InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You bought this....palace???"

Nebula (abluemeanie) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-12-01 15:52:00

Entry tags:

beverly marsh, eddie kaspbrak, harry osborn (msm), jim hopper, klaus hargreeves (netflix), nebula (mcu), nyx ulric, octavio silva, peter b parker (sv), remus lupin, sirius black, stanley uris, thor (mcu)

Who: The whole town. Yes, you too.
What: The Great Snowball War of 2k19
Where: The whole town
When: December 1

She had heard a great deal about this snow ball game that was going to be played and Nebula was ready for it, had been since it had first been explained to her by Sirius. But apparently they had needed to wait until there was enough snow for such a thing? Though how much snow was enough was not something she had understood, what made for enough? These were all questions she still had.

But the town had been covered in a blanket of snow over the last several weeks, with large piles of it build up along the edges of town as well as butted up against their houses where the snow had been blown during the days where it had been windier than others. And it seemed that they had finally reached that point of enough, though she saw no particular difference in the amount compared to some other days. This would be her first time though so she supposed that she could allow the others to decide when it was ready for their game.

And so there they were ready for the snowball game, teams dividing up, some playing individually, and others pairing up, as she and Remus planned to do - it was time for a great battle.

[Party rules my good dudes, title your comments to spare my inbox and have fun]

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-04 12:50 am UTC (link)

Okay so this Peter was a giant and man sized. He should have seen him. "Well... shouldn't you have been able to dodge that?" He teased right back. He'd obsessed over Spider-Man for awhile. He'd watched the hero's moves. He knew that whatever it was that warned him about potential dangers occasionally came a little too late. He knew that it wasn't always enough to keep Peter from taking a hit. He was pretty sure he should've been able to avoid the snow.

Harry was pleased to see him. He was even more pleases that this version of Peter knew him. He hadn't been prepared to run into a version that resembled his own so closely in both age and looks but had no idea who he was. That hurt in ways he was still struggling to keep locked away. It was easier not to focus on any of that with this older version of his best friend. Easier to sort of laugh about how weird the situation was and how much weirder it was for Peter. "Yeah, longer." He agreed easily. "It's..." He didn't say cute but, well, it was cute. "I like it this length too." Not that this Peter would care too much about what a teenage Harry Osborn thought of his hair.

There was still snow clinging to Peter's hair and, yes, Harry knew it was just snow. No real harm had been done. Given what was currently going on around them it was likely they'd both end up hit with a few more snowballs. It was just... well, the situation he'd glided out of back home. The way Peter had believed that Harry could or would actually hurt him. The fact that Norman had him believing that he could that he had after Harry had blacked out. It just gave him something to worry about before, inevitably, shoving it to the side in order to not worry about it. Better to focus on the questions being asked. "Oh... not too long ago. I haven't even been here a week." He admitted. "I came in just before Thanksgiving and that was weird. It was summer back in New York."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-04 01:49 am UTC (link)

"Uh, well..." Peter shrugged when Harry threw back that maybe he should have been able to dodge a snowball thrown at his head. Was that true though? Like sure Spider-Man should have been able to dodge it, but did Harry know he was Spider-Man? His Harry had found out... but only after things had gotten bad, if this Harry knew did that mean things were bad with his Peter too? God what was he supposed to do? "It's been a while since I've had to think about dodging snowballs." He decided something totally benign. "They're not much of a threat really."

But well here he was with Harry Osborn again and well Peter couldn't help but be glad for it. He grinned when Harry agreed that his Peter wore his hair longer, the way he did when he'd been younger like that too, more similarities between Peters it seemed than just the whole Spider-Man thing. "It works for me I guess, and well there comes a point in your life where doing that head shake to get the hair out of your eyes stops being cool and starts messing with your neck." He said with a teasing grin, though he was entirely sure that the teenaged Peter pulled off the long hair just fine. He'd always thought he'd worn it fine back then too.

Harry had been his best friend at one point, right up until things had gone from bad to worse. And Peter hadn't been able to save him - it wasn't entirely true, he'd gotten Harry to stop, to remember who they were to one another, but he'd still died and it was one of those things that he still carried with him all these years later. He hoped he wouldn't have to tell this Harry about any of that though. "Oh man I bet that was crazy for you then, especially with snow on the ground now." Peter huffed, "You haven't come into Pancho's yet, have you?" He asked, "It's the bar," He nodded in the direction he'd been heading before he'd gotten snowballed. "I run it actually, don't let the name fool you - we mostly just feed people around here and it's where we keep the booze, but I've got plenty of non-boozy options." He added narrowing his eyes just a little, mostly teasing, as he tried to guess at Harry's age.

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-04 03:29 am UTC (link)

Harry fell silent at the answer. He didn't know very much about what Peter could do or how that sort of sixth sense for danger worked. He'd observed it before, sure, but his initial dislike of Spider-Man and the falling out they had after he'd found out had meant he hadn't gotten a chance to ask as many questions as he may have wanted. Maybe that was something to consider here. He could ask how it all worked. There were Peters around. Gwen too. She'd probably answer a few of his questions. "I guess that makes sense." He said after a moment's worth of thought.

He laughed a little, thinking back to the times his own Peter had been forced to shake the hair from his eyes in order to see. "It wasn't really that much of a problem when he had the glasses." Because the frames had kept the hair from falling into his eyes. Once he lost them, however, there was no more barrier. "I assume he'll keep it for a few more years. At least until it gets too shaggy. Maybe he'll cut it around the time he has a growth spurt. When does that happen, by the way?" He was teasing but this Peter was taller than the one he was used to. He wanted to know when he'd become giant and man sized.

Harry had already made a few pretty terrible decisions regarding Spider-Man. He liked to think that a lot of it would've been avoided if Peter had only told him sooner but there was no changing that now. They were moving past it. Harry had realized he was being unfair, that Peter had his reasons for not telling him, and that the other had only ever had his best intersts at heart. That Peter had always done everything he could to protect him. "It was." He agreed. New York summers could be sweltering. "There was an explosion, it was a warm summer night, I turn around and there's snow everywhere. I panicked. I thought..." Well, he wasn't about to tell this Peter what he had worried about. There was no reason to make him worry. "Anyway, Gwen found me and helped me out." So he had clothes and a place to stay for awhile or for the length of his stay here. Whichever.

"I haven't been in the bar. I may have made it as far as COFFEE." And then it was back to the house. "I was getting tired of being in my own head so I decided to try and meet people." They all seemed so much older than him. When Peter narrowed his eyes at him he tried to stand a little taller, a little straighter. He lifted his chin just a little. It took a moment for him to remember that this was Peter Parker and the older man wasn't actually scrutinizing him. "Non-boozy." He said after a moment. "You wouldn't let me get away with underage drinking."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-04 05:01 am UTC (link)

Peter was really going to have to think about how much he wanted to tell Harry now, maybe he should just come clean and tell him everything? It hadn't gone well when he'd kept it from him in the past, but was this really his secret to tell? It probably should be down to the Peter from the world Harry came from and not him - Peter had grown used to this place that allowed him to be open about who and what he was, but sometimes that impulse needed to be reigned in. At least he'd managed to expand his wardrobe into something that was a little less suit based and a little more regular guy sort of stuff. "Don't start thinking that means you can throw snowballs all willy nilly," He warned after a moment though, grin on his face even still.

"Oh man, glasses." Peter groaned remembering that, of course they had helped with the hair, a natural barrier for his eyes - well not natural but you know what he meant. "Yeah they had been good for that, but then you know how it goes, you get older you move on and change styles and suddenly you've got your hair slicked back and you're dancing in the street or something." He rambled for just a moment stopping when he revealed just a little bit too much about that quite frankly strange period in his life. "Growth spurt? Uh well I think I finally stopped growing some time after I graduated." The bite had no doubt played a part in that, but beyond that? Well Peter wasn't sure.

Peter whistled lowly when Harry told him what his arrival had been like, "Wow, that's one I haven't heard yet - are things okay?" He asked him after a moment, "Where you're from, I mean? Explosions aren't really normal things back where I'm from." It wasn't like they could do anything about it, but Peter couldn't help but be curious, and he worried about whatever that meant for the Peter who hadn't ended up here while Harry did. "You got lucky running into Gwen first thing, she's the best." Peter loved Gwen something fierce, and he'd talk her up whenever he got the chance.

"Right - Well COFFEE is vital, so that was probably a pretty good first stop." Peter agreed, and now here he was meeting people, just like he'd set out to do. As for Pancho's and Harry's eventual stop Peter just grinned when Harry confirmed for him that he was going to go the non-boozy underage route. "Well you're not wrong." He agreed, "So yeah, we've got lots of non-boozy options but also pizza. And other things too since the kitchen has expanded." He added. "You'll have to come around when you start getting tired of fending for yourself, we've always got something going." He wasn't going to start mothering Harry Osborn but well - he had missed the hell out of him, so if he could help make sure he was okay? Well Peter was definitely going to do that.

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-04 08:13 pm UTC (link)

"I don't know. The fact that you're smiling sort of tells me I probably could." He teased right back. "It's better than anything else that could be thrown at you." And he felt like an idiot as soon as the words left his mouth. Why had he been worrying about whether or not he could throw snow? Of course he could. If he could throw his pumpkin bombs (which were never meant to be bombs!) he could throw snow! He would blame teenage anxieties and the daunting task of making friends on that embarrassing little lapse.

Best to move on. Focus on something else. Like glasses! Peter's glasses. "Hair slicked back and dancing in the streets?" He asked, trying to imagine it. Trying to imagine any version of Peter dancing in the streets. He couldn't help the laughter. His own Peter had had a momentary lapse in personality. A boost in confidence that made him... well... Harry wasn't sure. He'd been different. Not in a good way either. Different in a way that Harry didn't recognize, a way that had sort of shoved him to the side and made him feel like he meant less. It was also the time Spider-Man had lashed out at him because of the new suit he was wearing. He'd sort of swept that memory under the rug. He was more than willing to do that again. Just to keep the conversation going. "Oh, good. He's going to get really tall in a few years then."

Mentioning the explosion had probably been a little bit of a bad idea. It meant he had to figure out just how much he wanted to actually talk about. How much he wanted to reveal to this Peter about what had been happening at home. Maybe even what he'd done to himself. He could lie. He could pretend it was all okay but, well, that was the sort of thing he'd been angry and hurt about with his Peter. He couldn't just demand honesty and then refuse to give it. It didn't matter which Peter he was talking to. With the decision made he allowed the smile to fall from his face and his shoulders to slump. He allowed himself to drop his head and just be vulnerable. Just be Harry and not the only representative of the Osborn name in this pocket dimension. He didn't look at the older man as he gave just the smallest shake of his head. "No." He admitted softly. "They're not."

And it was better to steer away from that and focus on Gwen for a moment because, yeah, she was great. She was great in any reality too. "Yeah, I was. I'm not sure what I would've done if it was someone else who'd found me." He wasn't sure what he would've done if it had been the Peter closest to his age first because there were definitely similarities between that one and his own as well as a few big differences. He wasn't sure how he would've handled it without the benefit of Gwen's explanation to go with.

The idea of fending for himself was funny enough that Harry had to laugh. He knew how to be on his own, of course he did, but he was also used to being alone in whatever sort of cage the Oscorp tower could be considered. Even then he wasn't entirely alone. He had had a driver and there was a cook. When he was around his father there were bodyguards who trapped him in protective little bubbles if things became dangerous and his father made sure to grab him and keep him close so he didn't do anything stupid. Like rush to be with his best friend instead. Fending for himself in any real way was going to be a learning process. "It's a learning process, Pete. You'll probably see more of me than I want to admit."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-05 03:52 am UTC (link)

"Well one could say snow was made for throwing." Peter agreed with a laugh, and well Harry was right, it was better than anything else that he might throw at him - so really bring on the snow. But within reason of course. Peter wasn't about to stand out there playing target practice or something like that.

Peter huffed when Harry managed to catch on to that bit and he shrugged, "Uh yeah it was a.... a dark time." He said after a moment considering how he was going to describe it. Venom had been, well not the greatest thing ever as he'd thought for a minute there, especially after it turned him into the kind of guy that danced in the street. "We don't talk about that time," He said in a sort of teasingly mysterious sort of way and waved a hand between them slowly like he was erasing the memory from Harry's mind. "He might still shoot up." He agreed," I have met some other Peter's who haven't been quite as tall as me, maybe not all of us end up being both giant and man sized, some only manage the man sized part of the equation. But to be fair, math isn't everyone's strength." It was a stupid dumb joke, but well - something about being around Harry made him want to tell ridiculous stupid jokes again.

The slump of Harry's shoulders though told him all he needed to know about what Harry had come from - well not the details at least, but enough that Peter could tell it hadn't been all that good before Harry had confirmed that and he nodded, reaching out a hand to lay on his shoulder gently. "You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to - but if you need someone to talk to ..." He trailed off and shrugged a little. "I'm always happy to listen." It was the sort of thing he should have said to his Harry, he should have supported him more and listened to him when he felt like things had been slipping away from him, but he'd been so caught up in being Spider-Man he hadn't paid attention the way he was supposed to and it had cost him his best friend. He didn't want that to happen to another Peter, and maybe he could help keep that from happening.

"I think you probably had a better start to all of this than I did," Peter agreed letting his hand drop, "I showed up and there wasn't anyone around, just the phone waiting for me to figure things out. I took a nap hoping maybe I'd wake up and all of this would have just been some kind of crazy dream." He admitted with a low huff shaking his head at the memory of those early days. He'd been so tired then, so ready to get back home and back to his life. Things were so different now than they had been then. It was hard to remember exactly what he'd felt then.

Peter grinned, "Well I'm around a lot, and I'll be happy to see you whenever you want to stop by, whether it's for a drink or something to eat - we'll make sure you don't go hungry or thirsty." He teased, his own Harry had lived a life of luxury entirely different from Peter's own life, so the thought of him fending for himself? Well Peter wasn't entirely certain he could handle it - so of course he was going to make a point to look out for this Harry now too, just in case.

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-08 06:26 am UTC (link)

"He had a momentary change in personality." Harry said, frowning a little as he remembered. "It was..." He was going to feel like a bad person, a bad friend if he just told the other that he had hated it. "I liked that he had this newfound confidence." Because he did. Confidence was good. It was great. Peter should have more of it because he was good. He was great. Harry had always thought so. "But the rest of it was just... I don't know. He's been late to meet me or he shows up but doesn't stick around or completely forgets but it was never... he was apologetic. For awhile there it was a lot more like he didn't care." And that had hurt a little more than the other times had. They were past it though. Harry was past thinking about it too. It was better to focus on the stupid joke and just laugh where he could.

Part of him knew that he could talk to Peter but he also knew the reality of it was a little difficult back home. He'd tried, on a few different occasions, to actually sit down and talk to the other. To share news with him first or to talk about the stuff that was bothering him but Peter just hadn't been around. Harry had always told him it was fine but it was just a little disappointing. These days, of course, he knew there was a reason. Peter wasn't just blowing him off. He was handling a crisis that was bigger than whatever Harry was feeling. So, yes, he knew he could attempt to talk to his Peter back home but he also knew that he couldn't. Hearing it from this man-sized giant of a Peter was comforting. "It's just... a lot. You might prefer getting hit with snowballs to hearing about it."

He had been lucky. He'd run into exactly who he needed right when he needed her. Gwen had pointed him in the right direction. She'd been a lot more helpful than the phone and map would've been and a lot less painful than running into that other Peter had been. He didn't really want to examine that too closely. There was still something painful about a Peter Parker who had no idea who he was. "I had Gwen. If I hadn't..." He shrugged. "I would've thought the worst."

He found himself smiling when the older Peter did, something about it still managing to cheer him up. This wasn't his Peter, he even looked different, but Peter could always cheer him up. "I'll figure it out eventually, I'm sure. Until then you'll see me so much you'll be sick of me." Because he, too, had lived a life of luxury. He'd never really had to learn how to cook or clean. Laundry was going to be a mystery to him but one he was bound to figure out. "I managed to build a glider, I'm sure I'll get the hang of cooking and cleaning. Eventually. Maybe."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-10 12:01 am UTC (link)

So it sounded like Harry's Peter was going through a similar phase that he had at the time, overly confident and downright rude to the people he cared about most, influenced by the symbiote that had made him feel so different and powerful before he'd realized what it had been doing to him. "Sounds like something I went through," He admitted, not sure again how much he ought to say to Harry about it, things would be easier if he could just tell him, but Peter was torn over the idea of sharing a secret that wasn't technically his to share. Some other Peter deserved the chance to come clean with his friend and tell him who and what he was and try and find some way to maintain that friendship. "We get over it eventually," He told Harry apologetically, "I mean if he hasn't yet, I dunno, but it's a temporary thing, that kind of attitude never did fit very well." And he couldn't really imagine a Peter it did work for to be perfectly honest.

Peter gave Harry's shoulder another squeeze before dropping his hand, "Nah, I'd be happy to listen to anything you want to say." He promised him, it had been a long time since he'd gotten to talk to his friend so having the chance again wasn't something he was going to take for granted, even if all he could be to this Harry was a little bit of support, it was more than he'd been to his friend when he'd needed him most.

"I'm not surprised, this place is a trip and a half." He agreed, showing up here with no explanation and at Harry's age? Yeah, the worst would have been the obvious thought to have. So he didn't blame Harry for that, luckily Gwen had come along and save the day, like the blessing that she was.

He rolled his eyes but grinned all the same, "I promise you Harry, I'm not going to get sick of you, you come around as often as you like, even to the house, we make dinner there too, though the bar is always open." Someone was always manning it even when he wasn't in there. But if Harry wanted to see him in particular Peter was of course going to invite him over. He was only too eager to spend some time with him again, in whatever shape that might end up taking. "A glider?" Peter asked, surprise shooting through him when Harry told him what he'd done, and he wondered if Harry had already let Norman get to him, and twist his thoughts the way he'd done before. It was - well Peter hated to think that, maybe that was why Harry was here though? To keep that from happening to him a second time? He'd have to try and pull a little more out of Harry and see where they were at with everything.

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-10 11:53 pm UTC (link)

It felt a lot like this Peter was keeping things from him. Like there was something he wanted to say but either couldn't or wouldn't. He would've ignored the entire thing, the way he always had, but the feel of it was too familiar and the fallout from Peter's secret was too fresh in his mind for him to put it on a backburner. Harry gave the older man an unimpressed look before letting out a sigh. Maybe it was best to just come clean. To save this one from fumbling with what to say and what not to say. His own Peter had said that the choice not to tell him had boiled down to a desire to keep Harry and everyone he cared about safe. This older version was probably worried less about keeping him safe in this place and a little more concerned about the Peter that had been left behind. "He got over it." He said. "I'm just glad I didn't have to witness him dancing in the street."

He felt like he was throwing away an opportunity here. He wasn't trying to wait Peter out and see how long the older version of his best friend was going to keep dancing around the issue. That wasn't what he wanted. Not when Peter was encouraging him to talk and just trying to be his friend. This seemed harder than it had with Gwen for some reason. He'd just asked her if she had powers. He knew about Peters but couldn't bring himself to say anything. "Okay..." He said, letting out a sigh. "I want to say that I know you're hiding something from me and that I hate when you do that. I understand why but, Pete, you don't have to. I know. He told me."

And, maybe, that was a heavy conversation considering the laughter around them. Maybe he should've held onto that a little longer but, Harry was sure, it could only make things easier moving forward. Peter could actualy talk to him without worrying about how much he could and couldn't say. "That was easier with Gwen too. I just asked her. I don't know why it was harder to just say that to you."

There was probably a little more history behind that secret with this Peter. Even knowing it, however, it was obvious that this version of Harry wasn't angry or upset. Not anymore, anyway. He wasn't going to try and hurt this version of Peter or any other. He was happy to spend time with an older version of his best friend. Happy to be around him. He would be even happier to show off but he'd left the glider back at the house he was staying in along with the suit and the controls. He couldn't wear it all day everyday and the glider itself was a little too cumbersome to try and bring with him. Why would he use it when everything was in walking distance. "Yeah, I built it for the Stark Expo back home." He said with a shrug. "It needs a redesign."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-11 12:19 am UTC (link)

That look Harry sent in his direction was a little too familiar for comfort, if Peter was being honest. It was the sort of look he'd have expected of his own Harry, and here it was being echoed at him from a boy who was about 20 years too young. Peter huffed just a little, at least Harry hadn't asked or pressed for more, he didn't know what he'd have done or how much he'd be able to tell him, but he nodded. "Yeah we don't talk about those dark days," He said playing up his own embarrassment over it all.

But he'd told Harry he'd listen if he wanted to talk, what he hadn't expected of course was for Harry to tell him that he knew he was hiding something from him - which yeah, Peter had never been much of a liar, even on his best days. And more than that he hadn't expected Harry to tell him that the other Peter had actually come clean, that was - well that Peter was a hell of a lot braver than he was.

He just stood there a little stunned for a moment while Harry continued telling him it had been easier with Gwen as well, to tell her it was something he'd known. "Wow - I - okay, well that's .... sounds like your Peter is braver than I was." He said after a moment, "You know it never was about keeping you in the dark, it was always about trying to keep you safe." Harry and MJ and Aunt May and everyone else. He wore the mask to protect them too, so that no one could hold them over his head if it ever came down to it.

"How did that -" He started and stopped, "How did that go for you guys? I mean was it- you're still friends?" He asked unable to help himself now that the gates had been opened, it was probably stupid to ask, to try and compare his life to some other version of it that he'd never have. But he couldn't help himself.

The glider however, that was something that still worried him, he couldn't help it, he'd seen Harry on the glider and he knew what terrifying potential he had for something like that. But that had been his own, he needed to stop trying to make this one exactly the same, there were already some very key differences. "Yeah? Maybe you want to show me sometime?" He tried, curious even as he worried.

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

goblinglider
2019-12-12 06:10 am UTC (link)

Maybe his Peter was brave. It hadn't felt much like bravery when he'd finally found out. Peter hadn't actually taken him aside and come clean with him. Not even after Harry had become suspicious, not even after Octavius had let it slip that Peter had some connection to Spider-Man. It had felt more like Peter was backed into a corner and had no other choice. If he could've gone on keeping this secret from Harry he probably would've. After all, Peter had let him believe he'd contracted the spider virus like Gwen and Anya had. He'd allowed Harry to worry about watching his friend mutate into a spider monster like Gwen had. Like his own father had. Peter had only revealed his secret because Harry had needed him to. Because Norman Osborn was dying and his blood was the only thing that could save him. Looking back, however, maybe it was a sort of bravery. He'd stepped up and did the right thing even knowing how Harry could react.

"Yeah... he mentioned that." Harry said, shrugging a little because he still didn't like it. "I understand. My father attracted enough trouble that always found its way to me. Things would get worst if I knew." He admitted. "That doesn't mean I liked it though. Any of it. All of a sudden Peter just... forgets me or pushes me to the side. He's late or he skips out almost immediately. I want to tell him things, big things, I want him to hear stuff from me first or to share these things I'm excited about with him and he just doesn't show up? He invited me to a party and I stood there, alone, because he didn't show." It was a horrible, lonely feeling. An isolated sort of feeling. If he'd still been enrolled at Horizon things may not have been so bad but his father had cut him off from everyone else. "It just felt lonely." He admitted, arms wrapping around himself. "Like I had no one."

That question caught him a little by surprise, however. It was fair though. Harry had been upset. "I was upset." He said. "We didn't talk for awhile but I was sort of getting used to the lies by then." And, really, he wasn't sure how much more he could be outraged by the things he found out. It had felt like a worst betrayal when he thought Peter was building Spider-Man's equipment. When he assumed Peter had lied to his face. "Spider-Man didn't make the best first impression with me. I held onto that for awhile but, by the time he told me, I'd already been lead to believe he was working with Spider-Man and then had my suspicions about whether or not he was Spider-Man after a display of his powers. Of course, there was an airborne virus that was giving everyone the same sort of powers so he kind of got off the hook there."

None of that had actually answered the question. "We're still friends. We worked things out." He reassured the other. Peter was his best friend. He loved the other boy. "I still thought the worst. He was running around as part of Ock's villain team for awhile there but it turned out he was under mind control. He broke out of it though." And the memory was something Harry cherished because the smile that came to his face was the same one he'd offered his father. It was small, soft, and a little vulnerable. It was like Harry was only just realizing how much he could actually mean to someone. How much he meant to Peter. "For me. I inspired him." Admitting that again scared him a little and it showed in the way he took a step back and away from the older Peter. As if he was afraid of the older man's reaction. His own father, after all, had proceeded to tell him how foolish he was for believing it.

Bringing up the glider managed to chase away that momentary uncertainty. Harry smiled brighter, clearly excited by the idea. By the potential to show off. "Sure. Whenever you want to see it just stop by. I'd be happy to finally show it off to someone. My dad didn't actually let me enter it into the Stark Expo."

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Harry Osborn | Peter B Parker

pbandparker
2019-12-13 05:16 am UTC (link)

Peter felt his heart ache while Harry told him how it had felt from his side of things, when he didn't know - when it just looked like his friend was abandoning him for something that he'd never quite been able to tell him about. And he wished he'd been smarter, braver, less focused on his own perspective at the very least and seen what it was doing to his friend. "It was hard in the beginning." He admitted after a moment, "Trying to figure out how to balance everything and feeling like I had to do it all on my own." Because after Ben? Well Peter knew he couldn't take the risk that anyone else that he cared about might get caught up in all of this.

"I don't know how much of our lives the other Peter and I share, but for me -" Peter began, feeling a little bit like he could explain in the way he never got the chance to explain to his Harry, "My uncle Ben was killed, and it was my fault." He told him, "I could have stopped the guy who did it before he ever got near Ben, but I was too stupid and too prideful and I didn't think about how anyone could get hurt by what I was doing and then Ben was just there - the wrong place at the wrong time and everything changed." Even now all these years later it still ached, he hadn't been surprised that the wound was still raw for the younger Peter when he'd mentioned Ben to him too. "I couldn't risk that happening to anyone else I cared about, so not telling you, not telling him - it was always just to keep him safe. I never thought about what he must have thought about it all." Not at the time, he was still young then, still trying to figure it all out, though that feeling never had quite managed to go away.

He winced a little when Harry told him how things had gone when Peter had finally owned up to it, nodding, well it wasn't as bad for him as it had been for himself, so that was something. "Sounds like there are a couple differences there. But I'm glad to hear you two worked it out." Harry had always been one of his very best friends, it was good to hear that one of the Peters managed to keep him. "That sounds about right, you always were an amazing friend, not at all what I expected you to be in the beginning." He grinned, pleased for both Harry and Peter hearing that they'd managed to inspire one another like that.

"I'll come by soon then, I want to see it." He promised Harry, who was obviously pretty pleased with himself and his work, and eager to show off. How could Peter turn that down? Even if he worried about what that might become, for now Harry was just Harry and away from the influence of his father, things could be different here.

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