Chapter Text
Michelle doesn’t know why she decided to keep living in Queens, even though her new job is notably not in Queens.
Okay, that’s not exactly true. She’s spent pretty much her whole life in Queens, barring the few years she spent at Columbia, and she doesn’t exactly want to live elsewhere, closer to her job or not.
Michelle likes Queens, after all. She likes the way that Stan at the hot dog cart knows her order (one hot dog for now and one to go, with just ketchup and mustard because okay, she’s a little boring), and how the coffee shop by her old apartment offers a new type of tea every month.
Of course, as user u/NotNamedMolly, known as a top source of the legality of vigilante activity on the r/NYCHeroes subreddit, she has another reason to stay in Queens: Spider-Man has finally hit his stride, and she’ll be damned if she misses a thing by living anywhere other than the area she grew up in.
And okay, maybe she’ll feel safer in Queens more because of Spider-Man than anything, but she’s an adult now, she just passed the Bar exam and everything. And, in Michelle’s eyes, being an adult means that she’s allowed to make a stupid decision or two.
But that stupid decision is about nothing more than her safety, of course, and certainly not at all about the silly crush she had on Spider-man in high school. Spider-Man’s been active for nearly eight years now, so by her best guess, so he’s got to be what, in his mid-thirties by now? That’s definitely too old for Michelle, so really, the crush that she definitely doesn’t have would be stupid, anyways.
And so, down payment paid and security deposit deposited (Michelle Jones can adult with the best of them, she swears), she begins to unpack her things. Fortunately, the boxes are already scattered in the front room of the small apartment: Michelle had paid for her cheap furniture to be moved inside with them, and everything. See? Adulting. As such, Michelle promptly ignored the scattered boxes in favor of making herself dinner and preparing for work the next day. After dinner came unpacking, which was fortunately quick - probably the only advantage that came with being a broke college student.
As Michelle made her way back out to the kitchen area, she couldn’t help but appreciate the view it had. It wasn’t a great one - it was partially obstructed by a billboard, it was quiet and peaceful, and for some reason, Michelle found herself making her way out into the cold night air, an old coffee cup filled with tea in one hand, and a newly purchased copy of The Walls Around Us in the other.
Michelle was partially through the first chapter, rereading a paragraph she particularly like when a teasing voice jolted her from her thoughts.
“A coffee? For me?” It asked from above her, painfully recognizable to any Queens native. Even so, Michelle felt surprised when she looked up because oh, it actually was Spider-Man. Any New York native could recognize the suit, of course, but with cosplayers and pranksters, it was harder to be completely sure. The man above Michelle, however, was definitely the real deal. Somehow, Michelle realized, this was the first time she had ever really seen him in person
“Not coffee, and not exactly for you,” she snarked almost shouting up the three stories Spider-man was above her, before lifting the steaming cup to her own lips. “I need my own caffeine tonight.”
Spider-Man seemed to shrug at that, and began to walk down the side of the building towards her. “I don’t drink coffee, anyways, I’m more of a tea drinker myself. Mind if I sit with you?” He asked carefully.
“Be my guest,” she shrugged, feigning a lack of interest. “Why no coffee? Bad for your spidery self?”
Spider-Man huffed out a laugh at that, and Michelle hid another smile behind a sip of her drink.
“Got it in one, Miss...” the creases in the mask shift, and Michelle can tell from the shape that he was smiling. At least, she thought so.
Michelle was a fairly boring name, and this was Spider-Man she was taking to. For some reason (and that reason is definitely not being her high school crush), Michelle felt like she needed to be cooler than that. “My friends call me MJ,” she heard herself say, before she could really think better of it. Belatedly, Michelle realized that she hadn’t gone by MJ since junior high, and it wasn’t like she had any close friends to call her that currently, anyways.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Em Jay,” Spider-Man says, smiling beneath his mask. He seems unaware of her internal crises as he offers her a hand, and so Michelle takes it, and shakes it gently. She can’t help but be impressed that the a man known to be able to catch busses doesn’t crush her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mister...” she trailed off.
To his credit, Spider-Man didn’t even stumble to answer. “You and I both know I can’t answer that,” he laughed. “But you can call me Mr. Man, or Spidey”.
Suddenly, Spider-Man seemed to perk up, and tilted his head, frowning.
“It’s been a pleasure, but I’ve got to go...” he trailed off. “Spidery things to do, you know how it is,” Michelle didn’t know the specifics of course, but she nodded anyways. It was only polite, she figured.
“Helping old ladies cross at the street?” She teased.
Spider-Man paused before he swung off, looking back at her as he pointed one hand towards the apartment building across the intersection, “I wish, definitely something a little more sinister, but nothing your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man can’t handle. I can tell you have questions for me, mind if I swing back around tomorrow to answer them?” He asked, already turning towards the nearby intersection.
Michelle went to smother her grin with another sip of tea, only to find it distressingly empty.
“Works for me,” she confirmed to the open air, watching as Spider-Man gave what looked like a thumbs up and a holler as he swung over a taxi cab, and off into the night.