Spencer Hastings makes shockingly bad choices. (ctrl_a) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-02 06:44:00
Who: Spencer Hastings and Peter Parker When: Late September Where: Stark Tower What: Random Encounter Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete when posted!
It’d been a really horrible few weeks for Spencer Hastings. She’d been kicked out of Stanford, and moved back home with her parents--just in her first couple of weeks of college. The poor girl was feeling like a failure, though she couldn’t be one. She was a Hastings, after all. Her father had pulled some strings--made lemonade out of lemons, as it were--and had gotten her late admission to UC Irvine. It’d cost the family a pretty penny (even though they had a few of those to rub together) but Mr. Hastings had said it was worth it. He wanted to “see his little girl happy”... and bury the embarrassment of her removal from Stanford. He’d talked to Tony Stark--they ran in some of the same circles. Sometimes. At the club.--and lined up an interview for an internship at Stark Industries, too.
So here was Spencer Hastings, standing in a hallway wearing one of her best interview outfits. She tucked long, limp, brown hair behind her ears and hugged her clipboard to her chest as she waited. Someone was supposed to come along and give her a quick tour of the building, though she wasn’t sure who. It made her nervous. But if there was something that Spencer could do, it was ace a job interview.
Peter had been handed the assignment of giving someone a tour of the building; it was quite possibly the single worst assignment anyone could have given him. And he was single handedly the worst choice in that assignment; he didn’t know a damn thing about this building, other than where his lab was, or where the vending machines were. He sort of knew where Gwen’s office was, though he always did kind of get lost heading there. He also sort of remembered where Tony’s office had been.
He dreamed of getting into that office again someday, really he did. Shaking his head, he moved through the corridor until he found a girl standing with a clipboard and dressed up. She looked nervous, and like she didn’t know exactly where she was. Ah, she must be it then. Well shit, and of course they assigned him to touring with a girl. He had a tough enough time talking to people he didn’t know, let alone them being pretty females who immediately smelled nerd all over him.
He’d kill Gwen later, until then he just approached Spencer and gave a wave, dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans he sure didn’t look like a professional. Wait, was he supposed to have worn something suit-like to give the tour? To be a professional? Well damn them, he never came into work dressed up, he wore lab coats all day.
Nearing her he extended his hand, “You must be Spencer Hastings. Hello, I’m Peter Parker, I think I’m giving you a tour today…”
Spencer turned at the sound of the voice and broke into a nervous (but also slightly relieved) smile. "Yes, hi," she said, and turned to slip her hand into his to shake it. Of course, knowing her luck, the clipboard went tumbling from her arms once they were untwined around it, and a couple of papers flipped off the thing as soon as it hit the ground. Normally Spencer was a lot more coordinated. She'd played tennis and soccer in school, and still played tennis at the club with her father. Was she really this nervous? It was harder because they'd assigned someone nerdy and handsome to show her around.
Jesus, Spencer. She scolded herself silently as she reached down to pick up the clipboard. She didn't release his hand until she was half-way down to the floor, though, giving it an awkward tug on her way down.
Peter shook her hand in return, only to watch the clipboard and paper go tumbling to the floor. He frowned at the sight and moved to go with her towards the floor but was tugged a bit by her hand, causing their heads to conk just a bit. He winced at the comical, almost cartoonish interaction before rubbing at his head and looking towards the young woman, “I am so sorry, here uh let me help you.”
Said as he moved to collect her papers up for her. God damn it Parker. He scolded himself as he snatched up the papers and moved to stand again, straightening them out and handing them over towards her, “I suck when it comes to papers as well… it’s why I’m glad they gave me a tablet when I started working here. Now if I drop it it’s not that hard to clean up, just costs the company a few hundred dollars.”
He smirked then realized that he’d basically just told this girl that she sucked at papers. He internally berated himself and then turned to gesture towards the corridor, “So, uh, what position are you interviewing for…?”
Oh, God Spencer was mortified after her head bonked into the cute Stark employee's. It made her release his hand instantly, though, and the now-free hand lifted to cup the side of her head where they'd made slightly painful contact. This was not exactly how she'd expected her first few minutes at Stark Industries to go. "Oh, no, I'm the one who's sorry," she mumbled, "And now I'm completely humiliated," she added in a sigh/afterthought.
Spencer picked up the clipboard and straightened up, now a little pink around her cheeks. Her mind raced, trying to think of some way to spin this--some way to make herself not look so ridiculous. Nothing was coming to mind. What would Hanna say in a moment like this? His words made her give a little chuckle. "I'm definitely a child of the paperless generation myself. May be why I'm so awkward with them." She accepted the papers and slipped them into the clipboard.
She moved to follow him along the hall. "I'm here for an internship? I think they wanted to put me in International Relations," she said. She wasn't exactly sure what her father set up for her.
Peter laughed a bit and then shrugged, “Don’t be humiliated, we both conked heads. I think it falls on us both in this case?” Peter let that trail off with his own sigh, realizing just how terrible he was at this. Whoever it was who’d put him up to this, they were assholes, and did this on purpose he was certain of that. Still, it could be worse, he could be totally being less nervous around some big, bulky, athletic dude who was getting fawned over while Peter was ignored.
That only happened a few months ago.
“Internship? Okay, yea that makes sense. I interned here when I was in school too actually, I’m still in school but was able to get a job, so it’s kind of taking a bit of a backburner place… considering this is what I’m going into a job for anyway.”
He then looked over to her as they walked, “International Relations? Wow, alright, so I take it you speak some other languages or have a desire for travel? I’ve actually never dealt with the IR department here. What do they do exactly?”
“I’d be willing to share the blame, then,” Spencer said. It was almost a flirt. Almost. She was smiling shyly, though there was an intelligence in her eyes. She had a knowing look about her. Spencer Hastings was an incredibly intelligent girl. Very smart. She was just the kind who followed her gut instead of her head, and let her heart trip her up.
She nodded, not catching the look he gave her. The walls and the ceiling and the doors and the plants along the way were making her head spin. She was trying to process it all, and was probably missing the most important part of the moment. “I speak three languages, actually. And I’m not sure the intricacies of what they do, but I imagine I would be dealing with the company’s overseas clientele. At least, the other IR departments for the companies that are licensing use of the patents that Stark Industries holds.”
Peter’d grown used to the look of the entire place during his time there; what’s more, he generally fell in love with the tech, the gorgeous holographic walls, the computer banks, the bright open look of the laboratory that almost asked for creative engineers to work together; which, Peter did try to do from time to time, even if he did get holed up on single projects quite a lot himself. In all honesty, he was still working on the data teleport tech that he and Tony had discussed.
He didn’t know what he was missing in that department, he’d managed to get it down to work with computers, but he didn’t just want it out there spreading out in a public forum as a viable tech, until he could assure it’d work on phones, tablets, and smartwatches too. Because if they released a partial tech for just a PC, immediately Apple, or Google would jump on it and put out a shittier version on their phones and tablets, and it’d be open game. With them getting the head start.
The New Yorker watched her, then laughed again, “Yea, that… makes sense. really I have zero idea how the whole business side works, I’m usually wholed up in my little lab, clicking away, and then sending it off to some exec to figure out what to do with it…”
Peter did wonder if any of his own designs had gotten patents. Probably, though likely under the billing Stark Industries and not with any real Peter Parker markings anywhere on them. He frowned at that then looked ahead before taking her towards the lab area, moving through the sliding doors and gestured around, “This is sort of where the magic happens I guess. This particular lab is engineering, it’s where we take most of the ideas that are come up with in research, and we just build it. Make it work.”
It was impressive. Spencer had grown up around places like this, with money to burn on decorations. But normally the places she visited were about the expensive furnishings; expensive pots with elegant plants in them, antique furniture, gold plating, that sort of thing. That's the way things were funished at the club, her mother's law firm, her father's offices... but this was different. Sleek and modern, high-tech at every turn. It was secure, safe, but also open and bright. Lots of natural lighting. Spencer liked it a lot here. She really hoped she got the internship.
Working in the same building as cute geeks would be a plus, too. She glanced over at Peter as they walked together and gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "Well, that's why there are people like me around," she offered with a hint of teasing in her voice. "The ones who understand the tech, and can sell or lease it to the highest bidder. Make the company profitable, make opportunity for more work. More advancement." Surely this girl had high hopes for herself. For whatever projects she worked on.
Spencer followed him into the lab, and nodded. "It looks like an inventor's paradise," she added, giving a smile over the clipboard she was still hugging against her chest. "I can't even imagine the toys that you get to play with working here."
Peter blinked at the way she described her job and where she saw herself in god knows how long--was she maybe doing the five year plan? Or the next month plan? Regardless she was truly on top of her game; where as Peter was pretty certain that he couldn’t even figure out what he was going to have for dinner the rest of the week. Did he have some frozen burritos? Maybe. He couldn’t remember. Whatever, there was always Doritos.
His smile crept up when he looked over at her, and she seemed impressed with the lab to a degree, “It kind of is. Really you should see Tony’s lab if I’m honest. This is nothing in comparison; still, it’s pretty amazing, and you get full autonomy. Go ahead and invent what you want, so long as it’s not some super weapon I suppose…”
As Peter moved around the lab, he waved to a few of the scientists, but took her into his private lab. Knowing she was coming, he’d cleaned up the place a bit from all the usual wrappers and what not, then looked back to her, “This is my lab. Figured I wouldn’t be using it on the tour, so it’d be the one you could look at in a more close up environment.”
While they moved around it and he showed off some of the equipment, he glanced back towards her, “You really sound like you know where you want to go, and where to take this company. Maybe you should go for the full time position over an internship.”
Spencer was fascinated with all aspects of the company. As he showed her around the lab, she looked like a kid in a candy store. Spencer asked appropriate questions, intelligent, educated ones, and actually listened to and processed the answers. She was an attentive tour-ee, paying attention as he showed her things.
“It looks amazing. Stark really spared no expense in setting this place up. The most advanced technologies on the planet are at every door.” She smiled and nodded. “Are you going to take me to HR? I think there’s paperwork for me to fill out there.”
“Does it? Yea, I guess it kind of does doesn’t it… I’ve grown a bit used to it, but it is very sleek and modern looking, it’s very functional and I like that a lot,” while he showed her around the lab he thought a moment then shrugged, “Yea, I’ll uh, I’ll take you to HR. In all honesty, I don’t know much about the rest of the place. I’m in here most, if not all of the time.”
He grinned when he looked towards her then gestured towards the door and led her out of the labs towards one of the elevators that’d take them to HR’s floor, “You seemed to be following along pretty well… are you uh, are you a big techie person yourself?”
“You’re lucky to be working here.” Spencer said, though not sarcastically or unkindly. She was a little jealous, and wished that her position here would become full time… but she was realistic about these things, too. She had to graduate college before she got a fantastic job like that. Right?
Then she turned to follow him out toward the elevator. “Yes, well, it’s more a hobby than anything else.” She gave him a smile. “Also, I pick up things pretty quick.”