pctcrparker

[pctcrparker]

When it came to speaking to Cassia these days since coming back into each other's lives, Joe could sense the amount of restrain she held when talking to him. It was something he understood, though. Especially given the gaps in between the two of them speaking to one another. And, of course, the way he had treated her all those years ago. If anything, he was surprised she didn’t show more animosity towards him. It would have been something he deserved, but this treatment was deserved too. Still, even with her being much more reserved talking to him than she’d been in the past, hearing her voice over the phone cause Joseph’s heart to race just the slightest. Though he blamed it on the cold weather. He clutched the shopping bags in his hand as he listened to Cassia ask him all these questions at once. When she asked if he was with family, he released a big breath which was seen through the cold air. “No. No, no. I’m not back home. With them, I mean. I’m still here in London. I didn’t really feel like traveling back home this year. But I am shopping for their presents,” he answered, beginning a slow pace on the sidewalk with no real direction. “What about you? Where are you spending the holidays?” He knew not to ask if she was back home. Joe was well aware of the type of relationship she had with her mother. And the rest of her family for that matter. Besides, he remembered all the times he’d gone back home during university and never once had he’d seen her back. Without asking, his mother would answer the quiet questions in his head - that she never visited. So he knew that she wouldn’t be there for the holiday. But he also wasn’t sure if she was still with Matt. Maybe she’d gone to visit his family. The thought made his stomach churn.

Cassia nearly dropped her phone when she heard Joe's voice. It had been a while since she heard from him and frankly she wasn't expecting to hear from him again. He seemed to make it clear that she wasn't that important in his life, so she wondered why he was even calling. Her brows furrowed when he said 'Joseph'. Even though it was his actual name, Cassia had just been Joe to her, so hearing was weird. He made it sound like he was being held at gunpoint or something. Cassia was about to ask him if he was okay and if he needed help when he continued to speak. He was rambling on about school, a time that seemed long past. Cassia was trying to get a word in but he kept going on and on about their high school days and how she helped him through a group project. Truthfully, Cassia barely remembered it. What she did remember was the feeling when she spoke to him all night; the way her heart raced as she listened to him ramble about the project then when he delved deeper into more personal things. At the time, Cassia thought that their friendship was hading in a better direction than being his dirty little secret, but that made their relationship move ten steps back. "I-I'm good," she said, clearing her throat and stepping to the side. "Yeah, I'm good. How are you? How has the holidays been treating? Are you with your family?"

[pctcrparker]

Attention was something that Donovan absolutely adored. At times, he even craved it. Yeah, he loved acting for the craft of it. But he could never deny that he loved the attention that came with this line of work. Even before the fame, he loved the attention he received during plays - at school as well. It’s why he always fought for the lead. That and because the leads were always better, but still. He was an actor that loved the attention. That meant that theatrics was in his blood. Over stepping lines and boundaries just for the sake of a reaction. It was something he often did. Unfortunately, it was something he often did with Liz. For the most part, it was purely teasing. Though, he did love getting a rise out of her. When she wasn’t putting him in his place, that is. That he enjoyed too. But seeing the way she was reacting to him now felt like a punch to the gut. It was a sting he didn’t know he could feel. Not that he didn’t deserve it or whatever, but he wasn’t a fan of this. She asked him why he was there with a bite in her tone that made him blink twice. This side of Liz wasn’t something he was used to. “My best friend is dress shopping for her big day. Where else would I be?” he responded with no intentions of getting an answer from her in return. By now, she should be aware that she wouldn’t be getting straight answer out of him anyway. Donovan’s vulnerability was displayed in his acting, never in real life. He took a step closer towards her, Don clasping his hands behind his back as he gave her a little smirk in regards to her questioning why he wasn’t out chasing some pretty skinny blonde “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?” His eyes shone with an odd mixture of mischief and sincerity. But before he gave her a chance to speak, he stepped back to allow himself some room to breathe, his back now facing her as he pretended to busy himself with the fabric of one of the dresses there. “Look, I know we’re in a weird place right now, but I’m being serious. Where else would I be if not here with my best friend as she readies herself for her…” He paused and swallowed like the words were literally choking him. “—her big day.”

Liz hated Don at this very moment. This was supposed to be a happy moment for her. She was picking out her wedding dress for fuck’s sake. A wedding dress meant to be used for another and here he was reminding her their younger years when they were convinced they would marry one another. Why was he doing this to her? Why did he insist on making things harder for her to walk away? He made it clear he didn’t want her nor did he return the feelings, so why was he here? "Kind of feels weird taking another man’s ring to my wedding to another man,” she murmured, taking a deep breath as she stared at herself in the mirror. Liz felt like she was suffocating under his gaze, causing her to look away from him and wrap her arms around herself as if keeping a block between the two of them. Elizabeth was about to say that it was hard to believe, when he stopped her. He knew what she was going to say already. “Why are you here?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him, wanting to understand what more he wanted from her. Hadn’t he tortured her enough already? Didn’t he make it clear that he felt nothing for her? Why was he constantly haunting her? Just when Liz convinced herself that she could do this, that she could marry Tyler and be happy with him, Don decides to waltz into her life like a hurricane. She was done letting her life revolve around him when it was clear she was an afterthought to him. “Don’t you have some pretty, skinny blonde to chase?” Liz asked with a raised brow.

[pctcrparker]

There was undeniably a long awkward pause between them when he noticed the way Mary Jane’s eyes shifted between him and the little shark fella that was following behind him. Honestly, the redhead’s reaction could go fifty/fifty here. He could potentially get an earful about letting a strange shark into their home that came from a complete stranger. Or she could maybe find him cute? Even Peter had to admit that the shark, that happened to have little legs, was rather cute. When she finally spoke up and began to question who - or what - Jeff was, Peter immediately put his hands up defensively, palms out towards her. “Okay, I can explain. Will it make sense? Maybe not entirely, but I can… attempt to explain,” he told her, bending his knees as he knelt down to lift Jeff up. The shark - Jeff - was about the size of a bulldog. There was definitely some weight to the animal that Peter felt as he picked him up. Jeff just simply started to pant like he was a dog, getting excited to be in Peter’s arms. “So this is Jeff,” he continued, introducing Mary Jane to the shark. “Jeff, this is MJ.” He gave the redhead a wide toothy grin before he set the shark back down, who promptly made his way over to her in a waddle like walk. “I think I have to kind of babysit him. Instructions were a little unclear, if I'm honest.” At this point, he was sure that MJ was used to these kinds of antics, but he still didn't know how exactly she was going to react to this specific antic. "Are you... mad?"

Mary Jane was curled up on the couch reading her script. Her agent sent her a script stating that she was going to really love it and that the director was offering it to her. As soon as her agent pitched that the character offered to her was someone that was kissing girls and honestly, MJ was immediately sold on it. When she heard Peter call for her in that weird voice of his that told her he was about to reveal something that she wasn't going to like. Setting down her script, Mary Jane then got up from the couch and headed to the front door. "What is it this time, Peter?" MJ asked, heading down the hallway. "What stray did you bring now?" she wondered, expecting a half beaten and bloody Matt Murdock to appear. She stopped dead in her track when she saw... a shark behind him. A shark with legs. Mary Jane had to do a double take before turning to Peter with her brows furrowed. "Peter... what is that?" she asked, pointing at the shark with legs that was wagging it's tail and sticking out it's tongue. Now MJ had seen a lot of strange things before, but a shark with legs was surreal to her. "Who is this? Why do you have a shark following you around?"

[pctcrparker]

That had to be Gwen Stacy, Peter had thought to himself at first. That is until the blonde girl with the pink ends starting to rant about her definitely not being Gwen Stacy. She was a whole different Gwen from a whole different planet and she spoke a lot. Peter thought he was a talker, but she was saying a lot that he couldn’t even comprehend. There was something about her book getting cancelled and how she might cease to exist because of it. Peter had no idea what that could possibly even mean. The bottom lime was, she gave him a shark. What he was meant to do with it, he didn’t know. All she said was to take care of him until she got back and that his name was Jeff. Now he was going to have to go home and explain this to Mary Jane. Sure, their lives were filled with nothing but weird situations such as this, but he never brought home a pet shark before. “Okay… Jeff?” He began, addressing the shark, who looked up at him gleefully when spoken to by his name. “Let’s try to tone down on the water spraying that you did earlier. I don’t think MJ will appreciate that very much. Okay?” Peter set the shark down before opening the front door and stepping in. “MJ? Darling? Are you home? I… I have something to talk to you about,” he called out, walking inside with Jeff following right behind him.

[pctcrparker]

At the compliment given by the very gorgeous girl, Ada couldn’t help but smile to herself. Partly due to the fact that she was a fan of impressing a pretty lady and the other part due to her being proud of her little ship. Any time the ship received a compliment, she felt like a proud mother. She was entering the coordinates into the GPS radar, making sure she got them exact. She’d been there plenty of times, but there was a reason why people tended to avoid it and she liked to make sure to go the least dangerous route possible. And the fast. Which was hard to do fast and safe, but she had found her own route that was good enough. Scoffing under her breath when she heard Estelle question the chairs, she pursed her lips to the side pensively. It was true that she didn’t have a crew nor did she ever really have one. She had a few short lived companions every now and then in the past, but no actual crew. It was something that she was used to by now, but she also couldn’t sit there and lie and say that she never thought about it. So she had seating, just in case. Maybe one day in the future the ship wouldn’t be so lonely. “I like to have options,” she answered instead. When she got the okay that Estelle was ready, Ada gave her a silly two finger salute. “Bit dramatic, but let’s get our butts on the road,” she said before the ship sped towards their destination. “It won’t take too long, but long enough if you wanted to take a nap. I can take it all from here.”

Estelle was ecstatic that her career as a bounty hunter wasn't short lived and she lived to see another day, or at least her ship did. Even if her relationship wasn't all too great with her father, the ship held sentimental value to her. It was once a prestigious ship when her father was in her prime. Even if it was known as a hunk of junk now, it was home and it had seen many adventures. Two generations worth of adventures. Call Estelle sentimental, but that meant something to her, that and well, she couldn't afford another ship anyway. Leaving her ship, Estelle gave her ship a loving pack. "I'll be back, girl," she informed her ship and followed Ada to her own ship. The brunette let out a low whistle. The ship was smaller than hers, but it was nice. Very nice. She could tell that it was very well maintained. It was clear that Ada knew what she was doing. Entering the ship, Estelle immediately looked around, wanting to take everything in. "It's a gorgeous ship," she commented, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her pants. Following Ada to the cockpit, she sat in one of the empty chairs and crossed her legs. "Why d o you have so many chairs? You don't even have a crew," she observed. Putting on her seatbelt, Estelle nodded her head. "Ready as I'll ever be. Take me to my fate," she joked.

[pctcrparker]

He mumbled a half moan half ‘yes’ into her skin when she asked him if watching her out there had made him all hot and bothered. Though, that could really just because he was insanely attracted to Jolene. He wouldn’t be surprised if she managed to get him all hot and bothered with anything that she did. There was a reason why he kept going back for more after realizing they had already spent a night together. To avoid any problems or sticky situations, he didn’t like to double dip, so to speak. It avoided him possibly getting photographed with the same woman more than once and given his impending marriage, that would obviously cause way more problems than he’d like to deal with. Yet, seeing Jolene again, he was quick to throw that right out the window. And here he was again, doing it once more. Arguably, him having her in his trailer right now was even more dangerous than their encounter earlier due to the fact that all eyes were on them after the last minute actress change. People were undeniably questioning this choice and River wouldn’t be surprised if small talks and rumors were already spreading along the set. In theory, he should be more careful with his interactions with Jolene. At the same time, however, he didn’t care. He wanted her. He needed her. 

Breath was heavy when she pushed him back so that she could start removing her clothes, starting with her shirt before she motioned for him to step forward again. River wasted no time in following, removing his own shirt and starting on his pants before reaching her. His lips immediately crashed against hers, tongue forcing its way into her mouth with a small moan. He could feel the heat burning at the pit of his stomach. Slipping his hand behind her back, River expertly unhooked her bra and let the garment slide down her shoulders. He barely even separated their lips as he pulled it the rest of the way off, dropping it on the trailer floor. He then hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, another moan muffled against her lips as he felt their bare chests pressed against one another. Capturing her lower lip between his teeth and giving it a soft tug, he then grabbed the blonde’s hips and promptly turned her around, pushing her against the edge of the trailer’s counter. He guided her to push her backside further out as he dipped his fingers into her panties and slid them down as he got to his knees. River was completely fixated on the blonde, taking in every inch of her perfectly crafted body while his boxer briefs got tighter and tighter. Once her panties were low enough, River leaned in and began to slowly leave hot, open mouth kisses on her, trailing down the slopes of her ass. He’d go back up and trail down again a few times, his teeth scraping her skin occasionally before he swiftly spread her legs apart, allowing him to get a good view of her slick pussy. He was hungry for her in a way that he wasn’t used to. So it wasn’t surprising that he dove in and helped himself to her pink wet lips from behind. His tongue dipped into her and licked her folds, moaning at the taste while his hands gripped her ass cheeks, gripping tighter when he’d reach her clit and sucked on it. “You taste so fucking good,” he whispered after giving himself a pause to catch his breath. He said not only as praise to her, but like he couldn’t believe that he was the one who got to taste her right now. Spreading Jolene’s legs a little further, he eased two fingers into her. Once they were fully slicked by her wetness, he gave her ass a slap before he started to scissor his fingers in and out of her pussy.

Jolene watched him from afar. It was interesting to see him in his element. Jolene nearly forgot that he was the same man she had fucked at not only that Hollywood party last night but in his trailer a few hours ago. He just seemed so professional and so serious. Her smile grew wider when River finally started approaching her. Nodding her head, trying to keep her excitement at bay when he told her to follow him to her trailer, Jolene did as she was told. She visibly shivered like some touch starved idiot when his fingers brushed against her arm. As soon as she stepped inside his trailer, River was locking the door and pushing her against the wall. The blonde groaned in response. It wasn’t long until she recovered from the shock, Jolene wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. She kissed him back eagerly, desperate to continue what they had done hours ago at his trailer. His words made her grin, but before she could say anything, River’s tongue was slipping into her mouth. Jolene moaned, her hips rutting into his as she felt herself starting to get aroused. When she finally pulled away, Jolene grinned. “Did it get you all hot and bothered?” she asked in a teasing manner. Jolene knew where this was going and she had no qualms about it. She was eager. Pushing him back a little, Jolene grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled her shirt over her head. Now in her bra, she tossed it to the side. “Fuck me,” she encouraged him, using her index finger as a come hither motion. Jolene wanted him and she was going to make it know she wanted him just as he was making it known exactly what they were going to do. As she waited for him to approach her, Jolene started to unbutton her jeans, her bottom lip between her teeth as excitement shot throughout her body.

[pctcrparker]

After having been Spider-Man for as long as he was now, Peter had seen more merchandise of himself than he could ever imagine. There were Spider-Man plushies and articles of clothing and of course figures and things that you wouldn’t expect to have his Spider-Man face on it like slippers. There was a lot out there. Mary Jane had her own collection of Spider-Man merch because of it. Which he secretly really loved that she did. But even with the amount of stuff that there was, Peter was always surprised whenever he spotted anything else. But this? Having a whole arcade game based off of him? Well, that in itself was probably the coolest thing that he had ever seen with his face slapped on it. Peter was in complete awe as he walked closer to the machine. It was loud and bright with lights flashing everywhere. He really did feel like a little kid at an arcade. Whether or not the game was good was an entirely different conversation, but honestly? Peter didn’t care. It could be the worst game in existence and he’d still think it was the coolest thing. He smiled at his wife when she appeared to be just as excited to be spotting this arcade game, but when she started asking if he was getting paid for this, Peter threw his head back and laughed. “When have I ever gotten paid for anything with my face on it? It’s sort of impossible to pay Spider-Man.” After his wife gave him some coins, he thanked her and kissed her cheek before stepping closer to the machine. He inserted the necessary amount of coins before some sounds began, signaling the start of his turn. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure what he was meant to be doing. But he clicked a button and small bouncy balls fell down. And he inserted more coins and he watched them fly towards some slots. Eventually, red lights flashed and he assumed he won. “Did I win?” He looked back excitedly at his wife and daughter before looking back at the machine where he noticed all the tickets that kept going and going. “Whoa. Do you see that? The tickets keep coming.”

Mary Jane knew it was a cheap shot, but she didn't care. She was as competitive as it comes and she was not about to let an opportunity like this pass her by, especially when Peter was difficult to beat given his heightened senses. MJ did a little dance, excited that she had won and stuck her tongue out at Peter. Pulling him closer, MJ giggled and shook her head. "Sorry, but what do you consider your heightened senses then?" she asked with a raised brow. "Some would say that, that is cheating so by default, a win is a win for me." MJ waved him off before then walking with him along the arcade, MJ pushing the stroller as he carried May in his arms. When Peter suddenly stopped and exclaimed that it was him, she looked at what he was pointing at and chuckled. It was one of those coin tossing games. Seeing the excited look and childlike wonder on his face made MJ giggle. It was cute. Looking closer, MJ gasped and slapped Peter's arm. "Look, look!" she said excitedly and pointed at some of the villains in his rogues gallery. "It's Vulture and Rhino!" Mary Jane did her best to say it hushed whispers, but like Peter, she was just as excited as he was about seeing himself in a game. "Are you getting paid for this? No, you're definitely not getting paid for this. Is this even legal?" MJ asked, knocking on the glass before then producing some coins from her pocket. "Give it a go," she encouraged him, taking May from Peter and balancing her on her hip. Kissing May's cheek, she then pointed to Spider-Man. "Look, baby girl, it's daddy," she whispered. MJ grinned when May looked at the Spider-Man figure with wide eyes and tried to reach for it, showing clear signs of recoginition.

[pctcrparker]

All Peter could think about on his way home was getting to MJ. Blood was rushing to his head in a way that he knew would make him act out and he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to get home and have his wife calm down the storm up in there. She was the only thing right now who could do it. Mary Jane had always been the rock that had kept him from swinging too close to the sun and without her, he knew that he’d always let his emotions get the better of him. What he had to do tonight was too much. He needed MJ. He needed the comfort and peace that she provided. Which was why he wasted no time to rest against her lap, collapsing on the ground below her where she was sat. She immediately ran her fingers through his hair and Peter signed and closed his eyes. The warmth from her was slowly washing over his body already. The chaos in his head was quieting down. His eyes shut tightly when her soft voice asked if he wanted to talk about it. And he did. He’d long had learned that things were always better when he actually spoke to MJ instead of what he used to do before - which was running the other direction. But he had stopped doing that. And it was for the better. Peter lifted his head and met her eyes. “I do. I just…” His voice trailed off before he placed his head back down against her lap, knowing that the redhead would understand that he just needed a moment. He wasn’t even sure if he had properly processed any of this, but he soon took in a deep breath. “It was a lot. I can’t remember the last time I was that nervous I thought I was going to throw up in my mask.” Sighing, he got up from the floor and sat down beside MJ, reaching out for her hand for comfort. “The look on his face when I told him… I felt so guilty. In that moment, it felt like completely my fault. Out of all the people I have saved - so many people - why couldn’t I save one more this time?” He let out another breath and shook his head, idly playing with her hand. “Then he thanked me after giving him the watch and he hugged me, crying. I didn’t feel like I deserved that at all.”

While Peter was away, Mary Jane couldn’t go back to sleep and cleaned up a little. With May fast asleep, she did her best to make sure she was quiet as possible. Once she was satisfied with their apartment looking clean and organized, Mary Jane sat on the couch and pulled out a script that she had been reading for the last couple of days. Her agent sent over some scripts for her to look at, eager to get her back into acting since having May. As much as she wanted to get back into acting, Mary Jane was a little hesitant to take May from Peter as it made sense that May would go with her wherever she had to film. At this point, MJ wasn’t even really reading to read the script, it was just to pass the time until Peter was home because there was no way she would be able to go to bed knowing Peter was out there going through yet another trauma to add to the pot. Jesus, Peter had so much trauma for on person to bear. Looking up when Peter entered through the living room window, MJ barely had time to set aside her script when Peter was resting on her lap. Immediately, her hand went to Peter’s hair and she started to stroke it. “Hey,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Leaning down, she kissed the top of his head, not caring that he was sweaty. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, wanting to give Peter the option to actually discuss how the little boy reacted to the news of his father’s passing and being given the watch. As much as she wanted Peter to talk to her and to not shut her out, she knew that she couldn’t force him to say it, not this time. This time it was more than a sensitive topic.

[pctcrparker]

Christopher did his best to resist an eyeball when Harold brought up the prize. In all honesty, even before he had become severely distracted by Daphne’s presence, Chris never really cared about the prizes. That wasn’t to say that he’s never gotten any. In fact, he’s gotten the most of the group. Call him a natural, but he didn’t really care. The prizes meant nothing anyway. They were silly novelty things. Like this company was too greedy to give them any of actual substance. They were little statues with plaques of their names on it. That was it. That was what they thought was worthy of their motivation. Was it because they had nothing else to live for other than work? The thought only further depressed him. So he tried not to think too much about it. “A pat on the back would be a much more meaningful prize,” he answered after watching Harold finally walk away. “We usually get these little statues. They’re kind of… Well, they’re not great. I mean Dylan loves them only because he loves to brag. But that’s essentially it. As far as I know, they haven’t decided to give us anything more than that.” Chris made a small face to himself as he thought about how it was a little odd that Harold was being a bit extra pushy when it came to the price. It was like the man was trying to really get them to focus hard on this project, more so than usual. He didn’t really notice before because again, most (if not all) his attention had been on Daphne as of late, but now that they were talking about this prize, everything about it felt odd. Letting out a small pensive breath, and followed behind her back to their desks. “What took you guys so long? Were you clearing out the vending machine?” Chris heard Dylan say sarcastically, which he only responded with an annoyed look. With a sigh, he then stared at the screen, though his gaze kept flickering towards a certain blonde most of the time, making it hard to even work. He was caught off guard by her breaking the silence when she began asking about the prizes again. After releasing a small chuckle, Chris moved his chair back and opened one of the drawers on his desk. While Irving and Dylan kept their prizes on their desk, Christopher kept his hidden away. Reaching in, he took the three that he had and placed them where Daphne could see it. “I’m not quire sure what you mean by that exactly, but you’re also not wrong.”

There was something about Harold that made Daphne uncomfortable. Ever since she started at Lumon, he was always looking at her a little too closely. It made her feel as if she had done something wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what that wrong was. It was even more evident whenever she was around Chris. Sometimes it felt as if he would just pop up whenever she and Chris were alone, not that they were alone often or even tried to be alone. There were just times where they would find themselves alone in the vending machine chatting about their favourite snacks. Nonetheless, Daphne beamed with pride when Chris sung her praises. “I’m just doing my best and trying to do what I can,” she said, grinning at Chris. “That’s good to hear,” Harold said. “If you two would please head to your desks. You wouldn’t want Dylan and Irving to get that prize now, do you?” Harold said cryptically and gave them a nod before leaving. Daphne gave Chris a side glance, waiting until she was sure their supervisor was out of earshot before relaxing. “That was weird, right?” she asked, walking along side Chris to their desk. “What do you think the prize is? A pat on the back?” Daphne joked and chuckled to herself. “Has Lumon ever given out prizes before? I feel like this is some kind of a test.” Entering their work area, Daphne smiled at their co-workers and went to her desk. “Alright boys, another day of work, right?” Daphne was greeted with unenthusiastic cheers as everyone settled back into their desks. Propping herself up with her elbow, Daphne rested her cheek against the palm of her hand and started to go through the numbers on her computer. “What do you guys think?” she said, breaking through the silence. “Do you think that this prize they’ve been talking about for the last few days is actually worth it?” Daphne leaned to the side so she could peek at Chris and grinned. “I bet you won many prizes, you look like the type.”

[pctcrparker]

Peter clapped his hands excitedly when Mary Jane also mentioned getting calamari. Now, he was fairly certain that he’s never even tried calamari before, but he was a food guy. He’d be damned if he didn’t try everything at least once. And considering how rarely they eat seafood back home, what if this was their only chance ever? “Am I the one getting the princess treatment tonight?” He asked with a cheeky grin. It wasn’t as if this was the first time that MJ ever treated him or was the one paying for things. It was no secret that throughout their relationship, she was the money maker in this relationship. The Daily Bugle paid literal dog shit and being a teacher wasn’t exactly a means to get rich. It wasn’t like saving the city as Spider-Man paid him in monetary value either. So Mary Jane with her big time movie star job, tended to be the one who paid. So it was a good thing that Peter wasn’t one of those overly toxic men who cared about those kinds of things. No, Peter loved getting pampered, especially when it came to food. As long as Mary Jane was find with it, of course. He also feared that it may seem like he was taking advantage of her. Which obviously he would never, ever do. “Little umbrellas you say? Well, sign me the hell up for all the fancy drinks!” He called out enthusiastically, which did garner a few stares. But he didn’t mind, because MJ was playing a kiss to his lips and nothing else around them mattered. He smiled at her and nodded his head. “You bet I’m ex—“ He caught himself off when the redhead referred to him as a West Coast Avengers. “Did you just insult me?” He questioned, head cocking to the side. “Avengers is already bad enough, but the West Coast Avengers? Ouch, you wound me.”

Mary Jane was doing everything she could to fit all of the things she wanted to do with Peter in the short weekend that he was here. Who knew when she was going to see him next while she was filming in LA. Despite Peter not really doing anything other than grading papers, being Spider-Man was a demanding job. Half the time it felt as if they were abiding by his schedule rather than hers and she was the busy actress with the demanding schedule here. There were times where MJ wished New York would just calm down for a few days so Peter could actually visit her without any kind of hitch. Even LA wasn’t safe as Peter had to once leave her in the middle of an adventure to help some group called the Runaways. She didn’t even know superheroes existed in the west coast other than the West Coast Avengers which she and Peter have come to the conclusion were New York superheroes going to LA on vacation. They often joked whenever Peter visited her that he was currently a west coast Avenger. Resting her head on his shoulder, Mary Jane smiled as Peter agreed to lobster roll. “Wanna get calamari as well?” she asked him, licking her lips. When Peter asked what made their Margaritas fancy, MJ grinned. “They add a little umbrella in the drink,” she said simply. Truthfully MJ didn’t know what made the Margarita fancy, she just figured every alcoholic drink from a restaurant was fancy. When the waiter came, MJ grinned and ordered themselves their lobster roll and calamari for a dessert. She also ordered three Margaritas, one each for them and one to share as she knew that the alcohol wasn’t going to affect him. Peter would have to drink a gallon of one hundred proof alcohol for it to affect him. “Are you excited?” MJ asked Peter, leaning in and kissing Peter on the lips. “My West Coast Avengers man.”

[pctcrparker]

Yeah, Peter was easy when it came to Mary Jane. Most of the time (all of the time, really), all it took was even just a glance from her and he was on his knees. But when she used something like her spreading her legs right in front of him? He was but a simple man. A simple man who was absolutely weak for her. He wasted no time to dig in, so to speak, his hands wandering her body while his lips attacked whatever exposed skin of hers he could find. The sound of her whimpering his name caused his own body to shudder. He loved hearing any kinds of pleasurable noises coming from the redhead, but it was especially sweet when it was his name in particular that she was whimpering. Or screaming. Or moaning. Whichever the case, it really got him going. At this point, there really wasn’t anything that was going to get Peter to keep his hands off of her. From the way she was reacting, it didn’t seem like he wanted his hands off of her. She even pulled his body closer to his, as close as possible at least. He moaned softly against her lips when he felt himself pressed so closely to Mary Jane. Peter could feel the heat shooting straight to his groin. The moment her tongue slipped into his mouth, his own tongue sensually met hers, drawing more moans out of him. He only pulled back when he needed to catch his breath, but even then, his lips still busied themselves. First kissing down her neck and then reaching her chest. Meeting her gaze as he looked up at her, his hand slid under her top, moving upwards as he cupped her breast from outside the fabric of her bra. His thumb rubbed her nipple until he could feel it harden through the fabric. Peter leaned in and tugged at her bottom lip gently. “You have to stop me now or else we’ll never get to that meal,” he whispered, out of breath due to the tension rising within him. 

Mary Jane through her head back and laughed when Peter indulged her joking and said that her calling it Peter love juice was sexy to him. Though she had a sinking suspicion that he wasn’t lying. He often talked about how just about everything about her he found sexy. He has even said her reading the Wall Street Journal would be sexy to him. MJ went into a fit of laughter as he continued to refer to his cum as his Peter love juice and how he would give it to her. The redhead was having a hard time taking Peter seriously. “Don’t ever do that again,” she warned him, pointing her finger at his chest as if pretending she was serious about the whole thing. Smirking to herself at how easy it was to catch Peter’s attention as soon as she spread her legs, Mary Jane groaned when he started to kiss her neck, her body heating up at Peter’s touches. “Peter,” she whimpered, her eyes shutting tightly and her lefts wrapping around his waist. She pulled him close, wanting to feel his core pressed against hers, she wanted their bodies to basically melt into one. Cupping his face, she pulled him away from her neck to look at his lustful gaze. Pressing her lips against his, Mary Jane wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, moaning into the kiss as she poured everything she was feeling into it.

[pctcrparker]

New York was ingrained in Peter. It wasn’t just the place he was born and raised in. No, the city was a part of who he was as a person. Since becoming Spider-Man and having saved the city on a nearly daily basis, that sentiment had only grown to be more true. It was hard to see himself not being in New York, but being here with MJ - way on the other side of the country - made Peter realize that maybe, he could maybe see himself not in the city. Because he knew that at the end of the day, his home was where Mary Jane was. So if that meant leaving New York, well, goodbye NYC. But he knew that MJ would never do that to him. His only hope was that he wasn’t forcing her to stay in a place she no longer wanted to be in. During the times that he’s asked, she’s reassured him that he was only being paranoid and that she was where she wanted to be. He chose to believe her for the most part, but there would always be that tiny worry at the back of his head. Especially when she had to leave to make her movies. When they reached the restaurant and sat down, Peter picked up the menu and thoroughly went through it, nose practically pressed against it. But then MJ said lobster and his stomach grumbled like a signal. “Lobster. I want the lobster too,” he answer enthusiastically, setting the menu back down because he didn’t need to see anything else. They really didn’t eat enough seafood back home. Smiling at the redhead when she asked about Margaritas, Peter chuckled and nodded his head. “Sure, why not. Let’s let loose a little,” he teased. “What makes them fancy?"

It was hard being away from Peter, that Mary Jane couldn’t deny. As much as she wanted him to drop everything and just follow her around, even if he wasn’t Spider-Man, Mary Jane couldn’t ask him to do that given the fact that he also had a career to tend to. It wouldn’t be fair of her to ask him to just give up and drop everything to follow her around. They both would just have to take as many visits together as possible and she was just going to have to make the most of the weekend she had with Peter. It was why she was taking him everywhere that you would normally take two days to go through. “I’m going to. Don’t worry, lover,” she said, patting the bear on the head and smiling. MJ shook her head in agreement. “Yeah, New York and seafood isn’t as known, not even for us,” MJ agreed, and if it wasn’t known to them, that was saying something given the fact that they were huge foodies in New York. There probably wasn’t a restaurant in their neighbourhood that they haven’t tried. Even the knew one that had just opened a week ago, MJ flew over the weekend to try with Peter. Entering Seaside on the Pier, Mary Jane asked for two seats at the patio. Holding Peter’s hand, she followed the hostess to the patio. Sitting down, MJ patted the spot beside her, wanting Peter to sit beside her rather than in front of her. “I kind of want the lobster roll,” MJ revealed, looking at the menu. MJ then went to the drink menu and grinned when she saw they had margaritas. “You want a fancy margarita, babe?”

[pctcrparker]

Kelsey smirked and shrugged a shoulder. “I’m just saying. I would have,” she commented off-handily, taking a look out the window watching as the train was actually moving. Freya, meanwhile, was going off about how much she was looking forward to seeing this boyfriend of hers. Kelsey had meant plenty of girls who were like this - who appeared to center their boyfriend like the way Freya was. For the blonde’s sake, she hoped that she had a much better outcome than those other girls. Because when a girl was ever this excited over a boyfriend, it was like a curse, doomed to never end well. But Freya seemed nice. One of those kind hearted people that felt rare to come across. So Kelsey would hope that she was the exception to this. “Well, I don’t know this boyfriend of yours, but your excitement to see him is cute. I hope he finds it cute too. Otherwise, dump him and give me a call instead.” She winked at the girl sitting next to her. She was being playful, but also, she wouldn’t necessarily deny her attraction to the blonde. There was something about her that made her very attractive - the kind of attractive where it was obvious she didn’t even realize how hot she was. Kelsey was into that. When the blonde asked if she wouldn’t prefer having someone that inspired music from her, she glanced out the window for a brief moment before looking back at Freya with a soft half grin. “I mean, you don’t really need to be entangled in a romantic relationship to have a muse, do you?” She said, letting her gaze linger on the blonde playfully before looking back out the window. “I like finding my inspiration for music from unexpected places anyway.” Kelsey always found people who only wrote the typical love songs to be cliche and boring, and that wasn’t the type of musician she wanted to be. Chuckling when Freya asked to be invited to the nice shows, Kelsey nodded her head as their eyes met. “If you wanted, I can hook you up with a permanent music pass to all of our shows. All you gotta do is just ask.”

Freya immediately scoffed when Kelsey suggested that her students have a crush on her. It was a wild thought she didn't even want to entertain. "That is... no," she said, shaking her head and scoffing. "Let's not go there," she said and scoffed once more, unable to wrap her head around the fact that Kelsey would even mention something like that. They were children in her eyes, not teenage boys. Freya just loved teaching children. She loved seeing children realize their passions for things and being a part of that. To her, teaching as important and she was excited to be doing it in New York. Admittedly, she was sad to say goodbye to her students, but her boyfriend was more important and she had been wanting to live with him for some time now. "What? How could I not be worried? I am just so excited to see him," Freya squealed and clapped her hands. She immediately pulled out her phone and quickly texted her boyfriend to let him know that the train and started again. Freya was counting down the minutes until she could see her boyfriend again. Nodding her head in understanding when Kelsey mentioned that she didn't want to be distracted, Freya understood that. Being a musician seemed like a lot of work and a lot of time away from home. "Yeah, but wouldn't you want someone to inspire you to write music?" she asked in a teasing tone and leaned back against the seat. Freya looked over at the brunette and smiled. "I look forward to seeing you up on that stage. Don't forget to fly me out to one of your shows," she teased, sure that the brunette was going to forget her as soon as they left the train. "But invite me to a nice city, not a city here, promise?" she asked, looking at Kelsey in a hopeful manner.

[pctcrparker]

He gave her a warm smile when she assured him that she knew that he was there for her no matter what. After everything he’s already put her through, both as Peter and as Spider-Man, he constantly worried about whether or not MJ felt safe with him. Not only did he want her to actually be safe with him, but he wanted Mary Jane to feel safe around him too. That was just as important to him. So it was good that she knew that. He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. When she began to thank him for having arrived as fast as he could, he gave her a small nod. “I’ll always drop anything and everything for you, MJ. I hope you know that by now.” He kissed the top of her head and resumed his attention on the screen. The two of them sat there in their comfortable silence, watching the musical being played on on the television, Peter only half understanding what was going on. But he was focusing hard on it in case the redhead began to ask him more questions. Instead, he shocked him a bit, making him jump when she loudly exclaimed at the television screen while slapping his shoulder. Peter sat up straighter, widened his eyes and looked at the tv with even more concentration. He could vaguely remember if she had mentioned a Lorna Courtney before, but he definitely remembered going on and on about numerous actresses who should have won performances for various acting roles. He looked at the screen and then back at MJ, his eyebrows shooting up when he saw there being actual tears forming at the corner of her eyes. He began to admire MJ and the passion she had for these things, he lips turning into a soft smile before he grabbed her and pulled her into him tighter, placing a kiss to her temples. He loved MJ and he loved her passion. It was why he loved watching these things even if he had no idea about anything when it came to musicals. “You know, I can see what you mean. Not that I know who won instead of her, but those are some serious pipes she’s got going on.”

Mary Jane wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t shaken up by her father’s sudden and rather scary appearance. Just hearing his drunken voice, she felt like the same little girl that hid in the corner as her sister took most of the beatings. The same little girl who would be so scared she couldn’t move. Singing along to the next song, Mary Jane had a grin on her face as her eyes danced with excitement. The one thing that always found a way to cheer her up and make her forget about anything that was troubling her. Turning to him when he spoke again, MJ smiled and nodded her head, but her smile didn’t really reach her eyes. When it came to her father, he just seemed to be very good at haunting her. “I know you are, Petey,” she said lovingly and kissed him on the cheek before going back to singing the song that was now playing. Once the song had come to an end MJ looked over at Peter and sighed. She sipped on her drink and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for coming as fast as you could. I’m sure you dropped everything that you were doing,” she said and tuned to face him. Mary Jane wondered how long it would take for her to get over what her father had done and what she needed to do to actually get over it. Turning back to the TV, Mary Jane gasped and slapped Peter’s shoulder. “This is the scene! This is the scene where I firmly believe that Lorna Courtney should have won a Tony,” she said, watching a Lorna Courtney sang her ass off, it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

[pctcrparker]

Each stab at him that Laurel took only made Grant’s eye rolls grow more exasperated. As much as he did want to defend himself over what she just claimed, now wasn’t the time. Now he was trying to get it through her head that all he wanted was to make sure that she was okay. And to make sure that she will remain to be okay after this. As okay as she could be, that is. He let out a frustrated sigh when she quickly responded with hostility towards him suggesting that his assistant would probably call to check on her in a few days after she arrived home. “Why are you being so goddamn stubborn? I’m not asking anything of you, Laurel. I’m even telling you that you won’t have to see or hear from me after this. Just because my assistant calls or hell! Even just shoots you a damn email, doesn’t mean you have to speak to me. It’s all a formality to make sure you aren’t…” He sighed, lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was useless. No matter what Grant said or did, it was useless. He could see it in Laurel’s eyes, even through the haze of the leftover alcohol in her system. Dropping his arms to his sides, he furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed at his ex-wife. “Okay, well, I wouldn’t really call it harassing, first off,” he pointlessly argued. “And secondly…” He stopped himself. What was even the point, he thought. She didn’t get it nor would she. All Laurel would do would spit back everything he had done to hurt her. Truth was, he did it just for the chance to see her again. It wasn’t as if he could shoot her a text and ask her to hang out for a cup of coffee. If she ever agreed to that, it would only be to throw said coffee in his face. This was, stupidly, the only way he’d be able to see her again. “You can yell at me and slap me and throw whatever you want at me all you want, but I’m not gonna sit here and apologize for wanting to make sure you’ll be okay. You got that? Our history aside, I’m not sorry for caring. I’m gonna sit here and wait for you to eat and make sure you get on that damn plane and make it home okay. There’s really nothing you can do to stop me.” He’ll carry her on the plane himself if he needed to.

Laurel hated that her life was a mess and falling apart while Grant’s life was perfect and everything he had dreamed of. The fact that she was falling apart in front of him made things even worse. It was like rubbing salt on an open wound that Laurel did her best to mend. She truly could never catch a break could she? Laurel scoffed when he said he was just trying to be a decent human being. The blonde shook her head. “You? Decent? Since when exactly?” she asked him skeptically. Decent was not in Grant’s vocabulary nor was it something he was familiar with, not after everything he had done to her. Especially when he went out of his way to request her a second time to be his reporter like she was some kind of lap dog. What was even the point of it? He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her, yet here he was requesting her. It was something Laurel couldn’t wrap her head around. Laurel tensed when Grant admitted that he was going to have his assistant check in on her. “I’m not going to pick up,” she said stubbornly and narrowed her eyes at him. “Once you let me go, I promise you, you will never hear from me again nor will you ever know anything about me. We’re through after this. You do not get to destroy my life and expect to know anything about it afterwards.” Laurel hated the fact that Grant thought he had a right to her life or that he had any kind say in what he was allowed to know. She laughed bitterly when he called what he had done a mistake, the simplicity of it making her bitter and angry. “A mistake?” she asked. “You think harassing my boss and requesting me again after our history was a oversight for you? After everything, why did you even think it was a smart idea trying to get me to do a fucking puff piece on you?” she asked, her brows furrowed.

[pctcrparker]

There was a time where Peter felt absolutely alone in this identity. He was Spider-Man. And while there were other superheroes flying around New York City, none of them could really understand what he was going through. It felt that way, anyway. Spider-Man, the identity, felt like it’s own separate experience. Until now. Now, Peter knew that he wasn’t alone. There were so many spider people all along the multiverses. And not just that, but other Peter Parkers with similar stories as his. It was a hell of a trip to think about. It was overwhelming. At the same time, however, it was oddly comfortable. In an insane way, of course. Out of all that, though. Out of all the things the multiverse had brought with it. The best thing of it all, was Miles. No words ever would describe the gratitude he held for finding someone like Miles. That was his family now. Even MJ considered him so. If there was anyone else he trusted with Mary Jane and May, it was Miles. It’s why he felt a little safer with MJ being here. Though, that didn’t mean he still wasn’t worried as hell with her being there. But he tried not to focus too much on that because he also needed to focus on making sure that Otto doesn’t make dead spider meat. He didn’t really like the guy, but he couldn’t have him dead. Even if this entire thing was entirely his fault.

The Inheritors were locked in on Otto - or as he stupidly likes to refer to himself as, the Superior Spider-Man. Miles was already near MJ, so Peter felt better about focusing on Otto. That was until he felt his spider senses going off. And it wasn’t for Otto. Automatically, Peter knew it was for Mary Jane. His head quickly whipped towards the direction of MJ and Miles. Miles was out there fighting off one of the inheritors and Peter was about to go help out when, out of nowhere, the suit that she was wearing activated. Did she do that? Did it do it on its own? His eyes widened and he watched as the legs activated by the suit began to attack the inheritor. “MJ?” He said, knowing she probably couldn’t hear him. He was about to head over to help her, but then he heard his name being called out in the direction of Otto. Peter whipped his head back and forth before he groaned. MJ had Miles there and she had this fancy suit. He needed to trust she’d be okay. So he rushed over to help with Otto.

pctcrparker​:

There was no denying that Mary Jane looked good in that suit. That wasn’t the topic at hadn’t here. Peter was just concerned over her safety and concerned over what this suit could do to her. He’d seen first hand what a technology like this could do to a person. He didn’t want MJ to go down that same route. Clutching his mask in his hands, he continued to look his wife over until she responded jokingly, telling him that she was hearing voices. Peter’s face went from concern to annoyance, rolling his eyes as his shoulders slummed. “MJ,” he said in a mildly scolding tone. “That’s not funny. Not funny at all,” he added, shaking his head like a disappointed parent. Crossing his arms, he looked at her again when she was a little more serious and reassured him that she felt fine. “Okay, well, don’t do that,” he told her, pushing back his hair before he slipped his mask back on. Mary Jane may be nothing but nonchalant, but Peter was there to worry about her safety for her. Rolling his eyes when MJ continued to take digs at him, his attention then turned towards Cindy who had approached them to inform them that Jessica Drew was on her way back with some of the other spider people. 

Peter knew that they had kept him in the dark until now because he was essentially a last resort, but a part of him did wish that they would have told him from the beginning so that he could have helped out sooner and maybe if they had more helping hands from the start, this entire thing could have been over and done with by now. He knew why they waited until now and he appreciated it, but there would always be that part of him that wanted to help. He then faced MJ when she grabbed his attention, talking about May and how they had to stop this for her. Peter nodded his head and cradled her face. “We will. I promise.” He pressed his forehead against hers before he stepped away to ask Cindy something about the tech that Otto stole, but before he had the chance to fully ask, a portal was opening up. The flash of white caused Peter to shield his eyes with his hands, but there it was, tingling at the back of his neck, the rest of the surrounding going a little fuzzy. Something was wrong. When the flash diminished, he saw Jessica being thrown through the portal across the room. 

Immediately, Peter went on the defensive. Looking over his shoulder, he looked at MJ. “Stay back!” He ordered her, quickly looking over to Jessica to make sure someone was tending to her. One by one, the inheritors then made their way inside. “Where is Spider-Man?” One of them asked. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, buddy. In case you haven’t noticed,” Peter quipped, but the inheritor paid him no mind, his eyes scanning through the crowd of Spider-Men. And when he stopped looking, Peter knew he had found who he was looking for. Otto was in the back, Cindy having gone back to him to guard him. The inheritor pointed and smiled a scarily wicked grin. “That one.” As soon as the inheritor pointed, a crowd of spider people, gathered around to block them from Otto. The guy may be a huge nuisance, but they were about to let these guys get to him. Peter made eye contact with Miles, the boy giving him a nod as he went closer to MJ. There will never be any words that Peter could say to describe how grateful he was for Miles.

Peter was scolding MJ over her little joke and the redhead couldn’t help but snicker a little. Leave it to the two of them to still continue to banter while so much was going on. Maybe this was MJ’s way of coping with everything that was going on. Maybe Peter just rubbed off on her a little too much because she was well aware of how much her husband loved talking when he was facing danger. A lot of it, she always assumed was to take his mind off of the fact that he was in danger or that the people around him were in danger. “It was a little bit funny,” she argued, knowing that some time has passed now since the whole Otto thing and Peter was in a better place now than when Otto became deranged. Peter was now not only a teacher who found a purpose in helping poorer children who never would have had a chance at getting into better schools had it not been for Peter, but he was also a father and husband now. So he was definitely in a better place than before. Smiling and nodding her head when Peter reassured her that they were going to stop everything that was happening to keep May safe, Mary Jane believed Peter. She knew that no matter what, he was going to move heaven and hell to make sure that their little girl was safe. He was the chosen one after all among all the millions of Peters and Spider-Men in the multiverse. 

Before she could say anything though, a portal was opening, causing MJ to jump away from Peter and look at the blue portal with shock. Those things came back, causing her heart to sink and her hand to squeeze Peter’s even tighter. Before she could even register what was happening, her mask was on and she stepped behind Peter. The Peter spoke, his stupid usual quipping that Mary Jane loved so much, but right now, she absolutely hated because it was drawing attention to Peter. She still hadn’t forgotten that one of them nearly killed Peter. The inheritors then pointed out the Otto that was in a Peter’s body and a cruel thought entered Mary Jane’s mind. Would it be so bad if they just gave this Otto to the inheritors? He had caused enough trouble that they were now going to have to fix, after all. Then she thought about the body that Otto was occupying and she felt guilty for even thinking that. Giving this Otto to the inheritors meant that the permanent death of another Peter and even if it wasn’t her Peter, Mary Jane couldn’t bear the thought of any Peter dying. Her eyes were on the inheritors, her body tense and on guard. It wasn’t until she saw Miles move closer to MJ and put himself between her and the inheritors that MJ understood what Peter was doing. Peter and Miles worked well with each other. The two of them could understand each other even through their masks with just a few nods. Just then the Inheritors started to charge, causing MJ to back up a little. Every other spider person seemed to jump as well, fighting the Inheritors with whatever strength and power they had. Miles was pulled away when an Inheritor moved towards him, MJ was ready to help him. He was family to her and like Peter, Mary Jane loved him like a son. “Be careful, Miles,” she warned him. When the Inheritor lunged at Miles, the suit MJ had on’s legs came out from the back, lunging at the Inheritor to hold him back.

[pctcrparker]

It had been a long flight and Ren hadn’t had the chance to stop by anywhere to grab something to eat. He’d been excited to see his brother and he didn’t want to arrive home so late that he’d miss his chance knowing his younger brother would need to go to bed early for school the next day. So he wanted to get home to spend enough time with Shin. So the offer of food was tempting. Giving her a small smile, he nodded his head. “I would love some curry, thank you.” Having some homemade food did sound like the most appetizing thing in the world right now after such a long travel. “If it’s not so much trouble, I mean,” he added as he began removing his coat. Checking the time on his watch, he wondered how long until his parents arrived before he began to follow behind Ava towards the kitchen. “You better finish that homework,” he called out to his brother Shin after the younger boy rushed off to finish his work. Shin was a pretty bright kid, but Ren had a feeling that the boy would zip through that homework, not because he knew the material that well, but because he would want to get it done as soon as possible to spend time with him. Leaning up against the counter, Ren crossed his arms and perhaps took the time to check her out a little before he cleared his throat and snapped himself out of it. “So, be honest, how much do you actually enjoy working with my family.”

Ava was caught off guard needless to say. She didn't expect Shin's brother to be much older and around her age. Whenever Shin talked about his brother, Ava always expected someone much younger but older than Shin. It made her wonder why there were no pictures of Ren... then again the household was rather cold and barely had any pictures at all. Ava shook her head and offered him a small smile. "It's not a big deal," she answered. "I should have been more prepared," she said. Watching Shin hang onto Ren's every words, Ava smiled at how sweet the two brothers, especially with such a big age gap between them. At the mention of his parents speaking highly of her, Ava's eyes widened in shock. She wasn't expecting that, especially when they seemed so stoic and cold, but she had a feeling that was also how the culture was. They were not the type to express any type praise, but Shin and Ren's father was always cold and rarely ever said anything. "Would you like something to ear? You must be tired and hungry. We just had lunch but there's some left over curry." Watching as Shin went back to doing his homework, Ava walked into the kitchen, ready to prepare Ren something to eat.