↳ chapter thirteen ₊˚.༄
[# like a fool]
IVY AND PAVITR HAD BEEN WALKING AROUND HQ FOR A GOOD TEN MINUTES before they broke into their daily disagreements. It was nothing serious, of course. Just one out of the two friends decided to lack brain cells upon a certain topic, and today it seemed that topic was ballet.
The two teens became fast friends after Hobie introduced them to each other, which Ivy found surprising, given her lack of luck in making friends. Their usual routine was stumbling across each other at headquarters, getting paired up to collect anomalies, and talk until their heart's content before eventually parting ways for the day.
The three of them became a natural trio, gravitating towards each other in crowds. Ivy found out it was very easy for her to talk to Pavitr. He may be an active talker, but he never missed a word when listening to her constant rants throughout their time spent. And it was really nice.
But what wasn't nice was how Pavitr decided his assumptions upon ballet made more sense then the thirteen years of practice Ivy had in the sport.
"Pav, that's not how it works." Ivy was saying as they walked along the many paths that led all around HQ.
"It is totally how it works!" He pushed.
The younger boy had reasoned with her how, if pointe shoes had been made out of wood instead of hard paper, surely they wouldn't break as much ("Yeah, and instead your feet and back would break. Not really something I'd trade up." Ivy had stated).
The dark haired girl sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't believe they'd ended up friends. "If you keep being an idiot like this, I'll go back to calling you Pavlova."
But Pavitr wasn't listening to her empty threats. Instead, he was fixed on something over Ivy's shoulder. "Why's that blonde girl staring at you?"
"Huh?"
The long haired girl followed his line of sight and caught her breath.
She must be dreaming, because standing besides Hobie Brown couldn't be Gwen Stacy. The same blonde that would linger in the back of her mind in every crowded room, the person who made her feel safe enough to let parts of her walls she had built up throughout the years down in five days. It couldn't be the same girl that made her heart skip a beat at the mere thought of her.
No. It couldn't be her.
But in a heartbeat, she felt her arms wrap around her waist, pulling Ivy in. Gwen buried her head in her shoulder, the blonde's breath tickling against the skin of her neck. Her heart fluttered and her cheeks grew warm. A wide grin threatened to break loose on her face, and she might just let it.
The two stood like that for a minute, with Ivy cautiously holding her back, afraid that it would all be a dream, a very vivid one at that.
"You're real, right?" Ivy whispered.
A light chuckle left Gwen's lips. "Real,"
The dark haired girl couldn't help but lean further into her embrace. She couldn't admit it if someone had asked her, but she'd wait an eternity if it meant seeing Gwen again.
As soon as it came, Gwen's embrace left. They now stood face-to-face, taking in the changes that had happened to each other over the past two years. Like how the blonde kept parts of her hair shaved and dyed the ends of her hair pink, the strands reaching her shoulders. Or how her suit had minor changes that nobody else would have noticed.
"How— How've you been?" Gwen stumbled over her words.
It took Ivy a few seconds to form a response. "I've been... good." she still couldn't believe the blonde was standing in front of her. "When did you get recruited?"
"The other day,"
A grin quickly came over her face, her mind coming up with a small plan to spend the most time with her. "Well, then, that means you haven't seen the HQ in its entirety yet. Come on,"
Ivy took Gwen's hand and hastily guided her away from the two boys that had originally accompanied them. Her heart was fluttering at the simple act of holding her hand, but she couldn't let that show unless she wanted a life long teasing from her two new friends.
The dark haired girl glanced behind her and stifled a giggle at them, idly standing as curiosity took over their features.
Unbeknownst to the girls, Hobie and Pavitr had walked toward each other, now standing side by side as they watched the pair walk away, hand in hand.
"How much do you wanna bet they like each other?" Pavitr asked, the two girls now giggling with each other.
Hobie shook his head, lightly chuckling. "That's not worth betting on, mate. They definitely fancy each other."
• ────── ✾ ────── •
HOW'D THEY ENDED UP ON THE ROOFTOP OF A RANDOM APARTMENT? Neither really had a clue. It all just felt right to Ivy. Just the right time, just the right atmosphere, just the right company. After showing her around every single cafe and facility headquarters offered, the dark haired girl just couldn't resist inviting Gwen to her universe.
Thankfully, she agreed and didn't see it as weird or too fast.
Now they sat side-by-side, half finished smoothies in their hands. Both of their masks were off, taking in the early spring air as the sun glistened above them. The two girls had been laughing for a while, exchanging funny stories from their time apart before Gwen began spouting the most ridiculous jokes known to man kind.
"That's so stupid!" Ivy burst out into a fit of laughter, covering the bottom half of her face.
"Well, you're the one laughing." Gwen pointed out as she held in her own laugh.
Their giggles and smiles calmed down. A cool breeze rushed past them, slipping through the strands of Ivy's hair. She placed her drink on the side as she stretched her arms and back. "So how's your band?"
Perhaps that wasn't the best question to ask her, Ivy thought as she felt the shift in the air. Gwen tensed as her gaze focused downwards. "Oh, uh, I quit."
Ivy frowned. "Didn't work out?"
The blonde shook her head dejectedly. "Wasn't for me. I'm still looking for a band though."
"If it's any help, I can play the piano."
Gwen's head perked up. "You can?"
"My dad made me take lessons when I was little," Ivy explained, holding back the lump in her throat that would come and go every time she thought about her late father.
"So you're basically Beethoven?" Gwen teased with a cheeky smile.
"Shut up," Ivy playfully shoved her, letting a smile slip by. "Pink hair looks good on you," she mentioned nonchalantly, moving her feet so they now dangled over the edge. The streets of New York never died down, always bustling and chattering every day of the week. Cars, trucks, and buses passed by, hurried and slowed footsteps crossing over each other.
Ivy would never admit this to her mother, but perhaps she was starting to become a city girl.
She hadn't even torn her gaze away from the busy streets, but even from the corner of her eye, the dark haired girl could draw out the light smirk on her friend's face. "Oh yeah?"
"Mhm," she nodded absentmindedly, avoiding the blonde's fixed gaze in fear of having her rose tinted cheeks caught. "You know, I was really debating on dying my hair last year. Never ended up doing it,"
"You would look good with dyed hair."
Now it was Ivy's turn to let a smirk slip. "Really?" she leaned towards the blonde teasingly. "What color then?"
Gwen thought for a moment before responding. "Brown,"
Ivy considered her words, picturing herself with hair a shade of brown leaning toward the darker scale. She was almost tempted to do it. "If I do end up coloring my hair brown and it looks bad, I'm blaming you."
"Okay," Gwen stretched out her words before shaking her head, chuckling to herself. Then she met her eyes with a more puzzled expression. "Do you know if anyone else we know is here?"
The dark haired girl was about to give her a simple answer before she let herself laugh at the sudden realization she came upon. That was her question. In those exact words. Ivy was sure she was acting like a mad woman by now, guessing from the looks Gwen was giving her.
"Why are you laughing? This is a serious question!" she complained.
She looks really cute when she's confused, Ivy noted before grinning again, her stomach fluttering.
Ivy finally composed herself, letting out one more stifled laugh before finally answering her question. "No, it's just— I asked the exact same thing to Peter when I got recruited. But to answer your question, yes. There's Peni, Peter, Spider-Noir Peter, and Peter Porker."
Gwen nodded along as Ivy listed down the names. "So Miles is the only one not here?"
Does she not know about...? Ivy wondered to herself, trying not to let her emotions show too much. Then the blonde would be interrogating her for answers. "Umm, yeah." she tried to sound casual, but she had a feeling it wasn't working. "Though I'd advise you to not talk about him too much."
As expected, her words took Gwen off guard. Her brows knit together and her piercing gaze fell onto Ivy's questionably unassuming face. "What? Why?"
Ivy sighed as she got up, dropping her empty smoothie bottle in the dumpster by the side of the building. "You're not gonna like what I'm gonna say if I answer you,"
"Come on, Ivy. How bad can— woah."
The dark haired girl had pulled her over with her webs, cutting her off as she swung away, leaving the blonde no choice but to follow her. But if Gwen was being honest, she would have followed her anywhere.
author's note!
pav and ivy are literally dumb and dumber when they're around each other lol
STAYMOON REUINON YALL!! MY POOKIES ARE BACK TOGETHER!! AND YK WHAT THAT MEANS!!
thank you guys for being patient with me even though updates aren't frequent <33 have a nice day, i love youuuuu 😊