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[ un: han.solo ... or sometimes spider-man ]
[ text | audio | video ]
[ un: han.solo ... or sometimes spider-man ]
no subject
we should hang out so we can actually talk
i'm going to want to explain things in emojis and that won't be cool until after we've talked about it forreal
so
wanna grab pizza somewhere?
still trying really hard not to sound ominous btw
still super bad at it
no subject
you know
yeah
i'm trying not to be worried but you're kinda making me worried
is everything okay forreal gwen??
did something happen?
no subject
please don't worry at all ever
question tho! unrelated but definitely related
is your last name parker?
no subject
it's usually a cause to worry
but okay um
i'll try not to
[ EXCEPT NOW HE'S WORRYING because that last question, wh...at ... ]
yeah
[ ...
... ]
why
no subject
don't worry about the why
😉
me and you are meeting up for pizza now and i'll explain all the stuff
no subject
???
no subject
no subject
and its not bad either
no subject
[ this is gwen trying to brace herself for peter parker feelings suddenly being a thing around this guy. maybe. maybe she'll be fine. it's a mystery. ]
no subject
[ This conversation is going in a million different directions and Peter isn't 100% sure he's following - and he's a straight-A honours student at one of the most prestigious high schools in the state. ]
yeah
i mean
okay yeah
ackshunnnn cause i need this in my liiiife
[ and that's all she wrote, because there's literally a place called peter's pizza here so obviously that's where they're going to hang out. for their not-date. she probably shouldn't have called it that. it was just a figure of speech? whatever.
and if she gets there first, it's because she's there sooner than twenty minutes- webswinging gets a lot quicker when it's really cold out. so she's there earlier and already has a giant soda at a little two-person table, a little card with a number sitting at the edge so the guy knows where to bring the four slices she ordered.
two for him, two for her. her treat, considering she's about to either confuse the shit out of him or rock his whole world the way hers was when she found out he's peter parker. kind of. okay, maybe it'll be different for him. she's already been through this, in a way. she doesn't know if he has.
only one way to find out.
she's got a mouth full of sprite when she sees him walk into the little pizzeria, her chair facing the entrance because, well. she's a cop's kid. she doesn't even think about it anymore. anyway, her mouth's full so she just waves him over, making a face when she has to swallow the carbonated drink down too fast ]
--Oof. Hey. Hi.
[ s m o o t h ]
heLL yeah
So - yeah, he's a little nervous. The way she'd asked him whether his name was 'Parker' could only indicate that it meant something to her. It's a pretty common surname as far as surnames go, but she'd been so deliberate, as though she wanted confirmation and not just because it was a random surname she'd plucked out of a register or something.
He licks his lips and heads to the table she's already sitting at, lifting a hand to wave back while he musters up a slightly awkward smile. ]
Hey.
[ He lingers by the edge of the table for a second long enough to make it noticeable ... before he finally settles into the seat across from hers. ]
Uh.
[ Speaking of smooth. ]
no subject
[ it's not an emotional apology, but she seems sincere enough. her fingers drum on the table, looking up to see if the waiter is heading over, but it doesn't even look like he's paying attention to the slices he put in the oven to reheat for her, so. hm. ]
I have a lot of stuff to tell you. About me, mostly. And it's usually pretty easy to be like hey, this is a thing- But I don't know where to start. So. [ she holds up a finger and then fishes around in her backpack for something, eventually pulling out a little stack of photos. the one she singles out and looks at for a moment ends up on the table, and she slides it across so he can look at it. ]
At the risk of sounding like a cop- do you recognize anybody in this picture? Besides me.
[ it's a good chance he doesn't. but there may be an uncanny valley sort of recognition there, considering it's a picture of her, aunt may, uncle ben, and peter, all standing in front of a table with some kind of science fair project on it. peter's holding a blue ribbon, but his expression doesn't match the same jubilance as the rest of the little group. peter- doesn't actually look much like the peter sitting across from her, but more like a younger version of the older peter here. kind of. if you squint and turn your head the right way. so maybe may and ben won't look like his may and ben either. but there's a chance they will, and that's- that'll make things easier to explain.
sort of.
in an alternate universe type of way.
but he already knows the older peter here, she knows that, so. maybe she won't break his brain? it's fine. ]
It's okay if you don't, I'm just- curious.
no subject
The other three though ... no. There's no immediate recognition, nothing that makes him think that the boy is a friend of his, or someone from school, or someone he'd saved once as Spider-Man. The older woman and man ... nothing there either.
He's about to put the picture back down but something compels him to give it another look. It's ... it's weird, he doesn't know who they are, but they don't feel like strangers either.
It's nothing he can really put a word to, however, and the easiest thing to do is to shake his head. He'd rather have Gwen explain this increasingly concerning conversation anyway. ]
What's - uh. What's going on here, Gwen?
no subject
she reaches across the table and points out each person as she talks, her touch light though, like she's afraid of hurting the photo ]
That's May Parker, Ben Parker, and Peter Parker. Where I'm from. [ she pauses, maybe to let it sink in, but she doesn't let it sit quiet for long ] Aunt May and Uncle Ben are like family to me. Peter was too.
[ but she's not ready for that part of the conversation yet. the past tense. she probably never will be. maybe she doesn't want to throw that at peter, in case maybe the rest of this doesn't even ring a bell. maybe his world is that much different. ]
So your name means something to me, but I'm only telling you because I don't want you to think I'm making comparisons or anything. No expectations. It just didn't feel right keeping that from you, now that I know who you are. And I'm guessing there's no Gwen Stacy, where your from. Which is also okay, and definitely explains why this conversation didn't happen the first time I was here. [ she huffs, sitting back in her chair ] I still can't believe I didn't figure it out on my own. But. Anyway.
That's the tough part of what I wanted to tell you. I swear, the rest of it is pretty cool. Well, hopefully it's cool. Either that or it'll send you running for the hills. It could really go either way.
[ oh god, please let him be spider-man, please let him be spider-man ]
Ready for that part?
[ she's not rushing him though, she's genuinely asking ]
no subject
Wait, wait, wait, hold on, I just - I need a second here. That's - [ He can't even get to the May and Ben Parker stuff - not yet. It's too weird, it's too weird.
He looks at the other Peter Parker again. ] This is me? From another world? [ Cool cool, okay, so this feels like deja vu. ] There's another one of me?
[ How many Peter Parkers are there?
Maybe it's best not to answer that just yet, in case the answer is something like 'oh, you know, a million. There's an entire planet of dorky nerd loser-type Peter Parkers just west of Earth.' ]
You knew an aunt May and ... and uncle Ben?
no subject
... nah, she doesn't actually hope for that. but gwen's a little bit selfish, sometimes. ]
Mhm. Grew up in the house next door. Every time I visit my dad, I visit them, too.
[ well, not recently. not since she got out of jail. ben.. hasn't forgiven her yet. for her secret. but that's here nor there. ]
no subject
[ Is he okay? Peter wants to ask, but he trails off into silence before he can. Maybe he doesn't want to know. Maybe he shouldn't know. A part of him wonders if he'll just wind up feeling really bad about it, guiltier knowing that uncle Ben could have had a long, full life if Peter had just --
He presses his mouth into a thin line. ]
Okay, so what's the next thing? [ He's not sure how braced he should be for it, but he mentally prepares himself for just about anything as his mind buzzes with question after question, most of which he isn't sure he can even ask Gwen. ] The stuff that's supposed to be cool?
no subject
Well, it's definitely cool. But- Let me just say I'm only telling you this because I want you to know and hear it from me first, not because- I expect anything. From you. [ like a big HEY ME TOO or something. ehh. it makes sense in her head. ] I'm telling you because I trust you, and I want you to be the first person I like- tell. That's it.
[ it's.. not that big of a deal, in the long run, but it's important to her, okay. the first time she was here, she was still keeping her identity a secret. nobody could know who spider-woman was. and now she's out? but. she didn't want peter to find out just like everybody else. ..it made sense in her head.
so it's really just good timing when she spots the pizza guy heading their way from behind the counter with a little box - holding their slices, she knows, because they make eye contact and he nods, and she holds a hand up for him ]
I got it!
[ and yeah. well. here goes nothin'.
thiwp. from his hands to hers in a split second, webbing caught on the corner of the box. she cuts it off so she can put it down on the table, and then. that's it. maybe. that's-
yeah.
no, wait. ]
Sometimes I wear a costume and swing from webs and go by the name Spider-Woman. Or- Spider-Gwen. Ghost Spider. [ sigh ] The Bugle keeps changing my name. [ she waves a hand ] Either way. I don't even know if that stuff means anything to you, but, there. That's it. That's my secret. ..Not-so-much a secret anymore, back home, but it hasn't really come up here. Still. That's it, that's the thing.
no subject
It's webbing. It's webbing. That's definitely webbing.
His mouth doesn't quite open into an 'O' because ... something about this? Something about all of this? Her confession, the little demonstration? It just makes sense. It's a surprise, yeah - sure, definitely, but it's also ... whoa.
He shakes himself out of his still-stunned reverie, swallowing and gesturing to the webbing and then remembers the last time she was here in Deerington, when hthey'd both wound up at the amusement park and he somehow found himself roped into the circus performance one night. He doesn't remember a whole lot about that whole experience other than it was probably embarrassing and he could have died, but he does remember someone saving him. He'd chalked it up to some other Spider-Man having saved him from tumbling to his doom, but it hadn't been a man at all.
Now it all makes a whole lot of crazy weird sense.
It was - ] - you. [ Probably confusing if he leaves it at that, so he continues in hushed tones. ] Last time at the circus. That was you, wasn't it?
no subject
Oh! Yeah, yes. That was me. [ she gives him a bright smile before she's opening the pizza box between them, four fresh-as-hell slices of pizza shining there in that little box. so greasy. so beautiful. she's like, actually distracted by it for a second. but no, this is important. ] I could be way cooler about it and not take credit, but it totally was, I won't lie. [ a beat ] You were falling! I didn't want you to get hurt. So I just- reacted. But like, I wasn't wearing my mask, and I didn't- That's the only reason why I left so fast. I mean, you found me anyway, but-
[ whatever, she waves her hand again ]
Yes, that was me. Is the short answer to your question.
no subject
[ He shakes his head. ]
So you're like - you can do ... everything a spider can? [ God, that sounds so stupid. ] I mean, with the webslinging and the sticking to walls and stuff.