certaininequities | IC Inbox for Ryslig

[Peter doesn't completely miss the hesitation, his brows pinch together but he doesn't comment on it as Norman redirects his line of thought.]

I had to stop pretty early though. Asthma didn't really work with a lot of activities I liked then. It made band pretty tough too sometimes. Carrying a tuba was like, the worst sometimes. [Peter says with a shrug. He barely remembers what it was like to be that frail. Even now as a monster he's hardier than he was as a kid or young teen.] I'm sure he liked learning box step with you. That was probably fun. I've never really waltzed before, I mean, where would I even do it?

[Peter nods a little, smiling at Norman.] Yeah, that'll make learning a lot less daunting.

It's a pretty debilitating thing in just the wrong conditions ... I'm sorry you had to deal with it. I always thought it'd be a hell of a thing to invent something that could replace an inhaler ... but drugs like fluticasone and formoterol do very poorly as time-release substances.

[he purses his lips, rolling his eyes a little]

There I go again, still making everything work, even when we're talking about hobbies. I'm sorry, Peter, this is a terrible old habit.

I mean, if it's the way you've lived for a long time, it's gonna be hard to shake-? [The teenager is generous about that much. His whiskers wiggle a little bit with the thought.]

Ben had that problem sometimes. May usually told him work talk stayed out of the apartment. It kinda worked.

How about outside the 38-8 flats? That's a pretty central location I think. You know where that is, right?

We could go for this wednesday, if that works?

It... It helps to hear. [Peter wants to believe that. He wants to believe that desperately, that May is proud of him. That she doesn't regret letting him be Spider-Man, or regret even keeping him around.]

I can tell that you're doing your best. I'm glad you're still here, I'm- [He runs out of steam verbally, just drawing back after a moment from the hug.

He's already emotionally tired. Seeing Queens hurt as much as it helped.]

[It's later in the evening now, and Otto's just finished a very difficult conversation. He's still attempting to absorb it, but he did also promise to talk to Norman about it. It's likely going to weigh him down even more, but the longer he waits, the worse it'll get.]

How are you doing tonight? I hope you're not keeping yourself too busy. You still need to take time to rest.

Do you think we can meet soon? We need to talk about Bruno.

Not in a negative way. I don't mean to alarm you. We just need to talk. About that, and everything else, if you're up for it.

[Norman steps back as well, watching him with concern, even as his own eyes are a little red and tired. He has a feeling it's time for a change of subject, so he gestures for Peter to follow him down the street, get them moving. he gives Peter a moment to calm down, and when he speaks again, the way he asks the question has a sort of unspoken out to it: a lilt that suggests Peter doesn't have to answer yet, or even at all.]

How's living with Bruno treating you? Are you still at Solsikke?

I do, one of my good friends lives there. You might know Tawna, as a matter of fact. She's pretty outgoing, I'd be surprised if she hasn't introduced herself to most of the people there.

Wednesday at six?

Hmm. No work talk in Hill House, huh? ... I think I could agree to that rule.

[they reach the sub shop and he gestures to the door with a smile]

Here we are, how's this look? Decent?

Yeah, I know Tawna! She gave me a lift out of the sinkhole, actually. A literal, flying lift. She's one of my neighbours now.

I'm up for six. See you by the main entrance?

[he had been doing so much thinking over the last two weeks, and doing odd projects around the Arcade for Elias had been helping to calm and focus his mind. he'd just finished washing his hands after tinkering on a pinball machine in the Arcade, and was opening up his laptop to fire off a message to -

oh.

despite the dread that starts to circle like creeping fog in the pit of his stomach as he reads, Norman's still smiling when he types his response. because, well:]

Your ears must've been burning. I was literally just about to send you something. I'm doing fairly well - I actually had a few things I was hoping to meet with you and talk about, too. And Bruno was one of them.

I'm free now if you'd like to meet me somewhere.

[Otto's glad that Norman seems to be taking it well. He was worried he'd messed this up with poor wording before the true conversation could even get started.]

I did feel a light itch earlier, now that you mention it. Does that count?

Now is fine. I've got no more plans for the evening. Your apartment, then?

I think so. :)

My apartment? Well, that'd be fine, I don't mind at all. But -

[this is such a loaded question and he's not sure if Otto will feel comfortable with it, yet. hopefully the fact that Norman hasn't used this particular boon since he came back from the dead will be olive branch enough]

I could open up something to the front door of the house, if you want.

[not ~~their~~ bedroom, just the house itself: another indicator of distance and consideration]

[It is considerate, and Otto gets why it's being offered, but...]

I don't think that's needed. We'll want peace and quiet for this conversation, I assume. Some people are moving out of Hill House at the moment, so things are a bit hectic here right now.

I'd rather be elsewhere, to tell the truth.

She's good like that, helped me out of a tough spot when I arrived, too. Six it is. I'll be the green guy with spider legs coming out of his back in the black jacket, which is still taking some getting used to to say.

I'll be the very normal-looking guy, I guess. I don't know yet what monster I'll be. But since 38-8's mostly monsters, it makes me stand out in my own way.

See you then!

[there's a little clicking sound nearby, and a flash of light at the bathroom door, which folds open and ... isn't the bathroom door anymore. it isn't open all the way, just a touch, but Norman calls out from inside]

Well, then, elsewhere it is. C'mon in whenever you're ready, if you want to leave a note or anything.

[when Otto does decide to come in, the little room is just as small and tidy as he'll remember it from his recuperation after he arrived. Norman has decorated it a little bit more: there's a tiny desk just big enough to sit at for notes or reading, with a little potted zamiakalla plant in one corner. a shelf above on the wall holds a modest yet growing assortment of books: copies of both volumes of Spengler's Monster Guide, Gray's Anatomy. the self-help DID book he'd had on him at the lake now has 'friends', and alongside all of that are a couple of nicely-bound notebooks, their spines each labeled in Norman's steady hand: Project Epigaea and Ludenvardt Progress. the former, Otto will realize, is part of the Latin name for the mayflower. Norman's sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed in loose black pants and one of Peter's punny science t-shirt gifts, the chair at the desk left free and conspicuously angled so that his guest can know it's for him]

[That... was faster than Otto expected. Not that he minds. He doesn't feel much of a need to prepare, nor to leave a note. The most he does is switch off his radio and slip on his shoes. He's going from one apartment into the next, so that's all he needs. There's a split second, as he passes through the door, where he experiences dread. Just in that one brief moment, he considers this is a trap and that door is about to lock behind him, leaving him trapped with-

No, no. It's been weeks already. That creature's gone. It's Norman.

So he smiles lightly as he takes a seat on the chair. Quite frankly, he doesn't know where to start with this conversation; doubly so since Norman himself apparently also had some things he wanted to discuss. He'd fold his hands together in his lap, but the webbing won't allow for it, so instead his right palm ends up covering the fingers of his left hand.]

You look well. Rested, I mean.

I mean, you work a lot, so having home be separate would be good?

[The teenager brightens a little when he sees the shop. It reminds him so much of Delmar's in a way it eases him.]

More than decent, this is great. I didn't even know this place was here.

[He steps forward, ready to go in if anything.]

I do?

[he looks mildly surprised, even if he hasn't stopped smiling since the sight of Otto]

Thank you. I guess talking things out with everyone is doing me more good than I thought.

[before they talk about Bruno, though, there's something he needs to know even more, and his smile does fade at that]

How's Peter? I've been worried for him...

Peter's... doing alright, I think.

[He thinks. He hates that he can't be certain about it, but Peter will be Peter. If he's unwell or bogged down by something, he won't let it show. He remembers Beck's insistence that 'something is wrong with Peter', but still doesn't know what to make of it.]

I've been keeping as close an eye on him as I can, in any case. But he's still going out as Spider-Man. I can't stop him, and I don't know whether I should.

[Norman nods a little, getting up to pull a small cooler from beneath the bed and take out bottles of iced tea as he responds]

Honestly, it's probably good. She knew about it in their universe, supported it. And he was using it to help her get support for the shelter ... it might help him feel connected to May.

[he holds a bottle out to Otto: whole, full, safe, and nothing like the broken one they'd left behind in the Cube that day]

Maybe we should figure out a way to support him the way she did. ... I'm sorry, the store down the street doesn't stock salt water.

[did he just wink at Otto? maybe. he had been right on the other side of the broken wall from that exchange, after all.]

[Otto reaches out to take the bottle as soon as it's held out to him. There's no hesitation there, no reason to second-guess the gesture. ...Well, until that joke. That's when he freezes for a moment. He'd really hoped no one else had overheard that conversation. He can't even bring himself to be mad about it.]

Iced tea will do. [He twists the cap off with one quick motion.] I'm just worried that... being Spider-Man will come at the expense of Peter Parker. He could've lived a normal life all those years, but he didn't, and the amount of terrifying situations he's been in as a result can't even be counted on both hands. And I know we can't protect him from that sort of thing, considering the very nature of this world, but... I just don't want him to forget he's a teenager above all else.

[when the joke and the wink both fall flat, Norman tries not to take it to heart. it was, after all, connected to May, and -]

I'm sorry, that was in poor taste. To the Parkers.

[he clicks the neck of his bottle against Otto's and drinks, considering the matter as he listens]

I'm not surprised we have the same concern. I don't feel like we have any right to set boundaries, even with some things taken into consideration.

[his gaze shifts to the little plush dragon Peter made him, sitting on his pillow with the smiling face showing. Father's Day had been a very bittersweet thing for both of them, and he imagines it was for Otto, too]

But we can encourage him to do regular things, enable them a bit. He's close with Chiaki, after all. She might have some good ideas... though I'm not sure if she knows about Spider-Man. He likes to keep that secret, even here, and I can't say I blame him. But ... in terms of helping him keep the balance of things ... at least I'll be able to help more with that.

[he pauses, looking up at Otto with an uncertain smile]

I've spoken to Reira. She's letting me come back to Hill House, and giving me my own room.

[He'll allow that toast and fight very hard not to comment on how a salt joke is in literal poor taste.

The encouragement is something he's been trying, but he doesn't feel he's been very successful. Every attempt to have Peter develop more hobbies of his own has been waylaid to some degree. Even the suggestion that the teen could develop his skills as a stuffed animal crafter had received a reply along the lines of "it would be weird for Spider-Man to make plushies". May had enabled Peter's superhero persona, and now, Otto's left wondering whether Peter still knows how to be Peter. That's an issue to tackle in the long run, though.

The notion of Norman returning to Hill House raises Otto's spirits, as that'd been one of the things he'd wanted to discuss. Even so, his thoughts seem to trip over the "own room" bit. He'd blindly assumed that if Norman were to return, it'd be to that same shared lodgings. But it's better this way, isn't it? It makes far more sense. So the surprise, which lasted only a split second, is replaced with a smile.]

Oh, good! That's good. The kids will be happy to hear that. [A pause, and then:] I'm happy to hear it.

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