Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

006. code fury

Little did Trystan know that Raleigh hadn't even used it. "Sure. It's also a good thing you told Mr. Harrington that I get homesick and should be roomed with Peter and Ned, yeah?"

"Raleigh—" He tried to defend himself, but Raleigh didn't let him.

"I told you—I've been telling you—that I don't want to bother Peter about this! And now it's like you're trying to force me to do it." Maybe he was being a tad dramatic, they were just sharing a room, but the thought of a situation coming up where he would have to tell Peter everything... it was a legitimate fear. He doesn't want to put all that on him and he can't—he can't talk about it.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. Think of it as a light nudge. I just think it'll help you if you finally open up about everything because it's not healthy keeping all this to yourself." Trystan explained, his voice rising in some sort of fatherly panic. "You won't talk to me or someone certified, so you need to at least talk to Peter. He'll understand."

Raleigh knew where Trystan was coming from. The man was protective of Raleigh and cared about him just as much as Raleigh was with his friends and family. They both would do anything for one another, but this was something Raleigh physically and mentally couldn't bring himself to do for Trystan. He didn't know how to.

There were a few agonizing seconds of silence before Raleigh decided to end the conversation. "Look, I'll call you back if anything changes. Bye."

He could faintly hear Trystan calling for him to wait as he pulled the phone away from his ear, but he ignored it and ended the call. Dropping his arm dramatically, he lightly knocked his forehead against the wall a couple of times, until he finally decided to put away his phone and rejoin the group. He passed by Peter, who was still by the payphones talking to his aunt, before stopping beside the stairs where MJ sat silently and Jaron exasperated talked to his families on his cellphone. He caught a small snippet from Jaron about how he had already called his parents and his sister, Layla, and could only assume he was now speaking with the couple that adopted him after the initial snap. 

He leaned against the railing on the stairs and watched the news, where they continued to replay the same few clips of the water monster and the new hero. An Italian woman talked quickly over it.

"Who is that guy?" Betty asked as they focused on the green-smoked hero. That was a question Raleigh had.

"He's like Iron-Man and Thor rolled into one." Brad described.

"He's all right." Flash scoffs unimpressed. "He's no Spider-Man or Aureate."

Raleigh raised a brow at the Midtown Tech bully. Everyone knew Flash Thomson had a fascination with the two New York heroes, which started after the two of them stole his father's car from the Homecoming dance, and grew among the years; and even if it was supposed to be flattering to Raleigh, it was just mostly weird. 

Ever since they made news back when they took down Adrian Toomes and his business, Aureate and Spider-Man became more known—but it was the Blip and Tony's death that skyrocketed their popularity. Now, because of it, all of his peers talked about not only Spider-Man now, but also Aureate. It was especially weird when it came from someone who liked to make fun of both Peter and Raleigh, not knowing they were the people he looked up to.

MJ also noticed the way Flash continuously praised Spider-Man and Aureate. "What is it with you and Spider-Man and Aureate?"

"What? They're just awesome, okay?" Flash noted. "They protect the neighborhood and city, and you know, they're inspiring. They inspire me to be a better man."