Chapter Text
There's a long sigh that leaves Peter as he sits at the red light of the intersection before the diner that he agreed to meet Jess at. The ever looming red light in front of him only adds to the nervous feeling he's been having since moving out to perhaps the middle of no where in Jersey. He just needed to get out of New York is what he keeps telling himself. It's a little hard to work through all the feelings that came with his divorce when he keeps running into Mary Jane at what seems to be every place he frequents back home. It just seemed to be the old Parker luck kicking in; cursing him to see his ex-wife each time he wanted to get some eggs from Watson's Family Grocery. Maybe he's just using this new job that Alchemax has been constantly emailing him about as an excuse to run away from all of it, or he's finally lost his mind at agreeing to live in what was essentially Alchemax's own company town. There's another sigh from him as the light turns green, hopefully this place a decent greasy burger to drown some of these feelings in.
Before he even enters the diner, he can tell this place has been sitting here for ages. It was probably built before uncle Ben was even born given how weathered and "retro" the metallic siding is. There's a cheerful ding as he opens the door and looks around. This place is definitely from the 1950's, otherwise he's somehow gained the ability to time travel. Surprisingly, there's a few people in here at this time of night. One of the young waitresses is chatting with a couple of young patrons, there's a lone man with glasses on his head looking over some papers, and last but not least Jess sitting at one of the booths with her phone in hand. He almost wouldn't have recognized her if it weren't for her old red leather jacket she's had since high school. She has her hair styled with a bandana, her large sunglasses resting onto of her head as a few curls frame her face. He's approaching the table, making note of the bike helmet next to her. " I didn't know you'd finally get an actual bike, Miss Drew."
She seems to jump a bit at the sudden sound of his voice and looking at him with a mix of amusement and we're going to talk about this later on her face. "You should know me better than that Peter Parker. When I have I not gotten something I've set as a goal?"
He can't help chuckling as he slides into the booth. " Okay, Okay, you've got me there, Jess." He's grabbing one of the menus and fiddling with it a bit as he looks over everything. "I shouldn't expect any less of you since you managed to find that apartment for me on such short notice. I'm not even sure a lawyer could have gotten a price as good as you did."
She waves him off as she takes a drink of water. " Don't worry about it, Pete. The landlord owed me a favor after working on the electrical in his jeep. You would have thought the man was going to die if that ancient thing took its last breath before he did."
"A loyal customer from the sounds of it then..." The gods have looked upon him favorably tonight. This diner does in fact, have a double bacon cheeseburger with fries on the menu. He could just burst into tears. "But really, thank you again on such short notice. I'm lucky to have one of my best childhood friends be the number one mechanic in Pine Creek." He's still not used to saying the name of his new home.
"More like the only one." She laughs out. The young waitress has broken away from her friends to come take their order. She's tucking her dyed hair behind her ear before writing down their orders and chatting with Jess about something briefly before excitedly returning to the kitchen. "But maybe not for long."
"Ohhh, don't tell me you're going to be a mentor to a..." Dramatic pause. "Teenager!"
All he's met with is rolled eyes. "Peter, please. You act like I'm about to attempt to tame a tiger without a license."
"You need a license for that?"
She rubs her forehead as a groan escapes. "Its called being a positive role in your local community, Parker. You should give it a try while you're here." She's taking another drink of her water as he lets out a laugh.
They both chat a bit longer before their food it brought out. Jess and the waitress talk a bit more as he hungrily looks over the plate of food in front of him. This thing looks like its about to disintegrate if he even tries to pick it up. The cheese is expertly melted, there's a few small drips of grease around the bun, and the bacon looks like its been fried to perfection. Oh he's going to enjoy this. Jess finishes her conversation just in time to see him devouring what she assumes was a burger like a wild animal. There's a look of pity and mild disgust as he pauses and looks up at her. There's two fingers in his mouth that he removes as he swallows. "Its a...Its a really good burger."
After a thorough discussion on his table manners, he's able to finish his meal as civilly as he can right now. Its been awhile since he's eaten out and not at his home in his underwear. Jess gives a final shake of her head as she puts her fork down. "I hope you're able to pull it together before tomorrow. First day of a new job, Pete, you'll still be on probation."
Its his turn to groan now. "Don't worry. Professional Peter is going to take over tomorrow. I'm able to separate personal feelings and my professional life." He's actually not sure if he can. "Besides, Alchemax were the ones dying to hire me. Three emails a day, Jess. Three. Email. A. Day."
"Still, Pete, this a big change for you after..." He can tell by the pause that she's unsure if she should continue with the sore topic that is his life currently.
"...I know. Don't worry, Jess. I need to work right now. I have to." It doesn't look like she likes that answer, but she's still dropping the subject.
"Okay, Pete. Just call or text me if you need anything."
"Thanks, Jess, I really mean it."
There's talk of old memories between them and how life has been for Jess since moving after high school. The town of Pine Creek hasn't entirely been taken over by Alchemax it seems. Plenty of small business are still up and running, most of the townsfolk prefer to shop at those as apposed to the few Alchemax owned branded stores they have. Jess's garage the Spider's Web continues to be the only garage in town, and given her knowledge of repairs and good reputation she'd put any garage Alchemax might try to implement out of business in a few days. Its interesting to hear about some of the things that come from being in a small town. Such as all the wildlife you can find or might be lurking in the wooded areas that surround the town.
"I'm telling you, Pete, You need to be careful driving home tonight. I swear there's like a bear or a moose running loose lately!"
"A moose? How is a moose on your list of dangerous animals?" Jess holds up her finger to shush him.
"I've seen a car hit a moose and the moose walk away while the car is totaled." Her serious tone of voice has him laughing almost to tears as he pays his bill.
"N-N-Noted, I'll keep in mind the dangers of Bullwinkle..!" He's laughing some more while she looks at him annoyed.
"Fine, but don't blame me when you see the bill for your wrecked car!"
He's waving goodbye to Jess as he gets back into his car and chuckling at the thought of his biggest threat tonight is a moose. He watches from his car as Jess gets on her bike and leaves the parking lot. They really lost track of time while they were in the diner, the teens already having left before them leaving the owner and that one guy left. As he sits in his car in the dead of night, he really feels the creepy vibes of being alone in a diner parking lot. Once again he reminds himself his worst enemy tonight is Schrodinger's moose. Starting his car and pulling out of the parking lot, he makes it though the intersection with ease and begins the drive back to his apartment building. It had been nice to talk with an old friend and remember better times if even for a little bit. The darkness of the forest road he's own seems to mirror the thoughts starting to form in his head as the road snakes along with the land. All the twists and turns mirror his minds as he tries to push off the loneliness creeping up within him after such a good night. He only closes his eyes for a second before something rushes out of the woods in a blur of browns. "Shit!" He's putting on the breaks as quick as he can, but there's a definite thud as he hits whatever animal just ran out in front of him. " Oh god, oh my god, what the..."
Luckily he has enough sense at the moment to remain in the car and put on his bright lights. There is a large lump of brown fur about the size of his car rolling over his windshield and down the back of his car. Oh god, he really hit a moose. Jess was right. She was so right and he's going to have to admit it to her and let her gloat about it. The fur-ball is lying in the street behind his, still breathing as his break-lights illuminate it in the darkness. He's snapped back from his thoughts of car repair bills as the image of the fur-ball in his rear view window gets up and runs back into the woods. All he can do is sit there with his hands gripping the steering wheel for dear life. Its okay if he waited a little bit before checking the damages right? Just a little bit. After all, that thing might still be out there.
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The Parker luck smiled upon him last night with his car it seems. The front was dented, it'll definitely need body work done that he's already talked to Jess about, but at least the engine hadn't been damaged. Seems like his breaking saved him a little cash. It got him to work safely despite having a close encounter with a mutant moose. He's scratching his head as he looks at the white pristine building of Alchemax's New Jersey branch. It looks unnatural sitting in the middle of the forest, the precise edges of the building structure and design making it look like a blight on the woodlands. Peter lets out a sigh as he walks to the front door, not exactly the best thoughts to have on his first day. Gritting his teeth, he enters the building and is met with the same stark modern look that the outside has. Its blinding really. He's walking up to the receptionist who acknowledges him with something beyond boredom. "Um, Hello, its my first day. I'm Peter Parker? They email said I was supposed to meet someone here..?"
The lack of enthusiasm from this girl is astounding. Before he can continue nervously introducing him, a woman's voice rings out in the mostly empty lobby. "Mister Parker! I've been expecting you all morning! Also pay no mind to Tabby, she's always like that. You go girl! Give us nothing!"
He's honestly speechless as he looks at the woman walking towards him. Similar to her working environment, she's dressed in a white pants suite with crop top fur jacket covering her arms. The only parts of her wardrobe breaking up the white are a gold belt, large pink heart earrings, and her styled short light-brown hair. Her eyes are filled with mischievous delight as she looks at him. "Welcome to Alchemax! I'm Lyla, and I'll be showing you to our brilliant genetics department."
He's still speechless and perhaps a little starstruck from Lyla. "You are Peter Parker, right? This is you on the badge?" She's pulling out a photo ID from the fuzzy pocket of her jacket and holding it up to his face. His picture is one from a few years ago that they had him send in, he definitely looks a little less stress ridden in that photo.
"Yes! Uh, yes, I'm Peter Parker. Sorry, first day brain." He's chuckling a bit, but quickly stopping at her lack of reaction. She's putting the ID in his hand before turning around and marching off towards the elevators.
"Good! Nice to have you here, Mister Parker! It would be sooooo embarrassing if I brought the wrong person up to Miguel." He's following after her and barely making it into the elevator behind her. The name Miguel sounds familiar, perhaps one of the guys on the interview he had to attend, but he can't remember for sure. Slipping the ID into his pocket, he watches her select one of the floors. There's a ding as they reach the ninth floor. He'll have to remember that. She's not even waiting for him as she starts her beeline for the farthest room.
"I really think you'll enjoy your time here. Everyone is always doing that stuff that geneticists do up here. Real quiet. Perfect for the intellectuals of the world." She waves her hands as she talks, paying no mind to the few people that look at her or him on their way there. Once they reach the room in the back, Lyla's knocking on the door gently. "Oh, Mister O'hara, you're newbie is here. May, I, your humble secretary, bring him in?"
There's a muffled acknowledgement from behind the door before Lyla opens the door and ushers him in. "Good luck, new guy!"
The sound of the door clicking behind him is deafening as he's left alone with his new boss. This Miguel guy has his back turned to him, scribbling something on the whiteboard in front of him as he works through some formula he's written up. Peter's never seen such a large man before in his life. He has to at least be 6'9". Not mention he's built like a brick house and could probably break Peter like a twig. The only sign this guy is a human and some sort of god among men is the fact his left arm is currently in a sling. They both just stand there in Miguel's office, Miguel working while Peter awkwardly watches him. "So uh...Sir..?"
"Mister O'Hara." He still hasn't turned around to look at Peter.
"Right. Mister O'Hara." As if this first meeting couldn't have gotten anymore awkward. He really should have reviewed all those first day emails this morning. As he continues to watch Miguel work, he notices one of the variables he's using has been mixed up during one of the previous steps. "Well...Mister O'Hara, I think you need to swap the X and the Y variables you're using. You swapped them on step five." Miguel freezes and Peter begins to brace himself to be thrown through the wall.
"...It seems you're right." He's turning around to finally look at Peter. Now that he's not getting a full look at muscular man back, Peter might have to rethink that god among men thought he had earlier. Miguel is dressed in what seems to be part of a suit. The jacket has been thrown over his office chair along with his tie, it looks like he's unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt as well. "Thank you for the input, Parker. I've been stuck on this since last night."
Miguel's words are dripping with professionalism. So much so that they almost seem insincere. He has to keep reminding himself that its just first day jitters, time for professional Parker to take over. "No problem, Mister O'Hara. Nice to be contributing to the team so quickly." He's reaching out his right hand for a handshake and Miguel just looks at it before lifting up hurt arm. Peter's quickly putting his hand down. "Uh...Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Parker."
Peter wants to find his new cubicle and disappear there until its time to go home. "No, really, I mean, it probably hurts to move it like that, right?"
Miguel lets out a huff and looks down at his injured arm. "Its nothing. You should see the car that hit me."
Peter pauses at that and looks at Miguel with confusion. "The what?"
There's nothing aside from a chuckle as Miguel turns back to his whiteboard. "Its called sarcasm, Parker."