Misadventures in Paradise ↠ Peter Parker [2]

19 | Valor's Biggest Fan

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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
xix. VALOR'S BIGGEST FAN

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   ON THE EVENING OF April 25th, the full moon shone brightly in the night sky. Tonight was the night, the night the Avengers arrested Carson Belmont and finally put an end to his schemes.

   Roman and Peter lingered on a rooftop, dressed in their skin-tight suits as they waited for Riley, who was instructing Ned and MJ on their part of the mission in a safe location. With JOCASTA's help, they were responsible for supervising the technical aspects of the operation, such as alerting the team of reported suspicious activity and Bishop Security System malfunctions.

   Was that something Riley could do alone? Easily. But that wasn't the point of having a team, and it certainly wasn't how she intended on leading. She cared about her friends, more than she outwardly expressed. If they wanted a part in this, then so be it.

   Unfortunately, that meant Roman would have to spend more time with Peter than he usually did.

   "I'm just saying, whoever said Chicago pizza is better than New York pizza was seriously disturbed! Sure, I've never been to Chicago, but that just shows my loyalty, you know?"

   It was hard to believe that Peter Parker was an esteemed member of Roman's village. Barely. Honestly, he was more of a mascot if you wanna get technical.

   "You've been spending way too much time with Riley," said Roman.

   "Like you're any better. Didn't Riley convince you to be Morgan's object for Show and Tell?" Peter teased, and the alien just shrugged. He wasn't ashamed of his love for the Stark sisters.

   Roman was never fond of home, no matter where it was, but he'd admit that the Starks changed that over the past year. A lifetime he spent among the earliest stars in the universe, blessed by Asteria's gentle hand, and yet, he never longed to go back. He spent days and nights circling the cosmos, resting in Helicarriers, lavish cabins, and even a humble house in New Jersey. But that was all those places were to him: resting points. New York was no exception.

   New York was insufferable. There were more sewer rats than people, the neon lights sparked headaches that ordinary pharmaceuticals couldn't remedy, and the streets always smelt of radioactive piss. Traffic was a nightmare if you couldn't fly, and the people weren't exactly pleasant either. They were always so agonizingly cranky and irritating that it made Roman, of all beings, look like Steve Rogers.

   Then again, that was why he grew to like New York so much. It didn't try to be anything it wasn't. It welcomed its trash and asshole habitants with pride, and Roman appreciated that. Roman appreciated authenticity wherever he found it. So, maybe New York was a rat-infested, overrated, ridiculously expensive state, but to Roman, it was home. For now. And when he's forced to live elsewhere in the future, he'll have a complicated relationship with it, too.