she sucks her bottom lip in between her teeth as he spoke. for once—she can tell he wasn’t lying, and she appreciates it. more than anything, really. she didn’t want to have to tell him he couldn’t stay over any longer. she’d be lying if she said she isn’t growing attached to him. it’s not the sex. the sex IS nice—but their personalities click. she enjoys his company.

                    ‘ first of all, everything about me is weird. i’m weird as shit, you should be fully aware. i’m really sorry about your parents, though. ’ she pauses for a bit. the good thing with mia is there’s no need for in depth conversations about feelings and such. ‘ well… you can stay here, then. and it’s a good thing, because this would have gone to waste? ’ she says before her arm is stretching all of the way across the room to grab something off the tv stand. her arm snaps back and she’s giving him a sheepish smile. well, if he knows, there’s no need in forcing herself not to be lazy.

                   ‘ it’s not really a big deal, but i finally transferred all of the music on to my phone. so i don’t have a use for it. i wiped it and put all of those songs you have on those two cassettes on it and then other music from the seventies, eighties, and nineties i thought you might like? i don’t know, i figured an ipod could come in handy when you run out of batteries for your walkman or something. or when it breaks. seriously, i don’t know how it still works. ’

               “ i’m kinda past the point of people feelin’ sorry for me. “

          apologies tend to climb down his throat every time he mentions his mother. sympathies started out welcomed, even a bit desired back when he was young & impressionable. hearing those same, tired words for so long have really diluted their meaning for him. repetition becomes pattern, which then transforms into tradition & courtesy. it’s come to the point where peter isn’t sure what kind of response he would like whenever the topic of his parents come up. anything to break the monotony, really. shatter expectations to reveal something genuine, instead of the norm. 

          once she brings him the device, quill chuckles – the gesture has substantial meaning, but he wants to make something clear for her now. to avoid any misconceptions, if not anything else. “ mia – “ a hand runs down his face as he tries to hold back the bubbly chuckles, “ i hope you don’t think i’m, like, COMPLETELY out of touch with technology. “ now that he’s likely being monitored in some capacity, maybe even by mia herself, he can’t really go with what he wanted to initially say. 

          explaining that he works with advanced technology on a daily basis might raise a few unwanted questions. “ thanks, though. “ peter says with unconcealed sincerity in his voice. “ to solve your mystery about my walkman, i’ve taken extremely good care of it. taken it to the right people when it needed fixin’, too. can’t put a price on some things, you know? “