#ofc he knows spider-man's identity some things just make sense. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

that-gothickitty · 4 months

Note

Gender identity and Pronouns ofc: Male, he/him, fae/faeself

Mbti type: INFP-T

A detailed description of your personality: Kind to everyone I meet but fiercely protective of those I care about, quick to give grace but strong sense of justice, can be vulgar/silly but know when to be quiet/pay attention, help my loved ones even to my own detriment

Likes: Writing, singing, theatre, reading, ASMR roleplays (obvi)

Dislikes: phone calls, spiders

Things you look for in a friend and/or partner: Honesty, open communication, sense of humor, kindness, showing interest in my interests

Thinks that are a deal breaker: Making fun of someone for something they can't change in 5 minutes, unnecessary lying, guilt tripping, manipulation, rude to servers, yah know murder *side eyes Tumblr Mother*

Pet peeves (When it comes to things and people): Dog earing books

A list of characters you relate to and why: Huxley's kindness and willingness to help, Damien's dislike of stereotypes and passion for making the world better than he found it, Sam's caring heart, Vincent, William, and Porter's flair for the dramatic, Guy's humor, David sense of justice, Gavin, just Gavin, Geordi's thought process,

Here's some stuff that isn't compulsory but definitely helps!

A physical description of yourself: Chin length brown hair, hazel eyes, 5', round face

Listener(s) you feel most connected to: Darlin', Freelancer Prime only please

Yippee! Okay, you're gonna get a giggle out of this one. This match was meant to be and it's just so perfect jsjshshsjh

Your match is:

Drumroll please 🥁

🥁

Our strong, loving, down to earth himbo...

HUXLEY!

Oho I guess this man definitely has a thing for Damiens, and you, my friend, are no exception.

You really hit the jackpot here, this man can literally do no wrong and will MAKE SURE no does any wrong around you. He admires your equal inclination to protect those you care about and your helpful nature. But don't get things twisted here, he will not stand by and let you neglect your needs. He will haul your ass in a fireman's carry and plop you on your couch to rest. And God help you if you try to protest, this man can and WILL sit on you.

He'd make a playlist about you. THERE I SAID IT! And knowing you, you already have one for him. I can see it being a cute lil thing where y'all go on a roadtrip to visit his moms and he puts it on and afterwards you play his and HEHGSHSHSHSHS IM GETTING CUTENESS AGGRESSION.

Speaking of his moms, they absolutely adore you! In a lot of ways, they see their son in you and it warms their hearts to see how you parallel each other so well. I hope you have a large appetite because these ladies can cook up a storm! Be prepared to be included in the process, and hopefully, you brought a change of clothes 'cause once the first handful of flour is thrown, you're in for a massive food fight ;>

PLEASE let this man put lil flowers in your hair. He'll get so goddamn happy at the prospect of decorating you with the finest blooms. Bro will giggle. He can't help it. You just look so handsome he can't contain himself.

Man is just whipped. He doesn't have to tone down around you or explain himself when he does something that makes him happy. You just get how he operates. He's so thankful that you understand his humor, his quips, his protective nature, everything. He's grateful that he can share so much with you and that you feel comfortable enough to do the same with him. And, he loves the fact that you two are so similar. It's what started your friendship in the first place.

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you're both safe, happy, and protected. Deep down, he's so immensely grateful he's not the only one keeping things together.

#Redactedverse Match-ups #redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted verse #redactedasmr #redacted fandom #redacted headcanons #redactedaudio #gothic put the phone down #gothic go to fucking sleep #redacted huxley

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kabira · 4 years

Text

02 | team project

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.6k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — none

note — this is a little rushed, sorry ;-; i haven’t updated in two weeks despite only having posted the pilot so i was like !! ahh !! gotta update !! and here it is, your first ever (and very brief) appearance. i’ll edit it soon! as usual, send me an ask or dm if you want to be added to the taglist <3

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“Is this about me leaving Rhino on Midtown’s front porch?” Vernon demanded. “Because if it is, I’ll have you know that I left him in good hands—”

"Calm down, Wonder Kid," Fury said. He didn't look amused like Vernon had hoped, which meant that whatever he'd come here to talk about was serious. Well, what else should he have expected from the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.? "It's not about that. Well—not entirely. It's about the good hands you mentioned."

Vernon narrowed his eyes. He'd met Fury a few times before, and never during favorable conditions. The last time he's seen the guy, Spider-Man had almost been pummeled to death by none other than the Goblin himself. "They said something about bringing him to S.H.I.E.L.D.," he muttered. "I should have guessed."

Fury didn't respond, instead reaching inside his jacket to bring out an envelope. He threw the open envelope onto the table in front of Vernon, making a few pictures half spill out from inside. "You know what that is?"

Vernon glanced at him suspiciously before slowly picking up the pictures and going through them. Each of them was a glossy shot of various locations in New York, and all of them had a major recurring theme—the places were completely trashed. Overturned cars, building walls with holes in them, bent lampposts. Wearily, he set the pictures down face-up on the table, then looked up at the man, who stared back with an unreadable expression on his face.

A beat passed. "Was that a rhetorical question?"

"Jesus, kid," Fury muttered. "All of those pictures were taken moments after a fight between you and one of your fanclub members. Now, I'm not saying I don't appreciate you taking care of a couple of minor criminals in the city—"

"Minor criminals?"

"—but I can't let you treat the place like it's your neighborhood playpen," he finished. Next to him, the pretty agent-slash-counselor sat with her legs folded, her surprisingly stern gaze fixed on Vernon. The attention made him squirm. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global defense organization, for god's sake. We don't have the time to clean up after kids who don't know even know their three Rs."

"Let me guess," Vernon said, "rock, roll, ramble?"

"Even your wisecracks aren't funny anymore, kid." Fury shook his head.

Ouch. "That hurt my feelings."

The man glared at him out of his one good eye. "You can't keep going like this forever," he said. "You're on your way to be one of the greats—don't look at me like that, hell if I'm gonna repeat that—but the big guys take care of their messes. They don't leave poor innocent civilians behind to get new paint jobs on their Kias. All that damage your careless fighting left behind, who's gonna take care of that?"

"Insurance?" Vernon suggested. Agent Fox cracked a smile, warming his insides. Her sitting aside in silence as Fury chewed him out was a little unnerving. He wondered if looking on silently while high-rankers lectured kids was something she had to do regularly. You gotta have a heart of ice to sit through that.

"You are," Fury said grimly, and Vernon blinked. "And you're gonna start today."

"What was it that you really wanted?" Vernon asked, crossing his arms over his chest, making his t-shirt stretch tight over his biceps. He really needed to go shopping. "You can't tell me the world's best spy came all the way to some backwater high school just to lecture a kid about cleanliness being next to godliness."

"You're a special case, Parker," Fury said, and Vernon placed a hand over his heart, mockingly going aw. "And you're right. I'm not here just to lecture you about your repeated careless mistakes, I'm here to help you fix them."

Vernon looked at him suspiciously, already wary of what was to come next. "And how do you propose I do that?"

"You've already shown me multiple times you can't do it yourself," Fury said. "Look, kid, here's the thing: you have a problem, and I have a problem. I also happen to have a joint solution to both."

Vernon slumped in his chair. Here it comes. "What problem could you possibly have? Nuclear warheads threatening to destroy civilians' Kias in Manhattan?"

"You really gotta work on those one-liners." Fury sighed. "There's a group of kids in the Helicarrier like you—up-and-coming superheroes in need of some real-world experience. They've got the training you need to handle jobs with efficiency, and you have the practical experience. They've got the goods—just like you—but nowhere real to practice them."

"You mean those guys," Vernon said, sitting up and recalling the three who had helped him in the fight against Rhino. "You mean—you want me to teach them?"

"I want you to work with them," Fury said. "Train with them, fight with them, lead what could be the next greatest team of post-humans."

"So basically, your solution is to sic a bunch of newbies on me as some kind of damage control," Vernon said angrily. "And what if I refuse?"

"Nothing," the spy answered simply. "You're not under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official jurisdiction yet, so I can't do anything to you even if I want to—unless, of course, I absolutely have to. You're allowed to walk out of here right now, but I can't guarantee that that's gonna work out for you."

Vernon considered this. He knew a threat when he heard one, even when it wasn't a yell of SPIDER-MAN, I'M GONNA KILL YOU, but he also knew that Nick Fury's threats weren't always real threats. However, he did not like his chances.

"As long as they stay out of my business," he muttered, knowing that was the one thing they were least likely to do. He knew how closely teams operated, and it didn't take his spider sense to figure out that this team was going to be much nosier than that. He recalled the annoyed scowl on that Nova guy's face, and internally shuddered.

"It's a deal," Fury said pleasantly, as if Vernon had any choice but to accept the so-called 'deal'. "I'll be checking in regularly, so bear in mind that I'll know if you ever kill one of your teammates and throw their body into the East River."

"I would never go to that much trouble," he replied equally pleasantly, getting up. Then he glanced at the clock, and scowled. "I can't believe you made me skip my biology quiz for five minutes of parental guidance."

"Oh, I'd never lie to a teacher, kid," Fury said, patting his shoulder as he passed him. "A counseling session I promised, and a counseling session you will get."

Vernon glanced at the other agent in dismay, but she only smiled—whether in amusement or reassurance, he couldn't tell. She clicked her pen, picking up the pad, her eyes twinkling. "Settle down, Spider-Man," she said. "This will only take forty minutes."

Vernon almost considered opting out of eating in the cafeteria, but changed his mind at the last moment, knowing it was the only time other than first period biology he got to see Joshua on Mondays. He desperately needed to vent, and his bespectacled friend was the only one who even came close to understanding to the layers of his identity, one of which was a deep-rooted hatred for the universal authority on superheroes.

So he stalked right into lunch, barely noticing the gunk of whatever-it-was thwacking into his plastic tray, and headed for their usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. He didn't need to go that far to get to Joshua, however, as the blue-haired boy almost walked smack into him as he made his way there.

"Woah, woah, steady," Joshua said, grabbing his bicep to prevent them from colliding. "Why are you making like a steamroller towards that innocent little table? And what the hell were you during biology? What was that about?"

Vernon cast a careful glance around the cafeteria, at the crowd of people, one of which could easily overhear them in the close range. "I'll give you the details later," he murmured. "The cusp of the matter is: Fury blackmailed me into signing up for a team activity."

"Wait, wait, wait, Nick Fury?" Joshua asked in awe as they walked over to the table, gripping his tray tightly and hunching his shoulders, leaning slightly towards Vernon in interest. "You mean he was here, in this school?"

"Not even the first time, Josh."

"Not the—" Joshua shook his head, as if shooing away the thoughts. "Okay. Filing that information away for further perusal later. So you're telling me Nick Fury, super-spy, came to this place—" he spread his arms, indicating the school— "to talk to you. Man, sometimes I forget Spider-Man's supposed to be a household name."

"Shut up," Vernon hissed, casting a furtive glance at a heavily tattooed blonde who passed them by closely. "But yeah. And he asked me to team up with these noobs from the S.H.I.E.L.D. future program or something."

Joshua frowned. "But that's kind of cool, though, right?"

"Not if they're gonna slow me down," he replied. "Spider-Man's always operated alone, and—wait, what the hell?"

He stopped in his tracks right before the table, a stunned expression on his face. Joshua raised his eyebrows, following his gaze to the table, which was, surprisingly enough, already occupied.

She was there, of course, at her usual seat, the third from the left, except she was not alone. There was another girl, with dark hair and piercing eyes, picking at a soggy fry with her lips pursed. Next to her was a brooding blond with freckles that stood out against his shockingly pale skin. Last, but not the least, was the boy with the tanned skin who was making Vernon's best friend laugh so hard she was doubled over, a familiar cocky edge to his smile.

"Ah," Joshua said.

Lucy Langdon was one of Vernon's, and therefore Spider-Man's, biggest pressure points. She was also one of the only ones who had been left virtually untouched by all his superhero shenanigans, and he wanted to keep it that way. Though she was smart enough keep up with a few new trainees, as far as Vernon was concerned, she was strictly off-limits. Even to superheroes who could fly and called themselves Nova.

Vernon stalked over to the table and slammed his tray on the surface so hard he made everyone jump. Then he glared at the boy sitting next to her, the one with the bronzed skin, as Joshua stood by awkwardly. "You're in my seat," he said pointedly.

The boy cocked a lazy eyebrow, gesturing to the unoccupied seats opposite him. "I don't see your name on it."

Vernon ground his teeth, raising his hand (no doubt to petulantly slam it down on the table next to his tray) but Joshua grabbed his wrist, giving him a meaningful look. "Don't start anything that can be easily avoided," he muttered to the boy, and Vernon relented, albeit grudgingly.

"You're late," Lucy said conversationally, though your voice was higher than usual, probably because of the sudden tension that had descended upon the table. Vernon sat down slowly, still glaring at the boy, and she glanced at Joshua, who only shrugged. "These are, uhm, they're new."

"I figured," Vernon muttered.

"Three in one day? And this late into the year?" Joshua wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows. "Now I'm curious."

"Nothing worth your curiosity, I'm afraid," the new girl replied. Her eyes, when they swept over Vernon, were watchful and aware. "Just a coincidence. I was supposed to join earlier but there was a family emergency. As for these two, I can only guess." Her smile was small but sharp. "I'm Yeji."

"Felix," said the blond. He looked gloomy, but maybe it was just because of the unhealthy-looking pallor of his skin.

"And I'm Yangyang," the last boy said, with an impish grin that rubbed Vernon the wrong way. He already knew who these three were supposed to be—actually, everyone was supposed to know Felix, since Iceman was already a pretty famous member of the X-Men. Surely dyed hair couldn't be the only change needed to disguise that face? "Me and Felix are cousins, actually."

"Felix and I," Vernon mumbled under his breath, and Lucy gave him a look which he ignored. "Since when did you start taking people in for charity?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Be nice," she said. "They were in my Home Economics class, and if it hadn't been for Yeji here, I might have blown up the marble cake I was supposed to be making."

Joshua frowned. "How?"

"A story for another day." She smiled an unreadable smile, dark eyes sparkling. "Now—"

"No," Vernon said.

She glanced at him. "Excuse me?"

"No," he repeated. Then, as jerkily as he had sat down, he got up, and jabbed a finger at the new arrivals in turn, before pointing over his shoulder. "You three," he said venomously, "to the corridor. Now."

"Aw, man, I can't believe you're being so sensitive about this," Yangyang—Nova—complained loudly, though there was a shit-eating grin on his face as he followed Vernon into the hallway. "So Fury transferred us into your school without checking with you first. Big deal. What are you supposed to be, the queen of England?"

Vernon gave him a spiteful look, but otherwise ignored his remark. Instead, he focused on Yeji, who was watching him patiently, because she looked like the most sensible member of the group. He stared at her for a long moment, struggling to find the words that would convey the exact measure of his indignance. "Why?" he asked finally, giving up.

She shrugged helplessly. "Look, we didn't ask for this, either," she answered. "We're under orders, so it's not like we can just up and leave. Huddling in the hallway isn't a smart decision, either—we already have all eyes on us because of being the three new kids who randomly joined on the same day, and this is only making us look even more suspicious."

Vernon glared at her, trying to think of a good argument, then gave up. He turned on Felix, who was standing off to the side with folded arms, still looking uninterested in the conversation. "You," he said, narrowing his eyes, "you're Iceman."

Felix looked at him neutrally. "Yes."

"You're not under S.H.I.E.L.D.," Vernon said, pointing an accusatory finger. "And you have enough real-world experience, so there's no reason for you to be here instead of with the X-Men—"

"Dude," Felix said frostily; no pun intended. "Drop it."

Yeji nodded, giving Vernon a meaningful look he could not decipher.

"Aw, come on, web-head," Yangyang interjected. "We saved your life and you didn't even thank us, but I'll let that go since your manners aren't exactly polished. But this is just boring."

"It is not," Vernon seethed. "I'll talk to Fury—"

Yangyang snorted. "Good luck with that."

"—or the principal—"

"The new principal," Yeji muttered. "Agent Coulson."

Vernon made an exasperated noise. "The only reason I even agreed to Fury's stupid offer was because I thought it would get him off my case!" he yelled. "School is the only part of my life that's separate from all the wacky crap I have to deal with otherwise, and now even that—" He clenched his teeth. "If I'd known it meant having you people barge into my life like this—"

"Then you couldn't have done anything about it, even knowing," Yeji said, gently cutting him off. "Face it, hero. You're stuck with us as much as we're stuck with you—whether any of us like it or not."

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peter-parkers-passport · 4 years

Text

Flower Child (Peter Parker x ofc)

Chapter 10: Every Batman Needs a Robin... or an Alfred

warnings: mentions of traumatic occurrences, depictions of anxiety, two mad scientists, and very inaccurate science it’s fine

Had Lila not been completely washed over with shock, she may have thought she stared at the mask for far too long. But it wasn’t necessarily her fault, she’d been through the wringer that day: first having to actively compete in the academic decathlon, then almost dying, and finally seeing that Peter Parker, the boy she had more than a small crush on, was Spider-Man. It was a lot for any fifteen-year-old to swallow.

As soon as Lila saw what Peter had pulled out of his backpack, the red mask with white eyes that had saved her life twice now, her mind went on the fritz, and all conscious thought ceased. She barely even heard Peter ask, “Now do you understand?”

A significant span of time must have passed after the initial question, for the look on Peter’s face grew worried. Lila still hadn’t moved, spoken, or blinked after locking eyes with the Spider-Man mask. “Lila?”

Finally, Lila looked back up at Peter. Mouth opening and closing like a fish, she struggled (more than usual) to find the right words. “I…I - and y-you…” She trailed off, suddenly finding the need to sit down. She moved to her desk on wobbly legs and sat in her chair, gaze focusing on the wall behind Peter as she let her first initial thoughts come to her.

Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Peter Parker fought Captain America.

Peter Parker is a superhero, and you were going to kick him out of your room.

“Lila,” Her attention was back on Peter. A twinge of guilt settled in her stomach at seeing his panicked expression, which was enough to sober her up and begin to rationalize her thoughts. “I need you to say something, p-please.”

“I th-thought you were lousy at keeping secrets,” Lila breathed, eyes darting back to the mask and up to Peter. She ran her fingers through her hair and wiped at her eyes, which still had streaks from her tears. At the look of slight confusion on Peter’s face, Lila breathed out a small laugh.

“What? I can - I can keep secrets-”

“Clearly. E-Exhibit A.” Lila gestured to the Spider-Man mask Peter still held. “I just… you made it so o-obvious with Liz, I r-really never would have guessed-”

“Wait, you know I like Liz?” It was difficult to tell what panicked Peter more, the fact that he revealed his secret identity, or that Lila had known about his crush on Liz. Lila pretended it didn’t hurt for him to admit it.

She stood up, rubbing her hands on her legs. Shrugging, she said, “I d-don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t t-talk a lot? So I just - I just watch people. It’s h-hard to miss the way you l-look at her.” Mostly because I want you to look at me like that. “I just can’t believe I missed th-this.” Holding out a patient hand, Lila looked to Peter.

Reluctantly, Peter handed the mask over to Lila. The texture surprised her, the fluid fabric sifting through her fingers as she adjusted the mask to stare right back at her. Despite her best attempts not to, the crushing weight of the last week hit her again. “S-So, your Stark Internship…”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “It’s this.” She didn’t say anything in response, opting to think over what that meant, how much Peter had actually done for her besides picking out a computer for her dad’s shop. It was a vicious cycle of taking things in. Peter seemed to take her silence for something else, for he added, “Lila, please, you can’t - you can’t say anything-”

“So it was you?” Peter grew quiet once again as she looked up to him, eyes shining with unspilled tears. “It was you at - at Delmar’s? Fighting off those bank robbers? It was you today in W-Washington? In the elevator?”

Guilt flashed in Peter’s eyes. “Lila, I swear, I never meant for anyone to get hurt. Delmar’s, it - it was a mistake, and I had no idea the Chitauri core was explosive, I-” Peter was cut off by Lila stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

She wasn’t much for displaying affection, but being so close to Peter made her feel safe. And now, she knew why. As Peter hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist, Lila breathed, “Thank you.”

In his hold, Lila felt Peter tense at her words, which confused her. But before she could think too into it, he relaxed, holding her fractionally tighter. There was a slight worry that Peter could feel her heartbeat through her clothes, but her ultimate decision was that she shouldn’t care. She was hugging Peter Parker, the boy who saved her life and despite everything, told her the truth.

“Um,” Peter said, suddenly stepping back from her awkwardly, hand running through his hair. Nerves coursing through her body once again, Lila wondered what she could have done. “Thanks, I guess.”

Disbelieving laughter burst through her lips unwillingly. “You’re - You saved my life, and y-you’re thanking me?”

Peter mirrored her smile, which was a relief, “Yeah.” His hand rest at the back of his neck and Lila wished he would stop being so distracting. “It’s kind of a thankless job, so… to hear it is really nice.”

“You should hear it more often,” Lila said, completely meaning it. Peter sent her a grateful smile. Both of them were still standing, not entirely sure where to go from there. What could happen with the two of them? Would they just go their separate ways from there, Lila carrying Peter’s biggest secret and pretending that nothing had changed?

It occurred to Lila that this might be her chance to change that. She didn’t want to go back to normal. Peter telling her the truth was a leap of faith, and Lila was determined to make it worth it. “Um - is it okay if I ask you something?”

“I mean, it can’t be any worse than Ned. He had so many questions,” Peter admitted, sitting down on her bed once again.

Lila tilted her head to the side, “Wait, Ned knows?” She thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Oh - of course. He - he had the Chitauri core with him today.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, “It was a total accident. He kind of saw me crawling on the ceiling of my bedroom-”

“Wait, on the ceiling?” Lila asked. A childish kind of excitement filled her, and the realization that she was talking to a superhero settled in her mindset. She briefly thought of Sophie, and her list of questions she had for every superhero she hoped to meet one day. Now that she was right in front of one, what were Lila’s? “What else can you do?”

“Um - I can crawl on walls, which is how I got up the monument today,” Lila nodded, sitting down next to Peter, eyes and full attention on him. “I can lift things, really heavy things-”

“Like elevators?”

Peter let out a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, like elevators. There’s also this uh - thing. I call it like a sense of sorts where I can feel things before they happen. Like, if someone tried to throw a punch at me, I would feel it coming before it actually happened.”

That explains why he always seemed to know that I was coming up to talk to him, Lila thought. It seemed so clear now that he was explaining it. Peter wasn’t in need of his glasses anymore, he didn’t struggle as much in gym class, and Lila had thought he’d filled out his sweaters and flannels a little more this year…

“Okay, so - so how did th-this happen?” Lila asked. “You didn’t like, create a t-teleportation device and a house spider slipped in, r-right?”

Peter actually laughed. Her question apparently took him off guard, and he shook his head. His eyes were shining, and he smiled at her. Lila ignored her stomach doing somersaults as he answered her. “No, no. It’s not like that. Actually, do you remember the school trip we took to Oscorp? It was during our mutation unit in biology?”

Lila nodded her head, “It was their cellular ex-experimentation lab, and they had a r-really cool plant display.” She thought back to that day in early January, remembering how she could see New York’s skyline so clearly out of the windows. “Y-You got so sick at the end of it.”

“You remember that?” Peter looked at her curiously.

Nothing out of the ordinary, just pining from afar. Ignoring the blush that rose to her cheeks, Lila hastily pointed a finger at herself. “Wallflower, remember?”

“Um - y-yeah.” Peter shook his head, the memory coming back to him once more. “That was why I was so sick: p-part of their experiments were radioactive testing, and a group of spiders had been exposed. One got out somehow and bit me right here,” He faced the opposite direction from her and ran his fingers along the top of his neck, brushing some of his hair aside.

Lila leaned forward to get a better look at what he was pointing to and placed her fingers over his. Lifting up several loose curls from his neck, she noticed a tiny scar that resembled a bug bite. Rescinding her touch, Lila shivered at the thought of a spider crawling on the back of her neck. She didn’t even see Peter’s shiver in response to the feeling of her fingers on his skin.

“Okay, um - is there anything else you can do? Mentally communicate with spiders, eat b-bugs, inject venom into y-your enemies…?”

“None of the above,” Peter said, still a slight smile on his face as he turned back to face Lila. She could have sworn she thought she heard him mutter thank goodness under his breath.

“So - So now I know, and Ned knows. Does a-anybody else know?”

Peter shrugged, “No. Just you, Ned, and Mr. Stark, but only because he built the suit-”

“Wait, wait, so May doesn’t know?” Lila asked, eyes wide. The idea that he was under no adult supervision (she opted not to count the incredibly busy billionaire) made her nervous. Was he really doing this by himself? “A-At all?”

“If she knew, she would freak out, okay? Like, lose her ever-loving mind.” Peter suddenly stood up, and his nervous posture appeared once again. “Just with everything that happened-” With Ben Parker, he didn’t need to finish, “- no. She cannot know. Lila, nobody can know, okay?”

It was more than a plea, it was more than desperate, and Lila understood. This was life or death, it went past high school, went past homecoming, went past herself. Nodding, she locked eyes with Peter. “I promise. I won’t - I won’t tell anybody.”

There was a tense moment where Peter regarded her doubtfully. Not that she could really blame him, this was a massive secret that needed to be kept, and how was Peter to know she was trustworthy. But she was Lila, and she would do anything for Peter. He must have sensed she would, for he nodded slowly. There wasn’t really much else for Lila to do except hand Peter back the mask she still gripped tightly. Taking it from her with a small thanks, Peter put it back in his backpack.

She didn’t want to seem like a snoop, but Lila couldn’t help herself. She’d gotten a glimpse of the rest of Peter’s backpack as he put the mask away, and saw something she couldn’t ignore. “What’s that?” She asked, pointing to the dark metal bands sitting on top of his suit.

“What, these?” Peter pulled them out, and Lila nodded, standing up and stepping closer to inspect them. Peter handed her one, which she took delicately and inspected. It was lighter than it looked, but knowing that Tony Stark might have had something to do with them, they were probably more high tech than her cellphone. Finding a little button on the top of the band, Lila clicked it, revealing a compartment holding a vial of a white, iridescent substance. Holding it up to the light, Lila looked at it in awe.

“Tony Stark made this?” She asked, eyeing the vial still as it became almost transparent in her bedroom light.

Peter nodded. “Well, he made the web-shooters, but the web fluid, is - is mine.”

Lila found her gaze torn away from the web fluid and back on Peter. “You made this yourself?” It was difficult to keep any awe out of her voice.

“In chemistry,” Peter shrugged like it was no big deal. But the tinge on his cheeks said otherwise. “Just a formula I’ve been working on.”

Deciding it would take too much time to go into specifics like how it went from a fluid to webbing material, or how to get out of it, or even how Peter managed not to tangle himself up in it, Lila asked, “Can I see?” At his confused gaze, Lila clarified, “The f-formula. Can I see it?”

“Oh,” Peter nodded, suddenly reaching into his front pocket. Producing his cellphone, he started flicking through and producing a picture. Handing his phone over to Lila, he stopped at her questioning gaze. “What?”

“You keep content in regards to your s-secret identity on your phone?” Lila asked, taking the cellphone from him. She ignored his stuttering protests and stared at the picture of the formula he’d written on graph paper. Running the calculations through her head, she nodded silently as she studied it. When she’d finished, she hummed, handing the phone back.

“What?” Peter asked again.

“What do you mean, wh-what?” Lila asked.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You hummed. It’s not wrong, I’ve made it before, it works fine.”

“I believe you,” Lila said lightly, not wanting to cross any lines.

“Well you hummed, you were skeptical-”

“I wasn’t skeptical-”

“If there’s something you think is wrong-”

“It’s a perfectly functional formula, Peter-”

“Lila just tell me.”

“Fine,” Lila said. “It’s fine, the f-formula is fine it’s just - you’re being too conservative with the use of Toluene.” Peter cocked his head in confusion. “If you up the m-methanol by an eighth and Toluene by half, you’ve got the same lightweight structure, just m-more durable.”

Still, with a suspicious look on his face, Peter looked from Lila back to his phone, reading the formula over again. He did the same mental calculation she did, eyes widening in surprise. “You did that all in your head?”

“I’m not as good as y-you are in chemistry,” Lila huffed indignantly, “But I know enough. And - And there were similar formulas to it in the decathlon today, it was still kind of fresh. Do you want to go try it out?”

“What the formula?” Peter asked and Lila nodded. He sighed, “All my stuff’s at school-”

“Well, we can just try it out with some basics at the greenhouse,” Lila stated calmly. The actual idea gave her a huge thrill, to help Peter in some way after all he’d done for her. “Just some experimentation with it, if you want?”

Apparently her offer was too good to pass up. Peter nodded enthusiastically, and Lila took that as her cue to get ready. Shoving her shoes onto her feet, Lila hastily made her way into her bathroom, rummaging through the cabinets for her toner. Checking the ingredients on the back, she hummed in satisfaction, seeing the salicylic acid as one of the ingredients. Lila gripped it tightly and headed back to her bedroom, where Peter watched her as she threw it into her backpack before zipping it up. Guiding him out of her room with a quick wave, the two made their way down the stairs into the kitchen, where Lila made a beeline for the cabinets under the sink. She found the appropriate glass cleaning solution and placed that in her backpack as well.

“Okay, are you ready to go?” Lila asked, taking her house keys out of the bowl perched on a countertop. Peter nodded, and the pair headed for the front door. But they didn’t even cross the living room by the time the front door opened, and Ted Landry walked across the threshold. He clutched a paper bag tightly in his hands, and he started when he saw Peter and Lila looking back at him.

“Oh, Tulip, what’s-” He eyed her backpack and keys in hand, “- Are you going somewhere?”

Lila shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, Peter was - he was going to w-walk me to mom’s greenhouse. If that’s - if that’s okay.”

“Uh… sure.” It came out as more of a question. “Just make sure to close back up-”

“Is that tomato basil?” Lila asked, stomach lurching with hunger. She could practically smell the soup from where she stood.

Her father held up the bag and looked at it as though he forgot he was holding it at all. “Yeah, from Hale and Hearty, just like you asked...” His tone was still confused, and he trailed off as Lila took the bag gratefully from him.

She kissed him on the cheek and guided Peter out the door. “Thank you. Love you!” She shut the front door with the image of Ted standing in the foyer, looking lost in his own home.

*****

“Okay,” Lila said as she threw her backpack onto one of the tables in the break room on the second floor. Taking out the glass cleaner and toner, she set them down next to her backpack and moved on to take the soup out of the paper bag. Fortunately, her dad had gotten her a larger container, and she popped it in the microwave that was exclusively saved for Sophie when she was working long shifts.

“S-So, I have a microscope up in the greenhouse,” She gestured up the stairs to the door of her greenhouse, “And I definitely have some Toluene glue up there from rebuilding some of those garden beds-”

“Why are you helping me?” Peter asked out of the blue. Their walk had been silent for the most part, both just in their heads about this strange situation. Lila was taken off guard from his question, pausing her movements and interrupting her train of thought. Staring at him curiously, she waited until Peter elaborated. “I mean - we just - we’ve only started talking for like a week, and you already know my biggest secret - I… I don’t get it. You could l-live your whole life just moving on from this whole thing, why are you getting tangled up in this?”

Because I’ve had the biggest crush on you since eighth grade?

Lila tucked her hair behind her ear and felt nerves dance in her stomach. “Um - I just - you s-single-handedly saved my life twice, and I-”

“But I’m not expecting a thank-you, Lila. I wasn’t going to let you die, I just-”

“No, no, I get that, it’s…” She sighed heavily. “You don’t have a multi-billion dollar company behind you or experience in a world war, or e-even seven Ph.D.’s behind you. You’re just you - s-saving New York by yourself.”

“It’s really just Queens,” Peter mumbled, and Lila smiled in adoration.

She shook her head, “You c-can try downplaying your i-incredible selflessness, b-but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been doing this alone. I just don’t - I don’t want you to have to do this alone anymore. E-Even if I don’t have seven Ph.D.’s… yet.” She offered a small smile, and Peter returned it. The unspoken agreement that Lila was on board with helping Peter with Spider-Man hung between them, and the pair bonded despite the unconventional circumstances. “Plus, every Batman needs a Robin… o-or maybe an Alfred. I’d make a pretty good Alfred, I think.”

Suddenly the microwave sounded. Lila smiled wider, stomach still screaming at her. “So, tomato basil?”

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bitchiha · 4 years

Note

Can I get a Naruto, Harry Potter and Marvel ship please? I'm average height with hazel eyes and long, dark-brown hair. I'm sarcastic, stubborn, laid-back, down-to-earth and very open-minded. I love reading, writing, listening to music and taking naps. I love animals, nature, the winter and the fall. I daydream a lot and I'm terrible at social situations (unless I'm really comfortable with the people that are with me). Thank you so much!

Voila!

I ship you with...

Shikamaru Nara!

When he first meets you he’s already like 0-0 wow pretty, but he doesn’t say that of course. He likes that you’re not loud or overbearing, but at the same time you’re not too quiet. You won’t let yourself get pushed around by anyone and you’re also pretty sarcastic, which is a bonus because that means you’ll get each others humour.

One day when he’s walking around the village and he sees you laying on the roof of your house. He was kinda curious as to what you were doing, so he goes up there to check and it turns out your cloud watching. You make some sarcastic comment at it him which he’ll chuckle at, but lay down next to you anyways and watch the clouds with you. Then it kinda all goes downhill from there.

He’ll like lazy things you do together like laying on the grass and cloud watching or more like he cloud watches while you go walk around looking at all the animals in the forest. He likes when you daydream because you look cute when you do it and it’s also an opportunity for him to tease you, but don’t be afraid to be snide back, he lowkey likes it.

WILL TAKE NAPS WITH YOU 24/7!! Like you two may not have been planning to have a nap, but you both wanted one so why not? Sometimes you both won’t get anything done tbh

Will complain about going on little nature walks or exploring for animals, but he secretly likes it. He will definitely make you rest periodically for ‘cloud watching breaks.’ Since your both really go with the flow and down to earth, your dates are more spontaneous. Like he’ll knock on your door and ask if you wanna get some barbecue, or you’ll knock on his door and say it’s a perfect day for a walk. You two can listen to music together while you’re on walks or cloud watching. He thinks his music taste is superior though and will always want the aux cord.

Bonus if can bring you cloud watching and you’ll read a book instead, putting your head on his lap as you do so. He just lives for the little quiet moments like that and will definitely make a routine of asking to cloud watch with him. Also likes if you just talk to him while you’re together like that. It can be about your book, about a new song you like or a decent mission you went on. He just lives for your voice.

Will wanna play Shogi with you, he likes that you really put an effort into the game. You may not be the best, but you’re trying and that’s all that matters. It also really boosts his ego everytime he beats you at Shogi because he wants to make sure you know he’s really smart.

Thinks that both your awkwardness with social situations and your daydreaming are really amusing. He won’t tease you too much about daydreaming all the time because you look pretty when you do it and he doesn’t wanna deter you from it. However, he will get a real kick out of your awkwardness though. Like he won’t be a bitch about it because he wants you to be comfortable, so he’ll try and ease your stress. But beware, if you do something embarrassing or stupid by accident he will laugh his ass off.

You can definitely push him around a bit too. Like you’ll only take the lazy shit 50% of the time. Plus, if you didn’t push him around he would never do anything, so don’t feel bad about it. You’re doing him a favour.

Remus Lupin! (marauders era)

Andrew Garfield is his face claim I don’t give a fuck that’s his face claim fight me

He’s probably been crushing on your for timeee. Like since first year time. Despite your own awkwardness in social situations he’s still too nervous to talk to you.

It isn’t till like fourth year, when you’re hanging around the black lake trying to find the giant squid, that Remus Lupin actually approaches you. Sirius, James and Peter were all hiding behind a tree waiting to hear what your answer would be. They had noticed Remus’ interest in you since first year and they teased him endlessly about it. It wasn’t until this year that they actually managed to get him to ask you out.

When he comes up to you his face is all red and his hands are clammy. You’re really nice to him though, minus the fact that you were a little bit awkward around him. I mean you had little conversations before about animals (you were always reading books about them) and your classes. You were more than happy to hear him ask you out on a date to Hogsmeade though as the feelings he had for you were mutual. That begins the start of a cute and wholesome relationship.

Since you like nature so much, you usually end up lounging outside on lazy school days. Like if its spring and the weather is amazing, you’ll lay on the grass together and read. He’ll love it if you read to him, or sit in his lap so you can both read the book. If it’s fall, you two would walk around the castles courtyard and watch the leaves fall and crunch them with the soles of your shoes. You would probably listen to music on a Walkman Sirius smuggled in for him as you walked around.

If you’re dating a marauder, you basically become one. So that means you’re involved in a lot of antics. You fit in pretty well, you’ve got that sarcasm to bark back whenever Sirius or James want to get sassy. You’ve also got the stubbornness that keeps their plans going, if the prank fails the first time, it will just have to be even better the next time. They’ll love you like a sister and will never allow you to get introuble for their pranks.

Will also love to read the works you’ve written yourself. He will be super supportive and even come up with ideas for you to write about and they’re surprisingly good! Can proofread your work if you want him too bc we know he’s smart asf

When you find out about his ‘condition’ he’s embarrassed, but you reassure him that you aren’t afraid of him and he won’t hurt you. Sometimes he can be too self concious and you’ll have to knock some sense into him.

Will die of happiness if you buy him chocolates. Like make it a routine thing where a certain day of the week, or month you would give him chocolate. He will brag about it constantly to the other marauders. He’ll like whip out the chocolate and be like “oh yah, look at this? Wanna know who got it for me? Y/n!” And there just like: he does this every fucking time

Peter Parker!

So you meet him at school, I can see you being a friend of Michelle’s. You’re definitely more approachable than she is, so he talks to you more and more and eventually Michelle just starts saying “go out already” when ever you two talk. So then he finally works up the courage to.

He’ll come up to you after school at your locker and he’ll give you a flower or something bc he knows you like nature. He’s so nervous when he actually asks you and you can see his face get red and he’s sweaty. You say yes ofc and he’s so happy. Anyways, the first date will be at Central Park bc that’s like the only form of nature he can find in New York. Then he’ll take you to that Thai place he usually goes to with Aunt May.

After that you two become inseparable. You’ll come over to his place and read while him and Ned build their LEGO Star Wars shit. Sometimes you’ll help but other times you’ll read or watch them.

Peter can be a sassy little shit, but guess what? so can you. Will have sass offs of sarcastic remarks for a good half an hour.

You’ll find out his identity as Spider-Man at the same time as Ned. Like the two of you were supposed to hang out at Peters and finish the LEGO Death Star and then spider man crawls through the window and your both like: bitch wtf

Anyways he will 10/10 swing you around New York with him. You’ll probably lay on the roofs of a building and watch the sun go down. He will web a lil hammock for you two to lay on and it would just be so chill.

Likes to listen to music with you while you’re on the subway together. You two are just commuting to school and whips the AirPods out, one for you and one for him. The two of you will alter in who will play the music that day. Also will get sandwiches with you after school and treat you everytime, even if he’s borderline broke.

Will brag about you to aunt may 24/7 and will get all his romantic advice from her. So sometimes the romantics gestures he makes are a little sappy but you can tell he’s trying so you don’t care. Since you really like nature he’ll put an effort into doing things that involve it with you. Like you’ll go out of the city to pumpkin patches in the fall or in the winter you could have a snowball fight on the way to school and in the summer you’ll go on walks in the parks a lot.

Will also brag about you to the avengers and show you off through pictures on his phone and they’ll be like: bruh we get it shut up twerp. But they ship you guys anyways so.. and when he’s on missions he misses you a lot so expect him to ft at odd times. Like he’s fighting a bad guy but he misses you? Expect a ft call. He’s on a top secret mission that is deeply classified? Expect a ft call.

Also he will send you memes 24/7 and expects memes in return. It’s common courtesy, jheez ppl.

#harry potter #harry potter headcanon #naruto imagines #naruto headcanons #marvel headcanons #naruto shippuden #match up #ship

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acecorvid · 5 years

Note

I HAVE A PROMPT!! ok so miles is in school when he sees this cute boy who’s smart, athletic, and quiet and starts to question his sexuality a lot so the spiderfam helps him with crush advice (ft. Deadpool ofc)

“Hey Gwen?” Miles finally says, having spent the entire week trying to work up the nerve to ask this question. Every time he was around her he only thought about how he could bring it up but then he’d go home having missed his chance. While they’re on break from patrol, sitting on top of a roof, eating burritos, that seems like a decent enough time as any to jump head first into the ice water.

“Wassup?” Gwen’s mouth is full of burrito but her attention is on Miles immediately. He knows that she can sense how nervous he is, probably could all week. He both loves and hates their spideybond.

“Um, so I uh, I think I might um, have a crush?”

Gwen immediately begins to choke on her burrito and cough out a mouthful of black beans and cheese. “Oh. Miles. I’m flattered but-”

“Dude not you!” Miles sputters, nearly falling off the roof with how fast he needs to backtrack. He did not think this plan through very well despite thinking about it for a week straight.

“Rude!” Gwen nudges him with her foot, “What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing! I- you- what? You just said!”

“I said what I said!”

Miles can’t keep up with this mental whiplash so he dives further into the mess he’s created. “Look! He goes to my school and-”

Gwen waits a moment but Miles hasn’t continued his sentence. “And?”

Wringing his hands together, Miles looks squarely at his feet. “You’re not gonna be like gasp! He? He’s a boy?”

Gwen blinks at him and deadpans, “Gasp. He is. A boy. Question mark. Exclamation point. Face screaming emoji.”

“What did you, uh, did you know already?”

“You just told me, dude. It’s not a big deal. You know it’s chill to be queer right? We literally have two psuedo-dads and I’m ace.”

“Wait, what’s that?”

“Zero sexual attraction. Not for me.”

“Huh. Cool.”

“Did you think any of the spiders would judge you for being queer?”

Miles shrugs his shoulders, “I- no. I guess not. I was just worried y’know.”

“That’s totally fair,” Gwen rocks her shoulder into him, “But we’ll support you no matter what, you know that right?”

It’s a huge weight off Miles’ shoulders and he exhales loudly as he nods. But before he can say anything, Gwen pushes him onto his side.

“Unless the dude you have a crush on is a total dweeb like you!”

“Hey!” Miles shouts as Gwen webs away, throwing her garbage into a trashcan on the street below them. He scrambles up to his feet to get a running start and shoot his own web to chase after her.

…

In the kitchen of the Spideyhouse, Miles waits until Gwen clears the rest of the spiders out, so that it’s just him, Peter B. and Wade alone. Peter watches this unfold with a raised eyebrow but he doesn’t say anything. Wade is too preoccupied tasting the food on the stove and getting whacked on the hand with the spoon Peter is brandishing to notice anything unusual.

“What’s going on, kid?” Peter asks once all the doors are closed to them.

“So you’re both bi, right?”

Peter nods, still wearing a suspicious look. Wade on the other hand is, well, Wade.

“Oh let’s see, men, women, nonbinary folk,” he starts listing them off on his fingers, “gods, Bob that one time, Death-”

“Wait, actual Death? Is that- nope, no. I don’t wanna know. The less I know about my competition the better.”

“Aw! There’s no competition for my affections when Spider-Man is involved,” Wade sidles up to Peter’s side, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him closer.

Miles makes a face, “Gross.”

“Why the question, sport?”

“Uh,” Miles takes a breath and sighs all his words out at once, “Howdoyouknowyou’rebi?”

“See a person: ‘is that my gender? Hot!’ See another person: ‘is that not my gender? Hot!’ Rinse and repeat!” Wade sounds completely sure of himself, the exact opposite of what Miles feels.

“But like- what if I’m gay or pan or some other sexuality I’ve never even heard of because there’s so many labels and that’s helpful for everyone who never had one before but how are you supposed to know exactly where you fit and what if I pick the wrong one and what if-”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down sport!” Peter shushes him, stepping closer and putting his hands on Miles shoulders to calm him down. Miles’ chest is heaving, he’s breathing so hard he feels like he might pass out, maybe he did too much running with Gwen earlier. “Look champ, you don’t gotta know all that yet. You don’t need to know that at all. Identity is complicated, it’s evolving. Sometimes you do pick the wrong one, even when that one feels right at the time, you might change and feel like something else fits better. That doesn’t mean you are wrong. It’s okay to question, you’ve got time.”

Miles blinks up at him, “That. That almost sounds like it makes sense.”

“And why is that so surprising?”

“Uh, no reason at all, definitely didn’t mean anything by that, no one ever called you a homeless corpse-”

“I did!” Wade raises his hand, “It was in poor taste.”

“Everything you do is in poor taste, Wade,” Peter chides.

“But actually, that’s- that’s good advice? Wisdom? That’s an odd thing to associate with you I mean uh- thanks?”

Peter narrows his eyes, “You’re welcome?”

“Uh, okay um- I’m gonna go home now and have dinner. Also, I have a crush on a guy at school, may ask him out in the future, please don’t background check anybody or show up at my school and be weird!”

“No promises!” Wade shouts at Miles as he practically dives out the front door. He immediately texts Gwen.

Miles: success! i think

Gwen: good job bud, u bi?

Miles: maybe? not gonna rush it

Gwen: :thumbs up:

…

The next step is the hardest part. The next step is his actual dad. He knows in his heart that his dad loves him more than he can possibly fathom, that his dad will love and support him, that his dad is an open and loving man, that he’s progressive and intelligent. That doesn’t change the fear he feels as he paces in his bedroom, trying to figure out the right words to say that he’s definitely not straight. He glances down at the black suit peeking out of his bag and immediately tucks it in deeper, he’s got to get better at hiding his suit. But seeing his suit, knowing how brave he’s been, knowing he can be brave again, that gives him the courage to walk out his door and down his stairs to have dinner with his family. Later, Miles would realize that the real person he should have pleaded with not to do background checks or show up his school and make it weird was his dad, and that would be the only thing about this experience that he’d regret.

….

(first) (next)

#into the spiderverse #spiderfamily #arrawrites #miles morales #into the spider verse #spideypool #spidergwen #gwen stacy #peter b parker #spideyfam #dxrkskin #spideybpool #this spideyfam has two dads #look at them notes #asexual gwen stacy #ace

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parkernotes · 5 years

Text

better together

also available on ao3

post-endgame / fix-it / family bonding / irondad

word count: 2541

It's something out of need, at first; after a few weeks of insistence, Pepper finally convinces him it will be a good idea to send Morgan to an actual kindergarten - where she can make friends and play with people less than ten years older than her for a change - instead of keeping her at home to be homeschooled by her overprotective dad. After a few more weeks of intense research and debate, they decide on a local kindergarten where Pepper will be able to drop Morgan off when heading to the city for work, and that Tony can easily drive to in the mornings she can't - it's the perfect choice. However, they only realize Morgan will need proper school supplies a few days before the start of her first official school year.

“Instead of ordering everything online, you could go on a little trip downtown,” Pepper suggests on Thursday. “You know she loves the city. It could be fun.”

Shopping in New York can be a real struggle sometimes, especially when people tend to recognize Tony and make sure he's aware of that, but as soon as the idea of going to the city pops into his mind, a certain sixteen-year-old superhero does too, and that's basically enough to convince him it wouldn't be that bad.

“Hey, Mo,” he calls, looking down at the little girl who's playing with her action figures on the living room’s rug. “You wanna see Petey this weekend?”

Morgan’s head shots up and she nods excitingly. “Yes!”

Pepper rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. “You act like he doesn’t sleep over practically every weekend.”

Tony shrugs. “Kid probably needs a new backpack, anyways.”

“True,” Pepper laughs, then hums thoughtfully. “You know, you could take them for a little trip around the city after shopping, too. Pete’s been stressed about his midterms, it’d be good for him to distract himself a little bit, don’t you think?”

Tony ponders on it for a few seconds, while simultaneously trying - but failing - to avoid thinking of how Peter truly managed to occupy a special space in their domestic life, to the point that even Pepper Potts knows about his exam calendar. He holds back a smile, then nods. “I guess so. If the kid has the time, I don’t see why not.”

“Daddy, can we go to the zoo?” Morgan asks sweetly from the floor, having heard the entirety of the conversation until that point. “Please?”

Tony’s perfect idea of a day out with the kids didn’t include the zoo, but he finds he can't say no to Morgan’s hopeful little face. He smiles in response, fishing his phone from his pocket while leaning forwards to brush her hair from her face at the same time.

“Let’s see what Petey thinks,” he says.

Me [19:46]

Hey kiddo, Morgan and I are going downtown for some shopping this Saturday, wanna join? We’ll turn it into a little trip afterwards too, if you have time. Might do your head some good.

The answers come a few minutes later, when Tony’s transferred himself to the floor, back against the couch as Morgan explains him the rules of her make-believe world with the action figures. He's trying to understand its politics and why the Thor figurine became enemies with the Captain America one when his phone buzzes.

Pete [19:58]

ofc mr. stark i’d love to!! where are we going?

Me [20:00]

First we’re buying some school supplies, but the rest of the day is still undecided.

Pete [20:01]

have you thought of visiting the zoo??

Tony sighs down at his phone. He then turns to Morgan, “You’re too much like him.”

The little girl looks a bit confused by the statement, but she smiles sweetly at him nonetheless.

“Look!”

Tony turns around to watch Morgan sprint all the way down the aisle where a few kids' backpacks are on display. Peter reaches her first and laughs, and Tony only gets what’s so funny when he actually has a look at the products.

“You want a Spider-Man backpack?” he deadpans. “The Iron Man ones are down there, you know. In case you missed them.”

Peter sniggers. “I think they’re cool.”

“Me too,” Morgan agrees solemnly. She turns around and looks up at Tony, pointing a chubby finger at one of them. “Can I have this one? Pretty please?”

Tony sighs, grabbing the backpack she’s pointing at. "If you insist," he says, forcing a grumpy tone because he doesn't really want to admit that the thought of Morgan going to school with a Spider-Man backpack is actually extremely adorable. He then reaches to grasp her hand in his, “No more running, ‘kay? Stay close to me and Peter.”

Morgan nods, but she already looks rather distracted, glancing around at the colorful products as they start walking down the aisle – at a civil pace, thank you very much – again. Tony nudges Peter, gesturing with the hand holding the backpack to the section of normal-sized bags with neutral colors.

“Grab one for you, I know you’ve ripped the last one."

Peter has the decency to look a bit embarrassed. Tony doesn't mind buying him stuff at all, but it's the third one in the last two months - one would expect that a smart kid like him would've already found a proper hiding place for his belongings when he goes to patrol right after school, but no luck so far.

"Come on, or I'll buy you a Hello Kitty one."

They make it to the cashier - Peter hands him a navy blue backpack, and Tony has a look at all of Morgan's supplies before turning to the boy, "Don't you need anything else, kiddo? You always need new pens. Go grab some, we can wait."

"It's okay, Mr. Stark," Peter reassures him with a grin, patting Morgan on the back when she throws herself against his legs dramatically because it's taking too long, I want to go to the zoo. "I went on a stationary haul with May last month, so I'm fully stocked on pens!"

Tony hums, but he grabs a pack of ballpoint black pens hanging near the cashier and throws in with their stuff about to be rung up, just to make sure.

Happy's still waiting outside with the car once that's done, and soon enough the kids are on the backseat, with a over-excited Morgan securely strapped in, and Tony's sitting on the passenger seat while Happy pulls off to drop them at the zoo.

Due to traffic, after what seems to be like the forty longest minutes of Tony's life, during which he endured Peter practicing random animal sounds with Morgan on the backseat (he's pretty sure they don't have whales at the Central Park's Zoo, so their practice wasn't making a whole lot of sense) while trying to estimate how long they will take so that Happy can be there to pick them up on time, they finally arrive.

"See you in three hours, Boss," Happy tells him through the window as they disembark. He takes a look at Tony and the kids, who have already started making their way towards the entrance without him. "Good luck."

He pays for the tickets and soon enough they're inside; it's a Saturday but still early, right before lunchtime, so it isn't crowded as Tony feared. Still, he makes sure to buy himself a cheap cap together with lion-shaped balloon Morgan begs for right at the entrance, and together with his shades that's enough to keep his identity just a slightly bit more intact.

The first stop is the Tropic Zone, and Tony has to pick Morgan up so she can have a look above the railings at the colorful birds and other animals Tony can't really name, but Peter fills in and does it for him. With his free hand, Tony keeps said boy from toppling over into the fake rainforest with a hand clenched on the material of the back of his jacket, heart skipping a beat every time Peter points a finger excitingly at something and leans forwards even more.

They have a walk around the Temperate Territory and spend a ridiculous amount of time looking at the snow leopards. As any other five-year-old, Morgan is just excited to wave at the animals and see if they react in any way - even if said reaction is the slight turn of their heads the other way - but Tony can sometimes see something flash in Peter's still youthful but more mature eyes, like a little bit of pity for the ones in the other side of the cages. Still, Tony smiles to himself when the boy forgets about it for a while, eyes sparkling and his jaw dropping as he observes the animals move around. It feels nice to see him act his age, for once.

It is a really nice day. He never would've thought that spending time with two children - his kids - would be this fun, and he can't wait to go back home and tell Pepper how the day went by smoothly despite her worries.

However, it seems like good things never last indeed, for his hopeful thinking quickly changes when they arrive at the place where they kept the sea lions, right when the animals' feeding and training session is about to begin. Looking down, he sees that Morgan is holding hands with Peter, so he doesn't bother to uncross his arms and he gets distracted with the little show going on in front of them - it's not his fault, it's actually quite impressive what those little guys can do.

Right when the audience explodes in a round of applause after a particular impressive trick, he smiles down at Morgan only to realize she's gone. No, actually, both kids are gone, and Tony immediately makes a complete turn to inspect the place around him but they're nowhere to be seen.

He doesn't want to attract attention to himself, so he escapes to the back of the crowd, looking around worriedly all around him as he does so. When there's still no sight of Peter's green hoodie or Morgan's obnoxious bright yellow rompers, Tony curses quietly to himself, clenching and unclenching his fists anxiously. He knows nothing bad could happen to them - especially since his little girl is with Spider-Man, not a regular teen - but losing sight of them when the only thing he's supposed to do all day is look after them makes him feel weirdly concerned.

After a few more moments inspecting his surroundings, he approaches a guy standing a little bit further away from the crowd wearing the zoo's guide uniform - he looks up puzzledly as soon as he notices someone is approaching him in quick strides.

"Listen, I'm looking for my kids," Tony blurts out right away, just as the guy's eyes start to widen. "It's a boy about this tall," he says, raising his hand up to the height of his shoulder. "And a tiny girl wearing ugly yellow rompers? Have you seen them?"

"U-Um, I," the guy stutters, squints at Tony a little bit. "Are- are you by any chance-"

"Nope, not who you think I am," he dismisses briskly, chancing a quick look around just in case the kids decide to sprout out of nowhere and end his suffering. "But I need you to focus, have you seen them?"

The guy reluctantly look away from him to point to his right. "I think I, um, saw some kids that match your description heading that-"

"Thanks!"

Tony makes a beeline to the direction pointed, and he makes a turn into a more isolated area of the zoo, where he can spot a gift shop and the doors leading to the restrooms. He mumbles a curse, looking around frantically until a tiny little yellow spot catches his eye a few feet ahead.

"Mo!" he calls, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Daddy!" Morgan answers, pointing at something above her. "You hav'ta help Petey!"

"What-" he begins, but doesn't need to finish the sentence once he shifts his gaze up.

There, balancing himself on top of a thick tree branch is Peter; he's using one of his arms to support himself by hugging the trunk, but the other one is reaching up to something Tony recognizes as Morgan's lion-shaped balloon stuck among some thinner branches and leaves.

"What the- Peter!" he hisses, loud enough for the boy to hear. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Mo lost her balloon!" Peter answers matter-of-factly, not bothering to look down at them. He grunts, repositioning himself to try and get closer to said object, feet shifting dangerously against the wood beneath him. "I'm just trying to-"

"Get down, now," Tony hisses again, looking both ways to see if there's anyone coming. Thankfully the area remains deserted, the visitors being distracted by the show which is still going on, just like they were supposed to.

"But I just need to-"

"Right now, Peter!" he raises his voice, heart racing when Peter almost slips. "I'll buy another balloon, just get down!"

Peter grunts and then sighs in defeat. "Fine," he says, starting to climb down the tree, but still not as carefully as Tony would've wanted.

"You," he starts once the boy is standing right in front of him, not even a drop of sweat on his skin as if that whole stunt didn't tire him at all - and it probably didn't. Tony points an accusatory finger at him. "You are going to drive me crazy."

Peter frowns, "But it was going to be easy, I just had to-"

"No, I know you didn't think this through-"

"I did think this through, Mo just asked me-"

"I know you felt inspired by the monkey exhibit back there but you can't just go around climbing trees without wearing your-"

"You're over exaggerating! It's just a tree, not the Empire State Building-"

"You-"

"Daddy," Morgan interrupts, tugging at the hem of his jacket. "Can I get a bear this time?"

Tony sighs, running a hand up and down his face once before smiling. "'Course, baby," he says. He's about to lead them forwards towards the gift shop but as a second thought he stops, looking down at her, mockingly serious. "Promise me you'll never follow your brother's example. Repeat after me: climbing trees is dangerous."

"C-Climb- Climing trees is dangerous," she repeats dutifully, but already has an eye on her desired balloon being displayed just outside the gift shop.

Tony looks up when he hears Peter choke on a laugh, and the smile the boy shoots him is enough to make him forget about the whole ordeal.

"Just kidding, Mo, you can climb how many trees you want," he says, picking her up to place a smooch on her cheek. "Just let me know first, okay?" he says, then nods with satisfaction when Morgan hums in agreement. He then glares at Peter. "The same goes for you, monkey wannabe, or else I'll make Karen tattletale on everything you-"

"Yes, I get it," the boy rolls his eyes, but he's still smiling. Like always, he accepts the arm Tony places around his shoulders easily, and soon enough they fall into step again.

#avengers endgame spoilers #endgame fix it #irondad #tony stark #peter parker #fic #fanfic #mine #ao3 #morgan stark

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youreader-aus · 3 years

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This is a long post with me rambling about a Spider-Man AU where Peter never was Spider man but instead Miles Morales is the og spiderman and they’re friends, so let’s get to it:

Miles was bitten by a random radioactive spider when he was like 20 years old and just got his powers when he saved 15 yo Peter Parker and his uncle Ben from a mugging (that in another universe would have killed Ben)

Miles was scrapped by a bullet and accidentally used his electric powers to subdue the guy

Miles was very scared of going to the hospital for the same reason he was struggling alone with his power despite having trustful friends and that was: he was scared

The x-men are a thing in this universe (like a known superhero group) but mutants still suffer a lot with discrimination so Miles knows powers are a thing that exists but doesn’t really know how to contact a mutant that could help him

Back to Miles meeting Ben and Peter:

Ben can’t convince him to go to a hospital and doesn’t press cause he’s a understanding and perceptive guy. He and Peter get him to their house so May can help him, tho

So this three strangers knows miles secret and he is very sus (politely ofc) about them but they promise him that his secret is safe and insists to show their gratitude someway (like a dinner or something), may also wants to makes sure the wound is healing properly so he kinda has to visit them again

They become friends, maybe the Parkers and Miles’ parents get to meet cause I love me some good friendship

Miles is a college student but I really don’t know enough about science to know which major he has but I know it has to do with robotics??? I know his best friend Ganke (also in college) studies software stuff and Peter’s major will have to do with biochem

Miles will start his vigilantism and Ganke will be the only one who knows that

I never read any comic but if I’m not mistaken Miles mother’s death is what motivated him? Just wanted you to know this didn’t happen here. I think of his parents pretty much as the ones in the spider verse movie (except his dad being a cop cause that makes me uncomfy)

I’ll put an almost death on his mother tho, when he was little or not even existed and she might have a scar or disability that makes Miles conscious about how even surviving violence can continue affecting people even after years

That, plus Ben stuff and knowing about heroes and the mutants inspires him to want to help people

Gorke, like in the comics(or at least is what wiki says) will help him with designing his spider suit and work with him in tech he uses

They’re making improvements as they go

Miles and Ganke are interns at Stark industries and there they occasionally work with Gwen Stacy who is a good friend and is very sus of them, she knows they’re hiding something

The internet, of course, is aware of the new vigilant that does lots of parkour, has cool powers and calls himself Spider-Man

And that’s how Peter finds about Spider-Man, he is very amazed by him and seeing videos he recognizes Miles because of the the way he talks (he uses a voice modifier) but also because he recognizes the powers

I didn’t mention Miles or Ganke making web fluid and that’s because it’s Peter’s creation

He’s in the final stages of creating it, like it’s mostly functional but smells bad and he’s correcting it? Idk shit tbh

He was going to use it as a registration for a stark program that pays for education or something (again, idk shit) but instead he gives it to Miles

He talks to him like “I know ur secret identity and if I conected the dots that easily it means that the moment ben and may know about Spider-Man they’ll know it you so you better tell them yourself on your own terms” which he does and helps a lot cause Ganke was helping him in the hero business but he’s not qualified to treat injuries like May is.

After giving Spider-Man his iconic webs and therefore the ability to swing around he is integrated as a tech support, he and Ganke get along very well

I love mcu Ned and my Peter is basically a mcu Peter with a twist so I want him to have a Ned (and MJ) and I know they pretty much made Ned based on Ganke but I’ll just close my eyes about it and they’ll both exist. Since i don’t know Ganke in the comics I’ll just use the little appearances he has in the spider verse movie as a guide for his personality (I like his design in the comics so I’m keeping it)

So Ganke is very focused, has really bad sleep habits (aka he doesn’t sleep), is very chill and has a dry sense of humor. He also has a resting bitch face.

He will be the introvert for Miles Extrovert and it’s pretty much that couple of friends that everyone thinks is very cool and kinda wish they could be friends with.

Miles and Peter banter a lot and have a kind of a siblings dynamics where Miles acts like an embarrassing big brother and Peter acts like he doesn’t like it (he also wanted siblings tho so he lives for it)

Peter was a bit scared of Ganke at first because he thought Ganke didn’t like him (cause of rbf) but after they start talking science and working on Spider-Man stuff together they get closer. They even find the Lego interest they have in common and he, Ned and Ganke start to hang out to construct their things (I also don’t know shut about legos lol)

Ned pretty much sees Ganke and Miles as ‘cool college people that are kinda my best friends older brothers?’ And likes them a lot

Ned has no idea Miles is Spider-Man BUT he knew Peter was working on the web fluid and even helped occasionally with brainstorming.

It’s because of Ned that Miles finds out peter was going to use the web fluid project to get a scholarship and feels bad about it, Peter insists it’s ok and that saving lives and stopping violence is more important

Back to Ned:

When Peter stopped giving him updates about his project and not long after Spider-Man started to swing Ned connected the dots and was like “Peter u have a secret to tell me? U can trust me I would never judge u for having superpowers and I can keep your secret identity a secret” to which Peter was so surprised he blurted something about giving the web fluid for Spider-Man

He convinces Ned that he just thought it would be perfect and wandered at night till he met Spider-Man and gave it to him, Ned is only half convinced Peter is not Spider-Man

He doesn’t tell Ned he knows Spider-Man identity but Ned knows for sure Peter is the one to make Spider-Man’s web fluid

Peter feels very guilty about lying to Ned and also feels guilty for saying anything at all about Miles secret, he tells him and while Miles is concerned he is also very amused (he knows Ned can’t be discreet, he’s worse then Peter who is already awful at lying but the situation where Ned was convinced Peter was Spider-Man is pretty funny, Peter is ofc too clumsy to be Spider-Man)

Spider-Man works with some of the Avengers a couple of times before Bruce (or Tony? or both) ask about his tech and webs

He tells them he works on his tech but has help of some people and that the web fluid is a creation of a high schooler that gives it to him (he says the same story Peter told Ned)

He is very impulsive when he says it and almost regrets it immediately (cause it could compromise his secret identity) but when Banner is impressed Miles goes on about how the kid would use it for the science money program thing Bruce is like “give me his name, I’ll make Tony sponsor him”

Miles does, he’s aware of how much this might compromise his identity but he knows Tony stark probably already knows his identity (or could know if he wanted) and is only being polite about not mentioning it.

He does ask Tony when they talk about it to not officially put Peter as the web creator cause he doesn’t want Peter to be focus of any of his enemies.

Tony hires Peter as an intern, not the first high school intern but it’s very rare but he also convinces Miles to say who more helps him with the tech, he reasons that hiring them and making they work on it in a professional place will give them more resources

Them Miles gives his own name and Ganke’s too.

Miles identity is like a secret the avengers (or at least Bruce and Tony) knows about but no ones talks about how they know.

I’m not sure I want to go deep into the ‘is ilegal to be a vigilant’ thing so let’s just say: Spider-Man is Avenger-adjacent, he’s affiliated to them but is not an official Avenger and has permission from shield to work as a hero (I like to think Tony helps hide Miles identity from shield)

That’s all I have about this AU for now, I’m gonna call it Earth 222 because I like the number ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so anything I write about it will be tagged as Earth 222

I’m not sure about writing more but I might, I really like Aaron (Miles uncle) in the spider verse movie and might want to integrate him to this somehow? I also could expand on Gwen and MJ and Wade Wilson (deadpool) but lets see

#Now I have to figure out how my tagging system will work #Earth 222 #Spider-Man AU #Miles Morales #Peter Parker #plot ramble #Minor Ganke Lee #Minor Ned Leeds #minor as in ‘not a a lot of content’#tbh this all started bc I was daydreaming about the ‘Peter Parker’s field trip to stark industries’ trope #and wanted Peter to actually be just an intern and not having to hide being Spider-Man #but them I putted Miles in this cause I love he #and them this all happened #long post #my post

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ninjakitty15 · 3 years

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Chapter 4: Like Death Warmed Over (Loki x OFC Pairing)

"Supernatural ended?! What the actual fuck?! Why?!" I exclaimed while catching up on the shows I missed in the five year absence. "That show was supposed to go till I die...again! My life is over!" I curled up on the couch, hugging my knees to my chest and burying my head in my arms.

"It was quite an entertaining show," Loki agreed, having grown curious early on in my catching up what I was bitching about missing so much. "Is any of it true? The monsters and the ways to kill them?"

"I only know about ghosts and spirits and most kinds of salt does act as a ward against them, rock salt especially. As I don't get rid them by force but by coercion if anything, I don't know if burning the bodies or pieces of the body left would send them away. Not about to try either."

"And the other monsters of legends in there, do they exist?"

"Almost every culture has their monsters on this planet, some overlapping between werewolves and vampires, I wouldn't be surprised if they do but I've not personally seen any beyond my area of expertise. Not my problem."

"What about angels and demons?"

"Those two are a bit different as they were primarily created by only one such religion, and a shady one at that, people somehow have different ideas of what those are. There have been cases of demonic possession in the past but its not like in the show where they're black smoke forcing themselves into your mouth, you don't see it happening, it just happens. Angels on the other hand...bit more complicated, ancient literature depicts them as benevolent guardians of God to carry out his will and guide us lowly humans. Modern media however depicts the majority of them as dicks with an agenda of their own that doesn't involve helping us at all."

"What do you believe then?"

"I have no one religion to believe considering I'm talking to a god right now and was given more power from beings that claim they're gods as well, everyone wants to be king of the mountain."

"And what do you want?"

"A cottage by the shores of Salem, where death and dark magic is strong but not shunned and the weird are welcomed more than the mundane."

"That place sounds intriguing, tell me more about it."

"Centuries ago when my ancestors first settled, people were even more religious nuts than they are now and they were crazy superstitious. They were also just plain crazy and got the idea of obtaining other people's land and property by accusing the owners of being evil witches after watching their daughters dabble in a bit of voodoo magic with their slaves. That's when the infamous Salem Witch Trials started which was a horrific dark mark in this country's history. Hundreds of innocent lives were ended as women and children and even the occasional man was accused, tortured, and locked away for life or executed horrifically."

"And you wish to live there?" he asked incredulously.

"There might be some unrest still from the victims and I want them to be at peace. Also, while the history of the place was terrible to say the least, it has become a bit more whimsical and touristy which I usually hate but they make it so fun there. You might even like it yourself if you ever wanna visit, assuming Tony lets me off the leash and I'm not stuck living here forever. Nowadays its a place that celebrates and capitalizes on magic."

"What if I were to convince Tony to let us have a day trip to there?"

"You'd do that?"

"Why not?"

I shrugged but smiled at the idea. "I'd say you're living up to the nickname Silvertongue."

"Oh that's not the only reason I'm called that," he purred into my ear.

I'm pretty sure if I could still bring color to my skin, I'd have the slightest blush of excitement from his voice alone let alone the suggestion. "Promises promises."

"Tell me something, you say you're dead inside and only the necromancy itself keeps you going, but do you still feel or are your nerves dead too."

"I don't think I'd wanna be alive if I couldn't feel or taste things so yes intense pain and strong levels of pleasure, kinda like a succubus I guess, pleasure keeps me alive, reminds me I'm still kicking." I paused then, trying to read if he was just gonna dump naughty images in my head or actually follow through. I do something totally impulsive then and rest my head on his lap, reaching up and touching the razorsharp jawbones of a god. Though he's cool to the touch, the second I come in contact with him I feel alive again.

"Do you miss being completely alive?" he asked, seeing the sudden but fleeting change from my touch.

"I'm not sure, the life I had before the change was almost complete hell from what I remember and I'm not one of those protagonists that wishes they could just be normal again, I like being what I am. I'd probably have died for real at Hydra, always finding new methods to get the same result of me not doing anything, I think a normal human would've died from the pain or blood loss then."

"That would make you an immortal, staying alive when you should be long dead, unaffected."

I shrugged. "I am what I am. Doubt I'm immortal though, a blade through the heart might not work but most creatures are killed by beheading including zombies which apparently Stark thinks I am. Jokes on him though, I don't eat brains, that's the least appetizing part of the body."

"You know from experience, do you?" he asked in bemusement. "Is it the heart then?"

I wrinkled my nose at this, recalling a certain show where a horse heart was devoured raw. "Have you ever eaten a muscle? It's like eating a wet squishy piece of leather, your jaw starts to ache after a few bites of a chewy chunk. Everyone assumes its the heart or brains thats best because we think since thats our best quality alive, it should be that in a meal." My hand slid from his face to his heart then though was blocked by his green asgardian leisure robes so the feeling of being alive was a bit lost though I still wanted to feel his heart, so many people seemed to think he didn't have one. I wondered if I could survive pulling his lifeforce from him, not that I'd want to of course when just touching him gave me a taste of life, but an immortal with immense power meant he wouldn't be dead for a while and that meant he was a potential atomic bomb in my hands. I was quiet for once, feeling his heartbeat, his power under my hand, so many different thoughts between naughty and dangerous running through my head then. I could feel him watch me just as quiet as I was, ever the curious god observing his new catch.

"What are you thinking that's stayed your tongue suddenly?" he asked me then.

I smirked. "I'm wondering what true power tastes like."

"Lean up and find out," he challenged smoothly.

Both my eyebrows popped up then, usually when people find out I'm a walking magical corpse they're instantly turned off due to that pesky little thing called necrophilia. I didn't need to be told twice though and did just that, our lips connecting softly. The second it did, my entire body warmed and tingled back to life, causing me to moan into the kiss in the rush of long missed feeling I didn't want to end. What started out as a tasting, testing the waters kiss quickly became one of lust and hunger he was matching just as greedily. I pushed myself up to get even closer to him and his hands snaked around my hips without breaking the kiss. Of course something had to at least give Loki some air to breathe and it was a soft thump coming outside the room followed closely by, "Mr. Stark, are you here?"

We pulled away reluctantly, allowing Loki to catch his breath and me to lose mine returning to my current corpse form. "You'll be the life of me, Loki," I mused. "Did a kid just interrupt this?"

"That must be the Spiderling then," loki replied, waiting for me to get off him before getting off the couch and offering me his hand once more.

I took it curiously and followed him out of the living to where a teenager was looking around wearing a high tech spider themed suit that looked like an offshoot of Deadpool's suit though the mask part was pulled off. He's cute though a bit young. "That has Stark written all over it."

The kid whirled around as his back had been turned to us watching him look for his sugar daddy. "Hi Loki, who are you?"

"Who am I? Who are you?" I countered. "I was here first."

"I'm Spider Parker- I mean Peter Man," he stumbled in answer. "Dammit."

I couldn't hide the laughter at his failed attempt to cover one if not both identities and looked over at Loki who was smirking just the same. "Isn't he just precious?"

"I think you caught him by surprise, not an easy feat as he claims he has a sixth sense for that sort of thing," Loki commented.

I shrugged. "Occupational hazard. Tony's not here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message you can do so elsewhere."

Peter as I guessed his actual name was scowled at me and appeared to get in a defensive stance but once more we were interrupted by something entering the building followed by. "Loki, you guys here?"

"Maybe," I called back.

Tony walked into the room we were all standing in and grinned seeing Peter there as well. "Hey kid, what brings you here?"

"Mr. Stark, I heard rumors theres a horde of zombies at the hydra base and wanted to help," Peter replied quickly.

It was my turn to frown then. "So much for keeping that under wraps, I'm blaming you on this, Stark. You just had to know, didn't you?"

"Me? I'm pretty sure you volunteered as you hate them as much as we do."

"I was hoping you'd handle most of it, you're the Avengers after all, but once more a woman has to clean up a mess made by lousy men."

"You know her, Mr. Stark?" squeaked Peter between the bickering.

"We found her in the second to last base we raided, well Loki did anyway," explained Tony. "I let you into my compound as a guest I know almost nothing about and this is how you thank me."

"You could've just let me go back to where I was before I got caught but noooo, you had to know why I was there."

"She's got a point there, Stark," Loki noted.

"Who's side are you on?" he demanded.

"Hers, clearly. I thought that much was obvious as I'm standing right next to her this whole time."

Tony rolled his eyes but returned his attention to Peter. "Don't worry about it, kid. The zombies don't work for Hydra."

"They don't?" he asked in disbelief.

"They work for me," I chirped. "Well not worked so much as follow since its free of charge and labor."

"You? What are you, the Night Queen?" Peter asked.

Tony chuckled at the reference. My eyes went snow white then and I gave him a look that matched the lead wight walker. "Winter is coming," I told him in a hollow voice.

"M-Mr. Stark, I don't think it's a good idea to have her on the team," Peter told him quietly.

"Are you questioning my judgment, kid?"

"No, sir."

"Good, because she's staying here."

"Actually," I interjected. "I have a request on that note."

Tony turned back to me then with an arched eyebrow. "You're not moving out till I can fully trust you."

"She wants to go on a field trip with me somewhere, just for a day," Loki spoke up.

Tony crossed his arms and looked expectantly at the god. "Where?"

"Only the most magical place in the east coast," I answered.

"Disneyworld?" Peter asked hopefully.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Hell no, that's the most nauseating place in the east coast. So full of families with kids they can't hope to control, and all that noise noise noise. That place ain't magical, it's mechanical and made of money and memories. No, this place isn't in the south and doesn't require commercial airlines to get there."

"Hm, well you proved you can handle yourself on the battlefield and Loki will be with you on this trip but as I still don't trust him completely we'll have someone else with you two to make sure you don't get into too much trouble," Tony stated. "Clint will go with you as he's the only one free at the moment and wasn't fighting off hydra like the rest of us did. Family outting or whatever at his farm."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yup, don't make me regret it either or you'll be on a tighter leash than Loki is."

"Oooh a leash, kinky, what's the safe word?"

"Bananas," he quipped right back, making me cackle before I thanked him for letting have some fun on my own.

#lokifanfiction #lokifanfic #lokixoc #lokixNell #loki x original female character #necromancer #nell the necromancer #necromancy #avengers

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kabira · 4 years

Text

03 | a little nighttime swinging

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.8k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — violence

note — you know the drill—send me an ask or dm to be added to the taglist! first appearance of the amazing aunt may, so cheers to that. don’t really have much to add except for the fact that i woke up dead tired before morning classes to finish this...but it was fun so i guess it was worth it.

go to fic masterlist | main masterlist

Vernon almost jumped out of his seat when his phone buzzed.

And while he managed to keep his butt firmly planted, he did accidentally swipe half the stuff off his table, phone included. Granted, he should have been paying more attention—usually, he’d be alert and ready for the pestering texts about the day’s homework, but today he had been too tired to keep his eyes open for long.

He wiped the drool gathered at one corner of his mouth and swiped his phone up off the ground, his fingers going on autopilot as they entered the passcode and clicked open the messenger app.

LUCE:

page 25

wtf is a fitting reaction

nvm it’s fittig

VERNON:

reminds of the time you found a milf in the history textbook

LUCE:

the past is in the past

let it gooo

anyway send me the answers to q 11 through 13 and i’ll buy u whatever u want from larry’s on friday

Vernon snorted a laugh, then clicked off without answering. Bold of her to assume I don’t already have someone else to pay for my order. Somehow, though, the text from her had been almost relieving. After all the new changes, he had almost expected her not to text him. It was stupid, he knew, but he couldn’t help being a little apprehensive about the new superhero stuff taking over his regular routine.

He glanced back at the ground, where an old notebook with plans for web shooter mods lay open on the ground, loose pages spilling out. It was already dark out, but the streetlights hadn’t been switched on yet—a good time to sneak out in his suit without being seen; he didn’t want Mrs. Jones next door wondering why Spider-Man was swinging out of Vernon Parker’s bedroom window when she went out for her evening walk.

He exhaled through his teeth, blinking hard to push back any remaining sleepiness. Most of his homework remained yet to be done, but in his defense, he’d had a lot on his mind, not to mention his running on less sleep and more leftover Rhino-induced adrenaline.

He was tired. His was the kind of exhaustion that seeped into his bones and trickled into the empty corners of his mind, making him want move instead of lie down and rest for a while. It was the kind of tiredness you could only wash away by doing, and as long as he was Spider-Man, there was always something to do.

He clicked off the reading light, dousing the room in darkness. His senses were awake, as if straining for the stimulus of the city, and he needed a good nighttime swing to clear his mind anyway. I deserve a break.

Changing into the costume took all of forty-five seconds, picking up the fallen books three seconds. After sticking a pillow under the bedcovers, Vernon perched on the window pane, looking out into the chilly backyard below. Somehow, changing into his suit and swinging out from his actual neighborhood seemed even more thrilling than swinging in.

Maybe if I go out this way, those three won’t be able to follow.

“Vernon, are you in there?”

His heart almost leaped out of his throat at the voice. Vernon turned, eyes wide, eyes zooming in on the shadow lurking at the bottom of his bedroom door, where a little light seeped in from outside. The lock clicked as Aunt May’s hand pressed down on the handle, and the door opened a crack.

“Don’t come in, I’m naked!” he yelled in a fit of panic, backflipping from the window onto the mattress, making the bedsprings squeak tellingly under his weight. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He was so sleep-deprived he’d forgotten about locking the door.

Rule number one of hiding your secret identity from your all-seeing aunt: never leave the bedroom door open.

“Oh,” his aunt’s voice came from outside. The light spilling in from the crack in the door receded as she pulled the door shut again. “I just wanted to ask, dear, aren’t you going to eat anything? You haven’t had a bite since you came back from school.”

Crap, that’s true, he thought, the muscles of his stomach tightening at the thought. I’ll swing by the candy store downtown. “Uh, I don’t think I will,” he said. “I’m not hungry, er—think I might be coming down with something.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” May’s worried voice sounded, the door beginning to open again. “I could have whipped you up a—”

“No!” he yelled, instinctively pulling the covers up to his chest. “Naked, remember?”

The door closed again. “Well, put something on,” she replied. “And I’ll make you some soup.”

“You do that,” he muttered loudly, already feeling guilt pool in the pit of his stomach at making her so something for him. But what else was he supposed to do? “Actually, no, don’t bother. I can feel a headache coming on already. I’ll turn in for the night and have a big breakfast tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to anything?”

“Yeah,” he said. “And don’t come in! Because—you know—germs and stuff. Really nasty bug going around in school, one of the kids in my class had it. Don’t wanna infect you too.”

He heard her sigh, but it was an accepting sigh, albeit a little reluctant. “All right,” she said, and the shadow under the door pulled back a little. “Good night, Vernon.”

“Night, Aunt May,” he said, watching the slit of light under the door until the shadow receded completely. As soon as he was in the clear, he breathed a sigh of relief, slipping off the covers.

Those S.H.I.E.L.D. guys had it easy.

Although he couldn’t feel the night air on his bare skin, swinging through the city at night always left him feeling refreshed. It was a little ironic, sure, physical exertion energizing him, but Vernon suspected it was more of a psychological thing. Being out here in the open reminded him of who he actually was supposed to be—not just Vernon Parker, the tired highschooler with leftover chemistry homework, but crime-fighting, wall-crawling, not-homework-doing Spider-Man.

He landed on the roof of a high building, hitting the concrete with a satisfying plunk. Everything seemed more alive at night. Even from up here, he could hear the sounds of humanity on the street below, loud voices running into each other over the noise of traffic. The Daily Bugle billboard on the high building opposite him was lit up—Jameson probably dragging him like always—but Vernon tuned it out. The last thing he needed right now was more negativity.

He was about to leap off the side again when his ears picked up a soft sound behind him. Bad guys, he thought reflexively, before realizing there was a much better explanation.

His jaw clenched, shoulders tightening before he forced them to relax. “You can come out now,” he called without turning, upset rippling through his body despite him desperately trying not to show it. “There’s no point in hiding if you can’t even do it properly.”

Their hesitation was almost audible, but then she stepped out from behind the small roof door. Tiger’s white suit was stark against the dark sky, her mask’s cat ears perked like Daredevil’s horns. He had to admit it was pretty impressive that she’d managed to stay unnoticed that long.

Nova floated up from the side of the building next, carrying a disgruntled-looking Felix. Seeing the latter out of his X-Men costume felt strange, like seeing Fury without his eyepatch. There was definitely something up with him, but Vernon didn’t want to pry, so he stored the suspicion away for later perusal.

“You can sense non-threatening presences with your spider sense?” Nova asked, looking both annoyed and awed. “Your file didn’t say that.”

Vernon was tempted to lie just to spite him, but stopped himself. If these guys were going to be his teammates, lying about his abilities probably wasn’t the best way to go. “No, you’re just bad at stealth,” he replied, deadpan. “How did you even find me? No, wait, let me guess—camera outside my house?”

“Tracker on your suit, actually,” Tiger said. Despite the mask covering her face, he could sense her guilt, which didn’t help his case. “We can’t learn to work together if you keep running away from us.”

“Running? I wasn’t running,” he said defensively. “And if you want us to work together, the best place to start is to tell me your name.”

“You already know my name.”

“Your other name.”

“Ah.” Her head tilted up. The high ponytail coming out the back of her head flicked to the side as nodded. “White Tiger.”

“A bit simplistic, but to the point.” He nodded in mock-approval. “Makes me think I should’ve just named myself Radioactive Spider.”

She didn’t take the bait, which was probably for the better. “So, what?” Nova asked, and Vernon was suddenly reminded of how infuriating his voice was. “Are you just going to stand around all night?”

“Swing around, actually,” he said. “It’s a big place. Sooner or later, I’m bound to find a crime happening. Sometimes it even happens to me.”

As if on cue, sirens sounded in the distance, loud and piercing. He shrugged at the three, before turning around and balancing himself on the edge. “If you want to get some real-world experience, there’s nothing better than stopping a petty robbery,” he said. “I hope you can keep up—because I’m not going to slow down.”

And he dived.

There was that feeling again, the air pressure against his body as he fell headfirst like a comet towards the busy street. A couple of people looked up as he pulled up at the last moment, shooting webs at an overhead lamppost and swinging in a circle around it before letting go, launching his body into the air again.

He looked over the rooftops as he swung, half-curious about how the others were going to follow. A small, white-clad figure leaped from building to building with surprising grace and strength, able to match him in speed. Nova flew alongside him, carrying Iceman again, who still wasn’t using his powers. Vernon knew it wasn’t a case of loss of powers either, because then he wouldn’t be here, and plus, he’d seen the guy in action this morning. Was he trying to remain inconspicuous?

The less people know Iceman’s in town, the better, he thought, though he knew it was a futile effort. The Rhino fight in the morning hadn’t had any live coverage, but he knew for all its lectures, S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t going to bother with hiding its tracks either. School next day was probably going to be buzzing with talk about the new superheroes.

He gritted his teeth. All this in a day. He could imagine how bad everything was going to get in the coming days.

Mid-swing, he saw the crime happening up ahead, a group of masked men trying to break into a store through the back door in a poorly-lit area. Vernon balanced on a high lamppost without alerting them, taking a moment to assess the situation. There were about eight men in balaclavas—a lot for a simple robbery. Maybe they were first-timers. Easy enough to take down.

“A record store?” he wondered aloud, and one of the guys whirled around, looking up at him with wide eyes. “What are you guys doing stealing from record stores?”

“Spider-Man!” one of them yelled, though he didn’t really see the point, since anyone who hadn’t noticed him yet probably deserved whatever was coming.

The man who had noticed him first fumbled for something along his hip before pulling out a gun and pointing it at him. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot!”

“Oh, no, don’t shoot!” he called out, and the man’s taut shoulders relaxed somewhat before Vernon shot a web straight at the gun, jerking it right out of his hand. “Can’t believe you fell for that.”

He jumped, landing on the ground in a crouch. The leader of the little group, the one who had been trying to bust open the door with a crowbar, stepped forward, swinging said crowbar in what Vernon guessed was supposed to be a menacing way. “Step aside,” he said to his men, his eyes narrowed on Vernon. “I’ll take care of the Spider.”

Vernon was so amused he let the guy attempt to swing at him, dodging the crowbar at the last moment. “Okay, not gonna lie,” he said. “When you called me the Spider, it made me feel kind of sexy.”

He kicked the robber in the side, sending him flying into a trashcan. The rest of the group hesitated only a moment before closing in again. Vernon webbed the lid of the trashcan, swinging it around like a shot-put player and knocking back some of them, before he let go, sending it crashing into one.

Nova dropped Felix in the midst of the group, and his skin slowly solidified into ice. “Okay, playtime’s over now,” he said. “If you just give up, I won’t have to bash your heads in.”

“Where did you come from?” one of the men asked, clearly surprised, right before Iceman froze him into a life-sized ice sculpture.

Vernon knocked out another man with a good old punch to the face. His spider sense buzzed. The crowbar guy, he thought as he whirled around, hands spread in shooting position, but White Tiger was already there, slicing through his crowbar with her claws. “Thanks,” he murmured, as she put him out of commission with a well-placed roundhouse.

She inclined her head. “Don’t get distracted.”

He turned, seeing Nova’s fists start to glow as he aimed at the guy who was attempting to sneak away. Vernon’s eyes landed behind him, where an unsuspecting civilian car was coming down the street. “No!” he yelled, webbing a surprised Nova to the wall.

“Hey, man, what the heck?!” Nova yelled back, struggling against the webs. Vernon shot web fluid at the guy who had been trying to escape, wrapping him up like a cocoon. There was the muffled sound of something heavy falling as Tiger drop-kicked the last one, cleanly finishing what he admitted would otherwise have taken longer. She leaped across the street, slicing through the webs covering Nova, who dropped to the sidewalk.

“What the hell was that for?” he asked, stalking up to Vernon with his fists clenched. “I had that guy!”

“No, you almost sent him crashing into that car,” Vernon said, gesturing at the vehicle behind him that now passed unharmed. “When in a fight, civilians are always first priority. They can’t defend themselves like us.”

Nova scowled, but turned on his heel and marched away, muttering something about him stealing the glory. Vernon watched him go with a frown, then turned around.

One of the robbers lay webbed-up, two quite literally frozen in place, five knocked out. The fight had taken a total of about two minutes—not a record, but considering the number they were going against, surprisingly efficient. He wasn’t even sure if this classified as a fight or simply a one-sided beatdown.

Overkill, he thought, then sighed. “You people have a lot to learn.”

“Oh, come on,” Iceman said. He seemed energized after the fight as his skin melted back to normal, a lively glint in his eye where there hadn’t been one a few minutes ago. “That was so much fun.”

“Yeah, but you have to learn to care about collateral damage,” he snapped, trying and failing to hide his annoyance. Now that he wasn’t swinging alone, crime-fighting wasn’t half as fun, even if it was twice as fast. Having someone watch his back was safe, sure, but it could lead to him letting his guard down. And what if he ended up somewhere alone? “You’re fast, but we’re not fighting in a vacuum. We’re not fighting a war, we’re protecting people. That’s supposed to be the most important thing—making sure no one gets hurt.”

“Even these guys?” Nova asked, toeing one of the unconscious robbers.

“Yeah, even these guys,” Vernon said. “Well, they can be hurt a little bit, but that’s only because there’s no other way to stop them. Next time, make sure you’re not letting any innocent people get in the way of your fun.”

The group fell silent. He almost felt bad about killing their enthusiasm, but Nova’s recklessness had managed to give him a scare. One more second and he might have had a death on his conscience.

The sirens were closer now. He’d completely forgotten about the cops; web-slinging was a much faster method of travel than cars, and he almost always left them behind. “Come on,” he told the others, casting one last glance around the scene. Something felt off, but he guessed it was just the novelty of working in a team. Fun day. “The police will find them. Let’s go.”

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kabira · 3 years

Text

08 | distance

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.5k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — minor violence

note — ok so this was kinda later than scheduled (three WEEKS) but the next update will hopefully be on time so i can keep up! by which i mean sunday 6 am (ist). also, for the love of god, tumblr make this show up in the tags. pretty, pretty please.

go to fic masterlist | main masterlist

“Okay, so here’s what I found out about your Rhino guy,” Yeji said, jumping over the side of the rooftop and landing on another, hitting the ground with a roll before coming up on her feet. They were currently involved in a high-speed chase, which meant she had to yell at the top of her voice for Vernon to hear her—not that it mattered a lot. Up here, no one could hear you scream. “He’s Russian. Name’s Alexei Sytsevich.”

“Russian, huh?” Vernon yelled back. He swung over a tall rooftop garden, taking care not to accidentally knock over something he wasn’t supposed to. “Anything that could tie him to Osborn?”

“Not really!” Yeji yelled. “His identity is public, so anyone could get to him, and he must have happened to have been around when he attacked you. But there’s nothing concrete we could go after.”

The two of them were chasing Batroc the Leaper across the top of the buildings, having caught up with him just moments after he robbed a store. A basic assignment, really, but it was still a challenge to apprehend him before he got too far from the crime scene. One of their more casual operations, much like a training session, except this was the real deal.

“Anything of interest?” Vernon asked. They were close to catching their quarry, very close. Batroc wasn’t really that notorious in the underworld, but he was still a menace and technically a criminal. A more notable point of interest were the mechanical leaping legs attached to both his feet which allowed him to jump several feet high in the air, making for a good old-fashioned superhuman chase scene.

“He was experimented on with this gamma radiation technique to give him superhuman strength and durability, but it ended in an accident,” Yeji answered. Her voice, apart from the strain due to the yelling, sounded strangely relaxed for someone who was chasing a guy across the tops of buildings. Even after having time to get used to it, Vernon was still surprised by her resilience. “The suit he was wearing that day—remember how it was made of some kind of self-regenerating polymer? It’s literally stuck to his skin. Can’t get it off him.”

“Must be constipated; it explains the anger issues.”

Just then, Yeji caught up to the Leaper. She sprung off a ledge and onto the top of a water tanker, from where she dived towards the unsuspecting criminal, flattening him to the ground. Vernon swung up to her, landing on the ground next to her. Batroc tried to wiggle away, but Vernon webbed his hands and feet to the rooftop, successfully trapping him. “So,” he said, turning his attention back to Yeji. “Any idea where they’re keeping him?”

“If you’re wondering if he’s being kept anywhere close to Osborn, don’t worry.” She placed her hands on her hips. It looked strangely satisfying, her claws aligned with the gray markings around the waist of her white suit. “Rhino’s placed in the Helicarrier for now, but in a special ward designed specifically for the big guys, though th They have specialists looking into his, er, sticky situation, but he’s on an entirely different level than Norman. And I mean that quite literally.”

He nodded. “Did the files mention which specialists are looking into it?”

“Eez it perhaps—” Batroc started.

Vernon webbed his mouth. “Zip it,” he said.

“No. The only files I could access didn’t have much on him,” Yeji said, sounding genuinely sorry. “There was other stuff, like his eye color and his blood type, but I don’t think you’d be very interested in all of that.”

“You think right.”

“There might be more details in the confidential reports coming in from the Helicarrier holder itself, but getting them would be a lot of trouble,” she said. “Although if you really want them—”

“No, it doesn’t matter,” Vernon said, shaking his head. “Thanks for digging up the rest, though. I owe you one.”

“Consider it early payback for when your Aunt May teaches me how to beat your ass at video games.” He couldn’t see her face, but he sensed that underneath the mask, she was smiling.

“Hey, that’s an Aunt May thing, not a me thing,” he said, then paused, hesitating. There was something else he had wanted to ask her, but he didn’t know if he really wanted to follow through with it. “Hey, Tiger…” he trailed off. “Actually, never mind.”

“No, go ahead,” she said. “Unless you’d rather not.”

He shook his head slightly. “It’s not like that,” he said. “This might sound kind of intrusive, but do you know the deal with Fe—Iceman?” he asked. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s great and everything, but with all the brooding and the secrecy, I’m just a little—” He scrunched up his nose. “That does sound intrusive.”

“It does,” she agreed, but it sounded amused. “Look, I’d tell you. I really would. But it’s something I feel he should tell you yourself, you know? If and when he’s comfortable talking to you about it.”

“Did he tell you?”

“No, I just kind of figured it out.” She sounded a little sheepish. “And maybe I got it out of one of the IT guys.”

He looked at her, amused. “They have IT guys at S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“Well, I guess they’re not IT guys in the strictest sense,” she mused. “There’s a hierarchy of ranks even within the record regulators, so it’s a little hard to explain. Not that it really matters, anyway.”

“It would be kind of cool if S.H.I.E.L.D. needed IT guys,” Vernon said, looking down at Batroc, except he wasn’t really looking at him, but through him. “Unrealistic, though.”

Yeji shook her head slightly, like she was unable to believe they were having this conversation. Or maybe he was just projecting his own amused disbelief onto her. But he noticed the tenseness of her shoulders and she let her arms fall to her sides, as if she was holding in a laugh. It was one of those conversations that took a turn that didn’t even have to be funny to make you laugh.

“Good talk,” she said, and this time he could actually hear the smile in her voice. “Now let’s get this guy back to the carrier.”

Luce knew something was up.

She had known this for a while now—about a year, in fact. She had only just started to suspect it when Vernon had changed, and Joshua had gotten secretive, and Harry had first started floating away. It had come one after the other, like the three of them were carrying out parts in a play and she was in the audience, watching but unable to take part. Change, and secrecy, and distance.

She liked distance. Luce had always been distant, someone who stood in the crowd and yet apart from it, unwelcome and unsettling for most around her. Eccentric, some called her, or strange, or downright creepy. It never really mattered to her, because for her, it had always been just the four of them—Vernon, Joshua, Harry and her—and even after everything that had happened, they still felt like four. Three people with a ghost in between, still shaking his head at their dumb jokes and still taking the best seat in the Parker living room when they had movie night.

Looking back, she realized that the cracks in their relationship had first appeared a year ago. Often, after Harry died, she thought about how they had collectively ignored those fractures in their friendship, that had come in the form of change and secrets and distance.

The first to change had been Vernon, of course—trading his glasses for unexplained bruises, his mysterious disappearances poorly covered up and rarely questioned. Then Joshua—the two of them with their heads together in the hallways, shooting each other knowing looks that shut everyone out. It felt like it was just the two of them sometimes, Luce and Harry often forgotten during their closed conversations. That was probably what had pushed them together, but now that Harry was gone, she was left alone. Still on the outside, trying to look in, but in vain.

She knew she couldn’t blame Vernon and Joshua for it, she had started to blend into the background a little more with every passing day. Catching one without the other was hard, so at some point she stopped trying, letting them find her whenever they felt like it. Sometimes she felt like a ghost, too, lurking in a ruined castle, only seen when a wanderer needed shelter.

Now, it was all happening again. The arrival of the new kids had seemed like a minor disturbance at first, like a tiny cloud on the wide horizon, but Vernon had warmed up to them surprisingly quickly after his initial coldness. It wasn’t that Luce didn’t like them—after all, she had been the one to initiate first contact—but she had still been taken aback by how quickly they had become a part of their little group of three (and a dead boy, but he didn’t take up seats anymore).

Except they didn’t feel like it. Not to her, and probably not to Joshua either, whom she had seen watch the new trio with lingering looks when he thought she wasn’t looking.

She was a little surprised by her own reserve, because the arrival of more people should have been a good sign. More people, even numbers, pairs, so she wouldn’t be a third wheel anymore. But it hadn’t worked out that way—she was still stuck outside, but this time Joshua was stuck with her.

It was hard not to be even a little mournful.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she called as Vernon walked past her in the school hallway after fifth period, looking distracted as he usually did these days. He turned, surprised, as if he hadn’t even noticed her there.

“Me?” he asked, looking confused, and she sighed internally. On the outside, she simply shook her head as if in amused exasperation, reaching into her bag and taking out a spiral notebook.

“Notes. From Physics.” She handed it to him, and he stared at the cover for a dazed little moment before looking back up at her. “You missed another class today.”

“Right,” he muttered, giving her a grateful smile. Fifteen seconds had passed already, about five seconds less than the longest conversation they had held in two weeks. He probably hadn’t even realized. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, meaning it. No point in moping after something that hadn’t been for months. She leaned against the locker door and folded her arms across her chest. The zips along the cuffs of her jacket pulled against the leather. “Going somewhere?”

“Not really.” He shrugged. The smile was still on his face, that stupidly delightful half-smile that still felt like it was behind a glass wall. “Are you?”

Am I ever? She shook her head. “Where did you go?” she asked instead of answering his question.

He frowned. “Where did I go…when?”

“During physics,” she clarified. “You’ve been disappearing a lot lately.”

“Oh, you know…” he started, trying hard to keep his voice casual. “Places.”

It was hard not to smile. “Like?”

“The principal’s office,” he said, sounding a little disappointed.

“The new guy?” Luce raised her eyebrows. “Did you do something to piss him off? Get a low grade?”

“Of course not,” Vernon said indignantly. “My scores are perfect.”

“I know. The rest of us on the curve are suffering because of it.”

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry in the least. Instead, there was a small smile on his face that looked suspiciously like a smirk.

Almost a minute now. Luce let the back of her head hit the locker door, finally letting herself believe that he wasn’t going anywhere, not this time around. The feeling that came with it was so warm and delicious that it spread inside her chest like hot water, reaching her toes and fingers and the tip of her nose. “You’re not sorry,” she said with a smile, though she didn’t really mind. “Are we still on for Friday?”

Now Vernon’s smirk dropped, replaced by a split-second look of horror. “Friday?” he echoed. “This is going to sound bad, but I don’t—”

“Movie night,” she supplied. “And don’t worry, I didn’t expect you to remember. The last time we talked about that was a while ago, anyway.”

Movie night, or game night, was their irregular childhood tradition that had become increasingly infrequent over the past few years, but particularly so in the last year. Even then, they’d never gone this long without getting together at least once. The last time they’d done something like that together, it had been almost two months ago, when they had still been four.

When Luce finally mentioned it, she felt strange thinking about the prospect of movie night with only three people. It felt odd. Unnatural. Three felt like the wrong number, like fates and the prongs of a pitchfork. Too little.

“Tell you what,” she said, pulling herself out of her thoughts with difficulty. She did that too much, lose herself in her memories or some random vein of thought and manage to completely detach herself from the world around her. It got harder and harder every time, and sometimes she wondered if one day she was just going to be trapped in her own mind.

“What?” Vernon asked. He had that distracted look on his face again, his posture jumpy like there was extra energy wrapped into his body.

“Why don’t you bring Yeji and the others along this time?” she suggested. Six wasn’t that great of a number either, but it was definitely better than three. And maybe this way she’d be able to get to know the others a little better, pull herself back to reality. “I’m sure they’d like to. And that way, it’ll be an even team.”

“Not if May decides to join in again.”

She smiled. “Then maybe I’ll bring Hairball.”

He groaned. “Oh, no, not Hairball,” he said, eyes refocusing on her face. There was such a vibrant intensity in his gaze that it made her want to stand up straighter. Then he smiled, and she actually had to stand up straight. “You sure, though?”

Of course he would ask her. Vernon Parker, despite all his bodily changes, was still the same guy from fourth grade who always let her have the rest of his lunch—if he managed to keep it from Flash. Luce was almost tempted to reconsider, but she saw the earnest look on his face, the slight arch of his eyebrows, and swallowed the words that welled up in her throat.

“Of course,” she said. “Three’s already a crowd, so we might as well have a whole party.”

“A party, huh?” He winced. “That reminds me. Food.”

“We’ll order from Larry’s.”

“I’ll have to decide if they deserve it yet,” he joked. At least, she thought he was joking. “See you on Friday.”

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