Spideychelle one-shots

Dear Journal (Pt. 6)

Most of it was theoretical, of course, as they didn't have access to things like nuclear waste and billion dollar facilities. 

But MJ had pushed for one thing - one superhero she wanted to focus on.

Spiderman. 

Peter had seemed nervous. Unsure. And MJ couldn't blame him - this was a hard project, and they were attempting to invent things that had literally only been created by geniuses. Of course, their main focus was the spider-silk - could they replicate it? From footage of battles it was plain to see that Spiderman had. Originally, there appeared to have been some crude versions of the ones incorporated into the suit by Tony Stark. So they knew that it was purely made, not biological. 

Peter had, by miracle or coincidence, managed to pull it off. He had made a substance - a primitive version of Spiderman's spider-silk - that, while MJ wouldn't trust her life to it, was truly impressive. 

MJ had begun work on the web shooters, and had come up with a rough base that Peter had helped her refine. Then, she'd moved into production: she knew that one of the most important parts of the project was presentation. 

They had to wow the judges. Confidence to the max and the graphs, pictures, holograms and tech prototypes to back that. It had to look pretty. It had to look like something out of a superhero movie. (It was something out of a superhero movie.)

Which was why MJ was busy hand-lettering a title board with their project name, while Peter glued poster board backed squares of paper to their project board. 

"I feel like we're missing something," MJ said, more to herself than anything else. "We've got the spider-silk, I've written out a complete analysis of it's properties, uses and origins, I've compared it to real spider's silk, we have the web-shooters set up... I've written and rewritten our essay, and you've proof read it - Do you think - "

" - MJ," Peter interrupted, an exasperated but fond look on his face. "It's fine. We've gone over this hundreds of times. Our project is as close to perfect as it's ever gonna be."

"I guess..." MJ said, still not convinced. "We have gone over the checklist, right? Because we should at least once before we do it the final time."

"We've gone over the checklist AT LEAST three times," Peter said. "Come on, MJ, a guy has to sleep sometimes. I think my bed's forgotten that I exist."

Her eyes met his, and suddenly MJ was trying very hard not to think about Peter in his bed, sleeping... His hair would probably go all curly, and she would bet that he snored. But in a soft, cute way.

Blushing a little, she shook her head. Where had those thoughts come from? She didn't - she couldn't  - like Peter. He was Peter. 

She was just tired. She didn't actually... well. 

"Yeah," MJ found herself saying. "Sleep does sound like a good idea."

Judging by Peter's face, he was just as surprised as she was. MJ wasn't exactly known for taking breaks, at least not when she was into a project. She tended to get a little... obsessive. 

But she was clearly very, very, overtired if she was having those sorts of thoughts about Peter. 

Better to get a good nights' sleep and start again in the morning. 

The morning of the science fair dawned rainy and gray, as MJ (up at a truly ungodly hour) stood with the throng of nervous students waiting for the bus that would take them to the convention centre that hosted the State-Wide Science Fair every year. 

MJ tapped her foot nervously. Everything they'd done... Months of work and all that stress (not to mention money) riding on this moment... It was almost to much to handle.