Hiro and Ari were staying in the guest room, Cass was sharing a room with her sister so they had the room to themselves. But the flight to New York combined with chatting with their cousins made them crash as soon as they hit the covers.
Hiro had woken up first, at seven in the morning. He turned to his right and saw that Ari was clinging to him as a koala, he gently nudged her to her side of the bed so he could get up. As he walked to the living room, he saw Peni was chilling by the couch. Her glowing brown eyes were gazing into him.
"Does Ari know about your secret identity?" She asked him.
"Yes." He sat next to her on the couch, Hiro figured she'd want to get any superhero business over with before the rest of the family woke up. "I technically didn't tell her, Fred spilled the beans."
"Would you have told her?" Peni raised an eyebrow.
"No." Hiro shook his head. "I didn't want to burden her with that secret, but she's been respectful about it and helps me cover my butt."
"Nice." Peni flashed a grin. "Since Peter and I are both superheroes we both have to choreograph our excuses, it's difficult."
"Did anyone find out about you and Peter being Sp/dr and Spiderman respectively?" He asked. "Is that why you're bringing it up?"
"Kind of." She sighed. "Peter's friend Harry found out his identity during the whole Spider Island incident, y'know the one that happened a few weeks before whatever the hell happened in your city."
"That was Obake trying to create a star when he stole my invention to do it." Hiro knew which incident she was talking about. "Wait how did his friend find out?"
"Peter told him." Peni grabbed her water bottle from the coffee table and took a sip of it. "I would've reprimanded him for that if I wasn't… y'know."
"Trapped in an alternate dimension?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I don't know if it was better or worse than the time you went into a dimension, but at least out of that experience I learned that Peter and I aren't the only Spider people in the world."
"Doesn't Kid Arachnid count?" He frowned. "That's the superhero name for the other spider superhero in New York, right?"
"Yeah. But I mean, it was a nice experience despite almost dying due to the method of dimension transportation." Peni had a smile on her face. "Peter probably would've preferred that over spider monsters. And the Sinister Six, and Norman."
Hiro rolled his eyes at her bluntness, she always wanted to rip the bandaid instead of tugging it off slowly. "Have you found a way to contact the other Spider people you met?"
"Yeah." Her face scrunched up. "But the Gwen I met came up with it first. I'm a little impressed. Thought I was the only teen genius of the group."
He could only laugh at her little joke. "Sounds better than what I had to deal with, I found out my friend Mikan was a mole for Obake. Ari's on the fence about forgiving her, I'm just glad she saw the error of her ways, and everyone else doesn't want to talk to her for weeks."
"Does she know your secret identity?"
"Her dad told her." Hiro huffed. "She has the decency to not tell her siblings."
Peni nodded. "Good to know your friend has standards. Harry blew a fuse when finding out Peter's identity, thanks to his Spiderman grudge."
"Peni, chill." Hiro told her. "Didn't they patch things up?"
"Yeah but I'm not gonna forgive him for his 'Spiderman is a menace' comments." She grumbled. "He's been saying them for the past year." Then sighed. "Did you at least tell Ari about... Uncle Ben? I don't want her to ask Peter about it, he needs a break after all the villains he fought as Spiderman."
"I did. we all need a break." Hiro sighed. "At least he probably didn't have to deal with anyone he knows getting a crush on a supervillain!"
Peni almost spat out her water. "I'm not even going to ask. Your sister sounds wild man."
"Yeah. She doesn't know about you and Peter's identities, have you told Peter yet that I know about yours?"
"Nah." She grinned. "I'd miss having chats like these."
"Me too."
She had woken up shortly after Hiro had got up, but the bed was so cozy she didn't want to leave. So Ari continued to lie there in the warm depths of the soft covers.
Until she felt the bitter cold as they ripped from her.
"Rise and shine loser!" Hiro's boisterous voice revealed the blanket thief. "I've been up for an hour, now it's your turn!"
"Hiroo." She groaned, making blind grabs for the blankets. "I'm tired!"
Hiro pouted. "Okay, I guess I'll have breakfast all to myself then..."
That got her attention, she stood up in a flash. "You wouldn't!"
"I would." Hiro rubbed his belly. "I'm a growing boy, I need all the nutrition I can get."
"Fine, fine, I'm up." Ari yawned. Hiro stepped out of the room to allow her to get dressed in peace. And exited once she was wearing her usual striped sweater and pair of khakis.
"By the way." Hiro glanced left and right. "Don't call Aunt May's pancake 'pancakes.' For some reason she, Peni, and Peter call them 'wheatcakes', just go with the flow." He had this frightful look on his face, as if she didn't want to know the "or else..."
"Okay?" She raised an eyebrow. I guess every family has their quirks.
The pan-wheatcakes were really delicious. They tasted great alongside turkey bacon and creamy milk. Everything Ari could want for breakfast.
Except.. She wasn't really talking to her cousins, which was a bummer. Hiro was chattering away with Peni about science stuff, May and Cass were talking about recipes. Which just left the boy to her right, who was half-heartedly digging into his wheatcakes and hashbrowns.
"Peter." Ari poked him. He didn't reply. "Peter." She raised her voice, he looked up.
"Huh?" She got a good look at his eyes, which were tired and ragged. She was used to such a sight from Hiro whenever he had a long night patrol of fighting crime, but she didn't know what was the cause of her cousin's tired state.
"What kind of school do you go to?" Ari raised an eyebrow. "Regular school? A private school? Prep... school? Or online school like I was?"
Peter chuckled with amusement. "We don't have the funds for fancy schools, but Peni and I managed to squeeze our way into Horizon High. It's kind of a private high school/college."
"Huh?" It's a private high school but also a college?
"Kind of complicated." He took a sip of milk. "Hiro goes to SFIT, a really nice STEM college correct? Horizon is kind of like that, but there's a high school level, and a college level."
"Ohh..." She realized. "Which level are you on?"
"High school level." Peter told her. "Peni's smart enough to get into the college level, so paying for her tution is a tad more pricier than mine, but we make do."
"Pro tip for you Ari if you ever want to get into a rich college!" Peni called from the other side of the table. "Invest in coin and your own online services!" She then got a light jab from Hiro, who was blushing with embarrassment. For some reason.
Peter just comically rolled his eyes. "Peni's able to pay for her own classes by offering her programming services online, good for her." He took a bite of his wheatcakes. "She's been trying to get Hiro and I to the same but it hasn't worked."
"Yet!" Another jab from Hiro. I wonder if there's some history behind that...
Ari grinned. "Sounds cool. What do you and Peni study?"
"I study Chemistry and Computer Science." Peter boasted. "She studies Robotics and Programming, she's really good at it."
"Yes." Peni wore a boastful grin. "Yes I am."
"What school are you going to?"
"Uhh…" Ari rambled. "I'm going to Bridgeton next semester."
"Oh, thank god." Peni gave a sigh of relief. "It's not Whitepine."
"I learned my lesson there." Cass sighed.
Ari raised an eyebrow, but she didn't push it. That must've been Hiro's high school… ouch.
Peter awkwardly coughed. "Anyways, how was your first semester at SFIT, Hiro?"
"Fun!" Hiro grinned. "It was hard at first, but I'm fitting well."
"That's good, I was worried you'd go back to easy bot-fights."
"Hey!" He blushed as the two Parkers laughed.
"Yeah, you do like the easy way out things." Peni added.
"Oh, Peni." Hiro rolled his eyes. "You seem to be great as ever."
"Likewise." She smiled. "Spyder is also doing great."
"Spyder?" Ari raised an eyebrow.
Peni gave her a wolfish grin in response. "I'll show you."
"Finish breakfast early to see Spyder." Hiro said. "It'll be fun." He said. Ari expected the pet Peni had named after a sports car to be a little rabbit, maybe a mouse.
But no, "Spyder" was a female wolf spider with a black body and red highlights that Peni allowed to climb on her shoulder. She wasn't as arachnophobic as Fred was, but she dreaded getting bitten by one nonetheless.
"Spy won't bite you." Peni had reassured her. "She only bit me once."
"Once?!" Ari nervously gulped.
"Yep. Never did it again, and she won't bite you or Hiro." She added. "Unless I tell her to."
The spider chittered in agreement as she rested on Peni's shoulder. Ari felt all her nerves shot up in both admiration and fear of her cousin.
"So uh..." Ari tried to focus her attention away from the venomous arachnid and to Peni instead. "Do you want to grab the guys and uh, I've never been to New York so maybe you could give me a tour!"
Her cousin nodded. "Sure, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go shopping and get some new clothes. I find it weird how you constantly wear that sweater."
"Hey!" She huffed. "It's cozy!"
Peni's childish laughter circled around her as the two headed downstairs to act on such plans. All the while Spyder stared at Ari with curious red eyes.
AN: Hiro and Peni are superhero nerd cousins and I LIVE for it.
And yeah events of the Spiderverse happened the same time as the Super Island arc for Peni. It was reaaaaal awkward coming up for a cover story to Aunt May.
Also you might be asking "Sparks why is Peni's spider called Spyder with a y" well glad you asked non-existent commenter (*sob* guys plz comment more I need support) It's after my dog Spyder who passed in the beginning of 2020. I wanted to keep his memory alive in Heroes of Flowers in the form of Spyder the wolf spider.
Next chapter has a lil' bit of action in it, as a treat.
Reminder you can ask the cast questions in the comments for this fic!
ANYWAYS TIME FOR QUESTIONS! Courtesy of one of my favorite readers AgentOfAngst! Here's how the cast feel about said questions!
To Juniper: How did you feel when Ari confessed her feelings for you?
"Um. I was pretty shocked, it came out of nowhere (though I should've picked up the many, MANY hints Juni you dense idiot). But I'm glad she doesn't hold it against me that I don't feel the same way romantically, some people do not take no for an answer *wince*. Ari's a good friend of mine and I'm glad to still have her in my life despite everything else going on when that happened. Hope she's having fun in New York... it's a nice place."
To Wasabi: How do you feel about Sara?
"She's a great classmate and a great friend! I have fun talking to her n' stuff, she was really protective of me after the Steamer incident for some reason, which fair but I was fine in the end. Maybe it's part of the Sara friend package to mother hen your friends like that."
(He's oblivious XD)
To Honey Lemon: Favorite/least favorite thing about Gogo?
"I do wish Gogo would be more positive, having a negative outlook on life can be a bummer to everyone! I really admire her bravery and strength, she looks so cool when we're being superheroes together!... Um, don't tell her I said that?"
To Hiro: 3 things you like about Karmi?
"Three? I gotta list THREE?! There is literally zero redeeming qualities about her!"
"Hiro answer the question I can tell when you're being a liar." -Peni in the bg
"Fine... Well her passion for biotech is admirable, she's really good at it to make a sedative sticker to stop Mr. Knox. And she's a good writer being able to mix fiction with reality, Ari tells me that's hard to maintain in fanfics. (Including this one). And... her soft side for kids can be... somewhat nice to see? It's not cute or anything! But she looks happy when being able to entertain kids or spending time with my sister. Sidenote if I find out you told Karmi this I am going to end your career!"
