CAT SCRATCH FEVER | PETER PARKER

To Rob A Peter

Gazing up at the pallid glow of the fruit hanging in the glass cube, Peter felt his mouth twitch into a smirk at the timing of it all. "You can always count on Apple for their annual fall release." He hummed. Just like he could still count on his Peter tingle to lead him to the Black Cat.

"Ugh, I really have to start calling it something else," he groaned, opening the unlocked door. He didn't have to walk far before he came upon a blue light penetrating through the dark. A figure stood hunched over it, tapping its fingers across the glowing screen. An eerie hue shone over the face, illuminating its unblinking eyes. But Peter didn't need to see its face to know who it was. He recognized that hair as white as snow flowing down her shoulders.

"Let me guess. You're here for the iPhone 16," he said, not giving her the chance to speak first. "Tell me, what's different about this one? Is the screen a little bigger? Do they have like five cameras now?"

She glanced up, her eyes gleaming their usual green. "Hey, Spider. I like the new confidence. It suits you much better than the stuttering."

His eyes narrowed into slits at her. "Then you're really going to like hearing this next part. I know who you are."

Black Cat's expression stiffened as she placed the phone down on the table. For once, she remained silent.

"Aw, what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Peter noticed the gears turning in her head as he inched towards her. "But before you do say anything, I have a deal of my own to make with you."

She pursed her red lips together. "What is it?"

"You break this curse or I reveal your identity to the Times." He saw her eyes widen a fraction, clearly taken back by his blunt response. "So unless you want your face plastered on tomorrow's front page, you better uncurse me. Oh, and don't think physically stopping me will do anything. I already have someone on standby, ready to hit Send."

"Wow, you really didn't come here to play, Spider," she muttered. "I'm impressed. You actually figured this out sooner than I expected." Her expression softened as she pushed herself away from the table. "Alright, I'll uncurse you. We don't need to start revealing each other's identities to the press. That's a little too drastic."

Peter ignored the urge to roll his eyes. "And cursing people isn't?"

She shrugged, waltzing up to him with a teasing grin. "It isn't my fault if you got too close."

Their bodies were only inches from each other and Peter was beginning to grow uncomfortable under her intense stare. "Well? Why are you just standing there?"

"I can't remove the scratch with your suit on," she giggled.

Peter's face instantly flushed. "O–Oh. Yeah." Realizing she was right, he scrambled to find the best way on how to take the suit off. Usually, he wouldn't have had to think twice about it. He would have simply had to decompress the suit and take off the upper half. But now with this woman standing in front of him, his mind had turned into a jumble of thoughts.

"Um..." Peter's hands slowly moved to the spider-shaped button on his chest. His arms trembled as they hovered in the air, unable to press down.

"You need some help there, Spider?" She placed her hand over his, gliding it over his chest and towards the button.

He shook his head, taking a step back. "N–No. I–I can do it." Yet, he remained frozen in place.

"Here, let me," Black Cat purred, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing the gap between them. The next thing Peter knew she suddenly had her mouth pressed against his.

"Mmm!" Peter cried out, feeling her lips moving passionately against the fabric of his mask. He didn't immediately pull away, too shocked to react or even think. It was like his brain was short circuiting.

Taking his stunned silence as a sign to continue, Black Cat pushed herself against him and deepened the kiss. "Mmmm." She smirked up at him, licking her lips. "You're a better kisser than you are a liar." Her nails moved over his chest, circling where she had marked him. "Although, I still do want to see what's underneath."

His hands shot up and grabbed her wrists. "Not until you uncurse me!" He hissed, finally recovering from his daze.

Her eyes shifted to his hold on her, not appearing the least bit threatened. "Ooh, are we getting rough now?"

"Yeah, we are." Peter tightened his grip on her.

"As much as I'd like to see where this leads, I'm afraid it'll have to wait." Her middle finger and thumb came together in a snap. No sooner had she done so, all the phones around the store turned on.

"What the–"

A loud explosion rang out through the store, startling Peter. He let go of her, turning to see as each device exploded in a puff of fire and smoke.

"Oh no!" Peter rushed to the tables and started webbing the smoldering products.

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow night. Right, Spider?" Black Cat winked, strapping a watch around her wrist. "Maybe then you'll get lucky."

"Oh, you bet!" he shouted, continuing to put out the fires. When she didn't answer, Peter knew she had already left.

And lucky her. Because just as he put out the last fire, the sprinklers came on.