A few minutes later, he heard his phone ringing. Picking it up, he heard Gwen's voice.
"Since when do you have a cat? It's so cute. Is it a he or she? What's its name?"
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Hearing her rambling, he chuckled. Bast looked up from the remnants of her plate. She had obviously broken it while eating. She gave him a strange look before going back to eating the few leftovers on the plate.
"I found her upon returning to my apartment. She managed to get in, I don't know how. It's a she, and her name is Bast."
He managed not to lie to her once more. Since they started talking, he tried to lie to her as little as possible. It wasn't always easy, but he didn't want a possible relationship to be based on lies.
"Bast, like the Egyptian Goddess of protection and fertility, right?"
"Exactly, I knew you would get it immediately."
"Yeah, well, it's not exactly hard to get."
She seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing,
"I didn't call only to tell you how cute this cat is. I also wanted to apologise for today. I know you said that it's not important, but I think it is. Guys have always been uncomfortable with my friendship with Peter, and I assumed you would be the same. I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"
He was slightly surprised to hear her say that. He assumed it was a closed matter after their conversation at the cafeteria, but it seemed Gwen didn't want to let it rest.
"For me, the matter was already closed, and I don't blame you. If you really want to do something, just give me some more of your recipes. I loved the lasagna."
He could hear her breath hitch slightly over the phone, but not understanding why, he didn't question it, only waiting for her response. When it came, her voice was soft and slightly strained.
"Of course, Arthur. I will send you some more recipes."
"Great, I can't wait to try them."
She took a deep breath and asked,
"Do you want to go eat together this Saturday?"
He grimaced slightly, having already planned to go to the Kamar-Taj branch in New York and not knowing how long he would take, or if he would even come out alive.
She seemed to hear his hesitation and asked in the smallest voice he had ever heard from her,
"Do, hum, do you not want to go out with me anymore?"
That snapped him out of his thoughts, and he hurriedly replied,
"What, of course not. I just already had something planned for the coming weekend. I was thinking about how to organise my appointment to be able to go out with you."
She seemed relieved but still doubtful, so he spoke again,
"Seriously, Gwen, I would love to go eat with you, but would Friday night be alright with you instead of Saturday? Because I don't know if I will even be in New York for the weekend."
"After classes?"
"Yeah, we could drop off our bags in my apartment, go see a movie, and eat afterwards. Interested?"
He could almost feel the relief flowing out of her.
"Yes, I am interested. Of course I am. See you Friday then."
"No, Gwen, see you tomorrow. We unfortunately still have classes."
She laughed awkwardly before saying goodbye and hanging up. As he was thinking about their chat, Bast's voice once again surprised him.
"IS IT YOUR MATE?"
He blushed crimson before standing up and turning around to hide his face from her view.
"Of course not. We only just met a week ago."
"YOU SEEM TO WANT TO MATE HER."
He violently turned around, a reply on his lips that died as he saw her smirk and the satisfied shine in her eyes. Huffing, he turned around and ignored her.
She laughed at him.
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The rest of the week until Friday went more or less the same way. He woke up at 6, worked out a bit, ate, showered, and was on his way to classes by 7:30. His lessons were easy for him. He had already read all the yearly material and was starting on the years ahead of him.
For lunchtime, he ate with Gwen and Peter every other day, leaving them to speak alone the other day. He didn't manage to make any other friends, but that was totally his fault. He was not nerdy enough for the nerds, not jock enough for the jocks, and nowhere near normal enough for the normies.
The only interesting thing happened Wednesday. As he was leaving the cafeteria with his tray, Flash tried to trip him. It seemed being friends with the nerd Peter and flirting with the beautiful Gwen Stacy had attracted respectively disdain and burning jealousy. He obviously didn't fall. Instead, he walked on Flash's foot, who hasn't been seen since. He will apparently be sidelined for three months with a broken ankle. How awful.
At the end of the day, he came back home to cook for himself and Bast, worked out once more, showered, lay down on the couch to watch a show, and was generally asleep by 10 in the evening.
Living with Bast was surprisingly easy. She understood that the chaos he could bring was not going to happen every day. She also seemed to have understood that they were going on a little trip the coming weekend, so she stayed patient.
By Friday, he had managed to get into a routine. The slight stress of the coming date didn't bother him too much. He even liked it a little bit. The slight tension between him and Gwen over the last few days was delicious. He couldn't wait to know more about her.
There were still some, well, let's say universal concerns that came back every day, things he couldn't really impact or prepare for right now, like Thanos or the Dark Elves. But even things coming faster, like the Chitauri invasion, were only some months away. Yet Arthur hadn't really changed anything in the world.
He wasn't really unconcerned, but his coming meeting with the Ancient One had probably opened so many doors for him that planning something right now, only to throw it out in two days, seemed like a waste of time.
'I hope everything goes smoothly Saturday.'
He thought before focusing on the approaching Gwen, dressed in blue jeans and a white shirt. She looked lovely.
"Ready for our second date, Gwen?"
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