expiationlogs | [open] gwen's birthday bash

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[open] gwen's birthday bash

Who: Matt Murdock, Gwen Stacy, and anyone who knows her or just wants to party, tbh
Where: In a cute park!
What: This is a mingle log for Gwen's Birthday Party on May 29! Feel free to tag around.
Warnings: It's just a party! The youths might drink but that's none of Matt's business

[ Strictly speaking, Matt Murdock is not actually Gwen Stacy's friend. He's actually her enemy? Her archvillain? But what the Gwen who is here doesn't know can't hurt her! And Matt has always found her fascinating. So you see, you can plan a party with no ulterior motives, even for someone who got you arrested. And really, if your arch-enemy can't throw you a birthday party, who can?

Unfortunately, without his own criminal empire or Wilson Fisk's war coffers at his disposal, he has to make do with what is actually in his budget. Back in New York, he would've rented out a penthouse. Here, he has settled for a nice park with a couple of rented tables, a balloon arch (in black, white, pink, and teal no relation to spider-woman, don't worry about it), a fun little banner (it says "Hapy Birthday Gwen" instead of "Happy" did he run out of letters? did he do this on purpose? is he even aware?), some food and beverages (he's not the police), some tunes, and a cryptic message on the network Come celebrate Gwen! to tie it all together.

He's done very well, if he does say so himself! Really, it would've been way better if Jerry could have done him one tiny little solid, but it's fine. He adapted. He always does. ]

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Oh, I was going for a metaphor, but weird that it's literal. Must be disappointing for the other heroes.

[ There's a seriousness to her voice but he doesn't match it. The spider-verse, the multiverse, whatever, it's not news to him. He'd had Gwen's portal device for hopping dimensions. He'd been ready to bounce. ]

I was going to try and keep up the charade of not knowing you, but it's so boring. We've already gone through the whole arc, including the climax. Who wants to hear the same story again?

It's very much literal. And still weird, as the spider-hero.

[It was a lot to take in, just how connected they all were. Knowing she wasn't really alone out there, in the different realities. Even in this place, she found another Peter, too. And then there was Matt. The Matt from her world, or a world very similar to hers.]

So, what does that make you to me? My friend? My enemy? [Her future, either way. Nothing he says sounds serious, but it still leaves her a bit on edge.]

Mm, little of column a, little of column b. But we're here for rehabilitation, right? And what happened between me and my Gwen is a thing of the past.

[ Does he look like he cares about rehabilitation? It's hard to say, really. He looks like he cares about being friends, though, considering he threw this entire party. ]

Edited 2024-05-29 03:25 (UTC)

Yeah, but it's a thing of my future. [Because he's in her world, yeah? She might not know him personally yet, but if the Gwen he knows is older, then... it might still be her. Just, her future self.

Damn, as if alternate dimensions wasn't bad enough, pulling them from different times was something they had to consider now too??]

What do you even want? You've decided I'm not your Gwen, and how that's all in the past, but it sure seems like you still want me to play your little game.

[ Matt holds up his hands in the multiversal sign of surrender. ]

There's no game here. This is just a regular birthday party.

[The vibes are just off. She can't really put her finger on it, but she doesn't like it. It is him that's giving her this feeling?]

Really? Cause it kind of feels like you're going out of your way to get my attention.

[By why? To just reveal who he really is to her? Or did he have something more nefarious in mind? Did he just want to gather her and her new friends all in one place? Or was this a way to get eyes on all the people she's connected with, since their arrival? Her mind is rolling through a million different alternatives, and it's only making her more uneasy. It doesn't help that she has no idea who he really is and what he's actual capable of.]

[ No the vibes are off because Matt #1 is sulking in the corner, obviously.

In response, he allows his voice to drop a bit, a little more serious: ]

Even if you're not the Gwen I know, you're still the only person I really know here. I'm only human, Gwen, I get sent to a new world and I seek the familiar.

[If she didn't get a chill before, she sure did when Matt actually got serious.

But...he has a point too, even if it feels...twisted, coming from him. Because she did the same. She found another Peter, another Spider-Man, and clung to that.]

Then what? Are you wanting to be BFFs now? [cause he kind of admitted they might not exactly get along in his world?? sure does make her skeptical about what he's really after, right now.]

Maybe not BFFs, your BFF should probably also be a teen, not a 30 year old man. But friends might be a nice start?

[ Look its the proverbial olive branch! Too bad she doesn't know what the olive branch is for! ]

Ew, gross. [way to make it weird!! but, uh. he also wouldn't exactly be the first 30-something she'd consider a friend. but peter b didn't give her nearly the uneasy vibes she's gotten from matt, he was just an idiot that somehow survived into adulthood.]

Sure. Fine. Friends. But only if you promise to be honest with me. [she doesn't necessarily trust him or believe for a second he actually will, but if this is how she gets information out of him, so be it. she'd rather a loose friendship than whatever questionable rivalry/frenemies/??? thing he had with his gwen, at least for now, while she tries to figure out what his deal is.]

Who are you? And how do you know me-- or your Gwen, I guess? And don't just say we were frenemies.

[ Matt clearly considers whether he wants to make this promise to her for a moment before: ]

It is your birthday, I guess. I can answer a few questions.

[ oh and yup there come the questions ok. ]

Okay, okay, one at a time. I told you already, I'm Matthew Murdock. I'm a lawyer. I had--and I do mean that past tense--my hand in a few different pots, lets say.

I figured out you were, you know, "friends" [ complete with air quotes ] with Spider-Woman because you were really obvious about it. For awhile I helped your dad and you helped me so that I would keep doing it. It was a deal with the devil you knew, instead of the one you didn't.

But in the end, you won. Of course you did. I wouldn't have expected any less.

[Gwen's just going to cross her arms and let him talk. He loves listening to himself chatter, she's noticed, so she doesn't interrupt and lets him explain. She's not sure if she buys it 100%. He could easily twist it to have double meanings, since she knows nothing about what he's actually saying.]

....Right. "Helped", huh? Kind of almost sounds like blackmail, when you say it like that.

[...was it blackmail? It would certainly explain a lot, like why she gets a bad vibe around him right now, and why they were "frenemies". But that makes her wonder, if he did something like that before, what might he do here?]

[ Matt just shrugs in response, unfazed by the accusation. ]

That depends on how you look at it, I guess.

[he really left her open for a blind joke, but would that be too insensitive?? fuck it, he's being an ass, she's going for it.]

Considering out of the two of us, I'm the only one that can see, we're going to go with my point of view. Which is that sounding sketchy as hell.

[A pause, before she considers if she wants to dare ask another question on her mind.]

Did you hurt him? My dad? During our "deal", or whatever you want to call it.

[ It's okay, he laughs--she's right of course. It does look sketchy. It was sketchy. ]

No, I didn't hurt him.

[ Which is not a lie, but it's also not the whole story. ]

[At least he doesn't get offended. Not that she really and truly cares, since he's still screaming bad vibes to her.]

Okay. Good.

[She just hopes it's the truth. It's definitely not the full truth, given he's not really giving her a lot to work with, and she knows that's intentional on his part. Lawyers, man. She definitely still doesn't know if she can actually trust anything him, or anything he says.]

You said our story was done. Who won?

As I said, you did.

[ He's not afraid to admit it. He'd said it once already. Does this make him more trustworthy? At least he's honest! ]

[It wasn't really a test, she's just overwhelmed a bit by everything she's learning from him. But he does admit it openly, which is a good thing, but also-- what did he do, that brought her to that point? She still has a million questions, but she doesn't want to push too hard. He might only be so nice and open for so long.]

Do you think I'm your Gwen? Just younger? The multiverse is obviously real, so it really could be different. [She's not sure if she's asking, or hoping. There's just a lot she doesn't know, but at least she knows she wins. Supposedly. If she can even trust anything he's saying.

But she knows who he is. Or recognizes him, anyway. And he knew about what happened to Peter. If that was the same, was everything else?]

No, if I had to guess, I think we're from similar but not the same worlds. I was a big part of your hero's journey! And you're younger, I think.

[ Well, whether he was really a big part is up for debate. He may just have an inflated sense of self. ]

Maybe it's slightly different timelines? Peter and the other Matt are from the same world, just from different points of time. So it's possible.

[He's really into being a part of her story, isn't he? Weird.]

Did the other me cross dimensions too? Cause I met some other spider-people, not long before I came here. [Then his Gwen would have to really be a future version of her, cause there wasn't a variant of Gwen there too. Just her.]

Maybe.

[ he shrugs. If she wants to think they're from the same place, that's fine with him. It/s probably to his advantage. ]

Yeah, you had a little bracelet for doing it.

Umm, yeah. Didn't have any bracelet.

[She squints, unsure of what to make of that. Did that mean she got to travel dimensions again in the future? Was there some kind of bracelet that let her see Miles and Peter B. again? She really, really hoped so. Maybe it would mean she could find this Peter again, too.]

Kingpin in another dimension made a super collider. It pulled me into that dimension, as well as a couple of other Spider-people. We had stop him, and destroy the thing. Nearly wiped out all our dimensions in the process. I wasn't back home long, before I ended up here. Any of that ring a bell?

[If it does, then it would confirm that she might really be his Gwen. If not, then there probably was some alternate reality shit happening.]

[ Matt can't help but laugh at this description of the "kingpin in another dimension." Wow, okay, incredible. Imagine Fisk doing anything that interesting. ]

No, but I couldn't necessarily tell you what you did in another dimension or not.

What's so funny about that?

[Her brow raises at his laughter, not really understanding. Not that Matt is known for appropriate reactions. He's so odd. But she does know their dimension has a Kingpin, even if she hasn't faced off with him yet.]

So I never mentioned Miles? Or any of the other Peters?

I just wouldn't have assumed dimension hopping was something the Kingpin was into.

[ he's hilarious. ]

I've met Miles, actually. Miles Morales?

[open] gwen's birthday bash

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