a big fucking ugly mess, and he doesn't isaac to find out that way.]
[Isaac preoccupies himself with scrubbing off the bottle and kicking sand over the pool of liquid, using the opportunity to distract himself and avoid eye contact while Peter lets the subject shift. He doesn't have to react to the information himself now, just has to comment on Peter's thoughts about it. It's easier when it's separated, away from him and after a few moments, he sets the now half-empty bottle down on the steps and sighs, glancing up toward the other wolf.]
Yeah, that's a dumb thing to do to someone. [Idly.] Glad it wasn't you. Guess you were right when you said it'd be smart not to get involved.
No, I don't. Don't think anybody knows. But now that I told her why Jesse did it, that shit might start getting straightened out. Maybe. Seems like half the base forgot about the actual 'mutiny'.
[he puts it in scare quotes because god knows he thought it was stupid then and it seems even stupider now. then he rests his forehead in his palm. it's pretty easy for isaac to avoid looking at peter, peter's pretty much avoiding looking at isaac, because all he can think is how much he doesn't want to do any of this.]
Kinda walked out on her, but then she texted me. [he waves at the tablet.] Might go back in a day or two.
[Isaac nods. The mutiny seems like a laughing matter now, with everything that's happened since it. It seems like nobody really cares about the motives anymore, and nobody really knows what to do from here.
Strangely enough, he feels sort of like he did back home. A situation that's far too out of their control, they're all in way over their heads, and even though he knows that most of the people around here are older than him, he can't help but to think that everyone is just as confused about what to do next as he is.]
[peter has spent at least the last day feeling like the adult in almost every situation, despite those situations being with people considerably older than him.
it's not a great feeling. stupidly, it just makes him want his mother.
but he pauses for a moment at isaac's question, then makes a sound that might actually be half a laugh, shaking his head. he picks up the tablet, turns on the screen and scrolls up to the beginning of the conversation before turning it so isaac can see.]
[Isaac pages through that quickly, his lips pursed in a frown before he shakes his head, offering the tablet back to Peter. Things like that- that's really the last thing on his mind right now.]
[they're pretty much the last things on peter's mind too, but he'd rather tempest think he's less upset than he is. it's a measure of trust that he's letting isaac see him this upset, to see him affected this much.]
Oh, that. She was pretty pissed. If Jesse had bothered to explain his damn self, I guess she'd have let him or something. And she could've apologized to the person she hurt and half of this shit wouldn't have happened. Wasn't even that hard to get him to tell me, I don't know why everyone else is sitting on their goddamn thumbs.
She yelled, I yelled back, she stopped yelling, I left.
[Isaac nods, offering the tablet back with a sigh as he moves to sit back on the steps, his thumb tracing the opening of the beer bottle.]
Probably because he's a lying asshole. Did anyone else confirm the story? Do we even know if it's true or not? 'cause he doesn't have a great track record, as far as I'm concerned.
Tempest definitely set the trap. Jesse didn't tell me how it worked, just where he found it. Tempest told me what it was. I didn't ask the person that got caught, but it makes perfect sense that Jesse would flip his shit over her.
[peter thinks of the scars on steph's legs, the things she's said in passing that aren't really passing at all.]
And it's not a stretch, that the person who got caught would've freaked out. At all.
[Isaac still doesn't look convinced, but he nods anyway, frowning as he takes a small swig of the beer.]
I don't like this. [Quietly.] Everyone is- we're all protecting people we care about.
[Which is what makes it all the worse. Crossed purposes, everyone is to blame. Whose skull do you cave in when everyone is just trying to protect the people they love?]
[Isaac squeezes his eyes shut tight, hand ruffling through his hair.]
...I wish Scott was here.
[Scott would know what to do. Scott would tell Isaac what to do, and he'd do it without a second thought. Scott would know when to use violence and when to threaten and when to try and resolve things. He'd know- he'd know everything, because that's what he does. And without him, there's no direction.
So Isaac looks up to Peter, big eyes staring up at him like he's got all the answers.]
[peter looks up to meet isaac's eyes and it takes everything he has in him not to bolt. it's as bad as roman. it's worse than roman, in a way.
and then he's angry, because what do we do?, as though peter hasn't done anything, as though it wasn't peter who had talked to jesse and found out the truth and peter who had told that truth to tempest, as if it wasn't peter who got these balls rolling while other people were screaming uselessly at each other on the network.
as though it's peter's responsibility to fix all of these problems that are so far beyond him it isn't even funny.
isaac's eyes are huge and blue and fragile and full of belief, and peter feels the chain tighten around his neck.]
Right now, we wait and see where the ball stops rolling from the shitstirring that woman did and what I did earlier. If people are out for Jesse's head, we don't need to get underfoot of a lynch mob. If nothing happens, then we'll figure out what needs to be done in a way that isn't going to have either of us ending up like Tempest.
[Isaac watches him like that for a moment, his brow furrowed a little. He doesn't like the answer, doesn't like that the only option here is to stay out of the way, not when his entire being is yelling at him to do something.]
I've been thinking, though. A guy like that- a power like his... [Isaac shakes his head, moving to stand, the beer only loosely held in his fingers.] -if they let him out, he's already proven that he can't be trusted.
[and it only takes a moment for peter's thoughts to go to the place he's been trying so very hard to avoid, the place that acknowledges that as long as jesse has his weapon, he's too dangerous. there's nothing at all to stop this from happening again.]
And Steph and Tempest both care a lot about him, and he gave me the power that saved your life before he took away Tempest's.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
freezerburned) wrote2012-08-21 10:00 pm
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Found out why Jesse did it.
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By the looks of things, this is bad news.
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[or peter is just dealing with it extraordinarily poorly. one of those.]
Beer? It probably doesn't do shit for you, but still.
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[Idly, but Isaac takes one anyway, moving to sit on the steps.]
Well? Let me guess- someone is being mind controlled, right? That's the only thing worse that I can think of.
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I wish. I really do.
[he raises his bottle in an obvious 'cheers' motion, as though they could clink from that far away, and takes a drink.]
Tempest set a trap. One that would catch anybody who tried to teleport into the transporter room.
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[Isaac tips his own bottle distractedly, before popping open the cap, his expression obviously confused.]
Did she kill someone?
[action]
[he rubs at his face again, wincing like his head hurts. and it does. but drawing this out isn't making it any easier to tell, so he takes a deep breath and forces the rest, not looking at isaac.]
And he thought he was just disarming her. Taking away a gun, or something. He doesn't get it.
The trap sent anybody who tried to teleport in into a closet. A locked closet. And it caught somebody, and she hurt herself trying to get out. So that's why he did it.
[action]
It's Steph. Steph had been locked inside of a closet, apparently for a long enough time to cause her to hurt herself. But really, how long would that take? How long did it take him to turn on Allison, for the simple sin of being in there with him? Isaac's head tilts down toward the ground, his fingers tight around the bottle, and he still remembers pounding on the door of the closet, still remembers kicking at the lid of the freezer.
It feels like he can't breathe. Why would Tempest do that? She doesn't know- she doesn't know, and he knows that, but she did it. Just like the alphas, just like-
The bottle suddenly just slips from his fingers, and Isaac doesn't really try to catch it as it clatters down the steps. He seems to notice a moment too late, and he jumps to pick it up before too much of the beer is spilled, forcing a laugh at his clumsiness and shaking his head as he grabs the bottle.]
Crap- sorry. [Isaac kicks some of the dirt over the spilled liquid in a halfhearted attempt at cleaning it up.] The condensation- these things are kind of slippery if you're not paying attention, you know?
[action]
[there's a reason peter is in the vr now, a reason he called isaac there instead of going back to the close, cramped space of their room. but it's painfully obvious that isaac doesn't want peter to know what he knows, he doesn't want to mention steph, and peter is very good at making things about peter (and it is about peter, it's at least halfway about peter), so he does.]
Kinda flipped my shit at her for a minute there, because what if it had been me, fuck. She gets it now. And feels like shit.
But it happened.
[and he has no idea how to deal with that, really. he wasn't prepared. but this is all going to come out, because it's a big fucking ugly mess, and he doesn't isaac to find out that way.]
[action]
Yeah, that's a dumb thing to do to someone. [Idly.] Glad it wasn't you. Guess you were right when you said it'd be smart not to get involved.
[But then Isaac shrugs, letting out a soft sigh.]
Do you know when she's getting out?
[action]
[he puts it in scare quotes because god knows he thought it was stupid then and it seems even stupider now. then he rests his forehead in his palm. it's pretty easy for isaac to avoid looking at peter, peter's pretty much avoiding looking at isaac, because all he can think is how much he doesn't want to do any of this.]
Kinda walked out on her, but then she texted me. [he waves at the tablet.] Might go back in a day or two.
[action]
Strangely enough, he feels sort of like he did back home. A situation that's far too out of their control, they're all in way over their heads, and even though he knows that most of the people around here are older than him, he can't help but to think that everyone is just as confused about what to do next as he is.]
What did she say?
[action]
it's not a great feeling. stupidly, it just makes him want his mother.
but he pauses for a moment at isaac's question, then makes a sound that might actually be half a laugh, shaking his head. he picks up the tablet, turns on the screen and scrolls up to the beginning of the conversation before turning it so isaac can see.]
That I got my naked privileges back.
[action]
When you told her, I mean.
[action]
Oh, that. She was pretty pissed. If Jesse had bothered to explain his damn self, I guess she'd have let him or something. And she could've apologized to the person she hurt and half of this shit wouldn't have happened. Wasn't even that hard to get him to tell me, I don't know why everyone else is sitting on their goddamn thumbs.
She yelled, I yelled back, she stopped yelling, I left.
[action]
Probably because he's a lying asshole. Did anyone else confirm the story? Do we even know if it's true or not? 'cause he doesn't have a great track record, as far as I'm concerned.
[action]
[peter thinks of the scars on steph's legs, the things she's said in passing that aren't really passing at all.]
And it's not a stretch, that the person who got caught would've freaked out. At all.
[action]
I don't like this. [Quietly.] Everyone is- we're all protecting people we care about.
[Which is what makes it all the worse. Crossed purposes, everyone is to blame. Whose skull do you cave in when everyone is just trying to protect the people they love?]
[action]
[peter's swig of beer is not small at all.]
It's truly amazing how utterly fucked everything is from a bunch of people all trying to do what they think is right.
I hate this game. And that I'm still playing.
[action]
...I wish Scott was here.
[Scott would know what to do. Scott would tell Isaac what to do, and he'd do it without a second thought. Scott would know when to use violence and when to threaten and when to try and resolve things. He'd know- he'd know everything, because that's what he does. And without him, there's no direction.
So Isaac looks up to Peter, big eyes staring up at him like he's got all the answers.]
What do we do?
[action]
and then he's angry, because what do we do?, as though peter hasn't done anything, as though it wasn't peter who had talked to jesse and found out the truth and peter who had told that truth to tempest, as if it wasn't peter who got these balls rolling while other people were screaming uselessly at each other on the network.
as though it's peter's responsibility to fix all of these problems that are so far beyond him it isn't even funny.
isaac's eyes are huge and blue and fragile and full of belief, and peter feels the chain tighten around his neck.]
Right now, we wait and see where the ball stops rolling from the shitstirring that woman did and what I did earlier. If people are out for Jesse's head, we don't need to get underfoot of a lynch mob. If nothing happens, then we'll figure out what needs to be done in a way that isn't going to have either of us ending up like Tempest.
[action]
I've been thinking, though. A guy like that- a power like his... [Isaac shakes his head, moving to stand, the beer only loosely held in his fingers.] -if they let him out, he's already proven that he can't be trusted.
[action]
[and it only takes a moment for peter's thoughts to go to the place he's been trying so very hard to avoid, the place that acknowledges that as long as jesse has his weapon, he's too dangerous. there's nothing at all to stop this from happening again.]
And Steph and Tempest both care a lot about him, and he gave me the power that saved your life before he took away Tempest's.
[action]
I don't owe him anything.
[action]
[he's saying he owes jesse for isaac's life.]
I'm saying we don't just kill people without being really fucking careful.
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