9046/Fight Night at Harry's Hovel!

Fight Night at Harry's Hovel!
Date of Scene:	12 December 2021
Location:	Basement - 20 Ingram Street - Queens
Synopsis:	Peter and Kara get together for fun, games, and the eventual Serious Talk Du Jour.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Kara Danvers

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Peter Parker has posed:
A few years ago, Harry had visited the basement lab. He was impressed with a lot og things, but the alcove near the foundation looked "drab." So, with Aunt May's approval, Harry made a few contributions. Namely, the TV, the game consoles, the mini-fridge. Peter contributed the couch, though.
They had spent many days and nights on that couch. Scarfing down pizza and hot wings, playing every game Harry had bought. A lot of bull sessions, study periods...and quiet times, being there for Harry or vice-versa.

And now, It was officially open for Kara to join the small club of Harry's Hovel-ers. (Okay, the name needed work.)
Right now, Peter was setting up a plate of lemon pepper chicken wings with celery and dipping sauces, hoping Kara didn't have to stop the Moon from crashing into Earth or something...

Kara Danvers has posed:
Well, it wasn't the moon crashing into Earth...but Kara was a bit delayed as she prevented a bus from plumeting off the George Washington Bridge after a sudden blowout. Still, by 'Kara Time' standards, 5 minutes wasn't late. And she rang the doorbell, bundled up in a pink parka jacket and comfy, insulated boots. Sure, she ddn't exactly feel the cold, but she still needed tolook the part. And in a tote bag,she had brought her contribution to the 'meal'; a pair of 2-litre bottles of Soder Cola, fresh from one of Metropolis' finest convininece stores.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter opened the door and grinning a she sees Kara. Yeah, Supergirl doesn't need all that, but "Kara" does. He opened the door wide for Kara to come in, immediately moving to take her coat. "Glad you could make it, Kara. Aunt May gives her blessing, but she's visiting a sick friend in Gotham City, so it's just us tonight."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Gotham?" Kara asks with concern. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Just...surprised." she tries to cover up. But, as she enters, she gives Peter a quick kiss on the cheek. And once the door is closed, she wraps her arms around Peter's neck, smiling. "So...what did you have in mind for tonight? You basically just said to come over and hang out. So..." and, she lifts up off the floor just a bit, her arms still hanging around Peter's neck. But, it's only for a few seconds worth of amusement.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter grins. "Feet on the floor, angel. It's Game Night."
As he took her hand to lead her to the stairwell in the back, she drifted after him, her feet still a few inches off the ground. He glanced back at her once,then rolled his eyes and kept pulling her along, a human-sized balloon just floating behind him as he went down the hall, then down the stairs.

If it hadn't been so personal, he'd have filmed it, with perhaps a whistling-wind effect like he'd seen from flying heroes in the cartoons.

Kara could smell the food, of course. She could probably smell the bathrooms at that place she liked to waitress at (but why would she want to?), and this was much more interesting. Ranch dressing, celery sticks, and plenty of paper towels completed the assemblage on the table between the couch and the TV.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara giggles as Peter plays along like a good sport. Once she's in the basement, though, she puts herself firmly on the gorund. She also takes off the brown wig and her fake glasses. "At least I can be myself around you," she says as she shakes out her blonde hair. She's been down in the basement of the Parker house before, but she still looks around at all it contains. "So...have you ever come up with a name for this? Llike the Spider Cave? Or maybe the Web? Spiders don't exactly have lairs, do they?" She sets the bottles of soda next to the chicken wings, then turns to face Peter. "And...I also brought you these..." And she presses a USB flash drive into Peter's hand. Then holds up a clear crystal, but hangs onto that.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckles and steps forward to snuggle Kara gently. "I dunno. Giving it a name never felt right. I mean, I have a lot of stuff here, but it's...a little PEDESTRIAN to be a cool hideout. I mean, it's a basement in Queens."

He looked at the USB stick, then to Kara. "Would you like me to check this out now, or would you like to nosh and play games first?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
"You can check it out later," Kara says as she offers up a kiss, then settles into the snuggle. "Just a quick primer on the Kryptonian language. Since you'd been asking about it. I converted it to a format that you could use on a computer or tablet." She holds up the crystal, her head resting on Peter's chest for a bit. "This...this is something different." And Kara takes Peter by the hand and starts heading towards the couch."turn out the lights, come join me on the couch, and I'll show you..."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter quickly pockets the USB and follows Kara to the couch, less like a floating balloon and more like a bouncing ball. He reached for the light switch near the entrance to the Hovel and doused the lights, with only the illuminated panel of the central table of the lab casting a dim light upwards, creating mostly dark shadows instead of true darkness.

He doesn't say a word. This is probably going to be amazing, but it's Kara's show, and he can save the stupid questions until she's done. Most will probably get answered shortly anyway...

Kara Danvers has posed:
With the lights out, Kara sets the crystal down on the coffee table in front of the couch. She waves her hand over it, and suddenly...

The Hovel turns into a cityscape from George Lucas's dream. Gleaming towers gracefully streatching into the sky. Transports flitting about int the air. Crowds of people in long robes wandering around elegant walkways and paths. And in the clear sky...a red sun.

"Welcome to Krypton, Peter. Or, at least, Argo City." And Kara smiles wistfully at the scene.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter's mouth drops open. He can't help it.
It's one thing for your girlfriend to say she comes from a vastly-advanced race of aliens. It's another to see it in front of you. This wasn't 4K, this was 16K, if anything. VR had nothing on this.
"Oh, my..." he mumbled, then looked down to see they were on level ground, or something like it. He looked up again and behind him, over Kara's shoulder, to his right, up to the red sun.

"...Jeez Louise..."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Theexpression on Peter's face brings a gentle smile to Kara's. "It's not a full virtual reality," she explains. "Just a holographic photo album, really. You really can't go wandering around in it and explore. But...I though you'd like to get a glimpse of life there." Kara waves her hand over the crystal, and the scene changes.

The city-scape fades from sight, and is replaced by an image of a simpler nature. The inside of a dwelling, still of a futuristic nature. And a family; father with dark hair, mother with blonde hair, and a girl, who looks to be a younger version of Kara. All are wearing white robes an tunics with a red 'S' shield emblem that Kara explained was the emblem of the House of El. "And these are my parents. My father Zor-El. And my mother, Alura In-Ze."

Peter Parker has posed:
"Oh...geez..."
Peter's devolved into one-syllable words now. He can just BARELY grasp some of the concepts, principles, a vague assessment of the technologies.
Everything looks...perfect. Nothing's out of place, nothing's put somewhere where it doesn't make sense to be there, nothing's...DIRTY.

A rather mean-spirited thought appears in his head before he can stifle it: *Of COURSE it was destroyed. Why would anyone want to leave such a place otherwise?*
He shoved that thought into the mental box of Stuff You Will NEVER Say to People and just shook his head in mute amazement. Eyes are wide and focused, taking it all in.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara snugles with Peter for a moment, gently breathing as she looks at the hologram. "I pull the crystal out every so often to go through and remenice." There's an impish smirk on her face as she continues. "I've got holos all the way up to the..event." There's a slight break in her voice, but she continues "So, yes. To answer your question...I *do* have pictures of Kal as a baby in here..."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter holds up a hand, still gazing raptly at the 3-dimensional tableau. "Unh-unh. Don't want to see them. If I see them, he'll KNOW. And I respect the guy FAR too much to voluntarily look at his baby pictures."

Also, an irked Kryptonian could do a LOT of damage. He and Harry had gone to see MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND a few years ago, and he had not forgotten. Harry had also gifted him a DVD of SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE while he was dating Kara as Supergirl. Harry Humor, after all.

"Everything looks...amazing."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"It was," Kara says with a wistful sigh. And there's tears in the corners of her eyes as her jaw tenses. But, she waves her hand over the crystal again, and the hologram vanishes. "But this is amazing too," she says to Peter, and leans in to kiss him. "Not just earth. But you. I remember...but I'd rather focus on what I've gained, instead of what I've lost." She takes a deep breath, then moves to turn the lights back up and grab herself a plate of wings. "So...games. What did you want to show me or challenge me to?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled gently, then leaned forward to give Kara a light kiss on the lips. Warm, but lasting only a moment.
He draws back, then grins wryly. "WELLLL...I suppose I figured we could start with something neither of us has any special skills in."
He held up a case with two muscle cars driving out of an explosion, with the title SPLIT/SECOND.

"...DRIVING."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara returns with two plates of wings, then zips back to the table and returns with two cups of soda in the blink of an eye. She picks up a controller and snuggles in with Peter, keeping the side of her body pressed againt his. "You're just afraid that I can transfer my Amazon training over to a fighting game, aren't you?" she teases. And as the screen changes to the selection of cars, Kara opts for something sleek with a balance of speed and handling.

Peter Parker has posed:
The one that looked like a beefier version of a Ford Mustang looked good. Peter had opted for the Dodge Challenger version, himself.

The game was kinda simple. It was a race. But the trick was that it was a race like in an action movie. As you drove, you built up a Damage Gauge that could cause Level 1, 2, or 3 Events. A Level One involved a falling girder or explosive barrel. Level Two was a tanker exploding. Level Three...well, that caused something along the lines of a bridge collapsing, even to the point of changing the race track path entirely. Shortcuts, hairpin turns, and the occasional collapsing high-rise, and it was all part of the race.
Peter had played this game with Harry, but he had been playing with normal limits, keeping the lightning-fast reflexes off the table. But with Kara...he didn't have to hold back...

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara didn't have to hold back eiher, and her superspeed would help her immensely in reacting to sudden dangers. But she also had to be careful to not break the controller with ehr reactions. Still, kara wasn't as familiar with the game as Peter was, and she was content to drive defensively, reacting to the events that Peter sent her way, rather than retaliating. So far.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter had a lot of practice at not breaking stuff he shouldn't be able to.

And it's all fun and games until Peter grins and a helicopter suddenly augers in and crashes, exploding spectacularly in a thin stretch of road, simultaneously knocking down two walls and catching Kara and two other cars in a bottleneck with nowhere to go. She loses a few seconds, re-spawning after a detailed display of her car being trashed by the explosion.
And just in time to see Peter's car rocket past hers...

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara grunts in frustration as she gets lapped on the respawn. But, she's soon back in the race, deftly manuevering to catch up. with her superspeed, she can make micro-adjustments on the controller that surpass even the bet e-sports participant. And with her control of her drifting, she soon has enough of a charge built up to send an explosion Peter's way, sending his carflipping and skidding into a wall, forcing him to respawn. "All's fair..." Kara replies weetly.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter blinks and tried to correct, but that only resulted in him broadsiding the wall instead of T-boning it.
"Of course you realize THIS MEANS WAR..." he said in an eerily-close Bugs Bunny voice, and maneuvers behind Kara's car, using the draft to build up power, then cut from behind to power-drift up next to Kara's car. "I HAVE YOU NOW..." he says as he activates the Level 3 Event...

...only to see he was a split-second (ha-ha) too late, causing the jumbo jet passing over the racetrack on the bridge to explode, raining fire down on him, three other computer cars and Kara...

...no, Kara got through...so he just Michael-Bay'd himself.
"GAHHH..."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara is very plesed with herself that she made it though. Although, there is a slight exhale of releif to indicate it as a very close thinsg.But, she smiles in triumph and spares a glance at Peter. "The bet laid plans, dear..." And she sends another Level 1 Event to help clear the way for her...

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter does try his best, but he is still just 2.15 seconds behind her when they cross the finish line, Kara coming in first, Peter settling for a somewhat-subdued third place.

"Ugh...rematch. But I'm sitting this one out. I'll eat while I watch you play the next game. Beat up on those poor computer cars for awhile."

He paused, then asked, "How are the wings, by the way?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
At the mention of the wings, Kara reduces the selection on her plate to clean bones in a few moments. "Good," she says with a smile. "I'll take my time with the next plate," she promises."But to be honest...I do like hot wings. Lemon pepper's okay, though. I just like spicy food from time to time. A little heat is nice." She seets th controller side, letting the game go into demo mode, and she snuggles up with Peter while he tries to catch up with her on the wings front.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter gapes at Kara's plate. "Jeez, I'm amazed the BONES are left..."
He picks up a wing, then says, "Lemon pepper's a good flavor. I figured you could handle heat. Heck, you could probably snack on REACTOR RODS without it giving you the tummy-rumbles..."
He cleans his hands with a paper towel before picking up another wing with one hand, the other one sliding behind Kara's back to rest his arm along her back, the hand resting on her shoulder.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Hey...you're prt of this, too. It's no good for me if you're not enjoying them. I was just traying to tell you that it's okay for the hotter stuff; if that's what you want, too." She hugs her body into Peter's as his arm embraces her." She stays in that position for a while, her hand coming to a rest on Peter's chest. "I do need to talk to you about something, though..." Kara says reluctantly.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter looks to Kara with a fond look, but the eyebrows are furrowed slightly. "Well...I figured some time ago that we were never going to have NORMAL discussions like non-super-powered people do. So..." He takes a deep breath, then exhaled. "Hit me with your best shot."

Hmmm, maybe that wasn't a good choice of words. Her "best shot" would turn him into a pink mist.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"I told you that I've got a new apartment in Metropolis. It's closer to campus and a tuch more affordable. Mostly, it's more affordable because I have a roommate." Kara pauses for a bit. "She's a friend. And she knows my secret." A deep breath. "And I know *hers*." The hard part over, Kara sits back up and faces Peter. "She doesn't know yours. But she's smart. She might figure it out, even if we're careful. I just..." she takes Peter's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. "You're the one with the most to loose. So, I want to know how you want to handle things. I'll follow your lead on it."

Peter Parker has posed:
Yeah. No real normal conversations for Peter and Kara. Because how could they? Who argues about not emptying the lint trap when you have THIS stuff to talk about?

Peter is quiet for a few moments. Then he takes another deep breath, then asks, "Do you trust her? I mean, completely?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
"I do," kara answers after a while. "Like I said, we know each others identities. She has a family to protect; there' not much tying my secret ID to Kal's. But yes, I trust her completely. And there's lots of reasons why she can be trusted. She's a genuinely good person. Like you are. But, I understand that i just kind of sprung this on you, so I don't need an answer any time soon. I just wanted you to be aware and that I'll follow however you choose."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. "...all right. You can tell her. I feel we have trust here. If you're going to trust me, I have to show you I trust you. And I do. I trust your judgment. But ask her to keep it to herself. I'm not really thrilled about every Titan knowing who I really am unless enough of them pass the Laugh Test if you're going to ask them about considering me becoming a member."

He paused. "May I ask her name? Since you're going to share my penchant for wearing long underwear in public..."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara considers this for a bit. "Mary," she says "Mary Marvel." Okay. That was a harder conversation than Kara was expecting. "But, I'll let you two make more formal introductions," she says with a smile. "You'll like her," she promises. "And no-body is going to laugh when I suggest that we bring you into the Titans. Heck, Gar and Vorp wil probably enjoy having the competition from you for making bad jokes and puns while fighting." She puts her hand on Peter's arm. "You'll see."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled crookedly. He did want to believe her. He wanted to believe that the Titans would actually need someone like him.

Then again, he had wanted to believe Allison Fairchild had liked him in 5th grade, too. Seeing her kiss Bobby Richards ten minutes after accepting Peter's notes for the exam had set the tone for what he wanted in life.

"...I guess we'll see how far it goes. But if you have geniuses and punsters in the roster already, wouldn't that make me redundant?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara smiles and puts a finger on Peter's chest. "We don't settle for anything less than the best in our ranks. And that means we still need to best punster..." And Kara presses her finger against Peter to indicate who that is. "And...I can't say best genius...Nadia invented a hyper-light drive. So...I mean...if you have a dimensional gatewy generator that I don't know about..."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. "Kara...look around carefully. Van Dyne has her own THINK TANK. MY science lab, on the other hand...everything you see has been rescued from the most noteworthy DUMPSTERS in the city...or donated by Uncle Ben. My science capability is LITERALLY bargain-basement."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Your mind, though..." Kara says softly, and leans in to give Peter a lingering kiss. "Your mind is stratospheric. You're only limitedby what you have to work with. Not by what you can think up or figure out. Believe me. If you had the same resources Nadia does, you'd leave her in the dust." Her hand reaches up and strokes Peter's cheek. "That's the amazing thing about you, Peter. You overcome whatever limitation you encounter. You refuse to let circumstances beat you. When you set your mind to something, you make it happen, no matter the odds."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckles. "'Spider-Man's Biggest Fan is Supergirl.' That's worth a tweet, even if I avoid social media like the plague." He brushed the blonde hair from Kara's cheek. "I gotta admit...when I heard about G.I.R.L., I was so envious I swear my eyes went green for a full minute. I may be able to deconstruct a crime scene down to fibers and fingerprints with what I've got, but I'm never going to invent anything like a hyper-light drive. And that's okay. This lab may be populated with refurbished junk, but the only way to find a better forensics lab in New York is by going to One Police Plaza."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Another kiss, and Kara keeps her smile for Peter. "And even then, One Police Plaza still doesn't have the best forensic scientist on the payroll..." She puts her head on Peter's chest, sighing blissfully. "And nobody is able to cuddle the way you do..." she says in a soft, happy purr.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckled. "'At least I've got that going for me...which is nice.' What say we put on a movie? Harry got me something I never got to watch during the first time I was dating you."
He reached over to the small library and pulled out a DVD case. "'She's Out of My League.' I'm told it's funny."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara gives Peter a playful smirk. "Seriously, if you knew more about me, you wouldn't think like that. Back on Krypton...I was just sort of...average. I didn't become special until I arrived on Earth. You just need to forget about the superstrength and all the powers. That's Supergirl, not Kara Zor-El. Just like I see you for who Peer Parker is, not just Spider-Man."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Honey, Kryptonians are like Pixar. They are so high on the Attractiveness scale that a 5 on Krypton is a 10 on Earth. Trust me. I saw the footage. Shall we check out the movie now? It might prove educational."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara just smiles, sighs, and snuggles in closer to Peter, her hand on his chest, under her cheek. "Press play. I'm all set here for the night." And it's true. Kara still misses Krypton, but there's nowhere else on earth that she's rather be right now.