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CHARACTERS: October Bantum and Peter Petrelli
LOCATION: Somewhere off the beaten path in the gardens.
WARNINGS: No...ne?
SUMMARY: Peter's being a creeper and wandering around invisible. October's minding her own business when suddenly ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. Hijinks ensue.
NOTES: Nadda.

[ Though she's been sleeping slightly better than before (nowhere near as good as she should, of course, but better and that's what matters to her), October still finds herself restless more often than not. She doesn't want to wander too far off into the ship for fear of getting lost - or worse - so she ends up spending more time in areas she never really cared much for previously, like the gym or the pool. Today, however, she's opted for the gardens; it'll be a nice break from where she usually ends up and if she ends up taking a catnap, it's not like she'll drown or be disturbed by people using noisy equipment.

Book in hand, she heads to the kitchen first to grab the biggest cup she can for some coffee. It doesn't really do much for anymore because she's gotten used to the caffeine, but it's become a habit she doesn't really care to break. Then she heads into the gardens, wandering down one of the pathways for a bit before veering off it completely. She wants to get lost in the greenery today, to forget - if possible - that she's on a spaceship for a few hours.

It's with that in mind that she settles down against a tree, coffee balanced on her knee as she opens her book to where she left off. Not that it matters; she's already read this one so many times that she feels like she's got it memorized. ]

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[ He still has no intention of leaving -- the gardens, that is. Not unless he's dragged out, and considering no one's likely going to be bothered by the process that would require, Peter has set up camp here. Figuratively speaking, considering he hasn't set up anything. There's more than enough space to migrate daily, and Peter can tell himself he hasn't seen landmarks before -- and if he has, they're different. More lies. He can tell himself that it's ever changing, that it's everything he sees hidden inside of it. There's no factual basis anymore in anything if only because he doesn't believe there's any, and it gives him no reason to see a possibility beyond what he expects. Because there is none.

Nathan isn't real, and Peter doesn't care.

Some days he wanders, occasionally he stays hidden back as far as he can get, or up waits seated in trees, like some holligan rooted back in high school. Staying invisible makes him feel just a touch superior, and being higher even more so. But that doesn't change the fact that when October settles down against a nearby tree, Peter only stares for a full minute before he realizes he's making himself uncomfortable, even if she's unaware of his presence. He knows, and so a moment later, he's shoving himself off the branch, high enough that he has to push against the ground with telekinesis to soften his landing, dropping with a soft thud. But one ability negates another - according to the rules of this particular construct - and he's immediately visible. ]

Reading anything good? [ Smooth. ]

[ The thud is enough of a noise to catch October's attention but it's not until she glances up and see Peter standing there - where she's almost 99% certain no one had been standing before - that fully startles her. Maybe if she were more awake or if she weren't so eager to get lost in the pages of her book she would've heard him coming but she wasn't so lucky. Half of her coffee spills onto her leg which has her moving to stand quickly, a pointless effort since the hot liquid's already seeped into her jeans, and spills the rest on the ground between them. ]

Fuck, Peter! [ She winces down at her leg even though the coffee's already started to cool, full hands held aimlessly near the stain. As she shoots an irritated glare up towards him through her too-long bangs, October wonders how hot coffee has to be to give someone second degree burns. ] Where the hell did you come from?

[ He should probably feel guilty about that. As in he really, probably should, and he almost does. But the fact that he's distanced himself so incredibly far away from everyone else only has him staring for a few seconds, before he wonders if maybe his entrance shouldn't have been quite so much of a surprise. Spilling her coffee had been an unexpected side effect - how many of those could he count in a lifetime - but startling her was always in the cards. He has no way to fix it either, and the moment simply is what it is -- no going back in time, no rewinding, no making better choices and trying and failing.

Nodding his head up, he glances briefly towards the tree behind him, acknowledging its existence before he looks back. ] Up there. Wasn't expecting to get any company and taking up people's space isn't exactly a past time of mine.

Figured i'd interrupt before I found a way to make it any worse. [ It's sarcasm, at least partially, but he's already excelling at ruining everything else, why not this? ]

[ Still pretty obviously frustrated, if only because she was looking forward to drinking that coffee and it still hurts like a bitch, October glances up towards the tree. Her brow furrows when she drops her gaze to him again. ] Is this a regular hobby of yours, climbing trees and surprise attacking people? [ Her irritation and snappiness will wear off in a moment or two but for now, Peter gets to enjoy the grumpier side of October.

Tossing the mug onto the ground, she checks over the cover of the book to make sure it didn't get any of the splash. ] Someone should really make you wear a bell if that's the case.

[ Amused is the wrong reaction; maybe he should be storming off or just walking in the other direction while ignoring her words as much as possible. But the fact that he feels entirely dissonant to reality makes it far easier to cope with because, really, what's the point? Like looking through a glass of water -- everything is skewed, off, and yet somehow simplified. Emotions don't have to get tied up in the mess, as long as he tells himself they don't.

Folding his arms across his chest, his gaze follows the mug tossed onto the ground before tracking back up to October's face, well aware that she's still just a little grumpy. ]

If it was a surprise attack, you would've known. [ Sort of. He still can't use more than one ability at a time, which just manages to be infuriating enough. ] Would it have made you feel better if i'd just stayed put?

[ The sound she lets out is one of acknowledgement and mock-amusement, though she's honestly wondering what exactly he meant by that. This isn't the same Peter she's known before, as if the scar and the body language weren't telltale signs, but she has yet to pinpoint exactly what makes them so different, what happened to this one that has him going down a different path. Not that she really knew the other Peter all that well.

She's also wondering how this kind of thinking became normal to her, but that's less of a priority right now. ]

No, I guess not, but I really would've liked some warning. [ The book, which didn't get any coffee on it, is tucked beneath her arm as she lifts her gaze to meet his again. ] You owe me a cup of coffee.

Seems reasonable to me.

[ It should be comical, maybe, that nobody's outright asked him what the hell happened. What went so terribly wrong. Even Nathan's only gotten snippets, things he's snuck up on listened to just to be an asshole, to be Nathan. But nobody has once, so far, asked him for his own story. Not that he wants to give it, and not that anyone really wants to know (obviously) but nobody needs a story when all they want to do is judge the only thing they're given. ]

Want to get it now or save it for the next time I scare the shit out of you? [ He glances off for a second, staring through the foliage just to check his surroundings, before he wanders on closer, now he knows he's not gonna dropkicked for being terrifying. ] Especially since you were trying to actually get some sleep.

[ Truth be told, the only reason she hasn't asked is tact. If they were closer or if she'd been closer to the other Peter, perhaps she'd just blurt it out, make him tell her but since she wasn't, it's kind of a moot point. So she'll bide her time and wait for the right moment or wait until Peter tells her himself, without any sort of goading from her.

She doesn't mind him stepping closer, though she doesn't really relax at all when he does. Her shoulders are still tensed and her brow's still knit slightly in a frown, though it has less to do with his presence and more to do with generally being irritated with life up here. ]

I wouldn't sleep here, actually. [ Though if she'd kept reading, she probably would've dozed off without realizing it. ] So now's fine. May as well make you pay up instead of running the risk of you disappearing.

Point taken.

[ He has no reason to not fess up to the fact that he'd probably contently disappear -- he'd be equally as inclined to do it on the way there. Not to get out of getting coffee, but to get out of having to put up with social interaction, and even more so, to have to deal with walking through the damn halls. They always seemed to inch closer the longer he dwelled and it was the best he could do to even agree to going in the first place.

Moving closer, but also veering just around October, he stopped once more and waited, eyebrows raised in anticipation in case she had anything else of hers to gather up. He might have been out of touch with social cues, but she'd never been anything but pleasant to him; he could keep from being rude. ]

Gives me an excuse to get some for myself, anyway. [ A nearly blatant lie, but Peter's gaze ran down the line of the path, picking out the lift in the distance. ]

[ She'd actually meant disappear as in off the ship entirely, like so many people seem to do (even if they come back), but ditching her would count as well. Besides, she'd really been looking forward to drinking that coffee, not wearing it; may as well get a refill now instead of waiting.

Grabbing the cup off the ground because she's not the type to leave it lying around for someone else to pick up, October moves into step beside him. ] Have you figured out how to use the coffee makers yet? [ It's not a judgmental question, especially since they're not exactly the sort most people would be used to, it's just a way to make conversation. ]

[ Shoving his hands into his pockets not a moment later, Peter's nowhere near thrilled about the idea of going back into the halls at this point. But he's already agreed and it's not as if he can't come back and they're just hallways. Ones that aren't real and never have been, but they still seem to buckle in over his head. No matter what he tries to do about it. ]

I could probably figure out how to use just about any coffee maker. [ At least he knows he's being teased and he shrugs, half-assed and unbothered. But he's still keeping his attention elsewhere, looking straight ahead, nerves always strung tight. ] But so could anyone who's worked in a hospital.

[ He only says it because they've talked before, and because things have begun to matter less if only because there's no way for them to possibly matter more. ]

[ October glances in his direction but since he's obviously making an effort to keep his gaze elsewhere, she looks away again. He's hard to read but considering he's never been overly friendly, she assumes he likes it that way. Which is fine by her. She likes him well enough - liked the other version of him, too - that she doesn't mind too much. ]

I didn't know you worked in a hospital. [ She hooks her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans, mug held against her leg with two fingers, book tucked between her arm and her side. ] What did you do there?

I was a paramedic first, when I was going to nursing school. Had to pay the bills somehow. But I worked in hospice after I graduated.

[ And then he quit, like an idiot. A lot of things he did back then were stupid, in hindsight -- jumping off the rooftop of a building was not his crowning glory. He lost any opportunity to return back to the world without a monumental amount of effort, but it hardly mattered. He lost the opportunity to have much of a life at all once Nathan set everything into motion. But that was his life now. Being a nurse? That's just what he once was; who he wasn't anymore.

Glancing at October sidelong, Peter's trying to make the information something that's not even remotely important. But it's like proving that he wasn't always this, when all he's tried to do so far is be nothing else. ] Never went back to it.

[ October nods slightly as he talks, attention still focused on the path they're walking. She can be a people person when she wants to be, despite the way she dresses and how most elderly people would judge her for it, but she can't imagine ever working in hospice. Talk about depressing.

She can't help but glance over at the last part, though. ] Why not? [ If he went to nursing school, she has to assume he wanted to be a nurse. Unless his family had a long line of nurses... ]

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you're welcome to smack me upside the head for being so slow with this

nah, it's totally fine. <3

<333

<333!