They were right! He did win the sports festival yesterday!
And they were having a party! For him!
Looking deeper into the office, Peter laughed at seeing some of his coworkers standing around a cake while wearing party hats and drinking soda.
And there was cake!
"Wait wait wait, did you guys seriously throw a party? For me?" Peter asked in a bit of disbelief, putting his coffee down at his desk as he passed by it.
Sure, he thought of a few of the people at the bugle as his friends but… he didn't expect them to go this far!
Or like, care at all for that matter!
"Are you serious? Of course, we did! We can't have you winning the sports festival only to not celebrate! Besides, the party is a way to not work for the day." Betty laughed, Peter found himself nodding.
Ah, that was… a really convenient way to do nothing today. Peter wasn't gonna complain, he didn't feel like being an IT guy for a bit.
Or ever, but that's beside the point.
Still, weird that they're having cake at 9:00 AM.
Whatever, Peter shouldn't be complaining. It's not like he's eaten breakfast yet, anyway.
Once he got to the cake, Peter could smile lightly at how the words 'Congrats, kid!!!' were written in red and blue frosting.
You know, he wasn't used to people actually congratulating him about stuff. It's not like he's had friends for that.
But this? Having people throw a whole party just because you won some dumb school festival? It was… it was nice.
Today felt like things were finally going his way, that weight from Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D having been removed from his shoulders for now.
It felt like he finally, finally caught a break.
Peter could get used to this.
"You guys really didn't have to do this, you know? I barely celebrated about it!" Peter laughed, placing a piece of cake on a plastic plate and turning to his co-workers.
In front of him, Betty scoffed and waved off his statement.
"Just because you don't wanna give yourself a pat on the back doesn't mean we won't! Half of the office thinks this is the least they can do for all the tech support you've been doing."
Peter laughed at that, God knows barely anyone here actually knows how to navigate their own website.
Even if it is badly designed and all but Peter wasn't gonna mention that part.
It wasn't his job to fix that part of it, you know?
While he didn't mind working there too much, he's not gonna make that much of an extra effort.
A few minutes passed, Peter making light conversation with Robbie and Betty while receiving the occasional congrats from people passing by.
"Y'know…" Peter ate the small piece of cake left on his plate, savoring the sweet taste. "Part of me expected to see Jonah yell at someone by now. Last time we did a non-holiday party, the guy flipped!"
Robbie and Betty laughed a bit at the memory, Peter couldn't help but remember that one reporter guy who got the worst of it that day.
Yeah, safe to say that he quit that same week.
Too bad, he seemed like a nice guy.
Laughing a bit, Peter opened his mouth as to speak before stopping himself. At the back of his skull, a small sensation appeared.
Spider-sense! But why? And where? W-
"Parker!" Someone barked in english, Peter found the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "Where the hell have you been?!"
...
Oh no.
Oh goddammit, man! C'mon!
Stomping his way down to him from his office was J. Jonah Jameson, most people making way for him as he went to not get on his bad side.
Which was something Peter wished he could do, but given how he was currently Jonah's target…
Yeah, he wasn't getting out of this one.
Great.
And seeing as how even Robbie and Betty backed off a small bit, they knew that.
"Uh, hey Jonah!" Peter awkwardly laughed, putting down his plate as the man approached. "So… what's up? Cool party, right? You should really try the cake."
Damn it, stop talking!
Before Peter could continue, the boy saw that Jonah had finally reached him and crossed his arms.
"Pictures, Parker. Where are they? I don't pay you to slack off, kid!" The man asked, Peter suddenly remembering his job and digging into his bag.
From his bag, Peter pulled out a folder with a sizeable stack of photos and held them out to Jonah. By his count, they should last him at least 2 weeks if they were fine with rerunning a headline or two.
Given how he'd be gone for internships and all for around that time and all, hopefully
In the stack were mostly photos of heroes at work, some shots from a few of the top ten who worked in Musutafu, a few depicting a high-level prisoner transport, and even some about a new Detnetrat store that opened up downtown.
When Jonah requested him to go out and get photos, it was almost never about anything in particular. Most of the time he was fine with calling whatever he brought in boring before paying him.
Which hurt a bit, but whatever.
Jonah's eyes widened at the stack of photos, making a gimme motion before grabbing them. Quickly, he flipped through the stack while a grin started to appear on his face.
Until it disappeared.
Crap.
"Why aren't any pictures of sports festival of the UA sports festival? It's the biggest headline right now!"
Hearing that, Peter rose an eyebrow.
Was he… was he being serious?
It felt like he was pranking him right now. He was, right? He had to be!
If he looked at the banner hanging right in front of him, he'd know why!
Before Peter could begin to explain, Robbie walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Oh, thank God . He didn't trust himself to not say the wrong thing.
"Jonah… Peter was in the sports festival. As in, participating in it. I don't think he had the chance to take pictures" Robbie said, making Jonah raise an eyebrow.
"Seriously? What the hell was he doing there?"
Oh my god, he was serious.
"Uh, I kinda… attend UA. Remember? You… you know that, right? Me winning the sports festival is what the party is about." Peter said awkwardly, making the man raise an eyebrow again.
"You do? Must've forgotten, not like I watch the sports festival. Honestly, I thought this was for someone's birthday." Jonah shrugged, Peter found himself letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "These pics will last me for weeks, anyway!"
And now was when he told him about the internships.
Hopefully, he keeps his job after this.
"Well…" Peter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly for a moment, a small chuckle escaping him. "Hero students are about to go on internships for about two weeks… which uh, means I'll probably be out of the city."
Jonah raised an eyebrow, Peter looked over at Robbie and Betty who seemed to know what he was trying to say.
"I-I'm gonna need two weeks off of work to do that," Peter said, Jonah's eyes went wide.
"Two weeks?! That's outrageous!" He yelled, Peter watched as the man paused before scanning over the photos again. "Done."
Wait, what?
Just like that? seriously?
"S-Seriously? You're okay with that?" Peter asked, Jonah simply shrugged while flipping through the photos again.
"Sure, yeah, whatever. When you come back, I expect you to bring me top-quality pics. Or else I'll move your desk to the break room!"
Peter raised an eyebrow.
Since when did they have a break room?
Wait, did he mean-
"The… break room? You mean the closet?" He turned his head, his eyes landing on a closet with the words 'break room' taped to the door.
"Yes, the break room."
Eh, could've gone worse.
...
Peter checks over the living room, smiling at seeing it set up for when Nejire got here.
In front of the couch was a box filled with every movie he owned, ranging from horror to action and everything in between.
Wasn't too sure what Nejire would want fo watch, so it was good that they had a lot of options.
Even if this was supposed to be a kinda vent session about everything that's been happening to him lately, he still wanted to have some nice things before that.
Crap, could he tell her about the working for S.H.I.E.L.D stuff? He hadn't even told May yet! He should probably ask Nezu about the specifics of all of this.
But for now, he'd have to trust Nejire to keep it between them.
Good thing he still had the cards Tony Stark gave him, otherwise she probably wouldn't believe him.
Wait, he just realized something.
He was about to be with a girl. In his house. Alone.
A small bit of heat rose on his face, the realization finally dawning on him.
Oh, man.
In all honesty? He had forgotten about that! How did he even forget about that part? That was the most important part!
Alright, Parker! Be cool and don't do anything embarrassing! Just do that and it should be a nice hang out/vent/who knows session.
Wait, in what order where they even doing things? He should've asked a lot more questions.
Now that he thought about it, all he knew was that she was coming over at 6.
Which was right now.
Just as he was done making sure that nothing was out of place and took a seat on the couch, he felt a small tingle at the back of his skull.
And then the doorbell rang.
Crap, she's here!
Ignoring the fact that Peter didn't remember having a doorbell, he jumped up from the couch and nearly flipped all the way to the door.
Looking back at everything in the room and doing one last check, Peter finally opened the door.
And there she was.
Wearing a white sweater that seemed a bit too big for her, jeans along with styling her hair into a low ponytail.
Her hair somehow shone in the afternoon sun, Peter quickly realizing how blue her eyes actually were.
For some reason, seeing her smiling at him in that way she always does… it just made his heart skip a beat, filling his chest with a warm feeling.
Since when was she so pretty? And why was he standing there? Say something, man! At least let her in!
"Oh, uh, hey! Sorry, I-" Peter trailed off, giving a wobbly smile as she giggled a bit at him. "Uh, come in! I just- sorry."
What the actual hell was that?! That was barely coherent, man! C'mon! It's just a hangout, relax!
Again, Nejire laughed for a second before stepping through the door, Peter noticing how her ponytail trailed behind her the slightest bit.
"Good to see you, too!" She said, Peter closing the door behind her and laughing a bit.
Alright, just… relax! Don't be awkward!
...
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