Don't own Marvel.
When Peter Parker had won a Barnes scholarship to Columbia, he'd felt like he was in a dream. Standing in front of the college now, it still didn't feel real.
"Peter?" Uncle Ben grasped his shoulder. Aunt May had offered to come, but Peter was glad that Uncle Ben had taken him. Aunt May would have been as awed as Peter, and that would have been too much. Uncle Ben was steady and strong even in the face of such an imposing college. Peter doubted he'd have gotten through high school without his uncle, let alone gotten the Barnes. "You've worked hard for this. You excited?"
"I still can't believe it," Peter said. He clutched his suitcase more tightly and started toward the dorms again. Uncle Ben didn't let go of him, and Peter tried to memorize the feeling of his uncle's hand, a rock for the next few months.
Peter was too excited-or nervous-to wait for the elevator, so he pulled his suitcase on up the stairs, ahead of Uncle Ben. His uncle laughed and followed, panting a little. The suitcase was hard to pull over the steps, and Peter himself was panting at the top of the stairs, and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.
"Your aunt would take this as a sign you're going to kill yourself through overexertion your first week here," Uncle Ben said.
"I'll tell her it's part of my daily training regimen. Pull a suitcase up a flight of stairs, then another. It'll make Petey nice and strong." Peter stood up. "Or we could wait for the elevator. But just because it's what Aunt May would want."
"Of course." Uncle Ben pressed the elevator call button himself. It opened a moment later and four people spilled into the hall. They seemed confident, talking amongst thenselves, and Peter felt small and young, even though he was taller than three of them. Peter and Uncle Ben got into the elevator.
"Six, right?" Peter checked his dorm info again. "Yeah." He pressed the button and clutched his suitcase as the elevator went up. This was it. The doors opened with a ding and Peter and his uncle stepped out. "6H," Peter said.
He and Uncle Ben walked by A, B, C, etc. The numbers were some sort of silvery material, the door polished-looking light wood. They stopped in front of H.
"I have the key," Peter said. He put it in the lock and turned. The doorknob was a bronzeish fake metal that clashed with the letters on the door. It didn't bother Peter too much, but he hoped that no design students roomed there.
"It's not locked," someone called from inside as soon as he'd started to jiggle the knob.
"It's guess your roommate got here first," Uncle Ben said.
"Yeah." Peter pushed the door open and looked around the room before stepping in. The walls were a basic beige and the couch was tan. The coffee table looked like wood, but it was too matte to be real.
Sitting on the couch was a blonde guy throwing a red bouncy ball at the ceiling like a kid in a '90s sitcom. He was about Peter's height, but more thin than skinny and more long than lanky. His feet were up on the coffee table, which Peter didn't mind, but the guy's demeanor, the way he was so comfortable in the room, made Peter nervous.
"Johnny Storm," the kid said, catching his ball. "You?"
He threw the ball at Peter, not that fast, but Peter still barely caught it, and dropped it promptly. Johnny smiled, not unkindly, but it seemed like he was sizing Peter up all the same.
"Peter Parker. I guess we're roommates?"
"The bedroom's through there." Johnny pointed. "I got the bed by the window."
"Okay," Peter said. He dragged his suitcase through the room, not catching it on the rug, and set it on the bed not by the window. It looked like Johnny had had some time to unpack already, and his stuff was on the shelves by his bed and on his desk. Johnny had also put a pile os posters on his bed, presumably to put on the walls later. Peter was glad of that. If Johnny had posters, he couldn't argue with Peter's Posters.
Peter started to set out his books, then thought the better of it, and decided to say goodbye to Uncle Ben. He went back to the living room.
"Well, Pete," Uncle Ben said, "Call me if you need anything."
"Bye," Peter said. He didn't want to hug his uncle goodbye in front of Johnny, so he followed Ben to the hallway for the real farewell. Uncle Ben put his hands on Peter's shoulders and looked into his eyes. Uncle Ben's eyes were a light blue, kind of like Albus Dumbledore's in their depth. Then he pulled Peter into a hug. Peter held on, not wanting to let go. But he had to. Uncle Ben looked into his eyes once again.
"Peter: if these kids ever make you feel bad, just remember that you worked twice as hard and won the best scholarship Columbia has to offer. You've got a responsibility to yourself and to the world to make the best of it."Uncle Ben pulled him into a hug. "That's not to say don't have fun, but use your own judgement and no one else's. With great power-"
"-comes great responsibility," Peter finished. "Thank you, Uncle Ben."
Haha! I have two stories I need to update and so obviously I had to start another. Have fun. Reviews and stuff are appreciated, but even plain ol' reads are treasured. :)