Miles & Gabriel | Secrets, Secrets (Backdated)

[x-velocidad.livejournal.com]

Miles smashes a tablet, is generally emotional and admits he's Spider-Man. Gabriel pretends to be surprised.

A cry of indignation followed by the twittering and wing flapping of a bunch of birds ruined the otherwise quiet afternoon on the grounds of the Xavier estate. Miles had climbed a tree in the hope that some time with Comixology on the StarkPad that Uncle Aaron had given him could help him unwind and clear his head. But no matter what, he couldn't stop thinking about the weekend. His own uncle was a bad guy. Not just any bad guy, but a hi-tech super thief who'd beat the crap out of him and had come so close to killing him and three of his friends. He'd probably stolen the StarkPad in the first place.

Now the device had fallen victim to his frustration. He stared blankly at the snapped halves he held in his hands and groaned. Well, so much for that.

"Well," a voice piped up from the ground, "that seems like an expensive hobby." Gabriel stood at the base of the tree, wiping the sweat off his forehead and squinting as he looked up at Miles. The legs on his running shorts flapped as a gust of wind blew across the mansion grounds. "Those wooden karate boards might be cheaper."

"Oh, hey, Gabriel," Miles greeted without any of his usual merriment. "Well, this was worth about as much as a wooden board so it's not really a waste. ¿Qué pasa?"

"Uh, you know." Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Went for a run. Pretty casual. Came back and saw you break consumer electronics, which is a cool new move for you, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Any chance I can get you out of that tree? This can't be good for my muscles."

Even now, Miles couldn't help himself. Perhaps it was just habit. He sprung off the branch like a diver leaping off the board, flipped once in midair, and nailed the landing. "Sorry, I just, you know, kinda like the heights. Hashtag just short people things."

"Sure." Gabriel, looking a little amused, just nodded. He did his best not to look down at Miles. "So?"

"So? Oh, this?" Miles held up the broken tablet and bit back another sigh. "They just don't make these like they used to. Cheap Chinese labor, am I right?"

"Guess so." Gabriel shrugged. He knew Miles well enough to know something was bothering him, even if Miles didn't know he knew Miles well enough to — well, anyway, he had a feeling something was wrong. Call it post-Xorn intuition. "So, where you been, cabrón? I'm not exactly hanging out all day, but I feel like I've barely seen you lately." He crossed his arms. "Avoiding me?"

Miles scoffed at the suggestion. "Naw, I've just had things to do the past few days. Some work for Warren." Not actually a lie, even. Maybe not also the truth, but it was more than Miles had offered almost anyone else recently. "It's this summer job, you know. Gotta make myself look good for colleges, sabes?"

"Yeah. I mean, not first-hand, but I get the idea." Gabriel nodded. The wristband on which he'd been wearing his iPod began to itch, so he reached for the velcro strap and pulled it off. "I did some work for Warren too, actually." Gabriel smirked thinking about it. "He's kind of an asshole, but I made good money. Had fun, too."

"He means well," Miles said, mildly defensively. "He doesn't always say the right thing and maybe's he kind of a douche but he's a real good guy. Under all those feathers. Not his fault he's been stuck in his rich white world forever."

Gabriel snorted and shook his head. "Nah. White privilege or not, the dude's a total jackass, and he feels the same way about me, so I don't feel too bad saying it." He looked at Miles and grinned. "But look at you, trying to see the best in people. That's admirable."

"You're wrong." Miles's eyes fell to his broken tablet again, but didn't go back up to Gabriel's face. "You don't know him like I do. He doesn't moan about doing good things for people," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Gabriel's face grew hot. "Okay," he said after a few seconds, putting his hands up in surrender. "Fair enough. Sorry." He scratched his arm while considering whether to defend his character or not. He decided it wasn't worth it. "I should probably go take a shower or something, so I'm gonna..." He pointed to the mansion.

"No, wait!" Miles grabbed Gabriel's wrist before the older guy could leave, regret plainly written on his face. "I'm sorry. That was really mean of me. I'm sorry. I just . . . I had a really really crappy weekend and I took it out on you and I'm sorry. You don't have to go. Please."

"Okay," Gabriel wrested his wrist free of Miles's grip, "first of all, no shit, cuate. I mean, you broke a tablet in half. And second," he gently nudged Miles on the shoulder with his fist in a move he thought might seem brotherly, "dude. Talk to me. What's going on?" He gestured to a spot on the grass underneath a tree, then sat down. "I mean, not that you have to, or anything, but like, I'm not as much of an asshole as I apparently seem."

"You aren't . . ." Miles sighed as he plopped down beside Gabriel, pulling his legs up to his chest. He'd already talked about this with a bunch of people, but they were all people who already knew who he was and what he did. Maybe he could use another perspective. A fresh point of view. "Look, if I tell you, you have promise not to tell anyone. It's a really important secret. Like, it affects people's safety, know what I mean?"

Gabriel studied Miles, trying to gauge whether this was serious-serious or teenager-serious. "Okay. Sure." He nodded. "I mean, I live here, so, like, yeah."

"Someone's been stealing new tech from Warren's company so he looked into it and figured out a pattern asked me and a couple of friends to help him track down the thief but it turned out he had a getup like Batman and he kicked all our butts but especially the Devil of Hell's Kitchen who had to get like thirty stitches and then someone else tried to kill Doctor Grey and Warren also got hurt real bad there but that was something else and then I found out that it was my own uncle who was the thief and he tried to make me like his evil sidekick or something and then he beat my ass so bad I can only just move comfortably now." Miles took a breath. "Oh, and I'm Spider-Man."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow in the appropriate parts of that story, his jaw instinctively dropping when he learned that Miles's uncle was the asshole-in-question. But it was only after a second or two that he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know yet that Miles was Spider-Man, and the weird reaction that resulted was almost cartoonish. "Wait," he said, his eyes widening, and his mouth slightly agape. "You're Spider-Man? Like, Spider-Man, Spider-Man?" He drew his hand to his mouth, all too aware of how unconvincing he probably sounded. "No. Way."

"Not the first one," Miles clarified, too wrapped up in his own drama to really consider the implication of Gabriel's tone. "The other one. Black and red. But seriously, no one else can know. Bad enough that my uncle knows, but like if that Doctor Octopus, or the police did . . ."

"Yeah, no, of course. I'm good at secrets." Gabriel suppressed the smirk as it came to his face, an instinct he apparently couldn't resist. "But that's..." He shrugged and let out a little sigh. "Jesus, Miles, are you being safe? I mean, your uncle? That's..."

"Straight-up cartoon super-villainy?" Miles offered to complete the thought. "I don't even know what to do with that. Like, I told Scott, so he knows and can keep a look out. I don't really know what else to do. But, yeah. That's why I was being such a pendejo just now. I'm sorry."

"Nah," Gabriel shrugged with one shoulder and swatted a mosquito off his leg with the opposite hand. "Family's... tough. And I guess so is being a super-vigilante, defending people from thieves or drunk aggressors or whatever. If you ever need to talk, you know, I'm here for you."

"And bank robbers. You'd be surprised how many people think they can just walk into a bank, wave a gun around, and get away with a million bucks. And . . . thank you." Miles scratched the back of his head, mildly embarrassed by the after-school special they'd just had. Stay in school, don't lie to your friends. "It's kinda weird admitting all that to someone who's not involved in all that. But, like, good."

"Dude, whatever." Gabriel snorted. "I'm not as, like... whatever," he moved his hands idly, "as you think. I live here, near a bunch of organized heroes. And, like, I got pepper-sprayed by one of our new housemates while I was trying to save him from a depraved life on the streets." He planted his hands behind his back and used his right foot to push his left shoe off his feet and onto the grass. "I'm not as much of an asshole as you think, is what I'm trying to say."

"I don't think . . . ugh!" Miles swatted at Gabriel. "You're gonna hold that against me forever, aren't you? And, wait, you helped that new Amadeus guy get here? Who roped you into that?"

"Angel." Gabriel shrugged. "I mean, we can't all be superheroes or anything, but..."

"I mean, you could be. There's a whole team of them here. Who do absolutely nothing but they're still here, so, you know."

"Nah," Gabriel waved him off. "I'm not a costume person. Unlike you, apparently. Spandex, much?"

"Um, actually, it's a boron carbide composite lined with liquid body armor, and it's tight and bulgy so it should help me find a girlfriend. Maybe I should wear it around more."

"I mean, you're charming and all, but..." Gabriel glanced over at Miles, pretending to size him up. "Can't hurt."

Even though he knew it was just a joke, Miles still blushed and turned to look away so Gabriel wouldn't see it. "Well, thanks. It worked for the other Spider-Man, so maybe it'll work for me, too."

"Oh, hey, yeah, the other one." Gabriel grinned, looking at the back of Miles' head. "What's his story?"

"I probably shouldn't spill his secrets." Peter had always kept things much more close to the chest than Miles ever did. "He's not a mutant, though, I can say that. He just feels that because he got these abilities that he has to use them to help people who need it. 'With great power must come great responsibility,' he says." He turned back, smiling proudly. "He's a really good guy. Like a brother but, you know, not actually a brother."

"Aww," Gabriel smiled back. "That's gotta be nice." There was a pit in his stomach, and it surprised him to feel a twinge of jealousy. He tried not to let that shine through. "I mean, someone who totally gets, like..." He waved a hand. "Your life. Your secrets. All that."

The younger mutant's smile softened a little. "Most of it. There's things about me he doesn't get that, like, someone like you would. Being a mutant, being Latino. But, you know, he tries. He does good. I'm sure he could be an X-Man if he really wanted. And his girlfriend's way hot, too, so."

"So he's taken, is what you're saying?" Gabriel grinned again. "Got it."

"I mean, I can tell him you're interested. You never know with him."

Gabriel laughed. "Nah. I prefer to let them come to me."

Comments

[xp-submariner.livejournal.com]

"Wait," he said, his eyes widening, and his mouth slightly agape. "You're Spider-Man? Like, Spider-Man, Spider-Man?" He drew his hand to his mouth, all too aware of how unconvincing he probably sounded. "No. Way."

My favorite part. Good thing that Miles isn't more discerning, because holy crap Gabe that is over the top.

[x-otoxic.livejournal.com]

The universe was this close to imploding! Thankfully, Miles is a teenage boy with angst so he's only paying attention to himself.