[FATR: Yay fan boys (and girls) MJ in the shower! I know it's short but I have no time. I forgot to add that I don't own Shrek or anything related to it, but I'm sure you know that. I own nothing in this chapter. I don't own cookie dough bites, I'm not the inventor of the puzzle, "pajama jama" is the name of a children's book...eh, you get it. I still have a lot to learn about posting, that bit in the last chapter with Stephanie asking Otto to hold her had got messed up. Apparently the "could" got cut off. I'm taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. Shir-ran: I don't know if I'm going to keep the Rosie element from the movie or not. It might get in the way, and it might make for some interesting plot twists and angst. I do like putting my favorite characters through a bit of suffering for some reason. Story of today's update? "Make Me Feel" by QuickSilver10hiei. It is the most original bit of Otto work I've seen so far. It is very controversial for its slash (for those who don't know slash is a male/male pairing) but if that kind of stuff doesn't bother you it comes highly recommended. Enjoy the latest installment of Opening the Gate!]
Mary Jane Watson finished shaving her legs and allowed the water run down the length of her body. Conditioner and soap ran off into the tub and down the drain. She shut off the water and stepped onto the bath mat. She secured a fluffy white towel around her breasts and wrapped another turban style around her dripping red hair. Her feet traced wet prints across the hall and into the bedroom. As she rifled through her closet, she heard a sound at the window.
"Do I get three wishes?"
She whipped around, not in fear but joy, and smiled euphorically at the red and blue figure. "You're home early."
Mary Jane crossed the room as the figure landed on the carpet and peeled off his mask. Beneath it Peter was beaming back. "For my first wish, I think I'll have a kiss."
They fell into each other's arms and kissed passionately. His arms slid around her waist, holding her to him. When Mary Jane went to put her arms around his neck she felt the back pack he had made out of webbing. The kiss broke and she leaned back, her hands still on the nape of his neck, his arms still around her waist. "Slow day?"
"Relatively speaking. Besides the bank break in, there were only a couple of muggings." His brown eyes remained on her green ones for five or ten minutes, neither of them speaking. Each just stood and enjoyed the other's presence. The only sounds were the cars and voices in the streets below.
Mary Jane broke the silence. "What's in the bag?"
Peter looked puzzled for an instant, then grinned. "Oh, right." He broke away and set the bag on the corner of the bed. "I... I know I haven't been giving you the... attention you deserve lately..."
Mary Jane crossed her arms and looked skeptical. "Uhuh..."
"Well, I got this idea... actually I heard about it from someone at work... It's called pajama day. I figured we could give it a try." He pulled some videos out of the bag, a little pack of microwave popcorn from the video rental place, an 800 piece puzzle, and an Uno deck. "I also got you some of these."
The last thing out of the bag was a box of cookie dough bites. Mary Jane's eyes lit up. The only places one could find those chocolate covered drops of heaven were overpriced theater snack counters and video rental places. They were frivolous and unhealthy so she didn't get them often, but they were her favorite candy in the world. She cupped his cheek with one delicate hand. "Thank you. Now how about you tell me about pajama day?"
Peter smiled. "Starting now, until at this exact time tomorrow, you have my complete and undivided attention. Neither of us is leaving this apartment."
Mary Jane felt love bubbling up inside of her, but she quenched its rise suddenly. She had heard him promise to give up being Spiderman for an evening to see her play, or to make a dinner date, but it had never held out for long. "Do you promise?"
"I vow before God in heaven," he assured. When he spoke those words he felt a strange tingle somewhere in his soul. It wasn't his spider sense, it wasn't loud enough to be, or urgent enough. It must be love. I'm with the woman I love. I still can't believe she chose me of all people, but here I am anyway.
Mary Jane pounced on him in her joy, wrapping her legs around his waist. Peter allowed her momentum to carry them to the mattress, though she knew he could have caught her. They landed entwined in each others limbs and emotions. "I love you, Peter," she managed to mumble between kisses.
They had remained together, just kissing, for about six minutes. Mary Jane's damp red hair was now spilling across his shoulder and arm as they cuddled together. His fingers raked through it lazily, though he couldn't feel the cool silkiness due to the fact that he was still Spiderman from the neck down. "I really am sorry, MJ."
She lifted her head from his chest and rolled onto her stomach to look at him. The act of rolling over brought her into a position straddling his right leg. "For what?"
"I broke up your engagement, moved in with you, and have barely been around since."
Mary Jane sighed. So that was still weighing on his mind. "It's not that you are out all the time. I respect and admire what you do for this city. It would be selfish of me to keep you all to myself when there are people out there that need Spiderman." She paused, not sure if what she was about to say would put him more at ease or trouble him even more. "It's just that...I worry. When it's three in the morning and you're still out, I wonder if maybe this time...maybe this time one of those super powered creeps got the best of you."
Peter felt a pang when he saw the depth of her concern in her eyes. He never thought about his own mortality as a general rule. It was something he couldn't afford to dwell on it, not in his line of work. "It would take a lot to get the best of Spiderman."
That doesn't mean it can't be done. Mary Jane decided not to push the issue, decided not to mention all the nightmares that had kept her up in his absence. Now was their time to be together, now was their time to be completely and utterly in love. "So, what's first on the pajama day fun list?"
"Putting on our pajamas, of course. Though I can't honestly complain about what you're wearing now." Peter gave her a devilish grin and she giggled.
"Down, tiger." She stood up and fished a long cream colored nightgown out of her drawer. The top was lacy and sequined. It was silk, just about brand new from one of her stress shopping trips to Victoria's Secret. It had been during the Electro fiasco, when Peter had stopped him from draining the entire city of power. According to Peter, the man had been in severe emotional distress at the time, and the stunt had been intended as a sort of confidence booster. He had just gotten out of jail for some reason or another, and had finally managed to secure a minimum wage job as a mascot for some new taco joint. I probably would have had some self-esteem issues, too. By pleading insanity, his lawyer had managed to lessen Electro's sentence. He was one of the ones who had broken out last month. Mary Jane was surprised and delighted that Peter was willing to let everything go for her, even with those four wackos out there planning who knows what.
Peter put on his grey sweat pants and a white T-shirt. Mary Jane looked like a fairytale princess standing in front of the mirror combing out her hair. The nightgown complimented her skin tone perfectly and her hair burned like hot embers. The dress hung just about to her ankles and he could see her dainty bare feet. She was standing with her weight primarily on the left one, her right knee bent slightly. Emerald eyes, ruby hair, pearly teeth, and ivory skin. He looked from her goddess like form to his own scrawny, sweat pants clad self and laughed in his head. What a pair they made. "What do you want to do first?"
She put one arm across her stomach, rested her elbow on it, and touched the comb to her soft pink lips while she thought. "I vote for the puzzle." She helped Peter clear the coffee table. She returned to the room to retrieve the puzzle and stopped to study it. It was a fair at night, all lit up, with crowds of people frozen in their rush. There was a Ferris Wheel, a Tilt-a-Whirl, and tons of food and game stalls. A Roller Coaster snaked across the skyline against a starry sky. When she entered the living room, Peter was waiting for her behind the coffee table. He had pushed the table out from the couch and was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his arms crossed on its surface. As she situated herself across from him and opened the box she took in his boyish charm, tousled brown hair and brown doe eyes. Despite the fact that he was Spiderman, he was really gentle and peaceful. People wondered why she had chosen Peter. She had chosen him for his politeness and preference of intellectual intercourse over sexual.
Peter and Mary Jane began sorting out the edge pieces in comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to fill it yet. That was a crucial component in a deep relationship, the ability to just be quiet together and feel perfectly okay with it.
Mary Jane Watson finished shaving her legs and allowed the water run down the length of her body. Conditioner and soap ran off into the tub and down the drain. She shut off the water and stepped onto the bath mat. She secured a fluffy white towel around her breasts and wrapped another turban style around her dripping red hair. Her feet traced wet prints across the hall and into the bedroom. As she rifled through her closet, she heard a sound at the window.
"Do I get three wishes?"
She whipped around, not in fear but joy, and smiled euphorically at the red and blue figure. "You're home early."
Mary Jane crossed the room as the figure landed on the carpet and peeled off his mask. Beneath it Peter was beaming back. "For my first wish, I think I'll have a kiss."
They fell into each other's arms and kissed passionately. His arms slid around her waist, holding her to him. When Mary Jane went to put her arms around his neck she felt the back pack he had made out of webbing. The kiss broke and she leaned back, her hands still on the nape of his neck, his arms still around her waist. "Slow day?"
"Relatively speaking. Besides the bank break in, there were only a couple of muggings." His brown eyes remained on her green ones for five or ten minutes, neither of them speaking. Each just stood and enjoyed the other's presence. The only sounds were the cars and voices in the streets below.
Mary Jane broke the silence. "What's in the bag?"
Peter looked puzzled for an instant, then grinned. "Oh, right." He broke away and set the bag on the corner of the bed. "I... I know I haven't been giving you the... attention you deserve lately..."
Mary Jane crossed her arms and looked skeptical. "Uhuh..."
"Well, I got this idea... actually I heard about it from someone at work... It's called pajama day. I figured we could give it a try." He pulled some videos out of the bag, a little pack of microwave popcorn from the video rental place, an 800 piece puzzle, and an Uno deck. "I also got you some of these."
The last thing out of the bag was a box of cookie dough bites. Mary Jane's eyes lit up. The only places one could find those chocolate covered drops of heaven were overpriced theater snack counters and video rental places. They were frivolous and unhealthy so she didn't get them often, but they were her favorite candy in the world. She cupped his cheek with one delicate hand. "Thank you. Now how about you tell me about pajama day?"
Peter smiled. "Starting now, until at this exact time tomorrow, you have my complete and undivided attention. Neither of us is leaving this apartment."
Mary Jane felt love bubbling up inside of her, but she quenched its rise suddenly. She had heard him promise to give up being Spiderman for an evening to see her play, or to make a dinner date, but it had never held out for long. "Do you promise?"
"I vow before God in heaven," he assured. When he spoke those words he felt a strange tingle somewhere in his soul. It wasn't his spider sense, it wasn't loud enough to be, or urgent enough. It must be love. I'm with the woman I love. I still can't believe she chose me of all people, but here I am anyway.
Mary Jane pounced on him in her joy, wrapping her legs around his waist. Peter allowed her momentum to carry them to the mattress, though she knew he could have caught her. They landed entwined in each others limbs and emotions. "I love you, Peter," she managed to mumble between kisses.
They had remained together, just kissing, for about six minutes. Mary Jane's damp red hair was now spilling across his shoulder and arm as they cuddled together. His fingers raked through it lazily, though he couldn't feel the cool silkiness due to the fact that he was still Spiderman from the neck down. "I really am sorry, MJ."
She lifted her head from his chest and rolled onto her stomach to look at him. The act of rolling over brought her into a position straddling his right leg. "For what?"
"I broke up your engagement, moved in with you, and have barely been around since."
Mary Jane sighed. So that was still weighing on his mind. "It's not that you are out all the time. I respect and admire what you do for this city. It would be selfish of me to keep you all to myself when there are people out there that need Spiderman." She paused, not sure if what she was about to say would put him more at ease or trouble him even more. "It's just that...I worry. When it's three in the morning and you're still out, I wonder if maybe this time...maybe this time one of those super powered creeps got the best of you."
Peter felt a pang when he saw the depth of her concern in her eyes. He never thought about his own mortality as a general rule. It was something he couldn't afford to dwell on it, not in his line of work. "It would take a lot to get the best of Spiderman."
That doesn't mean it can't be done. Mary Jane decided not to push the issue, decided not to mention all the nightmares that had kept her up in his absence. Now was their time to be together, now was their time to be completely and utterly in love. "So, what's first on the pajama day fun list?"
"Putting on our pajamas, of course. Though I can't honestly complain about what you're wearing now." Peter gave her a devilish grin and she giggled.
"Down, tiger." She stood up and fished a long cream colored nightgown out of her drawer. The top was lacy and sequined. It was silk, just about brand new from one of her stress shopping trips to Victoria's Secret. It had been during the Electro fiasco, when Peter had stopped him from draining the entire city of power. According to Peter, the man had been in severe emotional distress at the time, and the stunt had been intended as a sort of confidence booster. He had just gotten out of jail for some reason or another, and had finally managed to secure a minimum wage job as a mascot for some new taco joint. I probably would have had some self-esteem issues, too. By pleading insanity, his lawyer had managed to lessen Electro's sentence. He was one of the ones who had broken out last month. Mary Jane was surprised and delighted that Peter was willing to let everything go for her, even with those four wackos out there planning who knows what.
Peter put on his grey sweat pants and a white T-shirt. Mary Jane looked like a fairytale princess standing in front of the mirror combing out her hair. The nightgown complimented her skin tone perfectly and her hair burned like hot embers. The dress hung just about to her ankles and he could see her dainty bare feet. She was standing with her weight primarily on the left one, her right knee bent slightly. Emerald eyes, ruby hair, pearly teeth, and ivory skin. He looked from her goddess like form to his own scrawny, sweat pants clad self and laughed in his head. What a pair they made. "What do you want to do first?"
She put one arm across her stomach, rested her elbow on it, and touched the comb to her soft pink lips while she thought. "I vote for the puzzle." She helped Peter clear the coffee table. She returned to the room to retrieve the puzzle and stopped to study it. It was a fair at night, all lit up, with crowds of people frozen in their rush. There was a Ferris Wheel, a Tilt-a-Whirl, and tons of food and game stalls. A Roller Coaster snaked across the skyline against a starry sky. When she entered the living room, Peter was waiting for her behind the coffee table. He had pushed the table out from the couch and was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his arms crossed on its surface. As she situated herself across from him and opened the box she took in his boyish charm, tousled brown hair and brown doe eyes. Despite the fact that he was Spiderman, he was really gentle and peaceful. People wondered why she had chosen Peter. She had chosen him for his politeness and preference of intellectual intercourse over sexual.
Peter and Mary Jane began sorting out the edge pieces in comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to fill it yet. That was a crucial component in a deep relationship, the ability to just be quiet together and feel perfectly okay with it.