Who: Harry and Peter. When: Early July-ish? Where: Peter's Nerd Den (aka his apartment). What: Hangin' like they do. Rating/Warning: Low/None. Status: Complete.
And there he was again, trapped in a mindless boredom. Literally staring at his new wallpaper on a Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t even dark out yet and he was considering going to sleep out of lack of things to do. He didn’t really know anybody yet so that option was out. There was Kitty, but she was busy often. And that new girl Gwen was kinda pretty, but Peter wasn’t the best at asking girls out. Sort of came with the whole photography territory. Behind the lense, not in front of it state of mind.
He idly scrolled through his phone before he landed on Harry again. If he wasn’t careful Harry was going to think he was stalking him at this point. But really he didn’t know too many people beyond him yet. So he shot him a text.
“Hey. Busy?” And waiting for that return text was the most interesting part of his entire day.
Now that OsCorp is officially open for business, Harry was busier than before. Of course he was the boss, so he could get away with not working, and weekends were strictly No Work time. Unless shit hit the fan or something. He was just thinking about how bored he was, too, when his phone lit up with a text.
“Not even close,” was Harry’s reply.
Peter still had a while yet before Summer classes began. He was mostly filling his days with sciencing his place. He'd recently finished off the last of it though and was now left wondering if he ought to have moved into the dorms instead. It would have been cheaper, but his scholarship had basically paid for it as well. At least as long as he maintained his GPA. He intended to, Peter Parker was no C average student. Even on his off time he had checked out a few text books for the upcoming semester to leaf through, but right now was indeed a weekend.
"Bet you're dying to see my fancy new wallpaper right?" He smirked at the phone and waited, half hanging off his bed.
Harry actually snorted to himself. “Dying to make fun of it,” he texted back. And since Harry pretty much took that as an invitation, he got up off his couch and went looking for his keys. “What’s your address again?” he typed.
"Don't be jealous. I saved you some. We can be twins now. " Peter grinned and he listened to the music that came from his phone. Funny that Harry was the first one he thought of to entrain him after being apart so long. But he really was glad to see him. He didn't want that much time to pass them by again. "[Address] if you're expecting food, you might want to pick something up unless you like baking soda. "He hasn't really bothered to shop much. He was still getting used to that part. Aunt May wasn't there to stick him up anymore.
Harry just rolled his eyes to himself. He called one of the company cars to come get him, and on the way he stopped to get he and Peter some burgers and milkshakes. Eventually he finally wound up at Peter’s and knocked on the door.
“Hey, let me in.”
"Will you huff and puff and blow the door down? " He teased with a smirk as he hears him arrive. If course he opened the door for him anyway. "Hey Harr. " He clapped him on the shoulder warmly and stepped aside to let him examine the place. It was very much a science geeks haven. He had him put stuff down on the table, but if Harry looked closer he'd notice all of Peters cups were actually measuring cups with thermometers in them.
“Oh. My. God,” Harry said, immediately laughing as he stepped inside. “What the hell is this? I feel like I stepped into some weird freaky twilight zone episode. Or some after-school kid’s program about science. This is seriously weird, Pete.” He set down the food and just kept laughing. “What are you, like, ten?”
“I know you actually meant to say it’s amazing, so I fixed it for you. You’re welcome.” He grinned at him widely. Not every surface was covered in science-just, most of them. His arms folded a little grumpily the more Harry laughed. “Oh shut up, it isn’t that bad..” So maybe it could have used a woman’s touch or something, but he didn’t know any of those to make it happen. So he gave Harry a shove and rolled his eyes.
“Amazingly bad, maybe.” Harry slurped on his milkshake, eyes vaguely wide. “I might have nightmares about this place. At least get a normal poster or something of a band.” He nudged Peter back and then flopped into a chair.
Peter sat down beside him and grabbed his own drink. He could have suggested going out, but he really wasn’t the type for bars or what not. “Saw your picture in the tabs again.” He commented offhandedly with an amused expression crossing into his face. “I really need to stop blowing my money on that junk. They paired your face with a monkeys body.” He chuckled at the memory and then made a face at the suggestion. “Normal is overrated Harr.”
“It’s all right, Peter,” Harry says, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder, “but you know that if you want pictures of me you can just check out my Facebook or take them yourself.” He tries to keep a straight face but then ends up cracking a grin.
Peter couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that comment. “Think I’ll stick with the monkey shot.” He laughed and reached for the burger finally. “Ever think about going back home?” He asked on a bit more of a serious note. It’d been on his mind lately, though he knew Aunt May would not have been thrilled by the idea.
After eating some fries, Harry shrugged and shook his head. “Not at all. I mean, when I finished school, I stayed in Europe for a reason. I like New York and all, but I wouldn’t ever say it felt like home.” He glanced over at Peter. “Why, do you miss it that much already?”
Unlike Harry, Peter hadn’t been out of the country. Hell he hadn’t even been out of state before, and now home seemed a million miles away. Sure his aunt had wanted that, but Peter wasn’t so sure he did. “Where’s home for you then? Europe?” He didn’t know where this serious tone of his came in, but he couldn’t shake it just yet. “Just the noise I suppose..”He lied. He wasn’t sure what Harry knew of the last couple years of his life, but they hadn’t been pleasant. He’d spent nearly every waking moment focusing on parents that had left him alone as a child. Now that he was stuck in L.A. he was drifting, unsure what to do.
“Nah. I don’t know where home is. Here, I guess.” Harry didn’t even bother looking thoughtful. “You’ll be fine, Peter. Getting away will do you good, and you know as well as I do that your Aunt May can take care of herself. If that’s what you’re actually worried about.”
He knew Harry’s home life was different than his, but he hadn’t expected that answer. He raised an eyebrow at him. “I guess here is as good as any.” He said with a shrug and leaned back, finishing his burger. “I know, I still don’t like the idea f her out there on her own though.” Peter frowned as he reached for a handful of fries, and tossed one at Harry with a roll of his eyes. “Whatever though right, we’re in Orange County. It’s nearly a weekend. Shouldn’t we be out doing something? That’s what normal guys our age do right?” He didn’t want to talk about home anymore, in fact he wanted to take his mind as far away from it as he could.
“I’ll tell you what, Pete. If at any time you feel she needs something, tell me and I’ll have someone from OsCorp in New York go check on her. Or if it’s really desperate I can probably fly you out there for a day or something. It’s really actually no hassle.” But then Harry grinned as Peter changed the subject, and tried to catch the fry in his mouth. He missed.
“We should go to the beach or something. Nothing like two skinny white guys turning into lobsters to impress the ladies, right?”
“Yeah?” He looked over at him curiously. Nobody had ever really gone out of their way like that for him. He couldn’t help but grin and this time it reached his eyes. The idea that he had to worry less was a weight off his shoulders. “Bet if you showed more of this side you’d have a hundred girls on each arm.” He laughed at the failed attempt to get the fry and shook his head. “Smooth.”
Peter snorted at that. “Yea because I’m clearly a lady killer already.” He had very little confidence when it came to talking to women, but a chance to watch Harry pull some of his ‘lines’ or whatever amused him. “Maybe getting out of here isn’t such a bad idea.”
“I’ve dated models, Pete,” Harry said, eyebrows raised, “I don’t need to go around letting everyone know I’m a nice guy to get laid.” He finished off the rest of his food and stood up, stretching. “Yeah, I need to get away before this wallpaper drives me nuts.”
He rolled his eyes at him. “I’ve seen. What was the latest headline?” He snickered and grinned at that comment. “Yeah, because the wallpaper will be what does it.” And nudged him as he stood. “Haters gonna hate.” He said with a shrug and slipped his phone in his pocket, “Well then, you’re the expert on this sort of thing. Where to?” He finished off his fries and slipped his phone in his pocket.
“I don’t know. Something clever.” Harry never bothered to read whatever they were printing about him, unless it was a proper spread that he’d agreed to do. But he was already busy on his phone, looking for the most popular beaches in the area. “All right. We gotta find a cab. Then we’re golden.”
“More like trashy.” He shrugged. Peter only ever read them to amuse himself at times. He didn’t put much stock in them since he actually knew Harry a little bit. Of course, they’d lost touch for a while so who knew what he’d been up to in the time that they’d been apart. He side eyed him and laughed. “Good luck out here..Most I’ve been able to find is the bus.”
Harry sighed, putting an arm around Peter’s back - he was too short to properly put it around his shoulders - as he lead him out of the apartment. “Peter, it’s time you learned how good it is to be friends with an Osborn.”