An Actual Date, 27/6 Finally Peter doesn't Stand MJ up

[Spider-man]

(This scene takes place after Peter Parker met one of his idols, Reed Richards, at a lecture on the N-Zone. After leaving that place, he hurried home to share the news with his best friend Mary Jane Watson. Ok, let’s face it…one of his only friends.)


Peter felt like he was on some kind of emotional high. A big goofy grin still split his face as he hurried off the bus and down the streets of his neighborhood. It was all he could do to refrain from leaping into the trees and taking a shortcut back to his house.

Man, Reed Richards asked me to work with him!

Looking both ways he saw nobody looking and leapt over a wooden fence to cut through some yards and save himself some time. He had a date with MJ tonight, and she had made it pretty clear that if he flaked out on her this time she was going to flip on him. A dog started barking and charging him, Peter’s Spider-sense flaring as the beast drew nearer.

Just as it lunged for him, Peter was propelling grabbing the opposite side of the fence and propelling his feet over his head and arching gracefully over to the other side. A young girl in the backyard was staring at him with wide eyes. Peter cursed his carelessness.

“Heck of a trampoline they have over there,” Peter said as he kept moving. He climbed the other fence with purposefully placed awkwardness.

You keep that up and the whole world will know your secret, he chided himself.

The next yard was MJ’s, and he quickly moved to the front door to knock. Inside he heard the familiar sounds of heated arguments, followed by something smashing. Peter winced and for the umpteenth time felt a swell of pity for his best friend…or girlfriend might actually be more accurate.

Stepping off of the porch, he snuck around to the back and looked up at her window. Maybe it would be better to just…

Grabbing the drain pipe just for visual effect, he shimmied his way quickly up to her window and peered in. What he saw made his eyes bug out and made him lose his grip. He hit the ground far below with a breathtaking thud.

[Mary Jane]

The noise of fighting from downstairs was being effectively drowned out by the music blaring loudly from the stereo in the corner of the bedroom. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with that tonight, not at all. There were more important things to think about.

Mary Jane had a date – finally had an actual date with Peter – and she didn’t have a thing to wear. Or at least, that’s what she was convinced of as she stood in front of her closet clad in just a pair of panties and a bra, hands on hips as she surveyed her wardrobe. Brow furrowed in annoyance, she heaved a grand sigh and took a step forward, reaching out and sliding hangers aside as she considered and quickly dismissed item after item.

C’mon, MJ, start with the basics, she chastised herself. With a concerted effort, she picked out a pair of jeans. Dark indigo with some slight embellishment on the pockets, they sat sexy and low on her hips. She looked at her reflection critically, turning one way, then the other, checking to make sure they were sufficiently flattering to her butt. She had to make the most out of this date, after all. Who knew when they’d have another chance like this?

Still examining herself in the mirror, she caught movement in the reflection. Eyes darting up, she spotted Peter peering in her window, wide-eyed. Instantly she crossed her arms over her chest (which was pointless, as she was wearing a bra that was no more revealing than any bikini she’d ever worn) and turned away with a shriek of, “Peter!”

And then he was gone.

Embarrassment forgotten, MJ ran to the window, throwing it open and leaning far out. Looking down, she found Peter sprawled gracelessly on the ground.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” she called, hand at her throat as she peered down at him, teeth tugging at her lip in concern.

[Spider-man]

The thing about Peter’s powers was that he was incredibly resilient. The fall hadn’t exactly felt good, but he had suffered way more in his nightly and unappreciated moonlighting position as the infamous Spider-Man. He lay in the short grass and blinked up at the sky, the image of MJ in her bra and low-riding jeans permanently burned into his minds’ eye.

And she must not have really been thinking, as a moment later she was peering out the window at him, still in her bra-for him and whoever else was looking to see. He sat up and rubbed at his head.

“I’m ok,” he said, wondering how he could break it to her that she was still more or less in her underwear. “I…fell.”

Silently he cursed himself for the statement of the obvious.

“Do you think maybe you should…” He looked back up, and then immediately away. Though what he really wanted was to look again. “I could just wait down here if you want…”

[Mary Jane]

“I’m ok,” he said, wondering how he could break it to her that she was still in her underwear. “I…fell.”

MJ rolled her eyes. Well, apparently he was fine. And pointing out the obvious, in a very Peter-esque way.

“Do you think maybe you should…”

She cocked her head at him, red hair falling forward to frame her face as she continued looking down at him. He was looking all… twitchy. What was his problem? “I should what?”

“I could just wait down here if you want…”

“Why would I want you to wait down there?” she asked, brow furrowed in confusion. A sudden cool breeze, however, helped her put two and two together. She’d completely forgotten what she was – or wasn’t, as the case may be – wearing. And it was too good to pass up, embarrassment be damned. Looking around quickly to see if anyone was around, she leaned a little further out the window, giving him what she figured was probably a pretty good show.

“What’s wrong Peter?” she asked sweetly, full of mock concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

[Spider-man]

As MJ leaned out the window, Peter just couldn't seem to resist the temptation to look up. His eyes widened, and his heart sped up. Turning red, he looked away, covering his eyes with his hand.

"Oh come on, you're doing that on purpose!"

Knowing MJ she was totally doing that on purpose. Peter turned a half-scowl back up at her, then making sure nobody was looking he bent his wrist. With a muffled noise a single shot of webbing was released, splatting on the windowsill just beneath her.

Peter tugged on it, and it zipped him up very quickly to land on the wall above the window, just over her head. It was this kind of risk taking that he needed to be extra careful about. Nobody could see from this side of the house thanks to a dense tree, and the fact that her window faced the back, but it was still stupid showmanship, and he knew it.

"The view's better from here anyway," he said hoping to beat her at her own game.

[Mary Jane]

"Oh come on, you're doing that on purpose!"

Adopting a wide-eyed, innocent look, Mary Jane cocked her head, blinking owlishly. "Doing what?" It was hard not laughing when Peter scowled at her, but hey, she didn't consider herself an actress for nothing.

She even managed to keep her expression neutral as her wall-crawling boyfriend rapelled himself up the side of her house to hang above her window. He was taking a risk, she realized, and it was for her. She felt special for that.

"The view's better from here anyway," he said hoping to beat her at her own game.

"View?" she repeated, leaning further out the window and taking in the trees and yards of their neighborhood. "Hmm, it's okay, I guess." Resting her hands on the window sill, she brought her arms together slightly, assisting her bra in its efforts to lift and emphasize her womanly assets. If Peter wanted a view, he was going to get himself a view.

[Spider-man]

Peter should have known better on multiple levels. Even if he had taken MJ by surprise with his little maneuver or his comment, she would never let him enjoy the satisfaction of that fact. Not in a million years.

On top of that, for someone who spent all his time trying to cover up his identity, and make sure nobody knew, he sure was being an idiot.

"View?" she repeated, leaning further out the window and taking in the trees and yards of their neighborhood. "Hmm, it's okay, I guess."

He almost fell off the side of the wall again when she used her forearms to press her bosoms upward. Peter turned bright red again, and suddenly wished he hadn’t dropped this kind of gauntlet.

“Ok, you win,” he said diverting his eyes again.

Peter suddenly wished he wasn’t sitting on the side of the wall, in broad daylight, without his costume.

“But seriously, you want to let me in?”

[Mary Jane]

A glance upward confirmed what she'd already suspected. With his face warring with her own hair for which was redder, and his eyes firmly anywhere but on her chest, Peter looked ready to crawl into a hole.

“Ok, you win,” he said diverting his eyes again.

Oh yeah, MJ one, Peter zero. She couldn't not grin smugly at him.

“But seriously, you want to let me in?”

With a shake of her head, MJ ducked back inside her room. "Yeah, c'mon in before you reveal your secret identity to the whole neighborhood," she said, using her fingers to make quotation marks around the secret identity part. It was so much fun to mock. "Dufus," she added softly, under her breath, as she crossed to her closet with an affectionate smile, and resumed searching for the perfect shirt. Not, she supposed, that it mattered now. But it was the principle of the thing.

[Spider-man]

"Yeah, c'mon in before you reveal your secret identity to the whole neighborhood," MJ said as she stepped aside to let Peter in. He didn’t hesitate to use his body weight to go into a falling motion, his feet arcing over his head with his hands still on to the outer frame of the window.

In truth he was perfectly balanced, his grip tightening on the frame as his momentum sped up, and his body twisting suddenly as he released his grip, flipping twice and landing on the windowsill facing inward he spread his hands with a giant and goofy grin. The grin faded when he realized he had been showing off for himself. MJ’s back was to him and she was rummaging around in her closet.

Grumbling a little, Peter stepped into the room.

“Yeah, so I have some incredible news to share with you!” He was still reeling from the whole incident with Reed Richards and the invite to work at the Baxter Building. “Have you ever heard of Reed Richards?”

[Mary Jane]

“Yeah, so I have some incredible news to share with you!”

MJ couldn't help but grin at Peter's contagious enthusiasm. "Then share!" she encouraged, looking back at him over her shoulder with a grin, before continuing the search for the perfect top. Ah-ha! That one just might do...

“Have you ever heard of Reed Richards?”

Pausing, hanger in hand, MJ considered the question. "Yeah, I think so. Brilliant scientist guy, right?" she asked, slipping the shirt off the hanger and pulling it over her head. She smoothed it over her stomach and sides, fluffed her hair, then crossed the room and perched on the edge of her bed, looking at Peter expectantly. "So what about him?"

[Spider-man]

"Yeah, I think so. Brilliant scientist guy, right?"

That almost got Peter to look over at her, a scoff set into his features. Talk about the understatement of the year!

Though she was technically his girlfriend, Peter diverted his eyes as MJ found the shirt she was looking for and pulled it over her head. He did not look at her again until she was seated in front of him on the edge of her bed and looking at him with a grin.

"So what about him?"

The grin widened on Peter’s face. “Well first of all…he’s one of the smartest people in the world, pretty much…ever!” Peter came over and sat next to her, using unusually animated gestures. “I went to his talk on the N-Zone today, which by the way was awesome. It raised more questions than it answered,” getting off track, Peter fumbled around for his notepad that he had jotted down some unusual facts that didn’t seem to add up, “but I have pretty good notes. I just don’t think I’m getting the full picture. I mean I know it’s unstable, but the way he talks about it makes me think there’s more to the story we aren’t hearing…”

Peter trailed off as he forgot why he was bringing this up to begin with.

[Mary Jane]

MJ leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and her chin on her fists, and stared at Peter. She'd make a game of it, see how long he'd go on and about the N-zone before he realized she was in her own little zone.

It wasn't that she wasn't interested. Oh no. It was just that she'd rather he get to the point of his story. Because she was pretty sure this wasn't it.

So she waited, looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes, hoping to god he'd clue in before long and actually tell her what he'd been starting to go on about.

[Spider-man]

About to launch into part two of his Reed Richards spiel, Peter suddenly noticed that MJ was giving him some undeniably strong nonverbal communication. "Which...is all really great except that I don't have time to get into that right now because it sort of eludes the point that I was trying to get to."

She still wasn't saying anything one way or the other, so Peter rolled his eyes.

"Ok, ok...the point!"

Taking a seat next to her, Peter grabbed her hand. "No more working for the Bugle if I don't want to. No more Jameson...I got a real job."

This kind of enthusiasm was uncharacteristic for him...but he could hardly contain himself. "Reed hired me himself, to work in his labs with him or something. Not sure exactly what I'd be doing, but anything's better than butt-kissing Jameson."

Instead of going on, Peter just gave her a cheesy yet hopeful grin.

[Mary Jane]

"No more working for the Bugle if I don't want to. No more Jameson...I got a real job."

Squeezing his hand back, MJ smiled broadly, knowing that this was a big deal. Jameson was such a dick, and so awful to poor Peter. Anything that would get him out of the Bugle was good, as far as she was concerned. And considering how excited he was, it had to be something super, massively, monstrously huge.

"Reed hired me himself, to work in his labs with him or something. Not sure exactly what I'd be doing, but anything's better than butt-kissing Jameson."

Now, while that was far from MJ’s idea of a dream job, she could completely and totally understand why Peter was so excited. And that was enough for her. Releasing his hand, she reached out and wrapped him up in a hug. “That’s so cool,” she told him, her smile obvious in her voice. Pulling back, she graced him with a bright smile. “Where’s his lab? When do you start? Is the money gonna be decent – better than what Jameson was paying you, at least? Your pictures were worth so much more than he ever gave you.”

[Spider-man]

After Peter had explained himself, MJ launched at him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Peter's eyes widened at the gesture, and at the fact that suddenly her warm female body was pressed against him. It wasn't until after the initial shock wore off that he returned the gesture.

“That’s so cool," MJ began a series of rapid fire responses that did not afford Peter much opportunity for a reply of his own.

"Yeah, well I-"

“Where’s his lab?"

"It's down by the-"

"When do you start?"

"Tom-"

"Is the money gonna be decent –"

By this time Peter saw the chances of him actually getting in a response were on the bleak side. A slow smirk started spreading across his face as MJ didn't seem to notice he had dropped out of the one sided conversation.

"– better than what Jameson was paying you, at least? Your pictures were worth so much more than he ever gave you.”

Before MJ could go on, Peter swept in and caught her motor mouth in a kiss.