V: TVMJW

       HE KIND of wants to retreat into himself for a moment, to take some time to process all of this, to sort out what he feels, but it’s always another person’s pain that takes priority. It always leads to him reaching out, becoming the shoulder to lean on. This isn’t new. It isn’t surprising when he does it now.  Reilly’s thumb itches to move in a gentle caress, to heighten the effort at comfort, but even now he feels like he pushes a boundary, so he doesn’t. He stays still there, with his arm against Harry, keeping minimal contact. It’s only when Harry answers does his hand slip away.

It’s obvious to Ben that his f —- his companion is troubled deeply by this, and he can’t say that he can blame him. There’s an ache in his own heart reserved not only for the man beside him, but the one they had been resting their eyes on moments ago. He tried so hard for everyone, and he lost everything for it. 

           Was that disappearance really a sign of closure? There’s an empty feeling in his chest trying to tell him that it wasn’t. Nathan had done all he could for them, but what if he hadn’t? What law in the universe says that he couldn’t have seen this through till the end? It feels unfair.

Harry makes a suggestion that draws Ben out of those thoughts quickly, making his gut twist and paranoia rise. He wishes, more than anything, that his uncanny spider sense was working. That it could give him a clear answer to this question. It feels like a part of him is missing( and it drives him up the wall knowing that they could be being watched right now by his stalker and he would be none the wiser ).

Reilly takes a second to breathe while he shifts his weight to one side, staring down at the mask. When he answers, his tone is filled with the concern he feels. “ I don’t know. If I could just sense something, I’d be able to tell you if it was safe. ” He reaches up to rub his masked mouth, brows knitting tightly together. “ Something about this mask must be significant, it’s true, but who is to say it didn’t lead to Nathan’s fate? I may not have my spider sense, but I have my intuition, and it feels wrong somehow. ” He shakes his head and drops his hand in frustration, he hates this kind of uncertainty, but he should be used to it by now. 

        “ I don’t know. Maybe I’m just paranoid, overthinking it. Maybe he gave it to you for a reason. ” He goes silent for a few seconds, the sign of an internal battle, before he responds with great hesitance. “ … It’s your choice, Harry. I’m here for you no matter what you do. ”

              ♙     AS THE CONTACT   slides away he almost complains,   he almost voices the discontent of having a lack of it but no words are spoken.  nothing comes out as he feels that his place isn’t here.  that there’s something complicated stopping the both of them from keeping the touch or voicing a feeling.  he lets it go,  venom supplementing the comfort moments later with warmth and the hand furthest away from ben getting a   HELD HAND   in the form of venom’s black from his wrist.  it momentarily stops him from holding the mask with one hand but he doesn’t complain.  

the grip doesn’t stay long,  ‘fore the symbiote knows there’s more important things to do,  more things to figure out than simple gestures of   LOVE   and affection in this moment.  for a comfort that their host simply needs   —  

PHYSICAL TOUCH    and affection that they’d simply get in the way with at current.  harry’s own heart continues to ache,  the comfort moments before only ceasing a portion of guilt.  of pain and anguish of a man   —   an   ENTITY   that had assisted them in their quest   . .   the search for  TRUTH   only moments ago.  

it   WASN’T FAIR   that this happened.  it wasn’t fair that   . .   that he’d been so focused on this journal and opened it so quickly.  that he’d brought about a   DEMISE   of someone simply trying to help them and bring   JUSTICE   to someone he loved.  to bring justice and help them bring a loved one home.  to bring mary jane home.  

it was   TOO MUCH   to bear.  it was too much.  in his own pain he wondered how   THE SPIDER BESIDE HIM   felt,  simply able to sense just by body language   (   the only thing he could   SEE   )   that he was in the same boat as he.  

it wasn’t fair.

however that changed,  his body language upon his question.  the question of if he should or should not put it on.  he can understand the caution and nerves   –   the   CONCERN   in his tone when he responds to his question.  

the  lack  of spider sense and venom’s own note of things being off sometimes does make him nervous   HIMSELF.   both    of them actually,  yet the wish to solve this mystery.  to   SOLVE  what happened to mj and daniel   –  to unearth  SOMETHING   to bring this nightmare to a close is almost maddening.

the impulse grows worse every moment that passes with the mask in hand,  it feeling hot in hand as he looks down at it. 

❝         you’re not alone in thinking that it feels wrong.  that something’s wrong here.         ❞   he admits,  frowning deep as he breaths out through his nose.  in moments he seems to become quite reflective,  eyes showing an exhaustion that showed age   –   something serious.  he doesn’t look to ben as he speaks next,  gaze down on the mask in reflection.   

❝         norman says that   POWER    is a tool  . .  within the   right hands   at least.  and   . .   and maybe those hands are mine this time   ??   that i might have the power to help.  to  . .  to know something about this mystery.  the disappearances.   i can’t pass that up,  ben.        ❞   he mumbles.  

he looks up when told that this is   HIS   choice.  his alone.  blue eyes sit on the spider,  almost looking surprised for a moment before nodding.  that’s all he needed.  there’s still hesitance yet venom   URGES   him forward in a show of   solidarity   that they felt the same way.  that this was the right thing to do here.

❝        kick my corpse if something happens.  tell me i was a dumb ass.       ❞  he snorts,  knowing the joke wasn’t much of one as he brings the mask up and to his face.  with a deep breath he  PRESSES IT   against his face.

texture within mask felt metallic, new, added, this wasn’t the same mask- ( or maybe it was, just upgraded ) as the tape, other information, looking down at satchel, some words are shown, names written down, phrases,  “don’t forget”  “Daniel”  “my name is nate”  “mary jane watson”, and names of everyone searching, seems someone was making notes - and not all knowing as thought before, seems whatever’s in the mask lenses, helps see things unable to be seen by human - or spider eyes. could prove helpful looking for clues.

[ txt: unknown ] why would i trust you?[ txt: unknown ] you’re just fucking with us at this point. 

    she was pacing around the lab as she wrote this, hair pulled up in a very tight ponytail, a sign of her worsening anxiety. there were at least two people involved in this. maybe more when it came to her ( if the emails could be trusted – but the narrator said they couldn’t. what was the truth? ) 

    and all the while this narrator continued to play his little game. what was his end goal? his motives? what did he want? 

well, if this isn’t ominous.

    at this point, gwen stacy knows she’s being watched. by involving herself in this whole mystery, she’s painted a target on her back. it’s not fun, and she now understands why her father kept so much of his work hidden from her. the fear of knowing that at all times someone was more than likely spying on her? it was almost crippling. 

    but there’s something in the email that scares her more than anything else has. ‘ i’m not the only one keeping tabs on you ’ who else could be watching her? her work in the molecular genetics of what makes superheroes, well… superheroes was still so early on, there was no way she could  have attracted any negative attention. unless someone at esu had leaked her project? 

No names or other locations are visible, unfortunately with removing the marker, you also remove some of the notes on the blueprint by mistake, mostly the ones done in ink, other notes written in a thick pencil are barely visible, one important one is the mention of Central Park. Maybe there’s something there too.

               IT WASN’T VERY MUCH TO GO ON, but it was more than she had before. for a girl with no powers, she sure got herself into A LOT OF TROUBLE, more trouble than it was probably worth. she had GUTS, at least. it was about time to meet MISTER SILVER SPOON at the bugle, so tara shoved the blueprints back into her coat and went on her way.

               HEELS CLICKED ON WOODEN FLOORS as the reaper made her way into the living room, suited up and ready to pay NEW YORK’S BOYS IN BLUE a visit. first thing’s first, though: that drive. she had asked drac to take a look at it for her, and even though they both knew he had NO TECH KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER, their contract meant he had to do it, even if he didn’t know how he was doing it.

               A GLOVED HAND PLACED ITSELF ‘pon his shoulder as she looked over his shoulder at the laptop screen. “ please tell me you have something… ”

               “ your wish is my command. the hard drive still works, and there are files on it, most of them are just old cases and the like, nothing of interest. one did catch my eye, however, but the reason is…quite unfortunate. it’s ENCRYPTED, and i can’t figure out how to DECRYPT IT myself. it seems specific to miss watson. also, your phone buzzed while you were out. ”

               BROWS FURROWED AT THE ENCRYPTION, mentally cursing the reporter for being so thorough. “ alright…i’ll take it to osborn, then; maybe he knows something about it. you said my phone went off? ” not waiting for his confirmation, she picked up the device in question — AND IMMEDIATELY FELT UNEASY. someone was watching them.

               “ FUCK. ” seems the NYPD would have to wait. right now, she was more concerned with THE MYSTERY FILE AND OSBORN’S LIFE. she only hoped the silver spoon hadn’t gotten himself into trouble. “ shitfuckdammitall- ” drac might have asked what was wrong with her, she wasn’t sure. in the time it would have taken him to ask, she was already OUT THE DOOR.