Title: Time Between (oneshot drabble-ish)
Author: runningondreams
Characters/Pairings: Peter and Claude, not romance.
Rating: PG-13 for language, just to be safe.
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Godsend up to (but not including) Unexpected.
Summary: Peter has a question, and Claude has a snarky response. He always does.

sss

"Where are you from?"

Claude boosted himself up on one elbow to stare incredulously at his dark-haired companion.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked where you're-"

"I bloody well heard you, I'm not deaf. What I can't understand is why you asked."

Peter shrugged, staring out at the city spread below them in an effort to avoid the other man's eyes.

"Just curious."

A throaty chuckle sent shivers down his spine.

"You know it's not just cats that curiosity kills."

The empath turned towards his mentor in disbelief.

"That is so cliché, I can't believe you just said that! You!"

"Just because it's cliché doesn't mean it isn't true. Besides, you're the one that started in on 'generic icebreakers for the brainless'."

"I just wanted to know where you're from!"

"And what kind of boring information is that? What's it supposed to tell you, the kind of person I am? The kind of childhood I had? I haven't been there in over twenty years so I can't imagine it's all that important."

The invisible man lay back on the roof in dismissal, obviously considering the issue closed.

Peter hesitated, brushing his hair back nervously.

"Well, tell me about your family then."

"I don't see why it matters."

"You seem to know everything about my family, it's only fair you tell me about yours."

He could almost hear Claude rolling his eyes.

"And I keep telling you, fair's got nothing to do with it. The world doesn't care about fair, it cares about itself. That's it. The end."

Peter held his breath- if he waited long enough Claude might answer the question anyway.

There was a sigh and he grinned in victory.

"I was born in a little… I think was a hotel, actually, out of- well. Just outside of wedlock. And-"

"Is that a city?"

Peter knew that look- he got it about fifteen times a day, on average. It was Claude' s 'and what planet did you just beam down from' face. He sort of stared out at you from under his eyebrows.

"What?"

He flinched lightly- that tone meant the man thought he was being purposefully stupid.

"Where you were born, is that-"

Claude sat up, scowling.

"No it's not a city you idiot, it's a state of being. Out of wedlock. As in my parents weren't married at the time."

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh.' Just when I think you can't get any more brainless than you already are-"

"It was the way you said it! You said you were born 'just outside of wedlock.' Like- like Nathan was born just outside of Berkely!"

The older man nodded condescendingly.

"Yeah, right, you got confused. Poor baby. You know it really isn't any wonder you can't hold down a girlfriend if you don't even know the common synonyms for marriage. They probably realize that you'd be too shy to propose and they'd have to spell out exactly what they wanted, down to the number of kids and the color of the wallpaper."

"That's not-"

"Fair, I know. But you let people walk all over you in the rest of your life…"

They glowered at each other for a moment before Claude smirked and lay back against the warm concrete. Peter wished he could find a way to shoot lasers out of his eyes the way superman was supposed to. That might make the invisible man take him more seriously.

"Anyway, before I was so inanely interrupted I was telling you about my family, since it's so important to you. My mum didn't get married until about… two months after she gave birth to me, and about a month after that she was pregnant again with my sister Joan. My dad, who was never terribly fond of me-"

"Why? Wasn't he fond of you I mean."

He got another incredulous glare full in the face.

"Are you going to do this all night? 'Cause I can go back to hitting you with whatever's handy anytime. You're the one that wanted to practice controlling your unconscious impulses, which I still think is a load of crap-"

"Sorry! Just, why wasn't he fond of you? I mean, you were his oldest son…"

Claude snorted.

"Just because he married my mum doesn't mean I was 'is son."

Peter stared.

"So, he wasn't your biological father then?"

"Give the man a medal! No. My mum was already pregnant with me when he met her. Never forgave me for that."

"I'm sorry." The younger man studied his hands quietly.

"Not your fault. Childhoods are supposed to be difficult, I think it's a law somewhere. Anyway, after Joan joined the family there was a set of twins, Joseph and Jonathan, and then my youngest sister-"

"Wait,"

Peter almost fell off the roof in surprise when Claude's beard was suddenly inches away from his face.

"What now?!"

"Just.." he climbed off the ledge hurriedly, "Just, if your dad wasn't your real dad and you were born out of wedlock then doesn't that make you a bastard? I mean, literally?"

"Do you have a point?"

He smiled and shrugged lightly.

"Not really, just an observation….. bastard." The last word was little more than a mumble but he still had to dodge a quick swipe at the back of his head.

He ran to the opposite corner, laughing, and turned to find Claude just staring at him from the center of the roof. Even the puzzled, slightly disappointed cast to his mentor's face couldn't extinguish his smile, though he did try to get a little better control of his laughter.

The older man seemed to shake himself after a second, as though coming out of trance.

"Right, that's enough story time for one night. Time to get on with some real work."

"But-"

"Mate, look around. It's almost eleven and I for one would like to get some food before we're stuck dining on re-heated leftovers."

"That Chinese from lunch is still perfectly good-"

A patronizing stare cut him off.

"That's better. C'mon, you can steal us a pizza."

They started towards the fire escape, Peter nearly jogging to keep up with Claude's long strides.

"What? Why do I have to-"

"You've spent all evening tryin' to be visible and failing, now you c'n be invisible on purpose."

"I have not- how would you know anyway? You can see me whether I'm visible or not!"

"Peter, I'm the invisible man, I think I know a bit about my own powers, unlike you."

They took a few steps in silence.

" 'sides, if you were visible you wouldn't've been able to see or hear me and I made sure to do or say something about every five minutes; you reacted every time. Seems to me that you're the one who can't tell whether you're visible or not."

Peter frowned.

"So teach me."

Claude grinned.

"That's what I'm doin' mate. That's what I'm doin'."

fin