Spidey & Speedy - Central City Rush

Chapter 6 - I'm Standing On The Rooftop, Shout It Out

***PETER***

"Can't shut the front door," Grayson chuckles. "The horse has kinda bolted already."

Mixed metaphors aside, I can't help but laugh along with him. "My God. You're...y-you're the son of Batman?"

"Adopted," Grayson says.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Gwen asks. "You're making it sound like you're trying to distance yourself from him."

More ice cream melts out of Grayson's cone, and he's actually forced to lick his hand this time before the pink stuff drips onto the sleeve of his hoodie. He then blushes deeply and wipes his hand, as well as the edge of the cone, before continuing. "I'm not," he says, staring deep into the heart of the cone. "I just...I fell into the habit a long time ago. I mean, if you guys knew anything about Bruce Wayne, you'd understand."

"You said it yourself - he's a billionaire playboy," I remind him. "That's about all anyone knows, really."

"True." Grayson starts biting off parts of his cone so he can get at the ice cream pooled deep inside it. "So people might think he had some illegitimate kid or two - and that's why I always say I'm adopted."

Over our heads, someone shouts Grayson's name. I look up and see a lovely brunette waving at him from the edge of a railing on a nearby staircase. "I thought you didn't know anyone here," I say.

"I didn't say that." Grayson waves back at the girl, beckoning her over to our table. "I brought a friend with me, though." She comes down the stairs to our table and kisses him hello. "Peter, Gwen," he says with a goofy grin, "say hello to Olivia Miralo."

"Mucho gusto," she says, coming around the table and laying hugs on Gwen, then me. "Oh, and perfect timing - you're almost done!"

"I figured you'd come along before I could finish this," Grayson laughs, handing the cone to Olivia. She then bites off the bottom of the cone and starts sucking the pool of ice cream right out the bottom of it. "That's her thing," he explains to me and Gwen as Olivia enjoys her unusual way of eating the snack. "She prefers the cone to the actual ice cream, so that's how we share it."

"Mmm." Olivia smacks her lips, then says, "Try doing this with a Drumstick sometime, guys."

The cone gets dissected further for a moment, then Grayson says, "You remember my new assignment from Bruce, right?"

"Oh yeah," Olivia says, reducing the ice cream cone (or, more accurately, ice cream frustum) to half its original length. "Track Spider-Man, get to know him...wait a minute. No way! This Peter dude is Spider-Man?"

The smile on Grayson's face could light up all of New York for a month. "See, there's a reason why we went back to school, and these two are it."

Olivia's eyes boggle first at me, then at Gwen. "You've got powers too?" she asks her.

"Does brainpower count?" Gwen asks.

"Of course it does!" says Olivia as she matches Grayson's smile with one of her own. "I definitely count it for myself. Well, I should - I work in a library."

"Public or university?" Gwen asks.

"Public," says Olivia. "And that's where I met this lovely boy. But at the time, he was a bit of a lonely boy."

It doesn't take a psychic to predict Gwen's response. "Funny. I could describe Peter practically the same way."

The girls laugh together, and Grayson and I are quick to follow suit. "Careful now," I say, wagging my finger at the others. "Let's not start getting jealous of each other's amazing partners."