st_x5_494 | Morning Run (Closed to Peter

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

st_arkintern

"I'm not going to," Peter says, attempting to pull himself off the ground. But as he gets himself up on his own two feet, he finds his legs aren't able to support his weight and he falls back to the ground.

Embarrassed, he attempts it again before he finds himself back in the same place.

Peter could attempt a third time, but he knows what's going to happen and trying it again is going to be more embarrassing than the first two attempts.He really shouldn't have pushed himself.

From:

st_x5_494

Alec paused and for a moment was about to say something about his legs ad a metaphor and give him more shit for it, but he didn't.

"You over-used your muscles." He held out his hand for Peter to take, his expression still 'i don't like what we were talking about' but there was a smidgen of softness to it.

From:

st_arkintern

Peter can't quite make eye contact with Alec, but he takes his hand anyway.

"Sorry," he says. "I probably wasn't ready for this yet."

From:

st_x5_494

"You don't need to apologise. You just need to learn from this." Alec's strength pulled Peter up easily, his hand not letting go. "Can you walk at all?"

From:

st_arkintern

Peter's about to find out. He takes a tentative step forward and as his leg starts to give out, he has his answer.

"No," Peter says, absolutely mortified.

From:

st_x5_494

The only reason Alec hesitated was because he knew Peter would probably hate it. He'd hate it, even if he was badly wounded. But there was nothing they could do, really, so Alec reached for Peter and in a quick motion Peter was across Alec's back in a fireman's carry.

"Just checking, but you don't get motion sickness, right?"

From:

st_arkintern

Peter can feel his face warm as Alec pulls him over his back. Peter can't even remember the last time someone carried him on their back. He had to be eight or nine.

"You don't have to carry me!" Peter protests, struggling against Alec's arms. "If you just let me rest a little bit longer, I'll be fine!"

From:

st_x5_494

"No, you need more than a little longer. Trust me." And Alec began to walk in the direction of the Inn, ignoring Peter's struggles. "I can carry you like a princess, if you'd rather."

From:

st_arkintern

"How do you know?" Peter shoots back. He does not even acknowledge the threat of the princess carry.

From:

st_x5_494

"You know I've been doing this a long time, right? Or did your brain turn to mush when your legs did?" Alec's speed wasn't leisurely, but it wasn't a run. It was somewhere in between. "Besides, I've noticed more predators out here lately. You're a good target."

From:

st_arkintern

"I could still fight someone without the use of my legs," Peter protests, clearly offended at the near-lethal combination of being carried by his roommate and being told he'd make a good target.

From:

st_x5_494

"I would literally pay to see that." Alec did not stop to put Peter would as bait though.

From:

st_arkintern

"Put me down and I'll show you."

From:

st_x5_494

"Make me put you down." Alec decidedly did not put him down.

From:

st_arkintern

Peter decidedly did not hit Alec, even though his place on his back would make it easy for him to land a blow on Alec. Instead, Peter resigns himself to his fate.

"Just... don't take me inside like this."

From:

st_x5_494

"Listen, we have about a two hour hike back" less if Alec decided to run. "By the time we get close you can lean on me and by then we can come up with a manly excuse like we ran into to bears and we fought them with our bare hands or something."

From:

st_arkintern

"If someone sees us, I won't be able to live it down," Peter says gloomily. "Besides, neither of us looks beaten up enough to have fought bears. No one would believe us."

From:

st_x5_494

"I can punch you in the face. Want me to punch you in the face? You could punch me back." This was Alec's solution.

From:

st_arkintern

"Bears don't punch people in the face," Peter points out. He doesn't want to punch Alec. He also doesn't want to be carried by Alec any more than he's being carried already.

From:

st_x5_494

"Fine, what do you want our cover-story to be then?" Alec's imagination wasn't very broad.

From:

st_arkintern

Peter doesn't want a cover-story. He wants to lay down here until his legs start working again even if he has to fight a bear without the use of his legs. And the more he thinks about it, the more embarrassing it feels like it's going to be when they get inside. And if Liz sees them, she'll make a big deal out of it, and that'd be worse.

"Just put me down."

From:

st_x5_494

"Fine."

Alec stopped and childishly placed Peter on his feet on purpose and took a step back to let Peter fend for himself.

From:

st_arkintern

Judging from the way Peter's legs begin to immediately fold beneath him, it looks like he's about to collapse to the ground just like he did the last time he attempted to stand up.

This time, he doesn't. Not completely. One leg bent lower, one leg bent higher, Peter's standing at only 2/3rds his height.

But he's still standing.

Judging from the expression on Peter's face, though, he's having a hard time holding even that.

From:

st_x5_494

Alec crossed his arms over his chest, watching the whole ridiculous thing. "You want some help?" He didn't move though. The ball was in Peter's court.