18999/Spider-Night, Quiet Night

Spider-Night, Quiet Night
Date of Scene:	04 September 2024
Location:	Felicia's Safehouse
Synopsis:	Spider-Friends talk over movie night.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Jane Watson, Felicia Hardy, Peter Parker

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Mary Jane Watson has posed:
It was a week or so after Peter had been cured of the Man-Spider. Enough time for the group to confirm that it had worked, and there were no lasting physical effects. Mental ones? Mary Jane could only imagine Peter's sense of guilt at what he had done, in control of himself or not. That meant keeping an eye on him as directly as she could to make sure that he didn't spiral badly. Coordinating with Felicia had lead to the idea of a movie night.
    They had gotten pizza from the Original Jay's, ice cream that was from Felicia's personal recommendation and that probably was sourced for about as much as most of Felicia's gadgets, and enough eighties popcorn flicks to last them all night. Settling in wtih a can of soda, Mary Jane shifted over the list.
    "So we'v egot a mix. Beetlejuice, Monster Squad, Gremlins.." Eighties horror-comedy. "True Lies, Commando, Die Hard.." Hardcore awesome action film. Apparently Mary Jane had a thing for the acting capabilities of classic Ahnuld. "Also, maybe Weird Science but that one seems like it can be a bit too close to life." Techno-magical genie after all. Just a quiet night with friends. Time together after shared pain.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
*POP* goes the bottle of champagne.

You can take the girl out of the lifestyle, but you can't take the lifestyle out of the girl.

The whole night has been set up at Felicia's East Side penthouse rather than her safehouse. For one, it's where Peter and Felicia spend most of their 'at home' time already. For two, it's not full of stolen crap she hasn't fenced yet (or isn't planning to fence). Yes, Peter knows where the safehouse is. Yes, he knows it's full of stolen stuff. What with all of the transforming into Man-Spiders and such, they... haven't really had a chance to talk about what she intends to do with all of it.

Presumably, they'll have to have that conversation at some point, though. This scene isn't set too far before the penthouse they're currently chilling in blows up and takes Felicia with it. Stupid Hammerhead and his stupid bombs.

"Oh, I don't know. Weird Science is the only one I haven't seen. As long as there's not a neuro-plasmic rejuvenator in it, I'd say keep it in the pile. Who else wants a glass of bubbly?"

Felicia's dressed casually in acid washed, ripped jeans and a black blouse, her white hair left loose around her shoulders and diamonds glittering at the base of her throat and from her ears. She's brought three champagne flutes out to the coffee table where they're setting up, but she's only pouring one at the moment.

Peter Parker has posed:
It has been... an interesting transition back into the life as Peter Parker instead of the Man-Spider to be sure. A welcome one, absolutely, there is no denying that. But there will definitely be a few things that take a little getting used to.

Like the fact that he isn't going around nesting in whatever tree catches his fancy. Or the fact that he isn't terrorizing the poodle population of the city for a late night snack. Again, not an unwelcome change to be sure, but still something to settle back into.

It is possible that Felicia has not been entirely honest about everything that Peter got up to as the Man-Spider. It is possible that he is under the impression that he did nothing worse then perhaps do away with someone's prize toy poodle Fluffy. It is possible that he hasn't done a search on the internet, or made use of the Daily Bugle archives to find out what other stories -- real or made up -- might be circulating out there. Because it wouldn't be terribly hard to go into a spiral about the whole thing he suspects. It wouldn't take much to tweak that little bump of guilt that is rooted so deeply, so firmly inside of him.

And none of them need that right now.

The same way that they have kinda postponed that discussion about the contents of her safehouose. It's not a perfect situation and delaying it might not make it any better. But it's hard not to feel that maybe, maybe right now isn't the best time to have that delicate conversation and that next week is soon enough.

So Peter sprawls on the couch, looking nowhere near as stylish as the other two, though he has casual down well enough in the red t-shirt -- that bears a little too much similarity to his Spider uniform perhaps, maybe someone's feeling a little insecure still -- and jeans.

"Wolfman's got nards," he chimes in helpfully as MJ starts going through the possible movie selection, before making a face at Die Hard. "Christmas movie. It's *months* too early," he protests. "I vote True Lies, even if it's not really an 80s movie, or Wierd Science. Because SCIENCE!" he asserts with a firm nod before turning his msiling gaze towards Felicia and the offer of that champagne flute.

He's not going webslinging later. It's okay. Hopefully he's not being spoiled either and coming down with champagne tastes though.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson shares a silent look with Felicia and an expressed mutual understanding along the lines of 'we let him go nowhere' that would be accompanied over by a smile. "Well, True Science it is.. But for later in the evening. We have a long time after all to crash. And I heard that a tv show was made of it." She could be referring to Weird Science or True Lies. "Was it any good?" Becasue Peter would have seen either/or/both in all probability.

Mary Jane just goes to grab a big slice of pizza and munch on it, then going to chug at her soda.

Then going to put the movie on in and settle back on the couch with the others sprawled about as the screen would flick on. She might say something about how good it is to have Peter back right about now, but they all know that and ti might be a bit raw. "Don't be silly, Christmas is an always time of year. I'm already hearing music all the time, seeing advertisements, and read reports of at least three supervillains and two corporations inserting hypnotic commands into said music." Because Music Meister and Hypno Hustler could just be that way sometime.

"And we should totally plan a group Halloween costume down the road. Happy Harbor always does somehting for it, so the three of us could totally go. I bet we could get some of the others to go with us." The Spider-Team!

Felicia Hardy has posed:
The white-platinum-haired thief is grinning at MJ even as she pours, but then Peter's adding his two-cents about the selection.

"_What?_" Felicia asks mid-laughter at Peter's comment about Wolfman's 'nards,' but she waves a hand as the head on the second glass of champagne dissipates. "Actually, never mind... forget I asked."

Topping off that second glass of champagne, she lifts it by the stem to hand to Peter with a wink. Oh, he's definitely being spoiled, but if she can pick up a few of his ways and he can pick up a few of hers, that's what it's all about, right? After all, there was a time in Felicia's life where she was rarely drinking anything but expensive champagne. At least she doesn't drink it _all_ the time, anymore. (Only most of the time).

The question about the TV show has her falling quiet, because that's _obviously_ not directed at her. It does give her a chance to get a slice of pizza and settle in, though, crossing her legs and setting the plate on her lap.

"Seriously?" she asks about the music. "This is why we can't have nice things. Why can't they just sneak in and steal the expensive presents the old fashioned way? It's always magic or mind control or some stupid crap like that..."

A little grin tugs at the corner of her lips, but the mention of Halloween she has her hesitating before she takes the first bite of her pizza.

"It sounds fun to wear a _different_ costumes around for a night, but isn't that one of the big crime-fighting nights? Everybody already wearing masks and everything?"

She bats her lashes a few times and looks over at Peter, smiling smugly.

"I mean, you know me... I'm always up for a party, though. We could always do both. Hit a party. Stop some crime. Catch another party..."

Peter Parker has posed:
To be sure, there was a time -- before he got his spider powers and possibly before he discovered girls -- where a good portion of Peter Parker's life revolved around pop culture. Well, pop culture and school. But even nerds can't study all the time, so there was pop culture.

In fairness, there might still be a healthy dose of that, though his time is certainly more at a premium thse days -- even putting the whole Man-Spider debacle aside. The fact that, despite his frequently tight finances, the he still finds the odd moment to hit the comic store is testement enough to the fact that in some respect his priorities haven't changed. Just, you know, shifted some. There's school still, sure. And his job at the Bugle. Being Spider-Man. And he has most definitely become a fan of the fairer sex. But pop culture still makes the list darn it, even if it might have lost a few spots over the years.

"Meh," he says, holding up a hand flat and waggling it back and forth. "Middling to forgetable at best. Definitely stick with the movie," he asserts.

He did promise that he would try to meet Felicia in the middle on a few things, and it is fair to debate if encouraging her to give up the crime thing and he in turn will have the occasional glass of champagne is really an equivilent gesture, but it seems to be a start at least and as she offers him the flute of bubbling liquid, he in turn offers up big eyes, staring mournfully at the box of pizza *alllllll* the way on the table opposite from him, silently cajolling her to get him a plate with a few slices.

Someone is definitely milking the whole 'I've just recovered from being a Spider Abomination' thing for all it's worth tonight, it would seem.

"And agreed, it is waaaaaay too early for Christmas. A line must be drawn here. This far, no farther," he asserts staunchly, nodding as if to emphasize the point. "Call back in a couple of months and we can put Die Hard on the agenda then along with whatever other stirring Christmas classics might make your heart grow three sizes today," he says, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Again, his gaze flickers towards his platinum blonde girlfriend, amusement sliding over his expression. "I bet you are. Maybe, if there are no disasters looming we can hit a party. *Maybe* two," he allows wryly. "And as for costumes, if we're going for a theme may I suggest a Dune Sandworm? But I'm calling it now, I'm not gonna be the Sandworm butt."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would take a moment to look over at the screen while it would play, sighing wistfully, "What a set of pecs.." As Ahnuld would be Ahnuld, suit and torn shirt. Her twisting her legs together, working over on soda instead of wine. "Well, I guess in fairness that Christmas songs were always subliminal. Supervillains just are more direct in it. So I suppose we can at least thank them for being direct with what their goals are in the end. Gotta admit that's in their favor." She would quip.

"And I'm pretty sure that no matter what Halloween is going to be bad. Sorta like every year. I have no idea if that's statistically true or not but you have to think about it sometime." She would lean back over and chuckle. "Well, if we're going as Sandworms then I completely call dibs on going as Dejah Thoris." Barsoom was close enough, right?

And Mary Jane had no real qualms with what Felicia did for a living. She took things. She didn't take lives. She didn't go out of her way to hurt people. She didn't cause collateral damage for the sake of it. Her other's own methods were quite different after all. "Maybe we could just combine the holidays, have them all at once. ChristmasHollowGiving or something. When you take out a pair of candy cane swords, put on a hockey mask, and carve up a giant monster turkey and eat it after you cook it with a flamethrower and sing songs?" That probably wasn't going to go down in the marketing files.

"And there are always disasters. Just expect them, go in ready, and have fun in between them."