[Tony, Peter, Liz] - Reunion

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

True to his word, Tony Stark made second contact with Liz well into the afternoon, following their first meeting the night before. After the whirlwind of the previous day's arrival, unsuccessful escape attempts, some drunken antics, and an entire five stages of grief regarding his room assignment, Tony had to really get his head in the game for this show he was about to put on.

"Remember the plan?" Tony hovered behind a clothing rack at the gift shop, clad in a souvenir hoodie (that wasn't there to hide his bed head) and an oversized pair of tinted sunglasses (that also weren't there to hide the bags under his eyes) for disguise. Lastly, he was armed with a mug full of coffee with the inn's logo printed on it in bright pink lettering. He motioned at Liz, or as he called her, his "Co-Conspirator for Operation Spider Ambush."

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Oh, alright, well of course." Tony repeated over Peter's babbling, tossing up his hands. This was the reality they were living in now, and he was just going to have to accept it.

"Safe sex, very good. Kid from the future. Gotcha. Alright. That's... ...better?" His hands flopped back down at his sides. "Honestly, I thinking this hotel was a long fever dream, but I don't think my mind could have made this bit up."

[st_arkintern]

The red in his face and in his ears is slowly beginning to subside.

"Until she showed up, I wasn't sure that I'd ever get to have a family," Peter says, nervously tugging a little more on the cord. "Now it kinda feels like maybe someday it's possible."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Peter's words resonated in the heart of Tony, whether the kid knew it or not. He wasn't certain how much of it showed on his face, but he felt a small ember of pride. Covetous, perhaps, but pride.

"You're about to get your practice in. That's for damn sure." Tony chuckled, but it was purely baffled. "Never a great way to ask this, exceptional circumstance aside. How do you know she's yours?"

[st_arkintern]

"She showed up at my door and she asked if I was Peter Parker. And then when I said yes, she asked if I was Spider-Man. And when I said yes to that, she told me I was her father."

And if that's not evidence enough...

"She has the same powers I do," he says. "So if she's not actually my-my kid, there's a chance that any kids I have might have powers, too."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

On paper, that was some pretty damning evidence. Without meeting this kid first, however, Tony somehow still felt doubtful. He merely shrugged.

"Fair enough. Follow up question." He suddenly took stock of their surroundings, nodding for Peter to follow him out. Somehow, a trashed souvenir shop didn't feel like the best place to have this discussion. "What are you doing for her now?"

[st_arkintern]

"Well, I took off her inhibitor bracelet," Peter starts. "I know it's weird, but it was built almost exactly as I would have thought to build it." That'd been part of why he'd been pretty convinced Annie might have really been his-his. "I don't have that tech knowledge now, but looking at it, everything just kind of snapped into place for me."

Peter follows after Tony.

"She stayed in my room last night," he says. "She couldn't sleep and then she had a nightmare and she was up on the ceiling, so I went up there to get her down."

Peter thinks. "I showed her how to use the dishwasher and I'm going to help her with her laundry, too."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Follow up to the follow up." Tony held up a finger in Peter's direction after hearing him out, stepping over a fallen decorative saltshaker display. "Ah. What are you doing for you?"

There was something darkly disturbing to Tony as writing off Peter's attempts at fatherhood as "cute." He was handling it with as much responsibility (and far less panic than he might have expected, dare he said) as he'd expect from the boy, but there were so many things that could simply get lost.

[st_arkintern]

As they make their exit, Peter looks over at Tony, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony gestured as if the remark was self-explanatory. "Kid from the future? Who you're now the primary caregiver of? Kind of a bombshell."

That was putting it mildly. If one of the many nameless women from Tony's past showed up to drop that bomb on him, he would have no way of saying for sure how he'd cope. And he was a much older man of means.

[st_arkintern]

"I don't think it's going to be just me looking after her," Peter says. At least he hopes so. And then he sort-of feels bad for hoping so. Alec and a few others had at least made the point that it took an inn to raise a child.

"I think it just helps her to be around someone she sort-of knows." Even if it's not certain that he's really her father. And even though he's much younger than he is.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony regarded Peter with naked concern as he spoke, their slow strides in time with each other as they created distance between themselves and their spot of reunion.

"Can you make me a promise? Right now."

[st_arkintern]

Peter gives Tony his full attention.

"Mm?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"This is not me trying to undermine you, before you start complaining." Getting the two around a lonely corner, Tony brought Peter back to face him.

"This is adult stuff, alright? So I'm going to treat you like one."

[st_arkintern]

When Peter blinks at that, it becomes abundantly clear that he's perplexed. He's not really sure what's about to happen or how he should respond, but he still manages an uneasy "Okay" anyway.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Watching Peter shuffle so nervously, Tony had to sigh at himself. All that build up for what was quite a simple sentiment. So much happening, so little time, and he still hadn't found a way to take the edge off.

"Alright, not so much of a promise from you to me. Just a sentiment. Less pressure. I'm just saying...I'm here." Quite literally, now. And he wasn't going anywhere (for better or worse).

[st_arkintern]

Peter smiles. It's hard for him not to feel relieved.

"I know, Mr. Stark," he says. And even though Tony wasn't explicit, he knew exactly what he meant. If he needed anything, he could count on him to help.

It was something Peter knew for a long time.

Peter shifts where he stands, and for a second it looks like his nervousness is beginning to resurface. Peter has to say it before he loses his nerve, and he knows that even though it may seem like it came out of nowhere, now was a good time to say it.

"Do you remember much about the time the Hammer Drones attacked Stark Expo?"

Peter's not sure if he does. In the heat of combat there were details he lost track of until he had Karen replay then for him. Even with his special goggles there were times where it felt like he had sensory overload, and all he could do was focus on his end goal.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Queens. Yeah." Tony made no attempt to stifle the roll of his eyes, and even that felt too good for the likes of Justin Hammer.

"Weird question to ask when we were just having a moment. Let's keep it above at least fifty percent of a moment."

[st_arkintern]

"Um," Peter begins. "I was there with my parents that day and I'd gotten separated from them. I was so excited about all everything that was going on that I just wandered off, and when things started going haywire, I didn't even stop to think about the danger I was in."

That was pretty par for the course for Peter, even now. Maybe he'd gotten a little bit better about it, but even now, Peter didn't stop to think about the danger until after the danger had already passed.

"You were looking out for me then too," he says. "Even before you knew who I was."

Peter looks down and runs a hand through his hair. He's not really sure why he said that or why it felt important to say it to begin with. But even though they butted heads sometimes (and probably would butt heads again in the future), Peter knew that Tony was watching out for him -- even if he didn't do it in quite the way Peter hoped he would.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

That, Tony hadn't expected. He should have made a logical leap, considering the location and where Peter's interests fell, but somehow it didn't come together until the moment Peter said it.

"...Huh." He tossed Peter a half-smile that touched his eyes. "Classic Peter."

[st_arkintern]

"I was... kinda a big Iron Man fan," Peter says, feeling embarrassed about saying it.

Though to be fair, who wasn't? In elementary school, almost everyone had a superhero-themed backpack.

Back then, Peter just wanted to be like him. That hadn't changed.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony looked between Peter's face and his chest--suddenly reaching out and tapping the arc reactor he still bore on his chest, letting the armor envelope his protege's form.

"And look at you now. A natural."

[st_arkintern]

As much as Peter tries to hide his smile out of embarrassment, he completely fails at it. He's always been a bit of an open book, and now is no exception. He's just grateful right now that Tony can't see it.

Peter rubs his arm.

"Yeah, maybe," he finally manages to get out. "I think it'll be awhile before I catch up with you, though."

Peter taps the arc reactor, then thinks about the suit he wanted to make. He told Liz that he didn't feel like he could ever make anything up to snuff with Tony's tech and it should have felt like that now, especially after he showed him the nanotech. But now, he felt galvanized to try himself with whatever tools he found here.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Well. Clearly." With another, firmer, pat on the chest adjacent to the arc reactor, Tony nodded expectantly. "I really will need that back. I've barely said hi to anyone and I've got a few people giving me the stink eye. No suit, and all this build up just for me to up dead and mounted over some guy with a grudge's fireplace?"

Whether that was true or not, he felt it. Aside from Peter and Thor, there were hardly any familiar faces, but he couldn't help the sense that he should have known more folks than he did.

[st_arkintern]

Peter nods and pulls the hoodie off, then offers it back to Tony.

"Yeah," he agrees. "It'd be good for you to speak with everyone." When he first arrived here, he didn't have anyone. But he ended up meeting a lot of people and making a lot of friends.

"I'm sure a people have already answered your questions, but if you have anything else that comes up, you can come to me," Peter says, trying hard to sound casual.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony pulled his prized article of clothing right back over his own head, stroking his hair back into something resembling a presentable shape once it was ruffled.

"I'd ask if you got a spare bed, but far be it from me to intrude on your time with your cutie."