[ The smile that she finally manages is genuine, too, but mostly it's from the sense of relief that washes over her when he cracks a joke. That's more like it, she thinks, and her lips part as though she's about to respond, but nothing quite comes out yet.
Because she wants to correct him, maybe say, That's a massive understatement, love, but she decides not to. It's obvious enough, after all that she's said, that the way she feels about him is something much stronger than just "liking," (even though she's fairly certain Peter wouldn't know to call that love) and she hopes that much is at least clear.
It takes her a short moment to finally come up with a response, but when she does, she can't help but deliver it with a brighter smile than before. ]
"It's just a silly phase I'm going through."
[ She knows he'll pick up on the reference right away, though if he doesn't, it would be that much more a testament to her, to how scrambled running with the Ravagers has made him.
There had been a night she spent on the Milano with him, quite some time ago--before all this happened--when Kasumi had another one of her restless bouts. But instead of waking Peter up, she took his Walkman and slipped his headphones on, and just laid beside him, listening to Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and watching his chest rise and fall with every sleeping breath, reaching over and gently running her fingers through his hair in an act of affection and comfort whenever his face would shift in his sleep, presumably from another one of his bad dreams. She memorized the track list, that night, and eventually drifted back to sleep facing Peter with the headphones still on, one hand clutching the Walkman tightly and the other holding onto Peter's arm. Sure, she might have gotten crap from him come morning when he saw her like that, but she didn't regret it.
She especially doesn't regret it, now, because there were plenty of difficult nights in the last few months. She had a hard enough time sleeping regularly, much less so when the nights came where her imagination would run wild. She would remember seeing Peter's bruised and bloodied face for the first time, remember how he begged her to leave, and imagine all the shit he must have been going through.
Those were the nights she'd put on her very own copy of Awesome Mix Vol. 1 that she'd put together on her private terminal, and let the songs and the memories of the nicer times with Peter carry her into slumber. She's always been weak against memories, after all. ]
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Because she wants to correct him, maybe say, That's a massive understatement, love, but she decides not to. It's obvious enough, after all that she's said, that the way she feels about him is something much stronger than just "liking," (even though she's fairly certain Peter wouldn't know to call that love) and she hopes that much is at least clear.
It takes her a short moment to finally come up with a response, but when she does, she can't help but deliver it with a brighter smile than before. ]
"It's just a silly phase I'm going through."
[ She knows he'll pick up on the reference right away, though if he doesn't, it would be that much more a testament to her, to how scrambled running with the Ravagers has made him.
There had been a night she spent on the Milano with him, quite some time ago--before all this happened--when Kasumi had another one of her restless bouts. But instead of waking Peter up, she took his Walkman and slipped his headphones on, and just laid beside him, listening to Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and watching his chest rise and fall with every sleeping breath, reaching over and gently running her fingers through his hair in an act of affection and comfort whenever his face would shift in his sleep, presumably from another one of his bad dreams. She memorized the track list, that night, and eventually drifted back to sleep facing Peter with the headphones still on, one hand clutching the Walkman tightly and the other holding onto Peter's arm. Sure, she might have gotten crap from him come morning when he saw her like that, but she didn't regret it.
She especially doesn't regret it, now, because there were plenty of difficult nights in the last few months. She had a hard enough time sleeping regularly, much less so when the nights came where her imagination would run wild. She would remember seeing Peter's bruised and bloodied face for the first time, remember how he begged her to leave, and imagine all the shit he must have been going through.
Those were the nights she'd put on her very own copy of Awesome Mix Vol. 1 that she'd put together on her private terminal, and let the songs and the memories of the nicer times with Peter carry her into slumber. She's always been weak against memories, after all. ]