human
Savannah Smithwas struggling. She'd put on the ugly shirt the couple who'd adopted her seemed to think was so cute, even kept her black faux-leather jacket tied around her waist until after they'd left. Like she needed to be walked to school. Admittedly there were things to be said to the principal, but she could have done it herself. This... worked, though. Awkward, shy. mourning new girl was a role she could play. It wasn't like her adoptive family wasn'tnice, they were wonderful people. She remembered them vaguely, and having lived with them for a week, she understood why her mother had been such close friends with them. They gave her free reign to decorate her room, and a nice budget to pick out the kind of furniture and paint she wanted in it. They'd helped her set everything up, and complimented all her choices. She'd played along based on the things she knew they liked, and then done much the same when it came time to get new clothes. It meant a lot of her new wardrobe was things that two 'slightly out of touch but generally not fashion failure' sorts of people thought was reasonable, and she was just going to have to fix it with things that she bought on her own and had brought with her. Wasn't going to make her the sexiest and best dressed in school, but she looked normal if perhaps a little bit out of touch. Or just confident in her own choices and style, she supposed. Either way she figured people would know by the end of the day that her family life was abnormal, teachers talked and that meant that students heard.
But hey, it was a nerd school. Nobody was going to give worse than she could take.
In gym, she had to resist the urge to just take out one of the people on the other side in dodgeball; her dad had always said that if you weren't going 100%, you might as well not even bother. Then again he'd also heavily encouraged blending in, she'd just never had to do it quite like this. So it was a class of awkward fumbling the ball and feeling the stress and irritation build, letting her curls fly into her hair and generally just trying to perform at the level that these... nerds did. Not that athletic nerds weren't a thing, but the one who had been getting on her nerves? No. No, she'd probably have crushed him. And then he'd have whined and the satisfaction would have been entirely ruined.
During art she sat in the back and just kept to herself, smiling at anyone who looked in her direction and just generally trying to come off as pleasant but distracted. It had been working so far, and things seemed to be going as well as could be expected until someone to her left piped up with a"you're good at that."Savannah looked down at her sketchbook and then up at the darker skinned teen who'd spoken, expression friendly but confused. "Excuse me?"
"Pretending you care. You're good at it."For a minute, Savannah thought the mask was going to crack. Who the hell was this that she could just pick up on the fact that the blonde had absolutely no interest in any of this? For a moment she was anxious, but brushed it off and recovered."I heard that 'fake it till you make it' was an actual thing, so I'm giving it my best shot." That seemed to be a good enough answer, though she suspected, after spending the rest of the hour and a half carefully observing the darker skinned artist, that Michelle (as she'd picked up when the teacher spoke to her) actually didn't care and just liked to make observations. Perhaps specifically, she liked to make people uncomfortable, but it was hard to tell.
At lunch Savannah considered sitting alone, but that seemed impractical. It would end in someone coming to talk to her, at least that was her fear. Instead she headed towards a mostly empty table that was populated by a skinny looking teen, his... maybe Filipino friend (and they were definitely friends given how close they were sitting) and that gal from art class who Savannah knew she had to keep an eye on."Room for another, or is the table too full?"It very obviously not, and the wild haired new girl dropped down onto the bench attached to the white lunch table, tray settling with a clatter, picking a spot closer to the other girl than the two guys. She investigated the food on the tray with a little more curiosity than she probably should have, and then decided that yeah, it was probably edible. She'd been home schooled (if one could call it that) for years, and school food had been a distant elementary school memory until she'd gotten into the cafeteria and realized it was reality again. Delightful.
gpt
Going back to school was a bummer. How things ended betweenPeter Parkerand Tony Stark were fine, hell, more than fine. From his point of view he had finally ended up earning his respect, and even Happy's or so he thought, but all things sweet about his supposed victory came to a halt back in school. Liz's absence was so big that couldn't be easily ignored, not by him nor most of the students there. Unless some other wallflowers like him that would only be missed by a handful of people, Liz was popular and connected, sometimes her leave feeling like she was dead instead of just moved away. Peter couldn't help but feel responsible for that, as he was the one that couldn't just look away, couldn't just have the homecoming dance they wanted and had left Liz alone to put her father into jail.
To make matters more complicated Aunt May had figured out that he was Spider-Man due to a stupid mistake. Well, not much figuring to do when she had caught him red handed because he had grown careless. He had expected to be grounded until the end of time, but it didn't quite go as expected. May was proud of him, of how he helped people around like he was some sort of policeman or firefighter even if he was neither, but of course she was also worried. She trusted the Peter she had raised well, but as a teenager he was bound to make stupid mistakes, so she let him keep doing what he did, just to be extra careful with it. Maybe she guessed, and guessed correctly, that she wouldn't be able to make him stop, so it was better if she was supportive and didn't push away the only family they had left.
So now he had more free reign from Stark, but his own aunt looking over his shoulder. Great. Liz's absence aside, returning to the classes was a welcome return to a normalcy of sorts, if teaming up with Ned to find out people to help when they had free time could be considered normal. Normal classes, normal students, perfectly normal school food, right? Well, not entirely. Since the Washington Monument rescue, Spider-Man was more and more present in the minds of the school students, something that wasn't convenient if people started to investigate. People like Michelle, for example. Peter didn't know what was the deal with her, but she was smart, probably smarter than he was, and if he kept acting carelessly she was going to end up discovering his secret, sooner or later.
Maybe she didn't care, or that was on what Peter was banking as he looked at her during lunch while Ned talked about turning the Lego Death Star into a flying drone for reasons unspecified. Suddenly a flash of blonde hair and a bright voice called for his attention, averting his eyes from Michelle to the newcomer. "Well no, of course not, sit down" Peter said, trying to be welcoming before Michelle said something rude or Ned rambled about something and scared the poor girl. She seemed strangely out of place, that feel all new students had, but at the same time like it belonged there, not only in that school but in that table. Perhaps it was the odd choice of clothes, who knew.
"I'm Peter and these are Ned and Michelle"he said, looking curiously at how the girl poked at the food."We don't bite, and I'd swear the food doesn't either"he said with a smile, even if in Michelle's case he wasn't entirely sure how would she react to the newcomer.
"Hi! I'm Ned" he said, reintroducing himself for no reason. Perhaps he wanted to avoid that the new girl thought he was named Michelle? Peter shook his head slightly."Do you like Star Wars?"he asked. There we go, Peter thought.
human
They were welcoming. That was good for her, but also a little bit of a bother because it meant they'd probably want to interact with her. It was how friendship worked, but still, a bother."Savannah. Nice to meet you. I already know I like Michelle."
"I make you uncomfortable,"Michelle corrected without looking up from her sketchbook, and Savannah smiled."Well yeah, but I like that."
"Weird." It was weird. But it was going to be better to keep her close and figure her out than it was to just let Michelle be weirdly observant and not keep an eye on her. Adjusting a sleeve of the black jacket hiding the bright shirt underneath, she just shrugged. It was far weirder than Michelle had any way of knowing, and would ever know. Savannah's secret was going to her grave. Well no, it'd come out when she was dead, that was how it had been with her father. Couldn't hide what you were doing when you were dead. Maybe if she was giving up the life she'd had before, but she didn't think she could. It had been her everything, she wasn't sure she knew how not to put on the clothes and go out. She'd only been here for a week, and she was already about ready to crawl out of her skin. She felt cooped up, trapped like a wild animal in a zoo. She needed tohunt.
Prodding her mac'n cheese, she scooped it up with her fork and took a hesitant bite."well, it's food," was her thoughtful judgment after a few seconds of deliberation."I was home-schooled for a really long time, I haven't been in a school since.... I dunno, nine? I don't really remember. So this is new." That should explain away all behavior they might deem unusual. From take smiles to food suspicious, 'home-schooled' pretty much covered it. It covered any antisocial behaviors, curious clothing, and anything where she didn't know what was being talked about in pop culture or even in class. Savannah had done her homework. She knew what her dad had said and what she remembered from elementary school, and 'home schooled' basically equaled quirky and weird as far as people were concerned.
She'd never seen Star Wars. But she knew about it, it was so soaked into popular culture that it was impossible to avoid and admitting that she hadn't seen Star Wars would probably be kind of weird. So instead she went with"yeah. I mean there's a whole bunch of stuff I don't know about, but it's cool."There was no way most people kept up with all of the Star Wars stuff, so it was a safe response, Savannah figured."I come from an action movie family. Alien horror was big for a few years."After The Incident the rare occasion that they got to watch anything. She liked horror, she supposed. If she really had to sit and think about what kind of movie she'd want to watch if she had to watch something. Wasn't a big movie person, though.
Honestly, there were a lot of things Savannah might have to think about to decide she liked, especially when it came to pop culture and basically anything that wasn't knives or food. These were things that she'd have to figure out, or at least pick out so that she had something to say, that sort of thing was important to the identity of the average teenager. While things were probably a little bit different here, teens were teens. Interacting with her peers hadn't been something she'd been trained to do. Interacting with adults was most of what had been focused on, making herself seem normal and innocent. How to get information, how to slip away, how to get people to do what she wanted them to do.
That, at least, was still an applicable talent. Probably especially with these guys. Michelle was a concerning gatekeeper to 'friends she didn't really have to be exceptionally close to' goal, but trying to hide from her would have been more suspicious. Peter was... cute, at least. If she was going to associate herself with a group it might as well be one with someone who was easy on the eyes.
gpt
"Home schooled"Peter echoed, nodding as he was knowledgeable of what it implied. Well, everybody knew what it meant, but the specifics of it were another thing entirely. Maybe her parents had money and she had private tutors, or perhaps they were teachers and was taught by themselves."That must be interesting... maybe a bit lonely"he added. Peter thanked all and any gods for the gift of Michelle being silent and not making any dry jokes about that for once, even Thor if he had to, although not having met him it was hard to know if he really listened to prayers. The last thing their group of misfits needed was to scare people off.
"She likes Star Wars..."Ned appreciated, even if Savannah's answer was lukewarm at best. Peter could almost see how the gears turned inside Ned's head while he thought of how introduce her to that 'whole bunch of stuff she didn't know'. There would be a threat of a Star Wars Rebels marathon sometime, he could feel it, or perhaps even Clone Wars if Ned felt specially inclined to. "Alien horror? Peter here doesn't handle well those thrills"Ned added out of the blue."He's a scaredy cat"insisted, turning to him almost as if he wanted to wink him an eye.
"No I'm not-"Peter protested, frowning at Ned wondering where had that come from for a few seconds. Oh, no. Now he understood. Ned had been badgering him with some sort of convoluted plan to make him appear as nothing like a brave super hero, to fend suspicious people like Michelle off, and that had to be his heavy handed approach to the issue. "I like horror, on occasion"he weakly added, even if the genre itself did nothing much for him in one direction or the other. Peter knew that if Savannah really believed Ned, anything that he added would only further suspicions about him wanting to protect his male pride in front of a new cute girl, so he dropped the issue.
Wait. Was she cute? The garish clothing gave her a bit of an otherworldly feel, but that was probably due to spending her youth home schooled, but besides that... yeah, she was cute. The hair was a bit too much, but somehow she made it work and it looked nice and bouncy. But she was nothing like Liz, was she? Slightly shaking his head, Peter dismissed the thought of his... friend? Did she even count as an ex when they didn't even had a real date?
"We have an Academic Decathlon Team thing after the classes"Peter said, hoping that he hadn't stared for too long in silence. "Maybe you could check it out if you like"he offered, as more people were always welcome and all of the people of the table were on the team. Hoping that Michelle didn't shot the plan in the knee in her odd fitting role as team captain, Peter awaited for an answer while Ned looked proud of his ham-fisted approach to the secret identity issue."The people on the team are nice... mostly"he said, not wanting to expose Savannah to Flash Freaking Thompson.
human
Lonely? Savannah considered for a moment, and realized that she'd never really thought about it. She'd been so busy with her dad and training that she'd never had time to be lonely or miss out on interacting with her peers."A little bit. Didn't really realize what I was missing until I was here. At least my previous teacher knew my name."Because it a parent was the obvious insinuation there."The art teacher called her Georgia,"Michelle supplied helpfully. It had at least been up the same vein, using the state the city she shared a name with was in, but that didn't mean Savannah had given points for partial credit. No, it had been incredibly annoying. She shot Michelle a glance and then pressed her lips in a thin line before smiling, trying her best to properly capture an 'oh well what can you do?' sort of expression.
This was one of probably many situations where Savannah would go with what seemed like it should be the right answer in order to keep from getting any kind of suspicion from her peers. She'd look things up later if she felt like she had to, or just be quiet and make it seem like she was happy to just listen to whoever wanted to talk to her about whatever pointless piece of media they were excited about. Green eyes darted between Ned and Peter, expression slightly amused."Jump scares are carefully manufactured to get a reaction from people," she offered up."So just the act of being startled doesn't necessarily mean someone's afraid."She was rarely startled. Her father hadn't liked it when things startled her, and pretty much nothing made her jump anymore.
The response that bubbled up in her throat was 'no'. But it wasn't like she had any kind of after school activities until the sun went down. she couldn't be caught running around by the cops. She wasn't a hero, and she didn't do things like they did. That restricted things to night time. "Sure. Sounds interesting."Savannah had no idea what that was, but she'd been invited to an event and it would probably make Ellen and Troy -- her hosts, as she was calling them -- happy and think less of it when she wanted to go out. If it involved trivia and science facts or something, she'd probably not be participating, but at least checking it out wasn't going to hurt."Where does it meet?"She dug into her bag to pull out her printed schedule, and then spent a few seconds finding a pencil so she could write down where it was."I'll have to call my family and get permission."She didn't want to lie and call them parents because that'd get busted pretty quick and while 'family' wasn't the right word at all it was the one that had the least amount of room for people to dig into.
The paper wasn't out very long, Savannah was sort of hoping that neither of the guys had a class with her. If they did and she didn't know ahead of time she could sit somewhere else and pretend she hadn't realized they were there, but if they knew they shared a class ahead of time she'd have to be prepared to interact. Class was time when she didn't have to try and communicate with people. Class was easy. Respond to someone in a position of authority and be exactly who she needed to be not to get too much attention.
"According to my vast research into the average high school there's always someone who's not nice, but they'll eventually either learn a lesson or get put in their place."She paused and then completed the joke with "I watched a bunch of 80s high school movies."She'd watched two with her hosts because they'd wanted to do some calm sort of activity and they just had a bunch of DVDs of things from the 80s. She'd sat on the couch with them, smiled at the funny bits and looked concerned or unhappy at the bits that required those emotions, but her mind had been miles away.
She opened her chocolate milk, which she'd grabbed because she noticed more people took it than normal milk, and took a sip.Oh.For a moment, her heart twisted. It tasted weird, but it brought back a memory she hadn't had in a long time, of a smiling man spooning Nesquik powder into a cocktail shaker, shaking it and then splitting it between three glasses. After a moment Savannah blinked and took another sip before setting the little carton down. There was no time or reason to mourn. His death was his own fault, he'd made mistakes and people who made mistakes got caught and had to deal with the consequences. But now she was dealing with consequences, and she had done everything exactly like she was supposed to.
gpt
With Ned busy eating and planning some kind of Star Wars marathon schedule thing that nobody had time for and Michelle being mostly terrifyingly silent, Peter could chat with Savannah in peace. If Michelle didn't talk it meant that she was watching, and it was hard not to think how keen she was, so he felt like he would have to dance around certain subjects while talking in front of her. Hoping that he wouldn't look too awkward thinking about things twice before talking, Peter couldn't help but nod and smile once Savannah accepted the invite to the club."We meet on the drama room, there is no missing us with the yellow jackets and all that"he joked. Being the one explaining those things to her while the actual team captain judged his every word was somewhat nerve wracking. Perhaps he was just being paranoid and Michelle wasn't paying any attention, but since May had caught him, Peter had promised to be more careful than ever.
"Damn, I forgot to tell my aunt about the meeting" Peter realized, and the last thing he wanted to do was worrying her and causing her to think that he was Spider-Manning around the city, although she was probably busy until dinner."Remind me later, Ned"Peter asked him, not wanting to forget giving May a heads up if able."Should we start with Clone Wars 2003 or Clone Wars 2008... yeah, yeah..." was all Ned mumbled as an answer, so it would have to suffice. Despite the awkwardness of the first day, Peter noticed that Savannah could be funny when she joked about bullies and 80s' movies. Her smile seemed a bit nervous, but he couldn't help but laugh at the joke, something that he hoped would help ease her out.
Maybe she could be part of the Decathlon team? Peter thought that someone else with a different viewpoint and perhaps specialization could come in handy, but it was a mostly entertaining activity. After all, she had to be quite smart to be there, it only remained to be seen what kind of things she was keen on. Seeing that the conversation had kind of died and Savannah looked pensive, perhaps even a little bit sad, Peter nervously broke the silence."Oh man, I have math next class" he whined,"I hate math" added, sounding totally and completely fake."What are you talking about? You like math"Ned said. Fantastic, the only time he stopped his Star Wars planning was to pitch on in that moment, of all times.
"Okay, yeah..."Peter admitted weakly. "But I hate liking math" he came with sort of an argument that showed why he wasn't on the debate club."You hate liking math?"Ned questioned, unaware of where the topic was going."I mean, who likes math? I wish I could unlike math"he said, trapped on his own argument. "Maybe with the proper conditioning..."Ned considered, although there was nothing like The Force to convince someone."Electrodes?"Peter wondered out loud."Or hypnosis"Ned continued, now fully into that weird awkward joke. Peter stopped before they made Michelle groan and berate them, although perhaps it was too late.
"I got art though"Ned commented, further killing the tempo. "Time to express all the things I have inside me"he added, trying to sound interesting and failing miserably as he finished his meal."What do you have next? This place can be a bit big and daunting" Peter asked Savannah, trying to be of help.
human
"You guys have jackets?" She asked without really thinking about it."Is this what happens here instead of sports?" Savannah couldn't really imagine much in the way of sports happening with this lot. Football was the favorite right? And that involved concussions. Those probably didn't go over super well for this type of folk. They weren't that bad though, you could walk 'em off. Push through the fog and the dizziness, through the ringing of the ears and the nausea. Probably wouldn't be great for her in sixty or seventy years, but hey, that wasn't the 'right now Savannah's problem. 'Right now' Savannah was good at what she did and could handle all sorts of things. She knew how her body worked, and how to work it through all sorts of issues. Because when she was out fighting, there were no breaks. There was nobody who was going to come to save her, she had to save herself.
She was the only person she could count on in the world.
Why had he said that he didn't like math if he did? Didn't make sense to her. Was he lying for a reason? It had to be a reason related to her because his friends knew him better. Give her and Peter something to talk about. Of course, that made sense. Teens and social interaction, he was trying to make her feel at ease perhaps. It would have worked better if he was a decent liar or hadn't been immediately busted by his friends, but a bad liar was a good person to pull in as a friend. Meant they were less likely to pick up on her own lies. "Math's pretty low on the list of things it's bad to like. Could be worse. Could be--"she was going to say 'throwing babies off of roofs', but that would probablynotgo over well with this group, so she adjusted mid sentence to"-the Star Wars... prequels...?"People hated those, right? She was pretty sure. Her dad hadn't liked them. It had come up in passing once."If you had a really negative experience with math it could probably change your opinion on math. That sort of thing happens. Like if the math books all exploded or something."Or if someone died there, but that was another thing not to say out loud.
Aw shit. Fine. "Math. Room 208."There had to be more than one math class, and hopefully he wouldn't be in the same one. And her science class after that at least had to be void of... friendly nerds. She just wanted to be left alone for a while so she could get it together and then go be friendly for the Academic Decathlon, whatever that was."And yeah, it is a little big. But I'm pretty good at navigation."That was rude. So she followed it up with"if you show me today, I'll probably remember next time."And then she could show up later to have excuses not to sit next to him. Think of things she needed to do between the end of lunch and the beginning of math.
She thought something rude at Ned's word about art, but didn't say anything out loud."I had art with Michelle. Maybe we'll have a science or something together. Then I'll be three for three!"Christ, she hoped not. The pretty blonde still smiled at the teen as sweetly as she could manage, because that was what this version of her would do. This friendly, nonthreatening, slightly quirky version of her. Be friendly, encourage everyone spending time together as long as it was class hours. She'd think of something after class hours. Maybe she'd say she had therapy. Spill the dead dad story. Or maybe piano lessons. Then she might have to take that back up again in case they got weird about it. Savannah immediately assumed that if she mentioned a skill it would get questioned at some point. That's what she'd do.
Her food went mostly untouched. A few bites of mac'n cheese, a couple sips of chocolate milk, but all of the steamed broccoli at least. She didn't like to eat around people. Just enough it wasn't weird and she wouldn't feel hungry until she got home, Savannah figured. Eating food around strangers without someone she trusted made her feel uncomfortable, and she just... wasn't in the mood to deal with that.
gpt
"We do, but we also have sports here"Ned pointed out."Wait, does debate count?"he asked, looking around."I don't think so, but that would be up to debate"Peter couldn't help but joke. "Perhaps chess?"he added."If debate doesn't count... I'd say that chess doesn't either"Ned discussed. "So..." he doubted."Well, there is the fencing team"Peter contributed. "The fencing club?"Ned arched an eyebrow. "Well, yeah... they aren't exactly a team as they don't tend to go to competitions... but they aren't bad"Peter assured. "How would you know if they don't compete?"Ned asked, more curious than malicious."I just hear things"Peter settled with a shrug, being more mysterious than he had any right to be.
"Not the same teacher then, I'm one floor above in 308"Peter commented, slightly bummed of not having Math with Savannah. At least he could show her the way around."Maybe..."Peter mumbled, seeing Savannah be cheery one moment and be pensive looking at her food without touching it another. She sure wasn't having an easy time, he figured that nobody would have when going to a new school, specially when home schooled, but Peter didn't know what to do to help. She was open to do Star Wars jokes and talk about exploding math books, so she seemed to be trying to fit, perhaps too hard?
Or maybe she was trying to hit on him.
Nononono. Peter blinked a few times in a row, getting slightly blushed for a fleeting moment. That wasn't a thing, that couldn't be a thing. It was true that being with Liz, even if it was the shortest amount of time possible, made him feel a bit more confident on his... dateability? Dattitude? It sounded stupid and horrible, date potential, so to speak. But that couldn't be it, there was just no way as they had just met, he was just being silly after Liz was gone away for his fault. Perhaps dazzled with those amazing blonde curls or maybe just the novelty. No, there was something else, she was nice beyond her looks, or so did Peter thought, but noticing the staring he soon returned to his food.
"So one hour of Math, Art and whatever Michelle has..." Ned commented, saving them from the awkward silence. "Then an hour of free study, then it's yellow jacket time, right captain?"he added, wanting to include Michelle in the conversation, even if by then Ned had to know better than to poke the bear.
human
They were even less sporty than she thought. But there was a football field, so they must have had a team. It'd make sense if these guys didn't pay enough attention to know what was going on with it, though."Fencing seems neat."She probably shouldn't do it, though. She'd either stand out or have to fake being average, and while that was going to be her life for at least until the end of the year, Savannah just didn't like the idea of it. She should join something. The decathalon, maybe fencing. Maybe she'd become a cheerleader. While she was entirely flexible, balanced, and precise enough for it, the idea was laughable. Fencing didn't have competitions, which meant more control over her schedule. So it was gonna be that or the... decathlon. Whatever that was. She knew what it meant for sports, so it was probably that, but instead of physical strength it was tests of the mind. That would make these guys the smartest of the smart then, right? That was useful to know.
Peter looked disappointed about the schedules, so she tried to reassure him with a casual"there's different classes tomorrow, so there's the chance."If she looked past her disdain for the school and social interactions as a whole, Savannah could see that it was probably a good thing to have people she knew in her classes. They'd know the material and the teacher, and be able to provide her with a lot of general information. Even if it would make her life easier and she could almost certainly get away with it Savannah wasn't much for cheating, no matter how useless she thought the whole school thing was. Cheating to overcome would ensure her success, but it wasn't what tests were for. It'd be very different kinds of tests than she was used to, but giving it anything less than her best would have made her father ashamed of her.
Ned's comment got an answer of "Michelle has biology." She spoke in third person tonelessly, looked up from her book and seemingly ready to engage."I might be late to decathalon though, I'll be in detention."She didn't have it, but she liked to swing by and see what was up. If there was someone there worth paying attention to, she'd be later. If a team required their captain in order to do literally anything, they were sort of a failure, she reasoned, so the decathlon team could train without her for fifteen or twenty minutes."You don't seem like a detention sort," Savannah noted, and Michelle just smiled a little enigmatically, addressing Ned and Peter instead."You can handle a few minutes alone, right?"Her tone was so emotionless that it was hard to tell if she thought they could or not. They wouldn't even be alone, they'd be with the entire team and Savannah, who Michelle was very sure had a whole lot going on below the surface. She just didn't care that much. People all got to have their own secrets and whatever.
Free anything seemed counter-intuitive to the point of slamming all the kids down in desks and making them all read the same thing at the same time. It would be good though, Savannah could get all her work done and have more time for sleep and nightly activities."Yeah, it's weird."
"W-huh?" She looked shocked, honestly, for a second before she could could compose herself."What's weird?"
"Study hall."What. The. Hell. Savannah looked back up at Peter and Ned and mouthed what looked like'is she an alien?'and Michelle answered before they could with a lazy"no. You looked perplexed when Ned brought it up."
gpt
Peter couldn't help but to nervously smile when Michelle's acute intuition surprised Savannah."And that's why even if we can handle by ourselves, Michelle is our captain"Peter commented. Seeing the new girl disturbed by Michelle's acumen wasn't pleasant, but she should get accustomed soon enough, although he also felt bad about a small feeling of relief. After all, as long as Michelle was focused on Savannah she wouldn't peek into Peter's secret. That idea made him wonder how Michelle or even Savannah would react if they know. After aunt May's unexpected reaction, Peter didn't dare to imagine what any of them would do if they knew, specially Savannah since they had just met.
With class time approaching and the lunch as finished as it could be, the group split apart in the way of their respective duties. As they said, Peter showed Savannah the way to the class, but as they were left alone without Michelle's unnerving presence or Ned's verbosity, their conversation turned into awkward small talk peppered with short silences. The classes served to distract Peter of the odd encounter and set his mind away from Savannah's refreshing presence and Michelle's uncomfortable perception. Classes were just classes and not specially difficult for Peter, but as the time to go with the club approached and the pressure was lighter during the free time, Peter's mind returned to wonder about Savannah.
Peter and the rest of the club without Michelle were doing some practices, pulling questions from the smartphones to test their knowledge, nothing too strict nor structured, as not only they didn't have Liz's gentle leadership nor teacher's Harrington guiding presence. It was amusing and entertaining, not to mention that Flash wasn't being much of an asshole as of late, something that made Peter wonder if something had happened. Peter's hopes of him being more civil and less of an idiot didn't last long, as he soon behave stupidly once more.
"Who's goldilocks over there? Does anyone see the three bears?" Flash asked, nodding to Savannah as she reached the gym where they were reunited.
"Her name is Savannah and she's new"Ned said a bit grumpy about the reference, but accustomed to Flash's behavior.
"I knew that you were behind on English, Flash, but not so much as to get tasked with reading children's books"Peter lashed back at Flash, leaving him mute and approaching Savannah to bridge the distance between her and the group. If the decathlon team was surprised, Peter was the first one to be caught unaware by his own reaction. Was it that he was just tired of Flash's verbal abuse or was it because it was directed to Savannah?
human
"So she can spook everyone on the other teams into messing up?"The idea seemed to please Michelle, or at least amuse her. Savannah was content with that, and didn't really feel the need to add more to any conversation, and when everyone got up to carry their trays she trailed after. She followed after Peter when he guided her to her classroom, and touched his arm briefly when she thanked him because contact made people think you trusted and liked them. Class after that was fine. She kept to herself, answered questions only when asked specifically, and generally tried not to draw any sort of attention. When school was over, she texted Ellen to get permission to stay after and check out this whole decathlon thing. The older woman sent back an enthusiastic text - at least Savannah assumed it was enthusiastic because it contained several emoji and gave her permission to stay out as late as she wanted.
She slipped in a few minutes after everyone else showed up, standing sort of awkwardly away from the group until someone spoke. Was that supposed to be a jab? Was he trying to make fun of her? Savannah looked a tiny bit perplexed and opened her mouth, ready to say something when Peter stepped in, pretty literally. He crossed the distance between the group and her and responded to the guy who'd teased her. It all seemed very childish, but this was teen development she supposed. She moved a little bit behind the taller, lanky teen, silently trying to encourage the protectiveness. Let him deal with anything that came up.
"I suppose the ability to memorize facts doesn't necessarily imply intelligence,"she said in what was basically a stage whisper, something to pretend she was trying to speak only to one person but definitely meant to be something that Flash would be able to hear."I probably won't be much use for this," she turned to Peter,"because what I said was true. Real smart, at least I think so, but not so much time learning advanced trivia."That was basically what this was, right? That's what it had seemed like from a quick googling. But she'd stick around anyway because she'd been invited and because it would at least give her an idea of that the people she was hanging out with now were into.
Michelle managed to slip in without about half the group noticing her. Savannah did, and enjoyed the way a few people jumped when they heard"alright nerds, let's get this party started."People started organizing themselves, taking the spots that they needed to be in so that practice could officially start.
Savannah started to drift towards Michelle, and then changed her mind and moved back towards Peter. He and Ned had invited her, and it would make sense for her to at least feign some kind of interest in participating until she could prove she wasn't going to be cut out for the.... club. Was it a club? It wasn't asport. Academic competition, that was the name for it. Michelle had some flashcards in a handwriting that was definitely nicer than her own, which meant that someone had written them for her or she was using older ones. It wasn't that far into the school year, they could probably be using trivia from the past year too. But she was just guessing, she really had no idea how an academic decathlon was run."If I can't participate, I suppose I could try and think of some kind of cheer for it."The idea of someone trying to be a cheerleader sort for what she was pretty sure was a quiet trivia competition was amusing. She got a little bit of an extra kick out of it knowing about her own life experiences,
gpt
"Whoa, Parker got a girlfriend?" Flash mocked Peter's defense of Savannah, making him fidget a bit, not wanting to get into a misunderstanding."If everyone I defend from your poor jabs is my couple I wouldn't have time to study"Peter managed to answer, a bit stuttery but better than usual nonetheless. Perhaps he was getting a bit better in those situations, although he was aware that his social awkwardness would come to bite his ass sooner than later. Luckily, Savannah herself had a verbal jab of her own for Flash, making him flinch and reconsider his position a bit, noticing that the new girl was nothing to scoff at.
"It's also about reflexes, pushing the beeper first and acting under pressure..." Peter commented with Savannah, not forcing her too join of course, but he wanted her to share interest with the misfits she had sat during lunch."But yeah, mostly trivia"he shrugged after all."I'm sure there are other clubs or something you can join, but maybe this one was of your liking..."he commented, noticing something and taking pause. What did Savannah like? It had been clear in the cafeteria that Peter himself was a nerd, that Ned loved Star Wars and Michelle liked messing with people, but what did Savannah like? She had to have some hobbies after all, but Peter wasn't aware of what those could be.
Before Peter could further dwell on the issue, Michelle appeared out of nowhere as usual, startling everyone a bit. It was clear that Savannah wasn't sure of if she should stay or go, join or not, as she hovered between Peter and Michelle. Perhaps she was avoiding Ned? Nah, Ned could be enthusiastic and noisy, but he was nice and as tone deaf as he could sometimes be, he could pick up on signs and wouldn't bother Savannah with Star Wars marathons if she didn't want to. Savannah's idea surprised Peter, making him stare at the blonde girl in disbelief. At first it was just the sheer surprise of such an unorthodox idea, something that was nowhere near conventional but perhaps could work between rounds? It was then when his mind took a detour and his staring was met with a bit of flushing.
"M-Maybe?"Peter mumbled, trying to stop imagining Savannah with a yellow, blue and white cheerleader outfit, short skirt and all. "I don't know if it's allowed..."he paused."Wait, was it a joke?"Peter realized the possibility, although he had no clue. He could be awful at reading people, he wasn't as good as Michelle for sure, but he wasn't sure of if Savannah was just messing with him or not. "Or maybe not? I don't know anymore" he kind of surrendered, smiling softly at the thought of the new girl being comfortable enough to mess around with them. She sure would look cute though, her blonde curls bouncing and such, the image still plaguing Peter's young mind.
human
"I notice you're alone,"was her only response to Flash's girlfriend comment. Was having a significant otherbadnow? Because otherwise she didn't understand the joke. Unless the point was that there was something unappealing about her, and she knew for a fact that she was attractive. More when she tried to be, but Savannah wasn't exactly giving it her best shot right now. She didn't want to get too much attention, after all. Then again, Peter was nice to look at and that didn't seem to help how people treated him. So Savannah supposed that she didn't really know how that shit was judged. Maybe it was a combination of status built up since earlier grades and social class. Sounded stupid, but seemed likely. Skill was the only thing that should matter in things like this. Someone's parents' money didn't have anything to do with their personal skill, it should mean nothing.
She nodded to show that she was paying attention. "I've got good reflexes, at least."That was very true. She hadn't primed them for something like this, though. "Guess I'll find out." Attending a club meeting wasn't exactly signing a blood pact that promised participation, after all. Which was almost a bummer, she'd respect that."If I know any answers I'll slap your or Ned's buttons. Or you or Ned, so you guys can do it yourselves."Violence jokes might not go over well with everyone so she made sure her tone was light and playful. "Don't know how possessive people are of their buzzers."Could be very personal. It wasn't, obviously, they were just buzzers, but itcould be.
If she was near Peter she'd probably be near Ned, and while Savannah certainly wasn't going to make an active attempt to avoid him, the teen's excited interest in.... nerd things was potentially problematic. Once she'd had time to get a survey of popular culture she'd have an easier time interacting with him one on one. Right now, Peter and Michelle were both good buffers. 'Best friends' was an idea that would need pondering. Ned and Peter seemed close, and it brought back vague memories and feelings that she definitely didn't want to deal with right now. And Peter had just stood up for her, that made him an ally. It had been entirely unnecessary, but it had saved her fr om the brief moment where she'd considered getting aggressive with Flash. Probably didn't need to try and strip someone down to their insecurities on her first day of school."It was a joke,"she c]onfirmed, a little bit amused."I don't think it would be helpful or appropriate to do that. If I don't join the team I'll at least wear the right colors and hold a sign."If she went, anyway."I think I'm more active than intellectual."But she had to be smart to be at the school, so while the comment was true, it didn't exactly mean she was going to be left too far in the dust.
Michelle had finished sorting through the cards and tapped the collection of them against the wood of the table, and the several thuds caught peoples' attention. Her first question was multiple choice, a question with two answers that were both technically correct and set up in a way that someone who hadn't paid very close attention to the phrasing of the question itself would be more likely to pick the wrong one. Savannah's blank face made it pretty clear that she had no idea what was being talked about, which was not unexpected. She had warned them, after all. Nobody would ever know what she was really good at, and that was fine. For now she'd just listen, memorize the answers to things, and observe how everyone acted during it. Team events were interesting, but there was no real support or backup that could be played with something like this. So if they were a team, it probably had to be in the form of emotional support. Otherwise it was just a bunch of smart people who'd allied themselves together but didn't really function as a unit.
That was another reason Savannah wasn't sure she'd be any good at this. Her teamwork was iffy, and her ability to emotionally support was poorly lacking. She wouldn't even know where to start.
gpt
Since he was outnumbered, Flash opted for staying silent and that way save himself any more cutting answers. Getting confirmation that the cheerleading idea was a joke, Peter couldn't help but feel a bit silly, since the plan didn't make much sense to begin with. That didn't prevent that the image of a short skirted Savannah with pompoms lingered on his mind more than it should, but he was able to move on to avoid getting caught daydreaming unaware by Michelle, or even worse, by Savannah herself. Peter was eager to prove that he was good at it, a sense of misplaced pride pushing him, so he paid as much attention as he could to Michelle.
Since Peter had welcomed Savannah to be between Ned and him, in case she did want to try her chance with the buzzers and answer a question, he had to focus extra hard on the questions themselves to not be distracted. Once Michelle asked her first question, Peter hit his buzzer with surprising speed, making Ned open his eyes wide and baffling even Peter himself. He usually restrained a bit during competition, since even if his powers wouldn't help him answering properly, they certainly did allow him to push the buzzer faster than anyone else."Ah... eh..."Peter mumbled, aware of his unusual buzzing speed, Ned's face, and how he did the exact opposite of what he wanted. One thing was wanting Savannah to see that he was smart and cool, that the quiz thing could be fun, but another one entirely was to out himself in the eyes of Michelle.
To make matters worse, Peter not only didn't know the correct answer, also his own mishap caused him to froze and mumble the wrong one stuttering, more worried of Michelle suspecting him than thinking clearly. "You must also know the correct answer, Parker, not just push buttons like an excited toddler" Flash smirked, getting the focus of the attention and inadvertently saving Peter a little bit, making his heightened reflexes look like some spastic clumsy bout than the feat they really were."Just warming up, I started to move towards the buzzer even before Michelle finished"Peter lied, trying to excuse himself.
human
She dismissed the option of a chair because it would make it pretty crammed at the small tables they were using, content to just stand. She wanted the chance to stretch her legs after all the time spent sitting in school. Savannah was unused to it, and she used her home schooling as an excuse for it, though really it was more the fact that she hadn't gone this long in a normal day without the intense level of physical training she was used to. School PE wasn't really the same.
As close as she was, Savannah noticed. But she didn't know what it meant it didn't seem much faster than the average person might hit a button, so instead of interpreting it as a reflexes thing, she assumed that he was overeager. Either in general, or because he was showing off a little. She knew about that, though her excited showing off had been weaponry and the only person who'd mattered was her dad. He hadn't allowed for that sort of thing, but it didn't mean she didn't understand it. Normal teenagers should be allowed to get excited about things. Life was good and important, and everyone should enjoy it in ways that she didn't and couldn't anymore. Being around other people her age was weird. Made her feel... something? 'Relaxed' wasn't the right word, but there was some sort of weight that felt like it was off of her shoulders now. She wasn't sure what to make of it, so for now she was enjoying it in some way.
When Flash spoke, one of her eyebrows arched gracefully and Savannah moved very quietly while the attention was more on Peter and then leaned down, placing a hand on the table and more or less blocking the line of vision between Peter and the annoying teen on his right through the use of her body and her hair. It left her facing Peter and Ned, and she smiled at the two of them like she was interested in something that they were specifically doing, though there was nothing but scrap paper for working out problems and the buzzers."Doesn't seem like the best way to do things, but I don't know how this works."The fact that it seemed like she was paying Peter particular attention was sort of secondary to the fact that her plan was just to put her back to Flash. Fairness was important to her in this sort of thing. Peter had stood up for her, even if she didn't want it, and fair play said that she did the same thing for him. She didn't want to fight Flash or anything, so this was what she'd do. Let the guy know there was no positive attention he could get from her, that all he'd get to see was her back.
"Got one that isn't just memorization, Michelle?"Was there one that she could answer, in other words. The darker skinned teen shrugged, and flipped through a few of her cards until she found one that could be solved on a piece of paper and read it out. Whatever interest Savannah had seemed to fade after a few moments of thinking, and she ended up leaning in closer over Peter's shoulder to see what he would do. This was one that she actually knew, but she was going to go ahead and pretend that she didn't. It would be better if nobody started wanting her to actually participate, after all. It was advantageous that this was the smartest of the smart, because it meant that not being able to keep up didn't mean her admission into the school was questionable.
gpt
It seemed that Peter was once more worrying about nothing at all, but the presence of Savannah and Michelle's acumen had him paranoid. Even if he had got out stronger and more sure of himself after it, the whole experience with Adrian Toomes had given him pause. He knew who Spider-Man was, Aunt May knew it, Ned knew it... Not to mention Tony and who knew how many people on his team. It made him feel vulnerable and worried, but both feelings went away as soon as Savannah leaned over, her face and hair occupying all of Peter's view, all of Peter's mind."No, it's not the best..."he weakly agreed almost automatically, busier with those green eyes that looked at him more than anything else. She was so close... why was she so close? Did she like him? Don't be silly, it's just cramped in here.
Peter had a moment of pause when Savannah talked to Michelle and he could escape the scrutiny, no, the beauty of those eyes that were so close. Slightly blushed, his dark brown eyes looked down after a trip around that blonde hair, seeking the security, the dullness of the blank paper. Michelle gave them a question that required some work, but Peter couldn't focus on it. That moment almost made his earlier lie of hating Math become true, even if he was good at it and enjoyed it, now he was completely unable to sort it out. He could do it, it wasn't so hard- was Savannah closer now? Why was she closer? His eyes darted to the corner, then back at the paper.
Ned's buzzer startled Peter, his awareness of the situation and the proximity of Savannah were the only things keeping him from jumping from his seat. Of course, his friend and computer genius had the correct answer, one that he could have guessed himself if he wasn't so stupidly worried over nothing at the moment. Maybe he needed to clear his head, swing around... No. Not at the moment. But tonight. That night he was getting out in costume for sure. Stopping some crooks and rescuing cats from trees would help him relax."That's why we play as a team"Peter commented, offering Ned an awkward nerdy fist bump that was soon returned.
human
Ugh. He looked flustered. That hadn't been Savannah's intention, she'd wanted to just block out Flash so that Peter would concentrate, Flash would shut up, and she could learn things. Only one of those things had happened, and now she was stuck staring at his stupid blushing face. It was one of the first times she'd seen someone her age blush though, and she wasn't sure she liked it. She didn't like it when other people seemed charming or cute. It was something to learn from, though. It would get other people, and she knew that. So the best thing to do would be master that look and use it. There had to be some way to blush on cue. She could use any of the other necessary facial expressions with ease, but this one hadn't been necessary. Interacting with people her age was probably the time it would become so.
She would spend some time online learning about everything she could while she waited for the sun to go down after this was over.
When it became clear that Ned had the answer to the math problem and not Peter, she straightened and moved over to his part of the table to look at the scrap paper the algorithm was written on."Oh. Yeah, okay."She could see where she'd gone wrong. "I got stuck halfway through."She glanced back at Peter, and nodded."I can see the appeal."The idea of teamwork bothered her, but Savannah supposed it was because she was imagining being a team with anyone but her dad. She had gotten very used to teamwork, as long as it was one specific person every time."Do you all learn all of it, or does everyone get a different focus?" That might be a good plan, but knowledge was power. Punching was also power, but in this new world with heroes and villains, knowledge made a difference. People hid their identities for a reason. The only one who hadn't was the one who didn't think he had anything to lose. The new one running around New York, he had the whole mask thing going. Hopefully they'd never meet, she didn't exactly consider heroes allies. Didn't want to go too far and run into the gun guy either though.
The next question was medical, more specifically about the fight-or-flight response. She knew that well, she'd spent so long working on her own because her natural response as a child had been flight and sometimes freezing. Making the switch had been unnatural, and pretty often painful. But rather than spending time in reflection, Savannah allowed herself to get for it. She had an answer for why she knew it too, so it was okay. She didn't want to not know anything, lack of knowledge would be more suspicious than knowledge here. So a question about brain chemistry? Totally cool. Her slender hand shot out, palm pressing down on Ned's buzzer."Norepinephrine."Her reflexes were fast but they were human fast, excusable by something like gymnastics. Technically true, she had exceptional balance, could do flips, and could do the splits. that was probably most of what gymnastics was. If it wasn't, whatever."Right,"Michelle said, looking entirely unsurprised. This time the curly haired blond didn't bothered to look too happy about it, but that was because she'd had entire confidence in her answer. She remembered learning it. She'd poured over medical textbooks that had been bought or, on one occasion, stolen from a used bookstore. Had to know how the human body worked to manipulate it, to weaponize it. Almost everything was chemical, it could all be ignored and overcome.
gpt
"Well, it's interesting to compete..." Peter admitted to Savannah, more driven by the will to improve himself than any need to beat someone else."Everyone has their things where we are good at, naturally I mean. After all it's mostly about applying what we study in quiz form?"Peter tried to explain."And I like board games so it's a bit like Trivial Pursuit but without dice?" he shrugged.
"It's a Pursuit for sure, and it's Trivial most of the time"Ned added in the goofiest wordplay ever. "But we got a trophy recently, so... depending on how much you like bragging rights. Flash sure loves them"he said, sporting a smile without malice. He really didn't like Flash, but Ned lacked the ill will to really have a grudge over it.
"Michelle crushed it" Peter added, even if he hadn't been there, Ned had told him what happened afterwards. "The tournament, not the trophy"he added with a smile. "I don't think it's about practice... we don't study for it, at least I don't think we do. Apart from Flash I mean..."he shrugged. Peter was usually good at it, but never studied for it nor did Ned and Michelle, or at least as far as he was aware of. The next question had Peter thinking of it, aware that he knew it but he couldn't quite nail the word without a couple seconds more, when Ned's buzzer ringed. Peter turned his head surprised, as biology wasn't his forte, but as he looked towards him, all Peter watched was Savannah answering the question with rock solid confidence.
"I couldn't repeat the word and I just heard it" Ned admitted, smiling at Savannah.
"That was nice!"Peter said, offering a high five to the blonde girl.
human
"I don't think I've ever played Trivial Pursuit." Savannah wasn't much of a board game girl in general. She'd played them before it was just her and her dad, but afterwards there hadn't been a lot of time for board games. She hadn't known it involved dice, but that didn't surprise her. That was how basically all board games worked, as far as she could tell. If it didn't, she was pretty sure it counted as a card game instead. If anyone was going to be able to tell her the difference, it would probably be Peter and Ned. Maybe she'd ask one of them after this was over. Most likely she wouldn't. Her new 'family' had a lot of board games, she'd have to learn to play them eventually in order to socialize properly with them. They didn't seem to have too many expectations, but she wasn't going to give them any reason to be concerned about her. That meant game nights, probably. If that was what... normal families did.
One blonde eyebrow arched at Ned's wordplay, but she smiled. Wordplay wasn't one of her skills, so it was something worth rewarding with that much at least. Plus she was being friendly, that's what people were supposed to do."Trophies seem like a decent motivator."She recalled being pleased getting one back in elementary school for soccer. Her father had praised her for her sport skills, he had always valued athleticism. Her mother less so, but she'd still been proud. Savannah had been proud of herself. She still was, for different reasons, though she knew that pride had no place in what she did.
She looked unsurprised at the fact Michelle had participated and done well."The clarification was needed," she admitted, and Michelle shot them a deadpan look that even Savannah couldn't read."So it's just an application of things you learned in classes already,"she clarified, assuming that was what he meant when he said they didn't study. Because otherwise they were just picking this stuff up randomly during the day and she wasnotprepared to live in a city where complex math questions just happened on the subway. School was, she had learned over the course of the day, not something that her skill set had fully prepared her for.
His surprise did not go unnoticed, which wasn't unexpected. The effort had seemed necessary, and she didn't regret it now that she'd answered. Her intelligence had been at least partially established, or at least her ability to remember weird brain chemicals had. Still no intention of trying to compete in this... club thing. There just wasn't time now that she was going to have to her homework as well as training and night patrol. When Peter held out his hand, Savannah stared at it for a moment and then lifted her own and gave him a high five."Thanks."As to Ned's words, she shrugged."It's just the same kind of memorization as anything else." Less likely to come up in classes admittedly, unless it was something specialized."That was probably my one, don't start getting expectations."Unless there were more medical questions, and she wasn't sure she wanted to answer only those in case it brought some kind of suspicion upon her. She hadn't even gone out yet to do her thing anywhere in the state of New York so there was pretty much no way that anyone could figure out who she was, but she was still cautious.
gpt
Even if Savannah downplayed how she had given the correct answer quickly, she did return Peter's high five, so there was that. Of course, she insisted that the quiz wasn't her forte, so Peter didn't get his hopes up of her joining. It was a bit weird, because she would be his only friend that wasn't on the club, but that was fine. After what happened with the homecoming dance, he needed to broaden his horizons and improve. Maybe he wasn't Avenger material quite yet, but he did pass Tony's test and the temptation of that new, nifty suit, so he was getting better. It had been bittersweet, but he had also caught his big bad guy, so Peter couldn't help but wonder what awaited him in the future.
With the added interest of having Savannah there, the afternoon passed like a breeze, and soon the quiz lovers disbanded and went home, leaving school behind until the next day. Some pointed looks were crossed between Ned and Peter, understanding that it was going to be an evening of action, or at least of patrolling until the action presented itself. For the first time in weeks, Peter felt a bit cheery, eager to return to the school the next day to keep talking with Savannah instead of being constantly mindful that Liz was no longer there.
"Will you be careful?"Aunt May insisted for the umpteenth time, naturally worrying about Peter as he suited up.
"Yes..."he automatically answered once more, making sure the systems were fine.
"For sure?"May added once more.
"Yeah..." Peter adjusted his suit.
"Are you okay with me dating the restaurant owner?"May asked jokingly, testing him.
"Of course..."Peter answered, barely hearing the question."Wait, what?"he looked up, the suit's eyes widening.
"I knew you weren't paying attention!"May scolded.
"I'll be careful and I'll be fine, unless you kill me with a heart attack first"Peter promised with a joke.
"Karen, please take care of him"May asked, having taken the habit of talking to the suit's AI as if she was some kind of babysitter.
"I'll do, don't worry May"Karen answered out loud though the suit. It was amazing the amounts of stuff Stark could pack in such a thing.
"That's two against one..."Peter whined.
That night it turned out he was on his own, as Ned had been grounded after leaving Lego pieces scattered all around, so Peter would only have Karen in his ear. Hopping for a mugger or perhaps some thugs looking for a fight, Peter swung around New York wildly, freeing his mind of trouble and noise. What he didn't know nor could anyone foresee, was that the night had a surprise in store for him.
human
The decathalon training had been... something. Fun? It might have been fun. It had been hard not to find Peter and Ned entertaining, and being surrounded by people who worked well together and seemed like they were (mostly) friends. And then it was over and she said goodbye to more people than she'd evenknownbefore today.
Savannah had done her homework at the kitchen table when she got back to what she supposed she should call 'home' and then excused herself, saying that she was exhausted from this whole normal kid thing. Her adopted 'family' knew the details about her father, but as far as anyone had been told, she'd been the hapless victim hauled from place to place with an increasingly unstable father who kept her locked in motel rooms. Like they'd practiced, she'd gritted her teeth and explained away the scars as his rage and instability, and everyone had bought it. It was a good card to play, people didn't bother traumatized people. So after that she had locked her door and climbed out the window, closing it most of the way behind her. Then it was off to the bus station. Her outfit was just a black hoodie, black pants, red high tops, thin but sturdy gloves, and a red scarf. Of course, it was all set up so as not to attract attention until she was ready to be in 'work mode'. Her sweatshirt was on inside out, to expose a large, cutesy iron-on owl applique and light blue stripes down the arms that she'd carefully attached herself so that the stitching couldn't been seen when it was worn as it was supposed to be. She'd removed the tag carefully and selected a style where the fact it was inside out wouldn't be very visible, especially not in the fading light of dusk and the streetlights of night. The backpack her equipment was being shoved into could be flipped inside out, and under the sweatshirt she had on a short dress that was pinned up. It took about thirty seconds to completely change her look, she'd been timed before. Took longer to flip the backpack around, but a nondescript black backpack was a common addition. She had a pair of glasses with lenses that were just plastic on her face, because that was a detail people tended to focus on that was easy to ignore.
Once she'd gotten to the area she'd decided was most likely to be problematic, the teen stopped and took a little time to flip her sweatshirt and put on her fake glasses, reaching up to make sure that her hair had stayed pulled back. She armed herself - poorly, most of the things she'd used had been taken by the police as evidence - and then started walking the streets until something caught her eye. She recognized the body language. From the way their hands were in their pockets to the way they their shoulders were to the way they walked towards the store, Savannah knew it all. She moved quietly across the street and followed the in three men to the small convenience store, catching the door a few centimeters before it closed and slipping in without them noticing she'd been on their tail at all. They were anxious and focused on only one thing, she was small and skilled.
The beginnings of the conversation got tuned out while she got one of the retro glass bottles of sprite out of the cooler, and she only focused when she heard the voices start to raise. The demands didn't much matter to her, she was entirely focused on the tone of voice, catching the rising anger and stress. Sighing, she pulled her scarf up over her nose and reached into her pocket withdrawing a small metal stick that, when she snapped her wrist, extended into an almost two foot long baton. Tossing the glass bottle up she caught it by the neck and then sidestepped, took two seconds to line things up, and then let it loose. The moment it left her fingers she was running. The bottle hit the man's hand, and the sound of a gunshot rang out into the street.
The bullet had buried itself harmlessly in the wall but she was very aware that she was on a time limit now. The store owner had ducked down under the counter and was probably calling the police, she needed to be far away before they got here. The man closest to her had his hand behind his back and was grabbing something, so he was who she focused on first. The baton caught the man in the soft skin inside his arm, forcing his hand away from where the gun was tucked into his waistband and she kept moving, intent on driving him back and keeping him between herself and his two friends. She also needed to get to the other weapon though, it wouldn't stay out of play very long. Take them down fast, in other words. Her foot lashed out, catching the man she'd already engaged in the side of the knee, and she took the moment he was a little off balance to hit him hard in the stomach with the baton, grab his head, and slam it hard into the counter."Don't move."The click of a gun's safety sounded almost as loud as the bullet would in a few seconds, and Savannah did just what he said. Without waiting for him to say anything she started to raise her hands slowly, glancing at the small CCTV she could see in the corner. He was close enough. She started to turn and then grabbed his wrist, yanking his arm and the gun past her body and pulling him down lower. Her elbow shot out to catch him in the face and there was a crunch that.... satisfied her in some way. It shouldn't have, from a logical human being standpoint she knew that. She got nothing from the whimper though, it was just a sound of weakness that meant that she had a chance. The guy she'd slammed into the counter hadn't become satisfactorily unconscious, so she whacked this one in the throat with the baton and then kicked him in the head when he fell.Thatworked.
Meanwhile the man she'd hit with the bottle was bending down to pick his gun back up as his friend shook off the fuzzy bleariness of the impact his head had made and wiped some of the blood off of his face, having to hang onto the counter to keep his balance as he stood up. Without her father there, Savannah had a bit of a light touch. Not that anyone was going to be calling it that but her. She was out of practice, pushups and drills in her bedroom while she'd been settled hadn't done much to help. There hadn't been room to do the things she'd used to do, nobody to train with for weeks.
gpt
Peter swung around New York, enjoying the freedom of being just able to feel the wind against his suit and the city flashing under him, a blur of lights in the middle of the night. It was in those rare moments where Peter's head felt mostly empty, free of any concerns of the day, but it didn't last long, as his brain soon returned to the event of the day, the new student, the new person in his life. Savannah. Was he falling for her? He didn't think so, he had just met her that day, and he didn't just stare at her with awe like he did with Liz, their few interactions before the dance usually limited to the Academic Decathlon team. Was not being a mess around her meant that he didn't like her? Maybe he was getting better at it, it being dealing with girls? For a moment he considered asking Karen for advice, but luckily he noticed that having such an idea already marked him as a nerd that knew no better.
"I'm picking up a police call. Convenience store, three blocks east"Karen informed."You could also spend a bit of time with her and figure out if you like Savannah"she added.
"Wha-? How..." Peter mumbled, the masks' eyes opening wide as did his own.
"I can't read your mind, but you mumbled half of what you were thinking, Peter"Karen explained."Even if I'm not designed to offer relationship advice maybe I-"Karen continued, getting interrupted by him.
"No! Nononono. Not now. Maybe not ever" he mumbled, embarrassed."You said a convenience store to the east?" Peter asked, changing topics to an actual emergency.
"Noted. Also showing the location on the HUD" Karen agreed, showing the approximate location of the store.
Hurrying up there, it didn't took long for Peter to see some hectic movement between dark figures inside the store."Cleanup aisle one!"he called, getting into the store swinging down, webbing the thugs hand to the very counter he was leaning to. As he used his other hand in a vain attempt to release the first, he webbed it as well to the first one."And now think of what you have done and the mistakes you made in life, you young man!"he added, shifting his attention to the other standing robber."Oh no, you don't"Peter enclosed both hand and gun as the thief got hold of it, immobilizing it and his fist. Jumping to the roof, he stood on it upside down."Stop!"he pulled on the web, making the thug hit himself in the face with the webbed gun and fist."Hitting!"he added, pulling for a second time."Yourself!"a third and last one, as the thug was unconscious.
Peter left the web thread stuck to the ceiling, leaving the unconscious thug hanging from an arm, while the one stuck to the counter still tried to unstuck himself, looking ridiculous in the process. The store owner got up from behind the counter, seeing that something was weird, and seeing the robbers down or out, he punched the one stuck in the counter into unconsciousness."Whoa, mean right there sir, but lets leave the rest to the police, will we?"he asked. "Thank you Spider-Man and..." the owner said, looking to the unknown figure.
"Yeah, who are you?"Peter eyed the smallish figure, the mask eyes widening. For the look of it, she seemed a woman, maybe a young one, but the clothes did a nice work covering almost everything of her."Glasses... girl?"he wondered. The impromptu outfit reminded him of his days past, before he got Stark backing him off. Was she in a similar situation? He had arrived late, so he didn't see what kind of powers she may have. "I guess we should be out of here..."Spider-Man commented, hearing police sirens getting close.
human
The appearance of the red and blue costumed man took Savannah by surprise, and had he not immediately attacked one of the men she might have taken a swing at him just reflexively. Instead let the hero do his thing, watching him carefully. He sure was relying on that webbing. Planning her potential fight tactics wasnt something she started consciously, but it was running through her head all the same. Get in close where his webbing could be easily directed at her forearm or his hand could be knocked out of the way entirely. Treat it like someone with guns, and she would probably do okay. She had a knife and a taser on her person, and she still had the gun. Didn't know how many bullets were in it though, so it was not an optimal weapon for now.
Why was he so loud? And dramatic, he was dramatic too. Not a huge problem for Savannah, who took the time where everyone was distracted to grab the gun from the waistband of the man webbed to the counter, using her body to keep the hero from seeing her and knowing that the shopkeeper was too distracted to notice, and tucked it away before dropping back a few steps hoping that she'd be able to slink away without having to interact with Spider-Man too much. She couldn't manage it though, and had to bite back her irritated expression. She didn't know why he'd feel the need to get out of the area before the cops came, as far as she could tell he had some sort of Avengers seal of approval (or a least she'd seen him save a boat with Iron Man and not get arrested afterwards), but she definitely had to be out of there. Getting asked questions wasn't something that she wanted to deal with."Get out of my way and I will."Something in his voice had triggered a little ping in her brain and she had no idea why, so when she spoke the blonde pitched her voice a little bit lower. She moved around him gracefully, leaving a very pointed amount of space between her and the costumed man.
The bell on the door jingled as she stepped out into the street, seemingly ignoring both Spider-Man and the shopkeeper. In truth she was acutely aware of the costumed hero, and was incredibly prepared to slam the door shut if he tried to do anything. She'd seen the webbing, that wasn't something she wanted to deal with. None of him was something she wanted to deal with, but that was one of those weird hero things. She was hoping that he would let her be on her way - she had done a good thing, so it wasn't like he had any reason to hassle her. Maybe her weapon, but she wasn't going to assume that the dude knew the laws on telescoping batons in New York. Even if he did, would he really be petty enough to try and call her on having a technically illegal weapon when she'd been in the middle of stopping a robbery? Probably not.
The problem was solved but in an unsatisfactory way. Something deep inside still itched and stung and the only thing Savannah knew to treat it was to work. She still wanted to fight, still wanted to hit someone. The only way she would sleep was if she wore herself out a little and exercises just werent cutting it anymore. She had so much energy, and when she stopped moving she started thinking. About her dad, about school, about the people shed met there. Those were things she didnt know how to handle, feelings she didnt know how to interpret. Fighting though? Fighting she understood. Fighting she was good at. Maybe she could find something else. A drug deal, a weapons sale, something that would let her get the stress out. A weapons sale would also mean the chance for her to reequip, get things that she wouldn't have been able to otherwise. With Hammer Industries and all the technology from the aliens she was sure ended up on the street occasionally, there was the chance she'd be able to relieve some criminals of something useful.
It was probably unlikely though, because it didn't seem like Spider-Man was swinging off home or at least away from her.
gpt
Something about the tone of her voice gave Spider-Man pause, as she sounded young yet deep, definitely a young woman, although he wasn't one to judge. He didn't want to get stuck giving out explanations to the police, specially since the things with the Avengers were... at pause, so to speak, given that he avoided the press conference, the nifty new suit and the definitive public endorsement. You never knew when you could find a police officer that wasn't hot on superheroes, so it was better to make oneself scarce given that the thugs were down and out. "I can see she's not the friendly neighbor type"Spider-Man mused, leaning on the counter. Who was her? Peter had never stumbled upon her, but then again, he never met any of the other vigilantes that were around New York either, so who knew anymore how much of them were around?"As tempting as it is to keep talking and get some..."Spider-Man commented eyeing the products around the counter,"Vegan Beef Jerky? I've to go"he finished his one way chat with the still dazed shopkeeper, getting out.
"Time to know the neighbor, friendly or not"Peter sighed, swinging with his webs and following the dark figure from above.
"Should be follow her in stealth mode to see where she goes?"Karen suggested.
"That sounds the kind of thing a villain or Stark would do"Peter sighed."Outing someone is not cool, she's no villain- wait. Do we have a stealth mode?"Peter commented surprised.
"There are many features that-"Karen started, soon interrupted.
"That's not the point"Peter said. "Chasing a fellow hero to their home would be weird"noted.
"And following a young woman along a dark alleyway is fine as long as it's just a bit?"Karen asked. Ouch, she had been programmed with a bite, for sure.
"Point taken"Peter groaned, lowering herself at street level in front of her."Spider-Man here, it wasn't my first team up, but I'm glad it worked..."he spoke, a bit nervous about the approach."So... are you one of those vigilantes?"he asked, keeping his mouth running before she could answer."I'm with the Avengers... kind of. Things are a bit weird. Not that I'm kind like an intern but..."he shook his head, keeping her pace."So do you have powers like that bulletproof dude from Harlem?"he wondered.
human
He was following her. Chances were that even if he hadn't been Savannah would still have assumed that Spider-Man was on her tail, just sneakier than she was capable of keeping lookout for. This was not the case though, and when he dropped down in front of her the teen looked so absolutely unimpressed that it was obvious even behind the fake glasses and with her scarf covering her mouth. She let him talk, standing what felt like a safe distance in case the man in the suit decided to do something that she was going to have to react to. In the end it was just words and while she didn't relax, she at least didn't think that he was going to attack her at the moment."You need to get better at stealth,"she informed him blandly, which seemed to be the response he was going to get instead of having his question about her powers answered. It was better to keep her cards close to her chest, after all. If he didn't know what she could do, he'd be less likely to engage her at a close range and without something that would allow her to figure out that an attack was coming. She had never considered exactly what she was, but vigilante worked she supposed. It wasn't incorrect. As far as she was concerned what she did was no different than what any 'hero' did, though she didn't think it was worth it to bring that point up. She felt like people who called themselves heroes were probably going to be sensitive about the comparison and just didn't have the time to get into it with some dude in spandex."And if you don't want people to think you're an intern, don't deny it without being asked."
She turned, changing direction slightly. Savannah's goal was to fight, and she'd spent time researching crime statistics to figure out the general area she should be in to make sure that she found herself as many of those as possible. Eventually she'd establish an information network like her father always seemed to have, but first that meant finding someone who was in it and willing to snitch in order to keep their bones intact. That could take a while, and the small teen was impatient. It wasn't something she revealed outwardly, but the impatience joined the many darker thoughts and feelings stewing inside her that found release only when she was in motion. A car jacker, a drug deal, a weapon sale, anything would work. He'd interrupted the last fight and while she was reluctantly willing to admit (to herself, not to him) that she hadn't been at the top of her game, she hadn't gotten the satisfaction of ending the fight properly.
It seemed like the dude was going to be tagging along until he was done talking, so she changed direction slightly. She'd just do what she was going to do until he was satisfied and left her alone, she supposed."D'ya want something?"Maybe she could speed this conversation along. She wasn't looking to make friends or get a side kick, she just finding to find another person or three to punch repeatedly in the face and then go back to the house. She couldn't do that when he was here bothering her. "I'm not much of a... 'team up' sort of person." And he definitely wasn't her style of team mate. For one thing, it was going to be entirely impossible to do things the way she wanted to. He stood out too much. Talked too much, too. His alliance with the Avengers didn't exactly win him any favor with her either. As far as she was concerned there weren't any good heroes. There were ones who weren'tbad, but everything they showed up to ended poorly for civilians in some way. Her grudge against Tony Stark was more personal, and as far as she was concerned he tainted the whole pool. What were people going to learn from him, how to fuck everything up and cause a bunch of unnecessary deaths?
"I assumed that once someone got a proper costume,"she'd call it 'proper' though she wasn't entirely sure about it,"they upgraded from convenience store robberies to pulling babies out of burning buildings and fighting other costumed people. Or cleaning up Stark messes."It had sort of been what she was banking on, and clearly Savannah had assumed incorrectly. She was still entirely sure she wasn't about to run into the man in armor himself, but even this guy was too much. But if he wasn't going to immediately leave her alone, she could use the time to gather information so that she'd have an easier time ignoring heroes in the future.
gpt
"Oh, good point"Spider-Man admitted, when the mysterious vigilante got him with the intern thing."It's not like I wanted to be stealthy, I can be stealthy if I want to. But I didn't"he tried to defend his capabilities and at the same time try to sound friendly, making a mess of his priorities. The girl seemed elusive, not quite a surprise given their masked hero status, but she seemed specially interested of getting rid of him, even if Peter didn't know why. It wasn't interesting meeting another hero?
"I just..."Spider-Man mumbled when she asked if he wanted anything, driving the point even further when she said that he wasn't a team up sort of person. The notion sounded oddly familiar to him, but he didn't know why as his mind raced to try and find a proper explanation of her interest, to both her and himself."It's the first time I met a hero... my age. Assuming that you are young as well. If I'm wrong I'm totally sorry"he started to chatter, "but the rest of them are so old... that I feel weird, like the nerd trying to mingle with the football team"he tried to explain, even if the comparison was somewhat odd.
"If I'm wrong I'm wrong, and if you aren't interested in sharing tips or whatever, that's fine"Spider-Man took a step back."Not all nights include buildings on fire, luckily"he sighed."I already know that you are one of the good ones, I mean, you stopped that robbery"Peter continued."Well, I helped a bit too, but you didn't seem to need me so..."even through the mask he sounded defeated. It was somewhat weird to see Spider-Man walk away with hunched shoulders and small steps, instead of swinging from building to building.
Damn, what was with her? They had saved a guy together and it worked just fine, why was everything so hard? It wasn't like he wanted nothing more than chatting a bit, although it was a bit weird her mentioning Stark like that. He wasn't his janitor to clean his messes. Wait, what messes was she talking about? Did she had something against Stark? "Hey..."Spider-Man said turning around."I don't clean Stark messes, what was with that?"he outright asked. She didn't seem bad nor was she robbing the store, but maybe her evasive attitude had to do with Stark and not himself?
"Do you want to activate the Enhanced Interrogation Protocol?"Karen asked, breaking her silence for the first time in a while, as she didn't want to distract Peter while he talked."No! No interrogation protocol! This is a friendly conversation!"Spider-Man protested out loud, realizing all too late that the vigilante girl would hear him talking to himself."Errr... suit's AI got her own ideas..."he mumbled, not wanting to scare her away.
human
So he was young for sure."Older than you, probably."Maybe a lie, but she could probably make him think she was a college student. That way if he tried to find her he'd look in the wrong place."But I'm not a hero. I'm just.... I dunno." She didn't have a word for it. 'Hero' had a weight that she didn't feel comfortable trying to bear. It was signing up for more than she was willing to do. "Doing the only thing I'm good at, I guess." There was no social negative to phrasing the things in her head, unlike how she'd be at school. That was part of why she figured her identity would end up safe unless someone caught her in another way. She changed her personality at school, she changed her voice while out at night, and so as long as the scarf stayed on she should be fine. The glasses felt necessary but probably weren't unless there was the chance that she ran into someone she knew, and she only knew about fifteen people. And that was generous. She had only seriously interacted with six people in New York. Her adopted family, three students at school, and her caseworker There'd been some cops, a judge, and a lawyer before that, but they were back in Detroit.
She did not want to share tips or whatever. Savannah just wanted to be left alone so that she could do what she wanted. "I'm not going to hurt anyone who's not doing anything wrong." It wasn't exactly saying that she was 'one of the good ones', but it was her way of agreeing, maybe even reassuring him a little bit that there was nothing to worry about from her. Heroes might get territorial, this was new to her. She definitely didn't need his help, so it was a bit of a relief when the masked man turned to leave. Maybe she shouldn't have stopped to watch him go, but it was dangerous to turn her back on someone who could shoot webbing. The chances that he was going to attack her were basically zero, but until she could safely call them absolute zero she'd be keeping an eye on him if he was around her.
The hero didn't make it as far away as she was hoping before he turned around, but this time his question was one that she was willing to answer."Stark creates his own villains. They don't just crawl out of the woodwork fully fledged and ready to cause mayhem, they're his fault. He can't keep his house in order and people die as a result."On the side of not his fault (as far as she could tell) was The Incident, the exposing of SHIELD, and that weird blue shit in Missouri."Affiliating with him means eventually you're going to have to jump in on something that should never have had to happen because that man can't keep his house in order."And he didn't sound like someone who was emotionally prepared for what happened when he couldn't save someone. She might have been wrong in her assessment, but Savannah doubted it. He had seemed to change emotion just based on her words and she hadn't even been mean to him. Well, not by her standard.
She let out a tiny sigh and took a step towards him."Your suit has an AI?" This whole conversation thing seemed important to him, and it was probably better to not get off on the wrong foot with the guy. She didn't want to make him an enemy. More importantly she didn't want to end up on Stark's radar, but that was something to keep to herself. There had to be a way to get this masked hero to keep her existence to himself for now. Being nice... or at least not making him feel like she was being overly awful. And since his standards for behavior from others seemed high, she had to at least make some minimal effort."And with an interrogation protocol?"Her tone was a tiny bit amused by that. If she'd had something like that it would have made her life a lot easier, and the fact that this was something his suit was offering only further cemented her theory that he wasn't prepared for all the things that this life was going to throw at him. She had considered saying she had to make her own interrogation protocol, but that was the sort of joke that might not go over so well.
"Never met an AI before. Or a... hero."She said the word like it was going to hurt her somehow. There was no introduction of herself or even a handshake offered, but it was an attempt. She was at least engaged now, giving this some amount of a shot. Just for tonight, maybe just for a few minutes until she could make an escape that would let her have a little more freedom later. Set it up so he'd not talk with her if he saw her again, just know that she was good to go and not going to cause any trouble. If anything he should be happy there was someone else, they'd be able to hit twice as much crime that way. It didn't work if they paired up the whole time."My goal has generally been to avoid as much interaction with people as I possibly can. If no one knows who I am, no one can try to get at me."Criminals could hunt Spider-Man easily but what were they gonna do with her, wage war on black hoodies?
gpt
Spider-Man almost stepped back as the young woman ranted about Stark. She did sound older than him as she said she was, but as she got a bit more talkative than before, she didn't come across that much older than him if any, although certainly less naive and more experienced. He wasn't quite in place to defend Stark, as every time he had been involved in a mess, be that fight with Captain America or the thing with The Vulture, Stark had been involved, even more than he knew. Well, not only that, as defending Stark it would no doubt push that unknown girl away. Things changed once he was interrupted by Karen, as the girl was suddenly closer, when had she stepped in closer?
"Ah... yeah, she's nice and can help with the suit's stuff..."Peter said, blushing under the mask in front of the sudden interest. The costume made him bolder, but as his nervous banter during the fights proved, having powers didn't fix the awkward nerd he could be. The hero could handle that attention, the boy was caught unaware by a young girl that could not only fight, but also had that something dangerous, that aura of living on the edge that he rarely experienced, as his friends were mostly unharmful. For Peter, having the attention of a girl that fought thugs in the night was something unprecedented.
"Then I'm glad t-to be your first hero" he said, briefly stuttering, hoping that the girl didn't notice. Did she? No, he was fine, he didn't make Spider-Man look like a dork. Hopefully."Do you have a name or something? I know that it's a bit of a childish hero thing but... it would help with, you know, the talking"he continued, partly talking, partly digging his own awkward grave. "That's... smart. I mean, I wear a mask too, or my face would be all around YouTube" Spider-Man acknowledged, although his secret identity had been aired more than he would want to. First Stark, then Ned and Toomes, and recently his aunt. If he wasn't careful Michelle would end up guessing it as well, as she was quite keen herself. Maybe even Savannah? Nah, they had just met, there was no way she could guess anything that soon, why was he even thinking of her at that time?
Feeling a bit emboldened by the change in attitude, Peter stepped a bit closer to the girl, still having enough space to not make it awkward."I know that isn't your thing but..."he started,"but maybe we could do something together, once in a while? I mean, we both want a safer city, right?"Spider-Man voiced, without noticing that their approaches differed quite some."It's not like old man Stark is on my case, I don't have to report to him or anything like that, even if he can be fussy sometimes"he continued, not being totally and completely honest, but at least he was more independent and free than a few weeks ago. Karen had been pleasantly silent during the encounter, as Peter already had enough trouble dealing with the mysterious, dangerous looking and... yes, even if he didn't want to admit it, maybe somewhat enticing girl.
Peter trying to act cool is quite awkward and amusing to me. And yeah, I don't think that the Ultron thing was entirely public, since then his backing of the Sokovia accords could seem weird? Either way, as the Avengers had to fight robots that didn't look all that different from his creations, I'm sure that there are lots of people that blame him for that. As the Civil War happened, people probably split between the ones that back Captain America and the ones that back Iron Man, so the nation will probably be divided on that too.
human
Because she wasn't even trying to seem normal, she had dropped almost all the emotion out of her voice. It was something that her father had pushed for and now it felt normal. It was part of the defense, part of the act. Made her harder to read, harder to predict, and for that reason more threatening. She let out a tiny"huh"at his words, filing the knowledge away. That his suit was his assistant was good to know. That he seemed awkward about talking to her was even more so. She caught the stuttering of course, and filed it away as something to ponder later. Perhaps she'd make a pass at him eventually, it would test whether this was a response based on the fact that he was talking to a girl or because he was inexperienced and unsure how to talk to someone who wasn't part of the hero club. But if she flirted like this, then the way she might flirt to investigate and manipulate in school would have to be different. Cutesier, maybe. New York was big enough she would probably never run into whoever was behind the mask during the day, but she needed to keep the two characters separate. And there was no mistaking, at least to her, that they were both characters. She did and said whatever she needed to in order to optimize her situation, the real Savannah was...
Well, it didn't matter.
He mentioned a name, and she forced a pause so that her response wasn't immediate. That would be too forceful, which was not the energy she was going for at the moment."I don't need one."She and her father hadn't ever used names."If it's just the two of us, I'll know when you mean me."If he had another hero around she'd be immediately making herself scarce, so that wasn't going to be a problem."You do it a little differently than I do,"she said in reference to the mask. Savannah would easily believe that the costumed hero had decided that this was the right thing to do and wholly believed it, but she wasn't sure he had seriously thought about the drawbacks and the things he might end up having to do. There were no drawbacks to how she did her disguise. Maybe the fact that she couldn't get something bulletproof, but the red spider costume didn't look like it was so she probably wasn't missing out on a whole lot. She moved fine in what she had. Maybe the scarf and glasses were a little unwieldy, but she'd had enough practice securing them that it wasn't an actual problem anymore.
The hero said they should team up, and Savannah arched an eyebrow, inching backwards to keep the distance that had been between them before. It was fine if she was the one closing in but she didn't much like when he did it."Our methods will... deviate."In ways he probably wasn't prepared to deal with yet. And she didn't intend to give this up, so if he tried to keep her from doing what she needed to she would have to put him down somehow. That was what her dad would say she needed to do, and it was what was in the back of her mind right now. She could kill him, injure him so he wouldn't be able to do this work anymore, any of a dozen different options that would get him to lay off of her when she was working her way. It was going to become important that she figure out who he was if this guy was going to be hanging around. On the other hand this was a chance to gain an ally who had an in with the Avengers and that wasn't nothing. It could provide some protection to her, perhaps get her out of trouble if the others ever took notice of the things that she did and disapproved of them. She'd have Spider-Man to stick up for her and say that she was decent. Did she play the ally game or did she turn him away here and deal with potential hostility later on but more freedom to do what she wanted? The thoughts went through her head quickly as she weighed the two options, expression kept carefully neutral."Your access to technology will make it easier to find trouble."And he knew the city better than she did, though she didn't say it. That would be revealing that she was new in town - right now it was just as likely that she had been doing her own thing under the radar or had just started out as it was that she'd just come into town.
That was as close to an actual 'yes' as he was going to get. She was starting to get antsy just standing around taking though, so she picked a direction and started walking. If he was ready to go do his own thing he'd be able to, but she wasn't turning her back entirely on him so she wasn't shutting him out. If he wanted to come with her, he could.
The chances that an Avengers affiliated hero would be cool with her finding a drug or arms dealer and threatening to break their fingers or hurt their family unless they were willing to inform for her was pretty low, so she was going to have to reevaluate the rest of her night. Spend time figuring out this guy, she supposed. Find out his weaknesses and see what she could learn about Iron Man from him so that she could better avoid the armored narcissist. The need for a fight was still there though, hopefully her new sometimes 'partner' could assist with that. Maybe if he hung around in the open long enough someone would attack him and then the problem would be solved.
gpt
"Differently, yeah"Peter commented about the mask issue."At first I got out in some homemade suit with a red vest and a ski mask..."he confessed, even if it was something that anyone could see in the YouTube videos of his first appearances."Your scarf thing looks way nicer"he said, trying not to look like he was peeking, as he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. That didn't mean he wasn't curious, of course he was. Him doing what he did was sort of a product of the fact that he could, and if he could help people, he just should do it. He had to. But what made a girl... or young woman or whoever she was... do that? She had the training, for sure, but it was still odd. Maybe he was being a bit sexist and her being a woman didn't matter at all, as she looked like she could kick his ass.
"I guess" Spider-Man nodded about their methods differing. "But that's what a team up is about, no?"he added."I've got your back, you got mine, and each one of us has a different point of view about stuff..."he tried to argue in favor. It was true that he had normally been more involved in stopping crimes that were actually taking place than in doing any investigation, but recently he had a bit of that, even interrogating someone (although that didn't go super well) but he could use someone that was more... street wise, he guessed, although it wasn't like he knew much about that girl. It did seem that his rambling was giving her something to think about, or perhaps she was considering things and his babbling did no good, but either way he managed to stop talking and give her some pause.
"Yeah, if anything happens close by maybe we can help" Peter nodded, following the girl and matching her step. For a moment he thought about offering her a lift, as they could move faster that way, but he thought that she would probably won't like it. I mean, he needed his arms to move, so even if princess carrying her was out of the question out of embarrassment alone, it wasn't possible. Maybe she could climb on his back, but the more he imagined it, the harder it seemed that the nameless girl would agree to it.
"Peter"Karen's voice nagged him as they started walking.
"Karen?"he asked, as it seemed that the AI had a good enough grasp of the situation to not interrupt unless it was necessary.
"Fire, couple of blocks, north east" she announced, putting the live Instagram feed of someone that was recording the disaster in his field of view.
"Seriously? What are the odds?"Peter groaned, as the girl had mentioned a building on fire."We got a fire, couple of blocks in that direction"he pointed. "Maybe it's not your thing, but I could use and appreciate the help-"he commented, interrupted by Karen once more.
"The fire pattern is unusual, high chance of being arson"she added.
"And it's probably intentional, so maybe we can catch the culprits"Peter promptly shared, eager to convince her to come with him."We can run or I can swing you there..."he suggested, pushing his luck.
human
"It's easier. I don't like masks."In an entirely emotionless tone she added"your current one doesn't suffer common tactical issues."It couldn't be grabbed and twisted in order to blind him during close combat, and it fully obscured his face without lowering visibility (she assumed). Her scarf could also be used for bandaging wounds if she absolutely had to. Or for strangling someone. She'd never tried, but it had occurred to her because Savannah thought of how to weaponize everything within reach on a pretty regular basis. Her father would never have let her live it down if she couldn't use everything on her person to protect herself in some way.
"Differing points of view isn't exactly a team-up selling point."She didn't need his morals getting in the way of her work. "You don't seem like the kind of guy who gets his hands dirty." Not like she did."Not necessarily a bad thing, beacons of heroism and symbols for the people aren't... inherently negative." Not when they were fully thought through and handled competently with the right focus. Captain America had been fine. Maybe Spider-Man could get there eventually, but he wasn't right now."They're just... held back by the public eye." Nobody wanted their kids idolizing someone who broke fingers to get information or was willing to push a dude off a bridge."I am not."Not a beacon, not a symbol, not a hero, not held back by anything except her own physical abilities. How many ways was she going to have to try and get him to understand? Or maybe he did get it and when she inevitably stabbed someone he'd be fine with that.
He was correct that she would not agree to any way of being carried. Savannah didn't even want to get too close to him. She was still keeping the same distance while they walked, just naturally providing space between them. They didn't need to be close, just close enough to talk."Helping is what you do, isn't it?"So really what he was asking was if she'd want to tag along. She didn't think he'd skip over the chance to help anyone. It was his job to save people, after all. She'd kick anyone's ass as long as she thought they deserved it. There was a big range of 'deserve it' that may have depended a little bit on how she was feeling at the moment. Right now she needed to get the stress out, and pretty much anything would work.
Her head jerked when talking started again. It wasn't the fact that the talking was happening,it was that Spider-Man wasn't stammering or being awkward. Even before he told her that something was wrong, she had already assumed that was going to be the case. When he pointed she nodded, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.What kind of building? If there could be civilians inside you need to go now.By himself. Moving with her would slow him down. Otherwise it could give them the beginnings of motivation. A business could be revenge, a warning, or the beginning of insurance fraud if it wasnt someone who just liked to watch things burn. Arsonists who were in it just to watch things burn rarely went after places people lived. She took off down the street in the direction he had pointed, footsteps still quiet even while running.
If the guy was still around then Savannah would be able to help. Spotting people who looked suspicious was a talent, one her father had said came to her naturally. She'd trained it for years and was pretty confident in her ability to pick out any lesser criminal promptly enough. Her clothing was in no way fireproof, and her need for layers would make it hard for her to strip something off if it caught fire.
gpt
As tempting as it was to keep talking into what that girl considered "getting her hands dirty" it didn't sound very heroic or wholesome, but her arguments towards what she did, or at least what Peter thought she was implying, sounded awfully alluring. Sure, he was naive and didn't think that vigilantism was good or that people like The Punisher were any better than criminals, and yet, he could feel himself buying a bit into her discourse, specially since she was acknowledging that heroes like him had a place, or at least weren't bad per se, even if she seemed to have a different viewpoint. All of those considerations, and a topic that would be interesting to broach in a calmer moment, were set aside in Peter's mind as Karen warned him of the fire alarm.
Precious seconds were lost as Spider-Man doubted what to do, but soon the girl urged him to act and she didn't have to say it twice, as he just shoot a web upwards as if it was a sixth sense and soon was swinging above the street while she silently ran down there. The building itself was a quite old three story one, with a narrow base and somewhat out of place surrounded by more modern ones. The flickering flames that could be seen sprouting from the broken windows illuminated the faces of a few curious New Yorkers that approached to see what was going on.
"Karen, do you have something for this situation?"Spider-Man questioned, even if he was already darting through a third story window into the place.
"I'll watch for thermal alerts and smoke levels. Adjusting vision to low visibility. Fire makes hard to scan for life forms" Karen resumed, the AI's voice sounding almost urgent, worried if you didn't know any better. Spider-Man started to move through what looked an abandoned housing building, working through low visibility rooms making sure no one was left behind just in case.
In the meantime, the building seemed yet untouched at street level, although the fire was moving surprisingly fast and there was no way of knowing when the upper floors would crumble and collapse. The building was surrounded by narrow service alleyways, and as soon as Savannah arrived, she could see that something was going on in the back of it. Fire flared wildly there at ground level, something that was odd to say the least and more than a bit suspicious.
human
Savannah's thought processes weren't wholesome, they wereefficient. She figured the whole hero thing could work if there was one guy in a flashy suit who acted as the public face and took care of the robot and alien invasions while people like her handled the rest of it, but she didn't know that many heroes would be willing to take that deal. They seemed in general like people who thought they were legitimately doing the right thing. And it wasn't even like she was suggesting doing things that were all that bad, she wasn't pushing Punisher level murder. That guy was out of his mind.
Off he went. For a second she seriously considered heading in another direction and spending the rest of her night alone, but she didn't know how well he could track people and if they ever ran into each other again she'd have ruined the goodwill she'd built up - not that it should be a lot - and need to come up with an excuse. The whole swinging thing was problematic for her, until she figured out how to deal with the webs and his use of them it was best to play nice. She also didn't know how bulletproof his costume was, and it would be weird unless it seemed relevant. At least he listened when she told him to do things, that made it easier.
He went into the building and Savannah stopped in the shadows to observe the people looking on. The people who'd stopped or come out to see were easy enough to pick out, but none of them looked particularly suspicious. The moment she realized something was up at the back she was in motion again. She skilled around the corner and immediately spotted a man in a red hoodie with a cheap white plastic mask. He had a messenger bag over his shoulder and was putting something into it. He noticed her as she came towards him, and seemed to have the sense to recognize that, no matter how small she was, she was a threat. As heroes continued to crawl out of the woodwork it was a smart idea to assume that someone going right at danger was probably a threat themselves, and the man immediately took off running down an alleyway.
He may have been taller and stronger, but this was what she trained for. Savannah wasn't going to be racing any enhanced humans but she wasfast. Speed and agility were trained into her muscles, she had years of being told that she wasn't fast enough, that she couldn't turn corners sharp enough, and it had crafted her into hunter. Her father would have said to shoot the man in the leg, and she could hear his voice in her head with the command. It wasn't the right one, though. Not in this case. It woulds top the man but it would get her in more trouble than it was worth. Instead she pushed herself harder and put on a burst of speed, slamming into the man from behind. They tumbled to the ground and she landed on top of him. She didn't really have any interest in dragging this fight out and though her fingers curled first around a knife, that got abandoned pretty promptly. It would be something she had to explain to Spider-Man, and that wasn't worth it. If she put him at odds with her this fast there would probably be no recovering from that. She didn't care in a personal sense, but she definitely didn't want to have to fight Spider-Man and Iron Man.
Instead she twisted the man's arm behind his back until she felt his shoulder dislocate. He let out a yell and she pushed his face down into the cement. "Shh. You'll get me in trouble."
"Trouble? You just--"
"Dislocated your shoulder, yes. If you don't be quiet I'll start breaking your fingers. Or do the other arm, whichever I feel like. " She kept his sensitive injured arm cranked painfully behind his back with one hand while she cut the strap of his messenger bag so that she could open it up. Inside was a small plastic container. She shifting to use her knee to hold his arm back so that she could unscrew the container and sniff it.Kerosene."Now, we're all going to have a nice chat and I expect you to behave. Otherwise I'm going to make you drink your entire bottle."She wouldn't, the idea of it was grotesque and overkill, she just needed him to think that she would. Savannah didn't get pleasure out of causing needless pain. It was the fasted way to incapacitate someone though. Pain needed to have a point. In this case the point was to discourage movement and because she didn't have anything to tie the guy up with. That meant that she had to use pain and the fear of pain as a motivator.
Maybe Spider-Man wouldn't show up. Maybe he'd assume she had it handled and not search for her or track her or whatever he could do with his AI and ability to easily access rooftops. Not like they were all that far away, hadn't even rounded a corner. Still Savannah could hope because it would make things a whole lot easier on her if she didn't have to worry about someone else's morality getting in the way.
gpt
Room after room, Spider-Man moved as fast as he could, but with the smoke and fire it was hard to be thorough. It really was some kind of abandoned apartment building, at least on that floor, and there wasn't anyone there, neither curious people, homeless or victims. Most of the third floor was hell and the building was at serious risk, with the fire creeping into every corner as Peter ran downstairs to the second floor in search for anyone else. It was true that with the fire on the third floor, anyone that was warned could have walked down and outside without trouble, or at least trouble that he knew about, but since it was arson there were bound to be things he didn't knew about.
Okay, agh! Please!" the thug didn't struggle under Savanna's grasp, but he did whine a lot and even sob a bit. "I was just- fuck! hired to do this!" he protested. "The building should be empty it's-Fuck! My arm!" he was definitely sobbing now. "It's probably some kind of insurance scam please..." he begged to be released.
The second floor is colder, although not much"Karen chimed in as their reached it."No signs of life either. Smoke levels reaching dangerous heights" she warned, but Peter wasn't going to leave it unchecked. The second floor didn't differ much from the third one besides the fire having less of a presence there. Long abandoned apartments full of bad graffiti and trash, but no signs of people or even a pet to rescue. Why would anyone burn a place like this? Were real state interests at the stake? It was a maneuver to condemn the building? Those questions and many others didn't have much time to linger in Peter's head, as he was almost done with the floor it and soon headed to the last one. His usual chatter was absent due to the thin air and the urgency, specially when he noticed a human shape in the middle of the main corridor.
It was an old man, still breathing even if he was unconscious on the floor, bleeding a bit from a hit in his head. Spider-Man made good use of his strength and carried him as gently as he could over his shoulder, kicking the main door from the inside out and leaning the man to rest on the sidewalk, far enough from the building to avoid some scattered debris to falling on him if something happened. First responders were starting to arrive, lights on the distance, and on that wonderful way that New York has of doing things, soon a woman approached the costumed hero.
"I'm a doctor!" she said, kneeling next to the man as if she didn't mind Spider-Man's presence much. She was a middle aged black woman with a mixture of compassion and worry in her eyes. "He's fine but he should get checked..." she said, looking at the hero as it wondering about his presence. "What are you still doing here? Go to see if there is someone else inside!" she bossed at him, prompting the hasty return of Peter to the building in flames.
"New York, never change"he sighed, venturing inside the place. As it turned out, as far as he could see that floor was the only inhabited one, with a couple of furnished apartments with yet no one inside. No, there was some noise behind him. A cat hissed at Spider-Man before heading out of the building himself, as the pet rejected proudly the hero's help. Going out the building once more, Spider-Man noticed the cat going to the old man and the doctor and waiting close, while Peter decided to climb around the corner to take a look using the height advantage. The fire department had just arrived, and even if he knew little about fires, they would probably be able to still contain and save the place, even if the third floor would be unusable.
Please, if you let me go I'll tell you who paid me" the man sounded pathetic. "I wouldn't last much in prison! Please!" he didn't dare to fight back, but he did squirm a bit, looking in pain.
Crawling around the building in search for his... partner? Colleague? Acquaintance? Peter wondered where she was and what she was up to, noticing her down on the ground and lowering himself close by."What do we... coff... have here?"Spider-Man asked, his voice a bit coarse, more focused on recovering his breath than assessing the confusing situation.
I did write the thug a couple of lines to reveal why he's there, but feel free to work anything you want before and after them. If you need more wriggle room for something specific just tell me.
human
When the man started crying she got off of him, though Savannah seemed entirely unwilling to entirely trust that he was as non-threatening as he was trying to appear."Prison doesn't have me,"she commented, picking up the man's bag so that she could continue looking for evidence, "you should keep that in mind."She stayed crouched within reach, so that if the man tried to do anything she didn't like she would be able to stop it pretty promptly. Maybe not with a knife, but definitely with a stun gun."For now shut up, wait, and think about your options."She'd talk to him when she was good and ready. Right now she wanted to go through his things and let him sweat. She wasn't going to accept any deals here, but she didn't want the man to shut down. This would end in her knowing everything she wanted and this man in jail, because that was what she wanted and this criminal wasn't one that was going to be able to help her in the long run.
Ugh, there was Spider-Man. That he dropped down from above wasn't surprising, and she took the chance to look at his web as well as she could. Really all she knew about it was that it was strong enough to hold his weight and that he didn't actually produce it from his body, it came from the black things on his wrists. She supposed it was theoretically possible he did make it by like, throwing it up or something and then utilized it like he did, but that seemed unlikely. And gross. Either way, she knew he could use it in different forms but had no idea how that happened. But she knew where it came from so she could potentially disable it if she ever needed to. Still no immediate intention to fight him, but Savannah recognized that just because she didn't want to fight someone didn't mean that someone wouldn't want to fight her.
And she still didn't think this team thing was going to work out very long. Maybe with someone else, but not with this naive newer hero.
"If that's what your voice will sound like when you grow up, you'll be popular," she commented, treating it like an observation one could make about scenery. It was mostly to see how he responded, and because she was still trying to figure out where she knew his voice from. Voices weren't exactly unique though, so it could be anything from actually knowing him to the hero just sounding like someone she'd seen on TV once. It was more than just that she'd watched the YouTube videos of him though, that was for sure. If she prodded a little bit maybe it would help, or at least give her enough that if she heard him or the person who sounded like him again she'd be able to pick up on it immediately and put that to rest. Savannah didn't have any intention of going out of her way to find his identity or anything, that seemed like a waste of time and would probably get her in trouble she didn't want to deal with. She just wanted to put that tingle of familiarity to rest.
"But seriously, does the fancy suit not filter your air?"She knew exactly why he sounded like he did,"that seems like an oversight."It had an AI and wasn't made of normal material, so it had to have some other tricks. Except maybe not air filtration, apparently. "This is the guy who started the fire. Doesn't seem like much of a mastermind or a hardened criminal, and he says he'll tell us who paid him if we let him go. I'm not sure."She didn't trust deals like that. He could send them on a wild goose chase and then they'd have neither criminal. Her attention moved back to the man and she frowned."Now talk. We'll decide what happens once you've told us everything." There was the chance she'd have to defer to Spider-Man, but Savannah would do her best to make sure that he didn't make stupid decisions. If things went a way she didn't like she could just work on her own time. Wouldn't try and get the guy from the cops or anything but she could follow him home if she had to.
gpt
Even if Savannah got off him, the arsonist didn't move beyond his pained squirming, the coward too afraid to do anything beyond sobbing quietly. It was no wonder than he was scared of going to prison, nor was his crime a particularly brave one. His bag was full of implements to start fires, varied and properly tagged and isolated in receptacles and bags, so at least when it came to that he seemed to be proper and prim. The man seemed to take her advice to heart and didn't say a word, not even when Spider-Man made his appearance.
Spider-Man tried to utter a comment, cut some kind of remark when the girl joked about his voice, but Peter wasn't quick of mind for those kind of things when it came to Michelle and he was no different when the vigilante messed with him. Turning around to rise his mask just below his nose and cough a couple of times, Peter soon felt better and managed to lower his mask before turning back to face the still scared arsonist and her."It does help, but the third floor was hell and I went so fast that I breathed in all of it"he explained, sounding a bit bothered."Thanks for worrying though, I'm fine"yes, he definitely sounded a bit bummed, but soon his attention was focused on the troublemaker squirming at their feet.
"He seems in pain and scared, he could tell us anything"Spider-Man voiced, a hint of worry in his voice. Sirens sounded close, and the fire department had probably already started to work on the fire. Maybe police wouldn't find them there, not immediately, but they weren't gone specially far as to put things hard. Peter wasn't happy with the idea of letting a criminal go, although he had done nothing against the one that gave him the information he needed weeks ago. Well, nothing beyond leaving him stuck to his car until his ice cream melted, so maybe they could give this one a pass?"I managed to get the unconscious old man out of the building, I hope he's fine, but he could have died before the firefighters got there"he said, deciding already on his mind that he couldn't let someone like that go free.
"A-an old man?" the criminal spoke. "The building was supposed to be empty! I'm no m-murderer I swear!" he promised, looking up to both of them with pleading eyes. He had no warranty of getting any kind of deal, but he started to talk anyways, hoping for the best. "My arm..." he whined a bit before starting. "I was hired to burn the building so they could build on the spot. It was the only way, city council wouldn't let it be demolished otherwise" he explained. "But they told me it would be empty! I promise!" he sobbed once more, still on the ground and finding no comfortable posture for his arm.
"Well, who hired you?"Spider-Man asked, confused at the whole deal. If the arsonist didn't hit the man in the head, who did? It didn't seem an injury one made when falling because of the smoke or panic.
"Please, I will stop doing this... I'll return to my aunt's home in Montana and start a new life..." the man begged. "I'm not a sick man... I was an insurance expert before losing my job... I just need the money..." he continued with his sob story, although it ringed true for Peter, maybe the aunt part softened him without him noticing. "I don't know anything about the old man... and I don't know who paid me, he was just a suit like the ones that fired me" he tried to explain. "But if you look into the ones owning the land where the building is I'm sure you can find him, just please..." he begged, looking at the pair with hopeful eyes.
"You got him"Peter said, managing to avoid adding a 'and you got him well' as she seemed to have roughed his arm quite a bit. It was true that he hadn't been there when she got him, and he had injured and roughed criminals in the past, so he didn't think about it any more."So what do we do?"he shrugged. Maybe Ned could help with the whole digging into the corporation owning the lands, he was a talented hacker and his guy in the chair after all.
human
The man had run and tried to fight back when she tackled him, so she had subdued him. She hadn't even gone that far, and that was her defense if she got called on it. The dude would survive.
"Yeah, that's the problem." She already had a lie for the police if they showed up, it would just require talking faster than Spider-Man could start. "Your arm will be fine. Go to the emergency room and they'll get you what you need, then you ice it."Probably not a great thing to do to a guy who was so in need of money that he had been willing to turn to arson, but if he wasn't going to go to jail he could pay for his crime like this."I'm like half your size and I've had worse." Okay she was less than a foot shorter than the guy, but he had broader shoulders so she had a little more justification in her comment. He was also, y'know, and adult man and she was a seventeen year old. Not a totally normal seventeen year old, but that wasn't the point.
"If he gets arrested it could put whoever hired him on alert, and they might start destroying evidence," she said a little thoughtfully, rolling over their options in her mind, "so if he says his work is done and leaves, they'll think they got away free. If they were trying to stage the fire as as a method of or to cover up a murder, it's more important to get the big guy, right? This could be about the building, the old guy, or both."And attempted murder was a big deal. Especially if someone with money and power was behind it. That was exactly the sort of person she'd like to get to hit.
Savannah made a 'stay there' gesture in the man's direction and then grabbed Spider-Man's wrist, tugging him a few steps away so that they could speak quietly without the arsonist hearing them."Honestly I don't care that much about the burning of an abandoned building, it's not what I'm here for. If that deviates from your definition of justice we can turn him in. Jail might not be good for him depending on who did this, though."She didn't really expect that a hit would be put out on the dude in jail but it was a small possibility. Seemed like an idea that Spider-Man wouldn't like, though. "If he's out of jail we can use him. He can send information if they contact him again or if he remembers any details, he can contact us. It's not exactly hard to put together an email address nobody will be able to trace to me." So it wasn't out of empathy that she was willing to let the guy go, it was because she saw use in it."He seems legit. He might be a better liar than I'm capable of identifying, but that seems like the class of person who'd be better at fighting back. Or who aren't unemployed."
Had she known that Peter hadn't gotten any information from the old man she would have tried to send him right back to find out why someone might want to try and kill him or burn the building down, but she assumed that Spider-Man had done it. It seemed so basic to her that she didn't think that someone wouldn't have done it.
If he hadn't pulled his hand away before that point this was when she released the hero's wrist and turned back to the criminal. And... sort of victim, if what she did to him made him a victim."Describe the guy who hired you as best that you can. Physically, how he talked, what he smelled like, the presence he projected in the room."She glanced over at Spider-Man,"can your AI record the details? That way we get exact wording." She could put together some possible profile sketches as a starting point, though they would only be much good paired with additional information. "Reluctantly I begin to accept that a partnership may be in the works for this."Ugh. This wasn't what Savannah wanted at all, she should have been able to just disappear into the night and not had to deal with the costumed hero again. New York City was bit, they could just... not ever see each other again. Except now they had to investigate the arson case and maybe a murder case and she did not want to do that. Well no, she did. This all sounded fantastic and incredibly up her alley, she just didn't want to have to do it with someone else. Well, there was someone, but it wasn't this spider based goody two shoes hero.
gpt
The eyes of Spider-Man's mask widened, mimicking Peter's surprised face when the girl talked about how the arsonist getting arrested could tip the bad guy behind it. "Yeah, I hope that the old guy is fine, I left him with a doctor..."he mumbled, little to add to her ideas. Giving how her process of thought was, either she was very smart and wily or she had been doing this longer than he thought, maybe both. It seemed that she wanted to have a word or two in private, so they walked a bit from the arsonist since he wasn't going anywhere. "I'm fine with letting him go, I've... kinda done something similar before"he commented. It wasn't the same as interrogating a would be criminal and letting his ice cream melt, but still.
The girl seemed to be somewhat tech savvy as well, and had a solid plan to boot. "If you have a smartphone on you, can you set the email now?"Spider-Man asked."This thing doesn't exactly have pockets..."he gestured to his tight outfit. Normally he would be communicating with Ned and he would sort that out, but he was busy that night. Maybe Karen could do it, but it was her plan so he didn't say a thing about that. Plus, Karen was nice, but he didn't want to depend that much on her. Unlike Tony, Peter had his own, even if accidental, powers and smarts that... well, maybe not rivaled him, but he was younger. Depending on the suit could end up being a liability.
"I like the idea. The email also gives me a way to contact you"he commented, as he haven't thought of how they were going to reach each other once that night was gone. Peter had the feeling that she just wasn't too happy with him around, but other times she seemed friendlier, as if she couldn't decide on what she thought about him. Not that Peter had his ideas any clearer either, as she was one tough vigilante that may or may not have special powers and whose age, even if young, was unknown."So... you can let me go, I'm not going anywhere"he commented, suddenly aware that she was still grabbing him by the wrist.
"Yes she can"Peter said when asked about Karen's recording capabilities, not revealing that she did record everything by default as that would make the young woman nervous. Maybe he could take a look at the images later and see if there was something he missed about her? That would be disrespectful of the privacy of a fellow hero, or something similar, so he probably wouldn't. He was sure that at least a quick peek would be had, since Ned was for sure going to ask about her once Peter told him about that night's escapade. "I'll send you the video to the email"he commented, helping the arsonist to sit against a wall and be as comfortable as possible while he talked.
"He... he came to my house" he started mumbling. "He knew who I was, that I had been fired, that my expertise as an insurance expert were fires" he continued, eager to share so he could go. "He had all my account information, the money I owe to the bank..." he shared, as he seemed to be going through a rough patch. "He was middle aged, not specially tall... brown balding hair, with..." he tried to explain with his healthy arm. "That thing when someone combs up long side hair to hide a bald? And he was slightly smaller than me" he added. It was clear that this man wasn't hard to scare since that one didn't sum up an imposing presence, it seemed that just his financial information and the correct attitude were enough to push this desperate man into arson.
human
His mask reflecting his expression seemed unnecessary, but hey, any reason for her to be able to "You left him with someone." Yeah okay. He wasn't thinking about this as a murder attempt but an arson, so she didn't say anything about the potential problems with leaving a guy with someone he'd... probably just found on the street. "I don't necessarily like it,"she said, still speaking softly enough the man wouldn't be able to hear her,"but it's what I think is the best option right now."If they needed to find him later they could use his IP address if he responded to an email from her, and if not... well, it would be harder but Spider-Man was Stark connected. Savannah would get the guy's name and hope that he didn't lie to her. He seemed like he'd be compliant enough, but she didn't trust criminals.
She let out a tiny sigh and pushed her fake glasses up her nose."Yes."It was a prepaid burner phone and she only had so many minutes of any kind of access, but she could waste a few of them setting things up now. The email she gave him was string of numbers and letters that meant nothing and had been selected as randomly as a person could select numbers and letters without drawing them out of a hat. Of course he would want to contact her. She could ignore the emails if she didn't feel like dealing with him, but it would probably be problematic in the long term. Ugh. Well, she'd gotten herself into this mess and she wanted to see the end to this mystery, so she'd deal. After that she could wash her hands of Spider-Man and get on with her life."Don't make me regret this,"she informed the costumed hero a little bit stiffly. She didn't make any threats, but that was because she didn't want to pick a fight. He should understand that she was telling him not to try and use it to track her down.
Spider-Man helped the guy sit up and she stood a tiny bit away with her arms crossed, not really being judgmental about it. it was the right thing for him to be doing, after all. She hadn't considered giving the man help, which Savannah recognized wasn't... fantastic. He wasn't as bad as she thought, she should probably have readjusted her behavior.
"Give me your email,"she told the man,"Easier if you don't have to try and remember mine. Oh, your name too.So that she could find him if she felt like she needed to."If you lie to me I'll know, and I'll find you."It seemed like a casual enough threat that Spider-Man wouldn't get all antsy. Wasn't like she was threatening to kill the man or anything. And if he lied to them and just ran off, it'd be problematic. It was going to make it harder to find whoever orchestrated this, and it could be potentially dangerous for this guy. That part didn't bother her as much, but she thought she might feel a little bit bad if the guy got murdered or beat up by someone else.
Dude knew where this guy lived? Shit."Right. Okay. So here's what happened. You lit the building up and didn't stick around to see the cops show up. Guilty about what you did - or to celebrate your new money, whichever - you went to a bar, got totally hammered, and ended up accidentally pissing some guy off. Spilled your drink on him or something, whatever. He fought you, you lost, and that's why you're going to the hospital." She paused a moment to make sure the man understood before continuing,"don't talk about it unless you get asked."This guy was clearly not going to be a functional liar without a little prep. She sounded openly annoyed, though whether it was because of her dislike for the arsonist or the situation in general was impossible to parse out.
gpt
"Not on my mind" Spider-Man said slowly, trying to decipher what she meant with the whole thing about not making her regret that. She seemed fine before the fire and now was trying to distance again? Peter really sucked at reading people, specially women."I just want to clear this thing up"he said, somewhat tense. He was getting tired of her constant nagging, she didn't like that he left the injured old man with a good hearted New Yorker, she didn't like staying in contact with him... Maybe she was right and how they helped people didn't match? It was weird, because the case seemed to be going fine, perhaps it was a personal thing. In the end of the day, there was a limit on how far could you trust someone masked.
"Jo-Jonathan Doyle..." the arsonist answered, "Joyle80@StarkMail.com" he promptly added. "It's the truth! I left my driving license at home, but I swear..." Jonathan pledged, sounding and looking completely honest. "Do you believe me, right Spider-Man?" he asked, looking for some support in the gentler costumed hero.
"Yeah, yeah, I believe you..." Spider-Man nodded, even he felt awkward by how much of a wuss that guy was. He also thought that it was somewhat amusing how seamlessly had the two of them fallen into some kind of good cop, bad cop routine, but once again he had the feeling that the girl wouldn't find it as funny as he did.
"A bar, drinks, a fight, got it" he nodded, looking depressed. "Drinking and causing a scene was why they fired me after all, but that was because Anna left me for the neighbor guy. Just because he's all muscular and fit doesn't mean..." he started to rant, simmering in his own self pity.
"Come on Jon, can I call you Jon?"Spider-Man said, crouching besides the man. "Think of this as a second chance at life"he said, tapping one of his knees."I don't mean to make this sound weird, but that was a great fire, even I got almost choked and the building probably has no chance. It's clear that you know your thing, but you must use that knowledge for good" he lectured."It's your responsibility, I'm sure that there are many places where a fire expert like you can get a job, right?"Peter said, trying to cheer the guy up. He looked towards the girl, if she wanted to at least echo his thoughts, but he didn't have hopes about that.
"You are right. I can sell fire alarms, or maybe open my own detective agency specialized in arson..." the guy mumbled.
"That's it, positive thinking"Spider-Man greeted, helping Jonathan get up."It's everything set up? Do we call it a night?"he asked, looking at the girl.
human
He was tunhappy now, she'd maybe gone too far. Savannah frowned underneath the scarf and tried to soften the tension with"I wasn't... trained for teamwork. Trust no one, assume that everyone is going to be the one who takes you down." If they were going to do this, and she was pretty sure they were, she needed him to listen to her. If that meant being open about her teamwork skills (ignoring the fact she had done great with one other person), so be it."I have to protect my people, I figure you probably get that."It was more likely than not that he had a loved one or two, and they both knew what could happen to friends and family if a secret identity got out. He had two good reasons now, it should be enough to get the hero off her butt when it came to her attitude.
Also she didn't want to be working with him, it was just necessary at this point if she wanted to investigate this.
The arsonist gave his name and email address and she emailed him promptly so that he'd have hers and then tucked her phone into her pocket."Smart,"she commented a little distantly when he said he'd left his license at home. It wasn't as great for them, but it had been the right decision if he didn't want to get forcibly ID'd by someone. Jonathan looked to Spider-Man for assurance and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but stopped fighting it when he mentioned his ex. It was dark and she was a few steps away so nobody saw, but it made her feel better. She was happy to leave the reassurances to Spider-Man but he looked her way and suddenly the spotlight was on her. A spotlight that Savannah was entirely unprepared for.
"Don't think a detective agency would be your style." She realized that maybe she shouldn't just leave it at the negative and cleared her throat."Your knowledge could be useful for any variety of things. You could work for the police as an arson investigator with the right certifications. You could..."she hesitated, clearly floundering in her attempts to think of positive things, and sighed."You seem more desperate and misguided than malicious, that just doesn't mean a lot to me or the law. But you get another chance. If you think anyone in your life might say you drink too much, go to AA. If you can't let go of your anger on your own, see someone. That's the kind of thing that can eat you alive, don't let it. You can do better, so... do it. One bad thing doesn't make you a bad human being." She said it like pulling the words out of her was the equivalent of pulling out one of her own teeth, but those were the best words Savannah could manage. She could have lied and come up with all sorts of positive things, but it hadn't occurred to her in the moment."It's not what I judge by," she was there to stop the actions, she didn't really care about the quality of person they were,"but... it matters a lot to some people." So he could be good by their standards.
She wasn't going to apologize for fucking up his arm, though. He'd run from her as a criminal, she'd treated him like what he was.
The short teen shoved her hands in her pockets awkwardly and took a few steps back as though making it clear that she wasn't going to try and stop the guy from running as Spider-Man helped him up. "If the old guy is still there you should get his name so you can find out later if someone would want to kill him. My empathy skills are a little underdeveloped."He didn't need to know she could lie when she wanted to."Otherwise yeah. There's not a lot to go on, but I'll get Jonathan to message me more specific facial details if he can remember them later, and see if I can put together some potential faces."There were programs that will allow her to pick out features and put them all together like a police sketch. This was more detective work than she was used to or comfortable with, but she sort of knew what she was doing. If nothing else she was good at figuring things out on the fly.
gpt
Peter was surprised, looking at the girl he was still trying to understand. First she explained how she wasn't trained for teamwork and how she wanted to protect her people, things that he could understand, as the mask was precisely to protect her loved ones. Even so, he didn't say a thing and just nodded, but then the girl struggled to talk positively to Jonathan, something he totally didn't expect nor saw it coming at all. Even if awkwardly, she was giving solid advice, showing that in some degree she cared and wasn't just some toughened vigilante. Peter felt a bit bad for judging her hastily, as it was clear that beyond the scarf, glasses and all that, there was a young woman that didn't just want to serve some kind of sense of justice, but also the people that were affected for the lack of it.
"Good job"Spider-Man acknowledged once she was done."The place is probably swarming with firefighters, cops and ambulances and... well, even if I don't think they would resent me... I'm not exactly an Avenger yet so can't just stroll by and just chill with the cops"he commented."I can follow the ambulance to the hospital and make sure the old man arrives safely. Once there it shouldn't be hard to get his name" Spider-Man added, although he wasn't thinking his plan through yet."I'll also ask someone I know about taking a look into the bureaucracy to see what we can get about the building" he commented, thinking of the million questions Ned would have about this the morning after. "I'll report everything to that mail you made and we can use it to sort of... hang out?"Peter commented awkwardly, unable to find a better expression. "To see this sorted out, of course"he promptly added.
"See you, mystery woman, I don't want to miss the ambulance..."Peter said before firing a web line that promptly took him out of there. Trying to not think about his new vigilante comrade and if he had made a good impression or not, Spider-Man focused on returning to the already smokey but not flaming building, seeing that the old man seemed to be doing better, as the woman he had left him with talking to the ambulance EMTs as they loaded him on the vehicle. It was getting late and the next day was a school day, but Peter could squeeze a bit more of time to make sure things were okay.
"I established a secure email address that can't be traced to you at SpiderMan@StarkMail.com"Karen suddenly said, startling Peter a bit after how silent she had been. It was creepy how she could anticipate needs and read situations, but she didn't always get things right, something that only made her more endearing, even if it undercut on her usefulness."Thanks..."Peter mumbled, following the ambulance swing by swing until they got to a hospital. "I should have put a tracker on the old man..." Peter remembered. "There is still time to put one on the stretcher once they get out of the ambulance"he realized, doing it so as soon as he could. That way he should be able to follow it until they got him to a room, all counting with Karen's help of course.
"It stopped"Karen warned after a while, finally. After a round by the ER room and several corridors and floors, it seemed that the stretcher had stopped in a room before heading back down. Spider-Man crawled by the hospital facade, arriving at the window of the room the old man should be in. The old man was resting there, his head bandaged and seemingly stable. Squeezing in by the slightly ajar window, Peter could check on his medical report that he was fine, just a small concussion that caused him to be hold for observation and he should be released in the morning."Arthur Norrington..."he whispered, noticing the old man's name on the report. "You gave me a scare, I'm glad that you are fine" he mumbled, before heading out of the room by the same window he got in. "Karen, send our mystery woman a photo of the old man and the recording of Jonathan's interrogation together with Arthur's name"he said, wanting to keep her reported in as he promised, before heading home.
human
She didn't have a response to his 'good job', just kept her hands shoved in her sweatshirt pockets and looked a little bit awkward underneath the glasses and scarf."I guess that makes sense. I'd figured they'd be fine with you." It was actually a little bit weird. He had Stark connections and he'd done nothing but good, but apparently that wasn't enough? Maybe he needed to practice having an imposing presence. He came off awkward and inexperienced, but he'd probably grow into it. At least, she figured he would. 'Hang out' wasn't the word that she would use, but she didn't fight it."Being able to arrange a meeting place will make things easier,"she ended up agreeing, because that was a truth.
"Good luck."She didn't have anything else to say, she just hoped he'd get it done. It was only once Spider-Man had swung off that Savannah headed towards home. Well, the subway she would need to take to get home. She was a little bit wary the whole way back to the house that she was being followed, but by the time she was in the yard it seemed unlikely. He wasn't a better liar than her, so he couldn't have been faking the inexperience.
His email was responded to with just the word 'thanks'. There was nothing to sign off with, and she didn't really need to anyway. The picture had been from in the hospital which meant he'd somehow gotten in, and if Spider-Man had broken into the hospital she had perhaps underestimated him a little bit. It wasn't a very criminal thing he was doing but he had gotten the information she asked for and she could appreciate that. Then she slipped through her partially open window and into her dark room, padding across the floor to take off her things and stash them in the closet. She got dressed again, in clothes that were just pajama-like that she could excuse them if her adopted 'family' came in. Savannah wasn't yet comfortable enough to sleep in normal pajamas or whatever other people slept in. She wanted to be able to do things if she needed to.
The next morning she was up and ready for school on time and with only a little bit of exhaustion. She had kept her sleep schedule as close to what she preferred it as possible so her body wouldn't get used to having more rest. She'd also needed time to do some of her exercises in her room and then go for a jog that her adopted 'family' knew about and seemed to approve of. They were giving her a lot of freedom, probably out of concern or because they didn't know how to connect to her. The fact that these strangers were willing to take her in at all, someone they hadn't seen since she was too young to remember them, was stunning. For that she did at least feel a firm desire to keep her life away from them. These were good people. Even though she didn't want them to, one of her adopted... people drove her to school and Savannah played nice and friendly with the woman the whole way and thanked her politely when she slid out of the car, backpack slung over her black faux-leather jacket. Her hair had been tamed about as well as it could be without being pulled back or the use of product, and she carried herself with a quiet confidence as she walked towards the school. Time to decide if she wanted to find her 'friends' or not. Michelle interested her and Peter and Ned were going to be useful for figuring out mainstream culture and because she needed companions who weren't openly weird. They were nerds, but they were normal.
Popularity would definitely have been too hard. Not just because of the amount of social effort that would be needed, but because she already wanted to punch one of the 'cool kids' in the teeth.
gpt
"...and then she was like 'Good Luck' and I swung away"Peter finished telling Ned what happened the night before, or at least an abridged version. He kept his voice low as they went to school, but even then it was clear that it had been an eventful and exciting night. Ned was already aware of the whole hospital visit and the mail thing, since Peter had told things in a pretty scrambled way, but the gist of it was clear.
"So I miss out one night and you met some kind of professional vigilante girl?"Ned wallowed in despair as loud as a whispering tone allowed."We can take a look at the paperwork and stuff after school, to see who the building belongs to. Or during if it gets specially boring" he commented, wanting to take part on it.
"Yeah, but I can't be everywhere at once. The arsonist dude should keep in contact with her, or at least I would if I was in his place, and the injured old man should be out of the hospital sometime today..."Peter planned. "There is school with all it entails, and even if my aunt is being cool, I don't want to scare her..."he continued, not to mention the weird possibility of Stark wanting something of him, although he doubted so that much."I guess that at some moment today I should talk to her, unless she does it first, but I don't know..."he mumbled, unsure.
"That's why I'm the guy in the chair, I've got your back"Ned said, proud of being a helpful sidekick."So it's Spider-Man and this girl going to become a thing?" Ned asked excited, facing what it would be Spider-Man's first team up since he knew him.
"They're not a thing!"Peter protested embarrassed, completely and utterly misunderstanding what Ned meant, waving his hands defensively.
"Who're not a thing?"Michelle asked, appearing out of nowhere with that gift she had of being at the worst place in the worst time. Or perhaps the best, depending on perspective.
"No one is a thing!"Peter suddenly said, not making much sense. "Pairing characters in videogames is just weird!"he managed to add, squeezing an excuse out of desperation.
"I don't care if it was half-baked, Hawke and Merrill were made to be together"Ned managed to follow suit with an even more otherworldly comment, this time about Dragon Age 2 of all things.
"But it was half baked, and everyone knows that Isabella fits Hawke more-"Peter clung into Ned's distraction like it was a life boat.
"Whatever"Michelle cut it out, rolling her eyes.
"Hey Savannah!"Peter noticed the blonde girl, waving to her in the distance. He was wearing some jeans with a white shirt and an earth brown jacket and felt immediately less cool than Savannah with her nice hair and black jacket.
human
There were so many faces. This school wasn't huge by New York standards and she knew that, but there were still so many people. So many other teens, it was almost overwhelming in a way. Savannah knew that there were a lot of people in New York, she knew that there were a lot of students in high schools, but she'd never been expected to play well with this many people. She was supposed to be one of them, and she didn't think she could. She wasn't like any of these people, and she didn't think that she wanted to be.
She recognized the voice, but not for the reason she was supposed to. Her shoulders tensed and Savannah glanced around quickly, trying to figure out where that spider asshole was. He'd said he wouldn't try to learn anything about her, what was he--
Oh. It was Peter waving at her. She relaxed and lifted a hand in response and moved towards the group, but after a few steps, things started to click. No.No way. But he sounded the same, and he had the same slender build. She stopped close to him, sizing him up and realized that the height difference between them was about the same as her and Spider-Man, too. She didn't realize how intently she was staring until Michelle piped up with"Is this the thing?"
Immediately Savannah's gaze jerked away, going from Peter to Michelle and then down to the ground."Wha- no. The what? No."She was a little bit flustered at being caught, though not for the reasons that would be most likely assumed. It wasn't optimal if people thought she was into him, but it was easier than explaining that she was actually a vigilante of sorts who spent her nights running around and beating people up and she suspected that her new friend might be doing the same thing but in a skintight suit and while being a lot more friendly. That'd go over well.
It seemed so unlikely, this skinny nerd was a super hero? But she was a skinny crazy haired homeschooled girl here, she had been a traumatized victim briefly for the police, she played some middle ground in her new home, anyone could be lying about themselves. The comparisons were there though, and she had to follow up on that. She needed to know, this couldn't be left alone. Maybe she'd be wrong. She hoped she was wrong, she couldn't be this close to a hero. It was too dangerous for her. This was why she pitched her voice. Nobody would have that moment with her because she sounded several years older and she had adjusted what personality traits she showed when she was out. This was more hiding her identity than she had been the night before, really.
"When's the next academic... whatever-it's-called meeting? I'm still not sure I want to join but yesterday was fun and my guardians are a little overbearing right now."Topic change, right now please. She wasn't going to call them parents just to keep people from asking questions. She'd had parents, she didn't want to disrespect them. So she'd call them everything but parents and just answer questions if they came up. And if anyone actually asked her how her parents died, she'd start crying and they'd feel like terrible people. It was a pretty good system, Savannah figured.
gpt
Normally Peter would be too busy trying to look out for Michelle or talking to Ned for noticing, but since most of his focus was on the blonde newcomer, he thought for a moment that she was checking him out. Was that something that girls did? More exactly, was that something that girls did to him? Peter wasn't that much of an oblivious nerd, he knew that on the locker rooms some guys were surprised that his nerdy self had that lean definition on his body, so that was something worth checking out, right? Not that it really showed with the generally unflattering and somewhat baggy clothes he wore, but still. Before he could even check if it was true, Michelle destroyed the moment in a totally Michelle fashion.
"The thi- nonono, not a thing at all" Peter's flustered protests and denial mixed with Savannah's, creating a chorus of embarrassed rebuttal. Peter managed to glance at Savannah, and she looked terribly adorable with a bit of a color in her face. Maybe there could be a thing there, did he even want a thing at that moment? He was already busy enough without a thing to want a thing, and yet it maybe was too compelling of a thing to completely reject the idea. Peter had still in mind how his last thing went, so with his Parker luck this time maybe the whole Savannah's family could be a super villain team.
"I told you it was a videogame thing" Ned came to the rescue. "And I think I that the word thing lost meaning over repeating it by now"he said, oddly positioned as the voice of reason for once.
Peter's eyes opened widely when Savannah asked about the Academic Decathlon, not expecting her positive feedback and happy that he could have Savannah close by. She mentioned her guardians, not parents, a detail that didn't fly under Peter's radar even if he didn't register her question as a desperate topic change. Well, he wasn't asking if she wasn't sharing, after all he lived alone with his aunt so it wasn't that weird, was it? "No idea, but we'll be happy to have you there"Peter said, miraculously extending his happiness to the group instead of saying that he would be happy and cause yet another awkward moment."Captain?"he asked, looking at Michelle.
"Yeah, even if mister Harrington is the teacher at charge of the team, he can be a little bit distracted" Ned commented."So many things depend of our O Captain! My Captain!"he added, dramatically.
"Watching Dead Poets Society again?" Peter asked, not entirely surprised by Ned's lyrical moment.
"Robin Williams was a genius"he said, unchallenged.
Peter was torn, because on one hand he wanted Michelle to call for a club meeting that day so he could be with Savannah a bit more, but on the other hand that would eat straight into the time Ned and him had to chase the bad guys. If she called for a meeting he couldn't skip it, that would make Michelle to focus on him more and he would need an excuse for Ned too, not to mention that he would leave Savannah with Flash nearby and even if she fared better than him, Peter didn't want that.
human
What she was doing was technically checking him out. No matter what her intention was, the action was there. It just wasn't for reasons of attraction. She wanted to size him up, figure out what his body was like, and in general get a good look at him, but because she wanted to know if he was Spider-Man.
Well, at least his embarrassment took some of the pressure off of hers, though she managed to be a little bit amused by it. She definitely didn't have time for a thing. Savannah wasn't opposed to having... some form of romance in her life, it just didn't seem like it would work well. She was balancing so many things and the kind of boyfriend she'd need seemed so impossible to find that mostly she didn't think about it. Right now she just needed to get her life in order and get back into the swing of things. Her dad had never tried to train her into not believing in love, he probably wouldn't have been able to even if he'd given it a shot. She just didn't know if she had time for it, and would spend way too much time worrying about someone. What she did brought danger to the people around her, after all."Which game? I mean I probaby won't know it, but apparently video games are all the rage these days and I'm interested."Not really. She was playing up how little she knew about pop culture stuff, and her tone and expression said that.
How did they not have properly planned days for practice? That was nuts. Savannah was a fan of organization and routine, and it was especially important in team stuff. If she was going to end up with the team for something she wasn't super invested in, she could put some work into organization in order to look like she was more interested and connected with them. Then they would think positively about her and she would have community connections with minimal work. Plus she could learn more about how teenagers.... teenagered.
Ned quoted a tiny piece of a poem and Savannah's eyebrow looked between him and Michelle, unsure about how to interpret the dramatics. She got ready to say something, but didn't end up actually getting anything out."I'm busy,"Michelle said cryptically,"maybe you can help Savannah be a real girl."She'd seen that Savannah had opened her mouth to respond to Ned and Peter's exchange, and had deduced - correctly - that the blonde hadn't seen the movie being referenced."She doesn't know anything."
"I know who Robin Williams is,"Savannah said defensively,"I just... don't get the reference. I only know that as the poem by Walt Whitman. Which I assume is what's being referenced based on the title of the movie."Her mother had liked poetry."TV wasn't a big thing in my house."After the... accident it had just been documentaries and recorded fights, on occasion an old home video when her dad had a little too much to drink."But that's a bit of a grim thing to put on Michelle, isn't it? I mean that might be her thing..."Wasn't grim in the movie, but she had no way of knowing that.
Savannah knew the poem by heart. If they didn't know the original context she could continue what might become her demonstrating an eclectic 'home schooled kid' knowledge.
gpt
"Dragon Age 2"both Ned and Peter answered at the same time."Maybe starting from the first is better?"Peter wondered, not knowing if Savannah had the hardware to play it.
"Or just go the Mass Effect route if she prefers science fiction"Ned added, shrugging. "I'm not sure if she's a sword and sorcery or a spaceships and stars girl"he said, sizing her up.
"Well... why choose?"Peter asked, once again both of them speaking at the same time"Star Wars then"they nodded, convinced that it got the best of both worlds.
As the nerdy duo were distracted from the whole checking out, awkward moment by their own fandom, they didn't notice Savannah's discomfort with the lack of schedule. They were a bunch of busy kids, so sometimes meetings were scheduled on the back of a rapidly fired instant message apps through the phones. It was true though that the closer they got to an event or contest, the more structured things became. As Michelle disregarded the possibility of a meeting as she was busy with who knew what, it seemed that her comment made Savannah spring and share a few more things about herself, catching both Ned and Peter by surprise.
"Oh no, in the movie is nothing grim..."Peter commented, wanting to ease Savannah off and make her feel part of the group. Peter's body language was anything but subtle, even if unconscious, so he shuffled closer to the blonde girl.
"See? She's already a real girl! There are no strings on her, to hold her down, to make her fret, or make her frown..."Ned skipped from one pop culture bit to another, this time Pinocchio.
"It's way too early for songs, Ned" Peter frowned, not sharing his love for musical pieces. Well, except for Moulin Rouge or Les Mis, of course."It's a free afternoon thing then, maybe we'll have a meeting tomorrow"he said, looking at Michelle trying to guess what she was involved with to be that busy, but the girl was opaque.
human
She didn't necessarily know what kind of gal she was when it came to games. Realistic fighting would appeal to her, but that wasn't something that Savannah was going to say out loud because that seemed like it might be weird."I know what Star Wars is." She didn't know Dragon Age or Mass Effect, but she could look them up later Savannah supposed. Or the other teens would introduce her to them."And I do like swords."This was a true fact. She wasn't so sure about the 'sorcery' part. The stars were very far away and none of her concern, she didn't think of them often.
The information got a nose wrinkle in response."But it is a reference to the poem? That seems weird." After a second she shrugged it off, glancing at Peter. He was closer than he'd been before and she smiled slightly, though it wasn't a smile she felt on the inside."You'll have to show me the movie."She didn't really want that. It didn't sound like a bad time though, she just... friendship was hard. He was probably a super hero. It was all a mess that would end even messier. Someone would get hurt, and Savannah didn't want to hurt anymore. But school friends were important to her image, and they weren't bad. There was something to be said about having people around now, though. There was a warmth the she remembered vaguely. A comfort between Ned and Peter (and Michelle on the sidelines) that he enjoyed. Savannah wasn't sure if she was appreciating it from a friendship perspective or some other way because she didn't know how teenagers were supposed to be friends with each other, but it was... nice.
Ned made another reference and she wanted to roll her eyes but restrained herself. It wasn't until a second later she realized that she could have done that, and had been thinking perhaps a little bit more about not seeming unlikable than she needed to. It hadn't been a planned restraint."I know what that's from at least," she said, like she deserved some sort of award for knowing an animated kid's film that pretty much every kid in America had knowledge of."And Peter's right, it's too early for songs."Savannah wasn't one for musicals at all. She didn't understand the appeal of people randomly starting to sing when feelings could be expressed in film just as easily with words that didn't have to be to the tune. Plus nobody actually started randomly singing about their opinions and feelings unless they were desperate for attention. She'd never met anyone who just broke into song like that, but she was pretty sure they'd be incredibly needy.
Michelle was quite adept at making everything she did sound mysterious. It didn't help that sometimes she did weird things that people didn't understand, and she responded to Peter's look with a blank and unimpressed expression. He might as well have been looking for clues to her later engagement in the brick wall behind them.
"Tomorrow will work for me."Probably. If she was right about Peter being Spider-Man, she might have to drop the group. It was a bit of a conundrum - if he was practicing for the academic whateverathon she would have time to herself to do the things that she wanted to do, but it would be during the day. That wasn't when she worked, and that wasn't when the people she wanted to find would be out. The seventeen year old student and vigilante still needed to find an informant or two still. Find people who would sell each other out for safety but weren't skilled enough to find out things about her and sellherout."But I've got time after school for... whatever."Something. Ned and Peter didn't seem like the teens who smoked and partied or whatever else. Was Dungeons and Dragons still a thing? It was probably still a thing and these were probably the nerds who'd play it. She had time for a movie or something, but that would probably mean going to someone's house and... eugh. That was meeting parents and her guardians maybe talking to parents and then too many people were tangled up her shit.
Right now she should be planning for lunch, that would be a good time to ask the group about Spider-Man a little, gauge reactions
gpt
"One... one of these days"Peter commented when Savannah asked him to show Dead Poets Society to her. For a moment he felt comfortable as she smiled, but there was something uneasy there. Something about her eyes, those eyes, that made him wonder about her smile, but it was a fleeting moment and gone after a split second. There was something there worth his attention, something that made him want to be closer, curious and interested on Savannah, but his natural shyness and the presence of his friends kept him from doing anything stupid. That she was beautiful was beyond question, but there was more there, an underlying question he couldn't even figure to ask. Peter frowned and just let the notion past by his head, as girls being a mystery for him wasn't anything new.
"You two are plotting against my lyrical soul"Ned said, feigning theatrical outrage. "Teaming up against musicals, that's a low blow" he commented, shaking his head. He was about to add another, probably weird, affirmation to his repertoire when the school bell sounded as a warning, as classes were about to begin soon."Saved by the-"Ned started, a bit of a jokey tone in his voice.
"Don't even dare. No early nineties weirdness either"Peter nipped Ned's chant at the bud, before it could flower into further retro flavored awkwardness. "We can maybe make plans during lunch?" Peter asked as the group started to slowly fragment and drift to their respective classrooms."My aunt will be working so my house is free!" he added, somewhat boldly and louder as they were already a few steps apart.
Ned raised a thumbs up in the air as he went away, while Michelle... wasn't even there and Peter didn't even notice her sneaking away. Peter cast a last glance towards Savannah, almost tempted to check her out as he thought she was doing earlier, but feeling to out of place to do so and just waved and rushed over to the classrooms. The morning moved at a decent pace, after all that school did all it could to keep the nerdy and smart students it housed entertained and educated, so it wasn't as much as a drag than expected. Even with the spare time Peter had here and there, he couldn't quite plan an afternoon that covered all fronts.
He could be with Savannah while Ned investigated the case, but the mere thought of the two of them alone in his house rendered him flustered. So the investigation would have to wait until a bit later in the afternoon when they all split ways, or so he thought, but that still left the question of what would they do for fun that afternoon. Peter checked his phone and the mysterious girl from last night didn't communicate further, so maybe she was sleeping? Well, a vigilante had to sleep sometime, or so he thought.
human
The bell interrupted any further conversation and Peter interrupted whatever it was that Ned was about to say, so she didn't have to verbalize an overall opinion about musicals. She was following them further into the building when Peter offered his house for people to hang out, and she looked a little surprised. That would actually be good for her, she could poke around. If she called him out on it and was wrong, it would give Spider-Man the chance to start investigating why she'd thought he was someone else. Being alone with Peter didn't occur to her as something to be concerned about, or even to bother thinking about beyond how easy it would be to poke around. The normal concerns of a teenager were still slightly foreign to her, and she had already dismissed the idea that he might try something untoward based on the fact that he was.... him. And based on the fact that if he did, she'd stab him in the hand or something."That'd be awesome!"She chirped back in a way that she never would if she hadn't been playing 'friendly but slightly off-kilter new kid', giving him a thumbs up and then disappearing down the hall towards her classroom.
Michelle wouldn't have wanted to go to Peter's apartment even if she'd been around to hear the offer, she wasn't the sort who did a whole lot of after school hanging out. Savannah had chosen friends well in that regard, at least.
Through classes the curly haired vigilante was a little bit distracted, giving the teacher and other students only exactly as much attention as she needed in order to not seem rude or like she didn't appreciate her education. She couldn't really be blamed though, Savannah was part of things that were much more important than a high school education. School didn't actually matter that much, she just needed to be able to get into college if she wanted to. Money was required to do what she did and she recognized that, it was one of the only reasons she was here. That and it was hard to get things done as a seventeen year old because she couldn't legally doanything. It would take time to disappear properly if she ever wanted to, and that needed to be prepared for. Mostly she thought about Spider-Man, compared observations of him against observations made of Peter. She couldn't fall victim to a confirmation bias now that the idea was in her head, if things didn't match up she needed to give them more weight than the things that did. Further observation was required, she'd have to poke the situation a little, see what happened. Heroes were an easy conversation piece, so there was that at least.
"Did you guys hear about the building fire?"She asked when she met them again at lunch, setting her tray down on the table carefully,"Didn't have heroes were I used to live. I mean, emergency services I guess,"they went into burning buildings and saved people and were as much of a mixed bag as she considered the costumed heroes to be, but that wasn't something to get into now,"but they're not like that."Ned shot Peter a look that Savannah caught and filed away. It was definitely a positive one, but she'd never had a friend at an age where that sort of supportive 'go get it' look would ever have been required so the full meaning of it sort of went over her head. She recognized it as positive though, and that was a piece of evidence. Unless the two other teens were head of the Spider-Man Fan Club or something.
so that Vanna and Peter can have a class together after lunch. Otherwise we could use a standard schedule and make it harder for them to communicate about stuff during class hours))
gpt
Savannah's "That'd be awesome!" rung in Peter's ears all morning, echoing on his skull, pushing away heroic duties and classroom topics. She thought that hanging with him would be awesome. Awesome. If it wasn't for Ned's presence in that after school plan, he'd be low key panicking as that would mean Savannah and him alone at home. He was no Tony Stark, so the idea was embarrassing and awkward. Not that it wouldn't be amusing, as Peter found the new girl both interesting and pretty, but things were moving suddenly so fast and his schedule was so packed that it was somewhat dizzying. It was going to be hard to juggle all of his duties and keep up, although Aunt May being now on the loop eased things quite a bit.
Lunch was a most welcome oasis of calm, at least until Savannah arrived bringing not only herself, but a troublesome topic. Michelle didn't seem to be paying much attention to them, but then again, Michelle always seemed to be minding her own stuff yet she caught on everything it happened. "Oh yeah, I stumbled upon it somewhere, maybe Twitter"Peter answered, slightly later than normal without noticing Ned's look as his own attention was on Michelle. "Is it true that Spider-Man was there?"he asked, wanting to play it safe.
"He was, I think he saved an old man or something" Ned commented, pulling some Instagram profile that had video of him helping the man out. "Haven't you seen it?"he asked, trying to be deceitful.
"Nah"Peter leaned to look at Ned's phone."My Instagram feed is mostly full of food and pets"he said, pulling up his phone."Look at this cute thing"he added, showing a pretty cute example.
"Awww"Ned melted at the sight of the cute dog."So no heroes where you used to live?"he asked Savannah."No New York City then, sometimes they seem like they are everywhere" he shrugged, returning to his food.
"You didn't tell where you come from, right?" Peter wondered."I hope that you didn't, or that would meant we forgot and that would be awkward"he said. "Anyways, I hope you like it here, heroes or not"he sincerely wished.
I'm decades away from my high school years and an ocean away from the USA and its school system, but the explanation you gave sounds reasonable and interesting. I'm not a stickler to keep noted details like those, so we can be flexible with it, after all we (and movies, series...) tend to handle time generously when they need to, so we can do the same.
human
Well it was cute. Savannah could appreciate that, at least. It was a deflection though, or it might be. It wasn't what she wanted to talk about though, and it seemed like it might be a distraction. She couldn't be sure, maybe he just didn't care that much about heroes. She glanced at it and then over at Ned when he spoke because he was asking her a question about herself. One that she had an answer to, thankfully. And then there was Peter, apparently concerned about having been rude to her.
"No, I didn't say. I lived in California. Years ago."So there was a little bit of Iron Man... stuff,"he lived in Malibu after all,"but not in my town."She hadn't been there in a while, but trying to figure out how to explain the house in Detroit that they'd abandoned in the night or the time spent in New York until her dad got spooked and they left. No real way to explain sleeping on the floor in their one room motel in Chicago for months or the hours upon hours spent in a car that smelled like cigarettes and cheap alcohol. But California was nice and sunny and something where normal people lived."Now it all feels so close."But New York City was huge. Problematically large, actually. She was going to need to find a way to get around faster because she wouldn't be able to cover enough ground.
Couldn't ask Spider-Man for help, the idea of that annoyed her immediately even in thought. Hanging off of him would be--ugh. She glanced at Peter a little bit thoughtfully for a moment, and then shoved it all out of her head. Maybe she could get a motorcycle. No idea where she'd store it though, that was another problem. Maybe Spider-Man could hook her up with something from Stark because heowedher that much at least, but that would mean having something the man could track her with.
"It's.... I dunno. I've been thinking about it, I guess? Like, I'm not sure what to make of the whole thing because I don't think I'm the kind of person who could look at the state of the world and decide that I could make a difference and then just... do it like that. Anyway, lemme see that puppy again. It looked like a stuffed animal!"She held out a hand pleadingly and made a 'gimme gimme' motion with it."I didn't get a good look earlier."
"I want to see, too." Michelle looked up from her book, expression entirely uninterested. It was hard to tell how invested she actually was but she had stopped reading so clearly she had some sort of investment in either the dog or the conversation. It bothered Savannah a little bit though she didn't express it - she had been hoping Peter would be friendly and uncaring enough to actually let his phone into her hands and she could take a second to check his email real quick and see if he was new enough at this that he might either set his Spider-Man email up to go straight to his phone or have it forwarded to his main email. But now she didn't have that, she'd have to try and get at it later.
Maybe she'd put her number in his phone that was a cute flirty thing girls did, right?
gpt
"Oh, that's nice, never been there!"Ned chimed in, as if California was just a place downtown you could hop by, even if his interest was genuine. "It's a big change, I hope you end up liking it here" he nodded, happy that Savannah was sharing.
"If I'm not mistaken the next phase of the Decathlon is some weeks from now and in Los Angeles" Peter commented, looking at Michelle for confirmation and receiving the laziest of nods."I know that's not the same as returning home"he added, wherever she lived before sure wasn't LA if she called it a town. "But it could be a nice change, plus we get to go to the beach" he said, going for the easy attraction, even if he wasn't much of an outdoors guy.
"Even if it's a mostly new thing, once the city returns to normalcy after an alien invasion, I guess that you roll with it"Ned offered on the hero issue."That was so scary that everything else it's just kind of... normal?"he shrugged, returning to his food.
"Yeah, it's weird to voice it like that but..." Peter mostly agreed. "It's also a bit unnerving. The lives of many people changed after that and even if young I guess it leaves a mark?"he shrugged, not wanting to take things into a somber ground, but there was bound to be people really traumatized by the event, specially if they lost someone. Luckily for him, Peter didn't had to thing of a topic change, as Savannah herself provided not only one, but two.
"Look at this one too, the happiest, 13 out of 10" Peter commented, lending his phone to Savannah, somewhat surprised by Michelle's interest."I didn't know that cute puppers were your weak point" he said, more surprised than wanting to poke some fun at Michelle. All his silly Spider-Man videos were in a hidden folder protected by password, so they weren't available at first sight even if they peeked around. The mail was accessible, but it did also require a password, since Ned insisted on it like the computer nerd he was. "Superhero or not, all of us want to make a difference somehow, right?"he asked while the girls looked at the adorable dogs."So I think we can make a difference in our own way"he finished, sounding a bit corny, even if completely honest.
Yeah, the Spider sense can be slowly introduced along the way slowly, as Peter gets more and more capable, but not with Vanna, at least in those situations. The mansion is indeed in Malibu and the Stark Industries HQ in Los Angeles, so that works perfectly. I also teased some other Decathlon competition that allow us to change the scenery to a summery place with beaches whenever we please, at least for a while.
human
These people were too genuine. Well she still didnt have a read on Michelle but even if Peter was who she thought he wasnt... handling things like she was. Ned for sure was just a good dude, she thought. Whatever that was worth, it wasnt earning him popularity or positive attention from the student body as a whole. It was unfair, but entirely within how shed been taught that the world worked. But she smiled in a friendly way at his positivity and apparent care over how she, a relative stranger, was handling the transition.Its a whole lot busier and theres less trees than Im used to, but everything is better than I expected.
Savannah perked up a little at Peters words."Oh I- I like the beach."She was going to say how long it had been since she'd been at the beach but that wasn't the right information to reveal, so the curly haired teen redirected her words into something less suspicious. It was a truth, or at least it had used to be. She wasn't sure how she felt about it now, it had been a long time and felt like it was of much less importance. She had a very different focus in life now, and beaches hadn't factored in for years until the moment Peter mentioned it."I miss it. Not the same in New York."It was only after she said it that she realized it was true. She hadn't visited New York's beaches yet because it hadn't mattered to her, but itwouldn'tbe the same.
He handed over his phone without question, which she wanted to interpret as some kind of sign but she would have done that too so it meant nothing. Being phone possessive to some degree was normal, but also drew attention. Maybe. Maybe she was overthinking every possible interaction because she was still struggling with the idea that this guy might be Spider-Man. He and Ned were warming her up to the idea of friendship but she couldn't friends with ahero. Couldn't be friends with a dude she still thought there was a chance she might have to fight. That would ruin relationships, and she just wasn't sure she could be friends with someone she might have to stab.
"Pupper isnt a word,"Michelle said emotionlessly, though she was looking at the puppy,"and your rating system is impossible."Was that humor? It was hard to tell, but it seemed like it probably was. Savannah glanced from Michelle to the picture and then to Peter and offered him an apologetic 'sorry, but she's right' look. Michelle got bored before Savannah did so she took the second while the teen was looking back down at her book to give checking his email a shot. The password input popped up and she cancelled out of it and immediately hit the address book app. She added in the number of her actual phone and her name, and then realized that was all the information she had to share and saved it.
It was a solid gesture of... some kind of interest, in her mind friendship but she wasn't going to say anything about how it should be interpreted because that would be weird. She handed back the phone, the contacts app still open so that he would know what she'd been fiddling with."Here. I was going to add my new home phone number but..."she shrugged to say that she didn't actually remember it yet or couldn't be bothered to remember it properly. It was a good excuse for the fact it had taken her a second or two longer than it otherwise would have to put things in, since nobody liked a phone snoop."My cellphone is pretty much all I've got, I'll... Instagram eventually, probably?"Maybe it if it would provide useful, but Michelle didn't seem interested in it as a platform or in puppies as a whole and neither Peter or Ned were treating this like it was a suspicious thing so she could probably look at puppies and not get Instagram or Snapchat or whatever.
A9A9A9
gpt
"They are good dogs, Michelle" Ned couldn't help himself even if he was eating to pitch in with an old meme, but the situation just called for it after his friend Peter was being unreasonably enamored with the cute dogs. Peter himself found the situation funny, as not only Ned had his back in an amusing way, but Michelle's deadpan tone was quite entertaining and got bolstered by Savannah's look.
"Maybe we can go to the beach during the Decathlon then"Peter's mind was still lingering back there, wanting to offer Savannah not only a reason to be on the team with them, but also a chance to return to something she may miss like the beach and share it with them. "And my rating system is flawless when the dogs are too cute" he promptly added, his smile making clear that it was just good natured silliness.
After a healthy amount of pup ogling, Savannah returned Peter his phone with a phrase he didn't understand at first until he handled it and saw her name and phone. "Oh-"Peter stopped for a moment, feeling awkwardly embarrassed by a cute girl being that forward with him, but then he got over his silly notions. Savannah was just sharing her contact information with her friends, nothing else, he was just reading too much into it and being silly."Perfect, let me send you a text so you have my number as well" he said once recovered of his own momentary shock, firing a 'cute dogs are the best' message to her.
"Maybe not Twitter, that place is a madhouse"Ned pointed up, warning Savannah of the dangers of social networks in his own strange way. Facebook he didn't even consider mentioning, as she sure already had one. Everybody had one, right? Looking at the phone development between Peter and Savannah, Ned had an idea that he reserved for himself.
"Instagram is fine, mostly selfies, animals and food"Peter shrugged, giving it no importance, thinking that the home schooled girl could as well explore on her own a bit."Ugh, we don't have much before lunch time is over, but it's not too long until we can hang out after school"Peter commented, looking at Savannah and Ned since Michelle was busy, receiving an amused look from Ned.
human
The Decathlon again. He wanted her there, and she didn't quite understand why he was invested in her and the Decathlon thing, but it wasn't... the worst thing. She didn't want to miss days of 'work', but she could. If she still hadn't proved to herself whether Peter was Spider-Man or not the Decathlon would help. Specifically being away from New York would help, since she could see if Spider-Man still showed up in New York while they were gone.
He texted her and she dug her main phone out of her pocket and took a few seconds to get his information into her contacts, letting his name join the.... four others. Adopted (though not legally, but she figured they'd eventually be interested in that gesture) 'parents', the social worker who oversaw her placement, a detective, and now Peter."Thanks. But I like cats better, hopefully this doesn't destroy our friendship."Did she care about housepets? Maybe kinda. A cat would be easier for her, with the life she wanted to lead, but no pets were really possible. Maybe if she had a long term significant other to handle it. If she was in that situation it could be okay. Having a pet might help them get over her faster when she inevitably lost so bad she couldn't get back up again.
Social media was where Michelle apparently regained some amount of interest in the conversation."Twitter is great. I watch the fall of humanity in real time."
"Oh, that sounds... uh, cool?"She might not have known Michelle all that well yet, but that sure did sound in line with what she was coming to expect from the other curly haired high school student. "I'm not sure how much 'constantly connected to the world' I can handle." She did need to be informed, but Twitter wasn't going to help in the ways she needed. She'd find what she needed and make it work eventually.
The enthusiasm made Savannah feel... something. She couldn't quite put her finger on what. It had just been her and her dad for so long, and she wasn't really used to the idea of someone wanting to... spend time around her except the new adults in her life and that was because it was their job to care about her. He didn't have to. He was just doing it, and if he wanted something from her, Savannah couldn't tell yet what it was."I don't really know what teenagers do for fun when they hang out."
"Watch things they enjoyed as children in an attempt to reclaim some of the comfort of a more simplistic worldview that came from a period of their live where there were less responsible, the world had less nuance, and there were less responsibilities.."Michelle didn't even look up from her book this time, and seemed to pointedly miss the exasperated look that Savannah shot her."Try to put themselves back into that state where life was easier and the future was a thing to deal with at another time instead of an ever approaching threat. Do homework. And premarital sex."Savannah, who had lifted her fork to her mouth to take a bite of her lunch, let out a snort and lowered her eating utensil again. "I could probably use the homework help." She'd just cruise on over the rest of the comment, that way Michelle wouldn't get whatever reaction she wanted from her.
gpt
Cats were cute too, that went without saying so Peter limited himself to nod and smile, his face getting a bit weirder when Michelle talked about Twitter and gave a too accurate even if pessimistic vision of it. Michelle was really getting into the whole... friends thing, speaking more and more each day, even if everything she said was still one hundred percent Michelle. Savannah didn't seem all that interested in a lot of social networking, something that was quite reasonable for anyone, perhaps even more for her if home schooled had isolated her from the daily noise.
Curiosity about the hanging out technicalities made Peter want to share his mostly nerdy view on it, far from what other people did in such situations, but Michelle got ahead and offered a bleak view on it that made him wonder once again what her afterschool plans were. Peter was going to protest, but Michelle's end of her spiel in allusion to teenage sexual encounters made him blush and totally stopped anything that Peter would have thought of saying. Amusingly enough, even if Ned had also shown surprise along with the embarrassment, it was Savannah the one that didn't play into Michelle's words and just commented needing some homework help.
"Homework we can do"Peter managed to add after that moment. Ned was still recovering himself, looking at Michelle in that odd way he did when she seemed to be able to see through them, but soon calmed down.
"And it's not just about watching stuff. We do play video games and board games as well"Ned tried to defend himself against Michelle's words, even if it seemed that he was just digging deeper into his nerd grave.
It was true that their combined hobby of heroics had been also taking a toll from their free time, but that of course couldn't be made public."Yeah, we'll find something fun to do after homework"Peter commented. He wondered what kind of people Michelle got together with after school, if any. She didn't seem the type to get a beer and smoke like some kind of archetypic delinquent teen, but he was completely lost trying to read her."We can meet after class just outside, or get out together if we have joint classes, I forgot"he said before digging into the remains of his lunch.
human
"Oh good, I'm running into things that never got covered at home."Most of it. She picked up stuff fast and was good at making connections pretty fast, but she definitely didn't have all the required background knowledge. Google did, and she was going to be doing a lot of research to fill herself in on the things she was missing. She had learned about certain history, physics, biology, and many skills that would never be useful in a classroom, but now she needed to get it all hooked into this system she hadn't experienced since age eight. English literature was a weak spot. She knew about a lot of books that her mother had loved but hadn't really been in a place to read Grapes of Wrath or To Kill a Mockingbird before the Incident, and afterwards... it wasn't relevant. She had to catch up now, and sitting and reading was something that she wasn't good at. Books were fine, there was magic in there that she vaguely remembered and knew that her mother had loved, but it was hard to sit still and turn her brain off. She could stake out a building for days if needed but half an hour of a book felt like it was taking away from the things she needed to be doing.
Michelle gave Ned a brief look that told him all he was doing was proving her point but Savannahs face expressed some interest."Both those are good. I mean I don't really have much experience with video games,"and it had been year since she'd regularly played board games (or really any established games but chess, cards, and pool) but that seemed like something not to reveal because it wasweird,"but I'm curious because you guys seem enthusiastic about it."Ned more than Peter, but Peter seemed softer. They both came off as absolutely squishy people emotionally, but Neds excitement seemed to take lead over Peters when it came to nerd stuff. Whether Peter was less into it or just less expressive about it she couldnt tell yet. Maybe he was playing it cooler so that nobody would think he was overacting and suspect him of what she suspected, but that again would imply a level of deceit she still hadnt decided if he was capable of yet.
As enigmatic as she seemed, Michelles after school hours were pretty normal. At least she would say so, somewhere in the void of time between leaving school and seeing her friends again she did all the normal things eat, sleep, homework, watch TV, things like that but she also found time for art, politics, and the books she enjoyed reading. It was a lot of alone time even if she was on internet forums.
"I've only got class with Michelle,"she said like it was a disappointment. It wasn't. She couldn't have better observed him well during class and chatting with people would have been a distraction. Could have filled her in with things she didn't get, but the teachers knew where she was in her education. She wouldn't find out the things she wanted to know about Peter while they sat in class and looked at textbooks that should have been replaced ten years ago, so there wasn't any real difference to her whether she shared classes with him, Ned, or Michelle. Well, Michelle made art more interesting, it was a subject she wasn't invested in and didn't have much interest or talent in."After class it is. Uh, out by the front steps?"It was an easy place to get to, and in the direction they had to go anyway."Or by the gym so nobody gets caught in the stampede of escaping students."
gpt
"There are so many kinds of video games and board games that I like to think there is at least one for everyone" Peter commented, as both mediums were pretty versatile, wondering what kind of games, digital or otherwise, Savannah might enjoy. He did like the variety, although as of late with so many things to do he lacked time to dedicate to his hobbies, unless you counted being Spider-Man as one.
"We truly live in the golden age of boardgames"Ned sentenced, enthusiastic once more. He was kind of right, at least from Peter's perspective, since more and more people opened to designer games that took care to be at their best instead of just resorting to monopoly or scrabble. "They aren't just for nerds anymore"he added, although he was a particularly nerdy guy in a school for nerds, so the claim had trouble sustaining itself.
"Just no trivia games, we get enough questions with the Decathlon" Peter shook his head, somewhat bummed when Savannah said they didn't have a class together. It was stupid, as it wasn't like they would be able to talk during class, but still it bothered him a bit even if he didn't know why. "There are a lot of clubs after school, so the stampede isn't that bad"Peter shrugged.
"Jumanji!" Ned contributed, unable to resist after his brain linked the stampede with the board games.
After a moment where not even Peter knew what to say, he continued. "So... the front steps should be fine, we can gather there before moving" he confirmed, receiving a strange look from Ned, like if he was up to something. Finishing the lunch and cleaning up around him, Peter was ready for class, now excited for them to end so he could be with his friends. Spider-Man things could wait until the evening, bad guys and strange vigilante girls did seem to like the night after all.
Despite the eagerness for them to end, the classes weren't that bad, as Peter had genuine interest on what was going on them, but he couldn't help but get occasionally distracted. If it wasn't about the arson case with its nuances and the vigilante girl, it was about Savannah and their gathering for homework and fun. They didn't have much homework that day, or at least he didn't, but if the home schooled girl needed some help to know where to point her smarts, he could help her. Peter waited on the front steps, and seeing Savannah appear he waved so she could see him, at the same time wondering where Ned was since they didn't share the last class. Like it was magic, Peter's phone buzzed with a message from Ned.
"I'm going to investigate the arson thing. That way you can be with Savannah alone while I do guy in the chair stuff!"Ned's message said, making Peter feel awkward immediately. So that was what Ned was up to, not only he planned to help with the case at that time, but he also did so to leave Peter alone with her. Was it that transparent that he liked her that Ned could read him like that? Just the idea was embarrassing, so as Savannah approached Peter couldn't help but look blushed while he thought of an explanation. "Ned... is busy. With stuff. So it will be the two of us" was all that Peter managed, embarrassing him further but ready to guide Savannah to his home.
human
Of course they were into board games.Were boardgames ever supposed to be for nerds only? Before I think nerd I think old people and families.Thats who they were for, right? Peters words about the number of clubs just reinforced that she should probably join something. But it would hinder her ability to just run off whenever she wanted which was bad, so.... a club and an excuse for why sometimes she couldnt be there. Everyone here was probably college prepping, so she needed to as well, even though that would be so much more work.
She didn't ask what Jumanji was, but her blank expression was probably enough to show that she didn't know what Ned meant by that. Peter changed the subject before any sort of answer was given to her. That was fine, it didnt really matter.Okay. Thats one of the things Im completely confident I wont forget the location of, so thats good. She knew where everything was now at least in terms of landmark rooms like the lab, art room, and gym, but the lie slipped out without thought even though there wasn't anything weird about having a decent understanding of her school already.
Class was fine. She made note of some things to share with her guardians, used her phone when the teacher wasnt looking, and made sure she understood what exactly she needed to know. She wasnt engaged really, but she wasnt openly dismissive of anything. It would always be the same amount of attention versus feigned interest unless it was something deemed useful.
It wasnt too hard to find Peter after school and she wandered over to him when he waved as she came down the steps, eyes scanning the area for Ned. Her wondering was answered a second later when the taller teen got a text and announced its contents."Huh." Savannah didn't look particularly bothered, but she did note the pink on his cheeks and felt a.... something. Not unpleasant in any way, but the closest she could compare it to was a foreign sense of self consciousness. She wasn't self conscious about anything, she had no reason to be, but for some reason in the moment, there was that feeling bubbling up, with a weird warmth. Gross."Well he's lost his chance to tell me what Jumanji is and now I'm purposely never going to find out." During class she'd written a response email to Spider-Man on her phone with a meet-up place and then used the 'send later' option to make sure he got it while she would be around and very obviously not on her phone, just so he didn't see her using her phone and then suddenly he got a message. It would be in about an hour from when school got out, so they'd be back at his place by then she figured. Without Ned it would be even easier to keep an eye on how he responded."When two little kids get together it's a play-date, what's it called now that everyone's at the age where there's date-dates? Just 'hanging out'?"Probably. Do you live nearby? Or do we take the subway?She purposely made herself sound interested even though the trains actually held no innate appeal whatsoever.Ive been getting driven pretty much everywhere, I want to explore. She had done it already in the night, but an escorted daytime trip was better for excusing knowledge. Plus Peter was... well, she supposed he was fun. Nice to be around.
Also probably Spider-Man.
I was introduced to New York pizza, at least. Apparently its very important.It had been the second dinner shed had - the first had been home cooked because her guardians thought that was something shed need after everything. And while they were correct that it had been a long time since shed had food that needed more cooking than a microwave she hadnt felt any kind of... soul healing or whatever they might have hoped for. It had been nice, though.
gpt
Peter's awkward feeling was mostly faded off by Savannah's Jumanji remark, as it got a chuckle out of him."Well, I could tell you what he meant since I'm accustomed to how his mind works, but it's just some little silly thing"he admitted, finding himself more comfortable with the idea. What if they were alone? Like that meant something had to happen, no way. "You may stumble with the remake, but then Ned's joke makes even less sense..." Peter added, shaking his head. They started to walk out of the school campus as they spoke, distracted in the odd yet interesting conversations Peter liked and Savannah seemed to fit in, but soon her question made his blush return briefly."Yeah, hanging out sounds about right. It sounds casual, like people just stumbled into each other instead of agreeing to meet. It kinda lacks the weight that a word like d-date has"Peter tried to explain calmly and as a matter of fact, although a small nervous stuttering in the key part betrayed him and made Peter want to kick himself.
"No need for the subway this time, once we move through a few blocks you'll start to see apartment buildings, that's where I live with my aunt May" Peter pointed in a direction, moving from the more sparsely populated area around the school to one more densely filled in the horizon."I like to walk there even if it takes like half an hour, after being sitting the whole day it's nice to stretch my legs and see the city, even if it's the same route..." Peter shrugged. "I like coming across the neighbors"he smiled honestly, caring about the people from where he lived even if he didn't really know them."Unless you are really interested in the subway, the station is close by and would live us closer to my home, I'm fine either way"he commented, picking up on the apparent interest of her voice, giving her the choice.
How Savannah looked at everything including him made Peter a little bit uneasy, even if it was in a good way. The home schooled girl seemed interested in a variety of things, looking at everything with those big eyes of hers. Everything seemed new and blessed with something that made it worthy of scrutiny, and when the target of her eyes was Peter himself he couldn't help but fidget a bit."Important it is" Peter admitted,"but there is so many good places..."he sighed. "I know a particularly cool Thai restaurant and also a place with some crazy sand-"Peter started to talk, remembering that Delmar's deli was no more, looking down."Well, the place with the sandwiches closed"he said, trying to sound detached but still coming across as saddened by the idea, as he felt guilty about it.
"But yeah, there are many cool places to grab a bite, they make some amazing churros not far by" Peter continued, trying to look more positive and not being a downer even before they reached his home.
human
"No,"she said firmly,"he made a reference I don't understand and if he wants me to understand it he has to be the one to explain it or not skip out on the chances where the two of you could team up and make me.... watch it? Play it? Whichever."Peter had just mentioned a remake so that meant it was a movie or maybe a game. She adjusted her backpack more comfortably when they started walking, keeping pace with Peter's slightly longer stride without concern. Ah. He was blushing again, must have been because she'd used the word 'date', what a sensitive guy."We need a better word. You're telling me there's not some cool teen lingo?"Her tone was serious but her expression was playful, more making fun of the oddities of language and her own isolated past than actually seriously inquiring about how teens developed new words and phrases.
Coming across neighbors? It seemed unlikely that he was into that because he was taking notes on everyone and learning as much as possible about everyone to use it to his advantage, which meant he was in it just for socialization sake and... bleh. Yuck, why?Im cool with walking.It would take more time but time wasn't an issue for her and walking wouldn't take too much of her energy. "I'm not really used to spending all day at a desk." There was a whole lot less required sitting in her old life. And no homework. Well, no homework like they gave out at school. School wasn't supposed to involve knives, guns, or getting punched in the face.
She knew about the sandwich shop. It had come up in her research about Spider-Man. Savannah might have saidthese things happen but it wouldn't have made sense and she didn't think it was the sort of sentiment that would have comforted him in any way. Even if he wasn't Spider-Man it probably wouldn't be a thing that helped - that bad things could happen to good people because the world was chaotic and it didn't matter how good or bad someone was because the evils of the world didn't care didn't seem like something that Peter would enjoy. But he'd mentioned that his aunt wouldn't be home and said nothing about his parents, so maybe he already knew that.
"I don't..."she hesitated and then admitted"I don't think I've ever had a churro."It was true, but it was something she was only admitting to try and give Peter something to focus on so he'd stop sounding sad."I know what they are though," she added in case he was going to start explaining the food to her. She sort of wanted one, but if she'd suggested something like that while walking with her dad she definitely wouldn't have gotten it so by habit Savannah didn't actually ask if they could go get one. It wasn't that her father hadn't allowed her to have things she wanted or enjoy things, it was just that she didn't usually get things she asked for, at least not exactly when she asked for them. There was probably a reason for it but she hadn't figured it out. Probably something to do with disappointment or patience but he'd never told her and she'd never solved that behavior puzzle.
gpt
"Maybe there is some cool teen lingo, but I'm not a cool teen so I wouldn't know"Peter joked, no longer worried about not being part of the in crowd. Even calling them the in crowd was probably a dorky thing to do. With all that happened during homecoming and having Savannah and even Michelle around with Ned, he didn't need to be part of anything else that didn't want him in. Walking with her around the city was nice, friendly and way less awkward than Peter feared once he got Ned's message. The city was alive around them, all those sometimes rude citizens Peter swore to protect enjoying their daily lives. It wasn't thanks to him, Peter wasn't that mad to think so, but he loved being a part of it as much as the police, firefighters, doctors... Everyone did their best, so he wanted to do the same too.
"You never had a churro? We can sort it out right now"Peter suggested, more of an invitation really, as he took a small detour towards a cart that was always around that corner. "Buenas tardes seor Arturo!"Peter greeted the rotund man in charge, his accent leaving a bit to be desired, but still managing a bit of Spanish."Una tarde preciosa verdad?"he tried to be amicable."No es la tarde la que hace brillar tus ojos, Peter"the man answered with a short laughter, making him blush."The best churros in New York City!"he said to Savannah, wanting to change topics and wishing that Savannah wouldn't understand Spanish or he would be even more embarrassed by the jolly Arturo."I personally want one with sugar, the classic, but the cinnamon ones are very nice too"he commented, paying for him and whatever Savannah wanted.
Slowly diminishing sugary treat in hand, Peter resumed the walk, enjoying it so much that he didn't want to arrive home yet, but no longer embarrassed about being alone with Savannah. Peter felt fine with her, the walk and talk doing wonders for his awkwardness and even allowing him to reign in his usual nervous speech pattern. He was indeed a friendly neighbor, but at least he wouldn't endlessly chatter unless he was costumed."It turns out that we are already here, it's not that far, is it?"he said, welcoming her to the building's lobby first, then his house once they were out of the elevator. It was tidy and comfy, in that lived in sense, and it showed that it wasn't merely an apartment, but a home.
human
Would it be rude to agree with him that he wasn't cool? He had to know that, but it seemed like something that wouldn't be all that appropriate to say as a friend. So she just smiled slightly, shrugged, and went with"I don't actually know what makes teens cool so you could have lied and said you were."She had considered getting in with the 'in' crowd but was more out-of-school social time than she was willing to put in for slight additional defense against suspicion that was popularity.
They were detouring, which was definitely the intended outcome. Peter was officially distracted from whatever he'd felt bad about, and she was going to get to eat a churro. One bonus of her night activities was that she could eat pretty much whatever she wanted and whenever she wanted it. When they approached the stand she hung back, standing a little behind Peter's shoulder so that she could watch things without needing to be engaged by either him or the man selling food unless she wanted to talk.
Savannah was capable of understanding a decent amount of both Spanish and Russian. Some key phrases in Mandarin as well, but all of it had been focused pretty solidly on the understanding side of things. As long as she knew what people were saying it didnt matter if she could conjugate verbs correctly, and if she was interrogating someone theyd get the main point of her questions even if she used the wrong tense. She didnt learn languages to appreciate their beauty or the history that came with them, they were a tool like everything else. So even as her gaze darted between Peter and the vendor with an expression of mild perplexation, she was adding the small exchange to her ever growing pile of information. She just wasnt sure what to do with it because... why? If this was all what it seemed like she just needed to know why. What made people drawn to each other was something she didn't fully understand. She could manipulate it to some degree, but she didn't get it.
"I want whatever you get."There'd be a chance to pay him back later, she didn't really like owing people even if it was just a little bit of money. She took the treat and inspected it cautiously before taking a tiny nibble."Oh. Yep, I like this." Better than she expected it to be, honestly. She let him lead the conversation while they walked, and just kept up her side, occasionally interjecting with things that she found interesting.
The apartment was small, but that wasn't something that Savannah really judged. She'd spent a lot of time sleeping in motels after all, this was incredibly roomy compared to that. The home feel was one she was still adjusting to, and being in someone else's home was somehow more accepting and warm than the home of her adopted family. There were no expectations here."It's... nice here." And now what? She didn't exactly know what people did when they hung out, he probably didn't want to exchange combat tips or talk about knives."What do you usually do when you have friends over?"She could adapt to whatever and end up at the very least make herself seem like she was having a good time if it ended up being terribly boring or annoying."I had a bunch of friends in elementary school, but I spent a whole lot of time hanging out with my parent's friends and their kids after that."Saying she didn't have any friends at all would have been weird and suspicious."I'm guessing hopscotch and dress up are out of style now."
gpt
It seemed that Savannah didn't catch up on Arturo's words, at least as far Peter knew, so the churro incident went by pleasantly as she appreciated the simplicity and taste of the sugary treat. Welcoming Savannah home was bit unnerving but soon saw that he had nothing to worry about, they would be just fine and as the time passed Peter missed less and less having Ned around to help with the uncomfortable silences, as he was starting to learn to just enjoy them. "Play games, video or board ones, watch something..." Peter tried to answer with a smile, finding the hopscotch and dress up joke funny. He could indeed dress up, wondering what Savannah would think of that, but he had to keep his identity safe. Safe-er, as lately it had been a bit of a mess.
"Maybe even build something with Lego"Peter shrugged."And homework of course, we can always do that"he added. "My room is over there"he pointed, thinking nothing of it, as that was where he always was with his friends. Well, with Ned, it wasn't like he had other friends before that."Something to drink? Juice? Water?"he wondered, rummaging through the fridge to be a decent host, accustomed to Ned doing his own ransacking if he wanted anything, as they had knew each other long enough to feel at home in each other's houses.
"Just think about what you want to do, what you feel curious about, dunno" he said before Savannah was headed to his room, moving around the kitchen for some glasses and maybe even a platter of ginger cookies. They already had a churro, but that didn't mean they couldn't grab another bite of something. Then, and only then, Peter was suddenly mindful of his costume's hiding place on the ceiling, but there was no way that Savannah could not only suspect about that but also peek through a boy's room, right? No, as curious as the girl was, Peter was sure she would behave, but despite it all, he hastened his cookie search and drink preparation a little bit.
human
I have fond memories of legos. Kits or just loose pieces?Putting together a kit could be fun - structure was good. Trying to be creative with loose pieces might be hard at this point unless she was trying to recreate something specific, and working out blueprints with legos while sitting on Probably-Spider-Man's floor didn't seem like a great idea. Working out blueprints with legos while sitting on Not-Really-Friend Peter Parker's floor wouldn't have been a great idea either, though. She could make the Eiffel Tower or some shit."It's mostly math."And history she deemed irrelevent, and catching up on all the required readings she'd never had to bother with for English. Basically all the information that would be useless in daily life, actually. She was just a really good faker who put together information quickly and could work well off the ideas of others. "Figured I should take advantage of being around someone I assume is one of the smartest kids in school."Compliments made people more comfortable. Or uncomfortable, but then their guard went down because they were dealing with that.
She was taking stock of everything around her, but Savannah wasnt so unsubtle as to open drawers or doors without permission but she was gathering information about his home life to use to continue to flesh out the image she was building of him. The clock on the mantle was ticking down, and it was bringing back annoyances that the message had only had options to be sent on half hour and hour marks. Still, perhaps he wouldnt make observation of time. The clock was two minutes fast, she observed, because it had already counted that far ahead when she heard a noise coming from Peters direction and glanced over at him, moving to put herself somewhere that she could look at him while seemingly more interested in the book on the coffee table. It was engineering concepts that she couldnt even begin to understand, but she flipped through it with the dedication of someone who refused to believe that there could be a book filled entirely with concepts that were impossible for her to grasp. She wasnt faking it, though. This was all too complex for her - was it Peters or did a family member do something with this? Engineers got paid a lot of money so it was somebodys hobby or chosen course of study unless they chose to live below their means or were in a lot of debt. Was he more intelligent than she had given him credit for? If so, that meant her position was in jeopardy around him. He had the necessary smarts to figure out who she was, but maybe not the required level of paranoid.
Well she'd call it logically cautious, she just knew what word other people would use.
"Can I get a glass of water?"It was a little delayed, but he'd offered earlier. She'd given him a few moments to read the email if he was going to, and more importantly give some kind of reaction that she could look for. Now it was time to pull him out of that, and see if he'd act different. Savannah was now convinced enough of his identity, but that didn't mean intel gathering would stop because she wasn't a fool. This was what she had to give her a leg up on the heroes with their freaky powers and enhancements or whatever."And then... I don't know. I feel like I should have had something to bring, that's what house guests do, right?"Or was that just for staying over? She had no idea, she didn't go to other people's houses. She'd broken into a couple, but this felt so new.
gpt
"Oh, we love the Star Wars kits of course, but sometimes we make stuff out of loose pieces"Peter commented, enthusiasm clearly making his voice sound a bit higher as Savannah showed interest. "Once we made a contraption that started making breakfast when the alarm clock was stopped... it didn't go well"Peter shrugged, valuing more the trying than any measure of success. "It took a while to clean the mess though, there was milk everywhere"he admitted with a laugh. Peter's attitude soon shifted slightly after a nervous chuckle, not knowing how to deal with Savannah's compliment about him being one of the smartest kids at school. It wasn't even false modesty, there were quite the brains there and being Spider-Man took a lot of time from him, but it was still nice to being well considered, even if the taking advantage part was a joke.
Peter's mind raced for a witty comeback, almost about to make a goof by saying that then he was with one of the prettiest girls at school, but before he could make a fool of himself, his phone beeped. Noticing with a side glance that it was a mail on hisother account, Peter stopped around his kitchen rummaging to take a glance at the message. It was from the mysterious vigilante, setting up a time and place to meet that very night, so Peter soon wrote a short answer saying that he would be there, suddenly nervous about a team up that wasn't almost accidental. Savannah's voice asking for water got him by surprise, making Peter almost drop the phone startled, fumbling with it before sending the answer and pocketing it. Ned didn't reach him yet with new info, but there was still time before Spider-Man had to meet, so there was no rush about it.
"Water! Yes!"Peter said from the kitchen, getting drinks ready before meeting Savannah in his room. It was definitely awkward, like he had opened his whole life, or at least a civilian chunk of it bare to her. She could see his books, his movies, his games... Peter wasn't what he enjoyed or his hobbies nor his studies, not just that, but his room was pretty telling even if his nerd self was hardly a secret."Don't worry about formalities, we are friends"Peter said when Savannah worried about manners."If it bothers you next time you get me a churro, but honestly, don't worry"he added with a smile, handling her the glass of water."Do you like engineering?"Peter commented, since she was hovering close to his books and perhaps she had an interest. "I do like building things that solve problems, but it takes a lot of time, and money"he sighed, knowing fully well that it didn't take just genius to do certain things, but also Tony Stark amounts of money.
"Math then?"Peter asked for confirmation, if Savannah needed help with Math he was going to help."Unless you have something else in mind" Peter finished. If it was an excuse to compliment him and she wanted to do anything else he was fine by it, and she seemed a tad distracted, although that was normal in a new situation.