Atlantis

Meanwhile, Felix and Denzel had done more than a couple of things. The first was to get proper clothes, something safe and unassuming. They did that, argued over what food to get, and then realized they didn’t have enough money to be picky. 

The last step was finding a place to stay. Felix sat under the shade of a shop's canopy, arguing animatedly with the receptionist lady of a hotel. 

“What do you mean you don’t have a single room for us!? This is the biggest hotel in the area!!!” 

Denzel groaned, munching on stale pizza. “Can’t you just call another place.”

Felix glared at him. This was one of those things the brunette had to win. 

“You know you’re basically a Karen.” Denzel added after seeing his reaction. 

“Oh now a room for two’s available?” Felix said, suddenly very accusatory. “Great! Goodbye!” He hung up, satisfied. 

Denzel was a dead man. 

Felix moved up next to him, glaring. “That was just 1% of my Karen.” 

Denzel felt his lips twitching to smile, but he held back, he valued his life more than that. He got up, dusting off pizza crumbs, “When's the reservation for?” 

“Tonight at,” Felix checked the time, “midnight”

“Great, then we have tons of time to search for the anomaly.” Denzel said, focused. 

Felix seemed to deflate at that. 

Denzel continued, “I think I know where to look.” He pulled out his phone, showing him.

“The circus?” It looked advanced, with holograms and everything. Denzel was just going to have to get used to the time period of this universe. 

They eventually got out of the taxi, stepping onto one of the orange and red floors of a tall building. Creepy and dramatic clown imagery peered down at the pair. They glanced at each other, it was weird. The elevator door chimed open, floor 312. 

They got in, quickly realizing there were no buttons on this elevator. 

“You did your research on this place right? Or at least this dimension?” Felix asked hesitantly, as the doors closed in front of them. Essentially trapping the spidermen.  

“I- Well, maybe not enough.” Denzel furrowed his brow. Why weren’t there any buttons? 

They continued to go up, the quiet creak of the elevator thrumming in their nerves. Both had unconsciously developed a fighting stance. 

Ding. 

Ding. 

Ding. 

The lights on the roof of the elevator melted into a hot pink. 

The doors gently slid open. The pair closed their eyes, the immediate strobe of lights too strong to bear. 

A high pitched voice came from outside the elevator, “Hello darlings. I’ll be your host for today, and forever. Because we know you’ll come back.” A woman in a large pink fur coat and heavy amount of makeup wrapped her arms around both of them, leading them into the huge stadium. 

“Oh dear, you two seem disheveled! First time? Let’s get you set up.” she said determinedly, weaving through the rowdy crowds.  

What type of circus was this? 

Felix was the first to get his eyes adjusted to the scene. Someone was running harsh strobe lights, and hundreds of animalistic people seemed to be strapped into tight VR goggles. Bleachers rose far above them, crowded with sweaty acrobats and dancers. There was a surprising amount of movement under the stands. Felix peered down with a start, those were animals. Lions, leopards, tigers, rearing to be fed. 

Denzel felt the woman's arms not-so-politely shove him into a section that was bordered off. It vaguely resembled a bar. 

“Here!” She panted clearly tired, “Your goggles, The Dose, and free drinks that come with a subscription! And don’t worry, the performances will start soon! I’ll be here if you need!” She said, overly cheery, taking a seat on the purple barstool. 

“Uh, give us a second or two.” Denzel said, swiveling in his chair and pulling Felix to the side. 

“What the fuck.” Felix said, still glaring at the lady, who was busy chatting with the bartender. 

“Don’t ask me!?” Denzel replied in a hushed voice. 

“Well actually I have to ask you since you’re the one who brought me here with no explanation whatsoever.” Felix said, annoyance creeping into his tone. 

“I got a tip from someone that our culprit would be here, they said weird stuff always happens here anyways.” Denzel said, defending himself.

“A tip from someone ? Who?” Felix asked curtly.

“Just someone from HQ.” Denzel said, taken aback.

Felix who did not seem satisfied with the .” Denzel said, taken aback. 

Felix, who was not satisfied with that half ass explanation, moved on. 

“Okay…so we’re supposed to look for anomalies…here…” he accused more than asked.

“Yeah.” Denzel said, not understanding the problem.

Felix sighed. “And…what’s the dose exactly?”

Denzel paused. He had completely forgotten to tell him. He had been doing that a lot lately. He probably had an immunity to it, which is why he forgot to mention the dose before they got here. 

“It’s…well…an aphrodisiac.” He said quickly, ripping off the bandaid. 

Felix was livid. This was the third time something like this has happened. 

Denzel watched as Felix wordlessly got off the barstool, snatched the bottles out of the woman’s hand and downed one of them before shoving the other into Denzel’s hand. 

Felix would swallow his anger just today, for the sake of the mission. They’d talk about it later. He grabbed the headset and left. 

Denzel slumped onto the surface of the bar, internally beating himself for being so stupid.

Felix was immediately pulled into the crowd. He snapped the goggles on, which had a repeat of the same ads playing. There was a timer in the center, counting down to the next show. It read one minute.

Felix felt a burning sensation stirring in the pit of his stomach. Just great. 

Denzel buried his face in his hands. In dismay, he felt the woman place a hand on his shoulder. “There are always more fish in the sea.” She gestured to the crowd. 

“That doesn’t- It’s not like that.” He replied.

“Really? I don’t know anyone who takes a friend over here.”

Denzel shoved her hand off of his shoulder, finally finishing the dose. He put his goggles on, making his way to the crowd, the timer in the center finally running out.

Stayfocused damn it.

A single acrobat came out, in all her shining glory. He finally saw the point of the goggles, the performers were surrounded by holograms. She was dancing with them, it was surreal. 

Denzel suddenly felt a distinct pressure in his stomach. Shit…he’d almost forgotten about the drug. 

The flush had now reached Felix’s cheeks, heat building and slowing. He watched more acrobats line the sky of the arena, the goggles allowing him to focus on each one. All of a sudden, it glitched . 

What was that? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a gaping black hole. An anomaly. In a rush, Felix took off his goggles. It was gone. Anomalies didn’t do that. 

Unless…it was him… 

Felix shoved his way throughout the sweaty crowd, tracing the spots.

It was him. 

He needed to find Denzel right now . 

He saw the silky black hair in the crowd, grabbing him and pulling him violently out. 

“Take off the VR!” he yelled over the noise. 

Denzel, who had been entranced by the overstimulation and entertainment, barely heard Felix. 

Felix violently shook Denzel, no longer caring. “Take. It. Off.” He yelled again, relieved when Denzel finally heard him. 

Hundreds of dark holes popped through the roof, the Spot’s hands poking through. This just became a lot harder. 

“We need to go.” Felix said, urging Denzel on. 

Denzel nodded, unable to reply. He ran out of the doors of the arena, climbing the stairs to the roof. They stopped at the top to take a breath, mapping out the situation. 

Felix didn’t dare look at Denzel, it was all over if he did. 

“Who are you guys? Side characters?” The Spot said from above them, in an oddly joking manner. Denzel shot web at him, too slow. 

“No really. I have, like, uh, never seen you before.” The Spot continued, sticking his hand out next to them.

“Is Miles here? Or Gwen? Or even Pavitr?” he popped out. 

“Pavitr? You know him?” Denzel said, constantly swinging at him and missing. 

“Oh boy. Do I know him? Yeah I crashed in his dimension for a bit. Back in my amateur days, like you guys!” 

“We’re far from amateurs .” Felix threw a punch while Denzel connected the dots. 

This was the guy who destroyed Pavitr’s dimension. It had to be. 

“You’re fucking pathetic.” Denzel spat, suddenly overcome with anger. He violently swung, before his body gave an unwarranted jolt. 

Felix seemed to be feeling worse because he was incredibly unsteady on his feet. 

“You guys are new to this!! Cause it's looking messyyy!” The Spot pronounced condescendingly, popping farther and farther away from them. 

The spidermen slammed open the escape hatch, swinging thousands of feet high in the cold air. 

The Spot popped in again, “Hey. This was fun guys but I gotta get back to Miles, he’s kinda my main enemy right now. So, have fun? Plus you’re wayyy too bad at fighting to even attempt it. So stop.” 

He snipped their webs with his finger, closing the last remaining hole with a flourish. 

Denzel went tumbling onto another story of the building, his hands reaching out to steady Felix.

The brunette let out an exasperated breath. 

“If you had just told me we were gonna be drugged none of this would’ve happened!” Felix protested, proceeding to stumble onto the landing, breath heavy. 

“You didn’t have to take it-“ 

“Bullshit. Stop keeping me in the dark. You didn’t tell me about this mission until hm, the day of! And then you rope me into it and tell me it’s potentially catastrophic.” Felix interrupted, done with his shit. 

“ Maybe, if you actually told me stuff none of this would’ve happened!” His voice rose closer and closer to a scream. He wished Denzel had given him a heads up. Mistrust boiled along in his mind. 

“No! I would…we would come up with something so you didn’t have to. And I forgot to tell you, honestly .” Denzel lied, he had just needed some time and space to think things through!

“Clearly you would, since you know so much about what we’re doing here.” The brunette mocked, sarcastic. 

Felix swallowed, voice easily strained in this state. Denzel was trying to get the last word in, but he was barely listening. His body was abandoning him, carnal thoughts taking over his mind. Shivers plagued his abdomen and up his spine. He closed his eyes, feeling a desperate heartbeat pulse under his suit. 

Felix must’ve said something because Denzel was suddenly quiet. 

He half opened his eyes, hands gripping the railings behind them. 

“What?” The brunette accused. 

God it would be nice to be back at the arena right now. He felt Denzel move in front of him, his deep-voiced words trailing around, teasing his mind.

Yeah…what were they arguing about anyways? He liked that look on Denzel’s face, focused on him. His voice always dipped when he was angry. 

“You…have a nice voice .” The brunette said, face already hot.  

“No I- What?” Denzel stopped talking again. 

“You heard me… ” he looked up, slowly pushing his hands up behind Denzel’s neck. “I said you have a nice voice…is that so bad?” 

The taller spiderman was at a loss for words, where was this coming from?

Felix shifted his weight onto him, whispering up into his ear, “Say something for me? ”  

“Felix…wait a sec.” Denzel said, gently pushing back. The dose must be having a stronger effect on him. It was cute.

“Say my name again. ” the brunette breathed out softly. 

“Felix?” 

“ Mhm…” the shorter spidey rested his head on him, trailing his hands up Denzel’s hair. “ Again?” He asked sweetly, continuing the motion. 

“Felix…”

“Nuh uh…don’t stop…” Felix was all over him, hands wandering across his suit and in his hair. His breath was warm on his skin.

Now, would Denzel ever lay a hand on Felix in this state? 

Never. 

But how the fuck was he supposed to get out of it?

Coming up with ideas in this situation proved to be very difficult, especially since it was the guy he was pining over who put him here. 

Felix’s hands were rough, and did he really like his voice that much? It was hot , he broke down every time Denzel had said it. His face was flushed, but it made him look stupidly attractive. His hair fell over his eyes like magic, it was unfair.

He began to tug gently on Denzel’s suit, wordlessly asking for something that he couldn’t give. 

Not yet at least. 

“Why’d you stop?” Felix looked up, trying to use those big brown eyes to his advantage. It was definitely working. 

“No no. No more.” he replied. “I’ll say it all you want…when we get to the hotel.” Denzel finished, cringing at himself. 

Felix pressed a soft kiss onto his cheek. 

Denzel almost went into cardiac arrest. Why were his lips so soft !? Why was that…it was everything he wanted. 

But not like this. 

“I'll give you as many of those as you want.” Felix countered, grinning into his cheek. Unreasonably sweet. It was the least he could do while this monstrous feeling was carving him out. 

“Do you want more?” Felix asked.

Yes. Say yes. 

Denzel nodded. 

“You have to say it to me… I like it better that way.” Felix added, blinking up at him. 

“Not yet.” 

Jesus, if Denzel had known he liked his voice that much he would've never shut up.

The spidermen managed to make their way to the hotel via Uber, waiting impatiently for the elevator door to close. What the fuck was it with long elevator rides in this dimension? They made it to the dark hotel room, not bothering to turn on the overhead lights. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck what was he gonna do now, this was all gonna go south wasn't it. 

Felix ran his hands around his torso, pulling him backwards. Hot kisses being peppered up his neck. Over and over…so sweet…tempting… just the right spot…

“You promised to say it.” he reminded. 

“ Felix” Denzel repeated, molding the word, changing his voice ever so slightly. 

He felt the brunette shiver, chaste kisses becoming frantic, hearing the zipper on his back being unzipped…falling into a trance… 

Denzel shook his head. Snap out of it. 

He grabbed Felix’s hand, leading him to the bed.

“I gotta run to the bathroom real quick, stay here for a sec?” Denzel said before almost slamming the bathroom door shut. 

The feeling of him pressing down on him and usinghim for relief were maniacal. A constant torturous loop.

He dragged his body down to the cold bathroom floor. The dose didn’t affect him but Felix did. Denzel buried his hands in his face, he let the guy unzip the back of his suit!? His skin was tingling against the smooth texture of the door. 

Denzel opened his eyes, steeling himself to go back out there when reflective something caught his eyes. 

It was a bunch of clear bottles stuffed discreetly under the sink, like the person who put them there didn’t want anyone to find it. Denzel began taking them out one by one, examining each, there were no labels at all. He heard something fall from the spot underneath the sink, peering down to see what it was. 

Denzel’s stomach dropped. 

A needle? 

The last people here wouldn’t leave drugs as intense as this? And what about the cleaning staff or whatever? They’d throw it out right? Maybe this was just a fluke. Denzel opened the tiny bottles, to his horror, the needle’s tip fit perfectly in the slot. 

Felix…He was the one who booked the hotel. He dropped their stuff off here. He insisted, snatching Denzel’s bags away from him before he could protest. 

Denzel bit his tongue, he’d heard bottles over the phone. But that noise could’ve been from anything. He left the items on the counter, making his way back to the main room, only to find Felix unsurprisingly sound asleep. 

A horrible. Horrible idea came to him. 

Maybe he could search for needle marks now.  

Why would he do that? That was a violation. But it would save him from the pain of doubt. And the hassle of accusing your friend of doing hard drugs. 

He could just check without the accusation. 

Or the worry. 

Denzel squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to pull his hair out. He was a horrible, horrible person for this. 

He leaned over Felix, who was knocked out. Hopefully, hopefully he wouldn’t wake up, that would look...well let’s not think about it. Denzel locked his jaw, regretfully pulling up his suit above his thighs.  

He felt disgusting, checking his thighs for marks. Why did he even doubt his bestfriend? Of course he wasn’t fucking doing heroin or shit like that. 

Felix shifted.

Denzel froze.

He waited. Ten…nine…eight… 

Okay. Everything seemed clear and he just looked like a huge, disgusting, asshole now. He began to pull the suit back down his thighs when a small, unnoticeable mark caught his eyes. 

Denzel shook his head. 

He was done having trust issues. He was done doubting people who cared about him. Despite his self incriminating thoughts, his legs carried him to bring the needle back to the bed. 

Just a quick check. He just needed to cure his paranoia, that’s all. 

Denzel lined the needle up with the mark, it was perfect. 

It was more than perfect.

He threw the needle and the bottles into the sink, hands fumbling around everything.

What the fuck was this? Denzel stared at himself. Felix looked healthy? He didn’t look like he was dependent on anything. He looked fine. He would’ve noticed something like this earlier right? Maybe this was a new thing, maybe he found it at the arena. Denzel was dreaming, today felt like a fever dream anyways. He splashed some cold water on his face. He’d ask tomorrow. He’d ask tomorrow and if Felix denied it, that was that. 

He’d shove it to the back of his mind and never worry about it again. 

Until he inevitably would. 

Felix shifted in his sleep, causing Denzel to rush over and pull the suit up, struggling to throw a blanket over him. He switched the last remaining light off, what if Felix didn’t deny it, or what if he lashed out? What if he chose it over him? The bed was itching under his skin, and the hum of the a/c was too loud. He pulled the blanket over himself, there was no rest in his mind.