As far as Tobey was concerned, he would protect the warmth in this little home for as long as he could.
On the third floor, inside the game room Tobey had personally designed, he and Peter played side by side while chatting about whatever came to mind.
Peter was still a little restrained in front of Ben and May.
But around Tobey, the cousin who was not truly his brother yet felt even closer than one, Peter relaxed almost instantly and started talking without pause.
He was already showing signs of becoming the chatterbox Spider-Man he was clearly destined to be.
For the most part, Peter did the talking while Tobey only chimed in now and then.
Peter rambled from one topic to the next, from teaching himself photography and buying a new camera with the allowance Tobey gave him, to how he planned to pick up some small photography gigs for extra spending money.
Then he drifted to Mary Jane.
He talked about how he had fallen for her, and how that first glimpse of her red hair had completely stunned him.
Tobey listened quietly to the pure, earnest affection of a teenage boy in love, but inwardly, he felt very little.
To be honest, he had never been all that interested in Mary Jane.
If anything, old impressions from various Spider-Man adaptations had left him with a somewhat negative view of her.
In many films and animated versions, Mary Jane was often written as a decorative love interest, someone Spider-Man had to protect rather than truly rely on.
And in more than a few versions, her romantic loyalty could be... flexible.
At least in some comics and games, she came off better.
Sensing that Tobey had no real enthusiasm for the topic, Peter wisely dropped Mary Jane and shifted to something else.
"Oh, right, Tobey. Gwen asked me to ask you something after school yesterday."
"You know she's interning at Oscorp now. She said Dr. Connors is holding a Q and A event for the interns tomorrow, and as his assistant, she has two guest passes."
"She wants to invite us."
Peter paused, then coughed awkwardly.
"Well... okay, I know she really wants to invite you. I'm just the bonus add-on. But I really want to hear Dr. Connors talk up close, so can you come?"
Looking at the hopeful expression on Peter's face, Tobey had no reason to refuse.
So he agreed on the spot.
Peter looked so happy he nearly jumped out of his chair.
As for how Tobey, who had skipped grades all the way through school and graduated early two years ago, had ended up knowing Gwen, who was two years younger than him... that was a much longer story.
For one thing, it had nothing to do with Peter and Gwen being classmates.
It had everything to do with Tobey's other identity.
Poison Spider.
Two years ago, Kingpin had hired him to deal with a rival gang leader who had just been released from prison.
By pure coincidence, that same gang boss had originally been the one arrested by Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy.
And by an even uglier twist of fate, the night Tobey went to kill him happened to be the exact same night that bastard planned to get revenge on Captain Stacy.
Of course, he did not have the guts to storm a police precinct and come after the captain directly.
So he targeted the captain's daughter instead.
On Gwen's way home from school, he had her kidnapped.
And if kidnapping had been all he wanted, that would have been one thing.
If revenge was the goal, he could have just killed her and been done with it.
But no.
The sick bastard wanted Captain Stacy to suffer.
He wanted to violate Gwen, record it, and send the footage to her father.
And villains like that usually died because they could never resist making things more complicated than they needed to be.
While that idiot was busy setting the stage and adjusting his camera, Gwen somehow managed to hold out until Tobey arrived.
The funny part was, Tobey had not gone there to save anyone.
He had not even known Gwen was there.
He had eaten dinner at home first, taken his time getting out the door, and still somehow made it in time.
When he arrived, that idiot was still fiddling with the camera.
All Tobey could think was that Gwen really did have the kind of absurd luck reserved for people the universe refused to kill.
Since he was already there, though, he could hardly stand by and watch.
He had no intention of being a hero in this life.
He had already decided long ago that he would be a villain who followed the money.
But even he was not enough of a bastard to calmly watch a girl get humiliated right in front of him.
Besides, it would have wasted his time.
Even if that piece of trash only lasted a few minutes, those would still be his minutes being wasted.
So, while the bastard remained completely unaware that someone had appeared behind him, and under the wide blue eyes of a stunned Gwen, Tobey came down with one palm strike from above and smashed the man's head straight into his chest.
After finishing the job, Tobey was about to leave when he casually bent down and untied the ropes around Gwen.
That, unfortunately, was where things went wrong.
To this day, Tobey still could not understand it.
Gwen had just narrowly escaped a nightmare.
She had no superpowers, no special training, and every reason to be shaking in relief over the fact that she had survived intact.
But instead of collapsing or crying, she carefully studied the features of the man who had saved her.
And she remembered the distinct wood-smoke scent clinging to his clothes, the same scent that lingered around the Parker home.
Later, after noticing that Peter carried that same fragrance but clearly did not match the build of her rescuer, she started asking questions.
That trail eventually led her straight to Tobey.
She even followed Peter home one day just to confirm it for herself.
The moment they met, Gwen raised her hands and started measuring his height in the air, comparing his proportions as if she were reconstructing a crime scene from memory.
Then she blocked part of her view with her hand, nodded to herself several times, and stepped closer.
And then she went even further.
She leaned in and actually sniffed him.
The look on her face practically said, So it really was you.
From that point on, after seeing through Tobey's identity, Gwen began dropping by the Parker house all the time under the excuse of being Peter's classmate and friend.
At first, Ben and May thought she was Peter's girlfriend from school.
But eventually they realized the girl was not here for their nephew.
She was here for their son.
Since Ben and May had Tobey later in life, they were naturally delighted by a sweet girl who kept showing up on her own.
Every time Gwen visited, the two of them quietly tried to manufacture chances for Tobey and Gwen to be alone together.
As for Gwen's feelings, they had never exactly been subtle.
But Tobey had never openly responded to them, remaining as dense as a block of wood no matter how obvious she made it.
That was not because he disliked Gwen.
And it definitely was not because he failed to notice her feelings.
The real problem was much simpler.
Two years ago, she had only been sixteen.
That was a line he had no intention of crossing.
So even now, two years later, the two of them remained in that awkward space between friendship and romance.
More than friends.
Not quite lovers.
Still, if Peter was eighteen now, then Gwen should be eighteen too.
At that thought, Tobey shook his head and stopped himself from thinking any further.
Better to let things happen naturally.
If Gwen still felt something for him now, then maybe he would accept it.
If not, then so be it.
He was not some desperate loser who dropped into Marvel and immediately started chasing every pretty girl with a name.
This life had been far too generous to him for that.
Leaving everything else aside, every time he worked for Kingpin, the man was always very considerate.
Money, gifts, women.
Kingpin never forgot a single one.
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