I— [ he starts and then he catches himself, expression pulling into a brief, bemused frown.
he'd mentioned the wedding, hadn't he? or the total failure of. and then he'd mentioned gwen, but he hadn't mentioned names. did quentin think mj was dead? he doesn't think he'd been very clear about it, which had been fine at the time, because he didn't think the matter of names was going to end up at all relevant. he didn't think the specifics of who he'd imagined marrying and who he'd end up proposing to would matter at any point.
and on the one hand, he's glad he hadn't mentioned names, because now gwen's here and boy, would that be a story and a half to try and explain. "alternate version of my dead girlfriend, yes. ...yes, it's a little bit weird but don't worry, they're not similar enough that it causes issues, also age gaps aren't really—."
(he takes the opal then, and oh. then. or that? he's not sure. he remembers it — it was before he'd made one of the worst decisions of his life, before he'd taken his mask off on national tv and told the world that peter parker was spider-man. before aunt may had been shot and before he'd had to plead with doctor strange to help.
before everything went wrong.
sometimes he can't believe it's taken this long for things to start feeling right again.)
"she's not dead, by the way." is what he half thinks of saying, but instead what he manages is: ] Oh. [ a longer pause, then punctuated by a smile, quick and fond and wistful whilst quentin's words register: she seems nice. ] Yeah. She's one of the best people I've ever met. [ another breath of a pause, and peter splays his hands. then, he shifts his weight and seems momentarily unsure of what he wants to say next. ]
You know, [ he admits, ] I've tried not to talk about her too much to anyone in Beacon — because if I talk about her, I have to think about the fact that I'm not at home and I don't know what's happening.
[ a beat and peter huffs a breath that's almost a laugh. ] And I know how it sounds: oh, yeah, I've totally got a girlfriend. You wouldn't know her, she lives in another universe.
no subject
he'd mentioned the wedding, hadn't he? or the total failure of. and then he'd mentioned gwen, but he hadn't mentioned names. did quentin think mj was dead? he doesn't think he'd been very clear about it, which had been fine at the time, because he didn't think the matter of names was going to end up at all relevant. he didn't think the specifics of who he'd imagined marrying and who he'd end up proposing to would matter at any point.
and on the one hand, he's glad he hadn't mentioned names, because now gwen's here and boy, would that be a story and a half to try and explain. "alternate version of my dead girlfriend, yes. ...yes, it's a little bit weird but don't worry, they're not similar enough that it causes issues, also age gaps aren't really—."
(he takes the opal then, and oh. then. or that? he's not sure. he remembers it — it was before he'd made one of the worst decisions of his life, before he'd taken his mask off on national tv and told the world that peter parker was spider-man. before aunt may had been shot and before he'd had to plead with doctor strange to help.
before everything went wrong.
sometimes he can't believe it's taken this long for things to start feeling right again.)
"she's not dead, by the way." is what he half thinks of saying, but instead what he manages is: ] Oh. [ a longer pause, then punctuated by a smile, quick and fond and wistful whilst quentin's words register: she seems nice. ] Yeah. She's one of the best people I've ever met. [ another breath of a pause, and peter splays his hands. then, he shifts his weight and seems momentarily unsure of what he wants to say next. ]
You know, [ he admits, ] I've tried not to talk about her too much to anyone in Beacon — because if I talk about her, I have to think about the fact that I'm not at home and I don't know what's happening.
[ a beat and peter huffs a breath that's almost a laugh. ] And I know how it sounds: oh, yeah, I've totally got a girlfriend. You wouldn't know her, she lives in another universe.