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[certaininequities]

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Comments

[certaininequities]

But that - that was my Father's Day present.

[the way he says it makes it plain how much it meant to him: as a symbol of their relationship, a talisman of the day that they really started to heal from what had happened to him but not yet to Peter. from what had happened that May morning on the shore of Lake Dala. from ... everything, really. the day they'd honestly started supporting each other.]

[heyunderoos]

[The ferocity of the sentiment startles Peter a little. His ears and whiskers pin back briefly before he eases again.] I know... I just- I can always make you another one. Cause I wanna, and I love you.

It won't be the exact same, but, we have more fathers days to come, right-?

[certaininequities]

[the fact that he startled Peter cows Norman quite a bit, and he gives a slow, heavy sigh to calm himself down.]

You're right. Of course you're right. How is it that sometimes you're wiser than me about this stuff?

[he shakes his head, bemused, then reaches up to put a hand on Peter's shoulder]

And I love you, too, kiddo. Here's hoping there'll be a lot more of all that kind of good stuff.

[heyunderoos]

I dunno about wiser, just- [He shrugs a little, not sure how to phrase it.] May and I always kinda viewed stuff that way, you know? It sucks to lose something you love, but if you can make it again, it'll be even better next time?

[He feels a bit silly saying as much, he smoothes a hand through his fur in passing.] I know there will be.

[certaininequities]

You're absolutely right. ... I'll have to try and apply that to Oscorp, too, next chance I get to talk to Mana. Are there any things you'd want me to add or change for you? Or are you still going to use the tower?

[heyunderoos]

I'm gonna use both, Norman. It doesn't hurt to spread out a little, considering... [He shrugs awkwardly.] The whole fire thing. You kinda never know what will happen here sometimes.

Kind of a dangerous question, you might end up with another food cart somewhere in the building. [He is teasing, but is unsurprisingly food motivated.]

[certaininequities]

[somehow, that had not occurred to him. He had thought it had to be one or the other. One more case of an absolute he had to remove from his way of thinking ... sometimes he thought they would never end. But the mention of food stirs him out of it, though not in the way Peter might have expected]

Oh! Food. ... That, uh. That reminds me... I had a talk with a few people, recently, and ... somethings been pointed out t' me I wanted to hash out with you.

[heyunderoos]

Oh, sure-? What is it you wanna talk about? [The shift of topic isn't a bad thing by Peter's standards. He's pretty open to talk to Norman about anything at this point.]

[certaininequities]

The kitchen.

[he leans next to the door. it's not that he doesn't feel comfortable helping himself to a seat in Peter's room: more that he doesn't want to upset whatever pooka ecosystem is happening in it. the various strata of snacks, projects, and blankets may be important, after all.]

Ray had reached out to me about collaborating with her workplace in sourcing some of the meat, but ... she raised a concern I hadn't considered before. And it's very valid.

[he winces, breathing in slowly. this will likely be as hard for Peter to hear as it was for him, for most of the same reasons]

She said that I shouldn't have renamed it. That "F.E.A.S.T" has the wrong connotations, here.

[heyunderoos]

[Give him a second to take in that information. His brows pinch together before it hits him.]

Oh. [He never put that together. Damn. All of them had to normalize cannibalism that he hadn't quite realized F.E.A.S.T wasn't the best name for a soup kitchen where they had to eat humans.] Yeah, that's... I guess that really is the wrong connotation isn't it-?

It'd be a good idea to change it too.

[certaininequities]

I had a feeling you'd agree.

[he still looks relieved about it, though - particularly because starting the kitchen had been one of his olive branches, last spring. a proof of intent.]

But I would like your help thinking up something new. And I still want to keep the color scheme and the design of the New York logo.

[heyunderoos]

Thinking of a name that fits is going to be a little hard honestly. [Peter muses with a small scrunch of his snout, whiskers flicking a bit wildly in thought.] It needs to be something comforting though, because the soup kitchen is meant to help. Meant to be safe for everyone.

[certaininequities]

You're on the right track.

[he nods a few times, smiling just a little at the way Peter's whiskers twitch. there are so many of the little pooka habits and tics that Norman finds endearing, now that he's finally able to separate it all from his time in the research labs of his youth.

he sits in silence for a while as they both think about it. safety. food. warmth. it's making him think of the stereotypical images that get peddled around the holidays Norman Rockwell paintings, Currier and Ives prints. the kitchens at the turn of the century that still had open fireplaces, pots of soup hanging over open coals ... and the businessman's lightbulb goes on.]

What about Hearth?

[heyunderoos]

[Peter folds his hands together absently, a gesture that's come up more recently. Something that's very rodent like he doesn't quite realize he's doing.

He visibly brightens at the suggestion. His ears perk up a little in turn.]

Hearth is really good. I was thinking of 'Home', but, that'd be to generic. Hearth is really good. I think people would like it too.

[certaininequities]

[Norman smiled a bit at the gesture. he'd noticed Peter's new habit, and thought it made him look particularly studious and thoughtful (and, yes, cute).]

It's warm, yanno? Makes you think of fireplaces, and those have always been safe gathering places. Seems like it'd fit.

[heyunderoos]

It's also just - associated with home, so, it's a lot better than F.E.A.S.T here at least. [Changing the name feels strange, like it'll distance them from May in a vague way, but it's a good thing too. It fits the peninsula better.]

Might make people more comfortable to actually use the soup kitchen more. Since, new people probably did balk at the name we picked originally.

[certaininequities]

I had the same thought. God, Peter, I feel like such a heel. I can't believe it never occurred to me that the name was the reason it was so quiet. ... I thought ...

[he thought it was him]

You know what, no, never mind what I thought. We'll fix it, it'll be fine.

[heyunderoos]

I mean, no one actually told us about it-? [Peter offers back with a vague tilt of his head. One of the dumb rat ears flopping a little to the side. Its a gentle enough reassurance. Peter doesn't quite know what Norman is thinking, but he can guess.] We can't fix something unless someone says something to us.

[certaininequities]

Heh. [seriously, he wonders, how can Peter be so wise and yet -- well. never mind.]

You've got a point there. Sometimes I forget, you know? Think I should have seen it regardless. But, "Hearth" it is. I'll get in touch with the folks I get the blankets and printed things from tomorrow to have it changed. Signs and all.

[heyunderoos]

Given how hard we all had to compartmentalize cannibalism and turning into new bodies, I'm gonna give us a little leeway for not picking up on how weird that is. [Peter offers with a little snort. Though it turns into a very tiny sneeze against his will. He shakes his head a little. Whiskers pin back slightly in displeasure.]

Sorry- I guess that's just going to happen sometimes now?