Spider-Gwen 2 || Hanging by a Thread

First Lesson || Miles Morales

"You'll be left in the dust, unless I stuck by ya"

-Sunflower, Post Malone, Swae Lee

It was here-the moment he'd been waiting months for. Miles was beside himself, part of him had started to believe that this would never happen. Yet here it was.

He was finally face-to-face with Ghost Spider.

He had no idea if he was coming across as smooth and suave on the outside, but that certainly wasn't how Miles felt inside-his heart buzzed with electricity, and he could feel his knees shaking just a bit. Finally!! The only other person who could understand what he'd become, and what he was supposed to do with it.

The alley remained quiet and dark as the two faced each other, with Miles still wearing a smile and holding his hand out for Ghost Spider to take. Yet the suited superhuman's body language seemed unenthusiastic. Or maybe it was surprised? Whatever it was, she wasn't making any moves to shake his hand.

"Um..." Miles said, raising an eyebrow and leaning forward to extend his hand just a little bit more.

Ghost Spider's head simply tilted in response. "What?"

"...I mean... I'd just..." Miles cleared his throat. "...I'd just figured you'd be cool with a handshake?"

Still nothing. Ghost Spider just looked ahead blankly, and the mask made it hard for Miles to tell if she was annoyed with him or not.

"O... okay..." The awkward tension was too much, and Miles pulled his hand back, slipping it into his coat while feeling his shoulders tense up. "So, uh... how have you been? I've been hoping you'd show back up soon, I really-"

"Is this some joke?" Ghost Spider asked abruptly, making Miles laugh nervously.

"Joke?" He reiterated. "What about this do you think is a joke?"

This really wasn't how he'd pictured this encounter going down in his head. Yeah, maybe the handshake might have been a little too optimistic, but Miles's father had always described Ghost Spider as talkative, witty, and easy to get along with. So how come she was coming across as cold and entirely void of personality?

"The whole-" Ghost Spider began to explain, her hands stretching outward and gesturing at Miles's outfit. "-I just can't-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up-" Miles said holding up one hand. "-My outfit is not a joke, okay? I spent a lot of time painting this shirt, you know?"

"-I didn't mean the outfit-"

"And that's just the shirt! Do you have any idea how long this-" Miles held up his mask in front of his fellow superhuman. "-Took to make??"

"-I didn't mean the..." Ghost Spider facepalmed, letting her hand slide down the front of her mask as she sighed in exasperation. "...I didn't mean the outfit. I appreciate the hat tip to me with your mask-"

"Uh-huh."

"-And it's got an overall casual look. Can't hate that, right?" Ghost Spider added quickly, her sudden insistence on explaining herself making Miles's expression shift in confusion. "Look..." She spoke up again, pacing just a bit to the left while Miles looked on. "...I was really talking about everything that's happened today-everything has been so crazy, and now I've run into another person with powers that wants to imitate me. It's just a lot..."

As Ghost Spider trailed off and looked at her signature mint green ballet shoes, Miles let his hands slide back into his coat pockets, feeling a little less insecure about what he was wearing.