Peni stepped through the portal, landing on the other side with a soft thud. The orange light faded away, leaving her as the sole splash of color in an otherwise black and white world. It was subdued, in a way. Different from the colors, lights, and sounds of her home. Here, in this place and time, there were no flash signs that gave Peni a headache. There were no stadiums full of concerts and far from sober party goers. And as she looked out the window, there were no daunting buildings or smog to block the stars.
“Good evening, Peni.”
Peni turned to the source of the voice, a smile already on her face. It was a familiar voice, in a low and comforting timber. With an accent that didn't betray the region so much as the time.
“Noir!” The girl cheered as she spotted her friend amongst the matching colorless background. Peni was quick to bounce over to the older hero. Noir didn't have his mask on given he was in the privacy of his own home. He felt a lot younger when he didn't have it on. He had glasses too. Uncle Ben often warned Peni that she would have to wear glasses too, one day. A mix of genetics and looking at screens all the time. Not that there was much either of them could do about it, since it was Peni’s job.
The girl paused in front of Noir, careful not to give him the big hug she wanted to without a signal from Noir that it was okay. She rocked back and forth on her heels as she talked, excited for the plan that evening.
“Thank you so much for letting me come over! I can't see the stars in my world. Well, at least not with the naked eye. There are ways to see them but not from Earth or without special instruments. I know about a lot of constellations but they're in sorta different spots in the sky in the future! Plus, I think our latitude is different so we can see different constellations. Do you know about constellations, Noir?” Peni asks, finally pausing in the ramble to give the older spider a chance to talk. He smiles wryly before reaching out to pat her on the head.
“Yes, I do know about constellations. I will tell you what I know once it gets a little darker. You're early.” He says as he tries to get the girl to calm down, even just marginally. He loved Peni’s enthusiasm. The energy and color she brought into his universe (both literally and not) was refreshing. It was nothing short of a thrill to have the little girl around, being herself. Nonetheless, this was meant to be a calm evening. Some time to spend enjoying each other's company and teaching one another about their lives and experiences. More importantly, it let Peni step away from her universe. While Noir enjoyed the color and the sounds of life from Peni’s world, he couldn't imagine living there. Not being able to regulate how much he had to experience sounded like a recipe for disaster. It seemed that, despite Peni being born and raised in that world, the same applied to her at times. Noir was more than happy to indulge and give her a quiet place where she could rest and take in a soft environment.
Peni nodded softly, slowly calming down as she shakes out her hands gently, as if to relieve the excess energy.
“Okay, okay, sorry Noir!”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Noir reassured as he looked outside the window. “We should wait another hour or so. Would it be alright if I spent that time attending to some business?” He didn't want to neglect his guest, especially one who he was quite fond of, but his duties as spiderman did call. He had information to organize before he could make his next strike and it was time-sensitive, though not urgent. Peni quickly nodded.
“Of course! Don't let me interrupt your work!” Peni says as she looks around. Noir smiles and nods before heading down the hallway to his office space.
“Make yourself at home, Peni.”
Peni watches him disappear into the office, closing the door behind him. While they could be there for each other, it was important that they stuck to their own work, for their own growth. So, Peni decided to stay out of this one. She walked over to the nearby bookshelf and ran her thumb along the spines of the hard copy books. In her time, they were rare and expensive. Most people simply downloaded their books and read them on whatever device they had handy. It was more convenient than having to carry a book. But there was a certain charm to holding the book itself. Peni pauses on a dark blue book with gold lettering. Sonar: A Tool That Could Break War As We Know It.
She pulls the book off the shelf and settles into a chair in the living room. She kicks off her shoes and pulls her knees up to her chest, settling in to read. She pulls the folded blanket over her legs, not daring to unfold it but letting it rest on her, and open the book to the first page. She tracks the words along the page, absentmindedly rubbing the pads of her fingers against the cover and the pages. She reads for a while, falling into a familiar pattern. Her breathing slows as she slinks in the chair. There's no noise out here. It's quiet in a way her world could never be. It was almost…soft, despite the harsh blacks and whites. It wasn't overwhelming. It was predictable, in a way. There wasn't the familiar buzz of the city just outside her window. When she looked outside, all she saw was trees. They weren't green, not like in Miles’ universe, but they were bushy and tall. They weren’t buildings full of people she had to protect, responsibilities she had to keep up with it, and they weren’t loud. They were silent.
Her eyes drooped as she turned her attention back to the book. In the comfort and silence of Noir’s home, it was almost too easy to slip into sleep.
Noir emerged from his office, roughly an hour later. He pulled off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. He had an awful headache. He carried his glasses in one hand as he used the other to grab a glass of water. He took a sip, putting his glasses back on, and looked back at the living room. He frowned as he didn't spot Peni and put down his glass. He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, looking around until he spotted her. She was curled up on one of the armchairs he owned. One of Noir’s books rested, half closed, in her lap. The blanket sat on her legs, still folded. One of her arms rested against the arm of the chair, acting as a pillow for her head. The other arm rested against the book. She was dead asleep.
Noir’s frown as quickly replaced by a fond smile as he glanced outside. They could wait a little longer. He picked up the book, gently pulling it away from Peni so as not to disturb her, and put it back on the shelf. He grabbed the blanket, unfolding it and covering her with it before taking a seat of his own. He stared out the window, content with some time alone with his thoughts as he let Peni sleep. She clearly needed it. He’d spotted her drinking far too many energy drinks for a girl her age and answering messages when she should be asleep far too many times in the past. He wasn't sure if it was insomnia or something else, but Peni needed any naps she could get. If she felt safe enough to nap here, if she trusted him to to be vulnerable around him, he would make sure she got the rest she needed.
Another hour or so later, Noir determined that Peni would hate missing the stars more than she would hate missing out on sleep. He stood up, walking over to her and gently nudging her awake.
“It's dark enough, Peni. Would you still like to see the stars?” He asked, already anticipating an answer. He did get the one he expected, though it was more subdued than he thought it would be.
Peni blinked away, rubbing at her eyes blearily as she automatically nodded.
“I wanna see the stars..” She said, voice hoarse from sleep. She seemed…subdued. Perhaps calm was the better word but it was a drastic shift from her usual energetic self. Noir nodded, deciding to let her remain in this state as long as she pleased. He stood up, making his way to the kitchen and fixing her a glass of water. He hands it to her and she sits up properly to drink.
“Are you ready?” He asks after grabbing the glass back. He sets it down on the counter before looking back and spotting Peni emerging from the blanket. She stood up and grabbed her shoes and her bag before nodding, still drowsy. Noir walked over to her, offering a hand out for her to take. Peni didn't create her own webs, nor did she stick to walls like SP//dr did. She was unique amongst the spider variants for that. She takes his hand and he swings her up to hold onto him, just like she had back at the collider, after SP//dr broke. Noir grabbed his jacket and hat, draping them off one arm before swinging them up onto the roof of his home. He set Peni down, keeping a hand on her shoulder, just in case. Peni quickly swung her backpack off and found a relatively flat area on his roof. She spread out a blanket and grabbed bags of snacks, setting them down as well as Noir watched her work. He watched her steps in particular. He knew Peni was confident but it still worried him. She was young, small, and without her mech…she loiked vulnerable. Asleep or looking up at him with those wide eyes, she looked like a proper child. Rather than a hero.
“Come on, Noir!” Peni says, snapping Noir out of his thoughts as she steps over to the area she had set up. He pulls on his jacket before taking a seat. Peni had her own jacket that she snuggled into before grabbing a bag of veggie straws. She opened the bag and began to much on them as she stared up at the sky. Noir had seen them before, he saw them often, really. The stars weren't exactly an unusual phenomenon. Something about watching Peni look at them, though, made them seem more special. The way her eyes lit up and seemed to reflect the dazzling lights. He watched them jump from one constellation to the next, sometimes recognition registers while other times confusion. Noir looks up at the stars himself, after a moment. He raises one hand, pointing at a set of stars.
“That is the Cygnus constellation. There's a story behind it, like many of them. Though it's a lesser known one than say Gemini or Orion.”
Peni turns to him and suddenly those starry eyes are directed at him.
“Can you tell me it?”