Confused Date
Trixie thinking in a panic: "Oh my god! I can't believe this is happening. I mean, I knew he dated Rose for a bit, but that was back in middle school, and many things have changed since then!"
Trixie was walking back and forth inside her apartment as she was about to go on a "practice" date since it was the only way Jake was willing to accept her confession, as he never really saw her as someone like that but was willing to try and see if they'd be a good couple.
Of course, Trixie had similar feelings herself, as she's never thought of him as anything more than a friend for as long as she could remember, but during the whole symbiote wars event, along with everything that happened since her family left New York for a bit, she's realized that she cares more about her friend than she thought.
Honestly, Trixie has no idea if the way she feels about Jake is even love or just worry for his safety, considering everything the guy's been through, as his family has only ever lived in this godforsaken lands!
When it was finally time for the date to start, Trixie headed outside with Jake and just began enjoying the little festival stalls that were set up by one of the many different groups.
As the city has had many things happen to it, it's far easier to just accept that almost every other week has some form of celebration festival happening for all the people to enjoy and forget the worries about whatever happened.
This festival was one based around the massive battle between superheroes from Captain America's day as they fought off an invading alien army that wanted to make Earth either one of their planets or a brand-new home planet.
The exact reason for the aliens invading has been lost and muddled through time since Cap's time, but what was still known was that they were the thing that made little green Martian men popular fear characters in movies.
All the street stalls were filled with cartoon alien figures like target blasts, grenade (water balloon) tosses, character art, and, of course, many custom-made foods that you could only get at these kinds of events, with the most famous being Cosmic Cookies that truly tasted out of this world.
Trixie's first stop was to get their paintings made, as apparently the guy who only showed up to one of these things once a year seemed to have a gift where he could paint how exactly the relationship between a group of at most six people was and how it'd change over the years.
AKA, this was a popular dating spot where people who wanted to know if they'd truly be happy with their partners or people they were wanting to be their partners went, and since the number of people with true future sight was very small, this was the best way for most people to see if this relationship was worth it or not.
But because of how popular it was and because it was supposedly one person doing all the art, the area was, of course, completely booked for possibly hours, so with a huff and a puff, Trixie began dragging Jake with her to try some cookies.
Again, since they're popular, they were all sold out for the moment at least, and everyone would have to wait for about an hour so they could get more cookies, as they're apparently hard or impossible to make in the little ten.
Everywhere Trixie took Jake, something bad kept happening over and over again and again till eventually the two got kicked out of the festival area as Trixie and some random lady who was impossible for Trixie to win against, considering she broke something metal-looking in half.
Next to him was some big buff Black man who seemed to like yellow and black, as he was wearing a mostly yellow shirt and a yellow and black leather jacket, while some blond, white guy who wore mostly green except the exact same yellow shirt as the Black man.
Jake: "(Drags Trixie away.) Okayyy. I think that's enough of that for now at least."
To get Trixie away, Jake had to drag her away like she was a giant child, as she was literally kicking and screaming at everything around her for just how unfair everything seemed to her, and she only managed to calm down by the time Jake made it to her house.
Jake: "Look. (Pats Trixie's head as he brushes off some dust and other things she got from her little meltdown.) You know I find parties as much fun as the next guy, but since your date seemed to fail, let me take the lead, okay?"
Trixie just nodded her head like a little kid, as she just wanted to redo the entire day, and even if she's not truly in love with Jake, then just the fact that one of her best friends had seen her like that was more than a little embarrassing.
What's even worse was how Jake's date idea was much better than her own, as Jake ordered some good pizza, their favorite drinks, some terrible chips they loved to force the other to eat, and just everything they usually did for a casual chill hangout.
It was the best day she's had in quite a long time, and it was all the more heartbreaking when she realized that maybe. Just maybe these feelings of hers were just worries after all, as she felt a pain in her chest whenever she thought of Jake being alone, but now that they were together, she felt calm and at peace.
Trixie thinks: "Who needs a stupid piece of paper trying to tell me how I feel about Jake? I already know he's the best friend I could have ever asked for (smiles as brightly and gently she possibly could)."
When all the food was gone and the movies had been watched, Trixie was quick to kick Jake out of her house, as she didn't really tell her parents she was going to be hanging out with Jake, let alone the mess they made of the living room.
Jake: "Okay. Okay! I know you want me out already, but I just want to say. (Gives Trixie a kiss on the forehead) I had fun tonight, and if you ever want to 'practice' again, then I'm here whenever you may need me."
With a gentle smile and wave, Jake began to run away as Trixie slowly closed the door and slumped down on the floor, wondering just what the heck that meant along with why she was feeling very hot and why her heart seemed to be beating so fast.
Meanwhile, far off in the city fair, Harry was enjoying himself with Penny as best he could anyway, as he was now the head of Oscorp, and while many people would be losing their minds if he was in front of them.
Thanks to a new Oscrop mask, his face and voice were completely different from how he usually looked, which used Jake's face as a template but made it look far more emo, as his hair was slumped down and had a bang that was covering his right eye.
With some special glasses Penny could see right through the disguise and was kind of annoyed at seeing her best friend with her other best friend's face as Harry seemed to try and pretend to be him instead of acting like his normal self.
At least that's what Penny thought, but as Harry was now free to do anything he ever wanted in life, he was doing just that, and as he spent a lot of time with Jake, some of his personality rubbed off onto Harry, just like some of Penny's did for him.
The duo, unlike Trixie and Jake, actually managed to do everything Trixie wanted to do, with their first stop being the Cosmic Cookies, and while Harry seemed to love them, Penny herself thought they were just massive versions of Cosmic Brownies but with something else added to them that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
Next up was the drawing of the pair, which was not as good as Harry would have liked, as the drawing of them showed they had a stable relationship but had many friction events that could break it apart at worst and, at best, fade to being nothing more than friends as close as family.
Harry was very angry over this news and wanted to make a scene, but he knew that Penny wouldn't like that, and the last thing he wanted to do in life was cause any reason for them to not pair up together.
But then Harry realized that since he looked like Jake, the picture must have meant the relationship between Penny and Jake, and he let out a sigh of relief and just had the smugest grin Penny had ever seen him make as they kept stall hopping.
For the most part the duo had fun, but they didn't exactly have the time of their lives either... well, Harry did, but that was because as the son of his father he had developed the bad habit of doing everything first and thinking that Penny just wanted to see how manly and good he was, while in reality she actually wanted to have some fun herself.
If it were any other day or any other person, Penny would have told them off for treating her like some kind of trophy wife, but since Harry was her best friend and because he'd been super busy with running Oscorp, she assumed Harry needed this break and just let him act like a little kid.
When the pair finally finished their date, Harry thought it was the best date in the world, nay, the UNIVERSE! Penny, however, had to rate it, if she even realized it was a date, as a solid two, maybe three if the food had been better.
Penny thinks: "I finally know why so many of my coworkers were afraid to date their coworkers, or even worse, the boss. If I have to deal with all this stuff just to keep Harry happy, then I might as well stay with the Daily Bugle, taking photos of myself. At least with that I could occasionally take fun pictures of myself."
Harry thinks: "Oh my god! That was the best! The only thing that could make it better was if the picture of us showed a better romantic light, but I guess that's what I get for using Jake's face as my own. Well, at least Penny had fun, and maybe I finally made some progress in getting her to see me as more than just a friend and finally a partner!"
Sadly, for Harry, he just wasn't Penny's type, as she preferred men like either leader of the Avengers, aka she likes someone who's not afraid of action, wants to help the people no matter what, and most of all is a hero who can keep up with her work and, if not, at least let her forget all the pain of being a pro hero.
Again, sadly for Harry, Penny didn't seem to think of him as anything closely related to what she wanted and instead began to think of Jake, which caused her to shake her head since, while he might have met some of what she wanted, he was still a killer who didn't seem to have any regard for human life.
Penny: "That's the one thing I can't forgive."
Harry: "Hm?"
Penny: "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about Jake."
Hearing this caused Harry's happy smile to quickly fade as his anger rose and the voice in the back of his head started whispering into his ear once more.
Penny: "(Grips her hands) I just can't believe the way he acts and thinks! I mean, just what the heck is up with him!"
Harry: "What happened?"
Penny: "(Sighs) Don't worry about it. It's just that while he is one of my best friends (crosses her arms), I don't want to see him anytime soon. Or even (shudders) anything more than being friends with the guy."
Hearing this made Harry very happy, as he was basically doing a little dance and jig as he celebrated the news and wanted to take off his hologram mask and have the artist make a new drawing of the real him and Penny.
But he knew that to do that meant more problems than they were worth, so he just let things go and celebrated this private victory to himself.
What Harry and Penny, along with everyone else, didn't know, however, was that EVERYONE who draws at these events is the guy as Loki, being the god of mischief and all, and had found these stalls one day while on earth and, for a little fun, made the little event happen.
And since he couldn't really give all children of man the gift of future sight, he gave them the next best thing that was allowed by celestial law and made it to where they drew their soul lines within the drawings to see how well they paired up.
This meant that no matter the face, Harry was always going to be doomed to be nothing more than Penny's best friend, probably even a brother to her. What this meant for Jake or anyone else, well, as they didn't get a drawing, who can really say?
That's all for now hope you all enjoyed and until next time stay safe and peace!