CHAPTER TWO;
first meetings pt. 2

"SPIDER-MAN? SIR..." AMALA SAID, SHAKING THE FIGURE PASSED OUT ON HER VANITY TABLE.

Damn it, she cursed to herself.

Taking a deep breath, she bent down in front of him and placed her hands on the tips of his knee.

"Excuse me? Uhm... Spider-man? Are you- are you okay?" She asked again, trying to lightly shake him into consciousness.

He mumbled something in return before stilling again.

From this close, he didn't look like a hero anymore. That façade of strength and resilience looked gloomy under lamplight. Instead, all she saw was a bare man, weak and tired. They didn't show this side of heroes in the media — they couldn't afford to. Vulnerability equated to imperfection, and what was a hero if they were not perfect?

Amala took a deep breath and something in her chest sank. She swallowed the lump in her throat before gently cupping Spider-man's masked face. She cradled it in her palms with as much care to not hurt him.

"I know you're tired but I need you to wake up for me, okay? I can't help you otherwise."

"Hmph..."

"There you go," She beamed. "I'm sorry, I know. But you're bleeding pretty bad..."

Slowly, Spider-man's posture tightened — a sign that he was awake. "Mphm- fuck..."

His head was still in Amala's hands and the man made no effort to get out of it.

Amala couldn't tell if he was looking or even awake as the mask obstructed his face. However, moments later, the whites of his mask blinked black several times.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," he began to say. "I'm really sorry. I'm just -"

She cut him off, "Hey! It's alright. You're good- let me help you."

All he did was nod.

Amala slowly let go of his face. Taking a step back, she assessed the state Spider-man was in. His whole body looked pretty rough, at least from what she could make out. His suit was dirty and slightly tattered yet it had no holes in it... at all. It just looked like the first layers of it were ripped but the lining was still intact.

Interesting, she thought to herself.

Of course, for a hero of his kind, an adequate suit had to be made.

Despite all of this, blood still seeped from the spandex-like fabric. On his left leg and across his chest, crimson pooled and stained the suit an even heavier concentrated shade of red. Similarly, there was a gash on his neck where his mask had slightly risen up. It looked bruised pretty badly and was trickling blood as well.

Amala took it all in and sighed.

Before he could question her, she walked to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She looked through it and pulled out a set of loose black sweatpants and a green oversized t-shirt.

"Here's a change of clothes by the way. I can't clean your cuts through your suit and I mean... it would be a lot more comfortable for you." She told him. "Of course, you can keep the mask on! Whatever is best for you."

From his body language, Spider-man looked hesitant but accepted the articles anyway.

For a moment, they both awkwardly faced each other.

"Oh! Oh my god, right. Uhm- I'd rather we keep the blood stains to a minimal so is it already if you change here? I'll turn around!" She explained.

"Yeah, that's fine." Was all Spider-man said in return.

Amala nodded at that and quickly turned around, her back to the hero.

For several seconds, there was pure silence. Nothing was heard except for the sound of their breathing. Moments later, however, Amala could hear shuffling, then the sound of fabric dropping.

She fidgeted with her fingers and picked at the skin on her thumbs; a nasty habit she had developed since she was young. She couldn't help but dwell on the fact that this was really happening. I mean, who would've thought? The situation still shocked her and so many questions were yet to be answered. What was going to happen when she finished patching him up? Would he just leave, never to be seen again?

What else would he do, you idiot? She chastised herself. Take your hand and leap into the sunset?

She shook her head and internally laughed at that.

"I'm done."

The words broke her out of her little mind wander and she turned back around.

A laugh escaped her throat, "oh!" she steadied a hand to her mouth. "Sorry, it's just... something about this looks odd." She snickered as she motioned towards Spider-man's attire (normal clothing plus a Spider mask looked comical).

He offered a weak chuckle back, "haha, yeah. It's definitely not my usual get-up."

Amala just smiled at that and motioned for him to sit back down. He stepped away from his drenched suit and Amala could already tell that the carpet was turning a washed shade of cherry.

Spider-man noticed her gaze and was quick to apologize. "I'm really sorry about that,"

"Oh, it's alright! It's not your fault." She reassured him. "Everything is washable"

She wasn't sure how she was going to wash literal blood off of a white carpet but she figured she'd worry about it when she got there.

She walked towards where he was seated and propped herself between his feet. Taking the med-kit from the table and placing it on the floor, she opened it and began taking out various items.

"Is it alright if I lift the sweatpants?" She asked.

Spider-man sputtered. "Uh, yeah. Of course, go ahead."

Amala gave him a simple smile before gently tugging the already staining fabric. She lifted it up until it rested at the top of his knee.

Fuck, was all she thought.

It looked nasty, to say the least. His leg was almost fully divided by a large gash. It looked deep and claw-like (and possibly infected, too.)

"Wow..." she began to say as she took a cloth and dampened it with water from a bowl. "What happened?"

"Some giant guy with metallic claws for hands threw me into a building," he replied nonchalantly.

"What the fuck?" She exclaimed, shocked, as she dabbed the wet cloth on his cut. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"I will be," he replied, warmth in his tone. "It... on the other hand, probably not."

She slowly cleaned around the wound, wringing the cloth when needed. "Thank God for that."

"Hey, why are you thanking God? That was all me." He laughed in mock offense.

Spider-man had a sense of humor? It caught Amala off guard but it positively influenced the opinion she had on him (not that it was ever negative. It was simply neutral).

"Right! Right!" She laughed back. "Of course, my sincere apologies, Spider-man. Thank you for your services." She looked up at him and smiled.

He just laughed back and the white's of his mask widened. He hissed, "shit. Sorry, that hurt."

She quickly looked down. "No, I'm sorry. I'll be gentler."

They fell out of their light banter after that. She continued her work: making sure the cut was no longer bleeding, cleaning it again with another sodded cloth, wrapping it up in gauze and securing tightly.

She announced that she was done with her work and asked if she could take a look at his chest as it was still bleeding through the shirt she gave him.

He agreed and after a tense couple of seconds, he shyly took his shirt off and well... Christ.

He was hot as hell.

His chest was toned and defined, his skin was cream-colored and smooth, and the cut shone ruby under the light. The sight made Amala's knees waver.

The raven cleared her throat in a desperate attempt to calm herself. Truth be told, she wasn't the most experienced when it came to boys and dating. Don't get her wrong, she's had guys pursue her, but other than a couple first dates, nothing ever came of it. Amala's best friend, Akira, liked to joke that it was because of her ungodly high standards and well... maybe she was right.

No boy had ever stood out to her, had ever made her feel the intense butterflies or unquestionable blush that came with crushes. No boy had ever swooped her off her feet or made her ache.

The raven had never had any boy in her room, letting alone a shirtless one. She was a little nervous.

Clearing her throat, she wrung out the slightly bloody cloth and placed her left hand against the clean side of his chest for support, before dabbing gently onto his skin.

Instantly, he tensed up and with that, Amala tensed too. Her nursing experience was purely at the hands of youtube videos and hearing her mother talk about her shifts at the dinner table. Amala was trying her best and hoped that it was good enough.

She adjusted her hand slightly, going a little higher. Goosebumps rippled onto Spider-man's skin and his sharp intake of breath broke the silence.

"I'm sorry. Is the cloth cold?" She asked quietly, almost in a whisper.

"No," Spider-man replied. "Not at all."

"Okay,"

Every time her hand touched his skin, he visibly shook and his breathing quivered.

Their once calm and light atmosphere turned heavy and the air between them could be diced with a knife.

Amala tried her best to focus, but between the hero's flaming skin and her thumping heart, her hand shook.

"What do you do when you're not almost breaking windows?" She asked, trying to lift some of the weight of the ambience.

Spider-man's breath was still sporadic. "Laying on hidden parts of rooftops till I feel I can walk."

She looked up at him, "you... you just wait it out?"

"Yep," he replied. "'Nothing else I can do. Have nowhere to go. Plus, my skin starts to heal a couple hours later."

Amala hummed in reply but an anvil dropped in her chest as she thought his words over.

She chose her next words carefully. "If you're ever in a situation like this again," her hand caressed the top of his chest, "where you need my help," she sinks the cloth deeper into his skin. "You can come back." Her hand rests against him longer than needed.

"I'm," Spider-man sputters above her. "Thank you. That means a lot, really. Thank you."

"Of course," she mumbled back, her hand still resting against the ripple of his chest. "It's the least I can do for the city's beloved hero." She smiled and looked up at him with doe-eyes.

Meeting her eyes — or at least, keeping their eye-line the same based on the dimensions of his mask — his bare hand closed around hers.

Amala's breath was sucked out of her lungs and a light blush began dusting her chocolate cheeks.

"You don't get how thankful I am," he starts saying. "For tonight, for you."

His thumb strokes the back of her hand. Amala shudders.

"You saved my life."

"Heroes don't need saving," she said as her hand pressed deeper into his skin. "'Just helped you out."

He hushed her gently, "yes they do. Thank you..."

"Amala."

"What?"

"My name, it's Amala. I thought you should know."

He squeezed her hand. "Thank you, Amala."

"Of course," she replied shakily.

The way he said her name... it sent shivers down her spine.

Amala hadn't really focused on his voice until now. It was smooth and velvety but was quite high pitched too. In the news, most people assumed Spider-man to be in his mid-twenties or early thirties. Listening to him up close though, Amala could deduce that he wasn't older than twenty five.

As quick as it came, the moment shattered.

"I should probably head out," he said moments later. "I've kept you up long enough."

"Oh, yeah of course." She replied and slowly released her hand from his grip.

She helped him get up and gathered up his tattered suit and folded it neatly.

He took it from her and limped to the balcony door. She opened it for him and they stepped out together.

"Again," Spider-man said. "I want to thank you, seriously. I'm sorry for disturbing your night."

"It was no problem, sir. Seriously." She replied warmly and she meant it. "Like I said, you can come back."

His hand came to sit on Amala's shoulder and the weight felt welcoming. He squeezed it once. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

Amala smiled at that.

"Bye, Amala." He said.

Then then he was gone.

The sound of a web shooting was the last thing she heard before the silence.

She walked back into her room, closing the door behind her and leaned against it.

Amala looked around. Blood, cloth, gauze, all remnants that Spider-man had been here. In her room. Tonight.

That really happened, she mumbled to herself. Oh my god.

— END OF CHAPTER 2 —

[ NOTE ]
and here we go :)
chapter 2 is done !! hope
you guys enjoyed this one.
consider these 2 chapters as
an introduction. the plot picks
up on chapter 3!

point out any spelling mistakes if
you seem them and i'll go ahead
and fix them !!

as usual, please like and comment.
they motivate me a lot and i'd love to
hear your thoughts !! enjoy <3

pearl <3