the spider whisperer

Ruler [chapter 6]

They both sat on the floor. The girl was writing away on a sheet of paper while Peter lay on his back. He threw a balled up sheet of paper in the air, catching it with a web and bringing it back to his hand if he ever missed it. So she was doing the work, and he was slacking off.

"Parker," she started. She liked being in control, and being in control meant she was the head. If there wasn't anybody to boss around, then what was the point? Slapping his paper ball out of the air once it started falling back down, she gained his full attention. "Start doing your damn work." When she didn't get an immediate response, she narrowed her eyes at him, "Now."

Peter sat up, "Well, I would do my work if you'd let me. But every time I try, I'm always doing something wrong, and you just have to correct me." His tone held an obvious bitterness to it.

And rightfully so. As he'd said, there was no winning with her. She always seemed to find a flaw with something that he was doing. But Peter didn't see why it was so important. Everything they had set out to do that day was all rough drafts. They'd compile together their facts and make the actual argument later. She even made that plan herself! So why was everything he did wrong?

She stuck her nose in the air with a huff, "Maybe you should just be better."

"I can't be better when you went tell me how," Peter reasoned. He was talking in a gentle tone. Though even he, as patient as he always was with her, was starting to get just a bit fed up.

Not another word was uttered from her mouth. She just turned away from Peter and continued on with whatever she was doing. Peter could tell something was wrong though. He didn't even need his Spidey Senses to go off for him to know. But he didn't know what was bothering her. So until she was ready to talk, he'd distract her.

His eyes focused on her figure, waiting for her to make a move for something— anything. The opportunity arose when she started to reach for a ruler that sat next to her. She needed it to draw a straight line for a graph she was creating.

Peter shot a web, yanking the ruler back into his hand right before she could get to it. The girl's brows furrowed as she was forced to look at Peter once again. A scowl settled over her lips as she got out of the criss-cross position she was sitting in. Man, was Peter really getting on her nerves today.

"Give it," her eyes were as fierce as her tone.

His lips twitched upwards into a mocking grin. He raised the ruler far above his head, stretching his arm back so it was even further away from her. His tone was airy, "Come and get it."

Her face fell flat. She calculated all options. Going home, leaving it be until he dropped it and moved on to something else, finding a new ruler somewhere. He was bound to have one in his room. But when she sighed and shook her head in disappointment, Peter knew he'd won this battle.

She sat on her knees and started shuffling over to him, "I can't believe I'm doing this..." There was an obvious agitated look that danced around in her eyes. The flames within her irises only grew when Peter started to scoot back. "Parker."

"Yes, Sunshine?" he gave an innocent smile though he knew damn well what he was doing.

Her lips twitched downwards, "Give me the damn ruler."

"Did Cairo ever teach you manners?" Peter mused.

They continued to play this game until Peter eventually hit a wall. He still held the ruler high above his head for her to reach for. One of her hands reached up to where Peter's was, and the other was placed on his chest for support. When she'd finally clasped her hand around the measuring device, she let out a sigh of relief.