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“Should have placed money on this.” Flash mutters under his breath as Peter approaches, uncrossing his arms to look at his watch and confirm what Peter already knows which is that he’s arrived twenty minutes after the talent's call time and nearly an hour after his own.
“It’s not nice to mutter.” Nina pipes up from the chair beside him, looking up with a cheeky grin that is a mirror image of her mom’s. “Things don’t get resolved if we don’t speak our feelings.” She adds on, sharing a piece of sage wisdom that’s likely another thing she’s gotten from MJ but has been echoed by Flash during each and every single one of their tutoring sessions which Peter has definitely interrupted with his arrival.
“She’s right.” Peter cuts in, winking at Nina and holding out his fist for her to bump as he passes them. Pleased that at least one person is on his side, even if it’s wholly undeserved.
Truthfully, he’s lucky that Patrick likes him enough to keep hiring him back to help out on jobs like these. For one, he wouldn’t have reconnected with MJ again had Patrick not seen potential in him the first time Peter did a freelance job for him. In turn, he wouldn’t have gotten to meet Nina either – the little blanket wrapped addition to MJ’s life had been the biggest surprise of all when they were reintroduced – and his life would be severely lacking without the pair of them.
Nina was always a joy to have on set. She brought a youthfulness and excitement to the studio where everyone was usually a little too solemn and serious – the long days they had to work, early starts and hours stood around heavy-duty lamps able to ruin anyone’s mood, but Nina was able to bring a smile to any of their faces. From when she was a toddler, babbling listlessly abut nothing in particular to now, dragging crew from sets into games or enthusiastically sharing anything she’d learnt from the classes she had with Flash or dragging them into her latest game.
MJ was just as much of a breath of fresh air. In front of the camera, she was focused, determined and so damn captivating. Off set, everything he’d liked about her from High School –her humour, her intelligence, her wit and unique perspective on everything – was still there but she’d grown into herself more and Peter couldn’t help but lean in a little closer anytime she was in a room. It was a draw that had somehow led to him getting to see MJ off of set more and more. Somehow (and he still doesn’t know how he’d managed this) they’d gotten to a point if he leaned in then she would too, and he could hold her there.
Without Nina, Peter thinks he’d take things far too seriously when he was out of the suit. Without MJ, he would be in the suit a whole let more. They made him a better version of himself, one was trying to live up to. It was a work in progress – obviously, but he was lucky that MJ had figured out his identity long ago and luckier that Nina didn’t know about his relationship with her mom just yet so she couldn’t hold anything against him just yet.
Patrick definitely could, however. Peter supposed his wallet would be a lot lighter too if Patrick decided to stop taking pity on him one day, but for now the flexibility of his schedule, comfortability doing night shoots and his familiarity with the camera (and in cases like today, the talent) kept him in good graces despite his punctuality.
Flash knows the real reason he’s late. He’s just being a dick.
“I can’t right now. I’ve got to be professional.” She explains, sitting up a little more in her chair and it’s enough for Peter to take note of the clipboard she’s holding along with the chair occupied by one of Patrick's interns opposite. He’s politely smiling at Nina, charmed in the same way everyone is whenever they meet her, but his eyes keep flicking towards the back of the studio. Peter can just about hear MJ’s voice filtering through from Hair & Makeup, he’s going to be needed soon.
Peter’s already running late and it’s an easier choice for him to pick who he’d rather go about impressing right now.
“Oh yeah? What are you doing?” He asks, “Because I think I could use a few lessons in being professional.”
“That’s an understatement.” Flash murmurs, covering the words with a cough. Peter rolls his eyes while Nina looks up at him, brows deeply creased and disapproving.
The intern – Peter should really start to learn their names – gives him a nod and stands, offering the chair out to him.
“Thank you.” He says to Nina, going to shake her hand.
“My people will call your people. Thank you for your time.” She replies, head held high, poised and proud as she shakes his hand in an exaggerated motion. Out the corner of his eye, he can see Flash struggling not to laugh and pressing his lips into a thin line, nodding and giving Nina a thumbs up.
“I don’t think we’ll call him.” She sighs, looking rather defeated as she scratches out something on her clipboard. The downturn in her expression and slumped shoulders tugs on Peter’s heartstrings.
“What are you doing?” He asks again.
“We’re working on our public speaking, comprehension and composition by hosting interviews.” Flash explains, waiting a beat before elaborating. “She was in too chatty a mood for Math.”
“We’re finding my mom a boyfriend!”
Peter’s eyes flick over to Flash who shrugged innocently.
“She picked the topic.”
Flash knew about Peter and MJ – whether he was happy or not about it was still up for debate; in his words he was happy to ‘see the end of the lovesick pining’ but was apparently disgusted by the early stages of their honeymoon phase.
He also knew that MJ wasn’t ready to tell Nina about their relationship just yet; MJ does her best to give Nina some sort of structure but the nature of her work isn’t always so forgiving with that, making sure that she’s certain this is a long-term thing before adding in a change to the support network and the dynamics Nina has with people around her is something she can control and Peter’s understanding of that.
Except, it seems it’s put Flash in a bit of a tough spot for the afternoon.
“She needs more friends and I really, really want a little brother that I can play with and apparently you need a boyfriend for that.”
Peter struggles not to choke on his breath, staring Flash down who is refusing to meet his eye and biting down on his lip to stop himself from laughing.
More kids were definitely few steps further ahead than he and MJ were at currently. This did present an opportunity though, to test the waters and see how receptive Nina would be to him taking on a different role in her life.
He wanted her approval.
This was a low stakes way to get or to see if he needed to do a little more work to ensure that he was worthy of Nina and her mom.
“Can I interview?”
Nina looks at him incredulously. Peter pretends it doesn’t hurt for it to be a ludicrous request.
“I mean, I’m already late, so I can hang around for a few more minutes. Answer your questions.”
Flash hums. His hip is propped against the back of Nina’s chair, smirking as he pretends to seriously consider whether he should let Peter interview.
“I don’t know... I don’t think he’s your mom’s type. He dresses funny.”
“You do too.”
Peter loves her. He adores that little girl with every fibre of his being.
Flash is silenced by Nina’s comment.
She continues to consider Peter's offer before rolling back her shoulders and sitting up further.
“Okay! Mommy says we have to give people a chance because they might surprise us.”
With that decided, Nina flips the page on her clip board. The jewel at the end of her pen catches the overhead light, twinkling as she scribbles something Peter can't see. While she writes, she struggles to stop a teasing, cheeky grin from making its way on to her face, her lips continually dropping into a comically thin line as she attempts to school her expression.
“Would you let me cook for you?”
Her first question is an easy one. He’s had dinner with them plenty of times before and watched Nina help MJ around the kitchen.
“Why are you writing already? I haven’t answered.”
“You have to let me cook. Mom said you can’t do it.”
“I-… Fair.” He allows. “What are you cooking me?”
“Brownies.”
“Delicious. What about for dinner?”
“Just brownies.” She giggles.
“That sounds good, but I think we need something a little more, right? So how about... we make spaghetti together then you make me brownies?”
Nina thinks on this before looking to Flash. He shrugs.
“If you think it’s important, write it down, but he’s the one asking questions now.”
Flash is an ass.
Nina steels her face back into a stern expression.
“Are you kind?”
Peter blinks.
Quite the jump, though it makes sense. It’s the type of question that aligns with everything MJ has been trying to teach Nina.
If he could blurt out that he was Spider-Man that would be a much easier question to answer and would earn him more than a few points considering Nina’s best friend at school was a big fan of the Avengers.
Flash seems to have figured this out as well, eyes dropping to the floor and crossing arms again. Beside him, Nina has taken his silence as a reason to write something down.
“I try to be.” Peter replies. “We all make mistakes or have bad days, but I think it’s really important we do our best to be kind.”
Nina stares at him. The same unreadable and appraising stare that MJ used to shoot across the length of the cafeteria table as she tried to discern the truth from his lies back at school.
“Do you think my mom is pretty?”
“Very.”
“Would you tell her she’s pretty?”
“Every day.”
He’s glad that these questions have gotten easier.
“Would you play with me?”
“Totally.”
“And take my mom for ice cream?”
“Isn’t she lactose intolerant?”
That was apparently the wrong answer. The small smile that had started to form on Nina’s face dropped to a stormy frown.
Peter stammered, trying to recover.
“I’d take you for ice cream though.”
She scribbled something.
From the dressing room, MJ called out to Flash, someone appearing in the doorway to gesture him to come over. He shot Peter a quick, questioning look to confirm he was happy to keep an eye on Nina while he went to speak to MJ.
Peter nods.
“What’s the most important thing to you? Ever?”
Peter smiles at Nina.
“I think my family and my friends. I wouldn’t be who I am without my Uncle Ben and my Aunt May, so it’s really important to me that I look after her and I do them both proud.” He breathes. "Maybe trying to do right by other people."
The little girl scratches something out on the paper. Peter tries hard not to frown at what he’d said to deserve that. While she looks over the rest of her page, contemplating her next question and flicking back to the page before, Peter decides to spin the interview back around on her again.
“These are really good questions. You really wanna make sure your mom finds the right person, huh?”
She goes shy at that, lifting the board to cover her mouth. He can see her flushing slightly.
“I think it’s really sweet you want to make sure she finds someone who’ll look after her like you have.” A beat. “I was exactly the same with my aunt growing up. It was just the two of us for a long time so we had to keep an eye out for each other.”
From the set, he can hear his name being called. He’s pushed Patrick’s patience too far and even using Nina as an excuse won’t earn him forgiveness if he tries his luck anymore.
“I’ve gotta get to work, but I really enjoyed this. Shall we go find Flash, he can help you review your notes?”
She nods as Peter stands, holding out his hand for her to take as they weave between the bodies and go in search of him.
“Mommy!” Nina cheers as soon as MJ finally steps out from the adjacent room now changed back into her clothes, a few hangers draped over her arm that she hands off to the stylist, opening her arms to welcome the energetic eight-year-old into a tight hug.
“Nina!” She replies with equal enthusiasm.
Peter is able to hide his smile from where he’s standing, turning his back to them and continuing to pull down the lights, blaming the warmth that’s spreading through him on the physicality of the work. The other assistant has already left for the afternoon. He was late, it’s only fair he stays late to help pack things up. Patrick doesn’t need to ask, likely another reason that he doesn’t mind keeping Peter around – he's willing to do the grunt work if it keeps him in a job.
“Good news!” Nina exclaims behind him. “I found you a boyfriend!”
Peter risks a look over his shoulder to watch as MJ reigns her expression in. The only sign she’s been caught off guard by the statement is the way her brows creep up her face just a fraction.
“Productive afternoon, I see. Really pleased I entrust part of your education with Flash.” MJ hums, glancing to Peter who simply shrugs, deciding to not get further involved. He probably could bail Flash out, but where would the fun be there?
“Who’s the lucky guy then?”
“Peter!” Nina points at him.
He opens and closes his mouth, his hands frozen on the unhooking the reflector before releasing it and giving a hesitant wave.
“He’s your boyfriend now.”
“He is?” The question is directed across the short space to him. Nina just nodding like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Meanwhile, he’s trying to work out if MJ is amused or annoyed by the turn of events. He hopes for the former.
“The lady has spoken. I have to take you out on a date. Impossible to tell her no.”
MJ tilts her head. “It’s actually very easy, I do it every time she gets a little cheeky like this.”
He knows for a fact how often MJ has struggled to tell Nina ‘no’. Kids are funny – Nina especially – sometimes they broke the rules in the best way possible. Other times, MJ was just as susceptible to Nina’s wide eyes and pouting face as anyone else.
“She’s never been cheeky in her life. Perfectly innocent and well-behaved.”
“You’re laying it on a little thick.” She comments.
“It’s how I aced that interview.”
“He also promised me ice cream after you finish work.” Nina butts in, her lip caught between her teeth.
His eyes widen and laugh gets caught in his throat how quickly he’s been undermined by his accomplice.
“What? No-… I-… mean-… I’m not sure who I’m meant to side with here.”
“Good work, kiddo.” MJ laughs, patting Nina’s shoulder. “I think the lady has spoken, hasn’t she, Peter?”
He’s never been happier to have his own words used against him.