Alright, so. Peter was realizing a few things today. The first— he was terrible at time management. It wasn’t exactly a new discovery but it was a lesson he never seemed to learn. Did he know he had plans today? Yes. Did he still somehow manage to run late, even though he had it in mind since the moment he woke up? Also yes.
The second— he was really rusty at making friends. There was a gut-wrenching panic that set in almost instantly when he looked at the time and saw he should have left his apartment five minutes ago. As a result of said panic, he scooped up his homework before grabbing his phone to text Felicia that he would be there soon. The apology was riddled with typos but he was worried that these five precious minutes would make her realize her mistake, and never want to see him again.
The last time he had actually made friends was with Ned and MJ. And really, what did even do to gain their friendship? Nothing. It honestly felt like dumb luck that they stuck around him long enough to be tricked into liking him. But the truth? No one understood him like they did. Now that they weren’t in the picture anymore, Peter floundered when it came to any sort of interaction. It was all awkward and anxious and too many words falling out of his mouth that he couldn’t stop, and it was usually met with short answers and expressions that silently begged him to let them leave.
Needless to say, when Felicia asked him if he wanted to get lunch sometime it took a minute to sink in. There were a few people at ESU he was friendly with but holy shit she actually was asking to hang out with me?! Peter barely used his phone for things other than mindlessly reading through emails, or listening to police scanners. When he realized he had gotten a text, he figured it was one of his lab partners asking about the due date for the fifth time. He almost ignored it. But now he was glad he didn’t.
When Peter finally swung open the door to the little cafe, an already dramatic entrance made worse by the sharp twang of the bell, he was panting. Technically he had made really good time— this place was a frequent of his, after all. He knew how to get there without even trying. But he was still feeling terrible about running late, so when he noticed Felicia he hastily made his way over and apologized yet again.
“I really hope you weren’t waiting long.” Peter was starting to catch his breath as he set down the messy pile of textbooks and paper on the table (because why would he think to put it all in a bag to make his life easier, right?). He stood there for a few seconds, straightening out the pile the best he could before giving up and plopping into the seat across from her. “Hi. Sorry. I’ve got stuff due tomorrow and I guess I lost track of time. So this is— well, I just figured I would bring it to work on since I didn’t know how long we would be here. How are you? Do you want to order something yet? I’m starving.”
At this point, there were few things that excited Felicia. It wasn’t that she was a downer -- she wasn’t. She just wasn’t starry eyed or naive. People let you down. The years had taught her that the hard way. They let you down, they disappointed you and, in some cases, broke you. It was learning how to deal with that brokenness that made Felicia the woman she was becoming. Everything had happened rather recently. She had just dropped out ESU, just began making a name for herself as a cat burglar. It was all still fresh but she had blinders on. It didn’t matter what had happened to her, Felicia was going to come out of it better.
Even before the incident and everything else that had went down, Peter Parker would never have been her type. He was too nice, too sweet. Too genuine. He seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve while Felicia kept herself clad in leather with claws at the ready. And, in all honesty, it hadn’t been Peter who had caught her attention. It had been Spider-man. Learning his secret identity had become somewhat of a game. He was a puzzle she wanted to piece together; a riddle to be solved. In the end, it hadn’t been that hard. It was what to do after the reveal that she had to muse over. Play coy? Act interested? Lose interest? In the end, she had decided to see what happened and go along with it all.
That going along with it all had taken Felicia someplace she hadn’t expected: the Hellfire Gala. The actual in all of its glory Hellfire Gala. She hadn’t been invited; being Spider-man’s guest had still been something to brag about, though. He had worn a mask and she had found the perfect half-mask with cat ears. It was supposed to be a fun night. He wasn’t supposed to chase after some Krakoan/homo sapien representative and never come back. Felicia had been fuming. She had waited a bit and sipped on the incredibly expensive champagne. After an hour she had turned to something harder before she left entirely. Felicia was down for a lot, but she wouldn’t be stood up.
While everything in her said to be done, he still deserved a chance to explain himself. She had texted him and was pretty surprised about the location. The fact that he was late didn’t earn him any extra points either. Felicia was actually getting ready to leave when he burst through the door...with homework? That caused her to pause for a second. Reaching up to pat nonexistent flyaways from her silver ponytail, she waited a second.
“...Right. We can eat. What does this place serve? Doughnuts only?” She wasn’t a fan. “But also, Peter, I think we need to talk.”
