Leather & Brandy (Otto Octavius X Reader (WIP))

Chapter 1: The Spider, The Hawk, And The Man In The Park

As you trudge along the empty halls, your shoes squeak, and echoes bounce off the walls with one earbud in the left ear, hair covering it, and weary eyes. Staying up until 2 a.m. was not a good idea especially when school started at 7:50, and that doesn't even count how long it took to walk here. The class was already in session and you were completely lost, now just wandering the halls aimlessly. You turn the corner, before something, or rather someone hits you and stops you in your tracks. You look up slightly and see a panicked boy with a worried expression on his face.

"..S..Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going...Are you okay?" The boy was your average run-of-the-mill nerd, the hair, the glasses, hell even the clothes. His hair was a medium brown, slicked to the side with unmistakable blue eyes and fair skin. He wore a navy tee shirt with a grey zip-up hoodie and jeans. Finally, you nod to him.

"Yeah. I'm okay." You look at his face for a second, then at his chest, then you think it's weird so you look to the side. 

"Okay.." He starts to walk away before you stop him again.

"Hey um.." He turns back to face you "I'm looking for my class and I'm kinda lost.." You say half shy, half embarrassed. You glance into his eyes again, trying your best to be polite even though he's around you two are the same age.

"What room is it?" He says, taking up the task of helping you.

"Oh, it says... 118.." You say, double-checking on the white paper the front office gave you. He looks around for a second.

"It's a hall over from where my class is, I can take you" His expression is neutral, but willing to help. You nod again.

"Okay"

"It's this way" He begins walking towards the class and you follow slightly behind him. "Are you new?" 

"Yeah" You reply

"Oh um, I'm Peter, Peter Parker. If you need any help I can probably help, oh and my friend Harry too. Just tell him you know me" You nod again before giving him your name. A few moments later he shows you the room and he leaves after you thank him. 

The school day goes by and the days start to mesh together. Just PowerPoints, notes, quizzes, and tests. You say hi to Peter when you see him in the halls and occasionally exchange a few words with him. Eventually, everything fell into a never-ending routine, as is Senior year.

~

On the other side of the city, Professor Octavius sits in his empty home, hands on his head sitting on the couch, wondering where it all went wrong. Even with the sun up, there seems to be a dim glow in his home. The kitchen was spotless and orderly, however, the living room was in disarray, with a heavy scent of cigars from the night before. Picture frames were faced down, and those hanging were now shattered on the floor. His dresser cabinets were noticeably empty as well as his closet. There was no more warmth in the house, it felt cold even with the heater on and food didn't taste the same. The bed felt uncomfortably larger and even his clothes felt foreign to him.

Trudging his way to the kitchen for the coffee pot, he poured himself a heaping serving before finding his way to his workroom. He had many things to work on and he had wasted enough time. He passes by the fridge, a little note on the stainless steel door.

"Don't forget to take breaks! :)"

He looks at it for a minute, before tearing it off the fridge, crumpling it up, and throwing it in the trashcan. 

~

Riding on the bus was always a nightmare, even more so when you don't know anyone in your field trip group. You stare at your phone, silently scrolling through different social media apps until your brain had enough. Suddenly there's a clamor of students gathering around the window and snickering and recording with their phones. Curiosity gets the better of you and you lean over to see what the fuss is about until you see a boy running after the bus and trying to wave it down. Wait. Was that Peter? You sigh, of course, it would be his luck to be late for the bus. Your eyes avert to MJ and see her looking at him with an empathetic expression. Before you decide to stand up and tell the bus driver something, MJ beats you to it and he relents by stopping and allowing Peter to board the bus. Peter stumbles in and begins to walk down the aisle, looking for an empty spot. Everyone is quiet as they watch him, looking him up and down while giving him the side eye if he tries to sit next to them. He finally makes it to your seat and you move your bag out of the way and allow him to sit next to you.