until we dock
miles morales x blackfem reader | summer cruise AU
wc: 2.4k
lost? click previous chapter here!
a/n: sorry 4 late post guys i got distracted watching tonight's love island ep while writing...
resource tags // @cafekitsune // @honeyluvsw
somewhere between uno and lunch, your exit strategy disappears completely. one game became three and three soon became six. and somehow the one hour you'd promised to your mom had quietly turned into an entire afternoon.
"absolutely not." Miles slid a card onto the table dramatically. "nope. not happening."
"What are you talking about??" Naomi asked, poking her head out slightly.
"teams."
"there are no teams in uno." Amir chimed.
"okay well it is now, as group leader." Miles bickered, both of his hands flattening out his shorts.
you watched the argument unfold from beside him, trying not to laugh because you don't feel that in-place yet.
trying, and failing.
"Me and her."
"What?" you perked up.
"We're a team, partners." he said, scooting even closer to you. "you don't want to be partners with anyone else, they suck." his hands hovered over yours to see the deck of cards that you were holding. "may I?"
"okay so this is cheating—" Amir interrupted.
"we're strategizing." He reasoned, not even bothering to meet his eyes but intensely focusing on your cards like they were the holder to your secrets. his hand brushed briefly over yours as his scent got more familiar. "no no no no no—" he whispered beside you, "don't play that one." he suggested, gently tucking the card to the bottom of your deck. "okay so—we should save those, just in case—always save the skips." He whispered delicately, only for you.
"whatever you say.." you whisper back, staring at the cards like you understood what was going on, knew how to strategize an uno game...like match the colors/numbers and call it a day.
three turns later..
"BOOM." Miles slapped his hand on the table triumphantly as you placed the draw four exactly when he told you to.
the table erupted into groans and gasps.
"THAT'S NOT FAIR—"
"WTF???????!!!"
you just sat there with a shy smile on your face but you were definitely fighting back the biggest grin of your life, because you like to win just as much as he does, you're just more humble.
Miles slid his hand towards yours for a high five? dap? you couldn't tell, you just gulped and lightly pressed your hand onto his. immediately his hand slapped yours followed with a join of fingers.
"too easy."
and by the end of the third game you knew everyone's names.
Naomi, Kiara, Samira, Elias, Mateo, Amir, Jules, Elena and Miles of course.
Naomi was loud in a comforting way, the type of person who made friends with cashiers and would give you a pep talk in the club bathroom when you're seconds away from drunk calling your ex boyfriend. you liked her a lot.
The boys somehow managed to argue over absolutely everything and used one of the girls to break ties to justify their pointless arguments.
after that very intense uno tournament everyone just lingered around the table scrolling on their phones, occasionally looking over each others shoulders and sending each other videos even though they were an arm's length away from each other until Miles announced—
"im starving." he groaned, his arms extending along the headrests of the couch, his head lolling back in dramatic exhaustion.
"you always are, fatass." Mateo quipped, slapping his exposed Adam's apple playfully from behind.
Miles yelped and clutched his throat protectively, "its literally noon—how am i a fatass?!?"
"you're always the first one to get hungry, all you talk about is your next meal."
"psh—whatever. IM hungry so IM gonna eat." he murmured before his eyes softened meeting yours. "you hungry?"
to be honest you've been starving for the past hour, clutching your stomach every time it threatened to growl but didn't want to say anything out of anxiety.
you shrugged. "i could eat."
everyone ended up at one of the casual restaurants overlooking the water, floor to ceiling windows framed the endless blue ocean.
you couldn't help but notice the ridiculous size of Miles' burger, literally the size of your head.
"wow." you could've sworn you said that in your head.
"what??" He said, his hand palming the burger on both sides adjusting his grip as he decided what position should be the best bite.
"thats huge"
"protein." he quipped before taking a generous bite.
before you could even answer Naomi came back from the bathroom. "oh my god wait." she pointed at your shorts, "those are so cute."
you looked down instinctively. "these?"
"yes those."
"thanksss" you said shyly.
"where are they from??! i need them."
that somehow became a 20 minute conversation over pasta and apple juice. shorts became tops, jewelry, and then hairstyles. interactions like these always reminded you of how much of a social butterfly you could be once brought out of your shell.
you guys ended up exchanging socials and now just complimenting each other back and forth.
"oh my gosh this picture of you looks so good wtffffff, sickening." she gasped softly.
"yeahh i love my digital camera, i use it for pictures more than my phone."
"what camera?? Don't gatekeep, the quality is amazingggggg i love the orange flash thingy." she begged, looking over your pictures for the millionth time.
"the g7x, i got it as a gift."
"i want the g7x so baddddddd" she whined animatedly before lighting up with a thought, "do you have it on you!??"
"uhhh not right now but it's charging in my room." you said with a soft sigh feeling her disappointment. "but i can get it later—"
"REALLY??" she squealed happily.
Miles raised his eyebrow mid bite and tipped towards you both. "what are you guys screaming about??"
"camera." you both said in unison.
"you have a camera?" his finger pointed to you.
"not right nowww." you explained.
"HER PICTURES ARE SO CUTE" Naomi interrupted, shoving your instagram page in his face. his eyebrows softly raised as his hand slowly gravitated towards Naomi's phone.
he stared and snooped for a good minute.
longest minute of your life.
his lips slowly formed a big smile, still not looking up yet.
"these are niceeeee" he said softly. "really nice." he repeated, softly, almost to himself.
eventually someone suggested the pool, the answer was immediate.
"YES."
the group started moving almost instantly, but you hung back, not because you wanted to.
your phone buzzed.
Mom: alive?
You smiled.
You: yes :)
Mom: did you survive
You: shockingly yes
Mom: friends???
You: i think so actually
Three dots appeared immediately.
Mom: OH MY GOD
You laughed.
You: don't make it weird
Mom: too late
You: mom.
Mom: IM PROUD OF YOU
You were so distracted typing that you didn't realize the group had disappeared around the corner.
"Everything okay?"
You looked up.
Miles.
"Oh."
"okay—that's twice now."
"what?"
"you saying 'oh' when you see me. im starting to think you don't want me around you." he teased with a playful pout.
"no its not—"
"it definitely is."
He slowed his pace until he was walking beside you in unison. "you good?"
"yeah."
"sure?"
you nodded reassuringly. "just texting my mom."
"cute."
you laughed softly. "she wanted updates."
for a moment none of you said anything.
then,
"you know how to swim?"
you looked over. "enough to survive."
He blinked.
"what does that— either yes or no."
"It means if i get thrown into the pool i probably wont die."
"probably?"
"no promises."
He looked horrified.
"That's concerning." he said looking genuinely baffled. "that's a vital survival skill, you cant just halfass it! you never know!" He walked with his hands on his hips now, lecture ready. "but no worries, i was a lifeguard."
you looked over. "really?"
"mhm." he said proudly. "even saved a kid once. im a hero." he beamed.
you giggled lightly. "did you have to give cpr?"
"i mean—yeah, you HAVE to be cpr certified for any lifeguard job."
"hm. what else do you do?" you asked, your phone forgotten in your hand.
"i can do flips." he said, as if he was waiting for the opportunity to bring it up.
"oh brother."
"im serious. i can do a handstand underwater and everything!"
He pointed at you. "i could teach you."
you blinked.
"i'm a great teacher. you'll be in good hands."
you rolled your eyes. "the ego is insane."
"not ego, its confidence, and the confidence is very much earned, thank you." he sassed.
"sure."
"it is."
"sure."
"it is."
you laughed.
again.
The pool deck was chaos, music blasted from overhead speakers, kids ran through puddles, people claimed lounge chairs even though nobody owned them.
The boys immediately launched themselves into the water. no discussion.
splash.
chicken fights, someone nearly went blind from chlorine, the boys choking on water one too many times.
meanwhile— you and Naomi occupied two lounge chairs near the edge of the pool.
"your tan lines are insane."
she looked down proudly. "i work very hard for these." her torso bent to the side getting something out of her tote bag, a bottle of tanning oil. "THEEEE holy grail."
"those really work?"
"you see the credentials!" she said displaying her tan lines again. "you can use some girl, no problem."
"really?—you sure."
"yes of course! turn around ill get your back" she said carelessly positioning herself, beginning to lather the warm oil on her hands.
"this friendship is moving so fast." you chuckled.
"yes. i love it." Naomi said, her chin briefly resting on your shoulder affectionately before rubbing the oil on every crevice of your back for the most crisp tan lines and the afternoon settled around you two easily.
music, sunshine, and conversations.
you talked about college, music, clothes. just life.
Naomi told stories about cruise culture like an anthropologist documenting rare species.
"the cruise flirting is insane."
you laughed. "really?"
every once in a while you caught Miles looking over. not staring, just looking, sometimes he'd smile or do an over excited wave before getting slammed into the pool by one of his friends or yell something across the water.
the strange thing was it didn't feel awkward, nothing today had.
Earlier this morning these people had been strangers, now Naomi was your soul sister.
"a guy did like 20 pull ups on a random bar for my number yesterday." she chuckled out.
"did you give it to him??" you asked as you rubbed the remaining oil on your chest and legs.
"nah."
you both erupted in laughter.
