thwipandquip | you know you're gonna be okay

How's this weekend? I've been meaning to visit New Jersey anyway. I can swing by New York afterwards.

Well.
You are very impressive to watch.

I see. I forgot that bugs are an annoyance you need to watch out for. I also hope you're able to stay hydrated during the summer - or is that another perk of being... [ mutant still sounds strange ] a Spiderman?

let me check my calendar.

[three seconds later]

yeah this weekend works. let me pencil you in, even though i'm questioning the need to visit jersey — blegh.
we can grab drinks after, make sure we stay appropriately hydrated since being desiccation proof isn't one of my powers.

I have a close friend who dwells there.

[ dwell is the only proper way to describe the way Bruce lives. ]

I'm looking forward to it. I hope those powers help you keep up with 5000 years of tolerance training.

diana, are you suggesting that you can drink me under the table? what are we? five?

you're on. feel free to bring your jersey friend too if they're free.

[ as expected, Bruce declines when Diana offers - and she doesn't push, figuring one more superhero on his social docket isn't what he needs after months chasing some down and wrangling them all together to work as a team - so when she finds the familiar stretch of vibrant red and blue on a rooftop, she's alone.

only a little care is taken with the heavy way her boots hit the cement in her landing. the shield and sword are noticeably absent tonight, because next to Spiderman's far more straightforward get-up, her armor already feels like it's pushing the boundaries for New York City.

but when she comes to stand beside him, she's quick to greet him with a small, genuine smile. ]

It must be a quiet night. Or did you already get started and finish without me?

[team ups are more of a recent thing for peter too, accustomed to working alone for the most part, so really he's not all that disappointed when he hears just one set of feet drop down upon the roof beside him. one less person to worry about weaving around or while flinging projectiles is a good thing. he grins in return, the eyes and area around the mouth shifting ever so to approximate the movement beneath the mask as he takes in her appearance and the noticable absence of shield and sword.

it has been a quiet night, but things rarely stay that way. in his many years swinging he's learned to expect the unexpected even when the reasons for criminal behavior are pretty standard across the board. as they're alone on this particular rooftop, he lifts the mask, letting the stretchy material sit atop his head as he shrugs his shoulders.]

Helped an old lady not get hit by a car crossing the street with her groceries and rescued a tabby out of a gutter. Nothing big though. Give it a few minutes, I'm sure there'll be something.

So... how were things on the other side of the Hudson?

[ she says nothing about his heroics of the day, although something in her smile softens; saving the world is great and all, but there's always a far more personal connection in the smaller, quieter good deeds that Diana easily prefers. tiny details that make up the whole. ]

Good.

[ her answer comes reflexively, the Diana Prince alter ego easily taking over when fielding these kinds of questions from others. it takes a second for her to backtrack and try again - ]

Not as good as they could be, but we're doing our best. It's been difficult trying to figure out ways to stop a threat we know is coming when all knowledgeable sources are from the beginning of time.

In this regard, I do miss the old days. Helping old ladies and stopping robberies was mostly all I did.

[ like a real 9 to 5 sometimes. ]

And you? Are there any outstanding concerns weighing heavily in your mind?

It sounds like you need a good librarian. Surely, someone left a record behind.

[not that that's him, of course. he's never had the patience to speed read, not in his youth and certainly not now, but if they do figure out this thing, he'll gladly lend a hand, cross the river. deal with new jersey and this mysterious friend of hers who she hasn't so much named but he's pretty sure he knows by reputation.

there's a part of him that hopes for the team up if for no reason other than to needle a man who takes himself a little too seriously with his theming.]

It's sad to think that even thousands of years later people are still doing the same bad things. You'd think we'd have evolved somehow. Then again, if they did, I'd be out of a job.

[and without the security of fighting crime, what would he do? go back to working as a photographer? shut himself in a lab? become a luchador for real? being spider-man is as much a part of him as being peter parker after so long. peter thinks diana must feel a bit that way too.

but to her question, yes, there are things that worry him, have worried him since he'd come back from the most interesting few days in another dimension.]

Yeah, but in a slightly more personal nature. I'm worried about someone. A few someones.

I uh... What do you know about the multiverse theory?

I'm sure. It's just a question of finding them all. Your insight would be appreciated.

[ there's the tedious part - traveling and searching the world for clues for any traces of what the ancient beings might have left behind - but Diana imagines Peter could be a big help once they get their findings back to the cave, to be analyzed and sorted and translated. the more the merrier.

and - the thought of Peter spending time with Alfred and Bruce is rather lovely to think about when they've just become comfortable with opening up their home to others once more, no longer the images of reticent old men solely existing in the comfort of isolation. they are, at their very cores, people trying to help others within the boundaries of mortality, and she knows they'll recognize that same spirit in Peter.

but the gratitude in her smile parks itself in an abrupt cloud of confusion. ]

The multiverse theory?

[ it's the last thing she's expected to hear where concern is ... well, concerned. ]

Isn't that the theory that there are an infinite number of universes that may exist right alongside our own?

Not so much a theory in the colloquial sense and as of not all that long ago leaning more toward the scientific one.

[to say that he loves that he doesn't have to go off on a monologue about the idea, that diana is familiar enough with the concept to be able to casually rattle it off to him is an understatement. it means that when he continues he can focus on what's actually important here: that he's experienced it first-hand and lives to talk about it. peter raises his hands and shrugs. he knows it's weird, but weird things happen to him all the time. he's learned that it's best not to question the why and just accept them as they are and handle the bizarre in a first come first served basis.]

I had the misfortune of being sucked into a portal to another dimension. Not the most pleasant of Tuesdays, but I met a few people who share a certain similar backstory involving radioactive spider powers.

Sadly, I don't have a way back or to verify that they're all okay, hence the worry. [peter knows it's a long shot, but — ] You don't happen to know of any brilliant quantum physicists, do you?

you know you're gonna be okay — open post

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