16795/Spiders Spiders Everywhere

Spiders Spiders Everywhere
Date of Scene:	06 January 2024
Location:	5D - Gwen's Greenwich Loft
Synopsis:	Ben cheats again. And once again, both of them win.
Cast of Characters:	Ben Reilly, Gwen Stacy

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Ben Reilly has posed:
There had been a little bit of downtime after the Big Wheel incident, and Ben Reilly was starting to get a bit restless. The holidays came and went, and this time, he got to celebrate them as Ben Reilly. Which was more him than celebrating as Peter Parker, but still felt a bit empty. Other than Gwen. But of course, Gwen filled any hole very well, so he had little to complain about.

Other than the lack of action. And that was also something Gwen could satisfy him with!

(No, it's not that kind of scene. Grow up.)

And so Ben was stretching out, slowly, feeling the kinks work out of his new attempt at a costume, on a rooftop several blocks away from Gwen's loft, gazing over at his partner. In live, in love, and in crime fighting.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

He grins beneath the mask. Hopefully Gwen can tell that from his tone.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Holidays were a time for indulgence. Look, everyone puts in a little extra weight! Specially with cookies made by Aunt May, which Gwen had made sure to get. Because Gwen cooking? Nuh-uh. It sorta helped that their metabolism was running high due to their spider genes too. So .., maybe it wasn't that bad.

Not that it stopped Gwen from teasing Ben about it, "I can hear that costume stretching to the limit." she says. Upside down. Hanging from a web. Pointing at Ben. She clicks her tongue.

"I think going easy on me is all you will be able to do." More shots fired. But Gwen was relentless, or perhaps set on getting Ben riled up so they can have a proper spar.

Gwen lets go of the web and starts free-falling. Aaaallll the way from that rooftop. It's clear he'd have to catch her if he wanted to start this spar anytime soon.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"How come _you_ get to make jokes like that, but _I_ can't?"

Ben knew the answer to that, of course, but he still wanted to attempt to make the point.

As Gwen does her 'death drop', he leaps from the rooftop, diving after her and readying a hand to fire off a bit of webbing to try to swing _through_ her once he gets close.

"I'm not going easy on you," he promises. "You're going down!"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"I mean, you could try. But they'd be a lie." Gwen says over her shoulder as she is falling, "Because a Van Dyne costume doesn't stretch. It adjusts." of course she was going to use this opportunity to mention her VAN DYNE exclusive outfit!

As they continue their plummet to the ground Gwen suddenly shoots a web, hooking on another building as she swings upwards again. She twists to send a web in Ben's direction to see if she can catch him with it!

"I am still waiting." She singsongs, dodging under a ventilation shaft and shooting another web. Nimble little Ghost Spider!

A clear case of catch me if you can.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Well, it seems to be _adjusting_ pretty well to your..." Whatever ill-advised word was about to come out of Ben's mouth is lost as he twists to avoid Gwen's webline, sending it past him.

"Glad to see you're patient," he says, firing off another line to swing back up and towards her. She _is_ at a bit of an advantage in this game, her agility greater than Ben's typically.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"I can't hear you all the way back there!" Gwen taunts when it seems Ben doesn't seem to get to finish his sentence. Almost as if challenging him to say the WORD. It felt almost like a lifetime ago but it hadn't been long since they had done a similar race like this.

Back then Ben had cheated. Because of course he had, and Gwen would never admit otherwise. So she grins as she gets that rush of the past back, another glance over her shoulder.

Ben's efforts do seem to be catching up to her though as she has to slow down at someone opening a window all of a sudden!

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben tightens his lips. Probably for the best. He yanks on the line, using his strength to propel him all the faster.

His mind also drifts back to that fateful race. The prize he had claimed. Was it worth cheating to win? ABSOLUTELY.

As Gwen slows down, that appears to be all the edge he needs. He tugs hard on the line and propels himself up, letting the webbing fall slack on his hands as he reaches out to snare an arm around Gwen's waist as he catches up to that window.

"I love this woman!" he proclaims to the poor soul who happened to open their window at a most inopportune time.

At least they got a show for it.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Windows. Spiders greatest enemies, specially when they are open all of a sudden. But sometimes that's just how it goes. The hand is felt going around her waist, eyes widening under her mask (and over her mask too because one of the many functionalities of her VAN DYNE mask is to imitate her actual facial expressions. Creepy.), "He hasn't had his coffee yet!" she adds to that same poor soul who is now blinking in confusion at the duo.

They swing by and past, taking a corner over to another street. Gwen remains close to Ben, arm around him.

"Seems you win the race again." She says. But wait, wasn't this supposed to had been a spar?!

Maybe that one would come later.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Swinging up for a landing, his arm around Gwen but certainly not keeping her from doing her best to keep up with him, Ben lands with a carefully timed drop.

He turns and looks at Gwen, smiling, his own mask not nearly as expressive as hers. But he does his best.

"I feel like we both won," he murmurs, reaching over to lift up the bottom of his mask as he leans his face towards hers.