Chapter 40: Midnight Ruminations
It has taken me so long to get out of the post-winter-break-funk, but I'm getting there. I feel very good about this semester.
Also, this chapter got a little more serious than I expected. That's what happens when I don't know how to start so I use the cliched 'It was a dark and stormy night'.
There were no storms, not even a single cloud. It was simply a dark night.
A dark night indeed.
May lay awake in her bed. All she could think about was her nephew and all the terrible things that he might be going through. She knew such thinking was a very bad idea and that she should find some way to curb her thoughts, but she couldn't muster up the energy to change their trajectory.
A part of her thought this was good. This helped make up for all the times she hadn't been aware he was kidnapped. Peter refused to give her any details, but he must have dealt with some of these dark scenarios before.
Looking at him, at his bright smiles and enthusiasm for life, she never would have guessed that he had already dealt with so much pain and suffering. The loss of his parents and Ben were one type of pain. Whatever he did in the suit consisted of all the other types of pain that ever existed.
Her eyes began to burn. Why couldn't he just stop, at least for a while? Why couldn't he let other heroes deal with his burdens for the time being? Why couldn't he be safe, give her a break from feeling like a failure?
She wasn't a failure, not in some ways. Peter was certainly a nice boy. He was kind, caring, polite, determined, curious, positive, and responsible.
Responsible to a fault, perhaps.
But at least he wasn't sad. There had once been days when he first became her charge, when May worried that he might suffer from long lasting depression. He would cry and hide in his room for hours on end, the pictures of his parents either scattered on his bed or placed carefully face down on his desk.
May and Ben did their best to help him recover, though it had been so difficult. They had known Peter beforehand, sure, but they hadn't taken care of him for more than a couple days at a time prior, and either Richard or Mary was always nearby or a simple call away. But once his parents were gone it was all on her and Ben. They had to navigate parenting and learn all the little things that Peter needed in his life.
Now many things had changed. Ben was gone, Peter was approaching adulthood, but May's role still remained. She had to navigate this new superhero business and learn all the little things Peter needed now.
The trouble was that there were so many things she couldn't do for him. She couldn't track down Taskmaster. She couldn't infiltrate a secret villain lair. She couldn't fight off a squad of goons. She couldn't do anything to help him, except the occasional changing of bandages, but even his healing factor took care of wounds better than she could.
And then there was this spider stuff. She couldn't do anything about that either. She couldn't make it go away, and no matter what she said she couldn't make Peter feel any better about it.
This wasn't the sort of 'your body may be changing' phase Peter should be dealing with.
Suddenly, May sat up. She thought she heard a noise from down the hall, from Peter's bedroom. But that was impossible. The team's latest search had been a complete disaster, and the guards outside were excellent. Still, May stood and went to listen at her door with bated breath.
The house remained silent.
A storm really would have been nice about this time. It would offer some other noise, make the place feel less lonely.
May sighed and went back to bed. Maybe she ought to really try to sleep. Fury had said that they may find Peter tomorrow, even though he refused to give her the details to prevent her hopes from rising again. May would hope regardless though.
She softly hummed the tomorrow song from Annie as she forced some happier thoughts into her head.
Ava froze when she landed harder than she'd meant to on Peter's bedroom floor. This level of clumsiness was rare for her, but somewhat expected after such a thorough beating.
She ached everywhere. Literally. Shocker's blasts always had a complete head-to-toe effect, and it was terrible.
At least it wasn't raining. She didn't need to be cold and wet on top of everything else.
For a moment she thought she heard May move around, but then the noises stopped, so Ava stood and tried to hold in a groan as her back cracked.
This was officially on of her top ten worst days. Not only had the team been completely tricked and beaten by Taskmaster's goons, she had faced Black Cat and . . . she had not exactly won.
Ava refused to believe that a mutant cat burglar was better than her. Taskmaster must have trained Black Cat, or else the shock of the ambush had affected Ava's performance.
Next time they met, she was going to take Black Cat down.
Ava clamped a hand over her mouth when she realized she was starting to growl out loud. She couldn't risk waking May. There would be plenty of time to think about this later anyway.
Phoebe looked rather excited when the terrarium was pulled out. She was waving her legs and scuttling back and forth. The poor girl probably felt cooped up after two days of being stuck in there. Ava would have loved to let her out today, but she really felt sore. She didn't feel up to hunting bugs or keeping an eye on a little spider.
"Hi Phoebe, I hope you've had a good day."
The tablet screen came to life as Phoebe expertly turned it on and opened her drawing app. Kids nowadays were so good with technology.
Ava Tiger find Speter?
She had expected such a question. "Not yet, I'm sorry. We're still looking." Part of her wanted to add that Fury had received a tip, but she didn't have any facts about that yet. Fury was thoroughly vetting the info first before he let the team wander into another trap.
And it was just like Taskmaster to give them another false hope like this.
But maybe it was real. Maybe they would have Peter back by tomorrow night.
That would be nice.
Phoebe was already writing more, and it took her some time to get it all on the screen. Phoebe bored Phoebe sad Phoebe scared Phoebe not sure.
Creasing her brow, Ava frowned. "You're feeling lonely, aren't you?"
What lone lee?
"It's—um—when you're missing someone, kind of. But they're gone for a while and you don't really have anyone. You're—yeah." Ugh, Ava's brain felt like mush. She kept wanted to define lonely as 'being alone'.
Phoebe not sure understand.
"I'm sorry, I've had a really bad day so I'm not at my best right now. I'll just—Phoebe—Phoebe! No, don't—!" Ava sighed and cringed slightly as Phoebe leapt up to nestle around her neck. "Peter hasn't taught you about personal space, has he?"
Of course, Phoebe couldn't reply without her tablet, so they both sat in silence for a few minutes. Phoebe didn't purr, but Ava didn't expect her to. This whole ordeal had to be pretty stressful for her.
When it became clear that Phoebe wasn't going to let go anytime soon, Ava reluctantly began prying her off. "I'm so sorry, Phoebe. I would love to keep you company all night long, but I'm exhausted and I need to get some rest so I can look for Peter some more tomorrow, okay?" As she explained, Phoebe allowed herself to be lowered back into the terrarium.
Okay. Phoebe hope find Speter.
It took a conscious effort not to promise that she would find Peter tomorrow. There were too many variables now to make any promises, and she didn't want to be the one to teach Phoebe about broken promises. "I'll do my best. Here are you crickets for the night. Sleep well. Or don't sleep. Peter said you're nocturnal."
Phoebe wrote one more thing as Ava placed the terrarium back into the closet. Bye Ava Tiger thank you.
A warm and fuzzy feeling found its way into Ava's chest, and she smiled for the first time since that morning. "You're welcome."
She left more deftly than she had entered and was careful not to let any blood from her soaked bandages get anywhere.
Danny didn't find Ava in her room. Instead, she was at one of the medical closets, grabbing a new roll of bandages and some athletic tape. She turned sharply to him, looking oddly like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Ava never looked like that.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked softly. Her amulet was on, so she could hear him.
"I'm fine. Just have to redress some of these scratches. What are you doing up?"
"I realized belatedly that I had not checked up on any of you after our encounter today. I wanted to rectify that."
"At one in the morning?"
"Yes."
"Don't you normally wait until we're all awake because 'sleep is good for the soul' or something?"
Sometimes observant friends could simultaneously be a blessing and a curse. "Curiosity and closure are also good for the soul."
Ava considered him for a moment before sighing. "I do want to get to sleep, but I also appreciate you checking up so . . . Mind helping me change these bandages while you ask me the tough questions?"
"Of course, but not all questions are tough." He fell into step beside her as they went back to her room.
"The ones you ask at this time of night usually are."
This was rather true. "Midnight ruminations are difficult but enlightening."
Ava only grunted in response to that. Danny noticed she was limping slightly, but didn't comment further until they reached the privacy of her room. Ava pulled out her chair for Danny and sat on the desk herself, lifting her shirt slightly and beginning to peel the first bandage away on her side.
The wound looked very raw. That usually meant one thing around here: a reopened wound caused by overexertion. "Ava, were you training?"
"No," she answered simply. Her Chi appeared defensive rather than guilty, so perhaps Danny was wrong.
"My apologies if I sounded accusatory, but you do have a reputation."
"I'm not nearly as bad as Pete."
"This is true."
Danny replaced the bandage as he considered his next question. There were a lot of things he could address. The shock of the ambush, the disappointment in not finding Peter, the resentment towards Black Cat's swift beating. And those were just the few topics that he could deduce from Ava's Chi energy. There was a whole sleuth of other emotions that he couldn't hope to identify on his own.
Maybe he was rushing things by approaching his teammates tonight. He should have waited until breakfast for a group discussion to ease the atmosphere. But he hadn't been able to sleep, and he figured that the others were having the same trouble. Which, he had been right about that with Ava, but he might have been wrong about her desire to talk so late in the night.
"So . . ." Danny began. Ava stared at him rather guardedly. "How—"
The door to Ava's room burst open and Sam and Luke rushed in, Sam gesturing wildly. "See! I told you they're all—" Sam stopped in his tracks when he saw Ava and Danny.
Luke snorted, but visibly relaxed. "I told you they were okay."
Ava raised an eyebrow. "What on Earth are you boys so worried about and WHY did it require you to break into my room? I have repeatedly stressed that this is a capital offense."
"Sam thought you and Danny were missing," Luke explained. "But I told him you probably just went for some fresh air or something."
"But I looked everywhere!" Sam insisted. "I checked the training room, the gym, all the ports, the best hiding spots, the cafeteria, the bathrooms—"
Danny stood and placed his hands on Sam's shoulders, forcing him to calm slightly. Sam's Chi was wild with fear and desperation, and . . . guilt? "Sam, take a breath. We're here. We're fine." He waited for Sam's breathing to even out somewhat. "Now tell us, why were you looking for us in the first place?"
"I was only looking for Ava at first," Sam admitted quietly. "I wanted to talk to her about—about something."
Ava frowned, but not in an upset way now. "Is this related to what you wanted to say during the mission?"
"Well, yeah."
Danny and Luke exchanged a glance. Most conversations between Sam and Ava were arguments and threats.
"I didn't realize it was that important," Ava muttered. She flattened the new bandage out and fixed her shirt, coming over to stand with them. "So what is it?"
Luke coughed. "If it's private, Danny and I can go—"
"No, it's fine," Sam said. "I owe all of you the apology anyway."
Danny blinked in surprise. "What do you need to apologize for?"
Sam blinked back at him in shock. "For Pete, obviously. It's my fault he was taken. Honestly, I was expecting you guys to chew me out long before now, but I understand you've been distracted."
"How is it your—?" Ava stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. "The Science Fair. That was your idea."
Sam nodded.
The room was silent for a long moment. In that time, Danny was surprised to discover that he did feel anger toward Sam now that he was forced to remember what had led to yesterday's catastrophe. Danny tried to temper the anger with understanding, but . . . He was worried about Peter, and the idea that this whole ordeal could have been prevented was very tempting.
"I'm sorry," Sam continued, voice growing hoarser. He wasn't looking anyone in the eye. "I'm so sorry."
Another round of silence began as his words sank in. Then three voices overlapping.
"Sam, we have tried to warn you of your rash decisions—"
"We told you it was a bad idea! What were you thinking—?!"
"How could you do this to Pete—?!"
Sam stood there and took it. Every harsh word, every shout, every insult to his intelligence.
It took Danny much longer than it should have, but eventually he snapped out of his anger long enough to register the look of penance on Sam's face. Sam might be at fault, but he didn't deserve this.
"STOP!" Danny had to be extra loud to be heard over the other two. Luke and Ava looked at him in confusion, mouths still open with further criticisms on their tongues. "Perhaps Sam is right, perhaps his decision to enroll Peter in the science fair is why he was taken, but that does not mean that we should add to his guilt. Sam already feels guilty. He knows the blame is his own. In fact, he was the first to realize this. He has recognized his mistake and has already been working hard to rectify it along with the rest of us. That is all anyone can ever do with mistakes: Learn and grow."
Ava closed her eyes as she visibly tried to calm herself. "I—I—Fine, I understand that. But hasn't he gone too far this time?"
"Too far with what? All he did was help Peter achieve something he would have done anyway had Peter not been distracted. He helped Peter maintain an important tradition. It is true that the decision seems disastrous in hindsight, but would we not have done the same?"
Sam cleared his throat hesitantly. "Thanks, Danny, but none of you would have gone to Stark. Maybe if I hadn't asked him for his help, he never would have insisted to use the Iron Spider suit and—"
"Stark was the one who added the suit?" Luke interrupted.
"Well, yeah." Sam nodded. "I didn't know what Pete was working on, so I went to ask Stark to check if he had any of Pete's old projects. He immediately decided to 'go big or go home', as he usually does. I should have realized he would do that."
Ava rubbed a hand roughly over her face. "No, you did the right thing. You went to someone who could help Pete win the science fair. And if it really was Stark's idea to bring the suit, then the kidnapping is on him too."
"But I—" Sam tried to contradict, but Luke interrupted again.
"You helped Pete achieve his dream. Like Danny said, that's—that's a good thing." Luke gave a brief smile. "Didn't you see how Pete was practically glowing? He was so happy to be presenting the work he did with Stark. I bet that's what he's always wanted."
"And . . . that's what's important," Ava added, a thoughtful look on her face as if she were solving a difficult puzzle. "We've all seen Pete deny himself things. He's missed dinners and movie nights and parties so he could be Spider-Man. And now he's trying to deny all the spidery urges he has. We've spent the past couple of weeks trying to make him feel more comfortable with his spider side. How is he ever supposed to feel comfortable doing anything for himself if even one of his childhood dreams can get him into trouble?"
Danny inclined his head. He hadn't thought to relate these concepts. "That's very true. And if we are all agreed that Peter shouldn't feel guilty about this science fair, then Sam should also be free of guilt."
Sam stared at them all as if they'd suggested that homework was fun. "I mean, I agree with everything you guys are saying, but I've already put a lot of effort into feeling guilty here. Are you sure you want me to just shrug it off like nothing?"
Danny gave him a sympathetic look. "I am saying that we can forgive you, but the process of forgiving yourself may be far more challenging."
Sam stared at him for a few more seconds before shrugging exaggeratedly. "Nah, it's all good. Guilt shrugged. Self forgiven. Everything is awesome once again. That's all I wanted to say to you guys, so goodnight." He sauntered very quickly out of Ava's room.
Now the others stared at where he had just passed through the doorway.
"We should have let him stew in the guilt a little longer," Ava said regretfully.
"The stewing continues beneath the surface," Danny assured her.
"So what are we gonna do when we find Pete?" Luke asked. "He probably is going to feel guilty that he allowed himself a little fame. Heck, he's probably going to be just as angry at Sam as we were. And if Taskmaster really has discovered his powers . . . That's a lot of guilt that's going to be floating around."
This time Danny shrugged. "It is difficult to speculate. We will have to figure it out when the time comes."
Those words brought a few more moments of silence before Ava grew impatient. "Okay guys, enough confessing and philosophizing and forgiving. I'm exhausted and I want to go to sleep. Get out of my room."
Danny and Luke fled immediately, jogging together towards their own rooms. Luke paused in his doorway when they arrived.
"Hey, Danny."
"Yes?"
"If the suit really was Stark's idea, do you think he's feeling guilty too? He kind of mentioned that when he joined us for the search."
"He certainly did seem to feel involved. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you know how Stark copes with intense negative feelings."
"Ah, this is true."
"I hope he isn't taking this the wrong way."
"As do I."
"Well, goodnight then."
"Sleep well."
Tony had known he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. The only surprise was the smelly Canadian who'd decided to join him at the bar. So here they were, sitting on two stools in a hole-in-the-wall bar that obviously saw enough strange customers that the bartender didn't even raise an eyebrow at these two new patrons.
"Been a while since we worked together, huh?" Tony said to start a conversation. If he wasn't going to be left alone to wallow in his thoughts, then he needed something to distract him.
"Yeah," Logan replied gruffly.
"Last time was, what, when Hydra kidnapped some young mutants?"
"Yeah."
"You mostly only deal with X-Men stuff, right?"
"Yeah."
Okay, this was boring. Tony was done with the pleasantries. "So what are you doing here for Spidey? He doesn't have the X gene."
Logan took a swig of his beer and sighed. "Kid's still a mutant."
"So is Steve technically, and you two don't get along." If Tony had been more drunk, he would have bumped Logan's shoulder teasingly, but he still had enough wits about him to avoid such a dangerous move. "Don't tell me that kid wiggled his way into your tiny, clawed heart."
Logan grunted. "Nah."
"Then I repeat, why are you here?"
Finally tearing his gaze away from his beer, Logan shot him a glare that could dent vibranium. "I could ask you the same thing."
Oh, so that's how he wanted to play. Fine. "I think I'm the reason the kidnapping happened. People have always been after my suits, and I convinced Fury to let him use Spidey's for the fair. The security on that thing should have stopped any thief, and yet here we are." Tony took a sip of his own scotch.
"The kid taught you responsibility, didn't he?"
"I like to think that I already had responsibility after Iraq, but sure, he helped." Tony swirled the liquid that was a very wrong shade of amber. He didn't want to think about what sort of low-grade stuff this was. "This isn't even the first time one of my enemies targeted him."
"No kidding." Logan seemed vaguely interested.
"Were you living under a rock? Loki arranged a scheme so all the Avengers beat Spidey up. Then another time the two of us almost made a new supervillain. But both of those times we were able to fix things before dinner. This . . . this is different."
"Hm," Logan mumbled around another swig. "I also caused the kid a lot of trouble. I mean, first time wasn't my fault. If he had let me handle Mesmero myself, we never would've switched bodies—"
Tony nearly choked on his next sip. "You two switched bodies?! Oh my god, I wish I could have seen your body acting all nice and sweet!"
Logan growled. "After he got the hang of things, the kid put on a fine act. It was me being in his body that was worse. Don't know how he deals with school all day. Or people in general." He shook his head. "I thought my senses were strong, but his? You don't want to know what he can smell."
Tony had spent some time in man caves and dorms so he knew the sort of odors that could be accumulated by young people. He couldn't imagine the smells even stronger than they already were. "Yikes. So what else happened that was your fault?"
Logan turned his focus back to his beer. "Got 'im turned into a monster."
Tony's eyebrows went up. "A monster? I don't believe it."
"You better believe it. Side effects haven't even gone away."
"What side effects?"
"Are you sure you wanna know? Cuz if you really want to talk about this, then we should go somewhere a little more private."
Tony considered him for a moment. He could decline, finish this terrible scotch, and head home to catch a couple hours of fitful rest before learning about Fury's new plan tomorrow. Or, he could learn something about Spidey that apparently not everyone knew.
That sounded a little creepy, honestly. Tony didn't have a close enough relationship with the kid to know any of his secrets. He only got to find out his identify recently because of the science fair.
But.
Pete was a good kid. He deserved more than the little attention he'd received from the Avengers. Because really, how could he have ever been a part of their group if they couldn't even notice when a god switched places with him? The kid deserved some better heroic role models.
And Tony wasn't entirely appalled at the idea of being that type of model.
After all, he'd worked with Harley Keener for a few months now, and that was working out okay. Peter was just a little younger, but just as smart. Tony had made up the lie about them both being interns, but it could just as easily be the truth.
He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp, grimacing at the intense burn.
"Come on, Santa Claws. You won't even be the worst thing I've brought home from a bar."
"You sure you can handle the story? It doesn't sit right even with me."
What on earth had Spidey gone through? "I can handle anything with enough alcohol."
Technically, he wasn't supposed to drink so much the night before a mission, but what Fury didn't know didn't add to his ulcers.
Fury could feel his ulcers acting up. The pain was just strong enough to wake him up.
On nights like these, he felt like making Spider-Man a Shield agent was a mistake. Parker wouldn't be able to get into these huge messes if he didn't have these resources.
Fury snorted. As if. Parker could probably get himself in trouble with nothing but some tape and a spoon. It was for the best that Shield was able to bail him out now.
Fury had the beginnings of a plan to rescue Parker now. He would review them in the morning and send the team out at the requested time. And maybe they could even rescue a couple of the other kids Taskmaster had. Tyrone and Tandy were both rather powerful. Fury would sleep a lot better at night knowing they were in Shield custody.
As Fury tried to get back to sleep, he wondered how those kids were doing.
Ty shifted in his bed, trying to pinpoint his feeling of unease. He felt like he had gathered some sort of clues today, but he wasn't sure how they fit together, or if they even were clues.
They were just things he couldn't stop thinking about.
First, they learned that Peter had fangs, which wasn't really a huge deal. Taskmaster had told them that Peter had some weird DNA. It was just alarming to see such violence in here.
Second, Ty had teleported Peter with a bit too much anger, using some of his dark nightmare magic or whatever it was. Ty still had no idea what the true nature of his powers was, but sometimes he gave people terrible visions when he transported them. He hadn't meant to do it to Peter, but it had all happened so suddenly. And as usual, Ty caught a glimpse of what Peter was so afraid of.
Peter was afraid of a lot of things. Further mutations, disappointing someone called May, making a fool of himself, leadership, Mr. Masters, biting someone to death, failing in one of his responsibilities.
Now, some of those made sense. Who wasn't afraid of making a fool of themselves? But some of the other things were rather specific. Why was Peter so afraid of Mr. Masters specifically? And why did he feel so responsible? Peter was just a teenager like the rest of them. What sort of duties could he possibly have that he was so afraid of failing them?
Unless maybe that was normal? It had been a while since Ty spoke to some ordinary people their age.
Anyway, the mission had also been a little weird. Ty understood that Shield couldn't be trusted, but it felt a little wrong to beat up those heroes like that.
And that Nova guy. Man, Ty hadn't expected him to be nearly as high strung as Peter had been (that time he had been ordered to use his nightmare powers during teleportation, but there had been too much for Ty to parse through during battle).
The real strange one though, was Spider-Man. When Ty had taken him into his cloak, he had been expecting some of the usual hero angst or whatever. Instead, he was met with a completely blank mind. Not that it really was a mind. Apparently, that Spider-Man had been a robot. But still, why did Spidey send in a robot first? Was Mr. Masters right? Had their plan been compromised? But then, who could have compromised the plan?
Could Felicia really be their snitch? After dinner, Mr. Masters had told Ty to take a peek into Felicia's fears next time they teleported. Ty wasn't entirely comfortable doing that to a friend, but if she was putting their safety at risk . . .
A soft glow caught Ty's attention. He turned over to see Tandy awake in her bed, holding her glowing hand out towards Peter. The shadows it cast emphasized the bags under her eyes.
"Tandy," Ty hissed quietly. She gasped and looked at him.
"Oh, hey Ty, still awake?" she asked sheepishly.
"I was trying to figure something out. Why are you still doing that to Peter? He's already asleep, and you know how much it drains you!"
"I just wanted him to have some sweet dreams."
"I'm sure he's well into dreamland at this point. Now you need to get some rest too."
"Fine. Maybe I was kind of overdoing it." Tandy bit her lip as she stopped the flow of her magic. The room became pitch black once again. "Ty?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I'm doing the right thing by helping Peter like this? I mean, you should have seen how distraught he was this morning. I thought I had to intervene or else things would get worse. Mr. Masters agreed. But . . ."
"But what?" Ty encouraged.
"Whenever Pete snapped out of it, he had this look of horror on his face, like I was some sort of terrifying monster."
"Are you sure that horror was directed at you?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Peter doesn't like to be under my calming powers." Tandy exhaled slowly. "I was afraid that, if I stopped even for the night, he would wake up staring at me like that again."
"You can't keep it up forever. Peter has to deal with this on his own eventually."
"I guess so. Ty, did you take a look at what he's so afraid of?"
Tandy always knew what was on his mind. "Yeah. The list is long. I think you did help him out by calming him down."
"I don't know. Maybe . . . maybe tomorrow I should let him be on his own."
"What has Mr. Masters said?"
"That I should continue to help Pete until we can gradually wean him off. But doesn't that seem weird? I've never done it so prolonged. With Adrien I just gave him little doses of calm now and then whenever he started slipping into a panic attack. I never kept up a continuous flow."
"Hm." Ty mulled this over. "I understand why you're so hesitant, but you should stick with what Mr. Masters said for now. He's always steered us right."
"I guess so . . ."
"Goodnight, Tandy."
"Goodnight, Ty." And then she added, "Sweet dreams, Peter."
Peter's dream was sweet and savory.
It began in the Birdhouse. Peter and Adrien were going to have a hunting competition to see who could catch their chicken first. But strange things were coming out of the mechanical doggy door. A cassowary squeezed out first, long neck unfurling. The second creature was scalier, and much much bigger. It was a wonder it even fit through the tiny door. Nevertheless, the t-rex made it out to stand in the sunlight.
They weren't in the Birdhouse anymore, and Adrien and the cassowary had run off to play tag. Now it was just Peter and the dinosaur out in a jungle. It roared.
A t-rex was just a big chicken, right? Peter could handle a chicken. He knew that now.
The knowledge was reassuring.
The t-rex started chasing him. Peter jumped and swung among the trees, effortlessly avoiding each snap of the giant jaws. The parkour was fun, but being hunted wasn't quite as fun as being the hunter. Peter grew tired of their game and stuck to the dinosaur's back. The t-rex's short neck and arms could do nothing to reach him there.
One nice thing about dinosaurs: there were fewer feathers to tickle your nose when you bite them.
Like the chicken's shrieks, the t-rex's roars quieted down within moments. The venom kept flowing out of Peter. It was an absolutely unrealistic amount of venom, and an unrealistic amount of silk too, but Peter was too caught up in the experience to notice.
Once the t-rex was completely wrapped in silk, Peter attached one more line to the mass and began pulling it over the grass, over the asphalt, over the threshold.
"About time," Sam said from the kitchen of the Parker house. "We're starving!"
"I call the drumstick!" Ava said before anyone else.
"I want the other drumstick then!" Luke echoed.
Danny remained quiet. Peter facepalmed. "Sorry, Danny, I forgot you're vegetarian. I think there were some stegosauruses out there though. Want me to grab one?" It did not occur to Peter that eating a vegetarian animal was not vegetarian.
"It is fine. Mrs. Parker already made a salad for me."
Peter stiffened for some reason that he couldn't understand. "Where's May? It's not like her to be late for dinner."
There was no reply. Peter tried to think of where his aunt could be. Perhaps her room.
He was upstairs in the hallway. He knocked on her door. "May? You in there?"
"Come in."
Peter opened the door, finding the sight of the bedroom somewhat confusing. Where was her web? Everyone should have a web in their room.
"Peter, honey." May's voice distracted him from his confusion. "I was researching spiders, and they don't eat dinosaurs."
"Oh, good, so it's not a spider thing?"
"Nope. I'm proud of you." May hugged him and nuzzled him the way he did to Phoebe. "You're a big boy now."
Peter purred at that. The words still made him feel like a kid, but the hunt made him feel much more mature. "Can you put it in the oven? I can catch them, but I never know how to cook dinosaurs."
"Of course. It'll be done soon. You better bring Phoebe down for dinner too."
He smiled widely. Phoebe was going to love this! In almost no time at all, Peter retrieved her. She was practically vibrating with excitement. Speter play dinosaur game!
"Yeah," Peter agreed as he nuzzled her and purred. "I did. I played the dinosaur game, and I won."
He perched up on the ceiling with Phoebe while the others set the table and prepared the rest of the meal. It was nice to see those he cared about gathering for a meal, especially a meal he helped to provide.
The warm feelings bled into the blissful deep sleep that came after the short burst of REM. There wouldn't be much time for a second dream. It was almost morning, long after Tandy had fallen asleep too.
Fun Facts:
- It's pretty much established that at least most dinosaurs had some form of feathers.
Recommendations:
(I have stumbled upon some really fun things on YouTube these past few months and wanted to share the smiles)
- PattyCake Productions - makes high quality music videos of famous movies with different songs such as making the witches in Hocus Pocus sing Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift and also all the Avengers singing Thunder by Imagine Dragons.
- Potter Puppet Pals - 15 minutes or less of pure insanity but with Harry Potter puppets. My favorite is 'The Mysterious Ticking Noise'.
- Google Translate Sings - different famous songs put through many layers of Google Tranlsate and then sung in professional style with fun music videos. Things get funky real fast. This is also a great passtime when you're bored to take your favorite songs/books/movie scenes and put them through Google Translate yourself.
