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"What the hell did you just call me?" Johnny asked, playfully mad, Peter could tell, but literally steaming nevertheless.
Peter was playing a quite dangerous game right now, considering he and Johnny were sitting atop the Statue of Liberty, and if Johnny decided he didn't like Peter's little joke, his soda would definitely be landing on some poor tourist's head.
"You heard what I said," Peter replied, casually taking a bite of his hot dog. Even though Johnny knew his secret identity, Peter's mask was halfway up his face to say because the Statue of Liberty had cameras for some reason.
"No, I want you to repeat it," Johnny said, fire dancing in his eyes. Sometimes Peter wondered if he could really do that or if it was just a trick of the light. "Call me that again."
"Whatever you say, Flamebrain," Peter smirked.
Johnny nodded solemnly, like he was just informed that Chappell Roan wasn't the #1 artist yet. "So that's how we're playing it, huh? Fine by me."
It only took a a second for both of them to burst out laughing, providing a bizarre sight for anybody who was looking through Lady Liberty's cameras like a weirdo. But Peter was completely unaware of what he had just started.
"How do those things not get tired?" Peter groaned, stretching his arms on a rooftop. The street below him and Johnny was utter chaos—Doom had sent out another fleet of robots to do God-knows-what and Peter and the Fantastic Four had just spent the last 3 hours thoroughly wrecking them all.
"They're robots, Webs-for-Brains," Johnny said casually. "Now do you want pepperoni or sausage on your pizza?"
Peter didn't let Johnny's little nickname slip by, though. Just because he was famous and handsome and rich didn't mean he could get away with thinly-veiled insults towards Peter's intelligence.
"'Webs-for-Brains'?" Peter said, amused. "That's the best you got?"
Johnny grinned and pulled a tiny notebook from one of the pockets on his suit. "It's funny you say that, because I have a whole list here.
"And I'm the nerd?"
"It's not mutually exclusive, Webs," Johnny smiled. "So pepperoni or sausage?"
"I'm only getting pepperoni if you pay for it," Peter said, leaning back on his elbows, and Johnny laughed. "I'm serious."
"Pepperoni it is." Johnny lit up like his namesake and jet off to get the pizza, leaving Peter alone on the rooftop.
They'd been friends for a relatively long while now, and it was actually surprising that they hadn't come up with any nicknames until that night on the Statue of Liberty (Johnny called him 'Webs' sometimes, but that was to protect his identity, since 'Spider-Man' doesn't really roll off the tongue in casual conversation).
And then, because Peter's mind could never stay quiet, his train of thought shifted.
For the last few weeks, when Peter looked at Johnny, something changed. At first, Peter thought it was a new concealer, or a lighter hair dye. But he quickly realized the only thing that has changed was his own perception of the hotheaded hero. More specifically, when he looked at Johnny, he felt a soft spark in his heart that hadn't been there.
For now, Peter stuck with his initial theory of having heart palpitations from his constant bad guy fighting, which was unaided by the fact that Johnny was both figuratively and literally the hottest man on Earth.
It didn't take long for Johnny to return with a box of pizza from some hole-in-the-wall restaurant, which were a dime a dozen in Manhattan. Coincidentally, he arrived just in time for the sun to start dipping into the sky, making the horizon past NYC's endless skyscrapers the same shade as Johnny's flames.
"Don't you just love the smell of free pizza, Johnny?" Peter teased.
"You're only getting this privilege because I love ya, Webs," Johnny said, setting the pizza box down between them, and Peter's chest did the thing again.
Peter took a slice, and it was just okay. Definitely not the best New York pizza he'd had, but nowhere near the worst.
"So what's your rating for this place, Webace?"
"Webace? Do you mean Webface?" Peter asked, confused.
"No, like web and menace. Webace," Johnny explained. When he saw Peter barely containing a laugh, he continued, "Not all of them can be winners."
At that, Peter actually burst into laughter, failing to notice the blush he was evoking from Johnny and unaware that he and Johnny had the same sparks flickering to life in their chests.
"A nickname battle?" MJ asked when Peter finally remembered to call and talk to her like he'd always promised he'd do more often. "What are you, five?"
"This is why I don't call, MJ," Peter retorted.
"You don't call because you constantly have shit going on," MJ corrected. "Between Spider-Man, and the Bugle, and visiting your aunt, and the Avengers, you have no damn free time."
Was all of that true? Yes. Did MJ really need to call him out like that? No.
"Alright, alright, I get it. It's just a fun game between two friends," Peter said, pacing around his apartment. Despite his hunger, he didn't dare open the fridge, or else he would've cried at its emptiness. He really needed to find a new job.
"I'm just saying, you and Johnny argue like an old married couple," MJ said.
Peter laughed it off and MJ just started talking about a new modeling contract, but her last comment stuck with Peter until he collapsed into bed that night.
'Like an old married couple' she'd said. Peter didn't know why, but it affected him. He'd always considered himself a romantic type on the inside, even if he didn't outwardly express it due to his... Outside commitments.
Suffice to say, Peter's relationships didn't work out. The only decent relationship he'd had ended like a Shakespearean tragedy, so for the past year or so, Peter had taken a break from dating.
However, he'd never considered Johnny as a potential partner.
Obviously, MJ hadn't actually meant anything with her comment, but it got Peter thinking about the possibilities. Both Peter and Johnny were superheroes, so no having to hide identities. The pair clicked perfectly, and they worked well together both on and off the job. Their personalities and senses of humor matched, too. It was just a bonus that Johnny was hot.
Needless to say, Peter fell asleep thinking of Johnny that night.
"You couldn't possibly be asserting that Terminator is better than T2: Judgement Day," Peter said, feigning offense.
Every Wednesday, Peter and Johnny had invented the tradition of a movie night in the Baxter building. It had to be in the Baxter building of course, because Johnny's room there was almost twice the size of Peter's shabby apartment. Tonight, the movie of choice was Terminator and Johnny seemed to want to be a contrarian.
"Using big words doesn't actually make you smarter, Spider-Nerd," Johnny said, snacking on popcorn.
Johnny was wearing an illegally produced Spider-Man t-shirt (Peter wasn't big enough to get brand deals yet), and loose pink pajama pants that Peter suspected used to belong to Ben Grimm.
This look was a departure from Johnny's usual super suit (or suit and tie for more formal events), but Peter didn't mind seeing his friend more casually. He himself was also dressed in a simple hoodie and sweats. Thankfully, the Four already knew Peter's secret identity, which meant he got to go maskless.
"You're really trying to get mileage out of these nicknames, huh?" Peter smiled. "I hope you know you'll never beat Flamebrain."
"That's what you think," Johnny replied, shaking his head. "But I'm a very creative person, Petey-Pie. I'm gonna keep going until I win."
Peter smirked. "I didn't even know you were competing."
"Oh, you little—" Johnny lunged across his personal couch (which was such a rich person thing) to tackle Peter, which came as a genuine shock because Peter's spider-sense didn't work on those he loved.
Peter tried to back up and grab a pillow for self defense, but Johnny was already pinning him down, restricting his arms.
Normally, Peter could easily escape this situation. Johnny wasn't that strong, and Peter could lift a car with relative ease.
But in this moment, Peter didn't really feel like resisting Johnny, nor did he feel like leaning away when Johnny inched his face closer to Peter's. And Peter especially didn't feel like fighting when that little spark returned to his chest and his lips connected with Johnny's.
And then the moment was over, and Peter was painfully aware that he had just kissed his best friend and was currently pinned under him.
Oh, God.
Luckily, Johnny himself quickly got off of Peter, his face redder than his flames. He scooched over to the far end of his couch, creating a few feet of distance between the two friends.
Peter didn't know what to say. He was confident his face was as red as Johnny's, and he couldn't meet the blonde's eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes.
Focus, Peter.
What could Peter say to fix this? Maybe just play it off as a heat of the moment thing, then go back to the movie? No, that was stupid. Maybe he should just talk about his feelings. No, that would be worse.
In the middle of Peter's mind ramblings, Johnny asked him a question. If not for Peter's fine-tuned senses, he probably would've missed it entirely.
"Was it that bad?"
"No, no, I-I mean," Peter stuttered, clearing his throat. (God, why couldn't Galactus interrupt this or something?) "I didn't mind it."
"Really?" Johnny asked, slowly sliding back down the distance of the couch.
Peter nodded, and scooched over so he and Johnny were face to face again.
When they kissed the second time, Peter knew for sure he liked Johnny. All the little sparks he'd had finally made sense.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, kissing Johnny was like making out with a furnace, so Peter pulled away before his lips could get burnt.
"You're a good kisser, Hothead," Peter teased, a grin on his face. He enjoyed the way Johnny blushed and looked away, and he enjoyed even more pulling him back by the chin and kissing him once more on the cheek.
"Damnit," Johnny muttered, "That's a really good nickname."
That was when Peter burst out laughing, and Johnny followed suit.
A lot of people say to look out for subtle signals in dating. However, Peter didn't really need to do that, considering whenever Johnny needed him, he'd leave a flaming message in the sky.
When Peter arrived at the Statue of Liberty holding a bag of Chinese food, Johnny was there waiting for him. Johnny's face lit up when he saw Peter (though not literally, that would be much more shocking).
"We gotta stop meeting here, Torchie," Peter groaned, sitting down next to Johnny. "You know how hard it is to find a helicopter tour at this time of night?"
Johnny just nodded along and smiled, pulling Peter's mask up to his nose and kissing him. Man, that never got old.
"Maybe I can carry you over here next time, Webhead," Johnny joked. "I could carry you bridal-style."
"I'd burn up before we got here, Johnny," Peter said, then rewound in his mind. "Webhead?"
Johnny blushed. "Not as good as Flamebrain, I know, but—"
Peter cut him off with a quick kiss and smiled.
"Just because you suck at nicknames doesn't mean I love you any less, Flamebrain."
"Shut up."