#the-kr8tor

As he continued to stare off at the cityscape, coughing a little from the lingering odor of smog polluting the air, his mind started to wander to the new mattress he dragged into his houseboat from your– his girlfriend’s– universe, one that you begged him to get for a while after you saw the state of his old lumpy one the first time you visited his little canal boat.

(“Darling, I can still sleep on this–”

“There is a damn spring popping out of it, ‘bie!”)

A soft scoff slipped through Hobie’s nose at the little tiff– one that he let you win, obviously–before his mind wandered to an image of you dozing off in his new bed, waiting for him to come home from his patrol. You would probably wear one of his old shirts, the comfortable ones with worn out holes he would mindlessly fidget with, or the matching set of plaid pajamas you bought as a gag gift for Valentine’s day that you two unironically wear now. Maybe you’d be struggling to keep your eyes open while sitting in the bed while his cat soundly slept in your lap. Maybe when he finished his patrol, you’d welcome him with open arms and sleepily call him to bed with that sweet little smile–

Fuck it, he’s going home.

He quickly shot a web to the nearest building he could find and pushed himself off the ledge, flying and weaving his way across London to his houseboat for his awaiting lover.

When Hobie finally landed on the docks in front of his canal boat, his tired eyes lit up slightly at the sight of a tungsten light shining from the window of his room. His heavy footsteps echoed against the wooden floorboards as he climbed onto the houseboat towards the cabin area, but the thumps of his soles got overpowered by the lapping waves and the nearby traffic. 

By the time he finally approached his quarters and slowly pushed the door open, his eyes instantly landed on you peacefully curled up in his bed, a book lying on top of your chest while music softly played from your phone by your side. A small huff slipped through his nostrils, but a fond smile curled up on his lips as a warm sensation creeped up in his chest and lulled his spider senses to a calm buzz in his head. He quietly stepped into his room, his eyes only focused on you, only to accidentally push his cat Cherry with his foot, who in turn got spooked and shrilly yowled, in turn making him scream as the cat jumped and ran away, knocking over some trinkets off his desk.

Spooked by the sudden crashing in the room, you screamed and scrambled up on the bed, hair messed up in all directions, before you blindly grabbed the nearest object near you– the thick hardcover book– and were about to chuck it to his head. His spider sense instantly flared up in the back of his head as he turned his attention back to you, and he held his arm out while pulling his mask off his face.

“DARLING, WAIT– IT’S ME!”

Your arm froze mid-throw, your fingers instantly gripping on the book, and your bleary eyes widened as soon as they adjusted to the light and finally saw him.

“Jesus Christ…” you mutter under your breath with a sigh of relief as you drop your arm and drop back onto the bed, blinking away the remaining sleep in your eyes as you notice the night sky through the window. “What the hell, what time is it?”

He quickly crossed the room to his desk and scooped his peeved cat up into his arms, holding her in sort of a tight grip, almost like a baby. He let out a sigh as he walked over to the edge of the bed.

“It’s half-past one,” he answered with a tired voice before sitting down on the end of the bed, looking at you with a sheepish expression. “Sorry, just got out of patrol early. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

A soft grunt vibrated in your chest as you leaned against his shoulder while sleepily wiping the trail of drool off the corner of your mouth.

“It’s fine, ‘bie,” you chuckled quietly before you gazed down at the annoyed tri-colored cat in his arms. “Did Cherry get scared earlier?”

The cat in question wiggled in his grip with a huffy growl, but he refused to let her go, probably just to be an ass to the furry bundle of chaos as petty payback. He let out a defeated sigh as he turned his gaze over to you.

“Yeah, she got scared,” he sheepishly chuckled. “Gave me a damn fright when I walked in. Thought she was sleeping on the bed with you, but she was on the floor instead.”

A soft huff passed through your nostrils as you leaned closer and scratched behind Cherry’s ear. “That’s our little Cherry Bomb,” you let out a sleepy snicker before pulling your hand away and resting your back against the pillows and wooden wall. With a relaxed, sleepy smile, you stretched your arms out to him, silently signaling for him to lie on top of you.

Hobie couldn’t help but smile at your gesture as he set Cherry, who has now stopped wiggling, down on the bed before he crawled over on the bed to you. He rested his head on your stomach with a satisfied grunt, his arms wrapped around your waist.

 “You’re my little Cherry Bomb,” he retorted with a tired smirk, “She’s just a wannabe.”

The tricolored cat stares at her owner with an indignant crinkle to her nose before hopping onto his back with a huff, forcing a more pained grunt out of him. You let out an amused snort before scratching behind Cherry’s ear again.

“Oh, you know Daddy didn’t mean that, Cherry,” you cooed quietly as Cherry purred and started to stretch and her paws kneaded on his shoulder blades.

He groaned against your stomach as the cat’s weight settled on his back and her claws lightly scratched his skin underneath his spider suit. It wasn’t like her claws were digging into him, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

He lifted his head and tucked his chin on your stomach to look up at you, a worn out expression still plastered on his face as he watched you affectionately coddle the purring feline. “You spoil her too much, ya know,” he said with a dry huff, “She’s supposed to scratch your eyes out for calling me Daddy…”

“I don’t know, you seemed to like me calling you Daddy when we were alone yesterday–”

His hand immediately reached up to cover your mouth before you could even finish your sentence, and your laughter muffled against his palm. The yellow-orange light in the room illuminates everything inside, leaving his cheeks exposed as they grow rosy from your cheeky comment.

“Shut up,” he scoffs with a slight snort, the corner of his lip curled up into a slight smirk. “You know what I meant. Also you don’t need to remind me about yesterday right now. That’s the problem with this damn cat, always interrupting us when things get good…”

Your body trembled with laughter as you pressed your lips against his palm before gently pulling his hand away from your mouth. “It might be payback for you interrupting her play date with that one black cat that comes over.”

Cherry instantly narrowed her green eyes at you before she hopped off of Hobie’s back, letting out a whiny meow before curling up by your side.

Hobie let out a loud huff and laid his head back down on your stomach with the side of his face pressed against you, the stress on his face slowly melting away while his arms wrapped around your waist tighter.

“It’s not my fault she’s trying to get some action from that other cat,” he grumbled dryly, trying to hold back some of his own amusement, “She’s like you. Can never get enough attention to her liking.”

“I thought you like it when I want your attention,” you quipped back with a playful lilt before you reached up to massage the nape of his neck. Hobie let out a little shiver as you gently knead that spot, melting more under your touch.

You then glanced down to the grumbling Cherry before your other hand reached out to scratch her neck. “But f’real though, Cherry, if you keep trying to sneak off with your boyfriend, Daddy and I will have to get you spayed. I’m not trying to be a cat grandma.”

Hobie let out a tired groan in protest, and your eyes drift back to him, meeting his weak glare. “I told you no,” he whined, his voice slightly muffled against your stomach, “I don’t want her to feel sad about not having kittens. I want her to be happy.”

You roll your eyes with an amused huff while continuing to massage his nape. “And you say I'm soft on her...”

A relenting sigh slipped through your lips before you adjusted yourself down on the bed, careful not to jostle Hobie too much. Cherry let out a big yawn before nestling against your side and dozing off again. “Then you better hope Cherry’s boyfriend is neutered.”

Hobie softly groans again and buries half his face into your stomach. “Or I could just keep Cherry and her boyfriend separated when Cherry’s in heat.”

You rolled your eyes with a huff of amusement, your stomach straining a bit from the ticklish vibrations from his talking, before your hand gently trailed up from his neck to the back of his head to gently scratch his scalp, making sure to avoid getting your fingers caught in his wicks.

“Good luck with that. Cherry picked up your habit of sneaking off without people noticing…”

Hobie’s breath hitched softly from your touch, and all the muscles in his body relaxed as you let your nails slowly trail up and down the back of his head. A soft shudder coursed through his body as he slowly let out a long exhale before he responded. 

“Ugh, bloody hell…”

A small chortle passed through your lips while your fingers continued to caress his head. Sleep slowly creeped up on you again as his body heat seeped into yours.

Meanwhile, he grew more relaxed from your ministrations, soft shivers running down his spine and through his limbs every time your nails ran along his scalp, his body growing heavier as he melted into you. 

He let out a soft exhale and muttered, “Stop. You’re gonna put me to sleep…”

A sleepy smile curled up on your face while your eyes also grew heavier. “Good. You need to sleep anyway, ‘bie.”

Hobie grumbled under his breath as his eyes slowly shut. As much as he tried to deny it and hold off on the urge to sleep, he knew you were right. His body was exhausted, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he got a decent night’s rest.

He lets out a defeated groan before he begrudgingly relents, “I hate you…”

A drowsy, cheeky smirk creeped up on your face while you continued to lightly graze his scalp with your nails. “Love you too, ‘bie.”

Damn it, he thinks to himself as he failed to suppress a loud yawn. Why does he still underestimate your ability to get him to do whatever you want?

“Love is a strong word,” he teased with a lazy smirk as he finally gave up the fight against sleep, his voice tired and half-joking.

You instinctively rolled your eyes again, but you still massaged and caressed his head. “Shut up, smartass,” you huffed out with a slight chuckle before letting out another yawn.

Hobie quietly chuckled against your midsection, your fingers still slowly massaging his scalp, making his head all fuzzy and his eyelids heavy. He slowly let out a long exhale, his entire body falling limp and his arms lazily wrapping around your waist again, before he shut his eyes and murmured his last words for the night.

“Love you, darling…”

The slight smile on your face grew into a satisfied grin. His soft snores vibrated against your stomach while Cherry purred against your side, nuzzling her head against you while fast asleep.  Another yawn snuck up on you before you turn the light off on the nightstand, plunging the room into a comfortable darkness before you shut your eyes to join your slumbering family.

“Love you too, ‘bie.”

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

There should be someone over there nice enough to be friends with. You should be able to get along with somebody over there. You should be able to make friends– or at least a friend– over there…right?

Sharp inhale. Longer hold. Shaky exhale.

In spite of her attempt to calm down, her breath shortens and her chest tightens from the trepidation invading her mind. Her skin crawls like hundreds of spiders scattering all over her, and the static in her ears gradually rings louder and vibrates into her head.

You won’t make an idiot out of yourself over there, right? You won’t stay quiet and freeze up at the sidelines on the first day while everybody else groups up and makes friends, right? You won’t just sit out and stay in a cabin alone like a loser while everybody else hangs out with each other, right? You won’t just–

“Mona?”

Ramona flinches out of her spiraling before she hesitantly looks away from the window. She doesn't even realize the car is already parked in front of the camp when she looks up to a pair of worried eyes.

“Yeah, Mom?”

You let out a small huff of laughter, mentally quelling your own nerves while Ramona squirms under your gaze.

“Mona,” you whisper while your hand tentatively reaches out and rests on top of hers, “you okay, baby? What’s going on in your head?”

Ramona’s eyes waver again before she glances down, her fingertips still fidgeting along the case while her toes wriggle in her paint-smudged tennis shoes. 

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m— I’m okay,” she tries to shrug off her nerves as her free hand moves to fidget with the hem of the cherry cardigan you lent her. “I mean, why wouldn’t I be okay? I’m just…”

Ramona trails off and glances down when your thumb traces small circles on her hand. She hesitantly looks back up at you, and her chest lurches at the familiar sight of your reassuring smile, the smile that always pulls her out of the deep end whenever her waves of thoughts crash and overwhelm her. Her shoulders then sag before she lets out a reluctant sigh. 

“I’m just…I’m scared, Mom,” Ramona quietly admits.

Your eyes soften as you gently squeeze her hand. “I know, cheese.”

“I don’t know anybody here...”

“I know.”

“What if people think I’m weird?”

“Now, why would you think that?” you gently tut at Ramona while adjusting yourself to fully face her. She shrugs her shoulders in response before she slowly slides down the car seat with a furrowed brow and a pout, pulling her eyes away from you again.

A soft sympathetic scoff slips through your lips before you carefully pull her hand up to your lips and press them against her knuckles, coaxing her to look at you again.

“Mona, you’re going to be okay,” you reassure her, “I know it’s a little scary being on your own for the first time, but you’re gonna have fun here. You’ll make a lot of friends and a lot of memories before you know it.”

Your eyes soften the longer you gaze at her, and your hand gently squeezes hers. “You are a smart and kind girl, and anyone here would be lucky to be friends with you. Okay?”

Ramona hesitantly stares back at you before finally nodding with a soft smile. “Thanks, Mom.”

A smile of your own curls up on your lips before you open the car door, “Ready to go?”

Ramona nods again before she starts to get out of the car with her leather bass case in her arms. As soon as both of you finally get out, chatters and laughter echo through the campgrounds as children scurry around in all directions with their baggage while counselors call out for attention with their bullhorns. Ramona’s eyes light up in awe as she steps away from the car and looks up at the sea of pine trees towering over her, her gaze slowly trailing down to the tall wooden sign reading Camp Feast before roaming around to the buzzing frenzy surrounding her. Her ears perk up at the cacophony of instruments playing around her. Dynamic rhythms of drums, shrill clashes of cymbals, soulful and upbeat tempos of trumpets and saxophones, even an improvised violin solo rings through the air and reverberates into Ramona’s eardrums.

Her chest tightens and her breath hitches again, but this time out of pure excitement.

A loud thump next to Ramona shakes her out of her reverie, and she quickly turns her head to you as you set her overstuffed duffel bag down. You glance over to her with a knowing smirk. “Still nervous, cheese?”

A sheepish smile curls up on Ramona’s lips before she shrugs, growing antsy with anticipation and nerves as she fidgets with a loose sticker on her bass case while picking up her duffel bag. “Maybe a little…”

You roll your eyes in amusement before pulling out a small black device and carefully wrapped earphones out of your pocket. “Well, if you do get overwhelmed here, this should help.”

As you hold the device and earphones out to her, she stares at your hand with furrowed brows and a crinkled nose.

“...what’s that?”

“An mp3 player. Since you can’t have your phone with you for eight weeks, I thought you’d like to have some music on standby while writing your letters or something.”

“...so old-school.”

“Excuse you–”

Before you could finish, Ramona rushes in and nearly tackles you into an embrace, wrapping her arms around your waist and burying her face into your shoulder. The faint scent of chocolate and cardamom emits from your shirt and into her nostrils, her body instantly relaxing in your arms, before she lifts her head up to you.

“Love you, Mom.”

Your eyes soften again and grow glassy before you return the embrace and brush your lips against her forehead. “I love you too, cheese.”

You two stand there for a moment, a comfortable silence lingering between you two, before Ramona reluctantly pulls away and grabs the mp3 player from you. The two of you whisper your goodbyes before a yell echoes through the campgrounds.

“Ramona L/N?”

Both you and Ramona turn to the nearby counselor calling through the bullhorn, beckoning Ramona to her, before turning back to each other with a bittersweet glint in each others’ eyes.

“Bye, Mom,” Ramona whispers before turning around and running towards the counselor with her belongings, nearly stumbling with the weights of her bass case and duffel bag. 

A fond smile curls up on your face as you wave her off, a dull ache creeping up in your chest the longer you watch her, before you finally turn your eyes away and walk back into the car. The quiet strumming of an electric guitar from your long-time favorite band floods back inside as you start the engine, another wave of memories and emotions crashing into your body now that you’re alone, before you quickly brush them off and shift the gear to Drive.