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Surviving being killed by Kingpin went much better than Aaron ever would have guessed.
He’d somehow ended up at a hospital all the way across town and managed to stay a John Doe through his time there.
His bills were all on auto-pay, so his apartment was waiting exactly as he’d left it.
When he had approached Miles on the street, his nephew had been thrilled to see him and eager to accept that he was turning over a new leaf.
“Uh, there is one thing,” Miles had said, and hoo boy was there.
Even after having Miles repeat the whole story from the beginning Aaron could not believe it. That boy could get into situations.
The real confusing thing though, was that Aaron had somehow been persuaded to let his purported husband move in with him. Before even meeting him too, which was absolutely ridiculous, but after all, he would do anything for his nephew.
~
Apparently this Peter guy drops everything and comes running when Miles calls, so within the hour the three of them were in Aaron’s living room and Miles was making introductions.
Miles headed home to do schoolwork, saying that Aaron and Peter should get to know each other. It was going all right, and then Aaron mentioned chipping in for groceries.
“I don’t have a job.”
“What?”
“My ID is from another version of earth, the Peter Parker from this world is famously dead, and I need to be available to do Spider stuff at the drop of a hat. Not exactly a desirable employee.”
“And when we discussed housework you said you could but you didn’t think you were as consistent with it as I am. So you’re going to be living here, telling my family we’re married, doing the bare minimum on chores and not paying any rent or utilities or anything.”
“Well,” Peter looked Aaron up and down in a way that other men rarely did, “I could compensate you for your hospitality by…” He gestured vaguely towards Aaron’s crotch and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh. No, that’s not-”
Peter’s expression shifted as if he’d figured out what Aaron meant, but then he started talking. “I am in to guys as much as gals, so getting it on with you would not be outside my comfort zone. I’m totally down for some dick for tat.”
Aaron realized that nonsense was Peter bastardizing the phrase ‘tit for tat’, apparently unaware that anatomical tits were not involved.
Peter continued, “And anyone who thinks we’re together is going to assume you are getting spectacularly laid.”
“Wait, why?”
“Uh, we just said: no money, no job, not a good cook, alright in the looks department but not so hot someone would pay my bills for me to be arm candy, so obviously I’m giving you something they’re not seeing. Ergo, I must be dynamite in the sack.”
“STOP! Just stop! You’re not paying me rent like that.”
“I-”
“You’re making me uncomfortable.”
“Oh, my bad. Won’t come up again.”
“Good.”
~
Keeping up the marriage farce was actually going too well.
Peter and Miles’s friendship had facilitated Aaron becoming reintegrated into his estranged family.
The various Spiders’ defeat of Kingpin meant no one was expecting him to go back to being Prowler, and Peter watching his back meant none of his enemies got the opportunity for revenge.
On top of everything else, Peter was a pretty great guy. He was pleasant and amiable. He never talked down to Miles and his friends, but he remembered that, Spider or not, Miles was a kid and he did what he could to keep him out of danger. He learned the names of every person and pet in the neighborhood within the first month, and remembered things about them from one conversation to the next.
Peter had also turned out to be a great roommate.
Sure Peter’s Spidering meant he had no constant schedule, but he was never loud when Aaron was sleeping.
Yeah, Peter did have lower standards for cleaning frequency and had no memory for trash day, but once Aaron actually wrote up the chore list, everything got done to a T.
And by “not a good cook” Peter had apparently meant that he knew how to make exactly two dinners, lasagna and Aunt May’s sausage and vegetable soup, but since both were A) tasty and B) enough to have leftovers the next day, Aaron was not complaining.
~
It wasn’t any one thing or specific event, it was just that more and more he found himself smiling at Peter, caught himself about to reach for the other man, realized that he was hoping the Spiders would leave Peter free to spend time with him.
Aaron wanted to date him, could imagine the two of them potentially getting married for real (unless he came clean, the family would have to be told it was a vow renewal, but that wasn’t such a bad lie).
The thing was, ever since that uncomfortable conversation, Peter had vigilantly respected Aaron’s boundary against transactional sex by not referencing romance or sexual activities at all, so if anything was going to come of this Aaron would have to be really clear that he was making the first move. Well crap.