Stories Focussed On Spider-Man

And They Were NEIGHBORS PART 8!!!

"So, Spider-Man," Natasha said as she twiddled a spoon between her fingers, "this is Borscht. It's not much of a summer food, but it's one of my favorite meals, so I make it anyway." The attending Avengers stayed silent at the dinner table, all already having tried the meal before and willing to let Natasha have her moment.

"Huh," Spider-Man nodded, "what's it made out of?" The soup itself was red and filled with various vegetables, apl drenched in crimson, with only the slightest bit of green from the cabbage peaking through. As a side dish, he had two baked potatoes and a heaping of sour cream along with some pot roast.

"Beats, potatoes, beans, red bell peppers, carrots, celery, chicken broth, onion, and tomato sauce," she answered promptly. It was weird seeing a woman usually so hard to read displaying her eagerness plain as day.

"And you say it's good?"

"Oh for sure."

Spider-Man shrugged, grabbed his spoon and shoveled a huge bite into his mouth with little hesitation. Before he'd even downed that bite, he'd already cued up another. It took a minute before he slowly came to a stop, awkwardly looking up. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's good. I like it."

Spider-Woman huffed out a small laugh before she and the others began to eat. Natasha let a satisfied look cross her face. "Good."

"My aunt would have loved this," the male vigilante admitted quickly as he scraped up the last of the soup.

"Yeah?" Spider-Woman prompted, keeping her own tone in check with his.

Spider-Man was already halfway through a potato. "Yep... We used to try out all sorts of places together." He took another few bites. "She really liked this Thai place." He shrugged, moving onto the next potato. "She might've just liked the attention of this flirty waiter that worked there though. I dunno. I don't think she would have ever gotten around to dating much anyway. She really missed Uncle Ben." He looked up, as if realizing what he was discussing. "Sorry." He shook his head humorlessly. "I'm Debbie-downering all over this joint, aren't I?" He huffed. "Sorry. She really would have liked it though. I haven't bothered to visit any of the old places so I guess I'm just missing her. Sorry."

There was a certain still to the air, like the silence was sacred. Only the click clanks of silverware touching the dishes framed the dinner as everyone consumed the food at their own paces. Spider-Man and Spider-Woman both finished around the same time.

Spider-Man stood up, clearing his plates and his throat. "Sorry."

It was only after he left that anyone was able to find his voices. "Is it just me, or is he a lot more down today?" Clint asked. "First the self-criticism, now the grieving?"

"He works himself hard," Spider-Woman offered. "He's usually doing something all the time. I don't think he's chilled like he has today in a while."

"He's running from his feelings," Natasha stated. "Now that he's got to slow down for a few days, they're catching back up."

"Well put," Clint agreed.

"So, what do we do?" Steve asked, glancing around.

"I'd want to be left alone," Tony suggested. "I doubt he'd appreciate us all in his space about this."

"Alone time is probably good," Natasha agreed. "He just shouldn't feel alone."

Spider-Woman scoffed. "Something tells me he's felt alone for years now."

"What about that friend of his?" Clint frowned. "Surely he's helped?"

"Probably," Natasha admitted.

-_-

Spider-Woman knocked lightly on Spider-Man's door. A faint "Come in!" quickly followed. She peaked inside.

"Hey, man. Where're you at?"

"Up here." She looked up to find him perched inside the giant tangle of webs, a book firmly in his clutch. He plucked a bookmark from his web and sealed his spot. "What can I do for you?"

Spider-Woman shrugged. "Just wanted to hang out, I guess. You've been getting back from patrol so late that I'm already asleep."

He motioned for her to join him. "There's a lot of crime that needs stopped."

"Oh, believe me, I'm not denying that." She scaled the wall, and then the ceiling, dropping near him and getting comfortable before turning to look at him. "Just miss my friend, that's all."

"Well then, Ponytail, what do you suggest we do?"

"Dunno. Don't really care."

"I honestly don't feel like moving."

"I'm down with that. What do you want to talk about?"

"Dunno."

"How's Kraven?"

"He messed up, and now I'm most lying just waiting to heal up."

Spider-Woman blinked. "You mean, you're inches away from catching the guy who's been bugging you for months and you didn't tell anyone?"

"I'm not much of an open book."

Spider-Woman rolled her eyes. "It wasn't until recently that I came to that conclusion. I always thought I was the reserved one here."

Spider-Man shook his head and breathed out a laugh. "Nah. I can't even let you have that. 'Anything you can do, I can do better,' and all that jazz."

"You can't take down gangs better than me."

"...I'll let you have that one. I get supervillains."

Spider-Woman pursed her lips. "Y'know, I've never actually fought a real supervillain before. I've really stayed in my lane, huh?"

"Yeah." Spider-Man shrugged. "Villains are just really unpredictable. Like, I can usually figure out a normal dude's intentions pretty quick, but it's so much harder to tell with the weirdos. One minute you think they're robbing a bank, the next minute they're turning the world's population into lizard-people."

"You made that up."

"It happened six months ago."

"I don't believe you, idiot."