Work Text:
A Certain Request
Peter was surprised to get a message from Rio, of all people. Even more so, she wanted to meet him as Peter, not as Spider-Man. He didn’t mind, but this did leave him rather curious, wondering if maybe something was going on with Miles. He walked into her building and to her floor, waiting for the receptionist to give him the go-ahead to go in. Once he was approved, Peter entered Rio’s office, to find her standing by her desk. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear she looked nervous; controlled and put-together as always, but nervous all the same. However, that was the second thing he noticed. But, as had been on Peter’s mind recently, he found Rio to be as beautiful as anyone Peter had ever seen, though he’d probably never tell her that. He had enough problems.
Rio had been contemplating this idea for weeks. When she finally had the nerve to call Peter and ask him to meet her, she was positive it was the right thing to do. She even asked him to come to her office, so it could seem formal at first. Now, Peter was standing in her office. And Rio really couldn’t help but think what a horrible idea this was and what a fool she was about to make of herself.
Nevertheless, she’d come this far. Rio decided she might as well see it through.
“Hi, Rio!” Peter greeted, cordially, closing the door behind him.
Rio smiled, warmly, “Hi, Pete.”
“How are you?”
“Uhhh… not bad. You?”
“Eh! Same aches and pains as ever. But that’s New York livin’!”
Rio uttered a soft giggle. She motioned toward the chair in front of her desk, “Please, have a seat.”
“Sure.” Peter sat down, as Rio sat behind her desk. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I just…” Rio fidgeted a bit. “…I wanted to ask you something kind of important.”
“Sure. Is this about Miles?”
“Uhh… actually… no.”
“Oh!” Peter blinked. He looked at the door then back at Rio, “Is it… other things related?”
Rio smiled a bit, knowing Peter was talking about Spider-Man. “No. Not… not about that, either.”
“Oh!” Peter thought for a moment. “Uhhh… okay. I’m out of ideas. What do you need?”
Here it was, the moment of truth. One Rio had slightly been dreading, despite the fact that this was her decision and no one talked her into it. She didn’t even discuss this plan with anyone else. She knew the best thing to do was just rip the band-aid off.
Rio took a breath. “I wanted to ask if you’ll have dinner with me.”
Peter froze.
“In… i-in the form of… a date. I want to ask you out on a date. I’m asking you out on a date.”
Peter still didn’t say anything.
Rio let out agonized groan, dropping her head in her hands, “Yeah, I know! That… kinda came out of nowhere.” She looked back at him and started to fidget with her fingers again, “But… I-I really appreciate how much you’ve been there for Miles. A-and for me. All you’ve done for both of us. Whether it’s time you spend with Miles, with or without something incredible being involved. Or… time with me.” She stopped herself then took a breath. “You’ve been there for me… in ways I didn’t expect. Maybe I’m… wrong for thinking something else is here. But… I think there is. And… I… want… to explore it. If… if that’s something you want too.” She looked away. “Also assuming I didn’t just make a total idiot of myself saying all this and you don’t at all feel the same way.”
Midway through Rio’s rant, Peter found himself flabbergasted. He had no idea Rio felt anywhere near about him the way he did for her.
Ever since Peter and MJ decided to just remain friends, Peter dedicated more time to training and mentoring Miles. An unintentional side effect of that was Peter spending more time with Rio. At first, this only occurred whenever Peter would go to Miles and Rio’s home. The first that happened was when Peter went to visit Miles but missed a message where Miles said he would be hanging out with Ganke all day.
Since Miles was gone, Rio invited Peter to have lunch.
For that day, Peter had carved out two hours for training with Miles.
He spent that time talking with Rio. That time stretched into the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening.
Peter and Rio realized they enjoyed it. So, they had lunch again. And again. And again. This happened every other day for three weeks in a row.
For Rio, this wasn’t the first time she realized what a good guy and genuine person Peter was. But seeing it on a more personal level stirred up feelings in her she almost felt guilty for having. Peter felt some guilt, as well.
But it just wasn’t enough to make him turn down Rio’s offer.
Peter smiled. “Promise not to be mad if I’m late?”
Rio gasped, her eyes wide. Then she exhaled in relief. She smiled, “Promise.”
“I’d love to go out to dinner with you, Rio. I feel bad… I wanted to ask you first.”
Rio’s eyes widened again, as she felt her temperature swiftly rise up. “You…” she cleared her throat. “You… hrm! You wanted to ask me out?”
Peter shrugged, “I was thinking about it. But… I didn’t want to put anything out there that… wasn’t… there.”
Rio uttered another sigh of relief. “It wasn’t just me,” she whispered. “Thank God.”
Peter laughed, softly.
“I really worried I was imagining… something was going on between us.”
“You didn’t.”
Rio smiled but looked away, “I guess… another small fear I have is… this is just a case of me falling for the first good-looking man who smiles at me.”
Peter smirked. “Is that really all you see me as?”
Rio’s looked back at him in a shot, her eyes wide. “Wh-what?! No! Pete, of course not! I didn’t mean it like that! I…” She slapped her hand to her forehead, groaning, “Oh, God, I screwed this up already.”
Peter chuckled, “Rio, Rio! I’m kidding! Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
Rio laughed in relief.
“But, I can’t lie: points in my favor, you think I’m good-lookin’.”
Rio laughed. She sobered as an extremely important point needed to be discussed. “Peter, I… want to wait to talk to Miles about this.”
“I understand.”
“Please, don’t take that the wrong way,” Rio pleaded. “I trust you. I think you’re wonderful. Just… this is brand new. I mean, look how nervous I am to even ask you. I just want to give us time. Then… then Miles… all he’s been through. I—”
“Rio,” Peter interrupted, calmly. “I get it. Trust me. It’s fine.”
Rio nodded. “I just want to take this slow. Really get to know each other… on this level, I mean. Give it time and… see where it all goes.”
“That sounds just fine with me.”
Rio smiled. “So. I know a place not too far from my apartment.”
“You sure you want to go somewhere close?” Peter asked.
“Sure. If we’re found out, we can just tell Miles it’s about him and his schoolwork.”
“Or we can just tell him it’s a date. He’ll think we’re making it up anyway.”
Rio laughed and Peter joined in.
After their laugh, Rio regarded Peter with a warm, affectionate smile. “Pete. No matter what happens with this… I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for my family. Thank you for caring about us.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Peter nodded.
“I hope you’ll always be there for Miles.”
“I will. And for you. No matter how this works out.”
“Thank you,” Rio replied. “And let me be perfectly clear… I… have some… a lot of hope… of where this could go.”
Peter smiled at her. “Me, too.”