Just so Hungry

Patrol

The cool night air whipped my face as I swung through the streets of New York, looking for some sort of crime to stop. It was a strangely quiet night, and I hadn't been able to find many people to help, which of course is a good thing, less crime and all that, but it does make for a pretty boring night. I swung up onto a building and spoke into my mask, giving a deep sigh.

"Hey Karen?"

"Yes Peter?" she said sweetly.

"Can you access the security cameras and see if there's anything? There's gotta be something I'm missing. You don't go a night here without something happening."

"Of course. There's a mugging going on about two blocks from here."

"God finally--I mean oh no! How terrible, better go save that person probably."

I swung between the buildings until I spotted a dimly lit alleyway. I could barely see the outline of two people wrestling on the concrete, and I heard a high pitched shriek of a woman coming from that direction.

I landed with a thump on the ground and quickly pulled the two apart.

"Hey!--What the--" said a gruff man's voice as I held him above the ground with my right hand. My Spidey Sense went off and I ducked as he took a swing at my head, his fist clutching a knife.

"Oooh, you almost got me there! You shouldn't play with knives, someone could get hurt!" I dropped him, then kicked him hard in the chest and saw the knife go flying out of his hand. I quickly webbed him upside down to a streetlight, and wrote a note for the police. I know they love my notes.

I turned around to make sure the woman I'd saved was alright, but it seems she bolted. I hate when they do that.

"'Thanks Spider-Man!' Hey no problem random lady! I totally could've just let you be mugged, but I didn't, 'cuz I'm nice like that," I said with a sigh. I know it's not exactly humble to hope for thanks, but it'd be nice every once in a while, I thought as I started to climb the nearest building.

"I think you're pretty great Peter," Karen said, startling me so much I almost lost my grip on the building.

"GAH--Oh, thanks Karen."

"But I do think you should get home. It's almost four am."

"Four am!? Shit, I have school tomorrow!" I said.

"You also didn't eat any dinner Peter. Do you want me to order something for you?" Karen said.

"No, no, I can't just order food at four am, what store would even be open at this hour? ...Actually IHOP would be open right now..." My mind filled with pictures of fluffy, perfectly browned pancakes stacked a foot high high on a plate, drenched in creamy, salty butter and thick, sweet syrup, with surrounding plates piled with crunchy bacon and scrambled eggs. My stomach grumbled quietly, as though asking as politely as it could if it might have some of the delicious food in my head. But I shook my head to clear it of the appetizing images. No point torturing myself over something I can't have.

"I can't. I don't have any money, Aunt May only gives me enough for lunch and a sandwich at Mr. Delmar's," I told Karen.

"That's not enough food to keep up with your enhanced metabolism Peter," Karen said.

"Well yeah, but I have food other than that too. The Decathlon always has snacks at meetings, I just didn't eat them today because the meeting was cancelled. And of course I usually have dinner, but I missed it cuz I was on patrol," I said.

Karen again insisted I eat something. She's such a mom sometimes.

"Look, I promise I'll eat tomorrow," I said, climbing up my apartment building. "I'll wake up early and have a bigger breakfast, and I'll use my money for Mr. Delmar's to get extra lunch. And I have a meeting with Mr. Stark to update my suit tomorrow, and he always has food so I'll eat then too, and I'll have dinner with Aunt May. You don't have to worry about me Karen."

"That's only one day Peter, you haven't been eating enough already . Why not tell your Aunt--"

"I'm not doing that. She's already stressed out as it is, I'm not giving her the stress of Spider-Man," I snapped at Karen. She didn't say anything else until we got home, reminding me to wake up early to make a good breakfast tomorrow. But I barely heard her as I flopped down on my bed and fell into a deep sleep.

(A/N: I'll publish chapters as I finish editing them! There should be six chapters in total! Hope you all enjoy this!)