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"huh.." Ned eyed peter curiously from the sofa. The latter had just shot out a web from his wrist, successfully grabbing a soda and yanking it towards himself.
"What?" Peter asked, taking care to flick the bottle before opening so it wouldn't overflow. It was a trick Ned had taught him back when they were still in middle school, and somehow it always worked.
He wanted to ask how he'd figured it out at the time, but it never came up. In the end, he was content not knowing. Besides, asking years after the incident would be strange.
"You shot webs from your wrists." He spoke matter fact-ly, still staring.
"That, I did." Peter took the first sip then handed it over.
"I thought you needed the web shooters for that."
"Oh." A slight red dusted the man's cheeks. It was one thing to accept this whole spider-puberty thing, but actually explaining it to another was different.
But alas, this was Ned. He couldn't hide things from Ned.
"Well.." He grabbed the can, taking a sip before practically hiding behind it. "Things changed."
"Changed?"
He sighed, putting the can down for a moment. He scooted closer to the other, then held out his arm towards him. He let Ned examine the minuscule hole for a second, before flexing his wrist and starting to exude some of the fluid.
It was still gross, in a way. The way it left his body made him want to shudder, but he held it back. He really needed to get used to it if he's going to have to use it more often now.
A part of him wonders what Tony would think of it. Would he be just as disgusted? Or would he be too invested, trying to study it, to care? Knowing the man it would probably be the latter..
Maybe he'd even make up a new dumb nickname for him.
He pushed the thoughts away, pulling himself out of his head and back into the moment. The last thing he needed right now is to burst out in tears, (they already went through that when Ned first hugged him, they didn't need a repeat)
"—You have got to let me look at this in a lab, man." Ned looked up at him, wide eyed and grinning. He had been rambling about the new revelation for longer than peter has been listening, but he still smiled.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?!"
"If you ask nicely." He teased. He'd obviously let him. It was just amusing to see him get so worked up over such a thing.
"What if I agree to re-watch every single star wars movie with you?" He offered, grinning in a way that made it obvious he knew he won.
"Deal!"
"Awesome." Ned grinned, looking down at his wrists one last time before meeting Peter's eyes again. "How did this even happen?"
Peter shifted awkwardly, then looked away. "I don't know.."
"You're lying to me! I can't believe this. Not cool man. Not cool." Ned pulled away from him in favor of crossing his arms in feigned offense.
"I'm not!" He barked out a laugh as he spoke.
"Peter." Ned looked at him firmly, Holding eye contact. It made Peter's chest tighten in a weird, unfamiliar way. "I may have not known you existed for these last few years, but I do now, and i know my best friend. You're lying."
"I.." Peter sighed, a fondness escaping him despite his best efforts. He couldn't lie to him any longer. Not when he looked at him like that, speaking with such certainty. Not when he was the only one to remember him. "Fine."
"Yes." He whispered, pumping his fist up in victory.
"Well.. it's a long story really.."
"I've got all day," he smiled, before quickly adding, "and tomorrow. The day after that too. And the one after that and—"
"Ned! I get it." He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. It was so wide, it hurt. He didn't care though. He had Ned back, and they were going to spend the rest of their time together. That's all that mattered.
He looked off to the side, his eyes landing on an all too familiar vase positioned on the counter. "Remember that night? When I came, not as a friend, but as a neighbor."
He didn't need to look back to see Ned nodding.
"Well.. I saw MJ kiss someone." The sentence left a bitter taste on his tongue but he continued nonetheless. "I felt… angry? No. Not angry… hurt, if anything. It felt like a betrayal, almost, Despite knowing the fact she didn't remember me. It hurt badly."
He felt his best friend's hand land on his shoulder as he spoke, rubbing it slowly in an attempt to make him feel better. "When I got home.. I don't know. It was so confusing. One minute I was in excruciating pain in the apartment, the next I was waking up in a cocoon in the middle of no where."
"A cocoon..?" Ned questioned. "Like the one a caterpillar makes to become a butterfly?"
"Kinda yeah. It was made out of webs, though."
Ned stared at him wide eyed for a few moments before uttering out a simple: "cool…" it wasn't said in a sarcastic manner. If anything he seemed genuinely awestruck.
"Maybe to you," He chuckled. "I for one did not find it at all cool when I woke up practically naked in an alleyway, covered in webs and had some shooting out of my skin. Even my apartment was covered in it. Do you know how hard it was to clean all that out?"
"They didn't dissolve?"
"Er— well… that doesn't matter! Still was not fun at all."
"Hm… was it easy to control?" He questioned, taking Peter's reaction as enough of an answer to his last question.
"Not really.. it took a while." Peter spoke, his voice quieter than earlier. "It was scary, and too sudden for me to keep up. Webs shot out of my arms and my senses were so enhances even stepping outside hurt, and…" He trailed off.
"And?"
"There was.. so.. I don't understand it fully yet, but whenever I get intense and all, there's this—"
"Sup, losers." MJ spoke, cutting him off. She held up a take out bag, showing it off as if it were the greatest thing to graze this earth. "Guess what I got."
Ned's eyes landed momentarily on Peter, before standing up to go help MJ set everything up. They'd finish this conversion another time. For now, he's content just having fun with the family friends he so dearly missed.