15597/Friendships Unmasked

Friendships Unmasked
Date of Scene:	14 September 2023
Location:	Eyrie Building, Midtown
Synopsis:	After Firestar gave Spider-Man permission to reveal her secret identity to Gwen, Ghost Spider meets Firestar at the top of the Eyrie building to do the same.
Cast of Characters:	Ghost Spider, Firestar

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Ghost Spider has posed:
In the midst of Manhattan's sprawling skyline, one building dominates all others. Eyrie. It's not just the tallest in the city; it's the second tallest in the world. It's so high that, on a cloudy day, its upper floors pierce through the lower cloud layers, offering an ethereal panorama below. Most would say it's a view for the gods, or for those who can afford the top-tier penthouses.

Yet for some, it's just another meeting spot.

Ghost Spider swings between buildings, her white and black webbed suit glistening in the filtered sunlight. Each swing is calculated, efficient -- a dance of physics that she's perfected over the years. As she makes her way through the maze of skyscrapers, she takes a quick moment to tap out a message on her phone.

"Hey, Fire-girl. Talked to Pete. Got a sec to meet up? Top of Eyrie at 3pm?"

The message whizzes off into the digital ether, and Ghost Spider goes about her day. There were always muggers and car-jackers to stop, after all.

When the meeting time rolls around, however, the Eyrie looms ahead, its steel and glass facade shimmering, reflecting the city below. Rather than just walking up the entire length of the side (which she's done before), she maypoles around it, getting higher and higher with each successive revolution until, yes, even that gets old.. and she walks the rest of the way (vertically). With a final *thwip*, she lands gently on stone castle that sits on the pinnacle, clinging to the stone facade.

Here, the noise of the city is muted, replaced by the soft whoosh of passing clouds and the distant hum of aircraft. Ghost Spider reclines on the building's side, her body defying gravity, as though she's lounging on a beach instead of the side of a superstructure. The feeling is both exhilarating and serene.

She waits, her eyes scanning the horizon. The minutes tick by, but in this heightened state, amidst the clouds and away from earthly concerns, time seems almost irrelevant.

Firestar has posed:
Getting settled into her course load, Angelica is starting to be a student, not worrying about being a teacher now. When she gets a break, she checks her messages.

She smiles when Gwen says she knows about things. A nod as she mutters,"Good."

She pauses when she sees the destination. A raise of her brow and she hmms softly,"Well. I mean I can easy enough." she mutters to herself and shrugs.

She texts her back: I will see you there. My last class ends at 2:45 so might have to spot me a minute or two. ;)

The day drones on as nothing is worse that the core curriculum you must have for a degree that have nothing to do with degree work. Finally the last class finishes and she runs home briefly to drop her books and such. Steet level, she walks down an alley and a momemt later Firestar flies from the next alley, making her way towards where Gwen asked to meet her. It is nice to fly after a long day and though she does enjoy it, she is on someone else's time so she arrives, pausing in the air as she notes Ghose Spider hanging on the side of the building,"Hey..." she offers with a wave, drawing closer.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Of course, Angelica would have no way to know, but there were reasons that, even this high, Ghost Spider hadn't taken that mask off while she waited. Normally, she didn't care all that much. Once they were out of range of anything but a decent telescope or /really/ nice pair of binoculars, she frequently just lifted her mask up underneath her hood.

Today, she waited.

And watched.

Not just for Angelica, but around the edges of the building, too. It was sort of uncanny, last time, how the butler had greeted her as soon as she reached the top, but this time seemed to be thankfully quiet.

Frankly, she wouldn't have hated it if there had been another spread of coffee and croissants waiting for her. Ah well.

Ghost Spider seems perfectly content just to chill on the side of the building until Firestar flies into view. Then there's a raised hand and a friendly wave offered, those big white eyes of her costume softening a little. They could be /so/ expressive. Somehow.

"Hey! Meet me up there!"

She points to the top of one of the battlements. The literal highest point in the entire city, and with a quick web-line thrown out, she zips herself up there, flipping lightly up to stand on top of the sheer edge of the wall as if it was nothing at all. She had the grace of a ballerina and was absolutely fearless about the height, even though she couldn't fly.

And once there, after a brief glance around to make sure she wasn't going to get jumped by some creepy man-servant, she does lift that mask up over her head, tucking it back inside the hood that her blonde hair just peeks out of the edges of.

"You trusted me with your secret. It seemed like the least I could do was return the favor."

Firestar has posed:
Questions. She has many. Curious. To say the least. When she draws close enough to talk, she looks the building over closer,"This place is amazing." she mutters mostly to herself.

She watches the eye flex actually articulate and that gets a raised brow everytime. When directed to meet up at the top she nods and flies up there to see what comes next.

When Ghost Spider looks around, she does the same as if expecting something to fall on them at any time. Those big, sparkling green eyes widen in surprise when the mask comes up and she recognizes the face under it. Her jaw drops a little and the dumb founded look is probably amusing before she shakes it off.

A moment later she laughs softly and nods,"I appreciate the favor my friend. It's good to know who is under the mask." She removes her mask as well so the two can talk on the same level. Her smile widens a little more and she nods,"Spidey found his equal. Someone to share existence with." It is pretty clear she approves of that for sure.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen smiles, the wind up here whipping at her hood and the blonde hair that peeks out, framing her face. "I hoped you would. You trust me, and Peter trusts you... so, I trust you."

Without her mask to hide her expression, her blue eyes shine at the mention of Spidey. "We definitely don't hate it. Either of us." Referring to finding an equal and someone to share existence with. "It's... kind of nice to have someone that gets it -- all of it. The costumes, the bad guys, the late nights. All the spider stuff, too."

She rolls one slight shoulder, the lithe daintiness of her frame somehow emphasized by her costume.

"All that makes it easier, but it's not everything. He's /crazy/ smart. He makes me laugh. It's easier to just exist with him than anyone I've ever..."

She trails off, a little blush touching her cheeks when she realizes she was rambling about just exactly how smitten she really was with him.

"...well, anyway. The point I wanted to make was that I'm glad we're friends. He told me about how he found you when he didn't really have anyone else, and you guys gave him a chance to really be himself. It's still a really important time to him, and a part of his life I didn't really know that much about. So, thank you, for letting me in on it."

Firestar has posed:
"I will do my best to keep that trust for good. Like I told Peter, if you two need me I will come running..." she assures her with a wink,"...and Hell's coming with me." She winks and somehow that little bit seems to stick with her, but she one of the few that can say it and mean it.

"He is among the smartest people I have ever known." she agrees,"That brain is never not thinking. If he could stop and just be himself he'd be such a teacher, experimental scientist, or any number of things. Spider-Man dominates his life and I can't blame him for that."

She smiles a little more in that knowing way when the cheeks flush,"He's amazing. It's not just a moniker. He found us and we found him and we were all in the lost place. Iceman had left the X-Men. I had left Hellions, but hadn't been approached by Alpha Flight yet. It was exhilerating and occasionally terrifying. We ran into a who's who of villains and met a few heroes and legends too." Her eyes fade a second,"Three legitimate monsters of folklore." Her arms cross like she is cold and she shakes that off.

She blinks and gets back to the here and now,"You're welcome. We can sit down some time and talk about the old days if you like. Give you the girl's perspective of working with two of the best men in the world."

Ghost Spider has posed:
"The same is true, vice-versa," Gwen says, grinning. "I may not bring Hell with me, but I can make them wish they were there."

The comment about Spider-Man dominating his life gets a nod. "Neither can I, but the Bugle is doing more harm than it is good in his life, now. He loves being a photographer, but Jonah's twisting everything and he's still selling to him. I'm trying to convince him to branch out, start his own company." She smiles a little, shrugging again. "He's interested. Just trying not to push him too hard, either."

She watches the reactions to those stories and nods, her expression somber.

"I'd like that a lot, actually. And I'll let you know the next time the Mary Jane's have a gig booked. Peter's come to a few shows. I'm sure he'd love to have you there to hang out with while I'm up on stage."

Just as she's finishing, however, there's a beep from somewhere in her costume and she pulls her phone out with a sigh.

"Gotta web," she sighs. "I'm trying to pick up as much slack as I can while Spidey's wanted... he's been doing more damage than he wants to showing up at crime scenes. Everywhere he /goes/ is a crime scene, now, just because he was there."

She rolls her eyes.

"Anyway, thanks for meeting me! Secret's out, now. We can all just hang out without any of this stuff getting in the way. Peter seems relieved of that, too. See you soon!"

With a last little wave, gravity seems to take her. She leans, falling back over the edge of the building and then /leaping/ at the last second. With a little flip, she rights herself and swings out her arms, extending the webbed gliding wings and soaring back down to the city below.