saudade

“You did enough work for today”, Peter told Harry as he wrapped a blanket around him. “You’ve been sitting here for hours.”

Indeed, Harry was buried in papers that had to be read and worked out as soon as possible. “One more paper. It’s important”, he muttered, the exhaustion couldn’t be overheard.

“What’s it about?”, Peter asked.

“A project on fusion. With your idol, Otto Octavius.”

“Woah, really? I’m writing a paper on him”, Peter said in astonishment.

“I know and that’s why I thought you’d like to meet him. You are free tomorrow, aren’t you?” Harry smiled as he saw the enthusiasm mixed with disbelief on Peter’s face.

“You what? Oh my god! You really arranged that?” Peter couldn’t find words to express his feelings.

“I’d do everything for you.”

“Oh my god, Harry, thank you, thank you, thank you.” Peter almost threw himself on Harry as he hugged him and covered him in kisses.

Harry giggled. “Easy, tiger. You’ll need the energy for tomorrow.”

“Do you think I can go dressed like that?”, Peter asked Harry. After all, it didn’t happen every day that you meet your idol.

“You look fine”, Harry assured him.

“Maybe I should wear a suit too.” Peter eyed his outfit consisting of a black trouser and a white t-shirt critically.

“Pete, you look great. I’m only wearing a suit because I have a board meeting later and they would kill me if I showed up in something other than a suit.”

“Your father would be so proud of you. Under your lead, OSCORP is on a level he couldn’t even dream of”, Peter said and adjusted Harry’s tie.

A kind of sad smile appeared on Harry’s lips. “Thanks to your support.”

“The most important reasons are your determination and ambition though.” Peter kissed his cheek.

“Are you ready?”, Harry asked with a gentle smile.

“Yes and no.”

Harry’s chauffeur from the company drove them to Octavius’ house. “I’m so nervous”, Peter muttered and took Harry’s hand.

“There’s no need to be nervous. Otto and Rosie are very kind. They’ll love you”, Harry assured him.

“You really think so?”

“I know it.” Harry squeezed his hand.

They entered Otto’s house. “Nobel prize, Otto. You’ll get the Nobel prize and we’ll be rich”, Harry said full of enthusiasm.

“It’s not about the prizes, Harry”, Octavius scolded him kindly.

“But you need OSCORP. Let me introduce my boyfriend, Peter Parker. He got me through high-school science.”

“Very pleased to meet you, Sir. I’m writing a paper on you for university”, Peter said nervously and shook Octavius’ hand. He couldn’t believe he was actually meeting him.

“Nice to meet you, Peter, but I really don’t have time for students. I’m sorry”, Octavius said.

Harry cleared his throat.

“But OSCORP pays the bills so I can make an exception for you.” Octavius smiled.

“That’s why I have to take off to the board meeting. But my job is done here, I got you two geniuses together.” Harry kissed Peter and went towards the door where he turned around one more time. “Good luck tomorrow, Otto. Nobel prize. We’ll see you in Sweden!” With a grin, he left them alone.

Peter smiled. He hasn’t seen Harry that happy in months. “I won’t take much of your time, Sir, I promise.”

“You’re Connors’ students, right? He tells me you’re brilliant. He also tells me you’re lazy.”

Peter swallowed. He wanted to do better at his studies, but his life was so overwhelming he barely found time to do some work for it. “I’m really trying to do better.”

“Being brilliant is not enough, young man. You need to work hard. Intelligence is not a privilege, it’s a gift. And you use it for the good of mankind”, Octavius told him.

Peter tried to suppress a smile. He knew exactly why Otto Octavius was his idol. A woman entered the room. “This is Rosie, my wife.”

“Hello, Mrs. Octavius”, Peter said, trying to prevent his head from exploding because he couldn’t process that he really was meeting his idol and his family.

“This is Peter Parker, Connors’ student. The one who falls asleep in class.”

“I always feel asleep in physics class”, she told Peter, “Nice to meet you.”

Peter looked around the room and his eyes made a very interesting discovery. “Is that it?”

“Yes, my design to initiate and sustain fusion”, Octavius told him and showed him his greatest invention.

“I understand you use harmonics of atomic frequencies”, Peter said and inspected it, his eyes wide opened in astonishment.

“Sympathetic frequencies.”

“Harmonic reinforcement?”

“Go on”, Octavius told Peter and watched him, interested to see what talents rest in Peter.

“An exponential increase in energy output.”

“A huge amount of energy. Like a perpetual sun providing renewable power for the whole world. Let’s have tea together.” Octavius led him into the kitchen and told Peter to sit down while he made tea.

“It’s all so amazing. If it works, it could change the way we live”, Peter said, and he still couldn’t believe what he just had seen.

“It is amazing, and it will work, don’t worry.” Octavius sat down next to him at the table.

“I don’t want to sound rude or anything but are you sure you could stabilize the fusion reaction?”, Peter asked.

“Peter, what have we been talking about for the last hours? This is my life’s work. I certainly know what would happen if I miscalculated the smallest thing”, Octavius justified himself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to question you”, Peter muttered, angry at himself for don’t keeping his mouth shut.

“Rosie, our new friend thinks I’m gonna blow up the city.” He grinned in amusement. “Don’t worry, you can sleep soundly tonight.”

“Otto has done his homework, Peter, don’t worry.” Rosie smiled and gave him some cookies. “Come to the demonstration tomorrow and you’ll see for yourself. You need to sleep soundly tonight, Otto.”

“Did Edison sleep before he turned on the light? Did Marconi sleep before he turned on the radio?”, Octavius asked his wife.

Peter couldn’t help but smile. They were a lovely couple and, in some aspects, he could see Harry and himself in them. “Did Bernoulli sleep before he found the curves of the quickest descent?”, he added.

“Rosie, I love this boy”, Octavius grinned.

“Peter, tell us something about yourself. Do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?”, Rosie asked.

“I’m in a relationship with Harry.”

“Harry Osborn?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, since he went to my high-school.”

“He’s a nice boy. I bet you two are adorable. But keep one thing in mind, Peter, love’s hardly perfect. You always have to work at it”, she told him.

“Thank you so much for having time for me. It was amazing. I could learn so much from you”, Peter thanked them both as he had to leave.

“It was lovely to meet you, Peter”, Rosie said and hugged him.

“You have a lot of potential, but you have to work hard”, Octavius told him and smiled.

“I will. Good night and best of luck for tomorrow. Maybe Harry’s right about the Nobel prize.”

“We’ll see. See you tomorrow.”

“Get home safely, Peter”, Rosie told him.

When Peter got home, Harry had just arrived.

“How was the board meeting?”, Peter asked.

“Boring and exhausting. Never thought a bunch of old men could make me that mad”, Harry laughed, “But how was your meeting with Otto?”

“It was amazing. I could learn so much from him so I can finally start with my paper. Rosie and he were so kind. They invited me to the demonstration tomorrow. Thank you so much for making it possible.” Peter hugged him.

“Anytime, Pete, anytime.”