Peter paused on his way to the shower. "I can do this alone, Ova," he snapped.
"You need to be clean, Master! Hygiene is important!"
Peter rubbed his brow. "Ova--"
"Let her go with you," Mary Jane called over.
Peter looked up, startled. "What?"
"Peter, she's your sex Djinn and you've got her for life. Eventually you're going to shower together. Get it over with. Let her wash you. Come on her tits. Get with the program already."
Ova giggled. "I do like your redhead."
"...I wouldn't call her my redhead." Peter looked back at Mary Jane and Gwen. "Fine. Let's go."
Gwen watched the two walk into the bathroom. She looked back at Mary Jane. "So, this is all insane, right?"
"Totally." Mary Jane fell back onto Peter's bed. "Join me, won't you? We should get used to it now."
Gwen slid into bed next to Mary Jane. "Get used to it?"
Mary Jane turned to look at Gwen, through her red hair. "Peter's got a djinn of sex. She brought you back from death. She's going to use me to bring your father back. She is the definition of great power, and you and I? We have great responsibility. Why fight it?"
"You sound so bitter," Gwen said, stretching. "I'm the one who was falling off a bridge and landing on Peter's cock like a decade later."
"And that's what has me convinced this is all to the good, but I've lived through a lot with Peter, Gwen. You have no idea--"
Gwen snorted, shifting in the bed. She was in the white t-shirt and yoga pants Mary Jane had brought -- and clearly no underwear, if Mary Jane could judge by her breast's movements and the nipples showing through the cotton. "You'd be surprised."
Mary Jane shifted, propping on an elbow. "What do you mean?"
"Ova… she didn't just pluck me out of time and supercharge my hormones in the process. She brought me up to date. Exhaustively. Including lots of things I'd never normally have learned. Like… I got to see every second Doctor Octopus -- Doctor Octopus -- had Peter's body."
"Don't remind me," Mary Jane said. "He and I--"
"I know." She took a deep breath. "He killed my father. I thought it was Spider-Man but it was Doc Ock. And later, he ended up being Peter… and even…"
"...growing better for it. I know that too. It was horrifying and weird and… really Peter Parker's life. It's why I tried to punch out when I did."
Gwen shivered, looking away. "No. No it's not."
Mary Jane paused. "Gwen? Gwennie? What do you know that I don't?"
Gwen looked back at Mary Jane, lips pursed, eyes wide. "I don't know if I can tell you," she whispered. "I don't know if that'll... "
"...that'll… what?"
Gwen closed her eyes. "MJ… you didn't leave Peter because his life was so hard. You left Peter because it hurt too much to stay."
Mary Jane stared at Gwen. "What?" Her heart was pounding… that little pain in the back of her head was back, too…
Gwen closed her eyes. "Mary Jane… you were married to Peter. For years. Your marriage had rocky points but weathered the tests of time. But then Peter's Aunt May was nearly killed because Peter had revealed his identity--"
"And Doctor Strange made it so everyone forgot his identity. I know."
"That only happened later. First… there was no way to save May Parker… until Mephisto offered to save her… but only if you sacrificed your marriage."
Mary Jane opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Wh-what?"
"You and Peter agreed to sacrifice your marriage -- your happiness together -- leaving only a tiny piece of your souls remembering what you had. That's what hurts so badly. That's what wants you two to get back together but also drives you apart. Especially…"
"Especially…?" Mary Jane's head was spinning -- this was insane… and all the worse because something in her felt… like she had heard it all before…
Gwen took a deep breath. "In for a penny. Mary Jane… your marriage happened. You remember how Ova was careful not to change history when she saved me? Mephisto didn't bother being careful because he didn't change history. You got married. You just forgot. And that means… every time you or Peter have had a relationship since then…"
"...we've been cheating on each other," Mary Jane half-whispered.
"...yeah." Gwen looked away. "And I did the same last night. I fucked your husband… once to save myself, but then for the rest of the night because--"
"Because you're alive, and you're relieved, and you had all this laid on you, and Peter needed you and you needed him." Mary Jane turned and looked at Gwen. "I told you before. You get to fuck Peter. If Peter and I…" Mary Jane shuddered. "If we're married? Then you're his exception. You can't cheat with Peter because you… because…" Mary Jane closed her eyes. "Oh God, I'm gonna be sick."
Gwen's eyes grew wide, and she darted off the bed, grabbing a wastebasket. She made it with seconds to spare, holding Mary Jane's hair out of the basket while Mary Jane put bile-laden pastry and coffee into the basket.
"...oh God I'm sorry," Mary Jane moaned. "God, it's the Retro Sock Hop all over again."
"I told you not to drink all that vodka. Wild girl."
"Miss Perfect."
"Jerk."
"Princess."
Despite themselves, the two began to snicker. After a few moments, that turned into Mary Jane shuddering with tears. Gwen shifted the redhead into a hug, rocking her. "I know," she whispered. "I lost years too."
"I can almost remember," Mary Jane whispered. "And I'm scared… scared that if I do…"
"That it'll all be undone and May will die. I know."
Mary Jane squeezed Gwen… then seemed to shift in the girl's arms, her muscles tensing.
"MJ…?"
"Gwen… we have an omnipotent sex genie jacking off the man we both love in the next room."
Gwen froze. "...does that mean she's stronger than Mephisto?"
"I have no idea. But if we can leverage that--"
"How? MJ… we can't make her wishes -- only Peter can, and if we tell Peter--"
"...then if it is going to ruin things that'll be the breaking point. I know. We have to figure out another way. Figure out a way to get Peter to use her power to break Mephisto's hold without tipping him off."
Gwen shivered. "He barely wants to use her power now."
"I know." Mary Jane took a deep breath. "That has to change. She's his live-in sex djinn, right? Well. We're now his live-in Spider-Harem. Encouraging him. Suggesting to him. Fucking his brains out. Loosening him up. Making him more willing, less guarded."
"...that's… going to take some convincing."
"I know." Mary Jane's brow furrowed. "We need help."
"Help? Who? Who do we -- Felicia Hardy? She doesn't even know me."
"Felicia eventually. But not at first. We need to break through Peter's sexual hangups." Mary Jane sounded… oddly determined.
"...okay, somewhere between the two of us we have every dream Peter had of 'one true love' slash O.T.P., MJ. Who's going to be better than we are at loosening Peter up?"
"That's just it. Peter loves us both, and gets guilty over it because Peter mainlines guilt like cocaine. We need pure, unemotional sex. You got to be briefed about so many people and events when Ova brought you through time." Mary Jane leaned back. "Tell me… what do you know about Cindy Moon?"
Gwen blinked. "What -- Silk? The girl who got bit by the same spider Peter did?"
Mary Jane slowly smiled. "That's the one."
There was a shout, followed by Ova yelling "I'm sorry!" from the other room. And something about accidental biting.
Mary Jane slid out of bed. "Trust me, Gwen. We get Cindy Moon in the Spider-Harem, and Peter will loosen the Hell up. Now come on, we have to go find out what Ova bit and calm Peter down." She paused. "God, it's like I never quit Stark Technologies."