• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Fandom Lost Souls, Metal men and Arachnids. An MCU tale. (private)

silenttiger43

Less than three
The world had been set right again.

Right, as it turns out, meant quite a few jarring changes however.

People who had been thought lost forever were suddenly back as though not a day had gone by, for them at least. It caused a lot of issues around the world, overcrowding and population numbers were suddenly back up which was putting a strain on resources across the world. Countries had only just begun to adjust their needs to a smaller crowd, only to have to readjust all over again. The world was a mess but at least it was a mess worth fighting for.

Of course, not everyone had been recovered and not all had been gained without sacrifice.

Try as Tony might, the infinity gauntlet, the most powerful device assembled in the universe, couldn't bring their Natasha home. It had taken everything from him to try, it had nearly killed him. If Thor hadn't been so swift to remove his arm with a swing from Stormbreaker, Tony would surely have died. Thor was never going to let him live that one down either.

While the others returned the infinity stones to their proper places in time, Tony had been held up in a hospital, ten pounds lighter and pumped full of delightful painkillers. The recovery was long, arduous and painstaking but Tony was never one to pass up an opportunity. He made himself a new arm, half a dozen of them actually. It was easy to explain away the time locked up in his shop for such a thing. Obviously it was necessary for his recovery right? But it was honestly just easier to throw himself into his work than it was to accept that he'd failed Natasha.

What good was it if he could save everyone except people he cared about? He'd give his second arm to get her back and so when an opportunity came, he took it without a second thought.
He really ought to have informed Pepper first but sometimes you get sucked into an interdimensional portal and there's just no time to shoot a 'See you later' text. Hey, stuff happens.

All that to bring us to this morning, about 3am and well before sunrise, Tony landed in his Ironman suit just outside his home. Yes he landed a little hard, yes he stumbled a bit across the ground, but it can't be called a crash landing if you finish on your feet, right? Besides, the rough landing wasn't his fault, systems were damaged and acting out in protest. Even his stupid garage door opener wasn't working which meant he could sneak the back way into his shop.

Tony deactivated the suit, letting the moving parts compact themselves back into his arm. He cringed at the vibration of gears grinding in protest at the process, this thing was going to need a serious overhaul. It had not been meant to do half the things he'd forced from him out there. It had been a rough week, getting bounced around the harsher areas of the universe. God, he was really starting to hate space but it had been worth it. They'd brought Natalia home.

The Russian woman was safe, getting checked out by some unfortunate doctors. Tony didn't envy the poor souls who would have to try and convince that fiery woman to take a little bedrest. Speaking of bed, he wanted to sleep for a month.

With all the care that he could muster, Tony crept stealthily through the front door, hushing the greeting from his home in haste. He detached his arm, carefully setting it aside in the entranceway charging station, sighing in relief at the loss of the weight. He rubbed at his aching shoulder as he tiptoed to the kitchen, digging around the cupboards for his pain meds, taking two of them and washing it down with a much needed shot of Bourbon. Just the taste of it on his lips let his body relax, some of the tension alleviating from his sore muscles.

Some nagging, Pepper-sounding voice in Tony's head said that he ought to follow that Bourbon with a proper meal and a shower. Unfortunately, the weary side of him won out the moment that he saw the couch and stumbled over to it instead, collapsing into the cushions and passing out the moment he touched the soft surface.
 
It wasn’t the first time that Tony had disappeared. There had been Afghanistan, first off, when he'd been taken hostage and presumed dead, only to beat the odds. There was the time with the wormhole to outerspace, which was a close call, but he'd ultimately come back. Then the time their home in Malibu was attacked and Pepper had been so absolutely sure Tony Stark was dead, body somewhere under the wreckage within the Pacific Ocean. Not to mention Siberia, when he had tracked down Steve and Bucky, only to be left for what seemed like dead. And then he went through time to find those damned stones, only to come back and almost disappear permanently- not physically this time, but his entire being. He disappeared a lot. A concerning amount of times, really.

And even though it wasn’t the first time it happened, it wasn’t any less terrifying. Fruitless texts and panicked attempts to find where he had gone took up most of that week, often in joint attempts with Happy (who could arguably be considered more concerned than Pepper herself; Happy was quite attached to Tony). But along with her week from hell were a couple idle conversations here and there with Peter Parker’s guardian, May.

The boy was set to come to the lakehouse after his aunt was called off to Los Angeles where a severe shortage of medical personnel called her away to help. It had been decided a couple weeks ago; just in advance to this new situation. While May had been hesitant to heap a new responsibility on the CEO, Pepper assured her the kid could stay, despite her most likely being distracted trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

In the nights, she found herself seized in anxiety, staring up at the ceiling. A couple hours of sleep would pass over her before she would snap awake again, staring at the empty spot next to her where Tony might have laid (on good nights, when he wasn't up to the early hours of the morning with insomnia).

Fuck, she thought to herself, breathing a heavy sigh out. There was an important meeting in the morning with the board about disaster relief efforts that Stark Industries was taking part in, funding, sending workers around the world to help those suffering.

While she wanted to think about everyone else, her mind unfortunately was focused on her husband. “Dammit Tony!” she hissed the curse as though he were there to hear it himself, throwing her blanket off of her as she sat up from the bed.

It was safe to say that he was a magnet for danger and the cause of most of her stress-induced migraines (even if she wouldn’t admit she wouldn’t ever trade anything for a simpler life). Standing from the bed, the time on the alarm next to her read 05:39 so clearly that she groaned internally. Coffee. She needed coffee, then she could talk to Happy, and then get to that goddamned meeting- and in the middle of it all, find time to figure out how to welcome Peter into the house during his temporary time with them.

But first, she reminded herself before she could get carried away, coffee.

Walking down the stairs, Pepper hesitated, wondering why the kitchen light was on. She hadn’t left it, had she? Even if she did, FRIDAY was sure to turn it off for her. Eyes narrowing, she glanced to the living room, creeping forward nervously, taking a vase off of the counter on her way as a weapon. She raised it tentatively, peeking into the living area-

Only to see none other than Tony, passed out on the couch, worn and dirty and looking absolutely exhausted.

Fumbling with the vase, a breath of relief escaped her, dropping her makeshift weapon (as quickly and carefully as she could manage without breaking it) and scurried to his side. “Tony,” she muttered, relief and anger coursing through her all the same. FRIDAY hadn’t woken her and neither had her husband, which made her feel only angrier as she shook his shoulder. “Tony. Wake up, goddammit. You do not get to pass out on the couch without coming to me and letting me know you're home safe!” Though the last sentence was spoken as though out of spite, it was simply nervous, wanting to see him awake and alright.
 
"uuhhnnngg," A drawling moan protested from Tony's lips and he tried to hide his face into the cushions. His entire being begged for rest but the disruption had him stirring after a moment. It was that voice, that beautiful, cross, angelic voice that chased away nightmares and drew on his senses like a siren song.

"Pepper?" Tony sat up slowly with a yawn. He nearly fell over again as it took a moment to remember his lack of arm. God, it had been months since losing it, would he ever get used to this imbalance?

Bleary eyes opened and squinted through the dim light at the woman who had disturbed his slumped. Yes, he looked terrible and he knew it. A week's worth of scruffy beard, messy hair, bags under his eyes and the smell. He knew the smell was bad, even he could tell so heaven forbid what sort of scent was wafting into Pepper's nostrils now.

Bless her for being there anyway.

A cheeky grin played across Tony's features as he reached up to cup her beautiful cheek, "Hey there hot stuff. Miss me?"
 
As Tony pushed himself up slowly, Pepper's hands hovered at the ready in case he needed the help. Her worry was masked well with feigned calm as her eyes trailed over him for any injury. Knowing her husband (and quite well at that), it wasn't uncommon for him to withdraw important information in the guise of seeming "just peachy" or whatever other deflection he had up his sleeve. But other than tilting precariously from the lack of weight on one side before adjusting himself (a side effect from saving the world for the umpteenth time), Pepper didn't see any outward winces of cracked ribs or the tell-tale signs of a concussion hidden in Tony's eyes. With the ability to breathe a little bit better, she waited until he had finally realized what (or rather who) his alarm clock was.

Scoffing softly (arguably on the verge of tears, but would vehemently deny that), she wanted to yell at Tony and scold him for leaving her hanging rather than admit to missing him. Of course she missed him, terribly at that, but she had been so scared that something had happened to him. After almost losing him a dozen times, and this last time having it feel absolutely too close, his sudden disappearance had sent her into a frenzy to find him. He could have been dead for all she knew and that thought alone infuriated her, especially to find him on the couch, passed out, looking (and smelling) like he had gone through the wringer.

"I would miss you more if you didn't stress me out by just disappearing," she admitted, voice strained as she leaned into his touch just briefly. Long enough to feel comforted that he was actually there, short enough to pull back and (gently) slap his thigh to show how upset she was. "Where were you?! Happy and I searched for days, Tony. All we found were dead ends and no explanation whatsoever." Her mouth flattened into a straight line, the hand on his thigh gripping a bit tightly. "And, when I ask this, you had better not give me a bullshit answer- are you injured?"

Pepper knew that Tony knew he could go for a good meal and a warm shower, but that he'd more than likely given up on his trek to their room and passed out onto the nearest comfortable surface. Repressing a heavy sigh, she stood up from her knelt position. "You will give me a detailed account of why the hell you went incognito. Right after I get you some water." Disappearing into the kitchen, she rifled through the cabinet for a protein bar and filled a glass with water. Not even a minute later she was back in the living room as though she were worried he'd disappear again, perching on the coffee table and holding both her offerings out to Tony. "Drink that whole glass," she demanded, settling her elbows on her knees. "And talk."
 
If his body were made of gears, Tony was certain that they'd all be grinding against one another, seizing up and generally causing an abhorrent sound. As it was the man was trying not to moan and groan with each motion. His suit had done a few insistent medical scans along the flight home so he already knew that he had a few bruised ribs but that was the worst of it, everything else was superficial, it just ached.

"I'm okay, really, I promise," Tony assured her, knowing that it would be the most important piece of information that she needed to hear right now. Occasionally he found himself aware of the fact that his actions had such an affect on her, when he wasn't getting too caught up in some exciting new breakthrough of course.

Making something of a face at the cup of water, he begrudgingly accepted it and took a drink, "You know this would go great with a touch of lime, a splash of whiskey and if the water was frozen." He offered her a teasing smile before downing the entire cup of water obediently. Dehydration was a bitch.

"Pepper," Tony set the glass aside, an excitement rising in his eyes as he reached out to take her hand, "First of all allow me to acknowledge that I'm a terrible husband for making you worry and I apologise profusely for that. Now, you are never going to believe who we found out there-which, by the way, by out there, I mean space." He pointed towards the roof, gesturing as he spoke, never quite able to hold still, "I know I said I would never go back and I meant it but there was this portal thing-anyway" He tried to get back on track but immediately found himself going off the rails again, "Man, I should really be a certified astronaut by now, do you think there's like a cool medal or something that they hand out for that? Maybe a pin. I could go for a pin, the wall's a bit full of medals." He looked to the side, utterly distracted by his own thoughts that were running away with him, not for the first time and far from the last either.
 
Tony's promise did put her more at ease, hearing it from him that he was alright. A breath of relief escaped her, nodding slowly as she leaned back. Pepper would take him for his word and trust Tony was telling her the truth. As he took the cup from her hand, she set the protein bar next to him on the couch for when he might need it and settled him with one of her firm expressions. "Judging from your appearance, a drink of any kind other than water is the last thing you need right now," she deadpanned, watching as he downed the entire glass. Pleased, she backed off for the time being.

The excitement and change in his demeanor had Pepper's tension dissolving completely, her shoulders drooping as she sat up. Eyes trained on him, she squeezed his hand as he took hers, resisting the urge to make a comment of her own at his apology. Something about making it up to her some other time, but she kept her mouth closed as her intrigue won out instead. She desperately wanted to hear the rest of the story and not lead him off track (which he seemed to be doing well himself), especially as he mentioned a portal and returning to space- again. It explained the disheveled appearance, she mused.

Resisting the urge to hurry him along, she hummed quietly appeared on her lips at the way he went off track about space. "A pin would go nicely on one of your blazers," she humored him, before squeezing his hand again to return back to the original point he was trying to make (...maybe?). "I'm starting to lose track already on where you're going with this, Tony. You went to space- again? A portal? Why?"
 
The pressure on his hand seemed to bring Tony's attentions back into focus. Pepper was great for that, for grounding him whenever his mind started to float away into the ether. "What?" the man blinked for a moment and nodded as she directed his thoughts back on task, "Right. Space. Terrible place-please never go there, but if you have to go, portals are the way to do it. None of that getting lost out in the big black void kind of nonsense."

Now he was just side tracking for the sake of avoiding the main subject. His mind was still wrapping around some of the absurdity of the recent events, things he couldn't explain away with science, it was mind boggling and definitely Dr. Strange's area of expertise. Taking a deep breath, Tony leaned back, grateful that they'd gotten a couch with such soft cushions for his aching muscles. "We found Natasha," he finally revealed, grabbing the energy bar and ripping open the wrapper, "We delved through space and time and something that the Wizard called um, the Fractals of the Soft-Solid dimension? It was like an acid trip, on steroids, with underlining tones of molly." He bit into the bar, groaning as though it was the most delectable meal he had ever eaten. Goodness, when was the last time he'd eaten?

"But we found her, Pepper," He spoke between bites with his mouth full, "We found Natasha and brought her home and I'm sorry for making you worry but God, we did it. She's a little shaken up but she's gonna be okay." He swallowed, perhaps too quickly and nearly choked on the large bite. Coughing for a moment until he'd managed to clear his wind pipe.
 
Idly, her head bobbed as he continued speaking about space, her gaze focused on him intently. It was the mention of Natasha that made her stop, her eyebrows raising and a small exclamation of noise escaping her at the final reveal. Admittedly, it wasn't the craziest thing that had ever been said or done, but holy shit, they brought her home. While he continued on about space soft something or another, she leaned back, her grip on his hand slackening.

It wasn't hard to see how the loss of the fiery redhead had its effects, like the way Tony's eyes would dim with sorrow within the recent months or the tributes around the world that had been put together for the two fallen Avengers (one of which was just old in age now). Pepper herself had always liked her, since she'd snuck her way into SI and easily landed herself a position as Tony's personal assistant years and years ago, but she had always seen the way the team had been so close together.

She supposed that her point was that the loss of Natasha hadn't gone without notice, so this news came as a wonderful turn of events.

"That's wonderful," she finally breathed out. "Absolutely amazing, Tony." And somehow, she wasn't even surprised that he'd managed to pull it off with the others. He was remarkable (and yeah, she may be biased, but she wasn't wrong). Among her other responsibilities for the day, she would have to go pay the Avenger a visit if and once she was up for it, and make sure that she was comfortable as she recovered.

And, speaking of recovery, she made a mental note to see to it that Tony got a real meal in his stomach as he scarfed the bar down. Something laden with all the nutrients he had surely left out from the last week. If he could get through it without choking, at least. Swiftly moving from the coffee table to the couch, she sat next to him and patted on his back in a comforting manner, waiting until he finally choked it down before speaking again. "Agh, Tony, chew before your swallow. I'll go get started on some real food, you just relax, alright?" The day was approaching quick. Carding a hand through his hair, she pressed a firm but loving kiss to his cheek. "I'm proud of you, Tony," she murmured before standing up, heading out of the room. She paused for a moment, a thought crossing her mind as she poked her head back around the corner. "I know you've been busy, what with space portal acid trips..." Her hand waved flippantly, knowing he'd mentioned the term but didn't remember it. "But May is dropping Peter off at some point this morning." She disappeared again, heading to the kitchen to start cooking something up (and create a much needed pot of coffee).
 
Pepper's touch, any sort of touch, had Tony essentially simping for the woman. He let out a soft sigh as she carded her fingers through his hair, trying not to think about how greasy it likely had become. He needed a shower, he needed to spruce up a bit general, if for no other reason than to be presentable for her. Pepper deserved better than the smelly old Avenger that had passed out on the living room couch. She deserved someone who was worthy of holding the presence of her royalty.

Even as her sweet touch pulled away, Tony's eyes never left the sight of her as she walked away, wondering what good he could have possibly done to ever deserve her.

"... Peter?" It took several minutes for the genius to register that name and suddenly he felt himself crashing back into reality. It was a strange sensation after getting lost in such an adventure, to come home and realize that the world was still spinning without him. "Oh! Parker, yes, right. And May. Oh jeeze," dragging himself up onto weary legs, Tony made a b-line for the nearest shower, "I'm just gonna get myself cleaned up a bit, I won't be long. God, I missed your cooking, and your face, and the way you just... Hm. I missed you." He strolled through the kitchen on his way towards the bathroom, wrapping his hand around her hip to plant a proper welcome-home kiss on the woman's lips. "You, are amazing and I don't deserve you, you know that?"

Giving her a smile and one more kiss for good measure, Tony fled away to rid himself of stink, filth and to find something new and shiny to wear. Another person that he couldn't let down was Peter. The way the teenager looked at him was almost intimidating, not that Tony would ever admit it. Peter was a smart kid who deserved the chance to use that brain for something good and Tony was certain to help with that but he was also young and too eager to prove himself. It reminded Tony of all the stupid things he did to get where he was and the prices he paid for it. Stark knew he wasn't the best role model but with any luck, he could hide that side from the boy and give him something to properly look up to.

Stepping into the shower, Tony heaved a sigh, letting the water try to wash away his troubles. It would be fine, everything would be fine. He could be the man they both deserved, sure, if he screwed up it just meant that he was as horrible a father figure as his own dad, no pressure.

When Tony emerged he was a new man. Teeth brushed, freshly shaved, hair coiffed, suit on and smelling like roses. Well, smelling like whatever ridiculously expensive bodywash Pepper bought. It was certainly a step up from week-old B.O. anyway.

"You know what's really underrated? Clean underwear," the billionaire informed the beautiful woman as he strolled back into the main living space.
 
Entering into the kitchen, Pepper's first task was to find a source of caffeine. As she was digging through the cabinet for the supplies, she hummed in reply as he spoke of all he missed, a soft smile appearing as he ended with just missing her. Turning from the cabinet, he was already strolling through the kitchen and she watched him with fondness as he brought her in for a true kiss. "I've heard it a time or two," she murmured teasingly, patting him on the cheek as he finally pulled away to shower.

Pepper watched, leaning back against the counter with a sigh as he disappeared from sight. The relief of finding him on the couch that early had far outweighed anything else, like the anger or frustration of him disappearing in the first place. It was nothing new when Pepper worried about him. How could she not? It was Tony Stark of all people and it wasn't just the physical dangers that she worried about. Not many saw past the facade he put up. Hell, even Pepper couldn't break past it sometimes. He was a master of putting a different mask on and of making things look 10 times better than they were. Just because he could hide it well didn't mean he wasn't hurting, and sometimes she wasn't sure how to help with that when he did his best to keep her out and away from his issues at times. But with the return of Natasha, maybe things were on an uphill journey. Steve (despite his age) was still here, Peter was back, half the universe was back.

Chewing on her lip, she shook her head slightly and pushed herself away from the counter. They had to celebrate the little victories. At least, she had to convince Tony to celebrate his victories.

Within the time that Tony had gone to clean up, the mixed aroma of coffee and breakfast was ruminating in the kitchen. A cup had been poured each for her and for Tony, according to their own preferences, and plates were laid out with a simple cooked breakfast atop them. Popping a grape in her mouth as she read emails from her phone, she almost didn't realize Tony had appeared again. Glancing up as he entered back into the area, fully cleaned up and back to his natural Stark swagger, she huffed a laugh. "Clean underwear. Huh, reason 291 of why not to go in space last minute? Lack of clean undergarments?" she asked, sounding thoroughly amused by his thought.

Grabbing the coffee mug first, she brought it over to him, pressing it into his hands. Not without a once over, though, nodding slightly in both assurance and appreciation (because really, who wouldn't appreciate the man standing in front of Pepper?). "I'm sure there's a lack of caffeine out there, too. Clean underwear's one thing, but coffee... I don't know how you do it, Tony." With a small quirk of her lips, she gestured with a small head incline towards the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready, by the way." Breathing out heavily, she checked the time on her watch. "I have to start getting ready soon," she mumbled to herself, looking apologetic as she looked up at Tony. She'd love nothing more than to sit at home with him, honestly, but the world hadn't stopped, and she couldn't either. "There's a lot on the docket today."
 
"I think I'm going to install an espresso machine in my next suit," Tony declared with certainty as he accepted the mug of coffee into his hand and immediately stole a thank-you kiss from her in the process. "Or at the very least those little caffeine pills, pop them into a pez dispenser or something for emergencies. Yeah, I think I can make that work," the genius nodded to himself, clearly already lost in the blueprints of his mind.

Stifling a yawn, Tony settled down at the table and fawned over the breakfast that Pepper had made, "Oh my God, bacon, how did you know? Wow, you really do love me, this just proves it," he declared, letting out a very satisfied and almost inappropriate moan as he bit into the bacon. "Bacon and coffee, now that is what space is really missing. I bet you I could open up a diner on the moon and only serve those two things, people would come from galaxies over. I bet that's why they keep trying to invade actually, y'know? They're after our bacon." he brandished the meat towards Pepper as though he had just cracked the world's greatest mystery.

"When's Peter getting here? Also, I hope you didn't promise him any bacon because I will be eating this all," Tony declared fervently, tearing off another delectable bite.
 
"Yes, I'm sure that's the reason why we're under attack almost every month," she said from where she was standing, replying with a roll of her eyes as she tapped out another short email on her phone. "Pig shortage on the other planets." Locking the phone and putting it back into her pocket, she walked behind his chair and leant her arms on the back of it. "May said something about her flight leaving at 9. So... any time." Pepper could only snort at his declaration, shaking her head fondly. "I'm sure the kid will be too busy fawning over seeing you again to think about bacon. Be good, play nice," she said teasingly, leaning down to kiss him lightly before disappearing again to go change and get ready for her day.

____

With coming back from the dead after five years and defeating a not-in-the-right-time-dimension Thanos from once again wrecking their reality, it came with some not so mild problems for Peter to face. How was he supposed to adjust to a world who had moved on without him? Peter wasn't sure where he fit in anymore. Some of his classmates were already in college. They made another Star Wars trilogy with replacement actors for those who had been Snapped. There was an overwhelming amount of infoto catch up on from the last five years.

But then it wasn't just him having to get adjusted, Peter realized; it was everyone. Three and a half billion had been left behind and in a moment's time, suddenly three and a half billion were back. And with it, chaos erupted as the world had to adjust again. It wasn't that easy. May had looked so worn, like she had faced a lifetime while Peter was gone.

The crunch of gravel and the quaint lakehouse appearing had Peter swallowing down nerves as his head snapped up, pulling one of his earbuds out.

All of it had lead him to here. Yet another person who had changed since Peter had left; Tony Stark. He wasn't even sure what sort of relationship he had with the man prior to the snap, but now he was even more confused. Peter might have been super excited before at the chance to be with Mr. Stark for an extended period of time, but that was before. Back when it was a lot easier to be optimistic about it all.

"Here we are," May said, turning the car off as she turned to look at Peter, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts. Clearly his expression wasn't what she wanted to see because she sighed, pulling him into a one armed hug. "I'm sorry, Pete. If Denise didn't absolutely need me to go then-"

Peter pasted a reassuring smile on his face to ease his aunt's worries, knowing how guilty she felt. "Don't worry about it, May," he said, leaning his head on her shoulder for a brief moment. "I get it. Besides, I think this will be good. For the both of us." He could hope it would be, at least. Lucky for him, May seemed to accept the answer. They got out of the car and Peter retrieved his bag from the trunk, saying his goodbyes to May who pulled him for another crushing hug.

"May and Peter!" The greeting startled Peter and he looked up, pulling away from May who saw the CEO standing on the steps, dressed professionally as ever. "Good to see the both of you. I was just out the door myself for the day, but since I caught you I thought we could discuss a couple things," she walked toward May, looking at Peter again. "Tony should be inside."

Taking that as his cue to leave, Peter smiled at Pepper and waved at May as he made his way to the house. Stepping inside, he inhaled shakily and adjusted the strap of his bag as he wandered in. It didn't take long to find the man and immediately the nerves hit Peter anew, making him shift from foot to foot. "Um, hi, Mr. Stark," he greeted.
 
At word of Peter potentially showing up any minute, Tony wolfed down a portion of his breakfast and then fetched himself a new arm. The old one was going to need a lot of repairs after that adventure. This one was a more basic model, lithe and light with more simplistic functions from the more heavily armoured style he wore when things were about to go down. It was amazing how much strain the weight of a metal arm could cause on the body, he honestly had to give Bucky credit for somehow managing for so long.

Anyone else might have been desperate for a chance to have a quiet day, a fours at least to themselves after such harrowing experiences but Tony was not just anyone. He would much rather push forward into the next big, fun thing instead of wallow and take the peace his body and mind probably needed. So even as he sat back down to enjoy a cup of coffee and read the digital newspaper that had been projected in front of his face, he was feeling too antsy to really focus on anything. Even Marmaduke's shenanigans in the comic strips couldn't seem to hold his attention. So when Peter entered and declared his greeting, the playboy philanthropist whirled in his seat with an eager grin, "Pete! Hey kiddo, come on in," he waved the boy forward with his real hand while the mechanical one waved the digi-news away. Tony's face lit up at the sight of Peter Parker who somehow always brought a warm sensation of pride to the mechanic's heart.

As quickly as he had turned towards the teenager, his attention switched back to his mechanical arm with a curious frown, brown eyes looking over the device for whatever minor fault he was feeling in it. "Damn, did I grab the FA13 or the FA14?" he mumbled to himself, apparently having not been paying such close attention when he'd grabbed it. Perhaps he was still a bit tired from his time away after all? "Hey Peter, grab the toolkit next to that charging station for me, yeah?" he gestured towards where the other arm, in it's entirely beat-up glory, was in the wall and still recharging. There was a drawer next to it with a mini repair kit in place. "Maybe you can fix this rotator hinge for me, go figure it's a little challenging to do one-handed," he chuckled lightly, seemingly ever unbothered by his impairment, at least on the surface.
 
"Hey," he said again, a smile briefly crossing his lips as he came farther into the room. The smile faded almost as soon as he followed Tony's gaze. It had been a while, what with Tony recovering, that Peter hadn't seen him. It wasn't as though he'd forgotten what had happened only weeks ago. How could he? The absolute panic coursing through him at seeing his mentor ashen with a distant look in his eyes, arm burnt with dark veins stretching up his neck was hard to forget. But somehow seeing the arm was like a confirmation of everything all over, reminding him that it really had happened.

Jerked out of thought by the call of his name, he blinked a couple times to reorient himself. "Huh- oh yeah, yeah! Of course," he said, nearly eager to be put to work as he dropped his bag gently on the floor. Bounding over to the toolkit in question, he fished it out of the drawer before returning to Mr. Stark's side. He seemed so casual about it, even chuckling to himself about his inability to fix it at the moment. Peter wasn't so sure he could be the same if he were in his situation.

His eyes remained fixed on the arm (Tony's arm) as he took in his hands with gentle fingers. Twisting it slightly, just to get a glimpse at the hinge in question, he nodded slowly as he then let go and dug into the toolkit for what he needed. "It looks like the hinge got bent out of position. I mean, maybe. I don't really know prosthetics because, uh, y'know, never had a reason to," he continued to ramble as he reached for the arm again, fingers still as gentle and eyes still trained on his arm. "But that's what it looks like. So I can straighten it out? And tighten it, of course, so it won't do it anymore." He was already following through with what he had said, deftly working to move the hinge back into place so it wouldn't catch and finally tightened only a couple minutes later. "Is that okay?"
 
Tony held that ever chipper smile to his face as he watched Peter get to work, easily holding out the mechanical arm in question for the teenager to focus on. "Yeah, just like that. Careful about that swivel-yeah you got it," He coached Peter through although in all honesty, the boy didn't really need the help. Peter had always been adept at this sort of thing and this was a perfect way to tell that he hadn't lost an ounce of that gift along the way.

A softness eased into Tony's gaze, watching Peter hyper-focus into the task like nothing else in the world existed anymore. He knew that feeling all to well himself, getting lost in the mechanics of things, it was a kindred spirit sort of thing that had been a big part of why he was drawn to Peter to begin with. Well, aside from the whole masked superhero kid thing. "Let's hope you never have a need to learn about prosthetics-although, you'd be pretty handy with it if you do go into that field." He gave the fingers of his mechanical hand a playful wiggle to emphasize the terrible pun.

With the arm repaired, he gave it a few test movements before nodding in approval, "Not bad kid. Good to see your brain didn't get scrambled on the way back in," It was a teasing tone he had, that followed with an affectionate grip on Peter's shoulder as Tony met the teen's gaze for a brief moment before he was pulling Peter into a one-armed hug, "Come here," he sighed warmly, "It's good to have you back by the way."
 
With the assurance that he had repaired the arm enough for Tony to be able to use, Peter took that as the cue to clean up. Closing the toolkit, he eyed Tony with something that was akin to amusement and surprise rolled into one at his usage of puns. Peter liked puns. A lot. He was just used to the sharp retorts and sarcasm Tony was equipped with. "That was horrible. Groan worthy, I can't believe you would say that," he complained, trying not to let it show that he had found it amusing after all.

The not bad was taken as a compliment by Peter and his lips quirked up (because it was Tony Stark, after all, anything close could probably be regarded as a compliment). "I genuinely can't tell if that was a back handed compliment, Mr. Stark, so I'm gonna take it as a good one." He straightened up, shifting on his feet for a moment. "So I guess- oh-" was all that Peter had managed before Tony was clapping a hand on his shoulder and pulling him into a side hug. Sure, they'd hugged in the middle of battle, but Peter had thought of it like a- like an adrenaline thing. Adrenaline caused people to do crazy things and that had seemed pretty crazy at the time. But the arm around his shoulders suggested it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing and he let himself lean into it, feeling the remaining nerves start to melt away. Still as nice as the first time, he thought contently to himself.

How was he supposed to respond to that, though? Peter's brain struggled for an answer. "Yeah," he said vaguely after a moment, reluctantly pulling himself away from Tony. "It's good to be back." Not like he remembered even being gone in the first place. "It's been uh, weird I guess to come back to so much changed. Ned and I binged a bunch of sci-fi movies that came out. Did you know they made like, three more of those Aliens movies? You would think the CGI would have gotten better, but it was awful. So, don't watch them. 0 stars out of 10." He pressed his fingers together, looking around once again in the room. "I never really would have imagined you living somewhere like this if I'm being honest," he said after a moment. "I guess five years is a lot of time, though, for a change. But... why?"
 
Tony had found himself developing an unusual amount of sentiment over the last few years. He missed people and as awkward as it was to actually show affection sometimes, he had quickly begun to realize that he needed to be better at it. The amount of times that he had wished he'd shown Peter how much he cared since he'd been gone were far too many to count. It was stupid that even now that the teen was back, Tony was struggling between wanting to hold onto the kid vs remaining his usual stand-offish self. With how awkward Pete seemed to be with the hug, Tony decided it was best for both of them to save that sort of thing for special occasions going forward.

"You got a problem with my house?" Tony raised an accusatory brow at the comment about his place. "I built this place from the ground up you know. Literally, I put in those support beams and wired the smart tech personally," He gestured around, pointing out the dozen or so things he had constructed himself. "If you're not a fan of my work though, I guess that means you're not interested in seeing the workshop or the new suit I've been working on. Oh well, we can always find something else to do I suppose..."

It was a good natured threat and clearly a setup to catch Peter's interest. Tony Stark was a man with an ego after all and one of the things he loved about Pete was the boy's unbridled fascination with his tech and genius. Genius that, even Tony had to admit, Peter actually improved upon sometimes. A part of him was dying to get the kid's input on a few things.
 
Peter's eyes widened almost comically at Mr. Stark's accusation, his hands coming up in front of his chest as he waved them awkwardly. "No! No, that's not what I meant at all, really, I just never expected-" His voice, as much as he tried to deny, didn't really carry over the older man's voice. Peter's shoulders deflated as he realized it was a ploy all along, the panic at accidentally insulting Tony disappearing for realization (and a little bit of embarrassment) at the obvious setup.

"Alright, I take it back- I love the house, it suits you, it's perfect in every way," Peter said, fighting an excited grin at the idea of seeing Tony's workshop and whatever projects he had. He'd always been one of Peter's idols, after all, so the thought in itself thrilled him. "I would be crazy to pass up the opportunity to see what you've been working on, Mr. Stark. C'mon, show me, please!" He couldn't help the boyish excitement that made him sound childish as he pleaded. Not that he needed to beg; he knew Tony wasn't going to hold out on him anyways. Probably. Peter wasn't exactly sure.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top