[16] Be YOU

"So, you haven't told me yet what type of game you've been developing?" Peter asked, stuffing a waffle into his mouth. The waffles had been cooked by Joe after Peter had shamelessly begged for some food. A hungry Peter knew nothing about embarrassment. 

'His metabolism is higher than mine, courtesy of spider physiology,' Joe analyzed as he bit on an apple. 

"You really can't hold back when it comes to 'cool' stuff, can you?" Joe pointed the half-eaten apple at Peter before returning it to his mouth. 

"My buddy's developing something that's going to take the world by storm. How can I not be overly curious about your cool game even though I've yet to see it?" Peter said incoherently, with food still stuffed in his mouth. Joe didn't find it uncouth, or something along those lines. Table manners were a myth between bros, hehe. 

"Is it an MMO, platformer, or basic RPG? PC or Mobile?" Peter inquired curiously as he dabbed at the food remnants in his mouth's corner. 

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's a puzzle game. It's going to have cross-platform compatibility, and that's basically it," Joe answered before pursing his lips. 

"So-so, have you finalized the codebase?" Peter's face brightened. 

"Nah, but soon," Joe instantly replied and then added, "Since you seem so much interested, what do you think about being my second beta tester?" 

"Whoa, for real? W-wait, hold on." Peter scrunched up his face as he held out his palm in front. "Who's the first person?" 

"Gwen," Joe grinned, and his lips widened even more when he saw Peter's reaction. 

"Tch, she once again has an edge over me. I am disappointed," Peter said with a grunt as he comically cluttered his teeth. 

"You're pretty obvious, Pete. Why can't you just tune down that childish competition between you two? I thought you two were done with it since high school," Joe laughed. 

"You don't understand, Joe," Peter grumbled. 

"Of course, I could never. I'd never had any competition to begin with," Joe said smugly. 

Peter flashed him a tight-lipped smile, pretty much adapted to Joe's bullshit. "Man, how many times have I stomped you in basketball and WWE? Do you remember the arm wrestles?" 

Joe quieted down, his smugness deflating as unsavory memories resurfaced in his mind. 

"Jeez, dunno why I get happy after silencing you?" Peter chuckled intensely as his fingers tapped on the table like a pianist. 

"How can I win when you use cheats all the time?" Joe said jokingly, his words something a whiny kid would spit out after losing a game. 

"Bro, all the games we've played have anti-cheat systems." Peter laughed even harder. 

"Okay, you are the better gamer, jackass," Joe admitted, raising his hands in surrender. 

"Honestly, it feels like a mockery toward the game creators when you speak about anti-cheat systems like that." Joe smiled while shaking his head. How could he not be aware that Peter sometimes likes to fuck over the anti-cheat engines? 

'But that is in the past. The current games in the market have unbelievably poor client-side monitoring. The present me will only require a few minutes to sabotage typical game servers,' Joe thought. 

"What's the time, Joe?" Peter suddenly asked. 

"It's seven-thirty," Joe said as he looked at his phone's home screen. 

"You forgot your phone?" Joe winged his brow with a questioning glare. 

"Mm-mmh. I misplaced it and I can't seem to remember where I put it." Peter released a feeble chuckle while rubbing his neck. 

Joe narrowed his eyes at him. "I thought you stopped being a klutz overnight." 

"This is a unique situation, haha." Peter nervously smiled. 

"Start saving again." Joe sighed. 'Did he miss a swing and lose his phone? He must be having a lot of fun shooting webs left and right.' He internally shrugged. 

"Anyway, Joe, change of plans. I wanted to crash at your place, but after that 'therapeutic' speech of yours, and eating those absolutely delish waffles... oh man, they hit the spot. And—" Peter told Joe as he comically gestured his hands at the speckless plate. 

"In short, you are going back to your lover, right?" Joe interjected, having caught on to what Peter was trying to convey.

"Yeah, yeah. I need to set things straight with MJ." Peter exhaled heavily. 'Dang, it's going to be a long ride.' 

'He's getting nervous already? How typical,' Joe mused. 

"Nothing's wrong with that. Just don't mess it up, okay?" Joe raised his thumb, his tone tinged with positivity. 

"I won't. Definitely not messing it up," Peter said in a reassuring voice. 

"Chill, man. You're allowed to make a mess, just a little... but do your best. Remember, the reconciliation doesn't have to be a one-day thing since you're not me." Joe winked at him. 

Peter wore the 'WTF' expression to that, his face borderline Saitama-esque. 

"Okay, Narcissus." Peter rolled his eyes as he rose from his seat. 

"I don't know why I am getting the jitters about this, though. I'm worried that MJ—" Peter suddenly started, his face marred with clear trepidation. 

"Pete, have you ever seen a grown man's ass hair?" Joe held a hand against his mouth, stifling a burst of laughter from bursting forth. 

Peter paused as if picturing something abominable, looked around in confusion, and scratched his head before his face morphed into disgust. "Say what?! Joe, the fuck!" 

"What's wrong with you, man?!" 

"That's some fucked-up shit. I don't even know why the hell I pictured it. Oh gawd!" Peter felt at a loss, but weirdly enough, the tension and nervousness that plagued him had already melted away. 

"Go get her, tiger," Joe murmured while aggressively patting his shoulder. 

"Wow, you've even quoted MJ," Peter chuckled softly as he walked to the door. He slipped into his shoes and gave Joe a playful salute, which Joe promptly returned.

"Go tiger," Joe winked, which earned him a chuckle from Peter. 

"You can stop that. I no longer need any of that shit." Peter began to turn the knob, his laughter receding. 

"Hey, don't let the responsibilities weigh you down, bud. Peter Parker can go wild and enjoy life sometimes," Joe said, an impassive expression on his face. "Think about yourself. Be YOU." He pointed at him.

"Oh, never thought you were a sentimentalist," Peter said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Joe's eyes softened, though he kept his expression neutral. 'I've always been an existentialist, you just never knew,' he mused silently

"Go on. Or are you expecting a gay kiss from me?" Joe shooed Peter away. The guy was literally stalling on the door while playing with the knob. 

"Ew, unlike your face, you really have a rotted mouth and mind," Peter scoffed in disbelief, shutting the door close. 

"Haha, I am the scarlet rot, bitch," Joe laughed, his voice dripping with mock arrogance. His laughter echoed in the room for a brief moment before he abruptly fell silent, a serious expression replacing his smug grin. 

'I hope he keeps MJ glued to him. I really don't want to think she's as toxic as Tobey's MJ.'

"Heck, don't Peter-tingles help him sense red flags in women?" Joe thought aloud while shaking his head.

'Now's not the time to act like the Lord of Cheese and mysteries.' He cast away the distracting thoughts. 

"It's morbin' time." Joe smiled in suspense, not giving a fuck about copyright issues as he primed himself to build a miniaturized arc reactor from scratch. 

…

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[Word Count 1254]