usm . story dump

Hot Chocolate [ ]

This is based on OfficialUSMWriter's Hot Chocolate on Peter Parker's Countdown to Christmas. Yes, Halloween is closer, but this just came--
[gasps] Oohh! I just got another idea!

This is the writer a little later into writing this, and I've only started to realise writing team dialogue between thirteen people and managing for it to sound natural is surprisingly hard...
So... This is kind of the best I could manage. ;w;

Oh, right,,
There's a very high chance the next chapter may be angst, but that depends if the idea does stick--
Heh... Stick--

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It was a wintery night: the snow was thick and shiny, and all the windows were completely fogged. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy students were all snowed in, which meant that there was pretty much a compulsory break for each student and agent.

All of Academy students were huddled up in the dorm rooms, either conversing and playing a card game or, in Squirrel Girl's case, hibernating (which was also a good thing since at this point every hero in this room owed their bodies a few hundred hours of sleep).

Peter had only just entered the dorm room after tinkering in Dr. Connor's lab, talking science with the other while watching him do his science-y stuff. The teams were scattered around the room, but were in rather distinct groups; mostly separated by the teams they were originally put in.

He took notice that the New Warriors were sitting a little closer to the bunk Squirrel Girl was resting in, her adorable little squirrels resting in that large bushy tail of her's. The Ultimates were in a circle a little next to them, sitting around in a circle and focusing on an UNO game where it looked like Sam was winning (which was rather surprising considering the bucket head's losing streak). It didn't take long for Peter to realise the Web Warriors had made another circle on the ceiling...

Whose idea was that (probably Flash's)? No one could really say for sure (again, probably Flash's), but it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves and indulging on a well deserved break. Especially since crime has been getting a little slower since New York's temperature had dropped faster than the writer's grades.

He looked over his teams again, smiling a little at the cherry atmosphere he received from the students. It gave Peter a warm fuzzy feeling, knowing that his teams have gotten each others' backs and can feel at ease with each other.

Speaking of a warm fuzzy feeling, Peter had only remembered what he had been meaning to do since a few days ago. Having recently have gone shopping for S.H.I.E.L.D. a few weeks before the snow had settled, Peter had bought a little too much hot chocolate mix to stock up for the holidays, and... Well, one can already assume where this was going.

After taking another quick glance over the groups of Academy students, Peter sauntered back out of the dorm room, traversing the hallways as he made it to the break room. He set up about thirteen mugs (unfortunately unable to provide some for the squirrels as Google has informed that chocolate can be harmful to the adorable fuzzy creatures who recide within the squirrel themed heroine's bushy tail) and grabbed the tins of hot chocolate mix he had stashed within one of the bottom cabinets.

The writer will skip this entire sequence of how he made about thirteen glasses of hot chocolate, 'cause no one wants to read a paragraph dedicated to the creation of hot chocolate.

He proceeded to very carefully and slowly pour each mug to the brim with the hot chocolate, which was still steaming hot. It would cool off once he makes it to the dorms... If he does get each glass to the dorms anyway.

It had only dawned on Peter that getting all thirteen mugs full of hot chocolate to the dorms would be more difficult than trying to... Yeah, there are no good analogies for this case.

Well... This was bound to be one of the biggest challenges of this life (well... Other than trying to escape baddies out for the poor spider's blood).

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Somehow. By some miracle (and by the convenience of plot), Peter were able to deliver all thirteen glasses of hot chocolate, setting them all down on a small table somewhere in the middle of the room. The smell had attracted the attention of everyone, including Squirrel Girl who was previously napping.

Eventually, most of the Academy students had a glass of hot chocolate in their hands, having formed a larger circle to converse between themselves. Peter had also joined in on the Ultimates' game of UNO, still somehow losing to Sam. Must be his luck.

But Peter looked around the room. He looked over each student, a smile plastered on each of their faces, even visible through the masks some of them have worn.

They haven't gathered like this in a very long time. This time, they weren't gathered here as team mates trying to defend a snowed in Big Apple from whatever collosal threats awaited them in the past, present or future, but they were closer than that. A little more than friends. A family.

All of them were enjoying their glass of hot chocolate, conversing over topics that any normal teenager would talk about.

At the moment, they weren't heroes. They were just normal teenagers enjoying a break the winter has provided them with. Despite the chaos, despite the drama, despite everything, his teams were more than just friends. They were a large family.

And for that, Peter wouldn't change a thing.

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Inspired by OfficialUSMWriter