Give 'Em the Run Around || Mary

It was later than what Mary realized by the time she began making her way back to her apartment. She hadn’t mean to stay out late enough where she’d be forced to walk the streets of Hell’s Kitchen in the darkening hours, but somehow she had lost track of time. It hadn’t bee her normal blackout episodes, of that she was certain. But still, her errands, which had only been a few to begin with, had blossomed and grown into more and more as the day progressed. In truth, that had been Typhoid’s doing. Unbeknownst to Mary, the second voice in her head could influence her to a point, even when not in the proverbial driver’s seat. All she had to do was send little mental suggestions into Mary’s subconscious and, like an obedient dog, the girl would obey.

Why she did this? Maybe it was on a simple whim. After all, Typhoid did get bored rather easily and she did love fucking with Mary. Yes, she was aware that technically without the little wallflower she wouldn’t exist, but she wasn’t the type to behave all the time just for that little reason. Besides, Mary had lived most of her life behind the safety of thick walls and barred windows. She needed to experience the world and live a little. Maybe that was why she kept Mary distracted enough that she was walking through a very bad part of town later than normal. When the three men began tailing Mary, giving her little whistles and catcalls, Typhoid smirked inside the girl’s head. Was this the danger Bullseye had talked about.

Mary, meanwhile, was quite nervous over being followed. She kept her pace quick and quiet, ignoring everything the men said to her or asked her, having the feeling that they weren’t ones to play nice with a girl like her. She thought she had taken the proper turn, a shortcut Mr. Bullseye had shown to her, but in fact it had only taken her to a dead-end alley, where the only exit was now blocked by the men she was trying to avoid. They all had weapons pulled and were advancing in the slow, menacing way that most criminals did. Mary, not one to fight, did the only thing she could think of: she screamed.

Amazingly enough, her yell was heard…. by a person clad in red and blue. He stuck to the wall like it was nothing and then performed acrobatic tricks she thought only circus men could do. Was that what he was? A performer? Ropes appeared from his hands, entangling the thugs. Mary could only watch in amazement as the masked man made quick work of the three. Typhoid was equally impressed, watching all of this with a little smirk. Well, he was certainly new to New York. They’d certainly have heard about him in the papers. If they read the papers, that is.

Mary blinked, a bit stunned and perplexed as she watched this masked man make quips and jump around, handling the three men like they were nothing. In fact, it took her a bit to respond to him once they were alone… or as alone as they could get, what with the tied up thugs. “Yes, I’m all right. They… They didn’t touch me or anything, if that is what you were wondering. How? How did you do this? All of that, I mean. Are you with the circus?” Upon asking that, Mary felt a bit foolish. It wasn’t the time of year for the circus to show up, and performers didn’t cover up the entirety of their faces like this man did. They didn't exactly fight crime either.

Curiosity got the better of Mary and she slowly approached the men. Touching the substances that surrounded them, she was surprised to find that it wasn’t ropes at all, but a part of webbing. Looking back at the masked crusader, she didn’t see any devices on him that would cause such an effect. “Are… are you a mutant? Is that how you could do this? Make webs out of thin air?” Mutants were…. honestly, Mary didn’t know what to think of mutants. Some of the doctors at the institution suspected that she was one, but that made no sense. She had no powers, and whatever tests they ran on her came back negative in terms of mutations. They said the other woman inside of her was cause enough for being a mutant, but that idea barely held any water in Mary’s mind. Firstly, there was no other woman, and secondly, if there was, multiple personality disorder was a mental illness, not a mutant power.

Typhoid, meanwhile, just watched this man. Something about him seemed off. Yeah, he was taller than Mary, but that didn’t mean much. She got the feeling that he was trying to show off for her, like some dumb teenager who found himself a pretty girl he liked. She mentally nudged Mary to ask a question. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“You really do swing around quite a lot. And you are more active than the neighborhood watch. But I thought it was the job of the watch to simply report crime, not actively stop it,” Mary said with a little smile. His antics again reminded her of a boy wanting to show off for a girl, but why would anyone risk their life for her? “I think the police would be happy to have you on their side,” she added offhandedly. Whether they would actually employ him, she wasn’t quite sure, but he would likely have to give up the mask if he did decide to join the boys in blue.

Even with his face hidden, Mary could tell just how unsure he was about the origins of his abilities. His words were one indication, but even with his insecurities about it, the boy could have come out and said out right that he wasn’t a mutant or fabricated some story similar to Captain America. Why he struggled with information like this, she wasn’t sure. Being a mutant wasn’t the best thing to be right now, so his slow answer was…. interesting. “It’s all right. I’m not a mutant either, but I have nothing against them. I wouldn’t hold it against you if you were one. You did save my life, after all.” She wanted to put him at ease. “I think you are really smart if you’re able to make devices that shoot out webbing strong enough to hold you and other people. I’m sure that with technology like this, you could be a millionaire if you patent it and sell it to the right people.” Typhoid just rolled her eyes. God, Mary could really be naive sometimes.

“Friendly, Neighborhood Spider-Man?” she chuckled a little at that. “That’s quite a mouthful. My name’s Mary Walker. And, I do apologize, but I’m new around here so I’m not very familiar with all the local heroes. Would you forgive me?” she asked sweetly. She paused for a moment before her body language took on a different stance and her voice grew a bit more husky as a sultry look developed in her eyes. “Actually, screw forgiveness. You’re a bit too scrawny to be a man, and I think I heard your voice crack a few times. How about Spider-boy?” Typhoid laughed.

Wow, this Spider sure talked a lot. It actually started to get on Typhoid’s nerves with the amount that he kept going. Blah, blah, blah. Like a never-ending stream of consciousness. That knowledge made her knock his age down to just below what Mary’s was. Which meant that he was the perfect age to fuck around with. Typhoid could help but smirk. “Oh come on, Spider. What? You can’t take a little name-calling? Haven’t you ever heard of ‘sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me’? I mean,s hit, you just beat the crap out of a bunched of thugs, can’t you handle a little good-natured jab at you still dealing with puberty?” she smirked.

“You got your name in a cage match? Really? Firstly…. where are one of those? I want to be able to get in on the action. Secondly? Why didn’t you change your name after the cage match? Don’t tell me you’re under some legal binding contract thing? I could probably make the other guy change his mind, you know. For a small price, off course.” She looked him over once again as she talked. His sudden awkwardness around her was practically palpable. “What’s the matter, Spidey? Suddenly nervous? You were fine around little Mary. What made you change your stance when I showed up?”

Typhoid sauntered over to him, a little swing in her hips as she approached, and gently slipped an arm around his shoulder. With the mask and the lack of good lighting, she couldn’t really see through the mesh that covered his eyes, which was a pity because she really did want to get an idea of what the kid looked like underneath. “Don’t tell me I’m the first girl you’ve ever saved,” she teased, tracing the emblem on his chest with her finger. “A young guy like you, dressed in such…. tight clothing? Showing off every inch of your body?” she chuckled, biting her lower lip in a teasing and provocative manner. “I bet you drive all the girls wild in this, don’t you?” she whispered into where she thought his ear would be, drawing herself closer. “You ever been kissed before, kid?” The question was hot and soft, with a hint of sweet shyness that Mary might have added, were she in control. Typhoid however, just put it in because she wanted to see this little bug tremble.

Okay, the Stick Man and Colossal Stone joke was kind of funny, causing Typhoid to chuckle just a bit. “Eighteen? Nice. Mary’s that age too. Which, by extension, so am I.” If you wanted to get technical about that though, Typhoid didn’t exist in Mary’s head until she was in the institutions, so she was younger than eighteen. But she wasn’t about to get into that sordid mess. After all, she was liking the Spider, so saying anything about Mary being crazy was a definite turn-off.

“Wait wait wait,” she told him, holding up a hand, wanting him to stop. “Are you saying that you’re a professional wrestler? That’s how you got your start? That…. wow.” Typhoid actually chuckled a bit at that fact. “I really didn’t expect that, but at least it’s better than being an ex-circus performer,” she said, referring to Mary’s earlier guess. “Ding ding ding, give the boy a prize for guessing correctly. No, I’m not Mary. How could you tell? Was it the lack of being scared? The flirting, or the simple fact that I’m completely different from her in every way, save for appearances?” she smirked, giving him a little hip bump. “My name’s Typhoid. Now, don’t worry, I’m not some horrible disease, or anything like that. The boys at where I stayed just had a dark sense of humor. They said Mary was like that Irish woman some years back, didn’t know what she had inside her, so the joke was that she was the new Typhoid Mary. I just took the name to distinguish myself from her.”

Typhoid smiled when he held her hand to his chest. It was a nice sensation, making her get a little closer to him. “Of course I’m offering you a kiss, Spider. What other way could a girl say thank you?” Her voice was soft and warm, with just a hint of a tease, like velvet over steel. She pressed into him, pushing him back into a nearby wall, as her fingers found the edges of his mask and began to peel it upwards. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to raise its more than needed. I sort of like a man of mystery,” she reassured him. Then she kissed him, taking full initiative, and adding perhaps just a bit of fire to the action, warming the Spider’s lips.

She tried to ignore the comment about the men in white coats. She really did. The kiss helped her do that, even if he was tense. Typhoid smirked, feeling how stiff and unmoving he was, and not exactly in the way she wanted. Was he nervous or worried she’d do something crazy and stupid? Maybe she shouldn’t have told him her whole life story. That would have made things a bit less awkward, but then again Typhoid was never one to give a damn about that sort of thing. But, once the Spider relaxed and pulled her closer into the kiss, she smiled, figuring that maybe she had broken the ice enough and he wasn’t going to call her nuts or a freak. She’d like that.

But then, as soon as it had begun, the kiss was over. Just abruptly stopped. Like he had calculated the exact length a kiss should been from watching romantic movies. Typhoid blinked at that, feeling a bit stunned by it all. “That’s it? Oh boy, Spider, you sure do know how to sweep a girl off her feet. I think I’m going to answer my last question myself. No, you’ve never kissed or been kissed by a girl, and I think I can see why. Your technique needs some serious work. God help the next girl you lock lips with.” Typhoid walked around for a few steps, kicking a glass bottle with her shoe and watched it smash entirely against the nearby brick wall.

”Of course,” she said, drawing out the last word as she spun on her heels. “I could teach you how to properly seduce a lady. Because I’m sure me and Mary won’t be the only girls you save in your lifetime. There may be other ladies out there with higher levels of expectation. You don’t want them disappointed, do you, Spider?” she asked, trying to sound genuine. “We can go back to my place. It’s a very nice apartment not too far away. We can spend the night there without any interruptions and I can teach you everything I know.” Which, surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, was more than what Mary knew. “So how about it? Interested?”