Welcome to the first one-shot post-Finding Home my lovelies x
I hope you have all come along to check it out and I hope you enjoy it x
This one-shot is Peter/Mikaela and is set after the end of Finding Home.
Finding Friends
Mikaela hands the cash over the counter to the man, giving him a small smile before she takes the pizza boxes and squeezes down the line of waiting customers to exit the pizza joint. The evening sun is warm on the skin of her arms and she balances the boxes on one hand to slip her sunglasses back down to the bridge of her nose, her eyes relaxing from the squint she'd made in the sunlight. Queens is thrumming with life, pedestrians marching and dawdling along the sidewalk, cars honking and revving on the street as their drivers' shout at each other and sing along to music, and Mikaela smiles at the sight. After suffering five years of walking through an almost post-apocalyptic New York, she'll never take the overflowing, overpopulated bustle of life for granted again.
Even if the people do shove into her and nearly knock her pizza boxes flying. She tuts to herself, sending a weak glare at the woman's back as she hurries along the sidewalk, and brings her other hand back to the boxes to hold them more securely. She finds a gap in the crowd and starts walking along the street, mapping her route to Peter and Ned's apartment in her head.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she smiles to herself, her mind catching the message from Pete.
"Hey, I'm so, so, so sorry but I just found this drug operation thingy I think and I'm gonna follow the dealer in case he leads me to the supplier. Just get dinner.. wherever you are right now and I'll text you when I'm done. I'm so sorry!"
Mikaela continues walking, her head tilting a little as she wonders what to do with the three pizza boxes in her grip. She knows Peter will have sent a similar apology text to Ned, and that Ned will now be wondering what he'll do for dinner when Peter is telling Mikaela to sort herself out wherever - since she doesn't really have a single, permanent base - she is. She's only a ten-minute walk from the apartment now and she already has the pizzas, so she figures she might as well go along anyway. It's not like her and Ned are too awkward to hang out just the two of them, anyway.
The delighted surprise on Ned's face when he opens the door to Mikaela grinning over the pizza boxes at him is enough to tell her she made the right call. He ushers her in, practically groaning with gratitude and appreciation, lamenting his near-resorting to a meagre sandwich for dinner.
"Thank you so, so much, Micky," he says, taking a box from her pile and closing the door behind her. "You saved my life."
Mikaela shrugs, allowing a fond smile at the use of her nickname. It didn't take long for Ned to start calling her Micky - she thinks it might have taken Peter by surprise when she didn't comment on it, and still hasn't to this day. She's trying to be more approachable in this new life of hers, trying to be more open to making friends and caring about people, rather than holding them at arm's length until she winds up caring anyway.
"Well, you know," she muses, "Pete's out getting drugs off the street. The least I can do is make sure his best friend doesn't starve to death."
Ned hums an agreement, biting off a chunk of pizza from the slice in his hand. They're still standing in the kitchen, not even sitting down yet. "You're so heroic," he says through his mouthful.
Mikaela smiles through the disgusted curl of her mouth and kicks off her shoes, dropping one of the pizza boxes on the breakfast island for Peter to salvage later and leading the way over to the couch. "So, how's college?" she asks over her shoulder as he follows after her. "What about that girl you were seeing? Miranda?" she squints, trying to remember.
"Melinda," Ned corrects, shrugging a shoulder as they both collapse onto the second-hand couch. "We ended things last week."
"Oh, shit, sorry," Mikaela winces, pausing with a pizza slice hovering in front of her mouth. "You okay?" she asks awkwardly.
Ned gives her an easy smile, not noticing her uneasiness. "Yeah, it was all pretty amiable," he replies. "It was fun while it lasted, but the passion died out kinda quickly."
Mikaela takes the delayed bite of her slice, eyeing him with confused admiration. "I think I could've done with being as laid-back about things as you are," she says.
Ned turns an enthusiastic, denying scowl on her. "Nuh-uh," he says, his voice muffled by the pizza he's chewing. "If you were any different, things wouldn't have worked out so well with you and Pete."
Mikaela tilts her head in thoughtful agreement. "Suppose," she muses. "Might have all hurt a hell of a lot less, though," she smirks bitterly.
"Yeah, I don't think I could, like, physically survive anything that intense," he claims. "I have to keep things amiable and laid-back or I'd literally combust."
Mikaela snorts into her pizza slice, leaning back into the couch to get more comfortable. "That describes far too many mutants I've met over the years," she smirks.
Ned smiles at her, eyes narrowed. "Nice," he nods earnestly, obviously pleased to have something in common with several mutants. Sudden realisation blossoms on his face. "Hey, I haven't seen you since you went to investigate that mutant who was poisoning people," he says, frowning at her, head tilting. "What happened with that?"
Mikaela widens her eyes for a moment, looking away as she wipes her hands together to get rid of the crumbs on her fingers. "It was fine," she tells him, glancing at him again. "Turns out it was just a little boy crying tears that turned out to be mildly poisonous into the local water supply."
Ned laughs a little incredulously, his frown morphing into confusion. "What?" he chuckles.
Mikaela sighs, rolling her eyes as she goes to the kitchen to find something to drink. "The village uses this nearby river as their water supply," she explains, opening the fridge to find a couple bottles of cool beer. She takes two out, lifting them questioningly at Ned, and he nods with a smile. She elbows the fridge shut again and moves back to the couch. "The little boy belonged in an orphanage, and sometimes he got a little sad about not having a family and shit, and he had this spot he liked to go to for a cry-"
"A spot at the river," Ned says with an understanding nod.
"Yup," Mikaela says, twisting the lid off her beer and taking a swig. "Poor thing thought he was having an innocent cry into the river, but when he cries he actually excretes this mild poison that can end up paralysing someone if they get hit with a big enough dosage. It isn't fatal, but it scared the shit outta the villagers."
Ned snorts a little, as though unsure of its appropriateness, but Mikaela smirks at him. "I take it you guys found him a new home, though?"
Mikaela's smirk softens into a warm smile. Pride warms her heart and she nods. "Yeah, there's a school in a neighbouring country and they were happy to take him in. It's small but I think that's probably better for the kid than a bustling place like our school."
"Man, if I could be a fly on the wall in one of those places," Ned mutters wistfully, eyes glazing over as he looks out the window.
Mikaela grins at him. "Maybe I'll take you there one day," she muses, her lips stretching wider at his bulging eyes. "You'd have to promise to be cool, though," she warns. "Some of the kids are terrified of themselves and might get a little freaked out by a humie losing his shit at their mutations."
Ned beams at her. "I'd be so cool," he assures her. "Promise."
They chat for another while, making it most of the way through their pizzas, before Ned offers a game of Mario Kart, and then the next hour and a half simply falls away. Neither of them even hear the door open and close, they're so invested in the game.
Ned is so far onto the edge of the couch he might as well be squatting in the air, his shoulders hunched, eyes wild in his passion. Mikaela is lying on the wooden floor, the back of her head against the foot of the couch in an uncomfortable position, her legs thrown up and over the footrest. There's a slice of pizza hanging from her mouth, held in place just barely by her teeth, a piece of chicken fallen onto her chest. Ned's bottle of beer is tucked in his armpit, dangerously close to dripping all over himself and the floor, and neither of them seem remotely attentive to the state of themselves or their surroundings.
"Fuck off!" Mikaela shouts past the slice on her tongue, her face scrunching with incredulous rage as the turtle hits her character.
Ned cackles distractedly at the other end of the couch. "Oh my god, I saw that happen," he mutters, face going slack again with concentration.
"This game is fucking rigged," Mikaela grunts, still scowling.
"Don't be a sore loser."
"I was winning!"
"And now you're losing."
"I'm in second place."
"We both know the AI have no place in this competition, Micky. It's you or me."
"Fine, I'm losing," she bites out.
Ned cackles again.
They pass the halfway point of the last lap, and suddenly the tension in the room increases tenfold. Mikaela draws her legs off the footrest and into her body, her neck straining to give her a better view of the screen, eyes wide. Ned's ass actually does come off the couch now so that he's literally squatting in front of it, starting to growl incoherently. A low rumbling crawls its way up Mikaela's throat too, forcing out curses and threats and complaints that get cut short in favour of concentrating on the last few precious seconds of the race.
And Ned makes it over the finish line first.
"Yes!" he yells, straightening quickly with his arms over his head, barely managing to catch the beer that falls from his armpit, and then suddenly winces at his sore muscles. "Ow."
Mikaela groans painfully, her legs flopping back down onto the footrest, giving up on holding the pizza slice and letting it all fall to her chest. "Goddamnit," she hisses.
"So this is why you weren't answering my texts and I thought you were mad at me?"
Mikaela and Ned both crane their necks round to look at Peter. He's standing right behind the couch, leaning over it slightly to see her face, an eyebrow quirked, mouth twitching when she meets his gaze. He's back in his normal clothes, a simple white tee and jeans, his hair ruffled and bouncy from being caged inside his mask for hours, and Mikaela's heart swells at the sight of him.
"You can't blame her for respecting the game, dude," Ned defends her.
Mikaela lifts her eyebrows, pointing at Ned.
Peter smirks. "And the reason you didn't even respond to my first text?"
Mikaela stares at him, struggling to recall whether she did or not. "Uh," she mumbles, drawing the sound out. "I didn't want to distract you?" she winces.
His smirk widens into a grin. "Nice," he nods, pushing off the couch to walk into the kitchen. "Very convincing."
"So, uh, how was the drug thingy?" Ned asks, sending a glance at Mikaela that promises a save.
Mikaela grins gratefully at him.
"It was fine," Peter answers from the kitchen. She hears the scrape of cardboard and knows that he's collecting his pizza box from the island, watching as he reappears at the back of the couch a moment later, already lifting a slice to his mouth. "The dealer led me straight to the supplier and it turns out one of the police precincts was keeping a close eye on the ring, so I ended up kind of piggybacking their operation when they went in."
"Collaboration, nice," Ned nods approvingly. "They threaten to take you in?"
"Not this time!" Peter replies with pleased surprise, vaulting over the back of the couch to fall onto the cushions.
Ned makes an impressed face and then looks down at Mikaela, pointing at her. "Permission to use this already distracting moment to go for a pee?" he asks.
Mikaela narrows her eyes at him. "If you're quick."
Ned grins and flees the room.
Peter nudges her shoulder with his foot, smiling down at her. "You got a little something on your shirt, there," he says.
Mikaela's chin digs into her collar when she looks down at her t-shirt, grinning sheepishly when she sees the full slice of pizza. She picks it off her chest, along with the stray piece of chicken, and groans quietly as she lifts her body to sit next to him on the couch. She pops the piece of chicken in her mouth and turns to him with what she hopes is a winning smile. He grins back at her mid-chew and leans over to press a kiss into her forehead.
"How long have you been here?" he asks.
"Well, I'd just got the pizza when you first texted," she shrugs, lifting the slice to her mouth. "Figured there was no harm in just coming over anyway and hanging with Ned."
Peter stills at her side, and she glances cautiously at him, struggling to explain the look on his face. "You and Ned are friends, aren't you?" he asks quietly. Mikaela frowns at him uncertainly. "Like, friends," he unhelpfully elaborates. "Like, not just getting along as my best friend and girlfriend, but actually friends in your own right."
Mikaela watches him, eyes glancing between his, swallowing her mouthful. "Is that," she says awkwardly, frowning at him, "not what you want?"
He gives her an incredulous look. "Of course not!" he exclaims, confusing her for a moment. "You two being friends is amazing!"
He grins madly at her, his happiness lighting up his face, and Mikaela can't help but smile back at him. He lifts his hand to cup her cheek and leans down to her face, pressing his mouth to hers for a lingering kiss. He gives her another quick kiss before pulling away completely, his thumb stroking along her cheekbone.
"I love you," he says, a breathy laugh in his voice, his eyes wide and intent on hers.
Mikaela's head spins for a moment, her stomach churning gleefully, her heart pulsing in her chest, her skin heating instantly. She's known it for a while, and she's pretty sure she's known that he's known for a while too, but they haven't told each other until this point. She supposes they were both a little scared, despite everything.
"I love you, too," she grins, her cheeks straining.
And everything they've been through is completely, utterly, absolutely worth it for the look of pure adoration and happiness in his eyes, the beaming, watery grin he gives her, the tenderness of his touch as he holds her in place and leans into her again, and she has absolutely no doubt in her mind that her heart belongs entirely to him.