[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.
[he finishes his beer, setting the bottle onto the ground and making a vague gesture with his hand that could be interpreted as 'come here', if isaac wanted it to be.]
There's other stuff to do besides Jesse. Other people need you more than that does.
[Isaac looks up at him then, before reluctantly moving to stand again, shuffling over to sit on the hammock next to Peter, bumping their shoulders together.]
Like who? [Allison's got Lydia now, Peter's always been independent enough to not need him, and Tempest is in jail indefinitely. Now a whole lot of other options.]
[There's a long pause at that, and Isaac kicks at a tuft of grass on the ground, rocking the hammock a little under them. Slowly, he reaches an arm around Peter's shoulders and shakes him a little, pressing their sides together with a sigh.]
Well- I'm here. [For what it's worth. And what he's about to say shouldn't feel like such a big deal, but considering how headstrong he's been about this whole thing, it really is.] I'll back off if you tell me I have to.
[He's not entirely unused to being the strong one, but it's still not a role he's entirely familiar with playing. Isaac just let's Peter stay against him as long as he needs, as long as either of them can stand it in this muggy weather.]
I guess this is how it's gonna work. We're here for one another- and Tempest, and Steph, if they need it. It's our- [Isaac tries to swallow around the dryness in his throat.] -our pack.
peter remembers the visceral reaction he'd had to the word when he first arrived in exsilium, the bone-deep rejection of the concept. werewolves aren't pack animals. werewolves run alone. even when he'd run with nicolae for those few glorious months, they hadn't been pack. they were family, but in the end, on that last moon, nicolae had left him, had gone to finish whatever business he had with the world on his own. because that's just how it is.
but he's been at least as much wolf as boy for months, now, and the wolf, the wolf knows. the wolf has chased isaac, has kept him from doing harm, has pillowed his head in dim cages, has tracked him through corridors filled with the smell of death. the wolf knows isaac's scent, knows the sound of his heart and the sound of tears that peter has always pretended he can't hear.
and the boy, well. the boy knows the feeling of isaac's back pressed to his back, the sound of his sleep-breathing. knows that unlike peter, who will sometimes swear a thing just because he likes the ritual of it, isaac only makes promises that he means.
and peter knows that he's never made isaac a promise he didn't intend to keep.
his hand curls into a loose fist, lightly hits isaac's thigh just above the knee, and then uncurls to pat it, to rest there.
[There's a long pause that makes Isaac wary, because it's true. He supposes that he's forgotten about Peter's earlier reluctance, but now it comes rushing back. Peter doesn't want to be part of anything, doesn't want to care- look how difficult it was to just admit that they were friends. Allies, whatever, and now this? It's stupid of him to think that Peter would suddenly want to be part of a pack, just because he's spent a few months here already, just because sometimes they listen to one another breathe without saying a thing.
Isaac is about to open his mouth to take it back when Peter finally speaks, and it's surprising enough to lift his eyes up to look at the other man, surprised and... maybe a little happy. A smile quirks at the corner of his mouth and he rests his head on top of Peter's, his fingers squeezing slightly at his shoulder before letting his arm drop.
He can make something here. He doesn't have Derek and Erica and Boyd, and he doesn't have Scott, but he has Allison, he has Peter and Tempest and Steph and Collette and they can make something that he instinctively needs. That's enough to make him smile, before pulling back a little and kicking his legs up at the air.]
...good. [A pause, like he's really not sure what to say, before Isaac forces a little awkward laugh and rubs at the back of his neck.]
I guess that means I have a few people I need to say sorry to.
[isaac smiles, just for that second like peter's handed him the moon, and peter wants to hate himself for how that bright, fragile, precious thing squeezes right down into his soul, how the smile he returns is soft and crooked and probably goofy as hell, and involuntary as breathing. he could slam and bar the doors of his heart all he wants, it's too late now. the weight of isaac's head on his head is comfortable, the warmth of him against peter's side is welcome despite the heat of the day.
he pats isaac's leg again, squeezes his knee and shakes it lightly. doesn't let go quite yet.]
[Isaac laughs softly and wrinkles his nose at the returning grin, bumping Peter with his shoulder and trying not to overbalance on the hammock. He doesn't know what's going on in Peter's head or his heart, but he can sort of surmise through the pats against his leg, like he's giving up, giving into something- and it's a good thing, Isaac thinks, so it doesn't stop him from being pleased at the new development.]
[still, it's another few heartbeats before peter lets go of isaac's knee, which is as good a hint as any that peter's surrender in this fight against letting himself care is more or less complete. but he does let go, leans away and plants his feet firm on the ground so isaac can get out of the hammock without it swinging.]
[Isaac nods once, before moving to stand up. And this isn't a happy thing, they're in the middle of some serious shit, but Isaac smiles wryly back toward the other werewolf anyway, tipping his head to acknowledge him before he turns and leaves.]
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freezerburned) wrote2012-08-21 10:00 pm
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When you told her, I mean.
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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.
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[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.
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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.
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I don't owe him anything.
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[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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I just- I hate not doing anything.
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[he finishes his beer, setting the bottle onto the ground and making a vague gesture with his hand that could be interpreted as 'come here', if isaac wanted it to be.]
There's other stuff to do besides Jesse. Other people need you more than that does.
[action]
[Isaac looks up at him then, before reluctantly moving to stand again, shuffling over to sit on the hammock next to Peter, bumping their shoulders together.]
Like who? [Allison's got Lydia now, Peter's always been independent enough to not need him, and Tempest is in jail indefinitely. Now a whole lot of other options.]
[action]
[he sighs, slumps a little. if isaac didn't have excellent hearing, he might've missed what peter says next.]
Me.
[action]
Well- I'm here. [For what it's worth. And what he's about to say shouldn't feel like such a big deal, but considering how headstrong he's been about this whole thing, it really is.] I'll back off if you tell me I have to.
[action]
Sorry.
[action]
[He's not entirely unused to being the strong one, but it's still not a role he's entirely familiar with playing. Isaac just let's Peter stay against him as long as he needs, as long as either of them can stand it in this muggy weather.]
I guess this is how it's gonna work. We're here for one another- and Tempest, and Steph, if they need it. It's our- [Isaac tries to swallow around the dryness in his throat.] -our pack.
[action]
peter remembers the visceral reaction he'd had to the word when he first arrived in exsilium, the bone-deep rejection of the concept. werewolves aren't pack animals. werewolves run alone. even when he'd run with nicolae for those few glorious months, they hadn't been pack. they were family, but in the end, on that last moon, nicolae had left him, had gone to finish whatever business he had with the world on his own. because that's just how it is.
but he's been at least as much wolf as boy for months, now, and the wolf, the wolf knows. the wolf has chased isaac, has kept him from doing harm, has pillowed his head in dim cages, has tracked him through corridors filled with the smell of death. the wolf knows isaac's scent, knows the sound of his heart and the sound of tears that peter has always pretended he can't hear.
and the boy, well. the boy knows the feeling of isaac's back pressed to his back, the sound of his sleep-breathing. knows that unlike peter, who will sometimes swear a thing just because he likes the ritual of it, isaac only makes promises that he means.
and peter knows that he's never made isaac a promise he didn't intend to keep.
his hand curls into a loose fist, lightly hits isaac's thigh just above the knee, and then uncurls to pat it, to rest there.
he is so, so fucked.]
Yeah. Our pack.
[action]
Isaac is about to open his mouth to take it back when Peter finally speaks, and it's surprising enough to lift his eyes up to look at the other man, surprised and... maybe a little happy. A smile quirks at the corner of his mouth and he rests his head on top of Peter's, his fingers squeezing slightly at his shoulder before letting his arm drop.
He can make something here. He doesn't have Derek and Erica and Boyd, and he doesn't have Scott, but he has Allison, he has Peter and Tempest and Steph and Collette and they can make something that he instinctively needs. That's enough to make him smile, before pulling back a little and kicking his legs up at the air.]
...good. [A pause, like he's really not sure what to say, before Isaac forces a little awkward laugh and rubs at the back of his neck.]
I guess that means I have a few people I need to say sorry to.
[action]
he pats isaac's leg again, squeezes his knee and shakes it lightly. doesn't let go quite yet.]
Maybe, yeah.
[action]
I guess I'd best get on that, then.
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[still, it's another few heartbeats before peter lets go of isaac's knee, which is as good a hint as any that peter's surrender in this fight against letting himself care is more or less complete. but he does let go, leans away and plants his feet firm on the ground so isaac can get out of the hammock without it swinging.]
Gonna hang here awhile, so I'll see you later.
[action]
[Isaac nods once, before moving to stand up. And this isn't a happy thing, they're in the middle of some serious shit, but Isaac smiles wryly back toward the other werewolf anyway, tipping his head to acknowledge him before he turns and leaves.]