Fandom A Tangled Web of Curiosity

[CeruleanStars]

You'd think after the third time of stopping some type of massive moving automobile, other companies would take note and maybe do some recalls or repairs or something to make sure it doesn't happen again. Of course, it wasn't the stereotypical "train that's unable to stop heading for a hole in the tracks" gimmick, but a subway, a minivan, and tonight, an oil tanker, all out of control and unable to stop was kind of ridiculous. Out of any of these accidents, Stun Spider hoped that at least one person would take one of these companies to court to sue for endangerment of a life or something like that. Maybe they'd start getting royalties out of it for every one they stopped... No, that's mean. They don't want innocent people to get hurt just to get some money out of them or some Big Corpo company. Well, the tanker's safe, the people driving it were safe, and they didn't have to escort someone to the hospital; they thought that was a pretty successful night...for Stun Spider, of course, not for Chris.

They swung through the skyscrapers of the melting pot of a city, located near the border of three or four different countries at once; don't ask her which ones, she didn't know this part of Europe well enough, all they knew was the most common language spoken here was Dutch, but it wasn't uncommon to hear others in the wind and passing conversations. They stayed towards the tops of the buildings to keep mostly out of sight of the remaining citizens that were still awake at this early hour of the morning as they headed back to their area of the city. Well, probably not their area, but when you live in the same place for, what, six years now? You start to know places like the back of your hand, especially when you have to swing around a lot to help people. Jeez, has it really been six years already? It still only felt like it's been three...

2:34am
Okay, there was still time to get to the coffee shop on the corner, according to their phone, and grab something for another late night of working on their thesis. That's one thing no one ever tells you when you begin your master's program; how many long nights you're going to have just to finish tests or experiments or type that one last paragraph. As much as they hated going to shops with their suit on, they were on a time crunch, they were exhausted, and they didn't feel like looking around for a place to safely de-mask and change back into normal clothes...not that she had any with them right now, the good ol' spidey senses didn't allow them time to grab a change of clothes.

Stun Spider stopped at the top of the building next to the coffee shop to take a look at who might be around and out at this time of night. The shop was still open (fantastic) and other than the two baristas, there was maybe one other patron in there. No one else was really walking around the area, which was absolutely perfect for them. The less people to gather around her asking for autographs or pictures or something, the better. They just wanted to be in-and-out as fast as possible so they could get home.

They snagged a web on the side of the building and swung down to the sidewalk on the other side of the street from the coffee shop. They loved this small mom-and-pop shop. The atmosphere was so relaxing, the coffee was good, the people who worked there were nice, and the music was chill, what more could you want out of a shop? After looking both ways to cross the street, they opened the door of the shop where a little bell signified their arrival. Their pale, light blue suit was probably the brightest color in the warm tones of the shop, but with so little people around, they didn't really care how much they stuck out. At least their desaturated green drop-crotch pants matched a little better with the environment around them.

It's not that they weren't expecting the stares of surprise when they walked up to the counter, but it wasn't something that made them totally comfortable either. Why couldn't people just treat heroes like normal humans and at least try to hide their jaws from dropping on the floor.

"[Hi there,]" they greeted the barista at the counter in perfect Dutch with no hint of any foreign accent. "[Could I get an iced coffee with two shots of espresso and a pump of caramel, please? Oh, and one of those chocolate-filled croissants if you still have them?]" At least the language wasn't too different from the ones they already knew. There was a time when they wouldn't even speak to anyone as Stun Spider because they didn't want to give away anything about their actual identity; that would absolutely destroy their hopes and dreams of graduating as a no-name scientist from their university. Even now when speaking as Chris and not Stun Spider, they spoke with an accent that, at this point, they really didn't care about; they were practically fluent in, like, four languages, what more did they want from them? But as Stun Spider, keeping up appearances was everything. As soon as they were sure their Dutch was fluent enough to seem like they'd grown up here and had always been around this area, they tried it around town to make sure and started finally speaking as Stun Spider, something that, apparently, took the city by storm. She overheard that apparently some people thought they were mute because they didn't speak to anyone; at least the allegations of being a foreigner had been destroyed after that moment.

Superhero, STEM graduate student, and multilingual. Name someone else who could possibly have more stress on their plate.

When the barista manage to pick their jaw off the floor for long enough to give Stun Spider the total, they pulled out their fabric wallet from their zipped pocket and started counting the change. Damn, they had to stop by an ATM at some point again. Card was always easier to use, but sadly, they don't give credit cards to superheroes without asking what their full, legal name is, so they had to settle for using cash for nearly everything they did as Stun Spider. Of course, they tried to keep those interactions low anyway. They handed over the cash required and zipped away their wallet in her pocket. Once given the wait time, Stun nodded a small "thank you" and moved to sit and wait at one of the tables closest to the counter.

They plopped down in the chair with a quiet sigh of relief as they relaxed into it. It felt like they'd been on their feet all day; they so badly wanted to take a nap or something as soon as they got home, but curse that damn paper they have to write. They leaned their head back and rested it on the back of the chair, waiting for either their name or their order to be called. That chocolate croissant is gonna taste soooo good once they wake up a little more.

 

[Sleezy]

Despite how it looked on the outside, the sound of the toilet door closing was enough of a hint to imply that this Spider wasn't as alone as they thought at first. Alas, there went a couple of extra eyes glancing at them. But this person quickly looked away so as not to stare too long, they've been taught enough manners at least... But it was still obvious they had to force themselves to peer away, it came off almost a bit sketchy. But in all honesty, it was just awkwardness. They took a seat at the bar, giving enough space to give them their much-deserved space and peace... Aside from occasional side glances this person tried to be inconspicuous about.

They wore a black zipper hoodie that made their figure indistinct, though they were on the bigger side still. A man or a woman? Hard to tell just by looking. Red short messy hair was the only color they had to them, they really could use some more sun. It was hard NOT to look back at them due to them glancing back, though because of that it was easy to notice that they had some distinct birthmarks on their face. Their focus shifted as their order came in, some hot coffee with a stroopwaffel. They put it over the lid to warm the biscuit before taking a bite into it... And they eyed them again. Though they cleared their throat as they made themselves flustered with the behaviour.
"Uh, sorry for looking... Well, staring. You get that a lot probably. That was rude of me," they apologized while dodging eye contact. "Stun-Spider or something like that, right?" Their voice was calm with an accent that was hard to place exactly. They rolled their Rs, obviously that was Hispanic, but the other elements were a bit odd. They spoke English quite fluently at least, their voice was slightly feminine, but every so slightly. It would fit a younger guy just as much with a lighter tone.

"I think what you do is cool, I'm more familiar with Spider-Man. But, yeah... America." They shrugged as they took a sip, burning their tongue but only reacted to it by huffing at it. It was a daily occurrence, what can you do about it? "Uh, yeah I'm not trying to bring up your job or anything while you're on your downtime. I'll leave you be, my bad."

They checked their phone, sighing heavily as they grumbled under their breath, "Yeah sure, what's an extra hour to an all-nighter anyways? I can wait until 7 to head home. Why not. Cancel all the trains on top of the buses as well."... Well, there was it on full display how all those crashes and daily criminal mischief affecting daily life. It must be much worse on Mondays and weekends. They placed their hand against their cheek and leaned into it. They weren't looking forward to the long day ahead.

 

[CeruleanStars]

At the sound of the bathroom door closing, Stun Spider raised their head to see who it was because, well, let's just say not every cop is a big fan of what they do sometimes, but when they noticed it was just another pedestrian staring at them, they merely gave a small salute with their fingers, then rested their head back against the chair. While they were used to feeling eyes bore into them like mining drills, this person's eyes seemed stronger than all the others in the building right now.

You're in the suit, obviously people are going to stare whether you want them to or not, they thought to themselves and gave a small sigh again, more to themselves this time though. When they heard the barista call an order, her head raised up once again, but upon seeing it was just the other customer's order, their head went right back down, this time, closing their eyes as they waited. Only when they heard the stranger speak up in, what sounded like, their direction, they raised their head and looked in their direction, seeming ever so slightly surprised that they actually had the confidence to talk to them.

It wasn't every day random people just talk to Stun Spider. "Yeah, Stun Spider's right," they replied with a small nod, their English having a hint of an accent in only some words so it was hard to tell where the accent actually came from. Their perfect English definitely needed more refinement. "Thanks, I'm just...doing what I can to help." They shrugged a bit with one shoulder as they said this.

They definitely noticed the accent the other had, almost wanting to ask where the accent was from; it sounded familiar to them, but they knew they couldn't blow their cover at all by asking something like that. If they came from a Spanish-speaking country or even Portugal, they would absolutely love to have a conversation with someone who had even the slightest bit of lingual overlap with their native language. The woes of going to school in another country for so long...

"You're fine, I get it all the time," they replied when the apology came about work. "As long as I'm in the suit, I'm working, so don't fret it." Their tone of voice was kind and down to earth, speaking to the other like an equal rather than someone of greater power to someone of lesser power. They didn't seem to want to glorify being a hero like that or anything like what most of the rumors were about the American heroes. Maybe it's just an American thing?

Breaking off the smallest hint of their conversation left came Stun Spider's order from the barista. The Spider-person immediately got up and hurried to the counter to grab their food and coffee with evident excitement in their posture. They gave a gracious "thank you" in Dutch, then walked over to the side counter to put some milk in their drink and a stopper on the sipping part of the lid.

Just before she left the shop, they heard the grumbling of the stranger from before and moved to peer over their shoulder when they heard something about transportation being cancelled. "Was there another crash or something? I thought I just prevented one," they asked as they looked to the other's phone. Sure, maybe this was a little too close, but if it was something people needed her help with, they might as well get moving...as much as they just wanted to go hoooome. At least while looking over the other's shoulder, they could also see what language everything was written in so it may give them more of a hint of where the accent is from.