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

[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."