"Peter, are those... red tights?"
"Nope."
"Those definitely looked like red tights."
"I... do ballet?"
---
•The sole thing illuminating her path were the wispy rays of moonlight as she tripped over a trashcan and...
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IT WAS LAME, but Eloquin couldn't help it. She hadn't talked to Peter in weeks; avoiding him in the hallways, wincing every time they brushed hands in chem-lab and making excuses whenever he tried to talk to her after school. She listened to what Adrian Toomes had said, after all, she didn't want to risk him hurting anyone else. Stay away from Spider-Man; it was as simple as that. Yet so hard! How could she stay away from him? The rush she felt whenever she helped him with missions, the flutter in her chest when she did something rebellious. He made her sane, he made her exactly what she had always wanted to be: a daredevil.
So, in the late hours on the night, Eloquin was stuck replaying old footage from the baby monitors on the spidey-suit; watching New York's finest (debatable) hero twirl around the city and (occasionally) save lives. She lived for the adrenaline rush, the feeling of watching someone dangle around that high from a single spiral of web giving her chills.
A buzz on the intercom interrupted Eloquin's late night movie sesh, making her set down her popcorn and press a finger lightly to her ear. "Yes, Peter?" She said carefully, knowing that her voice had been disguised as Karen, the A.I, but still being wary.
"Hey, Karen," Peter replied, sighing deeply. Eloquin frowned, he didn't seem in his normal chirpy mood. "So..." He began, hesitating slightly. "I want to ask this girl out to homecoming..."
Eloquin froze, holding her breath and nodding, even though he couldn't see it. "Ummm... yes?"
"But we're kind of... you know, broken up right now."
Eloquin paused, her heart hammering in her chest. "Right now?"
"Yeah."
She played with the hem of her sleeve, suddenly nervous. "So, you still want to ask her right?" He paused as well, making Eloquin almost cry out in suspense. Just say it. After what felt like the longest moment, he finally took a deep breath. "I think so." Eloquin deflated, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her tired eyes. "You think?" She was growing more and more frustrated. Did he want to ask her or not?
"You know what, forget it. I shouldn't. Anyway, thanks, Karen!" Peter said quickly, before disconnecting the intercom and leaving Eloquin in a deafening silence. He was crawling under her skin. With a deep sigh, she flopped onto her bed, putting her arm over her eyes and drifting away.
****
Eloquin stretched her arms over her head as she yawned, her eyes crinkling and her muscles crying in relief. There were only fifteen minutes left until she could finally go home and take a nap. She had been seated at her small desk in the corner of the office for hours now, being bored out of her mind sorting files as Pepper yelled at people over the phone.
"Yes, Murray I said we need to package Captain America's shield in the most protective material, not bubble wrap!" She sighed deeply and pressed her thumb into the space in between her eyebrows. "And make sure not to put the shield and Mjolnir in the same box, I don't want them banging against each other and damaging another engine again." Wrinkly lines appeared on her forehead, deepening when she slammed the phone onto the holder and collapsed into her chair.
