[for Tony] Look good! Look bad! Look fffffttz.

[daretodo]

Once in a while, I wonder what it would be like to be a normal person. What, I think to myself, would I do with my time if I didn't have friends who dragged me up to space stations or never got bit by a radioactive spider (only to lose all those abilities courtesy of a magical island) or didn't have a teenage girl wandering around with my face and the best head of hair in the extended clone family this side of Kaine? Mary Jane provides me with some sense of normalcy, sure, but even she's gotta be just a little wacky to put up with a nutcase like me and my circus of a life.

'Cause, see, when I look at all the crazy things I've done -- really stop to consider them -- it occurs to me that the most unbelievable thing I could ever hope to do is something so mundanely normal your Average Joe wouldn't even think about it twice. That's how far from the norm things are for regular ol' Peter Parker, even on a so-called blank slate. Still, with the pressing concern of Tony's palladium poisoning dealt with, Jessica and I in some sort of awkward holding pattern, and things with Mary Jane better than ever, it felt like the right sort of time to try my hand at one of the Island's more traditional activities. That I thought Tony could probably use a non-bar related distraction given everything that went down at the end of last month just happened to be a fortunate -- or not so fortunate, rather -- coincidence.

With beachside picnics, sunbathing, and strippers dismissed right off the bat, I suggested fishing as a possible alternative for our usual pastime. He, in turn, suggested we try at the dock instead of in a pond. So here we are on a sunny Friday afternoon, not tinkering around in a workshop, but instead sitting at the edge of a dock, our respective homemade fishing gear in hand, and waiting for the first of what'll surely be many bites, because it's fishing, and there's no way we can possibly fail, right?

We last maybe five minutes.

"...this was a terrible idea."

Comments

[notawastedlife]

"What? That's- actually, that's pretty solid, did you get that out of a romantic comedy?" Tony said, experimentally wedging his hand into the crack and testing his weight on it. Yeah, he could hold that, his fingertips were just fine, thank you, Mr Wall-Crawler. "Remind me to do that next time."

[daretodo]

"I don't need to, I'm married," I point out, still a little dubious that he's not going to take a fall any second, though at least he's being careful about it. "And this isn't the first time. I might have the worst luck in the world when it comes to the bachelor life, but I know a thing or two about relationships, let me tell ya."

That I probably did pick up that idea from a romantic comedy is besides the point. I mean, the only reason I've seen so many of them -- and by 'seen' I mean 'made out during' -- is because I've been in a few steady relationships, anyway, which is my point.

"You're sure you got a good grip there?"

[notawastedlife]

See? That was solid, he could pull himself up to the next one, from there, and grab that-

"I think I'm capable of knowing when I'm holding onto something or not," he said, transferring his weight.

"Wait, no, I'm not," he yelped, ineffectually batting at the rockface with his now free hand for a moment, trying for purchase, before gravity took over.

[daretodo]

I have my web-shooters at the ready to make a net in case the latest anchor doesn't hold, but everything works exactly as it's supposed to: Tony goes down, and I get yanked upwards with a yelp of my own, though I have the common sense to grab onto something before I go up too far, latching onto the cliff at first opportunity, though that first opportunity happens to be right as I hit the anchor, hard, with my hip. That'll leave a bruise, yeouch.

Breathless, and not a little high on the sudden jolt of adrenaline, I let out a disbelieving laugh as I look down to make sure Tony's alright.

"And that's why we wear harnesses," I call down. "You okay?"

[notawastedlife]

Tony bounced off the rock face, and twisted to peer and see how close he'd gotten to the ground. Well, not very, that was okay, that had worked out all right.

"Fine," he said, "I'm- I almost had that, another second, no problem."

[daretodo]

"You're an awful liar," I say, though I actually believe him on the first part. I mean, he's conscious, and there's a distinct lack of blood smearing the rock face; he'll probably be a little bruised from that bump, but he'll live. It's the latter I'm having difficulty buying.

"Seriously, in what universe did you almost have that?"

[notawastedlife]

"...this one?" Tony said, still dangling, glancing at the cliff-face as he gently bumped into it as he tried to establish the best way to reattach himself to it. Whatever climbers called that. "I almost had a handhold, that qualifies as almost having it. Universes where I did have it are not very far separated."

[daretodo]

"...wow, you actually believe that," I reply, stifling a laugh. "Want me to abseil down, so you can get back up here before the webbing dissolves?"

[notawastedlife]

"I'm right next to the wall, I think I can get back on the wall," Tony said, managing to get his foot against the rock-face. "Or, no, that'd pull me up, harness, pulley, got it. Do that. I'll walk up, you walk down."

[daretodo]

"Pulleys: the bread and butter of engineers across the universes," I say, taking one last look down before I take a significantly quicker approach than walking. Pushing myself off the rock face, I jump down a good ten feet. "At least some aspects of physics still work like they're supposed to, huh?"

[notawastedlife]

"They have the same effect, let's say that. I'm not writing gravity off as 'not weird' in this particular situation just yet," Tony said, kicking off to get yanked upwards. "But the presence of basic mechanics is reassuring. And the non-basic mechanics, it's just the weird exceptions that get me."

[daretodo]

"Tell me about it," I say with a grunt, pushing myself off to take another ten foot drop. It just isn't the same with the harness; nothing beats a free fall, and I'm not just saying that because the webbing is presently cutting off circulation to a very important part of my anatomy. Maybe I should cool it with the jumping.

"This place is weird."