InsaneJournal

Peter³ (spiderguy) wrote in territories_log, @ 2022-08-01 11:59:00

Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker. Rating TBD.LIVING QUARTERS; SECTION ONE

Peter Parker wasn’t a teenager anymore. While maintaining an exuberance that could certainly be described as youthful, he was several years into his tenure as a crime fighter by this point, and throughout that time he’d thought he’d seen everything: Monsters. Reptiles. Death. However, the past few months had shown that he was barely reaching the tipping point. He began his summer finding himself in an alternate universe with his younger variant along with aliens and Avengers, and now he was in outer space, aboard a living vessel. It was a lot to take in, so naturally things didn’t end there for Parker. Now, his greatest love, and perhaps his greatest failure, was seemingly alive, well, and living across the hall from him. He was far from calling himself adjusted to life on Moya, but even had he been, all of that would have turned upside down by the knowledge of Gwen’s arrival. But now he knew, and he wasn’t going to not capitalize on the opportunity to explore the ship with her.

Dressing himself plainly in a white tee, jeans and sneakers, he’d make that arduous trek before reaching out to knock at the door to the fourth room. Now came the worst part, the wait. Perhaps it only lasted mere seconds. Perhaps it lasted longer. For Peter it seemed to last an eternity. Though no one was there to witness, his facial expressions told stories that contained multitudes. He recognized a tension in his jaw and allowed himself to release it with a deep sigh, just in time to hear the automatic slide of an opening door.

And there she was. Gwen Stacy. Just as she remembered. Though Peter looked relatively the same as he did six years ago, he had still aged in ways Gwen certainly had not. Through the years, he’d envision what he might say to her should their paths cross again. But even despite having the insight on phenomena like the Multiverse, this was always dealing with the hypothetical. It was never a scenario he fathomed coming to fruition. At least not for him. And yet, here she was. It was a lot to take in, and he was visibly having trouble doing so.

The questions he wanted to ask. Even beyond the cliche last thing she remembered or what it felt like. He wanted to know if she blamed him for not being able to save her. He had certainly had a hard time not blaming himself. There were so many questions, none of them would be asked just yet. Instead, his greeting was simple.

“Hiya, Gwen.”