Apricots, Peaches and Movies

(Abandoned Warehouse, right after Spider-woman left)

(Elijah's POV)

I looked at the window Spider-woman just left from. I began to walk back towards the center of the room before sitting down on the web I had made.

*Sigh*

'No doubt about it now, is there?'

When we collided, I ended up on top of Spider-woman, my body pressed against hers. It was a genuine mistake, but it ended up confirming what I had suspected from day one. Apricots and Peaches. The scent that had been practically haunting my sinuses for the past few days. Gwen's scent. When I landed on Spider-woman, that was all I could smell.

Of course, this alone could just be a coincidence. But, when you look at the bigger picture, it's an undeniable truth. The first day I met her, I felt she had an unusual amount of strength for her build. Then, when Rhino and Shocker showed up as we were walking home, Gwen disappeared and Spider-woman appeared. Then, once Spider-woman left, Gwen re-appeared. Their height is the same, as is their build. Their tone and cadence when they speak is almost identical, too. Although, Spider-woman uses a voice modulator to deepen her voice, as do I.

(A/N: Shoutout to Lomyril for making me realize I never mentioned a voice modulator. Sorry about that!)

Altogether, that leaves me with an undeniable truth. There is a 99% chance that Gwen is Spider-woman. 

'But what do I do with that information? If I ask Gwen to join the program as myself, she'll think I got close to her just to lure her to the program. She may reject the invitation and stop talking to me...

Stop talking to me?

Why do I care about... I've had to manipulate people to accomplish a task hundreds of times in my life, and their reactions of betrayal after they found out never mattered to me. So when I think about Gwen reacting that way...

Why does my chest hurt?

I don't know why I'm feeling like this...

But, it doesn't matter why. It's a bad idea to let her know that I'm aware of her identity, unless she reveals it to me herself. For now, it's going to be business as usual.

I get up off the web and swing out using the same window Spider-woman had.

"For now, I'll recruit others first. Gwen will have to wait"

And like that, a month passed.

Every day consisted of school, hanging with my newly found friends, and the occasional training with Spider-woman. Excluding the last part, I finally got a feeling of what it was to be normal. It was fun. But all good things must come to an end eventually...

(A month later, Midtown High, after-school)

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"Mid-term exams. You seriously didn't know they were coming up?" Miles said, laughing at my misery.

"Of course I did, I just uh, forgot"

"Sure you did" He said, chuckling.

"Whatever, man" I replied, softly punching his arm. When the punch connected, I felt his arm tense and his bicep and shoulder slightly bulge.

"Damn, man. You been working out? I swear you didn't have those muscles a while back."

Miles seemed to panic a bit at hearing that.

"Yeah! I've been working out for the team, coach said I need to up my shooting range"

"Huh. Why have you and Peter been wearing baggier clothes for the last month, though? Changed your style out of nowhere"

"I don't know about Pete, but I just didn't want the extra attention, I guess" He said, before taking his leave to go meet up with Hailey.

"Weird guy." I shrugged it off and began to leave.

I got a notification on my phone as I walked out of the main doors, and looked at it to see Gwen had messaged me.

Gwen: Hey, you wanna hang out today?

Elijah: Yeah sure. Where?

Gwen: How about a Movie marathon at your place?

Elijah: Sounds good. See you around 5, then?

Gwen: See you then

I smiled and put my earbuds in.

I chose an appropriate song and began to walk home. 

Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)

I let myself get immersed in the music as I went about my walk. 

"Sins, I got sins on my mind"

I walked past an alleyway on the way home. I happened to glance down the alleyway and saw a cardboard box with "Give me a home" written on the side with a marker.

It piqued my curiosity, so I walked into the alleyway, took out my earphones and took a look inside the box. There was a kitten wrapped in a blanket, with some food in a small plastic bowl next to it.

"Huh. Who left you out here, lil guy?"

I picked the kitten up carefully, waking it from it's nap. It looked up at me with it's big, round yellow eyes and meowed. It had grey fur with an adorable black little nose.

"Well, Fury never said I couldn't keep a pet. Not that I ever asked."

After some time thinking, I decided to give the kitten a new home. I mean, it's pretty boring being in that apartment all alone, and the kitten sure could use a place to stay.

I put it back in the box and picked the whole thing up. I walked out of the alleyway and began to make my way home. First, though, I needed to stop by a pet shop.

I entered a shop not too far from my apartment. The only other person there was the store's employee, a pimpled teenager scrolling on his phone.

When I entered, the door jingled and he looked up from his phone. 

"Welcome to Animal ILand, how may I help you today?" He greeted me. 

"Just found this kitten, wanted to get all the amenities for it. Think you could help me out?"

He sighed, but diligently helped me get everything I needed for the kitten, and recommended a vet so I could get it all the vaccinations it needed.

Turns out cat food is kinda expensive, so thank god for my Shield Operations allowance card. Just need to make sure Fury never finds out what I use it for.

I got the kitten some food, bowls for it's food and water, a litter box, a collar and a brush.

(A/N: I love cats, so this segment was important for me. Deal with it ╮(︶▽︶)╭ )

I finally got back to my apartment and set the Kitten down. I put all of it's stuff in the appropriate places.

I put the white collar around it's neck. The white and grey combo looked good.

I put the kitten down on the ground and watched as it went about exploring it's new home.

"Now, what shall I name you?"

I found out the kitten was female from the employee, so a feminine name would be ideal.

I've never really named anything other than my guns, so I have no idea what to name it.

(A/N: Any recommendations?)

I decided to leave naming it for later. I put on my suit and went out to patrol for a while until it was time for Gwen to come over.

(About 2 hours later)

After stopping a few muggings and the occasional break-in, I landed on my fire escape and entered my apartment.

Gwen was due to be here any minute now, so I took off my suit and got ready.

I found my new feline friend taking a nap on my bed, and petted her a bit. I walked back out into my living room after putting on a pair of jeans and a comfortable hoodie, and proceeded to sit on the couch and scroll through my phone.

I heard the doorbell ring after a few minutes and got up to open the door.

I opened it and was greeted with the sight of Gwen with a shopping bag in her hand.

"Hey"

"Hey yourself. I got some stuff for the movie" She replied, entering my apartment and looking around.

She set the bag down on the detached island counter in the kitchen. I looked through the bag and found some cold drinks and microwaveable popcorn.

"Nice place. Expected it to be messier" She said, turning to me with a teasing smirk on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know I'm very responsible"

"I'm sure you are" She replied, chuckling and sitting down on the couch.

*meow*

We both turned towards the sound and saw the kitten sitting in the doorway of my bedroom.

"Oh my god, you have a cat?! Why didn't you tell me!" She squealed, before rushing towards the kitten and softly picking it up and enveloping it in a hug.

I laughed at her actions, while the kitten looked towards me for help.

"I didn't have one until today. Found it in a cardboard box in an alleyway, and decided to take it in"

Gwen smiled at me sweetly after hearing that, before turning back towards the cat and speaking to it the same way one would to a baby.

"Someone left you in an alley. Who would do such a thing~"

I burst out laughing hearing her voice, but promptly shut up after seeing the annoyed look she shot me.

"Anyway, let's get this movie marathon underway" I said, nervously trying to change the subject.

Gwen giggled and put the cat down on the ground. She walked over and sat on the couch, and I joined her.

I signed up for a netflix account recently, so I opened it on my TV and began to look for a movie.

"You have anything in mind?" I asked, still flipping through the choices.

"How about Star Wars?" She asked, causing me to turn and look at her.

"What's that?"

She looked at me like I had just punched a toddler.

"What?" I asked, confused by her reaction.

She snatched the remote from my hand before beginning to search for the movie.

"Shut up. We're watching Star Wars" she replied in a commanding tone.

I chuckled at her sudden change in behavior.

"Yes Ma'am"

End of Chapter 16~

Hey there! How are y'all doing? I wanted to ask for your opinion real quick.

Should Elijah;

A) Keep his current suit

B) Make a new one

If you choose B, please give me some suggestions for what you want, if possible. I'm looking around and found one or two, but some suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you have a good day, see ya next time!