Peni stirred, feeling her hand still clasping onto Gwen's hand from last night. It was the warmest thing she could feel right now, even warmer than the bed itself. She bet Gwen's body felt even warmer. That's what she's looking forward to the most when her waist goes back to good as new.

Gwen looked really peaceful, which Peni wanted to see more of. It made her feel peaceful too, plus she thought Gwen looked cute like this. The way her blonde eyelashes rest above her light freckles; how her mouth isn't completely closed, exposing the small gap in the centre of her top teeth; her face sunken into her longer, messier hair. Using her free hand, Peni recorded this memory by taking a photo of the girl with her console, before going back to sleep.

Some time passed until she stirred again, this time to the classic ringtone of a feature phone. As endearing as she found that sound, right now, she wanted to disconnect the speakers from that phone. She groaned, having more trouble getting up this time, but was soothed by the voice of Gwen. "I'll get it."

"Hmm, thanks." When she opened her eyes, she saw Gwen crawling over her to reach her bedside table, blessing the smaller girl with a closeup of Gwen's clothed chest. The body blocked out some light, which comforted her. Please lower your body more, Peni wished. Or rather, just drop your whole body onto me. I want your warmth and softness. She didn't realise she was trying to ascend her face towards the intoxicating area.

"It's Peter," the taller girl announced, unfortunately moving her body back to her own side of the bed, "Want me to take it?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She answered. "Hey."

"…Is that you, Gwen? Did May get the numbers mixed up?"

"No, no, this is definitely Peni's phone. She's too tired to pick up."

"Damn. Mind putting her on the phone? It's about her school bag."

Gwen looked towards the desk to see no such thing in sight. "Oh. You took it already?"

"Yeah, a while ago. We're outside Alchemax, and we need Peni to tell her spider where we'll leave the bag."

"Got it," she said before turning to the smaller girl looking back at her, "Peter wants to tell you where they'll leave your bag."

Peni retrieved the phone, sounding lazier than her companion. "Hey, Peter."

"Hey. So, uh, Miles and I are close to Alchemax's front entrance. We're behind this pretty big rock that's broken on one side, and we're thinking of leaving the bag here. Can you pass that on to Bitsy?"

"Sure. Good job, guys. I'll have her come looking for it. Do you mean staying there until she finds you?"

"We can do that."

"Thanks. Take care." Hanging up, she telepathized with her spider before placing the phone on the bed between her and Gwen. "I'm so tired…"

"Same here," Gwen said, focusing on the sight of Peni. The girl's hair, messier than usual, covered part of her face, with its ends lazily resting on her skin. Her large eyes were half-lidded but still full of life with its shininess, and they were looking back at her. Sure, Peni looked very dishevelled, but it really suited her. "…You're cute."

Peni's now flushed face sank into the pillow, groaning while hearing Gwen chuckle. But deep down, she liked it.

They ended up sleeping through most of the morning, feeling lazy. After all, the decoy plan was in motion, and these Spider-Girls deserved peaceful times like this. At some point, the doorbell rang, announcing the return of Peter and Miles. The first stage of the plan was a success. Now, they're on standby while Bitsy sneaks the equipment into the base.

Everyone decided to lounge in the training grounds before brunch, because it made a great hangout area, and Miles wanted to do some practice.

Gwen was in her Spider suit this time, though she hadn't put on her mask or hoodie. "You gonna do target practice again?" Peni wondered, eyeing the suit.

"Yep. Wanna see if I can beat my last score. What was it anyway?"

"It was 43%."

"Right. I think I'll get that over with first. You gonna record me again?"

To emphasise her answer, Peni held out her console and flashed a grin. "You bet. Good luck."

She replied with a thumbs up before trekking to Peter and Miles by the shooting range. "Hey, guys. Mind if I go first?"

Miles happily made way. "Be my guest."

"Thanks. Hey, Peter? Do that thing where you tell me to go when I least expect it."

Peni started recording in time before Peter told Gwen to start. The taller girl performed her ballet-like routine again, moving as fast as she was shooting, pretending these bottles and sticks had their own firearms. Her skintight suit reinforced Peni's opinion on why this ballet style suited Gwen: she had the body for it, and the lax freedom expressed through the movement made it look like Gwen could do anything. The smaller girl was at a loss for words, finding the body distracting. And to top it off, Gwen's Spider suit had plimsolls. The suit was made for this style.

After the performance, Peter announced her result. "You got 35%."

Despite Gwen being exhausted, she had the energy to be baffled at her lower score. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not."

"If it helps, I'd kill to be that good," Miles gave his consolation.

"Thanks," Gwen said with a sigh. She walked over to the smaller girl, feeling more embarrassed. "So, uh… did you hear what I got?"

Peni was grinning and a little red. "Yeah. You were beautiful out there."

The sincere comment and emotion had disintegrated Gwen's disappointment in herself, as well as brought heat to her face. She started playing with her hair. "You… You really think so?"

Grabbing her arm, Peni guided her to the bench. "I'll show you."

Gwen sat close watching the replay, and she could see where Peni was coming from. "I didn't know I looked that good."

"Told ya."

"But why did I do worse with my suit? It was more comfortable than those baggy pyjamas yesterday that sometimes got in the way."

"I dunno. Were you feeling up to it this time?"

Gwen put some thought into it. "…Not really. Not as much as last time. I have been a bit lazy lately."

Peni giggled submissively. "Me too. I guess you've been stuck with me while I got better. Maybe that's why you got worse."

"Well, no regrets there. I'll still choose being with you over web slinging any day." She liked seeing Peni grin back with a blush. "I was thinking, when you get better, we can do some swinging."

"Careful, Gwen. Say that out loud and other people will get the wrong idea," warned the amused voice of May approaching them.

The implication had them both laughing. "Like I care about that," Gwen commented.

"So, seeing as you two picked the bench again, I take it you like it?"

Peni nodded. "The river looks so nice. Clean too."

"It sure is. You should try swimming it. It's great." Gwen perked up at the idea. "Anyway, I wanted to do a checkup on your injury; see how much better it's gotten since last time. Have you tried getting up and sitting down on your own lately?"

Peni shook her head. "I tried turning on my back yesterday, but the pressure hurt."

"I see." Kneeling beside the girl, May pulled up her shirt to inspect her wounds. "The scabs have developed well since I last saw it. Mind if I give it a feel so I can get a better idea?"

Steeling herself for the inevitable pain, she gave her permission. "Okay. But please don't be too hard."

"You have my word," she promised, before starting to handle the wound. Anticipating the pain and feeling it as it happened, Peni gripped Gwen's hand. The taller girl shifted closer in response, and the smaller girl responded by leaning on her. "How much does it hurt here?" inquired May, pressing around the scab at the enter wound.

"I'd say a bit moderate."

Her hand moved to the side of the waist. "And here?"

"Not so much." May then proceeds to the surrounding area of the exit wound at her back, where it brought out the girl's strongest reaction: Peni recoiled slightly and her breathing got noticeably heavier. "That hurts the most."

"I see. Does it hurt as much as it used to?"

"No."

"Okay. Can you try standing up for me? Without our help."

Peni gripped the armrest and pressed her other hand on the seat but was losing confidence. "…I'm a bit scared."

Gwen got up to hover her arms around the girl. "Don't worry. If you can't go any further, just say the word and I'll hold you."

"Okay." Peni went ahead to bend her body forward. She was taking breaths to cope with the pain that was causing her.

"You're doing great," cooed Gwen, giving her more courage to continue. Using the support around her, Peni slowly but surely got on her feet. She turned to the others with a smile, and they cheered for her, consequently attracting the rest of the gang. Peni was starting to get a little embarrassed now.

"What's going on here?" asked Peter.

"Peni here managed to stand up, all by herself," May announced, causing the newcomers to applaud the girl.

Peni partially covered her face from the undue attention. "Come on, guys. It's not a big deal…"

Benjamin stepped up and ruffled the girl's hair. "Nonsense. The fact you can get back up after being shot is amazing. We're all glad."

Peni giggled as she appreciated the hair ruffling. "Thanks. So, uh, can you help me sit down now?"

The man was about to oblige when May stopped him. "Actually, let's see if she can do that on her own as well." If it wasn't for the lady taking care of her, the girl would've given her a look.

Sitting down seemed harder, mostly because all eyes were on Peni. She tried to ignore them. Placing her hand on the arm rest, she took it slow bending down, taking a breather from the pain that was being shot at her. Once she was low enough, she placed her other hand on the seat, letting her limbs do the work of easing her onto the seat.

She shied away when she was applauded for yet again. "Alright, I think she's had enough embarrassment for now," Peter said light-heartedly before leaving.

The rest of the newcomers followed, with May being the last. "Well, this checkup has shown improvement, and progress is the most important thing. Let's leave your body to continue healing up. In the meantime, don't force yourself to stand up and sit down on your own. I'm sure Gwen will help you with that." She saw Gwen nodding to that. "I'll be with Benjamin if you girls want me."

Once the two were alone again, Peni picked up where they left off. "So, you were suggesting swinging together earlier?"

"Oh, yeah. Swinging around is great, but I've been wondering what it's like doing it with another Spider-Person."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Cool," Gwen smiled, "It's a date."

"Hehe, yeah. Speaking of swinging…" Peni's eyes were sparkling at the girl's wrist, "Can I take a look at your web slinger?"

Gwen gladly moved her wrist closer to the girl. "No need to ask. Knock yourself out."

"Thank you!" she cheered, happily, bringing the wrist into her hands and inspecting the parts. The wrist strap carries small canisters of web, and it has a tiny barrel for the web to be ejected from. It's connected by wire to a button that sticks to the palm, and pressing it triggers to shoot the web. Peni found it simple but it did the job, fascinating her.

Gwen admired the face of awe and curiosity on the girl's face, finding her very cute. It reminded her of when Peni reacted the same way to the old feature phones May gave them. Gwen wouldn't be surprised if the smaller girl ended up taking apart the web slinger like she did with the phone.

Peni delicately removed the slinger from Gwen's wrist and wanted to wear it herself when she noticed it was marked as left-handed. "Gwen? Does this only work for the left hand?"

"Oh, it should work fine on either. It's just that when I designed them, I measured my hands separately, in case they aren't perfectly the same, you know?"

"Oh, makes sense." Gwen watched the girl put it on her left hand. She never thought she'd see the day when she would show off her Spider gear to someone else, let alone another Spider-Person, so this was very refreshing.

While the elastic wrist strap hugged Peni's wrist and the button stuck to her palm just fine, the problem was the wire. Due to her smaller hand, the distance between the strap and button was also smaller, meaning the excess wire length was sticking out and getting in the way of the barrel.

Gwen watched her trying to work around it until she thought of a workaround herself. "Hold still," she said, before using her other slinger to shoot web onto Peni's wrist, keeping the wire stuck to the skin.

"Using webs as a belt for oversized pants, and now this?" said the smaller girl, "Your lifehacks involving webs are commendable."

"Thanks, but my DIY knowledge is still no match for that of the great Peni Parker."

Peni Parker chuckled in pride before turning her attention back to the device in her hand. Holding her armed arm out diagonally, she pressed her middle and ring fingers on the button and took a shot. They both watched a web spurt and fly across the trees, barely losing its momentum as it traverses the sky.

"Wow. Incredible range from such a compact low-powered device," the girl said to nobody in particular, "and there's no need to calibrate the aim, as the barrel is always facing the same direction as the forearm."

She turned to Gwen. "This is simple and mobile, but it's just as effective as the web shooter on my robot. It's amazing."

Gwen began playing with her hair, grinning while rosy. She never got complimented on her Spider gear, so receiving one from Peni of all people was a pleasant surprise. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Peni smiled back before aiming at the firing range. Nearby, Miles and Peter were removing webs from bottles and sticks that were miraculously hit.

"What're you aiming at?"

"You see that bottle all the way on the right?"

Wow, that bottle is like seventy feet away. Nevertheless, Gwen stilled herself to allow more focus.

It took a surprisingly good while of silence until Peni finally fired, blowing the bottle away from where it was once standing. Gwen was also blown away. "Holy crap. Are you sure you've never used one?"

"Hehe, yep. I just used information from the last shot earlier, among other factors like wind and gravity, and then took a guess."

"That's one hell of a guess."

The guys noticed a new bottle rolling in front of them and turned to the girls on the bench. "Great shot, Gwen," Miles called.

Gwen held up her unarmed wrist. "It wasn't me."

"Oh, that was you, Peni? Nice."

Out of curiosity, Peter signalled for the little girl to come, with Gwen following closely behind. "So, you know how to use a web slinger as well?" he asked her.

"Not really… That was my first time using one."

"She's a great shot though, isn't she?" inputted Gwen.

He nodded. "Huh. Not bad, kid. So, how long did you take to fire?"

Peni rubbed behind her neck at that question. "Eh… Like… a minute…"

The man chuckled. "If this was a game of golf, then you'd be a professional. But you need to be a lot faster."

"I know that. I could do it so much faster with my robot."

"Is that so?" Peni nodded with confidence. "That kinda gives me an idea." He calls everyone over. "Guys, what do you say we have a friendly competition? We try to shoot down as many bottles and sticks as we can within one minute, and we get only one attempt at each target. How does that sound?"

The Spider gang was on board, though Gwen wanted to sit this one out for a bit. "Can I at least go last? I'm still tired from my last go."

"Okay. So, who wants to go first?"

It was eventually decided that Porker would go first. He stood seriously—or as seriously as he could—in front of the targets and started as soon as the minute timer did.

While the audience silently rooted for him, he didn't do bad.

May counted the hit targets after the time was up and announced 26% of them were taken down. After he gave each person a high five, Benjamin stepped forward to have his turn.

His moves were a lot simpler yet it showed experience, making it look easy. He racked up 30%. "You were so cool!" Peni cheered, earning a head pat from the man.

"Heh. Thanks, kid."

Peter wasn't so impressed though. "To be honest, I was expecting you to do better."

"Well, when it comes to speed, I prefer to quickdraw with my revolver than with a web slinger, and I do better with a gun. I can show you when my revolver is ready."

Miles came up next. His movements were still awkward, but he was still a newbie. He ended up with 18%. He may be in last place right now, but his improvement to yesterday's 11% called for an applause, and it made him feel good about himself.

Peter was next. And he knocked the contestants out of the park. His movement was like Benjamin's, except even simpler, and much more accurate. By the end of his turn, he got 79%. Everyone was impressed, and they sort of knew who the winner would be.

That didn't stop Peni from being eager to try, now that she had summoned her robot with her console. "Me next!"

"Now hold up just a minute," warned Benjamin, "Are you sure you can do this?"

"I'll try. But I need help getting in the robot. Could you lift me and make it so I'm sitting a little sideways, away from my injury?"

He looked at May who approved, then looked back at the girl. "Sure." Carrying her in his arms, the man took extra care easing her into the robot seat. Stepping back, he saw the girl sitting awkwardly. "That doesn't look comfortable."

"It's alright, it won't be for long," she insisted, doing some extra calibration and rotating the chair so that her body was facing the front. She then closed the cockpit window. "Okay, I'm ready."

The timer began, and the robot got busy, seamlessly swinging its arms and firing its embedded web shooter. Her shots were accurate so far, giving her a great chance at beating Peter!

While Gwen thought the robot looked awesome, she was more interested in seeing the girl inside, but she can't see her if she's behind the robot. Wanting to see how the smaller girl looks when she's operating, Gwen walked around and sat against one of the trees beside the firing range to get a better look. She saw Peni's face looking how it did when she worked at her desk. It showed she was taking this seriously. And while Peni's movements didn't look like much from a cursory glance, a lot of her work went into her limbs and hand-eye coordination; her hands frequently wiggled on the stick as it was trying to be super precise. It impressed Gwen, thinking Peni was making it look easy even with her injury that made her sit rather uncomfortably in her seat. She figured Peni must've had similar thoughts when she watched Gwen's performance. Maybe this is her style.

Within her field of view, Peni spotted Gwen watching with keen interest, and the attention made her lose focus and miss the next few targets. Cursing to herself, she tried regaining that focus while Gwen chuckled at the slip-up.

After the time was up, the little girl strolled to Gwen. "I thought I'd do worse with how I was sitting in that thing."

"Yeah, especially since I distracted you back there. You still looked awesome."

They both heard the outcome from May. "Good job, Peni. You got 51%." Okay, so she didn't beat Peter, but she still did really well, so everyone congratulated her efforts.

Except for Peter. "Well, of course you'd do good."

Peni turned to the man. "Huh?" If it wasn't for the hostile tone it carried, she would've taken it as a compliment.

"I'm just saying that, unlike the rest of us, you've got yourself an advantage."

"Advantage?" She walked up to him. "What makes you think controlling a robot is easier than aiming with your arm?"

"Well, clearly the robot is allowing you to move and shoot without you having to do it yourself. That's assistive technology."

"Oh, sure, and a web slinger designed to help you reach faraway places and objects isn't assistive technology in itself?"

"Alright, touché. Thing is, we've been working our asses off trying to be as good as we are. Meanwhile, you just sit around in your robot, telling it do all the hard work? That's cute."

"…Cute?" Peni was triggered by how little this guy thinks of her work. Gritting her teeth behind her closed mouth, she gave Peter a death stare, one Gwen didn't know she was capable of, what with her kindness and cheerfulness. While Gwen was glad to see this side of her, she was also worried.

"Fine," Peni said, wanting to prove the man wrong. Knowing she's still wearing Gwen's web slinger on one hand, she went to the taller girl. "Can I borrow your other slinger?"

"Sure," she took it off and put it on the girl, using the same web trick to keep the wire out of the way. Peni was fuming but feeling her best friend's hands on hers had soothed her. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she said with a soft smile before walking back to the firing range, her new gear at the ready and focusing on the targets.

The timer started, and she was firing away. Staying in the same place, she focused on the nearest bottles and sticks before moving a little closer towards the further ones.

Peni was beginning to sweat, she was getting out of breath, and her confidence was shattering. Her frustration, disappointment and embarrassment left her hands shaky, making her aim impossible. And her face became uncomfortably hot. And to make things more difficult, she had to turn like a tank, otherwise twisting would cause her pain.

Despite the discomfort, Gwen saw the determination on her face, knowing she was definitely trying her best. She wanted to go and let her know she's amazing. But what she saw next was heartbreaking:

As soon as the timer beeped to signal time was up, Peni turned and was frantically running away, limping. Gwen found herself on her feet and after her. "Peni, wait!" she cried, which seemed to make the little girl slow to a stop, allowing her to catch up. "Don't just run off like that… What's wrong?"

Peni looked at Gwen who got in front of her, and saw the look of worry and sadness on her face. Seeing her care made her feel better, but seeing her upset made her feel bad; she shouldn't have run off like that. Peni found herself moving forward and planting her face in Gwen's chest, seeking comfort. Feeling the other girl instantly wrapping her arms around, she looked up to her and begged. "Can we get out of here? Please?"

"Sure," Gwen whispered, before turning her speech to the others. "We'll be back later." The others quietly gave their assent and watched the girls leave.

There was a moment of silence until Benjamin marched up to Peter with new-found anger. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"What's my problem?! The girl was about to go off on her own! It's not my fault she did terrible."

"Have you forgotten she's exhausted and can't move around well enough yet?! And she wouldn't have tried to run off like that if you didn't criticise her way of doing things. Sure, she might not use web slingers, but that doesn't make her any less of a Spider-Person. Patronising her will make her feel like she's not one of us, and we're the closest people to her right now."

Peter looked around to see disapproving looks from everyone else. May spoke up. "You might think she doesn't do much work, but that's because a lot of it happens behind the scenes. You should see what she does then. We'll be relying on her for the decoy plan after all, and don't forget she is the reason why we still have Alchemax's data."

Sighing, the man admitted guilt. "Fine. I'll… I'll deal with it."

Both girls quietly accompanied each other as they walked beside the river, with Gwen caressing Peni throughout the journey.

The smaller girl looked a lot calmer. "Hey, can we stop here?"

"Sure. You wanna sit down?"

"Yes, please—in front of the lake if we can."

Gwen sat them both down and wrapped an arm around Peni. She didn't say anything regarding the issue. Instead, she provided comfort and allowed her to speak at her own pace. When she felt her lean on her, she realised her own suit was moist from target practice. "Sorry for being sweaty."

"It doesn't bother me," Peni reassured, shifting closer as if to prove her point: sweaty or not, it was still comforting. She wanted to stay like this for as long as she wanted, but she remembered Gwen looking upset earlier. "I'm sorry for running away like that."

"…Why didn't you just come to me instead?"

"I really wanted to. But I was just too embarrassed. I thought maybe you were disappointed, so I just wanted to hide."

"Come on, Peni. I wasn't disappointed."

"…Why did you look upset back there?"

"…Because it hurt, seeing you leave like that. …Even though I was there."

"…I'm so sorry, Gwen," Peni choked. "I didn't wanna hurt your feelings."

Bringing Peni close to her chest and stroking her hair, Gwen cooed, "It's okay, buddy. I forgive you. You were upset too. …Just come to me next time so I can cheer you up."

"I will; I promise." The smaller girl sunk in her chest, soaking in the warmth and softness she was craving this morning. "Thanks for still being here for me."

"I wouldn't leave you alone."

Gwen absentmindedly continued the stroking. "So, you looked like you were limping when you ran. It didn't hurt, did it?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Oh. Does it still hurt?"

"No, it's good now."

Several relaxing minutes passed before Peni, having felt much better, wanted to get comfier by taking off the web slingers. The webs used to keep the wire stuck to the skin were putting up a fight and refused to come up. At least she was impressed with the compound Gwen came up with for these webs to be strong. She moved her hand closer to Gwen, who gladly helped remove it.

Looking at her finally free hands, Peni started her vent. "…Peter's such a jerk."

"I know. Who knows what happened to him in his past that made him… you know, a dick?"

Peni was amused by Gwen's choice of words. "He thinks I haven't 'worked my ass off' unlike you guys. But I put so much work into researching, making and maintaining the tech; making sure they work as intended and that they're not dangerous. Then there's controlling them which isn't as easy as he made it sound. I had to practise like you guys with your web slingers. I even hurt myself sometimes when something goes wrong. But I still continued because I loved what I was doing, and I did it for the safety of me, Mom, and other people.

"But Peter thinks it's all just 'cute,' like what I do is child's play. Ironically, my way is arguably riskier because I depend on technology not blowing up in my face. But it apparently doesn't matter if I don't do it his way, as if that was the standard in some Spider society—like that even exists. So what if you all do it the same way? None of us knew each other existed, so how was I supposed to know?

"I thought he'd understand what I went through because he's also a Spider-Person who's put research and development in his gear—or at least I think so. But he thinks I just sit around in my robot. Well, what about during the past week when he was the one sitting around in Aunt May's house? I made a goober, and I was standing at a desk remaking a gun even though I was the one recovering from a gunshot.

"I really wanted to prove him wrong: that my so-called 'cute' way wasn't just giving me an advantage. But I did so bad without it. I embarrassed myself in front of everyone."

Gwen frowned. She was glad Peni got all that out of her system, but she wanted the girl to know how wrong she was about the last part. And she thought she'd do it the same way Peni convinced Gwen how good the taller girl looked during her target practice. "Wanna see how you really did?" she asked, taking out the console.

Peni blushed. "Eh? You recorded me? I didn't even notice."

"I secretly recorded while acting natural. Besides, it was your first time, so it had to be done."

"Oh. Well… I don't need to see how I did. I was there, you know?"

"Come on. Please?"

Peni resigned, preparing to cringe at herself. "Fine."

While watching the video, Peni groaned and was feeling the embarrassment rush back to her. She really did move like a tank, and her arms were shaking all over the place. How can Gwen still think I'm a great shot after seeing this? "Why are you making me watch this?"

Gwen answered while pointing at the face on the screen. "That's the same face you made in the robot and when you worked at the desk. You look really cool when you're focused, you know? It shows Peni Parker wasn't messing around; she was in the zone."

Peni smiled softly at that, feeling appreciated. Gwen continued making her point. "So let me get this straight: you've never used a web slinger before; you were tired and injured; and you were in a rush to shoot without taking the time to aim. And yet you still managed to take down some targets. That's actually pretty amazing." The sincere comment and genuine look of wonder on her face made Peni's negative feelings disintegrate almost completely. It made her happy.

Gwen changed the video to an earlier one, showing Peni in her robot this time. "You looked insane controlling the robot."

Peni had a much easier time watching that video. "Well, you haven't seen much. I usually move more than just my hands, but I was stationary at the time, so I just focused on the sticks that controlled the arms."

"Damn, looking forward to seeing you in proper action then. So, you said it took practice controlling your stuff, right? So, you must've been trash with your robot in the beginning."

"Hehe. Yeah… I did a lot worse than how well I can control it with my console right now. It took, like, a couple of months to get used to it."

"Well, when I started, I was trash too, and no matter what Peter says, he was also trash. Like you said, there isn't a right way of doing stuff. Just pick your style and stick to it. My style is… badass ballet as you called it." Peni giggled at Gwen moving her arms around like a ballerina when saying that. "Cuz I like to move around and feel free. And the way I see it, your style would be… something along the lines of precision and focus; you don't play around when it comes to being accurate."

"Hehe. I like the sound of that."

"I thought you would. So, Peter might say the robot is making it easier for you, but you are used to using it like we are with our web slingers. Even though he said you had an advantage, I bet he'd do so much worse in that robot."

"Well, he better get his own. I'm not giving him the privilege of trying mine. But, would you like to try it?"

Gwen turned to her, surprised. "Are you for real?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Huh. I mean, that's your dad's robot, so it's super precious to you, isn't it?"

"It is, but you took good care of my console, so I know you'll take extra good care of my robot. Besides, I really do want you to try it."

"Wow. Sure, I'll give it a go. But don't expect me to do a good job at it."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be expecting the very worst from you—like way worse than your 35% score."

"We'll see who's laughing when I manage to hit more targets than you did with my web slingers," Gwen said with a smirk, but then had second thoughts after saying that, feeling it might've been too soon.

But she was relieved when Peni wholeheartedly giggled. "You're on, Spider-Woman."

They then heard the voice of the last person they wanted here. "Hey, girls."

It was Peter. He was accompanied by Benjamin and Miles, and while Peni was happy to see those two, she couldn't say the same for Peter. "Hey," she said indifferently.

"The river looks nice, doesn't it?" After getting the silent treatment from the little girl as well as a disapproving look from Gwen, the man sighed and got to the point. "…I'm sorry, okay? I admit I was a jerk back there. If it helps, I was a jerk to Miles at first too. He'll tell you."

The boy crossed his arms and nodded with confidence. "Oh, yeah. He was a real asshole."

Peter turned to the boy. "Don't push it. Besides, I remember you almost killed me that time, and then kidnapped and interrogated me. And you called me fat, which was honestly the most painful out of all those things. So, in my defence, I did have some right to be an 'asshole' back there."

"Well, Miles was right," Peni remarked, "You are fat."

The others chuckled while Peter tried to laugh off the burn. "Okay, I deserved that. My point is, I didn't have a right this time to be that way to you. If what you did was working, then that's fine. I shouldn't have pressured you into doing it our way, especially when you can barely get up on your own. I guess I got competitive… and a little jealous. I mean, having a robot like that is pretty damn cool."

For once, Peni gave the man a hopeful look. "So, you don't think me using the robot was just… cute, like you said earlier?"

"I took that back. I realised with a robot like that, it must take a lot of maintenance and practice controlling. And I didn't see how you work behind the scenes, so I shouldn't have assumed you didn't work much."

"You should stop by our room sometime," Gwen advised, "See how much she works her ass off."

"Yeah, I plan on doing that. So, are we good?"

Peni gave an honest smile. "Yeah."

"You did great with the web slingers," Miles said, "You're as good as I was when I started."

Benjamin gave his praise. "Yeah, you were terrific, and you managed it with your injury. We're proud of you, kid."

Peter nodded. "Yep. Not bad for your first time."

"Thanks, guys," she said, feeling even prouder of herself.

She turned to Gwen, who smirked as if telling her "Told ya you didn't disappoint."

The man changed the subject. "By the way, Gwen, you're the only one who hasn't had your turn yet."

The taller girl sighed in reluctance. "Do I have to?"

Peni tried encouraging her. "Come on. I wanna see you try and beat Peter."

"Do you really expect me to get anywhere close to his score?"

Peni responded with a grin. "Not at all!"

"Gee, thanks for having faith in me," she replied jokingly, "Fine, let's get it over with."

After burying the hatchet, everybody followed the lake back to the training grounds. They watched Gwen do her bit, which was just as enchanting as her earlier performance, though she seemed more worn out. She ended up hitting 37% within the minute.

"I obviously didn't beat Peter," she said, plopping beside Peni on the bench and breathing heavily from that exercise.

"No, but you looked better than him. That's a win in my book."

"Heh, thanks." After her breathing slowed down, Gwen noticed Peni focused on her tablet, and scooted closer to get a better look. "Whatcha doing on that thing?"

Peni gave a better view of the screen. "Oh, just making a record of today's results." The leader board read:

1. Peter (79%)

2. Peni with her robot (51%)

3. Gwen (37%)

4. Benjamin (30%)

5. Porker (26%)

6. Miles (18%)

7. Peni with web slingers (2%)

The lines involving Peni and Gwen had hyperlinks to their respective performances that were recorded on the console. "So, you're okay with keeping that?" the taller girl asked.

"Like you said earlier: it's my first time, so it had to be done. I'm feeling better about it now anyways."

"Good to know. …Hey, can I ask you something?"

Peni gave her full attention. "What's up?"

Gwen rubbed behind her neck. "When you got offended by Peter using the word cute… Did I ever make you feel that way when I used it on you?"

She was quick to reassure her. "No. …I like it if it comes from you. I know you don't mean it in a condescending way."

"Of course I don't. I mean it as in… you know…" Gwen broke eye contact. "…attractive."

"…I know," Peni beamed with a blush. "You're cute too."

"You think so?" Gwen smiled back, getting rosy herself.

"Yeah. I like your freckles; that small gap between your teeth—"

"Oh! Uh… You think the gap is… cute?"

"Yeah?"

"…When I was younger, I used to get made fun of because of it. It's kind of an insecurity…"

"Oh… Well, I wouldn't change it. It looks great on you," she said sincerely, hoping to end the insecurity for good. To her pleasure, she saw Gwen smile more broadly, even grinning and showing off more of that gap. She started playing with her longer hair. Cute… Peni took the opportunity to snap a photo, surprising the other.

When Gwen was shown the photo, she understood what Peni meant. She looked really happy in the photo, and she looked really good. The gap really did suit her. "…I love it."

"It makes an awesome profile picture. I'll send it to your phone."

"That would be awesome."

"I also noticed you play with your hair sometimes when you're really happy. That's also cute."

Gwen realised she was playing with it in the photo and let out a chuckle. As she continued looking at the photo, her focus went to a grid of small thumbnails at the side of the screen, and noticed one of them being an image of her that she didn't recognise. Tapping on it, it expanded and was revealed to be the photo of her sleeping earlier this morning. It looked like it was from Peni's point of view. "You took this?"

"Hehe, yeah…" Peni admitted, blushing harder. "You, uh, you looked really cute and peaceful. I wanted a picture of it."

Gwen got redder, feeling admired. It also made her feel… warm. "Hey… Wanna take a picture together?"

"Yes!"

Wrapping an arm around Peni, Gwen held the console at a distance and took the photo of them genuinely smiling, with the view of the lake.

Peni took the console in her hands and admired the fresh photo. "Yay, our first selfie!"

The girl was in a much better mood compared to earlier, and Gwen was happy seeing her cheerful again. But then she saw Peni yawning before placing the console aside and then resting her head on her shoulder. Gwen asked, "You know, it's not long till we go back to the house. If you want, we can go back to the bed now, in case you find that more comfortable."

"Hmm." Peni weighed her two choices: go to the bed where she can only hold Gwen's hand; or stay on this less comfortable bench but be able to rest against the girl while having Gwen's arm around her. "…I wanna stay. What about you?"

The taller girl weighed her two similar choices. "I'm good here."

Peni nestled up, shifting closer until even her slender hip and leg were pressed against Gwen's. Like earlier, the taller girl's suit was moist from sweat, but Peni didn't mind. And even if she did, the comfort of this closeness was too good to pass up. It was why she was looking forward to her waist healing up soon.

As Gwen continued having an arm around Peni while the latter slept against her, she realised she was tired as well; doing that intense target practice twice took a lot out of her. After resting her head on Peni's, her nose was met with the natural scent of unwashed hair. Despite the smaller girl not being able to shower, she still didn't smell bad at all. Gwen actually found her scent comforting. That and feeling the girl's body was a pretty powerful combo, as Gwen fell into slumber, feeling glad they picked this over being in bed.

During the evening, Gwen was chilling on the bed and browsing the web on her smartphone, until she was startled by the squeak of the girl beside her. "What's wrong?"

Peni was on her console, and she was beet red. But she was also grinning. "Looks like somebody used my console while we were sleeping." She showed the screen, and Gwen saw a photo of them two sleeping (and cuddling) on the bench. Gwen had an arm around Peni's shoulder, and another around her head, holding the girl close to her shoulder while resting on her head; Peni had her arms around Gwen's waist. Looking at the photo, Gwen got just as red, but she smiled too. They didn't know who took the picture, but they were glad. The girls loved the photo.

Peni thought it would make a lovely wallpaper or screensaver, and then swiped to a new photo that was taken shortly after. It was the same one where they were sleeping on the bench, but Peter was seen holding the camera like he was taking a selfie, and grinning. Miles was standing behind the girls on the bench, making a silly face while holding peace signs behind their heads. That had the girls laughing.

"Hey…" Gwen asked, "Could you send these photos to my phone too?"

Peni beamed. "Consider it done."