SOURCES ON SPIDERS, INCLUDING SILK: irep .iium. edu. my/26101/1/%5BBT-201%5D_Mohamed_ ?fbclid=IwAR1i0p6QmL9GheE7925c6XYsy_XACplzJRtceBTchX2vLZgNihr0ut4UykU
indianapublicmedia amomentofscience/spiders-recycling/
www .youtube watch?v=S0tG4keFTu0 - nom nom nom
www .youtube watch?v=njIZdPViBHg - this dude in general is a LOT of fun and I recommend checking out his spider videos, they're super cool. His snake Pissy is the best. Also technically spiders don't 'hiss' as shown here, but like. I'm going to call it that for simplicity's sake.
CHAPTER TITLE - watch?v=h232B2wjE2s - This story is basically written to the Low Roar Discography. This song is also probably my song for Pete.
Peni couldn't sleep.
Pete's story was still ringing in her ears and pounding in her heart. The sight of him curling into himself, the sound of his voice cracking as he spoke ringing in her ears. "A short-fucking-story with a sad-fucking-ending," ran through her head, tears trickling down her face as she thought of the way he said it. He had spoken it like it was fact, the words heavy and filled with promise. The words had torn her heart in two, the idea that someone she had grown to look up to and adore held that much despair, that much fear in their heart… It hurt her. It cut into her like a knife, stabbing in deep and twisting. If Peter B hadn't picked her up and held her, she didn't know how she would have kept it together.
It was all so…Peni didn't have the words for it. She didn't have the words for the fear she was feeling, for the despair. It was like a weight deep in her gut. And then…and then there was the Goober.
Peni had thought that she was being careful. She had thought that she had been so smart, had been so clever in deciding that Pete should be the last one to get a Goober, and would need it to be given to him personally in order to avoid any confusion, or hostility. She had thought that it would have been too much for someone of Pete's supposed age, too much for someone living in Pete's time-period to understand. She had underestimated him.
Worse, it felt as though she had shown utter contempt for him.
If only Peni had trusted that Pete could figure out the Goober, if only she had trusted that Pete would be able to follow written directions the same way that she had thought Peter B could. If only Peni hadn't committed the truly heinous act of thinking that Pete was too stupid to figure out how to work something when given a proper diagram or a written explanation.
That's what it had been, she thought, her heart heavy in her chest, and her eyes starting to flood as the thought hit her on top of everything else, it had been thinking that Pete was stupid.
Her friend, who had shown nothing but adaptability, nothing but courage, and nothing but dedication…had been judged and found wanting. And she couldn't have been more wrong.
Pete had listened to what she said, asking a few questions, but not nearly as many as she had expected, and above-all understanding. He understood the idea of instant communication. He understood the idea of phones. He even understood the idea of putting multiple people into the same call. He had called it a 'party line,' something that was done to cut costs, but also had the added benefit of being a phone line where you could talk to as many people as possible all on the same call. The gossip, he said, was amazing for helping someone in his line of work. And a telegraph. Peni hadn't even heard of a telegraph. He had had to explain something to her.
Peni had been so confident.
Peni had been so wrong.
Peni sniffled, curling into a ball in the darkness under the comforter that had been thrown overtop of her, and desperately wishing that Pete was next to them. At least then she could feel his heartbeat, recognize that he was still there, could know really and truly that her arrogance hadn't killed him. The thought stuck in her chest, hitching in her throat, and she found herself squirming out of the blankets before she quite knew what she was doing. She stood on the edge of the pile of sleeping Spiders, Peter B with his head thrown back and mouth yawning open, Porker a curled up little lump beside him, and Gwen with her back pressed against Peter B's side, feeling him breathe.
Peni's eyes found the black shadow in the far corner, watching as it drifted slightly in whatever wind it was that always followed him, and walked towards him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, guilt and sorrow a heavy weight in her stomach, hunching her shoulders forward, her hands pressed to her chest.
She couldn't breathe.
The idea…the idea that he was dead. That Peni had missed more than she thought, that he had been hurt so much worse, that he was dying.
She had to see that he was breathing.
She had to see that she hadn't killed him.
Peni picked her way past the other Spiders, carefully, taking small measured steps until she finally managed to pick her way through, and stood beneath Pete's hammock. Her head bowed, she closed her eyes and listened, trying to find Pete's breath, his heartbeat. The tears that she was holding back finally broke through, plipping to the ground. Her breath hitched in her throat, choking down what felt like the beginnings of sobbing, misery eating her from the inside out. The sudden tug on the back of her shirt was surprising, and she almost yelped, when she looked up and recognized that the black shape had been broken by white, and then Pete was pulling her up.
Pete pulled her up to him arm after arm, his webbing having caught the back of her shirt, which allowed him to pull her up a bit like a kitten, Peni keeping her arms as locked as possible in order to keep herself from sliding out of her shirt and tucking her knees to her chest. When she was finally close enough Pete hooked her under her legs with one arm, while the other kept her upright by the web attached to her back, and finally he squirmed back enough that he could plop her down before him on the hammock. The web was broken off then, and Peni was able to breathe again.
She still couldn't fight back the tears.
Pete's hair was even more lopsided than it had been, his expression fuzzy with sleep and confusion, but his eyes were bright and alert. They made her feel worse. They peered at her in the darkness, lacking the glasses he had worn before and thus probably not seeing her as well as he would like. But the concern in his eyes, in the way that his eyebrows pinched, in the way that he leaned forward towards her, the blanket still around him shifting with the movement, was evident.
"Peni," he started softly, voice even thicker with sleep than it had been before, gruff and almost hoarse, "why are you crying? What's wrong?"
Peni trembled, before finally launching herself at him. Pete's eyes widened, and he caught her, falling backwards into the hammock with a hiss of what was undoubtedly pain, and Peni immediately felt a further spike of guilt pound into her heart. Pete was injured, he had broken ribs, he was covered in bruises… She tried to scramble back, only to be held tight and held close, Pete hushing her quietly, gentle litanies of: "It's okay, just relax, you're fine, I'm fine. Just shh, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay…" as one hand pressed against her back and the other pet through her hair in a mirror image of the way Rio had held him earlier.
His hold was just slightly too tight, the hand that pet her just a little too rough, probably not used to his strength when dealing with holding other people, but she didn't mind. She couldn't. Not when he was trying, when she could feel the shakiness to his movements, hear the way his voice stuttered over the words. He was trying.
He was trying. Pete was still trying, and he was still here, and he had agreed to try. He had taken the leap.
Peni's breath hitched, and more tears finally began spilling, dripping down onto Pete's shirt, dampening the fabric and the skin beneath, even as she began to calm. Pete's hand on her back was warm and solid, her ear pressed firmly into his chest so she could hear the heartbeat thudding underneath the rise and fall of his ribs. He was breathing, his heart was beating, he was alive, he was alive, he was alive.
Peni pressed her ear against his chest more firmly, listening, just listening, feeling the rumble of his voice as it continued softly droning, feeling the way his hand stroked through her hair. Pete's voice finally trailed off, and the two of them lay there in silence, that odd wind rocking the two of them gently. Peni thought she saw Gwen get up at some point, but she couldn't find the energy to call out to the other girl, merely watch as she made her way to the window.
"I'm sorry," she finally croaked out before she could fall into sleep.
"What for?" Pete asked, voice gentle, and that led to more tears, trickling out to add to the damp-patch on his shirt. "Peni?" he prompted softly. "What are you sorry for?"
"For…for my contempt of you," she finally managed.
"You don't have to apologize for that," he responded softly, his voice so even, so perfectly controlled that it was like a punch to the gut. Pete believed that. He believed that she had a right to feel contempt for him.
"I do," she insisted, "I do have to apologize for that," her voice hitched. "I have to apologize because…because you don't deserve it."
"Peni, I'm a mons-"
"Don't say it," Peni hissed, pressing her hand to his mouth, looking up into his eyes from her place on his chest, staring at piercing grey eyes that stared out at her from the dark, eyes that looked at her with such…
It wasn't fair. Her breath hitched, and her voice rattled as she shook her head. "No, no, that's not true. That's not true. That's not even what…that's not even what I was talking about," she whispered. "I…I decided that you wouldn't understand the Goober. I decided that you wouldn't know how to work it, and that…and that I needed to give it to you personally or you just wouldn't… I decided that you were too stupid to figure it out, and I… I almost killed you." Her voice hitched, and the sobs she had been holding out broke free. Crying in a mixture of guilt and rage and at just how unfair it all was.
How unfair it was that someone like Pete, who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, who had just wanted to help, had been cursed by something that was… That was twisting him. Twisting him, from the inside out, turning him into something that… That Pete himself was afraid of, and now that she was this close, she could see it. See it in his eyes, in the way he looked at her. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Pete hushed her again, pulling her up higher so she could nestle her chin in the pocket between his collarbone and his neck, and he was just so sharp.
That fact almost made her cry more. Every bone could be felt even through the muscle, his ribs pressing into hers in a way that would almost be painful if the blanket wasn't providing a buffer between them.
Peni had never gone hungry. Her diet was regulated strictly in order to promote good physical growth, and optimal functioning. Pete was starving, had been starving, and it was evident in the arms that held her, the bones that dug into her skin. It only made her cry more.
"Shh, Peni," Pete tried to hush her, finally pressing his chin to the top of her head so gently, so softly. "Peni, please, shh. You didn't kill me. You didn't even almost kill me. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know."
"But you knew. You knew…as soon as I…pointed things out…as soon as I…showed you how…the interface could be opened…you knew what to do as soon as I showed you what to push," Peni managed to hitch out between her sobs, closing her eyes against the words, even as they burned her. "If I had just…if I had just done what I did with everyone else, just thrown it through and given you written instructions… You could have…and we wouldn't have…"
"Peni, do you know how many years separate your time from mine?" he asked softly. Peni didn't respond, keeping her eyes closed, ducking her head away from the question. "Twelve-hundred and twelve," he answered his own question when she didn't, his voice soft. "That's a hell of a long time, Peni. I don't blame you for thinking that I wouldn't get some things. I don't." Peni shook her head against him in denial.
"But I saw you, you…you were so quick, and you got so much…" she hiccupped. "If I had only just…trusted you, then…then this wouldn't have happened. But because I had contempt for you and for what you could do, for what you could understand…"
"I wouldn't call that contempt, Peni, I'd just call that ignorance, and that's not something you should be blamed for." Pete hesitated, staring up at the ceiling quietly. "Ignorance can hurt people, yeah, but it's not done out of malice. I don't blame people for their ignorance, Peni, I can't, not if they seek to cure it. If they learn about it and then don't do anything to correct it then…well, that's when it's harmful. But you recognized it, and you apologized for it, and that's good. And besides, no one else thought I could figure it out, either. Gwen, Miles, Peter B, Porker…you're not alone in it, Peni, but I don't blame any of you for it. And I don't think…" He paused, before saying again, "I don't think you all think that I'm a twit." He frowned slightly. "But more importantly than blame, and stupidity, and whatever contempt you think you might feel, I'm alive, Peni, I'm alive and I'm right here. I'm right here, you don't have to apologize… Just hush now, everything's going to be okay. I got you."
Peni held him tightly, sniffling as she cried, and finally, slowly, she felt her eyes get heavy. It was so much, it was too much, high-emotion pairing with stress until she was just so…tired. The arms around her, the soft rocking, the heartbeat underneath hers, it all just pulled her down, down, down in a spiral of sleep and warmth. She felt safe. Above all, she had finally heard him say it. Finally heard the words come out of his mouth repeatedly, even as he tried to push them away, a confession and a statement that she could hold in her heart, because it finally gave her a word for him. It finally gave her the name of what he was to her, and though Miles and Gwen might not know it yet, to them, too. She had fallen into a portal and found something so much bigger than any of them could have ever expected.
"I love you, oniichan," she finally whispered when she felt as though she was about to drift off to sleep at any second, knowing that if she didn't say it, the words would burn in her chest until she choked on them. "I could never hate you, no matter what happens," she said softly, her eyes closing.
"I just want you to be happy," she whispered into his chest, and curled up so her ear was pressed on top of his heart. Her consciousness drifted as she felt his chest hitch, and she fell asleep to the beating of his heart in her ear.
She had found family.
Peter's breath hitched, lost somewhere in what she had said to him, and the realization that Peni had fallen asleep. He didn't know the word she had called him, but the way it had been spoken… A small part of him was amazed at the level of trust she showed him, but that amazement was wrapped up even more tightly in a mixture of anguish and pain.
He'd said it was okay, and he'd held Peni to him, but there was still that tight, stabbing feeling of hurt ribs. But worse, he was trapped. Peter didn't think that he could lower her back down, pulling her up had left his muscles trembling in a way that he didn't like and led to him not trusting himself to be able to actually lower her back down safely. To make matters even worse, she had fallen asleep.
Peter didn't want to wake her up, recognizing that it had been a long day for all of them, and Peni didn't deserve to be woken up again. He needed help to get her down, and with that thought he craned his head to see if he could get someone else's attention, not caring if they had seen that display of emotion.
Some things were worth the breaking of etiquette. Some things were worth a little emotion.
Peter B and Gwen were both gone he noted with a jolt, the only one left was Porker, curled in the blankets and snoring away. If he squinted his eyes almost shut, he thought he could see little Z's floating above his head, but he couldn't tell if he was actually seeing something or his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He couldn't wake up Porker, he was probably just as exhausted as the rest of them were, and he had no idea where the other two had gone.
Peter came to the realization that he was running on fumes when his eyes started to drift shut without his permission. The horrified realization that he might hurt Peni was coiling up in his chest, but Peter felt powerless to do anything about it.
Oddly, however, he also had never felt quite so calm. The spider-sense that was always hovering in the back of his neck, burning so hotly in warning had faded, dulling into a soft rumble.
Peter felt safe.
His body took advantage of that safety, took advantage of that warmth, and before he knew it Peter had fallen asleep.
For the first time in over a year, Peter didn't dream of spiders.
Porker opened an eye as soon as he heard Pete's slightly hitched breathing finally even out in sleep. He waited another moment before finally crawling his own way up the wall to check on the two kids that had become a part of his group. Gwen and Miles were in there, too, but Peter B had spent the most time with them, and they were the most familiar with him, and certainly the most willing to open up to him as well. That naturally left the other two with him.
These kids wouldn't know what had hit them. He was going to rock at this whole mentor thing, he loved all these kids too much to do otherwise.
Peni was smiling softly in sleep, her breath even and gentle. Pete had fallen asleep with his mouth slightly parted, a soft sound leaving him on every exhale, his expression relaxed and completely without tension. It was a wonderful sight, and Porker knew that it was something that the two of them desperately needed. He wished Pete pleasant dreams and hoped that Peni's heart was finally on the way to mending. Poor kid had taken everything rough.
Porker had taken it rough, to be honest. There was so much…there was just so much to unpack. So much death and pain and loneliness… He was proud of them both. He'd have to find a way to show it properly.
Porker gave a small smile, and carefully took the edge of the blanket Pete had and carefully wrapped that edge around Peni, before tucking in the other side behind Pete, effectively covering the two kids completely. They both deserved to be warm.
Porker turned slightly as he heard the window shifting, and Peter B carefully maneuvered his way in the window, carrying Gwen with him. She had fallen asleep against his chest, and Peter B looked somewhere between amazed and fond. The two oldest of the Spiders made eye-contact and traded a brief nod. Peter B's gaze darted towards Miles' room, but it was obvious that the kid was likely asleep, which was more than deserved.
They'd have to be sure to give that kid one hell of a group-hug later. Miles needed to remember that they all were with him 100% of the way, too.
Porker made his way back to the floor, carefully helping Peter B lie down as he kept Gwen stable, adjusting Gwen so her ear was still pressed against his heartbeat, but she lay off to the side more. Anytime they attempted to move her off she made a soft sound of complaint, so that's where they left her. Porker covered the two of them up, and then took his own place next to Peter B, effectively becoming a pig in a blanket as he wrapped his own blanket around him twice and snuggled in deep, quietly huffing a laugh at the thought of his own joke.
"How is she taking everything?" Porker asked softly.
"She's…taking it about as well as you'd expect," Peter B replied equally softly. "She lost her best friend once already, and then being here when this Peter bit it… I don't think…hearing Pete talk about actually killing himself…" He sighed. "She's doing as well as can be expected. It was…it was a good conversation. I think it definitely needed to happen. How are they? Are you sure that Pete won't…?"
"They're as well as can be expected. More importantly, they're getting there." Porker grinned. "As for Pete? I think he's the most relaxed he's been in a while. Peni's fine, I think this is good for them both."
"Good," Peter B said, and his voice was firm. The two of them fell into silence then, sleep hovering at the edges of Porker's consciousness.
It took him a moment to recognize that Peter B wasn't falling asleep. He shuffled slightly to look at the other man, seeing those brown eyes reflecting the light from the window, temporarily darkening as he blinked.
"They're all so…young," Peter B finally said softly, his voice barely a whisper. Porker's ears were large, though, and he heard more clearly than any of them. It was why he had heard Pete's and Peni's heart-to-heart, and why he had decided not to help Pete get her down. It was also why he could hear what Peter B said and hear that soft tone of awe in his voice, as well as that small undercurrent of fear.
"It'll be okay," Porker said softly, smiling at him. "We're not alone, and now…neither are they."
Peter B was quiet for a moment, before a grin slowly spread, gentle and soft.
"We're not alone."
The words had a finality to them, as well as a promise, and the two of them finally fell asleep to the echo of those words in their minds.
None of them were alone anymore. They all had each other.
And come hell or high water, that's exactly how they were going to stay.
Jeff woke up to the muzzy realization that Rio wasn't in bed with him, and the fact that he could smell breakfast cooking. He got up carefully, grabbing a change of clothes and heading to the bathroom to get changed and freshen up. It also gave him an opportunity to check on his guests. He peeked into the living room before heading into the bathroom, taking in the pile of sleeping Spiders.
They seemed to have moved in the middle of the night, he noticed, none of them in their original places, and he felt a minor burst of nerves at the sight of Peni curled up in the hammock with Pete. But, at the same time, they all appeared to be calm, and above-all, were deeply asleep. None of them had even twitched at the smell of breakfast cooking, not even Pete, which was rather surprising.
Jeff walked into the bathroom, did his business, changed his clothes, and made his way past the sleeping Spiders after depositing his dirty clothes into the laundry bin. He walked into he kitchen to the sight of Miles and his wife cooking breakfast, steam rising from the large pan that Rio was stirring as Miles prepared a bunch of fruit. His son was smiling as he cut through a papaya Jeff knew that they didn't have yesterday. They must have gone out to get a bunch of different fruit for the Spiders to try before he had even woken up, but Jeff sure as hell wasn't complaining.
Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries had already been washed and were placed in a large bowl in the center of the table, a serving spoon ready. Plates and forks were all set up neatly next to this bowl, the idea obviously being some form of buffet-styled breakfast that they would spread out throughout the house with, since their table was too small for the motley crew in their living room. Jeff took a deep breath, recognizing the tantalizing smell of chilaquiles as well as beef chorizo con huevos, and made his way over to his wife, rubbing Miles' hair as he passed, and laughing quietly as he swatted at him, before leaning in to give his wife a kiss. Rio leaned into him, smiling.
"Buenos días, dormilón," she said, her voice full of laughter.
"Not as sleepy as them," Jeff returned, butting his head in the Spiders' direction. "So, what's the occasion here?" He asked, his voice rumbling with his amusement. "We don't usually get a breakfast like this."
"We haven't all been free like this in a while," Rio returned, which was true. Days when their schedules all lined up so they were able to have a breakfast like this were rare, and truthfully Miles shouldn't have been able to enjoy it with them, as he had school. But there were moments when such things had to be waved, and this… This was one of those times. Jeff and Rio had both decided last night that they'd call Miles' school and plead off a family emergency. With the death of… With that so close, it hadn't taken much. It left them to enjoy a morning together.
The extra guests in his home weren't entirely unwelcome, but they still weren't his first choice in houseguests. They had gone a long way in making themselves a lot more welcome, and there was no way that Jeff was going to either turn them out or fight against what his wife wanted. He had no real desire to, if he was honest with himself. Somewhere between Pete's confession and watching his own son break down he had acclimated himself to the idea of helping them. Spider-Man or Woman or…Pig…still weren't in his favorite list of people, but there was no truly deep animosity there anymore. Wariness? Certainly. But active dislike? No. It was enough tolerance to allow Jeff to even consider what it was that Rio proposed.
Whether or not they'd be doing it for long would remain to be seen.
Jeff took to preparing coffee for anyone who wanted a cup, while also pouring a few glasses of juice for the kids. He hesitated on what to give Pete, but eventually decided to just make sure there was enough for him to have both. Pete needed the calories, regardless. Finally, Rio dumped the chilaquiles into a serving bowl, and the chorizo con huevos in another, and took a step back from the stove, wiping her hands on a towel and grinning.
"I think it's time to wake them up, they are absolutely not going to want to miss this," Rio said, her hands on her hips, looking proud.
"I'll do it!" Miles called out, and immediately launched himself past Jeff before he could say anything. Jeff opened his mouth, going to take a step after him, when Rio slid her hand into his and pulled him back.
"Estará bien," she said, softly, smiling. Jeff wanted to beg to differ, but when Miles threw a pillow at Parker, and the man managed to leap the nine-or-so feet straight-up to the ceiling, letting out a truly impressive yelp as he did so, he thought that it might actually be alright. Gwen went sprawling with her own shout as Parker sent her flying in his initial bound, while Porker just casually popped his head out of his own pile of blankets, yawning. Parker was attached to the ceiling, looking around frantically to see what had attempted to hit him, and then finally caught sight of Miles laughing his butt off and bent nearly double.
Parker's expression went from anxious confusion, to a very impressive scowl as soon as he found Miles, Gwen in her own crouch on the far wall, also finding Miles with her glare. Parker tossed a look in his direction, and Jeff met his gaze with a grin, and a slight wave of permission. Parker blinked, before grinning at him. Parker caught a pillow with a web before carefully chucking it back at Miles, catching him just hard enough to get him to stumble back onto his butt on the couch. Gwen tagged him with another pillow a second later, and Miles cackled, ducking and hiding his head behind the pillow she had thrown as Gwen leapt after the initial pillow, a grin on her face. Jeff watched all of this with something like fondness, pleased at the fact that they at least had good enough aim to not break anything, or hurt anyone.
The gentleness they were using was visible, and it did wonders for his blood-pressure. Parker dropped from the ceiling when Gwen went to town, coming over to stand next to Jeff. He cracked his back out, a truly impressive sound, and gave a brief uncomfortable mumble.
"Shoulda taken the couch," he grumbled to himself, and Jeff winced in sympathy.
"You good, man?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, fine, I just…forget sometimes that I broke my back a while ago. It reminds me in the worst of ways when I do," Parker responded, Jeff stiffening almost immediately.
"You broke your…?"
"Wait, wait! We have food!" Miles yelled out between laughs, his own way of calling for mercy. Gwen stopped her very deserved barrage with the pillows, and gently placed them on the couch beside her.
"You could have led with that, you know?" Gwen asked, feigning upset, but she was doing a poor job at containing her laughter. Miles laughed.
"Wouldn't have been as fun. You should have seen Peter leap," he mimed a gunshot into the air, and Gwen laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. These reflexes have saved my life on many occasions. You'll also notice that you didn't actually hit me with a pillow," Parker responded, an eyebrow rising along with a slight smirk that curled up his mouth. Miles, Gwen, and Porker all picked up pillows threateningly. Jeff took a step before him, holding his hands up.
"Woah! No, not when the kitchen is right behind us!" They lowered the pillows with a pout. Jeff nodded. "That's better," he praised. "Now. What about them?" he nodded over to the Spiders in the corner, a slight frown on his mouth. They were still sleeping peacefully it looked like, both bundled together in that black web-hammock. There was a moment of thought, before Miles walked into the kitchen. When he came back, he was carrying a plate full of chilaquiles. He looked at Parker expectantly, holding it up, looking up at the two in the hammock, and then back to Parker with a raised eyebrow.
"No one can resist my mom's chilaquiles," he said, his mouth pulling into a proud grin.
Parker blinked, and then grinned brightly in sudden realization, "Well, let's test that theory, huh?" He took the plate from Miles and gave a dramatic sniff, before nodding thoughtfully. "Not bad, not bad," he said, and Miles stifled a laugh. Parker literally walked his way up the wall, careful not to spill anything on the floor. When he was finally just beneath the two on the hammock, he placed the plate on his chest as a makeshift table before using his hands to waft the smell from the plate to the two still sleeping above him. "Wakey, wakey, chilaquiles are ready," he sing-songed softly, a wide grin just barely visible on his face from the angle he was standing.
God, Parker was standing on his wall. This entire scenario was somewhere between adorable and horrifying.
There was a pause, before Peni started stirring. She sniffed, small nose twitching as she sought out what the smell was, eyes blinking open blearily, and finally catching sight of Parker beneath them. Peni had a moment when her eyes opened wide, and Jeff thought she might scream in surprise, but then her expression relaxed, and she instead gave a wide smile.
"Ohayo gozaimasu," she chirped at Parker, which was a word combination that Jeff didn't recognize, though he assumed it was Japanese. This was what finally caused Pete to stir. Peni focused a careful eye on Pete as he finally opened his eyes.
Jeff watched as those hazy grey eyes opened wide at the sight of someone so close to his face, and he tensed. Parker had moved the plate into one hand and was watching carefully as well. Peni, however, took the opportunity Pete's pause provided to kiss the tip of his nose with a brightly repeated: "Ohayo gozaimasu, oniichan!" Pete reeled back into the hammock, rubbing at his nose with a few startled grumbles, that gray cast to his skin turning almost black as he blushed from the back of his neck to the tip of his nose, and finally he just covered his entire face with the blanket in mortification.
The laughter that burst out was compounded by a brief series of awes, but Gwen and Miles looked particularly delighted. Rio came up behind him, smiling as wide as possible.
"Morning, sleeping beauties, we have food," Parker called out, brightly, both attracting their attention and causing Pete to untuck himself from the protective ball he had pulled himself into, Parker's grin spreading wide. "The Morales-Davis household has absolutely outdone themselves, it looks like, now get up so we can eat, this stuff smells divine."
"I told you it's beyond the human body to resist!" Miles called out, laughing. Parker cackled.
"I believe you," he called over his shoulder, and carefully balanced the plate on his stomach as Peni leaned over the edge of the hammock. In a truly impressive feat of his ability to stick, and impressive core-strength, Parker took a hold of Peni's hands, the girl grabbing his thumbs before flipping out of the hammock. Parker carefully guided her descent over his head, lifting her just enough to send her over his head and not into it, stretching back in order to let her drop down to the ground beneath without issue, and all the while that plate remained perfectly balanced. The applause that broke out was immediate, Peni taking a few bows as Parker took the plate back into his hand. "Do you need help?" Parker asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as though he had x-ray vision and could see right through Pete.
Jeff idly hoped they didn't have x-ray vision. They were hard enough to deal with without the added invasion of privacy.
Pete finally managed to peak his way out of the cover he still had pulled over his head. He was looking a lot less flushed, but still looked mildly befuddled, and he sent a glare Peni's way. Peni, for her part, beamed at him with a little wave. Pete shook his head in denial at Parker while simultaneously ignoring Peni's wave, and finally stretched his hand up, adhering to the ceiling. He tossed the blanket to the ground with his other hand before pulling himself up to the ceiling with that single hand, Rio hissing in Jeff's ear like an angry cat as he did so.
Pete crawled over to unstick one of the anchor points of the hammock, carefully beginning to roll the black threads in on themselves as he moved from one side to the other, until it was a small ball. It was barely the size of a strawberry when it was all gathered together, which Jeff supposed made sense considering it was small strands with a lot of gaps in between.
Jeff let out a briefly impressed noise, nodding his head once. "You weren't kidding when you said you could clean it-"
Pete then took this strawberry-sized ball of webbing and promptly stuck it in his mouth and swallowed it whole.
The word, Jeff would think later when remembering this moment, was pandemonium.
Rio burst out into a loud variety of Spanish curses in his ear, going so fast even Jeff couldn't keep up, Miles let out a very loud and very disgusted sound, lurching backwards, while Gwen put her hands over her mouth and started gagging. Parker jerked backwards, finally putting the plate to the side, paling slightly as he saw that, his nose scrunching up as he made a few aborted attempts to say something, stuttering over his words and generally just looking confused. Peni's jaw dropped and she turned a very distinct shade of green, her eyes turning into literal spirals as she swayed on her feet, a large…was that a sweatdrop beading up on her brow? What was even happening?
Jeff himself felt his stomach lurch and a cold sweat break up on the back of his spine. Pete, for his part, had shrunk into the corner, staring at everyone with wide eyes and a horrified demeaner, balling himself up and trying to make himself smaller. If Jeff didn't feel so much like vomiting, he'd probably attempt to calm him down, but that was just too much.
That had come out of his wrists! What the fuck?
The sudden loud sound of an airhorn sent Parker up onto the ceiling again, Peni diving for cover, as Gwen leapt into the air as well, catching herself on the ceiling. Jeff grabbed both his wife, and Miles, pulling them both close to him tightly. As they realized that nothing else came after the sound, everyone began calming, finally turning to look at Porker, who was looking very angry.
"What is wrong with all of you?" Porker asked, planting his hoof on the ground as he dropped the giant airhorn to the ground, glaring up at all of them. "There's no need for any of that! That's Spider-Shaming is what that is, and I won't stand for it!" He looked up at Pete then, who had started emerging from his little huddle and was staring at Porker with almost hopeful eyes. "It's alright, bud," Porker said gently, finally climbing up the wall towards him.
"That's good," Porker praised when he got close enough that he could touch Pete's knee if he wanted to. "I'm super glad that you're recycling your web like that, I was worried initially that I'd have to teach you about that bit of spider behavior. I get that it's not a thing that most humans do, but that's healthy, and it really comforts me to know that you've been doing it. Silk's hard to produce when you're underfed, and I was worried that you were starving yourself out. When'd you figure it out?"
Pete was quiet for a moment longer, but finally started uncurling a little more. "After I fell a couple stories. Realized that I couldn't produce the silk I needed, and it was… I knew that I was producing it, but I hadn't…I hadn't really thought of how." He was coloring as he stared at Porker, ignoring the rest of them, which was…very fair, Jeff thought to himself, feeling his own skin heat. Goddamn, well that had been encouraging of them, and at the thought he noticed the rest of the Spiders and his own family starting to look very upset. "Stupid of me, really. I should have thought about the logistics a little further but I just…"
"Hey, bud, I get it," Porker touched his knee, and Jeff could just picture the soft smile. "I really do. It took me a while to realize that I could actually overheat now. I mean, who knew! Thermoregulation is a hell of a thing, I love it, but it's…can you still thermoregulate?"
"Yeah, I can. I've got a basic internal temperature that stays the same," Pete answered, nodding.
"That's a good thing, I am so glad about that…" Porker frowned slightly. "You checked your webbing for what it's made of? It's black, which is a little odd to me, you figured out the reason?"
"I know that it's antibacterial," Pete answered, frowning slightly, trailing off.
"It's…antibacterial?" Rio asked, her voice rising in shock.
Pete blinked, before looking down at her. "Sure. It's one of the main ways that I've been…well," he gestured at what looked like a bullet wound on his arm, and Jeff found himself hissing. He wondered idly if that bullet came from a cop and found a further tensing in his chest. One thing at a time, Davis, one thing at a time. "I only stitch the things that are either too wide to press together or might come apart if I'm not careful," Pete continued thoughtfully. "Most of the time I just use a little silk and go. It's honestly cleaner than a lot of the things I can use to bandage stuff, honestly."
"Yeah, all spider-silk is like that," Porker agreed, nodding. "That's also why it's perfectly normal and very healthy to recycle your silk like that," Porker stressed, flashing the group behind him a very intense glare. Jeff felt properly chastised, and he could tell by the slow huddling of the Spiders together and the way that Rio and Miles leaned into him, they felt it, too. "Your body isn't straining for extra proteins it can't always get, and you've got at least a little bit of a pocket before your body has to start using…well, itself to produce the silk."
Pete nodded in agreement, frowning. "Figured that out the hard way, but I'm…actually doing a bit better now."
"I'm glad!" Porker grinned at him from ear to ear, and then finally turned back to them, hands planted on his hips and glaring. "You all should apologize! Shaming him like that is just…rude."
"I'm sorry!" came the immediate chorus, Jeff finding himself saying it, too.
"That was rude, no tenía idea que la telaraña era tan...limpia," Rio said, frowning.
"I did," Parker said in a way that might actually be considered sheepish, rubbing at the back of his neck. "It's why I thought of using webbing as a field-bandage in the first place, I just…didn't think about the possibility that your body might just produce it naturally as well as just like…discount webbing. That's pretty cool."
"Yeah," Peni agreed brightly, smiling. "That's really cool! Maybe we can test it later?"
"Maybe…" Pete agreed, ducking his head slightly.
"Bromas luego, comida ahora, before it gets too cold! Let's get some extra protein in you so that pocket between your body eating itself and producing enough silk is bigger!" Rio waved them all back into the kitchen, and they immediately followed her prompting. The smell at that point had permeated the entirety of the house, and when they entered the kitchen everything was still steaming and looked heavenly.
There was a loud series of appreciative sounds and exclamations that followed the sight of the food, and Rio and Miles both basked in the praise as Jeff pointed out that they were the two that made it. Pete looked like he had never seen so much food in his entire life.
"We're going to have to have it buffet style," Rio called through finally, clapping her hands together. "We don't have a big enough table for everyone to sit together, or I would…"
"Psh, I got this," Porker said, waving his hands. Parker and Pete both moved the table containing all of the food to the side carefully, before everyone stood back as Porker waved them away. They watched in confusion as he reached into his pocket, and that confusion slowly turned to shock before it turned to amazement as Porker began pulling a table that could comfortably seat all of them out from that tiny little pocket and placed it on the ground in front of them. "Ta-Da!" He called out, waving both hands at it, and they stared at the table, then back to the pig, and then back to the table.
"…What?" Parker asked, staring at it. "Did I just…did I just have stroke? Have all the concussions finally gotten to me?" he asked, pressing his hand to his head, simultaneously asking the same question Jeff was asking himself.
"Not unless they got to all of us?" Gwen managed, looking horrified herself.
"Mass hallucination? Some kind of chemical attack?" Pete offered, and that was about as concerning as the table itself.
"Relax, it's fine!" Porker grinned, waving all of their worries away as though they were nothing.
"But…how?" Miles asked, staring at him, his eyes wide.
"It's simple, Miles!" Porker called out, "I've got my own…pocket dimension."
There was dead silence.
"Oh my god," Gwen managed softly, and cackling finally burst out from the group of Spiders, even Pete looking decidedly amused, though he didn't laugh. "That was… So terrible?" she managed between giggles.
"Ah, hush," Porker waved her away, grinning proudly. "That was good, and you all know it." He pulled out a few extra chairs from his pocket, placing them down around the table and Rio put the other chairs from their own table around the new one that Porker had literally pulled from his pocket.
God, what was his life, Jeff thought to himself, but found himself smiling slightly anyway. They weren't that bad. Not really, there was obviously a lot of love there. Even in the pig. Actually, that was a thought.
"Hey, Porker…" Jeff started thoughtfully, looking at the pig, who turned his attention to him with a bright sound. "How do you know so much about spiders?"
"Oh! I used to be one," Porker answered with a bright smile.
Jeff froze, Rio blinking. The other Spiders started giggling quietly, Pete smirking slightly in amusement.
"What?"
"Yeah! I was an orb-weaver. Make those pretty webs all over the place, which is why I know a lot about their upkeep and what they're good for. I got bit by an irradiated pig, which turned me into one. I took her last name because she started taking care of me, and that's how I got an Aunt May and gained about three feet in height."
Jeff decided that, for the sake of his sanity, he wasn't going to spend anytime thinking about that.
Jeff moved to help dish out the food to everyone, making sure to give them all extra portions, especially Pete. He could see the way that Pete was looking at all of the fruit in particular and made sure to give him decent portions of each. He wondered, idly, if he had ever seen half of the things that were on the table. He also remembered what Parker said about that hyper-metabolism, though Peni refused when he tried to give her some more.
"I'm actually not enhanced like they are!" Peni explained, smiling. "I use a mech, so I eat regular portions."
"…Okay?" Jeff managed.
"This stuff is great," Miles enthused, indicating the chilaquiles after noticing a bit of hesitancy among most of the people at the table (and the pig), who were looking like they had never seen the dish before, though they all looked very keen to try it. Jeff did notice that Parker was already moving to get himself a bite as Jeff sat down. He wondered idly if Parker had had them before, but the rest of them immediately looked to Miles expectantly, waiting for guidance in how to proceed. "You just take them with your fork like this," he stabbed some of the cheese-encrusted, salsa-covered, red-onion slathered, and very nicely crunchy tortillas on his fork, and put them in his mouth, making exaggeratedly pleased sounds as he did so.
With this bit of instruction, everyone moved to follow suit, though Parker had already taken a few bites by that point, as had Rio and Jeff himself. He loved his wife's cooking and was super glad that she had taken the time to do so. He'd have to repay the favor by washing the dishes and make breakfast the next time he got a chance.
"Itadakimasu!" Peni called out brightly, and took a bite, blinking as the flavor hit her.
It was only as Gwen made a very small sound, her eyes widening, that Jeff realized that one of the things that he loved the most about his wife's cooking was her homemade salsa. Which included some very hot chilis. And had just been served to a bunch of white people.
Oh. No.
Parker looked up to his wife with a smile after taking a few bites, opening his mouth in a way that looked like he was about to compliment her, when Porker breathed literal fire into the air, causing all of them to jerk backwards. Jeff had a moment to feel horrified at how genuinely unsurprised and unconcerned that made him, his only thought that he should have brought out milk and not the coffee and juice he had grabbed.
"Oh my god!" Gwen managed, fanning her mouth, "It's so…it's so hot! I'm so sorry!" She looked at Rio with her eyes watering and a pink flush spreading across her face, looking genuinely apologetic, while Porker panted for breath, finally taking his glass of juice and gulping it down. Peni, herself looked a little caught-off-guard, sniffing slightly as the spice hit her.
Pete looked like he'd been hit with it the worst. That grey cast had turned dark as blood rose under his skin at the heat, sweat breaking out on his forehead, and his nose began running. He swallowed forcefully and let out a little cough, looking down at his plate with something like betrayal on his face. Then he took another bite.
Jeff immediately reached out to stop him, shock running through him at the sight, as Rio put her hands to her mouth, a stream of apologies leaving her as she realized what had happened. Miles leapt up to get the milk from the fridge, pouring a few glasses, handing one to Gwen, and bringing out some sour cream. Parker watched all of this with an air of slight amusement, taking a few more bites of his chilaquiles without issue. If Jeff wasn't quite so concerned about Pete attempting to eat something that was causing him actual pain, he might have found it amusing.
Pete did not appreciate his reaching, pulling the plate back towards him and fixing him with a glare, before literally leaping back into the corner with his plate, letting out a little hiss as he did so. Jeff blinked, standing up at him, shock preventing him from saying a word. Porker drained a few more glasses of juice, before moving onto the milk, and Peni took some sour cream as Miles offered it, and spread it on the chilaquiles happily, cutting the spice and taking a few bites of her doctored food in contentment, watching the show much like Parker was.
"No hissing," Porker gasped out finally, pointing at Pete sternly as he finished the glass of milk. A moment later and he went for another glass of milk, finally coughing out smoke as whatever fire that had been lit within him died. He sighed in contentment, pounding his chest a few times with his fist and coughing out more smoke. "He's not going to take it, he's just going to cut the spice. See what Peni did?"
Pete frowned from his position pressed to the corner of the ceiling with the plate curled to his chest, taking another bite stubbornly.
Oh my god. Jeff threw his hands up and sat down, watching as Gwen put a healthy dollop of sour-cream on her own chilaquiles and took a large bite. She gave Rio a thumbs-up after doing so, grinning at her after she swallowed.
"Thank you for breakfast!" she called out.
"Thank you!" the Spiders chorused at that, smiling at her, and Rio put her hands on her heart, looking like she couldn't decide whether to start laughing or crying. Miles was panting, still holding the milk in one hand as though waiting for a glass to be emptied so he could pour it in.
"I'm so sorry!" Rio called out, finally. "I hadn't even thought about it maybe being too spicy!"
"I think it's fine," Parker said with a grin, taking a large bite as emphasis. "I really like the flavor."
Pete climbed steadily down the wall and relaxed his hold on his plate as he put it in front of his spot, finally sitting down and adding some sour cream of his own. Pete gave a little sniff as Jeff raised an eyebrow at him, and Jeff finally couldn't help but laugh. The sound of his laughter caught the rest of them up in it, loud and happy. Pete didn't laugh, but his expression had softened, a slight smirk pulling up his mouth. What needed to be done to get this kid to laugh?
"Thank you, Parker," Rio finally managed after catching her breath, smiling brightly. "I make my own salsa. My family likes it very hot, so I do my best to oblige. I have quite a few different chilis in there, pero es una receta secreta."
"Those are the best kind," Parker grinned.
"I'm still very sorry," Rio finally managed, wiping away tears of laughter, fighting for composure. "I hadn't meant to hurt anyone."
"It's fine," came the bright exclamation from several voices.
"Really, I'm just not used to the kind of spices used here. I like the flavor, though!" Peni called out, smiling.
"I like it, too," Gwen said, taking a bite as illustration.
"I've never had anything like this before, but I…actually kind of like it, now that I can taste it," Pete said, his skin having returned to its usual dead-white pallor as he had managed to cut enough of the spice, a napkin having gotten rid of the sweat and the snot. "What is all of this?" he asked, indicating it.
"It's tortillas - which are a type of flatbread, red onion, homemade salsa, and a lot of cheese. Salsa is made using things like tomatoes, limes, and a variety of chili peppers," Rio explained, eating after giving her explanation. "The salsa is what gives it the kick." She winked.
"Sure felt like a kick," Pete agreed with a slight shrug. There was a laugh at that, grins spreading. They ate their way through the chilaquiles and the beef chorizo con huevos, Rio indicating the sausage and assuring Porker that it was beef and not pork. The rest of the Spiders looked a good deal like they were also relieved, which made sense.
Jeff didn't think he'd ever be able to eat pork again.
They soon began to point out different things for Pete to try, watching happily as he did so. It was obvious that he hadn't had a meal like this in a very, very long time, if ever, and he looked so happy trying everything that it honestly just kind of warmed the heart. The funniest, in Jeff's opinion, was the papaya.
Pete took a bite of the bright orange fruit, making a small face as he did so, and chewing thoughtfully, trying to get a feel for it. It was quite obvious that he didn't know what to think about it, and Rio finally laughed.
"You don't have to eat that if you don't want to," she pointed out with a smile. "There's plenty of other things for you to try."
"No," Pete returned, once again pulling the fruit towards him. "I like it…I think." He took another bite in emphasis, making the same face, and the laughter that followed was bright.
Finally, the food was almost eaten, the Spiders packing away most of it, minus Peni. Hyper-metabolisms. What an absolute pain. And that brought him back to Pete, who… Jeff frowned slightly, trailing off mid-thought, as he took in the teen's expression.
Pete's gaze had found the living room behind Jeff's seat, a strawberry that he had been about to eat dangling from his fingers limply. His gaze was cold, almost hateful, and He. Didn't. Blink.
Jeff felt a shiver run up his spine as he turned to look at what it was that had caught Pete's attention, and found nothing.
The only thing there was his normal living-room, minus the pile of pillows and blankets that were scattered about. But that wasn't anything concerning. It certainly didn't deserve the level of hate Pete was fixing it with. Maybe it was something he remembered? Jeff looked back at Pete, realizing that he hadn't grabbed his glasses. Maybe that was it?
Jeff stood up, about to go into the living room to get them, when he felt a tug on his back after hearing an oddly soft thwip sound. The conversation fell silent immediately, and Jeff turned around to see Pete with his other hand in that traditional Spider-Man pose, a black line of webbing coming from his wrist and attached to his back. Those gray eyes were still fixed on his living room, and Jeff felt a mild stirring of fear at the possibility that there might be something there.
The other Spiders had stiffened at the sight of Pete's webbing, all of them fixing the living room with focused eyes, half-rising from their chairs. No one said a word, he didn't even know if he could hear them breathing. Parker moved Rio back behind the table, Gwen pushing Miles in the same direction, even as the two of them took careful steps forward, their bodies tense. Porker had pulled a metal-studded mallet from his pocket, holding it at the ready, blue eyes focused. Finally, after a minute of anxious staring Parker looked to Pete in confusion, his eyebrows knitted.
"I don't sense anything?" Parker whispered softly, the words almost breathed out. Pete didn't glance his way, giving another little tug to the web attached to the back of Jeff's shirt. Jeff backed up, realizing with a jolt that the other was anxious for him.
"Oniichan, what is it?" Peni asked, and her voice was frightened, a soft thing that trembled slightly as she grabbed hold of Pete's shirt. That fear seemed to break Pete out of whatever spell he was under, though he didn't turn his eyes away from that living room, his shoulders lost some of their tension, and he finally put down the strawberry.
"It's here."
Jeff felt his flesh crawl, the hair on the back of his neck prickling as he took another few steps back towards the table, turning focused eyes back on his living room. Parker and Porker both grabbed Jeff and maneuvered him back and over the table, setting him down next to his wife and his son. They didn't say anything for a moment, before finally:
"I don't sense any danger, Pete…" Parker said softly, looking back to Pete. "I don't see anything either. Will it…can it harm us?"
Pete flashed a glance towards Parker, before his eyes locked back on that living room. He stiffened at whatever it was that he saw, before he stood up, taking a large step back from the table. The rest of them immediately backed up as well, Parker's, and Gwen's arm both keeping Jeff and his family back.
Jeff didn't like this. He didn't like the fact that there was something there that he couldn't see. He didn't like not being able to protect his family from whatever it was. He didn't like the idea that it was frightening Pete.
Jeff finally squared his shoulders and did something that was probably and most assuredly, very stupid. He took Parker's and Gwen's distraction to duck between them and moved to the living room without warning. The surprised voices behind him were compounded by Rio and Miles' voices calling out in concern. Jeff waved his arms in front of him, trying to feel this thing, whatever it was.
But he could feel nothing.
He could see nothing.
Maybe.
Maybe there was nothing?
Finally, after waving his arms like a madman a few more times as he took step after step forward and still felt nothing, he turned back to the group of Spiders, recognizing that Pete had somehow turned even paler, all the blood drained from his skin. Those grey eyes were fixed on him, and Jeff finally gave a slight frown.
"There's nothing here," Jeff finally managed, looking into his living room, before looking back at Pete. "I don't feel anything, there's…there's just nothing there? Are you…are you okay, Pete?"
"It's there." Pete returned, and his voice was so hard, so sure. "It's there."
"Well, I don't see it, and I don't feel it, are you sure that it…" Jeff started, a bit of that cop-voice leaking into his tone, and Pete finally fixed him with that thousand-yard stare. "That it's actually there?" Jeff finished, stubbornly.
Pete stared at him for a moment and his eyes were filled with such…disdain. "I'm not whacky," Pete hissed, and Jeff felt his stomach plummet at the realization that that hadn't come out as he had wanted it to.
"I'm not…I'm not calling you crazy, I just think…you've been through a lot of stress, and…"
Pete sneered, actively sneered, and finally walked forward. He leapt over the table, and finally stood next to Jeff. Pete's eyes were wide and wild, fear and anger burning in them, and then Jeff saw something that made him stiffen.
Pete's hair was moving, soon joined by his shirt as Pete lifted his arms slightly, letting the slightly-too-big cloth hang freely. It moved as though in a gust of air, a breeze catching the fabric and his hair and blowing it back. It was then that Jeff realized.
He could smell rain.
"You asked me about the wind," Pete whispered, his voice a cracked and broken little thing, and Jeff noticed the fear that rippled through the other Spiders, their focus on his hair, on his shirt, on whatever it was that sent that air across him.
"It breathes."