After the events of No Way Home, Peter Parker had the chance to restart his life and start fresh. But without his family, friends, mentors or fellow Avengers, his life began to spiral into darkness.
His new neighbour however, seems to make that dark...
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I'm personally not a huge fan of using sponges or loofahs in the shower because I have this theory that they just hold gross germs inside them, so cleaning Peter's back was trickier than I had anticipated. At first I had thought of using a wet hand cloth but the coarseness of the towel would be too abrasive on fresh wounds. I had to make do with what I had in the apartment though.
"You get in the bath and I'll be back in a second," I told Peter before going to the kitchen to get a fresh sponge from inside its packet. It was the softest thing I could think of that could be used with water but not hurt him. People use sponges for sponge baths anyway right? They're just bigger and squishier.
I came back into the bathroom where Peter was sitting like a little kid in my bathtub, his arms wrapped around his knees and his legs slightly bent to allow him to fit. New York apartments are tiny, so the fact I even had a bathtub was miraculous; even if it was a little bit on the small side. I fit in it and that's what mattered.
"How's the temperature?" I asked, looking at Peter.
He was just staring at the thin layer of soap suds along the top of the water. His brows slightly furrowed as he exhaled, looking up at me and nodding with a forced smile.
"It's great once the stinging sensation disappears," he said with gritted teeth.
"I know this might sound kind of stupid but why don't you make a suit that doesn't shred to pieces when you're dragged along the ground?" I chuckled, attempting to make the situation a little light hearted.
"This new one is tougher, I just didn't wear it tonight... I uh, I only put it on after I fucked up my back. And my hands. And my butt," Peter admitted quietly.
"Does it hurt to sit?" I said submerging the sponge in the warm water to let it soften.
"Everything kind of hurts right now," he laughed gently.
I told him to lean forward and he did so slowly, hunching over and resting his arms on the edge of the tub. I couldn't help but gasp when I saw the severity of his injuries. I told him that it would sting at first as I lifted the sponge to his shoulder blades and squeezed the water out.
"Fuck! Sorry, sorry I didn't mean to shout. That's just uh, cuts always sting at first when you get them wet," he groaned, resting his head against his crossed arms.
"Pete, how long will it take to heal something like this? Are you sure you don't need to go to hospital or anything?" I asked softly, repeating the sponge process again.
He told me that going to hospital was usually the last case scenario because it was difficult to come up with stories as to how he got injured. If he went to the emergency room with a bullet wound, it would likely end up with him having to file a police report. Plus, he would have a lot of medical injuries on his file if he went to hospital all the time.
I carefully used the edge of the sponge to try and rub particles of dirt and debris out of the wounds, telling Peter that I was relieved he had upgraded his suit to something more damage resistant. He chuckled and told me that he missed his older suits, the ones made by Tony Stark.
"Do you ever miss him?" I asked softly, knowing only the bare minimum about his relationship with Stark.
"All the time. He was a mentor, a friend, basically the only father figure I ever had in life. He taught me everything I know about being a hero," Peter said turning his head to face me, his cheek pressed to his forearm.
I asked Peter to sit up straight so I could wash his hair which he did slowly, smiling at me and thanking me again for helping him. I told him not to mention it since he had helped me already today.
"You know J. Jonah Jameson called me today, he wants the Spider-Man story to be a multi-part series released over several weeks. He's already paid me for the first part and I haven't even finished it," I grinned, squeezing the sponge over Peter's hair to dampen it.
"He's a bit of a prick but he knows a good story when he sees it," Peter laughed, before congratulating me on getting hired by the Bugle.
I don't really know why he was congratulating me, I wouldn't be in the position without him. Saving my life and then getting me a job? I'm eternally grateful. I squeezed a dollop of shampoo onto my hand before lathering it into Peter's hair, massaging his head carefully.
"Shit that feels good," he hummed, closing his eyes and smiling as I continued.
"D'you hear that Felicia Hardy is getting a retrial? I saw it on the news this morning whilst waiting for my coffee," I said striking up a new topic of conversation.
"You bought coffee from a barista even though you have a Nespresso machine? That's weird," Peter taunted, grinning and tilting his head back as I washed the shampoo from his hair.
"Shut up, did you not hear what I said? This is kind of big news, Black Cat might be free to walk the streets again," I exclaimed.
"Someone will just chuck her back in jail before we know it. She can't help but commit crimes, she gets too bored without the constant thrill of doing something she shouldn't be doing," Peter scoffed.
"Like hooking up with Spider-Man?" I scoffed back.
"Hey, I was 20 when that happened. And she was like, 30 or something so I thought it was super hot at the time. Besides, I'm totally infatuated with the girl who lives upstairs from me so I don't have time for anyone else," he said holding back a smile and opening one of his eyes to look at me.
"Close your eyes or you'll get conditioner in them," I said nudging his cheek with my hand.
I won't lie, I liked hearing that Peter was still into me because I was very much still into him. I don't think I'm ready to jump into being his girlfriend or anything yet, but I'm definitely open to dating him again. And now that he knows about my powers, I reckon I will sleep with him. I haven't had sex in a really long time because my powers sometimes make guys go too far, like... If I wanted a guy to choke me, they would just start strangling me. I guess my powers didn't consider that rough sex is no different to blatant violence. With Peter on the other hand, it was evident that my powers won't affect him. This is great.
"Seriously though, I am still crazy about you," Peter said opening his eyes ever so slightly.
"What did I tell you about opening your eyes? Close them or they'll be the next thing to start stinging... But me too, I still think you're pretty fucking great Peter Parker," I smiled, squeezing water over his head to rinse the conditioner.
