Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 4: Peter

I scrolled through the pictures from the day before on my computer, seeing which ones were worth editing and which ones I could forget about. The newlywed couple had asked for the pictures to come together, so I was in charge of deciding which pictures of the groomsmen, the bridesmaids, and the couple alone, were the best.

Four days had gone by since I had gotten back from Kentucky. One day to recover and recuperate, and the next three days were shoot after shoot, for this group, and a few others. I had raffled off a few fifteen minute shoots a while ago, and yesterday was the last day people could cash in, so I had been busy. I went from chaotic fighting to chaotic shooting in the span of about 48 hours.

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair. As crazy as it had been, I had loved fighting in Germany, and then again in Kentucky. I mean, plenty of it had not been enjoyable, the exploding plane, for example, but no one had died, and Captain Rogers had come back! It had been cool to see him catch up with Tony and Ms. Romanoff. I'm sure he had talked with Mr. Barnes, too, but I hadn't seen it.

And then there was that new girl, the one from SHIELD that Natasha was training. It was like she and Mr. Barton had a kid, and a decade and a half later, here she was. Not that I had said that aloud, I didn't want to get smacked.

I looked over at the clock, then groaned and closed my eyes. It was later than I had realized, almost ten-thirty. I saved all of my progress and shut down the program. If I worked any longer on that, I was going to go insane.

I walked, actually, it was more of a stumble, to my room and flopped facedown on my bed. I could have fallen asleep right then and there, but my phone started ringing from the kitchen. "Oh, what now?" I grumbled. Couldn't I just go to sleep?

It wasn't one of my special ringtones, so it was either someone I didn't talk to very often, or a telemarketer. I picked up and turned the screen over. The name read "Mrs. Davis", and I figured it must be one of May's old college friends. She had me put in their numbers, just in case I needed something, and she couldn't help. Why was she calling?

I answered the phone. "Peter Parker."

"Peter, is that you? Hi, it's Elena Davis, I was a friend of your aunt during college."

On the money. "Yeah, it's me. Is, is something up?" I pulled the phone away from my mouth as I yawned.

"It's nothing important, I just had an idea. I invited her over to catch up with her, and she just went out to pick up some food. I thought you might want to surprise her."

I was always up to see Aunt May. "Did she tell you where she was going?"

"Some Thai place on 35th street. Do you know it? It's a little far from Brooklyn, and it might be late for you, but..."

It might be late for me, but I had a few other options. It wasn't too late for Spider-Man. "Yeah, I'll see if I can catch her. Thanks, Mrs. Davis!" I hung up and grabbed my normal suit, not the Iron Spider one.

I hadn't planned on going out tonight, but hey, why not?

~

I reached the Thai place no problem. It was so late, most of the traffic was already thinning. I leapt down behind the building and started taking the suit off to put in my back.

I just had a t-shirt and shorts on, since it wasn't that long of a journey. I zipped a sweatshirt overtop and walked around to the side of the building. From here, May wouldn't be able to see me, but I could see her, when she pulled in. I hoped I hadn't missed her.

May gets these weird cravings sometimes, which was why she was getting Thai at eleven at night. This restaurant was one of the only places that was open this late, which was why May likes it so much.

I saw her car pull up into a parking spot, and I smiled, running around the car three spots down from hers so she wouldn't see me. I snuck around the back and hid behind the trunk until she got out, making sure she had her purse with her. She looked around, realized that she had left the keys in the ignition (again), and while she leaned in to grab them, I walked up beside her. "Do you need a hand with that?" I asked, unable to keep a grin off my face.

She hit her head on the top of the doorframe, turned to look at me, and dropped her purse. "Peter, oh my GOD!" She wrapped me up in her arms, and I laughed into her hair. "Don't do that to me, I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry," I said half-heartedly. Scaring her was half the fun, really. She finally let me go and held my cheeks in her hands. She stared at me, trying to be mad, but failing.

"What are you doing out here? It's almost five miles from Brooklyn."

I pointed a thumb at my backpack, and said as best as I could with a squished face, "I just swung on by, you know." I knew she would understand.

She sighed and rested her forehead against mine. "You are insane, sometimes, Peter."

I laughed, since it was nothing I didn't already know.

"Seriously, though, do you want a hand?" I reached down and picked up her purse, and she let go of my face. "You got your keys?"

"I got 'em," she reassured me, reaching into the car to grab them off the seat, where she had dropped them. "Come on, let's wait inside. I'm freezing."

I let her hold my hand as we walked in. Anything to please Aunt May.