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｡･:*:･ﾟCHAPTER NINE ｡･:*:･ﾟ
"adventures in babysitting"
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"HEY, BETTY."

It had been a grand total of thirty minutes before this plane ride became interesting. Gray was sitting there, his resting bitch face coming out as he nervously eyed the safety manuels, thinking of how lame it would be if, after everything he survived, he died in a plane crash. Thankfully, his depressing thoughts were interrupted by the same boy Gray saw Peter talking to earlier, standing in front of him with a sheepish smile on his face. 

 Gray cocked an eyebrow at him, before crossing his arms and sitting up straighter, glancing over at Betty, who seemed just as perplexed. "Yes?" She asked, her cheeks still red as Gray turned to look out of the window, wondering how long he would be trapped inside of this death contraption.

 "There's an old lady sitting in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume." He began, making Gray stifle a laugh as he bowed his head, ruffling his hair. "And it's kind of setting off Peter's allergies, so Betty, if you could just switch seats with him, that would be-" 

 The girl cut him off, "Peter's allergic to perfume?" 

 "Uh, yeah, it makes his eyes water, and he can't really-" 

 "Peter has a perfume allergy?" The head of Mr. Harrington popped up from the seats in front of them, only increasing Gray's urge to laugh. The man didn't even hesitate in standing up, stepping away from his seat, "I know from experience that perfume allergies are no joke, I can feel hives breaking out already, Betty, Grayson, stand up."  

 Gray took a moment to laugh to himself, bewildered by just how wrong this was going for Peter as he slid out of his seat. 

 "Grayson, go sit next to Michelle, Ned, take Grayson's seat." He began ordering people around, and Gray blinked, unsure if the man had forgotten that he has no clue who the fuck any of these people are.  

 "Michelle!" A feminine voice said, and he turned around to see a girl sitting a few rows back, pointing to herself, "That's me." 

 Gray nodded, smiling at the girl as he moved to sit down. She was pretty, with dark hair tied back into a ponytail and a small, forced looking smile on her face as he sat down. "I'm Gray, I'm uh-" 

 "Exchange student?" 

 "Yeah," he chuckled nervously. Michelle shot him a look as she dug around her bag.  

 "You look nervous," she pointed out, and Gray shrugged. 

 "I've never really been on a plane before." 

 "Neither have I," the girl admitted, shrugging and brushing some hair from her eyes. She showcased a small object to Gray, making him squint to try and figure out what it is. "Wanna watch a movie?" She asked, "It's a duel-headphone adaptor, I guess it's supposed to connect headphones or something? Whatever-" she pursed her lips, Gray actually smiling. 

 "Sure, what do you have in mind?" 

 "Something depressing... or hilarious." 

 "I'm down for hilarious," he said, not really in the mood for more depressing things in his life at the moment. "Thanks, Michelle." 

 "Oh, you can just call me MJ." 

 Gray nodded, and then he felt himself relaxing. 

 Maybe this plane ride wouldn't be so terrible after all. 

 ***

"Dios mío, I think I actually pulled a muscle in my back for sitting down for so long." 

Peter Parker jumped as Gray slung a lazy arm around his shoulder, smiling tiredly at the boy. "Hey, Parker, you never told me how long the freakin' plane ride to Italy is, that information would have been nice." 

 "What are you doing here?" The boy asked, although he was grinning as he turned to face him, his friend watching with a confused expression on his face. Gray could see his friend glancing between the two, an expression on his face that made him look like he was either incredibly confused, or estatic. Gray turned to him, pulling his arm away from Peter as he nodded. "Hello there." 

 "Hi," The boy seemed to be unable to contain his excitement, a wide grin on his face as he bounced on the spot. Gray leaned over to lower his voice, whispering to Peter although not taking his eyes off of his friend. "Is he having a seizure?" 

"Oh my gosh, mister Grayson sir, man, I-" 

 "Dude, I'm seventeen." 

 "I know, I just-" he laughed slightly as Gray pulled a face. He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You're Specter! You went up to space and can move cars and-" 

 Gray cut him off when he whirled around to glare at Peter, who was beginning to look like he wished he was anywhere else. "I'll kill you." 

"Please don't!" The boy threw his hands up in the air in surrender, glaring at his friend, who smiled nervously. "I told him before I knew you were coming here, after we snapped back into life."

 "You dumb bitch." Gray shook his head slightly, disbelief evident in his features as he turned back to the boy, who was still looking slightly starstruck. He leaned down, "you tell anyone and I will hit you with a flying car." 

 "I would love that!" The boy exclaimed, before blushing bright red as he comprehended his words. "Wait, that was weird, um-" he sighed deeply, lifting his hand in a wave. "I'm Ned." 

 Gray took a moment to observe Ned. He was short, for one, and had this innocent look to his face that made him immediately seem trustworthy. Luckily for Gray, he didn't trust anyone immediately, so still felt the need to scrunitize the boy before he knew whether or not he would have to kill Peter for spilling his indentity. "Gray." 

 "I wrote a book report on you once!" The boy exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. Gray almost laughed at that, his eyebrows jumping up on his face.  

 "Did you get an A?" 

 "Yeah." 

 "Sweet." 

 Peter's eyes drifted between the two, a tinge of confusion brushing over his cheeks as he deducted that Gray wouldn't kill him for telling his best friend who he was. As for Gray, well, he figured that it wouldn't matter too much. Grayson Moreno is dead to the public, and he had taken on a different last name for this exersion.

 He would be perfectly fine. 

***

ITALY WAS BEAUTIFUL.

Peter had never been anywhere farther than Brooklyn (unless you count the time he accidentally went to space), so he felt out of place surrounded by the bright and exotic landscape of Italy. Plus, his thoughts were all jumbled from the unexpected arrival of Grayson Moreno. 

 He watched as the boy walked down the warm streets, an easygoing smile on his face as he conversed with MJ over something that Peter couldn't hear. The boy seemed so... relaxed, with his thumb resting in his belt loops as he reached up to brush his dark hair from his face. Seeing him in a civilian atmosphere was so starkly different than when they were in space, and it kept on throwing Peter off. Especially since he had seen firsthand how powerful the boy could be. 

 Still, out of everyone, he was probably the least confused. 

 "Hey, who is that new kid anyway?" Flash demanded, apparently having paused his live-stream long enough to walk over the group. He eyed Grayson nervously, although Peter didn't think he looked all that daunting as he jumped away from a pigeon that landed on Michelle's shoulder, making the girl burst into laughter. 

 "Grayson Pérez," Betty piped up, not even looking their way as she posed for another picture, courtesy of Ned. Peter sighed at the sight, still not fully understanding their sudden relationship as Flash punched his shoulder. 

 "I saw him talking to you, Parker." The Guatemalan boy said as Peter shot him an annoyed look, reaching up to rub his shoulder; even if it didn't hurt in the slighest. "What was that about?" 

 Peter furrowed his eyebrows, feigning innocence. "He wasn't talking to me. Well, he was, but not like- talking to me." 

 Flash stared at him for a second, his nose scrunching. "What?"

"Peter's his translator!" Ned exclaimed, seeming grateful for the opportunity to throw his best friend under the bus, grinning from ear to ear as he turned around, his phone still in his hands as he shot his friend a look. "You know, because he's really good at Spanish." 

 Betty pursed her lips, glancing over at Grayson. "He seemed to speak English fine when I was talking to him." 

 "Well, he's picked up a few phrases." Ned shrugged as Peter groaned under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Betty turned to gesture towards where Gray and MJ were, watching as the girl said something and he laughed. 

 "I dunno, he seems to have no trouble talking to Michelle." 

 Flash pursed his lips, raising his voice. "Hey, Pérez!" 

 Grayson didn't answer at first, before pausing when he realized his new last name, and turned to look at the boy. Flash beckoned him over, and Peter winced. "Flash, maybe you shouldn't-" 

 "Hush, asshat, I'm just saying hi." 

 Flash's cocky aura dissipated slightly as Gray approached them, turning to glance over at Peter. "How tall is he? Six three?"

 "I don't know, I didn't-" 

 Gray stopped, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side slightly. His face was relaxed, but he still somehow managed to look intimidating as he shot the group a small smile. "Hello?" 

Flash nodded, "yeah, hi, I was just wondering-" 

 Gray rose an eyebrow, and Flash's voice lost about fifty percent of it's confidence. Peter smiled at that, glancing over at Ned who still looked like a middle school girl meeting a member of One Direction. Flash chuckled nervously, "where are you from? You look Italian, are you from here?" 

 Gray seemed amused as Abraham turned and stifled a laugh into his palm, "really smooth, Flash." 

"Spain." The boy corrected, looking as if he couldn't decide whether or not to be confused or amused with the situation. Flash nodded soundly. 

 "I knew a kid from Spain once. Or maybe it was Mexico-" 

Peter reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache begin to build behind his eyes at Flash's words. He walked forward, wordlessly grabbing Gray's arm and pulling him away so the two could fall into step. Peter glanced at the boy, raising an eyebrow, "so, is this all a part of some secret plan to get me to become the next Iron Man? Did Nick Fury send you?" 

 Grayson scoffed, "Nick Fury doesn't give a shit about me, I came on my own." He glanced out towards the water running beneath the walkway they were crossing over, before stopping and leaning his hands against the ledge, observing the ripples of the azure water with a small smile on his face. He turned to glance at Peter, who could feel blood rush to his cheeks as he realized that he was staring, quickly turning to look back to the landscape in front of them. "Why? You wish I didn't?" 

 "No - no, nothing like that." Peter rushed out, mentally cursing himself out as he felt his face heat up again. "I'm just kinda confused, I figured you would be with your family after-"  

 His voice trailed off, glancing nervously over at Gray. Luckily, the boy seemed unfazed, at least externally. Peter noticed how his jaw tensed, but he otherwise didn't move, his dark eyes staring out at the unfamiliar terrain of Italy, making Peter wonder just what he was thinking. "Well, I made a promise to Tony a while ago..." his tone was sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced over at Peter. "I guess I'm just here to make sure you're okay." 

 Peter's heart swelled at the thought, "that's nice." 

 "Damn it, that was not what I was going for-" the Moreno boy cleared his throat. "I'm here to babysit you." 

 "What?" Peter demanded, turning to shoot the boy an incredulous look, irritated when he saw a grin break out across his face. "I don't need a babysitter, hey-!" He reached over to gently punch the boy's arm. "We're the same age!" 

 Gray opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, a loud rumble coming from the water made his head perk up, his eyebrows furrowing together. He leaned closer, squinting at the water as a frothy group of foam condensed in the middle of the river. "What the fuck is-" 

 His voice was cut off when the water exploded, rocketing upwards and swirling together like a whirlpool. People screamed as tidal waves erupted in all directions, making Peter's ears ring as his hand darted over, grabbing onto Gray's arm in his surprise. "What the hell is that?" 

 "I think it's water." 

 "That's not what I-!" He stopped when the boy turned, jumping over an overturned fruit stand and sprinting off. Peter gaped, before his attention was turned back to a creature that was rapidly forming in the water. 

 He had his work cut out for him.