5/9 Instance: Some Explaining To Do

[Starfish]

Timelined shortly after [Instance]Thinking out of the Shell.


Pietro: Pietro sat by the window in the library, a book in his lap but he wasn't reading it. He was staring out at the grounds instead, thinking about his plans for the summer and hoping nothing too eventful happened. He needed a vacation.

Christopher: Chris walked into the library and looked around. "Uhmm hey Pietro. What are you doin in here?" He walked over to where Pietro was and looked down at where he was sitting.

Pietro: Pietro looked round, a little startled at the sudden sound. "Oh, hi Chris... I was supposed to be reading but... I got distracted. How about you?"

Christopher: "Just popped in to take a couple of books for some light reading." He looked out the window then back down to Pietro. "So I kinda got a question for you."

Pietro: "Oh?" He frowned a little, "What about?"

Christopher: "Had a uhmm little talk with Hepz. So I'm sure you can guess." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not taking her side, well not yet atleast! I just wanna know what's going on. I want both sides of the story."

Pietro: "Oh... that...." he rolled his eyes, "Have a seat, ask away..."

Christopher: He took a seat near him but not next to him. "So what happened with that? All she told me was that your dad kidnapped her and some guy named mayhem? She also said you didn't help in the least bit."

Pietro: "Yes, my father did kidnap her and Mayhem... and me too." He ran his hands through his hair, "And... I... tried..." he sighed, "It was... complicated..." And he'd only just worked it out in his own head.

Christopher: "So what the fuck happened?" He cracked his knuckles as he got the feeling he shoulda never asked about this.

Pietro: "I tried to help, believe me... I couldn't leave the house myself so I had to try and get someone on our side - which is how Emma got involved in all of this." He carefully put the book to one side. "A lot of things happened... it's hard for me to explain and it'll be even harder for you to understand why..."

Christopher: "Uhmm okay, I guess. Uhmm who's Emma?" He leaned back and tried to get comfortable.

Pietro: "Emma was my father's P.A.... or at least that's what her official job was. In reality she did everything cooking, housekeeping, secretarial stuff... Don't know how she did it." He sighed, "Owe her a hell of a lot." He shifted in his seat, sitting up straighter.

Pietro: "While we were in New Hampshire, my father had some kind of device planted in the back of my neck so he could control me... or punish me, in case I refused to do as he asked because he clearly thought torturing my friends wasn't enough." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the scar, "It also prevented me from leaving the grounds."

Christopher: "Ouch that must have fucking sucked. I'm sorry dude." He rubbed the back of his own neck as well.

Pietro: "Yeah... but worse things happened..." He looked out of the window as he spoke, "He made me take part in experiments on mutants - May and Hepz included. Threatening me with all kinds of things which I know he would have done if I refused." He looked at Chris again.

Pietro: "But, I got Emma on our side. So we had an ally that could at least leave the building... albeit only with permission." He sighed heavily, "But there wasn't a lot of time to act on it when we were in New Hampshire... Hepz's memories got erased..."

Christopher: "Oh....damn...." Chris sat completely silent, he had no idea what to say or even what to think about all of this.

Pietro: "Yeah... So then we were stuck because my father had his telepaths implant a false personality in her and several threats later I had no choice but to agree to go along with the charade..." He put his face in his hands, "And then it got even worse. My father caught wind of some people coming to break into the labs so... he moved the whole operation across the country.... And left Mayhem behind."

Pietro: He lifted his head, "I had no idea he'd done that until we got to LA... when I found out, I was furious with him but what could I do? Still had that damned chip in the back of my head so I couldn't go running back there to let him out." He sighed, "So then there was just me, Emma, a Hepzibah that was well and truely broken and my father."

Christopher: "D-damn.... That really fucking sucks....." Chris rubbed his knee slowly. "So what happened to Mayhem then?"

Pietro: "Well fortunately, it turned out the warnings were about people from here breaking in... so May got rescued and brought back here." Pietro looked out of the window again, "Not entirely in one piece but there are worse ways to be." He ran a hand through his hair, "LA was... weird... He told people that Hepzibah was his ward - daughter of an old friend... told her she'd been in an accident... I went along with it... but I wasn't happy about it."

Pietro: He looked at Chris again, "I'm not proud of what I did, Chris... And a lot of people are really mad at me for it... At the time it all just seemed so hopeless and, looking back, it was just... selfish."

Christopher: "Yeah I can see why they'd be mad. Are you atleast sorry for it? I mean really sorry not 'oh damn I fucked up' sorry." He looked Pietro square in the eyes.

Pietro: Pietro met his gaze, "I've never been more sorry for anything in my life."

Christopher: "Then I won't hold anything against you. It's not like I can try to change the past, as far as I know no one can." He held out his hand for Pietro to take. "Still pretty glad to have you as a friend man." He smiled a little.

Pietro: Pietro smiled back and, hesitating briefly, took his hand to shake. "Thank you, Chris."

Christopher: "So what do you have planned for summer man? I'm gonna try and go diving at a bunch of coral reefs." He leaned back in the chair getting comfortable.

Pietro: "Going to Europe with Emma and my Mom." He relaxed a little now, "Actually really looking forward to it... It'll be nice to spend some time with them."

Christopher: "Awesome I've only been over there once. Didn't like it much - waters over there are waaaaay too cold. I like Australia a lot cuz of the Great Barrier reef." He hoped he could get the trip back again.

Pietro: "Yeah... my parents families are from there so Mom offered to show me where and we figured we may as well do the tourist stuff too... And Emma's practically family so it didn't seem right not to invite her." He sighed, "Only way it could be better is if we had Sophie with us... but I'm sure she'll turn up..."

Christopher: "Cool, cool, I hope you guys have lots of fun. Take me some interesting pictures dude so I can see the cool stuff." He grabbed his iTouch from out of his pocket and flipped to his pictures and handed it over to Pietro. "Those are from my last scuba diving outing."

Pietro: He looked through them, "Nice... okay I'll try to take some pictures... if I can wrestle the camera from my mom - she's obsessed with taking pictures of everything." He passed the iTouch back.

Christopher: "Yeah I know how that is. My mom's like that too but she's afraid to go under water with me." He laughed a little bit then played around with his iTouch.

Pietro: "I think I can distract her with something shiny for long enough though..." He grinned, "But even if I don't I'm sure she'll take plenty of pictures - bound to be something in all of that you can look at."

Christopher: He laughed a little. "Need to borrow a wallet chain or something." He set the iTouch down and showed off the one he was wearing. "They're usually pretty shiny."

Pietro: Pietro laughed, "Oh no, no where near shiny enough... I just point her at a jewelry store.... and send Emma with her to keep an eye on her."

Christopher: "Oh well I don't buy jewelry for women until atleast the second date so sorry man can't help out there. Plus no offense but I'm sure she's a bit too old for me." He started leaning the chair back so the front feet were in the air breifly.

Pietro: Pietro grinned, "Oh you're okay there.... technically she's still married to my father." He shook his head, "And I know what I'd get her anyway if I bought her anything... Emma not so much, she's hard to buy for." He frowned.

Christopher: "Hmm that sucks. Yeah I'm not too good on the buying presents for people. I tend to make something to find something." He almost fell on his back but caught himself.

Pietro: "Careful there!" Pietro held back a laugh, "And I've made so many things already for Emma I think it'd be a nice change for her to get something that's worth something..."

Christopher: "I can understand that." He let the chair fall back onto the floor so that he didn't fall.

Pietro: "Yeah... but anyway, maybe the solution will present itself..." He gave him a small shrug then checked his watch, "Oh... I skipped lunch again. This is becoming a bad habit...."

Christopher: "That's not good. You should hit the kitchen. I think I'm going to go back to my room and think about how to clear some things up." He gave him a little wave as he stood up to leave.

Pietro: "Yeah... think I better..." He got to his feet, "And thanks for giving me a chance to explain... If you want a more detailed account, just ask..." He picked up his book.

Christopher: "Not really. Take care man, have a good summer." He got up and headed for the door.

Pietro: "You too, Chris..." he waved and decided to give the guy a few seconds head start so get could run away if he wanted to. He sighed, at least one person had the decency to let him explain himself. That was very reassuring.

[stjohn]

lol, wow Chris is gullible... And he thought Hec was hard on him before... Consortin with the enemy! lol.

But no really... Would Chris like to buy some ocean front property Hec owns in Arizona? Got some nice diving areas, and a beautiful reef...

[Edited on 9/5/10 by stjohn]

[Raven Hare]

Glad to see Pietro is sorry for everything. It's a start. But Chris still doesn't know the half of it! Like, how Hepz's memories got erased, or that Pietro took Hepz for his woman when they were in California. And to add to the messed-up-ness of it all - put a pic of Hepz next to a pic of Pietro's mom.


Might help Chris understand why Hepz can't be around Pietro and why Hector hates him so much. ><