to die would be an awfully big adventure

“I, no, of course not,” she responded. She knew right after she had said that to him that it was stupid. Sometimes she couldn’t control what she said, and it just happened without her noticing it. “Nice to meet you, Peter,” she said, smiling.

Peter grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, cracking his most charming smile. He was mostly kidding, but if Anna bought into it, then so would he. “Enchante, mademoiselle. Pleased to make your accquaintance,”

Anna struggled to wipe the dorky smile off her face, but she wanted to seem cool, so she had to keep it together. She let out a chuckle. “Close,” she said. “Anna. What about you? Caesar? Wait what…” She had absolutely no idea where that came from, or why her brain let it come out her mouth.

Peter raised his eyebrows, confused. “Caesar? Like the Roman general or whatever the fuck he was? Do I scream dictator to you or something?” And so what if he was? He treated his Lost Boys fairly. It wasn’t like he was doing any real harm. “My name’s Peter Pan, but it’s Peter to you,”

The brunet didn’t supress his chuckle. it was to be noted, however, that it wasn’t a malicious laughter, but rather, a hint of amusement and surprise sparked by the other’s words. “ you think so ? ” norman dared to ask, unsure as to what to make of the adjective ‘cute’. he didn’t think the other was intending to be rude (and so far, he had not) so norman would lower his guard for now. the young man’s gaze lifted and met peter’s, just in time to perceive the other’s wink. an eyebrow rose in return “ more interesting things… like what ? you’re not talking about… well, clubbing and partying, right ? ”

Peter rolled his eyes and it turned into a chuckle. So naive. God, people around here needed to get out more. “Actually, I was hitting on you, but clubbing works too,” he took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder, not worrying about the other’s reaction to this. “You know any cool places?”

Anna chuckled, blushing slightly. She didn’t usually have conversations like this, but she decided to ignore any thoughts that doubted his sincerity, and just trust him. “I don’t know. Are you good at sitting for a long time?” That was a stupid question. “But I should warn you, we’re right under a vent and it’s kind of cold.”

“If I get to sit across someone as pretty as you, then I think I’ll be fine,” said Peter, leaning back in his chair. He was always good at talking to women back home. Even though he wasn’t the type to do long term things - unless it meant friendships with fairies, especially Tink - he was smart enough to know how women worked, or at least the women back in Chicago. “So what’s your name then, love? Let me guess - Angel?”

Brandon raised a brow at the stranger and crossed one leg over the other,”So you want me to be your pet?” He laughed out loud thinking this surely must be a joke. When he watches the boy’s expression for a few moments he realized he wasn’t kidding and his eyes widened slightly,”Wait, you’re serious?” He sat up a bit and uncrossed his legs,”Listen, I don’t really know what you’re trying to do here man but uh, I’m not into..I’m straight?” He told the other but it ended sounding more like a question than a statement.

Peter didn’t know if he’d ever laughed so loud in all of his life. “A pet? No, no. Well, maybe. I don’t know. I never really put much thought into it,” Back home in Chicago, the boys had followed his command without so much as a complaint. He wondered now if there had in fact been something to complain about . . . but then again, they got to hang around with the great Peter Pan! And who could ever have a problem with that? “Well, if you’re straight then we don’t even need to talk,” Peter faked getting up but then sat back down and giggled at himself. “Nah, I don’t sleep with my boys. That’s what mermaids are for. Or mermen. Or merpeople. Whatever you’re into, I suppose. My boys are my friends.”

Brandon couldn’t help but laugh along with the boy, he was just so out there. It was kind of refreshing in a way. “I can’t tell you you’re wrong there.” He teased him at his first comment, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He blushed deeply at his compliment and cleared his throat a bit,”Th-Thanks. Lost boy? Wh-What’s a lost boy?” He stammered with a slight tilt to his head in curiosity. He wasn’t used to being compliment so boldly and it was a bit shocking. He couldn’t say he minded it though.

It wasn’t uncommon for Peter to forget himself and forget that not everyone spoke the same language as him. It got old explaining it over and over, but that certainly didn’t mean that he’d ever stop speaking the way that he did. “They’re my boys. Boys without a home or a place to go or a care in the world,” Peter exaggerated his explanations with his hands. “We have no rules ever - except to never grow up and to do what Peter tells you. I’m Peter by the way, Peter Pan,”

Anna didn’t usually go to libraries, but she figured she would try something different. When she walked in she was surprised by how silent it was. Just like home, she thought to herself. Continuing further, she noticed an almost full table, with one empty seat. It was a perfect opportunity to introduce herself to a large group. Inhaling a deep breath, she started towards the table, but just as she got there, the person who had apparently been sitting there came back. Anna stumbled back a bit and moved away from the group, reexamining the space. Her eye went to another group across the library with a similar setup. 

“Hey, um, do you mind if I take this seat?” she asked. ‘Sure,’ Anna sat down ‘but we were just leaving.’ That seemed about right. Maybe this wasn’t the best plan. As she picked her bag back up, and was preparing to just leave, someone leaned in front of her, startling her a little. She slowly moved her eyes up to meet the other person’s, then looked behind her at the same speed, just to double check that the boy was talking to her. She had been burned before.

“Uh, no. I mean, yes. Well, no I don’t mind, yes you can sit here, and… no comment on that lonely thing.”

A nervous one. Perfect, Peter thought to himself. She’d make a good fairy - maybe a good mermaid if she didn’t have obvious self esteem problems. Still, he could work with lonely. “Aw, how could a pretty thing like you ever be lonely?” he asked in his most charming voice. Peter himself was pretty lonely, so he really wasn’t one to talk. It wasn’t like he would ever admit such a thing, though, especially when he had his Lost Boys back home and Tink. “Anything I can do to help?”

Brandon knew when he arrived that despite being given access to a beautiful home with all of the things he could ever need, he still needed to work his ass off to make any sort of progress. He had been studying about the nervous system when suddenly someone was leaning over his table and talking to him. He blinked a little at the stranger in surprise before nodding a little,”I..I guess? Um. Have a seat.” He stammered, he had been so lost in his reading he forgot that he was even in a public area. He cleared his throat a bit to gather himself and smiled kindly at the other in that friendly way he had always been taught. “I’m Brandon. And you’re..bold?” He teased with a raised brow in his direction, closing the book in front of him shut.

Peter took his seat, resting his head in his hands and raising his eyebrows at the boy in front of him, trying to get a read on him. “Bold is one of my better qualities. Then again, all of my qualities are better qualities,” he laughed at himself - the loud one that usually burst out of him, even when things weren’t particularly funny. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re good looking, Brandon? Good looking enough to be a Lost Boy, I think. What do you say to that?”

Laid open in such way that they had already conquered most of the table’s surface, the books ranged from ronson’s “so you’ve been publicly shamed” to broughton’s “parapsychology: the controversial science” bared their insides with pride. the young man’s eyes moved swiftly across the ink engraved on them, making a note or two shall his eyes were to spot something useful. his leg was just starting to become invaded by the fearsome pins and needles, which made him shift in his seat. perhaps he needed a break – he’d lost track of time he’d spent here, but the urge to use his time + the compounds resources wisely kept him from leaving.

     he hadn’t noticed the other approaching ( not that he was startled. that never happened, after all ) but he did find himself quickly lifting his gaze & fixing it on them. “ oh, uhm —- ” coming off as lonely didn’t bother him; it was, after all, intentional loneliness. the brunet hesitated ever so slightly before answering, but he ultimately nodded. he’d choose his own company over anyone else’s anytime, but he didn’t want to be… well, a prick. “ sure, yeah. feel free to sit wherever you like. ”  after that, he made an effort to clear some space, closing a couple of books he was not using and laying them to the side. “ s'ry for the mess —- hope it’s not too much of a bother. ”

Peter had to physically stop himself from knocking the pile of books off of the table. Books were so boring - how could anyone bother with more than one at a time? If Peter read people as well as he pretended to, he would’ve picked up that the boy clearly had no interest in his company, but in Peter’s world, everyone wanted to be around him all the time. And why wouldn’t they? He was the best there ever was! “It’s cute how into the whole reading thing you are,” he said, shrugging. “But I’m sure there’s lots more interesting things that you can do with your time,” Peter winked.

Edwin sat at a table slouched over his open textbook with his notebook next to him. He didn’t really want to study but he thought he should at least give it a try. In his notebook, he started to doodle a little while skimming through his textbook. All he wanted to do was to go back to his room and take a nap. Soon  his “studying” had turned into just daydreaming and unconsciously doodling random lines and letters all over his notebook. Just as he was starting to get away from his dreaming and was thinking about going back to his room, he noticed someone standing in front of him, “Oh- oh no, of course not, go ahead.” Edwin perked up and motioned toward the chair in front of him. 

Peter immediately obliged and sat down, kicking his feet up on the desk. He crossed his hands on his chest and stared at the boy in front of him, trying to take him in and decipher how exactly he was going to get what he wanted out of him. He was clearly shy, so perhaps his usual strong approach wasn’t the best choice. “You need any help with your studying?” Peter asked, even though he had absolutely no interest in it. “I’ve been told I’m a pretty great helper by loads of people.”