⠀⠀

@mirrorwebs 
            [ oliver doesn’t know how to feel when she looks at him. he’s not an idiot, he’s seen the look before, but it’s never once been directed at him. he stops breathing for a second, like he’s forgotten how to, and he swallows the lump in his throat. he’s heard that saying so many times—- she’s not glass, she won’t break—- but he’s seen her break before. he’s seen the signs, he’s noticed. he’s trying to prevent it again, but she’s fighting him. ]   …i know we are.   [ no, they’re not. they can do this dance all they want, but they’ve never been just friends and he knows that. well, he thought he did. maybe this was the confirmation. ]   i’ll… leave you alone. i’ve got to go drop a painting off at the post office, anyway.

⠀ ⠀ just  what,  oliver  ?  [  she turned to face him,  for what might be the first time in their friendship,  her eyes were sharp.  and almost instantly,  they were beginning to soften.  the look on his face,  like she just licked a puppy.  ]  i’m  not  a  piece  of  glass,  i’m  not  —  i’m  not  going  to  break  !  [  brandy meets his eyes,  and at his words she feels a pain in her chest.  he’s not her boyfriend,  she is right.  but him saying it hurts so much more.  ]  right.  you’re  not.  we’re just  …  just  friends,  oliver.  

@mirrorwebs 
            i don’t mean to hover, i just—-   [ oliver brown is silent in a matter of a moment. his gaze is set on brandy, and his brows furrow slightly. he’s not even mad, he just doesn’t know what to say. ]   you’re right, i am not your boyfriend. i’ll stop acting like i am, then.

@terminalwebs 
            i’m sure there was no better feeling than that, right? to have a book you adore signed by the author, it must have been incredible. did you, um—- did he make it personal for you, or is it just signed regularly? like… without the little note and it’s just his name. 

it really is.  the author was in town a couple days ago,  actually.  he did a signing and had a whole event.  i was lucky enough to get a signed copy.   ( .. )   his writing really makes you think .. y’know?  

@terminalwebs 
            i mean… ah, bloody hell, why not? it looks like an interesting read anyway, based on the cover and the little summary. 

@terminalwebs 
            very well, then.   [ he pauses then, shifting his weight to properly sit down on the rooftop’s edge. he lets his legs dangle, hands moving to rest in his lap. ]   yes, i do.

sometimes.  we will play twenty questions then!  that was my first one.  okay,  next one—-  do you have organic webs?  

@terminalwebs 
            do you often speak of people’s height when you are bored? …i am not a basketball player in my normal life, but you are more than welcome to continue guessing if you want. it’s oddly quiet right now.

PART FOUR   :   ISOLACE.
             ⠀⠀ becoming a spider-hero is no small thing — it wasn’t for oliver brown, anyway. his heart was so full of rage, of hatred. how was he supposed to be a hero if all he wanted was revenge? well, in truth — he was never supposed to be a hero. he had every reason to become a villain, and every reason to NOT use his powers. it would have been easy, especially with the fucking emancipation. he could have boarded the next flight to the united kingdom, he could have brushed new york off of his hands and returned home. but he didn’t.
             ⠀⠀ instead, he STAYED. he made his own mask with his own two hands, spent hours making his suit instead of buying one. he worked alone he spent his days alone in his ‘new’ house now that he had pushed brandy zhang away, and he spent his nights gathering information on the two rival gangs that took his mother from him. he helped out the innocent people — really clumsily at the start, according to many of the sources. he became someone good, someone his mother would have been proud of.
             ⠀⠀ the news had dubbed him ‘isolace,’ a very fitting name for the spider-hero that got bitten by the BROWN RECLUSE — a spider known for its preference to hide in the darkest of places. he likes it, but that’s a fact that no one knows. he’d take that secret to his grave, along with his identity. NO ONE could know about him, or his life would be even more hell. yes, that included specula, his rival. but that’s a story for another time.

PART THREE   :   THE CANON EVENT.
             ⠀⠀ he knew that crime rates were high in new york. he knew that he should have voiced his opinion about the city they lived in. he knew he should have gotten them out of there before something bad really happened. but he never did, because his mum seemed so happy being in new york — not being reminded of his father’s death — and he couldn’t rip that away from her. but then, new york killed her.
             ⠀⠀ it was his graduation night, where he stood tall for his mum who watched and cheered for him. she looked so proud of him, and that is the moment that he will always remember being one of their last. after the large ceremony, she wanted to take a walk. neither of them knew what awaited them—- an unavoidable death, and a necessary change.
             ⠀⠀ olivia brown was caught in the crossfire of two rival gangs. the worst part of it all? the bullet that killed her wasn’t even meant for her, nor would it have struck her if she hadn’t shoved oliver out of the way and took his place. olivia brown sacrificed her life for her son’s, and died in his arms while the two gangs ceased their firing and ran. the gangs left seventeen year old oliver brown in the street that night, holding onto his mother’s dying body and wailing like a child.
             ⠀⠀ he decided that very night, as he held onto his mother’s cold and blood-soaked body, that he would make them pay — whoever shot that gun and everyone who was there that night. he also decided that he would save the next one, and the next one, until he physically couldn’t save anybody anymore. there would never be another olivia brown, not if oliver could help it.

PART TWO   :   THE INCIDENT.
             ⠀⠀ oliver and his mother had gone down to kansas during the first summer, for reasons that oliver did not know, and stayed in a farmhouse. they went hiking, they helped out with the farm, it was an overall fantastic trip, save for one small thing. oliver got bit by a spider while he was cleaning out the barn, and it wasn’t just any spider — it was a BROWN RECLUSE.
             ⠀⠀ spiders were not rare in england, he had seen his fair share and had been bitten by his fair share, so this was nothing. except, as he would find out through a gruesome process, this was NOT nothing. he was bed-ridden, sweating like he had just crawled out of hell itself, and in unbearable pain. he was changing, he just didn’t know into WHAT at the time.
             ⠀⠀ by the time that summer was over, oliver was fine, save for some minor changes. his vision became blurry and the sun hurt his eyes, he could feel things move even if he weren’t looking, and he could lift a fucking hay bale by himself, which something he couldn’t do when they first arrived on that farm, but he chalked it up to just moving things around and growing muscle on that farm.
             ⠀⠀ it was when he woke up on the wall back in new york that he knew that the spider bite did something to him. eventually, he even found out that he could produce a web. yes, that’s right — he could produce WEBS out of two mini holes in his wrists. it freaked him out, but then he tried to be thankful that it didn’t come out of his butt like it did with spiders. it didn’t work, he was still very freaked out.

/ !

/  teehee

*     HAND IT OVER 

@terminalwebs 
             ⠀⠀⠀ [ oliver looks down at the woman simply because of his height, and he raises a brow. she wore a suit which likely meant that she was no danger to him or to specula, but that really did not mean anything to him. the two spider-themed heroes may not have gotten along, but that didn’t mean he would tell her how to find specula. the thought of doing so doesn’t even cross his mind. so, he breathes once more—- soft inhale, slow exhale. it’s a calming process more than anything for him. ]   i read the papers every morning, the two are featured in them quite a lot—- some good, some bad.   [ his right hand’s fingers curl, causing his fingernails to drag against his thumb. ]   why do you want to find them?

s͟o͟ awful.   [ she reiterates,  playful.  a smile can be heard within those few words—-  almost.  while she can only see him from beneath her mask,  she feels as if he can see right through it and for a moment,  her confidence is shaken.  just barely.  the spider woman stops in her tracks with just enough space between them for her to remain comfortable. ]    gymnasium junkies?    [ a soft chuckle. ]    i like that.  i’m going to use that.   ( .. )   you seem pretty knowledgeable.  how does one find those two ..  heros?  

@terminalwebs 
             ⠀⠀⠀ thank goodness. that would have been just awful.   [ oliver watches as the masked woman descends like she was made for it. the ease in which she moves resembles that of a dancer to him, and his cognac-colored eyes never leave her. he takes in the suit she wears, and it’s one that he is unfamiliar with. this lady wasn’t specula, and she had been the only other spider-like person he had known of besides himself. he inhales soft and exhales slow, before bringing his gaze back up to her face—- well, her mask. ]   well, this city has heroes that are capable of spider-related things. two of them, and they’re.. more active than the gymnasium junkies.

@mirrorwebs 
             ⠀⠀⠀ [ the annoyance that radiates off of her makes him laugh, the sound carrying across the rooftop they both stood upon. he steps out from the shadows then, his arms crossed over his chest and the six-eyes mask pointed directly at her. ]   my pseudo-philosophical bull, hm? i’m not surprised you’d call it that, SPECULA. as for your question, no—i don’t need anything from you, and i certainly didn’t pick stalking as my hobby. i was here first, so.. wouldn’t that make YOU the stalker?

⠀ ⠀ [  she rolls her eyes,  not that he can see behind her mask,  but she hopes he can feel the annoyance she’s sending his way.  ]  oh,  shut  up  with  your  pseudo  —  philosophical  bull.  did  you  need  something  from  me  or  did  you  pick  up  stalking  as  a  hobby  ? 

@mirrorwebs 
             ⠀⠀⠀ why do you never look beyond the light? that is the question you should be asking, not one that offers an obvious answer.

/        @mirrorwebs  <33