bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

the lyric prompt meme

HOW TO PLAY:

♪ Comment with your characters.
♪ Post to other characters with lyric prompts and, optionally, a picture to go with it.
♪ The lyrics can come from any song you like, or, hell, you can just link some instrumental music as well. Just so long as there's a song.
♪ Threads happen! Tears are shed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Adam's only reply was a slight grunt. It had been far too long since he'd lain himself bare, so to speak, for someone else. Even when he wanted to reach out to someone, to tell them how he felt, he was unsure of where to start. Even telling them that he wasn't sure where to start seemed an impossible task.

"Suit yourself." Peter wasn't going to push him, so he closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep instead.

Adam casually reached over and pulled Peter's pillow out from under his head because he was totally a mature adult. That and he really didn't want Peter going back to sleep right at that second. He wasn't sure what other way to show it other than being an asshole.

"I..." He hesitated a moment, grimacing slightly as he forced the words out. "I'm not used to talking about me."

Peter could be just as mature should the mood strike him, and at the moment it struck him. He gave Adam a half-hearted punch on the arm and made a face.

"So you want me to talk about myself or something?"

Adam scowled when Peter punched his arm. It didn't hurt per say, but he still didn't like that he could actually feel it. He pulled Peter's pillow under his forearms and propped himself up on it.

"I don't know. I was just letting you know." He was silent for a moment before tentavely asking the question that was nagging in the back of his mind. "Why are you helping me?"

That question took Peter a moment to think about. And snice Adam took the pillow, he had to prop himself up with his elbow to look the older man in the eye.

"I don't know. I guess I still feel... connected to you." He gave an awkward shrug. "You were my friend once, and I want to believe that man is still in you somewhere."

Adam was silent for a long moment, letting Peter's words sink in. He'd heard something similar before from Hiro, but even the Carp had given up on him. Why should he believe Peter? What made Peter so different from Hiro that he might actually believe him?

It was simple: Peter was genuinely a good guy. Hiro was only good when the mood struck him and when it would make him look and feel good.

"Why do you believe that?"

"I've seen the good in you," Peter responded simply. He touched Adam's chest, where the man's heart beat. Where the stories say Kensei once cut out his heart to save his love from the dragon-- not that Peter knew that story, of course.

"I don't believe for a second that it was all just manipulation. There were some things you said to me, some things you did for me... You didn't have to do those things."

Adam looked down at Peter's hand, then back at him. He could feel something stirring in his heart. The fact that the younger man had such faith in him made Adam feel a bit warm inside. If he had to admit it, yes he had grown to like the younger man. Adam felt strangely protective of Peter and, where he would have probably ditched someone like Elle after he released the virus, he had planned to grab Peter and escape Primatech with him.

"You think me a better man than most." His voice was soft, pained almost.

His smile grew a little wider and he drew his hand back again. Truth be told, Peter no longer had any right to judge people. He did some terrible things himself: watched as Flint burnt a woman alive, killed his own brother and attempted to kill both his parents, focused so much on making up for it all that he stopped seeing the people he saved and only saw the numbers.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," he concluded softly.

"I suppose so," he murmured. "How in the bloody hell are you possible? How are you...?" Adam made a motion towards Peter, attempting to search for the word. Finally, he huffed. "How are you you? With your parents the way that they are and your brother, one would think that you'd be a lot colder. A lot more...Like them."

Peter couldn't help laughing at that. Adam wasn't the first person to ask such a question. "Nature versus nuture, I guess. I was born with my ability. The empathy must have protected me my whole life."

"You would think it'd be the opposite," Adam observed. Keeping one arm clamped around Peter's pillow, he lowered his body on the bed more, stealing some of the covers with his free hand. He wasn't planning on going to sleep right at the moment, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get comfortable.

Peter shrugged his shoulders, settling as much as he could. He never thought much about why he was different from the rest of his family. That love, that heart, was always just a part of him. Of course Peter knew he could turn that cold; he saw it when he met his future self. So far Peter hadn't become that man, and as long as he kept his heart open he doubted he ever would.

"You mentioned earlier that your ability works differently now. Explain it to me. Like you did in Hartsdale." He turned over onto his back, resting one of his hands on his chest. Adam tilted his head to look over at Peter.

Peter remembered that discussion, and just like back then he had to really think about how best to word things before answering. "I still have my empathy," he said slowly. "I can feel your emotions. But for whatever reason, when I have an ability I can only use one at a time. So if I absorb telekinesis, that's all I have."

Adam was silent for a long moment, digesting that information. "Do you think that over time it will grow? And how did you get your ability back? Was it that formula that I told those idiots to get rid of when they created it? Or was it something else entirely?"

"Formula," Peter admitted, his tone almost challenging. As if daring Adam to get on him for using it. Because truthfully no matter what he thought about the formula in general, Peter used it selfishly to get some of his power back. He claimed it was to save Nathan, but there was no guarantee the formula would've done anything useful for him.

It was for himself, pure and simple.

Edited 2013-05-19 01:11 (UTC)

He stared at Peter for a long moment before bursting into laughter. With anyone else, he might have scowled or gotten onto them. But Peter? That challenging tone in the other man's voice just amused him to no end.

"Is there any of that formula left? Even just a tad bit?"

"Sorry, but a pyrokinetic and I destroyed it all." He probably should be sorry knowing that Adam actually needed it, but they both would probably agree it was safer to not take chances.

He huffed slightly, disappointed that it was gone. "I am going to die an old man. If Hiro doesn't get me first." Brilliant, just bloody brilliant.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Peter asked, measuring Adam's expression. "Dying an old man?"

"I've watched people die of old age. I've watched as their minds weakened and their bodies just...fell apart." In his mind eye, he saw the ones that he'd been friends with and the ones that he had loved and how painfully those years had passed. "I don't know if I can do that, Peter."

"And I'm not going to let Hiro kill you," Peter retorted. "So you're stuck with living."

"When that little Japanese Nazi has his mind set on something, it's hard to dissuade him." There was that dry tone that he liked to use.

"Why in the bloody hell are you so concerned with me living, anyway?"