"So you're saying that Tony Stark wants you to take photos of him when Mary Jane interviews him, and you came to take photos of me just to practice for that interview?"
Gwen listened to Peter's reasoning for taking her picture with considerable dissatisfaction. She had assumed Peter had finally developed some romantic awareness, but it turned out he was just worried about taking bad photos for the Daily Bugle—it was simply too much.
"And here I was wondering why Mary Jane hadn't been coming to band practice for the last two days. So that's why she's been busy."
"Speaking of which," Peter realized he hadn't been paying much attention to Gwen's daily life lately, "have you been skipping out on the band because you've been obsessed with patrolling?"
"I've been going! It's just... maybe I haven't been training for quite as long."
Gwen brushed her hair back awkwardly as she spoke, only to hear the sound of Peter's camera shutter. She reflexively blurted out, "Hey!" Peter, however, looked at the photo on his screen and said, "I actually think this one turned out pretty well."
"...Fine, whatever." Gwen didn't press the matter, but then some strange thoughts occurred to her, and she began to wonder, "Come to think of it, why would Mary Jane ask you to see if she could interview Tony Stark?"
"You know how news went viral after someone splashed water on Tony Stark? The Daily Bugle is obviously planning to write a story about it. It involves a lot of product quality issues regarding Stark Industries, and Mary Jane didn't understand some of the technical jargon, so she came to me for help."
"And you explained those terms to her?"
"No, I called Stark first to see what his situation was, and he told me to wait three days—that he was preparing something big," Peter explained. "So, once I heard that, I went and told Mary Jane."
"Ah, so it was all your doing in the end."
Peter paused, feeling that the situation shouldn't be framed that way, and couldn't help but shake his head.
Gwen tilted her head to think for a moment and then asked another question, "But then again, I thought she knew you were Spider-Man. Otherwise, why would she ask you about something like this? Have you considered how you're going to answer her if she asks how you're able to contact Tony Stark?"
"I honestly haven't thought that far ahead yet. Hopefully, I'll be able to wing it when the time comes."
Gwen frowned at Peter and asked her next question: "Anyway, how are you and Mary Jane planning to go see Stark? According to what you said, he's still at the Avengers base, right? That place is in New Jersey."
—
In the end, Peter and Mary Jane agreed to meet in front of the Baxter Building. Peter didn't wait long. A few minutes later, Mary Jane arrived, looking both apologetic and excited. She looked at Peter and said, "Is it... no, I shouldn't say it like that. Thank you so much for helping me, Peter. I really didn't think this would actually happen. Seriously, an interview with Tony Stark! He's never granted an interview before!"
"Unfortunately, he still doesn't want to do the interview via video or a live stream, so the report can only be presented in writing. Sometimes I wonder if Tony Stark is just quite conservative when it comes to these things."
Mary Jane paused and looked at Peter, a bit confused, "You call him Tony Stark?"
"...Isn't that his name?"
"Uh, I thought you'd use some other title. So, have you met him? At the Baxter Building? What do you usually call him?"
"Mr. Stark."
Mary Jane was a little surprised. She had originally assumed Peter and Tony's relationship would be closer, given that Peter not only gave her the inside scoop but also helped her secure the interview opportunity. But now, it seemed their relationship wasn't exactly... intimate.
"Alright, so you said we're meeting in front of the Baxter Building—is that because Tony Stark is here?"
"No, it's just because this is the only driver I could find to take us to New Jersey."
New Jersey? What would Tony Stark be doing in New Jersey?
Puzzled, Mary Jane followed Peter's gaze and saw a Ferrari with a flame-pattern paint job pull up. When the window rolled down, the blonde young man inside took off his sunglasses—which were completely unnecessary in November—and whistled at Peter, "Hey, Peter, over here."
"He... he is..."
"Johnny Storm. He's a friend of mine, so to speak."
"Good morning, Miss. Happy to be of service. Honestly, if I didn't have to carry a normal person, I'd be happy to just fly you straight to the Avengers' new home. But since that's not really convenient, let's just drive there properly."
Peter didn't pay much mind to the Human Torch's chatter; he simply opened the passenger door and sat down, asking, "I didn't know your car was a sports car."
"That's because I usually get around by either the Fantastic Four's flying car or by flying there myself. I only take this car out when I'm on a date. Oh, today is actually the first time I've driven this car for something other than a date. Get in, lady."
Mary Jane opened the car door and sat in the back, looking incredulous. Peter was still questioning whether Johnny actually knew the way, to which Johnny replied, "I recognized the route two or three times while flying overhead." In short, it sounded incredibly unreliable.
"Oh, uh, hi. I'm Mary Jane, Peter's classmate."
"Oh, right, I know. Though I only found out yesterday. Peter basically never talks about his classmates when he's at the Baxter Building. In that regard, you're not as interesting as that other classmate of yours. What's his name? The Japanese kid?"
"Amadeus is of Korean descent."
"Yeah, makes no difference to me."
As he spoke, Johnny started the engine and stomped on the gas, shifting straight into fourth gear without the car stalling. Peter glanced at the speed at which the scenery on both sides of the street was blurring past and asked, in disbelief, "Doesn't this count as speeding?"
"Nah, not really. Reed installed a mandatory speed limiter in the car. As soon as I'm about to speed, the car just forcibly stops. Er, it forcibly pulls over to the side of the road and refuses to start. It doesn't just stop in the middle of the road."
As Johnny spoke, he cranked up the car's stereo. Accompanied by rock music, he rested one hand on the window while shaking the steering wheel. "Oh, right, where were we?"
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