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"So mean," Spidey whispers conspirologically. "I'm just trying to keep us all together, warm and cozy, and he's being so mean! Can you believe this, 4C?"
"Why would you be mean to Spidey?" he asks in the honestest voice. "You shouldn't be mean to Spidey. She's Spidey."
"You hear that, Jonathan? Hear that?"
"I'm not being mean," Jonathan sighs. "I just asked if this is necessary."
Spidey giggles, "We're having a sleepover! I know you're old, Jonathan, but even you can't be against those, that's just, inhumane, and we're all human here, hee-hee-hee! Please? Pretty please?"
The duvet her and 4C found is barely large enough for them two, so they have to move really close to one another for it to fit; she knows it won't be enough to contain them all warm. Spidey snuggles closer to 4C, and he's not warm at all, but it's nice to be touching either way; to have his arms over her. She puts her head on his chest, trying to get closer, closer, closer. 4C leans into her, too, like it's the most natural and right thing in the world.
"Do you not want to have a sleepover with us?" 4C asks, and the sheer sadness of his voice must have made Jonathan feel at least a bit guilty, it seems.
Spidey adds, a little muffled by his shirt, "You're being so cruel, you know, leaving us here alone and cold and unprotected— I can't believe you would do such a thing, Jonathan! What are we going to do without you?"
Jonathan stands there for a second, before giving in to their collective charms. His eyebrows narrow in a familiar thick line she remembers vividly from her childhood. "Fine, fine."
4C taps on the place next to him cheeringly. it doesn't take them long to settle in, them being mostly Jonathan (the church's floor might not be the best place for a sleepover, but it's what they have, and it's theirs— Jonathan's. Jonathan's. Not theirs) with his old man bones, and Spidey lets out a few giggles at the sound of his jostling muscles when he gets down. He, obviously, barely gets any of the blanket, because she's feeling particularly petty.
"C'mere, c'mere, cuddle with us," Spidey whines.
4C lets out a sound in agreement as his fingers brush over her hair, and she wishes she could be a tiny purring home kitten under his hold, always loved and cared for. "Cuddle with us!"
"No, I'm— I'm fine," Jonathan murmurs. "Do this without me."
Spidey says, "But I'm — we're — cold!"
"I actually think the weather is great!" 4C cheers.
Spidey whispers in his ear, "Noo, shh, play along, play along!" and she is, in fact, cold. But she also wants to cuddle.
"Oh! It's actually super chilly in here!"
"You see? You see? You're letting poor 4C get cold, and now he's going to die of frostbite," Jonathan winces, and she giggles and giggles and giggles at such absurd scenario; they're safe here. They made a promise. 4C wouldn't betray her like that, she trusts 4C, and 4C trusts her.
"I don't think I can die out of frostbite like this, but join us stiiiiil? Please? Please? Please?" 4C says.
"Take the blanket, then," Jonathan grumbles, like an old man he is. "It was your idea."
And it's a good night, Spidey thinks, it's a good night. This is inevitable, after years you get used to it— stupid Jonathan and his stupid ideas and this stupid apocalypse. Right now there are bodies on hers, and 4C said some nonsense today, sure, but he's just like that— he can be a bit dumb sometimes, but it's fine, because she loves him, and she won't let him get hurt (not again).
"You know, I always loved moments like these," 4C says. Spidey nods; her dad was not the most tactile person ever, but she was; her puppy eyes were enough to make him fold. "With me and my brother, when we used to, uh—"
He freezes then; so does Spidey. She nudges him, "4C? 4CCC. Your brother?"
His voice is as cheery as it was a minute ago when he snaps back, if a bit lost. "A brother? I have a brother?"
"Yeees? You were just talking about him? But you forgot, of course you forgot."
"Oh," he says. "Why are we here? Sorry, I, uh."
"It's fine, it's fine," Spidey tells him so very softly. "We were— we were having a sleepover, and we were having so much fun even though you don't remember that—"
4C gasps, "I love sleepovers!"
"I know, 4C. It's fine. We can have as many as you'd like, forever, always. And you don’t, you don't sneak out on sleepovers, you don't leave people on sleepovers, so here we're going to be forever and everrr! Before I say the sleepover is done! Only crazy people don't like sleepovers!"
"I don't remember agreeing to this," Jonathan grumbles. "And you two still need to sleep."
"Sleep is a social construct," Spidey yawns, just for the sake of it. Her eyes feel heavy. "I, I'm not sleepy... at all," she wants all her time with them; to put the amber of happy days inside her pocket, to light up even the worst of times with it. After all, there is a family for Spidey, and she will keep it. Whatever it takes.
Spidey hears a creaking sound, and the next moment Jonathan's voice grows more distant. Is he leaving? He can't be leaving. "I don't want you kids to be like zombies tomorrow, you'll need the energy. Try to sleep."
"Wait, wait, no, Jonathan!" Spidey rises her voice, a sudden spike of energy, don't leave me you can't leave me not you. "You can't— you can't leave us, Jonathan, don't do this to me, we're not done yet, Jonathan—"
"I— okay, okay, I'm not— I'm not leaving, okay?" the man sighs, quick and tense, but it seems like he has stopped trying to abandon her again. "You can let go, Spidey, I'm not— going anywhere. I'm here. I won't leave you."
The texture in her hand must be the fabric of his shirt, Spidey realizes hazily. "Hehehe!" she sing-songs, high-pitched, and lets go. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't, I didn't mean to."
"You fine? Your face is — funny," 4C tilts his head, and lifts his hands to squeeze her cheeks. Spidey melts under his touch. "Here, I have some ice cream! Always helps when I'm feeling funny," he takes the sweet treat out of his inventory, handing it to her, and when their fingers intersect, Spidey can't help but note how cold his fingers are; like ice cream, and breeze in the night, and death.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chants. "I love ice cream, i love this so much, hee-hee, thank you, 4C, you're the best. Om-nom-nom."
"This is not an actual sound that people make when eating things," Jonathan snorts, but despite his attitude, he cares. She feels him close, but not enough; Spidey moves even closer, and is distressed to find out that this does, in fact, not make him pet her.
"It is if she makes it. Spidey would never lie to us," 4C says. "I trust her with my life!"
Spidey blinks slowly, parting her lips, "I would never lie to you," she murmurs after a bit, and for a moment, it feels like she might believe this. The night is beautiful and she's almost warm and happy and there is a family for her. There is.
Because she'll be fine, and they'll be fine, and everything will be fine.