Be Careful What You Ask For (Closed to Peter)

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Liz walked numbly through the Inn after having spoken with Emma. It was as if her body were on autopilot as her mind couldn't really focus or process anything directly. What it all meant, how she felt, if she was around to see it happen - these questions were like vague fog in her mind that she couldn't quite grasp.

She thought, ever so briefly, that she might find herself in front of Kitty or Piotr's door, but it was Peter's door she came to a stop at. Liz swayed a little as she stood there, staring blankly at the door. She did that for a good five minutes before she was able to will herself to lift her hand and knock. It was a quiet two rap knock.

When the door opened, when she lay eyes on Peter, the numbness seemed to ebb a little. She stared at him silently, then slowly her face began to twist and contort as anguish spread through her features. She didn't move an inch except for her face. Everything suddenly felt intense and Liz stood there, stiff, and started to cry unabashedly. Cried with every fiber of her being.

Comments

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Her smile widened and she drew her feet up onto the chair as she picked away at the muffin was that quite delicious.

"This is going to sound really embarrassing, but - I think it's really, um, attractive, when you use your powers." She blushed, but her knees up near her acted almost as a barrier for her embarrassment... A little.

"When I dream about you, sometimes we're in, like, a lab doing some experiment and then sometimes you're um. You know, Spider-Man."

She wasn't sure why she was sharing, but she was. Maybe it was because she had dreamt of Max yesterday and felt a little guilty.

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Peter takes a long swig of his juice.

"I don't think it's embarrassing," he says. "I'm just glad that you like them and aren't... weirded out by them."

Which was definitely a concern early in their relationship.

"What are we doing the other times?" he asks.

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Her eyes widened a bit and she blushed. Other than being lab partners and Spider-Man stuff, what was left was usually a lot of making out and sex.

Liz ducked her head and pulled on a memory of a dream she has written down recently. "This one time... There was this bad guy in the city and you were fighting him and I showed up" she blushed and buried her head against her knees. Somehow this was more embarrassing than if she was telling him how one time in a lab dream Peter lifted her onto the table and took her in the middle of the room.

"I had my own, um, costume. I looked sort of like you, but different. And I guess we worked together"

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Peter found himself really liking this mental image. He'd never really thought about Liz potentially being a crime-fighting super-partner, but now that he thinks about it...

"Spider-Woman?" he asks. "I just hope you wouldn't need to get bitten by a spider for it to happen."

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She peeked over her knees. He didn't seem like he hated the idea. Like how Kyle used to scoff at the idea of Liz playing football with him, not that she ever particularly wanted to.

She watched him for a moment, taking in his expression. "I mean... It's not like I have any powers for that to really happen." Unless she went around making out with people hoping to see if she flashed on a crime.

"...you wouldn't mind that, though?" Somehow that question seemed important even though it wasn't in any realm of possibility.

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Peter shakes his head no. No, he wouldn't mind it at all.

"Ned didn't have any powers either, and he helped me."

Peter doesn't think she told her this story, so he decides now is as good a time as ever to tell her.

"When I found out who the Vulture was, I grabbed my old suit from beneath the lockers and ran outside. The Shocker -- one of the Vulture's lackeys -- was waiting for me and I didn't see it coming. He knocked me back and my web-shooters went flying before I could even do anything."

Peter smiles at the memory.

"And Ned -- Ned grabbed my web-shooters and shot webbing at the Shocker's mechanical gauntlet thing and I -- I was able to take him down because he did that."

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Liz tried to keep the worried concern off her face, but it probably wasn't successful. "I'm glad he was there, then." And not for the first time, Liz wished she could meet him.

"I guess because of who The Vulture was, he knew where you went to school, huh." She thought about the few times they had been threatened at school.

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Peter sets his glass of OJ back on the table, then rubs the back of his neck. He could probably tell her everything -- about stepping into other-Liz's house, their awkward interaction there, the tense car ride to the dance, the "dad talk" that happened afterwards --

But he doesn't.

"Yeah," Peter says instead. "Ned helped me track the Vulture down using my cell phone, too, nd tried to contact Happy for me while I was chasing him down in Flash's dad's car."

That had been a disaster.

"Even without powers, there's plenty you can do."

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She smiled back at him. "I'll have to try harder, then. So far I've only been really good at falling off roofs and balconies." Liz's smile turned a little self-deprecating as he lowered her feet back down and reached for some orange juice herself

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"You're good for more than that," Peter insists. "Back at the space station? That stuff you did there? You saved my life, Liz."

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Liz was pretty sure anyone with some science background could have done it. She didn't think it was her scent that helped him snap out of it. It could have been anyone of the opposite gender.

"I'm glad it worked." There was a small smile there. "Sometimes I wonder if the next Otherworld is going to be as, um. Exciting."

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"Yeah," Peter says. "I want it to be exciting, but not too exciting."

Peter refills his glass. "It's great to be able to go somewhere different, but I think I'm okay without bombs for awhile."

Peter takes a sip, then looks at Liz. "You, uh... you still wanna be my Spider-Woman?"

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She breath caught and she stilled, eyes locking on him for a long moment. Liz couldn't quite find her voice for a moment.

She swallowed. "Um. Yeah. Yeah I'd... I'd really like that. A lot."

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"I'm glad, too," he says, smiling from behind his juice.

Peter grabs another muffin and wraps it up in a napkin, and sets it down on the table, separate from the others. "Thought I'd save one for Alec, when he comes back."

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After a moment her brain was able to think again and Liz nodded. She realized Peter probably didn't even know what he had said to her and what it meant for him to say that to her.

Still, it brought a wide smile to her lips and she didn't think it would go away any time soon.

"Maybe I should go so he won't feel weird about coming back."

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"No, you don't have to," Peter quickly interests. "I should probably get the sock off the door, though."

Peter stands, looks at Liz, dampens his lips, and heads for the door.

Peter briefly opens the door, retrieves his sock, and stuffs it into his pocket.

He wordlessly sits down, picks up his juice, and looks over at Liz, trying hard to keep his smile contained.

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She watched him quietly. Somehow he looked different now than before, but she wasn't sure why. It was a good thing, though. Whatever it was, Liz liked it.

When he sat down, she said what she had been thinking every time she thought about the sock. "Do you think, um, that people think we..."

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"I don't know, maybe," Peter says. They might also think it's Alec's."

A beat.

"Are you worried?"

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"Um," she had enough time to think about this. "No.. no I'm okay." Though she had a sudden thought. "Though I can't imagine what Kitty's going to say to me if she saw it and thought it was us."

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"I mean, if she brings it up, you can just tell her before she asks," he says. "It's not like I won't tell her the same."

He wonders if Kitty will even ask him. He's had the condom in his wallet since shortly after their conversation at the space station. Even though he hasn't had to use it.

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She wasn't sure she had the guts to just blurt out she and Peter hadn't had sex. There was a good chance Kitty hadn't even seen the sock, right?

Though, it led her mind elsewhere for a moment. She put down her own orange juice, debating to ask this. She remembered Kyle berating her once about asking about the 'guy code'.

"If Ned were here, what would you talk to him about?" She paused, then panicked a little. "You actually don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

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"I mean, about us? And about --"

Peter can't manage to complete the sentence. He swallows hard.

"Ned's... basically my best friend in the universe," he says, because it seemed like he needed to restate the facts before he went on. "There's a lot I'd want to talk to him about because we're just that good of friends. But no matter what, I wouldn't get into the details."

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She was quiet for a moment, trying to will the heat in her cheeks to die down. The answer didn't surprise her, not really, but it was one of those things she and Maria always wondered about - if guys really did talk about that stuff with each other or not.

"...I'd do the same with Maria, so, um. I get it." The faintest of smiles appeared. She knew there would be a lot of late nights and sleep overs and giggling if Maria arrived and a lot of it would center around Peter and whoever Maria decided to crush on.

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"I'd be okay with that," Peter says really quickly. "With you and Maria talking about this stuff."

He presses his lips together.

"Or if you need to talk with someone else about it here, I'd be okay with that too. I know you don't need my permission or anything, but I just wanted -- you know, I just wanted you to know I wouldn't be mad."

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She wasn't sure who she'd talk to here. The last time she talked to Kitty it was... really embarrassing. It wasn't like they were the same age, either. It would be weird to talk about the stuff she talked to Maria with her. The same went for Piotr - plus the idea of talking to a guy about it, even a gay guy, made Liz want to crawl under a rock for eternity.

Maybe one day she'd get closer to Moana, Xavin, or River, but right now, the person she felt closet to talk to was Peter... which was probably why she was much more open about things with him than she might normally be.

"Same goes for me - if you need to talk to someone here, I mean. Because I trust you."