[GP] Evening - Blinding you with science (and fireworks)

[st_rongheart]

It had taken a good three weeks for Sora and Peter to gather enough materials and also enough nerve to put on the fireworks that Peter had felt were missing from New Year's. They'd filched, over time, a pile of steel wool pads and an embarrassing number of whisks. Why they needed those things, Sora didn't exactly know.

Once everything was gathered up, Sora and Peter met outside, a safe (probably!) distance from the Inn. Peter showed Sora how to stretch out a pad of steel wool and jam it inside a whisk, then he attached long ropes of webbing to the ends of the whisks and fastened them to the ground. While he did that, he cheerfully explained how the webbing worked and how he was sure it would stick to the ground right and everything would be fine. There was a lot of math and other things Sora did not understand at all, but he was absolutely confident that Peter was right.

Once everything was fastened properly, Peter gave the nod.

Sora called out the Keyblade, stood in the middle of the webby circle of stuffed whisks, and cast Aeroga. Swirling winds came out of nowhere to lift up the whisks and spin them in the air, held in control only by the webbing ropes. Next came Thunder - bolts of lightning to ignite the wool in the whisks as they spun. (Peter had been sure that Fire wouldn't work, it had to be Thunder. And he was so right!)

Then the boys settled, more or less, to watch their homemade fireworks spinning and throwing sparks.

Comments

[st_eelyourself]

"It is impressive," Piotr nods, "A wire whisk and a scouring pad? Is that what is making the sparks?"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, it's all friction. I used my webslinger fluid, too." Even though he's wearing a mask, it's clear from just his tone of voice that Peter's really proud of it.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you something? It's about--" Peter looks around to make sure the area is clear. "--Liz," he finishes quietly.

[st_eelyourself]

It was possible that something with a similar technique could be used in the defense of the inn, should they ever be attacked. Hopefully, Kash would see and approach the boys later.

"Liz?" The question takes Piotr by surprise, "You may ask, but I will not break her confidence."

[st_arkintern]

"No, no, no!" Peter says, waving his hands frantically in front of him. "It's nothing like that."

He takes a deep breath, his chest visibly rising and falling with the act. Why is talking about this kind of stuff so hard?

"I... like Liz. And it's weird for me, because I've only liked one other person before, and her name was also Liz." Not that their names both being Liz was Peter's most pressing concern. "And things didn't end up working out because -- because I had to leave Homecoming to go fight the Vulture that turned out to be her dad, her dad that I met when I went to her house before Homecoming, because he was trying to hijack a plane full of super-important alien tech and all sorts of other stuff from the Avengers because they were moving stuff to the new Avengers Tower up in upstate New York, and she ended up at Homecoming alone and her dad ended up in prison and I couldn't really tell her why she got ditched."

All of that comes out in one hurried breath, and it's only after all of it has left his mouth that Peter realizes that none of this has to do with his Liz, but in his nervousness, all he could manage was near-incoherent rambling.

[st_eelyourself]

Piotr can't stop the laugh that rumbled from deep in his chest. "That is good story, человек-паук...but it was not a question."

[st_arkintern]

He blurts that question out in another, single breath:

"How can I tell if Liz likes me?"

[st_eelyourself]

Piotr just stares at him blankly, trying to decide how to answer, “You remember that I am gay, yes? The affections of young women are not my specialty.” Realizing that that is wholly unhelpful, he tries again, “First, I would say be careful. Do not be douchebag. Do not make assumptions. Liz is very sweet and just because she is nice does not mean she has feelings for you. But look for ways she acts differently around you. Laughing more, smiling more, talking more, averting her eyes. Touching is often a good sign.”

[st_arkintern]

Peter himself isn't sure why he went to Piotr out of all the people in the inn.

"Yeah, I know, but... I mean, are guys really that different from women? I know I do all those things around Liz, minus the touching part--" Mostly because he was a little afraid to. "--and."

Peter suddenly stops there.

"I think she might like me," he suddenly says.

[st_eelyourself]

“Slow down,” Piotr smiles fondly at Peter (something he seemed to do a lot), “Why do you think that?”

[st_arkintern]

"Because she does the same things I do," Peter says. "She gets nervous sometimes and smiles at me a lot and--"

Peter swallows. Maybe it was in his imagination. Piotr smiled at him a lot, too, and he definitely wasn't interested in Peter.

"--maybe she's just being nice," Peter decides, finally.

[st_eelyourself]

"Peter, you and Liz are very different people. Try not think of yourself, think of what you know of her," Piotr rested his massive hand on Peter's shoulder, "Is she impulsive person or is she more thoughtful?"

[st_arkintern]

"She's... thoughtful," Peter says, though his tone is uncertain. He's sure Liz is thoughtful, but somehow he can't help but hesitate a little.

[st_eelyourself]

"I would agree with you," Piotr nodded, "But why do you hesitate?"

[st_arkintern]

"I feel like this is a test," Peter says, still uncertainly. "And I'm nervous, and I don't really know why I'm nervous because." He swallows. "I'm never nervous during tests."

[st_eelyourself]

“Okay. Was little test,” Piotr chuckled, “But only to slow you down enough to think.”

“You are impulsive. You literally dive off buildings. Your decisions are often made fast and completely. It makes you good hero.” He nodded, to Liz, “But she is thoughtful. She also does not like to be wrong. Give her time to think, to process new feelings. Be her friend and give her proof that your deserve her affection.”

[st_arkintern]

"Okay," Peter says, swallowing. Everything Piotr is saying makes perfect sense to him.

"I just... I hurt other-Liz because I wasn't... because I couldn't be honest with her about the whole Spidey-thing. That's not going to really be a problem with this Liz, but -- I don't want to hurt her, either."

[st_eelyourself]

"Then you must be diligent," Piotr nodded, "There are two ways to hurt someone. One is on purpose, the other is with negligence. With you, I am confident we can disregard the first possibility. But the second is more challenging."

He rests one of his incredibly heavy, armor plated hands on the other man's shoulder, "My advice? Be honest, put her needs above your own, trust her. Do that and you should be fine," His eyebrow raises sharply, "And if you are careless and do end up hurting her? You will have to answer to me."

[st_arkintern]

Peter begins to make mental notes: purpose / negligence. Hurting other Liz was negligence. Hurting Aunt May by not telling her what he was doing. Also negligence. He probably has a negligence problem.

Just as Peter accepts this possibility, Piotr rests his hand on his shoulder. It's heavy and strong, and Peter knows that even with mutant-spider strength that he'd have a hard time pushing against that. He swallows as Piotr begins to talk.

"G-Got it." He attempts a smile that comes out far more crooked and uneasy than the more confident one he had in mind when his lips began to move into formation.

A moment passes, and then Peter finally speaks again:

"Thanks. I don't really have anyone else I can talk to about this kinda stuff. My best friend, Ned, is just about as bad with girls as I am, and it's not like I have an older brother I can ask for advice or something."

Peter's an only child in this timeline, too.

[st_eelyourself]

"Good," he tempered his strength so less weight was on Peter's shoulder. The boy was slightly scared but not defensive, that was exactly the proper response."You are welcome to talk to me about anything, and I will try my best to help,"

Older brother. The thought warmed him more than the fire in front of them. "I do not have much experience providing advice. My younger sister, well, I missed my chance with her in my world. Now she is here and does not want or need anything from me."

[st_arkintern]

"That's okay," Peter says, nodding. "It's not like anyone's really good at anything the first few times they do it. The first time I tried to use my webslinger fluid to swing in between buildings, I crashed right through this old lady's window, and then I had to figure out some way to pay her back."

[st_eelyourself]

"It is too bad you did not have a danger room to practice in," Piotr gave him a small smile, "It was a special room at the school that could be programmed to train all types of mutants. Like holodeck in Star Trek. Did you have Star Trek?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter nods. "Yeah, we had Star Trek. Me and Ned used to watch the old episodes on Netflix all the time, usually when we were building LEGO sets."

Peter inhales. The idea of something like that in reality...

"I wish I did, too," he says in a voice that's sadly resigned. "I mean, I had the Avengers to emulate with the whole superhero thing, but the whole learning to use my powers thing? That was all solo. There were plenty of things that were worst than busting through someone's window. Even now, I still mess up sometimes. The only difference is that since arriving here, there's less opportunity for me to really do so."

It's not like he's running around saving the day as Spider-Man at the Madonna Inn.

[st_eelyourself]

"I have no doubt that you excelled despite the lack of resources." He waved to the spinning lights. "But that reminds me, I still need to test what you can do."

[st_arkintern]

Peter's expression shifts to one of confusion.

"What kinda test?"

[st_eelyourself]

"Strength, stamina, accuracy, reflexes," Piotr ticked them off on his fingers, "Combat instincts, fighting proficiency."