WE WEAR THE MASK to hide our grins and lies, to veil the world from seeing our grief and strife. We nest and laugh, but in the end it's all a thin disguise.
"If it isn't my favorite Spider-Mist."
Leaning casually against the wall was her young friend, Hobie Brown, decked out in a red and blue bodysuit, topped with a sleeveless denim vest with an unexpected Mohawk spiked mask, covered in an distinctive web pattern that etched across the lens covers.
He pushed himself off the wall in a smooth manner and sauntering over to her, removing his mask that revealed his perfectly designed wicks. The piercings on his face captured the light with every step, giving him an aura of rebellion.
"Shouldn't you be on a mission?" Ines questioned, giving the seventeen year old a side hug. His outer appearance tinted to a shade of lilac the second he embraced her.
"Heard you could use a hand" he said in a low, gravelly voice.
"Too late, I just came back from my third mission today" Ines explained, going over to the control panels where a couple of Ben Riley's stood watching the go home machine do it's magic.
"Trying to impress your boyfriend, aye?" Hobie chuckled, playfully nudging her ribs.
"Jesus, for the last time, Miguel and I are not dating" she groaned in exasperation to hear of this ongoing rumor. There wasn't exact answer on who started or why, but it was obvious how fed up Ines was with it. And it wasn't because it jeopardized her relationship with him. It was because of any of it were to be true then why did he constantly make her jump through the hoops to gain his approval over and over again?
"Uh huh, sure" Hobie folded his arms skeptical,"Whatever helps you sleep at night." It always amused the Spider-people around to hear how much of a sore subject the boss was for her.
"Hobie, I mean come on, am I wrong?" Ines questioned, as her hands began to start waving, completely unaware of the steam fuming out of her ears, "He's rude, controlling, and bossy! Miguel O'Hara is an asshole and you can't convince me otherwise"
Hobie hummed, nodding his head knowingly, "Yup, still in denial. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
Ines shot the boy an irritated look. "Fuck off."
Hobie immediately laughed, swinging his arm over her shoulders. "Oh, don't be like that, love" he grinned. Ines ignored him, and began to walk down the halls to approach Miguel's headquarters. Her eyes peered through the winding corridors. Wires and gadgets line the walls. No windows allow natural light in this subterranean maze.
"I seriously don't get why I'm being called into this meeting" Ines crumbled as they navigated through the space at ease.
"Maybe you finally got in trouble for ignoring his calls" Hobie snickered, detaching bits and pieces of the wall to his pockets.
It always remained a mystery why he would often grab these spare tech parts, but Ines didn't bother asking. It wasn't her business to know everything.
"What's got you so gloomy to see him anyways?" Hobie came to her side, sliding through a random chair from the side, "Need me to beat him to a pulp?" The jewelry wrapped around his wrist shook while he playfully collided his fist against his palm.
"Why is it always your first instinct to hit someone?" Ines eyed the teenager, concerned.
"Why isn't it yours?"
In response, she sighed, not wanting to get into it again with him. They had a meeting to attend to. The sooner they got there the better.
"Hey, look who finally arrived!" Lyla's voice beamed, the second she spotted the two. She flickered to Miguel's side who had quickly waved her off before descending down from the slow platform.
"It's about time" Jess kept her arms crossed.
If there was one thing had changed within the past couple months, it was that the two Spider-Woman had grown apart. Ines's soft, kind hearted demeanor vastly changed once she swore to Miguel she would stay away from Miles. And of course, with Jessica being loyal to him, there wasn't much room for her to make anymore mistakes, but to be honest, Ines couldn't really give a fuck anymore even if she wanted to.
"I'm here aren't I?" Ines glared, not wanting to deal with Jess's today.
The Spider-Woman returned the piercing gaze before staring down at her star pupil, Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen. From what Ines had observed, Gwen was just like Jess, or at least she tried to be. She learned fast and did as many missions as she could to please Miguel. In a way she was loyal to them, but it was only because she was terrified of being sent home. Ines didn't respect that. In her eyes, Gwen was nothing, but a people pleaser who lacked the accountability to do her own thing.
"Hey, hey, let's not get so cranky. The meetings just started!" Peter B. Parker dropped from the ceiling with his 7 month old baby in his arms.
Ines's eyes lit up with joy as she caught sight of the the youthful spirit, Mayday. With a gentle touch, she scooped her from Peter's arms, and held her close; feeling a sense of comfort in the child's presence. "Hi there" she softly greeted, adjusting her Spider-Man beanie over her wild curls, wiping off the crumbs that were stuck on the corner of her dainty lips. "You just keep getting bigger and bigger" Ines smiled, as Mayday cooed, grabbing her bare shoulder that peaked from her suit.
"I've called this meeting because some of you have been harder to reach" Miguel's eyes glance toward Ines who was awfully distracted by the child. "Hobie, Gwen, I'm assigning you to Earth-766, there's a Prowler from Earth-166666 there. Ines I need you to back me up on..."
"Hold up" Ines gently handed Peter, Mayday back. "If I work another mission today I'll officially be overtime" she said, hinting that it was never her desire to be full time in the first place. He just gave her that role and expected her to shut up and accept it like everyone else. "Have Jess deal with it. She's your back up now."
Miguel stopped a few feet away, crossing his arms and examining her with an unreadable expression. Ines held her breath. "It doesn't work like that."
This further confused Ines. "Okay, then what about one of the Peter Parkers, Ben Reileys, I don't know, maybe someone other than me?" Ines was testing his patience. She always did.
"Don't start with that" Miguel threateningly lowered his voice. "If I'm giving you a mission it's because I know your capable of handling it better than anyone else."
Ines jaw clenched, tired of this. It was the same old thing every time she walked in this place. He worked her like a dog day and night and not even a simple thank you would suffice, "Sorry, but I'm done for tonight." With a couple of swipes, Ines emerged through the portal, landing right where she last left off.
The starry night watched as she quietly crouched down on the rooftop of her New York City, gazing at her dear friend, leave her apartment door one last time.
Miles....