After I told them the story, Black Widow complimented my bravery while Spidey just looked away sadly. I don't understand why he was upset, maybe because I didn't talk about the shit show that was the first time we fought together. I'm not sure. Either way he seemed deep in thought after my story and it was kinda concerning. As I focused on my partner, silence fell in the kitchen. It lingered for a bit until Blakc Widow stood and put her mug in the sink before saying a quick goodbye. I waved to her then began to clean up both mine and Spidey's dishes. When I finished he was still sitting there staring at the counter.
"Hey." I said gently as I walked to him "You ok?"
He flinched when my hand touched him but eventually made eye contact with me "Yeah, yeah." he replied sounding unsure of himself "I guess I just, I didn't realise how close you and Jaret were. No wonder you miss him so much."
I sighed and leaned against the counter before replying "Yeah, we shared everything with each other. After he died all I did was patrol, I didn't go to school or band until a full week passed. Honestly the only person i felt like i could talk to during that whole time was...you." Spidey visably shook when the last word past my lips causing me to become nervous and try to lighten the mood "Honestly I was so bummed out that i blocked out most of my feelings, Its kinda stupid but i even forgot that I had a crush on someone." I giggled to myself then glanced at him so see if he cracked a smile yet. Not quite. "You know, I didn't remember it til I saw you. You look alot like him, you guys act the same too. Except you're a bit less skittish."
"I-i look like the guy you have a crush on?" Spidey stuttered out causing me to laugh a little.
"Yeah, but brown hair and brown eyes make up most of the human population." I replied then nudged him "Damn you and your dominant genetics, getting my hopes up that I might know you."
That made him laugh a little. I smiled back then once again there was silence. This time a comfortable kind. Glancing over to him, I scanned his body up and down until I noticed some bruises on his arm. Without saying a word I reached out and began to heal it. Spidey glanced at me for a second before nodding. It was nice that he no longer questioned when I went to help him. After the bruises were healed he mumbled a thanks then stood and stretched. Then I got an Idea.
"Hey Spidey~." i started in a singing tone "Could i maybe play with your web shooters?"
The boy laughed and pushed me away with my face "nope." He then started walking to his bed room and I chased after him complaining.
"But why not!" I shouted at him as I got close enough to grab his arm "Pretty please."
Spidey stood in thought for a minute before turning and moving back to his room while saying no again. That didn't stop me. I kept begging Please over and over again. Even after he went into his room I stood outside banging on the door saying please. I could hear my partner laughing on the other side of the door so I continued with more power. Eventually Though my hand started to hurt so I had to think of a different idea.
"I'll teach you how to toss my flag!" I shouted at the door then after a moment I got a response.
"Are you being serious?" he asked then flung the door open "Because I could seriously show you up. I have a friend on the flag team and she taught me some cool tricks."
I raised an eyebrow at him and smirked "Oh so you think I'm better than me?"
"I definitely am." the boy said cockily while stepping closer to me. "Meet in the first floor gym in ten minutes and I'll prove it."
"Oh Imma kick you ass." I said with a smile before turning to go to my room and change.
Once in my room I quickly stripped out of what I was wearing and put on a pair of black leggings I had found along with a sports bra. Digging around I tried to find a loose fitting T-shirt but whoever got my clothes bought mostly small shirts when I actually wear a medium. Oh well I'll just ask Spidey for one of his. With a shrug I tied on my mask then walked out the door while throwing my hair into a high ponytail. Once it was up I knocked on the door for a second before putting a hand over my eyes and opening the door.
"I'm coming in!" I announced as I pushed the door only to hear scrambling.
"Night!" I heard him object "Oh my god your in just your bra!"
I laughed at him then moved my hand to cross my arms making sure that my eyes were still fully shut "Yeah about that, Tony bought me the wrong size shirts can i borrow one of yours?"
"Um ok yeah one sec, I'll get my mask on." My partner said then it sounded like he tripped over something. After waiting a minute I heard him clear his throat "Ok mask on, now you need a shirt?"
I fluttered my eyes open while speaking only for them to widen at what I saw. "Yeah mine are too small-- oh my god you're in your underwear!" I felt my face heat up red as I looked at the boy who was surprisingly unfazed by the whole situation.
"Here." he said, holding out a black star wars shirt out to me.
As I grabbed it I couldn't help but stare at him. You know how sometimes you know something but you've never really seen it so you're super fascinated once you finally get to look at it? Well Spidey's muscles go under that category of things for me. Like i knew he was strong and more than likely visibly muscular, but had i seen it before? Not not until this moment. Probably didn't help that he was standing in his underwear as well. He couldn't judge me however. I could feel his gaze that was locked on my neon blue sports bra. After a moment of us just starring at each other I turned my back to him and slipped on the shirt which was almost my size honestly.
"Welp now that this moment is over....FRIDAY!" i shouted refusing to turn around as i heard Spidey in the background getting some clothes out of draws and throwing them on
"Yes Miss." the AI said in reply
"The gym. Are there flags there, like for color guard?" I asked anxiously.
"Yes Miss." FRIDAY replied "Mr.Stark knew of your hobby and has provided a large collection of Color Guard flags, with a variety of silk patterns, along with wooden sabers and raffles for your use. They are stored in the first floor gym. The second closet on the right wall."
I hummed in approval then looked over my shoulder to a now fully clothed teenaged boy with a smile "Come on, Apparently everything we need is downstairs." I then started to walk backwards out of his room until I was holding on to his bedroom door. With a smirk I gripped it tight then spoke up when Spidey looked at me confused "Race ya." I exclaimed before slamming the door and sprinting down the hall.
I ran out through the living room and to the elevator. Once I was inside I pressed the button and waved as I saw Spidey sprinting across the room after me. The doors shut before he could reach me, giving me the lead. I rode down the elevator pumping myself up to sprint again. As soon as the doors opened that's just what I did. I ran full speed past the font desk and into a different corridor framed with windows. Turning my head to the side as I ran I saw Spidey outside swinging with his webs towards the gym. When he caught my gaze he swung towards a push door in front of me.
He managed to open the door with his feet and land in the hall ahead of me before taking oft. I tried to pick up my pace as we neared the gym, but I knew there was no way to get there before him. Since he cheated by using his webs I decided that I was allowed to cheat with my magic. So when Spidey was a foot from the door I lifted both of my hands and stopped him in his tracks. Once he was still I stopped running and walked with my hand out holding my partner in place as I slowly moved past him into the gym. Once I was in the door and shut it I dropped my magic and accidently, ok purposely, made the boy face plant.
I giggled as he stood and looked at me with an angry expression. Panic filled my features as I saw him. Spidey roughly opened the door and slowly backed me into the corner. We were both panting hard from our little race, but that didn't make him any less threatening. Eventually my back hit the cool glass of a window and I looked up to see two big brown eyes. Nervously I laughed and tried to move away from him but he pinned my shoulders to the wall.
"You're such a cheater." The boy said trying to sound angry, but I could hear laughter under his tone.
I couldn't help but laugh at him a little bit "So are you Bug boy." I replied "Now let me go so you can show me what skills you have with a flag."
Spidey laughed and let me go so i could go into the closet FRIDAY said the flags were in so i could get two flags out. The one I chose for me had a sunset patterned silk while the one I had for Spidey was an alternating gradient of red and blue. Once I grabbed them I turned my head to the side and saw some guard gloves. Quickly I found a pair of black size smalls as well as a size large for Spidey. When I was back in the main gym I dropped the flags and put the gloves for Spidey in my mouth as I slipped mine on and tightened the velcro strap around my wrists. I then walked over to my partner and grabbed his hands. Without looking up I slipped the padded fingerless gloves onto his hands and tightened them.
"Do those feel ok?" I asked as I pressed the padding to make sure it was laying correctly.
The boy bent his fingers and tugged on the bottoms of the gloves before nodding. I smiled to him then handed him the red and blue flag. Carefully i unrolled my sunset flag and prepped for a flat toss. I did it quick and caught strong before going into some parade flutters. Ending with a hand flip I shot a smirk over to spidey who was watching me closely. He then laughed and unrolled his flag. He started slow but did some drop spins, along with some large flutters. Finally he did a stopper toss. The toss itself looked really good but his catch was a little rough. Regardless i had to admit he did better than i expected so i clapped for him.
"Pretty good." I complimented "Where did you learn the basics of flag twirling."
Spidey laughed as he walked up to me with the flag in hand "I have this friend who is in the marching band at school. She was messing around with her flag in gym class and i asked to join." As i explained my face fell slightly. This story sounded familiar to me "Anyways she agreed to come over after school to teach me some more, and we messed around on the roof of my apartment complex until she had to go home."
Suddenly a memory came flooding back of me and Peter Parker. It was after Chemistry one day, my smile never left my face as I put my backpack into my locker and headed to the gym. After changing into my uniform for the class I went to the storage room and pulled out my flag bag. Once I had it I went to a back corner to make sure I didn't hit anyone by accident. I then pulled out my weapon flag and helped it with a smile for a minute. I missed using it for guard practice, the extra weight made things just slightly harder and helped me improve a lot regarding my power. Now thanks to my newly formed muscles that i woke up with the flag seemed to be weighed just like a normal one.
Looking up to check the ceiling to make sure I was at a place still under the higher section I smiled. Quickly I unwrapped my flag and positioned myself. Feet shoulder length apart, silk down, right hand on the tab, left hand on first tape. With a deep breath I looked up one more time then counted it off in my head. 5,6,7,8... on one i filled my flag with power, careful to make sure that my hands were still even. With my eyes locked on the tab I counted the spins. One, Two, Three. With a large smile I caught my flag strong causing a slight tint from my ring snapping on the metal of the pole. I did it. I tossed a triple. I've never managed that before! Thank you, new magic muscles! I prepped again and tossed the flag, but right as i realised i got startled by someone saying my name causing the flag to go forward a little. Before replying to the person I ran forward pushing them back slightly before catching them sloppily with one hand.
"Sorry about that." I mumbled as I rested my flag in my hand before looking up to see a startled yet impressed Peter "Oh hey."
"That was cool." Peter said in reply pointing upwards clearing talking about my toss.
I bit my lip as my cheeks began to heat up and looked down a little. Part of me could feel my crush on Peter growing as he complimented my toss. I didn't even know anyone was watching me. Eventually I looked up and smiled at him and said a thank you. Then the boy said something that caught my attention.
"I wish i could do something that cool." he mumbled.
I smiled at him before handing my flag off to him then went to my flag back and grabbed my other flag. This flag was lighter and better for show work and beginners. Unlike the one Peter was currently holding the silk was decorative and colorful. It had a navy blue base with gold accents decorating it, making it the school colors. Once I had it out and unrolled I walked back over to Peter and switched flags with him. The boy looked very confused as to what I was planning and it made me giggle.
"Well..." i started and looked at Peter hopefully "I could teach you if your interested, I mean it's a lot of fun, and i've taught Jaret a little bit before so i kinda know what I'm doing"
Peter laughed this time then nodded "sure why not."
"Night you good?" Spidey asked, snapping me from my thoughts and I nodded.
"Yeah I'm all good." I said with a smile then i had an idea "Hey wanna learn a full routine? It'll be fun and I can teach you any of the tricks you don't know yet that are needed."
"Let's do it!" the boy cheered
I smiled then looked around us and said "I have just the song." Quickly I pulled out my phone and went to my files to find this year's marching music. "In honor of us, and our basically promotions in the superhero world, what better than the theme music written for the avengers?" A smile came to my partner's cheeks and he nodded at the idea "Plus I wrote the choreo for this song for the halftime show so i don't feel bad teaching it to you. You ready hot stuff?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." the boy responded before standing ready.
"Ok it starts with cones." I told him and he nodded.