#also this is my first abo fic please be nice idk what tf i'm doing 😭

[visions--of--collisions]

For @anjimimimoo who requested 5 (E):

Nothing E-rated going on in this snippet, but cut for length! Please enjoy this ABO universe silliness feat. Beta!Hobie and Only Kind Of Omega!Miles, and a very concerned Pavitr and Gwen.

EXCERPT: let me ease your mind (Spiderverse, Hobie/Miles, Rated E, Post-Canon, ABO Dynamics)

‘Alright, then. What was the original plan, hole up in G’s dimension for a bit?’

‘Mm-hm.’ Miles took a shuddering breath; on his other side, Gwen had reached out to touch his arm gently. He lifted his head again and gave them a tight-lipped smile. ‘I was there - last time it happened. I didn’t know what was going on, but Miles did, only it kind of freaked him out, because it didn’t seem normal. After, he said he assumed it just worked different in my universe, so, I mean …’ Miles cleared his throat. ‘If he wasn’t confused already, he was when I had to ask what worked different.’

Hobie hummed, amused. ‘Makes sense. I’m guessin’ he was a bit preoccupied on his last visit to notice ‘1610 ain’t got … what was it Miguel was callin’ it, again?’

‘Um.’ Gwen glanced down at her newer, HQ-issued watch like she did sometimes, like she wasn’t sure how it had gotten there, sitting on the wrist opposite her bootlegged version. ‘Uhh. It’s … Alternate Dynamics, is what he called it.’

Hobie scoffed. ‘Alternate for who?’

Miles made a face. ‘For me, maybe,’ he allowed, grudgingly. ‘All I know for sure is if I hadn’t got bit by a spider from ‘42, I wouldn’t be dealing with this shit right now.’

‘Hmm. Reckon you wouldn’t, nah,’ Hobie conceded. He gave Miles a searching look. ‘But that can’t … You got bit years ago, man, so how come - when was it that it happened in ‘42; last year?’

‘Yeah, but … that was the first time it got, uh, real bad.’ Miles fidgeted with his fingers. ‘’Cause it happened every year after I got bit, around the same time, I don't know, I just figured it was a side effect of that, or maybe - maybe from the Collider? It wasn’t even until the year you guys showed up that I knew for sure it was happening - kept happening.’

Hobie rubbed at his chin. ‘Let me guess, ‘cause that was a bad year, too?’

‘Pretty much. And Aunt May had just moved so I - I didn’t, really …’ He looked even more uncomfortable, somehow, for a second.

‘ … There wasn’t anyone else around who you could’ve asked about it?’ Pavitr offered.

Miles nodded, carefully not looking directly at anyone. Gwen shifted and lowered her hand.

‘But … But when you say bad, here,’ she ventured, bravely. ‘Does that mean - did it hurt?’

Miles floundered, a little. ‘Well - yeah,’ he managed. ‘More than before.’

Hobie nodded, examining his untied shoes. ‘D’you bleed much?’

Miles stilled under Pavitr’s hand. ‘Like … two days,’ he mumbled. He sounded embarrassed, of all things.

Pavitr was still trying to close his open mouth when Gwen knelt abruptly, like it wasn’t entirely a conscious decision on her part. ‘Whuh-’ she stuttered. ‘W-what do you mean, you were bleeding?’

Miles cringed; Hobie waved her off. ‘Well, what’d you expect’s gonna happen, when bro’s body’s literally rearrangin’ itself? Growin’ whole new organs and shit.’

Pavitr and Gwen were still staring at each other in blind horror when Hobie inhaled and rocked back on his heels. ‘Alright, do me a massive favour, will you? Open up the front of your Suit.’

Miles’ eyebrows arched so high they almost touched his hairline. ‘Wha- huh?’

‘’Round your Gregory*,’ Hobie directed - which apparently meant around his neck, if the illustrative gesture was any indication. ‘I don’t … I dunno how much G told you, but I reckon I can help you fill in a couple blanks. If I told you I was a Beta, like, would you know what I was on about or would you need me to clarify?’

‘I don’t - think so? Uhh,’ Miles groped weakly for his zipper when Hobie waved him on. Jerkily, Pavitr removed his hand. ‘Betas are the folks that fall in the center of the spectrum, right? If you look at it like, say, Omegas are on one end and Alphas are on the opposite one.’

‘You mean like on a scale?’ Hobie pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘Alright, okay! S’not a bad way to look at it. Right, so, if you can picture that, you got yours truly sitting somewhere in the middle of two extremes, meanin’ I share traits in common with both, but like …’ He trailed off as he pulled his guitar strap over his head, searching for words. ‘In a more balanced way, innit? Less specialised.’

Gwen stared. ‘This is sounding a little like some gender binary stuff,’ she observed.

‘Pssh!’ Hobie shot her a dark look as he got his knees under him to better lean into Miles’ space. ‘I don’t know no bloody binary. ’

‘Wait, so -’ Miles groped at the loosened collar of his Suit; Pavitr thought he might be sweating harder despite the improved ventilation. ‘When you say “less specialised,” you mean, uh … ?’

‘What, you mean like - for me personally?’ Miles nodded, and Hobie tilted his head at him, considering. ‘I mean that I do alright, I suppose. I’ve got some vestigial stuff, physically … a bit of the vocal complement. Like - here, yeah, gimme your hand.’ He gestured for Miles’ free hand, and when he let him have it, Hobie splayed Miles’ gloved palm against his own chest and held it there. Miles looked confused for a moment, his gaze flitting between Hobie’s features and their hands before his eyes widened, suddenly. A minute later, Pavitr became aware of a low rumbling - not quite like a hum, but more …

Hobie laughed, sleepily, and it stopped. ‘S’a bit shit, really,’ he drawled, smiling at Miles’ thwarted expression; Pavitr hadn’t noticed him moving, but both of his hands were on Hobie’s chest now, trying to chase the vibrations. ‘I can growl like that, too, but it don’t exactly come natural, either one.’ Hobie hummed, thoughtfully. ‘An’ well, besides that, I reckon my nose ain’t as sharp as your average Hold ‘n’ Beg Ya’s* -’ He gave Miles a significant look. ‘- But it should be sharp enough to work out where you’re at, if you let me try. Plus, me bein’ a Seeya Later* - added bonus of it not bein’ wired directly to my cock!’

Miles pulled his hands away; the ‘Wow,’ that burst out of him made Hobie crow with laughter. Pavitr screened his eyes  and pointedly refrained from intervening when Gwen started swinging. Hobie fended her off with his guitar, still wheezing. ‘Nah, I’m serious, though - ow!’ he insisted, shoving the other Spider away with his foot only to get his ankle twisted in retaliation. Hobie grunted and rolled out of her grip, ducking out of arm's reach where he popped up again in the space between Miles and Pavitr. He crouched and got an arm around Miles’ waist, pointing his guitar at Gwen with the other. ‘D’you mind? I’m tryin’ to help your boy, here!’

‘Helping him how, by being a pain in the ass?’

‘Did you miss the part where I said I ain’t no knothead? Tsk!’ He turned back to Miles, leaning back on his heels. ‘G told you about scent glands and shit, right?’

‘I guess … ? Kinda.’ Miles scrubbed at his face, like thinking was taking him some effort. ‘Like pheromones and bonding and stuff.’

‘Sure,’ Hobie agreed, eyeing him carefully. ‘Obviously, there’s more to it than that. Like - look.’ He reached around Miles’ legs to set his guitar down, grunting in thanks when he caught the fretboard and steadied it against his thigh. ‘Cheers. Alright, see, the glands you’ve got around here, yeah?’ Hobie made a gesture that seemed to encompass not just his neck and his collar, but his nape and shoulders, too. ‘Some of ‘em are minor. Most of ‘em are major. It’s the biggest concentration of scent glands on you, above the waist, like. And it’s generally the bit that gets you clocked out in public, unless you’re walking around in the nip.’ He glanced down and flashed his palms with a rueful smile. ‘These’ll catch you out, too, ‘specially if there’s little kids runnin’ ‘round. But if you’re grown it’s that decolletage that’s gonna be in closer range to other people’s noses, you get me?’ 

Miles fiddled with his collar. ‘I guess that makes sense.’

‘I’m not just talkin’ about heats and ruts and shit, obviously, yeah? Like, picture when you were small, and you weren’t feelin’ so hot - what’d you do? Prolly run to your Mum or Dad, ask to be picked up - then they’d get one whiff and know straight off somethin’ weren’t right. And, like, growin’ up, you’d always know your siblings or your friends were presentin’ practically before they did, if you was horsin’ around and that.’ He fisted his hand in Miles’ neckline and shook him gently to illustrate, grinning shamelessly at the answering splutter.

Pavitr held up a finger to get their attention, feeling weirdly awkward about the interruption. ‘I’m - I’m sorry, but, I’m not sure I understood that last part?’

‘How’d you mean, bro?’ Hobie questioned, casually trying to disengage Miles’ fingers from where they were attempting to make a corkscrew of his helix piercing.

Miles spoke up before he could answer: ‘Puberty, Pav. He’s talking about puberty,’ he said, flatly. He twisted awkwardly as Hobie aimed his fingers at his ribs. ‘Ugh. Or, like, coming of age or whatever. Miles told me kids start showing signs of their, uh, Alternate Dynamics or whatever, when they’re about twelve or thirteen. Usually.’

Pavitr blinked. ‘ … Huh.’

Gwen looked genuinely pained. ‘God. Like puberty isn’t rough enough without all of … this?’

[TO BE CONTINUED]

GLOSSARY:

*Gregory (Gregory Peck): Cockney Rhyming Slang term for neck

*Hold 'N' Beg Ya: Earth 138-native Rhyming Slang term for Omega, cribbed from the wonderful like facing the sun with closed eyes, red by 2by4, which partially inspired this fic - in particular, the concept of Miles developing A/B/O traits because they exist in the dimension where his spider came from

*Seeya Later: Earth 138-native Rhyming Slang term for for Beta