#and i'm not talented enough to make gifs look pretty and crisp

[moonkhao]

I have to go now, though. [...] You're not gonna come with me anymore? Want to go to my place and listen to music? I love the songs you play for me. I bought a lot of vinyls. Come on. See? You can't get enough. No thanks. I have to go back home. As for you...

ONLY FRIENDS | Deleted Scene

[suuuupernovaaa]

Green | Hobie Brown x f!Spider!Reader

"And you are... green, everywhere?" "I am. Are you pierced everywhere?"

Based on this request.

My chest is heaving as the dust settles. Whatever they've got going on in this dimension, it's bigger than anything I've ever dealt with in mine. I handle mostly... petty crime, the occasional super boss, sometimes even a bad guy with powers but, none of them have really proven a match for me.

It helps that I can read their minds, but still, my dimension is pretty relaxed, as far as dimensions go. I've got it easier than other spider-people.

Feeling a little cramped up in my suit, I pull my mask off and take in a breath of clean, crisp air. No matter what I do, I can't make the mask breathable enough. If I'm fighting, I can put off thinking about it for long enough, but I'm always ready to get the mask off the moment the fighting is done.

"Whoa," someone says just behind me, the word quiet and heavy, let out on a puff of air.

I turn to see Gwen standing by one of her other Spider-friends, the one with the guitar and the studded vest. Please, take off your mask, I think. Are you as handsome as I'm thinking?

Gwen pulls hers off first, grinning at me with her gap-toothed smile. "Y/N!" she shouts, running over and wrapping me into a hug. "Thank you! Ohmigod, we could not have done that without you."

Leather-vest spider-man pulls his mask off next, and I have never been less disappointed in my life. Piercing brown eyes, full pierced lips, high sharp cheekbones, and a gorgeous head of voluminous hair shooting in every direction.

"Wow," I whisper, looking past Gwen, who giggles a little bit. I focus back on her, a little embarrassed. "Happy to help!"

She reaches up, taking a strand of braided hair between her fingers. "I like this! And seriously, thank you. It always gives us an edge when you help."

I wave my hand in the air and shrug. "It's usually such an annoying, uh, talent. I'm glad it helped."

"You read minds, right?" leather-vest spider-man says, coming up behind Gwen.

"Y/N, this is Hobie. Hobie, this is Y/N. And that's Miles over there, and Pavitr." Gwen does a round of introductions, and I wonder how many names I will remember. Miles and Pavitr are cute, to be sure, but Hobie...

"I do, but it doesn't work on Spider-People. That used to really piss Miguel off," I reply with a chuckle. "Probably why he didn't mind when I left his band."

Hobie raises an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

"Yeah. I didn't like being told what to do. I like my simple little universe."

He reaches out, grabbing my arm and turning it over, examining the suit. "And you are... green, everywhere?"

"I am. Are you pierced everywhere?"

"Jesus," Gwen hisses under her breath, and turns to join Miles and the other guy, who's name I have already forgotten.

"That came out much more suggestive than I meant it to. But yes, I am green all over and I read minds. But that's kind of it. It's the usual Spider stuff besides that. And you - someone said Spider-Punk?"

He shrugs, hands in the vest he wears over his spider suit. "Yeah. I didn't choose it. Kind of stuck."

"I like it. Mine is just Spider-Woman. Very basic."

"Yeah, but you can fuckin' read minds," Hobie replies, leaning forward, a very serious look on his face. "What's the best thing you've ever heard?"

I stop, pursing my lips as I think back over the hundreds of thousands of thoughts I've unwittingly heard. Before I could control my powers, it was loud all the time, like the volume was dialed all the way up on the entire world, and I could hardly filter of focus on one single thought.

"Honestly, usually the people I'm fighting, hearing their thoughts makes it hard. They usually aren't psychopaths or totally unfeeling. They have, y'know, internal conflict, the same as anyone else. Sometimes they've seen some really awful stuff, or something just, unimaginable has happened to them. And I feel kind of bad, kicking their ass, right? It gives me an advantage but... it makes it hard, to just see them as the enemy."

Hobie's face softens and he leans back, as if he is very carefully considering what I've just said.

"Shit. You're very interesting. I'm glad you can't read my thoughts."

I throw my head back laughing. "Me too. Maybe."

"Can I take you out, sometime? A show or, dinner, whatever?" he asks, and my laughter is stopped in its tracks.

A date?

We just met.

We're from different universes. He's not green. They'll notice him, if he comes to mine... they'll notice me, if I go to his. It wouldn't be sustainable.

But maybe it would be fun?

He bites his lip, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes as he waits for an answer.

It's not a very good idea. It probably couldn't go further than one date. It's not like either of us can leave our dimensions. They need us.

God, he's tall. He's lean but his muscles are firm, and his jawline makes me feel absolutely feral.

It's good he can't read my thoughts, either.

"I'm free tomorrow night. Gwen can tell you how to get ahold of me."

He smiles, a wide smile, nearly stretching ear to ear, and my heart speeds up in my chest.

"Brilliant," he says.

I know I'm making a mistake - but it won't be the first time, or the last.