Peter had to admit that he was more nervous than he anticipated as he walked up to the front doors of the downtown F.E.A.S.T. center. He didn't know what exactly what situations he might encounter, or if perhaps seeing so many people in need in general, people that he could've perhaps prevented from being in this situation, would be too much for him. Then again, the way he figured it, if nothing else, this was at least something that he could do to be productive to society again. Since coming back, he hadn't exactly done much, and Spider-Man was clearly off the table until he could pull himself together properly when in the suit, so this was it.
"Here goes nothing," he said quietly to himself as he grabbed the door. Pulling it open, Peter stepped inside. He took a quick glance around; even in this more limited space, he could already tell this was something bigger than May had ever had the opportunity to work in before. He also noticed M.J. wasn't around; she had said she would meet him there in order to show him around when he got there, but she was nowhere to be found. He decided to walk up to the front desk.
"How can I help you, young man?" the lady at the front desk asked politely, a smile on her face.
"Yes, I'm a new volunteer actually," Peter clarified. "I was supposed to meet M.J, Michelle Jones up front here, but I don't see her around. My name is..."
"Peter Parker," came a voice to his left. A tall man about a head taller than Peter walked up to him, offering his hand for Peter to shake. "I'm terribly sorry, but I... reassigned Michelle at the last minute and offered to take her place. My name is Martin Li."
"Oh right, of course," Peter said, finally shaking the man's hand with some more effort. "You run this place."
"Hardly!" Li said with a bit of a laugh. "I'm afraid pretty much everyone else in here does more actual work than I do. I'm just the face that everyone associates with the place, and therefore do more public relations work than anything else. Please, allow me to give you a tour of the place before you get started!"
"I'd love that," Peter said, and soon, they were off checking out the various rooms. There was everything from a gymnasium even larger than the one Peter was used to at school, to large dormitories that could house many people, to a very large kitchen. Everything was state of the art, no expense spared.
However, what really intrigued Peter was the passion with which Mr. Li spoke. He seemed to have something to say about every room, often a story about how someone's life had been deeply affected there. Peter had read the stories before, about how Martin Li was a man who had come from poverty, but had broken free from the foster system himself, making a vast fortune overseas in the shipping industry. When he'd returned to New York a few years ago, he vowed to help those in the position he had once been in as a child; the people that had nowhere to go.
"Well, I'm afraid that's all the cool stuff, really," Mr. Li said. "The last couple levels are either storage areas or office space. Any questions?"
"Not really, Mr. Li," Peter replied.
"Peter, please, call me Martin," the man rebuffed politely.
"Martin," Peter corrected, "I guess my only question is where do you want me?"
"Ah yes, of course," Martin said almost bashfully, "you didn't just come here to listen to me go on and on. Please forgive me; I like to make sure everyone who comes in here to volunteer understands the significance of what we do here. Please, follow me."
As they continued toward where Peter assumed he would be put to work, Martin spoke up again.
"I understand you already have a lot of experience, with this kind of stuff," he said.
"I used to help my aunt out at the old community center in Queens," Peter answered modestly. "I have experience helping out in just about anything I've seen here, except for cooking."
Martin laughed in response. "Don't worry Peter, I'm sure we can find something for you to do outside of the kitchen. I like to put people where they can be most successful here, because that's what's going to allow us to help those who come to us in the best way possible."
"I presume that's why you ran a background check on me then, to find out about my working with my aunt?" Peter asked. Given his familiarity with May's place of work, he was aware that they likely ran background checks on every worker, but still.
"There was really no need in your case, though I did run one just to play it safe," Martin answered. "Michelle really told me all I needed to know though. She seems to think very highly of you."
That caused Peter to stop in his tracks for a moment. He had no idea M.J. thought so highly of him. He eventually shook his head, trying not to let himself get to puffed up at such a thought, but it hung in the back of his mind. Surely Martin must be exaggerating... right?
Little did Peter realize he would get the chance to find out sooner rather than later, as they entered a room to find none other than M.J. herself, putting what looked like some bags of basic supplies together.
"Brought you some assistance Michelle," Martin said, gesturing towards Peter. He could've swore he saw M.J. smile a bit as she answered.
"Oh, I'm sure I can put him to some use," M.J. teased.
"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Martin said, turning to Peter. "These should keep you busy for a while. Please, let me know if you need anything."
"Of course; thank you," Peter said, walking past Martin as the man exited the room. He took his position next to M.J, assessing the supplies that needed to go in each bag before grabbing one of his own to begin.
"Sorry I took so long," Peter said as he worked. "Martin seemed to have a story for every room in this place."
"I anticipated as much," M.J. said as she continued working as well. "I'm sorry I couldn't be down there to meet you like I said I would. He likes to meet everybody new who comes to help out."
"No worries," Peter said. "He seems very nice."
"Yeah," M.J. agreed.
"Anyway," Peter continued as he set aside his first completed bag, moving onto the next one. "Thanks again for the invite to come help out here."
"No problem," M.J. said, turning and glancing at him for only a moment before continuing her work. "It's just nice to have a familiar face around.
"The way Martin talked, you seem to think a little bit more about me than that," Peter teased, daring to push the envelope. He had to admit, his curiosity was getting the better of him. "He said you spoke very highly of me."
M.J. paused her work for a minute, and Peter could've sworn from just the side view he had of her face that she was blushing a little. However, if she was, it didn't take her long to collect herself before turning to face him directly, her face back to its more serious expression.
"Don't let it go to your head or anything," she teased, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Besides, someone's got to speak up for you, since you almost never do it for yourself." She then turned and continued working on the bag she was stocking.
"Thanks," Peter said, returning to his own work. "I think."
"You're welcome," M.J. replied, and Peter didn't even have to look at her to tell there was a smug expression on her face.
Oh, so that was how it was going to be?
"Wow, who knew you had such a capacity for sassiness," Peter teased.
"Someone clearly hasn't been paying attention then," M.J. retorted back.
"What you did at school was different," Peter argued. "You would just say stuff just to be... different. Now you're taking that energy and applying it directly to me. That's something else entirely."
"What are you talking about?" M.J. asked, setting aside her recently completed bag. "I used to roast Flash all the time!"
"He needed it though," Peter countered.
"And you don't?" M.J. questioned, getting a new bag.
"I hope not like him at least," Peter replied, putting aside his own completed bag and grabbing a new one.
"Well, maybe not quite to that level," M.J. said.
"Glad you could find some mercy in your heart for me," Peter said.
"Well, I try to show I'm not heartless every once in a while," M.J. teased. "After all, I have a reputation to keep up."
"Oh yes, we wouldn't want to mess with that, would we?" Peter joked.
"Well, it is all one has, after all."
Peter stopped what he was doing, turning to face M.J. directly.
"Okay, did you just paraphrase a quote from Tangled at me?"
M.J. looked at him incredulously, but continued her work, nonetheless.
"What?" she questioned.
"Nothing," Peter replied, resuming his work. "I just never would've taken you for a fan of a princess movie, I guess."
"Well, Tangled isn't like other princess movies," M.J. said, Peter detecting a bit of defensiveness in her voice. "The princess actually saves the guy more than the other way around, and she's given just as much agency as the man is. It's not just the prince coming in to save the damsel in distress."
"Oh no, I agree with you," Peter said. "I always thought it was better than most of the older movies too. Both characters have to go on their own journey of self-discovery. It's great."
As Peter's mind dwelt on Tangled, another memory came to mind, and he realized after a second that M.J. was saying something, and he was missing it.
"Huh?" Peter said, before realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry M.J."
"You did that thing again where your mind looked a hundred miles away," she said, all the sassiness gone from her voice, replaced with genuine concern.
"Yeah, it's just that all this talk of Tangled... May and I always used to watch it together. It actually became a Valentine's Day tradition in the Parker household. I never really had any dates for any of them, so after my uncle passed, she joked that she was my date. She also said maybe one day I could pass on that tradition with a real date."
M.J. looked away, causing Peter to feel a tad embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," Peter said. "I didn't mean to just dump all of that on you. I'm sure it seems ridiculous."
"No, not at all," M.J. replied quickly. "It's just..."
"Just what?" Peter urged quietly.
"I just don't have much to compare it to," M.J. said. "Like I said, I wasn't really close to my parents before... before they were blipped away, so I don't have many of those kinds of memories. It does sound very nice though. May sounds like she was pretty great."
"The greatest," Peter said. "She's the only real memory I have of a mother. My real parents died when I was six, so her and Ben took me in. May said they had no idea what they were doing back then, but as a kid, I don't know, I guess you just remember the good stuff in that situation."
M.J. didn't respond right away, and when Peter glanced at her, she was facing the other way. She made a quick move to brush some hair out of her face; at least, that was all that Peter could see.
"You okay?" Peter dared to ask.
"Yeah," M.J. said, quickly turning her face back in the direction of her work. "So, did Martin explain what all this is for?"
"Not really," Peter said, going along with the change in conversation topic.
"There's a neighborhood nearby," she explained. "They've been particularly hit hard by the blip in general, so he wanted to do something for them. I think he's hoping to deliver them either later today or tomorrow."
"Got it," Peter said. "Well, we've put a little dent in it, but we still got some work to do for sure. He did say he thought it would take us a while."
"He's never short on stuff to do for those that are willing to work," M.J. said, continuing along in her own work. "I'm grateful for that."
"Me too," Peter said. "This is the first time in a while that I've felt useful."
"Same," M.J. said. "I like feeling like I'm actually making a difference."
Peter said nothing in response, just smiling to himself as he worked.
"What's that about?" M.J. asked.
"What?" Peter questioned.
"That grin on your face," M.J. explained. "Did I say something funny?"
"No," Peter said, "not at all. It's just... it's nice to get to see this side of you, is all."
This time, there was no denying the blush that came over M.J.'s face; she instead opted to focus on the work for the moment. The grin stayed on Peter's face though. Something about working there, making a difference, with her...
It was nice.
Hope you all are still enjoying it, even as rough a read as it can be at times.
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses..." Hebrews 12:1-3
