Chapter 12: 12 Research Some More

I stood there in the parking lot for barely five seconds before Val walked over. “I suppose you heard all of that?” I asked her and she nodded as we walked over to the bus stop together. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I'm friends with Carol.” Val said and she saw that I had no idea who she was talking about. “She's Isabelle's best friend.”

“Ah.” I said and knew she knew what I had been doing with Isabelle. “You're not going to steal me away from Liz, you know.”

“I know. It's just fun to tease her about it.” Val said and smiled. “I will admit that I'm tempted to find out if your new nickname is deserved.”

“That's pretty far above Isabelle's limit.” I commented and smiled back.

“She never asked to look at it after you going down on her so much?” Val asked and looked surprised.

“The last couple of times were pretty quick and not a lot of discussion happened.”

Val chuckled. “Now I'm even more tempted to take a peek.”

“I somehow don't find that surprising.” I said and gave her a pointed look. “If I wasn't set on going after Liz, I'd probably have my fingers inside of you right now.”

Val's eyes widened and then she laughed. “You are definitely not Peter!”

“You know, Peter is a common name for a penis.” I commented. “Or a dick.”

“HA!” Val barked the laugh and then leaned against my side. “You're essentially insulting yourself when you say things like that.”

“I know. That's half the fun.” I said and put an arm around her waist. “So, do you spit or swallow?”

Val gave me a smug look before she smiled. “Are you asking for curiosity's sake or are you asking for a specific reason?”

“Unfortunately, curiosity. I don't want to jeopardize my chances with Liz.” I said and Val nodded. “I'm not dumb enough to do more than flirt with her friends.”

Val looked smug once more. “You know Liz knows you're eating Isabelle out, don't you?”

I let my smile change to a smirk. “And why exactly are you talking to me without Liz around?”

“Ha ha! You knew it's a huge selling point, you sneaky bastard.”

I nodded. “What better way to get the idea out there that I won't push things, even in the heat of passion, by getting a girl off without taking her virginity?”

A bus pulled up and Val sighed when I removed my arm from around her waist.

“This is me.” I said needlessly and she nodded. “I'll leave you with one more fact.”

“I can't wait to hear what you'll say to make me laugh this time.” Val responded with a wide smile.

“I never asked for anything in return from Isabelle and I don't even know what her breasts look like.” I said and saw the shock on Val's face before I stepped onto the bus. “See you on Tuesday.”

Val nodded and her eyes followed me as I used my bus pass and I sat down at the first window to look out at her. I waved to her when the bus pulled away and she waved back absently. With luck, Val will text Liz as soon as possible with that little tidbit and my chances with her will increase.

I just hoped that my job interview with her father pans out on Monday. I wasn't desperate enough to take any job, and yet, getting close to Mr. Toomes could only benefit me in the long run, so I had a lot to think about and to plan for.

*

The New York Library was a treasure trove of information. I had arrived that morning and returned the books I had borrowed a week before and the woman behind the counter gave me a significant look when she saw the weight lifting and college math book. I had thought about asking her if she wanted to test me on them, then realized she might take it the wrong way and I'd have to do her in the back office.

I kept my mouth shut about that and asked for help looking up animal and insect biology. She hopped up like something bit her and she led me over to the right section. She gave me an appraising look before she left and I could tell that she liked what she saw. Who would have thought wearing better clothes would get the attention of random girls? This guy, that's who.

I grabbed several advanced chemistry books and two biology books on spiders. I would need to do a lot of research on both if I was going to try and recreate what Peter did on pure instinct. I wasn't daunted by the thought, though. Since I became him before he had those kinds of thoughts, this was all new to the both of us. Any mental connections I made within my mind would be all mine now.

With that happy thought, I settled in for several hours of intense reading and taking lots of notes.

*

The weekend passed before I knew it and my research had borne a lot of ideas. I had expanded from chemistry and biology to mechanical power tools, from a power drill up to heavy equipment like operating a backhoe. I wasn't sure what would be useful when I spent the day with Mr. Toomes and I wanted to be as prepared as possible.

I had warned May about skipping school and that if anyone called, I was taking it off on her recommendation. She had laughed and smacked me, told me it didn't work that way, and said she would say I had a migraine and couldn't go. I figured that was good enough and accepted it.

I dressed in old jeans and a tough fabric plain t-shirt. I had been tempted to do one up with Bestman Salvage on it, then thought that was sucking up too much and discarded that idea. I went downstairs and waited by the front door of my apartment building for my ride.

I wasn't surprised when a beat up truck pulled to a stop on the street almost exactly at seven. I practically jumped inside and Adrian gave me a crooked smile before he drove away. We ended up at a moderately-sized building that was several floors high and it had a small lot next door that was full of construction equipment.

“You seem a little eager, Ben.” Adrian said as we pulled into the lot and parked beside a dump truck.

“I read about some of this equipment on Saturday in the library, sir. The things that can be done with them is amazing.” I said and he chuckled.

“I felt the same way when I first saw them, too.” Adrian said and we left the truck and went inside the building. “There's not a lot of luxury in here. This is a working man's business.”

“That's why I wore old jeans and not a suit, sir. I don't expect to be treated any differently than you would a normal guy on your crew.”

Adrian gave me an appraising look and nodded. “You were smart to assume that.”

I had to smile at his comment. “I do expect a lot of hand-holding and coddling, sir. I am a newbie at all of this.” I waved at the racks of power tools, sledge hammers, and crowbars. “I have some experience; but, nothing on a professional level like this.”

Adrian smiled. “Then let's get your intro to the guys out of the way. We've got a derelict building on fifty-seventh street that needs clearing out for a company to start building in February.”

I let out a whistle. “Two months is not a lot of time if the building is more than six floors, sir.”

Adrian chuckled and opened the door to the common room for the guys to rest in and gather for meals. “It's eight floors and we're going to gut the thing. We pull it down from the inside, starting from the top.”

I had to think about that. “If there's an elevator, you're going to clear it out and drop the materials down the shaft. If not, a stairwell could work if you remove half of the flights of stairs on one side. It adds extra specialized deconstruction time to do that, though.”

Adrian gave me a pointed look as several of the guys in the room laughed.

“Kids got a brain in his head!” One of them said.

“Your stairwell thing won't work.” Another said. “We just select a good secured spot in the floor and cut down through that.”

“Oh! You make your own shaft! That's so cool!” I exclaimed and the guys laughed.

“Sometimes a simpler solution works better.” Adrian said. “Guys, this is Ben. Ben, the guys.”

“That was a great intro boss.” One of the guys said and they all laughed.

“Today's just a test, so he doesn't need to know all our names. I wanna see if he has what it takes to be here.” Adrian explained.

“Part-timer?” The same guy asked.

“Hopefully.” I said. “Even though I need the money, school has to come first.”

“It's good to have priorities.” Adrian said.

“How are you here today? School's in, isn't it?” Someone else asked.

“I only have two classes all day. I'm going to check with the office and see if I can switch them to later in the week when I have other off classes. Having to spend all day at school for only two hours of subjects I don't need anyway, seems like a waste.”

“Damn right.” A burly man said. “It's like them inspectors making us stall a job until hey check all the safety equipment. As if any of us would be stupid enough to endanger ourselves!”

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A chorus of agreement came from the guys.

“That's your first lesson.” Adrian said and pointed to a large rack of jackets, hard hats, gloves, and safety straps. “Jack, you're on while we all get ready.”

Jack slapped his hands together to rub them. “I hope you like wearing tight things, kid.”

I had to grin at that. “I'll get used to it real quick, sir!”

All the guys laughed and we went over to the rack to get suited up. We had a big day ahead of us.

*

“Jesus, look at the kid go.” Jack whispered to Adrian as they took a coffee break and watched the new kid use the wheelbarrow to carry load after load of debris to the elevator shaft. “He's like a machine.”

“I think he's trying too hard to impress me.” Adrian whispered back.

Jack shook his head. “No, he isn't. He's actually enjoying himself. Just look at his face when he's filling the barrow.”

Adrian did as asked and his eyes widened slightly as Ben quickly filled the wheelbarrow with a huge smile on his face. “He's not even struggling with the bigger chunks of concrete.”

“He's also lifting them properly.” Jack said. “He's using his legs and arms like a pro weightlifter.”

Adrian watched as Ben really was very careful moving things and then he was across the space and dumped the wheelbarrow out.

“I'm tempted to try him out with a jackhammer, just to see him get the shit shaken out of him when he doesn't secure it properly.” Jack said with a grin.

Adrian laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “You can haze him after we work his ass off today.”

“Good point.” Jack said and finished his coffee. “He's definitely saved us a ton of time doing the grunt work while we get the serious stuff out of the way.”

Adrian nodded and they both went back to work.

The best part about having your company working on a local building was that you could call it a day on time and go home to eat supper with your family. They all went back to the company building, stripped off the safety equipment, and went home.

Adrian dropped Ben off at his apartment building and drove home. He couldn't get Ben's happy smile out of his head, though. Out of everything he had seen Ben do that day, including his laughter at the hazing the guys did to him with the jackhammer, it was knowing that Ben was actually happy to do the crap that the other guys on the crew hated to do that stuck in his mind.

That the crew gave their rousing endorsement of hiring the enthusiastic kid didn't help, either.

*

My various muscles screamed at me from the intense workout I had put them through all day. It actually felt great to me, because I hadn't realized the large range of movement that a body had to do while it performed such basic actions like filling a wheelbarrow or using a shovel. The more I did, the more I strained myself, and the more I benefited from it.

I could see my muscles popping as I flexed my arms and looked into the mirror at my reflection. I had gained some muscle mass after the bite and my body had converted into a more efficient version to handle the proportionate strength of a spider. I had just realized that it was a small and weak spider and I would need to change that as soon as possible.

“Ben! Supper is ready!” May called.

“I'll be right there!” I shouted back. I gave my reflection another glance and went to my room to grab a pair of jogging pants and a large t-shirt. I went downstairs and let out a laugh at the table being set up for a date and the candles were lit.

May beamed a smile at me and waved for me to sit. “I thought you deserved a bit of a treat after working hard all day.”

Instead of sitting, I walked around the table and gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

May blushed and hugged me back. “You're welcome, Ben.”

We sat down and I started telling her everything I had done that day. The different looks on her face as I described different things, showed that she really cared about how I was being treated.

“Ben, what you went through today...” May started to say.

“...is exactly what I wanted to happen.” I interrupted and she looked surprised. “You know everyone hates cleaning up.” I said and she nodded. “You know they always tease the new guy.” I said and she nodded again. “I showed that not only was I willing to work and do all the stuff they don't want to do, I was a good sport about it.”

“Ben, you...”

“I had fun. A lot of fun, to be honest.” I said and stood as I took off my t-shirt.

“B-Ben! What are you doing?” May asked with wide eyes.

“Showing you something.” I said and struck a classic weightlifter pose with a double arm curl. “Just look at those guns! They're popping like crazy!”

May's face was red as she looked at them. “Ben, what... why are you showing me that?”

I put my arms down and smiled at her. “I used muscles today that I didn't realize needed to be exercised. Even though I read about weightlifting and how to do it properly, I was neglecting some essential muscle groups, especially my core muscles.”

May's eyes went right to my abs and I lightly touched them and felt like they were a lot more defined.

“I can feel the strain I put them through and it feels good. Really good.” I said and picked up my t-shirt to put it back on. “I just hope Mr. Toomes realizes how much I liked working for him today.”

“I... I'm sure he did.” May said and her face stayed flushed red as she stood. “You should soak in the tub and let those muscles relax.”

“Ha! Not a chance!” I said and picked up our dishes and walked around the table to the sink. “You get up there and enjoy the bath you deserve. I filled the tub after my shower, so it should be near the right temperature for you.”

“Ben, I think you deserve it more today.” May said and started to fill the sink.

“That is never going to be true.” I said and turned to take her hands with mine. “I'm here now and I made it my priority to take care of you. That means you come first, no matter what.”

“Even if you start dating Liz?” May asked with a smile.

I gave her a pointed look and then laughed. “Doris is telling tales outside of school!”

May laughed, too. “She was as surprised as I was that you knew her daughter and you were actually talking to her.”

“I was, too. About Doris being her mom, I mean.” I said. “I told her dad I was thinking of asking her out this week or next.”

May gave me a surprised look. “You didn't.”

“He was going to give me the 'scare the punk away' speech and I cut him off.” I said with a smile.

May looked amused. “Doris did say you were cheeky and bold.”

“He definitely wasn't expecting me to be honest about it.”

“Who would?” May asked and started washing the dishes.

“Hey, I've got that. Get upstairs to your bath. I'll have the television on and I'll be ready to cuddle by the time you're done.”

May dried off her hands. “Thanks, Ben.”

“No thanks are needed. I can't let my reputation as the best roommate ever be ruined.”

May chuckled and kissed my cheek. She went up the stairs and I finished the dishes, dried my hands, and went to the couch. I turned on the television and only had to wait fifteen minutes before May was beside me wearing her big fluffy robe and she cuddled into my side as she pulled her legs up onto the couch to tuck under herself.

“You're stealing my job now?” I asked as I put an arm over her.

May softly laughed. “I like to be the one cuddled sometimes.”

“I suppose that's fair.” I said and hugged her as I handed her the remote.

We watched television for the rest of the evening and enjoyed it, just like we always did.

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