Arachnoblast: I'm Fourteen This is Ridiculous

Chapter 15: Dressing Wounds

"Is anyone at Oscorp right now?" Arachnoblast asked, raising her voice over the rush of the wind as she swung through the city toward Oscorp Tower.

"At this hour? No," Norman replied. "The whole building should be long closed. We'll be able to access it quietly."

"Perfect," Arachnblast said. "I wanna keep this whole situation on the down low."

"What?" Norman called, struggling to hear over the combination of wind and traffic despite being right next to Arachnoblast.

"I said, 'Perfect! I wanna keep this on the down low!'" Arachnoblast shouted, then stuck to the side of the tower, opened a high-up window, and gently pushed Norman in before climbing in herself.

Norman leaned against the wall, grimacing and limping as he made his way to one of the many lab rooms in the dark building. Arachnoblast followed, ready to catch him if he toppled over, which seemed likely by the way he was walking and the amount of blood he must've lost.

"Here it is," Norman said quietly, opening a cabinet and pulling out a case with a red cross shape on it. "I'm going to get some extra clothes. You stay here."

"And let you come back as Gobby with a vengeance?" Arachnoblast snorted. "No way. If you're getting extra clothes, I'm coming with you."

"I don't want you poking around my office. I'm in control of myself. I can resist him," Norman argued.

"Until you're not, and you can't. Besides, shouldn't you take the advice of the one who just saved your life?"

Norman sighed. "Alright. Come with me."

Arachnoblast happily followed Norman as he limped down the hall and to the elevator. "Oh, and while we're doing this, I have some advice on your parenting tactics."

Norman raised an eyebrow. "Really? And what makes you a parenting expert?"

"In case you didn't notice, I have the best dad in the world," Arachnoblast stated, "and I've hung out with your son enough to notice how he's been affected by your lackluster fatherhood. Plus, if how you've acted toward me when you were the Green Goblin is any indication of how you act as a person and a parent, I've got more than enough proof that you need some advice. Not to mention that I've seen how you talk to Harry, constantly putting him down and overpressuring him. It's downright shameful, and I can't stand to watch one of my friends be spoken to the way you speak to your son."

In the elevator, Norman looked at Kelsey out of the corner of his eye as he pushed the button for the correct floor and leaned against the wall, waiting for the elevator to reach its destination. "If you knew the great plans I have for him, the expectations, the number of good private schools he's flunked out of—"

"It must not have been for him," Arachnoblast interrupted, shrugging.

"That's exactly what he said," Norman whispered, then shook his head and gave Arachnoblast a stern look. "Clearly, you need to understand as much as he does that everything I do is for him. For his happiness, his success, his future."

"If you do everything for him, why do you still treat him so harshly?" Arachnoblast argued. "Why don't you show him that you love him with actual encouragement and tenderness? That's what parenthood should be."

As the elevator reached its designated floor, Norman sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "What should I do, then?" he asked quietly. "Something I've done, something I've been my entire life can't be changed in a single night."

Arachnoblast nodded, following Norman down the hall to his office. "You're right. Both you and Harry could use a lot of work. So start small. Congratulate him on an achievement, give him some extra smiles and hugs, encourage him when he's struggling. Let him know that you think he's capable of great things, and that's why you expect so much from him."