despite the fact that captain george stacy has been teaching gwen detective skills, including how to read body language - signs of lying, signs of distress, but even positive tics and micro-expressions, too - she's still very, very bad at reading cues when it comes to certain things. flirting, specifically. or even casual interest. it could be argued that it's tougher to read someone that's wearing a mask, but, y'know. it's not just that. it's that she's very, very good at coming up with excuses and explanations for things that are easier to emotionally process than anything else.
like oh, yes, of naturally he started spending more time with her after fights that required a two-spidey team-up! it makes perfect sense, from a strategical standpoint. they could use that time to discuss what their next moves should be, if it's a situation worth looking into more beyond the scuffle that night. ( they don't usually do that, but they could do that. ) and well yeah, duh, of course there's a reason why he's interested in knowing about her, and her life. he's stuck in her dimension for the foreseeable future, it's only fair to give him a point of reference for different things. and when he starts to offer up little details of his own life, and his own world, without her prompting-? that's an easy one! she knows what it's like to miss your home. eventually he was bound to want to get it out of his system, and... she was there! so. yeah. all very logical. simple. easy to compartmentalize.
nevermind that there've definitely been other differences, body language ones specifically, over the time he's been here that she can't just babble away. the fact that he started taking his mask off at all was the first notable change. then it was how things seemed to click between them, as spider-man and spider-woman. their fights seemed more fluid. like he maybe, actually, was starting to trust her. and then his voice got a little warmer, and his smile started reaching his eyes, which made the corners of them crinkle in a way that made her brain feel like it was kind of on fire, and! and then came the physical things, small gestures, like the way he squeezes her shoulder in greeting, or the way he rests his hand between her shoulder blades when it's obvious she's trying to fight back a strong wave of something from venom, helping her stay focused and anchored. and there's about a dozen other little things like that, that made her heart feel like it was kind of on fire, so!!! so. those easy excuses and explanations became her lifelines, in the attempt to not let herself get too caught up in that.
because yeah, maybe right away there was some part of her that was into the fact that he was spider-man, but he wasn't also peter parker. maybe her interest was sparked right from the start, at first just because of the fact that he might've been from another world that was "weird", like hers. and outlier. but it definitely didn't stay that way for very long. in retrospect, she's realizing her interest was probably more obvious than she would have liked it to be. she might not have been chasing him down every time he took off too soon after a fight, but she might have been intentionally trying to give him opportunities to find her. she could have headed straight back to her apartment most nights, too, but she didn't. she was definitely actively making herself available, and there wasn't anything subtle about it.
and once they stopped trying to act like there was any point to starting off the night split up before inevitably teaming up, well. you'd think it would click for her, that maybe he was in the same boat. or at least a similar boat. but no. nope!
that really didn't click until he kissed her. ... or did she kiss him? ... is it weird she really can't even remember? all she can actually remember is how it felt. how it made her feel. and maybe it hadn't been on her mind while they fought and webbed up a particularly stubborn gaggle of Fisk's cronies, but now that they're up here on this quiet rooftop?
yeah. there... might be some thinking going on. which is honestly impressive, considering they only just got up here and she hasn't even managed to catch her breath from the fight. her mask slips away, revealing a bright smile to go along with the slight hop to her step as she tries to shake off what remains of her adrenaline rush. ]
No? I was. [ she huffs a laugh ] It's kinda like clockwork, for them. Anytime you get in the way of one of their big bank heists, like we did on Tuesday? It's always followed up by an attempted surprise ambush. Two, but sometimes three days later. Although I will say they were better prepared this time, bringing in all those second-stringers to help. They really did try their best.
[ she really didn't mean for her pacing to bring her basically right back where she started when they landed up here, but it did, and even though she does love talking shit about the criminals in her city being particularly unimaginative, her silly behavior sobers just slightly, head tilting after she moves to stand in front of him properly ]
Hey- You're okay, right? I didn't accidentally miss some guy managing to land a particularly brutal hit?
[ she's like 99% sure she didn't miss anything, she's actually gotten world's better at paying better attention to things like that during a fight. and it's not out of an emotional kind of concern, no, how dare you?? ]
[ That kiss had been impulsive. Abrupt. An embrace of a heated moment that didn't actually come out of nowhere at all, but where he's been trying to maintain some distance and definitely a lot of control over how attached he's getting to this place, all of that just crumbled so suddenly that it caught them both off-guard. Any notion that she might have seen it coming more than he did was easily dismissed in the wake of it, while she was just as shocked and dazed as he'd felt, and there was never any question after that whether she liked it. They both did, way more than they should, the only thing that's come around since then is the awareness that he can't just leave it alone. And maybe she can't either, even if that would be the smart thing to do.
Though she's doing anything except catching onto the mood that he's in, if her focus on their work tonight is any indication. Then again, she's the type to babble on when she's nervous, about anything and everything that catches her attention if it means dodging whatever she's flustered over. It could just as well be the adrenaline from the fight though, there's plenty of that going on too. It's impossible to go straight from flying through the air at incredible speeds and launching criminals into walls and rounding up any fleeing stragglers to just having a calm, composed conversation on a nearby rooftop.
Then comes the concern, and no, he's sure now that she's diverting a lot better than he is. Granted he's not even really trying. Later the guilt of knowing that he should, that he has no right to contemplate any of this with her, even if she does welcome it, but right now in the moment he's not feeling those restraints. There's no one here to remind him of how terrible things went the last time he foolishly followed his emotions like this. ]
I'm fine. [ He assures her while tugging off his mask. It's just... very warm while wearing it right now, that's all. An very aware of how close she's standing to him now, here in the shadow of a nearby water tower. ] What about you, any scrapes down there?
[ Maybe they could just walk away from this, like they would have any other previous night. Though they've tended to stretch on longer and longer, when it seems like no one actually wants to leave at all. ]
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ninetydegrees
FINALLY BAH
despite the fact that captain george stacy has been teaching gwen detective skills, including how to read body language - signs of lying, signs of distress, but even positive tics and micro-expressions, too - she's still very, very bad at reading cues when it comes to certain things. flirting, specifically. or even casual interest. it could be argued that it's tougher to read someone that's wearing a mask, but, y'know. it's not just that. it's that she's very, very good at coming up with excuses and explanations for things that are easier to emotionally process than anything else.
like oh, yes, of naturally he started spending more time with her after fights that required a two-spidey team-up! it makes perfect sense, from a strategical standpoint. they could use that time to discuss what their next moves should be, if it's a situation worth looking into more beyond the scuffle that night. ( they don't usually do that, but they could do that. ) and well yeah, duh, of course there's a reason why he's interested in knowing about her, and her life. he's stuck in her dimension for the foreseeable future, it's only fair to give him a point of reference for different things. and when he starts to offer up little details of his own life, and his own world, without her prompting-? that's an easy one! she knows what it's like to miss your home. eventually he was bound to want to get it out of his system, and... she was there! so. yeah. all very logical. simple. easy to compartmentalize.
nevermind that there've definitely been other differences, body language ones specifically, over the time he's been here that she can't just babble away. the fact that he started taking his mask off at all was the first notable change. then it was how things seemed to click between them, as spider-man and spider-woman. their fights seemed more fluid. like he maybe, actually, was starting to trust her. and then his voice got a little warmer, and his smile started reaching his eyes, which made the corners of them crinkle in a way that made her brain feel like it was kind of on fire, and! and then came the physical things, small gestures, like the way he squeezes her shoulder in greeting, or the way he rests his hand between her shoulder blades when it's obvious she's trying to fight back a strong wave of something from venom, helping her stay focused and anchored. and there's about a dozen other little things like that, that made her heart feel like it was kind of on fire, so!!! so. those easy excuses and explanations became her lifelines, in the attempt to not let herself get too caught up in that.
because yeah, maybe right away there was some part of her that was into the fact that he was spider-man, but he wasn't also peter parker. maybe her interest was sparked right from the start, at first just because of the fact that he might've been from another world that was "weird", like hers. and outlier. but it definitely didn't stay that way for very long. in retrospect, she's realizing her interest was probably more obvious than she would have liked it to be. she might not have been chasing him down every time he took off too soon after a fight, but she might have been intentionally trying to give him opportunities to find her. she could have headed straight back to her apartment most nights, too, but she didn't. she was definitely actively making herself available, and there wasn't anything subtle about it.
and once they stopped trying to act like there was any point to starting off the night split up before inevitably teaming up, well. you'd think it would click for her, that maybe he was in the same boat. or at least a similar boat. but no. nope!
that really didn't click until he kissed her. ... or did she kiss him? ... is it weird she really can't even remember? all she can actually remember is how it felt. how it made her feel. and maybe it hadn't been on her mind while they fought and webbed up a particularly stubborn gaggle of Fisk's cronies, but now that they're up here on this quiet rooftop?
yeah. there... might be some thinking going on. which is honestly impressive, considering they only just got up here and she hasn't even managed to catch her breath from the fight. her mask slips away, revealing a bright smile to go along with the slight hop to her step as she tries to shake off what remains of her adrenaline rush. ]
No? I was. [ she huffs a laugh ] It's kinda like clockwork, for them. Anytime you get in the way of one of their big bank heists, like we did on Tuesday? It's always followed up by an attempted surprise ambush. Two, but sometimes three days later. Although I will say they were better prepared this time, bringing in all those second-stringers to help. They really did try their best.
[ she really didn't mean for her pacing to bring her basically right back where she started when they landed up here, but it did, and even though she does love talking shit about the criminals in her city being particularly unimaginative, her silly behavior sobers just slightly, head tilting after she moves to stand in front of him properly ]
Hey- You're okay, right? I didn't accidentally miss some guy managing to land a particularly brutal hit?
[ she's like 99% sure she didn't miss anything, she's actually gotten world's better at paying better attention to things like that during a fight. and it's not out of an emotional kind of concern, no, how dare you?? ]
(no subject)
Though she's doing anything except catching onto the mood that he's in, if her focus on their work tonight is any indication. Then again, she's the type to babble on when she's nervous, about anything and everything that catches her attention if it means dodging whatever she's flustered over. It could just as well be the adrenaline from the fight though, there's plenty of that going on too. It's impossible to go straight from flying through the air at incredible speeds and launching criminals into walls and rounding up any fleeing stragglers to just having a calm, composed conversation on a nearby rooftop.
Then comes the concern, and no, he's sure now that she's diverting a lot better than he is. Granted he's not even really trying. Later the guilt of knowing that he should, that he has no right to contemplate any of this with her, even if she does welcome it, but right now in the moment he's not feeling those restraints. There's no one here to remind him of how terrible things went the last time he foolishly followed his emotions like this. ]
I'm fine. [ He assures her while tugging off his mask. It's just... very warm while wearing it right now, that's all. An very aware of how close she's standing to him now, here in the shadow of a nearby water tower. ] What about you, any scrapes down there?
[ Maybe they could just walk away from this, like they would have any other previous night. Though they've tended to stretch on longer and longer, when it seems like no one actually wants to leave at all. ]