InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Karma; only a bitch if you are"

Alpha Peter (pbandparker) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-12-03 23:01:00

Entry tags:

gwen stacy, peter b parker (sv)

Who: Peter and Gwen
What: A Spider-freak
Where: Van Dyne's
When: Today

After he'd run into Harry out in the snow Peter had maybe been freaking out just a little bit at the reality of what that meant for him. And confronting a loss that had happened years ago but was suddenly fresh and bright in the forefront of his mind. And though Peter knew he could, and even would, talk about this with John and Claire, he needed to talk with someone who would understand it a little bit better than than either of them would. Which was how he found himself in Van Dyne's.

He was browsing a little bit, considering whether or not he was going to be a gloves sort of person or if he was just a suffer and stuff his hands into his pockets kind of guy at heart. It was always a good thing to have a pretend reason to do anything when you wanted to talk feelings after all, and that was exactly what he had as he wandered around a little before he found Gwen.

"So what do you think?" He asked, holding up two sweaters for her to pick for him, one a dark green and the other a more neutral brown. "Or should I just stick with blue? It's more my color isn't it?" Okay he was teasing a little now, but it was easy to joke around with Gwen, she was like family.

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-05 03:18 pm UTC (link)

When Harry Osborn arrived in town, it'd been a shock to say the least. Gwen wasn't used to arrivals showing up who knew some version of her. It was even more surprising to hear that the Gwen who Harry knew also had spider-powers. It made her feel like it was a bit easier to talk to him because it wouldn't be terribly shocking to him to know that she had them too. Her Harry had once been one of her closest friends, surpassed only by her closeness to her Peter. Circumstances had changed that, but she still missed him terribly. Knowing there was a Harry here now who could be her friend had her filled with so much hope.

It was interesting to watch Peter fret over the color choices of some new winter wear. Gwen had been perched on a stool she had by the counter of the shop. Q-Tee was over on the other side folding scarves and hopefully not tying them together instead. She hopped down from the stool and walked up to Peter. She eyed the two sweaters and tilted her head.

"Not the blue. Blue and red are gonna follow you around forever," she said. "What's the occasion?" He seemed a little more fidgety than the average Peter Parker twitches and it had her wondering. "That'll help me decide."

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pbandparker
2019-12-06 03:27 am UTC (link)

Gwen knew her mind at least, and that was something that Peter kind of loved about her. Her immediate dismissal of the blue was a bold stance to take, but he approved all the same. "I mean they're kind of my thing, seems like the sort of thing I might just have to lean into." He admitted with a grin and an upward tilt of his shoulders. But she was probably right, he might want to lay off the blue for a bit, maybe the green was more his style for the time being. "No occasion really, just trying something new."

That and he wanted the excuse to come see Gwen, without immediately rushing to her and letting all of his conflicting emotions about Harry Osborn come spilling out of his mouth the way he kind of wanted to. He was fine, he was a god damned adult, he could handle a regular conversation and pick out a new sweater that he thought Claire and John would like on him too - it was fine. "You think this says 'adult who might like to kiss under the mistletoe sometime this holiday season'?" He asked her holding the green up to himself then, and pulling a stupid face at her.

Sure she was younger than him, he knew that - but she was like a sister at this point, like family and Peter was comfortable around Gwen in a way he never thought he'd be with someone else, being able to be so open about Spider-Man, knowing that Gwen understood in a way that even others who knew about his alter ego wouldn't ever truly get. So yeah, she was his choice for this.

"I heard you met Harry Osborn when he arrived." He said after a moment, taking that first step into that conversation finally.

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-06 10:36 pm UTC (link)

"Something new," she said. "Then yeah, the green." She laughed at the stupid face he made. The bond that they two of them shared was very special to Gwen. First and foremost, he was Peter Parker. That in of itself already made him extremely important to her. But he was different; he was older and had a lot of experience while still just being so.. Peter. He was a big brother to her but he was also someone she looked up to as.. maybe kind of a mentor in a way but more than that he was just someone who just got it. They understood each other. There was something about being a Spider-Person that only other Spiderlings could really.. get. It wasn't like an exclusive club but just sort of a shared experience.

Peter was someone who made her feel good, calm, centered. He was a person she trusted and had bared her heart to before and he'd made her feel protected all the while. Gwen didn't have a lot of people she could say had been there for her like that.

"Oh," she said. "Yeah, I did. He was calling out for his Peter and he sounded just like the Harry I knew and-- He's not, but it felt.. I dunno. It was Harry." Gwen knew from when they'd spoken that Harry Osborn was most definitely someone who could jar the hell out of him. She took the sweater from him and set it aside in favor of holding his hand instead. "So then, you've seen him? Are you okay?"

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pbandparker
2019-12-07 01:16 am UTC (link)

Peter grinned when Gwen agreed that the green was the right choice, he'd get it he decided, he could do a little bit of that on top of having a heart to heart with Gwen. Maybe it was the conversation he ought to have been having with Harry himself, but he needed to talk to Gwen first, to even figure out what he actually felt about it, because as it was he didn't even have the first clue. Other than it was something that kept prodding at him in the back of his mind, like he was a young man all over again, aching for the loss of the best friend he'd been unable to save.

"Wow that would have been-" Yeah Peter was glad that he hadn't been there for that because he'd have had a mental break over it, he was certain. This place was strange in a lot of amazing ways, but sometimes it could throw him for a loop that he didn't quite know how to deal with, and this was one of those things. It wasn't like running into Bobby when he'd shown up, familiar and yet different. This was Harry, they had a kind of history that went beyond just familiar. "Yeah."

"Oh, uh yeah, he hit me in the face with a snowball." He admitted with a huff of laughter. "We talked a bit." He added too. "It was - surreal." He told her, he'd told her about Harry once before, about being unable to save him and here it was all over again. "You know a lot of people show up here that take me by surprise but he's one I didn't ever think I'd end up running into here." Even if it wasn't his Harry, he was still Harry. So very much that it made Peter's head spin.

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-10 12:57 am UTC (link)

Gwen knew that this would be hard for Peter, at least in terms of bringing up memories he probably hadn't let himself really dive into much since being here. They'd talked about it together, and she was so grateful he'd let her get close enough to him to confide in her his past, much the same as she had to him. It was that connection, that bond as Spiders but also just.. as Gwen and Peter the people, too. She liked him and cared about him for who he was, not just the Spider part, or because she had a Peter Parker of her own she loved and held so dear.

"I know," she said. "It was a shock to the system and I can't even blame the Spider sense for that." Harry wasn't her person, but he was pretty damn close and if that wasn't enough, there was something else she thought she needed to say, something Peter would understand.

"He's a lot like the Harry I knew," she said. "But um.. He.. I don't know if he mentioned it, but, when he showed up he had the glider. I know he's not dangerous but it.. reminded me of when he was."

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pbandparker
2019-12-10 06:23 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, it'd have been one thing if maybe the Spider sense had given me a bit of warning." Though it didn't work like that he knew. But still, the thought was a nice one to have, Spider sense warning of long dead friends who you hadn't been able to save. "Instead it was a snowball, which was - not terrible." He admitted, it had reminded him of easier times. When a snowball thrown at him by Harry was exactly the sort of thing he'd have loved. "He just looks, so much like the Harry I knew." Familiar in ways that ached, but different enough that Peter didn't know how exactly to react to him either.

At least Gwen got it, she knew Harry too, and well - she just got it. The way she did all the other spider things.

Peter nodded grimly, "He mentioned that to me too, and I just - it makes me think of my Harry, and his glider and those last weeks when everything fell apart." He felt such a profound sense of failure over it that he didn't know what to do with it. Maybe it had been talking with the younger Peter that had done it, reminding him of all the times things hadn't gone the way he'd wanted to, all the losses he'd had since he started this. Maybe it was just seeing Harry so young and eager to smile and tease with him. He didn't know, but he knew that it was something all welled up inside of him. "He's so much like the Harry I knew."

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-16 08:54 pm UTC (link)

Gwen understood that feeling. He looked so much like her Harry, too. It made her feel nostalgic; longing for the days when things were so damn simple -- when she, Peter, and Harry would hang out after school doing whatever they wanted. Usually she just listened while the two of them geeked out over something. The only drama they ever encountered was Peter flipping out when Harry asked her to go to the prom. If only their problems had remained that simple and so teenager. If only.

But she did understand. He was Harry, not their Harry, but Harry all the same. Harry Osborne meant something to them both, and it was difficult to not want to project that meaning onto someone who was that person, but not that person at the same time.

"It's hard, isn't it?" She asked. "Hard but easy, too. When I was talking to him it came out so naturally, like I'd known him forever." She smiled a little. "I hope he stays for a long time. I like that there's a Harry Osborne around. Even with the glider. I hate the glider."

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pbandparker
2019-12-17 03:28 am UTC (link)

"That's the strangest part," He admitted. "That it's not hard at all," Because it was also hard too - to look at Harry and be reminded of what he'd lost, to see him so young and still good and happy and maybe a little disappointed in Peter but not as far gone as he'd been. "I expected that I'd end up stumbling over myself too much and have to just run the other way, but we just started talking and it was just the way it used to be." Maybe not exactly like that, it couldn't be, this wasn't his Harry, but he had a lot of the same concerns, he was goofy in the same sort of ways, but still smart and easy to talk to. And it didn't really seem to matter that he was still a kid and Peter was well - quite frankly kind of old these days.

He shook his head and breathed out, it maybe shouldn't have shaken him quite so much but it still had, and he needed to talk about it a little bit, to get some of that out of his head and know that he wasn't just being crazy about it.

"I really hope he does too." Peter admitted, he tried not to let himself get too attached to the other Peter's they didn't seem to stick around often, which was fine really, they deserved to go home, and he still was telling himself that people just went home when they disappeared from here, but Harry was different. Harry was something special and he wanted some more time with him. "It'd be nice if he would stay, it's been a long time since I've gotten to hang out with him. Any version of him." And he wasn't quite ready to lose that just yet. "Yeah the glider is just - I'm not a fan, he's proud of it, but all I can see when I look at it is what he became, I don't want that for this one."

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-17 07:22 pm UTC (link)

It was really hard to explain how something could be so hard it was almost suffocating, but also easier than instinctive breathing at the same time. She'd felt like that as soon as she came into town and there were multiple versions of Peter Parker walking around. Peter Parker, the person she loved more than anyone else in the world. Every time she saw one of them, she was reminded of hers and it made her heart ache so badly she thought she might pass out. But at the same time, she was elated. She was so happy just to be around any version of Peter; she loved them all, even if she was very quiet about that. Not to this particular Peter, though. He knew. Surely he knew by now that she loved him deeply.

With Harry, it was much the same. He was someone so incredibly important to her back home, but their history was laced in heartache and pain. With this Harry here, it felt like she had another chance to have a close friend she could build a relationship with and have those happier moments. Less pain, more joy.

"I don't want that for him, either," Gwen said. "I hope, maybe, being here? Maybe that'll stop it from happening. The last time I saw him at home, he was trying to kill me. And I know for you, I just.. I know, Peter." She found his hand again. "But he's here, he's happy and healthy. He's okay. And maybe this can all be okay for all of us."

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pbandparker
2019-12-21 07:31 am UTC (link)

It was the sort of thing that people might have said by way of comfort, but most people would never have an idea of what it was like - no one but Gwen in point of fact. She knew exactly what it was like, to watch your friend slowly slip away from you, to try and find that line between friend and hero, to realizing that whatever you did it was never going to be enough, and to be unable to save that person in the end. She knew because she'd lived that too - and maybe every day that she looked at him she saw what he saw in Harry. It was an overwhelming sort of thought, and he squeezed her hand when she reached out for him again.

"I have to hope you're right, that being here, knowing the truth, being away from Norman, it'll be enough to keep that from happening to him too." Because he knew how Norman could be, the way he could get into his son's head, influencing him despite all the harm he'd caused. But Norman wasn't here, it was just them - and they could do this, Harry knew this time, that made things different, they could just have the good without the bad.

Maybe.

"It's gonna take a little getting used to," He said after a beat, "I mean what about this place doesn't? But I'm glad he's here. I'm glad we get to be here and see him without you know... everything else." He sighed and shook his head and was once more in awe of Gwen's own resilience in all of this, seeing him, and now Harry? It was a lot. More than a lot really. "Have I told you lately, how awesome you are? Because I feel it needs saying, today especially."

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itsybitsyspidey
2019-12-24 12:15 am UTC (link)

Gwen was so grateful that she and Peter could understand each other on such a deep level, but it was kind of a double edged sword. She'd spoken about it with the younger Peter, too. She felt comforted in knowing they had such an understanding, but she also hated that he'd gone through such a tragedy that she'd never wish upon anyone. Losing someone so dear, losing multiple people, carrying the heavy weight of being a Spider-Person. It was a lot. It was too much for anyone, but they still did it because it was the right thing to do. A lot of people here could probably relate to that, but given their histories and the overlapping people within them, Gwen felt she and Peter connected on a very personal level.

Gwen hoped with all of her heart that being here would have a positive effect on Harry. She hoped it would spare him from the fate it seemed he tended to suffer in at least her world and Peter's. If nothing else, it got him away from Norman, which she and Peter could both agree was the best thing for him. Hopefully.

She grinned, almost a bit shyly when he told her she was awesome. She wasn't so sure about that, but it meant a lot to her coming from Peter, whom she put above most other people when it came to what he thought of her. "The feeling's mutual, Parker." And that warranted a hug, so she let go of his hand in favor of hugging him around the waist. "I think you're pretty awesome, too."

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pbandparker
2019-12-28 01:06 am UTC (link)

It was a terrible thing being a spider-person, Peter knew. The weight they all carried was a heavy one, and it never really got any easier, not really - it was always there and it always hurt. But to find someone who understood that? Who knew about the loss they all experienced, that was a gift that Peter couldn't help but be grateful for even as he was sorry that he couldn't do anything to spare any of them the same hardships. But they were better for having met one another, of that much Peter was certain. The reminder of who he was had been an invaluable one, and then finding Gwen here? It was a gift that he could never be grateful enough to have.

"Oh yeah, alright, bring it in." He chuckled when she hugged him, wrapping his arms around her in turn to return the hug happily. Peter had come a long way since the day he'd arrived, he had a real family here, and he was glad to have their support and be a support for them too when they needed it.

"I guess seeing him threw me a little bit more than I realized." He admitted with a low huff, "It's - I'm glad I wasn't the only one." Glad that Gwen knew exactly what he was afraid of seeing Harry here, and glad that she had the same hopes for him. "I guess all we can do now is be a friend." Which was what he'd wanted to do at home, but things hadn't worked out quite that way - but it was different here, they had everything out in the open, it was like a fresh start.

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