Hanging around

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro nodded one again. His own adolescence had been filled with such humilation that it had helped to mold him into the man he was now. Not that he shared it with many, save those who had been there for it in the first place, and even then he tried not to speak of it. Those had been abysmal years.:: "It's been said that teenagers are the lowliest of God's creatures."

[Shade]

Shade couldn´t hold back a chuckle. "And there I thought they were a lot more complex than that. More than quite some adults." she said. Teenagers were constantly thinking about things that, as one only came to know later, were not worth considering. It made this time so difficult compared to earlier and later.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"Given the opportunity, would you be one a second time?" ::Pietro challenged. No matter how terrible this past month had been, there was no temptation great enough to make him yearn for adolescence.::

[Shade]

For the first time ever while talking to him, Shade smiled slightly. "Difficult to say." she said. "Most of the memories I have about it are good ones so being 15 or something again doesn´t sound bad." Some minor difficulties with her choice of friends after her mutation had triggered but apart from that it had been mostly a good time. "but right now? No." She shook her head. "I´m rather happy with my life right now."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro knew that she had not replied that way simply to contradict him, yet it was difficult to imagine pleasant memories at that age. He had so few, and although he resented Magneto for ruining his childhood, knew that part of the resentment was because it did not have to be that way, he was incapable at this stage of cross-applying what should have been to others' actual experiences.

Until this month, life had been far better than his adolescence. Even with the hopeless unrequited love, it had been far better. Now, however, the constant paranoia had returned, just as when he had been a child. He was older now, and he never believed in silver linings, and so he considered it an unfortunate par for the course.:: "There is something to be said for adulthood."

[Shade]

Shade wasn´t completely sure what he meant. Was he referring to some experiences of his own? Was he agreeing with her? "What do you mean?" she asked.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"It is better than childhood," ::Pietro explained. He had little else to say on the subject of adulthod; it simply was. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders because of it, but he still preferred it to his misguided youth.::

[Shade]

"Ah." Shade gave back. Well, depends on the childhood, she thought to herself but didn´t say it. If Pietro said such a thing that spoke volumes about the childhood he had had. "So that would mean you see at least a tiny bit of good in your life now." she said. Loophole, she thought with an inward grin. "Thinking being an adult is better than a kid and all that. That means your life´s better now than it was."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro had never argued that his life as it was now was not an improvement. If nothing else, he and Wanda were no longer under Magneto's thumb. No longer that naive child, he had greater concerns now, such as keeping his loved ones safe. The stakes were greater in this fight for survival, than they had ever been in childhood, but unlike in those younger years, he was able to fight back. He had learned those lessons well; hope and optimism had been beaten from him. Bitterness and resignation were his world views now.

She did not understand that, of course. She was too bubbly, too optimistic, and whatever her allegiances, she was friendly with the one who ran the Brotherhood in Magneto's stead. He doubted she would believe the stories he had to tell. Still he could not help the comment; it was out before he could reign in his voice.:: "Anything is better than being treated as dirt beneath a man's fingertips for years."

[Shade]

Again, now even more so, his words sounded utterly bitter. A tiny part of Shade´s mind was scowling at this by now since from her experience only people who were really bitter - others might get sarcastic at this point which would have been a sign for her to see a way to pull that person out of his or her bitterness - saw no hope, not the faintest, and were hardly to help. Still, another part of her wondered what had brought about such bitterness and that part made her feel some reluctant compassion.

"I´m sorry." she said, looking at Pietro again, her eyes telling she meant it, but also telling that the feeling sorry related to whatever memories he hinted at. She did not feel sorry for her own words.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro did not utter "I'm sorry" idly, and tended to assume that others did not either. Be it an apology or an expression of sympathy, he knew she meant it. Thinking of his talk with Wanda in the kitchen, he decided that he needed to stop having these strolls into past memory. They did nothing for him and only served to draw others into that bleakness. There were pressing concerns than that, such as the fact that if they did not take action soon, there would be Hell to pay. He shrugged slightly, his eyes became sharper, the dullness of memory seemingly burned from them in an instant.:: "We all have demons to make peace with."

[Shade]

"We do." Shade said. His demons were without question different from hers, she could not judge what they were. His utterance sounded as if he tried to force himself off that track of thought. She knew that sort of dealing with issues. Distract yourself. Think of something else.
She looked at her feet for a moment, thinking. There was seemingly nothing she could say to change Pietro´s outlook on things, because there was nothing that could change whatever past lay behind him.

"Just a few days ago." she said after a moment of silence. "someone told me something. Some things happen and we get caught in them like in a current. The current affects us, but we are the current for others." She shot Pietro a glance. "I think with some currents all we can do is accept them and swim."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro was not one for metaphor, but he understood the meaning of the analogy and nodded slightly. Sometimes all that could be done was the fight the battle, because there was no alternative. You fight or you die, you swim or you drown.:: "With some of them."

[Shade]

"Some, yes." Shade said, noticing belatedly that telling him that metaphor had been another step forward, one she had made. That metaphor had come at a point for her where she had needed someone to lean on, in a moment where she had been completely vulnerable. Pietro could not connect her words to her vulnerability a few nights ago of course, still she had opened up a little more with sharing that quote. Part of her grumbled at that.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro simply nodded. They seemed to have come to an impasse in the conversation, where their two different outlooks converged on a small issue before branching off again. Perhaps she had troubles also, and had taken comfort in that metaphor. He would not ask; her troubles were not his business, and he doubted she wanted to share them.::