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“Miles.”
With his headphones on his head, he could vaguely hear his name being called out. Even with the knowledge, he barely turns his head to the source. It’s only he and Hobie in his room, with his parents being out, which also meant that they were alone in the house. Moments ago, they went out to get food. Now, he’s on his drafting table, scribbling and sketching away, and listening to music, while Hobie does… Hobie things.
He grabs another marker and pulls on the cap.
“Miles.”
Miles hums as an answer. He thinks he needs a little more… pink. He takes another marker.
“Miles,” an exasperated tone calls out to him, and while any other time, it would completely gain his focus – he’s too hyper focused on his drawing. He hums again, just to appease Hobie. He hears a sigh before the words: “Wanna go on a date with me?”
The words hardly process in his mind before his mouth opens. “Yeah. Yeah, sure, Hobie.”
They both hear the front door open when he finally registers the words. His mouth opens slowly along with his widening eyes. When he turns to the other boy, Hobie’s already crawling out of his window with a smirk on his face. Tossing him a wink and a salute, he says, “I’ll see you at 7 tomorrow night, then. Alright, luv?”
He doesn’t wait for his reply as he presses on his watch and falls into the portal without any other word. Miles was left to his own devices, clutching a marker in one hand and the other coming up to cover his burning face.
The door to his room opens and he doesn’t move an inch.
“Miles? Mijo? You okay?”
Miles breathes and turns to his mother, who has a concerned expression on her face. While he would love nothing more than to relieve his mother’s stress, he’s a bit overwhelmed at the moment. And in a moment of vulnerability, he shrugs his shoulders up and cringes as his voice comes out of his mouth, “I think I have a date tomorrow?”
It’s embarrassing; the way he watches his mom’s eyes widen and his father scrambling to be beside his mother.
It’s even more embarrassing when she starts screaming.
Miles closes his eyes and lets his head fall into his hands.
The next day is absolute chaos.
His mother wouldn’t stop asking about Hobie. While she and his father knew about the Spider-Man business (it was unavoidable, after all. His father doesn’t die after all even though he still saves a kid from a falling rubble. Miles still tells them after the Spot fight. They deserved it. And they had a long talk. A really, really, long talk. Miles was just happy he didn’t have to keep it secret anymore.), they still haven’t met the other spider-people.
They knew of Gwen and his old crush on her. They know of the other spider-people, maybe in the right depth. They know of Peter and how he helped him back then. They know of the Spider Society. (He refuses to tell them about Miguel and what happened a year prior. They did not need to know. And it was for the best. Lest they try finding Miguel.) But then Hobie happened.
Which is a Hobie thing, apparently. He happens to other’s lives and disrupts them and–
Miles is happy that he’s one of those people. Hobie bothers him almost every week and Miles lets himself be bothered. Hobie joins him in patrolling when he has the time or when he feels like it, and Miles feels less alone. Hobie, like yesterday, almost always joins him in his room.
It becomes a routine. A normal.
Gwen still visits. Even Pav. But their visits aren’t the same as Hobie’s. Their visits don’t make his heart race. When he sees his things floating and when he sees the portal open – his first thought is always Hobie. If he feels a little disappointment when he sees it’s either Gwen, Pav, or Peter, he keeps it to himself.
Their presence doesn’t give him the same comfort as Hobie does. While he’s free to be open and be himself with his other friends, Hobie gets a version of him that is unapologetically him. Miles thinks he’s too open sometimes, when he’s with Hobie.
Sometimes, the words just flow. Sometimes, they don’t need words at all. Sometimes, comfort is in the way Hobie strums his guitar idly, or when he’s humming a song he likes, or when he’s watching Miles sketch and the sounds of paper turning and pencil meeting paper fill the room.
Miles thinks those nights are perfect.
Anyway– he’s getting sidetracked.
Right now, his mother is in his room, staring judgmentally at his wardrobe.
He sweats as he stands next to her. He shrugs. “I can always wear… jeans.”
His mother sighs loudly, looking defeated and disappointed. She turns to him, exasperated. Miles expected her to be frantic, but he thinks she’s already gone over that phase since last night and this morning.
“Where is he even taking you?” His mother groans, rubbing the palm of her hand over her face. “Is he going to hang here in…our world?” His mother makes a face and he laughs. It’s still weird for them to fully comprehend the multiverse. It’s alright, though. Miles rather they don’t get involved that much. “Or is he…” her eyes widened. “Is he taking you to his world? I can’t let that happen.”
“Mom,” he whines. He can’t believe this. His first date and his mother was already complaining and overthinking. Shouldn’t he be the one doing those? After all, he has nothing to wear. And he only has two hours to select and match outfits.
Shit. He should’ve called Gwen.
“I’ll be fine ,” he insists, pushing his mother out of his room. He has the urge to remind her that he’s Spider-Man but even mentioning that has her on edge, so he bites his tongue. “Now go , please. I’m calling a friend.”
Miles watches with mild amusement as she dramatically leaves his room, stomping. “I can give you clothing advice too! Gwen better do a good job!”
He laughs. The fact that she knows it’s Gwen who he’s calling, it lessens his nervousness.
He grabs the watch Hobie has made for him and turns the button. It stops at Earth-65 and he breathes. “Gwen better be home,” he mutters under his breath. The last time he went there, Gwen wasn’t home and he had to sit in their dining room with her father glaring at him until she came home.
(It was very awkward. He watched Gwen try to explain to her father that no, she was not her boyfriend. And no, the other guy also wasn’t. Miles knows it was about Hobie. If he felt a tinge of jealousy, maybe it was about Gwen.)
When he steps out of the portal, Gwen’s calmly lying down on her bed while reading a magazine. Gwen’s barely moved from her position when she says, “Hey, Miles.”
Miles stares at her. “I need help.”
Gwen puts down her magazine with a frown and knitted eyebrows. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Is it your parents? An anomaly?”
Miles smiles at her concern. “No. I got a date.”
Gwen stares at him back. They stare until Gwen’s jumping off of her bed and she crosses the space between them at an alarming rate. Miles steps back but Gwen quickly grabs a hold of his shoulders, not interrupting their eye contact.
She breaks the silence by asking, “Did Hobie finally ask you?”
Miles tries to prevent the smile spreading on his lips but Gwen catches it and starts shaking him. “Miles!!” She screams, hugging him. Miles laughs and hugs her back. “Finally! I thought he’d back out. God, you gotta tell me! When is it?”
He pulls away from the hug to check his phone’s clock. “Um…” he cringes again. “In less than two hours?”
“Miles!” Gwen shouts, scandalized. A figure appears at the doorway and when they look at it, it’s Gwen’s father.
“Hello, Miles. A warning would have been nice,” Gwen’s father says almost nonchalantly. He’s getting used to the idea of other spider-people visiting Gwen randomly.
Gwen beams at him. “Miles has a date!” Miles was sure he had already gotten over the embarrassment and the butterflies the idea of the date brought, but his face heats up the moment Gwen announces it to her father.
“Gwen,” Miles hisses, elbowing her.
Her father looks surprised. Which only makes his embarrassment worse. But it doesn’t compare to what he says next: “Oh. Is it with that Hobie guy?”
Miles groans and covers his face. Gwen relentlessly teases him as they portal to his world. Gwen stares at his empty and messy closet.
“Huh.”
He sighs. “What do I even wear , Gwen?” He digs the heel of his palms on his eyes. “I only got hoodies!”
Gwen snorts. As if his misery was somewhat amusing to her. Miles shoots her a glare but she remains unfazed as she looks through his closet. Every shirt and pants she throws on his bed stacks on one another that it almost topples over by the time Gwen is done rummaging around. She finally lifts two pieces of clothing that Miles recognizes is something he bought a year prior.
“Oh no,” Miles immediately shakes his head. “I bought that a year ago. I’ve…” Miles motions to his body. “...Grown.”
Gwen looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Miles. You buy clothes twice your size. I bet it fits you now.”
Looking at the clothes, he somehow doesn’t doubt that. Surprisingly. He sighs, defeated and grabs the clothes. “Thanks, Gwen.”
The Spider-woman grins and opens up a portal back to hers. “Tell me how it goes!”
Miles nods absently, waving as she leaves. When he opens his phone and catches a glimpse of the time, he hurries. The clothes do fit. It still has space for him to move, thankfully. It’s not too hot to be wearing two layers of clothing right now. But it’s also not too cold for him to be wearing it. Still, he pairs the shirt with a long-sleeved sweater underneath and picks a cargo pants. (His suit is also underneath. And webshooters. Just in case.)
He wears his Jordans. He looks at the mirror and just stands. He paces. He sits on his bed. He lays on his bed. He grabs a magazine. He stands up. He sits in front of his drafting table. He sketches. He looks up. He checks his phone.
God, he’s absolutely wrecked in nervousness.
He feels like puking, honestly. And this is where his breakdown starts.
Hobie asked him out on a date. Hobie, who had been the one who helped him to escape from the Spider Society a year ago. The same Hobie who has stood by his side until the end. Hobie who has visited him numerous times for a year. Hobie, who was the coolest Spider-Man he has ever met. (Sorry, Peter. Actually. Why should he apologize?)
Hobie Brown, whom he is fond of. Hobie Brown who definitely asked him on a date last night when he was busy sketching his stupidly pretty face. Hobie Brown who was about to enter his window and take him out on a date. Hobie Brown who he has wanted to kiss since forever.
He watches his phone’s clock. His eyes flicker back and forth from the screen and to the window.
When the numbers turn to 7:00, he stares at the window. He almost jumps out of his bed when he hears their front door bell ring.
Miles stands up and leaves his room, confused at who could be at their door this time. He peeks from his room, where he watches his mother walk to the door and opens it calmly. The moment it opens and he gets a glimpse of familiar wicks and the same ever-changing colors of the other boy, his jaw drops.
Hobie Brown is standing in front of his door. Hobie is focused on looking straight at his mother and doesn’t notice him.
“Good evening, Mrs. Morales,” Hobie has a grin on his face, not a hint of any nervousness or anxiety on him. Miles thinks it’s totally unfair that he gets to be calm and collected while he’s ready to puke his lunch out. His mother looks understandably surprised. He’s already told his parents about the differences of their worlds, but surely, seeing it right in front of their eyes was a different thing.
It takes a moment for his mother to respond. “You must be Hobie.”
It’s a question, but not really. The mention of his name has Hobie’s grin widening. Miles feels his face flush hot. “That’s me, ma’am,” Hobie does a little nod and it shouldn’t be endearing, but it is, and Miles wants to kiss his face stupid.
Their eyes meet briefly and Miles ducks out of view.
He hears the conversation while hiding behind the wall. “Sorry if it’s sudden, ma’am. Wanted to take your son out on a date.”
An amused hum came from his mother. His face burns even more. “I heard. Where are you taking him, Hobie?”
Was that shuffling? Is he hearing Hobie move his feet? “If it’s alright with ‘ya, ma’am, I’ll be taking him to my dimension. If it’s not, I’ll understand, Mrs. Morales.”
HIs mom hums again and the silence is just her considering. “Alright. Bring him back by 11.”
“Twelve!” He shouts, leaving the safety of the wall. Hobie and his mother turn to him and when Hobie directs a grin at him, he flushes in embarrassment. “Twelve… please, mama?” He cringes at how small his voice sounds but keeps a hopeful expression on.
His mother sighs, defeated. It surprised him how it didn’t even take long for her to consider.
“Fine,” Rio dramatically sighs again then turns to Hobie with a stern look. “By 12.”
Hobie grins. “You got it, Mrs. Morales.”
Miles also can’t help but grin, grabbing a bag and throwing his sketchpad and materials in it. He runs to the door, giddy on his feet and completely ignoring the amused expression on his mother’s face. Hobie extends a hand and Miles has to glance at his mother, smiling when she gives a small nod of approval.
“Thanks, Mami,” he kisses both of her cheeks.
“Twelve. Okay?” She says sternly to both of them to which they nod at simultaneously. Rio smiles and shoos them. “Out you go. Have fun, baby.”
His mother doesn’t close the door, even when Hobie opens up a portal. Hobie hands him the self-made multiversal watch he has made and he wears it on his wrist. Miles takes one last look behind him before he holds Hobie’s hand tightly and they both jump inside the portal. When they come out from the portal, Miles is thankful they’re not actually falling. They gracefully land on a rooftop.
Well, Hobie lands gracefully. He trips.
Hobie catches him by his backpack.
Hobie grins and turns both of them to see his dimension. Miles’ eyes widened at the sight. Hobie’s dimension is exactly like him. Except, no one is like Hobie Brown. He turns to Hobie, whose smile never wavered once. Hobie extends out his hand again; an invitation. “Don’t wanna lose ‘ya in this crowd,” Hobie explains and if it’s an excuse to hold his hand, Miles doesn’t mind. He smiles and takes his hand once again, reveling in Hobie’s warmth.
Miles sticks out like a sore thumb in Hobie’s dimension so they take to walking on rooftops. They would swing, but it would only cause suspicion, so Miles tells Hobie it’s okay that they walk. Hobie looks unsure about it– the first time Miles has seen him show distress, but it quickly disappears once he reassures him.
“So?” Hobie nonchalantly asks. “Any thoughts, luv?”
The nickname always has made Miles flustered, and it is no different now. The only difference now is that he’s on a date with Hobie Brown and Miles doesn’t have to gaslight himself into thinking it was just Hobie being platonic. (Yeah. He was a bit of an idiot.)
“It’s amazing,” he replies sincerely as he takes another long glance at the city.
“When it’s not swarming with authority, yeah,” Hobie shrugs and jumps down a ledge. Miles follows through, unwilling to let their hands go.
“Where are we going, Hobie?”
Hobie glances back at him briefly. “Thought you might wanna… meet my band. Gang. Friends.”
Miles smiles at the hesitation lacing Hobie’s words. He hasn’t heard much about Hobie’s friends nor his home. Hobie’s a bit secretive about it, and while Miles doesn’t have any problem with that, getting an opportunity to know more about the illustrious Hobie Brown fills him with joy. Miles tightens his grip on their locked hands for a moment, hopefully to be reassuring.
“I’d be honored, Hobie,” Miles says softly, putting himself next to the taller boy.
Hobie shrugs again. “Eh. Nothin’ to be honored about, mate. ‘S just people.”
People whom you trust. People who you hold close. People whom you trust me to know. Miles keeps it all to himself but the grin on his face never leaves even when they walk in an alley. They arrive at the back door of a building.
Hobie knocks loudly. “Karl! Open up, mate!”
They both hear shuffling and numerous whispers from inside. Hobie sighs and Miles looks at him inquiringly. Hobie palms his face. “I told them I was bringing ‘ya,” he mumbles, looking shy which only makes Miles’ eyes widen. Oh, fuck, Miles’ thought. If he already thought the other boy was charming and cool, he had to add cute to it.
The door finally opens and Miles is greeted with a man who looks quite put together. He’s grinning wide and ignores Hobie’s presence in favor of his. “You must be his date, eh?”
“Piss off, Karl,” Hobie says, pushing his way through and tugging him along. Miles quickly says a greeting at the other man, who only grins at him. He looks around– the ceiling is tall and the entire room is spacious. It was closer to a warehouse, actually. When Miles turned back to see his front, three girls were sitting on a sofa, spread out and looking directly at him.
Hobie clicks his tongue. “Take a picture, why don’t ya?”
Three matching grins were his response.
Hobie sighs, as if he’s tired and quickly points out each person. He points at the girl with one shaved side and has curls on the other. She’s purple. “This is Riri,” The girl holds up her arm as a greeting. Miles offers a quick smile. Hobie turns to the other girl next to her with short hair. She’s blue. “Kamala,” Miles’ eyes widened as she stretched her hand to him. When he means stretch, it stretches far longer than normal humans do.
Kamala grins and her colors shift to yellow. “Nice to meet ‘ya.”
“Um,” Miles stares at the hand and shakes it. “You too…”
Hobie rolls his eyes and turns to the girl with a mohawk. “That’s Mattea.”
Mattea was holding her drumsticks as she said hi. Miles waves at the magenta-colored girl.
Hobie squints at them. “Bloody hell, where’s Robbie?”
“Outside,” the one named Karl replies. “Big guy’s trying to plan what to do today.”
That sentence somehow makes Hobie snort and he pulls him closer. Miles goes along with him, flustered at the way the other four people zero in on the action. “I’ll get him,” Hobie says and proceeds to tug him along, but Karl quickly stops him.
“We’ll take care of your boy,” Karl suggests, and before Hobie can deny the offer, the girls jump to their feet and immediately crowd him in. Miles hunches his shoulders, looking at the three girls. Riri has the biggest grin but the other two are quite close too.
“You’re Miles, right?” Riri asks and in a quick succession, Kamala follows: “You one of those spider-people, right?”
Mattea also asks while pointing at Hobie, “What do you even like about that guy?”
Miles is about to answer, but Hobie quickly escapes Karl.
“Ey, ey!” Hobie pulls them apart. “Hounding my date so soon? This is new.” He sounds calm, but he’s glaring at his friends, who only giggle. Riri’s the first one to recover.
“You’ve been mooning about this boy for a year!” Riri exclaims and Miles, amused, watches as Hobie changes color– into pink. “Ya can’t blame us for bein’ a little curious!”
Miles realizes that he hasn’t uttered a word so he cuts in the conversation. “For a year, huh?” He glances at Hobie, who has his hands in his vest’s pockets and looking away from him. His reaction doesn’t give any denial and both his heart and stomach flutters at the thought of Hobie loving him since they’ve met– “Can’t really judge him.”
“Oh,” Kamala’s eyes widened. “You mooned for this guy?” She points at Hobie, whose color worsens to a darker pink. “Really?”
“Piss off. Seriously.” Hobie says flatly. Facing him, Hobie asks, “You’ll be okay with these people?”
He catches Riri’s gaze and fixes his grip on his bag as he nods. “Yeah. I think I’ll be okay.”
It’s amusing the way Hobie hesitates when he takes a step outside, only to catch himself and resolves his hesitation quickly. As soon as he’s out of sight, Miles is bombarded once again.
“Spider-person, right?” Kamala repeats her question and Miles nods this time. “What can you do? Hobie’s got his guitar and all that funk. Now, how about you?”
“Uh…” Miles opens his palms and lets it spark. The other four stare with wide and glowing eyes. “I can electrocute stuff.”
“Cool,” Mattea says quietly.
“I can also…” He trails off and lets his body do its thing. He becomes invisible and hears the gasps from everyone. Quickly, he reappears. “I can do that,” he says, smiling sheepishly while rubbing his neck. Everyone seemed awed – entirely different from the way the other spider-people reacted. They were more accustomed to powers, after all.
“Mental,” Karl murmurs.
Kamala moves her arms up and down. “You are so much cooler than Hobie. Switch with him!”
Just in time, Hobie enters with a flat glare. “Stop hogging my date, yeah? Thought you’d be better than this.”
Miles turns to see Hobie next to a very green… punk. Hobie motions to him. “This Robbie, yeah? That’s my date, Miles.”
“Hi,” Miles shyly waves. “I’m Miles Morales.”
The green man grins and walks over him. He’s pretty sure every one of them can feel the ground shaking every step. They looked unfazed; used to this man so Miles stands taller and has to crane his neck up to meet the other guy’s eyes.
Karl sighs. “Robbie, mate. Turn back, will ya? Poor kid’s gonna break his neck.”
“Sorry,” the man says sheepishly before Miles watches the transformation happen right before his eyes. The man becomes less green and smaller. Which is, great, good. All good. Now, Miles can see him eye-to-eye, even if he’s still a bit taller than him.
Miles smiles and extends his arm. “Hi. Nice to meet you, man.”
“Nice to meet you, mate. It’s about damn time Hobie brought you,” Robbie says while shaking his hand and before Hobie can put a word in, Robbie continues, “He’s been disappearing quite often. We thought it was the Spider Society thing but imagine our surprise when he’s pining over a boy.”
Miles feels the heat explode on his face that he has to retract his hand to cover his face.
The coos from Kamala and Riri make it worse. “He’s embarrassed,” they coo and get pushed by Hobie, who approaches him.
“Can ya guys stop?” Hobie hisses. Now that Miles realizes, he’s been showing a lot more emotions here than he does whenever he’s in the Spider Society or in other worlds. It’s refreshing.
“But he’s so cute,” Mattea says plainly.
“I know he is,” Hobie calmly replies and rests a hand on his shoulder which only transfers his warmth onto him.
Oh. His face is on fire.
“Hobie,” he whines while his face is still covered. He hears him chuckle and he peeks through his fingers.
Riri laughs. “Oh, he’s absolutely smitten , y’all.”
He groans. “Whatever. We’re both down bad.”
“Down bad,” Hobie repeats with a hum and a nod. Miles is pretty sure the other man doesn’t know what that means. “Saw an empty wall when I went out,” Hobie changes the topic and Miles tilts his head at him. Hobie shoves his hands into his pockets again. “Bunch of people there are already sharing their art. Wanna join?”
Miles knew he should’ve brought his spray paint cans. He’s a bit hesitant drawing when there are people present, but it sounds nice and he gets to hang out with Hobie. And perhaps impress him. He grins. “Let’s go!”
Hobie looks back at his friends. “We’ll see ya there?”
Karl sends an amused expression. “Sure. We’ll try.”
“Ready, luv?”
Surprised, Miles asks, “We’re swingin’?”
Hobie’s grin is bright and full. Miles thinks, for the second time this night, he badly wants to kiss him. He swallows that thought. “How else?” Hobie says and quickly shoots a web.
Miles follows suit, shouting, “You didn’t let me change into my suit!”
“You don’t hav’ta!” Hobie shouts back while they swing through the tall buildings.
He keeps following him, swinging wherever Hobie swings and adds his own flair. It doesn’t go unnoticed and Hobie whistles. “Got some tricks up ‘ya sleeve, huh?”
Miles grins. “Don’t tell me you got none.”
“Now that’s a proper threat.”
Hobie does everything so… Hobie. He has flair, but it’s different with most Spider-men he knows. He’s graceful, yes, but he literally has no consistency when it comes to his swinging. One time, it’d be one hand, other times, with his two hands. There’s a certain freedom in his style of swinging–where he doesn’t have to think what his next move will be because it’s all natural for him.
Miles doesn’t know if he can do Hobie’s swinging justice with just a few words, but his mouth moves faster than his brain: “You’re amazing.”
Miles does laugh when Hobie loses balance.
“Mate,” Hobie says when they land on a rooftop. “You can’t say that to me.”
“You,” Miles laughs–wheezes. “You didn’t blink when I called you cool. I call you amazing and suddenly you’re flippin’ .”
“That was different.”
“Nuh-uh,” Miles peeks and sees a bunch of people spray painting a random wall. He swings down before Hobie can reply to him but he can hear him shouting after him. (He thinks he can hear, “The hell you mean ‘Nuh-uh’?!” But. He’s not so sure when he’s busy admiring the works of other people.)
Hobie lands next to him, huffing. “Rude, luv.”
He waves him off. “You like it.”
Hobie doesn’t deny.
No one notices him, but a lot of people do notice Hobie. They greet him like an old friend, high-fiving and fist-bumping him. He greets them with a sense of familiarity and distance that is akin to acquaintances. He doesn’t seem bothered by it, but he jogs to his side, unrelenting to the calls and offers the other people make.
“You can join them, you know,” Miles says. It’s not what he would prefer and want, but if Hobie would rather join–
“Nah, luv. I’m here for you.”
The words make him speechless so he doesn’t reply at all. They stop at the wall and everybody’s already painting the lower part. Miles looks at the top part, tilting his head and calculating. He could paint there…
He feels a nudge and looks at Hobie, who’s already looking at him. “You can, you know,” Hobie murmurs. “It’s safe here, luv. They’re with me.”
He brightens up and shrugs off his backpack, letting it fall in Hobie’s hands. He approaches a spray paint artist. The person notices him quickly, squinting at him. “This side is taken, mate.”
“I know,” Miles replies politely with a smile. “Mind if I take the top part?”
The stranger looks up to where he’s pointing, squinting and doubting. “If ya can, you’re free to do that.” He takes a look behind him. “Ah. You with Hobie?”
“Yes,” Miles answers again but this time, he’s flustered.
The other man grins. “Go for it, man.” And hands him two spray paint cans.
He’s buzzing in his place and when he finally jumps and sticks to the wall, he hears awed gasps and a whistle. Most likely from Hobie.
The moment he presses the can, he gets lost. As he always does when he’s drawing, sketching, painting, anything. His natural instincts flow through his art. Sometimes, Hobie would suggest a color or a place where to put said color. Sometimes, he listens, other times, he doesn’t. It depends on whether his suggestion is actually good or not.
Halfway through, he notices the other people stopping from painting and instead, watching him. He takes a glance at Hobie, who is looking at him with a big grin. Soft, fond, and proud. It rushes inside of him; the joy and giddiness, the need to impress furthermore.
Just to add flair, he flips and lands on the other side, spray painting immediately.
He shoots a web every time he needs another color. And no one stops him.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been painting when he finally lands on the ground. Hobie walks toward him but his eyes never leave the wall. Miles does the same.
On the wall, it’s Hobie. Well, it was more of a mural of Spider Punk. He has painted a simple silhouette that matches Hobie’s Spider-Man image. He added music, the guitar, the paper-like art around him. He also added words that he thinks Hobie would appreciate. (Then again, he thinks he may have overdone it. He has put three anarchist words. Four spiders. Two webs. Two punks. Well.)
“Damn, boy, you have talent,” Karl says behind him. Miles didn’t even know they arrived. Miles sent a sheepish smile.
All of them cheer him on, yet Hobie stays silent.
“Didn’t think you’d paint me,” is Hobie’s first words to him. A lot of people have already dispersed, but there were others who stayed to finish their other drawings. It’s already dark and everyone’s using candles and spotlights to light up their art. One spotlight was directly on his art.
He blushes. “Well,” you should see my sketchbook, is what he would have said if it weren’t so embarrassing, “It’s only right you get a mural in your world, right?”
“I would have said no if you asked me ages ago,” Hobie says and his mood drops. Had Hobie not liked it? “But it’s you. You’re amazing, Miles.”
He wishes he could have worn his hoodie. And he wishes he could kiss Hobie right now. He bites his lip instead. “Thanks,” he murmurs quietly.
They stay there, silent and looking at the mural.
Both their spider senses go off at the same time. They catch each other’s gaze before looking behind them. They could hear rushed footsteps and people shouting for them to run. Karl and the others start packing up– and Hobie intertwines their hands as they run.
“Gotta swing, luv!” Hobie shouts over the noise. Miles only has a moment to worry about his backpack when he realizes Hobie has it on his shoulder and he laughs, swinging side by side with Hobie.
Hobie’s also laughing.
Man, he really wants to kiss him.
They land on the warehouse’s roof, still laughing.
“Imagine if we got caught,” Miles says through each laugh, “My mom would ground me for life.”
Hobie snorts. “I feel like she’d ground me for life.”
Miles laughs harder and leans closer to Hobie, putting his weight on the other boy’s shoulder.
“How long was I up there?” He asks when it’s finally quieted down.
Hobie pretends to think. “Hm… three hours?”
He shoots up. “What?!” He screeches out. He wasted three hours? “You should’ve told me.” Now, he’s sulking.
“Nah, mate,” Hobie shakes his head and his wicks move. Miles is endeared, even if they hit his face as he rests his chin on the other boy’s shoulder. “You were in the zone. Can’t break that.”
“Thanks,” he whispers and Hobie turns his head. They’re awfully close. And Miles thinks of leaning in and closing the gap. Until they both hear his stomach grumble.
Embarrassed, Miles pulls away with a pout. “We could’ve grabbed a bite.” And now, he feels the hunger eating up his insides.
“Well, lucky for the two of you, we did.”
Riri’s voice surprises him. They both look over the roof and see Riri, Kamala, Mattea, Robbie and Karl looking up at them. Kamala holds up two paper bags with a grin. “Got burgers.”
When he looks at Hobie, Hobie grins with a shrug. “They got it covered.”
“Now come down here,” Robbie shouts. “We’re not sharing unless you do!”
Miles stares directly at Hobie’s eyes. “Race you,” he says in a quick flourish and shoots a web on the ground, pulling himself.
“Rude!” He hears behind him and he laughs.
He gets there first, but he knows Hobie could have won if he was a bit more serious. He sits on one of the seats around the dining table. Hobie follows him and sits next to him with an arm slung over his shoulders. He ignores his crazy beating heart in favor of grabbing a burger.
“We sure this isn’t gonna glitch in my stomach?” Miles whispers to Hobie, who raises his eyebrow.
“Luv. I’ve eaten your mama’s food,” he speaks plainly and it keeps Miles thinking. Huh. So other dimensional food doesn’t do shit. He bites into his burger and moans.
Miles points at his burger after swallowing. “This is great. ”
“You gotta try the fries,” Mattea says and pushes the container closer to him. Miles says a brief gratitude before devouring both the burger and the fries.
Hobie eats, too, but he eats so little that Miles picks up a fry for him and Hobie. Hobie accepts each fries he puts in front of his face.
The cycle is broken when Riri makes gagging noises. “Damn. You two are sickeningly sweet.”
Hobie gives her his middle finger and bites into the fry Miles held up.
Miles nervously laughs. “Yeah, well. It’s our first date.”
Robbie chokes on his drink. Riri stares at them. Kamala has her jaw open. Mattea’s squinting her eyes. Karl looks genuinely surprised.
“Bollocks,” Karl says, almost mourning, “It’s their first date.”
“That is so much worse,” Riri adds unhelpfully.
“What?” Miles looks around and asks for Hobie’s help with his eyes. “What?”
Mattea, thankfully, answers. “It’s just. You guys seem like you’ve been doing this for a long time.”
Hobie freezes beside him. Miles thinks of the other things they’ve done in his dimension.
“Well… I guess so,” he feeds another fry. “We like to patrol a lot in my dimension. Sometimes we hang out in my room, sometimes he spends dinner with my family.” He murmurs under his breath, the memories overtaking him.
When he looks back up, everyone’s staring at him.
Riri breaks the silence. “That sounds like you guys are–”
Karl elbows her and Riri hisses out a curse. “Very normal stuff. Yes. First date, right? Eat more. We can’t have you starving when you get back home.”
Miles doesn’t try bringing back the topic, but Hobie stays quiet throughout dinner. They talk about anything and everything during dinner. Karl likes to ask about his life. Miles tells him about it. He tells him about his community, his school. Kamala likes to ask about the Spider Society. So she tells her that, too. He doesn’t know how much Hobie has told them so he tells them very little.
They also tell him about their lives in this dimension. Some are sad and gruesome, but Miles feels a kinship with them already.
He finishes three burgers. And two containers of fries. Then again, he shared that with Hobie.
He burps. “Thanks for the food, guys.” And yawns.
Hobie starts standing up. “Come on, luv,” he urges with a soft whisper. “Gotta get you home.”
“What?” Miles immediately perks up and grabs his phone. It opens briefly to show him the time. 11:40. He wilts.
Hobie offers a smile and grabs his backpack. “Come on,” and tugs their hands together.
Miles waves at Hobie’s friends. “Bye, guys. Thanks for having me.”
“If Hobie hadn’t said it already, you’re always welcome here,” Karl says with a smile and they all wave at him as Hobie opens up a portal to his dimension. “And thank you,” Karl adds, surprising him. Noticing his shocked expression, Karl adds again, “For taking care of our Hobie.”
Miles flushes. “It’s no problem. I mean. It’s more like he’s taking care of me.”
Robbie smiles. “Don’t be so sure.”
Cutting in the conversation, Hobie sends a salute at them. “Be back in a jiffy.”
Riri smirks. “Won’t be surprised if you don’t.”
Hobie rolls his eyes and pulls him into the portal.
They arrive exactly at his doorstep. Hobie has been quiet while they portaled and even now, he doesn’t utter a word. He gives him his backpack and Miles furrows his eyebrows in concern. “Are you okay, Hobie?”
“Yeah,” Hobie immediately replies, which sounds like a lie. Miles narrows his eyes.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that.”
Hobie sighs and hunches his shoulders while his hands are in his pockets. “Just… ah. Did you have fun, luv?”
Miles pulls him by their laced hands, making the other boy face him. The taller boy has his head down and Miles has to step closer to look up at the boy. He comes face to face with him.
“I had so much fun,” And it’s true. Miles mourns that he spent the better part painting, but he had fun. He let his creativity flow and Hobie liked the mural. He also got to spend time with Hobie’s friends who seemingly accepted and liked him, thankfully. He got to know how Hobie was like at his dimension, and it means so much to him– “It was nice. Great, even. To know you in your world. To know your world and friends.”
Hobie stays quiet. “But?”
He raises an eyebrow. “There’s no but.”
At this, Hobie sighs again, this time even more frustrated. “But isn’t it the same with what we always do? Miles, I don’t fucking know how to plan a date.”
Baffled at the sudden honesty, Miles quickly gets over that and pulls the boy closer with a glare. “Hey. I don’t, too. And I don’t mind. I loved spending time with you. Even if it’s on a date, or just in my room. Or patrol. I don’t mind, Hobie.”
Hobie tenses his jaw. “You sure, luv?”
Miles tiptoes. “Very sure.”
For a second, Miles thinks they’re going to kiss but he’s the one who steps away. Miles can feel his heart in his throat and he coughs it up. “Um. It was nice, today. Um. Goodnight?”
He cringes at his own voice but Hobie didn’t seem to mind.
Hobie smiles softly. “Goodnight, luv.”
Hobie opens up a portal and when he’s about to step in, Miles has a split second decision.
“Do you want to kiss me,” he blurts out and is immediately embarrassed by his words. He feels his face heat up. It was supposed to be “I want to kiss you.” but apparently his mouth was betraying him.
Hobie jerks and turns around faster than lightning. “Yes.” The boy answers just as quickly.
Miles wraps his arms around the taller boy’s shoulders and pulls him in. Hobie bends down and catches his lips in a quick succession, wrapping an arm around his waist.
The kiss tastes like burger and fries but Miles doesn’t have any qualms against it. The kiss is messy– like they’re trying to get to know each other in one breath. And Miles loves it. Every feeling of the other’s lips on him, the way his tongue moves– Miles whimpers. They pull away from each other, panting.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” Miles admits shyly.
Hobie gently knocks their foreheads together. “Me too,” he whispers into the space between them.
Miles laughs quietly. “Wanna do it again?”
They kiss once more. Twice. Three times, before the door behind them opens.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Jeff says with a glare and crossed arms. Rio stands beside him sheepishly yet she’s grinning proudly at him so Miles can’t really feel guilty about it. Hobie chuckles and lets go of him, saluting and saying goodbye to all of them.
He disappears with one more look behind him.
Miles stands there for a moment before he comes in. He could see his mother wants to ask questions while his father would rather not, so he goes straight to his room after he bids them both goodnight.
He lies on his bed with his heart beating frantically and his lips tingling.
Just as he is about to sleep, he hears a knock on his window.
He grins.