Back on Day 2: Mary Jane's House of Displaced Ex-Dead, Superheroes, and Stray Cats

Day 2 P.G.R.

Mary Jane grinned to the Instacart deliveryman. "Here," she said, handing over a couple of twenties. "I tipped in the app too, but--"

"Hey man, I appreciate it." He grinned setting green tote bags in the foyer. "Especially with this much stuff. You planning a party?"

"My life is always a party." She grinned again. "Have a good one." She shut the door.

"Inanna's symbol was a blue and gold eight point star, generally with a disk in the middle!" Gwen shouted from Mary Jane's living room.

"Okay! Thanks, Gwen!" Mary Jane shouted back. This had happened a few times, now.

"Why is she yelling about Mesopotamian deities?" Ollie asked while writing in a notebook with an open biology text next to it. She had set up shop on Mary Jane's kitchen table.

"We picked her up a phone on the way home. She's discovered Wikipedia."

"Hey! Wikipedia's not new! I used Wikipedia! We just didn't trust it!"

"Yeah, well -- that was then!" Mary Jane started putting perishables in the fridge.

"Guys, this symbol is cool! We can use it for Inanna's... wait. It... kind of looks like Captain Marvel's logo!"

"Heh -- I think I have Carol's contact info -- we can ask her about it!"

"Carol?"

"Yeah -- she's... she's tight with Peter! And she's Captain Marvel!" For the life of her, Mary Jane couldn't remember if Carol Danvers had a secret identity or not. At the same time, so far Gwen was batting a thousand on secret identities. Her weirdly complete knowledge was... well, weirdly complete.

"Right! Those are hard to keep track-- wait, what? What happened to the guy? The buff blond guy with the Robert Redford hair? I liked him!"

"Oh! Him... uh... yeah, he died! It was... kind of a thing!" Mary Jane kept putting away groceries. "...think we're going to be stocked up for a while," she murmured to Ollie. "Though Cindy can really put it away if she's going to spend a lot of time up here."

"Is this the new Harem?" Ollie asked. "I thought we were basing out of Peter's until the building was ready."

"Harem quarters, you mean?" Mary Jane asked.

"Harems referred to the area of seclusion for women, especially in Arabic lands. It actually wasn't a sex thing until Westerners got the idea into their brains and went nuts with it." Ollie said, scribbling some more notes while reading. "I'd talk about the vicious cycle of Orientalism but I'm literally a djinn of lust incarnated out of the desires and preconceptions of a white dude from America and there's only so ironic I feel like being."

"Cancer?! Holy crap, that's terrible!" Gwen shouted in.

"It kinda sucked, yeah! Peter took it hard!" Mary Jane shouted back.

"Should we bring that Captain Marvel back? You know, using the Fuck-Life Connection?" Gwen wandered in. "...wait, where did the groceries come from?"

"Delivery service. It's an app. 'Fuck-Life Connection?'"

"Another app? I'm never getting used to this. Anyway -- Captain Marvel--"

"We can talk about it, but I dunno," Mary Jane said. "There was... I want to say a Skrull duplicated him. Something like that. I'm a little surprised you don't know that. You seem pretty clued in about the Skrull invasion."

"Huh," Gwen said, frowning. "I am, really. But... not about Mar-Vell. Also, his name was literally Mar-Vell?"

"Yup. So what do you know about Carol Danvers?"

"Um -- Air ****, half-Kree, has a cat, wore a succession of leotards, recently... oh. Yeah. I guess I did know she was Captain Marvel. I guess I just didn't think she was the only one. Except... I know Captain America offered the position to her, more or less, in honor of the original..." She shook her head. "Why do I know that stuff, Ollie?"

Ollie smiled a bit. "Is it useful?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's just depressing." She considered. "Why did Captain Marvel use the Star of Inanna as his logo?"

"I think it's just a Kree symbol," Mary Jane said, finishing packing stuff up. "I mean, let's be honest -- it's an eight point star. It's not the least common symbol in the galaxy."

"Still, we probably shouldn't use it for the Inanna Institute," Gwen said. "There's a court case no one wants."

"Not a bad point." Mary Jane paused. "Wait, stop distracting me. 'Fuck-Life Connection?'"

"Look, it's that or Cindy's 'Lazarus Fuck Pit,' and that's just stupid." Gwen shook her head. "I mean, I was raised Catholic. Did catechism. Was confirmed and everything. I'm pretty sure Lazarus was raised by Jesus. It was this whole thing in the Gospel of John. I don't think Jesus used a pit."

"Yeah, well -- I'm pretty sure he also didn't use his dick," Mary Jane said, putting cans up in her cupboard. She then paused. "Wait -- was that offensive? I didn't... sorry. Not used to being around Catholics. Or Christians. I mean, practicing ones. I mean--"

"Yeah, don't sweat it. I'm what we so lovingly call a lapsed Catholic. Besides. Jesus' miracle was super-excellent because he raised Lazarus after four days. I came back after like a decade. I'm not saying it'd a competition--"

"Nobody worship me!" Ollie said, writing down yet more stuff. "If I were God I wouldn't have to try and figure out mitochondria."

"Okay, I'm confused again," Mary Jane said, putting on coffee. "You keep claiming you know everything."

"I do!"

"But you have to do homework, study, and 'figure out mitochondria?'"

"Well, yeah." Ollie grinned. "When Peter named me and backstoried me, that meant 'Ollie Vayne' became a person with expectations and her own stuff and things she was good at and the like. Ovyah understands cellular biology to a degree that would make Hank Pym jealous if he weren't... you know, dead. Ollie Vayne has to put in the time or else she'll bomb her test. It's all part of living in the world, MJ." She paused. "And you never answered my question! Is this the new Harem?"

"You mean Harem quarters," Gwen said.

"Don't get her started. And I don't know, Ollie. Or much care. But Peter's apartment isn't really suited to having a bunch of people crashing with him. My place is at least a little larger, and I have a second bedroom which I'd kitted out as a guest bedroom and which is now -- ta da -- the Gwen Stacy suite. No more lumpy couch, and she gets to have her very own key."

"Awwww... but Petey will get lonely!" Ollie said, giggling.

"I'm sure Cindy will be glad to fill in. Or you can--"

"Yeah, I work nights. Sorry!"

Gwen cocked her head. "Window's opening. Doesn't sound like Peter."

"Good ears," Mary Jane said, walking through her kitchen and scooping up a baseball bat she kept in there. She had a few bludgeons here and there in her apartment. You get endangered enough times--

"Hey guys," Cindy said, pulling the kerchief off her face. She looked pretty downcast.

"Cin?" Gwen asked. "What happened?"

"I'm a selfish, heartless bitch who doesn't deserve nice things." She rubbed her eyes. "And I'm hungry, but food's a nice thing. You see my quandary."

"Okay... you were miss too-cool-enthusiastic this morning," Gwen said. "Are you... is this bipolar syndrome."

"Nope. It's me being a selfish, heartless bitch. Pete and I stopped a heist and saved a couple carfuls of people and a bus, and I turned it into foreplay -- he was down with that. Got up into a radio tower, put the moves on, got hot and heavy... then implied I wasn't protected, knowing that between the pheromones and our sense-jamming-- I thought it'd be hot. He clearly told me to stop, and I didn't, because I thought... it doesn't matter. He forgave me, but I had to tell you guys because I don't know if I deserve to be in Spider-Harem if I--"

"You fucked Peter outdoors on a radio tower?" Mary Jane asked, looking aghast. "After Ollie fucked him on a subway? Am I really the only girl he won't willingly fuck outdoors?"

"I've never fucked anyone outdoors," Gwen said. "But then, I've only fucked two people and one of those--" She shivered. "Never mind."

"Didn't you hear me?" Cindy snapped. "I sexually assaulted Peter!"

"And he forgave you," Mary Jane said. "Until I hear from Peter, I'm not gonna judge you, Cin. You're right. Your pheromones and spidey-silk-sense does weird things to your respective sex drives. The fact that you feel this bad tells me you didn't mean to hurt him. There's a difference between **** and violating boundaries because you're still learning the rules."

"...Jesus," Gwen said. "When did... people... actually start figuring that shit out? 'Cause from my point of view? The answer was 'dude, you got laid, shut up.' For guys. For girls it was 'you dirty filthy whore leading him on.'" She flushed. "See also my twin children and m-my...."

Cindy looked up. "Gwen?"

"No -- nothing. I'm just... I was up all night on my own. I got to finally process a bunch of stuff, which is to say I finally started... I dunno. Reacting to being thrown off a bridge to my **** a couple days ago and suddenly phones have super-encyclopedias on them and people understand the concept of sexual ****."

"Some people are starting to understand it," Mary Jane said. "We are so, so far from done on that front. But... Gwennie. C'mon. You can talk to us about it. I mean..."

"I know I can. I just... can't talk about it yet. I have to work a few things through in my brain."

"I get that." Cindy looked off to the side. "...I keep feeling like I've got all this... in a groove, you know? And then something happens and I'm right back to feeling like a dumb newbie. Not to men--"

Cindy's eyes widened and she threw herself straight up, flipping and landing on the ceiling in a three point stance, her kerchief pulled back in place. "Get back to the kitchen!" she shouted.

"Aw, come on, Moon," a voice purred, even as a black-suited body rolled in from the window, springing up and into a defensive pose of her own, crouched low, looking up at Silk. "MJ and me? We go waaaay back! And haven't we settled our differences?"

"You were gonna help people dissect me!"

"Yeah, but I didn't. By the way?" The newcomer stood, tossing three pictures out of a side pouch. They spun, landing on Mary Jane's coffee table. "Ten out of ten for style, minus several million for brains. But if nothing else, I bet I could make a mint selling those to a trash website or two."

Cindy blinked, looking. Her eyes were better than human normal -- she could see--

"...that's not possible," she murmured. "I'd have felt if someone was watching us on the radio tow--"

"Yeah. Stop assuming." She stood up, smiling broadly. "Hey, MJ. Hi, Miss... Stacy, I assume? We haven't met, but my name's--"

"Felicia Hardy. The Black Cat. I know."

The Black Cat blinked. "Ooo. Someone's been telling tales out of school. Do I get to out someone else's secrets? Quid pro quid, Claaaarice?"

"Nope," Mary Jane said. "The truth is way crazier than that. And I was actually going to call you later today."

"You were? Pray tell, about what?"

"Your feelings on four-ways with Peter."

The Black Cat paused. "Do I smell coffee?"

"Yup."

"Good. This feels like a coffee kind of explanation."

"I said exactly the same thing, and I was right, too."