Guilty Pleasure

The Tape

Guilty pleasure
noun
something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard.

That's the only way he can describe his obsession with this. Is it considered an obsession? It's not like he watches it every night before he goes to sleep. He just watches it whenever he thinks of it... which is all the time...

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It wasn't on purpose. He was in Hobies universe, catching this futuristic cyberpunk-looking scorpion variant. It was a tough battle, to say the least. Not only did the guy have a bunch of advanced technology that would give Miguel a run for his money, but he also made everyone in Old York panic causing even more chaos.

Hobies universe is set in the 70s/80s, so it doesn't surprise Miles that the townspeople are horrified by this Star Trek-looking monster.

Finally, after two hours of avoiding getting shot by a laser, they were done.

It was cool being in Hobies universe. Miles has been there a couple of times but it was very brief. He felt like a kid in a candy store, wanting to explore and touch anything that fascinated him.

The two sat at the top of a building trying to catch their breath, chatting about random things going on in their life. It's been a while since Miles has talked to Hobie too, so it was nice catching up.

Hobie took his mask off and laid back on a concrete wall behind him. "How've you en' Gwendy doin' ?"

Miles thought for a second. They were doing good, really good. Since Spot, they've been hanging out way more. Miles wouldn't say they were necessarily dating, but they were definitely more than friends. They were taking it slow, which they both unspokenly agreed upon but there was a little part of Miles that wanted to take it to the next step, he'll respect Gwen's boundaries though.

Miles coughed "Uh, we're doin' fine. We actually-" and that's when it caught his eye. It was a billboard of... Gwen?

Wait, why was there a billboard of Gwen? Miles knew there were other variants of her, but not one in Hobie's dimension. Why didn't Hobie tell him about this? Surely it would've come up, right? Especially if she's famous enough to be on a billboard.

Hobie gave Miles a confused glare. "Ya' good Peter Pan?" He then looked over to where Miles was looking at. "Ah, that. Yeah, Gwendy's pretty popular here, innit' she?"

Miles couldn't stop looking at it. Gwen looked gorgeous. Her hair was mid-length and cut a bit unevenly and had dark eyeshadow complementing her eyes. She looked so different yet so similar to his Gwen.

Without thinking, Miles's words left his mouth. "Excuse me?" Sounding ruder than he meant.

Hobie chuckled. "She's a bit of a rockstar here, played with her a few times before she blew up." Hobie looked down and sighed. "Miss her."

Miles could assume what Hobbie meant by that. "Sorry, man." He placed a hand on Hobie's shoulder.

Hobie smiled. "Don't mope about it mate, shit happens."

Miles frowned. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you still can't hurt about it."

Hobie hummed. "Come 'ere wanna show ya' somethin'."

The two spiders swung over to Hobie's boathouse. It was a cool place. The outside looked a bit warned down and abandoned, but the inside... looked the same, but it still had some cool features.

There were some fairy lights strung up that Miles assumed was Gwen's doing. Posters were scattered all over the walls of various bands, singers, and political ideologies. The place was a little messy, but Miles has seen Gwen's depression room, so he's desensitized by any sorta mess by this point.

Hobie walked over to a shelf full of various knickknacks and pulled out a cassette tape. "Can't exactly remember the year, but this was the biggest show we ever played together."

Miles got curious. Hobie inserted the tape into the cassette player. A fuzzy video with crunchy audio started playing. Miles couldn't quite make out what it was until the camera zoomed in.

It was a concert. Hobie was the lead guitarist obviously, but Miles didn't recognize the person on drums, that's when someone started singing.

It was Gwen.

Her voice sounded angelic, even for the punk song she was singing. She looked exactly how she did on the billboard but somehow even more beautiful. She looked so passionate about what she was doing. Swinging her head around and letting her hair fall in her face. The lighting helped too, bring out all her key features and making her eyes sparkle. Miles was hypnotized.

Just like that, the tape was over. Hobie sighed and removed it from the player. "This was right before she got super big. Was the only reason why it was recorded."

Miles smiled. "You sounded great! I can't believe your Gwen was a singer! She sounded so amazing, I wish I was actually there to see it! I mean, wow..."

That's when Miles felt a tang of guilt. Was he attracted to this Gwen? Is that ok? She looked like his Gwen, but she wasn't his Gwen. Did he like this Gwen more than his own? That would be terrible. Did this count as liking another girl? Is he thinking too deeply about this?

Miles suddenly stood up from where he was sitting, startling Hobie. "I uh, totally forgot I have to shop for groceries tonight, uh yeah... so, I'll be leaving now..."

Miles opened a portal "Uh, and we should totally hang out more! Like, all of us! You, me, Gwen, Pav, and maybe even Margo if she's up for it!"

It was a pretty shitty excuse and Hobie obviously wasn't falling for it, but he let Miles go. "Right Peter Pan... Cheerio."

Miles fell through to portal entering his bedroom, fell onto his bed, and sighed. "What the hell was that..."