the siren |peter parker x siren!oc|

Tranquility: Part 2

Peter hadn't expected an ounce of confrontation to get him the answers that he had been curious about for almost half a year.

It had been a month of sitting in the dark, wondering why she didn't trust him, why she shied away from what she obviously wanted. It was confusing, and it had started to take a toll on him. After a while, he decided enough was enough, and she could find him if she needed him.

This was only the second time he had asked, and as her hand came to his face, he wasn't sure if he was ready. What had been so important that it had taken her six months to tell him?

Two of her fingers reached his temple, and as his eyes shut he realized he was being taken into a journey of her mind. He thought he had experienced everything within the realm of the siren people, but this was unlike anything he had ever known. He opened his eyes to see that he was underwater, although it didn't feel like it.

It is an illusion. We are still on the roof in Queens, but what you see is my old home.

What followed...there would never be a day when he could put it into words.

She showed him and he understood. Through non-verbalized thought, he learned what he meant to her. He learned why she navigated his mind and thoughts so easily. Why she had been withholding all of it suddenly made sense. It took some time for him to understand, but as her projection came to a close, a single word he had never heard before popped up in his brain.

Peirasmós

Him.

As her hand was ripped off his face, they both stumbled back a few steps, a flash of light crossing their eyesight for a moment. Peter didn't know how it was possible, but it suddenly all made sense. Why she had appeared to want to be with him just to pull back from any attempt at a kiss, how she could sift through his head, why he continued to dream about her parents every night that they didn't spend together.

He was hers.

It was more simple than she was making it out to be. He could see that she was tense and stressed, unsure on how he was going to respond, nervously pacing back and forth, clenching her teeth so that her jaw was locked. He almost could laugh.

Of course I want to kiss you.

Her head jerked up, her eyebrows held down, the statement was obviously not a relief. When she walked up to him, it was heavy and filled with purpose, and she pulled him by the suit, two fistfuls of fabric in her hand. He had no clue what could warrant that much aggression, but he knew she would never intentionally hurt him.

"Do you understand?"

He blinked, "Do I understand what?"

It was the wrong response, she let out a short, exasperated sigh, looking down briefly and then returning eye contact, "Do you understand what this means? The kiss? It is a contract."

"Eternity. I know. I saw your little powerpoint presentation."

She let go, her sigh longer and audible this time. Her goggles came off with a 'POP' and she set them atop her head, looking slightly like a mad scientist. Her silver eyes were bouncing all over the place, trying to truly consider how Peter had reacted. She had anticipated the worst case scenario.

"Lena I have loved you for a very very long time," it was a murmur, a shy confession that he thought he would never say. After their month of emotional separation, he thought it was all over. They had become strictly colleagues, but there was always the potential for that to change.

He had never been in love before, but he knew that this was it. It had been the real deal, and he always carried the faith that their relationship would bounce back.

"I am scared."

He paused, looking at her continue to pace atop the roof. The sun was starting to go down, and they had only stopped one crime. Maybe that would be it for the night, sometimes they hardly got anything at all.

"Let's go to your place and we can-"

"Aunt May."

"I'll text her. Karen text Aunt May."

"Peter-"

Of course, Peter! What would you like it to say?

"'Hey, I'm going to Lena's. Might be home a bit later than usual. Love you.'"

"Why?" he could practically see the steam fuming from her ears, even though they were covered.

"Because," he walked over to her, pulling the ponytail over her shoulder, kissing her forehead, "I've been waiting a long time for this day."

...

Peter hadn't been in Lena's room for a while. The last time was probably the first week she had her pool, which she made a habit of using almost every day according to Mr. Stark. It was the first thing she did in the morning before going to school. When he sat down on her bed, he was taken back to all those moments they spent talking to and comforting each other. They had spent almost half a year having each other's backs. It wasn't until they started spending the most time together was when it all suddenly stopped.

He partially blamed himself. The mystery of the secret she was holding was eating him alive, some days so intensely that he couldn't bring himself to look at her. It was too difficult for him to live in a world where he was constantly mad at Lena, so he pulled away. After patrol, they usually didn't see each other until school the next morning. While at school, conversation was limited. It wasn't like they could talk about anything and everything around the people in their classes.

They sat on her bed, not looking at each other.

"You have to understand what this means. I need you to fully understand what this means."

"Lena. You've said that so many times that I'm starting to wonder if you're hiding something from me."

"I would never-"

"Yes. You would," his voice was thick. He didn't want to be upset with her, but it had become difficult. He had been bouncing in between relief and frustration. If she had just told him. If she had just shown him earlier. He felt her going through his thoughts again.

"I wanted," he could see her eyes searching for the right words. It was something she did often, "I wanted to be able to speak it as well."

"Then do it. Speak it. Tell me out loud and then we can decide how to go from here," he lifted his eyebrows and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Every siren has a peirasmós. It is Greek for temptation. As we tempt man...man tempts us," she cleared her throat, "Or women. Many peirasmós have been women. It, supposedly is a test, to prove to your sisters that you are worthy of your voice."

He watched her eyes dart back and forth, her line of vision fixated on the floor and avoiding his eyes.

"The temptation is the instant formation of a bond. A love so strong that if it were to flourish, it'd be powerful. The connection would grant an instant connection between the two. They can share thoughts. The human shares his soul, and she grants him the gift of eternity."

She swallowed.

"It was determined by our ancestors that this bond could cause the extinction of the siren race, so the test," her voice caught, and he saw her quickly swat away a tear. "The test is killing your peirasmós as a...right of passage. If you fail, you are killed."

He let this sink into every pore of his body. So much made sense now that it was being explained to him, but he was still unsure as to how he felt about it. A month ago, he would have made the choice without hesitation, but with the current state that their relationship had formed into, uncertainty was starting to dominate.

"My mother. 63 years ago, she failed and the result...was me. I am half human."

"Why didn't they kill you?"

The daughter will not suffer the sins of the mother.

It was morbid. They kept her alive out of spite, she was sharing the feeling with him. The humiliation of her existence in the sea with them. He had known the torment, but it wasn't until now that he bore the weight that she carried every day. The emotional trauma that she had to endure was heavier than the building he had ripped off of himself what felt like a lifetime ago.

"If you want to kiss me, Peter, you are giving me a gift. It means you trust me. I, too, will be giving you a gift, but you will not understand until after the fact. For me, this is an easy choice, but for you, I know it is more difficult."

No matter how long Peter sat there, silently thinking to himself about potential consequences, he couldn't think of any. He almost wanted to find one, just to justify the length of time Lena had taken before telling him this.

Eternity. He had no grasp of the concept, yet she did. She knew what it was like to live literally forever. It had started to sink in what a huge decision this would be, and how he would practically be putting his life in her hands. He rubbed his face, unsure of what to do.

"Do you want to sleep and we can figure it out later?" she offered, seeing and probably feeling the stress in his body.

"I just want to...be with you," he had envisioned it for what felt like a lifetime. When he had finally admitted to himself that he had strong feelings for her, it was all he could do not to picture what it would be like to hold her in his arms or to kiss her, actually kiss her. Even in the face of one of the most difficult decisions he would ever have to make, all he could see was their fingers interlocking, their lips meshing together, and the deep impenetrable desire to hold her in his arms every night, just so that she didn't have to wake up screaming. He knew she still did because he still dreamt of her mother and father.

She stood and peeled the clothes off of her body, not paying any mind to Peter's presence. While he knew she didn't care, he still kept his eyes down out of solid respect, but once she started walking in the direction of her pool, he watched her go as she turned into a dark silhouette. She fell into the water with more grace than any ballerina.

Mr. Stark had set up a camera so that Peter could watch. It had seemed like an odd concept at first, but the way she navigated the water was art. She twisted and turned with an ease that was unmatched. It was as if the water was air and she was flying through it without resistance. He meandered over to her pool to watch, hoping it would bring him the same clarity that it usually brought her.

Her long hair was a fountain following her at every turn. She was at the bottom, scaling it with her fingers, then moving into a twist that brought her up the side. He felt a pang in his heart, needing to sit down at the overwhelming sensation that came from looking at her.

From loving her.

He took off his shoes and rolled up his jeans to let his feet slide into the water. Cupping his hands, he splashed himself in the face, feeling stupid for wanting to fall so easily.

Wasn't it easier to fall?

He had always been someone that cared about people. It was why he loved being Spider-Man so much. Helping people without asking for anything in return was one of the best ways to show love. He mentally shuffled through all the people in his life that he loved, that he really honest-to-God loved, and the last one he landed on was her. It had been her practically since the day they had met, and half of a year later he didn't count on that changing.

She appeared on the surface of the water, setting her arms on the edge and resting her head in her elbow. The silver eyes that he never wanted to stop staring into were looking into his, the beginning of a tear starting to take form. He circled his legs so that they were underneath him, and held himself over the edge, looking at her in a similar way she used to look at him peering over a tank in Mr. Stark's research lab.

In movies, romantic music always seemed to play in the background of moments like that one. Just as the two main characters reach the pivotal moment where they finally set everything aside to come together. Their heads appear to fill with noise as their hearts beat and their minds race and the music explodes with passion.

Kissing Lena was tranquility.