cahooted | [Snowblind] IC Inbox

[Flynn groans, rubbing his face.] You and I have very different ideas about what makes a good story. That is a horrible story. An embarrassing story. Don't tell anyone that story!

[Seriously, Peter. He means it.]

There is always a lot of stuff happening, what... do you mean?

It’s a great story! I mean, turning into a planet sucked, but chasing you around was pretty hilarious.

[A half-shrug.]

I mean like, stuff that shouldn’t be possible.

[A swallow.]

I remember being in the tower, and then being outside. I don’t know which one was real. I remember trying to desperately save Stephen, and then I remember Stephen—[His voice hitched.]. —was one of them. I was there and he did surgical stuff to me.

Well, getting chased around wasn't.

[His voice is clipped, a little more terse than usual. It's just too much other stuff going on right now to appreciate the perceived humor of situations where he's on the receiving end.

Flynn leans back and part of him doesn't want to ask. Doesn't want to know. But Peter's voice is a dead giveaway and Flynn is pretty sure they're coming to the real reason why he hit him up so late.]

... What happened?

[Peter's not used to Flynn being terse around him, but he barrels on through anyway. He's used to fighting with his friends as much as being nice to them.]

That's the thing. I don't know what was real or not. I remember trying to get to the tower, and then I remember being there, in the tower. In one I was trying to save Stephen, in another Stephen was the one operating on me.

[He hesitates to say the next part, but it comes out anyway.] He was one of them. He cut out my vocal cords, stuck a speaker in my mouth and my Zune and a battery pack like...in me. Wires everywhere, my hands stitched to my sides...

In one I remember trying to play music to cheer everybody up. In the other I was the music player. [The Zune lies somewhere behind him. He can't touch it right now, he can't listen to music right now. That hurt just as bad as the memories.]

Do you have any conflicting memories like that? Maybe the town's doing something to us again, like that time we all thought we were here for a bazillion years.

[It's not the first time Peter is dumping too much information in a way too short amount of time on Flynn but this one is especially remarkable in its horrible explicitness. Which is why Flynn's brain skips to the very end first.]

I... some, yeah. Some memories are weird but--

[When he catches up to the information he falls mute. At first he thinks he heard that wrong (cut out my vocal chords) because clearly (speaker in my mouth) he heard that wrong, right (hands stitched to my sides)?]

He... he what? Aren't, are you with him right now?

Yeaaaaah.

Which is why I wanted to talk to you first.

I know it’s not his fault. I know he was brainwashed.

But dude... [He rubs his shoulder. Stephen was a real good friend of his, and now this. Even the sound of his voice gave him the creeps, made him tense up, freak out, want to run away.]

I can’t just leave him, either. And I’m not gonna. [He’s just going to scream quietly to himself a lot.]

And now you don't know how to act around him.

[Flynn rubs his hand over his chin and mouth, fighting down the sudden nausea at the mental images.]

I'm sorry. Are you okay?

Pretty much.

[Was he okay? Peter freezes for a moment, his natural inclination to deny and pretend everything was fine was far more tempting. But he trusted Flynn, he didn’t need to hide anything from him, try to be tough, or anything like that. They’d already been through a lot together in such a short (or long, if what happened awhile back counted) time.]

P...probably not as okay as I think I am.

[He chews on a nail, something he hadn’t really done since he was a kid.]

I was awake for everything, man.

[It's not fair. All he wanted to do was read his books.

What is he supposed to do with this? What is he supposed to tell Peter? What can you even say? Flynn wants to cover his ears (cut out my vocal chords), doesn't want to hear it (awake for everything), doesn't want to think it. Not today, not right now.

But then he watches Peter looking so small and lost and some of the conflicting emotion ebbs away in the wake of sympathy.]

Do you...

[He clears his throat.]

Do you want to tell me about it?

[Peter's staring with wide eyes, part of him wants to spill everything, part of him wants to pretend it never happened.]

Do you think you can handle it? It was pretty bad.

[Oh, now he's asking him.]

I don't know. [Probably not.] If... you think it will help?

That's what friends are for, right? [He has no idea, Cal doesn't talk, but it sounds about right.]

[It probably would help. Or maybe he’d just scream a lot. He didn’t want to traumatize Flynn, though. He’d try to go easy on him.]

It’s just...I hated seeing Stephen like that, but I also really...when he was doing it, I hated him. Even though I figured it wasn’t his fault, and now I know for real it wasn’t his fault...I don’t hate him now, I mean...

He’s my friend and this town’s done something to us that can’t be taken back. How do you get over this!?

Imagine me, standing over you with a scalpel, cuttin’ you up and stictchin’ you up and putting implants in you then later telling you that you’ll thank me for it. Being stuffed full of electronics.

And what’s really messed up? That’s really not so far off from the stuff that’s happened to my friends. And sorta-not-enemy-anymore. Gamora? She was turns into a weapon, given body mods. Nebula got the worst of it. Cybernetic limbs, the works. Rocket? Rocket’s got implants, he was experimented on.

[Peter had a translator implant, but that was a good thing, didn’t count.]

[Flynn listens, feeling a cold shiver running down his spine. From time to time he feels like interjecting but the rambling seems to do Peter good, getting the horrible memories off his chest. And horrible they are, literally; something straight from a horror movie, too awful to be real, this shouldn't be real.

He's my friend and this town's done something to us that can't be taken back.

Well, he can emphasize with that.]

I think it's normal not knowing what to do. Or what to feel. You went through something nobody should ever go through, why wouldn't you be upset? Maybe you don't need to 'get over it' just now. Maybe you don't... need an answer.

[He rubs at his forehead for a moment.]

You already said you don't hate him now. You're still traveling together so I guess both of you are... willing to work on this. The town didn't take that away.

[That’s...surprisingly good advice. He’s always tried so hard to ignore his feelings or deny bad stuff happened that someone telling him that it’s okay to be upset is...freeing.]

Maybe.

And yeah, I guess you’re right. I mean, I still feel like screaming when I see his face but hey.

[A pause.]

So me trying to run you over...we cool about that too? Did you ever find my Light, by the way?

I don't feel like screaming when I see your face if that's what you're asking.

[Maybe not the most gentle transition and he exhales, rubbing the back of his neck.] Yeah, we're cool. I mean, it was very upsetting? [Is.] But I know it wasn't your fault.

[Flynn takes some of the books, arranging them in a neat pile. It's more to give him something to do than anything.]

I... no, I didn't. I went looking for it and I asked on the network but I couldn't reach anyone.

Good.

I mean, my face isn’t plastered on the side of a planet anymore so...

[He found the situation to be pretty hilarious, all things considered, except he did feel bad for terrorizing Flynn. But that run, man...]

Oh. Well, I was kinda wondering where you went.

[That just gets Peter two eyebrows moving up.] Yeah, that... that helps.

Where I went? What do you mean?

I mean, you said you were coming back? You said to stay and wait for you, so I did? You said you’d be back. I stayed there for like two whole days.

[He doesn’t look mad, just disappointed? He trusts you, Flynn.]

[Flynn blinks, giving him a puzzled look in return. Of every reaction he expected here, in this conversation... he gets disappointment? Why? Where is it coming from?]

Well, I was trying to figure out what had happened? And where your light could be and then it was over and everyone was back to normal and-- you stayed there for two days?

...yeah? I was waiting for you. You said you would.

[In hindsight it wasn’t a bad thing cause he didn’t want to hurt Flynn, but planetfeelings were a thing and it all seemed very real right now okay?]

But I didn't find your light in time. I would have? But things were back to normal before I could come back.

[This conversation just took an uncomfortable turn. Flynn feels bad about not finding Peter's light all of a sudden and a little guilty.

And then, frankly, a little angry that he should feel bad.]

I mean, what... was I supposed to do?

I don’t know, come back quicker and let me know it was a lost cause? I waited for two days, man.

[Sulky planetfeelings.]

Edited 2017-11-24 03:45 (UTC)

I hadn't given up on it yet!

Are you... sulking?

No!

I’m not sulking! I’m totally not sulking! Do I look like I’m sulking?

[He totally was.]

[A long pause.]

Yeah, you kind of do.

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cw: torture/unnecessarily surgery, medical/body horror, blood

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cw ptsd, body/medical horror, throat/mouth/nervous system squick, surgery, stiches

cw: all the above for the rest of the thread

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