- peter parker||tagged; webber
The teenager visibly flinched at the first few words of the other's reply, taken aback by the abrupt loudness of it. The surprise was short-lived, and he settled down in time to return the stranger's smile. It hadn't occurred to him before now how childlike this person was. He noted the speed his questions came and the excitement they were presented with, this stranger was no older than he was. He felt a small twang of sympathy, combining that realization with the statement the stranger had made about how relatable the feeling of being lost was. Peter decided to let the conversation distract him from the growing panic in his chest. "Uh, yeah! I mean, I guess I'm kind of a spider-person." Faced with another person of spiderish origins, the concept of Spider-Man became suddenly embarrassing. Dressing up in an alter-ego and fighting crime on the streets of Queens was, as he became increasingly aware, an admittedly strange response to some unfortunate circumstances. "Not to the extent you are, though." The very microsecond after that sentence left his mouth, he regretted it, fretting it might come off as rude. An embarrassed, awkward beat passed before he spoke again. "Uhm, I was bitten by a spider. That's how I got my abilities. Like, not a normal spider, I think it was radioactive or genetically modified or something? It was during a class field trip. I don't know, anyways-" He could feel himself rambling, the way he always did when he was nervous, so he cut himself off and dove into another topic. "How did you get your, uh, spider-like features? Oh! My name's Peter, by the way."
