portalhopping | video;

Ehhh, if you're comfortable with string theory, multidimensional reality, and matter displacement, the only reason not to be able to wrap your head around time jumps is stubbornness. Time is not linear; it never was.

[ Five shrugs a little and then lifts his eyebrows, looking mildly amused. ]

What kind of tips or tricks do you imagine we might have for you, exactly?

[ Peter raises his eyebrows. Wow, what a... precocious tween. ]

Okay, little man. I can be stubborn from time to time. Time not being linear is new to me, though. That's going to take me a minute to process.

[ He shrugs. ]

I don't know. Is there universe travel lag? Is there a version of me from this Earth? Are the majority of people left handed here?

[ Five's lips press together in a thin line. Maybe he should just start holding up a fucking sign that says I'M 58 EVEN THOUGH I LOOK LIKE A KID, ADJUST YOUR TONE ACCORDINGLY or something since it really isn't fair to get irritated with people who talk down to him when they think he's a child, and yet, he does almost every single time. ]

If you can't process time being non-linear then the fact that my consciousness is old enough to be your father even though my body looks young enough to be your kid is really gonna fuck your head up, huh?

Time feels linear to us because that's the direction through which we experience it, if you take a second to think about it from a big picture point of view, it'll make sense.

I'm going to assume you're familiar with the concept of lightyears. If NASA were to, say, receive an image right now as we speak on one of their satellites from a nebula half a galaxy away, that image is a billion years old. It's the same sort of thing, just on a more broad scale. Make sense?

[ He shrugs a little to some of the questions, tone caught somewhere between bored and antagonistic. ]

Travel lag...depends on whether you were dead or alive before you traveled, I think. There very well could be a version of you from this Earth, but his life might be different. I wouldn't recommend looking him up. Time paradox symptoms are a real bitch, so it's best to leave him to his own devices if he's here somewhere. As for the left-handed thing...random and unrelated? You might have to take a poll for that one, kid.

[ Peter raises an eyebrow at the kid’s words. As far as pranks go, this one seems a little elaborate. Plus, considering the last few months, he’s seen his fair share of weird shit. It probably is possible. He makes a small exploding motion with his hand near his head and the sound to go with it. ]

Man. That’s gotta suck. [ He gives Five a sympathetic look.] Also, I don’t have any kids, thank God.

[ He furrows his brow.]

Time paradox symptoms? That’s a thing?

[ Five shrugs a little. ]

There are worse things in the world than having to go through puberty twice. But, yeah, it's not great looking like a teenager when you're creeping up on retirement age. It's also not the worst thing in the world. God knows I wasn't this spry before the miscalculation that put me in this position. Yin meet yang and all that.

[ To the question of the time paradox symptoms, Five nods solemnly. ]

Very much a thing. They can get really bad really quickly, too. Some of them are quite severe, so I don't recommend putting yourself in a position to suffer them.

[ Peter smirks, nodding his head slowly. ] Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it. You seem to have a pretty positive outlook, all things considered. Though the puberty thing? [ He grimaces in sympathy. ]

Well, the thing is, I already have. I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, but as far as I can tell we all got out pretty much unscathed. One of us did get stabbed, but that was by Green Goblin.

[ He pauses. ] He's all right though. He said it wasn't the first time.

Yeah, well, spending almost fifty years in an apocalypse all alone kind of makes it impossible not to see the bright side of a situation. I've seen some shit, let's just put it that way.

[ His eyebrows lift with interest. ]

Fascinating... No itching? Extreme thirst or urination? Paranoia?

Fifty years? How are you sane?

[ Peter shakes his head. ]

No more than usual.

Who said I was?

[ Five considers this for a moment. How is it possible to avoid paradox psychosis in a situation like he's mentioned? ]

How long were you exposed to one another?

[ He huffs, shaking his head. Between fifty years alone and being stuck in a tween's body, he probably isn't. ]

Not long. Maybe twenty-four hours? They were really cool, actually, but totally different from me. More like brothers, really, than other mes.

A few minutes should've done it... Then again...

[ He pauses, considering for a moment. ]

Hmmm. Well, it's only a time paradox if you're with your future or past self, so maybe that's why... Interesting... I would've thought it would've been a little more expansive, but I suppose it's possible...

[ Five's voice trails off and he shakes his head, waving a hand. ]

Never mind. Anyway...

I guess anything's possible at this point.

[ He shrugs nonchalantly, even though the possibility of time travel in his own timeline is kind of mind blowing. If it's possible here, is it possible back home? He'll have to find out as much about it as he can.]

I didn't catch your name, old man.

I suppose so. I'm Number Five. You can call me Five. And yes, that's my real name.

( For a moment, Hermione just sort of...stares at the screen. This makes no sense to her; he's the spitting image of her flatmate. And clever, too. )

You said...Peter was your name?

( She chews her bottom lip, nervous. Hermione can't quite recall whether Harry or anyone mentioned Peter Pettigrew using a polyjuice potion to slip away before settling into his animagi form for over a decade. She supposes if he did, Remus would be a simple enough choice and, if one were to assume that they would never see anyone who might know who they were or what terrible things they'd done, it might make sense for one to take on another wizard's appearance while using their own name. )

Sorry, I'm Hermione. Time travel is a bit complicated, shall we say.

[ Peter grins, completely oblivious to the suspicion and anxiety he's raising. ] Yeah. Peter.

Hi, Hermione. [ He sighs deeply. ] Yeah, tell me about it. Are you one of the frequent time flyers?

( Hermione wrinkles her nose a little without realizing it. )

Right... Hi, Peter.

( She shakes her head. )

I had permission to do it when I was in school, so that I could double my courseload without scheduling conflicts, but I haven't done since then with the exception of arriving here. What year was it for you?

[ Peter’s eyes widen, impressed. ]

Wait. [ He holds up his hand. ] You actually used time travel so that you could take more classes? [ He huffs in appreciation, his eyes narrowing. ] Why didn’t I think of that? Not that I even knew that it was actually possible...

[ He realizes he’s doing that thing where he talks to himself and stops.] It was 2024. Not a big difference, but enough to make me wonder. What year was it where you’re from?

Well...yeah. I needed more of a challenge, I guess. Plus, I wanted to take several electives but they were only offered in the same time slots as some of my required coursework, so I applied for permission.

( It's quite rare that that sort of thing is allowed, especially for a student, so Hermione is rather proud of herself for being approved to use the Time Turner third year, but she doesn't go into much detail on that with this person. "Peter."

Though when he says what year it was for him, her eyes widen a little with surprise. Right, Peter Pettigrew had died in 1998 and, when he had, he'd been significantly older than this man is. It's so strange talking to someone who looks exactly like her flatmate and knowing that it very much isn't him. )

Oh...erm, it was 1998 for me. Where are you from? You sound American, so I gather that much.

So time travel is a normal thing where you're from? Wow, that's crazy. Did you graduate early?

[ He lets out a low whistle. ] 1998. Whoa, that's... a while back. Yeah, I'm American. From Queens, New York. And you sound British. Florida must be a culture shock.

Well...I mean, sort of. In the magical world, it is, in any case. It's illegal if you do it without a permit, but everybody knows about it.

( She looks down, her nose wrinkling slightly, and then looks up again, shrugging. )

I've been here a few years, now, so I'm adjusting. At first, it was really difficult for exactly that reason.

( With a small smile, Hermione nods. )

London, well spotted. It was, yeah. At first. I'm getting used to it. Though, admittedly, the weather is well different, so even years into it, I'm still trying to get used to that bit. Is Queens near the City?

Magical world? Why do I get the impression you don't mean the magical world of Disney? [ He's aware that it was a spell that had caused himself and Peter II as well as some of their adversaries to cross universes, but Peter I hadn't gotten too far into the specifics. ] Is that what you were studying? Spells and other magical things?

[ He nods. ] I get that. I mean, 1998. [ He would've been two. He's pretty sure she doesn't want to hear that. He sighs, moving on. ] Yeah, Queens is one of the boroughs of NYC. I'd say the best one, but I'm a little biased.

Have you ever been to NYC?

Oh, no... Sorry. Maybe it's different here, but that's what we call it. Wizarding world, maybe? I'm still getting used to being able to say it aloud without having the ministry coming for me. ( Her nose wrinkles again and she has the grace to look sheepish. ) Erm, but yeah. And no, I wish I could say I graduated early, but I never actually graduated at all. ...it's a long story. I could've done, though, probably.

( Shaking her head, Hermione smiles a little. )

No, but it looks really lovely in film and I'd love to see it someday. I keep meaning to take the hypermonorail up north to see if I can visit, but I haven't gotten round to it yet. Is it as nice as it looks in the movies?

Yeah, probably. [ He says with a tiny touch of sarcasm. ] You were taking double courses that required permission.

[ He's pretty sure Gwen would've done the same if she'd been allowed. That combined with the fact that he never actually made it to London with her makes his chest ache in an all too familiar way. ]

Uh, yeah, it's great. I highly recommend it. Lots to see, that's for sure. Spectacular views if you're not afraid of heights.

I almost went to England once. Is it like in the movies?

I still would've had to have passed my N.E.W.T.s in seventh year, if I'd had a seventh year. Extra coursework or no, I dunno how I would've done on those exams.

( She catches his sarcasm but returns her own response in a neutral tone because it's true. She's clever and she knows that, but sometimes clever isn't enough on its own. )

...I don't love heights. But it's good to know it's as nice as it looks in the movies. London is about the same, only it rains an awful lot, which they don't show in movies very often. You should definitely go.

( If he didn't look so much like Remus, she might even offer to Apparate him, but the idea of being that close to someone who looks that much like her flatmate for whom she's developed some mildly inappropriate feelings is not very appealing, to say the least. Awkward... )

If you ever do, let me know. There's loads to see, I'll be sure to point you in the right direction.

[ He wants to ask her more about why she didn't finish school, but she'd mentioned that was a long story and possibly not the kind she wanted to get into with a total stranger. Besides, that was years ago. He suspects she's probably moved on. ]

[ He gives her a sad smile and nods. ]

I'll do that. Thanks, Hermione. You'll be the first person I call.

In the meantime, I guess I'd better get to finding this apartment building. I appreciate the welcome.

( Hermione gives him a warm smile and nods. )

Any time. If you're still at the DoDS and you ask, they'll have a car come round and bring you here. Hopefully, you'll make it easily enough. In any case, yeah...welcome to Eglaf, and good luck, Peter.

[ Excuse him as he stares for a moment, blinking, a sinking, sick feeling in his gut. They have the same face, and his first thought goes to something untoward and dark.

Polyjuice? Some cloaking spell? Some dark magic? But it's the name that takes him aback next. Peter. Peter who has his face but a different voice, Peter who speaks of universes and silly things that make no sense. ]

Sorry, you said your name was Peter?

[ Wormtail. But how he got here, he doesn't know. And worse still - what other dark things has he brought. What other dark presences follow him. ]

[ Peter blinks back in return, excitement registering on his face as he squints and stares at the screen in front of him. ]

Whoa, wait, this that some kind of filter?

Yeah, I'm Peter. Who are you?

Filter? No.

[ There's something incredibly serious and distant in his expression, cold and quietly calculating in a way that only Remus Lupin can be. ]

You don't know who I am? [ There's a huff of disbelief but he tries to remain cordial - this is an odd place, after all. ]

Sorry, Peter? Do you have a last name? [ Not worth giving up his own name just yet. ]

Peter Parker. [ He hears a fair amount of caution in his voice. If only because it sounds so much like his own. ] Are you this Earth's Peter Parker?

[ Oh shit. The video opens to a familiar face and a familiar voice, and while Peter himself wants to cry out in joy, it almost gives him pause. If Peter Three is here, then there's questions of the spell back home, questions he'll need to answer by looking at the portal data and confirming so many things, but... ]

Dude! Peter Three? I mean, Peter. Just Peter. It's me - uh. Oh, jeez. It's Peter One. Well, if you're from where I'm from anyway. It's super weird.

[ But it's nice to see him - even if he doesn't know how it all ended up. Still. Familiar face. ]

Peter One!

[ Peter raises his arms over his head in a silent cheer, only realizing a moment later the phone went with him. He brings it down again, smiling wide. ]

Yeah, I know who you are, man! I mean, we did save the world together, right? Yeah, all of this is weird. Yeah, I've been thinking about that. So I'm Peter One where I'm from and you'd be Peter Three there?

Not that I mind being three, I mean two can literally make webs inside his body.

Edited 2022-09-09 21:17 (UTC)

I cannot help myself right now - did you just call one another Peter One and Peter Three?

[Laura chimes in, still in her 911 dispatch polo and with her hair pulled up into a ponytail. There's plenty of amusement written on her face and she's on the cusp of laughing because only in Eglaf, but is just barely restraining the urge.]

Yeah. [ He grins at the camera. ] When three versions of yourself end up in one universe you have to figure out a way to identify each other.

[Laura gives a bit of a nod, amusement still clearly written on her face.] Fari enough - not sure how the hell I would handle that one, but the casual numbering of yourself tickled me.

I'm Laura, by the way. I know nothing about time jumping, for the record, but I'm a lifer here and if you need any tips or pointers I'm happy to help you get your footing while you are here and Peter One or others don't know I'm always around to lend a hand too. Or an ear.

[ He grins and nods in response. ] Nice to meet you, Laura.

Actually, I do have a question. Are the jobs we're assigned written in stone? I somehow ended up working at the DMV and I don't think I'm qualified for that.

You know, emotionally.

Likewise, Peter.... Three.

[Laura bites back a laugh but continues to grin.]

They're not - you don't have to keep the job you're free to turn it down and apply yourself elsewhere or you can request another assignment. If you have any degrees or specializations and you talk to the Office of Displaced Supers they might be able to help you find something in your field too.

Thanks. I'll have to look into that.

I appreciate your help, Laura.

We did, definitely. World saving. Right.

[ it's better not to talk about everything else he's been through, and everything that happened after the other peters went home. so for now? he huffs a little laugh and rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck. ]

Dude, the webs inside his body is still crazy. And kind of gross. But super useful. It's good to see you, man. Really. I can come web and find you - show you around. People are gonna be so weirded about by two of us. Er - sort of us. You know what I mean.

Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, man!

Double Peters means double protection, so I guess it can't be that bad. I'm glad to see you though, I was afraid we'd never get the band back together again. Now we just need Two to show up.

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