9261/The Relationship Rubicon

The Relationship Rubicon
Date of Scene:	24 December 2021
Location:	Basement - 20 Ingram Street - Queens
Synopsis:	Gifts are exchanged, feelings are revealed, and choices are made. Plus, poetry.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Kara Danvers

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Peter Parker has posed:
Peter had hoped for Aunt May to stick to her night out. A night at the theatre, something amusing like "Spamalot" or maybe "The Producers"...but that meant that he would be home alone.
And unlike Macauley Culkin, he had better people to interact with than a couple of Wet Bandits.

<Hey, Kara. If you're not saving a random nation tonight, want to come by the Basement and hang out?>

Kara Danvers has posed:
About a minute fter Peter sends the text, there's a knock at the front door of the Parker residence. And standing on the stoop is Kara Danvers, intern at the Daily Planet. She's dressed in her winter clothing, bundled up like any other East Coaster in winter time. And, she even comes bearing presents; besides herself, that is. In her hands are a pair of brightly wrapped packages, keeping with the holiday season.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter takes a long time to open the front door. Like, three whole seconds.
He blinks at Kara and smiles, then his eyebrows rise as he sees the packages. "Ohmigosh, you didn't have to do that...Come in, come in!"

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara enters the house, kissing Peter on the cheek as she walks past him. "Of course I had to," she explainsas she sets the gifts on a side table. "It's part of the whole holiday, right? Giving gifts to friends and loved ones?" An observant person might note that she didn't use the word 'exchange'; she's not expecting anything from Peter or May. The giving itself is gift enough for her. "Besides, they're nothing big or expensive. Just little tokens." Gifts delivered, she gives Peter a hug and another kiss. "So...home alone tonight?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smirks. "Yep. Aunt May is out with some guy, I forgot the name. They went to see a Broadway show, but it hasn't even started yet. So yeah, it's just us." He ohs, then says, "Yeah, I got something for you, too, but I haven't wrapped it yet. Did you want to exchange now, since we may both be with our families in a couple of days?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Sure," Kara says with a smile. "And who knows what might be happening on Christmas, anywys? I mean, Toyman might try to take over Metropolis with giant Nutcracker and wooden soldier robots?" She laughs this possibility off. Although she does gently knock wood to ward off that scenario... "Exchange up here or down in the Spider Lair?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckled, pointing out an eight-foot-tall fake Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. "Up here's fine." He winks, then holds up a finger. "Wait right here."
Peter gave Kara a quick kiss, then turned and bounded up the stairs, three at a time. After disappearing for about ten seconds, he reappears and slides along the bannister to lands lightly on the hardwood floor, turning to head back into the living room, as if trying to get back to Kara before something happens...

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara smiles as Peter returns and lands on the main floor in his usual flourish. She turns, her eyes closed, and her hand outstretched. "Well, yousaid you didn't have timeto wrap it. So this way, I can be surprised..." And she nods vaguely to the table where the presents she brought are sitting. "Yours is the one that's wrapped in the red paper," she tells him. Because of course it would be.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled, then took a deep breath and put the gift in Kara's hand. It was small, the size of a matchbox. Cool to the touch.

When Kara opens her eyes, the object is revealed to be...one of those portable note-taking devices, the ones that you can save ten minutes of audio on. The PLAY/PAUSE button is on the left side of the tiny player. Peter is smiling, but it is a mysterious smile, which looks odd on his normally-guileless face.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara examines the gift, although not with x-ray vision. She does smile as she turns it over in her hands. "Awww....thank you! Ths will definitely be easier than hand writing notes when I'm doing interviews and all that." She leans over and gives him a kiss in gratitude. "And now, it's your turn..."

She leans back and watches Peter unwrap his gift. Which is revealed to be a nice (but not expensive) wrist watch.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter tilts his head as Kara examines the gift, but looks a little crestfallen as she puts it away without turning it on.
Then he looks at the watch, looking at it for a moment. "I...hope this isn't some veiled message suggesting I try to be on time more often...?" he asks, a little mystified.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara smiles at the question and hakes her head. "No. I mean, that would kind of be hypocritical of me, right?" She reaches over and carefully shows Peter that the winding pin can be puled out further than normal. "There's a bonus feature or two built in. Like when yoou pull the mechanism out more, it emits a hypersonic signal. Only a Kryptonian can hear it, anywhere in the world. It's in case of emergencies. I'll come straight for it."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter blinked. "OH. Wow, okay. That could come in handy in emergencies."
He could argue that Spider-Comm could do a better job, but he knew very well that he couldn't access it if he wasn't wearing the mask. So where Spider-Man could conceal a call for help, Peter Parker couldn't...so this was a simple, yet elegant solution. If he needed to take it off, it meant he was getting into costume, which just meant a change in tactics.

"Thanks, Kara. And, uhm...listen to what's already on there before you record over it, okay? Please?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara looks over to Peter, weighing the recorder in her hand. "Should I listen to it now?" She is curious, but will understand if Peter wants her to listen to it later.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter suddenly looks bashful. "Well...I was kinda hoping you would. I was kinda hoping I got it right and wanted to see your reaction..."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara smiles, snuggles up t Peter, wrapping her arm around him and resting her head on his shoulder. And then, she presses play...

Peter Parker has posed:
There is a few seconds of silence, and then Peter's voice can be heard.
"I present to you, 'We Are Together,' by Liara Shin-Fel of the Artist's Guild. Ahem..."

Another pause, then Peter begins again, in a language spoken on a planet hundreds of light-years from Earth.

<I see you here
Your shining face
The desert wind
croons through the clefts.
We are together
My heart with yours
I feel you now
In these strange times...>

It took Peter HOURS of repeating the words over and over, scouring the source material to make sure he got it right this time.

<The red sun wanes
The canyons grow dark
The call of the wild beast
echo and rise.
We are together
We are warm and close
We listen to the world
As it draws into night.>

A quick cough...>

<We turn to each other
Stars shine in your eyes
We take a last breath
Before we return
We are together
Though the stars may fade
Our light will go on
Linked to each other.>

A few more seconds, and then the recording stops. He made one pronunciation error, but it was near the end, and it wasn't that bad.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara listens to the words. And then the tears start to fall. Tears of joy and of longing. She hugs Peter tight, clinging to him, crying into his shoulder. And this lstes for about a minute after the poem ends. She looks back up at him, tears streaking down her cheeks from puffy red eyes, and she smiles. "Thank you." she manages to whisper.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter holds Kara close, letting her let it out. He was hoping for a favorable reaction, so he had been worried when she started crying, but then she smiles, and it is all right again.

Peter smiles back to her, then said, "I couldn't think of anything I could build that you probably didn't have a better version of already...so I thought maybe if I gave you something I worked hard on, something I made myself...except for the poetry, I can't lay claim to THAT..."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara sniffles and smiles happily. "No. It's magnificent. I don't think I could love you more than at this momnt. It combines the two best things in my life; a memory of Krypton and you." And she leans in to give Peter a slightly more passionate kiss. Okay...a rather more passionate kiss than 'slightly'.

Peter Parker has posed:
Okay...he was not expecting this, but by the fact that he actively returns the kiss, tilting his head slightly to deepen it, without doing anything extreme at the same time that would cheapen it. His hands slide around Kara's waist, encircling her to rest his palms against her upper back, holding her against him...

Kara Danvers has posed:
Still, sniffling, but no longer crying, Kara leans in, resting her head on Peter's chest. She lets him hold her, eyes cosed as she enjoys the comforting contact. "I love you, Peter Parker," she says in a quiet, blissful, tone.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter closed his eyes. This is That Moment. Crossing the Relationship Rubicon.
What does your heart say, Peter?

"...I love you too, Kara Zor-El," he replied softly. And as he said it, he knew it was true. For a moment, he was aware of a single, compelling image of a heart of deep red, crafted of exquisite Kryptonian red crystal, and he could feel it...Kara's heart...beat in his cupped hands. Kara was strong, but her heart was fragile. And he had to do all he could not to break it.

Kara Danvers has posed:
And that's more than enough of a gift for Kara, this Christmas. To love someone and be loved in return. It's a big step. A big risk. But it's been working out, so far. She didn't know what the future would hold for them, and she didn't care. Kara was simply content to be held by the man who loved her; not Supergirl.