8227/Beautiful Queens: Home of the Mets

Beautiful Queens: Home of the Mets
Date of Scene:	13 October 2021
Location:	Alley Pond Park
Synopsis:	Masks are taken off, identities are revealed, Ben admits to too much. All in a Spidery-Day
Cast of Characters:	Ben Reilly, Gwen Stacy

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Ben Reilly has posed:
Welcome to Beautiful Queens, home of the Mets!

Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

It's also home of Aunt May.

And where we find our intrepid hero, Ben Reilly, attempting to enjoy a hogie from his beloved Angelos: where the vegies are always fresh, with never frozen freshly sliced deli meats. He's seated on a picnic table with a second sandwich beside him, for his guest, with his baby blue hood up over his plain red mask, and if we're very honest this costume is pretty ghetto.

But we're being honest in our head because it's rude to judge.

"Mmmm... Mmmmm... Sounds like they're snoring... mmm.. Boring... agony and irony that killing me.." With his red foot tapping the wooden seat.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Interesting choice of place to meet."

Which only makes Gwen more suspicious about the relation between Scarlet Spider and Spiderman. A mistery to unveil for sure! For who else lives here? Peter Parker, of course. And so did she a while back. Or was it a lifetime ago? She isn't fully certain with all the jumbled memories in her head.

But indeed Gwen has approached the picnic table, her eyes going to the choice of food. Again Peter's favorite! A brow arches under her mask. And indeed she has a hood too. Not ghetto though. Because calling anything made by JVD ghetto is a sure way to calling on the designer hero's wrath. And no one wants that...

"Hello Scarlet." The masked spider hops up onto the bench and then turns to sit on that same picnic table Ben is on.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"You're like a Ghost!" Ben exclaims after a startled jump on his seat, foot still tapping to the beat of Flag Pole Sitta until Gwen's appeared.

As she settles, her sandwich is held out to her, "Hey Ghost." It all works out in the end, you see.

"I'm sure you've got a ton of questions, but I can only answer about four of them without knowing details about things that you may or may not know, so this is really a courting experience.."

See, Ben lacks funds for anything designed by JVD.

What he has is an old knockoff hoodie someone tried to sell when Spidey first made his appearance over what is, more or less, a scuba suit. It's very uncomfortable. Like very uncomfortable okay? Can we acknowledge how uncomfortable this thing has to be?

"So let's enjoy the scenery, the company, these amazing sandwiches from Angelo's, and pretend like the world isn't a very strange place?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Well, it -is- in the name." Gwen points out about her superhero moniker, one leg pulled up to her chest and she dipping her head in thanks when the sandwich is offered, "You really like these, don't you?" she teases, taking it in hand but not yet digging into it. That would require lifting her mask some, and as Ben said this is still the courting experience. Of sorts.

"I do have questions. Many of them." She admits, "But I may also have some answers." pause, "It's clear to me there's some relation between you and Spiderman. And I am not talking just because of the suit, or the name. Which really, would be shamelessly copycatting if I didn't know better. That you are similar to the person -under- the mask too. And that's not something that can be copied without ...." she brings her hand to rub at the back of her head, "Well, I suppose that's where my questions would start. Who are you?"

See? Direct to the hard questions! Because who are we really in this strange, imperfect world?

And she lifts the bottom-end of her mask to take a bite on her sandwich, filling her mouth in. Nomnom.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben hasn't lifted his mask. Instead, the sandwich sits beside him on the table still wrapped in that cutting paper. See that's how you know a sandwich is good, it comes on cutting paper rather than some fancy wrap up.

He bobs his head in a series of short nods to everything Gwen is saying, but there in lies the rub, right?

After a deep breath, his head twists side to side beneath his hood, "How much do you know about Spider-Man? I guess that's the most important question.." Because it hinges on how much he's willing to say, right? His identity isn't just HIS identity. It's a sour point for him, honestly. No matter how much he seperates himself, he's always going to be someone else in his head... and to those people who know that other person.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
How well does Gwen know Spiderman? Or Peter? One does not immediately imply the other as she very well knows considering the Peter from her own reality was ..., something else. "Mmmm, let's go with most everything, and then a bit more. Sometimes I feel I am some kind of twisted mirror of him. With all due differences, Heh, it's complicated." a shoulder rising in a brief shrug.

"But the person under the mask? I have known them all my life if that's what you are asking about. Yet I also know you are not him. No matter how alike you two may be." her lips screw up in a thoughtful manner, pausing on her munching and her head turned to look at Ben directly. "I do suppose we are at that point in which one of us should consider whether to take the mask off fully or not."

"But for some reason I feel you already know who's behind this mask, don't you?" It's not as if it would need to be that big of a leap considering the talk about Captain Stacy, and how enraged she got when June start dissing the cops.

"So maybe I can go first." Gwen takes a quick assessment of their surroundings. Not a soul walking by, or inconvenient voyeurs. That's how much her acute senses tell her. And so the hood goes back and she finishes taking out the rest of her mask, the face of Gwen Stacy revealed. Blue eyes and blond hair in all it's glory!

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben inclines his head at Gwen's answers... Unlike Peter, he never interacted with Gwen prior to the Crux event that merged her reality with this one, so all he remembers is her being alive.. Which still feels weird somehow? It's an odd thing to explain and it gets a little fuzzy the more he tries to focus on it because that's how magic works.

"Yeah, I think I do." He says in a quiet voice, a grin obvious behind his mask as he looks down. Hands turning up off his thighs in something like a shrug. "I think you have a pretty good idea who is beneath this one too..." Which one of them has a crazier reveal anyways?

When her mask is removed, and his suspicions varified, Ben nods and grins wider. "Yup." But it's a stall tactic. Until he finally pushes his hood off his head and grabs the back of his mask to pull it off forward from his face.

Beneath is the face of Peter Parker... almost exact. The only difference /at all/ is the beach blonde hair atop his head. Blue eyes stare at her with Pete's trademarked (at least it freaking should be) shy grin. "It's good to see you Gwen. I'm Ben." Beat pause... "That rhymed."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"I like the blonde.." Is what Gwen first says. Because of course she would, being a blonde herself! The rest? Pretty much alike the Peter she knows. Both Peters, that is. The one from her own dimension and the one here.

"And now I know you -can't- be him." Is the reply to those last words, she shaking her head briefly and brushing some hair out of her face. Yes, it may be a JVD suit but it still messes up one's hair like no one's business! ".. For the one I know can't rhyme to save his life." She might be speaking a bit too harshly about Peter. But hey, she knows how tryouts went when he tried to join their band, the Mary Janes. Ufff, that was eons ago. Her expression gets briefly nostalgic and she looks away, "It's good to know you, Ben. And so, what do you know about -you-?" she finally asks, blue eyes returning to the young man, smile gentle.

For some reason she is taking this whole thing about having someone fully alike Peter rather easily. Almost as if she knew what it felt like.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Accidental rhymes don't count." Ben says with a smirk and a shrug, replacing his hood over his head incase someone does happen by, even though he leaves his mask off for now. It feels good to have someone who knows Peter, see him, and not think he's Peter. It's rare and he's going to enjoy it okay?

"Honestly, not much. It gets a little weird after a spell you know? I woke up in a lab a year or so ago, tried to go back to life is usual once I got out... and found that life was anything but usual." He murmurs that last part and casts a glance down at his sandwich. His stomach literally rumbles loud enough that the trees even hear it.

But the blues look back to Gwen.

"Ran into Petey, made some promises about not being seen and all that... blah blah blah, here we are. Without a job because I don't have a birth certificate or social security number.. no place to live. Basically I'm budget Spider-Man without any of the perks."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
A dubious expression comes upon Gwen's expression at the comment about accidental rhymes, "Don't they, really?" yea, she sorta thinks they do. Her own hood gets pulled over her head as well even if she does leave the mask off for now, leaving it resting on her thigh, listening. She is silent for a bit, taking another bite on the sandwich, "It does get weird after a while ..." yes, she knows well what he's talking about. "You don't know what thoughts are your own, which ones aren't. How different you both are, or how alike. It can shatter our reality. Yes, I know what it is." pause, "In a way.."

That last part has her nodding again, thoughtful, lips jerked to the side, "There's a group I sometimes hang with that *could* help with it. They have helped another person I brought in to them. And they could help you as well. Do you know the Titans?" she asks, head canting to the side.

And she didn't forget the comment about the lab. "And I am actually a pretty good geneticist. Well, on the university, but that's details. Though I already got a scholarship with Osborn Corp, we could look into the mystery of you are. If that's what you want."

Typical Gwen. Meeting someone and already trying to figure out on how to help them.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Osborn Corp.

It's hard to NOT see the shiver run up Ben's spine.

"Huh.. well, hopefully your research isn't used to make a bunch more Spider-Men..." Said quieter, eyes turned down to look at the green grass. He doesn't outright say that it was Osborn that created him, but he's suggesting it strongly.

When he looks up again, some of his grin has returned. If only because someone shares some common ground with him? It's rough out here for a Clone. "Yeah.. See, every thought I have is a thought he has. Maybe not at that exact moment, but if you think about it I'm an actual study in nature vs nurture. How different we become as time goes?" He wiggles his head and waves a hand.

Because the Titans.

"Oh, yeah, I have an apartment there at their fancy tower. And Vorpal has already seen me naked-" Which is a big revelation... "-Not like that-" Frown, "-See nanites ate my really cool, exceptionally awesome suit-" Waving a hand down at his, both hands, like Mister Perfect use to in the 80s, "-and why I'm in this cheat knockoff version. I miss my costume."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
If anything Gwen is rather proficient at interpreting those expressions on Peter's face. And in this case Ben's face. So the shiver about that name? Along with the quieter tone? Yea, that peaks her attention. And also makes her frown. "Of course not. I wouldn't work with them if it was otherwise." or so it seemed to be back where she comes from. How 'nice' are the ones here? Or how nice were the ones back from her dimension?

"Harry is a good friend. And Norman Osborn is a man of integrity." She may have a blind spot where it comes to the Osborns. "But .., it seems to me you have some kind of history with them?" She leaves that question in the air before focusing on what Ben says next. So ironic. While Peter and Ben are separate and diverging each on their path she has merged with her own self and going down a single path. It makes her smirk briefly for .., no evident reason, shaking her head a bit to herself. "Magic does make my head hurt .." She murmurs..

The announcement that Ben is at the Titans tower has her thoughts diverge there and she laughs softly, "See? That's how long ago I haven't been in the Tower. I didn't know you were there even. Every time I was there was to tend to my friend..." beat, "And Vorpal always gets to see everyone naked. It's a rite of passage." but then she clarifies, "He hasn't seen me naked yet if you are wondering."

"Wait..., nanites ate your suit? That's sounding soooo much like that excuse that the dog ate my homework.." Another smirk.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"You could say that, yeah." Ben indicates about having history with Osborn, "Sure, Harry is great, we use to hang out all the time-" At least Pete did, but he doesn't correct himself. Since Gwen gets it, "-But Norman? Screw that guy okay... I mean I guess thank you, Norman, but also screw you buddy." Because he /did/ bring him to life, in a manner of speaking, but also?

This is hard.

"I was about to ask." If Vorpal had seen her naked. He smirks and shrugs, hands pointed skyward.

"Okay listen.. It wasn't /just/ my suit alright? It was all inorganic material, but it just happened to land on my suit. I didn't then, nor do I now, need a reason to get na-...kid.. nothing good comes from following this conversation to completion. I feel confident it just leads to me digging a deeper hole."

SO, "How about them Mets, amirite?"