OOO
When Peter woke up the next morning, he found that Harry had already left. He stepped out into the hallway and, catching the faint scent of coffee, went to the kitchen. Harry stood over the stove, stirring something in a pan.
"Smells good; what is it?" Peter poured himself a cup of the freshly percolated coffee.
"Scrambled eggs with salsa. Want any toast?" He pointed to a bag of bread sitting on the counter with the spoon he was stirring the eggs with. "I picked up a loaf of whole grain from this little artesan bakery a few streets over. It's really good."
"Ok, I'll try it." Peter dropped a few slices into the toaster as Harry scooped the eggs onto plates. "Thought you had work today. Shouldn't you have left by now?"
"Took the day off." He set the plates down, one at each setting, and stabbed the eggs with his fork. "I'm way too wrung out after last night. Freaking emotional roller coaster. I need a day to relax, maybe get a little of Warren's portrait done."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that. How's it coming along?"
"Not too bad." He chewed a mouthful of eggs then stood to pour a glass of orange juice. "I've gotten the sketch layer done and I'm starting to fill in some of the base colors. Don't want to say anything too soon, but I think it will turn out pretty well. Fairy satisfied with it so far."
"That's great," Peter smiled. "I'm glad to see you're doing better."
"I'm still thinking about it. Hard not to. But your advice helped a lot." He took a swig of juice. "That and whatever it was you put on my face. Doesn't hurt nearly as badly as it would have."
"Good to know. But actually I was referring to the painting." Peter took a bite of the egg concoction. "You really love it, don't you?"
"Well yeah, I guess. It relaxes me."
"You've been doing a lot more of it. Other stuff too - activities you really enjoy. Cooking, painting, watching sports..."
"Point being?" Harry scraped the last of the scrambled eggs off his plate.
"I remember you - before. When you weren't obsessed with finding out my identity, you were obsessed with work." Peter set his plate and mug in the sink. "But now you're starting to do what you really enjoy instead of trying to be who you aren't to impress other people."
"So you're saying I should quit my day job and open an art gallery?" Harry quirked an eyebrow.
"Maybe." Peter leaned over and kissed his cheek. "But while you might have bailed on work, I've got to show up to class. I'm going to get ready - I'll see you later."
"Later." Harry twisted around and they kissed again, a quick brush of the lips. Peter returned to their room while Harry rinsed the plates and loaded them into the dishwasher, before getting ready to paint.
Peter might have to be presentable, but as far as Harry was concerned, he wasn't getting out of his t-shirt and lounge pants.
OOO
"Mr. Storm and Ms. Watson!" Warren jumped up from behind his desk the moment his secretary admitted Johnny and Mary Jane. Shaking their hands enthusiastically, he grinned like meeting them made his decade. "It's great to see you, I'm so glad you came down."
"We should be grateful to you." Johnny pulled out a chair and MJ lowered herself into it carefully. "You might be our last option."
"Yeah... I got the file from the hospital that you had them send over." He sat behind his desk, opened up a manila folder and flipped through the papers inside. "You're a meta-human, not a mutant, but the radiation affected your DNA in a way not dissimilar to an organic mutation."
"What does that mean?" Johnny pulled his chair closer to the desk. "Does that mean you can't help us?"
"It means we might be able to." Warren set the folder down and looked Johnny in the eye. "We'd have to test a dose of the suppression medication out on you first, to see if it has any effect. It won't last long," he assured him. "A small dose - should only be in your system for an hour or two. But it is a risk and certainly nothing I'm going to do without your explicit consent and full awareness of what you're getting into. No matter what, there's always the possibility something could go wrong."
"Like me losing my powers." Johnny retorted. "Permanently."
"Worst case scenario? Yes." Warren folded his hands. "I won't sugar-coat this. It is a risk - you're not precisely a mutant and even then, we've only used the new formulation for a limited amount of time on a fairly small group of mutants. There haven't been any severe side effects yet, but that might be a product of the restricted population who have tested it thus far."
"I understand."
"Do you? Fully?"
"I read the stuff you sent over. I know what could happen." He looked over at MJ. "But I also know that if there's any chance of me saving my fiancee and kid, I'm going to take it, and when it comes to risk I'll put myself first before laying either of them on the line."
"I admire you for that." He slid the waivers across, on which Johnny scribbled his signature, followed by Mary Jane. "Now, as I understand the situation, we're on a tight time frame - your wife could experience another incident at any time. Might I suggest we head down to the lab immediately?"
"The sooner the better." Johnny stood and started for the door, before getting distracted by a picture sitting on one of the bookshelves that lined the office. "Hey! I didn't know you knew Harry and Peter."
Warren picked up the framed shot, an image of Spider-Man in mid-swing, flanked by Viridian on his left. The words 'To Warren - keep fighting the good fight' were scrawled on it, followed by two signatures identifying the men in the picture.
"Peter got this for me. I went over to Mr. Osborn's place to have my portrait done and Peter was there to take stills for him to work off of. I asked Peter if he could relay a request to Spider-Man for this as a courtesy - superhero to superhero, if that doesn't sound to pretentious - since Spidey's been a big inspiration for me - and he pulled though." He paused and frowned. "Harry's not a photographer though. Why'd this make you think of him?"
"You mean you don't know that they're..."
"Such good friends!" MJ interrupted, giving Johnny a slight kick that made him wince. "We've been friends since high school, Peter, Harry and I. We just figured that since you and Harry travel in the same circle, he must have been the one who helped you contact Peter to get that photo."
"Yeah, something like that. I'll tell you, Harry Osborn's a really great guy. He's doing my portrait with my wings out, you know. Nice to find somebody who'll help me display and be proud of my mutation instead of having to hide it all the time. I mean, I do have to keep them in for everyday purposes, else I'd be knocking stuff off the wall right and left." He replaced the picture and looked at the couple with a grin. "But it's hard to find an artist willing to do that. I didn't even know he painted, actually, not until Professor Xavier told me about an amazing picture he did of Spider-Man.
"Guess Peter lent him photos for that one too."
"More like posed for it," Johnny muttered under his breath and MJ smashed his toes with her Manolo Blahnik.
"So you liked them?" MJ tried to shift the conversation before Warren could figure out what Johnny had said.
"Oh yeah. Really friendly, both of them. Didn't know they were such close friends with each other, though - high school you said?"
Johnny nearly laughed out loud but stifled it at a glare from MJ.
"Yes, high school," she faced Warren with a smile. "Had a bit of a falling out after Harry's father died, but they've got it patched up now."
"Well that's fantastic," Warren grinned then glanced at Johnny and laughed. "No pun intended. Now come on, let's get down to the lab."
As Warren led the way, Johnny held back with Mary Jane, smirking and leaning in towards her.
"This guy is dumber than a sack of rocks."
"And you're unbelievably insensitive and careless! Hasn't it ever dawned on you that the whole world isn't supposed to know their personal business?"
"About what? Their alter-egos or their being boyfriends?"
"Both!" MJ hissed. "They'll tell him when the time is right, if they want to."
"I mean, how can he not see it? What, he just thought it was an accident that Peter was there? That Peter came over to take pictures and brought his life's belongings with him?"
"I'm sure they didn't let him go traipsing through the house. And depending on how Harry introduced him, Warren would have no reason to assume anything."
"Sure he wouldn't - if he's got no gaydar whatsoever. Seeing those two in a room together is like watching newlyweds, always taking peeks at each other, blushing, brushing up against each other... it's almost nauseating."
"That's because you're a sex hound with no sense of romance. I think it's sweet," she retorted airily.
"Yeah, but you prefer me," he smirked and she blushed. "But besides that - a guy who takes pictures of Spider-Man hangs out with a guy who owns a tech company and it's a coincidence that he knows Spider-Man and Viridian, who are of similar body builds, well enough to get a signed photo? Even I can connect those dots!"
"Well aren't you special," she snapped.
"We're here!" Warren, a few dozen yards in front of them, turned around and swung a door open. "Right this way if you will."
"This had better work..." Johnny groaned.
"Oh it had better," MJ replied in his ear. "Or you'll be getting to know Harry and Peter even better than before, when they come to knock your lights out for putting me in this position."
"Great. I can't wait." He sat down and began rolling up his sleeve. "Might as well get this over with."
"Indeed," Warren agreed, washing his hands then prepping a syringe with a bottle of the medication that he'd taken out of a cold storage unit. "Ready?" He asked a final time as the needle hovered above Johnny's skin.
"As I'll ever be."
Warren pressed, injected the contents into his vein and then nervously waiting for the medication to take effect.
OOO
Peter made his way home in a decidedly good mood; his lab results had meshed fairly well with the way Dr. Connors said they ought to turn out, he had gotten back an organic chemistry test with a 96 score on it, Jameson had appreciated his latest shots and the only appearance Spider-Man had made all day was to stop a couple teens ripping CD players out of cars.
As he made his way to the subway entrance, he passed the looming Virgin Megastore and paused thoughtfully; there were a few new releases coming out and Harry had mentioned a desire to see a couple of them. Taking a short detour, he went inside and began looking at the DVDs in the 'new releases' display, reading the back of the Knocked Up box.
The entertainment system Harry had was unbelievable, so watching DVDs with him at home was almost as good as being in a theater - maybe even better since it was always quiet and they could eat whatever food they liked without paying ridiculous prices or having to sneak it in. But while Peter flipped through the other DVDs on display, he had to admit that it irked him, not that they watched movies at home but that they almost had to.
Despite Harry's frustration and protests to the contrary, Peter was very much aware of and nervous about the difficulties that their relationship to cause. Unfortunately that meant keeping a friendly distance in public, when they were seen together at all, and making sure to avoid any and all displays of affection that would even hint at the true nature of their closeness.
Going to the movies and sitting in the dark together, it was too tempting to cuddle up to Harry, to allow Harry to drape his arm across Peter's shoulders like they did when they were at home. And while Harry might respond to the question of 'what if people see' with a defiant 'let them,' Peter wasn't willing to accept the guilt he was sure would come if a scandal ever broke.
Bad enough he could be seen slipping in and out of the penthouse every day. Bad enough that Harry occasionally would not be opposed on the issue of dining out with Peter alone in restaurants whose atmospheres oozed romantic. Anything more and surely, even though Harry was only a CEO and not precisely a celebrity in the vein of Johnny, somebody would notice and make a big deal of it.
Peter finally picked a movie and headed towards the checkout with it. As he handed the girl the money for it, he smiled ruefully. He knew what his responsibilities were, how he ought to behave in the best interests of both of them.
But he admitted internally that every now and again, he ached to embrace Harry in public, to kiss him and let the world know that this was the one he loved, that they were everything to each other and not ashamed to show it.
As always, however, responsibility came first for Peter Parker. So he headed home on the subway, back to the penthouse where they would spend the night behind closed doors.
OOO
With a basketball game providing noise in the background, Penny sat on the couch and carelessly tossed Otto up and down in the air, catching him each time her hands. As one of the Celtic players made a dunk, she launched him into the air again, only this time he didn't come down. Instead, a massive sandy hand slid beneath the octopus and it landed on that with a muted thump.
"Daddy!" Penny gasped and turned around.
"Hey sweetie." Flint gave her a smile. "Daddy's got the night off." He came around and hugged her. She returned the hug fiercely and he smiled more broadly. "What are you watching?"
"The Celtic-Knicks preseason game." She drew back and smiled. "But we can do something else."
"Sure thing, Penny. Anything you want."
"How about Scrabble? Or Clue?"
"How about both?" Flint winked. "I'll get the boards, you just wait here."
From the doorway, Emma watched them and smiled to herself. Flint had really turned things around, and it was good to see him being a responsible, caring father, even if he was a bit 'unique' to say the least. Then Flint turned around and waved her over as he was setting up the game, spreading out the wooden letter tiles. Emma sat down on the floor by the coffee table and joined them, making the family complete again, at least for the moment.
OOO