Superfamily One Shots

"Is that a night light?"

**An idea I got from a comment on another story of mine. It's a short drabble, just something kind of cute and touching and real. Enjoy!**

Peter tossed his backpack into the tent, sighing in contentment. The forest was beautiful, all fresh and green and clean. Growing up in New York City was difficult, mostly because until Peter was 9, he'd never seen a tree larger than the ones growing in those little round patches in the side walks and well groomed trees of Central Park.

The teen righted himself, stretching his arms up and behind his back. Birds chirped somewhere behind him, but his superhearing made it almost echoey in his mind. Years of that effect had made Peter acutely adept at finding the origin of sounds, even with the echoing.

"Peter! We're starting a fire!" Ned yelled from outside the tent.

"Coming!"

Peter tossed on a sweatshirt and grabbed the marshmallows he's stuffed in his backpack earlier, then hurried out to where Ned, MJ, and Wade were waiting. A small fire was sparking in the fire pit, large logs stacked neatly around the kindling MJ had just lit.

"I have the marshmallows!" Peter called, holding up the bag.

"Sweet!" Wade reached up, grabbing at the bag and tearing open one end.

Peter and Ned both laughed at their friend's excitement, but MJ just raised an eyebrow.

"How are we supposed to close that bag up now you've ripped it apart?"

Wade shrugged and MJ scoffed.

"Well, its not going in the tent. Raccoons will do anything to get their little weird hands on them."

The little circle of friends laughed, passing the sugary treat between themselves and shoving them on roasting sticks.

Being teens, and 2 of them having super metabolisms, the bag was gone within an hour, and dusk was quickly falling over the little campsite. Ned waved his hand around, trying to get the bugs away from his face. MJ was scooting closer and closer to the fire, straining to keep reading as the light faded, and Wade was whittling a piece of wood with one of his knives.

"It's getting kind of late," Peter remarked, leaning back on his elbows. He didn't mind sitting in the dirt, actually, he found it more comfortable.

Wade looked up with a smirk. "Late for kids, maybe. It's like 9, dude."

"We did say we wanted an early morning tomorrow," Ned conceded, holding up his hand. "We wanted to hike."

"We only need like 10 minutes to pack granola bars and get dressed," MJ countered.

"Yeah," Wade said, cutting in. "No showers!"

Peter laughed. "You're all insane."

It was another half hour before they all agreed it was getting cold and dark, and that bugs were becoming the bane of their existence, and that they should really get back in their tent.

"We can play a game." Peter swung a water jug around to douse the fire.

And that's how they ended up in the cramped tent, each one clad in thermal jammies and wrapped in their sleeping bags and blankets.

"I think it was Ms. Scarlet, in the lounge, with the candlestick," MJ announced, only 5 rounds into the game. Ned grabbed the cards and checked, his face falling.

"You're too good at this game," Peter grumbled.

Wade threw down his cards. "Okay, I'm officially so bored, I want to go to sleep."

Everyone laughed at that, but agreed. It was time for bed.

Ned switched off the lantern, which was right by his sleeping pad, and a dull blue light illuminated the small space. Wade let out a low whoop of laughter.

"Is that a night light?"

MJ, who was closest to Peter, felt the teen tense. He didn't like showing people the arc reactor embedded in his chest, and the only reason Ned knew about it was because he'd been there when it happened and MJ had found out after, when she and Peter started dating.

"No," she said, her voice low and soft.

"Well, whatever it is, turn it off! Its practically a little sun in here!"

"I don't think turning it off would be a good idea," Peter laughed hollowly. "Wade."

The other teen looked over, where Peter was sitting up. There, in the middle of his friend's chest, was a blue ring of light.

Wade didn't even think about what he was doing as he lifted a slow finger to Peter's shirt and barely grazed over the fabric over the reactor.

After a tense moment, he opened his mouth.

"I bet Tony nearly shat himself when this got put in."

The whole tent erupted in howling laughter, the teens rocking with each breath until they clutched their stomachs in pain and caught their breath.

"Sorry, Pete," Wade said once he'd calmed down. "I didn't know."

Peter shrugged. "It's fine."

The two laid back down, each one settling into the calm quiet. Peter had just about slipped into dreams when Wade spoke up one last time.

"So you can't turn it off?"