while i'm fine with washing dishes

[shutterbugged]

WHO: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man and YOU
WHERE: Around and about Heropa; Residence #11
WHEN: After the shuttle disaster, before the Summer Games
WHAT: Wandering about town, and a few loose ends to clear up before the move to De Chima
WARNINGS: Secret identity shenanigans


[ OPEN (SPIDER-MAN); Heropa at night ]

"You know, if I were a small-time crook -- which, contrary to the assertions of one cigar-chomping newsman in another universe, I most certainly am not -- I would've considered a career change or a move around the time the first new imPorts started showing up," Spider-Man said, wrapping his web line one final time around the top of the lamppost.

Dangling beneath his perch, one of the two thwarted muggers shrugged as best as he could from within the cocoon. "Gotta admit, he has a point," he said to the other.

"Vinny, shut up!"

"Hey, all I'm saying is, if you'd given the Etsy shop a few more months -- "

"And like I told you, Etsy's all wholesalers from China now, there's no chance --"

"Boys! I hate to interrupt, but I'm on a schedule here," Spidey cut in. He hopped down to the ground and pulled out his communicator. "Now, let me just take a photo for a quick text to Heropa's finest -- no, don't pull a duck face, Vinny, you're embarrassing yourself -- and you can hash out your business plans while you wait for them to show up. Sorry to web and run, but I have a bus to catch."

Spider-Man doesn't have the best mental associations with flying gliders, but he's considering trying his hand at building one anyway. Damn Heropa and its lack of skyscrapers.

[ OPEN (PETER PARKER); a drug store ]

So there's a man standing in the aisle of the drug store. Nothing unusual about that. Except that he's in the cosmetics section, and appears to be comparing different shades of concealer against the skin on his wrist.

Well hey, it's the 21st century (more or less). Poor guy, though, he looks a little confused.

[ RESIDENCE #11 ]

Stupid, Peter thinks to himself, real stupid. First he got himself knocked around during the fight with Starscream -- that was understandable, considering said opponent was a building-sized giant robot. But getting banged up during a routine patrol is just embarrassing.

He needs to stop trying to rescue cats out of trees, no matter how bored he is. It never ends well.

He also needs to cover up his giant face bruise before Flash or Scathach see it, let alone Valeria. But first he needs to get back through his window without dinging his ankle or making too much noise --

Too late. Crouched on the floor, he winces, both from the jolt of pain travelling up his leg, and from the realization that he was loud enough to wake the dead.

[ FLASH THOMPSON; on the boardwalk ]

Valeria is off with Miranda for the afternoon, leaving Peter and Flash free to relax and just hang out for the first time in… well, from his perspective, for the first time in close to four years. The sun beats down on their heads, the salt makes the air vaguely sticky, the hot dogs are terrible, and none of the tourists are wearing enough deodorant.

Peter's having a blast.

"D'you feel a little bit like we're playing hooky?" he asks, chewing up the remainder of his rocket pop.

[ MATT MURDOCK; at his office ]

Peter doesn't bother to call ahead, just shows up around lunchtime and takes a seat on a bench across the street from Matt's workplace, well within radar distance, a generously sized paper bag tucked next to him. All the cubano sandwiches and key lime pie two vigilantes can eat, with bottled water as a concession to Matt's regular health-consciousness kicks.

Comments

[smarterthandad]

[Would she be wrong? She wouldn't be wrong.]

Why don't you let me take a look and we can see how bad the damage is before you go try to stand on it in a small, slippery enclosure full of angles and hard surfaces?

[Why is Peter being so weird about this? It's not like he has to protect his identity from her.]

[shutterbugged]

[ He pointedly puts his foot flat on the ground, and even hides the wince. ]

I'm not going to fall over from a standing position, tile or no tile.

[ He sticks his head further out the door, peering around. ]

Please tell me Flash and the others are in bed by now.