gourmetburgers | [texting repository] bc not everything's gotta be action

Huh.

[ She leaves it at that, spamming a gif his way. ]

What do you ever get the lovable thief that has everything she could ever want? Hmmm... tall order. I look forward to it.

[ I mean, that just makes her smile like an idiot. ]

Wrong. What do I, and one of the characters have in common?

Jesus Christ, DD. Apparently they didn't teach you tact in law school!

[ POOR GUY. He's not a joke to her, but – there are times she does pity him. It's a rough gig. But... he is a sweetheart, most of the time. Except when he gets weird and has big life crisis going on. ]

I'm about to mooove this conversation to the deleted folder on my phone.

Hmm because I’ve mentioned how my colleagues might disapprove...

Let’s just say the likelihood’s increased.

[ He’s lied to Batman (the original one) to get away with less. Ann might be familiar with stories from Tim’s past, of joyrides taken on the Batmobile with the Teen Titans. Joyrides, of course, being pertinent to a given mission back then... but joyrides all the same. ]

Well what if I think it’s cute as all hell, huh?

But fine. I’ll at least make it my homescreen.

[ He goes on to send her a new lockscreen, which is just them together downtown. In it, Tim’s looking real hypebeast, with a hot cup of coffee in his hand to make happy any tabloids watching. The press continues to insist Tim is this waifish coffee addict overworking himself as teen CEO of Wayne Enterprises... and he prefers this to anyone remotely suspecting he’s Red Robin.

~~look at me trying to ameliorate fanon tim as a media construction in-universe~~ ]

[ Peter leaves a like on that gif, unsure how to continue that aspect of the conversation. It seems to deserve more of a follow-up in-person. There’s a lot of hope invested in that one “thumbs-up” emoji, then— the one Felicia can see from her end of the convo. ]

You’d be surprised.

Hell, you will be surprised. Just watch!

[ He resends the same cat gif, thinking he’s funny. To nobody’s surprise, he’s also trying to seem more conniving than he and Felicia know him to be. ]

Zero Suit Samus? I mean...

She’s agile. Deadly. Dresses skintight.

She’s uh

Limber.

[ No longer thinking with his brain, it seems. Could be that he’s fresh out of it till he gets the caffeine.

At least he’s got enough wherewithal to swing through the city without ruining the bag of food (he has webbed it to dangle from his hip) and the cardboard tray of coffees. ]

Trust me, that’s just not in the curriculum in general.

[ First a blind joke, now a lawyer one. At least Matt can’t be faulted for taking himself too seriously, like he might have in his early days. Now he’s just milking pity as part of his ‘wounded gazelle’ act— an old habit having yet to die hard. ]

You do that and you accept udder defeat... though I have calf a mind to do the same.

You're setting my expectations high, you know. Cats can be pretty hard to please, but... maybe I'll take it easy for you.

[ He is funny - funnier than the handful of guys she's dated since they went different ways. The reality was... as much as she said his jokes were corny and annoying – they leave her laughing. Helps her take life a little less seriously. ]

Is that the one in the big bulky armor? No way. I'm giving you two more chances before you're enjoying the evening yourself. I thought you KNEW me.

Finally, a break in my streak of bad luck.

Well, it actually hasn't been much of a streak lately. Our dates have made life recently... kind of an outlier.

[ He could lay it on even thicker how much he's been enjoying coffee - hence the ease with which he's willing to transport some cafe food to Felicia's. Hopefully a relatively understated compliments satisfies, for now. Because Peter's certainly smiling, imagining how much Felicia must enjoy all his silly bullshit. ]

I mean when she's got her clothes off.

Her ARMOR off. She's wearing clothes under her armor, leaving little to the, the--

Y'know what. That's probably still not it, then.

Incineroar? That's literally an entire cat. Can't go wrong with that!

[ Felicia might begin to wonder how Peter's texting and swinging at the same time. Maybe he's so motivated to text her that he's literally sending messages between thwips. As each swing propels him into the sky, he texts one-handed while plummeting, only to shoot another thread of web before he and the coffee can go ker-splat. ]

Good outlier or bad outlier? You know you have to be specific with me!

[ Coffee was just the gateway. They share stories, in and out of suit, and feel like they're getting to know each other. Their orbits may have been on the outskirts of one another, but now they were jiving well together. It took a long time for them to get this far and she's a little annoyed that their "about us" story would involve a chocolate egg and a snooty dragon. ]

Five strikes you're out.

Not only is her hair insured for millions of dollars, wears a catsuit that shows more curves than backroad, but also hates most men.

[ That's all she knows. Thanks Wikipedia. Felicia's smirking, chewing her bottom lip with a laugh. Truth is – there's no way that she was proficient enough to keep talking about it. Felicia was not a gamer, but she knew enough. And it was fun – it was just ... easy to talk to Peter nowadays. ]

I hope you're not coming over here to talk about video games with me. You're picking the wrong girl.

[ This is absolutely killing time, but also killing her. ]

I really have some beef over this... I'm stubborn as a bull when it comes to losing.

So you've narrowed it down to two. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

Ok it's GOOD. It's been GOOD, Cat.

[ He didn't even wait before sending the addendum. ]

Well, when you put it that way, this is now too easy.

Obviously Wendy Koopa!

[ Truth be told, Peter's having a hard time keeping his finger on the pulse when it comes to the state of video games. For the life of him, he can't tell you what a "live service" is. And while he knows the Switch and the PS5 are out, he still thinks Microsoft's stuck on the Xbox 360. ]

What do you take me for, some kind of sad nerd? I wouldn't just

Sorry, I hit send on accident. Was about to hit a flagpole, had to dodge. But the food's okay!

Then you shouldn't hesitate to grab a bull by the horns.

[ Unlike Spider-Man, Matt's not in the middle of stakeout or anything. He's actually at home, in an ice bath, recovering from a tussle with Kingpin and Hobgoblin that got really damn wild. For one thing, the two of them pissed off Venom for some reaason, and Venom was in such a blind rage that he had it out for everyone in the room-- even Daredevil! Fortunately, they set aside their differences and took down Fisk and Hobgoblin... but not till after Venom threw Matt down a stairwell in their misunderstanding.

This is a long story he's not prepared to share with Felicia. ~~and also me liking to make shit up about the zany stuff these characters get up to~~

Stupid pun contests like these make for some good unexpected stress relief. ]

I'll take it. I'm not some overbearing girlfriend but can you blame me for being hopeful? It feels like forever already.

[ Maybe that was too forward. She's vulnerable with him, slowly opening up and letting herself become more readable. More predictable. Letting parts of her be known to him that even her friends didn't pick up on. Ann doesn't want to push the subject, so she doesn't text back as quickly. Instead, just letting the moment linger – all until he makes things feel better with his lockscreen.

She goes ahead and sends him one in return, a photo she took of him making coffee the last moment they were together before she returned home. Same Tim, different mood. She liked both of them either way. ]

Well... hopefully you'll have hundreds – no... THOUSANDS of pictures to choose from and not just that gross faced one. ]

Edited 2021-06-01 03:54 (UTC)

Sometimes I need some positive affirmation! You know how that is.

[ How many times did she, in her youthful DTF haze, praise the masked arachnid? Sure, even now, she insists he's one of the best guys she knows – so... to know that he says that without delay?

Yeah, she has her usual swagger about her back. ]

Horrible. Baeyonetta is in a league of her own.

[ They're both idiots, but at least he knows he's licensed in a fighting game. ]

Oh, thank God!

I'm sure that food was a fortune!

No. I’m gonna keep it real with you, Ann. You’re all I think about sometimes.

I can still gather every clue in my head, tell the inspector that the butler did it and be right. But no matter how much I get done, I feel like I’m going nowhere... till I know I’m headed to you.

[ The delay in her responses lead Tim to conclusions that it doesn’t take a detective to make. He doesn’t know Ann’s entire life story any more than she does his, but they’re both hurt. And together, they’re both healing. Of all people, Tim knows that’s not a linear process. That no matter how much fun they have, how many times they’ll poke and prod at each other, there’ll be times when stuff comes out from under the surface. Beneath the mask. What’s important is the way they manage that stuff, together.

Like now.

He gets the image and leaves a 😂 react emoji. Tim looking groggy beyond belief brewing himself a coffee... in that photo, he almost lives up to the reputation imposed on him. But with his particular lifestyle, why would he ever refuse a pick-me-up? ]

I’ve got more than I know what to do with, Ann.

It’s all in my camera roll under an album called “prettiest gf ever.” Because you know how I am about organization.

[ And for all he knows, she may be busy but – Felicia's sitting on a rooftop watching the freights roll into the docks. A few nights, she ends up alone still suited up – weighing between scratching an itch like checking out the latest MoMA entries for her own selfish score or following a police jammer like she was some hero. ]

Ohhhh, like I haven't herd that one before. Its pasture bedtime, isn't it?

Sorry. After almost a decade of Jameson’s many smear campaigns, can’t relate.

[ He’s being facetious, but goddamn has Spidey’s track record made it difficult for him to seek approval— at least after telling himself responsibility’s the more important thing to uphold than his public image. Because action is his reward, right? Doesn’t mean he’d be content if he lost Felicia’s respect, or she thought less of him for any reason. Validation’s just something he’s kind of... resigned to not receive in general. ]

What does Bayonetta have to do with this?

[ Alright, now he’s definitely fucking with her. Now way he could have misread that, and he doubles down— ]

Come to think of it, you do remind me of Sheik. A lot of fancy flips and ninja gadgets.

As for me, Mario. Can’t go wrong with an agile red and blue guy!

But I’ve been working on my Diddy Kong game. The way he sticks to walls and flings bananas reminds me of how I tend to irritate criminals.

[ He also can’t fault Diddy Kong for his peanut gun. That looks like it took the kind of ingenuity Peter mustered to design his web shooters! ]

Nope, not in the mood for sleep.

Took a beating from Venom, so I’m taking an ice bath. He had a separate agenda against Fisk and Hobgoblin, but I was able to sic him against those two before he could kill me.

You could say Venom was seeing red.

My, DD, that's scandalous even for you.

The Venom thing, not the ice bath. But, always a nice visual. You holding up fine or you need me to Uber Eats you some Chinese?

[ At least he can win something today, their pun contest. There's rare moments where Felicia drops the act and can be a concerned feline, okay. ]

You should be a little more self-serving. My therapist says it's good to have balance.

[ There's that pull. It's what separates them, even when they jive so damn well together. Felicia isn't a gloryhound, but she can't imagine a thankless job. It pains her he was so good-natured – in ways she never could be – for no thanks.

Felicia scrunches her face up in disapproval at her phone but, finally pushes herself off her railing and instead walks back towards the glass door of her penthouse, texting and walking all the way. A mental note was there to be a little nicer to him tonight. ]

You're wasting your time talking about this game when you could be hyping me for this moonlight munchie waiting to happen. You know I haven't played that before we chased each other around town, right?

[ Meaning, she's rusty and it's been a while. ]

[ Once again, she doesn't respond immediately. That was a lot. Not in one of those "this is moving too fast" ways, but something more in disbelief. Someone said something like this to her in such a nerdy, vulnerable, and honest way. Not possessive, not gross – she replies with a heart on his message.

And of course, a gif. ]

You don't have to keep hamming it up, you know. It's like you think there's some kind of competition to have me crush on you harder than I am. Ugh.

With the order I'm bringing over, there'll be enough self-serving for the two of us!

[ Yeah, not a direct engagement with how Peter can be selfless to a fault. But he's paid a high price for selfish decisions before, and it's made it difficult for him to accept making a self-serving choice that's benign. Maybe what's kept him away from Felicia for so long is how scared he is. Not of her, but of what could come from allowing himself to be happy. ]

I have honestly... only picked up Ultimate a few times at the Avengers Mansion. But hey, I remember enough from 4 to hold my own.

Anyway, I'm here.

[ That's right. Just before she reaches the glass door to reenter her penthouse, she'll hear Peter's ~~clap of his own asscheeks~~ graceful landing on the railing where she was just leaning. He's perched on said bars with the tray of coffee in one hand, and the bag of food in the other, having removed it from where it was webbed to his hip. ]

Special delivery!

Hope you like your avocado toast thrown around like it's been shoved in a dryer.

[ Carefully, he steps off the railing to properly approach Felicia with the food. ]

It's all mush in the end, anyway. So I'm pretty stoked.

Honestly? I'm pretty hungry. But I do have leftovers in need of clearing out.

Let's save the Chinese for later, shall we?

[ He notices that the pun contest has officially ended, and he's fine with that, preferring instead to focus on how much the bath is soothing an accumulation of aches and pains. Despite all the power afforded to him by his senses, Matt really can't afford to forget he's only just a man, lacking the endowments of many he's gone toe-to-toe with... as well as alongside. ]

If Spider-Man tags along, we won't even need the Uber Eats.

Never properly thanked you guys for the Foom incident, anyway.

Well, idk what to tell you.

I'm all about constantly improving things, and it's been hard to, y'know. Break the habit.

[ She should know enough by now about Tim's many projects. He's always trying to perfect his gadgetry, his costume, his vehicles, while also installing new shit to his private headquarters in Gotham. Things to make the Batcave's cloud database faster and more intuitive to navigate, just improving the way crime is fought overall. He's even got plans to take the Old Wayne Tower and turn it into a new base of operations for all of Batman's associates, something he wants to call the Belfry. ~~but the New 52 and Rebirth are gonna have to happen before Tim implements this~~

It's not that his relationship with Ann is just another project, though. It's the most important one of all. ]

And I've let too much slip past me before to leave anything unsaid.

[ There's so much he regrets not telling Kon before he died. Stuff that he's taking the time to tell Ann, now that she has his heart. ]

I just wanna give you as little doubt as possible about this. About us.

So how about that FaceTime then?

--nah I'm just pulling your leg.

[ He was hard to pinpoint at times. Not because he was too closed off, because he remains busy. In her eyes, she can't believe the stories she hears of him. She knows the costumed side through tabloids, Google searches, etc – but... he's ambitious. More than she could ever be.

She's not sure why, but she was just... passionate. Even after her pain and bitterness, to hating how people looked at her – she wanted him to see her. Past the suit, past the name Ann Takamaki... and see her. And the strange thing?

He is.

It happens faster than she can anticipates and it makes her nervous and excited all at once. ]

Then... let me help break the habit. Stop it cold turkey! You're cute, like... more than a physical kind of cute. I don't have any... doubt. Not with you.

... and y'know what.

[ Fuck it. ]

Typical New Yorker.

[ Leftovers, she means. It was a tough job, but she gets it. There's days where she ended up sleeping over 12 hours, ignoring calls and making sure not a drop of sunlight hits her with curtains drawn. There's... a lot of recovery needed for this... hobby. ]

It's fine, part of the territory. I got a dozen or two coffee dates out of it. Not all bad. Add an order of Orange Chicken and all debts will be paid.

We got each other's back.

[texting repository] bc not everything's gotta be action

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