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Tweak says, "YOU DON'T KNOW?!??"

Tony Stark: Earth's Best Defender (allaboutego) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-12-13 20:35:00

Entry tags:

peter parker (mcu), tony stark (mcu)

Who: Tony Stark, Peter Parker
What: …bonding? Listen, idk
Where: SPACE MALL.
When: Dec 14th

It didn’t take any kind of idiot to know that Peter had been having a hard time dealing with things since he’d arrived here. And Tony had been trying to be helpful in whatever way he knew how - or whatever he felt was best. He got that he wasn’t the easiest person to see, given Peter’s situation. So either he hovered around a lot, or he made himself scarce depending on (as the kids liked to say) the vibes in the room at any given moment.

So far, he was pretty sure that was working. Well, kind of sure. Tony hadn’t exactly asked because frankly there was no one in their household who was just out and open about their feelings and what was on their mind at any given point and time. He was probably closer to that with Gwen than he was with Peter, and that was fair and expected. They’d spent more time in close quarters, had built something up between the two of them that didn’t even really need words at this point. Peter was —

Well.

Tony was trying.

Which was maybe why they were standing in a ridiculously large mall in a place that was virtually unrecognizable beyond the fact that all malls kind of just looked the same, no matter where they were located. He was also here because he desperately needed to get Christmas gifts for people, and his adventure with Nyx had been a very bizarre and awkward bust.

“Okay,” he said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose and half watching FRIDAY scan everything while his eyes were mostly on Peter. “Three things to remember. There’s no divide an conquer in situations like these. Cinnabon is two thousand calories per roll and worth every goddamned one of them, and — no. I guess it’s only two things.”

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stickyboi
2019-12-19 01:19 am UTC (link)

Peter wasn't sure what he was feeling anymore, if he was being honest.

He's in a weird place. He's healed, for the most part, and he's less raw than he was when he first arrived. Less angry, less confused. He doesn't feel like a cornered wild animal anymore, and that's something. But he misses May, misses Ned, misses Tony - except, of course, that Tony is right there in front of him. Maybe this is the depression phase, because it doesn't feel like acceptance but - yeah.

Tony is there. Well, sort of. He disappears sometimes, and Peter doesn't make an attempt to follow him. The people here, they've built lives here, and he doesn't want to interrupt that. He feels guilty, sometimes, when he looks at Tony and sees the shadow of somebody that isn't there anymore - because Tony is still Tony, but he's not Peter's Tony, not really, and Peter isn't Tony's Peter. If that makes any sense. Maybe they're not different at all (doesn't seem like it, and sometimes that hurts), or maybe they are, but they're not the same person.

But things are better. Ish. This is Peter's first trip through the doors, and he had to admit, he was wary. Why wouldn't he be? Last time he went to space didn't really work out too well. Tony's voluntarily bringing him, though, and Peter knows he didn't even want him on the donut in the first place - so Tony must believe it's safe, or safe enough.

He cracks a smile, turning around and craning his neck to try and see the different shops. Were they still on Earth? Were they not? Did Space still even have Cinnabon? "How many rolls are we talking, here?"

"If you get the caramel, we don't know each other." Peter bounced up on his toes, looking around at the different shops. Everything seemed like it was in a different language, which was kind of cool, but other than that - well, the fluorescent lighting was the same. "Where should we go first?"

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allaboutego
2019-12-19 03:20 am UTC (link)

Tony was there. And he might not have been Peter's Tony, not exactly, but he was the only Tony he knew how to be at this point -- time was always in flux and everything was always changing even if Starklandia was outside of things like that. A lot had changed in nine months. There'd been several Peter's now and Tony couldn't say it didn't weigh on him. But he still tried. Every time. Because they all felt like his Peter, even if they came from slightly different spots in time. He wasn't sure. Maybe all Peter's were just Tony's Peter, so long as they were from his world.

But now here they were -- Peter looking much better than when he'd arrived, even if the haunted look persisted sometimes. At least he wasn't throwing up blood or clutching at his mystery amount of ribs anymore.

This was probably space, but Tony didn't feel too concerned -- he had his nanotech suit with him for one thing, and the other was -- well. It was a Mall. Space or not, it was still basically just a gathering spot for people who had money to spend and things to do. Hopefully they could stay out of trouble.

"One for me," he said on a frown. Because he didn't have spider metabolism or Steve's super fuck-you one either. He was just human, and as such had to not gouge himself with pastries. "And no one gets caramel, don't be so disgusting."

He considered the shops around him though, "You know that store? The Sharper Image? It's an embarrassment of a store back home. Just garbage. But if there's an alien version of that, I want to see it." Because who didn't love weird tech-y knickknacks?

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stickyboi
2019-12-23 05:28 am UTC (link)

Maybe it just took time, even if Peter didn't always feel like he had time. He should be trying to get home, shouldn't he? To all the people that needed him? He can't imagine that any of the Peter's that came before him weren't weighed down by the same sense of responsibility, but he's also not sure he should ask. Isn't even really sure how to begin to ask. So...he doesn't, and for now, he just deals with it.

(Since when have they ever stayed out of trouble?)

"Just one? Come on, it's Christmas!" Well, Christmas for them. Was it Christmas here? Did they have Christmas in space? Look, Peter had a lot of questions here. He grinned, though, eyebrows rising. "Flash gets caramel; that's how I know he's evil."

"I'm sorry, did you just invoke Sharper Image?" He hid a snicker behind his hand, eyes wide, the picture of innocence. "Didn't they close like ages and ages ago?"

He's already looked past the delicious smelling alien bakery, trying to see if he can spot a tech store. There's a bookstore, which isn't much help, and something that looks oddly similar to an OshKosh B'gosh?

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allaboutego
2019-12-26 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Everyone was weighed down by that sense of responsibility -- even Tony. Although, if he was being honest, it had sort of waned lately. Finding out he died to save the universe was kind of -- well. Time was cyclical. He'd done it at some point and would do it again but Tony wasn't exactly in a rush to go out and die. Not when he felt like he had things to live for. Mind, he'd do it. He'd made peace with that and was willing to lay himself down on the wire.

But a willingness and a want were two different things.

"Two then. And you think he's evil because he teases you," Tony said with a half of a smile. It felt like forever, kind of, since he'd been in Peter's every day business enough to know stuff like that. But he'd gotten all those voicemails from Happy. Weird texts, daily updates about churros and all the rest. He sort of missed it.

"Damn right I did and damn right they did. The place was garbage. But a space version? I dunno. It's just stupid enough to be good." And he had a lot of weird shopping to be doing, okay. "Oh," he said, squinting at the clothing store. "Space overalls."

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stickyboi
2020-01-15 07:09 pm UTC (link)

That was Peter's problem - responsibility to a fault. But it's the most vivid lesson he's ever learned, ingrained in him hard, wrapped up in guilt and grief and a whole mess of crap - and maybe it's nice to resolutely Not Think About It for a little while. At least until after Christmas?

"He's evil because he's evil. The teasing is incidental." Peter half-grumbles, glancing at Tony briefly before letting his eyes cut away. It's so strange, because it's Him and it's Not and also, he thinks it's probably just as weird for Tony because he's Peter but he's also Not. God, it makes his head hurt if he thinks about it too long. And if it feels far away from Tony, jeez, it feels like eons to Peter since he was sitting on that bus with his classmates.

"Sure it is. Someone has to keep the dream alive." Peter's teasing, but he'd no doubt be catching flies the second they entered the place. He cranes his neck and - ah, there's a map kiosk! Sick. "Should we get you a pair? Is Space Train Conductor in style this season?"

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