Entangled

Tonight was game night: Gwen, Miles, Pavitr, Hobie, and their newest addition, Arabella. Arabella was the Spider in her universe. Earth-1312. Her name was Arabella Donovan, and her Alias was Spider Eclipse. 

Her hair fell over her ears in a big green coily fro that matched the emerald in her eyes. She was one of the only spider variants that didn't necessarily wear a mask. She did, in the most simplistic terms, Juggalo makeup. 

It was ever-changing, but the style always stuck; her universe had technology that allowed her makeup to stick to her face and act like a simple cloth mask, so it only came off if she meant it. 

Outside of being the friendly dystopian spider girl, she was your average metalhead goth. Rows of piercings on her ears and eight piercings covering her face.

She wore Shaker-60 ankle boots followed by layers of fishnets, a band tee of her own making, and a black half up half down skirt. 

"Ugh, I hate this game; I don't even have this in my universe," Arabella groaned, holding the Wii remote. The band had all agreed to play Mario Kart that night. 

"You hate it because you're not playing it right! Come on, you're even holding the controller right," Miles playfully groaned, showing her how to hold the controller again. 

"Uh…well, I'm sick of it for now; let's play something else. You got guitar hero?" Gwen suggested, holding three pizza boxes and dropping them on Miles's coffee table. 

"Ooh, let's play Monopoly!" Pavitr chimed in, throwing his hand into the air. Everyone—except Arabella cringed. 

"Monopoly? We're already livin' it," Hobies voice came from Miles's window, fashionably late as always. He tucked his mask into his back pocket. 

"Monopoly? What is that? I know the concept, but you said to play it?" Arabella asked, glancing at Hobie, who took his seat across from her. 

With the pizza boxes open and the collective decision to watch all the Shrek movies for her, they all tried to explain the concept of Monopoly to her and how Hobie—despite being anti-capitalist—was terrific at the game and could beat everyone. 

She also had questions about guitar hero, leading down into a pool of wonders she didn't know existed. 

"So what's it like? Earth-1312? You never really talk about it?" 

Arabella's stiffened at Miles's question. She gave a half-hearted smile and cleared her throat. 
"Well… I've said before it's a dystopia. There are the people below and the people at the top. There's a carved hole in the earth where the rich secured and flew into the sky. My earth is slowly dying, but….." She paused, leaning forward for another slice. 

"That's why I exist! I take out the police and the drones, and our constant eclipse fuels my powers."

"Alright, look at you being the anarchist 'round here. Knew I liked you from the start," 

Arabella's cheesed softly at him. She couldn't help the feeling rise through her chest at what she assumed was some compliment. 

"Y-yeah. It could be better, so Uh don't visit! Really… I'm serious. I get away the best I can, but they have surveillance everywhere and can't breathe without a robo coming for you," She tried to keep her eyes off of Hobie, but the way he leaned back against the couch was messing with her. 

It was no surprise she had a crush on The Spider-Punk; no matter how much he hated labels, she liked it. The first time they met, she ultimately made a fool of herself. But he always stayed calm no matter how often she stumbled over herself. 

Unsurprisingly they were sent on missions together; their styles were chaotic but just enough to get things done and not be micromanaged by Miguel. 

Although Miguel liked her better than Hobie, that wouldn't last long as Hobies' humor' started to rub off on her. 

She grabbed another root beer bottle from the kitchen as the rest talked. 

"Ariiii! I know something about you~" Pav skipped into the room, his face like a sun she's never seen before. But his statement made her tense her shoulders and immediately fumble with the drink. 

She stood taller than Pav, taller than everyone in the room than Hoboie. 
"What…what—like what? There's nothing about me," She stumbled over her words with an awkward laugh. 

"That you! Like! Hobie~ don't worry, I won't tell him, but it's obvious! The tension is immaculate, and don't get me started on how you look at him," Pavitr whispered Hobbies name so they wouldn't hear.

Somehow, hearing that made her release a deep exhale. 
"Wow, okay, not what I- wait, excuse me? Me?? Like him? Hobie? No. No, we have the same ideas and morals but nothing—no way you're joking; I wouldn't label it. He's..a nonlabeled friend..." 

Arabell downed her root beer to avoid digging herself another hole. She felt the burn too late and coughed, setting the empty glass bottle down. 

Pavitr only chuckled and snatched her bottle from her. 
"Don't worry! I have an idea! Thank me later!" He ran out of the kitchen, terrified of what Pavitr would do. 

"Wait, Pav! Pav, hold on.." her attempt to stop him was futile. So as she got into the living room, she watched Gwen and Miles move the table, and everyone sat in a circle. 

"I have a game! We are going to play 7 minutes in heaven!" Arabella, once more, had no idea what was going on as she sat in front of Hobie. 

Her lack of game knowledge made the group laugh; they enjoyed explaining everything she didn't have in her universe, making her feel at home. She was excited. 

"So we just spin a bottle, and what?" Arabella asked, wondering why Pav would pick this game, considering she knew what he was trying to do. 

She caught Gwen and Miles glancing at each other several times since the game started. She wondered why Gwen was tinted pink. 

"Well, let's say Gwen spins the bottle, it lands on Miles, and they have seven minutes in a closet, or this case, Mile's room,"

"What? My room? No, man,"

"Why? Your shoe closets are too small," Gwen asked, leaning back on her hands. 

"Well, for one last time, you took my figure from the box! And shoes on the bed. Did you guys know she met my parents and called them by their first names?" Miles leaned forward and let out a grumpy exhale. 

Everyone else visibly cringed. 
"That's the whitest shit I've seen in a while.." Arabella said to herself. At least, she thought so when Hobie snorted a second with a soft glance at her. 

Pav caught the interaction and got everyone's attention. The game started with Gwen going. First, she landed on Pav, and they went and had their 7 minutes. When the time came around, they exited and talked about some comics. 

Next was Miles; he also got Pav in the second round. Slowly as it got to her turn, she was nervous. What was the point of 7 minutes? Why 7? What did you do with that time? 

Arabella spun the bottle, watching it turn a lot longer than she felt it did. She could feel the sweat falling from her neck, thinking about the whole 7 minutes alone. 

"Hobie!" Pav called his name out as the bottle landed on him. Arabella pulled herself back to her thoughts as she looked up at him. 

Praises. 

He was so pretty. 

"So just…in the room.." she mumbled to herself. Hobie was quiet as he followed her into the room, standing off to the side as the door shut and Hobie plopped onto Miles' bed. 

"You like standing in corners? Come sit," he raised his brow at her, a smile on her face as she did. 

"So…seven minutes. Of what exactly? I'm not getting this game,"

"Yeah. You don't get games do you?" Hobie laid back on his elbows, watching her. 

"Not really… I've never been able to play games before, much less with friends." She laughed nervously, looking at Hobie and trying to avoid anything like eye contact. 

"Ugh…seven minutes. Why that time? Time isn't real," She mentioned, leaning back as well. l
"Social construct created to control us and what we do with our time," Hobie nodded, shaking his wicks. 

Her eyes widened, making her smile, "Exactly! I keep telling people that time isn't real. The concept of the sun and moon moving doesn't mean there's a time. We made up time because humans need control, but I think it's stupid; night could be a day, and the day could be night."

Arabella continued with her time construct when she noticed he was staring at her. 
"Oh…sorry. Is the time up? We should…what were we supposed to be doing?" 

She watched as Hobie leaned closer to her. 
"We got 3 minutes. And the point is that we can do anything,"

"In…heaven? Are we supposed to flatline or something?" 

"Nothing of the sort. Just anything that comes to mind," She caught the flicker of his eyes down to her lips. 

Her eyes went wide for a moment as her ears felt warm. She felt the world around her spin for a moment as the realization of the implications of the game hit her. 

"Oh…oh. Uhm…okay…heaven. I see…" She looked away from him, pulling her gauges like a nervous tick. 
"I don't play by the rules anyway. Whatever you want, ladies first always, Love." 

"Uhm…" she tried to keep herself calm; the nickname was new. Completely new. And it was almost as if he knew it would make her giggle and kick her feet with that name. 

She looked up at him, more so his lips this time. She bit down on her snake bites, wondering if she did kiss them, would they get caught? Would it be warm? Would he quickly kiss her labret piercing, or would it be difficult? 

Confidence. One thing she rarely had when it came to something like this. She rather punch a fucking cop than kiss someone. 

"Fuck wow… you're kinda making me feel like a schoolgirl," she scoffed under her breath, moving her arms in front of her. 

"Well, lucky for you, you are." 

Hobie sat up on the bed this time, leaning to the side of her. 

The comment made her hum in delight and take a deep breath. 
"Would…it wouldn't… beweirdifwekissedright?" She asked, out of breath and nervous. 

"Come on, Love. Speak up; I can't give you what you want if you're all over the place." 

She turned to him, eyes closed tightly. He knew exactly what he was doing with her being visibly excited and bashful. 

"Is a kiss okay?" She averted his gaze, hearing his chortle, and scooted closer to her on the bed. This time his hand pushed into the bed behind her while the other picked her face up. 

'Fuck he's pretty. Oh my god, he's everything,' Arabella felt the words swim in her head. 

"Yea, anythin' for a girl like you." 

Taking the last bit of initiative, she leaned forward into him, her eyes wide until their lips touched. She closed them tightly as his thumb brushed her jaw, calming her. 

It wasn't long before their lips moved gently synchronously, and relaxation set in her shoulders as she leaned into him.  

He was warm, softer than she expected him to be. His thumb kept rubbing gentle circles around her cheek; they were calloused but were pleasant on her skin. His nose pressed into her cheek as the kiss continued, her curly bangs tickling his forehead and her nose spikes pressing into his face. 

To stable herself, she planted her hand on the thigh of his jeans, sighing gently into the kiss. Just as she pulled for air, the door swung open. 

"It's passed Seven minutes!" Pav screamed with excitement. 

It was a miracle that their piercings didn't get caught on each other as she pulled away and stood up. 

"Yeah! Yep! Seven whole minutes yikes, that was, well, yup. Sorry got to talking…talking…right.." she cleared her throat, pressing down her skirt and walking past Pav to the living room. 

"Yeah, Mate. Time isn't real; it's bogus. Don't believe innit" Hobie shrugged, not caring as he caught Pav's devious playful smile.

As she sat down, she couldn't look at Gwen or Miles, who were snickering up a storm. 

"What? Why are you guys laughing?" Arabella hissed, pulling on her ear. 
"Hey, got somethin'. "She looked at Hobie as he had his hands in his pockets, walking from the room. 

Her eyes went wide as he had black lipstick and white face paint smeared on his face. 
"Oh, my god." 

"Yeah, we're never using my room like that again. Don't know what any of you got," 

With Arabella's embarrassment rising through her face, it wasn't as bad as Hobie sitting beside her with a smirk. He refused to wipe the makeup off his face as the rest teased.