Pietro squeezes his eyes shut, trying to force his brain to stop buzzing, his heart to stop pounding. Panic is a good word for it. He goes over that edge so easily. He knows it makes him sick and miserable, but he just isn't good at slowing down.
Anyone else would be hyperventilating. Pietro isn't in danger of passing out, but he still doesn't look comfortable. "I don't know what to do."
"Then you can hide out here 'til you got it worked out, yeah?" Harry kisses
his temple. "You don't have to do anything right now. Let me get you a
drink, it'll help calm you down."
His breath hitches a little at the kiss, but it's oddly reassuring, even if it's a bit alien. He doesn't comment, only nods. "Please." Mickey might be dead too, he realizes numbly. And who knows who else. Venus wasn't in the kitchen, but Shiro - he hadn't seen her anywhere.
Pietro downs a large gulp, grimacing a little at the burn. He wished it was easier for him to get drunk, times like these. "You're telling me. And it's not over until the wardens figure out who was involved."
And they will figure it out. They have psychics on their side.
"Fucking Zero." He can't stand it down there, but at this point? He's not sure he'll protest if Mickey throws him in to cool his heels for a while.
"...not much of one. Todd and me, we've got history, y'know? I agreed to sign on to keep an eye on him, not to... play whatever messed up game Alfie's running." He sighs, sipping more slowly at the alcohol.
"Bailed when it started getting dangerous." Well, freaked out, pulled Babs out of the kitchen fire, helped get things under control, then bailed. But he's almost as embarrassed about his brief foray into heroic as he is about the rest of his involvement.
"For the best. You don't want to fuck about with all this mess. People
start throwing bombs around, gets messy. You can't predict what's going to
catch." He sips his liquor. "Alfie behind all this? Didn't even tip me
the nod."
"He's putting ideas in Todd's head, anyway. I don't like it. He convinced the guy to hit the infirmary, for fuck's sake." That just seems beyond reckless.
"I don't know what he's playing at, but it's not gonna end well."
"Certainly ain't started well. Listen - if this mate of your's gonna be
this soft in the fucking head, sometimes it's all you can do to let him
learn a hard lesson or two," Harry says, brutally pragmatic. "He can learn
on his own time who his real friends are, can't he."
"Yeah. Dunno his story, 'cause that's not the kind of shit we talk about, but he's the youngest of us. Always figured he got ditched for being born freaky, until the boss or Mystique found him." It was a common enough scenario for the more obvious mutants.
His heart leaps oddly in his chest, and his cheeks color despite everything.
"Nah. We were... the guys doing the dirty work. Cannon fodder. That was the whole point of having us around, as far as those assholes were concerned. The other guys were too desperate to say no - not when it meant they were out on the streets."
He lets his fingers brush Harry's hand, before pulling away again, uncertain. "You couldn't have done anything."
"You wouldn't have been my canon fodder," Harry says gently. "I've seen young men like you in that state. Not with your powers, nobody's got that back home. But boys who'd do whatever they were told just to keep off the streets, or the cells, or the fucking river. No matter how ugly. Because they were different - whatever form that took. It weren't right to them and it ain't right on you."
"You ain't a disappointment to me," Harry murmurs. "And no worthwhile friend of yours should be taking this as a chance to shake their heads and tut about how they thought better of you. You made a mistake, and it's eating at you. That's punishment enough."
"Most of my friends should know better. Not the first time I've done this kind of thing. Probably won't be the last." Because things keep coming around that drag him right back into these scenarios.
"Gotta admit, I don't really get you, Harry. Kind of okay with that, though. Thanks."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-01-28 06:36 pm (UTC)"Hey. Pietro, don't you panic, alright? It's done. You ain't gonna take it back now."
He rubs his back, between his shoulders.
"Deep breaths. Slow it down."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-28 07:39 pm (UTC)Anyone else would be hyperventilating. Pietro isn't in danger of passing out, but he still doesn't look comfortable. "I don't know what to do."
So he came here. It... made sense in his head.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-28 07:59 pm (UTC)"Then you can hide out here 'til you got it worked out, yeah?" Harry kisses his temple. "You don't have to do anything right now. Let me get you a drink, it'll help calm you down."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-28 08:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-28 11:01 pm (UTC)Harry pours him a generous cognac and a slightly shallower measure for himself, and sits back down as he offers him the glass.
"There you go. Just take a breath, won't you? We don't 'ave to talk, not if you don't know what to say. Been a hell of a night out there."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 09:09 am (UTC)And they will figure it out. They have psychics on their side.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 09:23 am (UTC)"And what're they gonna do when they know? Few days in solitary, slapped wrists all round. It's nothing."
He gives Pietro a sidelong glance.
"How much of a hand did you have in this, eh?"
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 09:38 am (UTC)"...not much of one. Todd and me, we've got history, y'know? I agreed to sign on to keep an eye on him, not to... play whatever messed up game Alfie's running." He sighs, sipping more slowly at the alcohol.
"Bailed when it started getting dangerous." Well, freaked out, pulled Babs out of the kitchen fire, helped get things under control, then bailed. But he's almost as embarrassed about his brief foray into heroic as he is about the rest of his involvement.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 09:47 am (UTC)"For the best. You don't want to fuck about with all this mess. People start throwing bombs around, gets messy. You can't predict what's going to catch." He sips his liquor. "Alfie behind all this? Didn't even tip me the nod."
He's more put out by that than he sounds.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 10:29 am (UTC)"I don't know what he's playing at, but it's not gonna end well."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 11:11 am (UTC)"Certainly ain't started well. Listen - if this mate of your's gonna be this soft in the fucking head, sometimes it's all you can do to let him learn a hard lesson or two," Harry says, brutally pragmatic. "He can learn on his own time who his real friends are, can't he."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 03:25 pm (UTC)Todd's just a dumb kid. They all are.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 03:33 pm (UTC)This is loud in Harry's mind, but he doesn't say it.
"He like you? Mutant?"
no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-29 11:10 pm (UTC)"Yeah?"
He touches Pietro's hair lightly, brushing back a few stray strands.
"Could've taken better care of you both, couldn't they. If I had someone like you to look out for, you wouldn't have ended up in this shithole."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-30 07:43 pm (UTC)"Nah. We were... the guys doing the dirty work. Cannon fodder. That was the whole point of having us around, as far as those assholes were concerned. The other guys were too desperate to say no - not when it meant they were out on the streets."
He lets his fingers brush Harry's hand, before pulling away again, uncertain. "You couldn't have done anything."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-30 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-30 08:35 pm (UTC)And that's the rub, really. It's his father running the show, and there's no one he wants validation from more in the world. Maybe all the worlds.
"Shit, man. You don't want to hear this crap."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-30 08:37 pm (UTC)Harry wraps an arm around his shoulders, gives a companionable squeeze.
"You ain't got nobody else to talk to right now, do you?"
no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 09:05 pm (UTC)At least Harry isn't lecturing. But he misses Anya, more than he has since she first went into the coma.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 10:14 pm (UTC)"Gotta admit, I don't really get you, Harry. Kind of okay with that, though. Thanks."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-01 06:56 pm (UTC)Happened more here, lately. Until they figure this most recent disaster out.
"How'd you wind up here, anyway?"
no subject
Date: 2016-02-01 07:03 pm (UTC)"You asking me how I died?"
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