Pietro and Alice - Backdated
Aug. 12th, 2014 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainWhen Alice walks out of Sirius' room, her feet take her straight to Pietro's.
TW for reference to child abuse.
Alice didn't exactly make a conscious decision to go to Pietro, when she walked out of Sirius' room. Down the hall, and her feet kind of just stopped when she walked in front of Pietro and Victor's room. God, she hoped the green kid wasn't around, but at least there was no star in sight. She knocked a hasty rhythm on the door, throat tight, one arm wrapped around her middle in a vague approximation of a hug. She just wanted to curl up with Pietro and not speak for a while.
Pietro had just gotten in, himself, and was digging through his closet for a pair of clean track pants. When he opened the door, he was half-dressed in an undertank and his usual super tight distressed jeans, but barefoot. His hair was all askew from pulling off his shirt.
He noticed the distress on her face and in her body language instantly. "Ohmigod, you okay? Come in." He held out one hand for her.
"Hey," she told him as she walked in, her voice a little tight from the lump in her throat. A look around told her that they were alone, and she turned back to Pietro. "Can we just - cuddle a while?" She was really hoping he wouldn't want an explanation straight away.
Oh shit, this was bad. Pietro wanted to ask--was dying to ask--but this was very similar to his reaction when he was fucked up about something. Just, go to Wanda, curl up, cuddle. Talking later. He nodded and pulled her to the bed immediately.
Finding her pliable, as expected, he arranged them so she could rest her head against that convenient little dip where his shoulder met his chest and held her tight. One of those cases where being relatively huge--at least, height-wise--came in handy: he was good for wrapping people up. Once they were situated comfortably, he kissed the top of her head.
Alice mechanically toed off her shoes and curled up against him, closing her eyes and just maybe clinging a little. Her hand on his chest was bunched up in the fabric of his tank top, and she wasn't letting go, or relaxing, for a while yet. If she could just get herself under control, preferably before any tears slipped out of eyes shut as tight as she could... yeah, that would be great.
Pietro reached over and stroked her hair like he liked, his mind racing, but his body relaxing. It wasn't often he could hold still without someone holding him down like that. Usually it meant he was in, well, Alice's current state, or someone he loved was. Or Eames was on top of him. He just kept petting, doing all the things he found reassuring. (If it was Wanda, he would've sung to her, but yeah. Not so much, in this case.)
A few tears did make it out, but after a short while of hair stroking, Alice managed to let go of his top and wipe them away from her face. She still remained curled up against him, though, without looking up at him, as she whispered, "I screwed up, P. I really did."
This was the part where someone else would probably say something like, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. But not Pietro--and he knew damn well Alice wouldn't thank him for it, even if he could got here. He readjusted slightly to look down at her and took his hand from his hair to run a thumb down her face. He'd never seen Alice cry before. It was pretty much heartbreaking. Probably had something to do with the eyes. God help him if she ever actually sobbed in front of him. "Wanna tell me?"
Alice mostly didn't want to be looking at him, but she let him tilt her head up anyway, and held his gaze with watery silver eyes for a few seconds, before she pulled away. Not completely, but she sat up and wasn't looking at him, for all that she kept a hand on his thigh, for that connection. If she looked at him as she told him, she felt like she might completely crumble, and she didn't want to do that. Instead, she wrapped her other arm around one of her legs, and tried to breathe through the explanation. "I don't know - what you know," she started, because what she did know was that something bad had gone down between him and Alisha. "But I was - I was helping Alisha, with her powers. Sirius -" Her voice kinda broke there, and she swallowed to get it under control. "Sirius agreed for her to practice on him."
... and just like that, things started to fall into place, for Pietro. He nodded and sat up too, scooting closer so she could keep her hand on him, but not trying to get her to look at him again. He recognized guilt when he saw it, even if she hadn't started out by saying she'd 'screwed up'.
When she felt him behind her, she leaned back against him, because that much was welcome - more than. It was odd, but he'd never felt so big and strong before, although she'd always distantly known that he was. And she was so thankful for his strength right now. She wiped a couple more stray tears with her free hand, and kept going. "I said I'd - I'd be there, you know, in case something went wrong. And I was - but they - she - they did it behind my back, and he didn't even realize I was there for him too, P..." There were more tears by the time she got that out, both on her face and now more than clear in her voice. She had screwed up so bad, for him not to even know that much. "He got so bruised up, and I didn't even know."
That... explained a lot, actually. Pietro was entirely unsurprised to hear that the unsupervised 'sessions' or what the fuck ever had been without Alice's knowledge. He put an arm around her and leaned his cheek against her head. "None of this hot mess is your fault, sweetness. Their poor life choices are not on you. You did everything you could--you did more than anyone should've asked."
"No, I fucked up," Alice retorted, her anger at herself - and at Alisha - audible through the tears. "He didn't even know, Pietro." That fact kept gnawing at her, making her lungs feel too tight for the air inside them.
"Look, I know Sirius, and I'm telling you, his damage is not your fault, okay?" Pietro had seen it first hand, that look of dumb surprise in Black's face when he realized Pietro had cared enough to notice, to say something, even. It was fucking tragic, even moreso, now he knew why. Sirius hadn't told him explicitly, but he'd more than hinted, and... yeah. If Alice knew about that, this was probably even worse for her. "We can only work with what we know."
"His bruises are, partly," Alice shot back mercilessly, pushing her hair out of her face. The fact that he thought they had been nothing because of what his father had done to him just made it all worse, so much worse, but she wasn't sure Pietro knew, although he'd just sounded as if he did. The last thing she needed to do now was betray Sirius's confidence, though. "I should've made it clear." And what the fuck was wrong with Alisha that she had agreed to do it one on one, and not done anything about the bruises? Ugh.
"Even Alisha didn't know he had them for a while--he was jetting around the world being a flippant pain in the ass." Pietro sighed into her hair gently. "Stuff happens; if you'd known, you could've corrected it."
But the truth of it was, "They shouldn't have put you in that position in the first place." Because look what it had done. Just another reason on the pile that Pietro was gonna crack the fuck down on Alisha and her experiments.
"I offered," Alice immediately protested, wiping her tears away again. Any time she could stop crying, she'd appreciate that, thanks. "And Alisha should've fucking known, too. You don't make someone struggle against their ties for however long and then not fucking check on them." She sounded even more merciless there, because she had no sympathy for Alisha anymore. Not after this. "But I put myself in that position, and I fucked up."
So had Alisha, and then some, but it didn't diminish Alice's fault in this.
"I know exactly why you offered," Pietro said, his voice almost a low hum, as soothing as he could make it. He tightened an arm around her a little. "Because Alisha is fucking stubborn as shit and you thought it was the best anyone could do for her. And Sirius, the big idiot. Stuff got fucked up, but it's gonna be okay."
"I don't know how it is," she admitted after a few seconds, but wrapped an arm over Pietro's and burrowed back against him, turning into him a little. She'd be fine, and Sirius - god, she didn't even know how to think about that. But how was Alisha ever supposed to be okay, when she pulled stunts like this, and refused to get help?
"I'll go find her eventually, and remind her that she still has work to do," he promised. "I already told her I wasn't gonna let her do it again, not without scientific method and proper supervision. I'm holding her to it.
"And Sirius is okay. He really is. And you'll be okay." He kissed the side of her head.
Alice wanted to protest, but before she even opened her mouth, she wasn't sure why she would. So she just turned her head into his shoulder and breathed there, for a while. "Thank you."
"Mmm-hmm," was all Pietro said by way of acknowledgement. He just squeezed a little and let her settle into him.
"Really," she added, something caught in her throat again, but she swallowed, then breathed in and focused on her shields as she breathed out, using the technique she'd developed with Betsy. It seemed to be serving as meditation, too, at least today, and by the time she was satisfied-ish with their solidity, she was feeling a little bit more in control of herself. She wiped at her eyes, and asked Pietro, with an unhappy grimace, "Got any tissues?"
Pietro disentangled himself carefully, and once he was off the bed, disappeared in a blur, only to re-appear a split second later with a box of Kleenex in hand. He held it out like an offering. "I have chocolate too?"
"You're fucking perfect," Alice stated with a soft smile, and pushed off from the bed to blow her nose and immediately throw the tissue into the trash, then use another one to blot at her eyes. Ugh, she probably looked like such a mess.
"It's all true," Pietro said, though his smirk was half-hearted. He let her deal with her tissues and went to rummage in his desk drawer until he found some Ghirardelli dark chocolate. For emergencies. "Here. I probably have some bourbon too, if you need it."
"Oh my god, are you serious," Alice replied, but her gaze was on the chocolates, and her words were about that, and not the alcohol. She would definitely get him some back later, but right now, yeah, she'd make the most of his generosity. "I mean - I love those. I don't - think I need alcohol, no." She smiled softly. "You're definitely the best person to come to when breaking down, seriously." Yeah, if she managed to joke about it, everything would be better.
His smile was lopsided. "I have a sister. Emergency chocolate has probably saved my life more than once. More than a dozen times, actually."
"You're having some with me, right?" Alice checked, moving back to the bed and very much hoping that he would join her again. Also, she was keeping the tissues within easy reach.
"All yours," he said, though he flopped right back onto the bed. "You don't wanna be stuck in bed with me when I'm on a sugar rush. It's not pretty."
"Doesn't it last for one point three seconds anyway?" Alice asked with a frown, and leaned back against him as she opened the chocolate. It was the way it went with alcohol, after all.
Pietro settled in, pillowing his head on his hands and glancing over at her to smirk. "You trying to get me to vibrate?"
"Not since you hooked up with Remy for real," Alice answered with a small smile. The truth was, if he wasn't with Remy, she'd probably already have tried to forget about everything by way of sex. But she was kinda glad that she couldn't, though. It should sit with her, and - she wasn't sure what Sirius's attempted kiss had been about, but she also was pretty sure that she wouldn't want things to be that way, between her and Pietro. He mattered too much.
And he'd let her cry all over him.
The bitter chocolate flavor burst into her mouth, and she made a very, very happy, and very, very grateful face. Chocolate was even better with Jenna's tastebuds than it used to be. "You really think she's going to agree to the proper supervision?"
Pietro's grin became far more real at her reply, and he watched with great pleasure as she enjoyed the chocolate. Yep, that was the way to heal the heart, right there: candy. Chocolate, in particular. (Now was not the time, he reminded himself, to be thinking that if he ever was willing to share Remy with anyone for a night, Alice would probably be the one, right? Right. Wildly inappropriate, wow, okay, moving on, brain, wtf.)
He was glad when she spoke up again, anyhow. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, stretching out a little. "She doesn't have a choice. I'm letting her pretend she does by waiting for her to talk to Moira first. If she doesn't--I made it clear I'd do it for her. And I will find out--I always find out everything around here."
"Don't make me start calling you Big Brother," Alice pointed out, but there wasn't really anything behind it, and certainly not even a trace of hostility. She settled back against him easily once he was done stretching, and picked up another piece of chocolate. This was better than sex by far, in these circumstances; it let her keep her wits about, while being so weirdly, perfectly comforting. "But of course she has a choice. If she doesn't want to get better, she won't." It was pretty much what she'd been doing all along, after all.
Alice was so glad she'd gone over to Sirius' without wearing any make-up, she thought as she rubbed her fingers over her eyes.
Pietro just smirked a little. He'd gladly be Big Brother -- or the school rat -- to keep any of this shit from going down ever again. People could string him up right next to Tessa. Make a holiday of it. Good times. His expression became more thoughtful at the bit about Alisha again, though. "No, she won't. It's hard, because... if she does that, she can't stay here. She just fucking can't, man.
"But--they won't want to send her out there, either." Pietro understood, ideologically, that it was wrong to send her out there if she was going to be--well, a habitual date rapist. So what did they do? He sighed, and, with a kind of black humor said, "Maybe they can just keep her in one of the padded cells downstairs. I don't even fuckin' know."
"Don't even joke about that," Alice stated, probably more darkly than she wanted to. Sometimes she thought, in slightly different circumstances, she might have ended up - not in that basement, but caught somewhere, somehow, unable to find a body to inhabit, because they didn't want her body-snatching left and right. That could have happened, but she didn't like to think about it. She turned a little more into Pietro, and ate another piece of chocolate. "They need to make her understand."
She knew that she couldn't do that anymore. At least right now, she couldn't even think of being in the same room with Alisha. It was a good thing she'd taken off.
Pietro turned his head to look at her, at the tone. After a good look at her face, he scooted nearer too, then flipped over onto his side to face her. "They need to, but I mean. Okay, now is probably not the time for worst case scenarios, but we gotta be prepared. In case they can't.
"I'm gonna try really hard not to let it happen though, seriously. And I know my old man will back us up--and if he does, X and MacTaggert will." Erik would not fuck around with this shit--not that he thought Moira would either, but, yeah.
"They've gotta make her see," Alice replied, scooting closer to him and abandoning the chocolates for now. She rested her hand on his chest, searching his eyes and hoping to see what she wanted in them. "We can't start locking up our own, P."
"I didn't mean it literally," he said with a little sigh.
"So there's an alternative?" she challenged. Unless the Professor went in and made her get it, which she wouldn't put past his skills. But she wasn't sure that he would actually do something like that.
"There's gonna have to be," he said, all seriousness. "I said it in the first place as a sign of frustration, Alice--how bad the situation is and how few options I can see. Not an actual threat to lock up my friend.
"But they won't want to just kick her out." Which, again, was what he would do. But... yeah okay. He got that it wasn't doable. Not without taking consequences.
"But what if -" She cut herself off, and frowned, then shook her head slightly. "I can't think right now." She really couldn't, and she just scooted closer to him. She didn't even know what she was saying, right now.
"Don't," he said quickly, scooting in to pull her all the way against his chest again. "I shouldn't even have gone there right now. Ignore my motormouth and just, you know. Bask in the glory of my body or something."
Alice settled against him with a tired chuckle. "I don't know if that's cruel and unusual punishment," given how the glory of his body was out of reach in every way sexual, "or just plain generous. Probably both." Because the glory of his body was so much more than just sexual. "Thanks," she said, again, even if she was repeating herself.
"Both is good." His chest bounced with a silent chuckle as he pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head.
Alice snuggled close, shut her eyes and sighed a little, releasing some tension. "You're way better than chocolate, too." Which was saying a lot. And the fact that she was saying so much, without any trace of amusement or any of her usual defense mechanisms, was pretty telling about her state just then.
He smiled. It was always the right time for ego stroking, in Pietro-land, after all. "And you're welcome to me any time."
TW for reference to child abuse.
Alice didn't exactly make a conscious decision to go to Pietro, when she walked out of Sirius' room. Down the hall, and her feet kind of just stopped when she walked in front of Pietro and Victor's room. God, she hoped the green kid wasn't around, but at least there was no star in sight. She knocked a hasty rhythm on the door, throat tight, one arm wrapped around her middle in a vague approximation of a hug. She just wanted to curl up with Pietro and not speak for a while.
Pietro had just gotten in, himself, and was digging through his closet for a pair of clean track pants. When he opened the door, he was half-dressed in an undertank and his usual super tight distressed jeans, but barefoot. His hair was all askew from pulling off his shirt.
He noticed the distress on her face and in her body language instantly. "Ohmigod, you okay? Come in." He held out one hand for her.
"Hey," she told him as she walked in, her voice a little tight from the lump in her throat. A look around told her that they were alone, and she turned back to Pietro. "Can we just - cuddle a while?" She was really hoping he wouldn't want an explanation straight away.
Oh shit, this was bad. Pietro wanted to ask--was dying to ask--but this was very similar to his reaction when he was fucked up about something. Just, go to Wanda, curl up, cuddle. Talking later. He nodded and pulled her to the bed immediately.
Finding her pliable, as expected, he arranged them so she could rest her head against that convenient little dip where his shoulder met his chest and held her tight. One of those cases where being relatively huge--at least, height-wise--came in handy: he was good for wrapping people up. Once they were situated comfortably, he kissed the top of her head.
Alice mechanically toed off her shoes and curled up against him, closing her eyes and just maybe clinging a little. Her hand on his chest was bunched up in the fabric of his tank top, and she wasn't letting go, or relaxing, for a while yet. If she could just get herself under control, preferably before any tears slipped out of eyes shut as tight as she could... yeah, that would be great.
Pietro reached over and stroked her hair like he liked, his mind racing, but his body relaxing. It wasn't often he could hold still without someone holding him down like that. Usually it meant he was in, well, Alice's current state, or someone he loved was. Or Eames was on top of him. He just kept petting, doing all the things he found reassuring. (If it was Wanda, he would've sung to her, but yeah. Not so much, in this case.)
A few tears did make it out, but after a short while of hair stroking, Alice managed to let go of his top and wipe them away from her face. She still remained curled up against him, though, without looking up at him, as she whispered, "I screwed up, P. I really did."
This was the part where someone else would probably say something like, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. But not Pietro--and he knew damn well Alice wouldn't thank him for it, even if he could got here. He readjusted slightly to look down at her and took his hand from his hair to run a thumb down her face. He'd never seen Alice cry before. It was pretty much heartbreaking. Probably had something to do with the eyes. God help him if she ever actually sobbed in front of him. "Wanna tell me?"
Alice mostly didn't want to be looking at him, but she let him tilt her head up anyway, and held his gaze with watery silver eyes for a few seconds, before she pulled away. Not completely, but she sat up and wasn't looking at him, for all that she kept a hand on his thigh, for that connection. If she looked at him as she told him, she felt like she might completely crumble, and she didn't want to do that. Instead, she wrapped her other arm around one of her legs, and tried to breathe through the explanation. "I don't know - what you know," she started, because what she did know was that something bad had gone down between him and Alisha. "But I was - I was helping Alisha, with her powers. Sirius -" Her voice kinda broke there, and she swallowed to get it under control. "Sirius agreed for her to practice on him."
... and just like that, things started to fall into place, for Pietro. He nodded and sat up too, scooting closer so she could keep her hand on him, but not trying to get her to look at him again. He recognized guilt when he saw it, even if she hadn't started out by saying she'd 'screwed up'.
When she felt him behind her, she leaned back against him, because that much was welcome - more than. It was odd, but he'd never felt so big and strong before, although she'd always distantly known that he was. And she was so thankful for his strength right now. She wiped a couple more stray tears with her free hand, and kept going. "I said I'd - I'd be there, you know, in case something went wrong. And I was - but they - she - they did it behind my back, and he didn't even realize I was there for him too, P..." There were more tears by the time she got that out, both on her face and now more than clear in her voice. She had screwed up so bad, for him not to even know that much. "He got so bruised up, and I didn't even know."
That... explained a lot, actually. Pietro was entirely unsurprised to hear that the unsupervised 'sessions' or what the fuck ever had been without Alice's knowledge. He put an arm around her and leaned his cheek against her head. "None of this hot mess is your fault, sweetness. Their poor life choices are not on you. You did everything you could--you did more than anyone should've asked."
"No, I fucked up," Alice retorted, her anger at herself - and at Alisha - audible through the tears. "He didn't even know, Pietro." That fact kept gnawing at her, making her lungs feel too tight for the air inside them.
"Look, I know Sirius, and I'm telling you, his damage is not your fault, okay?" Pietro had seen it first hand, that look of dumb surprise in Black's face when he realized Pietro had cared enough to notice, to say something, even. It was fucking tragic, even moreso, now he knew why. Sirius hadn't told him explicitly, but he'd more than hinted, and... yeah. If Alice knew about that, this was probably even worse for her. "We can only work with what we know."
"His bruises are, partly," Alice shot back mercilessly, pushing her hair out of her face. The fact that he thought they had been nothing because of what his father had done to him just made it all worse, so much worse, but she wasn't sure Pietro knew, although he'd just sounded as if he did. The last thing she needed to do now was betray Sirius's confidence, though. "I should've made it clear." And what the fuck was wrong with Alisha that she had agreed to do it one on one, and not done anything about the bruises? Ugh.
"Even Alisha didn't know he had them for a while--he was jetting around the world being a flippant pain in the ass." Pietro sighed into her hair gently. "Stuff happens; if you'd known, you could've corrected it."
But the truth of it was, "They shouldn't have put you in that position in the first place." Because look what it had done. Just another reason on the pile that Pietro was gonna crack the fuck down on Alisha and her experiments.
"I offered," Alice immediately protested, wiping her tears away again. Any time she could stop crying, she'd appreciate that, thanks. "And Alisha should've fucking known, too. You don't make someone struggle against their ties for however long and then not fucking check on them." She sounded even more merciless there, because she had no sympathy for Alisha anymore. Not after this. "But I put myself in that position, and I fucked up."
So had Alisha, and then some, but it didn't diminish Alice's fault in this.
"I know exactly why you offered," Pietro said, his voice almost a low hum, as soothing as he could make it. He tightened an arm around her a little. "Because Alisha is fucking stubborn as shit and you thought it was the best anyone could do for her. And Sirius, the big idiot. Stuff got fucked up, but it's gonna be okay."
"I don't know how it is," she admitted after a few seconds, but wrapped an arm over Pietro's and burrowed back against him, turning into him a little. She'd be fine, and Sirius - god, she didn't even know how to think about that. But how was Alisha ever supposed to be okay, when she pulled stunts like this, and refused to get help?
"I'll go find her eventually, and remind her that she still has work to do," he promised. "I already told her I wasn't gonna let her do it again, not without scientific method and proper supervision. I'm holding her to it.
"And Sirius is okay. He really is. And you'll be okay." He kissed the side of her head.
Alice wanted to protest, but before she even opened her mouth, she wasn't sure why she would. So she just turned her head into his shoulder and breathed there, for a while. "Thank you."
"Mmm-hmm," was all Pietro said by way of acknowledgement. He just squeezed a little and let her settle into him.
"Really," she added, something caught in her throat again, but she swallowed, then breathed in and focused on her shields as she breathed out, using the technique she'd developed with Betsy. It seemed to be serving as meditation, too, at least today, and by the time she was satisfied-ish with their solidity, she was feeling a little bit more in control of herself. She wiped at her eyes, and asked Pietro, with an unhappy grimace, "Got any tissues?"
Pietro disentangled himself carefully, and once he was off the bed, disappeared in a blur, only to re-appear a split second later with a box of Kleenex in hand. He held it out like an offering. "I have chocolate too?"
"You're fucking perfect," Alice stated with a soft smile, and pushed off from the bed to blow her nose and immediately throw the tissue into the trash, then use another one to blot at her eyes. Ugh, she probably looked like such a mess.
"It's all true," Pietro said, though his smirk was half-hearted. He let her deal with her tissues and went to rummage in his desk drawer until he found some Ghirardelli dark chocolate. For emergencies. "Here. I probably have some bourbon too, if you need it."
"Oh my god, are you serious," Alice replied, but her gaze was on the chocolates, and her words were about that, and not the alcohol. She would definitely get him some back later, but right now, yeah, she'd make the most of his generosity. "I mean - I love those. I don't - think I need alcohol, no." She smiled softly. "You're definitely the best person to come to when breaking down, seriously." Yeah, if she managed to joke about it, everything would be better.
His smile was lopsided. "I have a sister. Emergency chocolate has probably saved my life more than once. More than a dozen times, actually."
"You're having some with me, right?" Alice checked, moving back to the bed and very much hoping that he would join her again. Also, she was keeping the tissues within easy reach.
"All yours," he said, though he flopped right back onto the bed. "You don't wanna be stuck in bed with me when I'm on a sugar rush. It's not pretty."
"Doesn't it last for one point three seconds anyway?" Alice asked with a frown, and leaned back against him as she opened the chocolate. It was the way it went with alcohol, after all.
Pietro settled in, pillowing his head on his hands and glancing over at her to smirk. "You trying to get me to vibrate?"
"Not since you hooked up with Remy for real," Alice answered with a small smile. The truth was, if he wasn't with Remy, she'd probably already have tried to forget about everything by way of sex. But she was kinda glad that she couldn't, though. It should sit with her, and - she wasn't sure what Sirius's attempted kiss had been about, but she also was pretty sure that she wouldn't want things to be that way, between her and Pietro. He mattered too much.
And he'd let her cry all over him.
The bitter chocolate flavor burst into her mouth, and she made a very, very happy, and very, very grateful face. Chocolate was even better with Jenna's tastebuds than it used to be. "You really think she's going to agree to the proper supervision?"
Pietro's grin became far more real at her reply, and he watched with great pleasure as she enjoyed the chocolate. Yep, that was the way to heal the heart, right there: candy. Chocolate, in particular. (Now was not the time, he reminded himself, to be thinking that if he ever was willing to share Remy with anyone for a night, Alice would probably be the one, right? Right. Wildly inappropriate, wow, okay, moving on, brain, wtf.)
He was glad when she spoke up again, anyhow. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, stretching out a little. "She doesn't have a choice. I'm letting her pretend she does by waiting for her to talk to Moira first. If she doesn't--I made it clear I'd do it for her. And I will find out--I always find out everything around here."
"Don't make me start calling you Big Brother," Alice pointed out, but there wasn't really anything behind it, and certainly not even a trace of hostility. She settled back against him easily once he was done stretching, and picked up another piece of chocolate. This was better than sex by far, in these circumstances; it let her keep her wits about, while being so weirdly, perfectly comforting. "But of course she has a choice. If she doesn't want to get better, she won't." It was pretty much what she'd been doing all along, after all.
Alice was so glad she'd gone over to Sirius' without wearing any make-up, she thought as she rubbed her fingers over her eyes.
Pietro just smirked a little. He'd gladly be Big Brother -- or the school rat -- to keep any of this shit from going down ever again. People could string him up right next to Tessa. Make a holiday of it. Good times. His expression became more thoughtful at the bit about Alisha again, though. "No, she won't. It's hard, because... if she does that, she can't stay here. She just fucking can't, man.
"But--they won't want to send her out there, either." Pietro understood, ideologically, that it was wrong to send her out there if she was going to be--well, a habitual date rapist. So what did they do? He sighed, and, with a kind of black humor said, "Maybe they can just keep her in one of the padded cells downstairs. I don't even fuckin' know."
"Don't even joke about that," Alice stated, probably more darkly than she wanted to. Sometimes she thought, in slightly different circumstances, she might have ended up - not in that basement, but caught somewhere, somehow, unable to find a body to inhabit, because they didn't want her body-snatching left and right. That could have happened, but she didn't like to think about it. She turned a little more into Pietro, and ate another piece of chocolate. "They need to make her understand."
She knew that she couldn't do that anymore. At least right now, she couldn't even think of being in the same room with Alisha. It was a good thing she'd taken off.
Pietro turned his head to look at her, at the tone. After a good look at her face, he scooted nearer too, then flipped over onto his side to face her. "They need to, but I mean. Okay, now is probably not the time for worst case scenarios, but we gotta be prepared. In case they can't.
"I'm gonna try really hard not to let it happen though, seriously. And I know my old man will back us up--and if he does, X and MacTaggert will." Erik would not fuck around with this shit--not that he thought Moira would either, but, yeah.
"They've gotta make her see," Alice replied, scooting closer to him and abandoning the chocolates for now. She rested her hand on his chest, searching his eyes and hoping to see what she wanted in them. "We can't start locking up our own, P."
"I didn't mean it literally," he said with a little sigh.
"So there's an alternative?" she challenged. Unless the Professor went in and made her get it, which she wouldn't put past his skills. But she wasn't sure that he would actually do something like that.
"There's gonna have to be," he said, all seriousness. "I said it in the first place as a sign of frustration, Alice--how bad the situation is and how few options I can see. Not an actual threat to lock up my friend.
"But they won't want to just kick her out." Which, again, was what he would do. But... yeah okay. He got that it wasn't doable. Not without taking consequences.
"But what if -" She cut herself off, and frowned, then shook her head slightly. "I can't think right now." She really couldn't, and she just scooted closer to him. She didn't even know what she was saying, right now.
"Don't," he said quickly, scooting in to pull her all the way against his chest again. "I shouldn't even have gone there right now. Ignore my motormouth and just, you know. Bask in the glory of my body or something."
Alice settled against him with a tired chuckle. "I don't know if that's cruel and unusual punishment," given how the glory of his body was out of reach in every way sexual, "or just plain generous. Probably both." Because the glory of his body was so much more than just sexual. "Thanks," she said, again, even if she was repeating herself.
"Both is good." His chest bounced with a silent chuckle as he pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head.
Alice snuggled close, shut her eyes and sighed a little, releasing some tension. "You're way better than chocolate, too." Which was saying a lot. And the fact that she was saying so much, without any trace of amusement or any of her usual defense mechanisms, was pretty telling about her state just then.
He smiled. It was always the right time for ego stroking, in Pietro-land, after all. "And you're welcome to me any time."
