Peter awakened to the morning sunlight streaming through the windows at the side of his bed room. The muffled sounds of birds chirping and wind rustling through the grass and trees crept in through the walls to reach him. As he awakened more he got the sense that he was being watched, though he felt no tingle of a threat or need to worry.

Fighting the covers off of his head and sitting up Peter peered down toward the foot of the bed to see two maids, most likely the ones that Emilia had mentioned the previous night, standing just past the foot of his bed. One had powder blue hair and the other pink hair, both styled into a neat, rounded medium length hairdo. Their bangs had a part in them, the blue haired maid's right eye was covered and the pink haired maid's left. Other than their hair and eye color and a slight difference in body type the two were mirror images of each other.

Which made how they were pressed together with their cheeks touching and their free-eye peering at him all the more troubling. A moment after he sat up, they moved with a start, skittering back in unison with their faces pressed close and hands flat against one another like they were leaning against a mirror.

"Rem-Rem, it seems our lazy guest has woken up," the pink haired maid said.

"Sister, sister, our esteemed guest is in dire need of some clothing." They spoke with the same timbre, though their voices had a slight variation.

Peter wadded the sheets up, using them to cover himself. Were man-nipples taboo here? "Oh, uh, sorry. You didn't see anything!" Peter shouted.

"Dear sister, did you hear that?" The blue haired maid said in a level tone.

"Yes, Rem, the pervert denies his wrongdoings."

Cradling his head in his hands, Peter tried to shake off the sleep and embarrassment. "How about we just start over?" He pulled the covers down so that only his head and neck were out of them this time. "My name is Peter Parker."

"Rem," the pink haired one said pointing to other.

"And Ram," the blue haired one, Rem, said pointing to Ram.

They were dressed in something that was an approximation of a maid's outfit with the black dress and white apron over it. The dress was somewhat elegant with frilly lace here and there and a small bonnet like head covering that separated the rest of their hair. Peter was kind of weirded out by how many things in this world seemed so similar. Like these women were not just wearing dresses, but dresses that denoted a job in the exact same representation as back on Earth.

"Great, I guess that I forgot to lock the door so it might be my fault for that," Peter glanced to the chair where he had left his clothes. "Where'd my clothes go."

Rem turned to Ram and then back to Peter. "They were filthy. I've taken them to wash."

Ram looked at her sister and then to Peter. "They were hideous. I begged her to burn them but she did not comply."

"Okay…" Peter said.

There was a knock at the door, which was still open. A slender wrist and pale hand reached in to tap against the frame before stepping into view and announcing herself. "Good morning," Emilia said. "It seems you do everything with a bit of enthusiasm."

Rem and Ram looked to Emilia and gave her a bow.

Emilia was wearing a pink dress with sleeves that opened around the shoulder and a collar that only seemed to be attached to the very tops of her dress straps at most. The green jewel that Peter had seen Puck go into the previous night was around her neck still and she still wore the flower given to her by little Plum.

"Oh, hey Emilia," Peter pulled the sheets even tighter around his neck hoping to avoid further embarrassing himself. "This might be a bit of a weird way to start the day, but do you think there are some clothes I could borrow around here?"

Ram spoke. "Beware his nudeness, Lady Emilia."

Rem just nodded.

Peter wished that he could lie and say he wasn't nude, but if anyone asked him to get out of the bed and prove it they would have gotten a face full of dong and he would have been living on the streets in the slums of the capital stealing stuff for that Loot House.

"I was just trying to get comfortable," Peter said.

"It's fine, I'm sure Rem and Ram can find something suitable for you to wear," Emilia said.

The maids nodded in unison and headed for the door. "Rem-Rem, should we offer to dress him too?"

"No, dear sister, I wouldn't stoke his wild fantasies."

Emilia giggled. "Don't let them tease you too much—mind if I stay to talk a bit?"

"It's fine—fine really."

Emilia walked around to the other side of the bed to take a seat in the plush chair there. "Thank you again for your help the other day. I hate to think what would have happened with my badge and that Elsa woman without you," she said.

"I'm pretty sure you've already thanked me," he said.

There was a troubled look on Emilia's face, she sat in the chair next to the bed, her silver hair glistening in the morning sun. Peter wanted to ask what was wrong, but it had been something that May had told him not to do to just any woman. If nothing was wrong it would make it seem like he assumed something was.

"Even then—but there was a question I had for you that I was wondering about Captain Rogers," Emilia said.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"Is he—I mean—did a spider do the same thing to him as it did to you. I would hate to be embarrassed or worse embarrass him with questions about a sensitive thing like a bite from these powerful spiders," Emilia explained.

Peter stared at her. "He would be pretty confused. I don't think he knows how I got my powers even—but he got his powers a different way."

"How?"

Peter played with his hands under the blanket and they abruptly stopped realizing how that might look. "There was this war a long time ago and these people called the Nazis were out to exterminate several races of people. Our…Kingdom formed an alliance with other ones after we were attacked and they needed a new type of hero to turn the war around. They injected Steve with this serum that made him strong like that."

Emilia took this all in. "Can he stick to walls?"

"That's pretty much a me only thing. He's really strong and fast. Heals quickly too."

"Oh, well that makes me feel a little more at ease. Earlier I thought to ask him to climb up high and get something for me, but I didn't want to assume things," Emilia said.

"Is he already out and about?" Peter asked.

Emilia nodded. "He's been out jogging around the front grounds for some time now—I was coming to ask if you wanted to join him…after you get dressed, that is."

Peter rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Um yeah, we could do that. Sure."

"You're really weird sometimes. Maybe it's just a thing boys from Queens do," Emilia said touching her finger to her lip in thought.

"I did have one question about something weird that happened last night," Peter said.

"Oh?"

"Besides me, you, Captain Rogers, Puck, and the maids—is there anyone else supposed to be in this house?"

"Officially, no," Emilia said. "Well, other than Lord Roswaal."

"It's weird that the Lord of this place doesn't have a contingent of troops or guards or something," Peter thought out loud.

"How silly of me, I forgot that Miss Beatrice is here too. To tell the truth you usually don't run into her unless she wants to be found," said Emilia.

"Is she, like, a little blonde girl in a red dress?"

"That's her, she watches over the library here."

"When I returned to my room last night and opened the door it was like I was in the wrong place suddenly. I backed out and closed it and opened it again and then it was my room again."

Emilia nodded. "That's the gist of how it works. She can move her library's door to any door in the house she wants using door crossing magic."

The concept wasn't too hard to grasp, but Peter wondered how prevalent magic really was in this world. He had only seen a small part of the place so far and and there seemed to be so much bubbling under the surface.

"Speaking of Puck, where is he?" Asked Peter. "He is alright, right?"

"Puck is actually probably with Miss Beatrice."

"I see."

The two maids returned carrying his clothes and the old version of the Spider suit that Mister Stark had given him. On Earth he had essentially gone to help them in his plain clothes and then had the Iron Spider suit, that's what he called it anyway, stacked on top of that. When he finally undressed he had two outfits sat aside.

The maids carried them individually.

"Here are your clothes, esteemed guest," Rem said.

"We took the liberty of patching up your insect themed onesie," said Ram.

They placed the clothes down on the corner of the bed. "Thank you both," he said.

As they headed out of the room they nodded in turn and Emilia rose to follow. "I'll give you some time to get dressed," she said.

Steve jogged around the edge of the tract of land that the mansion occupied and out to the road that lead in through the front gate. Once he was out of the front gate he opened up and ran at full speed, his arms pumped up and down and he could feel his heart beat at the sides of his neck and hear it thundering in his ears.

Yesterday morning he was flying in the Quinjet to Wakanda. Now, he was running down the road in a strange world that he didn't understand. He liked to believe that he was ready for everything: technology that bordered on magical, aliens, even a fascist uprising within the country he called home. He had faced these things and readied himself believing that anything he faced would mirror one of these things in some way.

There was a point in his life where he thought that he would have been happiest to be on the frontlines, protecting his fellow American, doing the best for his country and to push back against Hitler and the Axis powers. Things were dangerous, scary, and uncertain—but they felt simpler to him before super serums and infinity stones. Back then he thought that he knew who the good guys were and he didn't have to question the man protecting his back.

He thought back to the others on the field in Wakanda. Then he thought about Tony—they had ended things on the worst of terms and there wasn't really going to be anything he could say to him if they never got back. Everyone that survived Wakanda and the snap would be left to carry on without him and all of those that were lost.

And Peter. Peter must have had a family, he was a kid. Where were his mom and dad? What must they be thinking. He wondered if Peter was trying to hide his thoughts about those people in his life and if maybe he needed to bring it up. Let the kid know that there was someone that he could talk to about all of this.

Not that Steve was someone who could really know what to tell him. The closest thing to all this had happened to him once upon a time. Steve woke up in a century and a world that was almost completely foreign to him.

Just when he was beginning to feel like he caught up he was zapped to this otherworld to start over.

There was something in the air, a slight smell like blood and something sweet. He wasn't sure if it was really there or just a sense that danger was nearby.

Best not to go too far, Steve turned back and headed up the road for the mansion. He still kept his top speed. No time to look back, it wouldn't help to think about the things he could do nothing about now. He needed to work on staying alive here first. When he left the shield with Tony it had felt like the last bit of the old him being left behind. While he was still Captain America, he hadn't thought of himself as holding that title for those few years, especially in the quick paced months right after the split.

He was a nomad. A man without a country or home. Even then he regretted losing that shield as it had been a tool that he had become used to.

No more looking back.

He needed to find a replacement. Something this land that that was made strong enough to withstand punishment both from him and form those attacking. The gauntlets could be melted down to make a new shield—if a fire could be made hot enough. He didn't even know if there was anywhere in this world that could manage that.

If he couldn't reforge these he would need to find a suitable stand-in for now.

The other concern was clothes. He didn't want to stand out too much here and while he had put some of the patches on his old uniforms himself and repaired little tears he wasn't prepared to sew a whole outfit. He would need to find someone to help with that. Best to look the part if he is going to be any help around here. Helping was an important part of the plan after all.

By the time that Peter emerged from the mansion there was no sigh of Steve and it took him a bit of time to spot Emilia under the nearby gazebo surrounded by the little lights that she had called spirits. There was a big smile on her face and she seemed to be having a lively conversation with them.

Peter didn't want to interrupt and it really felt like the kind of thing that it might be dangerous to get in the middle of.

"Good morning, Pete," Puck twirled through the air before doing a small barrel roll and circling around Peter.

"Hey, Puck."

"Ahh, yeah. He remembers me," Puck teased. "Heard you were quite the hero last night."

Peter played with his fingers, averting his eyes. "If you want to see it that way, Cap did all the work."

"Nonsense, Lia told me all about it. She said you were spectacular," Puck said throwing his arms wide open. "Incredible even!"

Peter laughed. "Come on, cut that out."

"Someone is extra grumpy in the morning," Puck said.

"What's Emilia doing that for," Peter said aiming his chin in the direction of the silver haired half-elf.

"It's the right thing to do, other than me she has a contract with several less spirits," said Puck.

"You said something about it the other day. These contracts allow her to use magic," Peter said.

"Yes and no, she can use magic without me technically, but a Spirit user doesn't draw mana through their own gate, they use their spirit to pull mana from the atmosphere around them and use that to cast," explained Puck.

"So anyone with a gate can cast magic the other way?"

"Not really. Everyone has a gate, but some people's gates are broken or defective, even at birth."

Peter stared at Puck. "Whoa, do you think I can cast magic?" He asked.

"You want to find out?" Puck drifted over and touch his fuzzy paw to the middle of Peter's chest. "There are four elements of magic: fire, water, wind, and earth."

"Sense anything yet?" Peter had closed his eyes in anticipation for some reason.

"Huh, it looks like you've got a wind affinity," Puck said. "One of the maids here, Ram is actually a wind user."

Wind, it kind of made sense to Peter. He did feel really at home swinging through the sky. He wondered if he should talk to Ram about wind magic, but he didn't want to get accused of being a pervert or anything again. Best not to mess things up this early.

"Do you think I could use wind magic?" Asked Peter.

"Probably, but you'd have to be careful. Having not used it at all before your gate is going to need some practice. Controlling it is like a muscle really," Puck said.

Peter nodded.

Emilia strolled up, her hands tucked behind her back. "What's going on over here?" She asked.

"Puck was just teaching me about magic," Peter said.

Puck folded his paws behind his head and floated back toward Emilia. "Yeah, Pete here is a pretty good student," he said.

"He was just telling me that I've got an affinity for wind magic. You're a water user, I'm guessing Emilia?" Peter asked feeling pretty sure of himself.

"No. I actually use fire magic. People will commonly think that because of the ice and on account of my healing. It was a good guess, though," she said smiling.

"Water is actually tied to healing magic and fire is more tied to temperature, but I could see how you could make that mistake," Puck explained. "Oh yeah, Lia here tells me that you've got powers of your own."

"You saw a bit of it the other night."

"Yeah, with that cool masked suit and the little rope shooters," Puck said. "Got anything else?"

Peter smiled, giving a little nod. "You two want to go for a ride?"

Emilia looked scared for a moment. "Is it safe?"

"I can fall and web faster than you can hit the ground," Peter said. He moved to grab Emilia around the waist. "Can I?"

She nodded.

"Hold on tight," Peter said as he wrapped his arm around her and webbed up to the side of the building. He had to be quick, but he could web along the side of a single building using his foot to kick off of the walls to gain momentum until…

Emilia had covered her eyes when she felt the first yank of the web swinging them out and upward. He used a few quick, short swings to climb. Then he got high enough to web the steeple at one side of the house.

That was when the screaming starting. Emilia was struggling, wiggling and shouting. Puck, on the other hand, was laughing and having the time of his life.

"Calm down, I can't see when you're moving," Peter said. He webbed to the top of the steeple and swung to a stop on the tip top of the structure overlooking the mansion lands.

"Lia, uncover your eyes," Puck said.

Emilia did as she was told, but then used her hands to tighten her grip on Peter. They were at the far wing of the house looking out toward the front gate and the yard far below. It took a moment for her breathing to even start to normalize.

"You did this all of the time?" Emilia asked.

"Yeah."

"You're weird. But it is very beautiful up here," she said, her breathing still heavy.

"You're pretty fast—faster than last night it seems," Puck said.

"I kind of had a huge hole in my side," Peter said.

Puck held his little paws up. "No need to be so sensitive about it," he joked.

"Um, can we continue this discussion on the ground?" Emilia asked.

"Right," Peter said. Why did he even do this. If he kept things up like this his webbing problem was going to get more severe really fast. He lowered them back to the ground as far as needed and dropped the rest of the way absorbing the blow with his legs.

Emilia stumbled around, getting her footing. She ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it back out. "You really had no problem carrying me, huh?"

"Oh no, it's cool. I can lift like a few thousand pounds in a small burst. No problem." Peter quickly realized what it sounded like he was insinuating. "No, no, no, I'm not saying you're a thousand pounds or anything. Not that I know what your weight is. Or like it's any of my business. Body positivity." Peter turned away scratching the back of his head absently.

Emilia stared on confused. "What's a pound?"

"I think it's some weird measurement of weight," Puck said.

"Oh, that makes more sense then," Emilia said before bursting out laughing.

Steve jogged up the middle path of the driveway and took a turn heading for them. He reached them before Emilia stopped laughing. "That must have been some joke you told, Queens."

"Must be," said Peter. "It looks like you were getting a morning workout in."

"Helps me think and I wanted to get a little bit of an idea of the surrounding area."

Emilia gave Steve a slight bow. "It's nice to see you're so lively this morning, Captain Rogers."

"No need to be so formal, Miss—whoa is that a flying cat?"

Puck flew at Steve, sticking out his paw. "Hey, I'm Puck. Nice to meet you!"

Steve took Puck's small paw, gripping it with his thumb, middle, and index fingers and doing his best to give it a shake. "Captain Steve Rogers," he said, pressing his free hand to his chest.

"Lia told me about you last night. She told me that you punched through that crazy woman!" Puck bounced side to side in the air making little punching motions.

"She retreated after there. Not sure how. Hey, how are you doing that?" Steve asked clearly distracted.

"Doing what?" Puck asked.

"The flying?"

"I just am. Don't question it."

Steve shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever be used to all this," he muttered.

The front doors of the mansion swung open and Ram and Rem strolled out side by side. While Ram was carrying nothing, Rem was carrying folded clothes stacked neatly between her hands. The attitude and bite that Peter had detected from them earlier was gone now, replaced by a kind of properness.

Ram stopped while Rem made her way closer to Steve and offered out the clothes that she was carrying. "I made the alterations we discussed before," she said in a small voice.

"Thank you, ma'am," Steve said, giving a little nod of his head as he accepted them. He unfolded them and looked them over. "These look great."

"Perhaps they would stay looking that way if you didn't undo my sister's folding to gawk at them," Ram said.

"Sorry, Miss Rem," Steve gave her a pat on the back, though Peter didn't think he noticed the way her eyes softened at his touched and how red her face got. "Don't worry about to folding—I think I can manage," Steve muttered.

Ram straightened up to speak. "There is another matter at hand," she started. "Master Roswaal has returned. If you could all freshen up; he would like for you to join him for breakfast."

Peter had an idea in his head of the kind of man that he expected Master Roswaal to be. He didn't dare ask or voice those opinions—he wasn't sure what the two maids would do to him if things got taken the wrong way.

Emilia fell in step beside Peter. "I guess I didn't have much time to warn you of the circumstances of my living here or the house master," she said in a low voice. Puck sailed through the air and then wiggled his way back into her hair.

The only reasons that Peter could think of for why she might be living here were things he had picked up from JRPGs and Disney movies. "No, you didn't, but it's no big deal. I guess I'll find out soon."

Steve jogged to catch up to Ram. "Ram, ma'am, I've got a quick question. Might there be anyone else in the woods around here?"

Ram stopped, turning to look up at him. She met his gaze and the two of them stopped, Peter could hear their conversation as he and Emilia approached. "There's Irlam Village—it is not far and is by far the largest settlement in the Mathers domain," she said. "Though the people from there don't tend to venture into the woods around here. Why?"

Steve looked out toward the wooded area in the distance that crept in on either side of the main road. "I just thought I felt someone watching me."

"Later, Rem and I can inspect the barriers. It's possible that a Witch Fiend broke through," Ram said as she turned to head inside.

Steve Rogers mouthed the word Witch Fiend as he looked toward Peter, but it was Emilia who answered. "Demon Beasts or Mabeasts some people call them. They're a kind of monster that roams the world and feeds on mana from living things," she explained.

"Whoa…" Peter said.

Emilia glanced toward the doors, watching the backs of Rem and Ram as they headed inside. "There was one other thing I wanted to be sure to tell you. It's about Roswaal—I just wanted to warn you that he can be a bit much. He's very eccentric."

"Oh?" Steve said.

"Eccentric will be no problem after everything else," Peter said.

"It really can catch people off guard. You'll see what she means," Puck said, poking his head out of Emilia's hair.