Who: Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy When: Mid July Where: Park What: Random Encounter Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Peter was browsing through the classes brochure for summer. He could have waited until fall, but he was starting to get quite bored without any sort of structure. The only thing he looked forward to was seeing what messes Harry got into in the tabloids, but that entertainment only lasted him so long.
So that particular day, he was lying on a concrete wall in the park enjoying the sun and thumbing through science classes. He had an ice lemonade from a stand near by, and a thoughtful expression on his face. He paid not much mind to those in the park near him, he was off in his own little world of science possibilities.
Oh, God. It was so him. That was Peter Parker. Almost exactly like she remembered him in the dreams. Only, she was about a decade older than she’d been when the two of them were… well, in the Dreams, when they were together. Her Dreams. She wasn’t sure what he was dreaming.
She headed in his direction, just to make sure he was who she thought he was. Of course, there wasn’t any doubt in her mind. How could he be anyone else?
Peter didn’t know Gwen well enough to realize she was approaching him. He had his nose buried in his class selections. Every now and then he wrote one down that sounded promising. The campus seemed exciting enough, but honestly Peter was glad to be away from it for the day. In a normal setting. If he’d stayed and attended NYU it would have been different, but he was still having a little difficulty adjusting to Orange County. He chewed on his pencil for a moment as he tried to decide between Chemistry and molecular Biology. They were both entertaining to him.
“That’ll wreck your teeth, you know,” Gwen said as she approached. Would Peter recognise her? Did he have any idea who she was? The last she’d heard he hadn’t dreamed about her yet. And she’d dreamed practically an entire lifetime’s worth of memories, the latter years revolving around him. Weird that she felt she knew him so well, and he might not have any idea who she was.
Peter looked up at her with confusion on his face. Who just approached people and told them stuff like that? He would have done it but then again he often was the odd one..He shrugged a little. “If it hasn’t yet, I think I’m safe.” And then he paused for a moment. “You’re the girl from the network aren’t you? Gwen?...and if you aren’t I sound like a stalker. “ He gave her a slightly embarrassed grin.
“Definitely not a stalker,” Gwen said. She shook her head, giving him a soft smile. It was so weird how much he was like the Peter from her dreams. Not that he was like the Peter from her dreams, he was the Peter from her dreams. In every way. “I’m Gwen. Gwen Stacy.” She said, moving forward and extending him her hand.
“Good. That’s good.” He was bad around girls. He really didn’t know how to talk to them much without making a fool of himself anyway. So for a moment he was just plain awkward until she broke the ice and offered a hand. “Hey. I’m Peter Parker.” She seemed so mature for her age, and smart, and pretty, and-wait. He just met her. He was going to try desperately not to think of her too much, but she really was pretty. Even if she seemed slightly stuck up for scolding him over his pencil chewing. “I swear I wasn’t like memorizing your pictures or whatever. “ He hadn’t, at least not purposefully remembered.
The scolding over the pencil chewing had totally been a joke. A way to break the ice? Something along those lines. Gwen was a few years older than Peter, but she found herself falling into the same sort of routines she went through in the Dreams. The same heartbeat skipping, tucking hair behind her ears shyly, shifting her weight from hip to hip… nervous ticks, maybe. She cleared her throat. “Nah, I figured you were just being … observant. You seem like the type. Smart, right?”
Pretty girls in general were basically his kryptonite. It was why he prefered science really. It couldn’t reject you as coldly as a person could. Make all the correct moves and everything would turn out right, but people were unpredictable. “Yeah. Top of my classes. Actually here on a scholarship” He added awkwardly. Trying not to make a total idiot of himself was his new goal of the day.
“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” The smile on her lips was genuine, and it reached all the way to her eyes. “...wait, is this your first year out here?” She added. He was young. Really young. Gwen was probably a decade older than him, or approaching it. That made her feel really old. She hadn’t imagined that if she ever bumped into Peter Parker from her Dreams that he’d be too young to buy alcohol.
It was getting eerie how many people seemed to know him already without actually knowing him thanks to the dreams. “It is yeah. I really..don’t know much about this place beyond the numbers.” He shrugged a bit as he tucked away the book he’d been looking at, no need for it when there was human company. It would make him seem rude anyway. He really didn’t want to put her off on their first meeting. “I just moved out here a few weeks ago. Harry’s here though so it isn’t all bad.” Trying to offer a bright side, though to whom he wasn’t sure.
“Harry?” Gwen asked. “A friend of yours?” Someone she should know from the Dreams? She wasn’t sure. It’d been a while since she’d had dreams, and even though they were so real they felt like true memories and not just dreams, when a lot of things happened in her waking life the dreams felt further and further away.
“Oh yeah. Pretty much my best friend, though we got split apart for a few years. His dad shipped him away to a boarding school.” If he knew how well she knew him, he too might have been turned off. But fortunately he had no idea, so for the time being he was just comfortable talking to her. Which was weird. Peter Parker was not known for his grace or style when it came to talking to women. “He’s out here staring up another Oscorp apparently.”
It wasn’t like Gwen was … a woman. No, that sounds wrong. She was just Gwen. She wasn’t a potential mate or anything. So, perhaps that’s what made him feel more comfortable? Also, she was holding herself back from saying some really stupid things. She had no idea how far he’d dreamed, and she didn’t want to freak him out. “Oh, I see.” She said, nodding once. “Well, I work for Tony Stark, and I’ve heard of Oscorp, though we don’t do any direct dealings with them.” Yet. It was always possible.
She didn’t have to. He was a teenage boy and she was a pretty girl. That was just how the world worked with him. It decided to take every opportunity to make him feel incredibly awkward whenever possible. Peter shrugged and nodded but a confused expression crept into his features. “Tony Stark?” The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it. “I expect with Harry at the helm it won’t be long before you do.” He viewed his friend very highly, that much was obvious in the way he spoke of him.
“Yeah, you know. Stark Enterprises? Stark Industries? Stark Tower?” The name was fairly well known. Then again, perhaps Peter--a recent transplant to Orange County--didn’t have much knowledge of the man or the company. Gwen had, because all through college she’d dreamed of working for Stark. And now she was living the dream. “I’m sure I’ll have a chance in future.” She gave Peter a smile. “Well, now you’re not devouring that poor pencil anymore,” Gwen said, the teasing back in her voice. “I should get going.”