[OTA] Think alike

[fwips]

WHO: Peter Parker
WHERE: Random tree around town
WHEN: 5 October 2018
OPEN TO: Kamala Khan & ALL - NO MORE THREADS PLEASE
NOTES: Peter is in the Great Minds plot in addition to having his new powers!

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There is a machine down in the creepy bunker, and it dispenses superpowers.

Even to someone like Peter, who came to this place after riding through space with a wizard and then fought a guy for magical stones that can control the whole universe, the idea of ordering up powers like he might a Snickers is a little beyond belief. The thing doesn't even look right; it's not like the vending machines from Bioshock with their jaunty voice-overs and handy instructional videos. It looks, honestly, like something he'd cobble together from tech he pulled out of the garbage. And he's not ragging on the idea of that, it just doesn't really fit. It's weird.

But turns out it works. Or, sorta.

He asked for wall-crawling (Wall-crawling!) and spider-sense (Spider-sense!) and it gave him wall-crawling and affinity with animals (???). Trying again (and again and again) hadn't helped. Shaking the machine hadn't helped. (It had, though, made a really ominous rattling sound.) Staring forlornly at "spider-sense" on the screen hadn't helped.

So now he's sitting in a tree, on one of the higher branches, sharing a handful of blueberries with a squirrel. Whom he is presently conversing with on the state of preparing a nest for the winter.

This isn't so bad, he allows to himself, passing over another blueberry from his stash as the squirrel chitters on.

Comments

[houmaprotector]

"I mean plants."

A million and one jokes leap to mind but he slides it to the side, "...It's something that should be embraced if you've discovered the gift. To commune with the elements is a noble affair."

He studies the squirrel, "I do...miss the plants. It's frustrating."

[fwips]

"I bet," Peter allows with a slow nod as he follows Alec's gaze. "There are a lot of people here who used to have powers and don't now. It's a big adjustment."

And for Alec, well, maybe even bigger than most, considering he's apparently at least partially made of actual plants. That's got to be like going blind or deaf.

[houmaprotector]

"...It was disconcerting. I still feel lost. Hence my hope for a glimpse of home."

He studied the boy, "...What other animals can you speak to?"

[fwips]

"I don't know," Peter admits with a slight shrug. "Like I said, I only just got the power today. It just said 'affinity with animals,' so maybe all of them?" Which actually really could be useful, now that he considers it, even though it wasn't the power he'd asked for.

[houmaprotector]

"would you like to test it out? I could accompany you into the forest."

He sounds a little wistful, "You'd be surprised, sometimes animals have the best conversations I'm sure. Plants do. I mean...it's hard to believe but they really really do."

[fwips]

"Yeah? That would be awesome, thanks," Peter agrees, smiling with a nod. Not that he's afraid of going into the forest alone or anything, even if the thought of it would probably give Mr. Stark a heart attack or arc reactor attack, or whatever he has going on there now — And to be fair, Mr. Stark doesn't know Peter has some of his powers back, and there was a giant, shaggy dog-man-thing that came out of the woods that Sergeant Barnes had to kill with an electrified arrow to the throat.

But the point is, it's just nice to have company, and maybe Alec will have some insight into using this animal power for the best.

"That squirrel lady, she was a pretty good conversationalist. She had a lot to say." He arches an eyebrow Alec's way as they head into the forest.