After the battle is over....

[miniclaws]

When Wolverine is doing double duty with the Avengers, Scott calls Laura up to the main team to take his place. She does not protest, even when it cuts into a barbecue that is being organised for the students at Xavier's. Her team mates are angry on her behalf but she does not care, a battle is still easier than socialing for her.

The dinosaur rampaging through the streets of New York, is smarter than it should be. The team divides, one half to find the telepath behind it and the other to contain the beat. She is not surprised when Spiderman joins the chase, the dinosaur would disturb anyone on their day off. It is not the first they've worked together, bumping into each other is becoming a regular occurrence.

When Mastermind is picked up, and the dinosaur penned, Laura informs Scott she will not be returning with the team, that she would prefer to spend her afternoon in the city. When he voices no strong objections she walks over to join Peter.

"Are you busy?"

Comments

[spideys]

Spider-Man is about to pull off his mask when Laura approaches him, which gives him a second to pause and wonder if something else might be up.

He likes Laura just fine, but truth be told, they don't have a lot of chances to talk and he isn't sure he knows her too well. This is probably a mission thing, or maybe there's some other clean-up job that requires a Spider-Man.

Whatever the case is, he tilts his head towards her and shrugs.

"Well, I was considering embarking on the tedious journey of crafting a lasagna from scratch, pasta and all, but whatever job the X-Men needs Spider-Man for, you know I'm here to help."

It's a terrible joke, but basically ... yeah.

He adds, "That is to say, no not really."

[miniclaws]

As per usual, Laura does not spot the joke, she takes his words at face value. When he jokes during missions, Laura thinks he is nonsensical. But he is a person, around her age that she feels she might be able to tolerate spending time with.

"There is no job." Laura looks up at him. "The rest of the X-men are returning home. " This is difficult, and she is stilted in her choice of words. "I wish to....'hang out'." She's taken the words straight from Julian Keller.

[spideys]

"You ... what?"

Spider-Man isn't so much floored as he is ... okay, yeah, he's pretty floored.

He shifts to rub his neck, although with the Spidey suit on, it's a little more like a meaningless gesture, just something to make him feel less awkward. Or maybe more awkward, who knows ... because this is weird.

"You wanna hang out with me?"

[miniclaws]

"Yes." Laura holds her ground and keeps looking up at him with intense green eyes. She cannot decide from his body language if he is opposed to the idea or only surprised.

"You may so no. I will not mind." She is used to people saying she is too odd to talk to.

"Why does it surprise you?"

[spideys]

"No, I'm not saying 'no'. I - uh. I guess I'm just surprised because ... I dunno, I never thought you'd be ... into the whole hanging out thing. With me, I mean."

Or, maybe no one at all. Laura doesn't strike him as the 'hang out' kind of girl. She strikes him as more of the 'Get shit done, go home and get some sleep' sort.

But hey. It's not as if Peter's schedule's fully booked either.

"But yeah. Sure. Let's - uh. Let's hang out."

[miniclaws]

"I do not hang out with people," she admits. "I have been told I ought to change this. I want to." Something uncertain flickers behind her green eyes, at her own admission. "I do not have any friends at school. You are different."

She glances at the rubble littering the street. "Where do you hang out with people?"

[spideys]

"Uh. That's - that's a good question," Peter starts to say, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I'm not really - I don't really hang out much? It's kind of embarrassing actually, I just ... I don't really have a lot of friends either."

There it is, there's the embarrassing admission.

"But uh. Yeah. I mean, I go to the park a lot. Or just, you know, find somewhere to wander. The waterside's nice."

[miniclaws]

She cocks her head on one side and studies him, according to statistics, and his personality, he should have at least six friends. "You should have friends," she declares. "You would at Xavier's."

When she lived with her cousin, she had sat on the peer and ate ice cream. "Both. I am not tired after the battle."

[spideys]

Six friends. Wow.

Try barely one.

"Yeah, I mean. I like you guys. But at my school ... it's kinda hard to uh - befriend anyone when your personal bully keeps you down on the bottom rung of the social ladder." Peter shrugs. It honestly doesn't bother him that much. He's got his Spider-gig, his job at the Bugle, and most days he'd rather just spend time tinkering with things in the garage back home.

"So - uh. Yeah. Yeah, okay, lets do both."

[miniclaws]

"Who bullies you?" Laura does not approve of bullies. When she meets one she exploits their insecurities, until they are unable to function. She would think nothing of visiting this particular bully, outside of the school hours.

She takes the path towards the waterfront, as they walk, she strips off the X-men jacket and ties it around her waist so she looks like a regular teen. "You are smart, you should not be bullied."

[spideys]

"Huh?"

Oh, man. Now he's suddenly wondering if Laura's about to go in and terrorize Flash Thompson because Peter happened to mention him. It's - honestly, it's a nice thought but ... that's a little scary.

And it's not like Peter couldn't handle himself in a fight against the dumb jock ... but Peter's gotta be Peter. Remain under the radar. Peter Parker does not equal Spider-Man.

"Hey. Thanks." He realizes he's still in his Spider-suit as Laura takes her jacket off. She looks like a normal teen, but Spidey is still Spidey. And this ... is probably gonna draw some spectators. "Uh. You - mind if I change outta this first?"

[miniclaws]

Laura repeats the question, and does not offer any further details. The intense green eyes, are for once, not locked on him demanding an answer, they are looking at the people around them. She will drop the matter if he does not answer this time. There will be other opportunities to pursue details.

She catches sight of a coffee shop across the road and nods towards it. "Meet me in there once you have changed." There are children coming towards them with phones out. "And you have finished signing autographs." She slips into the crowds before anyone can take a photograph of the two of them together and goes to purchase two milkshakes and take a seat.

[spideys]

Thanks, Laura ...!

Spider-Man does take a few minutes to greet his fans, sign a few postcards, one girl's shirt (wow, embarrassing) and then he webslings himself right on out of there, towards the nearest alleyway and his backpack holding his civilian clothing.

Once changed and back to being regular ol' Peter Parker, he heads towards the aforementioned coffee shop and steps through. It's funny, when he passes by a couple of the very same girls still goggling over meeting Spider-Man, how invisible he's suddenly become now that he's out of costume.

It's not a bad thing though. Peter's not a huge fan of the spotlight, even if his alter-ego might appreciate it a little more.

He settles into the seat across from her, noting the second milkshake. "Hey."

[miniclaws]

You are welcome. Laura is notoriously camera shy, and will not willingly allow anyone to take a photograph of her. There are still elements of the facility which created her in existence, and she doesn't wish for them to stumble across any definite proof of where she lives. However, the facility is not on her mind as she watches the flow of people along the street. Automatically, she categorises each person by their appearance and by how they move. Most people's steps are hurried, eager to get to the next destination, a little nervous after the latest unexplained attack on the city.

Peter is easy to spot as he weaves his way to the coffee shop. His efforts to make himself seem unimportant and unobtrusive, make him stand out to her. Her green eyes avert from him as he enters the coffee shop so he will not notice that she's been watching him. She slides the milkshake across the tablecloth towards him.

"Hello. Where do you hide your costume when you don't wish to wear it?" She is curious.

[spideys]

Peter leans in, just a little, to let Laura see the collar of his t-shirt and how it conceals the red and blue spandex underneath. It's so close to his skin, it might as well be a second skin.

"I mean, my mask and gloves and stuff go into my backpack, but I keep the rest of it on," he says, keeping his voice low.

Then he leans back and reaches for his milkshake to take a sip.

"Not bad, huh?"

Does he mean superhero-ing? Or does he mean the milkshake? Who knows?

[miniclaws]

Laura was not easily impressed. Her eyes widened at the sight, she had not detected any wrinkles in his clothing that would indicate that there was a second lair of clothes. "Impressive."

She glanced towards the backpack. "If I did not know that your scent, and Spiderman's were the same, I would assume you were a fan if I discovered the contents of your bag." It was not at all creepy, that she knew his scent.

[spideys]

Nope. Not at alllll creepy.

Actually, some months back, if Laura said something like that, Peter might find himself a little leery of her statement. It's not exactly a normal thing to say, is it?

But now? Knowing what Laura can do, who she is, fighting alongside her, it's kind of ... well, it's a fact. And it's kind of cute. He likes it. (Does that make him weird?)

He smiles, sliding his milkshake towards him.

"Well, okay. That's good. Just call me Spidey's Number One Fan then. I'm okay with that."

[miniclaws]

"I will not use those exact words." The tone is too chatty and relaxed, it is for other teenagers. On her lips it will sound stiff and awkward, like she is a parroting someone else. Besides, she doesn't believe it, she believes that Peter is his own hardest critic.

"I saw a girl wearing a badge that said it. She was trying to get a photograph of you when I cleared her out of the way of falling rubble." She stops and takes a sip of the milkshake. Her face softens a little as she enjoys the taste of the sweet drink. She is developing a sweet tooth, and has an almost innocent joy in the taste of it.

[spideys]

Peter takes a slurp of his own milkshake through the straw too. He's missed things like this. Getting milkshakes with friends. Well, he'd have to have friends to do things like this, sure, but - even with his aunt and uncle. This doesn't exactly happen anymore.

"There'll be plenty of photographs in the papers soon enough anyway," he quips. "You think JJJ's gonna let this one slip under his slithery fingers? Nah."

[miniclaws]

Laura cocks her head on one side. "Do you mind the photographs?" She is grateful that she has never been singled out in a photograph. Being Wolverine's clone is not something she wishes to be known as.

"Or what he writes?"

[spideys]

"Of course I do," Peter says with a shrug of the shoulder. "I hate that he's got the power to say the stuff he writes and have people believe him.

"But I can't stop him. And not everyone believes what the Bugle says anyway."

He's got fans. Not a whole lot, but some.

"In the end it's not about what they say about me anyway. It's about me doing some good in the city, even if that's probably really corny."