Chapter Text
There’s a saying out there about how you only know someone’s odd habits once you start living with them. In Johnnys experience this was true.
Peter, after the bite, started having very noticeable changes. He could suddenly stick to walls, he could — briefly — shoot webs from his wrists, he even had ‘super’ strength.
While he was busy worrying about being a teenager, and dealing with those powers, he hadn’t noticed other side effects. In fact, almost ten years later, he still hadn’t noticed a lot of them.
Peter and Johnny had been together for a few years. A couple months ago, Johnny started staying over more. He was there almost every day, half of Peter’s room was now Johnnys.
Of course Peter didn’t mind, however he’d never had a roommate before this, so it was different.
Johnny lived with three other people, and although it was a big building, he was used to it. Those three other people had weird habits too, but for some reason, he never thought about that.
The first thing he noticed with Peter was how he didn’t sleep like a regular person. Obviously with being Spider-Man that was hard, but it wasn’t that.
Peter would rather take naps than sleep a full eight hours.
He noticed that within the first week. He’d brought it up once, but all Peter said was
“yeah, I’ve had trouble sleeping all night since I was a teenager. I’m still getting enough sleep though, so don’t worry.” And he shrugged it off.
“Don’t you think maybe you should worry? Or, I don’t know, go to the doctor?” Because Johnny was worried. That definitely wasn’t normal.
Peter shrugged. “It’s probably a side effect of being Spider-Man. I can’t really explain that to a doctor.”
Which, to be fair, he couldn’t. So Johnny never really brought it up. If Peter thought he was still getting a somewhat healthy amount of sleep, Johnny couldn’t really do much.
And besides, odd sleep patterns were the least of his worries.
He noticed the next thing within a few weeks of dating Peter. Peter knew his routine. Peter knew almost everyone’s routine. He knew Sue, Ben, and Reeds, and he’d only been there a handful of times at that point. It would have been creepy if Johnny hadn’t been friends with him before hand.
He only really noticed because Peter would ask questions if he didn’t follow it. Not accusatory, not rudely, just curious. Mainly to make sure he was okay. To make sure he didn’t get into some alien fight on the way home again.
And Johnny thought that was nice. Even if it sometimes got annoying that someone was worrying about him that much, he was glad he had someone to worry about him, and he was glad it was Peter.
Then there was the ‘clutter’.
It wasn’t really clutter. Peter’s room was small, and he had lots of things in there. It made his room look even smaller. Peter had explained once, back before they were together.
He was more complaining than actually explaining. Mostly how he couldn’t sleep properly, sometimes not at all, if his room was empty. He was trying to figure out why.
He only figured out it was the empty room because he’d been staying at The Baxter Building a lot, and he had trouble sleeping there. First he thought it was just an unfamiliar place, which was part of the reason, but then he moved apartments.
His new apartment was slightly bigger, and he hadn’t unpacked his room yet — only his mattress and blankets. The walls were blank, and the furniture wasn’t in yet. It couldn’t sleep there either.
One he finally unpacked his room, he figured it out.
Obviously that was a problem. It definitely wasn’t something normal people do, but again, he couldn’t go to a doctor or anything. If they take tests, they’ll know he’s Spider-Man.
So he did the next best thing. Complain to his best — and only — friend.
Johnny didn’t really think much of it till years later, when he found out everything else.
The next thing he noticed was how Peter hated strong smells. If there was a strong smell in a room, Peter would go in there till it was gone — unless he really had to.
Johnny once had some lavender air freshener thing that spilled in the laundry, and Peter wouldn’t go in there for two weeks. Honestly, Johnny wouldn’t have noticed if Peter hadn’t asked him to grab a shirt out the room.
It wasn’t like Peter went in there every day, maybe twice a week. Peter didn’t go out much, the only thing he had to wash was the suit, and everything else usually just sat in the dryer till he needed it.
Johnny noticed the second time Peter had asked him to grab a shirt, and he asked why Peter couldn’t do it. Not in a rude way, just curious, to which Peter said, “Don’t like the smell.” With no elaboration.
Johnny could have just brushed it off as Peter not liking lavender, but then he wouldn’t go in a store because it had a eucalyptus smell. Johnny wasn’t sure how he could even tell that from outside.
It was slightly inconvenient, but he wasn’t going to complain. It’s not like Peter purposely didn’t like stronger smells, so he really didn’t blame him.
One of the first things Johnny noticed when Peter was out of the suit at his own home, was that he wore glasses.
Johnny hadn’t ever seen Peter in glasses. He would have remembered that. Obviously he brought that up.
“Since when did you need glasses?” He tried to bring it up in casual conversation, but he really wanted to know why.
“Uh, I don’t know? Almost ten years I think.” Peter sounded confused. “Why?”
“Just never seen you wear any before now.”
“Well my suit has built in one’s. It’s easier than trying to wear frames with the suit.” Peter joked.
That made sense. It would also help hide his identity. “What about out the suit?”
“Contacts. Or if it’s right after a fight or something, I just can’t see things far away.”
He guessed that did make sense. It’s not like Spider-Man had pockets he could carry glasses in.
Johnny wished that was all he noticed, because now it was just starting to get weird.
Peter was cutting up some vegetables for their dinner when he slipped. He sliced his finger open on the knife.
Johnny was staring around, supposedly helping make dinner, when he saw. He expected red to come out, instead, a blue-ish green almost clear liquid came out. Johnny almost jumped away.
Could you blame him? Who had blue blood?
“What-“ Johnny didn’t even know what to say. “What the fuck.”
Apparently he didn’t pay close attention to the colour of Spider-Man’s blood, because he was certain he’d remember something like this.
“What?” Peter asked as if something else was happening. Because to him, this was kinda normal. It had been happening since he was a teenager, he forgot about it.
“What is that-“
“Oh- been happening for years. Is safe don’t worry.”
Don’t worry. Peters been saying that a lot, especially when it’s things you should worry about. “How can I not worry? How is that even possible?”
“I tested it, I’m okay, it’s just-“ Peter wasn’t really sure how to explain this. “Long story short, my blood is now copper based, and is now this colour, instead of iron based and red.”
Johnny was still worried. Could humans even survive off that?
“It’s safe.” Because of course Peter knew Johnny was worried. “I worked it out- how it was possible. It’s a side effect of the spider bite.”
Peter then told Johnny why it was safe, but don’t ask him to tell you, because Johnny forgot the second he found out it was actually safe.
The last thing Johnny noticed was how Peter was scared of birds and most reptiles.
Johnny had once asked why, but Peter couldn’t give an answer. There really wasn’t a reason behind it. Peter just didn’t like them.
Sure, everyone has their fears, but birds? How can you be scared of birds if you’re swinging right next to them?
By this point, this was probably the least of his worries. Being scared of birds and reptiles isn’t too worrying, heaps of people don’t like them.
But when you look at everything else? The cluttered room, the copper-based blood, the sensitivity to strong smells, the sleep ‘cycles’, and the memorising of routines? All added up, it didn’t sound ‘normal’.
After some time, and some research, he came to the conclusion that all those things, they were all most likely side effects of the spider bite.
And honestly? He was more concerned that Peter hadn’t came to any conclusion on why he had half those things.
But then again, there were probably things about himself he hadn’t even noticed.