Thank you Tello once again for being the beta for this fic.
Thought this one might get delayed because of the holidays, but it didn't thankfully.
Also HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chatnowyaseemenowyadont : i think im in love
notadilftechnically : date with MJ went well didn't it
nowyaseemenowyadont : (／≧ω＼) yeah~
bacon&grittes : well what happened?
noirjailbait : we need all the deets!
shorterandsmarterthanyou : every lil thing and detail!
nowyaseemenowyadont : she showed me around the mytho hidden city
nowyaseemenowyadont : remember that?
dontfightadancer : yeye
nowyaseemenowyadont : we got boba and they showed me this great soba place
nowyaseemenowyadont : btw the hidden city is bee-a-u-ti-ful!
nowyaseemenowyadont : its underground in a cavern that is like probably twice the actual size of nyc
nowyaseemenowyadont : could not see the end of it
nowyaseemenowyadont : there are like different sectors per each mytho culture
nowyaseemenowyadont : and a few that look like nyc
nowyaseemenowyadont : MJ took me to the japanese side near where they live apparently since they're family are yokai
shorterandsmarterthanyou : that sounds fucking baller! (。・0・)
dontfightadancer : did you kiss?
notadilftechnically : gwen-!
noirjailbait : damn. straight for the jugular
nowyaseemenowyadont : (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
shorterandsmarterthanyou : (◉O◉)
noirjailbait : wai really?
dontfightadancer : HAHA! knew it (✯◡✯)
notadilftechnically : babies' first kiss?!
bacon&grittes : wha!
dontfightadancer : okayokay what was it like
nowyaseemenowyadont : y r u so invested? (◕⍸ ◕)
shorterandsmarterthanyou : bad grammar theyr hiding shit!
nowyaseemenowyadont : stfu!
dontfightadancer : what happens miles did. you. kiss?
noirjailbait : comeon miley can't have been that bad right?
nowyaseemenowyadont : it was just a kiss on the cheek
nowyaseemenowyadont : no biggie
notadilftechnically : well ya guys did just meet
notadilftechnically : can't really go far from there on like the 3rd meeting
nowyaseemenowyadont : i also told him my id!
several people are typing
MilesThat Monday morning Miles decided to walk to school, because 1) his dad was tired and his mom was at work, and 2) he needed to stretch his legs a bit before sitting in class all day. They were running late of course because nothing ever went their way and the only thing Miles could think about was MJ's lips on their cheek yesterday. Along with the yelling he got from the webchat, but that's a whole other thing. Besides, sleep was for adults and small children and Miles expressly didn't need it that night.
Things got worse, of course, when he decided to go down a sharp turning alley as a shortcut. They'd been too focused on the whole getting to school, and 'I'm literally Spider-man who'd jump me?', thing to realize that at the moment he was Miles Morales: A young black kid wearing the uniform of the rich people school nearby.
"Listen, all I want is any cash you got, don't have to make this harder than it needs to be."
The mugger said. They weren't even holding a knife, just standing uncomfortably close to keep Miles against the wall and unable to run off.
Miles just glared at them and felt his hand grow fuzzy and numb with electricity, just one punch to the jaw and all the mugger would think is that a kid had a semi-lethal taser on them.
Before Miles could get a good swing in though the mugger got a hard hit in the side from a hockey stick. They quickly crumpled to the ground and groaned in pain. Miles blinked down at the man in mild shock
"Watch yourself asshat, don't even think about getting that close to a kid!"*
Miles looked up to their savior, and saw a person in a red crop top hoodie, black sweatpants, undershirt, fingerless gloves and military combat boots. The most notable thing about their outfit was the white hockey mask they wore.
That explained the hockey stick, at least.
Miles' spidey-sense went off, and they heard a gasp behind them and turned to look, not completely looking away from Hockey Mask, and saw the biggest turtle they could have ever imagined. They must have been at least seven feet tall, maybe more. They wore black wrappings around their arms and legs and a red bandana on their head, wearing it like a durag, and they had an eyepatch on their right eye.
Most importantly though they were holding the mugger who was struggling with a knife that the turtle made them drop.
"Scram," The turtle practically growled. The mugger did as told and ran out of the alley past the turtle.
"You alright bud?" The turtle asked, voice softer as they took a step back to give Miles some space.
They nodded. "Who are you guys?" they asked, it wasn't everyday other vigilantes came round to Brooklyn, although Miles may just be in school or asleep when they did.
The turtle smiled carefully, keeping their mouth closed, "Red Angel of the Mad Dogs at cha verse! – They said cheerfully – ``And over there is my partner in vigilante crime, Red Devil!"
"Yo, you're headin' to Vision Academy right? I can walk ya the rest of the way if ya want," Red Devil offered, lowering their hockey stick so as to not seem as threatening.
"Ah, no I'm good, thanks for the help though." He said picking up his suitcase where the mugger had pushed it.
"A'ight, stay safe kid," Was all they said before both they and Red Angel disappeared.
Miles concentrated on their hearing trying to parse out where the vigilante's were, but couldn't hear a thing, which was terrifying considering that Red Angle was huge and Red Devil was wearing heavy boots.
Sighing, Miles knew he'd just have to deal with that whole predicament later. He was late for school.
Groaning at the time on their phone, Miles prepared to full on sprint the next two blocks.
ChatTiger : hey mj
Tiger : have ya ever heard of the Mad Dogs before?
MJ : ye course
MJ : you havnt meet us before hav ya?
Tiger : well no i've heard of them but never meet them before
Tiger : wait us?
MJ : ye me and the fam r vigilantes ~(◡ω◡✿)
MJ : been in the game for almost 2 years now!
Tiger : dang!
Tiger : ive only been doing this for like almost a year now
Tiger : yall have been doing so much for so long!
Tiger : that's amazing!
MJ : aw shucks ღゝ◡╹)ノ
Tiger : met red angel & red devil btw
Tiger : good to know they're back on the field
Tiger : havent actually seen alot of ya out since the invasion
Tiger : makes sense tho that whole thing was alot
MJ : yeah it was we were all down for the count for a bit there
MJ : devil was out helping civilians
MJ : ya might hav seen her actually
Tiger : actually yeah!
Tiger : i remember someone in a hockey mask and a bunch of brownie scouts
MJ : yeah that sounds like devil
MJ : they run that clan of scouts actually
MJ : the granma CJ brownies
MJ : very dedicated on brownie world domination
Tiger : OMG!
Tiger : CJ brownies are the fucking best!
Tiger : they are so addicting!
MJ : i know right!?
MJ : i tried to get the recipe but its like a clan secret or something b/c devil nearly let their scouts kill me when i tried to find it
MJ : they gotta be putting something in those brownies
Tiger : oh to be a small child and know the cj brownie recipe~
MJ : oh to be~
MJ : also angel was there?
Tiger : yeah stopped the mugger who tried to stab me
MJ : sorry stab!
MJ : and muggin?!
MJ : thought you ran into them while like on patrol or something
Tiger : naw met them this morning on the way to school
Tiger : devil got the mugger right in the gut with her hockey stick and they were down for a bit before they tried with a knife
Tiger : angel stopped them tho
Tiger : probs would have been fine tbh
Tiger : i heal pretty quickly
MJ : well thats good
MJ : angel's been dying to get out recently
MJ : also shouldn't you be in class rn? ('▀_▀')
Tiger : aw shit u right
Tiger : got english in like 30 secs
Tiger : web be with me i have a test today ミ=͟͟͞͞( ʘ ᴗʘ)っ
MJ : ill pray to the pizza supreme in the sky 4 u ﾍ(￣ー￣)ﾉ
Tiger : ttyl!
MJ : byebye!
Leon, April, & Donnie"I think Mikey's talking to someone," Leo said, sitting across from his twin and April at the table.
"Yeah that hoodie? They definitely didn't buy that," April said skeptically, looking towards the youngest turtle's train car.
"What makes you say that?" Donnie asked.
"Well first off they were definitely lying when we asked about it yesterday, and it's like too well worn and a little too dirty to be from a thrift store, and she was definitely sniffing it and being giddy about it," April said, counting each thing off thing on her hand.
Leo nodded eagerly, "Yeah, they tried to act all nonchalant about it and after we got back said they were just cold so they bought a hoodie,"
Donnie raised an eyebrow "Why didn't they just like, use their ninpo?"
"That's what I was thinking!" Leon exclaimed.
April sat there, face scrunched up in concentration, "Well if they met someone, it has to have been recently, 'cause they weren't like this a few weeks ago."
"Maybe he met them while out graffitiing?" Donnie suggested.
Leo rubbed his chin in thought, "I mean, it makes sense. Like, she was so careful when going out before I saw her. Then one night she just messes up, makes a lot of noise, and comes back smiling and always texting someone?"
"Yeah and he revisited the same piece multiple times in a row before Tuesday, or well, Wednesday," Don added.
The trio sat there as the possible situation set in, April was the first to say something.
"Mikey's kinda acting like how I did with Sunita."
The twins looked over to their sister with identical looks of dread. "I mean, sighing dreamily at their phone, not talking about where they're going, coming home with clothes that aren't theirs."
As April spoke, the duo realized that their baby brother may just be in love with someone.
"Oh god, oh man, oh no," Leo groaned, leaning back in his chair.
Donnie's head hit the table, "Oh fuck," their voice completely monotone with doom.
"Are we really going to be the last ones to start dating?*" Leo asked his twin.
"I refuse to lose to you," Donnie stated with a low, harmless growl.
April just laughed at their plight.
Miles & GankeMiles wouldn't say he hated Vision Academy, he'd kinda gotten over that awkward freshman phase and actually felt like he somewhat belonged there. But it wasn't the same as Brooklyn High or even Thomas Elementary and Middle, but that last one was kind of a given.
They had a few friends, but they were just people they sat next to in a few classes. Ganke was definitely their only true friend at school. Being roommates and scholarship kids kinda made it easier to talk to each other.
Everyone else though, they were strangers, strangers that didn't really care to know Miles, so Miles didn't care to really know them.
So today for lunch as always, Miles and Ganke stood in the lunchline side by side, waiting for food.
-?-
"I went to meet MJ Sunday," Miles said, picking up a tray and handing one to the other teen.
"Is MJ the someone you were texting all last week?" Ganke asked teasingly, taking the tray.
"Yeah~, they are so cool. They taught me how to dance the waltz, it was so romantic," Miles said happily
Ganke shook his head with a laugh, "Dancing is very romantic, will I have to worry about you trying to sneak them into the dorm?"
Miles sputtered indignantly, face growing hot, "No… probably not… maybe?"
Ganke rolled his eyes with a mischievous smile, before he could say anything, the lunch lady spoke.
"Are you two going to take your food or are you just going to keep gossiping and holding the line?" The deep and smooth voice of the lunch lady asked.
The two blinked up at them, they were new and very tall with dark almost purple skin* and assumedly a lot of purple hair, shown by sideburns, hidden under a large white bonnet. They had a heavy scowl on their face, but it lacked any real malice, just annoyance.
The two teens nodded quickly without saying a word and pulled some food onto their trays. Punching in their lunch numbers and grabbing a drink, the two quickly walked out of the line and to their self designated table near the back of the large cafeteria.
Giving each other wide eyed looks they quickly started to giggle and laugh.
"Gosh, they're scary," Ganke said, glancing over to the lunch line.
Miles sighed happily, "Yeah, did they just start cause they weren't here last week?"
"Probably, I heard the old head of lunch quit cause of invasion stuff," Ganke explained as he began to eat his food.
Miles nodded and pulled out his journal to draw while he ate.
The two sat in amicable silence as they ate.
"Miles?"
They looked up at their friend, "Hmm?"
"Did, did you tell them?" Ganke asked, a little nervous
Miles smiled softly and laughed anxiously, "I-I did, I know it's reckless but they already knew me as the other me. So it kinda just made sense in my head, and he told me so much about himself that it just felt fair."
"So you just told them?" Ganke asked, a bit worried and kinda betrayed. He knew that being Miles' roommate kinda made him privy to a lot of their personal life,so it made sense that the two would bond and Miles would eventually tell him about being Spider-man. MJ on the other hand, as far as Ganke was aware, just kinda showed up. He didn't want to dislike them, everything Miles said about them was so nice and sweet, he felt bad for the twinge of uncertainty and mild jealousy.
"Yeah," They said, fiddling with their pen and trying to at least look at Ganke's face, as Miles tried not to look away but couldn't look them in the eye.
Ganke sighed and nodded, "If you trust them, it's your decision and your life, not mine."
"But you're also my best friend – Miles said reaching over and taking the other's hand – and the first person I ever told. I should have run this by you at the very least and I'm sorry that I didn't," They said, voice sincere.
He nodded and squeezed Miles' hand, "It's alright man, thanks for the whole apology, I don't wanna seem clingy, so just tell me, all right?"
Miles laughed a little, "You never are but a'ight."
The two smiled at each other and went back to their lunches, feeling lighter than before.
Casey & Raph"Isn't Drax workin' at Vision Academy nowadays? As like a substitute or something?" Casey asked as the two ran across the rooftops of Brooklyn.
"Yeah, started this week actually, 'parently the old head Lunch Lady got wrapped up in some family shit after the invasion and just decided to quit after their last paycheck," Raph said, hopping over a large vent, "Then he'll leave once someone new takes his spot."
"Damn, – Casey glanced back in the school's direction – Those kids are not gonna know what hit 'em."
Raph laughed with a short chuff.
MikeyMikey stared at his sketchbook, glaring down at the ruffled and smudged pages from attempted drawings, sitting on their rolly chair at their desk.
He'd wanted to draw Miles and he tried yesterday, but it just kept coming out wrong. His hands kept trembling and their face never looked right because of it. She'd almost started crying near the end, everything becoming too much as she just kept failing again and again. They wanted Miles' drawing to look perfect, even if they knew that only seeing him once didn't make it easier. They'd just put the sketchbook down at some point and left their room to hang out with their family.
It was Monday now and Mikey was completely done with this journal, picking the paperback up he rolled over to the bookshelf and put the sketchbook back with the other books and sketchbooks
She sat in front of the bookshelf staring at her new and mainly empty sketchbooks. She wanted to start over with a blank slate, something just for Miles, something that came with her tremors and nothing else before them to compare it to.
Eventually they pulled out a simple black spiral bound hardcover sketchbook. It had a few little doodles on the first two pages, both which Mikey carefully pulled out and slipped into a loose page folder, then rolled back to the desk.
Clicking his mechanical pencil Mikey started to draw, his style changed some because of the tremors. Taking advantage of the uneasy movement she started drawing more sketchy and with shorter lines to minimize mistakes and make up longer lines. It was less smooth and precise lines and more careful and bumpy sketches, it was different and not what they were used to but they were willing to at least try it out.
Mikey concentrated on the memory of Miles' face, carefully pulling the lines of their jaw down from the messy circle, following the middle line down and stopping at around the button horizontal line. Going by the three lines above the jaw, making their ears and sketching the beginnings of their nose. Then beginning his hairline, and then his eyes and eyebrows, before going back to his hair, drawing in tight coils around 4c, remembering April's hair as a reference.
Lifting his pencil Mikey stared down at the sketch, Mikey didn't feel like it was perfect but it was a good start. She'd need references of some kind, different angles, pictures of him.
Mikey glanced over at their phone on their bed, before shaking their head. It would be too much to ask Miles for pictures, too creepy, really.
He looked back at the art and smiled, pulling Miles' slap tag out of their sweater pocket – of course he was still wearing it, it's soft and warm and smells like lavender – and stared down at it, trying to figure out what to do with it now that he had the number saved.
She didn't want her family to find it, they'd find out about Spidey and that would be bad. Sighing, Mikey and rolled back over to the bookshelf, picking up their locked box, and opening it with a little ninpo and a code. The box had a few things, a few sketches of Gram-gram, small important knick-knacks, and now Miles Morales' phone number. Closing the box and locking it once again, they put it back on the bookshelf with a soft smile.
-?-
Someone knocked on Mikey's train car.
"Hey Mikester, can I come in?" It was April. Mikey quickly closed her notebook, still drawing Miles multiple times over. "Yeah, yeah, come in."
April moved the orange curtain to the side and walked in, glancing around the room before sitting on a bean bag by the bookshelf.
"Whatcha up to?" She asked him.
"Just a- just drawing and stuff," They said, fiddling with their pencil as they spoke.
April nodded smiling softly, she knew not to ask much about Mikey's art nowadays, it made him anxious. Mikey wanted to talk about it though, he finally felt a little proud of what he'd drawn.
"I'm trying out a new style to work around- to work around my hands – he picked up the notebook opening it slowly – It's more sketchy then before but it's something," She walked over to April, plopping down in the beanbag next to them. As long as she didn't mention Miles it would probably be fine.
They opened the pages fully and showed their sister their work, nervous as they watched her face for any emotion. April was smiling down at the sketches, flipping through the pages that Mikey had filled.
"This is great Mikey. – she says reassuringly, and Mikey feels her heart warm at the genuine praise – Are they an OC, have you named them yet?"
Mikey thought for a second staring down at the art, "Tiger, I call them Tiger*"
"That's a nice name, what are they like?" April asked
"Well they like graffiti and make really cool slap tags, he used to watch Satan's Kitchen a lot before the whole Meat Sweats thing. They have a very pretty laugh and nice eyes."
-?-
Mikey talked for a while about "Tiger", and how cool and nice he was.
April watched her little sister ramble, having connected the dots by the pretty eyes comment. They knew Mikey had a crush on the real Tiger. April was glad that he'd fallen so hard that he'd been working through his insecurities about his art.
"DINNERS READY!" Splinter yelled out into the lair, startling Mikey.
April stood up stretching her back a bit, "Hungry?" She asked,
"As long as you give me your dessert," She replied with a smile.
April flicked the bridge of their nose playfully, "Like I'd even consider it."
"Worth a shot," He shrugged, following April out of his room and to the dining area, where the others were already gathering.
Author's Note"Watch yourself asshat, don't even think about getting that close to a kid!"* - I have the very personal and amazing headcanon that each and every Casey in every dimension has 2003!Casey's accent. The same goes for every Raph having 2003!Raph's accent, i just like them alright. Yes, Junior has it too. Do not know how to write them tho, so just like imagine it in your head.
Are we really going to be the last ones to start dating?* - Raph is aroace because I said so, and the twins made a bet on who out of all the siblings would be the last to start dating, they are very dedicated to it in the funny way
dark almost purple skin* - the darkest skin tones are often blue-black and are called such so as far as I'm aware the skin isn't possible, but like first off glance it's possible so people don't really think about it
Tiger, I call them Tiger* - Tiger Spiders are actually a thing, creepy looking long-legged fucks with black stripes and orange fuzz, Bolivia Tiger Spider's butt bit kinda looks like a scorpion's
Gonna be honest, I wasn't sure how to write Ganke at first. I got the vibe that he was quite from the movie. But then I read a wiki about him in the game and they said he was kind and quote a "dependable ray of sunshine", who also doesn't know how to deal with compliments. So like hard relate my gosh. And because I like him and we're kinda similar, he's transmasc like me now. Boom, Trans Beam. And no he isn't interested in Miles, just kinda insecure about his place in their life.
Also just general pronouns & sexualities headcanons
Mikey - She/He/They | Pan
Miles - They/He | Pan
Ganke - He/Him | Straight
April - She/They | Lesbian
Leon - He/Him | Gay
Donnie - They/He | Biromantic
Casey - She/They | Gynoromantic
Junior - He/They | Bisexual
Raph - He/They | AroAce
Gwen - She/They | Bisexual
Noir - They/He | Gay
Peni - She/Her | Lesbian
Peter B - He/Him | Bisexual
Porker - He/It | Pan
Sunita - She/They/It | Lesbian