st_hotflashes | Aftermath (Peter)

Peter winds his fingers with hers.

"The Vulture kept fighting with me even when I literally was having a hard time even getting up. Finally he just dropped me and went to get whatever he could from the plane. But then, his wings started malfunctioning and he was hurt and trapped behind all this fire, and even despite everything, I still went through it and dragged him out."

He looks at Liz intensely.

"I couldn't let him die. Us dating doesn't change anything about what I would or wouldn't do for you if you were in danger. I'd rescue you no matter what."

Of course he would save someone willing to kill him. She couldn't imagine it any other way - Peter was probably the most selfless person she knew. She had seen how the Vulture had attacked him relentlessly. His story only managed to further endear him to her. She squeezed his hand.

"I know." Not about the Vulture, but about what he'd do for her. "But I thought it might stop me from trying to keep up with you." Liz was aware the problem was with her, not with him. She was the dangerous variable. She had been making stupid decisions.

"Remember I told you what Kitty said to me, when we first started to date? That I needed to make sure I didn't put myself in situations that made you take unnecessary risks? Somehow... I lost track of that. I shouldn't have been in that cave. When he asked me to take the gun and shoot and I wasn't comfortable, I should have just stopped there, but I pushed myself because I wanted to be something more."

"It's okay to want to be something more," he says. "I want to be something more and --"

How does he say this?

"-- I've got actual powers. I can do more than so many people. I know I should be satisfied with that, but I'm not."

He gives her hand a squeeze.

"You're going to make mistakes, and that's okay as long as you learn from them. Sometimes that's just how people learn."

It was definitely how Peter learned.

His reassuring words brought a smile to her lips. Small as it was, it was genuine. He could be so understanding sometimes, even if he ran headlong into some situations

"That's why I'm wearing this..." She might as well admit it. Otherwise it would just be weird. "It's a good reminder of who I am you know? Liz Parker. Good at school, can mix a milkshake in one minute flat, and occasionally can see things when she kisses her boyfriend." The last part was both true and a little joke that she smiled at.

That was her though.

Peter smiles at that.

"And I like Liz Parker," he says. "No matter what she can do or can't do."

There was a small smile at first and then a pause before her smile seemed to morph into something more playful. It waa subtle, the underlying emotions from moments ago still lingering under the surface, but she was making an attempt.

"Would you still like me even if I permanently had these coming out of my head?" She reached for her headband and put it on, the two little balls at the top moving back and forth from the jostling.

"Yeah," he says, smiling. "I would."

Peter supposes that things have changed dramatically since coming here; dating an alien wasn't anything he could imagine until he found out there were aliens here that weren't Chitauri (not anything he was attracted to) or Asgardians (Thor was the only Asgardian he knew of on Earth). But now that he can imagine it, he thinks he'd be OK with it.

Even if Liz had doodly-bobbers.

"What if I had like, six arms. Or four eyes or looked like one of those cats from the musical Cats?" Her eyes seemed to lighten a little as she leaned in. "Or I was obsessed with anchovies."

"Like a furry?" Peter asks to the query about Cats. "I can handle the anchovies." That much he can assure her.

She paused at the question. This was something she had never heard before.

"a furry?"

"Um." Peter has to think about how to describe this. "Someone who likes anthropomorphic animal people." He has to think about this. "Like Bugs Bunny but with more human proportions. Or like the cats in Cats."

Peter can't help but wonder how much exposure to the internet has educated him on things that Liz had no idea existed. Not science stuff or anything, but relatively mundane stuff like furries or Rule 35 or memes.

Liz did not spend the time she was exposed to the internet looking at the stranger side of the web so her exposure there was limited.

"Oh, um. I guess so?" She smiled a little. "Are there a lot of people who are, um, furries?"

She didn't realize furries often liked animals a lot.

"I don't really know," Peter admits. "I mean, there's a bunch of websites dedicated to furries and a lot of artists, too. There's even conventions."

But was that a lot? Peter's not exactly sure.

"The internet has a lot of stuff on it. I think there's something there for everybody."

Liz was always aware of how much more Peter knew that made him more 'worldly' than her. She wondered what she would have been like if she grew up with the internet like he had.

"Well, just for the record, I'd like you too, no matter what. Even if you ended up turning into an actual giant spider." Liz smiled to him.

"I really hope that doesn't happen," Peter says. Becoming a giant spider probably would have a negative impact on his ability to have relationships with others, especially the arachnophobic. "But if it does... it's nice to know someone has my back."

He smiles, then leans in to kiss Liz. It's been tough for the both of them and there's a part of him that's relieved that even though they're both probably still processing everything from the other day, they can still have these little moments of normalcy.

His kiss causes her shoulders to soften and she pressed forward a little. It was almost like she was going to cry, but the tears never came. There was just something comforting about Peter's kisses and his embrace.

She kissed him again and instantly she saw herself on the ground. She was barley breathing and Peter was over her. She felt the panic he felt as he looked at her, she felt the worry and responsibility, especially when he shifted and rocks fell on her.

I love you - she didn't remember him saying that to her.

She felt his worry they were both going to die... And in that moment she felt a sudden wave of sickness. Her skin warmed.

Liz tensed, her breathing halting for a moment, and the overwhelming emotion she felt from him caused her eyes to sting again. She blinked, then kept her eyes closed as she leaned her warm forehead against his.

Peter's breath catches in his throat when she sees her reaction to the kiss. He doesn't move his forehead away from hers.

"Liz, you okay?" he asks softly.

She wanted to kick herself.

"Sorry..." Liz was starting to wonder if she saw things more when one or both of them were thinking or feeling something strong. She hadn't seen anything in Europe, for example.

"You don't always have to apologize for it," he tells her, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "It's something that just happens."

She felt like she did, even if she knew he accepted it.

Liz opened her eyes and lifted her head. "This is the first time I saw something at the Inn." She paused. She hadn't expected the Inn to be off-limits or anything, but it was pretty recent. "It was, um, what happened in the cave, actually."

She had made a promise to always tell him what she saw.

"Oh," he says to that. And for an instant, he's not sure what to say at all. Finally he decides on it:

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, also trying to figure out what to say. She pressed her lips together softly.

"It's okay, you know. Um. If we're ever in danger again. It wouldn't be your fault, if something happened. And I wouldn't blame you."

"I know," he says. "About you not blaming me."

The not being his fault thing was something he wasn't sure he could process. Not after Ben.

She reached out to cup his cheek and leaned in, trying to meet his eyes. "I mean it. You can't be responsible for the two of us and I make my own choices. Like back on the space station. I wasn't going to leave you, but that was my choice." If they'd have blown up, it wouldn't be on him.

Her gaze softened a little. "I know it won't actually help me saying that, but I wanted you to hear it anyways." Just like she was always going to feel responsible for the flashes she saw. They were both kind of stubborn that way.

She searched his eyes for a moment, wanting to ask him something, but hesitated.

"I know," Peter says. There's a part of him who knows that getting over all the baggage that came with Ben's death isn't going to be easy. He's not sure if there's any way he can ever truly get over that. There was time when the guilt felt too much and the only thing he could really do was try and make up for it by being someone who acted, no matter what the risk.

Peter's gaze doesn't quite make Liz's own.

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