Chapter Text
When Lamine found out he can do all the weird things like shooting a web and climbing on walls and stuff, he almost sent himself into big trouble and a huge medical debt, alright? Maybe jumping from the tallest building to test how much strength he has isn't what the ideal man should do, but he was a sixteen year old who learnt that he has superpowers and that gives him a little bit of a free pass to do some stupid things.
(It totally does not give him a free pass, but he tells himself that to feel better about it.)
After all, who would've thought he would wake up like this one day? The spider that bit him had disappeared before he could take a photo and the bite hurt a bit; he went to a doctor to get it checked too, because he's quite the sensitive lad and also because he believes it's a lame way to die – seriously, a spider bite killing him? In no world is he letting that happen. He was sent home though, with a kiddie bandaid on the little mark and a ‘ do not worry, the spider wasn't venomous ’. HAH! He'd like to go visit him and laugh at that man's face now. But he'd rather not expose himself.
Overall, as you may have understood by now, Lamine is Spiderman. Or at least that's what they call him. (He introduced himself as spiderman, and almost cried when they tried to give him another stupid name.) He's a seventeen year old friendly neighbourhood superhero who swings around the city and helps people. Lamine has always been quite fit , if he puts it humbly, but the additional powers have made him really strong – something you wouldn't expect from his not all that bulky build. He catches robbers, saves people from accidents and getting attacked or assaulted.
There is a lot of crime in this big city and he tries his best to help as many people as he can. It doesn't matter if the task is big or small – heck he has even helped solve the traffic one day – as long as it's making people's lives easier, he's at service. Obviously there are a lot of people that are skeptical about it. Many don't trust him, because no one knows where he came from, if he's just a self employed messiah or the government has placed him on duty. The police try to bother him sometimes but over the past year, he has gained enough reputation that they have stopped bothering him.
He does have a strict warning though that the moment they catch him doing something illegal, his mask will be removed. And that's fine with Lamine, because he doesn't have any intentions to do anything bad. It's also probably only a warning because they quite literally cannot catch him. Not the fittest of their lot can keep up with him, so there is no means for them to ever fulfill that itch of revealing who he is. He is very careful about it too, he makes sure to never use his powers when he's not in his suit. And no one, not even his mom, knows that he's spiderman.
He takes the last swing and smiles when he sees the open window. One day he’ll try swinging straight into the room… without breaking anything… but not today. He’s tired. He climbs in and closes the window.
“Fuck dude you gotta stop coming through my window!”
Gavi curses, Lamine is once again, at the ass-crack of dawn (four in the morning, light hasn't even started seeping in yet, it's still dark and he is still very much sleep deprived) in his room with his costume all cut up. He groans and rolls out of his bed.
Well no one knows except Gavi. Gavi knows Lamine is spiderman, for better or for worse (definitely for the better.) “Yeah sorry man, I should knock on your door so that your family wakes up and I can remove my mask in front of them. You know what? Maybe I should do a whole YouTube video too, face reveal! My life as spiderman! ” He throws back the whisper shout. The older man rolls his eyes, “yeah yeah, whatever. Sorry for being a little cranky about having to wake up at god awful hours because of you.” He's sassy with it but it's immediately countered with, “imagine how I feel.”
Long story short, Gavi, his neighbour, is the only guy that knows about his whole superhero business and he has helped him design his suit as well. He had just been swinging around in hoodies and face mask before developing it fully. Gavi is also to be credited for the material of the cloth because wow, it's proven to be extremely durable. He's almost grown up with the older, really looks up to him for a lot of things and so this is just another secret they happen to share on top of the other thousand they have. It also gives Lamine a place to be and a person to share with. Gavi knows he would've run his mouth to the wrong people otherwise.
Neither of them are great at it but they try to stitch his suit everytime it tears up somehow. And well, he doesn't always need the full deal anyway. He just needs the face mask and the gloves. He flops on the bed, stripping out of his suit and changing into the t-shirt Gavi throws at him. He winces when the man checks his bruise, frowning a little. “What happened?”
“A drunkard was following this girl.. I didn't expect him to punch me suddenly.” He hadn't even looked stable on his feet, so it was in fact a surprise because that punch was very strong – like a coherent man's. He lets Gavi do a bit of first aid, bruises on face or neck are a pain because he has to make up stories and lie to everyone till they heal. “And is that why you were out till fucking four a.m?”
Lamine rolls his eyes, “Do you really want to hear how many puppies I saved from walking into the traffic and how many old people I guided across the road?” He smiles and receives a little pat on his back. There is more to tell of his stories, going by the face of his costume but it’s late and they have a lot of time to discuss that later. “Come on, sleep now. You have school tomorrow – well, today. And your mom will not be happy that not only did you sleep over here, you also didn't go to school.”
He groans. A teenager who's a superhero is still a teenager.
And a teenager cannot escape school.
***
“LAMINE IF YOU SLEEP A SECOND LONGER I’M LEAVING YOU HERE!”
He groans, Gavi has been interrupting his sleep for the past hour. He pushes himself out of the bed obediently though, because if there’s one thing about the older man, he will very much leave without Lamine. It’s not his duty anyway but since he drives to his office anyway, he is kind enough to drop him off at school first. The bus takes longer and he’s almost always running late. He quickly jumps into the shower and freshens up while listening to Gavi frantically the entire time, making sure the man hasn’t left. He is glad that the guy likes to spend a lot of time on how he looks, it gives Lamine time to brush his own hair as well and floss properly in time. “You take so long to get ready, one might think it’s the fucking queen that’s been in the bedroom preparing for public appearance”, Gavi says while shoving a sandwich in his hand as soon as he has climbed in the passenger seat.
He bites back his protest - that the older literally takes an hour and therefore it is hypocritical of him to say that - just sitting back and looking out of the window because knowing the man, he will throw Lamine out and he really doesn’t want to walk all the way to the bus stop and miss his first class. Sighing, he thinks it would be nice if he was one of the more flashy superheroes and had a car too. He’s a teenager alright? Sometimes pimples pop out overnight and he will not leave without a patch, sometimes an awkward looking stubble is there to ruin his day, he has to give himself the good 15 minutes of taking care of himself before leaving for school. Being a high schooler is challenging, even for him.
And he could technically just roll out of his bed and head to his class but well… he has his reasons for keeping appearances.
“Fuck, stop the car! Stop the car bro!” He starts hitting Gavi who gets the scare of his life and hits the brakes a little too stiff and they’re both thrown forward a bit, thankfully though, Lamine has learned (through previous bad experiences) to always have the seatbelt on with Gavi, even if it's a really short distance. “You better have a good reason to jump me while I'm driving…” He looks out of the car and follows Lamine’s vision and sighs. Well, there it is. His reason.
Before he can give him an earful, Lamine climbs out of the door and has walked away. Gavi seriously thinks it's not a great idea to take the pain of driving him to school but can’t help the smile that creeps on his face. Alright, maybe he was also this stupid at his age.
Lamine is quick to return, walking backwards and oh my god this boy is lost.., Gavi thinks, quickly masking his laugh with a neutral face. “Hey Gav… my bro… my dude…” Okay so maybe Gavi in fact does not relate and dealing with a cringe teenager is genuinely the worst thing he has experienced besides a lady screaming at his face for not finding her file. Lamine is most definitely not allowed to call him Gav again, but he’s nice enough to not embarrass him right in front of the other boy. “What’s up kid.” He is very pleased with his response when he sees Lamine glare at him, but quickly loses it as he gently nudges the boy with him forward. “You don’t mind if Pau comes along right?” And really, he does not as long as they climb into the car and stop wasting his time here, so he just nods and gestures to him to climb in. “By the way, Pau gave me tuition for history this year.” He throws casually and Pau smiles which he easily returns.
“Hey man, heard a lot about you from Lamine.” He ignores the burning stare at him and smiles sweetly at the boy who looks between the two of them nervously, “All good things I hope.”
Oh he knows who Pau Cubarsi is, alright? Unfortunately, he has to hear about him quite often. If he remembers it right, Lamine has had a crush on him for almost a year, and according to him he’s the sweetest and nicest and kindest and most intelligent and cutest boy in the world. Gavi didn’t even know Lamine liked guys before he came to his room one day all red and then just started ranting about this apparently perfect guy that is in his English class. It was great to see he has moved on from his ‘very serious’ previous unrequited crush, and a little funny to watch him have his gay mental breakdown. It was definitely better than Gavi, he wasn’t fighting any internalised homophobia, looking absolutely comfortable with the fact that he liked a boy. Well, not comfortable, but okay with it. He is glad it was easier for him. But also, being his older gay friend meant he had to watch all the pictures and listen to his talks.
“This is Gavi, my neighbour, the one that chauffeurs me to school.” Lamine deserves a well-deserved slap at the back of his head for it and Pau laughs. “Thanks for letting me join Gavi, sorry if it’s a bother.” He smiles, “glad to hear someone else’s voice other than this guy whining.” “ You were the one whining” “five minutes ago you were basically crying at the idea of having to walk-” “i was not crying don’t exaggerate things!”
Pau is more than happy to sit in the backseat and watch the banter as they make their way to school. He is also rather oblivious to the heart eyes Lamine makes at him, which makes the situation even more pathetic. Gosh, Gavi thinks to himself, I do not miss being a teenager.
***
“He was nice.”
Pau says, cutting the silence between them, both teenagers awkwardly left standing after Gavi had dropped them off. Lamine beamed at him, “yeah, he was way nicer to you than he is to me. He's a big cunt when we're not around new people.” The other just giggles a little, and oh fuck, Lamine's poor heart can't take it – he's so cute that it makes him want to do something stupid. Like running into the traffic, or kissing him. He can do neither. “I'm sure he's not that bad since he drops you off everyday.” He nods his head, ruffling his hair a little and then regretting it (what if some strand is standing out awkwardly and..) “wait, you know he drops me off everyday?”
He doesn't miss how red the boy's face is. “Uh.. yeah, I mean. I've seen you. Quite often, you're always getting out of that car. I thought he was your brother..” Pau is shifting left to right while admitting it. It makes him even cuter – if that's possible at all. “Well no, but he's almost like one. I've grown up with him like one, I do have a brother though and I really don't want that guy as my brother.” He jokes, trying to play it cool but his heart is going crazy. Pau has been noticing him. He also feels incredibly self conscious, does the guy look at him that often? He hopes he doesn't look at him while he makes stupid faces at Marc in the hallways.
They're left standing looking at each other and looking down at their shoes, awkwardness still hasn't melted away between them. After all, they're not friends.
“I.. I have to go. Class.” He blurts out, winces at that but before he can say anymore he receives a smile and a little wave, “sure, I'm gonna head to the lab. See you later Lamine.. thanks a lot for today.” He's left standing there as he watches Pau's retrieving back. The atmosphere in the car had been incredible. They talked a lot, but it seemed they were still a little shy around each other. He wasn't really the type to be shy , always easily warming up to people. But he guesses the rules are a little different when it's a boy you like.
He spends the day trying to focus on what is going on around him but his mind keeps replaying the whole care ride in his head. He can only think of Pau. Marc says it's an excuse for him but what does Marc know?
When the last bell rings, he almost jumps in joy, because thank god he just wants to go home already – or well not home directly of course – but you get the point. He thinks of saying bye to Pau, but thinks against it because what if he thinks Lamine is clingy and he doesn't want to talk to him anymore? But what if he actually finds it sweet? He doesn't know. His ex-girlfriend had complained that he was too suffocating, around her too much and that made their relationship feel like a burden. Pau wasn't a girl, but surely he'd also relate to that if he approaches him too much..
He's going rounds inside the school building and right as he's walking past the lab, just a few steps away as he's thinking about it and he hears a loud thud. Something, or someone fell. And definitely not gently, as far as he can tell by the noise. He's about to rush in to see but he stops when he hears muttering. It's a man, and he sounds pissed off. The sensation in his head is enough to tell him that going in suddenly wouldn't be any good. So he peaks in, making sure whoever is inside doesn't see him.
It's Pau. It's Pau who's the someone who has fallen and judging by how three guys are surrounding him, he definitely didn't fall on his own and these guys are definitely not extending a hand of help. There's a knife, it's small but it's right on his chin and he's shivering a little, rationally scared, looking up at the guy with fear in his eyes but shaking his head in a no to whatever the man is saying. And Lamine doesn't know if that's incredibly stupid or incredibly brave on his part. There's a hand holding him by the collar and the two guys are looking around, like they're searching for something.
There's no point in assessing the situation any longer, something tells him waiting will make it worse, so he bursts into the room and it startles them a little, taking their attention away from their evil plans towards this new kid that has entered the lab. One of them looks familiar, he has definitely seen that face in school before, but the other two look a little too old to be in school. Unless they were working here, but considering they're participating in threatening a student, he doubts they are.
He easily deals with the first guy who throws himself at him right as he has taken a few steps, one flip and he's groaning on the ground, clutching his back. Should've paid more attention to building some muscles instead of that ugly purple mohawk. The second guy doesn't give him a break and is on him before he has kicked the first guy properly, grabbing him in a headlock but he backs him against the wall quickly slamming him and making his grip loose before punching him straight in the face. The mohawk guy grabs his leg and they wrestle a little but he headbutts the guy and then punches him again, twice to make sure he doesn't get up any time soon.
The thing is, when he said that spider biting him didn't just give him webs and a crazy grip but a lot of strength that he usually hides because even though Lamine is ripped and has great muscles, he wouldn't have been so strong, he wasn’t exaggerating.
“Don't fucking move!” The guy with the knife says, he's holding Pau up like a shield with the knife right on his cheek.
What a cliche, Lamine scoffs. That knife will just…
Wait, shit. He realises he's not in his costume and he can't just fucking go around shooting webs in front of them.
Before he can regret not wearing it, the guy starts moving backwards like an idiot (there isn't even a door there dumbass! If you're trying to escape, at least go to the door?) and ends up stumbling. Right as his hand is off Pau's wrist, Lamine immediately jumps and pulls the boy away from him, grabbing the attacker's hand, twisting it so the knife drops from his hand. This guy also happens to be the only one who is a little strong out of the trio, he kicks him right in the stomach and Lamine stumbles back. Before the man can kick him again, Pau suddenly comes up behind him and slams a tray against his head which immediately has this guy weak in his knees.
Its comically stupid.
“My saviour!” He smiles stupidly at Pau who can't help but smile back.
The situation is fucking stupid.
“Don't joke around Lamine.. watch out!” He screams and closes his eyes, but the next second bodies collide and when he opens his eyes, his attacker is on the ground, clutching his crotch. Well that explains it. He is frozen in his place while Lamine is hitting the man, he can hear the groans. He hears the tape sound and looks down, the boy is tying their hands with a shitload of tape around their wrists and all three are moaning and groaning in pain.
Lamine is already talking to the cops, as far as he can tell, while he's standing there in a daze. All three men are subdued on the ground. He lets the shorter tug him out of the room and locks the door from the outside, and oh! He's holding his phone and locking the door both from his left hand because he's holding Pau's hand with his right one.
Pau's eyes are meeting his own but he looks a little out of it, which makes sense because he was in a threatening situation a minute ago. He's not feeling that wel himself. He had been careless to just go in there without his suit, without being able to use his webs. His luck was on his side obviously, he had easily dealt with these junkies, but if it hadn't been, he could've ended up hurting Pau. Or if he had walked away without listening, if he hadn't been there at the right time and right place.. he doesn't want to think about it. He's safe, right infront of him. He's holding onto the boy's palm and he relishes the opportunity. Its warm and soft, and not to be corny, but it fits right into his own.
For a second he thinks he is going to say something but he can barely blink and Pau has thrown himself into Lamine's arms. His arms are wrapped around his neck, chin right on his shoulder against his neck and it sends him into a state of shock for a second. “Thank you.. thank you, thank you, thank you…” the chants are right next to his ear and they make him stiffen a bit before he relaxes into the hug. His own hands wrap loosely around Pau's waist, his lower back, before he tucks his face into the waves of hair and pulls him closer. Tight. “Lamine.. you saved me. You saved me, I don't know what I would've done.. I was so. I was so scared. Thank you.. thank you..” He's saying the same things over and over, but he doesn't blame him.
Lamine only rubs his back gently, enjoying the hug. Pau is so nice to hold. He's soft, it's almost like he can be molded under pressure. They're pressed together, chest to chest, and he doesn't want to separate. Suddenly, a childish thought comes to his mind – he's glad he wasn't in the suit. He would've had to leave the scene right after, but here he is, with the boy he's crazy about in his arms.
He's right next to Pau as he gives the police details. Apparently they had threatened him to give the keys to the professor's room. They thought it'd be an easy robbery of a few expensive beakers and chips, one of them. By their looks and the contents of their pockets, they were just trying to sell that off for some drugs. Clearly no professionals, considering the only weapon they had was a pocket knife. Perhaps they had also not expected a school student to care that much, after all most would've just given it to them and ran away but Pau had said no, and so, it escalated. The officers were not that suspicious of why he had resisted, but of how Lamine had managed to take on those three guys.
He shrugged and smoothly lied that they looked a little high already. And all of them were shorter than him, he joked. They let them off later, even though they weren't fully swallowing that Lamine had so easily dealt with three men but the senior officer patted his back and called him a ‘brave kid this country needs more of’ (well more kids need to be bitten by spiders then, he thinks and almost laughs at his own joke in front of them). He walked with Pau to the bus stop, the boy's hand holding onto his arm, like he was a little afraid to go on his own. Lamine was a sick bastard for liking it, but he liked it alright? No superhero duty could've ever made him feel as good as he did right now. “Thank-” “Pau if you say thank you once more I swear I'll… fuck I can't say anything bad but, basically just stop thanking me. I'm glad I was there, I'm glad I saved you. Come here.” He opened his arms and smiled when Pau immediately hugged him. They were the same height, more or less, but somehow he had the magical power of making himself smaller.. It was cute. Pau was cute.
Lamine hugged him close, his chin over the other's head and lightly swayed them left to right. His heart would've burst open if they stayed like that for five more minutes, but the bus came and it was time to let go. He felt stupidly attached but he couldn't scold himself when Pau too was reluctant in leaving him. He cupped his face, and whew! He doesn't know where he gained all that confidence from all of a sudden alright? But he did and looked into the light eyes that glimmering under the streetlight. “I'll see you tomorrow yeah? Text me when you get home.” Pau nods, cheeks flushed red and skips away into the bus.
He doesn't want to justify it, but he really does only follow him home to make sure he's safe. He franatically changes in the alleyway and goes a little too fast to keep up with the bus. After the stop, he's careful not to be too close so he doesn't spook the poor boy out accidentally. He's sitting on the house next door's rooftop when he sees Pau stop right at his door and pull out his phone. When the boy walks in, he feels his phone buzz.
pau <3
I'm home. :)
Thank you again, I know you told me not to say it again but I just want you to know I'm really grateful for you being there. Coincidence or not. ^-^
I hope you reached home safe as well. ♡
Ps. You were really cool when you were fighting them, like an action movie star.
And if spiderman is kicking his feet and giggling because of a text message, then it's nobody's business but his own.
Lamine ^-^
Was I dashing like James bond too?
Pau <3
Don't push your luck.
He smiles and turns off his phone as he heads out, the city has a lot more saving to do.