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You decided to wait until he was done signing his latest autograph, though. Just so you didn’t seem overeager.
<span class="mu-r">“There you go. ‘Spider’…’Man’…”</span>
You recognized the fan as a fellow first-year student. He looked at the composition notebook that had just been autographed with a mix of awe and…slight disappointment.
<span class="mu-b">“You, uh…forgot the hyphen.”</span> he said.
Contrary to everyone else's expectations, Ben looked pleased by this interruption.
<span class="mu-r">“I was just testing you. And you passed! Here you go.”</span>
He then used the marker to add a hyphen between “Spider” and “Man”, and added a webshot on the notebook’s cover.
The guy nearly fainted, and there were more than a few people trying to get a look at that signed and webbed notebook of his.
You shook your head and laughed. Ana just rolled her eyes.
When had Spider-Man gotten this popular? Maybe this was another social media thing. You'd have to ask Wanda later.
You took a step forward, and the old dog in Ana’s grasp shifted its gaze up to stare at you. There was…intelligence in those eyes. Like he was assessing you.
<span class="mu-r">“And what would you like me to autograph, little lady?”</span> Ben asked, twirling the marker between his fingers. <span class="mu-r">“I'll even throw in a webshot and a selfie. I'm feeling generous today.”</span>
<span class="mu-s">“I hope you're not charging for these.”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“Come on, I'm not <span class="mu-i">that</span> evil.”</span> he said with a wave of his hand, before leaning in to whisper. <span class="mu-r">“Why? How much do you think I could get?”</span>
<span class="mu-s">“Huntsman-”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“I don't know who this ‘Huntsman’ guy is, but he sounds a lot more handsome and a lot less evil than me.”</span>
You gave him a wry grin and extended your arm.
<span class="mu-s">“Sign my magic mummy hand?”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“Don't know what that means, but I'm just gonna make it out to ‘Karate Kid’. That cool?”</span>
You chuckled as he wrote your school nickname on the bandaged arm, only for the ink to disappear a moment later.
You both exchanged a glance, and you rolled your sleeve back down to hide it from everyone else. It was clear that neither of you had expected that to happen, but now definitely wasn’t the right time to talk about it.
<span class="mu-s">“Thanks.”</span> you said, turning your attention to the shaggy black dog. <span class="mu-s">“Cute dog.”</span>
Ben shrugged.
<span class="mu-r">“Sure, I guess. If you squint really hard and stand really far away.”</span>
You knelt down and reached over to pet him. The dog let you do it, but his tail didn't budge an inch, and he didn't break eye contact the entire time. It was more than a little unsettling.
<span class="mu-g">“He is a mangy little thing. But terribly well behaved.”</span> Ana said. <span class="mu-g">“I wonder who trained him.”</span>
You smiled up at Ana and wordlessly mouthed a greeting. She returned the smile and mouthed a greeting of her own.
<span class="mu-s">“Does he have a tag?”</span> you asked out loud, reaching under his neck to check.
(Cont.)
