in which a guy i've never met yells at me about his dead dad

                                    

                                          
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
                          
"Oh, they're definitely kissing." Ben whispers to May as they continue to spy on Peter and MJ under the table.
                          
"I'm still not, uh, what's that big word daddy uses when he's not sure about something?"
                          
"I dunno," Ben frowns. "claustrophobic?"
                          
"That's not even close!" May matches her brother's expression. "That means you're scared of small places."
                          
"Uncle Ned says that means you're afraid of Santa Claus . . . but I don't think he's right."
                          
"That's from SpongeBob," May replies in frustration. "It's, like, con-something."
                          
Ben's eyes light up. "Convinced?"
                          
"Yeah, that one!" May says. "I'm still not convinced."
                          
"Who're we spying on?" Peter says from the kitchen. "And why would you hide under the dining table of all places?"
                          
"Uh . . ." Ben says. "We were playing hide and seek?"
                          
May nods quickly with wide eyes.
                          
"And just who were you hiding from?"
                          
" .  .  . Grandpa Tony?"
                          
"What about Grandpa Tony?" Tony's voice booms from the hallway into the kitchen.
                          
"Aw man . . . you found us." Ben acts, putting on a pouty face.
                          
"What?"
                          
"Grandpa Tony," MJ asks, "have you been playing hide and seek with the Parker siblings?"
                          
"Which set?" Tony asks seriously. "If it's the second generation, Peter's already lost. Paige is much better than you at this game."
                          
"Second gen'ration?" Ben asks.
                          
"Uncle Ben was my dad's brother, which makes you guys the third generation of Parker siblings, I believe, but there were probably more." Peter explains to him before turning to Tony. "Paige is missing?"
                          
"Not missing, per se . . . I just haven't seen her ever since she finished working and let Yelena do her part of the project," Tony says, avoiding the subject of the mean man. "Speaking of Yelena, I haven't seen her either."
                          
"Oh no." Peter gasps. "The two youngest spider sibling sisters? That's a scary thought."
                          
"Because they are scary when they work together."
                          
"Spider siblings?" May asks. "I thought Paige wasn't a 'venger."
                          
"She's not," Tony says quickly. "But Yelena is a Black Widow like her sister."
                          
"Then why is Paige a spider sibling but not Auntie Nat?"
                          
"They're . . . working together. On a project."
                          
May doesn't look convinced.
                          
"We'll talk later," Peter tells her. "Why is Paige missing? She didn't go on a mis- to work and not tell me bye, did she?"
                          
"No," Tony reassures him. "Last I saw, she and Yelena were working on their project, then Yelena left and said they were, uh, going somewhere. But she didn't tell me where."
                          
"Did they tell anyone?"
                          
"Not that I know of . . ." Tony's cut off by his phone ringing. "Sorry. Hang on." As soon as Tony answers it, he sighs loudly in exasperation. "Brock, if this is about tater tots and chocolate again, I am going to personally french fry you so you look like a small, crispy, bite-sized potato  . . ."
                          
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
                          
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU STILL HAVEN'T TRACKED THEM DOWN?" Peter and Natasha yell at the same time. May and Ben stare in shock. Everyone is completely aware that Paige and Yelena are more than able to fend for themselves, but they're still the little siblings and Peter and Nat are rightfully worried.
                          
Ben would be terrified out of his mind if May went missing all of sudden. Miss MJ said that she had little siblings, too, and that she would also be scared if something were to happen to her younger siblings. Apparently, he had said, it's a big sibling thing, but then Miss MJ had said that it was actually mutual, a familial instinct. Aunt May is scared out of her mind and apparently his Aunt Paige was scared for the five years Peter, her brother, had been gone.
                          
Aunt May explained that she had siblings, too, and that one of them got really sick once, and she cried every day for a week.
                          
While Peter, Auntie Nat, and the rest of their family argued, Miss MJ offered to take them out for ice cream and pizza. Mister Brock tagged along.
                          
"From journalist to reporter, if any of this ends up public, I will kill you myself." Miss MJ had told him. She doesn't know that he heard her say that.
                          
Mister Brock was . . . strange, to say the least. He would talk to someone who wasn't really there, and Ben wondered why he wasn't in a psych ward, like the crazy people in the shows Aunt May watches.
                          
He replied, when he asked, that he had a parasite, then proceeded to argue with himself (?) about being (having?) a parasite. Then he explained that he saved people in San Francisco. Ben recognized the name San Francisco from Full House. And when Ben asked if he was a superhero, he said not really, but I do save people. No, I am not a cop. So, Eddie was a little strange, and he wasn't an Avenger, either . . . but neither were Daddy and Paige, and they work for the Avengers.
                          
A woman on the other side of the restaurant started calling for help when a man tried to rob her wallet off the table, and a deep voice said coming from nowhere said bad guy, right? followed by a yep from Eddie.
                          
And then Eddie proceeded to get up and walk over the man. When Miss MJ uncovered his and May's eyes, the man was gone. Eddie looked uncomfortable.
                          
"Mister Brock, are you okay?" Ben asked.
                          
"Yep."
                          
"Where did the man go?"
                          
"I . . . scared him off."
                          
"Oh. Okay." he's not buying it, though, and seeing his sister's face, he can tell that she's not either. 
                          
And everyone else's faces in the restaurant.
                          
"Come on," Miss MJ says. "Let's go."
                          
They spend the rest of the day at the park before heading to the bookstore. Eddie gets kicked out at one point, though, because he was talking too much apparently, so he waited outside until they finished. Miss MJ bought him and May some books- all kinds of books!- so maybe it was worth Eddie getting kicked out of the library.
                          
"Tired yet, kiddos?" MJ asks. Eddie had to leave a bit earlier because he said someone needed his help.
                          
"Noooooo," Ben and May say.
                          
"Well, you guys want to go to my house and play Mario Kart? Aunt May has to work tonight."
                          
"Can we spend the night?" Ben asks. He hears his Dad's voice in his head, then, and apologizes for asking.
                          
"I said I'm always here," MJ says. "You guys are more than welcome to stay over any time."
                          
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
                          
Turns out, MJ's house is the best.
                          
Well, her apartment, anyway. He didn't know she lived a few doors down and across the hall from his family. 
                          
His Daddy walks in later, looking really tired. 
                          
"Daddy! Will you come play Mario Kart with me?"
                          
Despite looking tired, he smiles. "Sure, buddy." he says. "I'd love that."
                          
Ben smiles widely in excitement, and sets up another remote for his dad.