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Izzie knows.

[ Nathan grinned and reached over to touch his brother on the head, and then they were setting off. The moment they were beyond the kitchen door Peter said. "Izzie, walkies!" And she span in circles and began to go bolting up and down the corridor, leading them along to the elevator door.

To be quite fair, Nathan had been training her to do it in a certain way. He had no intention of getting lost, not knowing the way back to the elevator. Izzie never got lost, she always knew the way back, and so long as you got to an elevator you stood a chance of finding someone else or working out where you were--or that was Nathan's plan anyway. Of course it meant you had to have Izzie with you, and it assumed that the screwed up ship wouldn't get her just as lost if it ever came down to it. ]

We can sit up and play cards, or something. while I get you up to speed on the ship and--well, there's a whole lot about the ship.

[ He set the elevator to take them to the garden and leant against the rail. ]

It'll take about ten minutes. This one takes us all the way along the ship. The Oxygen gardens are right at the back, near Engineering.

[ Oh, Izzie. Despite Peter's inability to digest all of what's going on, she still manages to make him smile -- something he's not sure he's honestly done in a long time. Not that he didn't enjoy his time with Adam, but just the thought that he did know makes his blood curdle. He can't even say how it made him feel anymore, simply because the guilt of it all makes him want to pull his hair out.

Whether or not the shame'll eat him alive over the course of the next few weeks is something that'll remain to be seen.

Following after Nathan, glancing around the halls and trying to take everything in, but only in pieces at a time, Peter steps into the elevator behind Nathan, leaning up against the opposite wall. ]

Engineering? [ Giving Nathan a straight on look, no longer brightly questioning but muted curiosity, Peter guesses that this has something to do with the 'whole lot about the ship.' comment. Or maybe these are jut the basics, the things that everyone gets told their first day here. For the moment, he can't help but reel himself in; now it's just a habit. As much as Adam pulled out of him, now Peter sure he should talk anymore. ]

Engineering. So far as I can tell, a huge portion of the ship - maybe a quarter of it - makes up the ship's engines. It's no jet plane.

[ But Nathan will happily tell Peter all about the shuttles soon enough, even if they're more like cargo planes than Tomcats.

Izzie jumps up. She hates the elevator because it takes so long for her to get somewhere fun. Her paws hit Nathan in the groin, and he reaches down to readjust her, holding her up, into a safer position. ]

Alright, girl. I get it. Pete, distract her with some of those biscuits, will you? Otherwise my baby making days are done.

[ No, Nathan, your baby making days really ought to be done. What do you want. ]

[ There's something about being back around Nathan that sets the world right on its course. Like 'big brothers that act more like a father should' are all Peter needs to remember who he's really supposed to be at the end of the day.

And like the fact that when Nathan says things like that, Peter's instantly reverted back to being fifteen years old, where the thought of Nathan and 'baby making' is practically gag worthy. Sex. Ew. Gross. And he runs a hand over his face, grimacing just slightly because... well, because no. ]

Pretty sure your baby making days were done a few years ago, Nathan, unless you really wanted to be eighty by the time they turned ten. [ Peter pokes at the elevator a little bit more before giving in and shaking the box of biscuits, causing Izzie to use Nathan like a spring, shoving off of him and jumping over to sit at Peter's feet. ]

I actually have to be stuck in here with you for ten whole minutes while we talk about Izzie turning you into a eunuch?

That's right. A whole ten minutes.

[ But Nathan had escaped Izzie's rough paws, and that was fine for now. He grinned at his brother as she came over and sat with her tail swishing, looking up to him with the intense hungriness of a well fed dog who saw food and wanted it no matter what. ]

That's unfair, Pete. No more babies? I'm divorced now, I can marry a girl half my age and settle down and do it all over again if I like.

[ Maybe on some alien planet. Who knew. ]

Remind me to introduce you to Lauren some time.

[ Staring down as he offered another biscuit to Izzie, Peter couldn't help but shake his head slowly, amused but not outright laughing. It wasn't as if the strain of the situation kept him from even grinning, he was just somewhere else for a few moments, watching Izzie crunch before scratching her head. ]

Think i'll pass on meeting your new girlfriend.

[ Glancing toward the elevator doors, Peter dug absently through the box of biscuits, not particularly caring about lavishing Izzie with affection. ]

All you need now is a red convertible. Guess it's convenient that you're up in space, huh, don't have to waste the money. [ He flashes Nathan a look, though Peter has no idea what he's going for. It's likely he just looks shell-shocked while trying his hardest to be sarcastic. ]

[ Nathan actually did snort. It was ridiculous - Peter was ridiculous - but it was the kind of ridiculous well meaning ribbing that he'd missed. He had to resist the urge to reach over and hug his brother again spontaneously. It'd just look weird, and instead Nathan dropped down to a crouch and ruffled Izzie's fur and pushed his face into her neck for a moment. She still only had eyes for Peter.

He stood up a second later and grinned at him. ]

One day, Pete, it'll be you with the screaming four year olds and the need for the open road. Just you wait.

[ Except. Well, Nathan knew better. ]

Pete...

[ He was interrupted by the doors opening, and Izzie zooming away with her tail all a blur. ]

[ Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes at his brother, but thank god for not needing to comment on that particular sentiment. At least not right now. It didn't matter if he wanted to be a dad one day, that wasn't the point. It was just a little much, especially after the thing with Chad - kissing strangers hadn't been on his agenda - and Adam and maybe none of it was meant to be.

Maybe he'd just screw it all up.

And then the elevator doors opened and whatever Nathan was going to say went with Izzie, turning into a black blur as she bolted away. Peter tipped his head slightly, looking before even considering stepping out, then glancing once more at Nathan. Seconds away from asking him any number of other questions, he stayed quiet instead, looking back to the first greenery of the gardens.

Couldn't he just say in the elevator? Did he actually have to try and process all of this at once? It should help that Nathan was so used to it and it did, but shouldn't he be doing something productive instead of wondering if Nathan ever flew anymore? ]

[ Nathan laughed. Izzie knew where she was going. There were things to chase in the gardens, and she wasn't going to get herself into much trouble just throwing herself around chasing things. His mind wandered the same way Peter's did, and he turned back to his brother and studied him for a second.

Seriously. What was he hanging around in there for?

Quietly he stepped back over, his shoulder on the edge of the door. ]

I know it's a lot to take in all at once, but we've done unbelievable before. It wasn't easy then, either. [ He reached out and clutched Peter's shoulder. ]

Come fly with me?

Huh?

[ It was a combination of surprise and disconnect. He'd been staring hard enough to split the world in two, but to hear those words come from Nathan was still something of a shock. Shifting his gaze to stare hard at his big brother for only a few moments, Peter wriggled his way out from under Nathan's hand and therefore out of the lift. He wasn't doing it to be evasive, not really -- he just didn't want to get stuck inside if it moved without his consent.

Only then could he try to think it over once more, his gaze lifting upwards. There was room. Sort of. But for almost a year now, his abilities had been solely used for the benefit of others. Not to help anyone, but for a singular goal -- to obey Adam. To respond without question.

It seemed wrong now to be so flippant about it when he'd nearly killed someone using his abilities. ]

I don't know. [ That didn't mean he actually wanted to talk about it, however. ] You think the ceiling's even high enough?

Ceiling's plenty high enough. I come here all the time, but I like to fly in the shuttle bay too. And I mean it, Pete--I like to fly. It takes my mind off everything else, and there's a whole lot of everything else.

[ Difficult to accept after the denial they'd come from? Maybe. But Nathan had come to appreciate the simple things since he'd come here. He let the elevator go and Izzie came racing past them again, a black streak going around after god knew what. She knew that Nathan flew sometimes, and where to find him, so he left her to it.

Peter, on the other hand, might need a little bit more encouragement. He reached out to touch his brother's shoulder. ]

I spent the longest time thinking of it as anything but a gift. After what we went through, I know it's not that simple. But this can be ours, Pete. We're brothers, and it belongs to both of us. So will you come fly with me or not?

[ I like to fly. Why hadn't Nathan said that when it had counted for so much more?

Not that it didn't count now, but it was different. And he'd been away for so long; why hadn't anyone come looking? It still struck him on occasion that his mother would've known. It was Primatech after all-- why didn't someone know? Why didn't anyone else try? Anyone else apart from Adam, because that was what he'd been left with. He had Adam, and trusting that simple fact had almost led him to helping to destroy the world. Adam had become his whole world, and that was the problem. He'd become so much of him, that coming back was like whiplash.

Blinking back into reality when Nathan set a hand on his shoulder. It shouldn't have been that complicated, but it was. Because he hadn't found a way to escape from any of it, and even now there was a roof above his head. ]

Yeah-- yeah, sure. As long as I don't have to race you to the finish line.

It'll be easy, Pete.

[ But Nathan understood that there were reasons why it wasn't, and he slid an arm under his brother's, pushing up off the ground. ]

I used to take you skating, remember? Taught you. You used to hold on tight to my hand, but you always wanted to be three steps ahead, skating around like the other kids. So you let go and you fell over a bunch of times, and when you cried, I told you that the bruises were there to dissuade you from falling again. That you'd keep falling over unless you were bolder. And you were. I looked away for just a second and then there you were, wobbling out into the middle where people were flying around fast as you like without looking where they were going. I thought you were going to get yourself killed out there, and I saw you go down. My heart just about leapt into my chest. I couldn't see you.

[ They were high above the trees now. ]

You ready for me to let you go?

[ The temptation to sock Nathan and be done with this bullshit was nearly excruciating.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't bullshit. Peter knew that it wasn't, knew that it mattered to him just like it always had, but it was making his insides crawl, like his internal organs were trying to vacate and hide in the back of his skull, crowding out all the room until there was nothing left but a dull thudding of pain. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense, and Nathan could go on about ice skating until the cows came home, but it wouldn't change a thing. It wouldn't.

Nathan was his big brother; he loved him, he'd missed him more than he could put words too, but it didn't put the world back into place. It didn't set it spinning in just the right motion and Adam had at least proved one thing -- he needed to stop relying on other people. Even the ones who he thought mattered the most. ]

Yeah, you can let go.

[ He could hover after all; it was practically the first thing he'd learned how to do. After falling. He shot a glance down towards the trees and shook his head, unbelievingly. Maybe he really did have to figure out how to do this on his own. ]

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