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I'm not trying to butt into anyone's business, but I've noticed there are a lot of young people here. [ She sighs and rolls her eyes.] God, that makes me sound ancient in comparison.

[ She shifts in her chair.] Anyway, I've made a few community contacts at the food bank and if anyone is interested in getting their GED, I can get you in touch with the people you need to talk to. Things are a little different here than they were in Queens, but I can help you study for it too.

I can imagine that thinking about the future after showing up here can be difficult, but don't let it hold you back from doing what you want to. Feel free to reach out to me here, or stop by the Food Bank on 4th and Hugo, if you're interested.

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I don't know about all that since I guess we don't remember this place when we go back, or whatever, but do you work at the food bank? Do you guys need volunteers?

( Turns out, Robin actually kind of likes volunteering to help feed people in need. Who knew? )

Edited 2022-08-17 01:03 (UTC)

Oh God, yes. We're always in need of volunteers. I've only been there a few weeks, but it's definitely a struggle finding people who are willing to help out.

I'm May, by the way.

Robin. Nice to meet you.

( She waves a little awkwardly. Are you supposed to wave on video like that? She's still figuring all this technology out. It's kind of wild. )

I was recently doing some volunteer work at a disaster shelter back home and I kind of liked it.

[ May smiles back. ]

Disaster shelter? What happened?

[ She should probably ask if it's okay to ask that first, but curiosity gets the better of her. ]

Oh, there was an earthquake back home. Leveled like half the town.

That definitely falls under the disaster category. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your family was okay.

Mine was, yeah. I can't say the same for some others...

( Robin wishes it were an earthquake. There might actually have been less damage if it had been. )

But yeah, so I was helping out, making PB&Js and stuff.

That's great, sweetie. We can use any help you're willing to give. Stop by and I'll get you started.

Cool. Sounds like a plan. I'll definitely stop by soon.

I can help, too. I mean, if you need it.

[ He shrugs a little, sheepish. It feels strange to think about the fact that he's gotten his GED back in Queens, that he didn't finish high school. But at least he could help here. ]

I have a job at the labs, too, so maybe I could get them to donate some money or... I don't know. What do you think? I could volunteer at the bank with you maybe? If you want.

Hey sweetie, let me know if you want me to tag team this with you! I think between the two of us, we can get them to throw some donation money that way.

I'd love that! I didn't want to rope you in if your plate was already full with work and... other things.

[ She realizes she has no idea if he's Spiderman here or not. ]

Oh, Peter, that would be fantastic. Do you think they would? I can approach them myself, just let me know who I should talk to.

[ He inhales deeply, giving him a bright smile. ]

I'd love for you to volunteer. If you have time. We could bake together, like old times.

( Lydia smiles a little, clearly amused by the comment about the young people and how it makes this woman feel old to say it. )

The city also offers registration assistance if they actually wanted to go to school rather than just tackling the GED. I didn't do it because I had already graduated high school by the time I got here, but I haven't heard any complaints from anyone who went, for whatever it's worth.

That said, I'd be happy to help people study for their GEDs, too, if you end up getting enough takers that you need a little help. I was a work-study tutor for the last two years of high school and basically all the way through college, so while I'm not super familiar with the GED requirements or materials, I know how to get familiar, if I'm needed.

( Then, she pauses and huffs a laugh, realizing she just barreled right into it. )

I'm Lydia, by the way. Sorry, I just went right for it, huh?

Oh, that's good to know. I wasn't sure what kind of programs were in place for the Supers. [
She has, however, noticed the importance people had placed on defining them. She had assumed that they weren't welcome in most places. ] I'm glad there's still a school experience available.

Any help you'd be willing to offer would be fantastic. I'm sure there are those out there that would welcome some help. Thank you, Lydia. I'll let you know if I need a hand.

[ She grins. ] It's okay. I'm May Parker. I think I just went for it too.

They actually have some pretty good programs in place, especially for new Supers. There's the stipend and the government housing, obviously, but they also do the whole thing where they set us up with jobs with local businesses and whatnot. Then there's the school registration for kids, and I guess just the Department of Displaced Supers in general. We've had a few snags around here, but the DoDS has been a huge help ironing things out for and with us, luckily.

( She smiles and nods. )

Oh yeah, absolutely. I actually really liked tutoring when I was doing it and I was a teaching assistant here for a while.

( Her smile falters a little at the memory of how messy all that had ended up. She still misses being a teacher but there's not a school in the district that would hire her after all the bad press. Undeserved bad press, but still.

But then the other woman introduces herself and Lydia's brain puts it together. Her jaw slackens around her surprised grin. )

Oh my God, are you Aunt May?!

( Lydia lights up, her excitement on Peter's behalf palpable even through the screen. It wasn't like Peter talked incessantly about her or anything, but he mentioned her in passing conversations about as often as Lydia mentioned Scott, Stiles, and her mom in passing, so she knows how important that means May is to him. It's kind of cool to be able to put a face to the name finally. Lydia had thought she'd be...older. She looks to be about Lydia's mother's age, give or take, and now that Lydia's put it together, she can kind of see the resemblance. )

That's so cool, Peter must be so pumped that you're here! I don't know why I didn't put that together sooner... How are you settling in?

[May sags a little in over-exaggerated relief.] Okay, that’s good to hear because from what I’ve picked up on in my short time here, there are clearly some people who would rather not support the displaced. But it sounds like the government is actually trying to do as much as they can, so I can appreciate that.

[ She grins at Lydia’s enthusiasm. ] Great! Someone with experience would probably be a lot more helpful than someone who has been out of school for a very small amount of time.

[ Clearly, she’s been out of school for an extensive amount of time, but Lydia seems like the type to go with her joke. Her eyes widen in surprise at Lydia’s question, crinkling up in the corners as she realizes she must know Peter.]

That’s me. I’m not sure if I should be concerned or happy that you’ve heard of me.

[ She sighs.]

It’s been a little difficult, but I think I’m making it work. How do you know Peter?

Oh yeah, you're not wrong. There are definitely some people who still hate us, but...what can you do? Can't please everyone all of the time.

( Lydia shrugs and tries to make light of it so that she doesn't have to think about how humiliating it was to not only be arrested for defending herself but to have her mugshot splashed all over the newspaper and Facebook, then to have to lose her job over it all because the school didn't want the liability. What a nightmare. )

Please, they switched the kids to common core math and I'm a literal genius but that stuff still threw me off, so if I can pick up common core, you can pick up GED requirements.

( She grins, dropping a wink of amusement to acknowledge and play along with the joke. She's got a sense of humor; that's good, she'll do better here if she doesn't take herself and her situation too seriously. Sometimes those people struggle in this town. )

Happy. This Peter and I work together at the lab. The first Peter and I kind of bonded a little over you and my mom; it was just us and the mother-figures in our lives against the world, and all that. This Peter and I sometimes get to chatting about home when work is a little slow or less stimulating. So he's heard all about my mom and my core group of friends and I've heard about you and Ned and MJ.

( She smiles a little. She's heard about Ben, too, but she doesn't say as much, not sure bringing up May's late husband when Lydia's a total stranger would be very tactful. That and she knows very little beyond that Ben was Peter's uncle and he died. Just like Peter knows very little about her dad beyond that he was her dad and he bailed on she and her mom when Lydia needed him the most. Both men departed, but in vastly different ways. )

It takes some adjusting. More for some than others, really. I think I'm one of the handful of people who've been here the longest, since like the first wave of us, or whatever, so I'm getting pretty savvy. If you have any questions or need anything, give me a shout, okay?

I don't even know what common core math is, so you've got me there.

[ She wrinkles her forehead a little. ] What do you mean? There's more than one Peter that's been here?

[ Just when she didn't think there was anything more to wrap her head around. Still, it sounds like Peter's made a good friend, at least. She doesn't think he'd talk about her and the others with just anyone. It's hard to imagine how home sick he might have been, well, before everything.

Though, now, she wonders if he has anything to go back to and that breaks her heart a little. ]

Thank you. I will probably take you up on that offer. I hate having to bother Peter for everything. And I'll keep you updated on helping out with the studying.

It's stupid is what it is.

( Lydia staunchly stands with normal math. Common core is just extra steps for the sake of extra steps. She understands that it's easier for some people and she'd never begrudge them that, but her issue is more along the lines of it seeming silly to her to force children to do math a whole new way if the old way works for them. Why not just let each individual child do math the way that works better for them? The answer is going to come out the same either way.

But alas, there isn't much she can do about it, especially now that she's not teaching anymore. )

Oh...yeah, that happens more often than you'd think... There was another Peter here first and he wasn't here a super long time, but he and I were pretty close. ( Not that she'll say so, but Lydia suspects he might've had a little crush on her. ) then he got sent back through the portal and a little while later, this Peter came through for a while. And now he's back. ...it's...a lot. Kind of confusing until you get used to it. ...actually, even then, it's kind of confusing, if I'm being perfectly honest.

( She gives a soft, self-deprecating laugh at that. Even the genius can't wrap her head around the multiverse. That's still a work in progress, even after all this time. )

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm around. I'm sure he doesn't mind, but I know what you mean, so yeah, any time. I think they pre-program all of our contact information into the devices, so you should have my number in there somewhere. Just shoot me a text any time.

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