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The mall was already running at Saturday capacity by the time Dante arrived. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Gwen and Felicia to ask their whereabouts.
Felicia answered almost instantly.
[Felicia: Second floor, the tiny café by the back fountain. Get in here quickly, darling. I'm dying of boredom.]
Gwen's reply came a beat later.
[Gwen: I'm so sorry, I'm gonna be a little late. Dad asked me to run some files over to Captain Watanabe at the NYPD. Be there in 15, promise]
"Always the responsible one."
He typed a quick "it's alright, we can wait" to Gwen and headed for the escalator.
The café Felicia had picked was tucked way in the back, almost like the owner didn't want it to be discovered. The mall crowd tended to overlook the sides near the end in favor of the louder, more centrally located options.
He entered the cafe and saw the server restocking something behind the counter. One older man sat near the entrance typing something on his laptop. Otherwise, it was just Felicia occupying a corner table, sipping through a straw as she held a cup in both hands. She wore a black choker around her neck and a black studded biker jacket over a red top. The jacket has been zipped up to her, revealing an enticing view of cleavage.
The outfit really captured her rebellious attitude.
The second she spotted him, her whole face lit up. She pulled the straw from her mouth and beamed that bright, troublemaker smile.
He smiled back as he walked over and dropped into the seat across from her.
"Darling," she purred, leaning forward on her elbows. "Did you miss me?"
"Of course."
"But you go around causing chaos without me." She pouted with a fake hurt look, dramatic as ever. "I missed out on the front-seat of a magnificent sight."
"I'll invite you next time, alright?"
"That's a promise then." She pointed at him once and picked the cup back up. "Silvija is leaving this Monday. How about moving into my room?"
"You're coming back?"
"Dad and mom are settled now. I can think about my own life now. Unless…" She trailed the words with a dramatic sigh. "Darling doesn't want me with him."
"Glad to have you back."
He wouldn't have been lonely. Not with Laura always finding a way back to him. But nobody could match Felicia's chaotic energy.
"Of course, darling."
He looked at the sketchbook on the table. "Still unsure about your suit?"
Her Black Cat suit was basically public property now. She needed something new that wouldn't reveal her identity. The symbiote version worked, but it wasn't her style. Her suit had to be flashy, sexy, and practical.
"I keep ending up in the same place. Everything that feels right looks too much like the original. Everything different feels… wrong." She let out a sigh. "It's frustrating the hell out of me."
"Maybe I can help."
"My body is always open for your ideas."
"..."
Felicia flipped open her sketchbook and held her pen. "What do I draw?"
"Let me try."
He took the sketchbook from her and drew her symbiote suit but with cat ears. It looked just like Catwoman's suit from DC but with lush hair falling behind her.
"Oh, cat ears. I was too enamored by the 80s look to consider them." She mused, nodding to herself. "Symbiote to color my hair and it'll be a perfect disguise."
She began refining the final details. She could only make a few before her phone rang.
"Gwen is here."
A couple minutes later the café door flew open and Gwen rushed in, pulling her scarf. Her cheeks flushed from the cold, her blonde hair a little windblown. She was wearing a grey knit sweater underneath a black coat coat, slim blue jeans, and ankle boots. The dark blue scarf was oversized and wrapped twice. Her outfit choice today was more flashy than her usual simple style.
She had certainly dressed to impress.
Gwen dropped straight into the seat right beside Dante. "Hola amigos."
Miles' influence was already showing.
Felicia narrowed her eyes. Gwen flinched in panic, giving him a side glance. Felicia leaned forward, reached out, and pressed her thumb gently to the corner of Gwen's mouth
"Is that the Clover and Mist's velvet death? The limited one? I didn't think they started shipping internationally."
Dante blinked, not quite following Gwen's freak-out. They were planning to reveal their relationship to Felicia anyway.
The tension left Gwen's shoulders in one long sigh. "MJ gave me a whole kit. She said it would help with my self-confidence."
MJ might be a terrible girlfriend in some comics, but she was still a solid friend to Gwen.
Gwen glanced at him, eyes flicking meaningfully toward Felicia like she was reminding him of the promise they had made.
He looked at Felicia. "Gwen and I are dating."
"I see." Felicia put down her cup and closed the sketchbook. "Our friendship was just a way to get closer to him."
Dante knew it was an act to terrify Gwen. Her delivery with indifferent expression and cold voice was perfect. Felicia had guessed Ghost Spider's identity through some online pictures. Her observation skills were too sharp to not pick up cues in Gwen's odd behavior.
Her act worked like a charm.
Gwen looked at him like she was terrified Felicia was about to call her a backstabbing traitor. "I-It's not like that, Fei. I didn't—"
"Gwen, a good friend would've said no," Felicia whispered in a disappointed tone. "But you… you clearly don't see me as one. I was just a stepping stone in your path…"
The corners of Felicia's mouth twitched. Dante knew she was unable to stop herself from grinning deviously. She was having too much fun terrorizing Gwen.
"I never thought of you like that." Gwen's voice trembled. "I didn't, Fei, I would never…"
She covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders shook as she started crying.
Felicia's eyes widened, and she looked at Dante. Neither of them accounted for Gwen actually breaking down into tears. While he was completely carefree about everything, Gwen had been holding in guilt. The weight of having developed feelings for her friend's boyfriend.
"Gwen." He put a hand on her shoulder and gave Felicia a stern look. "Felicia was playing around. She didn't mean it."
"Baby. Hey. I'm not mad at you. Not even a little bit." Felicia dropped her performance and took a pleading tone. "Please stop crying. I'm begging you."
Gwen stopped sobbing. "Really?"
The word was spoken in a steady voice, not like a person who just cried would have.
"Hundred percent," Felicia said. "I'd age into a grandma if I started caring about Darling's girlfriends."
Gwen lowered her hands slowly. There were no tears on her face. Her eyes were completely dry. The corners of her mouth curved into a smug little smirk. "You really think I don't know your tricks by now?"
Felicia threw the empty cup at Gwen's face. "I hate you."
Gwen caught it mid-air on pure spider-sense and put it down. "BFF."
"Well played," Felicia said with begrudging appreciation. "You had me fooled."
Gwen set the cup down. "I'll still apologize, Fei. He asked me out the other day… and I couldn't reject him. I should've talked to you first."
"Why does it feel like you agreed out of obligation?" Dante asked, showing a concerned look. "Gwen—"
She turned, closed the small distance between them, and pressed her lips to his briefly. "I don't know how long this will last… but right now, my feelings are very real."
The affection in her eyes was real. If she could fake this, she would be a flawless actor.
Felicia slow-clapped. "You made him fold in a second. Truly impressive work."
"Speaking of impressing people." Gwen straightened in her chair and put her hands on the table. "Dante, Dad invited you for dinner tonight. He wants to meet my boyfriend."
"Miles told him?"
She shook her head. "I did. Miles would've gotten suspicious if I kept dodging… it didn't feel right to keep hiding this from Dad."
"I can come by—"
"Wait," Felicia interrupted him, tapping the table. "Mom and dad have been asking me to bring you home ever since that party."
"It's the first time I'm hearing about it."
"I kept saying no. They gave me an ultimatum this morning. Break up if I don't bring you home by 10 pm."
Gwen crossed her arms. "I asked him first so you're blatantly lying to hijack my moment."
Felicia gave Dante a dead-serious look. "Darling, you can ask Death if I'm lying or not."
"No need. I trust you."
"Then you're coming—"
Gwen slapped the table and stood up.
"Gwen?"
"We're going to the arcade, right?" she asked, receiving a nod from Felicia in return. "Since someone thinks she's a phenomenal Tekken player, how about we decide it with a match?"
Felicia rose from her chair, matching Gwen's energy. "A match for who will take him home tonight?"
"Yeah. Do you have the guts?"
"I've been playing ever since I was ten. If I lost… then my relationship with Darling isn't meant to be."
"Wait, you're serious about this?"
She leaned down, deliberately revealing a view of her deep cleavage. "Would you punish me if I was?"
"I'll punish you harder than the last time. You know what happened that day?"
A faint red crept on her face. "Then let's go."
Gwen took his hand and pulled him toward the counter. Gwen ordered cappuccinos for all three. Felicia moved immediately to pay, but Gwen blocked her with a hand on her arm. A brief standoff followed between two people with an identical unwillingness to be the one who didn't pay for their boyfriend's coffee.
'Usually, it's the opposite.'
He stepped between them and handed his card to the cashier. They could only stare at him, too stunned to speak.
Silvija had left the card on his nightstand, tucked under a neat stack of bills, with a cheerful "Pocket money :)" note. She had seen Felicia's invitation to the arcade in the group chat so she decided to give him something to not embarrass himself in front of Gwen and Felicia.
Gwen shook her head. "I forgot my boyfriend doesn't lack money."
"He can be a billionaire if he wants," Felicia whispered. "I don't think anybody can stop him."
"I can. With the power of Girlfriend."
"You can't do this shit."
***
The arcade on the upper level was almost packed full. The overlapping machine noise, the chime of dispensing tickets, the celebratory sounds of games congratulating their players, the 8-bit bullet sounds from shooting games, and the game sound tracks made the place feel alive and energetic. He felt a spark of excitement since he hadn't had a normal gaming session in what felt like forever.
Dante bought a card loaded for three at the entrance counter and moved into the main floor. The first cabinet he spotted was Street Fighter 3 Third Strike, which invoked childhood memories of getting his ass handed to him by his friends. They had been better than him, at least at the start.
He scanned further and saw Tekken 5, Tekken 6, Tekken Tag, and King of Fighters cabinets along the back wall, plus the standard arrangement of shooting games and a dance platform near the far corner.
"Gwen." Felicia pointed toward the dance platform with a sweet smile. "We should start there. It might suit your skill level better."
Gwen looked at the platform with a flat look. "Don't cry when you get your ass whooped."
Felicia unzipped her biker jacket and laid it over Dante's shoulder. The black turtleneck was quite eye-catching on her. "Darling, hold onto it. This kid needs to be humbled."
Gwen pulled her sweater off, rolled up her shirt's sleeves, and draped it over Dante's other shoulder. Her blue shirt had a different type of charm compared to Felicia. "I'm locking in. Tonight you're mine."
Dante looked down at the two items of clothing now draped across his shoulders which still had their owners' perfume on them. He wanted to jump on a Tekken cabinet, but instead he had to stand there like a coat rack for his girlfriends. The match would be exciting though. Gwen's spidey-sense against Felicia's cat-level reflexes and instincts, both of them too competitive and neither of them willing to lose in front of him.
They moved to the Tekken cabinet. Gwen scrolled to Jin and picked him without hesitation. Felicia gazed at the screen for a few seconds and selected Heihachi.
"Proper discipline will be delivered today, grandson."
"Screw you."
Dante moved slightly to the side for a better view of the screen and their faces. Gwen had her game face on, fully focused on giving her best. Felicia was relaxed on the surface, but her cat-like green eyes were barely blinking. She didn't want to lose either.
[Round 1… FIGHT!]
Both sides opened defensively. Small pokes for light pressure and testing range and reaction time of the other. The first twenty seconds were almost boring.
"Not bad," Felicia praised. "It won't be a complete stomp."
"Watch where you step."
Felicia's expression shifted. Gwen had punished her over-commitment and executed a full combo. She took over half of Felicia's health bar in one go. With the clock counting down toward thirty seconds, the defensive approach was no longer an option. Felicia went for offense and Gwen punished each one.
[YOU WIN.]
Gwen took the first round, but neither of them spoke at the conclusion. The game could still be won by anyone.
[Round 2… FIGHT!]
Dante glanced around at the noise. Their heated match had gathered attention. Mostly teenagers and a few adults. They were drawn in by the quality of play and the players themselves. It was difficult not to notice Felicia and Gwen's figures when they were wearing tight jeans and skirts.
He couldn't indulge in the pride of being the lucky boyfriend of both.
'What is this gut feeling I'm having?'
Like something bad was about to happen. He scanned the faces in the crowd and found no malice. Just people having fun. But the uneasy twist in his stomach wouldn't go away.
"Your instincts have improved considerably," Death said in his mind. "How will you prepare?"
He had plenty of countermeasures. The problem was matching the right countermeasure to an unknown threat.
[YOU WIN.]
The sound pulled him back to the match.
"Shit!" Gwen cursed under her breath after losing the second round and then glanced at him. "Something more distracting than us?"
The comment pulled Felicia's attention too. Unlike Gwen, she noticed the little details in his expression.
"Darling, what's wrong?"
He shook his head. "Keep playing."
His head slowly turned to the ceiling. A series of clinking sounds came through the noise of the arcade. A moment later, a deafening explosion engulfed the building.
***
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