Octo Callidus Debitum

Chapter 5

[A/N:Be aware. Warning: Mentions of Suicide]

Peter was out so late patrolling that he didn't talk to Pepper or Tony until the morning of the next day, and by then, his black eye and broken nose had healed almost completely. The only evidence was a light, dirt-colored bruise on his left cheekbone.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Pepper greeted him. She sat at the kitchen table in the small dining area that was technically a part of the kitchen. Despite the semi-open layout, Peter would consider it a room of its own. (They had a much larger guest dining room that Peter has yet to see used. The doors to it were on the wall opposite of the kitchen and next to the mini dining room).

Peter groaned a small "G'morning" as he flopped down on the cushioned chair next to Pepper.

"Thought you weren't going to wake up 'till this afternoon. You got in pretty late last night," Tony said from the kitchen. He walked over with a plate of bacon, eggs, hashbrown, and delicious looking chocolate chip pancakes. He set it down in front of Peter.

Peter would have slept until noon if it weren't for the enticing smell of breakfast waking him up. "I planned to get back earlier," he yawned as he grabbed his silverware. "But there was a guy trying to be the next big villain; he had one of those flying Chitauri bikes. No idea where he got it but he knew how to drive it. He didn't damage anything but it took forever to finally catch him." Peter spoke between mouthfuls of hash browns mixed with eggs. He liked to save his pancakes for last.

Thankfully there was no mention of the bruise on his face. He was sure they assumed it was from the flying bike guy, who admittedly rammed into him with the bike during a failed attempt to catch him. "So I signed up for the Art Club," Peter said after there was a lull in the conversation.

"Oh, that's fantastic!" Pepper said happily.

"Yeah, they do photography and that looked pretty interesting... so I joined," he shrugged awkwardly.

"After you get a feel for it, if you're really interested, we can look into some cameras," Tony said as he took a seat at the end of the table. His gaze fell to his tablet as he tapped away on whatever project he was working on.

Peter's mind vaguely went back to the comment Priscilla made, but before he could go anywhere with that thought, his phone chimed with the tone that signaled MJ texting him. He took another bite of eggs and hash brown before pulling his phone out.

MJ: Hey webhead, was that Loki-wannabe crashing into you last night finally enough to break your phone?

Peter just grinned as he responded.

Peter: Nope! Completely intact. I think it actually absorbed some of the fall damage lol. How'd you even know?

MJ: The internet has eyes and ears everywhere, my guy. You can't hide from it. But I guess Stark really did mean Hero Proof™. I owe Ned 30 bucks now.

Peter: Make it all ones. You can make a joke about strippers or something.

MJ: I like the way you think.

...

MJ: He might actually spend it on flowers or something.

MJ: He's been crushing on a new girl lately.

Peter frowned. He didn't remember Ned mentioning a girl... but to be fair, he's been so busy as Spider-Man that he hadn't really hung out with them much recently.

Peter: Ned's got a crush??

MJ: Yeah, but I doubt it will go anywhere. I can already tell it might be one of those types that will fade in a week or two.