Coming Back Home (Closed to Peter)

[st_x5_494]

His talk with Kitty and some more time alone caused Alec to return to the Inn. He smelled, but he was used to that, however he did miss showers. Despite the ability to live off the land for at least a month, there were some comforts that Alec missed. Plus he figured he needed to find out how badly he left things with Peter.

He was ready to be told to move out - however he could manage that, anyways.

Alec pushed through the door noticed the note on Peter's bed immediately. The kid wanted to talk - shocker. He dropped his pack and went to hit the shower.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

"How's he a bad influence?" Peter demands. "He hasn't even done anything yet."

[st_x5_494]

He crossed his arms again, but Alec didn't say anything. There were things he had to say about it. Things he saw in the damn Raccoon he saw in himself and some of the things Rocket said in general - Alec just knew - but Peter liked the damn thing so... for some reason Alec couldn't say.

[st_arkintern]

Peter's not taking nothing for an answer.

"Are you gonna answer me?"

[st_x5_494]

"You won't like my answer." Alec probably sounded exactly like Peter's age right now.

[st_arkintern]

"How do you know that?"

[st_x5_494]

"gee, I don't know, Peter. Because I know you? I know you'll either think I'm completely off base or you'll make that 'crushed soul' face and I'll feel like an asshole. Either way I don't win."

[st_arkintern]

"What do you know about me that makes you think that?"

Now it's Peter's turn to fold his arms over his chest.

[st_x5_494]

He made an exacerbated sound. "Because you're nice and see the good in every damn person," And you're naive, but he didn't say that part out loud. "And you make up these little things in your head about the way life is and don't like your bubbles to be burst."

[st_arkintern]

"I don't make little things up about how life is," Peter protests, though he doesn't even really know what Alec means. He thinks Alec thinks he doesn't know how life works, but Peter thinks he does a lot better than Alec.

[st_x5_494]

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine, Mr. has-everything-figured-out. You tell me what that raccoon is really like."

[st_arkintern]

Peter hasn't actually talked to Rocket all that much. Just twice.

"He's aggressive when he feels threatened," Peter says, continuing to think on it. It's obvious from how slowly he speaks that he's trying to speak carefully. "He's very assertive and speaks his mind, even if people might not like it."

Another pause as Peter thinks. There's got to be something else.

"That's all I can think of right now."

[st_x5_494]

"Fine. Let's go with that then." Why Alec was so adamant not to give his opinion confused even him. Normally he just through people under the bus.

[st_arkintern]

Peter has definitely noticed that Alec's a lot more defensive about this Rocket issue than he really should be.

"Why are you so crabby?"

[st_x5_494]

Suddenly there are words that Alec wasn't planning on coming from his mouth. "Because I came back and I talked about my feelings and you're still here pushing me to do more and say more shit and I don't know what more you want from me." The last little part his voice raised in frustration.

And now Alec was a little confused at himself.

[st_arkintern]

They had been talking awhile now.

"We don't have to talk any more," Peter says quickly. "I know --" Peter thinks about how he was crying and that was probably weird for Alec who usually wasn't used to dealing with stuff like that. "-- it's been a lot today."

[st_x5_494]

Alec kind of felt like a child, but Peter wasn't wrong. Mostly Alec felt like he could never really get out what Peter wanted from him. Like he was always letting the kid down somehow.

He sighed. "I'll watch a movie with you or something. If you want."

[st_arkintern]

Peter immediately pushes himself off the bed, turns on the TV, and presses rewind on the VHS player.

"Blade Runner okay? Liz found it earlier this week."

This will be his 9th rewatch of the film since Liz gave it to him.

[st_x5_494]

Immediately Alec was aware this was going to be a thing. Still, the excitement was better than the look Peter always gave him. "I have no idea what that is, but sure, fine."

[st_arkintern]

Peter stops the VHS tape before it can fully rewind. He stops right in the middle of the last preview and presses play. It's better than risking fast-forwarding and going through the beginning of the movie and doing that ad nauseum.

While the rest of the preview plays, he looks over at Alec.

"You gonna sit on the bed with me?" It's weird watching something with someone when you're not sitting with them.

[st_x5_494]

Alec paused, then headed to the bed. "I draw the line at cuddling." Only hot women got to cuddle, thank you.

[st_arkintern]

Peter gives Alec a look.

"I have a girlfriend," he says, pushing over to make room for Alec on the bed. But before they can say anything else, Peter watches the movie, rapt with attention. He loves this beginning sequence so much. It's a lot better than the opening scroll of the Star Wars movies. It felt serious in a way that Star Wars sometimes wasn't.

He'd never tell Ned that.

There's moments during the film where Peter mouths the dialogue, but like with Liz, his lips follow Roy Batty's final soliloquy perfectly.

When it's over, Peter sits there for awhile the credits roll. He looks over at Alec. "What did you think?"

[st_x5_494]

One thing was for certain - Peter was a big nerd.

However, as the movie went, Alec sort of... Related. He usually thought science-fiction movies were lame and unrealistic, but the idea that someone would make human-looking people to do their bidding was a familiar one.

"I think if the replicants were better organized they could take over Mars for themselves."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, me too," Peter says, getting up to press the Stop button on the VHS player and then the Rewind one. He presses the Power button on the TV, too. "I don't think it makes any sense to exterminate --" Peter uses that word instead of retire so often used in the film. "-- all the Replicants after the mutiny." He turns and heads back to the bed, then sits, legs crossed, in front of Alec. "One Replicant doesn't define all Replicants. They're all different."

Peter looks back at the TV's dark screen.

"I think Roy's probably more human than even Deckard."

[st_x5_494]

The way that Replicants had a shelf life almost reminded him of how a lot of the X series came down with Progeria at some point in their life. Manticore could reverse the problem if it happened, but some of the ones who escaped with Max hadn't been so lucky. He had been told he was 'fixed' from that particular abnormality, but it wasn't a certain. Nothing ever was when it came to your genes.

"It's not about making sense. It's about control and cutting your loses." He saw a lot of parallels there. "The Replicants posed a threat and also made them look stupid. Best way to show power is to eliminate and show your dominance. Plus you can sweep any other issues under the rug that way."

[st_arkintern]

"It wasn't all Replicants," Peter argues. "It's not like the Replicants really didn't have a reason for rebelling, anyway. They were just used to do everything that humans didn't want to do. That's why they had to be better."

Peter takes a breath, bows his head and scratches the back of his neck. "I just -- you know, I like that Roy spared Deckard even though Deckard did so much wrong to him and the others. I think that even though he wasn't human, he understood the value of life and what it meant to be good better than even Deckard. It made me rethink the whole movie the first time I saw it. Was Deckard really the good guy? Were the Replicants really the bad guys? Roy never got a chance. He was just a victim of the system."