Did Your Mother Always Seem To Hate Me
Lyla was considered a lot of things to Miguel, an assistant, a babysitter, a dogwalker, a surrogate mother figure, and her personal favorite a zookeeper. Cause anything degrading him is uplifting to her.
Lyla has gathered these names because people don't have that many nice things to say about Miguel because Miguel has never been that nice. He's efficient at his job, a grouch, and a pretty neutral person, but not nice.
Its nothing bad but its nothing good, and in a HQ full of spidermen who are good guys, that makes you stick out. More than arm blades and a tight assets can. So when Miguel is slightly better at not glaring at others when they bump into him or when they exist people take notice. They also notice when he chooses to eat lunch with the rest of them.
I mean don't get it confused, he sits at a table far off to the side away from the main population, but he's still eating lunch with them. Hes alone. But still with the rest of the spidermen.
Technicalities.
Miguel is currently not eating lunch in the cafeteria because being there means he might see Peter who although, he wants to see, is being very wierd about being ready to be themselves again. So he avoids anything that could cause them to meet and stays in his lab. Miguel feels defeated having shut himself away again and he wonders if it's for his sake or for Peters.
He really hopes its for Peters because of not then he'd be heavily backtracking and its way to soon for that he feels. It's another day until Lyla pops up.
"Haven't we done this before?"
"Yeah. But this time I'm not avoiding him because I'm scared."
"You only avoid what you fear. That's why you avoid the IRS."
"Will you stop saying I'm a tax evader?"
"That's not important, the point is you're avoiding Peter again."
"I'm avoiding Peter because he's acting wierd."
"So you're response is to avoid him even more and disguise it as giving him more time."
"Because that's what he needs. You saw how he was a few nights ago." Miguel's tone is concerned and his eyes crease. Lyla sighs seeing his state. She was such a mom.
"Is it what he needs or are you projecting because you're so worried about hurting him that you're still pushing him away?" Lyla asks and Miguel sighs.
Miguel doesn't respond but he rolls his eyes at Lyla and she smirks at him because being a surrogate mother for Miguel meant that she knew him a bit better than he knew himself.
So it doesn't suprise Lyla when Miguel sulks into the night because old habits die hard. She is suprised how an hour after 7:15 Miguel picks himself up and heads over to the cafeteria to grab dinner. Two burgers. Miguel O'Hara doesn't eat burgers, let alone two. So she smiles to herself as she floats above his shoulder.
She smiles as he walks through a portal that takes him to Peters dimension and its dark out so he has to feel his way around the roof he portaled onto.
"What you doing big guy?"
It's a question that he doesn't answer and Lyla's not sure if it's be cause he doesn't hear her from the wind blowing in his ear or if he's just ignoring her. She thinks it's a bit of both but it doesn't matter to her.
Miguel lands on an apartment building and makes his way down the fire escape to a smudged up window. He taps on it a few times before hopping back up on the ledge of the roof. A curious face peeks out and when they make eyecontact Miguel removes his mask and smiles.
Peter returns the smile and begins crawling his way to him. By the time he ls at the top of the building Migule has sat down his back against the roofs walls his to go box sitting in front of him. Peter walks over and when he sits down a white box slides over to him.
"Consider it repayment. For the hundreds of times you've done it for me."
It's a bigger gesture than Peter was expecting and it makes him smile wide.
"Gonna need a few more of these if you're repaying me!"
Miguel chuckles a bit and smiles back at him. They're eating together on a roof so close and yet so far away from their table in the cafeteria and there are no watchful eyes to pry open everything. Except for Lyla technically speaking but hey.
They talk and they laugh in the dead of night and they swear they hear someone yell about keeping it down but they're so lost in what they had been that they don't care.
"Swear. I was mod battle and some lady just starts lecturing me. Me! Of all people!"
The story makes Miguel laugh and he looks at Peter with so much emotion that he almost confuses it with something stupid but he knows it's not.
"Guess being Spiderman doesn't work against everyone."
"Guess not."
They die down and are left with nothing to do but catching up. Miguel lays down because he likes to stare gaze and even though there aren't as many stars in this universe there's enough for him to want to recreate his final attempted confession.
"I like the Dippers." Peter comments.
"Because those are the only one ls you know?"
"Asshole."
"Am I right though?"
"Shut up."
It's lighter than it was a few days ago and Peter doesn't feel like he's suffocating on his own guilt and lies.
"Shes been bugging me about seeing you."
Peter looks at Miguel and he's still looking at the star tracing what he thinks to be Orions belt.
"She missed you. Lyla that is."
Peter smiles.
"And here I go thinking I'd pissed her off."
"You don't gotta worry about that. It seems like I'm the only one who can do that."
"You do have a knack for it."
Peter worries for a second if he went too far but the stifled laugh form Miguel let's him know he didn't and so his shoulders ease a bit more and they continue their conversations.
"Lylas not the only one that missed you. You know." Miguel looks at him and Peter hesitates to look at him, because when he does he recognizes what's in Miguel's eyes and on his face and it makes him feel like Miguel means that in a more than friendly way and that's too close to reality for Peter.
It's what he wants but it's so close that it makes him feel like he a bit too close to the sun even though the stars reflect the two of them. Hes shooting himself in his foot and he doesn't care enough to tourniquet the wound and so he slowly bleeds out and scratches at the scabs.
"Is that your way of asking me out?"
It's not serious and they both know it but still Miguel almost agrees. He doesn't but yes was just to easy to let slip.
"You wish!" Miguel jokes back.
And Peter does wish.
He wishes so hard that picks a star and squeezes his eyes shut praying. It's childish and he's probably shouldn't hope for much but he's nothing short of a man child so he continues.
"What are you doing?" Miguel asks.
Before he has a chance to speak up Lyla adds in.
"You look constipated."
"What is up with you and bowel movement?"
"Whats up with you guys and looking constipated!" Lyla yells crossing her arms.
The topic is lost amongst them and they lay besides eschother in silence still stargazing. Peter supposes at this time he might prefer being comfortably tucked away in his bed away from the chill of the city, or maybe sipping on wine at MJ's place but there was something about the late nights that warmed him up and made this romantic. Or maybe it wasnt the night that made him warm, whatever it was it was something close to him.
Maybe it's the burger sitting in his stomach or the shared laughter between him and Miguel. It might also be the glances they give eachother and the closing distance between their hands. But he could never be too sure.
"Just a little more buddy you got it!"
He hears Lyla whisper to Miguel as a pep talk of sorts he assumes.
"This is nice." Miguel mutters and Peter remembers this from last time and finishes it for him.
"The view is too, I guess." Miguel flushes at Peters words.
He exhales deeply to excuse the movement of his hand and suddenly both of their thumbs are brushing against eachother. It's awkward in a first love kind of way but also in a, I'm holding hands with my crush! Type of way and so Peters ears redden and Miguels heart picks up and they stay like that for a while. Cloaked by the darkness and scared but anticipatory.
Peter was right. It truly was a romantic time of day.
One of them moves and wraps their thumb around the others it's a bigger gesture than expected and it makes them both smile stupidly. A little over a month ago Peter was unsure if he could label this as a crush and he still does but it didn't matter what he had because he was head over heels. So was Miguel.
That's why when his heart rate settles down, which it never really does, he laces the rest of their fingers and Peter lets him. Peter doesn't look at him because seeing too much might make him think Miguel's means this in more than just a apologetic way and that can't be true.
It can't be true because of her. Peter doesn't know who she is or what she looks like but she caught Miguel's eye and so they can't happen and it tears him apart. Peter feels so guilty he wants to throw up the burger he ate but there's something about his guilt that eases his self discipline. So against his will he relaxes more into Miguel.
Then again, maybe it wasn't guilt doing that, maybe he was just so happy that he felt dizzy and he thinks that's more accurate because he knows that his face is red and that his heart is jittery and that he only thinks of her for a second and he doesn't care. But he does, so he loads the barrel.
"She must love this."
And shoots.
"What?" Miguel turns to face him.
"Her. Whoever she is."
He doesn't bother cleaning it or trying to care for it. Miguel doesn't bother with the metaphor.
"No there is no she."
"You guys split up. I know that pain."
"No Peter-"
"Dont worry Mig you don't have to explain to me." Peter pushes away Miguel's bandages and pokes at the wound.
Any other attempt at speaking is shut down by Peter insisting that he won't interrupt Miguel's peace seeking. So they sit in silence hands still clasped but it feels wierd and noncommittal. So slowly but surely their hands slip away from one another. Their bodies stay but they're sectioned off and tense.
One step for Peter one giant fall for his situationship.
He shouldn't have said anything because now Miguel probably knows that he's upset at the thought of him with someone else and that means that Miguel has the perfect chance to tear him open and show him why he should never be open again. Because the first time wasn't enough. But he never does.
Neither can take much more so Miguel stands up dusting off his suit before announcing.
"I'll see you at HQ." Its a question but Peter know Miguel's been working on his tone so he nods.
"See you then."
"See you."
Well. That could've gone worse.
Miguel returns to his lab throught he portal.
"Did we go backwards?" He ask the air and Lyla materializes in front of him.
"I think maybe. On accident, but we still made progress."
Lyla always hated being called Miguel's babysitter because as she says,
"Miguel's a grown man!"
But when she looks at the pout on his face she realizes she was wrong.
"Did I?"
"No. You were, for once, well adjusted and nice."
"I really don't need your petty remarks."
"But you love em."
"I disagree."
"Agree to disagree."
"That's not how that works!"