(JOINT POST WITH MR_PIBBS)
As Reed Richards carefully plucked a pool cue off of the cue rack, carefully taking a moment to give it a gentle roll against the table to check its evenness. He glanced back at Ben and Margaret who were continuing to talk, though Ben seemingly had his eyes locked right back at him. It was peculiar, Ben seemed like such a social butterfly, but the look wasn't anything that suggested something friendly. Reed couldn't quite make out what the look suggested so he turned away, brows furrowing a little.
Picking the cue back up off the table Reed leaned against the table slightly. Stretching over to pick a small chalk to rub down the cue tip with clean sweeping motions. Just mindlessly glancing around the room as he finished, gently tapping the tip of the cue against the side of the table to let the excess chalk flutter off. He wasn't particularly hungry, doesn't really eat much after the experiment to be honest. Something he'd been meaning to look into but lacked the resources.
After grabbing a few slices of his favorite pizza, a surprise which he was still reeling from, Peter made his way into the rec room. As it seemed, SHIELD had ordered a few dozen small pizzas for each of them, especially customized to the student's personal preferences. Seeing as how two of the small-sized Deluxe pizzas were meant for him (even clearly labelled with his name on the box), Peter thought he would just take the boxes with him and eat on the go.
But as he finished tossing back another slice, Peter noticed Reed hanging out over by the pool table and casually strolled over to his new friend.
"Hey, there you are." he called out, gently setting his food down on a small side table near the sitting area.
"You ran off before I could get the chance to show you the new duds. It's only fair since you got to show me yours." Peter joked, smiling at Reed.
His eyes followed along with the limb as Reed stretched out his arm to grab a piece of chalk to polish his cue. Peter winced, clearing his throat.
"That's still gonna take some getting used to. But then again; my body literally produces genetic webbing, so who am I to judge?"
Reaching across the table to grab another pool cue, Peter smiled at Reed and gestured his eyes towards the table.
"Might if I tag in?"
Reed glanced back over, he hadn't even noticed Peter's near attire.
"Oh yes how rude of me." Reed noted, a bit surprised in tone before giving Peter a once over in his shiny new Spider-Man gear.
"Very nice, surprised they just went with spandex by the look of it." Reed questioned aloud,
"Still, I'm sure it'll suffice for what you do."
He had recalled the comments Peter made while they were on the tour, joking if it had 'tasted good' in terms of the shield. Reed was still too embarrassed and feeling socially ashamed to say anything. However that didn't let Reed stop him from realizing maybe Peter didn't realize how Reed felt about it. Peter seemed like someone who could understand his side of life perhaps. More than anyone else there it seemed.
As Reed put back the chalk he realized that it was a rather unusual sight for someone who wasn't used to it. Glancing at his own hand for a moment as Peter got a pool cue himself Reed stood back upright away from the table.
"Honestly it's strange, when they first activated I'd have days where I was a noodly bloated mess with no idea how to control myself. These days though after all the mental and physical training it's become second nature." Reed told Peter.
"I had to learn a lot about mental focus, finding the right mind frame to be able to keep physical control while not having it overwhelm me and make it hard to do everyday things on top of it." It was all a tough process, especially when he had to reveal his power to his mom just simply because keeping it from her was impossible. His younger brothers are still clueless about it, but frankly he's glad about that.
"If you want to play I wouldn't mind." Reed noted with a smile, taking off his goggles only to reach into a secret pocket on the backside of his costume. Pulling out a small pair of his usual glasses. Wanting something light and easy for such a casual activity. He put his goggles next to the pile of pizza boxes Peter brought in.
"I should warn you though, my father is a pretty good billiards player himself." Reed told Peter before gesturing to the table,
"Why don't you go ahead and break."
Peter nodded at Reed as he mentioned the struggle with learning how to control his abilities.
"I hear that; when I learned I could stick to things, it took an entire weekend just to learn how to get unstuck. Missed out on seeing a ball-game with my Uncle Ben, but he didn't mind. Even turned the TV up loud enough so I could hear the game from my room; man, the neighbors went nuts." Peter said as he polished his cue, laughing as the memory came flooding back to him. Obviously his uncle hadn't caught sight of the young teen stuck to the ceiling of his bedroom, believing Peter to be near-violently sick by his own admission, but that still didn't stop Ben from being Ben. Baseball Night was going to happen whether Peter was sick or not, and Peter loved it about his uncle. That man was stubborn to a fault; but man, did he make life fun.
But it was also that same stubbornness that ended his life. That sense of pride and refusal to let anybody walk all over him, good or bad, in the end, led to him being left on the side of the road while the man who shot him drove away in a stolen police cruiser. And it was all because he refused to leave the parking lot because Peter said he'd be out in an hour.
The pleasant smile shifted from Peter's face momentarily as he tried to shake off the feeling of guilt. He couldn't keep doing this to himself. His uncle stood up for what he thought was right, as a man, and as an officer of the law. He acted like he always did, and Peter knew that if Ben could see him today, he'd be so proud of Peter trying to better the lives of others (though he doubted he'd be a major fan of the mask and vigilantism).
But letting out a low breath as Reed asked him to start, Peter nodded and pulled back the cue, ready to break the triangle.
"So, you recognize any of those nut-bars Captain Rogers showed us? I've actually met a few of them, you'know? Or, I mean; Spider-Man's fought them."
Reed smiled a bit hearing about Peter talking about his Uncle and the weekend he had learning his own powers. It was nice, as Reed and his father always had a really strange by outside standards, but wonderful relationship. Quiet nights in science labs, barely saying anything but the two just had a chemistry, so to speak. Not saying a word but seemingly on the same wavelength, giving one another the exact tool they needed at the exact time they needed it without even having to ask. Having a pride in anything they were able to accomplish together that radiated off of them with nuclear-like power.
Of course Reed slipped into the same bout of sadness as Peter did, though it wasn't quite the same reason. Uncle Ben was gone, and there wasn't anything that can change that now unfortunately. For Reed though, he knew his father was still alive, and was out there somewhere in the infinite void. He couldn't explain it fully, and even had trouble rationalizing the things he saw that fateful night the experiment failed. Still, it was a puzzle that Reed was going to solve one day, he had to solve it.
The sudden crack of billiard balls clanking against one another snapped Reed out of his own thoughts, as Peter broke clean but didn't sink anything. Even though Peter's raw strength came through in the shot as the billiard balls frantically bounced all around the table. Almost relieved to have something new to think about Reed gently stroked his chin in thought, glancing away before stepping forward to the table.
"Hmm no can't say I have. I do want to help people but I'm not exactly one would call a fighting type. At least not yet of course." Reed explained to Peter with a shrug as he glanced down at the table and started to eye the shot.
Okay there's a shot on the four ball, five ball, and seven ball that can be done with a 38 degree shot if the angle of the cue tip if dropped slight down and to the right to allow for spin. However that would give him a possible angle towards the one ball… Even though it only looked like it was taking a few seconds for Reed to line up a shot. Reed's mind was visualizing a complex equation through kinetic energy, angling, and probability that could've filled a whole chalkboard. Finally Reed leaned down, letting his fingers gently form a perfect cradle for the cue tip to gently but firmly stay lined up.
With a keen but careful stroke, the cue ball zipped across the table, bouncing off the four ball and hitting the five ball directly into a corner pocket. Ricocheting it around the eight ball and off of a rail where it finally released the last of its energy, stopping after hitting the seven ball hard enough to put it into the opposite corner.
Leaning back up like what he did wasn't anything special. Reed glanced over at Peter with a small but boastful smirk.
"Solids." He noted to his teammate and casual opponent.
Peter let out a small chuckle when Reed mentioned not being the fighting type, letting a sigh pass his lips.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing; they're pretty easy once you know how to take them down. Every bad guy has his weak spot. I learned pretty quickly that despite my strength; there's still guys who can take me down like nobody's business." he explained, watching as Reed lined up his shot.
"My strategy is to take the 'Speedy-Quipper' approach; get in, make fun of them, the bad guys get annoyed, their technique gets sloppy, a few webs and some third-level discount karate lessons later and BAM!" Peter exclaimed, practically shouting as he finished, watching as Reed made his move. Peter's eyes perked with curiosity as the balls seemed to move in such a precise way; there was absolutely no way that Reed wasn't trying to use science to his advantage. Well two could play that game, Mr. Richards.
Smiling as he crossed over to the other side of the table, ready to take his turn, Peter nodded at Reed.
"Nice shot. Should've made a 'no Beautiful Mind moment' rule, but guess that hindsight just sucks that way." he joked, teasing Reed about his high intellect. Peter paid particular attention to the white ball; he knew the shot would be tricky, but he had to line this up just right. Directly before him, the 4 Ball; but beyond that, sat three lined balls; 12, 11, and 14, two of which were nearing the edge of a pocket. With the right amount of force... Screw it, I'm not going down without a fight! Peter thought, interrupting his thought midway through. The math worked out; he could pull this off.
After a moment of hesitation, Peter pulled back the cue and let it rip; slamming the white ball with his stick and knocking it into the 4 Ball. Though the force of the hit was not strong enough to break either the cue or the ball, it caused 4 to jump into the air slightly, slamming into 12 with such intensity. 4 rolled off to the side, having been pushed off course by the impact, while 12 sped up, headed straight for 11 and 14, both of which were balanced precariously by the middle-left pocket. 12 rolled swiftly and, having aimed it perfectly, Peter watched with a satisfied look on his face as both 11 and 14 rolled into the hole, while 12 precariously dangled over the edge of the pocket. It rocked for a moment, slowing down, before it suddenly fell in.
Peter smiled at Reed and said
"Guess I shoot again? Or did you wanna take a whack?"
Reed to Peter surprise still seemed tickled as he watched the shot. Nodding in approval as he watched the impressive shot play out. Peter clearly had a grasp on all the fundamentals of making a good shot as well. Clearly he would make a good opponent… except for a few small problems.
"Nice shot." Reed said looking at the table before glancing back up at Peter.
"Of course, in billiards the opponent doesn't shoot until the other player misses a shot. Plus in eight ball you aren't supposed to hit a solid ball if you're playing stripes but otherwise you clearly know what you're doing!" Reed after a brief pause, still smiling, stretched an arm over to give Peter a supportive pat on the shoulder. It probably looked very patronizing, but Reed wanted to show he appreciated the good show.
"I mean I suppose we can just mess around with pool shots. I'm not really much of a competitive type." Reed suggested, looking at the table again.
"Though, getting back to what we were talking about earlier. I'm sure it wouldn't take too much for me to learn how to neutralize someone acting out." Holding out his open hand a little, Reed focused on it and grasped it into a fist. A fist that began to swell outward like a balloon until it was double the size of his head. Holding it up still closed between the two.
"I learned this little trick not too long ago. I'm sure hitting someone with this would sting really hard wouldn't it?" He asked, not completely sure himself on the suggestion.
Peter's smile was almost immediately replaced with a slight grimace when Reed commented on how the game was meant to be played. Oops.
"Well, uh... Sorry about that." he said, shrugging his shoulders casually.
"Honestly haven't played pool for a while, totally forgot about that rule. But yeah, it's probably better if we just free-form; we can figure out who's better when we're duking it out with the crooks, eh?"
When Reed inflated his fist almost twice the side of his head, Peter's eyes popped open in amazement and a laugh left his lips.
"Oooh man, that's awesome! I'd love to see you swinging that right at Mysterio's stupid fish-bowl!" Peter exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.
"Yeah, I think that'd about do it. But now you got me thinking of all the different 'Web-Elasticity' move combinations we could come up with during a fight. I bet it'd be some Street Fighter level stuff!"
Reed gave him an understanding nod as Peter gave his reason for messing the game up.
"Yeah just like I have to remind myself constantly not everyone around me understands all the nuances of science. I suppose I should do the same for billiards as well…" He figured, shaking his massive hand until it shrunk back down to normal size.
Glancing over at the hearing of his name, Simon was beckoning him over to the small group gathered around a pair of couches.
"Hmm, suppose we can put a rain check of sorts on this game and do it another time right?" Reed asked looking back at Peter before going back to Simon.
"In a moment!" He called to him.
"So… street fighter level stuff you say?" Reed asked Peter,
"I mean I'm figuring a lot of our conflicts will probably end up happening out on the streets. So I guess that kind of makes sense unless I'm not understanding something in particular."
Peter turned around as Simon called out for Reed, an eyebrow raising curiously.
"Huh. Guess the game'll have to wait. I'll beat you fairly next time, right?" he joked, flashing Reed a teasing wink as he set down his pool cue and followed Reed towards the others.
But when he mentioned fighting in the streets being a common occurrence, Peter groaned and placed a hand softly on his face.
"Uh... Dude? Street Fighter's a video game. You know, like with Ryu, M. Bison, all those guys? Actually to be honest, your powers aren't unlike Dhalsim's. He's got the stretchy-thing going on too."
Pausing to process this new information, Reed glanced over at one of the arcade machines in the room. A video game? Like the ones his younger brothers play all the time? Interesting... Reed hadn't considered the fact that pop culture could have characters he could askew inspiration from in figuring out more about his powers. It was an exciting prospect that sent a shiver up his spine as he put his pool cue back as well. Joining the others around the pair of couches Reed paused when he realized Susan was being sat next to Ben. It was a very brief look, one none of the others probably saw. It was a look of jealousy, even envy. Quickly though Reed caught his breath and regained a warm outer disposition.
As Reed and Peter had arrived even Margaret had realized that everyone had been converging together into a tight cluster. She had been texting some other people, quiet keeping to herself and her own little world until she realized what the others were up too. Pausing Margaret quickly popped out one more text…
'As long as you two can get here in a little bit, we can get this going.'
Before stuffing her phone into one of the belt pockets of the suit. Margaret left her shield by the chair as she came up next to Peter. "Well seems like everyone's getting along well!" Margaret noticed. Her eyes sliding right past Raven to not kill her own good mood.
