𝐏𝐔𝐙𝐙𝐋𝐄, 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻¹

[1.18] You

FEW MONTHS AGO
before all hell broke loose

"You sure about this, Miguel?" Jessica asks, Miguel's back facing her. "I have no choice. It's meant to be." He says, a picture of Marina and Hobie on the screen in front of them. Jessica falls silent, arms crossing as she starts walking out of Miguel's office.

No one else knows but them, and it's better that way. If the others find out about what's meant to happen, then it would only cause greater problems. And Miguel's had enough problems already because of that kid, Miles Morales.

Miguel types a few things on his keyboard before another screen opens up, showing Marina and Hobie walking through the halls of their HQ. Marina's saying something to Hobie, most likely rambling about something, while Hobie's patiently listening beside her. There's a small smile on his face, and a certain glint in his eyes – and Miguel knows it's already starting.

It was a brutal thing for him to know, and let these things happen but if it was meant to be, then it was meant to be. He couldn't risk another universe just because of his own selfish needs, and definitely not because of someone's. All these Spiderpeople should understand by now that they have no choice but go through with their canon events.

1

Gwen, Miles, and Pavitr steps out of an orange vortex and into Marina's living room. Pavitr's eyes sparkle as he scans the room, and he immediately walks around her home. It's his first time in Marina's apartment, and it's honestly adorable how he's constantly pointing out the cute things he finds in Marina's apartment. What excites him even more is the four-legged furry that excitedly runs towards them. "Oh my g – who's this?" He kneels down, scratching the back of Cosmo's ears.

"That's Marina's dog, Cosmo." Gwen says. "Hi Cosmo." Pavitr grins, the dog's tail wagging happily. "Where's Marina?" Miles asks, until they hear some things breaking followed by loud laughter coming from the kitchen. Glancing at each other, they quietly make their way to the source of the sound.

There Marina and Hobie stood, faces and clothes covered with flour. There was a mess all over the counter, and they were struggling to stand properly with how hard they were laughing.

"I told you to be careful with putting in the ingredients!" Marina scolds him, but there's a huge grin on her face. "Not my fault it slipped outta my hands." Hobie defends, chuckling as he bent down to pick up the tools that dropped on the floor.

Marina scoffs, crouching down to help Hobie fix their mess. Standing back up at the same time, they stare at each other for a few moments. Marina scans Hobie's face, lips curving up into a soft smile as she reaches to wipe the flour from Hobie's cheek. "You got a lil something there."

Hobie lets her wipe the flour from his face, an amused look on his face. "Can never really appreciate any mess, can you?" He says, earning a glare from Marina. "Hey! I'm just trying to help." She huffs.

Gwen clears her throat, and the duo turns their attention to the other three that are watching them from the doorway. Miles looks unamused, Gwen is smirking, and Pavitr sniffles. "It's like I'm watching a romance movie." He says, wiping an imaginary tear.

2

Arms linked together, Malala rambles on about one of her recent missions, Marina only nodding silently as she listens to her friend's story time. They're walking through the crowded hall of Spider Society, Malala stopping her story from time to time to greet the other Spiderpeople she's familiar with.

Marina, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. She just watched them interact with each other, quietly standing behind Malala as she listens to their conversations.

She feels a tap on her right shoulder, and when she turns to look – there's no one there. Another tap on her left shoulder, she turns and finds no one. Was someone playing with her? Eyebrows furrowed, she quickly looks around to find whoever the culprit was.

Hobie suddenly appears in front of Marina, hanging upside down as he grins at her. Marina yelps in surprise, hand placed over her heart as she sighs. "Hobie!"

"You good in 'ere?" He asks, glancing behind her and at Malala and her other friends. Marina follows his eyes, and flashes him a soft smile. "Yeah. We're just catching up, and stuff." She answers, but she knows damn well she's not included in the conversation – at all.

Hobie raises an eyebrow at her, "Oh yeah? What's up with Spiderboy over there, then?" He asks. Marina blinks at him, then looks behind her. There's like three other Spiderpeople that she's not really familiar with. Which one of these dudes was Spiderboy again?

Receiving no response from her, Hobie snickers and pulls Marina up with him. "Hobie, wait! I can't just leave."

"What? S' not like they'll notice anyways, won't they?" He tilts his head, and Marina falls silent. His words hurt a little bit, but he was probably right. "Plus, I'm much better company. You know that." Hobie grins, and she rolls her eyes with a playful smile. "Sure you are."

3

Marina always wore a silver ring with a moon in the middle on her middle finger. It didn't have any special meaning to her, but it had become customary for her to wear whenever she was out of the house.

Hobie's noticed that ring on her finger ever since day one, and Marina would always catch his eyes lingering on it, or the way his fingers would lightly touch it whenever they held hands. Not like they held hands romantically, but from time to time, they found the warmth of each other's hands comforting.

It's not a special day to any of them, or anything, but Marina thought it would be nice to give one of her closest friends a small gift.

She spots Hobie walking alone, hands shoved in his pockets as he minded his own business. A smile appearing on her lips, she quickly rushed towards him. Hobie glances at her from the corner of his eyes, the corner of his lips tugging up into a smirk. "Missed me?"

"Huh?" Marina furrows her eyebrows, "No. Not really." She shrugs, looking down on their feet as she tries to sync the movement of her own with Hobie's. Right, left, right, left...

"Can I hold your hand right quick?" Marina suddenly asks, and Hobie doesn't question her or anything. He takes his hand out of his pocket, holding it out for Marina to hold and she smiles excitedly.

Holding his hand, she interlocks their fingers, swaying their arms back and forth as they walk. It's hard to sneakily slip in her gift on Hobie's finger, but she manages to do it, and Hobie immediately notices the new weight on his middle finger.

Pulling his hand away from Marina, he eyes the new ring that she slipped on his finger. It's silver, and has a moon symbol in the middle – just like Marina's.