i hate labels - hobie brown (;spiderpunk) x oc/reader

saturday may 31st 2015 - 3:26am

"y/n?! how did you get here, man?"

for once, i didn't have a sarcastic quip to retaliate with. i think i just stood there, frozen, half-expecting the girl to attack me, half-expecting a hug from Hobie. neither happened. my mask seemed useless at this point, and so i tore it off, shoving it deep into my satchel and swallowing slowly.

"yeah, uh, hey dude. now a bad time?"

i did try my best to sound nonchalant, despite how very chalant i was. the girl had rose to a stand, and i could only just see her over Hobie's shoulder. Hobie collected himself way too quickly (fucking spider-men), and was promptly centimetres from my face, a familiar scowl painted there.

"not at all, but you didn't answer my question"

despite a solid effort to remain stoic, i cracked and glanced at my watch, new text gradually collecting on the screen. Hobie followed my eyes, and met them.

"that's not a toy you know."

it was around here that i cracked a second time. fuck stoic. i was pissed. Hobie crashes at mine with zero notice, disappears, leaves a cryptic note with no explanation of his disappearance, jumps dimensions multiple times in one day, and evidently has a multitude of multidimensional sidekicks. and there he was lecturing me over toying around?! some part of me fought to keep some semblance of composure, whilst another, angrier part, won over.

"how could i know, Hobie?! you've told me approximately nothing about what this thing does, how it works, or how to use it. you've avoided every question i've ever asked about it, whilst simultaneously leaving me unattended with high-grade mystery tech while you dimension-hop!"

somewhere around the middle of my monologue, i remembered that the girl was still there. she hadn't moved, nor necessarily responded to my rant in any way, though her facial expression was notably critical. but of me or Hobie, i couldn't tell.

Hobie, on the other hand, had his head down. he'd dropped it somewhere around 'mystery tech', and had since been fiddling with his palm's callouses. after a few seconds, he lifted it, and i found guilt in his eyes. guilt and some anger. i probably should've been more scared, but i was busy being pissed. this was my friend, one of my only friends, and i felt used.

"listen, y/n,"

he started, only to be interrupted by a light beeping erupting from my wrist. the watch. it had spat out a line of garbled code as opposed to text, and i glared at it, confused.

Hobie must have noticed, because his eyes followed mine, a hand extending to grab at the watch curiously.

"the fuck...? did you mess with it?"

though it sounds accusatory, Hobie said this with light curiosity and heavy confusion, falling to his knees to better squint at the screen. i had contemplated lying, but knew he'd know better.

"only to find you! i figured out how to track individual devices instead of locations...pretty cool right?"

i don't know what i expected, a high five? a fist bump? even just a look of excitement? again, none of the above happened. instead, Hobie looked utterly horrified.

"what?! take it off, i'll need to take it apart"

he was standing at this point, grabbing at my wrist. i forfeited it, allowing him to gently undo the latch and remove the watch. he stared at it, dumbfounded, for some seconds, taking in the poorly assembled pieces and wires.

"ok, so i'm not as good at assembly as you. we get it."

it was an attempt to alleviate tension, and it failed miserably. the girl had joined Hobie now, staring down at the watch with a similar expression. it was then that Hobie jolted slightly, somewhat reanimating as spoke again,

"y/n, this is Gwen, or Gwendy as i like to call her. she's this universe's spider-man, or spider-gwen. Gwendy, this is y/n."

god, it couldn't have been more awkward. Gwen extended a nervous hand, and i met it with my own cautiously, senses tingling only slightly as they shook. i tried my best to ignore them. when i met Gwen's eyes, i found cool blue spheres that looked back at me with earnest, and just a little bit of pity. she seemed nice, i remember thinking that. prettier up close, somehow.

"hey y/n. Hobie's told me a lot about you."

my heart tugged just a little. Hobie had told Gwen about me, but I'd never heard of her? never in months of knowing Hobie had he mentioned other places, other people. i grappled with this, and the sentiment of having been told about, and still am.

"they/them, right? i'm she/her myself."

this caught me off guard. pronouns? Gwen instantly seemed cooler. i smiled a wide smile, nodding enthusiastically.

"yeah! i'm non-binary."

i said with a grin. Hobie was no longer paying any attention, instead sitting cross-legged at our feet, fidgeting with the watch. Gwen offered a hand - presumably for a high five (i hope) - which i happily granted.

"cool, so you're like a...spiderperson! non...spidery! god, ignore me."

she had chuckled, slapping a hand over her gradually flushing face. i gave a laugh as well - the joke wasn't exactly funny, but the delivery was incredible - shaky and unsure. it was sweet.

now that we were closer, and i could see Gwen properly, i noticed how fluid her form was. blush red rose from her cheeks like a watercolour, flooding her face with deep pinks and reds. her hair was shifting despite a lack of wind, and her eyes were swirling beneath her fingers. whoa.

"this text was supposed to tell you the timezone of the dimension you're in - see?"

Hobie interrupted solely to thrust the watch into the air, waving it demonstratively in front of our faces. in the few seconds his hand remained still, i caught the text.

"saturday may 31st, 2015 - 3:26am"

2015??? before i could even take the time to be mad, the text scattered a second time, scrambling before erasing entirely. Hobie stared at it for a single second before hurriedly removing the screen, searching amongst parts and wire.

"fuck."

Hobie cursed from below us, punching at the ground aimlessly frustratedly. the brick roofing beneath their fist gave in slightly, a small, short dent forming around his knuckles. Gwen's head shot up instantaneously, her eyes spiked with concern and some anger (presumably about the state of her building's infrastructure).

"Hobie, what's up?"

concern had laced Gwen's voice, the blush evacuating from her face as quickly as it had flooded in.

"the tracker...it was enabled."