Pop the Question
It was around midday in Nueva York as Miles walked around the Spider Society. His eyes were scrunched up, lost in thought, his plush lips in a small pout. Miles was facing a dilemma and he did not know who he could go to for help. He thought about asking his mother, but then she would ask too many questions and make it weird. His dad was out of the question because he had two left feet. He also thought about asking his friends, but there was no guarantee that they would be able to help, plus the humiliation of being made fun of definitely deterred him from asking. Well maybe Pav could help but he could not keep his mouth shut if he did ask. He sighed annoyed as he waltzed into Spider-bytes workstation.
“Hey Miles!” greeted the AI as she zipped from one computer to the next. When Miles didn’t respond she zipped over to him waving a hand in his face
“Uh, Miles?”
“Huh?” Miles looked up surprised his feet had carried him so far. “Oh hey Margo, what’s up” Margo huffed out a laugh and went back to her station but continued to talk
“ More like what's up with you Miles. What’s got you so lost in thought?” Miles grinned sheepishly as he rubbed his neck, “Ah, it’s nothing serious, more of a personal problem I’m having…” He trailed off with a mumble. “Well maybe I can help? I know a pretty good AI that does wonders for solving very complicated issues.”
And as if on cue Lyla appeared doing a dramatic pose. “Yes I am pretty great aren’t I?” Margo rolled her eyes smiling. “So Miles, what seems to be the problem?” Miles debated his options on whether or not to spill to the two AI’s before he resigned to just seeing what would happen.
“ Ok so there's this thing at school…” Lyla interjected before he could finish “ Is there some sort of anomaly?” She appeared before Miles, a stern expression on her face
“What? No! It’s not Spiderman related…it's a Miles Morales related issue.” Lyla huffed and zapped away. “Oh ok….continue” She motioned for him to go on.
“So there is this thing going on at my school … .its uh…its a dance.” He fidgeted stroking his arm as he shrunk in on himself. Lyla and Margo stared at him before looking at each other then back at Miles.“ And that's an issue because…?” Lyla prompted him to continue with her hands. Miles bit his bottom lip, looking up with his honey brown eyes adorably shy as he mumbled out his response.
“Huh? Wanna run that by me again?” Lyla cupped her ear, straining to hear what Miles was trying to say. He tensed, finally just blurting out “ I can’t dance!....” He put his hands up as if suddenly wanting to defend himself, hands flying as he talked. “ I mean I can dance, just not with another person in close proximity. Like, I know how to dance…. by myself… but not with another person. And if someone asks me to dance I don’t want to make a fool of myself!” Lyla blinked as the teen rambled in embarrassment, before a devious idea came to her mind. Margo on the other hand went to comfort the stressed teen, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
“Hey, it’s ok Miles, lots of people have trouble learning to dance with others, it something the can come with practice.”
Miles' shoulders dropped dejectedly” I know….. I just…I really don't wanna make a fool of myself.” He sighed a slight pout forming. “But I just don’t know where to start with practice. Watching videos doesn’t help much, cause I cant see how they move their feet for certian moves. I need more of a 3D model or even just another person to teach me.”Lyla zoomed into him, placing her hand on his other shoulder.
“ Don’t worry baby boy, You came to the right place because I have the perfect solution for you!” Miles brightened up hearing the news, “ Really? Do you have a simulation I can practice with?”
Lyla scooted closer “ Even better! I know a great dancer and I'm sure he would be delighted to teach you! Just gotta ask him!”
“A teacher? Is he one of the Spidermen here?” Miles inquired intrigued. “You will just have to come with me and see!” Lyla smiled and zipped next to him.
With that, Miles followed Lyla as she led him throughout the compound, chatting and distracting him from realizing just where in the HQ she was taking him. It wasn’t until he was standing in front of a very familiar platform of a stoic Spiderman looking over some videos that Miles realized his predicament.Miles turned to Lyla, eyes wide in panic as he harshly whispered through clenched teeth, shielding his face with one hand.
“ Why are we in Miguel’s office?!”
Lyla brushed him off, glitching to another spot “To ask him a question of course~ Duh!” Miles felt his heart rate skyrocket. There was no way she was seriously telling him to ask Miguel O’ freaking Hara to be his dance instructor. He took once glance, feeling less panicked at not being spotted yet and turned away wondering if he should just make a break for it.
Strong, fierce and defiantly dangerous, Miles felt his knees go weak at the thought of having such a intimidating man play dance teacher to him. Plus they had just made it to where they could finally be in the same room without something going flying and Miles was not about to slip back into their post fight tension where Miguel would just ignore him for days on end. The thought of being ignored by the man again after all the progress they made sent a dull ache through his chest.
Miguel was also a very busy man, and did not like to be disturbed for anything less a world ending disaster scenario. There was no way Miguel would help Miles with such a small issue, and he would probably think even less of Miles if he found out the younger Spiderman couldn't do something as simple as slow dance to a few songs at a school dance.
Nope, he was not going to risk it, he would just have to figure out another way. Maybe he could still slip out before he was noticed. But a feeling sent his hair on end as he turned back to the platform again. As luck would have it, Miguel had stopped typing and was directing his gaze to the two below him. With an unimpressed eyebrow, he waited for an explanation.
Miles smiled sheepishly as he waved up to him” Heeeey there Miguel…great day…were having….lovely weather” He nervously chuckled under Miguel's heavy glare, before looking around to see where Lyla had gone. Before he could call out to her she had reappeared beside Miguel.
“ Hey there grumpy pants, lil Miles came all the way here to ask you a personal favor, about something that only you can help him with.” She grinned as Miguel gave her a questioning look. He turned to Miles.
“Something only I can help with, huh? And just what would that be?” Miles gulped, feeling a cold sweat starting to break out on his forehead as he looked from the slightly straight face of Miguel to the double thumbs up he was getting from Lyla behind him. Deciding to just rip off the bandage, he asked in a meek voice
“Sooo…uh Miguel, I was hoping if its not too much trouble….couldyouteachmehowtodance!”
He rushed the end of his question bracing himself for the quick rejection. When none came, he peeked an eye open to see what the future Spiderman was waiting for. Miguel had narrowed his eyes before he pressed a button on his platform and it began to lower itself. When it finally landed, he walked up to Miles, taking slow deliberate steps to stand in from of him. As he towered over the teen, he crossed his arms over his ample chest bending his neck to stare down at him.
“Care to run that by me again, Morales? With actual words this time.” Miles flushed, a soft red dusting his cheeks as he looked down, finding his feet more interesting than meeting Miguel’s eyes. He clenched his eyes shut taking a deep breathe, steeling himself again.
“I was hoping if its not too much trouble….if you could teach me how to d-dance?” Miles stuttered. When he was met with silence he peeked one eye open, looking up at the larger man’s frame. He immediately regretted doing so when he felt his entire being ready to combust from the sheer intensity of Miguel's impassive expression boring in to his gaze. Minutes ticked by before Miguel leaned back on his hip, letting his eyes rake over Miles' lean body before focusing back over his face as he contemplated his words.
“And what, dare I ask, made you think I would make a good teacher?”
Again on cue, Lyla popped up with her hand raised and a cheerful smile on her face. “That would be me! I know how you just love to dance and those skills could be used to help Miles here get better just in time for that dance! So stop with the brooding and help the kid out!” Miguel growled, turning his glare to Lyla as she blinked away laughing.
Miles felt his palms start to sweat as he glanced between the two go at it in a heated shouting match of respecting one’s privacy and the other shouting how the other works too much and needs a break. Finally Miguel's tired gaze came back to Miles being soundly defeated by the floating AI. He rubbed his nose bridge slowly as he processed the situation.
“Listen, Miles…if I agree to teach you some basic steps, will you let me get back to work?”
Elation bubbled through out Miles' body, eyes widening as his face broke into a beautiful smile. He sprung his body forward to give Miguel a squeezing hug before the other could register what was happening.
“Yes! Gracias Miguel! You won’t regret it! I will work so hard to learn whatever you teach me!” As Miles hugged him, Miguel's body went rigged with the entirety of the teens body pressing against him so suddenly. The heat of his hug stirred something within him that he wasn’t ready to address, instead pushing the feeling down. Slowly he wrapped his hands around Miles in a loose return of the hug patting his back. “Ok, enough of that.” He felt his cheeks burn as he peeled the kid off him rubbing his face to calm himself down.
“Meet me back at HQ at 5pm sharp in some casual clothes. We’ll start then.” With that Miguel turned back to his platform ending the conversation. Miles saluted his back, grinning widely. Absolutely nothing could ruin his mood.
“Yes sir!” With that Mile bounced off to grab his change of clothes, his excitement leaving Miguel to ponder just what he had got himself into.