Dreams of Normalacy

[st_hotflashes]

Ned was excited. He could not believe that he and Peter got into the same university and had some of the same classes together! This was going to be the best and so far on campus neither of them had run into Flash, so he was sort of hoping Flash got into some other university other than MIT and neither of them would have to worry about the bully ever again. Of course, Ned sometimes thought about how if Flash wasn't there to bully them, who would take his place? Like Flash was some sort of Hydra creature and they were two nerdy versions of Hercules... well, Peter was definitely like Hercules. Ned just held the equipment or something.


"Dude, do you think the professor's going to be hard?" Ned slipped into a seat in the big lecture hall. They were early, but it felt safer than being late on your first day to theoretical physics class.

Comments

[st_hotflashes]

It wasn't even like the request was a big one. It wasn't a date. It was just a walk to the dorms that she could do on her own and yet - Liz pressed her lips together, smiling despite herself, and nodding. "I'd really like that. Um. A lot."

[st_arkintern]

"And maybe a -- maybe a date?"

[st_hotflashes]

Her eyes widened. "A date?" She blinked and then felt warm inside. It was a little nerve-wracking, but somehow it felt really right. A warm smile crept onto her face and she nodded, not finding her voice for a moment. "Yeah. I'd like that." She brushed a hair behind her ear - a action she did when she was a little nervous. "That'd be great, actually."

[st_arkintern]

"What would you want to do? I mean, what kind of food and movies do you like?"

[st_hotflashes]

She blinked. They didn't really know each other, did that? "Well... I like hamburgers and pizza and Mexican... anything really. And movies..." Liz paused, almost confused like there were wires crossed for her. Something tugged at her in an unexpected direction. "I like sci-fi stuff."

Since when, she wasn't sure, but she did.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah?" Peter asks, relieved that they have similar tastes. "You see the trailer for Yesterday? That comes out this week. Think you wanna see it?"

[st_hotflashes]

"I have. It looks really cool. And the music's probably going to be great." If the movie fell flat, at least there'd be that, right? "We should, um. We should see that one. I mean, if you want the date to be that soon or whatever."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I mean, if that's okay with you," Peter says. Now he's second-guessing whether or not he was too forward.

[st_hotflashes]

Liz laughed, letting her nervousness flow out of her as she did. "It's okay with me." She nodded, smiling. Then suddenly she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. It was a peck and then she withdrew.

"How about Thursday, okay? But, um. I should go. I have another class in the afternoon. I'll see you around, Peter Parker."

[st_arkintern]

Peter's face may have been warm before, but now it's hot; even his ears feel like they're burning. Shouldn't he be used to this by now? he wonders. But then he wonders why he should be.

It just feels like he should.

"Bye, Liz," he says, waving awkwardly at the figure.

And when he turns around to head to his room, he suddenly opens his eyes and wakes up.

[st_hotflashes]

Liz lay beside him with a smile on her lips. She woke up a few moments after him. She blinked a few times and she remembered she had asked Peter to stay the night. Her smile warmed. "Hey." She lay on her side facing him. He had bedhead, but she thought he looked incredibly handsome. Liz's mind recalled the dream happily, running over the moments that really stood out to her.

[st_arkintern]

"Hey," Peter says hoarsely, smiling back. "How long have you been up?"

[st_hotflashes]

"Just now." She reached out to smooth some of his hair back. "I have a really nice dream."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah?" he says, leaning into her hand. "Me too."

[st_hotflashes]

She inched a little closer out of habit. She always liked the warmth he had in the morning. "What was yours about?"

[st_arkintern]

"I had a dream that the two of us went to school together at MIT," he says. "But it was weird, like we didn't actually know one another."

[st_hotflashes]

Her brow furrowed a little and she sat up some on one of her elbows as she looked at him. "There was an accident on a bridge?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter's eyes narrow slightly.

"...Yeah."

[st_hotflashes]

She shifted a little again, her mind starting to race a bit despite just having woken up. "And Ned was there and we both stayed in the same dorm?"

[st_arkintern]

This was getting really weird.

"...Yeah?"

[st_hotflashes]

She paused, searching his eyes for a moment as she thought.

"Did we.. um. Did we have the same dream?"

[st_arkintern]

"...I think so."

Peter wets his lips.

"Is this -- is this one of your powers?"

[st_hotflashes]

"I don't think so." Then again, she had no idea anymore because her powers were weird and all over the place.

Liz paused again, thinking back to the dream. Already some of the small details were starting to get fuzzy - like why movie they agreed to see.

"It was.. um. Really nice." She smiled a little. "I mean, weird that we shared it, but, really nice, if that makes sense."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, it was." Peter wouldn't ever dispute that. "It was like... what it'd be like if we'd met back home."

[st_hotflashes]

She flushed a little. "Hopefully with a little less kissing. I was... a little forward." Liz hadn't really been like that before. She wondered if it had to do with her brains knowledge of what it was like here.