May smiled at the young woman. She may have laughed off Gertrude's sociopath comment before living through aliens and blips, but now she was pretty sure the self-prescribed hero-adjacent was serious. "Tony is pretty okay," she teased. "He has good taste in food trucks at least." She accepted her tacos with a thank you and turned back to the girl. "I found Pete, thank God." She wasn't sure she could survive without her last family member. "You'd get along, I think."
"Seriously, I met a lot of billionaires back when..." Molly was about to say 'when I was with my parents and PRIDE', but stopped herself. Explaining her parents, their space alien death cult, it just seemed a little much. ".... I was in LA" She took a sip of soda.
"I'm so glad you found him, that must have been so scary!" Gert knew that even though Stacey and Dale had been evil, they had been worried when she and Molly had run away."
"I can't wait to meet him. I bet he and Molly will get along too!" She appraised the older woman, "Do you ever get tired of the whole superhero/ super villain/ homocidal alien thing? I'm doing this workbook on radical acceptance, but it doesn't seem like the authors really understand the reality of genocidal aliens."
May had to laugh at the girl's question. Did she ever! "It is our life," she said, "But I do wish the bad guys would stay away for a while. I am sure all aliens aren't bad, but my experience so far..." She shook her head. "But we can't judge everyone, right?"
"I wish I knew what made a bad guy into a bad guy....like maybe we could make a vaccine?" Gert smiled, "It would be nice if they would coordinate with one another so that we could arrange our schedules better." She chomped a couple of fries, happy that May hadn't seemed to care a single thing about what Gert was putting into her mouth.
"Well, I mean, I think if someone is trying to blow up our planet, steal our moon, or use us as food, then I think we totally have the right to judge them." She thought for a few minutes. "My friend, Karolina is nice and her friend Xavin was nice after she stopped being creepy, "But a lot of aliens are real jerk faces."
"Wouldn't that be something?" May replied. "But, you know, besides born sociopaths, some evil is home-grown too. People get caught up in their experiences and next thing you know, they are caught up in a life of crime." May wasn't sure how they ended up discussing such things in the middle of the food trucks, but it was nice flexing her brain. Sometimes she got so caught up in work and taking care of Peter, she didn't have time for such discussions.
"They are aliens then?" May guessed. "Your friends who aren't jerk faces?"
"Well, my friend Karolina is really nice and she's an alien." Gert looked over at Gamora and Groot, "I'm thinking that they aren't from around here." Gert's face was anxious as she surveyed Gamora.
"The little stump looks pretty cute, but baby honey badgers are pretty cute too, and you know that they are actually quite dangerous." Gert didn't want to risk making eye contact with the emerald green woman. She looked like she could kill people with her brain.
May didn't know Gamora or Groot, but it was clear they were not of their world so she nodded her agreement. Gamora did appear tough, but May also learned not to judge a book by its cover long ago. After all, she never would have pegged her nephew for Spider-Man either. Still, Gert had a point. Badgers looked cute alright, but they'd take an eye out. "I think we're all a bit wary of each other right now," she confessed. "This is a strange circumstance." She smiled warmly at the girl. "You seem to be handling it pretty well though."
"Do you think so?" Gert smiled brightly, "Thank you! That's like the best compliment!" Gert leaned in a little closer to May. Actually, I'm a giant mess! Apparently, rifts in reality mess with anxiety disorders big time, but if I'm totally looking like I'm handling it then-- go me! I wish I could call Dr. Samson, he'd be so proud!" Gert felt relief wash over her. Not much was worse than feeling anxious about your anxiety.
"I think you're right. Wariness is probably a natural and expected reaction to being displaced from your own time to a new one," She took another french fry and started thinking about dessert.
"Is Peter your only family here? If this is too personal to ask, you can totally tell me to butt out, but how do you handle a teenage superhero? Like can you give them a curfew or tell them they are restricted to a certain weight class of villain? My sister Molly.... well. She's determined to be a superhero."
May liked the girl so she was sorry to hear she struggled with anxiety. "Maybe we can find another doctor to talk to here," she suggested. "And you can always talk to me, okay? Anytime."
She glanced to where Peter sat eating with Molly. "He is my only family left at home too," she admitted. "We try to work everything out together, you know?" She chuckled. "If I tried to stop him, he'd just find another way. He is a kid and a hero. It is in his blood. Does Molly have powers?"
Gert was surprised by how easy it was to talk to May Parker, for a long time after she'd left home, she'd been wary of anyone she considered a "real adult". "Thanks, that's probably a good idea. I really appreciate you being so understanding!"
"That makes sense," Gert admitted, "It's not like I'm old enough to really tell Molly what she can and can't do," she shrugged and looked at her sister, "I just hate knowing I can't protect her."
Polishing off the last of her fries, Gert said, "It's not like she needs my protection. She's basically stronger than...like anyone."
May followed her gaze until her eyes rested on Peter, who sat with Molly. "I know the feeling" she admitted. "You want to protect them even if they don't necessarily need protecting." She shrugged. "That's family for you, especially when it is small like ours."
Gamora approached the two women who looked like the most responsible humans on the lawn. "Hi, you haven't seen my little guy have you? About so big, bad attitude? He was trying to convince a seagull to join him in battle against the pigeons of New York and I swear I only turned around for a second."
She scanned the area, thinking that Peter was going to have a field day with this. She always gave him such shit for not paying close enough attention when Groot was little the first time, and now she was the one who had been distracted and he had to be fine... what if he wasn't fine?
Birds were squawking and flapping away farther down the street, but the little sprout was still nowhere in sight.
Gert's caution about aliens went out the window when she was asked for help, "Um... he looks a little like a baby Ent, right?" She began scanning the parking lot.
May didn't know the green woman or the baby tree like thing, but she definitely noticed that Groot was a baby. Her parental instincts kicked in immediately. "He can't be far," she assured Gamora. "Pete got lost from me once..." She thought about the Expo. "It happens and they are fine. What is his name? We'll get everyone calling for him."
“Groot, his name is Groot.” Gamora took a deep breath. She had taken Groot into battle before without feeling this freaked out, but there had been 4 adults watching him. And from what Gamora could tell, Terrans in general were not particularly trustworthy when it came to people who were different.
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Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open
"I'm so glad you found him, that must have been so scary!" Gert knew that even though Stacey and Dale had been evil, they had been worried when she and Molly had run away."
"I can't wait to meet him. I bet he and Molly will get along too!" She appraised the older woman, "Do you ever get tired of the whole superhero/ super villain/ homocidal alien thing? I'm doing this workbook on radical acceptance, but it doesn't seem like the authors really understand the reality of genocidal aliens."
Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open
"Well, I mean, I think if someone is trying to blow up our planet, steal our moon, or use us as food, then I think we totally have the right to judge them." She thought for a few minutes. "My friend, Karolina is nice and her friend Xavin was nice after she stopped being creepy, "But a lot of aliens are real jerk faces."
Re: May | Open
"They are aliens then?" May guessed. "Your friends who aren't jerk faces?"
Re: May | Open
"The little stump looks pretty cute, but baby honey badgers are pretty cute too, and you know that they are actually quite dangerous." Gert didn't want to risk making eye contact with the emerald green woman. She looked like she could kill people with her brain.
Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open
"I think you're right. Wariness is probably a natural and expected reaction to being displaced from your own time to a new one," She took another french fry and started thinking about dessert.
"Is Peter your only family here? If this is too personal to ask, you can totally tell me to butt out, but how do you handle a teenage superhero? Like can you give them a curfew or tell them they are restricted to a certain weight class of villain? My sister Molly.... well. She's determined to be a superhero."
Re: May | Open
She glanced to where Peter sat eating with Molly. "He is my only family left at home too," she admitted. "We try to work everything out together, you know?" She chuckled. "If I tried to stop him, he'd just find another way. He is a kid and a hero. It is in his blood. Does Molly have powers?"
Re: May | Open
"That makes sense," Gert admitted, "It's not like I'm old enough to really tell Molly what she can and can't do," she shrugged and looked at her sister, "I just hate knowing I can't protect her."
Polishing off the last of her fries, Gert said, "It's not like she needs my protection. She's basically stronger than...like anyone."
Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open
She scanned the area, thinking that Peter was going to have a field day with this. She always gave him such shit for not paying close enough attention when Groot was little the first time, and now she was the one who had been distracted and he had to be fine... what if he wasn't fine?
Birds were squawking and flapping away farther down the street, but the little sprout was still nowhere in sight.
Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open
Re: May | Open