Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[19]

IT WAS STRANGE, FOR OFFICIALLY, it was my second time visiting the Parker boy outside of school. However, that was far from the actual truth - I had spent many-a-night watching on the fire escape or tailing him home, watching him and waiting for anything, something that could get me the answers I craved so desperately. Most of the time I left empty-handed, but at least it meant the route was more ingrained in my head than my own 'house', and there wasn't a chance of getting lost.

His aunt answered the door, and I watched as her eyes lit up in a funny sort of way. She recognised me, but there was more behind the gaze. Something I didn't see in many people; a strange emotion I seemed to lack.

"Peter's in his room." When she saw my brows raise, her naïve smile lifted even higher. She was a pretty woman, I had to admit, even though her joy seemed...ill placed. "He mentioned you two were working on your project today, so he's been waiting."

"Oh." Waiting for me; he was waiting for me. That meant he was excited or at least interested in being in the same room with me - I was having an effect on the boy. "Thank you."

I could feel her eyes on me as I headed down the now-familiar room to the closed door, and it bothered me - I didn't need to face her to know her smirk was still dancing on her face. She was annoying, and for some reason always bothering Peter to ask if he was okay and meddling in things she should not. It was strange, to me, that she could meddle so much and not know that the boy she was guarding was a villain of New York. The Spider-man.

Peter opened the door after only two knocks, causing me to stumble back as it swung open. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you-"

"-it's totally fine," I gushed, forcing a smile back on my face. Like the one I had seen his aunt just wearing, only I knew it lacked her genuine delight. "It is fine, don't worry about it." I shrugged the shoulder my backpack rested on. "Ready to get to work?"

He nodded, ushering me into his room - this time, much more clean and organised than the first real visit I had paid. His things were piled nicely and everything had found a place, books and miscellaneous devices stacked carefully to give the appearance of a clean room. A smile flickered on my lips as I glanced at the loose panel in the ceiling, knowing full well what was inside but gave no sign of recognition otherwise. I only set my things down and smiled like the dazed and always polite Emily would, eyes sparkling like good was actually something that existed in the world.

I tore my eyes away from my scrutinising and beamed his way. My body sank easily down into his bed and I had to fight back a cringe. How the hell did he sleep on that? 

Peter followed me hesitantly. He shuffled awkwardly at the very edge of his mattress; I scooched a little closer, still smiling from ear to ear. "What do you want to do first?"

"Uh, w-well," he began, grabbing his laptop, "I figured we could begin on the presentation itself? We have most of the research, we just need to work on our ideas and how we're going to present them, right?"

I raised my brows, still shuffling nearer. "Right to work with you, huh Peter?"

"I - well, yeah, I-I mean I don't want to run out of time or, or anything."

How exciting was this, I wondered to myself. What did Inga expect me to gain from him? All it ever was with Peter was school. Still, Emily couldn't feel that way, so I nodded. "That sounds fine with me."

"Is that okay?"

No, not really. I had no interest in sitting for hours, staring at a screen with words and numbers that meant nothing to me while Peter just stared and typed on his keyboard, somehow finding joy in the calculations. It had taken every ounce of me to learn about the research itself - the Academy had never cared much about scientific discoveries like ours - and I was sure I was going to break. "Yes, yeah. That's fine with me."