Nikolas stood before the massive crowd, his heart pounding in his chest and his sweaty palms. His mind races with thoughts, the possibility of failure, the potential embarrassment. Socializing was never his best quality, perhaps because his other self took the life of the doctor who was taking care of him at the psychiatric hospital. Or maybe because he'd had his first argument with Peter the night before, the only person he'd ever talked to.
He tried his best to tell Peter the fluttering of his heart, the tingling in his fingertips, and the buzzing in his ears, but his entire repertoire of words consisted of constant pauses, stutters, or just shaking his head. Nikolas hated that.
Nikolas couldn't remember the details after his disagreement with Peter. Not until he stood in front of the empty field facing the training wing of the facility. Alone with his thoughts and his feelings, his body a machine working at its limit. His mind racing with thoughts of him, what Peter means to him, and how he wants to express his love. His muscles burned, and his joints ached, but he ignored the pain and just pushed himself further. He knew he must do better. He trained until his body was sore, until he was breathless, until the pills he usually took didn't help ease his pain, and then he continued.
He couldn't focus on anything and just wanted to go home as soon as the short school trip arrived. But he promised Tony that he would integrate like any normal person his age, the thing was that Nikolas didn't process like the others.
"Sunscreen? The snacks? You have enough to share with your class, right? I made sure you did." Happy looked at him in the rearview mirror.
Nikolas was no longer sure if he was the one who was most uneasy about the trip.
"I've checked my backpack a couple of times before. I think it smells a little like ham but there's enough of it." Nikolas muttered with his head leaning out the window.
Happy left him in the area agreed by the school. Ned saw him first, he was with Peter and MJ. From the reactions on their faces, Nikolas assumed that Peter had told them everything by then. He didn't blame him, the three of them were inseparable. When Peter and Nikolas saw each other in the distance, Nikolas blinked a few times. His cheeks reddened slightly causing him to break eye contact. Both unsure about how to handle the situation. The frustration and awkwardness in the air as they try to decide whether or not approach to the other or just pretend they didn't see each other at all.
The rest of the class was already lined up and waiting for the bus, Nikolas paid attention to their conversations thanks to his developed auditory sense that allowed pick out even the smallest or faintest sounds. He remained listening to the conversations that he didn't realize the way he was looking at them. Nikolas relaxed his gaze when the same group whispered, though he could hear it, that his behavior was disturbing. He squeezed the sleeves of his backpack thinking that maybe if he offered them a sandwich they would stop thinking that his behavior was out of place. But before he turned his backpack and looked for the zipper, someone called for him as they lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Hey." Peter called.
Suddenly, everything felt a bit easier, and he felt less weighed down when he saw Peter. Nikolas brow unwrinkled, his lips curved into a small smile, and his jaw unclenched. His shoulders relaxed, and he let out a long breath that had been building up inside him.
"Aquariums sound like fun. I've never been to one before, I watched a couple of videos in Happy's car."
Peter couldn't help but see the Band-Aid sticking out of Nikolas's wrists as he talked. Those little bruises on his neck, under his cheeks, and eye. Nikolas' type of DNA allowed him to heal in an accelerated manner similar to Peter's, allowing the arachnid to distinguish and recognize the advanced level of the wound.
Tiny blood vessels were broken under the skin, leading to the discoloration visible on the surface. The bruises were slightly raised, giving off a visible texture under the skin that was slightly firmer than normal. Peter knew exactly what would happen next: First, the coloration slowly fades, the swelling subsides, and before you know it, they won't be there anymore.
Nikolas got uncomfortable at the time Peter spent looking at his bruises, he scratched his wrist trying to cover them up.
"Have you been.....---"
"STUDENTS!!!! Welcome to what could be the best trip of your schooler life if you follow the instructions correctly, if not, accidents will happen.... like last year.... and the last year of last year."
Harrigton, their teacher-guide, interrupted Peter. He clapped his hands.
"Now! All aboard! Today we will make you love to study the creatures of the sea where.....--"
Nikolas no longer paid attention to the rest of the monologue. He got on the bus. He didn't want to deal with Peter and what he was probably going to say before being interrupted, so he went to the last seats. He looked up discreetly, seeing that Peter intend to sit next to him but he was jostled by those behind him and stumbled into a seat behind Ned. That disappointed him but he sighed with relief.
As soon as the engine started, they were on their way. The teacher was talking to the driver, everyone had someone to do it, or they were just focused on their cell phones. On the other hand, Nikolas kept seeing Peter over the seats. He took his backpack and opened the zipper. He still hadn't shared any of Happy's sandwiches. He walked over the free seat next to Peter and sat down without saying a word.
Peter jumped when he noticed it. He quickly pulls the headphones off his head and looks up.
"Oh, uh, okay... I just wanted to share, not because I have extra or anything... or because I was looking for an excuse to talk to you."
"They look delicious, may I?" Peter reached out with one of his hands, and Nikolas immediately offered him his backpack.
Nikolas remembered his search for how people apologized properly. Although he no longer remembered the exact reason why he had been angry, Nikolas had the feeling that it was because of something stupid and exaggerated. Peter had been more than a pod of patience with him since day one, and Nikolas couldn't be more embarrassed.
"Hey... um... I have something I need to say. I've been dreading this moment, but I need to get it off my chest. I owe you an apology and I'm really, really sorry."
"It's okay, you don't have to-"
"No, let me talk! I know, I know... I should have thought it through, and- and... I'm sorry! After a long talk with, uh, myself? I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't have reacted that way, Peter." Nikolas pointed out, even with a small shrug on his shoulders. Peter's name tasted like a weight less in his mouth.
"We're fine. I could never be mad at you anyways." Peter's smile widened, his lips with a gently curve upwards as his gaze softened, perhaps a bit shy or subdued. Then he took a bite of his sandwich. "You know, I made a playlist and added a couple of songs that reminded me of you...--"
He stops mid-sentence, and his senses are suddenly on alert.
Peter and Nikolas kept their eyes on each other. Nikolas's pupils dilated covering almost all of his sclera. The hairs on Peter's arm immediately stood up. They both felt the breeze of threat at the same time as if a strong bond connected them. Nikolas turned his back slowly, not caring if anyone saw his black eyes, the whole class started piling into the seats in the other row, one on top of the other, jostling in a hasty mess to get a better look at the windows.
"This makes no sense." Nikolas thought. But soon it had it. when one of his class mates screamed;
"GIANT DONUT!"
Ned.
His attention returned to Peter as he finished his sandwich in one bite and searched desperately for his web-shooters. Nikolas silently watching as he tried to articulate the words out of his tongue. They were crossing the middle of a bridge, there was no way they could stop the bus at that precise moment. He grabbed Peter's arm, stopping his reins in one abrupt movement.
"You go, I go." Nikolas snapped. A tone in which he wasn't asking for permission. A tone in which he wasn't asking. It was a tone in which he affirmed.
"Nick---"
"We have each other's back. That's how it has to be."
Peter didn't answer back. The priority was the floating thing in the sky. The giant donut as Ned had called it in his distraction. Nikolas climbed on Peter's back as they took bus-window as their exit. Peter carried the backpacks on his arm, saying that he would hide them in some alley on the way. Nikolas jumped off his back as they both dropped off the bridge. His human side was scared as he fell. But his inhuman side was begging to take his body as the water got closer.
Peter had it easy, or so he thought. Spider-Man parried one fist like he had done it with the Winter Soldier's back then in the battle of Germany. Only that this time the fist was not humanized and doubled the size of his entire body. If the situation were different, Tony would tell Peter how proud he was of him for stopping an attack that was headed for him. But as soon as Peter said "Hello Mr. Stark!", he was snatched from his sight.
There was no chance for a word to be exchanged, for Tony to explain to Peter what exactly was going on. Why the city seemed under attack. The creature's free fist grabbed Peter's waist and flung him out of reach without any effort. Peter lost control of his weight as he was thrown into the air. Before collapsing in the window of some building, Nikolas appeared on the scene and wrapped Spider-Man's body between the large wings that had emerged from his back tearing off much of his upper clothing.
Nikolas took most of the impact. Both skidding brutally on the ground from what appeared to be an office floor. Everyone had evacuated so no one screamed when a semi-monster appeared protecting spider-man. When they stopped moving, Nikolas released Peter.
"AGGG that was... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?!?!?" Peter shook the glasses out of his suit. Immediately making sure that Nikolas hadn't suffered any further damage on his skin.
There was bleeding but he was already healing as soon as the wound had been generated. Peter nuzzled Nikolas cheek over the sleeve of his suit. Nikolas was still hyperventilating due to the anxious situation, gasping for air with his heart pounding in his chest. Searching for the answers behind Peter's visors. Nikolas said nothing, but with the look on his eyes, Peter understood what he meant: "I told you I had your back."
"Hey kid. I don't want to hear that you're finished. I watched you disappear." Tony's voice came through his comm, genuinely sounding concerned behind that mocking tone. "Apparently today was the day to invade the earth. Some beings that look like squidward want to take the wizard.
Peter didn't wait for further directions. He jumped off the building without caring to look back. Nikolas would always follow him wherever he went. Perhaps they were too late, or their effort was not enough. Peter without hesitation attached a web to the concrete floor in the street and another to the platform on which the wizard was tied. Nikolas didn't remember the wizard's name, maybe he had heard it before but it was like a hollow memory. As Peter made the grab, Nikolas flew towards the platform. But as soon as he reached the captive man, the brutality of his force couldn't move him from there. It was an energy that was keeping him still. Nikolas was stunned for a few seconds, long enough for Peter to no longer be able to hold them both.
Peter lost his grip, and the three of them began to be pulled up. Nikolas lost his balance when the rubble from some affected construction knocked him over straight to the ground like a bird falling from his nest. He tried to get up like he always did, but suddenly a bundle of cars began to drag towards him as if his body had become a magnet.
A short space between the doors allowed him to see the face of the person who had done it. He was definitely not someone human. The ship in the sky began to rise higher and higher until it disappeared into the clouds. Nikolas got stuck between the cars. He tried to push them but it was strength wasted in vain. He paused until he felt an emptiness in his chest.
For his first time feeling it, he recognized the sensation immediately.
The emptiness that Peter's bond was no longer there.
edited (18/07/2023)