15283/It Preys

It Preys
Date of Scene:	03 July 2023
Location:	Central Park -- New York City
Synopsis:	Spider-Man goes hunting the reptiloid creature in Central Park, suspecting that it is in fact Dr. Curt Connors. Things do not, uhhhh, go quite as planned.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (Drew), Askante

---

Spider-Man has posed:
It's a hot, sultry night in the city.

While the sun might have sunk beyond the western horizon hours ago, the heat of the day lingers in the city. Roiling dark clouds pass swiftly overhead, the breeze doing a little to combat the unpleasant heat. But the wind also carries the distinct scent of rain with it and the occasional distant rumble of thunder promises that New York should be in for a dark and stormy night.

It also means that the humidity is off the charts, so in addition to being hot, it is sticky too. Lovely weather really.

At least if you're a reptile.

For the last several days rumors have made their way across the city. Stories. Stories of something lurking about in the park. Tales of things seen out of the corner of one's eye. Swiftly moving. Surprisingly large. A greenish, scaled shape darting amongst or through the trees. Or maybe half-seen in a big pond. It seems a little ludicrous.

So of course the New York tabloids have picked it up, adding a little fuel to the fire.

Stories of giant reptiles, or alligators living in the sewers of the city have long been an urban myth, so it's no real surprise that they might have graduated to Central Park itself. It's just the next logical step right? Of course it's all just that. Stories. Nothing to them. Right? Right???

Except a certain wall-crawling hero has a sneaking suspicion that they are far more than that. That there is something a little more then meets the eye to the stories. That they actually might be true. After a fashion.

Which is exactly why Spider-Man is out here in the park, crouched up on a tree branch not that far from the pond, that masked gaze sweeps the quiet paths and grassy lawns, looking for any hint of movement, anything unusual that might catch his attention. It's why he's out here, even as the sky rumbles ominously and the first fat drop of rain falls from what will no doubt be one heck of a downpour.

"Where are you Dr. Connors," Spidey mutters to himself.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Cheese. Today has been all about the cheese.

It wasn't really intentional, but Jessica Drew woke up craving toasted cheese sandwiches. Or more specifically, she was dreaming of them, some half-remembered dream of her childhood, and the ones that Jarvis made just aren't quite right. The AI did his best to helpfully try and get her to express exactly what wasn't right, but the problem with memories, especially childhood memories, is that they're often less about specifics and more about the /feelings./

Humans, am I right?

In a fit of pique, Jessica's been all over the city today, literally, hunting down wedges and wheels of cheeses of just about every variety imaginable. Or at least available for immediate purchase. They're all contained in two tote bags that are hooked over each arm as she cuts through Central Park, sweating profusely while looking at her phone. "All right, got the Edam, got Limburger," yeah, she made a list, and she's checking it twice. Also getting distracted because Limburger sounds a lot like burger and well. She has preferences.

She also isn't a big social media person. Or a news person. She definitely hadn't heard about any of the weird sightings, and even if she did she'd still cut through the park because it's hot as balls and she wants to get back to the Avenger's Mansion.

Blithely oblivious, the tall woman -- dressed in shorts and a t-shirt that says #TeamJess -- stops underneath the tree Spider-Man's crouched in. "Balls," she says aloud, annoyed. "I forgot the Taleggio. Who forgets the Taleggio?" The first splash of liquid makes her frown. It's official: the world hates her.

Askante has posed:
Askante might in certain circumstances, have added to the reptile on the loose tabloid headlines, except that most people never see it for what it actually is. A hobo, a tall figure in a hurry, a tree, occasionally a lamp post or a trash can if it's sitting still -- the latter can occasionally make for confusing moments of half-eaten burgers being dumped in its lap, but... black scales adorn it, four limbs play cat's cradle with itself and it sits perched on the top of one of the aforementioned lamposts, its tail hanging down for counterbalance. It wears an old duster, straight out of the wild west, once black now faded and well oiled. It wears a stetson, which further shadows its face.

And it watches. Because it too, gets hunches and feelings of the peculiar, that sense of danger and it has its own mandate to follow. It looks up at the heavens however, just in time to get a fat raindrop in the eye.

A nictating membrane blinks away that extra moisture and it mutters something softly to itself, pausing its game, to take a take-out salt packet from its pocket, tear the corner off, so that it might shake the contents of it over its shoulder.

"Never good when it storms, everything broods and slipslides all over the place..." it mutters to itself in a husky tone, neither male nor female.

But given all that, it doesn't seem to set off spider senses a'tingling. Nor any other 'uh-oh, this is bad!' vibe, except for that very dubious prickly feeling at the back of the neck.

Spider-Man has posed:
Thus far it has been a pretty fruitless search. Spidey has spent the last few hours criss-crossing the park again and again, looking for any sign that the stories of the huge reptile monster were in fact true. That paid some small dividends. There was the footprint in the muddy bank near the pond and a manhole cover buried in the depth of the woods that was not closed and sealed like it should have been. There was the dead squirrel too, that he could have really done without having found. All signs that suggest there really is something out here, something big and dangerous and if it is not found it's only a matter of time before it isn't just a squirrel that gets torn up.

So while he might have found the odd clue that for once, the tabloids got it right, Peter hasn't caught even one small glimpse of his target. That's the problem.

Grimacing a little behind his mask, Spider-man feels a second droplet land on his hand, then a third. That seems to be the signal the sky was waiting for because all at once the sky simply opens up and the anticipated downpour starts, an absolutely drenching rainfall that comes crashing down likes sheets with no real warning. That wet, sticky heat suddenly becomes just a whole lot of wet. Even the rain brings no real relief, making the humidity that much worse.

"Great," Peter mutters, not for the first time tonight. "Just great."

If he wasn't complaining he might have noticed the looming shape, little more then a shadow, that slips from the edge of the woods as the rain starts to pour down, loping across that grassy lawn towards the winding paths that weave their way through the park.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"The cheese!" Jessica makes a distressed sound as the rain kicks in. It's not the sound of 'oh shit I saw a horrible monster', but it might draw attention anyway because she spent literally her whole day on this one thing and she's really, really bummed out about it. She's not obsessive, nope, nope.

The woman carefully pulls the bags close to her chest, takes a deep breath, and dashes from under the tree towards the nearest gazebo -- or at least, that was her intention. She hasn't spidey-senses, exactly, just really, really good hearing. Muttering nearby isn't unheard of -- all kinds of people hang out at the park -- but something in it makes her look -- up and around, steps slowing.

That's when she sees it, a weird shadow loping across the grass.

"Nope," Jessica Drew says. "Nope. NOPE! Ah, goddamnit. Today was meant to be about the cheese." The fact that she even hesitates at all suggests she's not at the top of her hero-game. She casts around, looks for the thickest bush nearby, and stashes the two tote bags, muttering prayers to whoever will listen for them to stay dry.

Then she does the thing all the horror movies tell you /not/ to do -- she goes after that shadow -- looking exactly like the kind of innocent victim that's the first to be brutally murdered in said movies.

Askante has posed:
At least she's not armed only with a whiffle bat and a plucky sense of optimism, right?

The creature on the lamp-post is used to the rain. The modern world has done a lot of things right, the lives of people in general have improved a hundred fold, but /it/ spent the better part of its existence camping in a barn, or under the stars, or waiting for something to arrive in monsoon season. So, whereas soggy people are soggy, it is hunkered over, letting the hat do its job of making a lip for the rain to pour off of and trusting its duster not to make it terrifically squelchy. So it sees the shape also, the lope... and the others down there. And up here.

Assessment is made, mostly because it's not common to see someone up a tree, staking things out and also not common to see a lady run -toward- the danger. "Huh," there's a rattle of spines and then the darkness folds around it like an old cloak, made up of slithering things, skittering things and things that ooze and undulate. It rematerializes in one of the gazebos that seems close to the path the creature is taking and presses itself flat to the support beam, blending in as black on black.

Waiting.

Spider-Man has posed:
While the hour and the weather -- not to mention the recent stories -- might have kept most people out of the park this night, it is not completely deserted. Most people have the door sense to pretty much ignore the local tabloids -- or at best just read them for a lark. Of course, those few people who are out, walking the darkened paths in the downpour at least seem to have taken the time to listen to a weather report before doing so. They're at least offered some small protection from the driving rain by those wide-brimmed shelters. Though as the wind picks up even more and the thunder sounds again, cracking through the sky much closer now, who knows how long that will last.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, does not have any more shelter then that offerred by the leafy boughs around him. It's pretty hard to fight crime or swing around the city with an umbrella in hand. But maybe he could look into a hat. A good fedora might be stylish. The sort of jaunty accessory that might turn his public image around.

J. Jonah Jameson seems like the kinda guy who would appreciate a good fedora.

Spidey will think on it. But not right now. Now that tingle that signals trouble nearby begins to ping in the back of his head and he narrows his eyes, trying to peer through the driving rain, and finally spotting a hint of motion near the path that winds down by the water.

Leaping from his perch, Spider-Man launches a webline towards the nearest light stanchion and begins to swing towards trouble. A thoroughly soaked spider now.

The creature darting towards the path does not seem to have noticed Jessica -- or her cheese -- just yet. Though now that she has abandonned it, who knows if it will loop back around and plunder her stash. There's a cost for doing the right thing as certain heroes well now.

No, for the moment the upright reptile continues towards a young couple that hurries along the paved walkway, huddled close together under one umbrella and hardly paying attention to anything beyond the few steps in front of them. That dark shape bounds towards them, seems to be on the verge of leaping atop them.

Then it suddenly stops short, dropping into a crouch and peers towards a nearby support beam, a low, angry hiss escaping a maw filled with some very sharp-looking, very dangerous looking teeth.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
In this kind of heat, the rain might almost be welcome. Except it's humid and so it only makes skin feel more ick, and in Jessica's case, makes her hair frizz. Yup, the world hates her. If only she had her costume, not because she wants to conceal herself so much as it'd hide her bad hair.

Alas, she's not currently in the /always be ready for anything/ mindset a true hero has. Besides, layers would be unbearable in this weather. She's drenched in minutes, t-shirt sticking to her even more than the sweat was doing.

Right now it's genuinely more curiosity than any drive to do something. Shadows aren't inherently evil after all. Unless they take her cheese of course, then all bets are off and the thing genuinely must suffer. But until then, she's just plain nosy. Another annoying Spider-trait, apart from the obligatory quipping.

Jessica arrives just in time to see the thing -- a lizard?! -- as it tenses to leap at the couple. She puts on speed, skidding to a surprised halt when it turns away and hisses at something unseen up in the top of the gazebo. "Holy moley, those teeth. How do you even brush them?"

Probably not time to ponder the dental habits of lizards, though. She spins towards the couple, aiming to take advantage of that distraction -- whatever it is -- of the lizard-thing. "Hey, you probably like, want to run. You know, lizard.. thing? Maybe a dinosaur. I don't want to assume it's genotype." She points helpfully at the thing with all those teeth to help with the /maybe run/ idea.

Askante has posed:
"Howdy. I can do that too, y'know..." the low husky voice of the creature in the shadows drifts down. This might go very well, or very badly or very humorously, depending on the moment -- but the park is more or -less- deserted. True, there are people here, true, they might be in danger, but they'll be more thoroughly in danger if it doesn't do something, right?

The incoming webslinger is noted only with a single flick of eyes, before:

    The waugh of a King cobra, the sadistic hiss of a monitor lizard, the mad chitterings of the horror beneath your bed, in the dark, in the closet, in the vortex between dimensions. All the things that crawl, all the things that were born of the Imaginings of Fear, they hiss forth. But they're not just a sound, they're a cloud, shadow made manifest, real things coming forth and they bring with them memories, anxieties, dreads, touch the lizard brain itself and say: You look tasty, better run now.

But they also touch the human mind, the one that is terrified of public speaking, dreads being late, can't handle a crowd, doesn't know why walking over the crack in the pavement makes them petrified that they're going to fall into the abyss.

But who knows what the Lizard creature with all its teeth actually sees? Or Fears. But the Daemon of Fear itself, unleashes.

Very small scale.
At that thing.
Yes, that thing that hissed at it with all the teeth. Because damn straight, it can do that too.

Spider-Man has posed:
Really, it's too bad that Jessica's hair doesn't frizz up even more. If so, she might just get big enough and terrifying enough to even scare away the monster in the park.

Despite the unpleasant weather, it doesn't seem to hinder Spidey from swinging down the path, thowing up those weblines with uncanny accuracy, gaining momentum as he tries to close that gap between himself and the dark shape that bounds towards the path up ahead. He puts that little extra speed to use and puts a little more 'oomph' into that last swing, enough to send him flying in a high arc, landing atop one of those light stanchions.

Or, well, almost landing. The rain makes it rather slick and his feet threaten to go out from under him before he manages to regain his balance. Apparently there are at least a few limits to his natural clinging abilities.

But by now, even with the driving rain and dark shadows that lay thick on the park it is impossible to miss the fact that the creature below is a familiar sight indeed. That is definitely his friend, in some ways even a mentor. Dr. Curt Connors. Now a near mindless lizard. Sigh.

The couple that crowds under the umbrella looks up at last as Jessica approaches, initially looking more worried about her approach then anything else. Maybe that hair is frizzy enough. But then they spot just what she's trying to warn them about.

And they scream. And run. It's not an uncommon reaction, but you would think that they might at least check in on the woman who ran half-way across the lawn them. You would think wrong however. In moments they are lost behind those curtains of driving rain that continue to pound down around them.

The Lizard starts to wheel back towards it's prey -- a trio instead of a mere couple now -- which is when Askante makes its presence know, when it projects that -- well, fear -- towards the reptiloid. And the Lizard freezes.

Dr. Connors has talked about it before with Peter. The lizard brain. It is something that is a part of most humanoids. That part of them that is built around the fight or flight reflex. Apparently giant, humanoid lizards have them too.

The sound that comes from the Lizard isn't quite a hiss and isn't quite a scream. It's somewhere inbetween. In a flash the subject of Spidey's long hunt suddenly darts off the beaten trail -- quite literally -- bounding towards the nearby lake.

"No! Wait!" Peter calls out from high up above, preparing to leap from his perch once more.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica does look a sight! Drenched hair, like a drowned rat caught in the rain. "Hey, good job! You get a thumbs up!" Jessica's doing just that, for the running couple. And it's totally sincere praise too: too many people in her experience just kind of stand and gape. Or more annoyingly, just stand and record stuff. And she really can't have that, because she's totally in civilian clothing right now.

Job done, she turns towards the lizard and... stops.

The hairs on the back of her neck are like, standing up. Jessica doesn't have spidey senses but somehow it feels like she does because -- what the hell is that?

No, not the lizard, the thing beyond it. Is that... is that?! "Ohmygod. You're the bear! The martial arts bear that fights the fisherman for the salmon! He totally did you dirty. /Look, an eagle,/ indeed." What even is Jessica talking about? It's a British thing, they probably wouldn't understand.

The lizard goes bounding past, and Jessica, really, seems inclined to let it go, except she hears that call from somewhere above, squinting up into the rain. Of course, she can't see anything. She's got super /hearing/, not super sight, and with the rain muffling everything it makes identifying his precise location challenging. "Huh."

She /was/ going to let the lizard go, but Spider-Man seems to want to stop it, and he seems much better at this super-hero stuff than she is right now, frankly. So she lifts her wrist and aims towards the rapidly bounding lizard. The discharge of bio-electricity is tuned down to a stun level, though whether it lands is debatable given the quick movement of the lizard, the rain, and Jessica's general cavalier attitude towards this whole endeavor.

Askante has posed:
"Oh, damn." Mostly at the call for the -lizard- to stop and wait. It can't see the spider man, but it can hear. Not superhumanly, but it's got ears. Somewhere. And who knows what on planet Earth Jessica thinks it is right now, because well... TV campaigns it doesn't indulge in much. "What? Oh, by the beard of Nichodemus..."

Again, there's an explosion of extremely unnerving shadow matter and then it reappears /infront/ of the fleeing monster with the teeth. Something isn't computing well here, normally the monster isn't supposed to be the ... rescuee? Target? Whatever it is that the poor de-evolved Doctor happens to be at the moment.

And because the poor villain is currently under the -effects- of the Daemon's power, it simply rises up to its full height, all four arms raised and long spindle fingers stretched, making itself even bigger. "SSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" -- more of the creepy manifestations seem to crawl from the shadows beneath its cloak and skitter forth toward the unfortunate scientist.

"I got questions about this," it mutters. And prepares to leap aside, juuuuuuust in case flee turns to maul, or you know. Bulldoze.

Spider-Man has posed:
For his part, Peter does have a Spider-Sense and it is going more than a little crazy right now. Between the lizard and that projection of fear playing havoc with Dr. Connors, well, Spidey's head is not in the best of shape either. Add in the driving rain and the dark, and it is more than a little difficult to keep track of just what's going on. Still, the wall-crawler leaps from that perch overhead, that light briefly illuminating him brightly as he plummets to the earth below... and lands nimbly in a crouch.

Lets hear it for the proportional reflexes of a spider. They do come in handy at times.

Of course, Peter has no idea just what he would do even if he caught up to his unfortunate scientist friend -- he can't even be sure that it is the same man. But he has a pretty good hunch... and he can't bring himself to just abandon the man to his fate.

So he tears across that wet grass after him, right up until the moment that daemon appears again. Then he goes skidding to a stop, those reflexes failing him this time as he ends up on his backside, the wet ground quite thoroughly soaking through his costume in the most unpleasant of fashions. "What the --" he exclaims, for a moment forgetting all about the nearby Lizard.

The reptiloid creature is almost to the shore's edge when that manifestation of fear appears before it once again and play havoc on that little lizard brain of his. It proves a little more adept at digging in, pulling up short.

Which is the only thing that saves it from Jessica's bio-electric discharge that just nicks his shoulder, sending a shock through him but does not take him down entirely. With a roar, the Lizard darts forward, suddenly plunging into the pond straight ahead, a great splash going up as those little waves scatter outward across the already wind-swept surface of those waters.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Should Jessica be questioning her sanity at this point? Maybe. But she's done a /lot/ of therapy lately, and more importantly, she's seen all kinds of bizarre stuff -- point in fact, a random giant lizard with extra sharp teeth -- so seeing the manifestation of a bear from an ad she loved as a child doesn't at all seem strange. Even if it probably ought to.

Especially when the probably-not-actually-a-bear teleports into the path of the lizard.

The bear, understandably, has questions. She definitely does, too.

On the upside, Jess arrives on scene just in time to see Spider-Man lose his balance, and she winces in sympathy. A kindly person would offer a hand up. She just doesn't even think to. "Hope you know a discreet dry cleaner. Do you know that thing?" her thumb jerks towards the water where the lizard disappears. Nope, she may be soaked but she draws the line at diving into the pond. She's seen what people throw in there. "So, uh, all yours Spidey. Take it away," she generously waves an inviting hand towards the water.

"...you too, bear. Maybe there's salmon in there?" Doubtful. "I have some cheese to uh... try and find."

Askante has posed:
"Oh, I know where your cheese is. I saw where you put it. Besides which, I could find it again, I think. I have a fetish for that." Really. The bear has a fetish? Not that kind of fetish, but the mind can go all kinds of ways when surrealism hit the Great Lawn. It looks over at the downed Spiderman, cocking its head as the rain sheets from the brim of its stetson and it lowers its arms, sticking two hands into its pockets. This can at least make it look in a dark and stormy night, like the black-on-black black clad creature only has two arms, right? Right. Maybe.

"If I'd known you wanted to er... whatever it is you wanted to do with the lizard man, I would have been kinder. You threw off my perceptions of the situation I'm afraid."

Nope, it is not going into that pond. Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

"Although I can probably help you track that, too, when it comes up again? Sorry."

It's rummaging in those pockets it stuck its hands in, using one of the free arms to dip down past its other-left partner to extract a fingerbone. It might be human, but if it is, it's ancient. "Cheese?" it doublechecks with Jessica.

Spider-Man has posed:
All in all, this is a pretty bad night for Spider-Man. He is thoroughly soaked through, he probably has grass stains down the back of his spider-suit. And there is a funky creature around along with a crazy lad talking to a bear about her cheese.

Only in New York City. No really, it's a great city. He loves it.

Slowly getting up to his feet, he eyes the other two through the downpour of rain that helps to obscure everything -- and maybe keeps all involved from really knowing just how strange it's getting. But Spidey's gaze darts towards the pond once more, walking a couple of feet closer though not quite to the very edge.

"It happens," he calls back, though in all honesty he's not entirely sure what happened. But berating people for this he's not entirely sure or their fault -- or really at all -- is a pretty good way to confirm all the worst things that JJJ tends to say about him in the press.

And he really doesn't need even more of the general population hating him.

"But I think the chase is over for tonight. And maybe for several to come. I've never seen the Lizard run away like that before," he admits with a slow shake of his head.

Curt Connors -- if that is Dr. Connors -- is just going to have to wait for another evening if Peter is going to get him the help he needs. Maybe he can take the time to try and figure out how to get him the help he needs.

That might be a good first step.

"Are you both alright? No injuries ir anything? Maybe to the head," he asks, muttering the last.

He's probably talking to Jessica and her 'bear'.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
The bear has a fetish... for cheese? For finding things? Jessica stares at it as she processes. "I think I love you, bear." Sorry, spidey, Jessica has a new BFF, a cheese-inclined one. Or at least a cheese-finder one. "I can make you uh, cheese toasties? I'm gonna have a lot left over. Trying to find the right taste, you know?"

Jessica is a strange person, it's true. A lot of that is PTSD from a really messed up childhood, in fairness.

"Cheese," she repeats solemnly to the bear. She really wants to offer it a fistbump. Her therapist told her initiating physical contact was a good thing. Would it accept? She's gonna try!

"Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine now I know I'm getting my cheese back," Jessica answers Spider-Man cheerfully. "This is like, my every other day in New York. And I'm seeing a therapist. I might tell him about the bear, but I think I'll leave the lizard out of it. He has his limits." A beat. "My therapist, not the lizard. I have no idea what that's about."

Spider-Man can ceratinly put two and two together given the familiar voice and mentions of a therapist, but Jess isn't going to be all like, helpful or anything in that regard. Secret identities are so tricky!

Askante has posed:
"I often have that effect on things. It's a thing. Part of what I am, I'm afraid..." Askante comments that to Spidey, though its new cheesy BFF is regaining a goodly pawtion (kaboomtish) of its attention and then the finger in its hand. It lays the thing on its palm and promptly begins walking off. Following the finger, which points -- rather, it swivels so that the pointier end is a bit like a compass. The cheese is true north.

Yes, this did get monumentally weird but indeed, only in New York.

Over its shoulder: "Why were you trying to rescue the lizard man? And are cheese toasties a good thing? I have never had one. I have had lots of cheese though, usually it has the same quality as plastic these days. They put it on everything."

It's splatting, because a casual observer will note that the 'Bear' wears no shoes. Frankly with its hands and feet, it would be hard pressed to find something that works. All it has is leather bindings around the sole.

Tall and bedraggled, it pauses by a copse and consults. And swivels. And consults. And swivels. Then disappears.

A moment after, there's a triumphant. "CHeese!" muffled through the storm's doppler effect.

Spider-Man has posed:
That voice is suspiciously familiar admittedly. But that hair! So frizzy. Is it? Could it be? Maybe. But it is a big superhero no-no to comment on another hero's secret identity.

Besides, it would seem that Jessica is looking for her cheese and Spider-Man knows better to get in the way of that sort of thing. "I, uhhhh, hope your cheese is doing well. And that your... bear-friend... enjoys the cheese toasties," he says, darting a somewhat dubious glance towards Askante. Is it a full moon behind all those clouds? Is he perhaps being filled for someone's amusement?

He's not ready to dismiss any possibilities.

"Looks can sometimes be deceiving. I'm not sure that the lizard creature is just what it appears to be," Spidey offers up by way of explanation. Now, of course, he has to find a way to catch him. And a way to cure him of his condition.

Looks like he'll be hitting the lab after he gets out of his wet costume.

Sleep? Who needs sleep? Certainly not him. Not until he starts talking to 'bears' about cheese toasties at any rate. That might be a good sign that it's time to catch a few zzzzzs.

"Okay, you lot stay safe then. And remember, I didn't try to mug you, or menance you or do anything else bad, okay? Tell anyone you meet." What? Self-promotion is the name of the game these days. He certainly can't count on the media to give him a fair shake.

With that, Peter fires off a webline and leaps into the air to build up a little momentum, beginning to swing his way along the path at a good clip. His evening is not nearly done yet. Not nearly. Even if his search for the Lizard is over for the night.

For now.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
On the downside, Jessica is fistbump-denied. On the upside, she almost fistbumped with a thing that has a literal finger just sitting in his palm (or paw, as far as she perceives it), so maybe on balance that's a good thing. She still frowns though. The bear might've slipped from BFF territory already. It's a slippery and tenuous position, admittedly.

"You've /never/ had a cheese toastie? You're missing out! They are the best. Especially for breakfast. Or when it's really cold. Or when you're really hungry. Or just like, all the time, really." Jessica is kind of a foodie. Though not the annoying sort that takes pictures of everything she eats, at least.

She paces readily after the bear, never really doubting his abilities. (She totally doubts his abilities up until the point the cheese is found.) "Yess!" the tall woman dives in to the bush she shoved the tote bags underneath, tugging them out, hugging them to her chest. She just looks so happy.

"Bye, Spidey! If you need me to recommend a good dry cleaner let me know." Not that Jessica actually introduced herself. Or shared contact details. It's the quip in her, she can't help it.

"Come on bear, I'm gonna sneak you into the kitchen. Maybe I can convince the uh... butler, not to tattle." Look, chances are Askante's going to recognize the Avengers Mansion the second it's seen. It's kind of distinctive. She is going to admit absolutely nothing, sneak in, and simply feed her new bear pal a variety of cheese toasties, asking for a rating each time. It'll be fine!

Askante has posed:
The 'bear' will not turn down the food. It's a bear. But in different lights, manners and thankfulness are a thing that has carried through since the dawn of time. It is a thankful monster, for the charity of kindness.