“Have you ever been to the moon?” Miles asked as he started up the PlayStation on the floor.
“What?” Sam replied.
Both heroes were relaxing in Miles’ living room in Brooklyn after a mission. It was an easy one really. Just a bank robbery either one of them could’ve stopped on their own. Both Champion members decided to work together so they could have more time to chill. They decided to play video games to pass the time before Miles’ parents got home from their respective jobs. Chips, cookies, and other snacks, along with sodas, littered the coffee table. Miles’ spider suit was soaking in a bin filled with hot water and soap nearby. He was currently wearing a plain t shirt and sweatpants. Sam still had his battle armor on, his helmet was sitting on the floor.
“You’ve been to space, right?” Miles asked.
“Um yeah? That’s kinda my thing. I disappear for a few days to go to space and then I come back.”
Miles handed his friend the second controller and sat on the couch next to him.
“Okay so by that logic, you’ve been to the moon?”
“Yeah.”
Sam looked over to his buddy.
“Why do you wanna know? You wanna go there?” Sam asked with a hint of a smile in his voice.
Miles ducked his head.
“I mean.. Maybe?”
Sam snorted.
“Really, dude?”
“Yeah! Hey don’t laugh. It would be kinda cool seeing it. I’ve only seen pictures of it and that doesn’t compare to the real thing y’know?”
Sam nodded slightly..
“I mean it is cool….If you like rocks and dust in your face.” Sam smiled and Miles shoved him a bit.
“C’mon it can’t just be rocks and dust. What’s up there? Is the flag Armstrong and his buddies had, still up there? Are there any footprints?”
Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“The Watcher is up there.”
“Who?”
“The Watcher. He’s this weird alien guy that has visions of stuff that’s gonna happen. He basically just watches the universe to make sure nothing extreme happens.”
It was Miles’ turn to laugh now.
“Wait.. so you’re telling me, a man lives on the moon that’s like a psychic?”
“Don’t laugh. It’s true!”
“Okay and how do you know this? Has he showed you anything?”
“Yeah! He’s showed me an entire Chitauri fleet heading towards Earth. So then I had to stop it by myself.”
Sam pouted as he crossed his arms.
Miles’ face was serious now. He put his arm on the other’s shoulder.
“You stopped an invasion by yourself?”
“Yeah. I mean Captain Marvel and Beta Ray Bill helped out when they started throwing asteroids at the Earth but other than that... “
Miles moved his hand to the middle of Sam’s back and started rubbing small circles there.
“You’re brave for doing that, Sam.” Miles whispered. “You didn’t have to do it but you did.”
Sam looked up into the other’s deep brown eyes. His eyes then trailed down to his nose, where freckles littered their brown landscape. Then down to his lips, where he couldn’t stop staring.
“You okay?” Miles asked, interrupting Sam’s thoughts.
“Um.. yeah. Yeah I’m good.” Sam replied as he grabbed his controller and looked straight at the TV.
“Just thinking about kicking your ass in Fifa.” Sam continued.
Miles moved his hand and moved over a bit and grabbed his own controller.
He looked over at his friend one last time before he hit play.
“You’re on, Alexander.”
The duo sat there playing the game with shouts and insults here and there for about a while before Miles decided to raise the stakes.
“Alright.” Miles said as he paused the game and faced his friend.
“What’s up?” Sam responded as he mirrored his friend’s position.
“You wanna place a wager?”
Sam thought of it for a minute before he shrugged.
“Sure. What is it?”
“On this next round, If I win, you gotta fly me to the moon.”
Sam squinted his eyes and looked at his friend in bewilderment.
“Are you serious?”
“Dead. I mean I know that I can’t breathe in space, but I can call up Cho or whatever and figure something out.”
Sam considered this.
“You really wanna go to the moon, huh? Okay so what do I get if I win?”
Miles shrugged.
“It’s up to you, man.”
Sam started up towards the ceiling, contemplating.
“Alright. If I win you have to swing everywhere for a week. No using me to get around.”
Miles just stared at his friend,
“Okay but what if-”
“No buts! Those are my terms. You’re getting to heavy to fly around with anyways.”
“You calling me fat?” Miles asked with a small smirk on his lips.
“Look, do you agree or not?”
Miles held out his hand, Sam took it into his hand and they shook. Their hands remained together for a few seconds longer than normal.
A small blush lit up Sam’s cheeks as he cleared his throat.
“Okay then, let’s go.”
After a tied score and lots of determination, Sam was sure he was going to win this round. He just had to kick this ball into the goal and he would win. His hands gripped the controller tightly as he pushed a button to deliver the final blow. That was when Miles leaned over and brushed his soft lips on Sam’s cheek. Sam was frozen in place and then looked over to see Miles staring at the screen in determination. Miles looked over quickly and then looked back at the game.
“What?” he asked.
“You.. You just-”
He was cut off by the sound of the announcer of the game shouting “Goal!” as the aforementioned words lit up the screen in bold letters.
“I win! Guess you gotta take me to the moon now.” Miles said as he put his controller down and looked at his friend.
Sam moved closer to Miles. So close that their faces were mere inches from each other. They looked each other in the eyes.
“You cheated.” Sam whispered.
“You called me fat.” Miles whispered back.
“And technically, kissing you isn’t cheating.” Miles added with a shrug.
Sam rolled his eyes.
“That was barely a kiss, Morales.”
“Oh yeah? You wanna show me how it’s done, then?” Miles asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Sam leaned in and brushed his lips against Miles’. It was something soft and sweet. A small peck on the lips. They pulled apart and Miles went back in for a deeper kiss. This one was longer and held more emotion in it.
When they pulled apart, both boys looked content. That was until a few seconds later, Miles eyes went wide.
“What? Was it bad?” Sam asked.
“No. It was good. Like.. really good. It’s just that my parents are…” Miles trailed off.
“Shit, are they coming?” Sam asked as he looked at the front door.
“In a few minutes. Look you gotta go, man.”
Sam stood up and stretched.
“Kicking me out, already? Haven’t even got to the good-”
Miles moved quickly and shoved the helmet on Sam’s head.
They stared at each other, and Miles delivered a final peck on the lips to Sam.
“Go.” Miles said as he walked over to a window and opened it.
Sam sat on the window sill and turned to face his friend.
“I love you.” He confessed before he jumped out.
Miles watched as the hero known as Nova took to the skies, a blue light trailing behind him.
“Yeah.” He said to himself. “I love you too."