Spider Man: Duty And Loss - Chapter 104

“For the love of Bast.” *Click* *Ping* *Crank* Pressing an icon on one of the holo-panels near her, the door they just walked through locked itself with a metallic crank. Peter looked over his shoulder for a second before looking at Shuri again.

She had a small smirk of victory on her lips as she looked at Peter. “Ok pretty boy, Strip.” Peter clutched his body in a shudder and… “Ahhhh”…Screamed like a girl. “Help!!!!! I’m about to be molested!” Shuri stood stunned for a few seconds before she face palmed and groaned into her hand.

*Haha* After a few more seconds of screaming and a peek or two at Shuri who was just shaking her head, Peter finally stopped and gave a small chuckle. Rolling his shoulders out of their slumped position he straightened as he looked Shuri right in the eye.

“Why do you want me to ‘Strip?’” Shuri couldn’t help herself as her eyes shifted to a small box off to the other side of the room. Though it was a small movement Peter noticed. “It’s a surprise ok.” Peter stayed there for a few seconds at her answer before nodding his head.

Slowly reaching up he took a hold of his mask and took it off with a quick Tug. The smile on Shuri’s face got just that bit wider as she caught sight of her long-time friend without his mask. Though she was a little unhappy on the inside as she noticed how malnourished he looked.

Peter may have started to live with Felicia after she had kidnapped him, but that had only been at most a week ago. He would have to eat a lot more to get back the fat or more promptly muscle back on his body.

Throwing the mask off to the side, Peter flashed her a small smile before he thought of the small seam that kept the back of his suit together, slowly loosening his hold on the fabric. Being able to stick to any surface, the suit didn’t have Velcro or a zip keeping it together.

In Peters mind, the Velcro wouldn’t hold up to the rigorous movement that he often had to accomplish, while the zip would be uncomfortable and easily exploited by other villains, especially someone like Electro.

Like with his Mask, even when unconscious his body would naturally keep the suit stuck to his body and together. The amount of thought he had to put into the mere process of keeping the seam together didn’t even register with him anymore.

The upper part of the suit loosened at the back and he hunched to pull it off, letting it fall in front of him. Peter slipped his hands out and straightened his body, his upper torso being shown off to Shuri in front of him. She might…just might have looked a bit longer at his abs than was necessary, but Peter didn’t comment on the fact.

Shuri herself was knocked out of her small day dream as she registered the malnourished state his body was in, like with his face, causing a small frown to form. Thinking about the reason for a second, she kept her mouth shut and said nothing, though she wished she could have helped him when he truly needed it.

Her eyes traveled back up to his eyes and they stayed like that for a good minute before Shuri’s eye brow rose. “When I said Strip, I meant all of it.” Peter’s face turned a little red at the words as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Wellll… I mighnothaveanyunderwearon.” Shuri’s mind took a full second to unjumble the rushed words and understand what he just said. Her face turned red as she spluttered at the mental image. “You don’t ware any underwear?!”

*Cough* *Cough* Peter looked embarrassed as he explained to his long-time friend. “Well, the suit is pretty skin tight, and underwear rides up and can be distracting…you know, unlike super suits with toilets in them, my suit is pretty basic… sometimes I find it helps if you use baby powder on the inside.”

Peter mumbled the last part to himself in self shame before remembering that he was still standing in front of Shuri. His head whipped up and the two looked at each other for a few more seconds before Shuri couldn’t help it. *Pft* *Hahahah* She cracked up laughing and almost fell to the ground as Peter watched on. His face turned to stone as he deadpanned at her after she didn’t stop. “Screw you.”

Shuri didn’t seem to hear his words as she continued to laugh, though she was putting it on a bit just to mess with him even more. Watching her writhe on the floor for another 20 seconds Peter just rolled his eyes, before he thought of a certain silver haired minx he knew.

A small smirk came to his lips. “Ok then, I did warn you.” And with his words the lower part of his suit slackened and dropped to the ground. Shuri instantly stopped her laughing as she turned to look at Peter. Her eyes locked on his for a few seconds, before they slowly…slowly lowered.

Her eyes widened for a second before she furiously turned around blushing madly. Peter started to laugh his ass off at her reaction, quickly pulling his leggings up as he laughed, While Shuri regained her bearings. Standing up from the ground, she finally turned back around with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

I’ll get you back for that Parker.” All she got was a smirk in return that she could do nothing about. She rolled her eyes once again as she moved over to the silver case with a small spider emblem engraved on the front on the other side of the room.

Picking up the small case she moved over to the workbench in the middle of the room and shoved some of her other equipment to the side. Peter followed behind her with a small look of interest as he saw the spider emblem. It was very reminiscent of the spider symbol on his suit.

Setting the case down, Shuri looked up to the roof before speaking out, pushing the last few minutes from her mind. “Crystal would you mind opening the case.” Peter looked to Shuri in surprise. “You got Crystals help in the design? She didn’t tell me she was working on something.”

Shuri looked back at him. “Yeah we both wanted it to be perfect and as I said before, it is supposed to be a surprise.” Peter gave a small nod at her words, his interest even higher now. “Certainly.” As if waiting for their conversation to end, Crystal finally responded, and with the sound of her voice, *Click*, the case let out a small puff of compressed air as it opened.

Laying in the middle of the case was a beautifully designed silver necklace. Metallic links connected the piece to a Spider pendant at the end which held the only color in the whole piece. With red and black entwining with the ever present silver throughout the spiders body, it was a beautifully crafted piece.

Peter could tell looking just at the necklace that it cost a tremendous sum to make, he wasn’t sure but had a feeling that it was completely made of vibranium, which made the little piece worth a few million easy.

The spider pendant was closely linked and held in place with the necklace and Peter had no clue what she used to colour the vibranium, but he knew it wasn’t just a type of paint. Shuri gave a gentle smile as she looked down at the pendant before slowly reaching for it.

Her hands gripped the chain before pulling it out and bringing it before Peter. Peter didn’t say anything but admired the small engravings all over the Spider Pendant. He could tell the engravings were in ancient Wakandan, something he had seen rarely.

Only the best pieces of equipment or jewellery in Wakanda’s history were given such an honour of being engraved with the ancient language. Peters heart beat a bit harder as Shuri stepped before him and held it up to put on him. As she was slightly shorter than him, it wouldn’t have been too hard for her to actually settle it over his head, but something compelled Peter to bow his body respectfully so it was easier for her.

Shuri gave a small smile at the gesture and slowly moved the chain around Peter’s neck before letting it rest on his skin, the pendant resting right in the middle of his chest, just over his sternum.

The cool touch of the piece sent a small shiver down his spine at it seemed to fit perfectly. He knew they must have measured his neckline or used something else to make sure it was a perfect fit. Peter was still a little stunned as he looked down at the necklace he now wore. In his daze Shuri quietly grabbed his hand and led him over to a mirror off to one side.

Looking into it, he could see the full blown smile he was finding hard to reign in as he looked at it resting on his chest. Shuri off to the side looked proud as she looked at her work. Peter knew he hadn’t smiled like this in a very, very long time.

As he continued to admire himself in the mirror Shuri spoke from the side. “Ok I mean it when I say it this time, please take off your suit, there’s one more surprise.” Peter looked to Shuri once more before nodding his head.

Shuri gave him a little privacy as she turned away as his suit once again hit the floor, though she might have looked over her shoulder discreetly… If Peter wasn’t so entrapped with the Gift he now wore, he might have had an inkling about what was going on, but his mind was elsewhere as he thought of the last time he felt this way about a gift.

“I’ve been working on something like this for my brother, but I wanted to get yours done first…” Peter’s eyes flickered to one of the manikins in the reflection of the mirror where another necklace sat. Unlike his, that one looked more tribal, with a metallic wire connecting something that looked like teeth around the neck.

His eyes returned to his spider pendant as Shuri continued. “Well that’s not important…what is, is that if you could close your eyes…” Peter didn’t hesitate to close them. Shuri waited for a few seconds before speaking again.

“Ok Crystal.” Crystal said nothing, but Peter felt a small amount of heat on his chest, before something seemed to crawl along his skin and start to encase his body. He might have freaked out if he didn’t trust Shuri, didn’t trust Crystal, if he hadn’t felt Venom do something similar when they were bonded.

But he didn’t, his breath held calm as he waited for it to fully enclose him, his mind making all the connections it needed and understanding what this necklace truly was. He felt Shuri turn around to look at him as the process finished, but still didn’t move.

Finally Shuri’s voice sounded behind him, a bit softer than usual, a gentle that belayed a certain care.

“Ok, you can open them now.”

Peter nodded to her voice and slowly opened his eyes.