AUDIO; from a cafe; post-bottle

[nerdylilspidey]

 [Peter's not quite in the right place, mentally, to put up a video post. And he definitely isn't sure he should put it up from his own suite. So he's found his way to the nearest cafe, with an oversized hoodie pulled up over his head, and is starting up only an audio feed.]

Never a boring moment around here, is there? One minute we're normal-ish, celebrating Valentine's Day, and the next we're battling evil miasma inside a magic bottle.

Does anyone ever wonder what happened to the idea of rest and relaxation?


[FILTERED to the Spider-family]

...Sorry. About what happened back there. You-- You guys know that that-- That wasn't me. You know that, right...?

Oh, God... [There's a sigh, and then a beat of silence before he continues.] Anyway, just- I'm sorry.

Comments

[unobtainableredemption]

[...Kaine was too.]

It didn't matter. Reilly was dead two weeks later.

[nerdylilspidey]

[That takes the wind out of Peter's sails a little bit.]

...Sorry to hear that.

[unobtainableredemption]

You'd have liked Ben.

[nerdylilspidey]

Did he inherit my boyish charm and good looks?

[unobtainableredemption]

He was identical to you. [Unlike Kaine, who only sort of looks like Peter.] Had to dye his hair blonde when he came back to New York to stop looking quite so much like you.

[nerdylilspidey]

Whoa... Well, whatever helps?

And you said that he- he got some tights and dude the hero thing, too.

[unobtainableredemption]

I think he ran into one too many of Peter's friends.

He was the original Scarlet Spider before Parker gave him Spider-Man. May actually wears his version of that costume.

[nerdylilspidey]

[His eyebrows arch upward. For one thing, it's never a good thing to hear about his many "friends" bugging people. And for another-- May's costume was actually... kind of cool. Color Peter slightly jealous.]

..I'm starting to think that everyone gets cooler tights than me.

((lol, my spelling back there was great. go half-asleep me))

[unobtainableredemption]

You've seen his Scarlet Spider costume. You really want to go with Reilly being the better costume designer?

[nerdylilspidey]

... Well, except for that one. But that was like, his very first one, right? At least he switched things up eventually.

[unobtainableredemption]

How I don't know. He had even less money when he started as Spider-Man than he did when he was the Scarlet Spider.

[nerdylilspidey]

He could've read up on how to sew in the library?

[unobtainableredemption]

That wouldn't magically make his money problems disappear.

...Wait, did you not make your own costume?

[nerdylilspidey]

Well, no--

[He cuts himself off short at Kaine's question, blinking.]

No, I- The wrestling company sent it to me. Y'know, when I started out. I put the webs and the spider-emblem on myself, but MJ's been fixing it up for me ever since.

[unobtainableredemption]

[Ah, that explains the disconnect.]

Parker made his, so Reilly always knew how too.

[nerdylilspidey]

[Chalk that up to one more thing...]

Oh. That's not a bad skill set to have at all.

[unobtainableredemption]

[He sort of nods offhandedly.]

And before you ask, the answer's no. I have no clue how to sew.

[nerdylilspidey]

[...Crap.]

I wasn't gonna ask that.

[unobtainableredemption]

Mmhmm, sure.

That's why I was glad Parker did whatever he did with that--[Motions to the costume still in a heap on the floor where it landed.]--because I'd be f--screwed without it.

[nerdylilspidey]

[Peter'd nearly forgotten about the Scarlet Spider costume, despite the fact that it had been thrown at him. He turns slightly so that he can get a look at it. And then he ends up staring at it a little longer than anticipated.]

Right. The unstable molecules. ...So he must've made a suit like that for himself, right?

[unobtainableredemption]

That was a suit he made for himself. I just never gave it back.

[nerdylilspidey]

Ah. You're such a kind, benevolent soul.

[unobtainableredemption]

[He shrugs.] I told him I was taking it, he didn't stop me.

[nerdylilspidey]

Well, it suited you.

[unobtainableredemption]

I don't know what I was thinking putting it on in the first place.

And I wasn't kidding before--it's now yours.