ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ (peter parker x oc) (g x g)

fourteen

Two hours later, I lay on the hospital bed, unable to sleep. Surely Loki would be fine, I told myself. It wasn't his first time being locked up by the Avengers, after all.

I sighed, slipping out from under the bedsheets. Nevertheless, he had given up his life's work to keep me safe. I owed him a visit at the very least.

Padding barefoot on the hospital floor, I only made it right outside my room before a sturdy arm stuck out and splayed firmly across my abdomen, preventing me from going any further. Without even bothering to check who it was, I grabbed the limb and twisted it to the side then slamming it forward to strike them across the face with their own hand.

They grunted, pulling their arm from my grasp harshly. "Not cool," The voice whined, rubbing their cheek.

It was one of the newbie guards my father had hired recently. Mainly their job was to keep watch over the main gates and keep tabs on the security cameras so it was a mystery why one of them was perched outside my door.

"Sorry," I muttered. This particularly guard was young, only a couple of years older than me, his face rather round and youthful, his rosy cheeks only accentuating this. "For the future, don't stick out your hand in front of someone out of the dark."

"Noted," He mumbled, now swinging his arm back and forth to make sure it wasn't injured.

"Who are you?"

"Benny."

"And what the hell do you think you're doing, Benny?"

"Mr. Stark told me to keep and eye on you for the night. Said you might 'want to visit that greasy leech or whatever.'"

I scoffed. "Do you mind telling me how many guards are outside the elevator waiting for me."

"...seven."

Fighting them wasn't the issue. But they assumably all had walkie-talkies. There was no way one of them wouldn't blow the whistle and go running to my dad.

I huffed, turning to walk back into my room but a dull light caught my eye. Tabia's door had been left open a crack. I tilted my head. She was awake too.

I gave Benny a threatening look before making my way to her room, poking my head between the gap. "Lights were supposed to be out at 10," I scolded teasingly.

Tabia was laying on her bed, holding up her crystal necklace and fiddling with its pieces. She tilted her head slightly to look up at me.

"Very funny," She smiled, sitting up. I approached her slowly, seating myself hesitantly beside her.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I asked, watching the centre blue and green crystals roll in her fingers.

"Not really," Tabia replied. "I kept trying to imagine ways to save Wakanda but.. science isn't exactly my forte."

"We'll find something," I said quietly.
"I know," She said. "But.. knowing an international organisation that even Captain America couldn't beat is after your country isn't exactly comforting."

"And knowing they threatened one of my best friends with me as leverage doesn't exactly put me to sleep."

Tabia chuckled darkly. "Well aren't we just the cheeriest pair?"

There was a silence for a moment as we both gazed at the necklace, reflecting the dim light of the hospital room. "It's pretty," I offered.

"My mum gave it to me just before I left Wakanda, before the virus. It's passed down from princess to princess," Tabia said, handing me the jewellery. I cupped it delicately in my palm.

"The blue.." Tabia said, brushing her finger over the blue crystal, "Represents beauty, strength, power and compassion. While the green.." She did the same for the sage gem. "Symbolises humour, wit, charm and love. It is said that each stone expresses one of a pair, and when they find each other, soulmates are created."

I blinked. "Huh?"

Tabia laughed. "I don't fully understand it either," She admitted. "But my mother is not the kind you ask questions."

I smiled, facing her.

She was so heartbreakingly beautiful, I realised in that moment. Each curve in her features was also rather sharp; her nose rounded but prominent, lips pouty but jutting. Except for her eyes. Large, doe brown orbs that carried slight bags beneath them carried nothing but curiosity and warmth.

I cleared my throat loudly, coming in terms to the fact I had been gawking for a full ten seconds. "I better get some rest," I pressed the necklace back into her hands. "You should too." And with that, I ran from the room, cheeks flushing scarlet.