16432/The Birds and the bugs (arachnids)

The Birds and the bugs (arachnids)
Date of Scene:	15 July 2024
Location:	The Coffee Bean - Manhattan
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Man, Raven

---

Spider-Man has posed:
The Coffee Bean was, as was to be expected, pretty full. Mostly of ESU undergrards plinking away on their laptops or yammering away on their phones. Some few were even shooting video. But not Peter. Oh, no. Not Peter. Peter had a handshake agreement with Tony Fucking Stark to fund his so-far-unobtainable dream of leaving Jameson's libel and photojournalism behind and start to make the world a better place. Further than he ever could as Spider-Man, or even the team of Spider-Man and the Ghost Spider.

That hurt to realize. Gwen was awesome.

But now it was time for caffeination and the crafting of a business plan so epic, so perfect, that Tony Stark would throw money at him from a hose.

Well, that was the goal. Such a paragon of business writing was. so far thwarting him. This is, he mentally begrudged, what he got for taking more Chemistry sections and no business classes. But even spiders had bladders, and Peter's was screaming at him. Luckily, his physiology could tolerate the odd positions he found himself sitting in while he was thinking. So he got up and started to make his way to the back of the Bean, where the men's room awaited.

Raven has posed:
Caffination wasn't exactly a rare occurance for most heroes, what with their night hours and general busy schedules. Most supervillains didn't tend to go for lazy afternoon actions...but well, for the goth-styled girl with the purple hair in the matching hoodie, black skirt and dark-tone knee soaks?

It was almost cliche.

Raven didn't really blend in in most places, the devil's daughter herself with her pale skin, purple hair and the -gem- resting on her forehead kinda noticable in a crowd...but she was past caring right now.

Hands currently nursing a mug of her preferred bevage she was currently asking herself one of life's most important questions: Did she want a muffin?

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter emerged from the men's room refreshed. He did, however, have enough cash to get another cup of coffee and perhaps a pastry. Yeah. That'd go well, Then he'd make his way back to Gwen's place and probably wind up cleaning it.

It's what he did.

Totally worth it, however, to see her smile. To gently bully her into writing dissertation - which is why he wasn't there. Gwen on an academic tear could be terrifying.

So he got into line like a good little grad student, and then happened to glance over towards the goth girl who, he had to admit, really committed to the bit. Not just in dress, not just in skintone, but with an actual _gem_ glued to her forehead.

And that's when he got that itch between his shoulderblades. But it was different from the usual Spider-Sense warnings - nobody was going to hurl a bus at him to try to clobber him into next week, it felt more like a ... precaution?

Welp, Peter may have been a genius in some areas but in others, he could be startlingly rash.

Like now.

"Hey." he told Raven, as they were close enough in line to have a conversation. "That's an interesting choice for a bindi." he said.

Raven has posed:
As warnings go, his senses picking up that a demon of world-ending power was imprisoned in a piece of jewelry nearby was probably a fair one, not to mention that the girl herself was meant to be a harbinger of the apocalypse...though she seemed far more preoccupied with baked goods.

A blink as she's addressed, the empathic half-demon looks up in confusion for a moment before it clicks and she shrugs her shoulders. "I guess. We all like to be a little unique, right?"

Spider-Man has posed:
"I guess so." he said with a laugh. Yep. Still getting the WARNING vibe, but not the active danger one. Weird. "It's just not something you see every day so - points to you, I guess." he followed up with along with a smile. Then he offered her his hand. "Hi, I'm Peter." he said by way of an introduction. But anything more was temporarily stymied by the line moving closer to Nerdvana, the Counter From Which Coffee And Pastries Were Dispensed.

Raven has posed:
There was a -chance- he'd recognise Raven, but given she wasn't wearing her uniform one might just write it off as another New York weirdo.

"Rachel," she offers back politely...pondering this was usually the point where she'd go back to a book or meditation or...something. But the quest for the muffin with her drink lived on and so she glances back towards him.

"You seem super stressed out," she offers, more statement than question.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter blinked. "It shows that bad, huh?" he said casually, easily. "Yeah, I've got kinda a huge project I'm working on." he said. "My partner is working on her dissertation so I fled here for my own sanity." he said with a smile. "Safer for everyone." he said. "The life of grad students in love." he said with a theatrically dreamy sigh. "Dino nuggets, wilted salads, and academic stress. You a student, Rachel?" he asked her.

Raven has posed:
A nod, but no details given. Student of the arcane didn't really come with a degree...but no student debt most of the time, so that was nice!

"Coffee, sugar and an unhealthy lack of sleep," she offers back, tilting her head to the side. "Both of you studying the same thing? Or is your project your own 'thing' that's different?"

Spider-Man has posed:
"I teach Chemistry at ESU to undergrads." he said. "And my thing and her thing are definitely two different things, but they're potentially related things. It's complicated." he said with an easy smile - the one he often got on his face when thinking about Gwen. "Coffee, sugar, and a lack of sleep pretty accurately describes my twenties." he joked, but in a way that brought her into it, not making her the target of it. "I love my kids, but they can drive me insane. In all the best ways. I had one who managed to disprove entropy. I'm pretty sure nothing good from disproving entropy." he joked.

Raven has posed:
"Isn't that...a fundamental force of the universe? Are your students magicians now?" Raven muses, another sip of her coffee to disguise the vicarious flutter of the heart that her empathy picked up before she shakes her head. "I mean, wrangling students is probably the only thing worse than being one."

Spider-Man has posed:
"I see that you are a wise and thoughtful young woman. And they might be but man, I hope not." he said with another laugh. Their place in line shifted again, bringing them closer to Nerdvana. "And yeah, wrangling undergrand can be a lot of work but man, the look on their faces when they _get it_ makes it all worth it." he said fondly. "Hang on a sec." he said, as he reached for his phone just _before_ it rang. "Hey." he said into his phone. "Yeah? How's it going? Taking a break? Well, you're allowed, of course. You know what your deadline is but coming home to have to put your brain back between your ears is, like, such a _hassle_, man!" he said with a laugh. "Well, stay safe, OK? Let me know if you need anything. Love you!" he said, and then killed the call. "Sorry. Important call." he told Rachel.

Raven has posed:
The 'troubles with magic' could well be the title of Rachel's autobiography, but she doesn't comment beyond the small smile behind her mug. One that only extebss at the phonecall as she listens.

Empathy, telepathy, all of it could be such a drag...so it was nice to get a little happiness and general 'good vibes' now and then.

"Obviously. Sounds like she's working hard."

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter just shrugged. "When she takes breaks, she finds something different to occupy herself with. She's not big on just sitting still." he said with another fond smile. "But anyway. Looks like you're up. It's been nice chatting with you, Rachel." he said as he glanced up at the menu board.

Great. They'd raised their prices.