jckpct

[jckpct]

"You clean up nicely, yeah. I think that's what I said. I could even go as far as saying you look handsome."

MJ wasn't going to call him out on the obvious staring, but she did like the attention. It was a warm glow in the pit of her stomach that she hadn't felt in God knows how long with Paul. Her self-esteem was something that she had put a lot of care and attention into. From an insecure teenage girl to the woman she was, MJ had fought for her confidence. She could be strong and independent but still enjoy the rush of being desired.

Rolling her shoulders back, the redhead attempted a calming breath. "That's because I'm an excellent actress, tiger. Trust my words, not my face. I'm not, like, throw-up nervous, but the jitters are there." Maybe the butterflies in her stomach weren't the gala. That would mean they were — god. She felt like a teenager with a school yard crush again. A crush on Peter Parker. History really did repeat itself.

"Are you positive we can't dip out and get some pizza? Would anyone even notice if we don't show up?"

She was talking and he was staring, then his brain quickly caught him up with her individual words. "I clean up nice? That's ridiculous, because I was just thinking I must look like wet card board next to you--look at you." he gestured to her and the dress--her in the dress. "If you're nervous, I can't tell." he assured her, trying to distract himself from the fact that they were alone in a space that ordinarily felt very public, but in the quiet of the empty office suddenly seemed very intimate. It was funny-- he had faced a hundred different life altering scenarios but rarely was he more nervous than faced with a pretty girl. Especially one he had a crush on--not that he was fully ready to admit that to himself. Denial was a deep, deep trench. "Standing in front of a hundred flashing cameras or enduring an evening with Jameson? I'd be less nervous around the cameras too." he teased.

[jckpct]

"I mean, I'm not exactly Mister Fantastic. My arms aren't that long." MJ cracked as she tried in vain to reach the zipper. She stilled then as Peter drew closer. The tug of the zipper tightened the dress, the fabric closing around her. A good dress was a shield, an armor. Add a little red lipstick and stilettos and she might as well have been invincible. Turning to face him, her breath caught as she realize how close they were.

"We shall." Slipping her arm into his, MJ smiled. "You know, you clean up well. Having you next to me is actually helping my nerves. Is it weird I'm nervous? Walk a hundred red carpets and nada, but one little Bugle gala and I'm knocked over. I must be out of practice."

"--you want me to?--yep." peter nodded and walked around the side of the desk. for a split second he stared at the zipper, then he shook his head and reached for the tiny thing. He pinched at the fabric at the base of her dress and tugged at the tab upward with the other, trying to ignore the warmth of her skin against the back of his fingers....or the curve of her waist, dip of her spine....Peter cleared his throat.

"Shall we?" he offered an elbow.

[jckpct]

"You're a life saver." And, surprisingly, right. MJ tried to avoid colors that weren't in her palette. She was only slightly ashamed to admit that she had once paid for someone to do an analysis on her. Some shades of red were doable, but orange was definitely out.

"Zip me up, tiger?"

"uh--" peter cleared his throat when she turned around. Christ, what was this nineteen twenty? had he never seen a woman's back before? he tried to reorganize his thoughts from the scramble they'd been turned into and focused. honestly? she'd look good in a paper bag.

"i like the black---because your hair, it looks good with your hair."

[jckpct]

@webbgineer

"Do we like this one? Too much? Not enough? Help me out here."

[jckpct]

He was flustered. Cute. It was endearing, and a ghost of a smile began to toy on MJ's lips. After a second, her eyes glanced down to take in the images that were scattered around his desk. Muscle memory kicked in at that point. She had spent enough time around (her) Peter to become familiar with his photography. Without thinking, she tapped one. "I like this one," MJ commented. "Moody, but the lighting is good. I'm guessing that's what you're going for here."

As he began to walk, MJ quickly followed behind. She tugged the strap of her bag back up her shoulder as it began to slip. The purse was huge — but it was full. She was looking like Mary Poppins at this point.

"Um, more or less," she shrugged. Acting was her thing. Modeling as well when she could get the gigs. The only issue was that her credits hadn't transferred realities without her, and people weren't clamoring to hire an unknown redhead. "I'm covering entertainment. A friend of a friend called in a favor. What about you? Photography, right? Judging by the alley shots."

peter was sprawled at his desk, muttering to himself. an array of different photos spread across, all of which were different shots of the same alley. jameson kept making him go back and take more--kept saying it wasn't grungey enough, and honestly at his point peter wasnt sure how much grungier he could get them without crawling into the the dumpsters. he paused ...now there was a thought, maybe thats what jameson wanted ? --peter stopped as he finally registered the sound of a voice and yanked his head up to see mary jane watson standing in the entryway. his mouth opened and then shut. he had been avoiding her--well, not really avoiding her, it was just that she was pretty and he was an idiot.

"yeah--i could--we could--yeah." peter nodded a little too quickly. his mouth was moving and he wanted it to stop. "its, uh, this way." he said, rounding his cubicle.

"you just started here, right?"

[jckpct]

@webbgineer

Shifting realities were a mind fuck. Some things were the same, some different. It was just enough to almost get comfortable but never be able to fully relax. The Daily Bugle was in the same location, but the interior layout was completely different. As a result, it didn't take long for MJ to get completely turned around.

Under the wrathful of J. Jonah Jameson, everyone was scrambling around. Mary Jane may as well have been invisible as three different employees gave her the brush. Finally spotting someone fiddling with a camera, MJ approached him.

"Please tell me you can be my hero and tell me where Norah Winter's desk is?"

[jckpct]

She should have been paying attention. MJ had been focused on with her Jackpot bracelet as she walked, eyes only occasionally glancing up. She didn't have Paul to tinker with it, and she was continuously worried she'd break it. That didn't excuse running into anyone.

"—I'm so sorry." Crap. "That's my bad."

Flash sat there drowning in his fourth drink, too numb the feeling of the alien tendrils squirm around him and the haunting voice that whispered in the corners of his mind. It was all becoming too much when he was bumped into making him spill some of his drink. He felt his new parasite recoil ready to fight, but instead, he just cleared his throat and rolled his chair slightly to the left. "Could you pay a little more attention next time?" His voice had little bite in it. He was too exhausted for aggression right this second.

[jckpct]

"Looks like none of my business."

"what is that!?"

[jckpct]

"Which reality are you from?" He kinda seemed like a Peter variant, but MJ didn't want to assume. "Sounds like there was trouble at home."

"Maybe this is really messed up to say but— this reality seems better than the one I came from. It's so similar but it just- it feels lighter. I dunno, does that make any sense?" Peter immediately felt guilty saying that out loud, especially when there was still a possibility that they were all here because of something he did.

[jckpct]

"You're part of that spider-society, right? Order of the Web? What's the current name?"

"We should all be far more concerned that proven methods of multiversal travel are not working right now. I haven't been able to open up a portal since I arrived— that's never happened before."

[jckpct]

"I auditioned for the reboot of that, but they went with Margot Robbie."

"While my whole life has been turned upside down - again - and this whole world is quite different, at least they still have the pirates of the Caribbean movies."

[jckpct]

"At this point, I feel like I need to go buy a rug and a lamp to make it more homey."

"Oh, yeah. It's real nice that we get to stay in this creepily abandoned complex until everything's sorted out. It's like a frickin' vacation if you ask me."

[jckpct]

"I'd take New York over Wichita any day. There's a lot to do here. I also would've accepted Paris."

"Always wanted to visit New York, just thought when I did I'd be able to leave. Expectations were too high I guess?"

[jckpct]

"Hey, that's normally my line. Although, I don't mind autographs. It's nice to not have to be camera ready."

"Huh? Oh-- sorry, I don't do autographs. I might be able to squeeze a selfie in, though."

[jckpct]

"Look at us go. Here, high-five." MJ held her palm out. "You mean Reed Richards, right? He seems like a pretty good metric to go off of."

"I am also new to being a superhero, but I gotta say this is a first. My rule is, if Reed is freaked out by it, I'm freaked out by it."

[jckpct]

When she'd first woken up in this new reality, MJ had been disoriented. She had been worried that this was her hero trial by fire, and she'd have to navigate this foreign place on her own. Soon, she found out, almost everyone from her life had been brought over as well. It was great for familiarity, but the lack of heroes left back home was concerning. "That's what people keep saying. We're completely cut off here. Our reality could be gone, and we'd just have no idea. It's a lot."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad..." Daisy confirmed, letting out a soft sigh before she looked back up to the redhead. "There's lots of people who are displaced right now, like yourself. And from what I gathered, no one can confirm what things are like in the realities that you guys left behind, now that you're gone."

[jckpct]

"Just to confirm: you've seen reality get messy, but it's not usually this bad? Oof. Every time I look for reassurance, it's nowhere to be found. I guess it's really bad bad."

"In general? Eh. On this scale? Oh yeah." He said rubbing at his large scare on his forehead. "I've seen this kind of stuff before, but all these people from all these places? That's new."