InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I licked it, so it's mine!"

Alpha Peter (pbandparker) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2020-02-20 20:14:00

Entry tags:

claire temple (mcu), peter b parker (sv)

WHO: Claire and Peter B
WHAT: Keeping the magic alive
WHERE: Their house
WHEN: Tonight

He'd taken what Sirius had said to him while they'd been stuck on one another to heart, about being in that place every day, every night - sure he liked it fine enough, and it was good to have something to keep him busy, but sometimes you needed a break from it all. Lucky for him, he had several people around he trusted to man the bar in the evenings for him, and well it wasn't like the place needed a whole lot of tending really. So Peter never really was too worried about what he might find when he came back to it.

But he'd grabbed a bottle of wine and he'd made up a couple of sandwiches before he'd made his way back home again, calling it an early night and ready to maybe catch a bit of that early night with Claire, because well - he'd been busy lately, busy in the way that he'd just been going through the motions and that was disappointing really. This place was strange enough that it shouldn't happen, but there he was a year in and he'd fallen into a routine.

Tonight though was not routine at all, and Peter nudged open the door with his hip after pulling the bottle of wine up under his arm for a moment, "Honey," he called with a stupid grin on his face, "I'm home." Yeah it was dumb, but well - Peter kind of felt a little bit dumb over the two people he'd been able to call his here. So he thought he was probably allowed.

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donewithnights
2020-02-21 03:14 am UTC (link)

Claire kept busy enough, an adventure here, a sick person there, maybe a little redecorating and her credit card worked through the doors when she needed a spa day and who knew who was fitting that bill. So there was plenty to do, always someone looking to have a chat and a boyfriend to make trouble with. But at night she did start to feel like it was just her and John and their absentee lover found his way home later and later.

John was off, he wasn't a kept boy by any means and Claire had run the bath extra hot, filling it and sinking into the bubbles. She had a book and the evening would pass well enough. Which is why she was surprised to hear someone open the door. Not that she had a chance to worry because he announced himself effectively enough. She laughed, throwing the book onto the closed toilet seat, who needed reading.

"In here," Claire called, because she'd left the door ajar seeing as she hadn't been expecting anyone and anyone he wasn't expecting would probably be welcome in there with her.

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pbandparker
2020-02-21 05:52 am UTC (link)

Peter dropped the sandwiches and grabbed a couple glasses and the bottle opener before he made his way back to the bathroom to find Claire up to her shoulders in bubbles. "Looks like you're having a nice night."

He grinned setting the glasses down and opening the bottle he'd brought with him to pour them both a glass, "Think there might be a chance I could make it a bit better for you?" He asked her offering her the first glass he'd poured before he poured himself one as well, and then dropped down to sit on the tub's edge. He'd missed her, which felt strange since they lived together. He saw her more often than anyone, and yet here he was missing her. So it was nice to settle that part of himself that was always wanting more of her.

The rest of the house was quiet, John out for the night and so it was just the two of them for the moment, but looking at her there like that, well Peter was still feeling very good about the night.

"I brought food too if you're hungry, but I thought we could start with this." He added after a beat, just so she knew, but it was good to be back home like this, not so late that all there was to do was crawl into bed again, but to be here with her while they both could enjoy the remainder of the evening they had together.

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donewithnights
2020-02-21 10:46 pm UTC (link)

Claire would have been glad to see him regardless, but there was no denying she was happier seeing him there with wine and two glasses. It meant he intended on hanging around and wasn't just here for a clean shirt and a quick visit. Of course the bar was going to be the busiest place in town, right there with COFFEE and she didn't mind that he was there a lot, Claire wasn't one to nag. But who didn't like being made an absolute priority once and a while?

She took the glass, knocking it against his before she took a sip. "There you go, making it better," Claire said with a smile. He perched on the edge and she stretched out a little to make sure the water wasn't too full before she offered "room for one more."

Usually it was her that was busy, working long hours, long days, very long weeks. There was a big part of her that missed it, that found being here left her a bit useless. But she also had an important job, helping people who needed it. Claire wasn't a doctor but she did have a lot of experience and had spent a lot of time watching them.

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pbandparker
2020-02-23 06:23 am UTC (link)

"Yeah?" He asked grin on his face when she offered to let him join her and well - Peter could be an idiot but he wasn't completely stupid. And Claire could be trusted to only offer things she was sure of so he set his glass down just long enough to start undressing so he could join her. Because if he was going to take the night off he might as well make the most of it.

He grabbed his glass again after he'd lowered himself into the tub with her, letting out a pleased sigh as he relaxed into the heat of the water and the press of her body against his. Yeah he'd been an idiot lately, letting things get him too caught up and not taking this place for what it was. A chance to be better and be more present in his own life.

And here was Claire, beautiful and present and living with him and yeah, he could definitely be better for her. She deserved that from him, and truth be told, he deserved it too. He'd already lived a life that was caught up in other things trying to be everything to everyone and it hadn't gone very well for him. He deserved a chance for something different, he just needed to remember that. Lucky Claire was a pretty good reminder. "Yeah, this was the right move." He said aloud, both of the wine and the tub but more being home with her.

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donewithnights
2020-02-24 02:14 am UTC (link)

Men always looked ridiculous when they were undressing, women looked sexy as hell a they peeled back layers. But men? They always looked like they were late, a little clumsy and Peter was no exception. But he was her spider creep so instead of rolling her eyes she found it endearing more than anything. Claire moved forward to make space behind her for him to fit and got settled back against his chest.

The bath wasn't huge, but it was room enough to be comfortable and she let out a long content sigh. Claire hummed in agreement that this was right, because it certainly felt that way and maybe it had been a long time coming.

In their own world they might never have met, certainly wouldn't have just started living together out of the blue. As she lay there watching their knees and hands and wine glasses she felt lucky and happy and also that strange awareness of how fleeting it all was. Peter hadn't been around much lately, not on purpose she hadn't felt like he was avoiding her, he'd just been people pleasing as so often was his way.

"Are you still in love with your ex-wife?" Claire wondered aloud. It wasn't accusatory and she certainly wasn't angry, more the thought had come into her head and she was curious about the answer.

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pbandparker
2020-02-24 03:24 am UTC (link)

In truth, Peter could have sank down into the water and just relaxed the rest of the night away with the warm press of Claire against him - at least until the water grew cold and things started to get uncomfortable. But right then in that moment he was more than happy to just soak it up, his fingertips tracing idle patterns against her knee just a little.

It was only her question that stilled the movement, just for a moment, caught by surprised as he was by the question before his fingers started up once again and he considered it. "I still love her." He said finally because it was true, he would always love MJ, "She was the first girl I ever loved." He admitted, "We lived beside one another when we were kids, grew up just one house over, sometimes it felt inevitable that we'd end up together, especially when things were good." He told her, recounting the truth of his past.

"Things got harder as we got older. Trying to find a balance between Spider-Man and husband Peter Parker wasn't something I was especially good at." Balance was something he'd always struggled with, and he could feel that it was still an issue here, "To answer your question though. I'm not still in love with her." He finished, "It's complicated, I think it probably always will be a little bit. But I'm in love right now, and it's not with her." Which was - well Peter thought maybe he'd feel some sort of sadness at the thought of that, but saying it out loud just then, he realized the truth of it, and how good it felt to know that he still had it in him to love, to do more than just be afraid of it and everything it meant.

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donewithnights
2020-02-24 03:47 am UTC (link)

Claire was glad when he continued that gentle touch, she couldn't have thrown him off that much if he'd recovered so fast. Honestly if Peter had told her he was utterly in love with MJ and she was the one, Claire would have understood. It would have hurt a little, but love wasn't that rational and he was going to feel the way he was going to feel.

She liked hearing about his past, the world that he'd come from before being thrust into something different, even if it was likely a difficult subject his failed marriage. Although failure really wasn't the right word, some things worked and others didn't. Claire knew that from experience.

"I never would have guessed, you seem like such a proficient multitasker," she said with an eyeroll so epic you could hear it. But she tilted her head back onto his shoulder and kissed underneath his ear, gentle and warm. Understanding as she was it felt good to know he loved her, that he wasn't pining for something he didn't have and she lifted her head to take a sip from her glass.

"Would you still want to be with me back home? If I go back to being a nurse and you go back to saving the world?" Claire asked him.

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pbandparker
2020-02-24 04:20 am UTC (link)

He'd had a plan when he'd arrived here, one that hadn't included this side trip first of all, one that might have ended with him getting back together with MJ, but things had turned out different. And Peter'd had to make a choice, whether he was going to spend his time here waiting for something that might never come or if he was going to live the life that was directly in front of him. And well - he'd decided the immediate was the life he wanted, not some fantasy of a life that was out of reach.

And then there had been Claire, her arrival without pants in the middle of the street and Peter had kind of been gone over her ever since, even if he hadn't quite realized it then.

Huffing softly, his breath against her shoulder Peter let out a soft chuckle - he didn't need to see her face to know she was rolling her eyes at him. He hummed a pleased sound though when that was followed with a press of her lips to his skin a moment later.

"I would," He agreed immediately and easily, without a thought for all the little things that needed to line up just right for such a thing to even been possible, "If you'd still have me, back there - with a world of possibilities before you." Peter knew what he was, was a lot. It had been too much for he and MJ to navigate together. He didn't know if it was actually possible to be this with anyone, here though - in this place it was easier. He wasn't doing the real Spider-Man thing here, he was friendly and taking care of this one single neighborhood, but it was a far cry from fighting crime.

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donewithnights
2020-02-26 02:44 am UTC (link)

This place could be strange and sure there was the chance someone might turn up and change everything, someone they knew or didn't know. But that was life, a seemingly endless combinations of situations thrown together and Claire was going to make the most of it and make the most of what they had in the time they had it.

Peter was special, John was special and of all the men she'd ever met they made her feel a hell of a lot more. Different things but none the less valuable and she didn't want to think about losing either of them.

The hot air had the curls around her face frizzy and the back of her neck was sweaty and it felt good, the heat of the water and his body. Tension slipped out of her she hadn't actually known she was carrying.

"Oh yes, the guy who runs the bodega near my building who stares at my ass, he's a real keeper," Claire said with a snort. He wasn't the only one who prioritised work over having a life, but her work was her life in a lot of ways. If they were to go back, Claire knew she'd want to try them on for size, to know they'd given it a go rather than never know what might have been. "So you'll look for me? Pinky promise?"

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pbandparker
2020-02-26 06:19 am UTC (link)

It was strange, when they'd first arrived everything Peter had thought then had been about getting back, about figuring the way back to their own lives so they could get on to them. But now, a year on and Peter wasn't quite so sure he wanted to go back, at least not without being sure he could hold on to what he'd built here. And considering the multiverse of it all - well Peter wasn't sure that was going to work out that way.

He dropped a kiss to her shoulder and hummed a soft sound, not to say anything just yet, as much as it was to simply to give it to her. Because he really did love her, and what they had made here together, and John - the tub might not quite be big enough for the three of them, but Peter liked the way they all fit when they did come together.

He huffed softly, his breath warm against her skin when she snorted, "Maybe you're into that sort of thing, I mean, you have a great ass." He reminded her as if she might not know it already. "Maybe you want a man who doesn't try and hide that he can't look away." Still it was nice to know that she had considered it, thought about being back and still doing this. It wasn't just a while they were here thing.

"Yeah," He nodded, lifting his hand from her thigh to offer her his pinky, "I'll find you. If something happens." He promised. And it was a big if, he'd been here from nearly the beginning as far as he knew, and he'd never felt any sort of pull or anything like it might be him being sent back. But if it turned out that it ever happened, yeah - he'd try and find her again, multiverse be damned.

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