Doctor Octopus x Reader - Hello, (Y/N).

"in the palm of my hand."

A free spot opened in front of a window. Luckily they were stools, so Octavius didn't have to work around a chair with his mechanical attachments. The actuator holding the coffee cup set it down gently onto the table. However, the other dropped the sugar cubes into the cup with a lot less daintiness. I couldn't help but giggle a little while Otto simply looked indifferent. He sighed dramatically while looking at the now sugar sprinkled claw.

"At least they're trying." I said reassuringly. The guilty actuator looked towards my direction. It didn't hiss angrily, so I assumed it's response was positive. I wondered if Otto could tell read their emotions, he was mentally attached to them after all. I didn't want to pry, but curiosity got the best of me. "Can you hear what they think? I can't tell if I just insulted-uh-it?" Calling the arms "its" felt weird. They were intelligent, but I didn't know if they cared.

"I can hear a bit. Don't worry you didn't offend them. Moe knows you were just trying to be nice." I didn't expect the actuator to have a name. That must get annoying. Also, Moe? That's cute. I started to wonder if the others have names. Moe closed it's claws while still looking in my direction. Octavius started to gather the spilled sugar into a napkin.

He didn't seem to be bothered by what I asked, so I questioned him further. "Moe? Do they all have names?" Otto choked slightly on his coffee. It was my question, the heavy amount of sugar, or both that made him stumble. I leaned in a bit to make sure he wasn't having a coughing fit. "Are you alright, Dr. Octavius?"

He punched his chest to stop the coughing. "I'm okay. You can call me Otto, you know," he winked, "you don't have to be formal with me." My stomach fluttered again. That damn wink. I clasped my hands together to control my body's ever-growing energy. I nervously cleared my throat.

"Well, Otto, do they have names?" A couple of the arms whirred while looking at me. He looked at them. I couldn't tell if he was mentally asking for permission to tell me anything about them. It must be weird having four other voices in your head. Not to mention possibly hearing them all constantly. How he hasn't gone insane at this point is a miracle.

He nodded at the upper right actuator, as it seemed to have nodded back. "This here is Flo." The arm then opened and closed it's claws. It was almost like it was waving at me. Moe did the same as Otto reintroduced it. "You've met Moe already." Otto glanced down as the lower two limbs raised to meet my eye level. He looked to his right. "This is Harry." To his left. "This is Larry."

I looked at them all. It was weird having four robotic arms staring at you. The white lights in their centers felt like eyes. Octavius didn't seem bothered, so I knew they weren't angry. They were probably just as curious as I was. Knowing this little personal detail felt nice. I then looked him in the eyes, a mischievous smile appearing on my face. "That's so cute." It took every fiber of my being not to say "you're too cute" instead.

Otto seemed to blush a little. "Ah, it just helps to keep track of them. It's that or I call them arm one, two, etcetera. They do have a semblance of their own respective personalities. They're still relatively new to the world, so they're pretty one-dimensional." Flo looked towards him seemingly offended. "What?" He asked glancing at the actuator.

I giggled before glancing down at the table. "It's still cool that you made AI that actually has a mind of-" I glanced at each of the arms again, "their own."

Octavius smiled with a bit of a flustered expression. Flattery seems to catch him off guard. I thought.

I had to hold back from saying anything that might give away my newfound crush on him. I wanted to ask about him, but I worried it was too personal too soon. All I knew about him came from the news. The renewable energy source, and a bit about the actuators. I didn't understand many of the mechanics behind it. Of course, it's hard to find information when Spider-Man is constantly on the front page.

The Daily Bugle was a little dramatic when it came to the bug hero. I just grew tired of having to hear police sirens at random points during the day and night. As soon as I thought about it, people at a nearby table started to talk about the vigilante. I figured it could be an interesting topic to use to get to know Otto's viewpoints on things.

"Hey, what are your thoughts about Spider-Man?" Octavius was caught off guard.

"Spider-Man?" He asked while raising an eyebrow.

I nodded.

He sat back a little, biting his lip slightly while he was thinking.

"It's good that he tries to help people. Even if it can sometimes be an inconvenience to others."

"An inconvenience?"

"It's hard to get work done when you've been up all night because of police sirens. He's effective, sure, but-" he pinched the bridge of his nose, "it's not the best for your insomnia."

I slammed my hands onto the table in exaggeration. "Exactly!"

Otto jumped a little, but he chuckled while shaking his head afterward. "You too?"

I didn't have much of an insomnia problem before the Spider-Man fiasco. But I did relate to the exhaustion. It was nice to have something in common with a man as smart as him.

"A little. The sirens keep me up, too. Though I can't imagine it's easy to sleep with-" I didn't want to insult the actuators, but I continued, "y'know."

I gestured my hand towards them. Flo opened it's claws in an offended manner again. Octavius patted it. "You're not wrong, they are a little big."

We heard a ringtone. Otto realized it was his phone when he pulled it out of his pocket. He checked the contact and his expression changed from content to irked. "It's work." He said to me before answering.

After a couple of "yeah's" and "uh-huh's" he hung up. "I have to go do some extra paperwork." I didn't want him to leave, but I couldn't keep him from his job.

"I get it. You have bills to pay." We both stood up and he extended his hand to shake mine. I was shivering slightly as I shook his hand. "It was nice t-to meet you, Otto." Fuck, I stuttered. I scolded myself again as I wanted to look less like a giddy silly goose.

He put his other hand on top of mine while ours were still clasped. My face instantly flushed. I know it was an assuring gesture, but it still gave me a full body reaction nonetheless.

"It was nice to meet you as well, (Y/N)."

I felt my face burn up when he said my name. I just hoped he didn't notice.

As he walked away, I sat back down. What has gotten into me.