Chapter Text
Peter was bone tired. After his most recent patrol mishap and a gentle scolding from Yuri, he was trying to take things a bit easier.
Get a bit more sleep, spend a little less time patrolling, etc. His injuries had mostly healed and his stab wound was looking like it would be gone without a trace within the next day or two.
He owed it to the people of New York, to the people in his life that cared about him, and to a lesser extent, himself, to take care of his own well-being. That said, he was trying – he really was! - but the old Parker luck decided to make an appearance as usual.
And, okay, maybe it’s because I’m still over-extending myself. But what can I say, I’m a work in progress!
The first thing that he noticed upon waking up this morning was his throbbing head. Groaning, he simply attributed this to not getting enough sleep last night as he slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His limbs felt heavy as he started to maneuver himself into a standing position.
As soon as soon as his feet touched the floor, he was hit by an intense wave of nausea that had him rushing into the bathroom, dropping to his knees as he retched into the toilet.
“Uugghh” he mumbled to himself miserably as he stood up and flushed.
At least I feel a little better now, I guess.
As Peter walked over to the sink to wash his hands and scrub the awful taste out of his mouth, he took in his appearance. He looked a bit pale and had dark, tired red rimmed eyes.“Looking good as always, Parker!” he joked, making finger guns at his reflection and flinching at the sudden twinge in his throat./p>
As he finished up his business at the sink, he scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed.
Today is going to be a loooong day.
Getting dressed for the day was an uneventful ordeal aside from Peter constantly fighting the urge to crawl back into bed. He’d tried eating breakfast, but found that he couldn’t quite stomach it after a few nibbles of toast almost sent him straight back to the bathroom.
This is fine!
He needed to get back into the lab with Dr. Octavius this morning. After being late to his last few shifts, he knew that he really couldn’t miss out on today. While Otto has been relatively polite in his remarks about his tardiness, Peter could tell that it was really starting to bother him.
It’s not that he didn’t want to be there, he just had more…urgent matters to tend to that conflicted with his already overwhelming schedule.
Peter loved the work that he was doing with Dr. Octavius. He felt, no, knew that what they were doing was really making a difference.
While he did as much as he could as Spider-Man, he needed to make a positive impact on the world as Peter Parker too. Sure, their budget was a bit scant due to their relatively low grant funding, and he was still barely making enough money to scrape by, but it wasn’t about the money.
Nothing that he does is ever about the money. It was his responsibility to help people, and he would continue devoting all of himself toward doing it.
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In an attempt to minimize any distractions today, Peter opted to take the train to get to the lab rather than his usual, much quicker transportation method of swinging through the city. As he crammed himself into a crowded subway car, he felt his body sag a little.
He hated taking the subway. It was loud, you got no personal space, and it didn’t necessarily have the best track record for getting you from point A to B on time.
But hey, at least it doesn’t smell as bad today!
Preparing to take a deep, grateful inhale to commemorate this rare event, he frowned as he was met by a soft squeak sounding from his nose – and the distinct feeling of a lack of air flow.
Oh.
Pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, Peter cursed under his breath as he sniffled loudly./p>
Gross.
After having enhanced senses for so long, it was always an uncomfortable and unwelcomed experience when one of them went out of commission.
He didn’t get sick often these days as his spider bite seemed to do wonders for his immune system, but on those rare occasions where he did, he was miserable.
Gotta suck it up. Get through today and then sleep for 12 hours. He thought to himself as he fished a face mask out of his pants pocket and put it on.
If I have to be out, the least I can do is keep my germs to myself. Wouldn’t be very friendly neighborhood Spider-Man of me to give everyone on the train whatever this is…
Peter was sure that whatever this sickness - Cold? Flu? Oh man, I hope it’s not the flu. - was wouldn't last long.
They never did, really, but it was going to suck while he rode this one out.
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When Peter made it to the lab, he was pleasantly surprised to see that he was early.
As he donned his white lab coat and swiped his badge he found that he was so early, in fact, that Dr. Octavius wasn’t even in yet.
“Oh, how the tables have turned.” he smirked and said aloud to himself, punctuating his sentence with a sneeze and pulling down his mask to wipe his nose on the back of his hand.
“Ugh, gross.”
As he wandered into the bathroom to wash his hands, he caught another glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked worse than he had earlier this morning and his hair looked limp, greasy, and disheveled.
Now that he thought about it, he felt worse than he had earlier, too.
“Oh well. I’m here, so it’s time to make myself useful.”
He had a few circuit projects that he’d been meaning to get to, and now was the perfect time to get started.
Partway through his spatial mapping project, Peter found that his body was absolutely wracked by chills as the dull throbbing in his head continued to worsen
Is it usually this cold in here? Should have brought a sweater or something.
He cleared his throat a few times and winced as it felt like he was swallowing glass, which spurred him to get up and get some water.
As he stood by the water cooler finishing up his 4th cup of water Why do they make these cups so tiny?, he was suddenly overcome by another sudden wave of nausea.
Nopenopenope not going to happen. Deep breaths. He thought as tried to will himself to keep his water down.
Unfortunately, he quickly lost that fight as he found himself bent over the nearby trash bin heaving up bile within the next ten seconds.
Once he was sure he was done, he straightened back up and leaned slightly back against the wall, now aware of how hot he suddenly felt.
He peeled off his lab coat and fanned his face with one hand as he started to trudge back over to his bench to sit down. His brain felt like mush and he needed to take a quick moment to collect himself./p>
Peter all but collapsed onto his stool as he haphazardly dropped his coat onto the workbench. Acutely aware of his blocked nose, he propped up his elbows on the bench and cradled his aching head in his hands while taking a deep breath in, and then out, through his mouth.
“Ugh!”
Peter could not focus right now, he was exhausted. Sighing miserably, he leaned further forward and dropped his head to his bench and let the cool metal soothe his burning forehead./p>
“Maybe I can just take a quick nap…clear my head a bit.” he mumbled to himself.
“Just… fifteen minutes.” Letting his eyelids droop closed, he was snoring within 30 seconds.
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To say that Otto was annoyed was an understatement. Peter was a great kid and a brilliant scientist, but he was flaky. Always late, and always with a mountain of excuses./p>
Wonder what it is this time, “My dog ate my homework?” He thought to himself bitterly.
He’d called Peter three times on his way into the lab, and each call had gone unanswered. He was dangerously close to losing his temper and had to stop himself from sending a not-so-nice text to his irresponsible underling
Even though he most certainly would deserve it…
Approaching the entrance to the lab, Otto shrugged on his white coat and swiped his badge. Once inside he immediately noticed that it smelled a bit…sour?/p>
A stark contrast to the usual mechanical, electrical, or grease and oil smells that are usually emanating from the lab.
That’s strange.
As he walked further in, he became aware of a loud, steady, repetitive noise.
Is that…snoring?
As he went to investigate the source of the noise, he rounded the corner to find one Peter Parker asleep at one of the lab benches.
Anger immediately flared in his gut.
The ONE time he’s actually here on time, it’s to take a nap?
“You’re really testing my patience, Parker.” he quietly growled through gritted teeth./p>
Storming over to where Peter was slumped over in his chair, he placed a hand on his shoulder only to immediately recoil at the heat radiating off of his body.
Now that he was up close with Peter, he really took the time to get a good look at him.
His head was tilted to the side with the strap of a mask loosely dangling over one ear, and he was loudly snoring with his mouth wide open. His skin was pale, illuminated by a thin sheen of sweat, and his cheeks were flushed.
Eyes glancing upward, Otto noticed that Peter had in fact been working at some point while he was here, and now he felt guilty over his near blow-up.
Poor kid, he’s a mess.
Gingerly placing his hand back on Peter’s shoulder, Otto gave him a few light shakes to wake him up.
“Peter?... Hey, Parker?”
This caused Peter to jolt awake, startling Otto and causing him to unconsciously flinch away and take a step back.
Disoriented, fever bright eyes darted around the room before landing on Otto.
The sudden movement caused Peter’s stomach to lurch as his hand flew over his mouth and he scrambled back over to the trash bin. As Peter dry-heaved over the bin, Otto winced in sympathy.
Guess that explains the smell.
After loosely following behind, Otto shuffled over to Peter’s side as his hand hovered awkwardly over his shoulder, not quite knowing what to do.
Once finished, Peter left his hands braced on either side of the trash bin and turned his head to face Otto – bleary-eyed and clearly embarrassed.
“Heeeey Dr. Octavius. I am SO sorry about this. I can… I’ll take the bag outside. I didn’t mean to fall asleep for so long, it was just supposed to be a quick nap.”
He sounded rough, voice gravelly and laced with congestion.
Otto sighed as he looked Peter up and down. Always the pinnacle of politeness, even as he looked five seconds away from collapsing into a heap on the floor.
“Uh, it’s fine. You okay, Parker?”
Peter sniffled, straightening up and scrubbing at his reddened nose with his forearm before fixing his mask over his face.
“Y-Yeah. Just a, um, little tired, I guess. I’m okay, I can keep working. I know we have a lot to get done today.”
Frowning, Otto thought for a moment before he spoke.
Of course the one time he’s actually early, he’s in no shape to work. Kid’s got heart though, I’ll give him that. I know he means well.
“Peter, you know, I appreciate you coming in early today but I’m not confident that you won’t fall asleep and cut a finger off or something. And, no offense, you look terrible.”
Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Otto started again before he could say anything.
“Listen, I’ve got a couch in my office. Why don’t you just settle down there for a while. Get some sleep and see how you feel when you wake up. If you’re feeling better by then, you can finish up what you’re working on. If you don’t – and you can’t lie to me because I’ll know – I’ll take you home.”
Otto knew that the nap wouldn’t change anything, but he also knew that Peter was stubborn as all get out, so he decided to humor him in hopes that he’d put up less of a fight this way.
Peter looked a bit dejected, but Otto swore he could see the tiniest hint of relief in his features. “Doc… I – Are you sure? I think it’s safer if I’m around just in case something happens.”
Otto smiled fondly and laughed. “Parker, in the state you’re in I think it’s safer for me if you’re NOT around just in case something happens.”
Peter looked down at his feet, coughing wetly into the crook of his arm before meeting Otto’s gaze again. He didn't want to leave Dr. Octavius to work on his own as he really needed to pull his own weight on this project, but there was no denying that he felt like shit and that a bit more sleep could improve his situation.../p>
“Alright…if you’re sure. But if you need something, ANYTHING, just wake me up. Okay?”
Otto nodded as he approached him, placing a hand on his back as he ushered him into his office and over to the couch.
Yawing, Peter felt like he could feel his exhaustion growing at the sight of it. Suppressing a shiver as another round of chills made their way through his body, he wrapped his arms around himself as he lowered down onto the couch and started to get comfortable.
Otto swears he was out as soon as his head hit the cushion, heavy snores once again sounding from him within minutes. He thinks he sees Peter tremble, just a little, and grabs a blanket to gently drape over him.
I am definitely going to have to give him a ride home later.
As Otto went back out into the lab to start working, his eyes wandered over to Peter’s station. “Huh, the spatial mapping project.”
He had been stumped and needed a second set of eyes to get it done. Looking at Peter’s work, he was truly impressed at the progress that he had made.
“That Parker really is remarkable…a genius, genuinely. I can’t believe he got this far so quickly – I hadn’t even thought of that!”
He looked toward his office where Peter was sleeping and smiled. Otto felt unbelievably lucky to have someone like Peter Parker on his side. He knew that they were going to change the world together, and maybe they could find a way to use their new tech to prevent his own health from declining any further before it was too late, not that he was ready to talk about it yet... if Peter could ever get that damn tardiness under control.
Chuckling to himself, he got lost in his own work for a few hours before rousing a very groggy Peter from his fever-induced slumber to bring him home.