Peter Parker ▹ Spider-Man | imagines

control | AU (2)

category: series
subcategory: alternate universe — soulmate
ex. a universe where every individual is meant for another; it is up to the universe whether they are found

previously: there was a never sign, but something incredible dropped into your life. literally. you barely made it out of the way in time.
continuing: how long can heroes keep secrets?

third person
warnings: possible mature language, fluff
word count: 1,693
5:44 pm | this world is different

The air was different. It wasn't bad, but it was different. You had never felt it so crisp against your skin, you had never realized how tense it could feel. Did the world ever feel so alive, so much like this?

It had been days since you had encountered Spider-Man. It had been days since you could get him out of your mind. Everywhere you turned, you thought you felt someone hot on your heels. Everywhere you looked you thought you had seen red and blue, two colors so nicely put together on someone's body. But when you realized you were wrong, you claimed your poor eyesight was playing tricks on you. You had just adjusted your glasses and continued on your way.

You were sitting on the curb when you saw him again. You were wearing a warm pair of black tights, a fitted skirt, long coat. You had your hair pinned back, your glasses resting at the base of your nose as you scribbled in chicken scratch on the pages of your notebook. You were doing a sample survey for your math class, just jotting down the colors of people's coats to make a bar graph.

You rested your chin in your hand as you balanced your arm on the edge of your knee, watching the world go by. You had a peppermint mocha beside you on the sidewalk. Navy blue. Black. Black. Gray. Purple. Black. Black. Forest green. The world was going by in such drab colored coats, and your pencil was dotting them down just as they left.

Bright red, blue. That couldn't be right, and it wasn't a coat. You were staring at Spider-Man's figure, his hands on an old woman's back as he pointed in a certain direction. You let your hand stop, the colors you had been observing seemingly just nothing when compared to him. You smiled a little when the woman handed him a hot Spanish treat, a churro sweet and sprinkled with cinnamon. Your smile didn't fade as you met the whites of his mask.

He froze when he saw you across the street. You looked lovely sitting on the curb like that, your legs crossed in front of you, a sweet grin playing on your lips. He gripped the treat a little tighter before he made his way across the street towards you. Your heart began to beat a little faster, your palms began to get clammy. Spider-Man could hear your heart race quicker. You realized the pencil was sliding from your fingers, and you had to set it down.

"H-Hi," you said softly as he took a seat beside you. You got a few odd glances as the world continued to go by, but most of Queens was rather acquainted to Spider-Man's presence. You blinked rapidly, fixing your glasses on your face before watching as the cinnamon flaked onto the magenta of your coat.

"I told you that I'd see you again," he chuckled. You nodded your head, biting your lip as you looked down at your notes.

"Yeah, I...I wasn't sure," you admitted. Beside you, he could hear the slight disappointment in your tone. He lifted his mask a little, picking off the top of the churro and putting it into his mouth. You watched as he ate, your eyes immediately flickering to the softness of the surface of his mouth. You returned to his eyes as he offered you a piece, and you gladly accepted it.

"What do you mean?" Spider-Man laughed a little. You shrugged your shoulders, tasting the sweetness of the cinnamon.

"Someone like you, waiting around for someone like me? I just thought it was dumb to get my hopes up," you told him. He popped another bite into his mouth, smiling to himself at the thought. That someone like you would think you were any lesser than himself.