Wednesday Jan 23

[st_hotflashes]

Liz felt like she was behind which was silly considering she wasn't in actual school and there were no state-wide exams or anything else which would require her to keep up with her studies at regular pace. Still, it bothered Liz that for almost two weeks now her classes and everything had been at a virtual stand still.

She was thankful for getting some notes from Peter and that he promised to help her study. She sat up on the bed, back against the headboard and knees up with her book open. "Do you like having Ned in Kitty's classes now?" She wondered if it was a nice reminder of home or a painful one.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, it's nice," he says. "It sort of feels like school back home again." Plus or minus about 20 other kids.

"I really can't wait until you're back in class with us, though."

[st_hotflashes]

"So you can pass notes to me?" She sent him a little playful smile.

"Me too, though. I feel like I'm kind of just taking up space without being useful... though maybe Loki likes the quiet." Liz suspected he might secretly like the company a little bit. "I don't think I've ever been sick like this before. If I didn't know better -" She paused, flushed a little and glanced back down at the Calculus problem.

[st_arkintern]

"If I really wanted it to feel like back home, I'd text you in class." Passing notes really wasn't a thing anymore, though it was a thing in a lot of the older teen movies he watched from time-to-time.

Still, Liz's words concern Peter.

"If you didn't know better what?"

[st_hotflashes]

When Peter didn't get it, it caused her to dip her head a little, embarrassed. "Oh, um... I was just kidding, but, it's sort of what I imagine morning sickness being like?"

Please kill her now.

[st_arkintern]

Peter's face immediately pinkens in response.

"Oh," he says. "Um. Well, I'm glad that you're not, but I still wish we knew what was going on."

[st_hotflashes]

"I'm fine. It's probably just, you know." Liz did not know, it just seemed like the thing to say.

"How are you and... everything?" Her eyes lingered over him assessingly.

[st_arkintern]

Peter knows, even if Liz doesn't say it.

"Oh, okay," he says. "I mean, better than I was doing." Not that that would have taken much. "I think everything going back to normal's helped."

[st_hotflashes]

Liz wasn't sure everything was going back to normal, but she nodded. Her eyes went back to the page where she was in mid differentiation of a long complicated equation. Her finger trailed adown over the pencil markings idly. When she spoke, she didn't look up. "You're still okay with me coming home with you?"

[st_arkintern]

"I'm scared, you know?" Peter's sure she gets it without him having to explain it, but he does anyway. "I know everyone's going to try and stop it, but... I don't want to risk anything happening to you."

[st_hotflashes]

Liz gave a little nod. While she felt the same way for Peter, her worry wasn't exactly a 'risk' but more a general worry.

"You know.." she decided to risk a glance up to him. "I was thinking that me showing up would change the population of the universe. It might... I mean, if they can't - well, it would reset who um.." who died, though she couldn't bring herself to say that.

[st_arkintern]

Peter knows exactly what she means.

"I still wouldn't want to risk even the chance of you dying," he says. "Liz, you're one of the most important people in my life. I want you to be safe."

Peter attempts a smile, then leans over to presses a kiss to her forehead.

[st_hotflashes]

The kiss pulls a pang from her chest. Every time he leaned in like that, she hoped he was going to kiss her on the lips and each time the reality continued to hit her hard.

She felt her muscles tense and suddenly her notebook caught on fire in her lap.

[st_arkintern]

"W-What?"

Peter jumps back until he realizes there's still a burning notebook sitting on his sick girlfriend's lap. He immediately snatches it, drops it on the floor, and stomps it with his foot.

Then he looks over at Liz, his expression perplexed.

[st_hotflashes]

Liz's reaction wasn't graceful as she scrambled to the side a little. The heat of the fire on her legs had been hot, but it hadn't sat there long enough to burn her. Still, it had been scary.

"I- I don't know." And she meant it, though she had a feeling. "I've been..." She winced. It felt like pins and needles suddenly and a greenish light, almost like an electric current, moved sporadically up and down her hands. She tensed, lifting them a little and turning them from the back of her hands to her palms. This was new.

[st_arkintern]

Peter's eyes flicker from Liz's hands to Liz's face. "Liz..."

[st_hotflashes]

"I don't know." Her instinctive reaction was to fold her arms over her chest and stuff her hands under her armpits, hiding them. Maybe they had just seen things?

"Lately I'm been... Some bottles burst at the infirmary and I thought it was weird, but..." Liz looked scared more than any other emotion, though it was mixed with genuine confusion.

[st_arkintern]

Peter Parker is suddenly a bundle of nerves. He was even more anxious than when he discovered he had powers himself. Peter takes her hands into his, and presses his fingers thumbs against the center of her palms.

"We should -- we should probably tell someone."

[st_hotflashes]

Liz's mind was reeling, but she managed to nod. She had thought about what might be happening a little, but mostly she thought it was all in her head.

"Who... do you think we should tell?"

[st_arkintern]

"I don't know. Loki?" Loki was sort of the person at the infirmary the most. "Dad?"

[st_hotflashes]

"I don't want to worry Mr. Stark." She glanced down at Peter's hands in hers thoughtfully. They should probably tell him at some point, but she wasn't sure he could help. Or maybe he could - he had access to lab-like equipment.

[st_arkintern]

"Loki?" Peter asks, still holding her hands.

[st_hotflashes]

She gave a slow nod. "Okay." She paused, worried about moving. "I don't... want to hurt you." She had been keeping her hands extremely still since he began to hold them.

[st_arkintern]

Peter smiles. "Don't worry, I heal up quick."

[st_hotflashes]

That still didn't exactly make her feel comforted, but she didn't think she could convince Pete otherwise either. She climbed off of the bed, glancing at the notebook briefly and wondered what Kitty would think. She bent and scooped it up - maybe Loki could use it for... something.

"Do you think... he'd be okay to see us now?" At least she was pretty sure Loki kind of liked her.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, if he's working, I don't see why not." Peter's still not sure what to think of Loki, but Liz seems to like him enough. And Thor definitely likes him, too.