9742/Return to Coney Island

Return to Coney Island
Date of Scene:	24 October 2019
Location:	Coney Island, New York
Synopsis:	Peter takes Kitty to Coney Island for the rides they didn't get on their first date
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Spider-Man

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Shadowcat has posed:
Under the boardwalk! Down by the sea! On a blanket with my baby, is where I'll be!!!

Kitty only sang the song for part of the subway ride over to Coney Island. Half of it sung while facing Peter with an overly melodramatic, lovely dovey expression on her face as she made people stare. Some laugh and smile. Others, the people from New York, behaving like people from New York.

Kitty didn't care though. She was with her best guy. He no longer had designer neurotoxins killing his body from the inside. And so tonight was going to be a trip down to Coney Island, where they had one of their first date, but never did make it on any of the rides.

The subway train lets them out, and it's just a short walk over to the shore then. Kitty's wearing jeans and a heavy sweater, with gloves against the cool air that already has her cheeks looking a little rosey. "Think your stomach can stand up to a roller coaster yet, Parker?" she asks him teasingly and giving Peter a side bump. "I don't want you showering some little kids behind us with dinner as we do a loop," she says, looking at one of the roller coaster offerings.

Spider-Man has posed:
This was both incredibly adorable and incredibly embarassing.

Peter's blue eyes shifted back and forth when it became clear that Kitty was fully dialed into singing to him on the subway. It started out with a laugh, that quickly became a nervous laugh as tourists started to stare and laugh happily, "Yes, yes indeed..." His hand was over her mouth, covering it playfully while the other arm wrapped around the back of her shoulders so he could nuzzle in against her neck. "Sorry, we try not to let her out in public very often.. we took a trip down to the Science museum a few weeks ago and she did the time warp with an older couple..." Playfully apologetic to everyone.

As if Peter is even remotely possible to embarass.

Once they're deposit on the rail station, "hmmm... I don't know, there's a certain allure to blowing my stomach contents over a toddlers head, but I think... and this is purely from a supporting analysis stand point, that I'm going to make it thorugh with limited exposure to upchuck."

He's dressed almost ubiquitously in a nerdy t-shirt (Jurassic Park vintage), bluejeans, a light jacket and his backwards METS cap. Once they're on their way his fingers slide into hers, linking there as they walk. Glad, at last, to be free of bed rest. "I say we start with a funnel cake though... and a hotdog."

Shadowcat has posed:
"Food it is, but I swear you're just loading yourself up for that toddler," Kitty says with a warm laugh. She leans in against Peter's side, and if it seems like she's walking on air to have him back healthy again, she really is. Ok, not in the literal sense though she is capable of doing that.

The pair make their way over to one of the vendors, getting a funnel cake, a pair of dirty water dogs, and beverages.

Kitty tops her dog with cheese and ketchup, never have been a mustard person on just a normal hotdog. Potato knishes are another story, as long as it's a spicy mustard. She stands there, nibbling on the hot dog. "So I was thinking maybe we should have a little house warming party. I mean, you've been living there for awhile. But maybe a few close friends, have them over the evening sometime?" she suggests.

Spider-Man has posed:
"I absolutely am." Peter says to Kitty, bobbing his head a few times and patting at his flat stomach, "I've even picked out the little redheaded freckle faced shit who's taking the lion share of my stomach contents..." Pointing out a particularly bratty looking thirteen or fourteen year old giving his parents hell over by one of the games stations. "See him? Looking like that little d-bag from Problem Child mixed with Alice Cooper? Yeah... I'm coming for you buddy..." Mock puffing out his chest.

To a fourteen year old.

At the vendor, Pete pulls dollars from his wallet, where there are actually quite a few dollars (Avengers money!!), "I like this idea. I've got a Karaoke machine in the closet that's never been opened because I've never had guests over and singing karaoke is a tell tale sign of depression..." Pseudo shifty eyes, "Like drinking peach schnaps from a mason jar and watching She's all that."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty breaks out laughing warmly and pats her stomach on Peter's washboard abs hidden away beneath his shirt and jacket. "I'm sure he deserves it," she agrees, looking over and wincing as he backtalks his mother.

"So, if we ever," she says, looking at the kid, "Ours would have much better manners. That's a given," she comments. Kitty leans her head against Peter. "We should set up a dancing video game. I mean, that's sad too but it would be fun with our friends," she says.

"Shoot, how well do you know the triplets across the hall? Will we need to invite them?" Kitty asks. She doesn't hate them, but they still oggle Peter when they don't think she's looking.

She's always looking, Bambi.

Always.

Kitty finishes off her hotdog and tosses the wrapper in the trash. "I suppose rollercoasters are kind of tame for you by now," she tells him. "I mean, you do more loops going to work in the morning than the rest of us do in a day at the amusement park."

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter is still mock squinting at the devilish child, but he's doing so purely for Kitty's amusement now, "I'm watching you Curtis.." Because he looks like a Curtis, clearly. At mention of their own children, Pete snorts and then glances at Kits, "Oh, you're serious? You think /our/ children will be well behaved? You were an mutant terrorist-" Said mostly in jest because papers, "-and I was a menace-" Further proving the fact, "-By the ages of 14... you think /we/ get to have angelic children?" His hand comes up to run along her cheek and jaw, "Oh, my love, you poor poor thing.."

Leaning in to kiss her forehead, "They will be heroically problematic for both of us and you know it.. and we shall love them like the sun loves giving pale white people cancer." Because apparently Peter is in a morbid mood! But he says it with a grin.

"Not very well... I mean I've lived across from them for almost three years now, but I think the most I've said to them is Hi in all that time.. Hell, I've talked to them more now that you've moved in..." Squinty eyes. "Maybe they're making eyes at /you/.."

He's always looking, Bambi.

Always.

As for coasters.. "Eh, there's something about being straped into the seats that makes me feel locked in. It's actually a strange sensation. When I'm 'going to work' I have all the freedom I could ever want for, but on a rollercoaster, I'm at the mercy of the machine."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty is smiling, as she so often is around Peter Parker. "Maybe it's a matter of attire. I mean, you know, maybe you feel... uninhibited," she says, glancing down at his clothing as if making suggestions about what he wears, or doesn't, beneath his costume.

Come on, it's stretchy and skin tight!

Kitty slides her arm around Peter's waist and starts walking with him towards the line for the coaster. "No, seriously, I think we're going to have amazing kids who are well-behaved and a joy. Because frankly, the world owes us that much at this point," she tells him with a grin that says she totally doesn't believe that will be the case.

"I wish I could bring Lockheed. But not really a place for a cat. Or a raven," she says. Raven?

Spider-Man has posed:
"Oh, you poor poor girl." Peter repeats when she mentions the universe owing them, "Let me introduce you to the Parker luck sometime.." Arm around her shoulder squeezes her tight against him, he is like rock beneath clothes! Which she knows for a variety of reasons, the least of which is his skintight costume. "It rides in the crotch too." He murmurs off handedly, "Oh hey, short line!" Distraction tactic!

He leads them towards one of the coasters with a big grin. It's not one of the crazier metal coasters, but an older wood-frame with just a few drops rather than loops and twirls. Scream Machine not the Mind Bender.

"Man, I bet he just 'loves' being a Raven.. but that's so very Gotham... I bet he /loves/ Gotham..." Laughign quietly at the mention of the emotive Dragon, head shaking slowly.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty and Peter slip into line, which is moving at a decent pace. It isn't that long to start with, it being a bit cooler out than many people are willing to brave. "I always thought the wooden ones were best. The way they shake is a little more scary than the loops and everything," Kitty says.

She leans against him and says, "So, I have been wondering a bit. You know, I was working on my Ph.D in astrophysics at Oxford before I came back and stayed. And now I'm working at Stark and moonlighting at the school. Do you think I'm nuts to consider trying to finish it up here somewhere while having all that going? I'm afraid I'm crazy. I already feel like I'm being pulled apart by a black hole sometimes. It would just be crazy if I did that. And, I'd have less time with you," she says, frowning at that last bit.

They make it to the front of the line.

Spider-Man has posed:
"I think that if you wanted to do it, you should, but I must insist that you give up something other than me." Peter is unbashfully selfish in this regard, "I rather like having you around all the time... besides, you know I'm basically a genius, right? That you're dating a guy who can do advanced trig in his head?" Nudging at her with his hip as they near the front of the quickly moving line.

Once they're sat down in one of the buckets, with the bar lowered down over their laps, he moves his arm out from beneath it to loop across Kitty's neck, "I can help you with that homework.. Besides, I kind of want to go back and finish my masters, then go for my own PhD." He should have been finished with that years ago, but... Spider-Man.

"Maybe we can be unconventional students together? I bet Mr Stark would give me a recommendation to MIT or something.."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty settles into the seat beside Peter. She leans over towards him as the seats allow. "You're not half bad Parker. I mean, I kind of like my men a little ditzy, after all," she says, flashing a teasing grin over at him.

Kitty finds his hand in hers. She took off her gloves to eat and didn't put them back on, her fingers lacing with his. "I like that we can talk about the things we do," she tells him. "That you get my jokes, and my sense of humor. Also that you are so darn good in be-eeetter strap in there kids," Kitty says, glancing behind them and seeing a couple of pre-teens in the seats behind them.

Kitty looks back to Peter, grinning. "Well, they already are extremely understanding about my extra-curricular activities and the impact on my work schedule. I'm afraid another degree would be pushing it. But... I still really would love to finish it off," she says. "But if you want to? I'm all on board with you doing it."

Spider-Man has posed:
"Yeah, you'd be hard pressed to find someone better straped in kids than me." Peter says with a smirk, turning to kiss Kitty's cheek, "And we're going to better strap in later, too. It's going to be... uh.. straping. In... kids...." Squint. "I kind of lost my train of thought there with that multi-layered-uendo..."

Leaning back a little as the train of cars lurches forward on thet rack, Pete actually grabs the railing bar a little as if he weren't joking about maybe being a little uncomfortable with coasters. Which is just ironic enough to be true. "What you talkin' bout Willis? I've been in school for my masters since twenty twenty five. Working on the same paper since May though..." Thoughtful musing.

"I don't know that I'm veryg ood at school, Kitty."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty rests her hand on Peter's and gives it a squeeze. "You're just too busy with other stuff. Being a friendly neighborhood... resident," she tells him. Kitty leans over to Peter and gives him a kiss, just as they reach the bottom of the big hill.

The car creeps forward, then falls back. Then forward and falls back. It sounds rickety and rusty and obviously this whole coaster is in a state of disrepair and ready to fall apart any moment, is what that sound says.

They reach the top and roll forward, creeping near to the edge. Kitty and Peter, in the front car, have a moment of peer down the long drop off and then suddenly the car is falling, falling, and zooming along the track!

Spider-Man has posed:
"Friendly in the neighborhood too.. I help old ladies cross the street." Pete is tensing up as they near the crux of the drop, peering down with wide eyes as they go over, "Mistakes were made, Kitty... if I die, erase your browser history, you don't what to know what I've been doing with your laptop..."

He defies his apparent anxiety by looking nearly nonchallant as the roller coaster whips through the turns on rickety wooden tracks when he turns towards her, "I looked up episodes of Enterprise... and got a sing along for..." Long suffering sigh, "Nickelback songs..."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets out a squeal of delight. Despite so many elements of her life probably being far more of an adrenaline rush than this... there's something nice about it when that adrenaline isn't actually needed to keep you alive.

"Noooooo!... say you didn't!" she says of her laptop. They go around a hard corner, sliding nearly out of their bucket seats, or it's meant to feel that way at least. Whipping back around then rushing at what looks like a beam across the track that's much too low and they will hit, only to have a hill drop off at the last second to slide the car safely beneath it.

The hit another, bigger hill, and start the climb up it. "Peter?" Kitty asks as they clank-clank-clank up to the top and head towards an even steeper drop. "If we die... I just want you to know... totally your fault!"

Spider-Man has posed:
"I did.. I am a terrible life partner and companion..." Peter facepalms, both hands, so unphased by the drops and valleys and sharp turns. With each curve, as if predicting it, he wraps an arm around Kitty to keep her from actually going too far away, but releases her just enough to let the adrenoline build.

Truly his senses are a wonderful thing.

"Hey now, I know Nickelback isn'ts the greatest band of all time, but even Kanye would agree that they had a few catchy tunes.. hardly a reason to blame our demise on them.. or me for listening to them." His hand dips into his pocket a sthey go up another arch, just as they're about to roll over the edge, "Would you look at this photograph?" There is no photograph, only drops.

Shadowcat has posed:
The rollercoaster roars along, with more jaw-jattering curves and drops and sudden hills. Finally the cars roll into the start, surely going too fast to ever stop in time, only to sudden jerk to a stop with a hiss of compressed air braking.

Kitty's face is bright, grinning hugely. "Oh that's fun. Almost as much fun thwip-thwip-catapult-swing," she tells him, keeping her language down to something no one else is likely to decipher.

She rises with Peter as the ride unloads moving to press to his side, arm around his waist as they make their way down from the platform. "Thank you for another wonderful night, Peter. I'm so glad to have you back," she says, resting her head on his shoulder.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Hold on now, did you just compare..." Peter squints one eye at her, wiggling a finger in Kits direct, "Oh, I dare say Katherine Pryde, you're going to get it when we get home." Hardly worth the paper such a threat is painted on by the smile he's wearing, hoisting her up with his left arm to move around to ride on his back with his arms looped around her thighs in classical piggy back ride positioning.

"I'd say something cheesy like now let's go fall in love, but we did that earlier in the book..." Musing absently with a glance back at her, "Oh, I know.. Let's go live happily ever after?" He nods definitively and begins to gallop across the boardwalk, ala horse, because it's his turn to be a dopey embarassing boyfriend.