Because of "Elektra's" death, Matt would undoubtedly be in mourning for several days. Moreover, a foundation had to be laid for his "darkening"; he couldn't very well decide he was turning evil the moment his girlfriend died.
To be honest, if it weren't for the disappearance of the Silver Samurai and the fact that the Hydra group was running around with Norn Stones, last night would have been a perfect opportunity for a total wipeout. But it wasn't time yet. Whether it was the "Beast" behind The Hand, the Norn Stones in their possession, or their method of moving silently throughout New York, everything required careful consideration. Otherwise, Peter wouldn't have devised such a complicated plan.
"What are you thinking about?"
Felicia leaned in close to Peter to ask. Pulled back to reality by the question, Peter quickly shook his head. "No, nothing. Nothing important."
"Is that so?"
Felicia arched an eyebrow. "Well, you should turn off the oven, or move aside. The cookies in here are about to burn. If you don't want Aunt May lecturing you, you'd better move fast."
Peter hurriedly turned off the oven and helped Felicia take the cookies out. It was quite strange; if the two of them wanted to meet, there were plenty of places they could have chosen, yet for some reason, Felicia had requested to volunteer with Peter at F.E.A.S.T.
He didn't object, of course, but he was curious. Though judging by Felicia's demeanor, she likely wouldn't explain her reasons.
"Cookies with hardly any sugar or eggs, and bread that's just as plain. This is about all F.E.A.S.T. can provide. Compared to the free food handed out in other places, this place only makes the simplest meals."
As Felicia spoke, she dumped the cookies onto another cool iron tray. Peter, for his part, didn't mind Martin Li's approach. "Sometimes, this actually helps those who need it most. Those who have no other options, who are willing to tolerate the food here—they are the ones in greatest need, and the ones most likely to accept the job placements F.E.A.S.T. offers."
Felicia shrugged and helped Peter carry the cookies out to distribute them to the homeless. Only after their tasks were mostly finished did the two meet up in the second-floor hallway of the center.
"So, did you come here purely because you wanted to be a volunteer?"
"Hmm? Is that not allowed?" Felicia replied with a smile. "Sometimes I'm curious about how so-called heroes think. Doing a bit of good now and then reminds me of the kind of person I'm dealing with."
Peter reacted immediately upon hearing this. "You didn't answer my question."
"Well... two things, both related to the Homecoming dance. Next week is Spirit Week, you remember that, right? Have you prepared your cosplay outfit?"
"Sort of. Either way, I'm not dressing up as an actual pony. I can only use a humanized version of a character's outfit." At this point, Peter seemed to remember something and looked at Felicia. "You aren't planning to actually dress up as a pony, are you?"
Felicia remained silent for a long time.
"...What makes you think that?"
"Uh, because I suddenly remembered Harry said he really intends to dress up as a full pony, and he's already ordered the costume."
Sometimes Peter felt that the improvement in the relationship between Harry and Norman wasn't necessarily a good thing. Take the cosplay costumes, for example; Harry had found the confidence from somewhere to ask his father to join the event and cosplay as ponies together. The mere thought of it was eyesearing.
Meanwhile, Felicia looked at Peter Parker with a very complex expression. Two thoughts simultaneously surfaced in her mind: "bad influence from friends" and "birds of a feather flock together." For a moment, she didn't know which one to voice.
But she quickly recalled her own point. "No, what I wanted to ask was whether you've settled things on your end. If you have, that's for the best. Like I said before, I don't want my date running off halfway through. It would be embarrassing."
"It should be fine, but maybe not. Either way, I'll have a few days where I'm not busy, assuming no accidents happen. I don't know exactly how many days, but a week should be manageable. If not, I'll let you know, but I can't say for certain."
Felicia looked at Peter in silence for a good while. "You might as well have said nothing at all."
Peter sighed helplessly. "And that is exactly the situation I'm facing right now."
"I was going to say that if necessary, I could help out, like before. But hearing you describe it, this matter sounds quite complicated. So, never mind."
"Actually..."
"Hmm?"
Looking at Felicia's arched eyebrow, Peter ended up saying, "It's nothing." He had considered that with Felicia's help, they might be able to steal The Hand's Norn Stones; after all, those things couldn't be infinite. But to pull that off flawlessly, he would likely need Gwen to coordinate.
Well, setting aside whether The Hand would even show up during this time, asking Gwen and Felicia to cooperate during Homecoming week was probably unnecessary.
Felicia watched Peter in silence for several seconds. After confirming he had nothing else to say, she moved on to the second matter.
"Now, the second thing: the formal wear."
"I thought that was already settled?"
"Yes, I asked you to help me pick a few options from my gowns, and you did. But did you forget something?"
Felicia looked at Peter, and Peter looked back at Felicia. After a moment, Peter asked in confusion, "Forget what?"
"Your suit."
Peter felt confused. "There isn't much to pick for my suit. Since you chose a black dress, I can just pick a white suit to wear..."
"What kind of suit?"
"Sorry, but I feel like suits all look the same to me..."
In that instant, Peter finally understood why Felicia had come to F.E.A.S.T. Because this was the only place where she could see Aunt May without having to go to Peter's house. He immediately answered honestly, "If I had said what I just said, you would have taken me to ask Aunt May, wouldn't you?"
"Smart. So, give me an answer. Are you going to let your aunt accompany me to pick one for you, or are the two of us going to handle it ourselves?"
Without needing even a second, Peter gave his answer.
"You know what? I just sold a few photos to the Daily Bugle, so Peter Parker actually has money right now. Let's go to the clothing store."