TEXT. @PARKOUR

[webdesigned]

hey, so, full disclosure: this is super weird for me. i've never done this before. like, classically when i tell people bad stuff happens so i sorta don't tell anyone, but uh, here goes:

so i've got... superpowers. it feels like?? that's not that big a deal around here. some people are like 9 ft tall and can do magic (???) and have full robotic wings so it's just nbd but also for me it kinda is a big deal so it's a little scary to be upfront about this but i super duper did just liveblog my spider wall-crawling to the entire team during the last mission pandora's box is way open so yeah i have superpowers

( and apparently he's no better at trying to send brain messages, RIP friendos, his brain is just Like This )

but anyway, uh... since there are a lot of us, maybe if you wanna, we can... share??? nothing more than you are comfortable with, obviously, and trust me if you wanna hang back and stay quiet i get it. back home, i can't share this stuff. it gets people hurt. i was just thinking here, maybe... and since there's a ton of you like me or not even like me but different too, i don't know. maybe it'd be good for us to know who can do what? what we're all capable of? things we should look out for?

i guess i should go first. i, uh... can crawl on walls. everybody saw that (SIDEBAR that is my bad for that shaky camera work if i gave you motion sickness i am so so so sorry). i'm pretty strong too. and maybe be careful trying to touch me or throw things at me bc my senses make me react if it seems like a threat and i'm not super good at turning it off. i'm trying though. i have webslingers too, for flyin around?? so that's cool

uh... that's it? ama? i'll try and answer... or you can tell me anything, if you wanna talk shop. if you wanna keep things dl, private works. trust that i get it, this feels so viscerally uncomfortable, like those went to school in ur underwear dreams, only i really did it, holy snickerdoodle, i really hope this does not blow up in my face

Comments

[webdesigned]

i mean i already did prove it in a life or death mission or whatever

but okay, sure. are you accepting video proofs or is this a with your own eyeballs sorta situation

[shadysided]

That's great, I'm sure everyone who was actually here at the time of that life or death mission appreciates the live performance.

[you ding dong]

I would say in person... I'm stuck in an infirmary bed right now, though, and I seriously doubt you or anyone else with a brain are a fan of weird hospital rooms.

So a video should be fine.

VIDEO ➨

[webdesigned]

i feel like you could just scroll back a little

( but look, with the mention she's in the Infirmary, Peter does feel a little bad and can understand needing a distraction. so the feed slides to video, and hello vertigo, because the picture is upside down and from a very high angle. )

I'm guessing a 'you okay' inquiry is going to get a lot of sarcasm about people not hanging out at an infirmary if they're doing great but like, are you? I can hang out in an infirmary, if you want company. ( also, ) See? Superpowers. I'm stuck on the ceiling.

( Peter this is the least thrilling show off of your powers you possibly could have bothered to liveblog a girl. )

VIDEO ➨

[shadysided]

Oh, sure, the person pulled right out of the late 70's will get right on that goshdarn scrolling option.

[Yep, sarcasm is her thing. Good call, Parker. But then — ]

Probably better for your sanity that you don't hang around here, anyway. I'm not exactly good company.

[... But Ziggy figure's that fair is fair; when he switches to video, she does too, even if she looks pretty worse for wear. Not that he could see much of the wear; much of the damage was to her torso, nice and hidden under hospital garments and bandages. The only real sign that something sinister had happened was the mottled bruising at either sides of her neck, almost covered by a curtain of red hair — an unpleasant reminder of Tommy's hands as he'd attempted to smother the air out of her.

(It wasn't Tommy, not anymore; it was the witch's curse, he'd never have done that to Cindy.)

More importantly-

She blinks, her brain trying to interpret what she's looking at. She cocks her head to the side like the old's most ginger owl, as if to try and right him in her line of sight. The verdict:]

Mmm. 5 out of 10 score. Not enough flips involved.

[... It IS pretty cool. Sticking to ceilings. Being... Spider-Man?

This place is nuts, and she's still not wholly convinced it isn't a weird hallucination before dying, one with a hell of a lot of longevity.]

[webdesigned]

Wow. Hard to please much?

( Peter feels like flips are hard to show off from a 1st person angle. just asking for motion sickness, more than the desired whoa, sick!!! still, Ziggy does look worse for wear. extremely worse for wear. the kinda worse that probably entitles her to be as bad a company as she wants to be for the time being. Peter considers just telling her that, but figures he can keep her company without being ostentatious about it. maybe it's easier to take company that way to begin with.

so, since she asked, there's a flip in the dismount. spider-man VR, because he hasn't learned how to shoot the image outward yet. it does make it trippy to experience, though for sure she'd pay at least $50 at Universal for this experience, so, you win some you lose some. )

I don't flip all the time, okay? Most of it is mid-air posing. Don't ask why. ( it's because he sells pictures of himself for money, that's why. he does a quick, very spider-man esque hand gesture, even though he doesn't thwip anywhere. )

[shadysided]

What can I say? I like to be a challenge.

[She is smiling, though, which is at least something. What? She can appreciate a cute boy doing a backflip after a good teasing.]

Midair posing for the tabloids. I get it, sure.

[A pause, and she says, almost as if admitting:]

I'm Ziggy. Circa 1978.

From what I've been getting from everyone, that makes me secretly ancient, I guess.

[webdesigned]

Wow. You didn't ask but that's kinda right.

( look, superheroing doesn't pay the bills unless you take pictures of yourself and sell them to your boss to illustrate his smear campaigns, okay??? )

Hi Ziggy. All my uncle's best stories were from the 70s. ( sounds like a wild time to be alive, though yeah, a bit behind where he's from. ) I'm Peter. From 2014. So that's a bit back, sure. There's people here that are from worlds without elevators or cars, though, so maybe you're more middle aged or something.

( he's teasing. the one benefit of audio over text? tone, he's definitely teasing. )

Wanna see a severely cramped websling? ( he mimes the motions but doesn't actually sling anywhere yet. it's actually kind of awkward in a space so small, but this is Ziggy's VR spider-man experience, she's behind the wheel. )

[shadysided]

[You have a pretty toxic work environment, Mr. Parker.]

Good to know I'm not the oldest hag in the place... but 2014? Seriously?

[She seems to hesitate (which has been a common theme for her, lately). As much as she wants to be alone, wants to sulk in her abject woe and misery and cry into her pillow when everyone's retired for the night... It does sound a little nice, to have Spider-Man as company.]

How about you web-sling over, and you can talk to me in person about all the things 2014 has that I don't know about?

[webdesigned]

( look, if Peter is good for anything, it's company when reasonable people are already asleep. he might not be great company, but, sometimes just being there can be enough. Ziggy doesn't have to say much, the fact she's in the med bay to begin with says plenty. Peter wouldn't want to be hurt and stuck in space and a mild existential crisis all on his own.

so the offer is easy to take. )

Okay, sure. We can start with Dip'n Dots. They're like pebbles of overly frozen ice cream. Tastes like frozen, but people love them for some reason. ( he could disconnect, and probably walk over, but now that he's got an audience maybe he'll show off a little. it's a good distraction, right? like a vr Spider-Man experience. he thwips through a doorway, sneakered feet skidding just barely across the floor before he's back on another ceiling. ) Real talk though, does this brain feed of spidering make you motion-sick? Ever since I sent the whole team the live experience, I've been kinda wondering.

[shadysided]

Not gonna lie, it's a little pukey.

... But still pretty cool. I kind of wish I had magical web bracelets.

[Then maybe she wouldn't be lying in a bed covered in stab wounds.

.... Live and learn, huh? Or survive and regret. One of those.]

Is there a reason out of anything you could have thought about, Dip'n Dots were the very first thing that came to your mind?

[webdesigned]

It's the Ice Cream of the Future, ( Peter parrots, like it's an ad or sales pitch he's heard too many times. probably because he has. she wants to know about the future, obviously he's gonna start with items with future in the tagline. )

Kinda pukey. Huh. I figured as much? But glad to hear it's a cool pukey. ( much better than just a normal pukey. that said, ) They're not magic. It's encapsulated spider silk and a firing mechanism. I guess I could make you one, if you wanted?

( good way to get a spunky redhead to break her arm to go with her stab wounds, Peter!!! )

[shadysided]

[Oh, that makes her snort in amusement. What a visual.]

You think I could go ten minutes flinging myself through the hallways on a thread without giving myself a concussion, Spider Boy?

[webdesigned]

Hey. You gotta practice. Work up your upper arm strength. ( he admits that probably she should save the push-ups for after the stab wounds have healed up some. he's clearly approaching the med bay, if she remembers the route to how she got there. ) Maybe start on the holodeck and work your way up to mid mission webslinging. It's harder than it looks, you don't wanna know how many times I've bellyflopped a building.

( without much warning, Peter zwoops through the medbay door and skitters across the floor, like a dog that took a corner full tilt and didn't realize how much momentum they had. he recovers admirably, though. )

Twenty seven. It's 27. ( he's been... keeping a running total? apparently so. also, hi. no vid feed needed -- here he is, in the flesh. Peter skirts closer to take the chair next to Ziggy, expression apologetic and concerned despite his attempts to keep it normal and not heavy for the girl in a hospital bed. ) Look, I'm guessing you don't wanna talk about it? But uh, if you do. You can. Otherwise I can tell you more about Dip'n Dots. The future of ice cream is bleak.

[shadysided]

[She watches this scene — the dramatic dog skidding, that is — with raised eyebrows and thinks: Ah. So he's a cute idiot. Honestly not the worst thing to be in life, and at least he doesn't totally eat shit and hit a wall at 60 mph.

She's not sure if she's smiling at the almost-wall-faceplant or imagining 27 belly flops; maybe both, now that she thinks about it.]

Glad to know you're good at math. [But then he says that, and her smile wavers into something a little bitter. Not toward him, but. Y'know. Life in general.] You usually do that? Slide into a room and offer either therapy or Dip'n Dots discourse?

[webdesigned]

( well not this time he didn't. he'll hold out on that 28 for a different time!!! )

Not really? Believe it or not, this is the most I've ever talked about Dip'N Dots in my entire life. There's probably not much more to tell. I think they added mix ins recently. ( another detail to add to cute idiot pile: rambling. ) I just know what it's like to have ... bad stuff happen, and how it feels to hold onto all of it all on your own.

( it sucks. it makes every step a little heavier, it's like someone turned down the brightness on the entire world. dulled things that used to be good, used to be your favorite, used to make you happy. and if he's supposed to tell her eventually it all goes back to normal, he can't tell her that. but a little closer from where she is now, sure. )

[shadysided]

[She scoffs, a bitter sound more than anything. It's a raw nerve, one left out in the open and sensitive to the touch. Sometimes it feels like just moments ago that everything had happened. It feels like it's never going to lessen. Time heals all wounds? How? Especially when you're suspended in it?]

I don't know, Spider-Man. This bad stuff is pretty bad.

[She runs a hand over the sore spots on her neck, trying to chase away the feeling of Tommy squeezing there as hard as he can.]

Unless you're used to undead serial killers trying to kill you and everyone around you.