It was obvious Johnny hadn’t meant harm, the spider lowering the gun but not his gaze, stuffing it back in the holster on his belt. It was a shame Uncle Ben’s gun wasn’t functional but… well, what was he to do? At the least, he could have it as a relic of the past, an honour to his work. Peter was fine with that; if it helped in this situation, then that was good. Of course, he kept his distance, standing parallel to Johnny as he cautiously looking at the way he moved and how his mannerisms matched the way he spoke. “I don’t know a hotheaded Johnny Storm.”
Call him rude, call him dark, but he didn’t want to; best friend in one universe or not, Peter knew he had to watch out wherever he was. If there was a version out there of himself in Curt Connor’s place, then there certainly had to be a version of that had met someone like Johnny. And Peter kept both thumbs poking out, gloves uncomfortable in his pockets, eyebrows furrowed and spidey sense knowing well that the man was only telling him all he could. But this was good, in a way; that meant there was a counterpart here. That meant there was someone here that he could call familiar, at least in one way.
But then he realised that, perhaps, he wasn’t here; perhaps that Peter wasn’t in this apple. And he frowned, huffing off to the side, reaching up to wipe his glasses and button up the cuffs of his sleeves. Johnny was right, though; Peter wasn’t willing to trust so easily. Maybe if he had spidey sense such as him, the man would trust, but he was put off by the idea of blindly taking some stranger’s word ( even if they knew his name ). “Alright, Johnny, I’m willing to let you help me a bit. Tell me how I can get-”
Then he paused; though this man knew his name, it didn’t mean he knew his identity. He was about to ask how to get his powers back but, sure as hell, Peter wasn’t about to offer his identity, so he took a breath and restarted, making sure his response wasn’t telling. “-out of here. I’m not planning on settling down- I need to get out of here before some part of the universe tears itself apart.”
Though he knew well enough that any help at all was useful, he wanted to do this alone; he wanted to get this done as soon as possible, before a hole ripped through his dimension and any other, which would put his counterparts and family at risk. With his earlier attempts at regaining his powers, he feared that it was only a matter of time before the rest of his strength begun to dwindle.
{ ✦ } » — There’s, admittedly, a sense of relief that comes when the gun is re-holstered and no longer aiming at him. Guns had never been an issue for him in the past, sure. But that was when he could flame on at will and bullets would melt before they could come into contact with him. These days, he didn’t have that luxury. Funny how, even without his powers, he still couldn’t afford to be careless. It seemed he would always have to practice SOME degree of caution. And if that hadn’t taken the wind out of his sails enough, the response that follows does:
He doesn’t know a Johnny Storm.
Of course it made sense that things might be different in alternate universes. A universe where the superhero civil war had been avoided altogether, sure. A universe where the sky is purple even, why not? But a universe where his best friend has no idea who he is? A world where Peter Parker and Johnny Storm, Spider-Man and the Human Torch, aren’t a smart-mouthed, dynamic duo? He can’t help but feel a bit defeated by that.
Johnny attempts to brush off the subsequent pang in his chest as his pride being wounded.
“Well...maybe YOU don’t, but I’ve known Pete since I was sixteen years old. Since we were BOTH sixteen,” he frowns, eyes drifting elsewhere once more. “...We know everything about each other.”
There weren’t very many people he was known to hold close to him. He had his family, that much had always been a given, but outside of the Four? Despite the adoring fans, his world was quite small. Friends weren’t something he came along often, let alone people who actually stuck around. Wyatt came around every so often, as did Jen. Daken...was a whole other matter altogether. But at the end of the day, when it came down to it, there would always be that one person he knew he could count on when all else failed.
Life always did have a cruel sense of humor with him.
But the pity party can wait for later. At the very least, this Peter still sounds willing to at least hear what he has to say. It’s a start.
“Do you really think I would still be here if I knew how to leave?” Johnny sighs in response. “I have a niece and nephew and a sister I haven’t seen in almost a year. A best friend I haven’t seen in almost a year before you showed up. None of us are here by choice, Pete. And whoever’s calling the shots around here? They seem pretty set on keeping things that way.”
He really hated sounding like Mr. Doom and Gloom. Everything sounded so much better coming from Reed, because at least you knew he was already trying to come up with a solution. But Reed wasn’t here, and he didn’t have even half the intellect his brother-in-law did. Peter, on the other hand...
“...But if you’re anywhere near as much of a super genius as the Peter I know, you might be able to figure out something I couldn’t. I might not be a smart, science-y guy, but I know the city pretty well at this point.”
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