text / anonymous / encrypted

[unmasking]

[There are some things you can't run from. For Peter, he's been trying to run, but things keep coming up, keep reminding him. He went a good month of pretending that he was just a normal guy who made it out of his world alive. It was a good lie. Even for those people who knew him as Spider-Man, no one needed to know that his final moments in his life were spent saving Aunt May. They didn't need to know that he had given his all and that he was actually happy with what he managed.

But there's dying. And then there's finding out you aren't dead. There's finding out that you have a whole new life, and that somewhere, in another dimension, a "you" managed to grow up. Sue knew him. Bucky knew him. Even that grumpy Nathan guy knew a Spider-Man. And for all that, he's been trying to make it less obvious that he's surprised that he grew up. It's been hard, and he knows it'll continue.

It has to, after all. With great power and all that, and this world has bigger problems than his.

But still, he sets out to ask this question, because he knows it's better to ask now than later. He had to be careful about what thing he said to Charlie that one day. When he phrases his question, he rereads it a couple times, taking out anything that sounds too much like him. The last thing Peter needs is someone tracing it back to him.

He's not ready for those conversations.]

I've got a question, but first, please don't try to trace this back to me. If you've already done that and broken my encryption, let's just pretend you didn't. [Also, you're a jerk, but he had to cut that part out. Too ... him.]

What happens if you died before you came here? What's left for me after this all ends? Before you ask, yeah, I definitely died.

I just thought I'd ask.

Comments

[unmasking]

[That's ... worrisome.]

And she was in the same also-dead boat?

[wilder]

Yeah, she was.

[unmasking]

Then I'll start keeping track of the time, just in case.

Though that'd be odd if they were trying to keep that much control over us.

[wilder]

It would be odd, yeah. It could've been just a coincidence.

Still...they're the ones with the tech that brought us back. Treading lightly can't help but seem like a wise choice.

[unmasking]

I'm thinking I have to talk to them myself. See what's going on there. Why would it be bad for people to want to stick around the world they just saved?

[wilder]

Go ahead and try. And I got no idea. Maybe it's some rule of time travel or whatever. I'm not an expert, just a dead guy.

[unmasking]

You aren't invested in knowing the answers?

[wilder]

Me?

Well...I can't say I'm not curious, but-

I dunno. Whatever will be, will be. I doubt I'll have that much control over what happens, so I rather just not fret about it all the time.

[unmasking]

Yeah, I'd say I have a natural curiosity normally.

[wilder]

That so, huh?

Well I'd point out that old proverb about curiosity killing the dog, buuuut it's probably a little late for that.

[unmasking]

It's the dog where you come from? ... Guess that makes sense. Cats are probably quick enough normally.

[wilder]

Oh....is it supposed to be cat?

[no Peter, he just got it wrong]

Well...yeah! Dogs seem to be dumber than cats anyway.

[unmasking]

Right, generally, or that's the stereotype. They're both capable of being smart. I guess.