Peter and Daphne are walking out of Central Park when his phone rings. The melody is cheery and soft. It's cute. Daphne thinks.
"Ah, that's May," Peter says as he fumbles to get into his pocket to grab his phone. He looks at it and then at Daphne. She raises an eyebrow as the tune carries on.
"Go on, pick up already!" Daphne encourages him and he slides his finger on the screen to answer the call.
"Hi, May!" Daphne looks at Peter as May explains something to him. His expression drops. "Can't it wait? I promised Daphne I-" May seems to interrupt Peter and Daphne looks at him questioningly. Peter pushes his hand through his hair and turns to Daphne. He seems reluctant. He covers the phone with his free hand and sighs.
"What's up?" Daphne asks worried.
"May needs me at the homeless center." Daphne cocks her head, urging him to explain further. "The TV broke and there's a game on tonight." His face scrunches up and Daphne laughs.
"It's okay, Pete. I'll wait for the call with my dad." The corner of Daphne's mouth curls up. After all the hours he's spent on her the past few days, she couldn't imagine asking him to ignore his aunt now.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" She puts two thumbs up and smiles brightly, trying to hide her nerves about the phone call. Peter chuckles, noticing Daphne's off behavior. Her face is too expressive to conceal what she's going through.
"Really?" Daphne groans and grabs his hand that's holding the phone. She brings it to her ear.
"Hello?" She says. Peter wants to pull back his hand, but Daphne's glare stops him.
"Hi, who is this?" a kind voice says on the other side. Daphne gently holds on to Peter's hand. They're standing quite close to each other.
"Hey, it's Daphne! Sorry for taking up so much of Peter's time!"
"Oh, Daphne! Don't worry about it, he tends to spend a lot of time on what he likes- or who, I should say in this case!" Daphne chuckles and glances at Peter mischievously. Peter is trying his best to not let Daphne know he can actually hear every word his aunt is saying to her. Which means he has to try and contain the blood rushing to his cheeks.
"I, eh, just stole his phone to let you know that he's on his way."
"Great! Thank you, Daph!" Daphne smiles to herself. May is definitely the cool aunt. "Oh, by the way, feel free to come join us for dinner on Saturday!" May's directness makes Daphne laugh. She remembers Peter's text about her cooking, but she wouldn't mind learning about her skills – or lack thereof – herself. She'd love to meet May and she'd finally get to see Peter's house. And his room.
"Ah, thanks! I'll be there!" Daphne says joyfully. "I'm gonna hand the phone back to Peter now!"
"Alright, see ya Saturday!"
"Bye!" Daphne lets go of the phone and crosses her arms, shooting Peter a cocky glance. Peter presses his lips on top of each other and brings the phone back to his ear.
Peter finishes the call and puts his phone away with a deep sigh. He frowns at the ground, hiding his hands in his pockets.
"Guess I gotta go, then..."
"It's okay, Pete, really." She steps towards him and holds his face with both her hands, making him look up at her. Her thumb ghosts over his cheek and he leans into her touch. "Your aunt needs your help, go be a hero and save the day!" Peter chuckles at the unintended irony and takes out one hand out of his pocket. He caresses her hair, getting his fingers stuck in the knots that formed in the back because of her messy bun.
"Alright," he sighs. His hand goes down her arm until he can grab hold of her hand. "You'll call me when you find out, right?" Daphne snorts.
"Duh!" She takes a step back and lets go of him. She smiles wide and shoos him. "Now go!" Peter laughs and he turns to walk to the nearest subway station. He walks down the stairs and looks back one more time. She still stands there with the same smile on her face and shoos him again. He jumps down a stair to get a last little bit of height to see her, before he's too far down.
...
Ten o'clock. Spider-Man thwips through the streets of New York. He finished at May's homeless center quite early, but an armed robbery got in the way of him getting to Daphne before she'd get the phone call. It bothers him to the max, but he knows the robbery had priority. He can't not be Spider-Man, as he said before. He's swinging as fast as he can to get to where she lives. When he reaches his destination, he lands on top of the building next to hers. Its roof is on about the same height as her room window is, but he was supposed to get changed into his normal clothes first. Daphne, however, had already spotted Spider-Man. She quickly opens the window and leans on the window pane.
"Back again?" She asks. There's a big grin on her face and Peter smiles to himself. That's not the attitude of someone who just got bad news. He corrects his posture and walks to the edge of the roof.
"They're talking about you at Avengers Tower." He takes a step off the building, but instead of falling he keeps his feet sticking to the walls. He's now standing up straight, but horizontally, and he has to tilt his head up to look at Daphne. She chuckles. He looks ridiculous like that. Suddenly the weight of what he said dawns on her.
"Wait, what?"
"I didn't catch much," he says as he holds his hands up in defense. "Just that you were getting some big news today. Was in the area and I am, uh... Very curious by nature. So, I figured come by and ask." Daphne shakes her head. News travels fast, apparently.
"Wanna come in?" Daphne asks.
"Second time you asked me to come into your room." Spider-Man cocks his head. "Is this gonna be a habit?"
"It's not you, it's the fucking cold, man." She opens the window a little further for him and steps aside. "Now get in, or I'm closing it."
"Comin', comin'," he says quickly. He swiftly jumps from the other building onto the fire escape and makes his way inside.
That's when Daphne spots it.
"You're bleeding!"
"Wha-?" Spider-Man looks down at his waist, where the suit seems to be a little redder than it should be. "Ah, man, the robbery." He says it like his mom won't take him to Mac Donalds.
"Robbery?"
"Yeah, standard stuff, really. Armed robbery. Must've gotten scraped by a bullet."
"And you didn't feel it??" Daphne panics and runs into her bathroom to grab a small med kit.
"Adrenaline," Spider-Man says quickly. Now that he's seen the spot, he's feeling it too. "You get a ton of that when people point guns at you."
"Shit, man," Daphne puffs as she guides him to the floor and opens the little box.
She grabs the disinfectant, but realizes there's something in the way of her actually treating the wound. She stares at his waist and then up at him. His lenses tighten a little more closed for a second before they shoot wide open and he scrambles to sit upright.
"I'm not taking off the suit."
"Well, fuck, Spidey, you're bleeding." Daphne clenches her jaws to keep down her voice, cause her father's in the living room watching TV. Luckily, he always puts the volume up high.
"Not anymore!"
"How would you know, you're wearing a suit!"
"I have super healing, ya know?"
"Sure, mister hero," Daphne scoffs as she sits back. She crosses her arms and cocks her head at him.
"For real, though," he tries, but it's not convincing her. He groans. "Karen, activate incognito mode and tell my vitals on speaker."
"Wha-" Daphne gets interrupted by a female computer voice echoing through her room.
"Spider-Man's vitals indicate minor blood loss from a bullet wound to the side and a light contusion in his right radial bone."
"How bad's the blood loss?" Spider-Man asks.
"The wound has already started the healing process. The bleeding ceased eight minutes and twenty-four seconds ago." Spider-Man cocks his head at Daphne and shrugs contently, knowing he was right. Daphne just stares at him, unsure if she's shocked or amazed.
"You really heal that fast?" she mutters.
"It only heals like this if I let it."
"The hell does that mean?" Daphne frowns and shuts the med kit, embarrassed by her attempt to fix someone who obviously doesn't need her help.
"If I get hit on the field, it doesn't heal immediately. I need time and space to speed up the process."
"So, you can heal yourself consciously?"
"Only wounds like these." He points at his waist. "But it's exhausting." He then raises his right arm and looks at it. "This one will heal overnight."
"That's really cool, ya know that?" Daphne can hear Spider-Man scoff softly under his mask. Or was it a chuckle? The urge to rip that stupid mask off his head rises again.
"It's handy," he says simply. "Can't fight crime if you're constantly broken." Daphne shakes her head, but looks back up at Spider-Man soon after.
A hint of wonder sparkles in her eyes.
"How did you..." She gestures at him, unsure of how to end her sentence.
"It's a lame story," Spider-Man says. He must get the question of how he got all those Spider-Powers all the time. "And also one I never really shared, cause y'know... Mad scientists like to attempt to create people like me. Any new angle gives them more reasons to do bad things."
"Do I look like a mad scientist to you?" She raises her eyebrows and puts her hands on her hips. Spider-Man shakes his head.
"A radioactive spider bit me. That's all you're getting."
"Woah! That's so cool!" Daphne leans forward. She pouts her lips, choosing what to ask next. "How much can you lift?" Spider-Man seems taken aback by the question.
"I've never really tested it, cause the adrenaline can make me lift more than I would normally be able to..." His sentence trails off and he looks away. Thinking. "Karen, what's the heaviest I've ever lifted?" The robotic voice comes from his mask once again.
"Unfortunately, I do not keep track of the weight of all the things you carry. Based on earlier tests and the logs we've been keeping; I estimate your current capacity at about twenty-five tons." Spider-Man turns his head back to Daphne, who stares at him wide-eyed. 25 tons
"There you have it."
"That's fucking nuts," Daphne gasps. "Do you have super speed too?" Spider-Man laughs.
"No, no super speed." He scratches his head. The floor is slowly starting to become uncomfortable under his butt. "I do have a tingle." He could hit himself in the head for saying it like that. Daphne chuckles.
"A tingle?"
"A sixth sense, kind of thing." Daphne frowns at him.
"Explain."
"It's like an instinct? It's what keeps me from actually getting hit by bullets. It lets me know when something dangerous is close. Could be a knife before it gets put on my throat or even just the vibes a person radiates." Daphne nods slowly.
"That's... Actually super cool." It's quiet for a short while. Neither of them really know what to say next. Spider-Man breaks the silence.
"So, eh... What about the big news you were going to get?"
"Oh!" Daphne claps. "Long story short I did the enrollment tests for Midtown Tech and well... I'm starting tomorrow!" Peter can't contain himself and shoots upright.
"Really? That's amazing!" He wants to hug her, but knows Spider-Man wouldn't do that.
"It was a little scary, though, cause I almost didn't get it." Daphne says softly. Spider-Man's eyes squeeze tighter.
"Oh?"
"I needed at least 80% on three tests. Scored 86 on science, 81 on calculus, but I had a 79 in physics." Spider-Man gasps quietly. How did she get through then? "Principal Morita asked me a physics question on the spot to give me a last chance to turn the 79 into 80!"
"Well, what did he ask?"
"He asked about oscillation!"