InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Heeeere's Johnny!"

Harry Osborn (goblinglider) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-11-26 02:03:00

Entry tags:

gwen stacy, harry osborn (msm), peter parker (mcu)

WHO: Harry Osborn and OTM
WHAT: Harry’s a confused, slightly panicky Hobgoblin
WHERE: Town Square
WHEN: Monday night/Tuesday morning
RATING: Low

Peter had once said that he kept his identity a secret because he knew that Norman hated Spider-Man. He knew that the businessman would stop at nothing to see he was destroyed. If Harry knew his secret, then it was likely that he would be put in a position where he would have to choose. Peter or Norman. His best friend or his father. It was an impossible decision. One he didn’t know how to make. One he wished he didn’t have to make.

“Harry! Get me out of these things!”

“Harry, please! Come with me. I’m your father!”

They were both yelling. Both in danger. Both in need of him to decide. His father trapped beneath debris; his best friend pinned to a wall in restraints he’d designed but that his father had used. He couldn’t do this. It wasn’t an easy decision no matter how he looked at it. Peter was his best friend. The one who was always there for him, the one who always had his back, but Norman was his father. Sure, their relationship was complicated. He’d gotten Harry suspended from Horizon High in order to keep a closer eye on him, he’d been taking advantage of Harry’s blackouts to attack Spider-Man while framing him. He’d made Harry think he was going crazy. Despite all of that… Norman was still his father. Harry still loved him. He still remembered what it felt like to lose him the first time, to be reunited with him only to watch him degenerate. He couldn’t do that again. He couldn’t lose him again. So, Harry moved. He picked up his flame sword and helped pull his father out of the rubble. There were no thanks, no hugs, no surprise that Harry had seemingly picked him. Just an order.

“Now, destroy Spider-Man. Fulfill the Osborn legacy.”

The sword crackled to life in his hands and Peter begged him not to, he flinched, as if Harry would ever actually hurt him. As if Harry could take the life of his best friend. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. The sword sliced through the restraints, freeing a confused Spider-Man. For a moment all Harry could do was smile at the other. He wasn’t sure if this was making a choice. If he was choosing Peter and their friendship over his father or if he was still hopeful that he could have both. Turning around he decided to keep going. To keep being brave. “I can’t dad!” He said, before steeling his resolve and tossing the sword away. “I mean. I won’t.”

The look on Norman’s face was one he was used to. One that still hurt and would always hurt no matter how many times he saw it. No matter what he knew about his father and the kind of person he was. Angry disappointment. “Then you’ve failed me and deserve what you’ve wrought.” He spat out. Angry. Hateful. Before Harry could see where this went, if he would now have to fight his own father, something behind him exploded and Harry watched as his father disappeared in fire, smoke, and debris for a second time. This time, however, there’s no anger. No one to wrongfully blame. It hurt but there was nothing left to do but move on. “We have to get out of here.”

He chanced a look back on his way out, watched as the building burned. He closed his eyes for a moment and only a moment but, when he opened them again, it was gone. The abandoned lab, New York, Spider-Man. It was just Harry, alone on his glider in the middle of a street covered in snow. Had he… had he blacked out again? His father had lied about a lot of things but maybe there was some truth to that. Maybe. He looked around frantic and, maybe, a little scared.

“Pete?!” He called to the empty street before remembering what the other had said that morning. Had it only been that morning? “Spider-Man! Come on! I know you’re around here.” He had to be.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

stickyboi
2019-12-02 07:08 am UTC (link)

Peter had been doing his best to adjust to life in Starklandia, but it wasn't easy. Recovery wasn't as quick as he might have hoped, though his physical injuries had faded to the barest twinge in his side - but things were getting better. Slowly but surely, Peter was...starting to feel, if not better, then at least a little bit more at ease. Every day he woke up without tasting ash was a good one, so. He was just taking it day by day, okay?

He'd been finding it difficult to sleep, though; he didn't like how quiet it was (Titan was quiet, too quiet; they said death was like falling asleep but it wasn't, not really, not at all). The new snowfall wasn't helping things, making it harder for him to even hear the rustle of the trees, or Tony's breathing, Gwen's heartbeat, when she was in the house - he didn't like it. He'd grown up with the loudness of the city, pervading every moment, and after he'd been bitten by that spider, it had only gotten worse.

Regardless, the lack of sleep finds Peter dozing on the roof. Probably not the smartest decision - certainly not something he thinks Tony would approve of, which is why his door is locked and he's kinda hiding on the side of the roof less likely to be seen from anybody approaching the house, with his window open so he can hear if anyone calls for him. No one else is home - he's pretty sure Gwen's down at her clothing shop, Tony's probably at his workshop, and Peter hates being alone (he hates that he hates it, hates that he feels weak for not wanting to be alone, so he opts not to say anything about it). At least outside he can extend the range of his hearing and use what little sounds the town and forest have to offer so he doesn't feel so off-kilter.

He's got his suit on for the heater, though he doesn't really think he needs it. He kind of likes the cold - he has, ever since the spiderbite, but that's probably a coincidence, right? Sure. It has to be cold if it's snowing, but it doesn't really feel that cold to him (there's a voice in the back of his head that sounds suspiciously like May that fusses about him wearing proper clothes for the weather, so he puts on the suit with only the barest hesitation).

It's in the middle of this weird, relaxing-but-not-quite nap that Peter hears his name. At first, he thinks he's imagining it, but the desperation and panic is too raw, and the hair on the back of his neck prickles (though, not from the cold). Peter frowns and tries to listen closer, because that voice isn't one he's familiar with, and it's definitely further away than the inside of the house.

It's less of a decision and more of a compulsion, really, that has Peter pulling on his mask and jumping off the roof (he probably shouldn't be, still, after everything, but he's Peter Parker, so he does it anyway). There's no need for webbing when he can just parkour from roof to roof, and he pauses when he gets to the town square, perching on the ridge of one of the roofs.

Who is that? He doesn't recognize him. He definitely said 'Pete' right? Followed by Spiderman? Someone that's probably not looking for him him, Peter's about 90% sure of that, but - he can't very well pretend like he didn't hear him, can he?

"You rang?" Peter calls from above, offering the most awkward wave this side of the Mississip (can he still say that, when there's no Mississippi River in this weird pocket dimension?) "Spiderman, at your service."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

goblinglider
2019-12-03 01:45 am UTC (link)

He'd left the glider behind. Harry may have been reckless, but he wasn't stupid. Even in this quiet little pocket dimension he couldn't just leave his equipment lying around. Who knew what would happen to it?

As soon as Gwen was gone, he was back out in the snow, trudging through it back towards the shop and his abandoned glider. He was never more thankful for the thermal suit that made up his armor. It kept him from feeling the cold. Not that it helped his nose or the tips of his ears too much. The hood only did so much for him.

The cold made him kind of miserable. The silence that seemed to accompany it only adding to that loneliness he felt. That ever-present ache that had him calling out for his best friend (uselessly, he knew) just one more time. If he’s still panicked and desperate then he’s allowed to be. No one’s actually around to hear him.

It wasn’t until after he had the glider back, after he cleared the snow off of it while making a face, that he heard a voice that was familiar. So familiar it made him jump. Looking up, he spotted Peter. Dressed as Spider-Man, obviously, and giving him the most awkward wave he’d ever seen. Harry couldn’t help it. “Pete!” He breathed and the smile that followed just seeing his best friend was bright, warm. He didn’t think too hard about it, he just jumped up on his glider and got himself to the roof.

“I was looking for you. I lost track of you after the warehouse exploded and I ended up here. I thought… I thought I passed out again. I was afraid I’d-“ He trailed off when he got close enough. When he got a good look at the spider-man costume the other was wearing. It wasn’t the same. In fact, it looked a little more advanced than what he was used to… and Peter hadn’t taken off his mask. He was still wearing it like he was trying to hide his identity. There shouldn’t have been a need for that. Harry knew.

It all just added up to one thing: this wasn’t his Peter. It was a Peter Parker but it wasn’t his own. His Peter wasn’t here. He was still back in their New York. Harry drew back a little, not even realizing he’d been reaching out to hug the other until he had to draw his arms back and wrap them around himself. The momentary vulnerability lasted only long enough for him to remember he was an Osborn. “Sorry.” He said as his arms dropped to his sides. “I thought you were someone else.” He tried to force a smile back but it wouldn’t come. Not at first.

It was fine. This was fine. He was still Peter and Harry was still Harry. It would work itself out the same way it had with Gwen. He was sure of it. Sure that in every reality they were friend. “It’s Harry.” He said, as if the other should know who he was. The smile wasn’t as bright this time but it was there and hopeful.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stickyboi
2019-12-06 03:17 am UTC (link)

The boy - and it was a boy, upon closer examination - jumps into a flurry of action almost as soon as Peter speaks. It becomes abundantly clear, in the moments following, that he's under the impression he knows Peter. Okay, scratch that - he does know Peter, it's just that he thinks Peter knows him, too. The glider is interesting - Peter doesn't think he's ever seen tech like it, so if that's supposed to be a clue as to how he knows this kid, it doesn't particularly help him. He thinks they're probably about the same age, like Gwen, but he can't be sure.

"Hey, no, it's okay." Peter watched as the disappointment and realization crashed over the new arrival (and he had to be new, right? Peter hadn't seen him around before, that he could recall.) To be honest, Peter's kind of wondering if he should just complete the hug anyway, because it kind of looked physically painful for the other boy to pull back and restrain himself - and if he did know another version of him, given the excitement in his voice, Peter thought it was safe to assume they were friends. "It's okay, I know it's - I know it's weird. Um. It's still kind of weird, you know, even for me."

"...I'm sorry." Peter rubs a hand sheepishly over the back of his neck, mask still in place. Where Gwen seemed oddly familiar, he really couldn't place Harry. He didn't want to destroy the, albeit weaker, smile Harry had managed to put on for him, but he also couldn't lie to him. "I don't think I know a Harry, where I'm from."

"But it's nice to meet you!" Peter quickly continued, making an awkward, aborted hand gesture. What was the protocol for this sort of thing? Maybe he should have asked Gwen and old-as-dirt!Peter. Was there a protocol? He's so bad at this. All of this, literally everything. Poor Harry (but then again, if Harry is friends with a Peter Parker, he must be well aware of how much of an absolute disaster he is on the best of days). "I'm sorry you ended up here."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

goblinglider
2019-12-06 09:15 am UTC (link)

Not his Peter and, on top of that, a Peter with no idea of who he was. That was... that was, god, he didn't even know what that was beyond disappointing and upsetting in ways he just wasn't prepared for. What did he do? How did he move forward from this? He'd been too stubborn to even consider the minute possibility that some version of Peter Parker didn't know who he was. That, maybe, he just didn't exist or they hadn't met.

So the smile fell and the shoulders slumped and Harry found himself shivering just a little. It was cold. He could lie, if asked. The other didn't need to know about the lengths he'd gone through to create a material that helped regulate body temperature and keep the wearer from feeling the cold or heat.

"Osborn." He said softly. "I'm Harry Osborn." He wasn't looking for name recognition anymore. They were past that. It was more of a reminder to himself. This Peter didn't know him. He wasn't just Harry. He was the one and only representative of the Osborn family, the Osborn name, in this pocket dimension and for this unfamiliar familiar version of Peter. "Back home my father is a businessman and a scientist. If we existed where you're from you'd know it. Norman and Stark both like seeing their names in big letters on top of buildings."

He watched the other from, what he assumed, was a safe enough distance to observe. No longer in range for physical contact but close enough to talk, close enough so it wouldn't seem like he was trying to run away. This Peter was still a disaster. Still awkward. It was nice to see that some things didn't change even when big things did.

He didn't want to talk about himself, he decided so he focused on something else. "You were sleeping, weren't you? I'm sorry I woke you up and forced you out here." He had been desperate. He knew that. He'd probably sounded panicked too. Some weirdo random citizen screaming for help, of course it was going to draw the other boy out regardless of the time, if he had been sleeping, or whether or not he recognized the voice. "You can go and get back to that. Sleeping, I mean. I'll be fine." What was he doing? Why was he still talking? "I just didn't want to leave my glider behind."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stickyboi
2019-12-14 01:21 am UTC (link)

"Osborn like - the company?" The goggles on Peter's mask whirr as they adjust in the waxing light; hell, he's lucky they even still work. He recognizes Oscorp, though, and how could he not? Then again, if this person - Harry - knows him, he probably knows all about his field trip gone awry. "Wait, wait, I know - I mean, I know Oscorp. I know your dad. Well not - I mean, I haven't met him, or anything, but - yeah he's on like, TV."

How does he not know Harry, though? If their orbits are supposed to cross? He's not sure if he knows whether or not the Norman Osborn in his universe has a kid. Maybe he doesn't? But it's also possible Peter just wasn't paying attention when he skimmed the Wikipedia page before the trip (there's a lot of things about that field trip that are kind of fuzzy, and others that are clear as crystal).

Harry wanders a little further away, and Peter frowns beneath the mask - he looks uncomfortable. Damn, he didn't mean to freak him out like that. "I was - uh - it's not like - "

Peter laughs a little at himself before reaching up and pulling off the mask, letting his curls bounce free. It makes his skin crawl, a little, to leave his face exposed, but that's less to do with Harry and more just practiced behavior - it's just the default to hide his identity, at this point. He's not sure why he says it - maybe it's because Harry is starting to shrink away from him where before he was reaching out for him, and Peter feels irrationally bad about taking that hope away from him, maybe it's because he just has no filter - but he says: "I have some trouble sleeping, uh, here. It's too...quiet."

"And I was on the roof anyway. Napping on the roof." Peter shrugs a little. "So if you want some company - sorry, is this weird? Am I making this weird? Do you want to be alone? I just mean - like - um." Seems like they're both ramblers. Makes sense, if they're friends.

"Your glider?" Harry's given Peter permission to be openly curious, now, and he tilts his head a little as he studies what he can see of it. "Did you make that?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

goblinglider
2019-12-14 02:45 am UTC (link)

"You know Oscorp?" Harry asked, eyes a little wide because that shouldn't be possible, should it? Peter doesn't know him. "How do you...?" He trailed off a little as he looked the suit over again before letting out a sigh. "Right, right. The field trip. The spider that bit you came from Oscorp. I guess certain things didn't change." Just the bigger ones that effected him. Of course Norman was on TV. "I'm surprised he wasn't there for your field trip. He usually likes that kind of publicity." It made him seem like he was interested in the next generation or the common man or whatever.

It still felt a little unfair to be thinking so negatively about his father. Especially after everything that had just happened. "What do you think of him? What you've seen on him." He had to know. His Peter had grown to hate Norman. His father's own hatred of and desire to kill Spider-Man managing to bleed into Peter's personal feelings. This one might think differently if he still wasn't on Norman's radar. He might even think he was okay. His father knew how to put on a mask for the public. He knew how to make himself seem likable in small doses.

"I might still exist if he does." Harry said, frowning a little at the thought. If he did then there was a reason that this Peter didn't know him. "My dad's kind of..." He shrugged a little uncomfortably. "Controlling." If his version of Norman Osborn had gone as far as to get Harry expelled then who was to say that some other version hadn't decided to keep Harry as close as possible right from the start.

There was absolutely no reason to even tell this version of Peter that much except for the fact that he's Peter. He even struggled with what to say or how to explain himself. It was all too familiar. When the mas came off that was familiar too. Maybe the hair was a little different, slightly shorter, but he remembered those curls. He couldn't help but smile a little. "You look just like him." That was probably weird but it was true and it had just sort of come out.

Harry couldn't help but smile a little fondly as the other began to ramble. He probably shouldn't. The fact that the other couldn't sleep wasn't a good thing. It wasn't something he should smile about. "It was always going to be weird. You're a version of my best friend who doesn't know me. So..." He shrugged. What could they do? "But I don't actually like being alone." He admitted. "You can stay, if you want. You can come back to the house too if you don't like being out here with your face exposed." His Peter had lectured him about secret identities. He knew it was important to him.

Harry stepped aside, smiling brightly, as Peter asked about the glider. "I did." He said. "You can take a look at it if you want. Originally I made it for the Stark Expo. I just never got a chance to enter it. My father wouldn't let me."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stickyboi
2019-12-19 01:19 am UTC (link)

"Yeah I - yeah." He shouldn't be surprised that Harry knows, but he is. He's not sure he'll ever get used to people just...knowing, in this town, but he should probably start. Peter offers a sympathetic smile and a half-shrug; yeah, maybe the story wasn't so different. Maybe Harry's world was closed to his than Gwen's, or even the older version's. "You know maybe - I mean, maybe I just haven't gotten to you, yet. Maybe you're still in my future. That can happen, here."

Like how everything Peter had lived through was still in Tony's future, how most of what the older Peter lived through might very well be in Peter's future. Maybe it was the same for Harry? Peter laughs a little, self-conscious, and shrugs slightly. Harry sounds like this is important to him, and Peter hopes his answer isn't too disappointing. "He...seems alright? I mean - Oscorp's done a lot, for people. They're at the forefront of private biochemical research and development, I mean, the field trip was super cool. Until - well, you know. But that was my fault and - I guess I'd like to work for your dad, some day. Maybe."

"You probably do. Like I said - maybe it's just in my future maybe - I mean, maybe we meet when we get to college." Things can still be the same while being different, Peter's learned that much. "But it's nice to meet you, Harry."

Peter offers his hand, because while he'd totally be willing to give Harry the hug he'd been going for earlier, he doesn't want to make this whole thing any weirder than it already is. He's smiling, though, curls flopping down over his forehead, grin widening a little when Harry smiled back. "Maybe our universe's are closer than we thought."

"Me either," Peter admits quickly, before he can think better of it. Maybe it's easier to say it to Harry than it is to the people he really does know - or the people that think they know him. Gwen and Older!Peter, they had met a version of him before - he can see it every time he looks them in the eye. "Sure. I mean - it's only a force of habit, really, because everyone here knows everybody and - most of them know me, anyway."

"That's so cool," Peter says reverently, tilting his head to look over the glider. "So you totally built this yourself? Like the propulsion system and everything? Dude. What! Why wouldn't he let you enter this - probably should have won, man."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

goblinglider
2019-12-25 01:32 pm UTC (link)

Maybe they would still meet. It was a little weird for Harry to realize that this Peter didn't know him just yet. Maybe that was for the best though. He didn't know anything about what this Peter had gone through or what he was going through. He knew about the major loss that had shaped him (assuming it was all the same) but nothing afterwards. Maybe the drama that surrounded the Osborn family was just something Peter didn't need or couldn't handle at this point in his life.

Harry let out a soft laugh as Peter spoke. His own used to feel the same way. He'd thought Norman was great, had talked about working for Oscorp someday while Harry had just shook his head. Those had been simpler times and it was weird that he could call them "simpler times" like it had been in the distant past and not just a year ago. Life really had changed. "You could do so much better than Oscorp, Pete."

The idea of metting in college was a nice one, he'd admit it but it worried him too. What would he be like if he hadn't met Peter and his family when he did? Should he warn the Peter about how difficult that potential their potential friendship should be? Should he limit contact here? That might be a little extreme. He doubted Norman was going to show up in the same way he had... and not just because he was dead. He didn't think any version of Norman would show up.

He shrugged as he took the other's hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, too. This you? What am I supposed to say?" He laughed at the awkwardness of the situation on his end. "It's not a bad thought, you know? Close but different."

He would love to say that Peter didn't have to be alone. That he was there and whatever else but he didn't. Neither of them really knew the other and he sort of felt like it would be weird to be that familiar so soon. It was better to let Peter get a feel for him. "No pressure or anything but, knowing that, you can drop by and ramble at or get rambled at by me anytime. You know. If you get tired of things being too quiet." As for the mask. "Who cares? If you aren't comfortable with it yet then don't force anything."

And they could start back to the house Gwen had shown him to in a moment. He wouldn't even mind if Peter put the mask back on. "You can go over there and actually see it. Touch it." It didn't have weapons on it so it wasn't going to hurt anything or anybody. "I did. I started working on it while I was enrolled at Horizon and finished it after I wound up expelled." He said, frowning a little at the question. "He..." At the time he hadn't thought much of it because things had worked out. They were attacked by some super villain who had it out for Stark. All technology was taken over. Norman hadn't known that was going to happen though. "I mentioned he's controlling, right? Yeah. That might be the reason."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stickyboi
2020-01-15 07:09 pm UTC (link)

Who could say, really? It seemed entirely random, the differences between their realities. All had their fair share of tragedy - and their high moments, Peter supposed, but the well of emotion in any given situation never really seemed to be geared towards the good stuff, was it? At least, not in Peter's experience. He can't help but be curious, though, but this friend - a good enough friend that Harry was in the know about Spiderman - that he doesn't know at all.

"I dunno, seems like an alright place to me." Genetically engineered spiders aside, but that was his own fault, wasn't it? Wandering somewhere he wasn't supposed to be? Harry calls him Pete in a way where Peter can't help but smile - it sounds so familiar, and Peter is friendly by nature. "Wait till you meet the other me. Older me. It's kind of trippy."

"Yeah," Peter shrugs a little, because it's too much to wonder if Harry does or doesn't have to deal with all the crap that's gone on in his universe. He's sure he has his own stuff to deal with but...frankly, Peter would rather deal with problems that aren't his. "I'd like that a lot, man. You too. I mean - where are you staying? You have a place?"

Peter shrugs again and shifts his weight awkwardly, and his mouth opens of it's own accord. "I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with it. But there's no point I mean - I mean people just know things, here. They're all from different places and different times and like, apparently a lot of them have met me? Some version of me. Either here or in their own world. So it just seems pointless to hide here but it - it made me really uncomfortable, at first cause like - I mean - I'm sure you know if, uh, if you know me, that it's like, a secret? A really big, anxious secret?"

"Not that you - I mean, you aren't making me uncomfortable. I've gotten kind of used to it and it's not - you've never met me. Like there are people here that know a different version of me me, like with my face and everything. And sometimes I feel like they're seeing somebody else." Peter huffs out a breath - he's word vomiting. Yikes. Nice first impression there buddy. "Anyway. Uh. I'm working on it."

That's all the prompting Peter needs to put his hands on the tech, and he excitedly picks it up and starts examining the underside panels. "Horizon? Is that your school? How'd you get expelled? Sorry - uh." He was getting ahead of himself here.

"Well this is awesome." Peter declared, running a gloved hand over one of the exhaust ports on the underside of the glider. "What other tech were you thinking of incorporating this into? Are you developing an actual like, hoverboard? Back to the Future style?"

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -