There were a lot of terrible things that came along with the vigilante life. The constant, looming fear of an identity leak, the crushing weight of responsibility for the safety of a whole city’s population, always staring down the barrel of a gun.
But what Peter hated most was…the inconvenience of changing out of his suit.
Listen, he was a modest guy, okay? His idea of a fun time wasn’t stripping down to his boxers in some random alley and praying no one would stumble by before he managed to dress. Going home to change wasn’t an option— what was stopping anyone from tracking him back to his place? It hadn’t been so bad in New York. There, at least, he knew his city like the back of his hand. He’d become intimately familiar with the comings and goings of all the other native Queens folk. He knew Archer Avenue was a no-go most weekend nights since it sat between two popular bars. Liberty’s alley, though, was almost always a safe bet; the lamp by its entrance had gone out years ago and no one wanted to tempt fate by wandering somewhere so dark alone.
He didn’t have that kind of knowledge with Gotham yet. He was winging it. Trial by fire, he kept telling himself, but he could only take so much heat.
This very unfortunate encounter burned like a son of a bitch.
“. . .Woah, dude—”
A nervous laugh grated past his lips forcefully as he stared at the stranger with wide eyes. Luckily, he’d already stashed his suit away in his book bag and he’d had enough time to yank his pants up as he heard their footsteps near, but…he was still very much shirtless and alone in the middle of an alleyway at 3 AM.
“You, uh, wow—! That was a close one. Mugger almost got away with my shirt ‘til you…scared ‘em off.”
Ugh, everyone always told him he was a shit liar. He hid his grimace behind his top as he hurried to pull it back on over his head.
“Umm, thanks for that! Really. You saved my bacon—” What the fuck was he saying? “Gotham's lucky to have you out on these streets!”
His fingers wrapped around the strap of his book bag as he started edging back further into the alley, kicking off the world’s slowest, most awkward escape.
