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Alex did not know why people thought that him being a spider-themed superhero meant that he was precluded from a deathly fear of spiders.
Okay, he did actually know why people would think that. But, it certainly wasn’t true.
Alex had always had a deep fear of spiders, since he was a toddler. His mother told him a story about himself being two, just strapped into his carseat. She closed the door and walked around to her side of the car to turn it on before stepping out to make a quick phone call, when she heard screaming from inside the car. Alex was there, looking at a spider on the ceiling and crying. He had pushed himself away as far as he could within the confines of his straps keeping him in his seat. His mother had to kill it and apologize to her client before Alex calmed down.
When he was fourteen and saw that massive, glowing spider on his hand, he absolutely freaked out, but it was too late. He remembered hyperventilating as he looked at the huge spider bites, that seemed almost to be glowing and pulsating in the dark of the abandoned subway station. He remembered thoroughly stomping the spider after it fell and not knowing what to do afterwards.
Alex had eventually gone back home and fell asleep immediately, and when he woke up the bite was healed. All that was left was two small scars. He then looked in the mirror and almost screamed because he was suddenly muscular and taller. What the fuck?
It took a few months for him to get the hang of his power. Alex had always had dreams of helping people, though he supposed now that he had superpowers, those dreams had changed. Being an immigration lawyer or being a superhero, the choice was clear. Although, maybe he could do both.
After a long training period, he eventually was ready to make his debut as Spiderman. The web-slinging superhero who swung around New York stopping crime.
After a few months of being labeled The Vigilante, he eventually stopped a bad guy that was famous enough that people started to know his name, including other superheroes. He got an upgraded suit, a name for himself, a fanbase. He was thriving as a hero.
A few years into being Spiderman, he met Henry.
Alex was making his way through the city in costume, looking for a serial burglar, after getting a few tips about him from various sources when he suddenly found himself distracted by the most beautiful man he had ever seen exiting the Okonjo LGBTQ Youth Shelter. He smacked face first into a sign and fell onto the ground. Embarrassingly, he fell right in front of the man in question. He groaned and covered his face.
The man laughed. “Are you quite alright?” Oh, god, he was British.
“Don’t look at me,” He groaned again, removing his hands from his face.
“Hard not to look, love.”
“Oh, god,” Alex muttered, and stood up. “Please, don’t tell anyone you saw that. My best friend will never let me live it down.”
The man laughed again. “Alright. Are you okay? No concussion or anything? A fall on concrete can’t be pleasant.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m, like, a superhuman, y’know. I have an increased healing speed. Doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Alex said. It was a bit of a lie, he was sure he had some minor concussion symptoms. He knew they would go away by the next day, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Really? I was never sure if you were a superhuman or an Ironman-type.”
“Oh, no, yeah. Superhuman. I mean, some tech helps me out, but the basis is all me.”
Alex really should’ve gotten going, but he almost couldn’t bring himself to walk away from this man.
“Interesting. And the webs, are they…”
“Oh, they’re natural, yeah. That’s not tech, that’s all me, baby.” Alex grinned even though Henry couldn’t see it. “Mind if I walk you back to… wherever it is you’re going?”
“Hm. Alright.” Henry nodded, and started to walk, with Alex following close behind. “I’m Henry, by the way.”
“Great to meet you.” Alex said in return, having to stop himself from saying his own name.
Alex walked Henry all the way back to his Brownstone, getting weird looks from people all the while. When the door closed, Alex was resigned to leaving Henry in his memory, not expecting to see him anytime soon. That was, until he walked onto campus at NYU at the beginning of the new term, and Henry was in one of his classes.
They were partnered for a project, and from the first sentence out of his mouth, he could tell that Henry recognized him. One night, as Alex and Henry sat in a nearly empty library in a secluded corner, Henry confirmed Alex’s suspicion.
“Do you have people that tell you where certain crimes are happening, or is it a sixth-sense?” Henry said, and Alex looked up abruptly, not expecting such a blunt acknowledgment.
“Um…” He stuttered over his answer for a moment before Henry laughed.
“You should really get something to obscure your voice. When I heard you speak in class I recognized it. It took me a moment to place where I had heard it, but I figured it out.”
“Fine, yeah. I probably should. And to answer your original question, yes, there are people who tip me off. But sometimes I’m just in the right place at the right time. Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“I won’t tell if you come over for dinner tomorrow,” Henry smiled.
From then on, Alex got a voice changer, and Alex and Henry started to date. About a year after that, they moved in together.
It happened one day, when Henry was on his way back from the shelter. Alex was sitting on their shared couch with their dog, when all of the sudden he saw something crawling. He turned and saw a spider on the pillow of the couch and screamed bloody murder.
Henry opened the door to Alex, white as a ghost, standing on one of their barstools and staring at their couch across the room.
“What on earth is going on?” Henry asked with a laugh, setting down his keys.
Alex’s head whipped back and forth between Henry and the couch.
“There was a massive spider on the couch,” Alex said, almost a whisper.
Henry noticed the spider, it was medium sized, and then he looked at his boyfriend, who for all intents and purposes was a massive spider, and couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.
“You’re telling me that Spiderman has a fear of spiders?” Henry laughed.
“It’s not funny, baby! Kill it, please kill it!” Alex yelled.
Henry almost couldn’t speak through his laughter. “Love, this is hilarious.”
Alex whined and complained and moaned as Henry laughed, took a few pictures to send to Nora later, and finally caught the spider and put it outside.
Alex grumbled as he let Henry hold him afterwards, as he turned something on the TV, still giggling.
“I can’t believe you’re afraid of spiders.”
“Baby?”
“Hm?”
“Please, shut the fuck up.”