(open) new york, i love you but you're bringing me down

[saved]

Who: Peter Parker (and open)
Where: Directly in front of the mansion or the Library
When: February 22nd, afternoon
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Peter Parker arrives and gets a bunch of eggs to the face. Then he makes a mess in the library with books because what is coordination when you have not slept?

note: I totally love both prose or action spam so feel free to send me your preference!


Option A: Arrival in front of mansion

Here's a thing Peter Parker has just discovered: eggs are painful when they slip into giant cuts on your face.

Also, it is really hard to see through the waves of egg on his face. The carton sticks to his hand. All the eggs have fallen out of the carton and landed on his face and around the ground underneath him. Yep. This is great.

Captain Stacy is dead. Dr. Connors is behind bars. Peter Parker gets to walk away from it all and go home like he didn't get into a huge battle with a giant lizard on top of a skyscraper, like he didn't get Gwen's dad killed in the process. All Peter wanted to do was get his Aunt May the eggs she kept asking for before heading back to her with more blood and scrapes and no answers. He bought the eggs and climbed a wall, and then all of a sudden, he's landed smack dab on his back with the entire egg carton shoved into his own face.

"This day... cannot get any worse."

He rubs at his face which also hurts and then sits up abruptly. The world spins because of it. He has a bullet wound in his leg. His face and chest are covered in scratches and bruises. The spandex is still on under his clothes. Peter blinks as his vision finally clears, and he abruptly realizes he is... not in New York City. It's too green for the area of New York City he had been in, and even if it was Central Park, he can't hear the cars. Where are all the cars? ...and why is there a... mansion? Kinda? Does he have a concussion? It's hard to focus.

It's with an abruptness he realizes he is not in New York City at all, but in... some place else with eggs on his bloody face.

He lets out a sudden huff of air, almost too exhausted to be as shocked as he could be.

"...just kidding."

This day just got so much worse.

Option B: Library

Once he has cleaned himself up but failed to like sleep so he's a little wired by lack of it after such a long battle, Peter Parker has decided the best place to go for information is always the library except he can't quite find what he needs here. His hair sticks up every which way. He has piled the books up so high that he has to narrowly dodge to avoid running into someone coming the other way.

Remarkably, only one book falls from the very top, and he manages to grab hold of it before it hits the floor... but then the rest of the books piled in his other arm topple over and land all around him.

He's not at his best spider-ness since arriving, still out of sorts. He presses his hand to his face. "...please tell me nobody saw that."

Comments

[interpersonal]

Elena's gaze lifts at his question. Lingering excessively on the memories Wonderland may or may not be stealing forges a path to madness. At the same time, Elena prides herself on control. She'll denounce fate, despite its tangible ploys, if it means she can cling to her denial a bit longer.

She flashes Peter a weary smile.

"Ask me again next week."

Gathering what's left of the scattered books, Elena brings herself to her feet once more. "I'm Elena."

[saved]

Peter sends her a smile of his own which is lopsided in its attempt to be reassuring even if there are really no reassurances here except maybe that they are not in it alone.

"Okay, I will."

He smiles, following her as he stands up on his own feet in front of her. He's kind of a lot taller. "Hi, Elena. I'm Peter. Parker. Peter Parker. That is me. I'm usually a lot cooler than this. Not really."

Yeah, he could not pull that off for very long at all. Ahem.

[interpersonal]

It's not the first time this has happened to Elena. In the span of a week.

She hears a familiar name—a familiar name because it's fictional in her world—and finds herself at a complete loss. She no longer has that knee-jerk reaction to describe something as impossible. At this point, what is? If they're in Wonderland, the lines have effectively blurred.

"Right."

Peter Parker. Awkward, nerdy Peter Parker. We're sure that's not at all a coincidence.

"It's nice to meet you ... Peter. Where are you from?" Don't say New York.

[saved]

Peter is fairly unaware of all these thoughts happening inside of Elena Gilbert at the moment. He has heard about alternate versions of himself. He has not begun to imagine he would be cool enough to exist as fiction in some universes like what-

What is that even?

"New York City."

He tilts his head to the side as he meets her gaze. There are no coincidences here. Ahem.

"You?"

[interpersonal]

This is never going to stop being weird and surreal, is it? Elena thankfully keeps all sputtering and astonishment to herself. There's just no way. What's next, Superman? She shakes her head, Peter's question tugging her back to the present.

"I'm from a small town in Virginia. Mystic Falls? You've probably never heard of it."

Most people haven't. And trust, Peter Parker, that's a good thing.

[saved]

Peter shakes his head in response with a soft smile. It's not familiar to him at all, and it is not like he talked to a whole lot of people to find out where they were from in his own world. The city tends to have people from all over in it though.

"No, I haven't. I grew up in New York City so I have never even been to a small town. From a small town to... Wonderland with its magic and weirdness and-" All of it, there is so much. "Must've been a huge shock and change."

Oh, sweet summer child.

[interpersonal]

"You could say that."

It would be half-wrong, but one could say it ... Ahem. The truth is, there's little that shocks Elena these days. Even when it does, she's good at adapting to her surroundings accordingly. It doesn't mean she was prepared for Wonderland. It doesn't mean she isn't frustrated and worried that a way home hasn't been found. The trepidation and the alarm—all of it is very genuine.

Elena's smile lingers at the sight of his. Whoever he may be, and whatever connotation his name may possess for her, he is new to Wonderland, and that means he must be as worried as she is. It is no easy task, to accept the reality they have now been given.

"Has anyone explained how all of this works to you yet?" she asks gently. She may be a newbie herself, but she's asked enough questions that she has some answers.

[saved]

Peter does not think anyone could be prepared for Wonderland. He comes from New York City, and he recently became half a spider and fought a giant Lizard Man, but he still had not been prepared for this. It is beyond preparing for, and he thinks a lot already about how to get back even knowing people have been here a long time.

"Uh, no. Not really. I mean, I've gotten bits and pieces of explanations in between my asking questions, trying to process everything, and... recovering. I didn't have a great entrance into Wonderland. There were eggs."

The eggs landed on his face and his head. Also, the fact that he was injured and still is a little bit. Just the bullet wound in the leg. It's no big deal, but it definitely made processing everything more difficult.

[interpersonal]

Eggs?

That's a strange entrance if there ever was one, but to Elena's credit, she realizes that's not the most important part of this whole equation. Her brows furrow in concern, and she motions for Peter to join her on the couch, now that they've cleaned up the mess that was left on the floor.

"But you have?" she asks, needing to make sure. She isn't a fusser the way Caroline is, but she has her moments. "Recovered."

Those must've been some mean eggs.

[saved]

Peter follows her over to the couch, sinking down as he rests his head back. He hasn't stopped really since he entered into Wonderland so. It is good to be seated. He looks over at her with a sideways smile like I am totally okay at the sight of that fussing. See? Isn't that smile believable?

"Yeah. I mean, not from the eggs. I realize that made it sound like the eggs- Uh. I was injured, and I had gone to get some eggs for my Aunt May. When I ended up in Wonderland, I... fell in and the eggs landed on my face and hair and everywhere."

It's a problem.

They were very mean eggs though.

[interpersonal]

It's believable, all right.

Elena knows a thing or two about making sure a smile is believable. To flash it in the right direction, and say everything is fine whether it is or it isn't. She would often do it for the other person's benefit; people don't really want the truthful answers. Most of the time, it would be for her own benefit, too. She needed to believe it. Believe that no matter what happened, she would survive and she'd get better. Do better.

Concern for Peter's well-being aside, a small smile tugs on her lips at the mention of his aunt. It's a simple and thoughtful thing to do. The normalcy of the gesture is a stark contrast to where he ended up. "Not a graceful landing, I take it," she answers with the faintest hint of wry amusement.

"I don't know if this helps, but those who've gone back and forth say you go back to the exact same moment that you left from."

His Aunt May will hopefully not have to worry about Peter's disappearance.

[saved]

Peter is not a very good liar in general, but when it comes to flashing that smile, he has gotten used to it. He has gotten used to pulling away, moving forward. It's always forward, because there is no other answer. Trying to search through the past, it has only led to pain.

It has only led to death.

He tilts his head to the side as he meets her gaze with a little smirk. "No, not graceful at all," Peter admits. "I'm the opposite of graceful."

Except maybe when he is flying through the sky on those webs, he can do flips and he can move with grace. "...yeah- I, uh. Yeah, it helps. I- I'm all my Aunt May has now."

And it's his fault, but it's still true nonetheless. "I can't imagine her waking up without me home at night, unable to find me, after she... after she already lost my uncle."

[interpersonal]

Elena is just going to hold back answering that his awkwardness is spotted a mile away. Maybe closer.

The smirk is returned, at least initially, but it fades when he mentions he is all his aunt has. That hits a bit too close to home, and she cannot help but think of Jeremy. The loss of Jenna, and even John, is still fresh. When she tried to apologize to her brother—he's lost so many people, largely because of her—he pointed out that he still has her. It didn't feel like enough, and in some ways it still doesn't, but she holds on to that.

She'll hope with everything she has in her that Lydia is right.

"I get it," she says softly. The words are laced with understanding, and maybe regret. "You want to be there for her. You don't want her to lose anyone else." She shouldn't have to. If only it were that simple, sparing someone a loss. "I'm sorry. About your uncle."

[saved]

Peter shifts where he is seated beside her, and he slides a hand back into the strands of her hair.

He breathes in slow and then out again. Peter shifts on the seat beside her and then glances down at his own two feet. He hears her words. He hears the softness of those words of hers. He hears the understanding within them too, and his eyes almost burn as he swallows through the locking of his throat.

Peter nods, biting down on his lip. "I'm sorry too. That you... get it so well."

There has to be a reason for it. Loss, grief. She knows what it is like because she has lived it too in the kind of depths which doesn't just happen once.

[interpersonal]

Elena's head lifts abruptly.

She's surprised by Peter's insightfulness. She wonders if she was being that obvious, or Peter is just that perceptive. Maybe it's a combination of the two. A heaviness settles in her chest as she remembers. She can never let herself forget.

"We all have our losses."

There is no move to deny it, as she appreciates the unspoken understanding. It is likely because they recognize this in each other that they don't rush to ask for details, or prompt for further explanations. There isn't a word for everything, and she's tried.

[saved]

Peter is not usually insightful, but when it comes to things like grief, like loss, like guilt, he can recognize it in others because they have so clearly defined his own life. He recognizes it in her, and he swallows before he nods at her words.

"We do," he says, lifting a hand to squeeze her arm lightly. "Then this place likes to swoop in out of nowhere, scoop us up, make us... at least temporarily lose more."

He shakes his head as he props his feet up on the nearest coffee table, lanky limbs extended longer than they should be. "What a jerk."

Yes, Wonderland is totally a jerk.

[interpersonal]

An abrupt and almost surprising laugh escapes her.

There haven't been a lot of reasons to smile lately, though she's gritted her teeth and pushed past it. She misses home and she's driven by a desire to go back, however imperfect that home was, but she also doesn't like to linger on that when she can be Doing Things instead.

All the same, the amusement is a welcome change of pace as she nods and agrees. "What a jerk."

She looks up with a smile and decides that yes, you're a good egg, Peter Parker.

[saved]

Peter does not know how little amusement and laughter has been around, but he can imagine since she has been here for just a week and this place is not exactly fun or good. They have been kidnapped to it away from people they love.

So the sound of her abrupt laughter has him smiling sideways at her as he leans back and then nods his head certainly in agreement.

What a jerk. The smile is still on his face as he keeps her gaze, and it is very clear he has decided the same.

You're a good egg too, Elena Gilbert.