[ Of all the things that Poe's had to get used to being drastically different in the past, one of the strangest has to be that their resident spider-totem is far from a secretive, elusive figure that's only spotted in glimpses, and often dodging authorities as often as criminals. On the contrary, their Spider-Woman is practically a celebrity, with all of the complications that follow. He doesn't resent that, he knows just how exhausting it has to be for her, it's just... something to adjust to. Especially when that expectation extends to him, and the fact that he's kept to his old habits has just sparked a firestorm of rumors, and it feels as if the harder he tries to secure secretive, the harder they try to pry into who he really is, and why he's here. Which he has absolutely no intention of divulging anytime soon.
He's got enough to deal with as it is, the last thing he wants is to have to deal with this kind of attention even when he isn't wearing a mask.
So he'll leave the public relations to his new partner, of sorts, quietly slipping away the moment that flashing lights and sirens close in on their neutralized threat. She can handle it, however much she decides to divulge. He'll wait, perched silently in a nearby dark alley as he takes an inventory of what kind of damage he's taken over the course of the night. It's nothing serious, defintiely nothing worth concerning anyone over when it'll all heal by morning. The suit itself is barely scratched, it's easily fixed.
If he's dwelling on anything it's the moment he found himself in where he was face to face with her. Both of them running high on adrenaline and breathing hard. Both of them staying too close just a little too long. It's not the first time he's considered just how bad this distraction is getting, he's just realizing that every time he gets caught it in they're getting closer and closer to pushing the boundaries that he's been trying to keep up between them. Between himself and everyone here.
It wasn't supposed to be this hard.
It's quiet enough that he hears her nearly silent approach, feels her presence close by, and he's actually surprised that she's followed him so quickly. Surprised but not displeased about it. ]
[ oddly enough, it's easier dealing with the cops now than it ever was when people didn't know who she was behind the mask. there's still a lot of questions, but things are a little more streamlined. they don't have to wonder if her side of the story has some angle or anything ridiculous like that. she's captain george stacy's daughter, after all - you can't get much more upstanding than that. so she knows just what to say to make this quick and painless, which is easy enough considering the suspect is nothing special. he's not a super or a mastermind, just some dumbass who got cocky while trying to steal from a small jewelry boutique on the upper-east side. there's video evidence, and no literal fires to put out. game, set, match.
she finds poe quick because this isn't the first time he's dodged the scene before the cops got there, and she knows he wouldn't have gone far. her adrenaline isn't roaring like it was not too long ago, but there's still a flush high on her cheeks when her mask seemingly melts away ( thanks, venom ), her bangs sticking to her forehead. she's quick to shake her head and push her fingers through her hair, knowing there's no competing with mask-hair, but she can try.
not that it matters.
for every Moment gwen thinks he might actually be seeing her as more than this person he has to team up with and deal with until he can get back to his own time, there are five more times when he acts aloof, or at the very least, indifferent. and she knows, she so knows why and what he's doing, but it's more than a little frustrating when she has no intention of keeping that up anymore. the whole keeping things professional has never been her style, always wanting to feel close to the people she's teaming up with, so working alongside poe has definitely has it's challenges.
well, it's not only that. she's just- she's curious? curious is a good word for it. she wants to know more about him, wants to see what makes him tick. know why he puts on the mask every day and how he ended up here. really how, not just the vague version. not that she thinks there's, y'know, any chance that he's curious about her in the same way she's curious about him, but still.
she huffs a breath, then shrugs. ]
Things tend to go pretty smoothly when there's no property damage to explain. Would've gone even easier if you actually stuck around to help me explain how we caught him.
[ In a different tone it could have been resentful. Frankly Poe wouldn't blame her for it either, since she's clearly been making an effort to reach out to him and he hasn't given her a good reason for blowing her off. From her end it would have to seem almost callous, even if she does get that it has a lot to do with the complications that inevitably come along with the life. Maybe she's been there too. He hasn't asked. He's wondered, but it's just another question that he's held back. He already knows more about her than he expected to, given how open her life is here, and there are some obvious things they have in common, but restraint or no, those questions have piled up. It doesn't help that he's acquired a particular appreciation for how she handles herself out there, to say nothing of how cute she looks when her hair's ruffled from the mask, her cheeks still a bit pink from the chase they were led on, or just how bright those blue eyes are when they land on him.
Usually observations like that result in an immediate effort to distract himself, either with turning the focus to something less personal or just slipping away back to his apartment, the latter of which would make plenty of sense now since the job's done and it seems likely that they won't have any more trouble. She might even be surprised that she did catch him lingering here, and it would be hard to argue that he's here for any reason except that he's waiting for her.
But he huffs out an almost identical breath at the suggestion of sticking around to participate in the conversation. ]
You don't need me for that.
[ He shakes his head, casually reaching to swing himself up onto the nearest ledge — but not to escape the conversation, which he's done before, he's just settling in to sit, slumped over slightly, seemingly as casually as if he were on a couch. ]
Those conversations tend to turn around onto me. I mean, you do you, but they don't need to know who I am.
[ This is... maybe actually talking for once though? Between the two of them. About him. ]
[ gwen's not sure she could actually feel resentful towards him at this point - he hasn't given her a real reason to, at least - but giving him shit? yeah, she tends to do that as often as she can. she tends to do that with anybody she thinks needs to loosen up, and this guy definitely could use some of that. so when he pulls himself up onto the ledge, she's quick to follow, spider-perching nearby until he makes it obvious he's not planning on going anywhere right away. which is... cool? different. she likes different.
she also maybe just likes a challenge, or doesn't like that there's a spider-totem she can't get a read on. most have that whole soft spot for gwen stacy that she ends up benefitting from in that sense, since she feels familiar to them even if she's not really. but this spider-man obviously doesn't have that, so she's starting from scratch. which is exciting in a way, sure, but it's also a tiiiny bit frustrating. ]
Maybe if you weren't so purposely elusive they wouldn't have so many questions, Spider-Man. [ wait is she talking about the cops, or her? hmmmm. she doesn't sit right next to him, but there isn't more than a yard of space between the two of them. her feet kick over the edge, heels bumping the brick building under them. she's also trying her best not to just watch him, like maybe she could get some kind of sign of who he is ( she just knows he's not peter parker, she definitely would have known that by now ) if she looks at his mask long enough, but she's definitely peeking over more than a couple times before she adds anything ]
They know I only unmasked because I had a lot to answer for. You're new in town, they're not going to pry. ... Probably. [ maybe. she doesn't actually know? for all the world-hopping she's done, this is the first time anybody's spent an extended period of time in her neck of the multiverse. the cops are interested because of course they are, but he's honestly still just a rumor so far, to the rest of new york. why would spider-woman need a partner? ] It helps that they'd probably have no idea who you are, considering you're not really from around here. [ she shrugs ] I get it, though. You're not the first person I've been around that's all uppity about their secret identity.
[ Obviously he couldn't let her know that he does, apparently, have a very stereotypical soft spot for Gwen Stacy.
He's been kind of busy pretending that he doesn't. ]
Uppity?
[ Well that's rude. But also accurate enough. He sticks to the secret identity pretty hard. So hard, in fact, that he's going by at least two different layers of obfuscation these days. But it's necessary. He's not even close to being prepared to deal with the kind of attention that would come along with people recognizing his face, even if that alone wouldn't be enough to get him into too much trouble. Assuming that no one follows him from home, that is, but that's a whole other can of worms that he's not going to worry about unless he has to. As it is, it's enough that no one knows who he really is, even the people who do see him without the mask.
He taps at the device on his wrist, frowning at it from behind that mask. He's not so oblivious that he doesn't see what she's getting at, what she's been getting at ever since they met. It's not like he doesn't trust her. That trust didn't come automatically because of the whole spider-totem thing, but because of what he knows about her in particular. Not least of all what he's learned about her in person over the course of teaming up with her.
He's been unfair, and that's been gnawing at him lately. ]
If you think it'll smooth things over, I'll talk to them next time.
[ That said... ]
So what kind of questions do they have?
[ She talks to them, she would know what 'they' want to know, wouldn't she? ]
[ he repeats uppity and gwen holds up two fingers about an inch apart, mouthing a little bit before smiling again. uppity isn't quite the right word for it, but it really is that way for a few spider-totems. the world begins and ends with them keeping their identity a secret. the only thing she knows about this spider-man is that he seems to want to keep absolutely everything pretty close to the chest. which, y'know, fair. the teasing will continue, but actually really pushing for anything won't happen unless it starts to effect her in some way.
she leans back on both of her hands as she tips her head back to look up at the sky, again mostly just to keep herself from watching him too closely. but also because it's just nice, too. there's usually too much light pollution to see the stars, but when you're up high enough you can, and she'll never take that for granted. ... but yeah, she's definitely trying to avoid looking his way. totally got it under control.
of course, then he asks what kind of questions people have and she tips her face towards his for just a moment, like maybe she wants to check and make sure he's being serious, before looking back up. ]
I think having a second person there to corroborate a statement given to the police police will always help. You don't have to, though. I guess... people just want to know if you're sticking around or not. Not that anybody's reaching out to either of us personally when shit's going down, but I take classes in another universe, so I know there's bound to be things I'm missing since, y'know, crime doesn't exactly have a schedule. [ she shrugs a shoulder ] People might want to know they've got another hero looking out for them.
[ It occurs to him, watching her glance quickly his way and then back up at the sky, that it's almost like she's afraid she'll scare him off if he catches onto anything beyond a passing interest. Which, yeah, that's understandable, and it's also just kind of funny. Like he's some kind of feral cat that's only just decided to accept her company outside of absolute necessity. Maybe a skittish spider isn't all that different. But it's not because he's afraid — at least that's what he tells himself — he's just constantly aware of how badly things go when he lets himself get attached. And not even just in the 'I'm Spider-Man, so everyone I care about is a potential target' kind of way. No, he's pretty good at screwing up things all on his own too.
He's almost checked out on those thoughts to the point where he misses part of what she's said, but it just takes him an extra second or two to trace back to the start of that thought. ]
Well, it's not like we can just give them a phone number. Or we could, but I'm guessing it would take about two hours tops before the whole city would be blowing it up. [ Lyla could sift through it all, but she probably wouldn't be happy about it. ] Unless you know someone in particular that you could trust with that sort of thing.
[ Her classes. Yeah, he's noticed that she skips out of town on a regular basis, and seen her carrying books, it wasn't too hard to piece that one together. It would probably figure that the next true crisis would happen while she's out too, considering how luck tends to work out for them, and in general it just makes a lot of sense to have two of them essentially trading off shifts now and again. He doesn't sleep quite as restlessly knowing that there's someone else out there keeping an eye out for trouble.
But how much can he really commit to?
How long will he stay, once Lyla's fixed the gizmo?
Yeah, maybe they can just shelve that particular question for now. ]
What do you think they would say if I told them that I'm just some guy from the future, trying to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself?
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ninetydegrees
(no subject)
He's got enough to deal with as it is, the last thing he wants is to have to deal with this kind of attention even when he isn't wearing a mask.
So he'll leave the public relations to his new partner, of sorts, quietly slipping away the moment that flashing lights and sirens close in on their neutralized threat. She can handle it, however much she decides to divulge. He'll wait, perched silently in a nearby dark alley as he takes an inventory of what kind of damage he's taken over the course of the night. It's nothing serious, defintiely nothing worth concerning anyone over when it'll all heal by morning. The suit itself is barely scratched, it's easily fixed.
If he's dwelling on anything it's the moment he found himself in where he was face to face with her. Both of them running high on adrenaline and breathing hard. Both of them staying too close just a little too long. It's not the first time he's considered just how bad this distraction is getting, he's just realizing that every time he gets caught it in they're getting closer and closer to pushing the boundaries that he's been trying to keep up between them. Between himself and everyone here.
It wasn't supposed to be this hard.
It's quiet enough that he hears her nearly silent approach, feels her presence close by, and he's actually surprised that she's followed him so quickly. Surprised but not displeased about it. ]
Done already?
(no subject)
she finds poe quick because this isn't the first time he's dodged the scene before the cops got there, and she knows he wouldn't have gone far. her adrenaline isn't roaring like it was not too long ago, but there's still a flush high on her cheeks when her mask seemingly melts away ( thanks, venom ), her bangs sticking to her forehead. she's quick to shake her head and push her fingers through her hair, knowing there's no competing with mask-hair, but she can try.
not that it matters.
for every Moment gwen thinks he might actually be seeing her as more than this person he has to team up with and deal with until he can get back to his own time, there are five more times when he acts aloof, or at the very least, indifferent. and she knows, she so knows why and what he's doing, but it's more than a little frustrating when she has no intention of keeping that up anymore. the whole keeping things professional has never been her style, always wanting to feel close to the people she's teaming up with, so working alongside poe has definitely has it's challenges.
well, it's not only that. she's just- she's curious? curious is a good word for it. she wants to know more about him, wants to see what makes him tick. know why he puts on the mask every day and how he ended up here. really how, not just the vague version. not that she thinks there's, y'know, any chance that he's curious about her in the same way she's curious about him, but still.
she huffs a breath, then shrugs. ]
Things tend to go pretty smoothly when there's no property damage to explain. Would've gone even easier if you actually stuck around to help me explain how we caught him.
(no subject)
Usually observations like that result in an immediate effort to distract himself, either with turning the focus to something less personal or just slipping away back to his apartment, the latter of which would make plenty of sense now since the job's done and it seems likely that they won't have any more trouble. She might even be surprised that she did catch him lingering here, and it would be hard to argue that he's here for any reason except that he's waiting for her.
But he huffs out an almost identical breath at the suggestion of sticking around to participate in the conversation. ]
You don't need me for that.
[ He shakes his head, casually reaching to swing himself up onto the nearest ledge — but not to escape the conversation, which he's done before, he's just settling in to sit, slumped over slightly, seemingly as casually as if he were on a couch. ]
Those conversations tend to turn around onto me. I mean, you do you, but they don't need to know who I am.
[ This is... maybe actually talking for once though? Between the two of them. About him. ]
(no subject)
she also maybe just likes a challenge, or doesn't like that there's a spider-totem she can't get a read on. most have that whole soft spot for gwen stacy that she ends up benefitting from in that sense, since she feels familiar to them even if she's not really. but this spider-man obviously doesn't have that, so she's starting from scratch. which is exciting in a way, sure, but it's also a tiiiny bit frustrating. ]
Maybe if you weren't so purposely elusive they wouldn't have so many questions, Spider-Man. [ wait is she talking about the cops, or her? hmmmm. she doesn't sit right next to him, but there isn't more than a yard of space between the two of them. her feet kick over the edge, heels bumping the brick building under them. she's also trying her best not to just watch him, like maybe she could get some kind of sign of who he is ( she just knows he's not peter parker, she definitely would have known that by now ) if she looks at his mask long enough, but she's definitely peeking over more than a couple times before she adds anything ]
They know I only unmasked because I had a lot to answer for. You're new in town, they're not going to pry. ... Probably. [ maybe. she doesn't actually know? for all the world-hopping she's done, this is the first time anybody's spent an extended period of time in her neck of the multiverse. the cops are interested because of course they are, but he's honestly still just a rumor so far, to the rest of new york. why would spider-woman need a partner? ] It helps that they'd probably have no idea who you are, considering you're not really from around here. [ she shrugs ] I get it, though. You're not the first person I've been around that's all uppity about their secret identity.
(no subject)
He's been kind of busy pretending that he doesn't. ]
Uppity?
[ Well that's rude. But also accurate enough. He sticks to the secret identity pretty hard. So hard, in fact, that he's going by at least two different layers of obfuscation these days. But it's necessary. He's not even close to being prepared to deal with the kind of attention that would come along with people recognizing his face, even if that alone wouldn't be enough to get him into too much trouble. Assuming that no one follows him from home, that is, but that's a whole other can of worms that he's not going to worry about unless he has to. As it is, it's enough that no one knows who he really is, even the people who do see him without the mask.
He taps at the device on his wrist, frowning at it from behind that mask. He's not so oblivious that he doesn't see what she's getting at, what she's been getting at ever since they met. It's not like he doesn't trust her. That trust didn't come automatically because of the whole spider-totem thing, but because of what he knows about her in particular. Not least of all what he's learned about her in person over the course of teaming up with her.
He's been unfair, and that's been gnawing at him lately. ]
If you think it'll smooth things over, I'll talk to them next time.
[ That said... ]
So what kind of questions do they have?
[ She talks to them, she would know what 'they' want to know, wouldn't she? ]
(no subject)
she leans back on both of her hands as she tips her head back to look up at the sky, again mostly just to keep herself from watching him too closely. but also because it's just nice, too. there's usually too much light pollution to see the stars, but when you're up high enough you can, and she'll never take that for granted. ... but yeah, she's definitely trying to avoid looking his way. totally got it under control.
of course, then he asks what kind of questions people have and she tips her face towards his for just a moment, like maybe she wants to check and make sure he's being serious, before looking back up. ]
I think having a second person there to corroborate a statement given to the police police will always help. You don't have to, though. I guess... people just want to know if you're sticking around or not. Not that anybody's reaching out to either of us personally when shit's going down, but I take classes in another universe, so I know there's bound to be things I'm missing since, y'know, crime doesn't exactly have a schedule. [ she shrugs a shoulder ] People might want to know they've got another hero looking out for them.
(no subject)
He's almost checked out on those thoughts to the point where he misses part of what she's said, but it just takes him an extra second or two to trace back to the start of that thought. ]
Well, it's not like we can just give them a phone number. Or we could, but I'm guessing it would take about two hours tops before the whole city would be blowing it up. [ Lyla could sift through it all, but she probably wouldn't be happy about it. ] Unless you know someone in particular that you could trust with that sort of thing.
[ Her classes. Yeah, he's noticed that she skips out of town on a regular basis, and seen her carrying books, it wasn't too hard to piece that one together. It would probably figure that the next true crisis would happen while she's out too, considering how luck tends to work out for them, and in general it just makes a lot of sense to have two of them essentially trading off shifts now and again. He doesn't sleep quite as restlessly knowing that there's someone else out there keeping an eye out for trouble.
But how much can he really commit to?
How long will he stay, once Lyla's fixed the gizmo?
Yeah, maybe they can just shelve that particular question for now. ]
What do you think they would say if I told them that I'm just some guy from the future, trying to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself?