❝You're Tony Stark, y'know? Girls tripped over themselves to be with you before you became Iron Man. Now, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not exactly popular, or hot. Girls never looked my way unless it was to copy geometry homework off me. She...
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A week later, Nora Mendes found herself actually committing to the idea of becoming a superhero.
It started off as a rage filled thought, something she told herself she would do to find her best friend. Then, after actually thinking about it, she decided it mightn't have been the best idea considering her fathers growing irritation when it came to Spider-Man, someone who seemed to be doing the police's work better than them. It was something Rafe constantly made fun of their father for, despite the fact their father wasn't exactly laughing along with the jokes. Aliya had gone along with the jokes for awhile, but quickly got bored of the whole thing. Eventually, their arguments became background noise to the two sisters, and for awhile, the arguments had actually stopped, until the web slinger stopped criminals hijacking an armoured car filled with diamonds.
"Spider-Man's a fad, sooner or later he's gonna get himself killed or get himself arrested. He'll be out of the public eye within the month." Aliya said over the clamour of Rafe explaining the importance of a guy like him to their dad.
"You talk about him like he's not real." Nora said from the doorframe of her room, frowning a little.
"Nora, this guy is off his head. He can't seriously think that dressing up in a skin tight red and blue suit is gonna help save New York." Aliya laughed, coming out of her room in her nurse outfit and Nora frowned even harder, something about the way she was talking about him made her uneasy.
The youngest sister folded her arms, standing up straight. "Maybe it could."
"How?" Aliya scoffed.
Nora shrugged. "How many people's lives have been spared because of him? I mean he stops car crashes, murderers, robbers. He cuts who you have to see in the ER by half."
Her sister stopped for a minute. "God, you're sounding more and more like the dingus downstairs."
This time, instead of letting her sister disappear into her room, Nora followed her, that growing irritation spreading throughout her. Truly, she wasn't sure why what she had said had offended her so badly, but Nora couldn't let it go. "But it's true! Look, some of what Rafe says is solid. This guy saves people's lives."
"Until he fucks up and ends up killing himself—"
"Stop!" Nora snapped, making both herself and Aliya jump at such a sharp action. She took a breath, before finishing the sentence. "Stop saying that."
Aliya blinked at her sister, surprised at her outburst. "Say what?"
"Stop saying this guy's gonna kill himself like it doesn't matter, okay? You may think he's stupid for going out there and fighting crime, but he's still a human."
Her sister raised her hands in defeat. "Nora, I was just—"
"No, you weren't just anything. You were dehumanising him to the point where it was like you didn't care that there is a real person under the mask."
