Revelations

three

warnings: angst, language, and I - OOP

"Stop grinning," Spider-Man grumbled, causing Shadow's smile to widen.

"How do you know I'm grinning? I'm wearing a mask."

"I can just tell," his mask's eyes narrowed at her, making her bite her lip to not laugh.

"I'm sorry," she finally let out a chuckle, "But that was the funniest thing I've ever seen."

"It was so not funny," he complained, throwing his arms up, "If it happened to you, you would not be laughing right now."

She burst into laughter, not able to keep it in now, while he just shook his head and crossed his arms. She didn't have to see his face to know he was pouting.

"Hey, don't be like that," she said between laughs, "It's not my fault you got owned by an eight year old!"

"That's not what happened!" He protested while she kept giggling, her hands on her stomach, "He ran over my foot with his scooter, that's it!"

"Yeah, but then he told you 'watch where you're going, bug boy'!"

He threw up his hands again while she caught her breath, still holding her stomach. "You can't deny that an eight year old schooled you for not watching where you were walking. Isn't it your job to keep people safe, Spidey? And here you are being reckless and not looking both ways before walking. We have to count of the youth to protect our sidewalks, now."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off, not able to keep the grin off his own face.

They fell into a silence for a minute, sitting on the ledge that had become their meeting spot for the last several weeks. Fighting together was now second nature to them both, and it was something they each looked forward to throughout the day.

Peter hadn't felt this comfortable around anyone. Of course, he wasn't necessarily uncomfortable around his friends or aunt, but he never presented this hero side of himself to anyone but Ned and May, who barely scratched the surface. He could completely be himself around Shadow, just minus the fact that she had no idea who he actually was. They hadn't shared much personal information with each other, and Peter had only let slip a few things that wouldn't give away his identity. She had been pretty strict on not saying anything about herself - he only guessed they were the same age when she mentioned homework once.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Her question startled him out of his thoughts. "Like, Captain America and Iron Man and all of them don't wear masks, or they at least don't hide their identity. So why do you?"

"Well, Iron Man is rich, and can afford to have every one know who he is," Peter chuckled, "And I'm pretty sure Captain America can protect himself. But I don't know, I think for one I don't want bad guys to know who I am because they can hurt people close to me but...also because I think I feel better behind a mask, ya know? Different, I guess."

"I feel different behind the mask, too" she agreed, "Not necessarily more confident, but definitely more me than I am without."

"Me too," he replied honestly, "If I told anyone I was Spider-Man, they'd never believe me. We're like...two entirely different people."

She laughed, "Yeah. Me too."

"You never talk about yourself," he commented.

"Neither do you," she countered, shooting him a look even though he couldn't see her face. "What's your point?"