The night air was biting at Peter's skin. Though he was wrapped up well, his face, neck, and hands were still exposed. The band were decent, but not all that engaging - in truth most of the crowd were probably there for want of anything better to do on a Sunday night. He could see many of his fellow students drinking more than was healthy for them. Though he wasn't in his nature to moralise, it amused him to see the progress over the course of the evening - from his friends dressing smart and playing it cool, to struggling to stay on their feet.
Peter didn't know that many people here, and was shy, even when Harry, more of a social butterfly, introduced him to new people. It wasn't that long before Harry, clearly a little frustrated, abandoned Peter and Gwen completely. But that suited Peter - he preferred to stick to people whose company he knew he enjoyed.
"It seems like I don't see you at all, now you're a big time scientist."
Her face was warm and enthusiastic, dominated by her large, enthusiastic smile. She was almost as socially comfortable as Harry, but for some reason brushed off numerous people who tried to talk to her, in favour of staying with him.
Peter wasn't sure how many of them actually knew her, and how many had seen her across the field and decided to act as if they did. Gwen was equally courteous to all, but it was clear she wanted to catch up with him.
He felt embarrassed around her (as he did around most girls) but she was so warm, vibrant, that he couldn't help feel a sense of calm, that everything made sense.
She leant into him, hugging her head against his shoulder, and placed an arm round his waist.
Peter felt tense, embarrassed... but grateful that she hadn't chosen an outfit that kept her warm.
Nervously, Peter unfastened and opened a section of the top of the glass cage. Doc Connors had suggested he reach in and look at one of the spiders more closely - Tiny was the obvious choice.
He reached down; his fingers close enough to the bottom for Tiny to reach up with his two front legs. Tiny started walking up, until he was sitting quite comfortable on the back of his left hand.
Peter removed his hand slowly, holding his hand less than a foot from his eyes. He could see the little hairs on the back and legs, in the kind of detail that was difficult to believe. It was remarkable to think how different to humans some other animals were - he wondered how Tiny perceived the universe around him. Would he think of Peter and Doc Connors as some kind of gods? Was there anything beyond instinct going on in Tiny's mind?
Suddenly, Peter felt a short sharp shock.
Tiny had bitten him!
Angry and vengeful, Peter shook the spider from his hand, causing it to fall back into the cage. It shot its webbing upward as it fell, but Peter moved his hand, causing the web to shoot further up, above hi hand, before falling back to the floor of the cage.
Peter slammed the cage shut, and locked it, so he could look at his own wound without worrying about them escaping. Already, a pinched section of his skin was whiter than everything around it. Doc Connors had insisted that the spiders weren't poisonous... but he'd also spoken about how the traits of this new species were difficult to predict. What exactly was Tiny's intent?
Bending down, Peter could see Tiny moving around again - the fall didn't seem to cause too much damage, though he wasn't sure what a limping spider would look like.
Whatever the intent of the bite, it was definitely painful. Deciding it was best to be safe, Peter left his work, heading to the nearest university first aid station.