Chapter Text
It was the little things that were the worst.
Stupid stuff, that would only bother him. The things that people stared at him curiously for, that little kids pointed at and their parents told them not too. Things that he had to be accommodated for, like meeting up with friends in a tiny hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in the middle of nowhere rather than the busy, over-stimulating downtown Starbucks.
Peter had yet to figure out how this new way of living was supposed to work, and at the present it was nothing more than an organized disaster. It wasn’t like he had to suffer through the disaster alone—no, he had May, and Ned, and Mr. Stark, and now Vader, but there were times he wished he could just get away from them all and just…think. They were all ready and willing to help him, sometimes a bit too ready and willing. He needed his space, a way to escape from constant stimulation and attention.
Ever since the Scorpion and Mandy and all the other crappy things that happened, Peter had found it difficult to get enough down time. No matter how much time he spent locked up in his room with noise canceling headphones and an eye mask on, he never quite found the solitude that he needed. Mr. Stark had given him all sorts of gadgets that were supposed to help, but none of them did much good.
Peter heard everything. Every car on the street below, every words the neighbors said, every footstep in the hall, every tick of the clock…he couldn’t tune them out. The noise was always there. It was driving him crazy.
School was even worse. It had been loud before the super spider hearing, but now—oh, now it was torture. He had gotten special permission to eat his lunch in a quiet hallway or classroom rather than the cafeteria, but none of his friends could join him.
A wonderful choice: friends or keeping his sanity.
Ned would usually try to sneak out to eat lunch with his friend, and if he couldn’t Michelle would, and for that Peter was grateful, but it was still difficult being so separated from everyone else.
Peter loved people. He loved talking to them, helping them, and just being around them, so the fact that he was finding himself more and more cut off from people was extremely hard to get used to.
It was the little things, like getting to each lunch in the school cafeteria with his friends, that Peter had to miss out on.
One Thursday, Peter was attempting to enjoy lunch with his friends, deciding that no matter what, he would stay until the end of the lunch period. At first, it wasn’t so bad, but when other groups of students began to arrive, the noise slowly became unbearable.
Peter stayed in his seat, desperately trying to tune it all out, but it was just so loud. His palms grew clammy and his head began to pound and suddenly…he could feel Vader’s massive body pressing up against legs and a heavy paw pushing down on his left foot.
Peter shifted in his seat, focusing as hard as he could on the weight of the dog, trying to feel every little movement Vader made. He reached under the table to stroke the sleek black coat of the German Shepherd, timing his breathing to that of the slow, even breaths of the dog.
And slowly, the cafeteria didn’t seem quite as loud anymore.