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"I want you to sleep." You spoke calmly. Miguel looked at you fully and stared hard.
"No." Miguel answered quickly, no hesitation lacing his tone whatsoever. You frowned and removed your hand from his shoulder, crossing your arms and staring at him in disappointment.
“When’s the last time you slept, then, Miguel?”
“When it was more important than this. That’s when.”
This was going to be tough.
“… You’re a man of science, yes?” You squint your eyes at him, watching his gaze get more and more disapproving of your presence.
“You need to leave. I’m busy.”
You, of course, ignored him.
“You remember what happens to the human mind if it doesn’t get rest… right?”
“It is irrelevant. I have my ways around it.” He turned his back, and you realized now he was trying to ignore you. Your brow furrowed and you decided you couldn’t be gently assertive anymore. Not with this man.
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” You stood in place, bringing up your watch and tapping it with your pointer finger, “hey Lyla.” You stared at Miguel, your deep eyes piercing into him. You saw his red eyes slowly turn to look at you.
“What are you doing?” He looked at you as if he wanted to tear you apart with only his claws and teeth. You’ve seen worse… probably.
Alas, so you wouldn’t get mauled yet, the whimsical little Lyla hologram appeared.
“Heyyy!” She smiled, “What’s up?” She glitched into another position, laying down and swinging her feet behind her. She looked back and forth between you two.
“Miguel needs to sleep. You need to help.”
“Stop– What are you doing? Let me work in peace.” Miguel snarled at you, bearing his teeth like a bothered dog would. Your stare only intensified.
“Oh? Is he avoiding his basic needs again?”
“Lyla.”
“Don’t worry, I’m on it.”
“ Lyla. ”
She turned and winked at Miguel before disappearing into thin air, and Miguel tried grabbing the spot where her tiny holographic self once was in a miniature fit of rage.
“ LYLA!”
You put your hands on your hips. Miguel let out a deep sigh and glared at you.
“You don’t know what you’re doing.” He sounded softer than before, but it was in no means a sign of him calming down. If you could see his neck, you were sure you’d see hairs standing.
Was that a threat? You were at least sure that it had a hint of threat in it. What was he going to do, kill you ? He’d be breaking his own rules, and you know very well he loves his rules.
It didn’t matter to you. If your parents had taught you anything, it was that self care was necessary no matter the profession or reason. You can’t catch up on lost sleep, and by the looks of it, Miguel has lost a lot of sleep.
He turned to continue working on… whatever it was he was so insistent on finishing, before the screens flashed off. He barely recognized the little lock-icon over everything he touched. Once he realized nothing was working, his head snapped in your direction.
“Do you have something against me? Why are you doing this?” His voice raised in volume, echoing in the large room. You felt a twinge of fear go down your spine as anxieties creeped their way in.
Miguel was ranting, but you let your mind wander as you didn’t want to listen to whatever threats he was sending your way.
If he kicked you out, you wouldn’t care much. It’d suck, yes, but it’d just be boring if anything. Killing you would mess his own plans up. There’s… not many other things he could do to you, now that you’re thinking about it. Nothing that won’t shatter his reputation.
“– Are you even listening to me?!” Miguel’s yell of annoyance snapped you out of your trance, and you blinked at him. He was practically seething . His pupils had sharpened into slits and you were pretty sure you could see claws bared from his fingertips. You never really knew if those were real or just a suit mechanic.
“Crankiness is a sign that you need a nap, Miguel.”
“I hope you fucking die.” His gaze stayed infuriated.
“Mouthy.” Your nose scrunched up and you grabbed his wrist. You felt him clench the muscles and look at you as if you were dead already.
“I’m not listening to you. You’re not in charge of me–”
“Yeah, sure, but Lylas’ put parental locks on everything you can touch, so you have no excuse to be awake any longer.” You tightened your grip on his wrist, and to your surprise, you felt him relax. His claws retracted, and instead of staring like he was exploding you with his mind, he just stared at you with a slight annoyance.
“Your plan has holes in it. You may have gotten this step done, but I don’t have a place to sleep.” He grumbled. You stared with wide eyes for a moment before thinking.
That is true, you hadn’t exactly thought that far ahead before snapping your fingers and smiling.
“I’ll just bring you to my apartment. My bed is big enough for you… probably.” Your smile was full of whimsy and joy, and all Miguel could do was stare at you and pinch the bridge of his nose.
You were an idiot. Miguel O’Hara wholeheartedly believed that.
At least it meant you were truly a Spider-person.
—
Miguel hadn’t even realized he had been dragged through a portal until the lighting had changed. Instead of his dark, screen-filled platform, he was in a small, dimly lit apartment with a light or two turned on in the distance.
Everytime Miguel felt himself blink, it’d take a second for the world to come back to him. He soon realized this was, in fact, from exhaustion. He felt himself being tugged along into a room and he let himself be dragged, his eyes slowly closing…
Before he hit his head on the door-frame.
“Augh!” He stumbled backwards, thudding against a wall behind him and holding his head. He heard you yelp and rush over.
“Miguel! I told you to watch your head!” Your voice was stern before developing into a more calm demeanor, “Are you okay? The frames are hardwood so I know they hurt like a bitch.”
“I’m fine–” His voice was harsh at first, but it melted into a whisper, “I’m fine. Just… give me a second.”
Miguel soon recovered and allowed you to bring him into the room, and you clapped your hands together.
“I uh, I think I have some clothes that’ll fit you, okay? That suit cannot be comfortable to sleep in.”
“It’s a holographic suit.” Miguel spoke bluntly, deep red eyes staring at you. He saw the gears turn in your head.
“Ew! EW! Miguel O’Hara, that is horrific and NASTY.”
“It’s still physically on my body–”
“DISGUSTING. You’re HORRIBLE.”
Miguel opened his mouth to retort before some clothes were thrown his way, the shirt hitting his face after he had caught the other items.
“Go put on CLOTHES.” Despite the fact you knew you wouldn’t see anything, you still covered your eyes and turned around. Miguel rolled his eyes and did as told, just so he wouldn’t hear you yelling about it further.
To his surprise, the clothes fit him fine. If anything, the shirt was even a little baggy. He had clicked off his suit and felt the static feeling he had gotten so used to lift off of his skin. An audible sigh left his mouth.
“Are you done yet?” You asked, and you heard him grunt out some form of “yes.”
You turned around and let out your own sigh of relief to see Miguel wasn’t in his suit, but rather the clothes you had given him. He looked… comfortable, thankfully.
“Okay, you can go ahead and lay down. I’m gonna make myself dinner.” You swiveled on your heel, beginning to walk out before Miguel’s voice stopped you.
“What… are you making?” His voice was gruff, but you could hear a sense of safety lacing his tone. You smiled.
“Ramen. You want some?”
“Uh… yeah. Yeah, I do.” Miguel rubbed the back of his neck nervously. You could tell he hasn’t taken care of himself in a while.
“C’mon, come sit in the kitchen with me while I make it, then.” You gestured for him to follow with your hand.
“Oh– Uhm, okay, okay.” Miguel rushed to follow you out of your bedroom, following you to the kitchen.
—
You two had eaten, and now you sat up in bed as Miguel wrapped his arms around your waist, hsi head on your lap and legs sprawled out. With one hand, you were carding your fingers through his hair. The other was holding your TV remote as you flicked through the different streaming services you had available. You felt him shift slightly and you glanced down.
“You sleepin’ yet?” You felt a grin tug on your lips as he mumbled something. You raised a brow curiously and brushed some hair out of his face.
“What was that?”
“ Shutup…” He barely opened an eye to glare at you before slumping back down into your lap, and you let those strands of hair fall back into his face.
You were silent for a while, deciding to watch a series you were fond of before glancing back down at Miguel. He looked much happier than he usually did. Seeing him so calm was strange. You never thought you’d get to understand the rhythm of his beating heart, or the pattern in which he breathed.
“You’re not used to this sorta thing, are you, bud?” You gently scratched his scalp, feeling him shift again underneath your hand.
“I told you to shut up ,” He sat up a little to look at you with tired eyes, “I thought you wanted me to sleep?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll let you rest, now. You don’t mind if I put something on while you do that, right?” You gestured to the TV and saw him glance back. His face reminded you of a soggy cat. You giggled a little at the thought.
“I don’…” Miguel started before he let out a big yawn, a yawn that bared all of his teeth in one go, “I don’t mind. Just… don’t make it too loud.”
“Can I get a magic word?” You still felt your playful attitude bubbling when you saw him look at you, rather unamused.
“Die.”
“Good enough. Go to sleep, Miguel.”
Miguel had let his head fall against your lap, and you were pretty sure he was knocked out on impact. He let out soft little snores as his breathing evened out. You began stroking your fingers through his hair once more, and you hit the unpause button.