Cryokinesis

Cold Hands

Gwendolyn felt just the slightest bit awkward while sitting in a laboratory with multiple machines and wires attached to her head. This was her first time in a lab and so far she was not enjoying it. Hank kept asking her questions using words she hardly understood, and occasionally he would comment something about her brain activity that felt a little invasive.

"So why exactly are you doing this to me?" Gwen asked as her legs dangled from the table she was sitting on.

"I want to try and figure out your brain and how it's connected with your freezing abilities," Hank responded. "I can understand how the professor can read minds and all, but your situation...it's something I've never seen before."

"Well yeah, that's kinda the reason I'm at this school," Gwen said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," Hank sighed.

"I know. But I can tell you one thing," said Gwen as she began to pull the wires off of her head. "It has something to do with my emotions. Every time I lose control of them, ice starts to form even if I don't want it to."

"Okay, but I want to know more about that. I want to know why it deals with your emotions and how exactly the ice can form out of nowhere."

"We're talking about the human brain, Hank. No one can figure it out fully."

"Have you made any discoveries?" said a familiar voice from the hallway. In the next moment, Professor Xavier rolled into the lab with his wheelchair.

"We've discovered that Hank McCoy is a huge nerd," Gwen joked.

Hank sighed then said "We haven't discovered anything yet, but hopefully we will soon."

"But for now," Gwen said, hopping off of the table and adjusting her gray Beatles t-shirt. "I'm going to Peter's house."

"Again?" said Hank. "That's the second time this week."

"So what?" Gwen said. "It gets a little boring over here sometimes."

"Just...be safe," said Hank.

"And have fun," said Xavier. "But not too much fun."

After running upstairs to grab her teal peacoat and put her gray boots on, Gwendolyn headed towards Peter's house. As she stepped onto the bus, she chose a more isolated seat. She listened to her music for the whole ride until the bus finally stopped near the Maximoff house. When she knocked on the front door, a little brunet girl with a pink frilly princess dress answered.

"Hi," Gwen smiled. This must have been his sister, who was at a friend's house last time she visited. "Is Peter here?"

"He's downstairs," the girl said as she pointed to the stairs that lead to the basement. "Are you his girlfriend?"

Gwen couldn't help but laugh at this. "I wouldn't exactly say that. Can I come in?"

The little girl decided to escort Gwen downstairs, asking her numerous questions about her ice abilities along the way. When they entered the basement, Gwen saw Peter speeding back and forth along the ping-pong table. She noticed he was playing the game by himself.

"Hey Peter, your friend is here!" the girl shouted at her brother.

Peter stopped in his tracks, and the bright orange ping-pong ball bounced to the floor. "Oh, hey Gwen." He smiled.

The little girl turned back to Gwen and said "I'm going back upstairs now," before marching back up the stairs.

"She's an inquisitive one," Gwen chuckled, and Peter chuckled too.

"That's my sister Wanda," he said. "Sorry if she bombarded you with questions. She tends to do that."

"It's fine. Trust me, they were nothing compared to the amount of questions Hank was asking earlier."

"Is he still trying to figure out your brain or whatever?"

"Yes, and we have gotten nowhere," she huffed as she plopped onto his couch. "It's really annoying."

"Well," Peter said, putting a paddle in one of her hands then grabbing the other hand to pull her up off the couch. "Now you get a break from all that."

"Uh, I don't know how to play this game," Gwen said as she took off her peacoat and tossed it onto the couch.

As she approached the table, Peter said "It's easy. Just try and hit the ball with your paddle."

As Peter served, Gwen successfully managed to hit the tiny orange ball with her paddle. "See?" he said. "It's easy. Now, every time you miss I gain a point."

"And I assume every time you miss, I gain a point?" Gwen asked.

"No, you gain nothing. Only I can gain the points," Peter joked.

"Excuse me?!" said Gwen sassily.

"You heard me!"

"Oh, it's on now!"

The two of them played about five games before Gwen finally surrendered. Peter had won, and she would never hear the end of it. She wasn't surprised though; it was only her first time playing.

After hanging out for a few more hours, Peter asked if Gwen wanted to spend the night at his house. Gwen agreed and he gave her a black Pink Floyd shirt and red basketball shorts to wear as pajamas.

Later on, the two of them were sitting on the couch laughing. "I can't believe you did that to Hank," Peter said.

"Well it's not like I meant to freeze his glasses. He was annoying me and it just sort of happened." Gwen laughed.

"Sure, I totally believe you," Peter joked, then he tugged on her white hair. "By the way, do you always wear pigtails?"

"Yeah, why? Do they look bad?"

"Not at all. It just made me curious."

"It's very rare that I wear my hair down...but I guess I could take it down now that I'm staying the night here," Gwen said, then she took the red hair ties out of her hair. Running her hand through it, she could feel how fluffy and untamed it was. Then she noticed Peter staring.

"What?" she asked, then when he didn't respond she said again "What?"

The next thing Gwen knew, Peter pulled her in for a kiss. No, multiple kisses. All at once. She hardly knew how to feel as she kissed him back. She felt shocked. She felt happy. She felt ice forming upon her hands. Uh oh.

As soon as the ice touched Peter's cheek, he jumped back. "I'm sorry!" Gwen exclaimed. "I-I can't control that. Whenever I lose control of my emotions, ice will form on my hands and I can't stop it and— "

Peter pressed one of his fingers to her lips. "It's okay," he smiled. "It was just a little surprising."

"I'm sorry," she said meekly.

"Don't be. I like a little surprise every once in a while...just try not to turn yourself into a human popsicle," he said as he pulled her into a kiss again.

As the kisses continued, ice formed a little further up Gwen's arm. Peter did not seem to mind it anymore, which made her relieved. Eventually, they laid down on the couch together and cuddled. As she rested on his chest, she slowly drifted off to sleep.