Morning Run (Closed to Peter

[st_x5_494]

Alec believed Peter when he said he'd be up. He knew Peter would take the challenge seriously, too, because the kid had this wish to show people he could do things. He just hoped Peter was actually ready for the amount of running today - almost 50 miles - and that he could keep up.

He padded out of his room in jogging pants and a t-shirt and eyed the room. "Ready or not, time to get your ass kicked."

Comments

[st_arkintern]

"Break," Peter agrees. He knows when he's hit his limit, as much as he's loathe to admit it.

[st_x5_494]

Alec comes to a slow stop, not a dead stop, since it was always worse to stop on a dim. He stood there and in a few moments of deep breathing and Alec's back to normal. He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a lot the first time."

[st_arkintern]

That gives Peter a moment to catch his breath. He lifts the hem of his shirt to his face to wipe down his forehead. Sweat keeps dripping into his eyes. The suit was temperature-controlled, so even when he was running around New York, he didn't have to worry about freezing in the winter months or overheating in the summer.

While suitless, that was another story entirely.

"How long," Peter starts, but he finds himself breathless again. "How long have you been doing this?"

[st_x5_494]

"We started 10 miles when we were six." So, a long time. "Half marathons by ten and this was our gift from Manticore at sixteen." So his age.

Alec looked around, then back to Peter. "You need to learn not to push yourself so much."

[st_arkintern]

Peter was pretty sure he was playing with LEGOs when he was six. Not running ten miles. He was still playing with LEGOs now.

Peter's legs really want him to sit down, but Peter doesn't.

"You were running this when you were my age, and you're telling me not to push myself?"

[st_x5_494]

He looked at Peter who often professed they were so different because of their up ringing. "Because I've been condition and up until a year and a half ago you probably didn't get good grades in gym class."

[st_arkintern]

"You weren't bitten by a spider," Peter argues, as if this somehow changes things. He conveniently neglects to counter Alec's point about gym class.

[st_x5_494]

Alec looked at Peter like what? Alec blinked. "True... but who knows, it's pretty possible I have DNA of a spider inside me."

[st_arkintern]

Peter's legs feel like they're going to buckle beneath him and falling down is going to be way more embarrassing than sitting down. So Peter sits, his legs outstretched, fingers fanned out on the ground. He leans on one arm.

"I think it's different if you're bitten by a spider," Peter says. "I don't know though. I don't know anything about the spider."

[st_x5_494]

"I'll leave the climbing walls to you then.' he paused, looking at him, trying to access his state. He could hear his former CO yelling that this break was too long now and they needed to keep moving.

"And your web fluid stuff. Definitely a Spider-Man thing."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, still sitting. "Definitely a Spider-Man thing. Along with summoning an army of spiders. I try not to do that often, though."

[st_x5_494]

"You should just be thankful you didn't grow legs or something. Most people don't find spiders attractive."

[st_arkintern]

Peter wishes he had a few extra legs right now, but it feels like they've already been idle long enough. Alec hadn't even sat down at all. Peter peels himself off the ground, pain racing up his right leg as he shifts his weight onto it. He ignores it and looks over at Alec.

"Ready when you are."

[st_x5_494]

"You're sure?" Peter had a lot of rest, so it should be fine, right? Alec wasn't entirely aware of what a normal person could and couldn't do and how much Peter's abilities would aid him either. "Alright. This time I lead though."

Alec started off again, the pace similar to what it was the first time he had started, before Peter had sped up. Of course, they'd have to pick it up eventually to make the four hour mark, but that's what the end sprint was for.

[st_arkintern]

Peter somehow manages to force his legs to meet Alec's pace. But before long, Peter starts to feel like a little kid in the back seat of a car during a long road trip. It makes him feel uncool to be wondering how much longer, especially since he's sure that Alec isn't even thinking about that at all.

And yeah, maybe it was stupid, but he really did want to impress Alec. He just doesn't feel impressive at all right now, especially when his legs feel both heavy and on fire all at the same time.

They're about another 20 minutes in before Peter feels his legs on the verge of buckling again. He reaches for the sleeve of Alec's t-shirt.

"Okay," he says, embarrassed. "We need to stop."

[st_x5_494]

Unlike last time, Alec stopped abruptly. He turned slightly to take in Peter's stance and sweat and general look. "Maybe we should call it a day for now."

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks wiped. He feels wiped. He was trying really hard not to look wiped because he didn't want to seem like he wasn't up to the challenge, but Peter's not sure how many more miles he can fake it, and he's pretty sure that his legs won't let him find out.

Peter lowers himself to the ground and presses his palms hard against the top of his thighs. There's nothing wrong with them beyond him obviously pushing himself past his limits; Peter just finds sometimes that if you press really hard against something that's hurting that sometimes it doesn't hurt as much.

Just sometimes, though. Other times it just makes things a lot worse.

"Sorry," Peter says, looking down at his legs. "I know you're on a schedule. If you need to keep going, I can catch up with you later."

[st_x5_494]

Alec rolled his eyes and crouched beside him, hands resting on his knees. "You know we're stuck at an Inn right?" He surveyed Peter's legs.

"How bad is it?"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, but your four hour goal," Peter insists. He feels like he's bringing down Alec with his not-nearly-as-athletic-as-Alec's legs. Why didn't he work out his legs more?

"They're fine," he says, pulling his hands off his legs so he can shift them into a more comfortable position. "I just need a break."

[st_x5_494]

Alec shifted so he was sitting on the ground, legs up. "The four hour thing is okay because we'll end up back near the Inn. It's not an actual 'goal'. I don't make goals."

[st_arkintern]

Peter can't help but think that Alec's just telling him these things to make him feel better about ruining his goal.

"You don't have to do this anymore, so why do you do it?"

Even Peter's not sure why he asks it. Maybe it's because he thinks that there's got to be some sort of goal -- some sort of objective -- that Alec's not admitting to, even if it's not the whole four hour thing like Peter thinks it is.

[st_x5_494]

It was a good question and Alec wasn't actually sure he had an answer for it. He was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "Gives me something to do."

[st_arkintern]

Peter doesn't look convinced by this answer.

"There's other things you can be doing," Peter points out. "And it's not like you do any daydreaming, either." Which is one of the major perks of doing anything solo. Even when Peter was patrolling and there wasn't much to do, he'd find himself daydreaming about scenarios that would require his heroic intervention.

Peter lifts one of his legs into a V, then shifts it down flat again, as if testing out his leg. He really needed to get better at this if he was ever going to be able to come close to catching up to Alec.

[st_x5_494]

Peter really didn't understand conditioning, which was a good thing, really. Most of the people here who knew about his upbringing seemed to just understand. Not that Alec really understood why he did most of the things he did either.

"I'm just used to it." He shrugged and then frowned. "Why does it matter if I do this or not?"

[st_arkintern]

"There's nothing wrong with it," Peter says. At least he doesn't think so. "Do you get anything out of it, though?"

Other than, apparently, the ability to still feel something in your legs other than burning pain after running 30 miles.