daybreakacademy | hollow plots and zombens

"Curfew, again? Pete, you're killin' me here!"

...

...

"Poor choice of words. Come on, buddy." He ruffled his hair, pushing his hands against his knees as he stood. "Hurrrrrgh you think you wouldn't have aching joints in the afterlife, but here we are. Let's put your little friend to bed. Sun's almost up, ghosts don't do real well when it's bright out. I know we got a lot of ground to cover. A lot. So I've gotta fade out and rest soon, but I'll be back tonight. You gonna be all right?"

Yeah, thanks for that Ben. He chokes a little, kind of pained? It's way too soon for Ben to make those kinds of jokes; good thing it's soon enough for Peter to still be hanging off his every word.

But - Ben says something that makes Peter forgive him instantly. "You can come back?" he says, his face brightening with the glow on the horizon. "If I'm gonna see you again, then - then I'll be fine, I promise." More than fine really. A little guilty that he let Orihime just flop on the roof if this wasn't gonna be his only conversation with his dead uncle, but. He'll start making up for that now. Gently, very gently, he stoops to pick her up princess style, still using the suit to cushion her head in his arms.

It was an accident! He wasn't used to being alive and actually being able to speak with someone, let alone his own family. He kept a steadying hand on Peter's shoulder in case he needed the support to pick up the girl, but Peter was more than strong enough. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Yeah, I'll come back. That's a promise." He walked forward, his legs stiff. Whatever this 'body' was, it was worn out from the night's activities.

But he was able to hug his nephew again. That was something he didn't think he'd ever do again.

Hey, he's got this. Did he mention the super strength in his babble earlier? Eh, maybe. He'll forgive Ben for not remembering though; he hardly remembers himself.

He nods, though, bowing his head for a moment. "All right," he says. "I'm holding you to it, okay? So - so don't hold out on me." He'll understand if it takes Ben some time to figure out wtf is going here, or needs to rest after all that, or - any of that really. As long as he gets to see Ben again at some point. That's enough for him.

His nephew, the superhero. That was going to take some getting used to. He escorted Peter across the roof as the sun edged further up over the Alps. Down the stairs, step by step, his form began to fade. By the time Peter reached the landing, he was alone save for the unconscious Orihime in his arms.

But even if he couldn't see Ben, his uncle was there to watch over him.

God, okay. Even knowing Ben isn't gone - even knowing there's no way he hallucinated any of this - he has to kind of stop as Ben fades to nothing next to him. Take a deep breath, try not to cry. He can't wipe at his face with Orhihime in his arms, and he'd rather not get her shirt wet here.

So he braces himself instead, and carefully heads back downstairs. It's about then that he realizes he doesn't know what room she's in? That. Hmm. His room has a spare bed, of course, since he still doesn't have a roommate? It's probably weird to take a girl to his room while she's unconscious like this. But given the alternative is leaving her in the common room ... yeah. Okay. Back to his room, then. He'll lay her down onto the spare bed carefully, then retreat to his own. It's been such an agonizingly long night. He'll watch her for a moment, to make sure she's all right, but before long he's slumped awkwardly on his own bed, fast asleep.

It was a long while before Orihime had regained enough strength to stir. Her fingers twitched toward her palm, and her lashes shivered. Slowly she cracked her eyes open as sunlight leaked through the window and onto her face. It was warm...

And this scent...

Her half-opened eyes stared silently at the ceiling as she slowly became aware of the sound of breathing. This room...this wasn't her room, but she recognized it. It was...

...

She sat up on her elbows with a start, her face burning. Then her gaze fell on Peter's sleeping face, and her startled expression relaxed. He was okay. Thank goodness...!

But that didn't seem like a comfortable sleeping position! She chuckled quietly against her knuckle, then sat up a little more. He must have been exhausted in every possible way. Where did he keep his spare blankets? She didn't want him to catch a cold...

He had been sitting up, so now he's just kind of slumped over to one side, face down against the bed in the least attractive position possible. Like a champion really.

There's a closet in here somewhere, probably? But fortunately she doesn't have to get him anything. As soon as she starts moving around, he jolts a bit, blinking his eyes blearily. Someone in his room? He doesn't have a roommate, so why - oh. Orihime.

"What time is it?" he says, rubbing at his face. Thank goodness it's a Saturday or he could be in some trouble. "Are you okay?"

If he'd been conscious, she probably would have complimented him on his super cool sleep-dive position.

She twitched guiltily and froze in place when he woke up. Her foot hadn't even touched the floor, so it must have been the creak of the mattress springs, she figured.

"Anou...just a little before midnight," she replied, turning her wrist to look at the watch strapped on next to the web shooter.

...That didn't sound right. She shook her arm a little then lifted the watch to tap at its face.

"...I accidentally lied. I'm not sure! But I'm okay," she promised him. "What about you?"

He's got real sharp hearing, okay. And after last night he's a little bit twitchy even the slight noises of someone sitting up. Probably a good thing he doesn't have a roommate yet? Anyway.

"Midnight?" He ... turns towards the window, which currently has bright sunlight streaming through it. Yeah. Uh. No offense, Orihime, but your watch is probably wrong. It seems like noonish? Maybe a little earlier or later? Not dawn or sunset for sure, which is about all he can figure out just by looking at the light. Anyway.

Despite the horrors of last night, he's in surprisingly good shape, thanks to her healing. No injuries or ruined clothes. He could use a shower probably? But at least he's not covered in blood. "I'm - I'm okay," he says brightening as he remembers last night. "It worked. You saved him."

And he's going to keep seeing his uncle now, which is still sort of beyond belief.

That was the one thing she was most worried about. His uncle had seemed okay before she toppled over, but she didn't see the aftermath or hear what his uncle had to say. She relaxed, her smile gentle as she shook her head.

"You saved him too. I couldn't have done that on my own." She was sure he would have lost control and started thrashing before she could finish reverting the transformation, not to mention their teamwork to pull off the mask.

She eased herself back down, still weary, and turned onto her side so she could still face him as they spoke.

"I'm relieved, though. Thank you for looking after me."

He'll accept teamwork, sure. But he's also 100% sure he wouldn't have been able to bring his uncle back to this state without her actively healing him. Being an undead ghost is worlds better than - whatever that had been. Transformed. Taken over by ...

Well, he doesn't know. Something horrible behind all of this. He settles back on his own bed more comfortably this time, leaning his head back against the wall. "Course," he says. "I wasn't gonna leave you on the roof. Are you sure doing all that didn't hurt you?"

She sure did pass out last night, which is concerning.

"Mm," she moved her head, and smiled. "I'm just tired. I haven't used my powers like that in a long time." And she definitely hadn't known she could reverse something like that.

Speaking of, she should go downstairs to her own bed. Tatsumaki was going to worry if she woke up to find Orihime hadn't even slept there.

But his uncle had given that warning. You're the real target. Hadn't that been it? Maybe this wasn't really proper, but it was noon, and they weren't in the same bed, so... She could at least make sure he wasn't alone until he was better rested.

"...Sorry about your suit."

There's a lot of things he should probably talk about. Like what the hell is even going on here. If there's more of these monsters. If Ben might be turned again, or if there really is something after Peter specifically. Also, what the hell she can even do? He'd known about the shield and the healing obviously, but. These are some hidden depths.

But. First things first.

"Suit?" he asks, looking confused. "What suit?"

She's currently sitting on it, probably.

"I left it on the roof," she admitted. "I was going to show you the finished product, but you got attacked, and I pretty much lost track of the suit. I'll go get it later, I probably need to wash it first anyway."

And make repairs, if she could. It got stabbed pretty thoroughly with that one dagger-like leg, she might have to pick up more fabric and replace some parts entirely. There was still plenty of time before the ball, though. It would be okay.

"You can sleep some more if you're tired," she offered. "I won't leave until you wake up."

He's very tired, it's true, but since he's awake now it seems a shame to just go straight back to sleep. Also, given his sleeping problems? He's pretty sure if he sleeps through the day he's going to just end up nocturnal.

"I'm all right," he says. "Not, like, great, but." Good enough for now. His gaze drifts to the bed she's on and ... oh, wait. She said she left it on the roof? And he did pick something up and bring it down. "Was it in a package? Like ... uh, that?"

He points to the one that's been serving as an impromptu pillow for her.

Orihime shifted up onto her elbow to look down at where he pointed, and blinked. Cufflinks with little spider imprints on them that she'd found in the post-Halloween discount bin, torn shreds of white lining poking through the inner silk lining... That was the suit all right. At least the cuff links were okay, that was the part she'd been most excited about.

"...That's the one." She smiled sheepishly and made herself sit up since it felt weird to drop off to sleep on him while he was awake. "I'll just make some adjustments."

Or maybe see if her power really could restore torn clothing like she suspected. Why she'd been able to do that, she didn't really know, but it was good to know that she could. Just what kind of limitations did she have?

She rubbed at her eye and blinked at the window again. "Well...if you're awake you probably need some time to process everything, right? I can go back to my room." She dragged the package onto her lap and hugged it in her arms.

It looks really cool from what he can see of it? He's not sure if he should ask to, given it's obviously a bit ruined and she's going to fix it. He'd probably be pretty interested to see if she can fix it with magic too, given the kind of crazy stuff she can do already.

He blinks a little at her offering to go back to her room. He's not going to stop her, really; it's probably weird to be in his room right now. If he'd known which one was hers he'd have tried to put her back in her own bed. But ... "I really don't mind you being here," he says after a moment. "I dunno if I want to be alone right now?"

Which doesn't mean she has to stay. The common room will surely have people in it at this hour, so Peter can just head out there and sleep if that's what he wants to do. But. He'd kind of like her to stay too.

"My uncle said there was something else out there. The thing that did it to him. Do you have any idea what that is?"

Something that was after him specifically, for some reason.

"..." Her heart was a little touched. It made her feel like he needed her, and that brought a warm rush of happiness that put more color in her cheeks. She smiled, almost shyly, and inclined her head. "Okay. I don't mind either." She realized she wanted to stay with him a while longer, too.

But she couldn't answer his question. She shook her head. "I didn't know something like that could even happen to ghosts. The living aren't even supposed to be able to see them." Her head turned to look out the window. Somewhere out there, Sora was lingering on the campus too, wasn't he? She didn't know how Hector was able to see him when she couldn't, but she believed what he'd told her. Was he in danger too?

"I'm worried, though. That's a really cruel way to try to get to you. It might try again, too."

That - makes him draw in a horrified breath. The thought that whatever this is might use Ben again, make them repeat all this pain and suffering - god, he can't even handle thinking about it right now. At least it probably can't act during the daytime? Undead can't really cope with sunlight, so ...

Deep breaths. Real deep breaths. "I saw him just fine," he says. "And - he said he'd come back." So that implies that Peter can see him then too? He's not sure how he got the ability to see dead people okay. Just another weird thing on top of everything else. "I gotta protect him. Find whatever it is that's doing all of this."

That has to be the answer here.

"You will."

There was no uncertainty in her voice when she responded to his statement. "We all will. It caught us off guard because we'd never seen anything like that before. But now that we know about its tactics, we can keep a sharper lookout."

She put a hand to her chest, a couple of inches above her heart. "I remember how its spirit felt, too. If it appears, I might be able to detect it and give warning. There are teachers with lots of experience fighting creatures in the Outland, we can rely on them too."

Orihime rose from the bed and crossed the short space between them, still holding the mangled package against her.

"So don't be afraid. I'll use everything I have to help you protect him."

Her confidence is bolstering. After Ben nearly killing him multiple times last night, he kind of needed that. The thought that they can out think this monster and win... That's something he knows how to do in theory, right? He's a superhero. Maybe not a very good one, but still a superhero.

"I think it set off my spider senses too." He doesn't get Orihime's clarity for sure, but he gets something? Enough to do something, maybe, if it got close. Especially if Orihime knows where it is ... Yeah. Yeah, he can do this.

"Thank you," he says, looking up at her from his bed. He's a little overwhelmed, honestly - she's already done so much for him, and now she's offering to do even more. "I owe you. Like, everything."

Bringing his uncle back from the brink, making it so that Peter can talk to him again ... There's nothing he could possibly give her that could pay her back properly.

She was a little surprised at his gratitude, that was clear. But when he said he owed her, she laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"We're friends! Friends don't really keep track of who owes who. Besides," Orihime noted, tucking her hands behind her back and leaning against the wall next to his bedpost, "you've helped me a lot too. I know how busy you are, so I'm grateful when we get to train. And the web shooters aren't just cool toys, they're really useful! They might even save my life or someone else's someday."

She drew out her right hand, looking at her palm, and smiled. "I'm getting more confident, too. Every day, just a little bit more. All of those things add up." Orihime's countenance warmed as she looked back at him. "I owe you as much as you owe me. Thank you, for all of it."

Well. That may indeed be true. But they're definitely friends, and if he thinks about it like that ... He'll just have to do everything he can the next time she needs him. That's all he can do. And if she feels like he's helping her confidence, then he'll be darn glad about that too.

"All right," he says, with a bit of a shy smile. "But at least let me buy the next pizza, okay?"

Friends can do that too.

"Ha ha ha...!" Her shoulders shook, and she could easily feel the stress of last night ebbing away at the sight of such a nice smile. Maybe now he could start to shed some of that guilt, and smile and laugh more often.

She nodded. "That sounds really good! It's a deal." She even offered her hand so they could shake on it.

"You did really good tonight...Spider-Monsieur!"

hollow plots and zombens

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