Chapter Text
"a little young to be drinking, now, aren't we?"
peter dragged his eyes, with some difficulty, up from the rim of the bottle he was rolling in an uneven circle around and around on the choppy wood of the back table. through hazy vision, he traced the wild plumes of red hair curling around and over the face of a singularly unforgettable person.
he smiled drunkenly, a genuine curl of the lips and flash of pearly teeth. "ms. aurinko," he said, pursing his lips in order to clip his words before they managed to slur out of his reach. "never thought i'd have... the pleasure."
"rest assured, darling, the pleasure is all mine." she paused. "or, by the look of it, all yours."
he set the bottle down. it wobbled a little in his hand. when she spoke again, her voice was softer. "really, now, i'd like to see some form of identification, or else i'm afraid i'll have to ask you to run on home."
his laugh was high and bitter, and rolled thickly from him. "don't have a home," he muttered, dropping his head. eyes cast into the wood grain, he poked at the bottle and snorted when it fell over. his other hand disappeared from the tabletop, reappearing a few seconds later to push a card across the table.
"sylvia regent," buddy read slowly. her eyes skipped across the card. it certainly looked authentic, and with reluctance she dropped it back in front of him. he tilted his head back up to her and smiled, his eyes lolling under a thick fringe of eyelashes. even with a clear layer of makeup and heavy contouring, his movements and eyes were frighteningly young. he laughed at the sound of his name being read aloud, but didn't say anything further.
she hesitated, and decided to push him. "now then, sylvia... do you have anyone looking out for you, as it were?"
he sat up and looked her in the eye. it was almost like he was sober when he said, quite seriously, "i don't need anyone to look out for me." he cocked his head, looking for a moment like a puppy as his teeth flashed again. "sylvia regent can take care of himself, ms. aurinko, and i do."
she left it at that, but that was far from the end of it.