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⋆ ten ⋆
Xara is the only one to answer the video call on the first try.
Her face pops up beneath Ned's, the boy immediately sighing in relief. "Oh, good. Someone I can talk to about this!"
She's instantly wary.
Whenever Ned does random video calls, it's for three reasons. One: he and his Lola got into an argument and he needs reassurance that he was in the right (which, of course, he never is). Two: he wants to see who can come over for a spontaneous sleepover. Three: he wants to show the others his new lego creation.
"Please don't tell me you got into an argument with Lola at eight in the morning."
For a split second, a guilty expression crosses face. "Actually, I- Hang on, that's not what I called you guys for. I'm gonna call the others again."
"It's a Saturday, Ned. MJ's resting before her lunch shift and Peter is almost definitely asleep. He hasn't replied to my 'good morning' text yet."
"Is this what a relationship is? Texting each other 'good morning' and 'good night' like you guys do?"
"Uh... I don't know. It's what we do. Isn't it normal?"
"It's sickeningly sweet."
"Oh."
"But cute. In a, you know, stalker-y kinda way. But you guys stalked each other back when you liked each other anyway. You know, like Peter following you as Spider-Man and you crushing on him for years. It was super sad when you both didn't know about each other. Like, he didn't even know you were in the Academic Decathlon team. And you didn't put together that he was the exact same as Spider-Man-"
"Hi, MJ!"
Xara manages to finally interrupt Ned's rambling when she notices their other friend's face pop up on the call. The top half of MJ's face is the only thing seen on her end, her eyes narrowed as she listens to the tail end of Ned's speech. "...I don't want to know."
Ned lightens up at the sight of someone else finally joining the call. "MJ! We were just talking about-"
"I'm pretty sure I don't want to know."
The screen shrinks again as Peter's screen pops up, a mess of shaky hands and blurry screens showing nothing but the unruly mop of his hair. It comes into focus a moment later, showing him lying on the couch in Happy's place, still half asleep.
"Don't want to know what?" he questions, voice a little raspy. It's only another second before his eyes light up, a bit more alert. "Hey, babe."
"Hey. How did you sleep?"
"Had a couple of weird dreams, but apart from that, pretty okay. There was this weird black goo creature-"
"We've got a serious problem on our hands," Ned interjects with a huff, heading down the stairs and perching the phone before pouring some cereal for himself. "Has everyone checked their letter boxes? Because I can't be the only one."
