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Hobie was the first one to wake up. Sunlight was shining through the window forcing him to open his eyes. He did however close them almost immediately and just laid for a moment, feeling the weight of other people on and around him.
“Fuck, you all are heavy.” he joked. This earned him a grunt from Gwen and a kick from Miles.
“Good morning to you too.” mumbled Gwen.
“G’morning.” Pavitr was the only one that showed any positive emotion despite being rudely awake. His smile could probably rival the sun outside.
“Okay, how is this possible? Why can I already tell my hairs are a mess but Pav woke up like this?” Gwen pointed at the perfect top of Pavitr’s head. The boy just shrugged.
“Genetics.”
“That makes no sense!”
“That explains nothing!” Both Miles and Gwen started complaining about the injustice.
Hobie just chuckled, closed his eyes again and laid his head back. The nest they built out of Morales' household's pillows and blankets was really comfortable and he really did not wish to stand up. There was this solace in just laying on the ground, people most important to him all around him in his arms, no danger in sight. They could stay like this just a few more minutes, just four of them.
Wait? Four?
“Guys, where is Mayday?” The realization that the little girl was missing completely ruined the mood. They were just about to start panicking when…
“Her dad picked her up somewhere around midnight. We didn’t wanted to wake you up.” They all jump. Rio was in the doorway, cup of coffee in her hand.
“Mom? You are back? What time is it?” Miles for a moment wondered if maybe he was still dreaming. His parents were supposed to come back late in the morning.
“About 8:00 am. Your dad and I had to come back earlier.” she took a sip of her beverage. “So, are you going to introduce me?”
“Ah yes.” The four teenagers finally stood up. “Mom, those are Pavitr and Hobie. And I believe you already met Gwen.” each of them raised their hand in welcoming gesture upon hearing their name.
“Good morning.”
“It's nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s great to see you again.” Rio made a small effort to not laugh at their very awkward smiles.
“I’m making breakfast. Are any of you interested in staying?” she asked despite already knowing the answer. 5 minutes later she was in the kitchen with four teens, telling if they wanted toasts with jam or peanut butter. Miles pulled cubs to make drinks for everyone.
“Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate.” Both Gwen and Hobie answer simultaneously.
“Tea.” said Pav.
“You want an american tea?” asked Gwen to make sure the boy knew what he was getting himself into.
“Never mind, I take hot chocolate as well.”
After a few minutes they were all slowly sipping their hot beverages and eating their slices of bread.
“So, I hope you all slept well.” they all nodded.
“I must say Mrs Morales, great choice of pillows. I don’t remember the last time I slept that well.” Hobie complemented his friend's mom. “Choice of jam is also fantastic. Breakfast never tasted this good."
“Thank you.” Rio smiled.
“Please mrs, don’t let him get into your head. This man usually eats beans on toast for breakfast. His compliments mean nothing.” Pavitr ducked at the last second from getting smack in the head by Hobie for that comment.
“Beans on toast?” asked Miles with a disgusted look on his face.
“It’s not as bad as people want to believe.” Hobie tried to defend himself.
“It is.” Said Gwen. “Never eat anything at his place. Expiration date is one of many things he doesn’t believe in.” She warned Miles and gave back Hobie a kick underneath the table.
At that moment Jefferson Morales entered the kitchen. He clearly just woke up and was not fully conscious.
“Hi dad.” greet him Miles.
“Hi.” a man made a b-line to the coffee machine, not paying any attention to the rest of the room.
“Good morning sir.” three other teens said in the perfect creepy union. This made a man jump. He turned around to come face to face with a group of youngsters that was sitting at his table.
“Right. Good morning.” he returned to making his drink. “It’s too early for this.” he whispered to himself.
“So, all of you are from different dimensions.” Rio asked, ignoring her husband. The group nodded. “And are all of you…?” She wasn’t entirely sure how to word it.
“Spider-people.” finished Gwen.
“Well, that still would be incorrect.” point out Hobie. “Since we also have a cat, a plush and a car.”
“Wow!” a sound of shock came out of Jefferson's mouth, earning him a confused look from everyone present. “Sorry, I did not expect you to have a British accent.”
“I get that a lot.”
“And, yes, you are right, but the four of us are humans.” argued Gwen.
“I guess.” Hobie took a sip from his cup.
“So, to my understandment, the four of you are a team? At least that's what Miles told us." Jefferson apparently decided to add himself to the conversation.
“Pretty much.” answered Gwen.
“We often get sent on missions together.” added Pavitr.
“I’m pretty sure it is because our boss doesn't want anybody else suffering in our company. We can be very annoying.” point out Hobie. The other three nodded their heads and mumbled something like “yah, you are probably right.”.
“And those missions? What do they look like?” Miles rarely talked about his out-of-world adventures to her, so Rio decided to use the opportunity to find out more.
“We catch bad guys that got lost in the multiverse, I told you.” The reason why he didn’t told her much was because he didn’t wanted her to worry too much. It's not like he was lying to her. He just wasn’t telling the whole truth.
Okay, maybe sometimes he lied. “Hey, my friends and I went to another dimension, fought a guy that dresses up like a scorpion, stopped him and now we are staying overnight at Gwen’s house to marathon Star Wars” was something he told her three weeks ago and it was something that she might want to hear. “Hey, I’m not coming home tonight because the guy that dresses up like a scorpion threw me at the wall and now it hurts when I move my left arm and my boss told me to stay in the infirmary overnight”? Different story.
“It's usually really easy.” Pav said. “Those guys usually don’t expect more than one spider, so we have an element of surprise on our side. Bones break very rarely.”
“Bones break?” Rio looked at her son.
“He is joking.” Miles tried to salvage the situation. He gave Pav a “please, shut up” look. He was not sure if the other boy understood. “Trust me, it is almost always an easy job.”
“So, what did you do last time?” Rio showed genuine curiosity.
“There is this universe where dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals are sentient. A saber-toothed tiger escaped it last week. We stopped it together.” told Miles.
“Arguably our easiest job so far.” Apparently Gwen realized what was going on because what she just said was a bit of a lie. It was an easy mission, all things considered, but a small drop of blood was spilled.
“Speak for yourself. That kitty almost bitten my arse off.” point out Hobie. “I still have nightmares.”
“Off what? Being bottomless?” joked Miles.
“My biggest nightmare actually. It is one of my best attributes. It would be like if Pav got his head shaved. A world without a sun…” he pointed at Pavitr’s head “... or a moon.” he pointed at himself.
“Jesus Christ.” Gwen choked on the last bite of her toast.
“They are usually not like this, I swear.” Miles assured his parents.
“Don’t lie, we are usually much, much worse.” Gwen elbowed him. He elbowed her back and made a mental note to remember to embarrass her once they finally get to meet her dad.
“I’m starting to understand your boss’s frustration.” said Jeff, but with a playful tone of voice.
They all finish eating, Gwen and Pavitr help Rio wash the dishes while Miles and Hobie cleaned the living room. Once they were done three teenagers announced they should probably get back home.
“Different dimensions.” said Jeff once they open a portal. “I’m never getting used to that.”
“My dimension isn’t that different from your.” Said Gwen. “Just a few small things.”
“Like what?” Rio asked while looking at her son.
“I don’t know. I haven’t been there.” Miles realized too late what he just said.
“You told me three weeks ago you are staying at Gwen’s house.” Rio crossed her arms.
“Didn’t you have to stay at the infirmary three weeks ago?” asked Pavitr. Hobie and Gwen cover his mouth a bit too late.
“What?” Rio stared more intensively at her son.
“Oh, I completely forgot, I promised Miguel that I will help him with… Stuff.” Miles quickly opened a portal and disappeared in the blink of light, while his mother screamed after him in spanish.
“I believe that's our cue.” Hobie grabbed Pav and Gwen by the collars of their shirts and dragged them through their portal.
Miles got back home about two hours later. Turned out that only gave Rio more time to prepare a speech about the importance of not lying to one’s parents. After that he promised to always tell the truth, no matter how awful it was. And he kept that promise. Mostly because he feared what would happen if he lied again, but he kept it.