#I think we're all a little compliment starved these days. Maybe it's nice to see the good in other people's efforts every now and then

[setaflow]

My D&D DM told me last night that my roleplaying was some of the most fun he'd had in his time as a DM and I just

[pensat-i-fet]

Better than me (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**Back with another request. For this one, I was asked to write about Rúben feeling a little insecure and jealous too. I think it turned out quite cute so hopefully you enjoy too ❤️**

Word count: 2561

Masterlist

Wattpad

"We're fucked!"

Rúben was in a terrible mood after the match. They won, so that was good. But Rodri, arguably their most important player, got a red card. So he was bound to miss at least the next three matches. Fantastic.

"Huh?", you asked, quickly looking up from your phone while he drove.

"The next few matches. It'd be hard to win without Rodri".

"Well, sure. But they have you so it'll be fine".

He wasn't so sure but appreciated your compliments and optimism.

Rúben hadn't been feeling very optimistic himself lately. Or great. And one of the main reasons for that was you. Not that you had done anything per se but…the insecurity he felt was mainly caused by your intelligence and your friendship with Rodri.

You had met Laura, Rodri's partner, at work. Both of you being young doctors, an instant friendship blossomed between you two. Also, you always wanted to learn to speak Spanish so having a Spanish friend was great. And Rodri became a friend quickly too so that was two Spanish friends.

It was through these friends you met Rúben. Laura thought it could be fun to introduce you to each other and play matchmaker. Both of you were grateful for that. And, of course, double dates were a constant occurrence once you and Rúben made your relationship official.

Since everyone always praised Rodri for being the humble guy who went to uni and dated a doctor, and basically not being the typical footballer, Rúben expected the same when people found out about your relationship but…the reaction was slightly different. Not that anyone saw Rúben as stupid or anything but he wasn't considered to be as smart as Rodri. Where was his uni diploma? So what he saw was many comments asking how such a smart woman could be with him. Banter mostly, but it could hurt.

"Do you need help with your wound?", you asked when you noticed you were almost back home.

Rúben had a little wound on his thigh and one of the perks of dating a doctor was that you could look after it.

"I'm good. Thanks".

"It could still get infected, you know?"

"I know. I'm not dumb".

His tone confused you. Where did that reaction come from? But he had been in a terrible mood since the match ended so you guessed it was all about that. Little did you know…

And he had reasons to worry. City were out of the Carabao Cup after losing their match against Newcastle. Rodri didn't play…but neither did Rúben. So none of them were to blame for it.

But then came the Wolves match. Rúben started that match and quickly made his mark…by scoring an own goal. You were watching the match at home and hoping he could turn it around during what was left of the match. Otherwise, he was going to blame himself for the loss. You just knew it.

“Hey”.

“Hi”, he said back, sighing and sitting down next to you.

“Want cuddles?”

“Will they make my own goal disappear?”

“I wish but they can make you feel a bit better”.

You turned the TV off and laid down so Rúben could do the same next to you and you cuddled. It felt nice after a long week at work. And it was nice for Rúben to feel loved after such a tough day.

Rúben’s phone broke the peace and he had to get up to answer it.

“It’s my parents. I’ll be right back”.

You used that time to go to the kitchen and see what you two could have for dinner. And while you were still deciding, Rúben came back from the room.

“Everything ok?”

“Yes, they just wanted to see how I was doing”.

“That’s nice”, you smiled and went back to looking at the fridge. “We don’t have much. Maybe we could order something”.

“Yeah. We’ll go to the supermarket tomorrow. That fridge looks so empty and sad”.

You chuckled. It really did. “We’ll do the shopping list later. Let’s order food now. I’m starving”.

The whole time at dinner, you tried to make Rúben feel better. He could be so dramatic after one bad match and you didn't want him to stay in that mindset for long.

"Ok, dishwasher full and ready. Should we do that shopping list now?"

"Yes!", you answered, getting your notes app ready to write down all the things you needed to get. "Let's not go crazy with the fresh food, we just need enough for you".

"What do you mean? Are you not planning on eating?"

"I won't be here to eat. Didn't you read my text?"

Rúben picked up his phone. He had ignored it after the match, except to answer his parents' call. But there it was, your text. Well, there was more than one but he knew which one you meant. The one where you said you were going to spend a few days in Madrid with Laura…and with Rodri.

You kept checking the kitchen to see what you might need and didn’t notice Rúben staring at his phone.

“I think I need shampoo. I’m going to check”.

He then looked up to see you going to the bathroom and sighed. “I hate this”.

But the next morning, he drove both of you to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. And every time you mentioned picking up something for the trip, he wanted to scream.

“Do you think I need a plug for my chargers? Spanish plugs are different to ours. Or will Laura have enough for all of us? Maybe I should call her”.

“I’m sure Rodri has it all under control”, he muttered and you turned to give him a look.

“Ok? I'll still ask”.

That was the first little dig. Then came the second, and the third…

“Rúben, have you and Rodri had any issues lately?”, you finally asked.

“No. Why would you ask?”

“I don’t know, but you keep being weird whenever he’s mentioned for no reason. Maybe we should cancel tonight’s dinner”.

“Tonight…what happens tonight?”

“Rúben, we talked about having dinner with them a week ago. I put it on your calendar”.

“Right…yeah…no, I’ll go. We’ll go. It’ll be fine”.

And it was fine, for the most part. You still noticed Rúben acting in an odd way but didn’t want to bring attention to it.

“We can’t wait to show you around Madrid”, said Laura. “Well, Rodri will be the tour guide. It’s his city. You’ll love it”.

“I know I will”.

“I actually got the perfect tour ready for you”, told you Rodri. “Since I didn’t have to play, I got some free time to get it all sorted. I checked all the places I think you’ll like to prioritize those. It's a perfect plan”.

“That’s so thoughtful. Thank you”, you said. Your smile was so big and that made Rúben feel so shitty again.

“You’ll have to see if you prefer Lisbon or Madrid”, joked Rodri, winking at Rúben but Rúben didn’t want to laugh.

“Well, Lisbon was amazing so you’ll have to really prepare the best tour to make me love Madrid more”.

“How did Rúben show you his city when you first went there?”, asked Laura. Such an innocent question, but not what Rúben wanted to hear.

“I didn’t prepare anything special. Just showed her around”.

Everyone at the table noticed Rúben’s tone and decided to move on to other topics, but you didn’t get his response out of your head. You couldn’t. So you had to bring it up when you were back home.

“What was all that about at dinner?”

“What do you mean?”

“You got all moody when Laura asked you about us being in Lisbon and seeing the city”.

He sighed. “I just don’t get why you are with me sometimes”.

What was he saying now?

That was a pretty strange statement. And one that made you stop to think about how to approach it.

“I could make you a list”, you tried a joke. Those worked sometimes. But not at that specific moment.

“And then I could make you one that shows why you should be with someone like Rodri instead”.

Someone like Rodri? “Why would I want to be with someone like him?”

“He’s not even your boyfriend and still is better at being one than me. I mean, preparing a tour just for you? Come on. He can do everything better than me. On and off the pitch”.

“Are you bothered by that?”

“I’m bothered by how inferior I feel next to him”.

“Since when?”, he never mentioned that.

“Since the first comment about how hard to believe it was that a doctor would date a football player”.

“But Rodri…he does too. So do others. Didn’t Mata date one? Maybe he still does”.

“Yes, and what do they have in common?”

“They are from Spain?”

Rúben let his head fall and put his hands on his face. It was all in his head, he knew it. He knew you couldn’t understand him. And he felt too dumb to explain it properly.

“They are both humble. Normal. Too normal to be footballers. And smart. Of course business degree Rodri can date a doctor. But me? I’m a joke next to them”.

You sat down next to him and took one of his hands in between yours, placing it on your thigh.

“Rúben, you’re smart. I wouldn’t date you if you weren’t”, he looked away but you continued. “Everyone knows you’re smart. On and off the pitch. You keep being praised for your intelligence all the time. And it makes me proud to see that. Also, you speak two languages fluently and I almost fainted trying to say the few sentences you taught me in Portuguese. That level of fluency takes brainpower. And you have plenty of it”.

“The comments…”.

“Maybe you should stop reading comments of people talking about relationships they are not a part of. What do they know? About you or about Rodri? Nothing. I’m the one who knows you and who chooses to be with you. Shouldn’t my opinion mean more?”

“Yes, but…”, he knew you were right but still didn’t feel like he could accept it fully. “But what if I’m not enough in the future? There is a limit to my intelligence, you know? I’m not studying. I don’t keep on learning like you do. The most I do is watch a documentary every once in a while”.

“I don’t need you to be a bloody encyclopedia, Rúben!”

“But I want to be one so I don’t embarrass you!”

He then got up and even though his back was to you, you could imagine how hurt he looked.

“You won’t embarrass me”.

“I was at that work dinner last month and…I felt so stupid. Like I haven’t before. You know, when you work every day with people who can’t even spell the word encyclopedia, you do feel as smart as one. But then reality hit me. Everyone there was so smart. Like you. That’s the people you work with. And Rodri was chatting with all of them and talking about everything like he was one of them. While I was just asked about my gym routine and what I ate to keep my muscles so big”.

“I’m sorry they made you feel like that”, you said, slowly walking towards him to wrap your arms around his waist. “But just so you know, I would never date a doctor. They’re unbearable”.

You chuckled but he didn’t join you so you squeezed his waist to try and show him your love somehow. It was you who felt stupid then. Not knowing what to do to comfort your boyfriend.

“Rúben, do you want me to stay?”

“No, go to Madrid. Have fun. I won’t ruin your plans”.

“You’re more important than a trip. I can go to Madrid whenever”.

“No”, he turned to look at your face. “I’m stupid, ok? It’s a lot sometimes. And all the comments about Rodrid don’t help. All the stats about how shit we are without him. Those don’t help”.

“Well, whenever you feel like that, talk to me. So I can reassure you about whatever you need to be reassured about, ok?”

He nodded. It was him who needed to hold you tightly at that moment and you felt really happy when he did. And relieved. He wasn’t going anywhere and neither were you.

“Really, I can stay…”.

“No. Go on your trip. I’ll be waiting here for you. And buy me a gift while you’re there”.

“What do people buy in Madrid as souvenirs?”

“I don’t know but I’m sure Rodri will know”.

“Looking forward to that Atleti fridge magnet he’ll make me buy”, you laughed.

**

Your time in Madrid was great. The tour Rodri got ready for you was fantastic. But you missed Rúben. And worried about him. So you kept texting him photos of the places you visited and updating him.

-“You took me to get ice cream the moment we left the house so that's a point for you. 1-0”.

-“Oh wait, Rodri bought us churros. 1-1”.

-“Why are these churros so good? 🤤”

-"I'm buying a churro making machine. I'm having these for breakfast every day. Oh my God!"

-"Laura took me to a park to see turtles. Can we get a pet turtle? 🐢".

-"Also, that's a point for her. Not Rodri. Not such a perfect tour guide if he didn't know I wanted to see the turtles 🤷".

-"Laura filmed me trying to read the menu in Spanish. That video will never see the light of day but I'll let you know it exists and it's incredibly embarrassing".

Rúben was glued to his phone, waiting for the next text. And he sent some back to you, joking about things like how much better the weather was in Manchester.

But as much as he loved the texts, he was so happy when you were finally back.

"I want you to tell me everything you did in Madrid. Even if I've seen it already".

"Oh, get ready for all the anecdotes. I'm not shutting up about it anytime soon", you laughed and then picked up a bag from your suitcase. "They didn't have magnets…".

So you bought him an Atleti keychain.

"What do I want this for?"

"To piss João off when you see him?", you shrugged and made Rúben laugh. It was a good reason to keep it.

A few days later, City lost another match. This time against Arsenal, so it hurt even more. And the press were back to talking about how bad the team performs without Rodri.

Rúben was going back to Portugal after the match for international break, but you wanted to make sure he was fine before he got on the plane and called him.

"I'm not listening to any of it. Don't worry".

"Pinky promise?"

His chuckle made you relax a bit. "Pinky promise".

You stayed on the phone for a bit longer and then it was time for him to get on the plane.

"You know, Rúben. You never asked me which city I liked more. Madrid or Lisbon".

"Ok. Which one did you like more?".

"Lisbon. Do you wanna know why?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Because I was there with you".

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Agent Zero —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: I like Parker and Cat's interactions, they sound like me and my friends: Sleep deprived and miserable but still funny -Danny

Words: 2,685

Phase Four Masterlist

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Listen to: ‘Wait’ -by M83

xxvii: Sparks & Sand

She entered her apartment no longer wearing the suit. "It looks like you're the only Spidey in town apart from Pete..."

"Well, I spent the last three hours reading about your world, and I— Woah!" Parker pointed at her.

She stopped. "What?"

"Your face!" He grimaced. "Sorry, that sounded mean. Your hair and eyes..."

"Ohhhh... I'm a shapeshifter. Copycat, get it?"

"That's crazy!" He was delighted. "You and your world are so cool..."

She looked at the table where he'd been doing his research and found several pictures spread over the surface. "Why are those out?"

"They were in the box you gave me, they fell when I grabbed..." he tried to apologize. "I'll put them back, sorry..."

"It's fine," she said, perhaps a bit too hasty. "I just... don't like having my pictures laying around. If someone breaks in..."

He seemed amused by this. "Thieves would find out your friend is a Norse God? By the way that's like— I can't even... a God?"

"I'm not scared of thieves," she walked past him. "If people find out I'm Copycat..."

"Your name is Cat and your alias is Copycat," he tried to hide his grin. "How old were you when you got your powers?"

"Oh okay, spider-man," she said sarcastically. "That's how they named my case. I used to go by C.C. but that's a name I don't wanna hear now..."

"Wait, so you don't have a real name?" His smile fell.

She picked up the pictures and put them back in the box. "Perhaps I should've been called Jane Doe instead..."

Parker saw the gentle way in which she piled the pictures. "You know... there's a whole wiki of heroes— and Peter Parker's had way more info than I expected... way more. But I clicked on your page, and Copycat's a recent addition."

"Yeah, she is."

"You said the Avengers were your family."

"I was raised amongst them," she explained. "I saw them die one by one." Cat looked at him. "That was dramatic. I didn't see all of them die— just... three? Maybe four."

"That doesn't make it better," he frowned.

"That's how it works in my world, and we've dealt with it." She dismissed it.

"Hey..." Cat hummed, carrying the box back to her bedroom. "I'm hungry." She teleported in front of him, Parker jumped and stumbled over the chair. "Shit!"

"Sorry!"

"Is it so hard to walk ten feet?!"

She helped him up. "You've been here for hours and you haven't eaten at all?!"

"I didn't know if I was allowed!"

"I wouldn't starve you, dumbass!" She frowned, suddenly noticing Felix's absence. "Hey, where's my cat?"

"Under your bed," he rubbed his head. "He hisses at me every time I get near."

"That's weird, Felix likes everyone... Come, let's feed you." She pointed at all the stuff he could use. "We're roomies now, so you can sleep in my bed if you want, you've had a crazy long day. You can take a shower... I think you need it."

"It's not easy being the only superhero in the world, you know?"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead."

"How do you keep your world in one piece?"

"Every problem lives in my neighborhood, it's quite self-contained." She chortled. Parker's face lit up. "You have a nice laugh."

Cat looked at him a little self-conscious. "You have a nice voice, makes your jokes sound funnier." He beamed at the compliment. "How old are you? You gotta be older than my Peter, you're like a head taller than me..."

"I'm twenty-six."

"I always thought variants grew up parallel to each other, you know? I wonder what kind of high school and college experiences you had, you might give us an insight into his future!"

Parker frowned. "How old is he right now?"

"Eighteen." The young man didn't say anything, but Copycat could tell something was wrong. Her phone buzzed, and she picked up right away. "Cat here."

"We found one. I'm sending you the location. Think you can make it?"

"I'm on my way," she hung up.

Parker looked at her anxiously. "Does he need help?"

"Not yours."

"Cat—"

"They found a multiversal weirdo so we're picking them up and bringing them to Strange's house."

"Why didn't you take me to that place?"

"That place is full of guys that hate spider-man. They won't kill Peter cause he's not the guy they're looking for, but if you show up, one of them might recognize you and then they'll try to hurt you, and—"

"Okay, okay," he leaned on the counter. "You're trying to keep your friends safe."

"That includes you," she replied. "Here's a fun fact the hero wiki probably missed about me: I've looked after Peter Parker since I was fifteen."

The sound of an engine alerted Peter of her arrival, he watched as she parked nearby.

"I can't believe Captain America's bike is yours now," he said in awe.

"Nice suit! Is it new?" She got closer to inspect it. "Wait, is it turned inside out?"

"I couldn't take the stain off."

"You should've given it to May."

"Doesn't matter, Ned said they were reporting an anomaly here so we're looking for that."

"Do you realize that tells me nothing?"

"It'll be easy to find it in a place like this," he rolled his eyes.  "Besides, you can see in the dark, so put that to use."

"Someone's cranky..."

"Hi, Cat!"

She saw Peter's phone duck-taped to his chest, MJ and Ned were waving at her. "Hi! Are you having fun?"

Peter hushed her. "D'you heard that?" Cat's ears picked on something that was sliding through the dirt. "Did you guys see that?" The boy whispered.

"Umm... no?"

"It's— it's really dark."

"It's something big," Cat said. "But light..."

Something was creeping around, it was watching them, and Peter could feel it too. The mutant pulled up the cape to protect her head, she grabbed her spear and pressed the button so it grew to its full size. Peter activated the glowy thing Strange had made with the remaining pieces of his iron suit.

"Guys, what's happening?"

"What is it?"

Once again they felt the disturbance at the same time, a light was getting brighter and the hairs at the back of her head stood on alert.

"Are you guys getting the tingle thing? Is the tingle thing happening? Is your tingle tingling?"

"Quiet." Cat's voice was so serious and firm that the teenagers obeyed at once.

Electricity was gathering around the cables— not inside of them, around. Yellowish, white, and blue lines were piling one on top of the other, forming something she couldn't make sense of.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Peter mumbled.

"Yeah."

"Is that... a person?" Cat squinted.

"Osborn?"

"No that's not him," Peter intervened. "He was green, this guy's blue," he raised his voice. "You wouldn't happen to be from another universe, would you?"

The person didn't reply, MJ spoke in a whisper."What's he doing?"

"Absorbing power from the cable line," Cat replied.

"Yeah, it looks like it's charging," Ned agreed.

MJ was getting increasingly anxious. "I don't like this, just web him!"

Peter shot at the guy but it went right through him.

"Isn't that just great for us?" Cat asked in a strangled voice. The guy shot bolts of energy at them, Cat dodged them and the heroes rolled to opposite sides. "Take cover, I'll distract him!"

"What! No way!"

"Just until you figure out a way to trap him!" She put her spear away. "You're the smart one, I'm the brute force— just do what I say!"

Cat jumped in front of the sparkly guy, she took the full blast and screamed. She shot the lightning back and, as expected, formed a bridge between them, he couldn't move from where she was keeping him.

It didn't take long for the creature to understand what she was doing, and instead of trying to push, he began to drag her. Cat's suit flickered, and the spots where she'd received the blast were losing the retained energy, the stranger was eating all of it up.

"Peter!" She rolled over.

Peter jumped back to action and the electricity hit him on the chest, but luckily for him it only got his phone. When the second discharge arrived, a wall of dirt lifted itself from the ground and covered him.

"What the hell?" Cat panted.

She teleported to Peter's side just in time to hear the dirt speak.

"Peter, it's me! Flint Marko!" It said in a raspy man's voice. "You remember?"

"I—I'm Peter but I'm not your Peter," the boy stammered.

"What do you mean you're not my Peter? What the hell is going on?"

"I'll explain everything but first can you help us stop this guy?"

"Okay."

"You two try to surround him and I'll pull the plug!" Peter asked her to copy Marko's powers. "Alright, let's go!"

Out of all the powers she could duplicate, becoming dirt was certainly not one she expected. It was weird, and she wasn't very good at it, all she did was move in circles around the living glowstick to kill its power.

Peter jumped on each tower sticking webs on them, he ripped them apart, killing the power. Cat turned herself back to her original form —her hero form: white hair, purple eyes— and pointed her spear at the stranger's neck.

"One wrong move and the next light you'll be seeing will be at the end of a tunnel."

He revealed himself as a black man, he looked at her, then down at his hands with energy currents rushing through his fingers. "I got my body back..."

"Good for you," she replied, still in a bad mood.

"Hey," Peter stepped forward. "This is gonna sound really crazy, but this isn't your universe."

"Another universe?"

"Uh-huh."

"What?" Marko inquired.

"That's what I was feeling..." the man in front of her looked around. "The power... it's different... I like it."

Cat tightened her grip on the spear and the sand guy tried to calm their spirits. "Easy..."

"Copy," Peter said. "Lower your weapon."

"I'm sorry, Webs, I won't do that."

"We don't wanna hurt them, and I'm sure they don't wanna hurt us..."

"That depends."

"You're not helping, sparky," Cat inched her spear closer to his throat.

"Copycat," Peter insisted in a terse voice. "Don't hurt him."

He had the same expression from when she'd killed Quentin.  Cat gave the man in front of her a dirty look. "You're lucky he's a better person than me."

"Cat, c'mon..."

"I'm done," she lifted her hands in surrender and stepped away.

"It's actually my fault that you're here," Peter told the men.

"The universe, or the woods?" Sparky questioned. "I hate the woods."

"I mean the universe, Sir."

"So what, y'all just gonna stand here and act like I ain't butt-ass naked?"

"I am—"

"Uh— No, no..."

"Butt-ass..." Cat repeated under her breath, and she chuckled. "Seriously, you have the talent to piss off one-of-a-kind people, Peter..."

The boy found clothes for the stranger, and as soon as he was dressed, Peter shot a glowy web at him and sent him to the Sanctum, Marko didn't like that.

"What was that? What did you just do to him?"

"No no, it's okay— it's okay!"

"Did you kill him?"

"Listen, I can explain everything you just have to trust me— please trust me!"

"I don't trust you, I don't know you!"

"Okay, that's it," she used Wanda's powers to stop him. "Just send him over, don't waste your time."

"What's happening?" The sandman demanded.

"Cat, stop being rude!"

"I'm not rude, I'm being practical!" She exclaimed. "Shoot him!"

Peter pointed at the guy. "I'm sorry! I promise I'll explain!" Once he was gone the boy looked at her sourly. "You gonna keep acting like the bad cop?"

"Don't call me a cop," Cat's mask removed itself. "Why treat them like they're friends?"

"They aren't my enemies."

"They wanna kill their Peter Parker, and to some of them killing any Peter is good enough—"

"That sand guy seemed pretty friendly..."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I wish you didn't run into battle thinking they're gonna play fair."

"You used to do that too."

Cat shook her head, there was no point in arguing. "How many are still on the loose?"

"Just one. Norman Osborn. He used to be a scientist until he injected himself with a crazy serum and now he flies around wearing a Goblin costume."

"Right. As I said, your bad guys are always a treat," she sighed. "Do you know where he is?"

"We're still looking."

"You should call MJ and Ned to make sure everything's okay."

He grabbed the phone and made sure it was still working.  Cat moved away while he talked to MJ and started to think of a way to repair the towers, after a minute Peter joined her.

"Go home."

"Peter, I didn't mean to yell..."

"I'm not mad," he said. "I'll handle this, you go rest."

"Oh," Cat hesitated. "You sure?"

"You don't have web-shooters, so you can't stick the towers back together..."

"I could straighten them a little?"

He pondered. "Okay, but as soon as you do that, you go back to your place."

"Have you eaten anything since our sandwich this morning?" She asked worryingly.

"Let's just fix this, yes?"

Cat didn't insist.

Parker had turned on the living room lights and he had a plate of waffles in front of him.

"You're back," he smiled. "How was it?" Cat told him, and the young man's eyes lit up but not exactly in a happy way. "Did the guy that could shoot lightning say his name?"

"Don't think so," Cat tilted her head. "Why, you had one in your world?"

"Yeah! Max! He's from my universe!"

Parker got to his feet and approached her, it was disorienting to have a Peter barely reaching her shoulder and then go home to find one whose chin brushed the top of her head.

"Okay, that makes sense," Cat shrugged. "So what's his deal?"

Peter explained what had happened to him, but he also said that Max had died the last time he'd fought against him.

"You killed him?"

"No!" Parker frowned. "He was sucking the literal lights out of the city, I had to stop him and I guess I stopped him for good, but it wasn't my intention!"

"Okay, mother Teresa," Cat taunted. "If you knew that guy maybe you know the others?"

"I don't know, maybe," his eyes darkened. "God, I hope Harry Osborn's not here."

"Peter mentioned a Norman Osborn!"

"That's Harry's dad but I never fought that guy, he's gotta be a different Norman."

"Well, I don't know any of the others by name except the sand guy..."

"I never fought a sand guy."

"What about an Octopus?"

"No."

"The lizard?"

Parker grabbed her by the shoulders. "Dr. Connors! Oh my God— he's alive?!"

"D'you think I'd waste my whole day picking up corpses?" She scoffed. "They're alive and breathing, and they're all so whiny..."

"Hey, Dr. Connors was kinda nice!" Parker did a British accent. "Poor, Peter Parker, no father, no mother..." he stopped and noticed her expression. "No, he was a bit of an asshole."

Cat looked at him with amusement. "What is wrong with you Webheads?"

He laughed, it was a boyish sound. "Well, Dr. Connors and Max are a little confused, but they're not trying anything now, are they? You got this." Parker shrugged. "I'm starting to believe that thing you said. This world is full of heroes, I can take a moment to just... be Peter."

"Peter Parker happy to be left out of a fight?" She grinned. "You guys can never sit still..."

"That's what Gwen—" Parker stopped and cleared his throat, walking back to the couch and pointing at the plate of waffles. "I, er... thought you'd be hungry, so I made these."

"Ah... thanks," she gave him a look, it seemed Parker had many ghosts following him as well. "Did you eat some?"

"No, I was..." he laughed briefly, but it wasn't like the first. "I was washing my suit in your bathtub."

Cat snorted. "You realized it was smelly?"

"It was terrible..." he buried his face behind his hands. He laughed again, breathily. "I noticed as soon as I took it off. I need two to stop the abuse I'm forcing on the fabric..."

"That's why nanotech is so useful," she sat next to him. "If it makes you feel better, I've smelled worse things..." Cat caught a glimpse of his grin and she couldn't help but think he was a handsome young man. "I told you to take a shower but you didn't, now the clothes stink just like you."

"That's not— that's not how it works, right?" He pulled the neck of his t-shirt and sniffed. "Jesus..!"

"I'll eat while you shower," Cat grinned. "Wait— you should eat some first, I don't want you to faint..."

"One problem at a time," he replied, already walking toward the bathroom. "I'm okay, you eat."

"That's what you always say..." she muttered.

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

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[venomous--fics]

Pearlie: TYSM for the request! I used Carnage because I am already dying for the next Venom movie so I have been reading up on Carnage.

Relationship: Eddie Brock/Venom x Mutant!Reader

STORY:

Eddie and Venom had been busy all week. It seemed like crime was only increasing, despite the fact Venom ate nearly all the scum they encountered. Luckily for them, the afternoon was fairly decent so they decided to walk around the city, occassionally stopping for drinks or a bite to eat.

"What sounds good for lunch, V?"

"Hmm." Venom thought, "We could stop at that pizza joint you're always talking about."

"We sure could if you'd like. I'm starving."

"You are not alone on that."

"Pizza it is." Eddie smiled, almost putting a skip in his step.

Despite nothing happening, the two were still on high alert, only relaxing a little once the auroma of pizza was wafting through the air. Eddie opened the door to the pizza parlor and quickly found a decent seat next to a window.

Before they knew it, they had ordered seven pizzas, some with bizarre topping combos. The waiter paid no mind and walked off. Eddie tapped his knuckles on the table, squinting as the sun obscured his view.

Just as the duo was about to lower their guard, a police car was flying through the street and people were running in fear. Eddie stood from the table and ran outside to assess the situation.

"Carnage." Venom growled, "What a dick."

"Didn't you make that d- Nevermind." Eddie clapped his hands together, "Let's go fuck shit up my man."

Venom enveloped Eddie and the two were off in an attempt to stop the beast.

---

You had your earbuds in as you walked down the street, towards the pizza place. You called in an order for your ritualistic Friday night in. You hummed to the beat and scrolled through your phone for a better song to listen to.

You had no idea of your surroundings until someone ran past you, and nearly bumped into you. You took and earbud out, "Hey, pal! Watch where you're--"

You slowly turned back from him and saw the city being torn apart. More and more people were running away in absolute panic.

"The hell.."

You stood still, unsure of what do to. What could you do? If you used your powers, there was a fear of being detained.. If you didn't help, then people being hurt would be on you.

Before you could even turn away and act like nothing was wrong, you heard a vicious roar followed by a car alarm.

You turned your head up a little and saw a large black mass flying towards you. Without any time to move, you cowar a bit as the mass flew through you.

You opened your eyes and turned around, seeing a creature getting up off the pavement and shaking it's head, growling as bits of rubble were shook off.

You panicked a little and ran past it and immediately phasing through the nearest wall. The creature had seen it all.

---

After what felt like 2 days, Venom and Eddie were able to subdue the vile Carnage just enough to get him to retreat.

The two were still curious as to what happened earlier with the strange girl and the going through walls.

"We could've been hallucinating from lack of food." Eddie rubbed his face, tired.

"No she was real." Venom snapped, "We do not hallucinate."

"Right. Okay.. But how the hell are we gonna find her in this big city..."

"Perhaps there is still a scent."

"Man, that's weird.. Like kinda creepy weird." Eddie groaned, wanting nothing more than to just get his food and go home.

"We must find the mystery girl, Eddie. Maybe she can help us in combat." Venom grinned rather gleefully.

"We don't really need help, but I do wanna make sure she isn't a threat. Y'know?"

Venom seemed to have agreed and they began their detective work.. As usual.

---

You finally stopped running when you noticed you were in on the the of town. You turned to look at the skyline.

You slipped up and now you'd probably have to move. Again. Maybe change your name? You looked around to make sure you weren't followed.

Nobody knew you had these powers, and that's fine with you. You wanted to be normal. And you knew deep down that if anyone knew they would only use you.

You shrugged off the cool air and started to make the totally normal trek back home. The gears in your head started turning and you got angry. That black slimey thing... What if IT was the bad guy. Maybe you should track it down and fight it. Then again ... It was probably stronger than you.

You slipped your earbuds back in and tried to chill out. It was going to be fine. You were going to make it home, you were going to eat low quality take out food. And life would be as normal as you remembered.

You made it back into the city and despite cooling down a bit, you were still filled with dread that some form of alien creature knows you exist and that you have powers.

You scoffed as you hit the walk signal button, "Haha as if....What? And it's tracked me down? Y/N, don't be ridiculo--"

You felt a puff of hot air on the back of your neck and you stiffened up like a fence post. You slowly turned around, "Well, speak of the devil..."

It was the being from earlier. You took a step back, "H-hey. Get out of my crawl.. M-man??"

"Where are my manners." It said in a low tone, wicked teeth curling into a smile, "We are Venom."

"Edgy." you blurted out. You tough guy persona started to come out as a defense mechanism, "Can you go."

The black ooze began to move, revealing a rather-from what you could see- cute guy. You weren't prepared for that and you jumped back, "What the fu- What the hell?"

"No please!" the man pleaded, "Not gonna hurt you. I'm Eddie Brock. That was my pal Venom. We uh.. I guess we're the good guys."

You eyed him up and down, "I'm Y/N....I guess." And the dots started to click, "Eddie Brock...That reporter guy?"

"Used to be."

"Used to be a fan- Uhm.. So why are you stalking me.."

"Earlier. Venom and I.. We kinda went through you."

"Oh. That was you." You sighed, "Please. I can't talk about it.. I'm terrified of someone finding out. I'm not gonna cause problems.. Just trying to make a living."

"Understandable." Eddie said, "We can talk over pizza. Totally spaced that I ordered like seven of 'em two hours ago."

You weren't sure what to expect. He just shifted the mood and conversation so far.. And you knew he wasn't a bad guy.

He held out his hand, "We swear we aren't gonna try any funny business.. Ot's nice to see another freak on the street."

"Freak?"

"It's a term of endearment to us. You hear it so much that it almost sounds like a compliment."

You looked at his hand, "Alright, Eddie. But you try anything and I'll hurt you."

You reached your hand out and purposefully phased it through his. He was taken aback and you moved past him, "Gotcha."

"Where you goin'?" he asked, turning around.

"Thought you said we'd talk over pizza." you smiled at him, "You coming or what?"

Eddie looked at his hand as he started to follow you. He could hear Venom chuckling, "Eddie. We like her."

Eddie was still looking at his hand, "God that was freaky."

Turning around, you phased your hands through his chest, causing him to jump a little. You moved back, "I'll keep doing it."

"Please don't." Eddie's voice cracked, causing Venom to laugh. Eddie's voice cracked again, "Shut up."

--- (slight timeskip brought to you by my fear of this being too long lmao) --

An alarm went off, causing you to groan and went to slam your fist on it, but in your tired state, your fist went through the table. You groaned even louder and sat up, "Shut up already. We get it...It's morning."

The bedside next to you shifted and Eddie turned over, facing you, "Five more minutes."

You laid back down and shut your eyes, "You said that the first time it went off."

"And I'll say it again." he yawned.

You adjusted your position so you could look at him, "That WAS five minutes ago."

His brows furrowed and he whined, "But I'm tired."

You rolled your eyes and smiled. It's been about nine months since that day they phased through you and then got you pizza as consolation. Everything fell into place after that.

Eddie convinced you that you could use your powers for good, so sometimes you help them during fights. And about 4 months ago, Eddie asked you to move in after your millionth date. He made it seem more like a wedding proposal, however. He just wanted to be with you.

Eddie's hand began snaking over to you, and you decided to make him get up. His hand wound up going through you, and he patted the bed, "Y/N. Babe? You there?"

His hand went through your arm and you laughed, "I'm here. But you gotta get up."

He pulled his hand back and opened his eyes, "You're a jerk."

You sat up and pushed yourself off the mattress, "And you need a shower."

Eddie sighed and rolled out of bed, "Fine."

You went through the bedroom door, but immediately stuck your head back through, "I'll cook some breakfast!"

Eddie slammed himself into the wall and grabbed his chest, "Wouls you stop doing that?! It's still freaky."

"It's been like nine months."

"It looks like I'm talking to a decapitated head.."

You looked at the door and phased your hand through, shaking them like you were doing jazz hands, "Is this better?"

"Wha-Wh-What would you do if one of our friends came in and just part of your body going through a door?" Eddie squeaked.

You were totally unphased by the question and you kept a flat face, "We don't have any friends, Eddie."

"Shower." Eddie half smiled, "I need a shower."

He walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"I think it is funny." Venom said.

"You also think eating people is funny."

"Their screams amuse me."

"Thank you, V."

Eddie let out a yelp as you were now in the bathroom. You let out a laugh, "I'm sorry. I had to. I'll go make some food."

Eddie nodded as his nerves finally calmed down, "That would be wonderful."

You smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. You stood on your tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, "Love you, fraidy cat."

"Love you too, weird..ghost cat."

[pbandjesse]

My stomach hurts really bad right now. So I am going to lay down soon. But today's been a pretty nice day. Did not feel like a day off though.

I hate that my stomach hurts again. My stomach hurt really bad last night and after James friends left it didn't really stop. I washed my face and that helped cool me down at least. But it took like 2 hours before I was comfortable enough to actually sleep. So that sucked. It actually hurts worse tonight but at least I'm in my own bed and can try to deal with pain alone and not bothering James with my whining. Not that he would think that it was annoying but still.

We woke up this morning at 7 and I made him stay in bed until 7:30 because I was exhausted and I didn't want him to get up yet. I actually slept pretty well. And once I was dress I basically just left. I wanted to keep my momentum going because I really wanted to clean the apartment and finish my heart. It was cool out. But I was fine I had a sweater. And biking back to my house is easier because it's a one way that direction.

I got back to my place and unpacked. Laid out my dress for tonight. And then I cleaned. I vacuumed and I Swiffered. I cleaned out the fridge. I Cloroxed the inside of the fridge. I try to just get rid of all the Crows Nest that I've been feeling in the apartment. That took a while and then I worked on my diorama. I hadn't finished something and I didn't realize it. I went to photograph it and realized I had forgotten to make the whole Lantern section. So I quickly did that. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out even though I made in about 2 minutes. The rest of it took me a really long time so I'm glad I'm happy with it.

At noon I was ready for my interview. And then 1215 came. And I was like oh maybe she forgot. Which is fine it happens. I sent an email asking if she wanted to reschedule for later this week or meet in person since I live in the neighborhood. And then I actually headed over to the Walters. I wanted to drop off my ID card since I'm not volunteering anymore. And while I was getting ready for that I checked my email and I actually had an email from the teaching position. It looks like they're going to offer me the job but they can't actually do that until they have funding from the city approved. And they're not going to know about that until mid this week. But if all goes well I can be starting on the 22nd. Terrifying but I'm very excited. I am trying not to be too excited because funding could not come through but we got to stay positive.

When I was at the Walter's I left a note for the woman who I was having interview with there as well. And I got complimented on the embroidery I done on my volunteer bag. It was nice talkin to Laurel and then I headed down to Fleet Week.

It was wickedly busy down there. Like not as bad as I guess like City from what I saw but still very bad. I had wanted to go on some of the larger ships that the lines were incredibly long. So I just ended up walking around the outside. I whenever to the city of bismuth which is the Pontoon ship. Honestly the only one I care about. But the line was like 2 hours long. So I decided to just go up to the fence and talk to the guy with big gun. I asked him what the crew size was and we ended up talking for 10 minutes. He kept adjusting his gun and getting the same goofy smile on his face that James does when I talk and get too excited about something. All smiling and blushing. That was my one big flirting moment of the day but I like to tell people that I was flirting with all the sailors. But really I mostly just walked around and people watched. I ran into Chris and said hi. But the girls are just too crazy down there so I headed over to Fell's point.

Still crowded but much less lines. I got to see the Coast Guard Eagle tall ship. And that was cool because I didn't even know that the coaster had a tall ship. I did flirt with the sailors there as well. But mostly I was just fascinated cuz I had no idea that the Coast Guard had sale powered ships still. I mean that has an engine but that's really cool that the Coast Guard has a sail ship. And it was nice to walk around the back. I decided after I saw that one that I didn't even see any of the other ships. I'll probably try to see the godspeed tomorrow since it's right next to Constellation but not ships are letting us go below deck to my knowledge. And really all I care about is what the living spaces look like anyway. So I'm not that torn up about it.

Since I was down at fellas I walked around a little bit. Wanting a couple of the stores. I found a new store that just open today that is all Baltimore theme stuff that I think James would love. It's all novelty shirts and stuff. I like the aesthetic though. And I walked around the Goodwill for a bit too. I didn't have any luck there finding stuff for James apartment or the things I needed. I decided that I really should just go get lunch.

I went down to the harbor again and I had pizza. Listen to a podcast. And then I went to Marshalls to get winter lotion. I decided I want to switch over from Citra sense since its fall now. And had really good luck. I got a philosophy brand in the clearance section that's cream and mint. And I love it. And that's a really expensive Brands usually so it was nice to get it for under $10.

It stopped at constellation and talk to Frank for a while. Dropped off the half of my pizza to have lunch for tomorrow. And after a little bit of wandering around. I went and Build-A-Bear and found a life jacket that I return to the dragon boats. I had it home. I had seen some of the Thunderbirds going over. And that was interesting. But really I was tired. And I need to be in the house for a while just by myself.

I got back here and I took a very long shower. That made me feel a lot better. I basically spent the next two hours lounging in a robe watching TV. Playing with sweet pea. I wasn't exactly sure what time James was coming so I wasn't sure when to start getting ready. But ended up all working out just fine.

He got here about 6. And I had finished putting on my makeup and my dress a few minutes before that. I felt like I look really good tonight. My makeup was just on point and the dress look great and it was pink for the event was perfect. So I felt really good. And James looks super cute too. He always does. He let me do his hair.

We went and grabbed the bus to go to his parents house. I didn't have my charm card because I didn't know that we are going to be taking a paid bus. So he paid for me which was nice of him. We got up to his parents house and his mom had some of her friends there. And she had put out snacks. So we had snacks and talked. I got to talk about art for a while. And his mom had gotten the catalogs are ready for the show so I read through them which was good because I was not going to have a lot of time to read tonight while we were there. It was nice being able to talk about my art for a little bit too. I feel no more confident than when I'm talking about my art.

Me and James walked over to the BMA first. Because the adults were going to be driving. But just down the street we found a box of free stuff and there was a gold-framed mirror. Which if you know anything about me that is one of my favorite things. So he carried it back to his parents house for me. The adults all got a big kick out of that when we walk back in the door. But then we were back to the museum. We sat outside on the bench while we waited for them since they were the ones with the tickets. Or at least the information on how to get in. We watched a bunch of old people coming in and just talk. It was nice. I like to watching all the different people dressed up. A lot of people with John Waters mustaches drawn on or styled. So much pink so much gaudy. It was a blast. My dress was very very low cut so knowing that I was not going to be sticking out because of that was a little bit of a comfort.

They don't got there and we went inside. The line to get into the actual exam it was wicked long. So we all decided since it would have been wait anyway to just go up to the reception part and have snacks. Which worked out really well for me because I was starving and my stomach hurt. We had a bunch of snacks. And then me and James went and got a photo booth photo. He was so awkward looking in the top two photos it basically looked like a high school prom picture. So when the third one I made him dance a second just to get him to smile bigger. And in the last one I kissed him. It was just very sweet. After that we decided to go to the actual exhibit. It was a little bit of wait in line but not a big deal. We ended up being the first ones in in our group going up to the actual line. And then the last ones in when the door is opened. At least for our group. I asked the guy at the front and he said over 700 people to come in already that night. That's wild.

The show itself was fabulous. I would have probably changed the wall color. From the white Cube. But honestly I think for the commentary he was trying to make it worked well. There was one piece that is just a black curtain with sound coming out. It's a fake video installation. And I fucking love that piece. It was probably my favorite piece of the night. But honestly some of the pieces were so good and so instagrammable. I am glad that we're going to be able to go back. And spend more time. And read everything. Because there was just a lot of stuff that I would have liked to spend more time with. I am really glad that we got a picture in front of the have sex in the voting booth button. I apparently caught James off-guard when I kissed him. He was nervous enough about asking someone else. But it was very cute. And honestly the show is great and I can't wait to go back.

We headed out and went and found his parents again. And while we were standing there with his mom John Waters walked right past us. And I kicked my PO up and looked over my shoulder and told him great show. And he said hi to me. And it was just such a surreal moment. He's much shorter than I imagined. I don't know why but I always imagined to be 8 feet tall. And just lanky as all hell. Definitely a highlight of my night.

My stomach still hurt pretty bad though and we had seen the show and had the snacks. I wasn't really interested in choosing too much more than that. So we went to go get the bus. It was a nice ride back even though I was still feeling like complaining. We got back to my apartment and James made me a drink. I mean it's just Crystal Light. But there's something comforting about that because that's something I always drink when I don't feel very good. I jokingly told him I was going to make a handbook for the care and keeping of Jesse. And he said yes please make that. So I might jokingly make that. We'll see.

Sweet P just came over and wormed his way onto my lap. So he is all curled up on me now. Which is nice but I also would really like to go lay down. So I'll give him a couple minutes and then get to bed. I'm working all day tomorrow with Frank. I think I'm going to be doing the firing again and Frank said that he would spot me if I need help. I think it's going to be a fairly busy day. But we'll see what happens. I don't know if consolation itself is being busy or just the pier. We're still caustic money so I don't know if people are actually coming in that much. We'll see. I think it'll still be a pretty good day. Sleep well everyone.