#but this time they didn’t make it and he is substituting them with Spidey | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sheerfreesia007 · 3 years

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Webhead Chronicles #2

Title: Webhead Chronicles #2

Fandom: The Amazing Spiderman

Pairing: Peter Parker x OFC!

Author: @sheerfreesia007

Words: 1,755

Warnings: Fluff

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

Author Notes: Another one for spidey! I’m digging the relationship between these two. Feedback always appreciated.

Gif Credit: @dailyflicks

Resting his chin on his crossed arms Peter idly listened to the substitute teacher as he wondered when Ev would return to class. He knew that she hated when Flash and him fought but it wasn’t his fault when Flash was the main instigator for all of their fights. Just then Peter noticed Gwen surreptitiously looking at him over her shoulder before turning her head completely to him.

“I thought that was brave what you did out there. It was stupid but it was brave.” she said softly so that she wouldn’t draw the attention of the substitute teacher. Peter nodded his head at her a few times feeling caught off guard that she was talking to him. She smiled softly at his antics and he felt heat crawling up his neck again as embarrassment clawed at his chest. “You should probably go to the nurse, you might have a concussion.” she said softly and Peter pulled his mouth to the side in a pout. “What’s your name?” she suddenly asked and Peter looked at her with furrowed brows. He was pretty sure Ev would have talked about him to Gwen, she mentioned Gwen a couple of times to him.

“You don’t know my name?” he asked softly and watched as Gwen grinned over at him. She was a pretty girl and from what Ev has said about her she was a kind person too, but while Peter could appreciate her appearance there was just something that didn’t catch his eye.

“No, I know your name.” she said secretively and Peter wondered what she was trying to tell him. He wondered if there was something to the way she emphasized that she knew his name or if it was just the way she was teasing him. “I just wanna know if you know your name.” she teased him and Peter huffed softly as he ducked his head smiling softly.

“Peter.” he replied and watched as she grinned, nodding her head at him encouraging him to elaborate. “Parker. Peter Parker.” he said softly and she huffed out a soft laugh at him.

Just then commotion at the front of the classroom caught his attention and he spotted Ev walking into the class with a slip of paper held in her hand. He watched her hand it to the substitute teacher who read it and then gestured for her to take her seat. Peter perked up as he watched her walk down the aisle to her seat which was right in front of him. She quietly slipped into the chair and laid her backpack underneath her. When she looked over at Gwen she tilted her head to the side.

“What?” Ev asked softly and Gwen shook her head at her friend while Peter tugged at the material of her sweatshirt.

“Nothing was telling Peter that he might want to go to the nurse to get checked out.” Gwen said softly and Peter watched as Ev instantly tensed before turning sideways in her seat to look back at him.

“Why? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” she shot out rapidly as her eyebrows furrowed gently with concern. Peter shook his head quickly as he felt heat crawl up his neck once more. Ev was always worrying about him and making sure that he was okay, it was something that he loved about her and it made him feel loved and cared for.

“No, I’m okay. Did you get detention?” Peter asked softly as he slid forward in his seat feeling the urge to be close to Ev. While she was always looking out for him he did the same for her. It had always been like that ever since they were kids and Peter had come to live with his Aunt and Uncle. She looked over at him and nodded her head in response. “How many days?” he asked quickly knowing that it truly wasn’t Ev’s fault for breaking up the fight. Flash had been bullying Gordon and the two of them couldn’t help themselves but get involved to stop the bullying.

“Just today after school. Principal Mayer said that since I’ve got the competition this weekend that only one day would be fine. Mrs. Torres was pissed.” Ev whispered back and Peter grinned as he saw the smirk on her face at the knowledge that Mrs. Torres wasn’t getting Ev into more trouble.

“I’ll wait for you.” Peter whispered to her and Ev shook her head at him.

“Pete you don’t have to. I got detention not you. Plus doesn’t Aunt May need you home for dinner?” she insisted but Peter just shrugged his shoulders at her and she huffed at him before turning back around in her seat. Peter noticed Gwen watching the two of them with a soft smirk on her face as she also began to turn back to the front of the classroom.

“I’d still go to the nurse and get checked out.” Gwen said softly and Peter nodded his head while Ev turned her head to the side and eyed him quietly. Peter felt his heart thud heavily in his chest as Ev’s eyes danced over him quickly for any injuries, only when she saw none did she relax into her seat. He knew that she didn’t believe him when he said he was fine and had to see for herself that he was okay.

“I’m okay.” Peter said softly knowing that Ev was most likely going to demand that he go to the nurse after class now. Peter settled in his chair and lazily listened to the teacher as he began to play with Ev’s long hair. His fingers deftly began to braid it mindlessly as his mind dazed to the droning tone of the teacher.

*-*-*-*

Peter sat on the floor of the school hallway with his back pressed up against the wall as he completed his homework. He hummed softly to himself as he figured out the answer to the math problem and quickly wrote down the answer with his work next to it. He idly realized that he heard soft footsteps walking down the hallway and looked up to see Gwen walking towards him with a smile on her face. When she came to a stop in front of him she looked down at him with a knowing look in her eyes.

“You’re actually waiting for her?” Gwen asked softly, sounding almost giddy with the knowledge. Peter shrugged his shoulders awkwardly for a moment before nodding his head.

“I feel responsible for her getting detention. Flash was fighting with me and she had to break it up.” Peter said quietly and Gwen nodded her head at his words.

“That’s sweet of you.” Gwen said kindly and Peter shrugged his shoulders once again. “Not many friends would stay behind to wait for detention to get out.”

“She’s my best friend. Of course I’m going to wait for her.” Peter said with a nod of his head.

“Oh yeah? Are you sure she’s just your best friend?” Gwen asked softly with a wide grin on her face. Peter jolted in his spot and stared up at her in shock. What did she mean by that? Of course Ev was his best friend. Peter’s mind raced as he tried to understand what Gwen was asking. Did she know how Peter felt about Ev? Could she tell that Peter had more feelings for Ev? Was he that obvious? “Relax Peter, breathe. It’s okay, I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about you as you do her.” Gwen tried to calm him down and he quickly shook his head at her words.

“No, we’re just best friends.” he insisted and Gwen frowned softly at him making him even more confused.

“If you say so.” Gwen said softly as looked around the hallway and scuffing her shoes on the floor. Peter nodded his head and began to clean up his notebooks as his phone trilled with the alarm he had set.

The door to the classroom next to Peter opened and Ev stood in the doorway looking surprised to find both Gwen and Peter together. Peter watched as Ev’s eyes darted in between the two of them before falling to the floor.

“Hey, sorry didn’t mean to interrupt.” Ev said softly and Gwen began to shake her head quickly as she stepped forward and touched Ev’s forearm.

“I just finished with the debate team and saw Peter out here waiting for you. Just stopped to talk to him.” Gwen explained as Ev looked up at her. Peter watched as the two of them seemed to have a silent conversation between each other with their eyes and perked up when Ev smiled softly and then turned to him. He smiled awkwardly at her and Ev nodded her head at him.

“No worries. Do you want to walk with us to the subway station?” Ev asked Gwen who shook her head and clutched her textbooks to her front a little tighter.

“No, my mom is here to pick me up. We’re having a big dinner for a bunch of my Dad’s coworkers and supervisors.” Gwen explained and Ev nodded her head once again.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” Ev said smiling at Gwen who nodded her head easily with a grin.

“Yeah, definitely. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Gwen said easily and began walking towards the double doors at the end of the hallway. The two of them were quiet for a moment and Peter felt a weird tension fill the space between them.

"She's a nice girl and a good friend of mine. Don't mess it up Parker." Ev said softly and Peter looked over at her confused.

"Mess what up?" He asked confused as he stared at her silently. Ev looked over at him quietly before shaking her head as she tilted it down to the floor and scuffed her shoe against the floor. Peter moved over to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She looked so lost as she brought her gaze up to his. Emotions were swirling in the depths of her eyes and Peter was unsure of all of them as he watched her eyes change shades. "Mess what up Ev?" He asked softly and Ev shook her head before resting it against his shoulder.

"C'mon let's just get home." Ev said softly and Peter nodded as he guided her out of the school. He knew she wasn't telling him something but hopefully eventually it'd come out.

#my writing #the amazing spiderman #tasm peter parker x ofc!#tasm peter parker #marvel #webhead chronicles

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lyssismagical · 4 years

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coffee, rainbow pins, and middle school gossip

Parkner Week Day Seven: “13-year-olds are the meanest people in the world” / middle school / jealousy

Being a teacher hadn’t really been Peter’s plan for his career until he got to his senior year and he got his school-mandatory volunteer hours at the elementary public school and he loved how teaching made him feel.

He’s always loved kids. When he was twelve, he started babysitting for the other tenants in the building for much cheaper than any other babysitter, but enough to get the good pizza every couple weeks.

Later, he spent his summers as a Camp Counselor to make some money and to have something to do all summer, out of May’s hair and giving May a chance to save up money without having his mouth to feed.

He didn’t really think much about it until MJ asked him to start reading to children at the library with her. Apparently, she thinks she doesn’t have a soothing enough voice to read for hours on end, but he reads a lot out loud at school and during Academic Decathlon, and she says his voice is nice and he likes kids enough to hang out with them all day.

And now, as a twenty-four-year-old graduate, he’s got a job as a middle school substitute teacher. He wants to one day be a permanent teacher for a younger grade, but he’s happy being a teacher.

Until he finds out how cruel middle schoolers are.

He gets it, the Science teacher at the school is pretty good looking.

Mister Keener is a young, single guy who’s genuinely smart and passionate. He’s a few years older than Peter, and he’s objectively handsome, but Peter isn’t interested. (He’s totally interested, he can barely keep his eyes off the science teacher whenever he sees him in the Teacher’s Lounge, but that’s not anybody’s business.)

His students seem to have one goal in life. To get Peter and Mister Keener together.

“Have your kids been saying anything?” Peter asks. He watches Harley as he laughs, brewing a pot of coffee. “I was subbing for the phys-ed class and they wouldn’t stop.”

“Yeah, I hear about Mister Parker more than anything these days.”

Harley grabs two mugs from the cupboard above the coffee machine and pours them both a coffee, adding the number of creams and sugar to Peter’s that he likes which makes Peter feel incredibly warm and giddy, and then he sits down across from Peter, passing him his coffee.

“I know! Angela, you know her, I think she’s in your science class period two, she literally talked you up to me for the entire hour yesterday. I tried to tell her that it wasn’t appropriate to talk about it with me, but she wouldn’t listen.”

The science teacher laughs again, bright and warm. “Yeah, she went on and on about you. Apparently, you’re really smart when it comes to English.”

“That’s thanks to my friend, MJ, she was really good at English and reading, and she kinda got me into a lot of it. We still have biweekly book clubs.”

“I’m not super into reading, but my little sister is. I-”

The door to the Teacher’s Lounge is pushed open, with a few knocks. It’s not a teacher who stands there though.

“Harry!” Peter exclaims, shooting out of his chair. He races over to throw himself into Harry’s awaiting arms with a squeal. “I thought you weren’t coming to visit for another couple weeks!”

“I’ve got a long weekend off and figured I couldn’t wait to come see you,” Harry explains quickly, arms tight around Peter’s waist.

There’s an awkward cough from behind them that has Peter spinning around, pulling Harry with him back to his table.

“Harry, this is Harley Keener, the science teacher here. Harley, this is an old friend of mine, Harry Osborn. He’s getting his masters abroad so he can’t visit very often.”

The teacher stretches out a hand to shake Harry’s, offering a polite smile with a murmured nice to meet you before he’s draining the rest of his coffee and standing.

“I should be getting back to class early to set up for the lab. I’ll see you later,” Harley says, offering one last smile before he’s out of the teacher’s lounge.

As soon as he’s gone, Harry leans in closer. “Is he the guy you’ve been crushing on these past couple months?”

“He’s the guy who our students have been harassing me about for the last couple months,” Peter corrects before he admits, “Yeah, I’ve totally been crushing on him. He’s so nice and smart and hot. Can you blame me?”

“You should go for it.”

Peter rolls his eyes, sitting down at the table and gesturing for Harry to sit down with him. “I don’t even know if he’s into guys, or if he has a rule against dating coworkers, or if he’s taken.”

“One, I can’t believe you didn’t notice the rainbow pin on his bag. Two, this isn’t going to be your job much longer. You’re going to get that teaching position at the elementary school. And three, he wouldn’t be staring at you like that if he was taken.”

“Have you met me, Osborn? I don’t have the guts to ask him out.”

Harry rolls his eyes right back. “Have it your way and lose your chances with the greatest looking guy in all of Manhattan, second only to you.”

“Shut up,” Peter says with no heat to his words. “We’ll see.”

* Harley’s acting weird the next couple days.

He doesn’t say as much, and he’s downright pouty for most of their lunches together, frowning down at his food whenever Peter rambles about anything.

Harry starts picking him up from the school, so they no longer have that half hour window to chat while Peter waits for the bus. And Peter catches Harley practically glaring when Peter slides into Harry’s convertible.

After a week of these strange interactions, Peter finally caves and pulls one of his students aside after class.

“I know I really shouldn’t be asking you, but has Mister Keener said anything about me lately.”

Katie grins mischievously, beckoning a few of her friends over. “Why? You want him to be talking about you?”

Liam and Emily giggle, leaning into each other behind Katie.

“No!” Peter gasps, shaking his head quickly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“He was acting pretty weird last week,” Aryssa pipes up shyly from where she’s still sitting at her desk. “Quiet, graded our test pretty harshly. He gave a couple people detentions when they wouldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Really? And he didn’t say why he was acting weird?”

Liam rolls his eyes. “No, why would he tell his students why he was acting weird? Most of the time, teachers don’t talk this candidly with their students.”

“Well, I’m not going to be teaching here much longer hopefully. And I’m a substitute.” It doesn’t entirely justify it, but the students seem more excited than annoyed by him talking about his private life. It’s what they’ve been asking him to do for months anyway.

The bell rings, making Peter jump. “Okay, dismissed, get to class. Don’t tell him I asked you about him.”

Katie and Emily snicker, looping their arms together before racing out the door.

Peter knows he won’t be able to trust them.

It still surprises him when Harley stops him in the hallway after the school’s cleared out at the end of the day.

“So, I heard some interesting gossip,” Harley starts.

“Did you?”

Harley laughs, bag swaying at his side. Peter takes note of the rainbow pin. “Katie, Liam, and Emily told me you were asking about me. Asked them if I’d been talking about you.”

“Thirteen-year-olds are the meanest people in the world, I swear… It’s just- you’ve been acting weird lately. Like I did something wrong. I was concerned.”

Harley sighs and he sinks to the floor, leaning against the lockers. Peter hesitates before sliding to the ground beside him, shoulders knocking.

“Can I be honest?” Harley asks, frowning down at his hands. “I really like you, but I get it, you’re taken, I’m not going to be upset about that, I just got a little bit jealous of him.”

“Of who? I’m not-” Peter blows out a breath. “Harry.”

Harley’s eyes go wide, sad. “I’m not mad at you and I really do want to stay friends, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better too-”

“I’m not with Harry!” His voice comes out shaky and too loud. “I mean, we did date once, like forever ago, back in high school, but we decided we were better off as friends, and that’s all we are now. I liked you, but I didn’t think you were into me, especially after last week.”

Harley lets out a laugh verging on hysterical. “I’m so sorry. I saw you with Harry, and I just jumped to conclusions. But if you haven’t been totally turned away by my jealousy, I’d love to take you out for coffee?”

“I’d love that, yeah. Harry’s picking me up if you wanna take up the offer of getting to know my best friend a little better? We could get coffee the three of us while he’s still in town, and then we could get dinner, just the two of us, on the weekend?”

“Sounds like a fantastic plan.”

Taglist:@littlemissagrafina @spidey-reids-2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester @emo-girl10 @justme--emily @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao @heeeyitskay @parknerandirondad {Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

#lyss writes #parkner week 2020 #parkner #parkner fic #harley keener #peter parker #harry osborn #parksborn #but like not really #i want y'all to know this was originally a flash crossover

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addisonacres · 5 years

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Insecure: A Starker Secret Santa Gift

For @starkerotic. Not sure where you are in the world but here it’s already the 24th. I hope you enjoy! @starkersecretsanta

Prompt: peter is going away for MIT. tony is... he wants peter to enjoy college life, but he and peter are still very new and, as much as his ego hates to acknowledge it, he's insecure; peter will be meeting more and more people and tony is happy for him to make friends, he is - but... harley keener becomes a regular mention in their nightly phone calls, and tony can't help but to worry. (no infidelity, just insecurities.)

Tony stood in the doorway to Peter’s small bedroom in Queens and watched as his young lover tried to cram another tin of the horrible dry cookies that May had made him into his suitcase. Peter wasn’t packing a lot of unnecessary items since MIT was only a couple of hours away after all, but even so, he’d taken a few things of comfort. May had baked for days, and Peter had watched on in dawning horror as she had packed up tin after tin of her goodies. As terrible a cook as May was, Tony had no doubts that Peter would eat every last cookie and brownie, simply because he missed his aunt. He wasn’t so sure about the hoodie of his that he spotted before the suitcase lid had been closed - he’d like to think that Peter would wear it at every opportunity, possibly not wash it for as long as he could to keep the faint scent of Tony’s cologne for as long as possible, but maybe Peter wouldn’t miss Tony as much as he would miss Peter.

It was odd to think that Tony was the more insecure one in this relationship but he was fairly certain that that was the way the cookie crumbled.

They’d not been together long, only the few months since Peter had graduated from high school. They’d had a glorious summer together and Peter had proved that he wasn’t as shy in the bedroom as he was in everyday life. Tony had had many fantasies about his protege, and most had revolved around taking Peter apart and piecing him back together again, using every trick that he knew to make Peter a squirming, mewling mess of post coital bliss, wowing his lover with his experience. To say that it hadn't quite gone down that way was an understatement. Peter was confident, determined, and almost cocky in the bedroom, making demands and expecting Tony to carry them out. Of course, it wasn’t a hardship for Tony, but it had had him on the backfoot the first time or two, and he’d even been a little shocked by Peter’s kinkiness. Both of them switched, neither preferring to only top or bottom and so they enjoyed taking it in turns, but when Peter had shot his load deep inside Tony only to drop down and then suck it out of him, Tony started to realise that perhaps he was in over his head. Peter might look like an angel, but in the bedroom he was definitely an incubus.

Peter was also insatiable, and Tony had been pushed to his limits. He wasn’t twenty anymore and he had difficulty getting it up more than once a day. He’d had to get creative to keep Peter satisfied, who if he got his way would ride Tony’s dick from sun up to sun down. Tony had absolutely no problem with sucking Peter to completion anytime his own cock didn't want to come to the party, but his knees were another matter entirely. After the first time or two, he began to subtly lead Peter to the couch, or to the bed, or (when pressed) at least to the very plush rug in the living room. Luckily, the few times that Tony simply didn't have the energy and just wanted to lay there with Peter in his arms and hold him, Peter hadn’t seemed to mind. He knew it was a blow to his ‘playboy’ persona but luckily they’d kept their relationship out of the public eye so at least the tabloids wouldn't have a field day if they found out that he couldn’t keep up with his young lover.

His young, insatiable, sex craved lover who would be heading off to a campus full of other young, insatiable, sex craved youths…

Tony tried really, really hard not to think along those lines but Peter had made it clear that he liked sex, he liked a lot of sex, and suddenly Tony wasn’t going to be around to give it to him. Their relationship was still new, so new in fact that they hadn't exactly had any talks about being exclusive or anything. To Tony it was a given - the days of his aversion to commitment were far behind him, but Peter had never really specified what they were to him. Yes, he’d had a crush on Tony for years, and he'd jumped at the chance to have more with him, but as Tony had come to discover, he really didn't know Peter as well as he thought he had. Peter hadn't been a blushing virgin when they’d gotten together, wasn’t naive and innocent. Given how confident he was in the bedroom, knowing exactly what he liked and not being shy about getting it, Tony really didn't want to think about how many people Peter had been with in the past to gain that experience. He didn't judge Peter for having numerous sexual partners (he’d be a hypocrite if he did after all) but he did worry that Peter viewed their relationship slightly differently to how Tony saw it. If he wasn't emotionally constipated, he’d talk to Peter before he left but it was too late for that now. The suitcase was zipped, Peter was looking around the room, scanning for anything he’d left behind, and there was a knock at the front door that indicated that Happy was ready to drive Peter over to campus.

“This is it then,” Tony said, somewhat redundantly.

Peter nodded and then crossed the room, hugging Tony close. “I miss you already,” he said, then tilted his head, demanding a kiss.

Tony brushed their lips together, feeling a little better about Peter’s declaration. “I’ll call every night,” he promised, “and visit as often as I can.”

Peter smiled but they both knew that the visits wouldn’t be as regular as they wished. Having Tony Stark turn up in the dorms would be a surefire way to expose their relationship to the world and Peter didn’t need to spend his first year at MIT fighting off the paparazzi. “I’ll visit too,” he promised and this was more realistic. Besides coming back to see May, Peter also had his Spider-Man responsibilities to uphold. They’d announced that Spidey was now an official Avenger and would be away on missions for them to explain away his absence from Queens, but Peter still wanted to patrol when he could.

“Peter, it’s time to go,” May called from the living room where she was chatting to Happy.

“I’m coming!” he called back, but then turned back to Tony and kissed him one last time. The kiss was deep and filthy, with a lot of tongue and teeth, and it left Tony panting for more. Peter grinned at him as they broke apart, his eyes darting down knowingly to the tent in Tony’s pants. “Just to remind you what you’ll be missing,” he said with a wink, and then turned, grabbed his suitcase and headed out of his bedroom.

Tony trailed behind slowly, watched as Peter said his goodbyes to May and offered a halfhearted wave as Peter and Happy left. By unspoken agreement, neither he nor May went down to the street to watch solemnly as the car drove off - they didn’t have much but they wanted to retain the small shred of dignity that remained.

Several minutes went by as they both just stared at the closed door, feeling empty and lost. Finally May turned to Tony and sad, “I need a drink. You want one?”

He glanced at the clock on the wall which hadn't even hit 10am as yet. Shrugging, he said, “Sure, it’s five o’clock somewhere,” and then they proceeded to drink two bottles of wine before lunch.

oOoOo

“Are you all settled in?” Tony asked, drinking in the sight of Peter’s face on the screen.

“Yeah, didn't take me long to unpack. I headed to the info fair they had and checked out some of the robotics groups but they’re leagues behind what I’ve been working on with you.” Peter pouted and Tony wished he could kiss it off his lips.

“Maybe you should join one anyway? You might teach them something.”

Peter shrugged. “I guess. I’m just wary of getting involved in anything that I can’t commit to if I’m spending every free weekend and holiday back in New York.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat at that, suddenly overwhelmed with happiness that Peter was looking forward to being home so much. He knew he was pathetic but since no one else had access to his inner thoughts, no one else had to know. “Your first lecture is tomorrow, yeah?” It was a moot question as Peter had had his schedule for two weeks now and Tony had memorised it.

“Yep, then a lab after that. I’m looking forward to it.” Behind Peter the door opened and Tony just caught sight of a tousled head of dirty blonde curls before Peter cut the video feed on their call. “Sorry,” he whispered, “my roommate is back.”

“That’s okay,” Tony assured him, wishing that they didn't have to hide but not ever wanting to put Peter in the spotlight before he was ready. “You get along okay?”

Peter made a small sound that was the vocal equivalent of a shrug. “I guess.Too soon to really tell.”

Knowing that it was hard to talk with someone in the room, Tony decided to wrap the call up. “Okay, baby, I’ll let you get back to it. Have fun tomorrow.”

“I will. Talk tomorrow?”

It warmed him that Peter seemed just as eager to keep in touch. “You bet. I’ve got a few meetings during the day but you can text whenever you want and I’ll phone you when I’m home.”

“Can’t wait. Bye then.”

He fought the urge to sign off with an I love you, knowing it was too soon, even if that’s how he felt. “Bye, Pete,” he said softly instead. The call disconnected and Tony felt bereft. He went into the bedroom, flopped onto the bed and pulled the pillow that still smelled like Peter close to his face, hugging it tightly.

It was a poor substitute but he eventually fell asleep with the pillow hugged to his chest.

oOoOo

Tony soon learned that the roommate was called Harley Keener. He was doing Mechanical Engineering and had one class that overlapped with Peter’s Chemical Engineering course. He was three months older than Peter, had a younger sister, and his dad had skipped out on the family, leaving his mom to raise them alone. During one phone call Tony had overheard Harley speak as he entered the room and he’d heard a southern twang, with Peter telling him later that he was from Tennessee.

At first Harley was only ever really mentioned when their calls were cut short by him returning early to the dorm. Tony had his schedule memorised like he did Peter’s and knew that Mondays from two till four and Thursdays from three thirty till five were the best times to catch Peter alone. They’d taken to having hurried phone sex on these days, propping their phones in front of them as they watched the other jerk off, the need to reach out and touch Peter through the screen almost overwhelming Tony.

The third weekend, Peter came home and between meals with May, patrolling the neighbourhood, and long, frantic sessions in the bedroom, Peter hardly mentioned his roommate. The next time he came back, two weeks later, he briefly mentioned that Harley had gotten a Lego Starship Enterprise and after a lengthy debate over which was better - Star Trek or Star Wars, he grudgingly allowed Peter to help him build it. Tony was happy that Peter had made a friend, since he’d been gutted when he’d watched as Ned and MJ had left for different universities across the country. As he knew intimately, phone calls and texts were a hollow way of staying in touch and he knew that Peter missed his friends. Tony got F.R.I.D.A.Y. to run a background check on the Keener kid and when it came back clear, Tony was able to relax a little and be happy that Peter had someone in his day to day life to talk to.

That happiness faded a little as time went on as Peter began to talk more and more about Harley and what they’d gotten up to. When three phone calls had gone by and all Peter had said was “Harley this” and “Harley that”, Tony began to get worried. It was clear that Peter had really connected with this kid, which was great on one hand, but on the other, it simply highlighted everything that Tony wasn’t.

Peter was young and enthusiastic and energetic, and Harley seemed to always be with him as they studied in the library, or checked out a frat party, or spent an hour at 3am in the middle of the week, hyped up on caffeine and energy drinks, seeing if it was possible to swing the swing in the playground around the frame 360 degrees.

Tony was old and sarcastic and could spend a whole week in his lab without coming up for air. Sure, he was Iron Man and he was fit for his age, but there was always going to be ‘for his age’ tacked onto descriptions like that. He still had all of his hair but it was definitely turning more silver now and he found that seeing anyone with a head full of sandy curls triggered a bout of anxiety that made him gasp for breath and have to sit down.

It was five months in that Tony began to have actual suspicions and not just insecure worries. By now, Peter had a routine. Every second weekend (the one that lined up with May’s weekend off work) he would come home, arriving in the evening on Friday and not heading back until late Sunday night. He, Tony, and May would have dinner on Friday night, then Peter would come back to the Tower with Tony and they would spend every minute together, meeting again with May for brunch on Sunday. It was even common to see Iron Man patrolling with Spider-Man, so intent was Tony on not missing out on spending any time with his lover. Peter never seemed to mind - in fact, the times that he and Tony swung/flew through the buildings of Queens always seemed to energise him and on more than one occasion he’d not even waited until they were home, just pushed Tony into some out of the way place on a rooftop or in a dark alley before dropping to his knees.

Tony cherished their weekends together and so it was like a slap in the face when he got a call on Friday afternoon from Peter, telling him that he wasn’t coming back this weekend.

“I’ve got a big project to work on for my Differential Equations course - we’ve had to partner up for it and it’s worth thirty percent of my grade so I don’t want to phone it in.”

Tony knew that that was the class that Peter shared with Harley and with a sinking feeling he asked, “So, who did you partner with?”

“Harley, of course,” Peter answered, his tone indicating that Tony was daft for even asking, like there was no possible alternative. “He’s heading off to visit his family next weekend so we need to get a start on it now.”

“Right, well, of course, your studies come first.”

“Thanks, Tony, I knew you’d understand. Enjoy your weekend.”

If it had just been that, then maybe Tony would have been able to brush it off. He’d not really expected Peter to come visit the following weekend since May had her shift at the hospital but he was guttered when he called Peter like usual on the Friday night to find that Peter wasn’t in his dorm - instead he was in some tiny town in bum-fuck nowhere Tennessee, visiting Harley’s family with his friend.

“I’m sure I mentioned I was heading down here this weekend,” Peter said when Tony asked why he was there. “Harley’s mom has been wanting to meet me for ages and the last time she came up to campus I was with you. They’re all so nice, they’ve made me feel very welcome.”

“Well, that’s good. I hope you have a nice time.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will.” Peter paused and listened to someone hollering in the background. Tony’s eye twitched as he recognised Harley’s voice. Peter’s voice became muffled as he covered his phone with his hand but Tony still heard him say, “No, it’s nothing important, I’m just finishing up, then I’ll be there.” Then he came back to Tony. “I have to go, dinner’s ready.”

They hadn't even been talking for two minutes, but apparently he was ‘nothing important’. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll speak to you tomorrow then.”

“About that, I think we’re going camping and reception here is a bit shitty so I don’t know if the call will come through. Try though, but if not, I’ll talk to you when I’m back at school.”

Tony did try to call the following day but didn't get through. He tried again on Sunday and it simply rang out. He began to come up with all sorts of theories as to what was keeping Peter so busy that he wasn’t answering. By Monday he knew that Peter would be back at MIT but by then he was too busy feeling sorry for himself and couldn't be bothered making the call. He holed up in his lab but couldn’t stop himself from checking the time every ten minutes. 2pm, their regular call time came and went, but Peter didn't call. It was rare that he called - it was generally Tony who called him to keep Peter’s phone bill down, but in the past if Tony had been ten minutes late to call because he was stuck in a meeting, Peter would ring.

Half past two came and went and soon so did 3pm. By now Tony had given up on Peter calling, and he hid his phone on the other side of the lab so he wouldn't give in and call Peter. He knew that he was being childish and stubborn but he needed proof that Peter still cared about him, that it wasn’t always Tony making the effort. He was first and foremost a scientist and theories required evidence to prove them. His main theory, that Harley had become something more to Peter, that he was sleeping with him, would be hard to prove without Peter admitting it, but Tony figured that it wouldn’t hurt to begin distancing himself before their relationship officially ended. He wasn’t one to fling accusations and have dramatic confrontations - those hurt too much - so he’d begin to withdraw, put some space between Peter and his shattering heart so when Peter finally broke up with him, he might not be entirely broken.

By the time the sun had gone down and Tony still hadn't heard from Peter, not even a text message, he hit the bar in the penthouse. F.R.I.D.A.Y confirmed that Peter was on campus, that he’d been spotted on several CCTV cameras heading to and from class which laid to rest the small possibility that he’d been injured somehow and was in hospital. His conscience was clear to get completely and utterly plastered and he drank most of a bottle of whiskey before he passed out on the sofa in the living room.

He was woken early the following morning by his phone beeping and he peeled open a crusted eyelid to peer at the screen. It was a text from Peter.

I fell asleep yesterday afternoon, sorry :( Talk tonight?

Tony wanted to ignore it, but his stubbornness was weakened in his hungover state and he replied back with a simple, Okay.

Classes didn't finish until late on Tuesdays so Tony waited until 6pm to phone Peter. He was breathless when he answered, but sounded enthusiastic enough. “Hey, Tony! Sorry, I had to speak to my lecturer after class and had to run to get back in time for your call.”

Tony didn’t point out that a cell phone could be answered anywhere or that Peter rarely got breathless from running, his Spider DNA leaving him in peak physical condition. He also tried hard not to listen for any noises in the background, unsure if he could handle the sounds of Harley in the room. “That’s okay. How was class?”

“Same old same old, really. There’s not much to tell you, except that I miss you.”

“Figured you’d be too busy to miss me,” Tony said, and couldn't quite keep the bitterness from his voice.

“Tony, of course I miss you,” Peter exclaimed. “I’m sorry we didn't get to talk over the weekend, but that’s just made me miss you even more.”

He sighed and tried to stop from making a complete fool of himself. “I miss you too, baby.”

“I can’t wait for this weekend when I get to see you. Got, I want you so bad.”

He was weak but couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

“You have no idea how much, Tony. I’m going to climb you like a tree the second I see you.”

He was reassured by this up until he phoned on Wednesday and a voice that he’d only ever heard in the background answered the phone. “Peter’s House of Pleasure, if it fits, he sits.”

Tony froze. “Excuse me?” he choked out when his voice finally worked again.

In the background, Tony heard Peter whining and there was the sound of a struggle. Harley laughed and asked, “So, who is this? Peter has you down as Iron Man so you’re obviously a fan of Tony Stark. Is this the Ned I’ve heard so much about?”

“Ned is listed in Peter’s phone as Chewie,” Tony almost snapped.

He distantly heard Peter say, “For fuck’s sake, Harls, give me my damn phone!”

“Nah, not yet, I wanna know who it is.”

“If you don’t give it back right this instant I’m changing you in my contacts from Kirk to John Archer.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Harley sounded shocked.

“Watch me,” Peter threatened.

“Eh, you gotta get your phone back first.” Harley teased, and Tony heard more struggling, and some giggles. “I gotta figure out why you’ve named this guy Iron Man, I’m on a mission.”

Tony had had enough. “Because I am Iron Man,” he snapped and then turned on the front facing camera. A moment later the camera on Peter’s phone flickered to life as well and Tony was assaulted with the view of Harley sprawled out on Peter’s bed, Peter’s arms wrapped around him as he tried to grapple the phone back from him. Harley’s mouth dropped open in shock as he saw Tony on the other side. “Holy fucking shit, you’re Tony Stark!”

Tony smirked at him cruelly, hoping to overwhelm the twerp with his fame. “The one and only. Now, if you would kindly give Peter back his phone, we were discussing our plans for the weekend.”

The phone was shoved back to Peter who pulled away from Harley and gazed at Tony through the screen, cheeks bright pink and hair tousled. “Hey, Tony, sorry ‘bout that.”

“You call him Tony?” Harley squawked in the background.

Peter’s eyes darkened. “Would you just fuck off, Harley and let me take this damn call?”

Behind Peter, Tony saw Harley stand and head for the door, waving over his shoulder. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Tony asked mildly, not wanting to give away how much it had hurt to see the two teens entangled on Peter’s bed, even if there was a remote possibility that it had just been innocent friendly wrestling.

Peter rolled his eyes. “He’ll just be shitty that he didn’t know that we knew each other. He likes to think that he knows everything about me but really, he hardly knows me at all.”

Carefully, Tony asked, “Do you want him to know you better?”

Now, Peter’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Tony shrugged, going for nonchalant but knowing he missed it by a mile, all of his insecurities showing on his face. “You two seem pretty close is all. You have a lot in common, and seem compatible, he’s your age after all…”

“I can’t believe...you actually...fuck, Tony…” Peter shook his head. “No, you know what? I refuse to have this conversation with you over the phone.” And he disconnected the call.

Tony spent a long time just staring at the blank screen, feeling sick to his stomach. This was it, he just knew it. The next time he saw Peter it would be so he could be told face to face that they were over. The best thing he had ever had in his life and it was slipping through his fingers. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or throw up so he settled instead for drinking heavily since that way he’d probably end up doing both.

He was on his third glass of scotch when he heard the familiar sound of repulsors and then a large clunk. Curious, he staggered to his feet and looked outside to the large landing pad and saw Rhodey crouched down in his landing pose. He straightened and then Tony saw Spider-Man clinging to his back. He’d climbed down by the time Tony made it to the door and he was in time to hear Peter say, “Thanks for the lift.”

“Anytime, kid,” Rhodey replied. “Talk some sense into him, yeah?”

Peter was looking directly at Tony when he responded. “I’ll try but I think he’s being stubborn.”

Rhodey snorted. “Yeah, he gets like that.” Then with a burst of his lower repulsors, he was taking off into the night, leaving the two of them alone.

“What are you doing here?” Tony blurted, unable to stand the assessing look that Peter was giving him.

Peter stared at him a little longer and then shook his head. “You are such a fucking idiot,” he said and then closed the distance between them and pulled Tony into an embrace.

“What does this mean?” Tony whispered when he finally forced himself to pull back so that he wouldn’t have time to get used to Peter’s warmth before he lost it entirely.

“It means,” Peter said slowly, “that for all your genius, you have no fucking clue.”

“Yeah, still not really making sense,” he admitted.

Peter sighed. “Let me spell it out for you then. I love you, Tony, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I am not sleeping with Harley, or anyone else for that matter. I want you and only you. Making sense now?”

“But, last weekend, and today, on the bed…”

“For the love of all that is holy,” Peter muttered, his words almost inaudible over the sound of the wind on the landing. “Look, let’s go inside so we can talk, okay? You probably need some water too, since you’ll have a horrible hangover in the morning if you don’t.”

“I was kind of drinking my sorrows away,” Tony admitted in a small voice as he followed Peter inside.

Heading straight for the bar to fill a glass with water from the pitcher there, Peter glared at him. “I would like to point out that these are imaginary sorrows.”

“It didn't feel like it to me.” Tony’s voice cracked a little bit and Peter’s expression softened.

“Here, drink this and then come sit down.”

Doing as he was told, Tony drained the glass and then joined Peter on the sofa.

“Tony, last weekend I went camping with Harley’s family. I spent most of the weekend giving his little sister piggyback rides through the woods and helping his mother cook. He’s my friend and I like spending time with him, but that’s all he is.”

“So you really don’t want him that way?”

“I’m not going to lie - I do find him attractive, but I find pretty much all of the Avengers hot as well but that doesn't mean I want to have sex with them. Harley knows that I’m seeing someone, but I haven’t told him who since we agreed to keep it quiet. I trust that he can keep a secret so if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll tell him that it’s you that I’m seeing. Hell, come up to campus and visit me and you can meet him! I’ll be happy for you to make a few possessive displays of affection if it’ll stop you worrying.”

Tony huffed out a laugh. “Does that include me pounding you into the mattress and then coming all over your ass as he walks in the door?”

Peter gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, that might be taking it a little too far.” His voice dropped lower and he leaned in to purr into Tony’s ear. “But there’s nothing to say that we can’t do that right now.” He nipped at Tony’s lobe. “Come on, Tony, want you so much, want you to mark me, claim me as yours. What do you say? You up for it?”

Tony wasn't one to turn down a challenge and it turned out that he was definitely up for it. Twice in fact.

#starkersecretsanta2019 #starker #peter parker #tony stark #insecurities #angst

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rambling-at-midnight · 5 years

Text

Meddling

Anonymous Request: #8 and #80 for Peter Parker, please?

#8: “You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”

#80: “Why is that your password?”

It’s a widely known fact at school that Peter Parker is sort of a dork. He doesn’t make the best decisions. He gets caught in the wrong places. He says the wrong things. He says the right things at the wrong time.

It’s a widely known fact in Queens that Spider-man is super cool. He always shows up where he’s needed. He can take out eight men at once without breaking a sweat. He’s got witty retorts ready any second. He’s got crazy powers that make him strong and sticky.

It’s a widely known fact in the Stark tower that Peter Parker is kind of a genius. He can keep up with Tony Stark and is in the workshop with him 90% of the time he’s there. The other 10% of the time Peter spends at the tower is with you.

It is also a widely known fact in the Stark tower that Peter Parker has a crush on Y/N Stark, and that you have a crush on Spider-man.

Tony takes great amusement in the irony of that statement, although sometimes the obtuse way both teenagers skirt around their feelings for each other can be frustrating. Peter is literally the only guy Tony will ever accept for you because he can trust the webslinger would rather die than hurt the feelings of someone he loves.

“Hey, FRIDAY,” Peter greets when he walks into the common area.

“Hello, Peter,” the AI responds.

“Is Y/N here?”

“No,” FRIDAY says. “She does not return from the cabin until Thursday.”

Peter wilts a bit but nods. “Okay.”

See, the reason the ratio of Tony-to-Y/N time is so wonky is because of how much time you spend in the super-secret cabin. Tony insists on it for your protection or something like that.

“I’m still here,” Tony points out, pouring himself a coffee, and smirks when Peter jumps.

“I didn’t know you were there!” the teenager gasps, putting a hand to his heart like he’s in danger of a heart attack.

Tony snorts. “Is your Peter-tingle still not working?”

Taken aback, Peter stares at his mentor for a second before shaking his head. “I have got to stop Aunt May from talking about me to you. And no, I’ve told you this a thousand times; it doesn’t work when I’m around people that aren’t threats to me!”

“Whatever you say, buddy,” Tony shrugs, yawning. “Now, as I’m sure my presence is more than enough a substitute for the presence of my daughter, let’s get to work, why don’t we?”

Peter blushes. “Okay.”

“Speaking of my daughter,” Tony adds, “when are you going to ask her out?”

Peter falls flat on his face.

~~~~

You seriously love having private jets at your disposal; trips are so much more comfortable and quick. Especially private jets that are eco-friendly, because it means you can flaunt your wealth without worrying about people on the internet dragging you.

Nah, you’re just kidding. You don’t flaunt your wealth that much.

Just a little.

“I’m home!” you call when you walk into the quiet common floor of the Avengers tower. All the lights are off. You frown. “Dad?”

Nothing. He must be on a business call. They seem to pop up unexpectedly all the time and you don’t begrudge him for them.

Besides, it’s late. You’ll go to sleep and greet your father in the morning. And hopefully Peter.

You roll your eyes at yourself and check your phone in vain for new messages, but nothing comes through. Not your dad checking to see if the flight landed on time, not Peter sending you a meme, not even Natasha texting you mission details in the rare occurrence you’re allowed to accompany the team.

Nothing. Complete radio silence.

Being a Stark is more isolating than one would think.

You sigh and rub your eyes, excited to go to sleep in your comfortable bed in your soundproofed room.

“FRIDAY?” you try.

“Your father is otherwise engaged, Y/N,” the AI responds. “He sends his regrets. If it is any consolation, I am pleased to see you again. So to speak.”

You smile up at the ceiling. “Thanks, FRI.”

FRIDAY lights up the walk from the common area to your room. You’ve seen enough horror movies to have a faint sense of how creepy it is to only be able to see a few feet in front of you at a time, but you trust the AI. It’s not like anything’s going to happen to you. Besides, even if there is something or someone there, you’ve been trained in enough forms of combat by literally every Avenger so you’re pretty confident you can handle yourself.

You open your door, still contemplating your phone’s screen as if staring at it will make people send you texts, but something crashes in your bathroom and you jump. The door swings shut behind you as you rush to the bathroom.

A trussed-up Spider-man struggles to his feet from where he is in your shower.

Wait. Spider-man in my shower?

You raise a single eyebrow, relaxing and crossing your arms while leaning against the doorframe. “You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”

“Did you let the door shut?” Spider-man squeals.

You frown, confused. “Uhh...” A quick glance over your shoulder confirms that the door is, in fact, closed. “Yeah.”

The superhero groans. “No!”

“Um, you still haven’t explained a thing, and you’re down twenty seconds,” you prompt, tapping your wrist that doesn’t even bear a watch.

“Long story short, your dad locked me in here,” Spidey groans. “And now that you’ve let the door shut, you’re locked in here with me too.”

You bite your lip. “Uh... why would Dad lock you in my room, Peter?”

“I have no idea,” Spider-man replies, then freezes. “Wait! Who’s Peter? I—I’m not Peter, I don’t even know a Peter!”

You quirk an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.” Spinning on your heel, you tug on your room’s door handle. True to his word, the door doesn’t budge.

“Seriously!” Spidey, hot on your heels, insists. “I really—I’ve never met you before in my life! I mean, I’ve seen you, because you’re famous because you’re Y/N Stark, but you’ve never met me! Or seen me! Or—”

“Peter.” You sigh and put your hands on your hips. “Honestly. Do you remember when my father announced to the world that he was Iron Man?”

“That’s a pivotal moment in history,” Spidey mutters, “so I’m sure that everyone remembers that.”

“Yeah. And did you know that he walked into that press conference with a fully detailed cover story as well as paid actors as witnesses to back up his story?”

“Uh...” Spider-man shifts his weight on his feet back and forth.

“And instead of simply reading off the cards like he was supposed to, he proceeded to announce to the entire world his second identity. So no, my father is not very good at lying or keeping secrets. And, Peter, do you remember that one time I walked in on you and Dad working on one of your suits?”

Spider-man crosses his arms over his chest. His mask reveals nothing of what he’s thinking.

“I made a joke about how cool it would be to meet Spider-man,” you continue, “and you proceeded to stammer on for five minutes about how that would be crazy for me because I’ve totally never met him before. So no. You and my dad are both terrible at keeping secrets and lying.”

You reach for the mask, hesitating for a moment to see if he’ll pull away. When he simply huffs, you tug the mask off, revealing Peter Parker’s flushed cheeks and bouncy curls. You can’t help the butterflies that flutter in your stomach. “You’ve known for months?”

“Months and months.” You grin crookedly at the flustered boy. “But seriously. Why are you locked in my room, Peter?”

“Okay,” the boy says quickly. “I came by today because I knew you were coming back and I thought it would be cool to say hi to you and show you this cool design we’re working on for your suit. We got repulsor rays just like Tony on the palms of your hands as well as the flight stabilizers, but it was tricky because your suit isn’t metal. But we got it eventually! And—”

“Peter,” you interrupt. God knows the boy could speak for hours by constantly going off on tangents.

“Right, right,” he says, biting his lip. He has no idea how attractive you find that action. “So I was here. And Tony thinks, I don’t know, that it would be funny to test the strength of the web formula we’ve been working on. And it’s not going to dissolve for two more hours,” he groans. That explains the weird white substance keeping his hands together. “I could get it apart, but that might rip my suit.”

“Yeah, I was wondering why you were wearing the old suit,” you remark.

“We were trying to blend the Iron Spider suit and my old suit together,” Peter explains. “So I was modeling this suit. But if I rip it now, it could destroy this suit completely, and what if there’s an emergency?”

You glance around your room. There’s a pair of scissors on your desk and, despite knowing it’s a long shot, you try to cut the web fluid holding his hands together. The only thing that happens is the scissors get stuck. Same with the pocketknife you try to use.

When you approach Peter with a stapler, he jerks away. “No! It’s pretty much unbreakable. You’re just going to get more stuff stuck in it!”

You can’t help the giggle that bursts from your lips when you see Spider-man, Queens’ very own superhero, with red cheeks and floppy curls, thwarted by his own weapon with a pair of scissors and a knife sticking out of his shapeless white cuffs.

“Great, now she’s laughing at me,” Peter groans. “Wait, can you do something for me?”

“Sure,” you say, still snickering a bit.

“Tony put my phone on the bed.” He gestures in that direction. “I’ve been hearing it go off. I don’t know if it’s Tony, or Ned, or May, or anyone else. Could you bring it to me?”

You retrieve the phone and hold it out to him. Peter holds up his webbed hands in vain, but it’s no use. No fingers are available to punch in the password.

“Just tell me it,” you sigh when he tries in vain to punch in the password with his nose.

“No!” Peter blushes furiously.

“Dude, May’s gonna be worried about you. Just tell me.” You roll your eyes. “Not that I couldn’t hack in anyway, but it would require FRIDAY and a lot more time and effort than you just telling me your password.”

“FRIDAY?” Peter asks hopefully, staring at the ceiling. Just as you’d suspected; your father either disabled the AI for your room or commanded it to not respond to their of your pleas for escape.

“Seriously,” you groan. “You do realize you can change the password right away, right?”

“It’s embarrassing,” Peter groans, which is absolutely the worst thing to say. You perk up immediately.

“What is it?”

“I’m not telling.” Peter crosses his arms and glares at the wall.

“Is it your old crush’s name? Uh... Michelle or something?”

“I never liked MJ,” Peter snaps. “She’s just my friend.”

You snort. “Uh-huh.” Quick as a flash, you snatch the phone up from where it was sitting on the bed next to his thigh. “Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.”

Peter closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I will not.”

“What’s the worst it could be?” you ask. “I promise I won’t tell Dad.”

“That’s a lie.”

“You got me there. If it’s something about My Little Pony or Dora the Explorer I’d have to tell him right away. You know me too well.”

“It’s not My Little Pony or Dora the Explorer!” Peter exclaims.

“Well, unless you tell me what it really is,” you tease, “I’m going to have to assume it’s one of those two categories. Want me to guess My Little Pony names until your phone locks you out forever?”

Peter groans and flops onto the bed. “I’m never going to live this down.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say primly. “I’d never dream of teasing you, Pete.”

Peter mumbles something.

“What?”

“IsaidmypasswordisY/NParkernospaces” he rushes out.

“What?”

“I said,” Peter gets out through gritted teeth, “my password is Y/NParker, no spaces.”

There’s a long pause of silence and Peter chances opening his eyes to look at your reaction. You’re staring at him evenly, the phone in your lap forgotten. “Why is that your password?”

“Don’t make me say it,” Peter pleads weakly. “I’m never going to be able to live this down anyway.”

“Peter. Why is that your password?”

“Because I like you!” he bursts out, his tone a lot louder than he’d intended it to be. “Duh, Y/N. Like you said, I’m sorta bad at hiding stuff. Even your dad knows. It’s why he locked me in here.”

“What?” You unlock the phone quickly and check the texts. There’s two from May asking why Peter’s not home yet, one from Ned about a homework assignment, and three from Tony.

Tony Stark: You’re going to read this either when those webs dissolve or when Y/N unlocks your phone, which means she’s going to discover your password and your crush on her

Tony Stark: If so, hi, Y/N! Love you! Sorry I couldn’t be there to greet you but I had to play matchmaker for some oblivious teens

Tony Stark: Go get ‘em, tiger ;). You’re not leaving the room until you do. But no funny business!

“This is so embarrassing,” you and Peter groan at the same time. You exchange startled glances.

“What do you have to be embarrassed about?” Peter asks. You show him the screen of his phone.

“My stupid meddling father,” you glower, quite sure that he’s listening to your conversation now.

“I’m sorry,” Peter sighs.

“What are you sorry for?” You frown.

“For telling you how I felt. I know your dad thinks you like me back, but it’s totally fine if you don’t. We can stay friends. Or if you don’t even want to be friends, I guess that’s all right. It’d be awkward because I come to the tower so much to work with your dad but I’m sure we can work something out. Besides, you visit the cabin so much—oomph.”

He grunts with surprise when you lean forward and press your lips against his. For a moment you think he’s going to try to keep talking even while kissing, but then he sighs against your lips and his webbed hands go to your stomach. He groans with frustration. “This sucks,” he groans, breaking the kiss. “I can’t touch you at all. I can’t even feel you through the webs. And—oh my God, I could have stabbed you!” He leaps to his feet, looking at his webbed hands and the weapons sticking out of the mess with horror.

You double over with laughter.

“It’s not funny, Y/N!” Peter whines. “You could have been seriously hurt! Your dad woulda killed me! Do you have any idea—”

You stand and, avoiding the weapons, press your lips against his again. It seems to be an effective way to stop the rambling and keep his mind on one track. More or less.

“I bet the door’s unlocked now,” Peter mumbles against your mouth, breaking the kiss again, and you growl with frustration.

“Peter, shut up and kiss me.”

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#peter parker #Peter Benjamin Parker #peter parker fic #peter parker fanfic #peter parker fanfiction #reader insert #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #reader x peter parker #you x peter parker #stark!reader #tony stark #morgan stark

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monaisme · 4 years

Text

Day 10: “i’m sorry. i didn’t know

Day 10: “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Peter came bounding into the penthouse, sopping wet from the storm outside, but smiling huge when he saw Ms. Potts sitting at the kitchen counter drinking a cup of tea and pouring over some legal documents for Stark Industries. “Hey, Ms. Potts! Guess who had a substitute in chemistry today?”

Ms. Potts spun around on her stool, smiling at the excited young man. “I’m assuming by your overall giddiness, it would be you?” She laughed and got up from her seat to grab a dishtowel for the boy to dry off with. “And what magical thing did this substitute do the put you in such a good mood—even as you look like you swam here?” She dropped the towel on his head and gave his hair a tousle.

With a flourish, Peter reached into his backpack and pulled out a small sandwich bag. “We made candy!”

Ms. Potts seemed both amused and confused at the whole thing. “That sounds like tonnes of fun and not very hygienic at the same time!” She laughed. “I’m not sure how I feel about this?”

“No-no-no! It was fine! Libby has a friend that goes to culinary school and—“

“Whoa there, Peter.” Ms. Potts interrupted. “Did you say Libby, as in “devoting her life to the children” when she’s not killing them with rose oil, Libby?”

Peter blushed in embarrassment. “Well, when you put it like that, I look kind of silly being excited, don’t I?”

Ms. Potts got that look on her face that made Peter think he’d done something ‘adorable,’ and he blushed all the harder. Yeah, people wondered why he wore a mask!?

“Ugh, fine! Yes, that Libby! But look!” Peter waved the plastic bag again, “She bagged it all at the end of the day so we could bring it home to share!” He thrust the bag out to her. “It’s cinnamon!”

She looked at the bag like it was going to jump out of his hand and bite her. “And I am going to be convinced to eat this how?”

“Ms. Potts, it was so cool! Mr. Harrington had some boring video scheduled as the sub lesson, but Libby has a friend that goes to culinary school and was able to get all these food grade beakers and stuff so we could play around with temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff—“

“Temperatures and chemical reactions and stuff?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that the technical terminology they teach you at that STEM school, Peter?”

Peter stomped his foot and let out a whine, “Ms. Potts! C’mon! It’s candeeeeee!”

She laughed gleefully. “Oh, Peter! You’re too easy! Fine. I happen to love cinnamon candy—not that Tony ever remembers.” She put her hand out in expectation. “Impress me.”

Peter pulled a candy out of the bag and placed it into the palm of her hand. “With compliments from the chef!”

“I don’t think that’s quite right, Peter,” she teased as she popped the candy into her mouth.

“Well, it’s my candy and I can say what I want... Ms. Potts?”

He’d ignored the confused look on her face when she’d put the candy in her mouth. Peter figured she was going to play the critic and ‘analyze’ his creation. But then his spidey-sense blared. “Ms. Potts? What’s wrong?”

Pepper looked terrified. She spit the candy from her mouth and brought her hands up to her throat, scratching pink red lines against rapidly developing hives—along her jaw, around her mouth...

Peter figured it out pretty fast. “FRIDAY! Epi-pen! Where?” Peter called out. He remembered when Betty had reacted to a coconut cookie and Mr. Harrington needed to administer an epi-pen. It had been terrifying, but they’d all learned how to do it after—for Betty, and now for Ms. Potts.

“There is an epi-pen in the miscellaneous drawer next to the refrigerator.” FRIDAY prompted immediately. “As well, I have notified the medical staff of the situation.

“Thanks, FRI!” Peter hollered and he vaulted over the island, knocking all of Ms. Pott’s papers to the floor—but there was no time. He yanked the drawer out, scattering contents in his haste to track down the tell-tale tube.

There it was!

He grabbed the epi-pen, rushing over to Ms. Potts who had sat herself on the floor in her weakness. “Here you go, Ms. Potts.” He assured her, and with a determination like he’d never had before, he pressed the pen to her thigh, waited for the click and counted slow. 1--- 2--- 3. Done. He tossed the pen away.

Ms. Potts was looking a little less panicked, and a little more on the verge of passing out. “FRIDAY, when’s the medical team getting here?” He massaged the injection site.

“ETA is one minute and thirty seconds, Peter.”

Peter gave Ms. Potts a quick once over, she was looking clammy and pale, and her breathing was sounding pretty not good. With that he made his decision. “FRIDAY, tell them there’s a change of plans. Have them meet us at the elevator on the med bay floor in forty-five seconds.”

“Message relayed, Peter.”

“And FRIDAY, bring the elevator to the penthouse level, now! Medical Emergency!”

“Understood, Peter.”

Ms. Potts was gasping and ready to pass out. They had to move.

Peter placed his arms under her knees and around her back. “I’m gonna get you help now, Ms. Potts, okay?” He asked.

She didn’t answer, but he wasn’t really waiting for one. Peter scooped her up and had her at the elevator as the doors slid open. He reassured her as the elevator went down to the med bay floor, but she was barely conscious when they got there.

It said something about the professionalism of Mr. Stark’s staff that they said nothing about the gangly sixteen year old boy carrying the full-sized adult woman with ease, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were just barely ready for her as he stepped out of the elevator and then she was being whisked away to get the help that she needed.

Peter stared, dumbstruck, as they all disappeared into one of the treatment rooms.

She’d be fine.

Right?

“Holy shit!” Peter whispered. Ms. Potts had almost died!

Peter stepped back and slid down the wall behind him. He needed a second to process exactly what had just happened.

Ms. Potts has almost died — and she had eaten a candy that Peter had given her.

Peter had almost killed Ms. Potts and he didn’t understand! How had this happened?

She’d said she loved cinnamon, right?

Unless... had someone gotten to Ms. Potts before Peter had gotten to the tower? What if someone was out for the two of them? Tony hadn’t mentioned any new threats or Peter would have kept a better eye out for anything weird. Tony knew that he’d have helped out with something like that in a heartbeat.

Ms. Potts had almost died, and if he hadn’t been there to help, he’d have been—

Well. He tried to push the thoughts of the gaping hole Ben’s passing had left in his life, but only compounded the grief and horror when he coupled it with the thought of Ms. Potts being gone, too.

His eyes burned and his breathing picked up.

She was fine.

Ms. Potts had almost died... but she was fine.

The elevator doors opened again, and a frantic Mr. Stark came rushing out and down the hallway.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter called to him, struggling to pull himself together while getting up from his spot on the floor.

Mr. Stark turned and came back to Peter, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eye. “What happened, kid? They said she’s had an anaphylactic reaction to something but they’re not sure what she came in contact with!”

“I don’t know either, Mr. Stark! I was gonna ask if you knew—“

“Mr. Stark?” A nurse had stepped out of Ms. Potts’ room and was beckoning him in. “If you’d like to come in, she’s stable now.”

He looked to the nurse and then back at Peter, “We’ll table this for now, okay? I’m just gonna,” he pointed over his shoulder to the room his fiancée lay waiting for him.

Peter nodded, “Yeah, okay. I’m gonna wait here and make sure things stay okay, okay?” Peter’s thoughts were spinning.

Mr. Stark gave Peter a look of concern. “Okay.” He said hesitantly, and then jogged down the hall to Ms. Potts’ room.

The return to quiet was definitely not a good thing for Peter.

He sat again and tried to think.

It didn’t make any sense?

Maybe there was something on the papers she’d been handling? Was there a glass on the counter that he hadn’t noticed? Would Mr. Stark allow him to use FRIDAY to analyze—“

“Kid?”

Peter’s head popped up at Mr. Stark’s call and he stood. It had only been a couple of minutes so Peter was confused. “Mr. Stark? Is everything okay?”

Mr. Stark stalked towards him. “No. Everything is not okay.” He growled low. “What did you do?”

“What? I gave her an epi-pen and rushed her right here. Why?” Peter looked over Mr. Stark’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever could be happening. “Did something else happen?”

Peter was getting scared.

“She’s allergic to strawberries and you knew it! Was it supposed to be a joke? Some sick prank? Why the hell did you give her something that could kill her!?”

“But the-- ?” Peter started.

“But nothing! That woman is my life!” he waved toward the room where Ms. Potts was being cared for with one hand; shoved Peter hard in the chest with his other. “And I thought YOU, of all people, would keep her safe!”

“Mist—“

“Stop!” Tony finally roared. “I don’t want to hear your ‘I don’t knows’ and ‘Mr. Starks.’ I don’t even want to look at you now. There are no three strikes with this one, kid. Get your shit out of my penthouse and get out of my tower. Someone will call you about the suit.” He seethed, and then turned and marched back to be with Ms. Potts.

Peter couldn’t process—couldn’t understand.

“mr. stark. the candy was cinnamon.”

His weak whisper went unheard and after a few minutes of blinking into the void, Peter turned around, called the elevator and left the tower, walking out into the storm.

* * * * * *

It had taken several hours and the guarantees of Dr. Cho and two separate nurses that Pepper would be just fine if he left her alone for a few hours, before Tony felt comfortable enough to head up to the penthouse to shower and change clothes. She was being kept for observation until at least tomorrow afternoon and had been sleeping almost the entire time he’d been there.

And there was no way Tony wanted to stay in a three piece suit for that long if he could help it.

He’d confirmed with FRIDAY that Peter had left the tower, shaking his head at the sheer gall of the kid. How he could just...

No. Tony had to shake it off. He’d made a mistake. Misread the room, if you will. He’d get over the juvenility and betrayal and move on.

... Except that the kid had left all of his shit in his home.

Tony grabbed the backpack, fighting the urge to chuck it off the roof of the building he was so mad—and then he saw the damned bag of candy.

How could Peter do something so horrible? He’d been so sure that they were a team... Hell, he thought that Peter had looked up to him—maybe even loved him? And he sure as hell thought the kid respected Pepper enough to not intentionally harm her! When that nurse had told him that Peter had convinced her to eat something with strawberry in it...

It didn’t make sense.

But what’s done was done and Tony needed to wash his hands of it before he lost his damned mind. No one hurt Pepper.

Grabbing his phone, he dialled May one last time. She’d need to know to expect a courier for Peter’s school items and he was dealing with this now. Pepper didn’t need to come home to that kind of stress.

“Hey, Tony! I’m glad you called!” May answered her phone. “Is Peter with you?”

Caught off guard, Tony replied, “No.”

“Well,” May continued. “He’s not answering his phone and that sub of his, Libby, has been trying to contact all of the students she had in Chemistry today, but especially Peter.”

Libby? “What are you talking about May?”

May sounded exasperated, “I guess the kids all made candy today. Morning Chemistry made cinnamon. Afternoon Chemistry made strawberry. She apparently sent the candy home with the kids but got the batches mixed up and...” May snickered. “I guess the school had talked to her about Peter’s newly discovered rose ‘allergy’ so she wanted to make sure that Peter wasn’t accidentally exposed to anything else he shouldn’t be.”

Tony thought she was done, hoped that she was because he needed to fix this epic screw up now, but she kept on, “I swear, Tony, that woman is a menace.”

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Uh, May? I think I messed up...”

* * * * * *

Water dripped into his eyes and off of his nose.

It had been hours and was dark now, but the storm was determined to outlast Peter as he stood in the alleyway across the Avengers Tower. It was okay, though. Peter was Spider-Man, even if his uniform was upstairs in the penthouse... um—wow—even if Mr. Stark was going to take his uniform away for good. Either way, he’d already learned that lesson.

He could handle a bit cold weather.

Peter had watched Colonel Rhodes, and Happy Hogan enter the tower via the front entrance over the last half hour, making Peter curious. He hoped and prayed that Ms. Potts was okay, but hadn’t really gotten any real information before he’d left.

Then his heart jumped. What if they were all here because something was wrong?! What if...?

No. Ms. Potts was going to be fine.

Ms. Potts was going to be fine.

Please, God, let Ms. Potts be okay?

He shifted and scanned up and down the street, not wanting to miss anything.

The one plus was that he’d finally stopped shivering.

But that didn’t matter. Mr. Stark may not have let him explain, but Peter would do what he could to keep them all safe, even if Mr. Stark never wanted to see him again.

He blinked a little slower. Maybe he wasn’t feeling so cold after all, but he still needed to focus—

He’d sooner die than let someone take another family member away from him, whether they saw him that way or not.

* * * * * *

Rhodey was trying to understand. “So you accused Peter of trying to kill Pepper even though it was the teacher that had almost killed Peter messing up some pseudo-science experiment and giving him the wrong end product, right?”

“Right!” Tony yelled. “And now Peter is missing and his phone and suit are here and the storm is getting worse. I can’t leave Pepper, so I need you to go looking for him!” He looked desperate. “Please?”

Happy shook his head, “Boss, you really messed this one up.” He gave Tony a shoulder pat, the closest Happy could get to comforting. “I can head over to Ned and MJ’s and see if they’ve seen him.”

“And I’ll take a quick tour of the area, see if he maybe decided to stay close—muster up the nerve to come back to grab his stuff or something.” Rhodey stood up.

Tony ran his hands down his haggard face. “You’d think that after all this time, I’d learn to keep my stupid mouth shut before I know all the facts. Guys. This kid is... just...” Tony couldn’t find the words.

“We know, Tony.” Rhodey piped up. “We’ll get him back and you can fix this. Okay. He’s a good kid. He’ll understand.”

Tony rubbed his eyes and pulled himself together. “I hope so, Rhodey, I really hope so.” He clapped Rhodey on the back and led them to the elevator, “C’mon guys, I’ll walk you down before I go back up to the med bay. Pepper should be waking up soon and I still need to tell her what happened.”

They didn’t speak as the elevator descended, and Tony accompanied the men across the lobby to the doors in an attempt to delay the inevitable ass-chewing he’d receive from Pepper.

No one had thought to bring an umbrella, so they all stood looking at the rain—“He couldn’t have done this during the summer, huh?” Rhodey asked.

Tony glared.

Happy, however, was distracted by something going on across the street. “Hey, guys, what do you think that’s about?”

They all turned to watch a crowd gathered around the mouth of the alley across the street.

Tony blanched, “Guys, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” And like a shot all three men were outside and crossing the street to get to the chaos.

Tony got through the crowd first and saw him immediately. “Peter!” he called out as he knelt beside the unconscious boy. He put his hand to his forehead. “Shit!”

Happy and Rhodey made it through next. “Oh, kid.” Happy muttered, and then went right into Head of Security mode. “Alright, everybody, back up! Give the kid some room to breathe.

Rhodey leaned down to Tony, “C’mon, Tones. Let’s get the kid to the med bay. They can take care of him there.”

That seemed to snap Tony back to himself. With barely a grunt, he’d gathered the boy in his arms and made his way back to the tower. “C’mon, kid. You can’t do this to me. I have so many lego kits to buy you to make up for all of this...”

Without another word, the three men made their way, Happy stopping traffic for them to cross and Rhodey running ahead to alert FRIDAY and the med bay of their incoming patient.

After the tongue lashing he’d received from May earlier, he’d call her himself once he had a prognosis on the boy.

* * * * * *

Peter was warm, and he wasn’t sure why that mattered.

He’d been in the alleyway. He’d been staking out the tower ‘cuz Ms. Potts had been attacked and it couldn’t happen again—even if Mr. Stark didn’t believe him. He had to make sure that Ms. Potts stayed safe— Ms. Potts was...

“Ms. Potts!” Peter sat up in a flash, wildly looking for the person he needed to be okay the most. She was... she was...

She was sitting in the chair beside the bed he was currently occupying.

“Ms. Potts?”

She put down the book she had been reading and stood beside him. “Hey, sweetie. Why don’t you lie back down and get under those blankets before Tony gets back and freaks out about you not being burritoed in seventeen layers of fabric, okay?” She guided him back down to his pillows. “And, I think that you should be calling me Pepper, Peter.” She smiled softly. “I think it’s a rule when you save someone’s life and all.”

“Okay, Ms. Potts,” he answered. “If you say so.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He remembered how she’d looked, struggling for air, face swelling in reaction to... something? Now, he could see that her colour was better. She looked tired, still pale with visible redness along her neck and jawline, but she was breathing and the fear was gone from her eyes. “Are you okay now?” He had to ask.

She nodded, “Everything is fine now. I’m on the mend, you’re safe. It’s all we could ask for after the day we’ve had.”

Peter blushed, and then checked to see if Mr. Stark was anywhere in the vicinity.

“Are you looking for something, Peter?”

Peter must have been more stressed and tired than he thought because his eyes burned and he fought back tears. “I think I need to get going before Mr. Stark knows I’m here. He was,” Peter cleared his throat and looked down at his hands fussing with one of the many blankets on the bed. ”He was very clear that I was not to be in the tower, Ms. Potts.”

“It’s Pepper, Peter, and you are very much welcome to be here. It seems there was a misunderstanding and...”

“And you, Ms. Potts are supposed to be in bed right now.” Mr. Stark entered the med bay room.

“Well, dear Tony, I couldn’t very well leave Peter to wake up on his own, could I?” She teasingly replied, already rising up to return to her own bed only a few feet away.

He gave her a playful wink, “No, love, I guess you couldn’t.”

Peter starting inching off the bed. “I’m awake now, so I’m just gonna head back to—“ He’d almost said alley. Mr. Stark hadn’t wanted to hear about the threat earlier, so he’d find a way to prove that he hadn’t played a part.

“You are going nowhere, Mr. Parker. Not until I’ve had a chance to talk about what happened tonight and you reach a normal spider temperature, per Dr. Cho’s instructions, and not before.”

This was apparently all the permission Peter needed. “Mr. Stark, I promise you I was not the one to hurt Ms. Potts. I’d never! Not even as a joke! I couldn’t check with FRIDAY, but I was watching the tower and while I didn’t see anything suspic—“

“Hold on!” Tony interrupted. “You were watching the tower tonight? That’s why you were out in that rainstorm?”

Peter nodded.

“You were watching to make sure that Pepper was safe, even after I kicked you out of the tower?”

Peter nodded again. “Of course! I get why you’d have suspected me and especially why you’d be mad, but I knew it wasn’t me so that meant I had to start from nothing and I couldn’t ask FRIDAY, so... And then I worried that maybe Pepper wasn’t supposed to be the target and if you were so busy worrying about Ms. Potts that you weren’t being careful, well, then you could still get hurt so you needed someone to watch your back. And that was me.”

Tony stared at the kid in disbelief.

“Well, I watched as well as I could from outside.”

“And ended up with moderate hypothermia, you idiot.”

Peter frowned, “I’m sorry?”

Tony sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “No, Peter, I’m sorry. I overreacted to incorrectly conveyed information and ended up losing my absolute shit on you when you did absolutely nothing wrong.”

“Oh.” Peter didn’t know what to say to that.

“Pete, what happened tonight was the result of absolute carelessness. No one intended for anyone to get hurt but in the end, it seems that’s how it happened anyways.”

“I don’t understand?” Peter couldn’t follow.

“This afternoon, you gave Pepper strawberry candy.”

Peter immediately jumped in. “But I didn’t! Ned and MJ and I made it ourselves! I swear!”

Tony closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. Libby the ‘wunder-sub’ was going down once he figured out how to fix this with the kid. “Peter, Libby gave you strawberry candy instead of the cinnamon that you and Ned and MJ made.”

Peter was lost. “Why would she do that?”

Oh, Tony had opinions on that, but Pepper piped in from her bed to keep him from airing them. “She apparently had the morning and afternoon classes make different flavours, then didn’t label anything. She also chose to make sure that all of the candy looked exactly the same, using the same red food colouring, just different flavour additives. And then she lost track of which candy was which, and ultimately sent you home with the wrong one. Simple as that.”

Peter thought about that for a second. “So I’m the one that gave you the strawberry candy.”

“Yes, but—“ Ms. Potts tried to interject.

“No. I hurt you. I’m the one that gave you the strawberry candy. I didn’t check it or anything. If I’d just...” Peter couldn’t hide the guilt. “Ms. Potts.” He struggled to make eye contact, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I swear it to you.”

“Pete,” Tony jumped in but Pepper interrupted him.

“Peter, I know that. I’d trust you with my life—with good cause. You proved that today.”

Tony couldn’t stand what he was seeing in the kid, “Pete, Please. I’ve told you. I’m the one that should be sorry. I never should have said what I said to you. It was cruel and I’m horrified that I said any of it. Can you forgive me?”

Peter looked lost. “Mr. Stark, I get why you’d have reacted like that... and in the end you were right anyways. I did it. Please don’t apologize. I deserved every word of it, and probably more.”

Tony got real serious, real fast, “C’mon, kid, no one deserved what I said, Not even that idiot, Libby.” Why wouldn’t he kid believe him? “We know it was an accident, AND you saved her!”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, Mr. Stark, sir.”

“Then what will?”

Peter pulled the blankets up to his neck and snuggled in. “I’m going to close my eyes for a bit, Mr. Stark, sir. If you could let me know when Dr. Cho comes in so I can get checked. I’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“Peter, buddy, c’mon?”

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Stark. I think I just need a little time.”

“Time?”

Peter wouldn’t look at him, but whispered, “I destroy everything I love, Mr. Stark—and I won’t allow myself to do it again, no matter how much it hurts.” With those words, Peter rolled over and closed his eyes.

And Tony wondered when this awful world would give this poor, damned kid a break.

@febuwhump

#febuwhump #febuwhump2021 #allergic reaction #anger issues #fanfiction

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jbuffyangel · 5 years

Text

Strength: Arrow 8x05 Review (Prochnost)

We’re headed back to Russia for some Queen family vacation fun, except their version of “fun” is kidnappings and fight clubs.

Let’s dig in…

Oliver, Mia and William

Do you remember how we used to pray for a scene of Oliver teaching Felicity the bow and arrow?

The scenes with Helena fueled my hate fire for years. The closest we ever came to Olicity “training” was Oliver offering Felicity a few punching pointers

and the glorious salmon-ladder-leads-to-sex scene.

I’m not complaining! All I’m saying is we could’ve had a bow-and-arrow-training-leads-to-sex scene too. I have several insert-scenario-here-leads-to-sex scene ideas this show has yet to explore.

Anyway, if we can’t have Felicity training with Oliver then second best is their daughter training with Oliver. The intro to “Prochnost” is almost three minutes long and it’s pure fan fiction from start to finish.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Oliver teaches Mia how to tennis ball and uses cooking as analogy before he remembers she’s 50% Smoak.

It is clear Mia still has a lot to learn not only from a vigilante perspective, but also in terms of her archer skills.

When we met Oliver Queen in the pilot his skill set was perfected. He was a fully formed bad ass.

We haven’t seen Mia train other than a montage with Nyssa Al Ghul in 7x16 and I am thoroughly enjoying there’s still a lot she can learn from her father.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Oliver reviews all of his trick arrows with Mia, but doesn’t want them to become a crutch.

Source: lucyyh

What he doesn’t say is trick arrows became more of a necessity in disabling criminals after killing them was no longer an option. We’ve come a long way with Oliver Queen. If you had told me father/daughter training sessions were in our future when I watched the pilot then I would’ve laughed you out of the room because that’s a special brand of CRAZY.

Of course, a training scene without the stick thingies wouldn’t be a training scene on Arrow.

Source: miasmoakdaily

Yes, I know there’s a technical term for the stick thingies, but if I haven’t learned it by now do you think I ever will? No is the right answer.

Oliver: Nyssa taught you well.

Mia: Mom made sure of it.

I think Arrow makes an important point during this scene. Nyssa Al Ghul is good, but she’s no Oliver Queen. There’s been many seasons where it feels like the writers down played Oliver’s skills to give the other team members something to do *cough*L*urelLance*cough*.

However, the writers seem particularly focused on showing how Oliver’s skills are a whole other level now. Remember, he’s the guy who killed Ra’s Al Ghul – probably the greatest fighter of all time. It’s why Riccardo Diaz being a formidable threat was so laughable. When Felicity reached out to Nyssa she was asking the best for help, but there truly is no substitute for Oliver Queen.

Source: miasmoakdaily

Mia “The Machine” Smoak-Queen (her official title btw) doesn’t need a break, but I love how Oliver worries about her nonetheless. DADDY OLIVER IS SO SOFT.

Source: amunetblack

Mia gently reins in William’s ramble and this is the brother/sister banter I am here for. Look, I know we’ve clocked a season and a half with these kids and I should be used to moments where they remind me of Oliver and Felicity, BUT I CAN’T GET USED TO IT. It still fills me with absolute glee anytime it happens.

Children are individuals with unique personalities, but one of the more fun aspects of parenting is seeing traits of other family members, or maybe even yourself, emerge in the child you’re raising. I feel the same glee when my daughter reminds me of my husband or mother. And since William and Mia are my fictional TV children why should I be any different?

There’s a Curtis reference in this scene, so naturally I doze off when that happens, but the cliff notes version is the energy wave that destroyed Earth 2 can be recreated. There’s a Russian general trying to replicate it via pulse wave generator weapon and Team Arrow needs to get the plans.

I think. Plus they need plutonium which Diggle volunteers to get.

Oliver invites the kids to Russia with him and they are equally as shocked as I am.

Really? We’re going to Russia? I mean, I know we’re going to Russia, but Oliver’s casual invitation makes this trip sound like the equivalent of a grocery store run. The kids are so excited to be invited they think they’re going to Disney World with Dad.

This is so not going to be Disney World. TELL THEM THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE DISNEY WORLD OLIVER.

Oliver: I’m a better man. Different man. I think I can teach them the good without showing them the bad.

Oliver thinks this is going to be Disney World.

Diggle accurately points out visiting the place which was home to the darkest point of his life may not be as simple as Oliver would like it to be. His answer is equally wonderful and sooooo WRONG. It’s WONDERFUL Oliver believes he’s a better man. It took us 8 long years to get here and his statement is no small thing. Round of applause for our boy.

Unfortunately, this is where the wonderful ends. Oliver is determined to only show his children the good. I guess it sounds ok when he says it, but upon closer examination it misses the forest through the trees. Everything that happened to Oliver Queen, good and bad, has formed the person he is. He cannot extricate the bad from this story anymore than he can the good. They are a sticky wicket forever entwined together. Take out one and you don’t get the full picture. And what his children need and deserve is the full picture.

That’s not to say Oliver’s filter is entirely wrong. There are certainly topics and information children are not ready to hear, can’t understand, or wouldn’t be appropriate to tell them. Every parent has some kind of filter when raising their children because that’s what good parenting requires.

This is appropriate when children are small. As your child grows into an adult then your relationship with them must become more adult, which requires more transparency. This is the problem between Oliver and his children. He is parenting like William and Mia are still little. And they are not.

If plans for a pulse generator sound like a flimsy excuse to go to Russia then you’d be right. The real reason we’re going to Russia isn’t because of some rando general. It’s to say goodbye to one of Arrow’s greatest supporting characters - Anatoly Knyazev

“My brother.”

I block out most of Season 6 because half of it was a walking horror show, so I don’t remember where Oliver and Anatoly left things after he joined and then betrayed Team Bad Guy.

I guess their cool now? I don’t really want to spend all kinds of time on Oliver and Anatoly hashing out their issues, so if a hug gets the job done then I’m good. Also William speaks Russian. Queen men speaking foreign languages is hot.

A+ reaction Steve.

Source: arrowdaily

Anatoly was bored in the Maldives, now owns a bar and has a delicious pina colada recipe so that pretty much catches us up on him. He offers to help find Burov, but Oliver doesn’t want Anatoly’s “friends” involved because they are Bratva and he’s not discussing the bad parts of Russia with his children. I think the good parts of Russia ended at pina colada, Oliver. See how this is going to be a problem?

The best place to meet up with Burov is a local fight club. This prompts William to share where he met his baby sister and gives us Oliver’s best dad reaction to date.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Bless you William. You do God’s work my boy.

Mia: Why did you bring us on this mission if you aren’t going to let us help?

Oliver: This is the Bratva. They are terrible people and you guys are my kids.

Mia: Yes, but we’re not children.

Oliver: Well you are when I look at you.

Aww… my sweet, lovable, wonderful Oliver.

Do we ever stop looking at our children as children? Probably not. I know I will always be my parents’ baby girl and my daughter will always be mine. It is difficult to fully accept a human being as an adult when you’ve changed their diapers. And in Oliver’s defense he changed Mia’s diaper about five minutes ago in the present timeline, regardless of the future adults standing before him. We must give him some time to… adjust.

But Mia is Mia and doesn’t listen to anyone, other than William (SOUND FAMILIAR?) and he’s firmly on her team this week, so they go to the fight club and watch Dad in action. Mia has heard the stories of her father all her life but seeing him in action is an eye-opening experience. She is difficult to impress, but her dad is AWESOME. Yeah, we think so too honey. Welcome to stanning Oliver Queen.

Source: olivergifs

Unfortunately, the Bratva aren’t cool with the deal Oliver made with Burov and kidnap him along with Mia. Her Spidey sense was tingling, so she went to check on dad. Oops.

Source: feilcityqueen

If there is one lesson the Arrow villains consistently fail to learn it’s DO NOT MESS WITH PEOPLE OLIVER QUEEN LOVES. He gets very angry and wildly unpleasant, which leads to many broken bones and occasionally murder. You put hands on Felicity Smoak and even I’m down with Oliver ripping off your head.

Of course, Oliver wakes from unconsciousness and his immediate question is if Mia is okay. Can’t-Admit-I’m-In-Love-With-You Oliver,

Boyfriend Oliver,

Fiance Oliver,

Ex-boyfriend Oliver,

Husband Oliver,

and Dad Oliver are all the same Olivers.

Mia doesn’t understand why everyone in Russia knows who Oliver is and quickly deduces Dad was Bratva. Our princess is a smart cookie! Oliver is ticked Mia didn’t listen to him and there is truly no greater justice in the world than God creating a child who is exactly like you. Robert and Moira are having themselves a nice little chuckle.

Source: lucyyh

The Bratva threatens to torture Mia if Oliver doesn’t tell them what’s on the zip drive. Mia is very brave and tells Daddy not to say anything. Pfft. Not likely Little Miss Square Bear. He points a gun at Oliver’s precious girl and counts down from five. The Green Arrow breaks like a pretzel. Honestly, I’m shocked Oliver didn’t give the guy the whole store after four.

Source: olicitygifs

Unfortunately, nobody believes Oliver is telling the full story and a very large knife is brandished in Mia’s direction. Seriously? The one-time Oliver tells the truth he’s accused of lying. How ironic is that? The goon was at least 20 feet away from Mia, but Daddy was ready to flay him alive seven different ways.

Oh. He was only cutting the restraints. Okay, we’ll knock down the flaying to five different ways.

The Bratva force Mia to play the Ring the Bell game. I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but it works for my purposes. Oliver is very much HELL NO CHILD, but really her only other option is death. Of course, if she doesn’t ring the bell she dies too. ISN’T RUSSIA FUN?

Mia kicks major ass, but is unable to ring the bell in under 60 seconds. This might have something to do with her wasting time to look back at the clock and then waiting an additional 3 seconds to reach for the friggin bell, but that’s just details. Be less stupid Arrow.

The Bratva don’t shoot her because… they’re nice gang of Russian mobsters now?

Source: arrowdaily

This made very little sense other than Arrow doesn’t want to shoot the female lead of their new television show. On second thought, good enough for me. Oliver shoots death daggers at the man who scared the friggin bejesus out of him and it’s pretty much a certainty he will be flayed eight different ways.

William has a full-on panic attack over his father and sister’s kidnapping and it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. Then L*urel actually provides some necessary and helpful information. Is that the second week in a row this happened? I’m scared fandom. Hold me.

L*urel: Aren’t the people in your family constantly injecting each other with tracking devices?

William: Normally I would say God I hope not, but now I guess I can see the advantages.

He’s able to track them down, but L*urel and Anatoly show up right after Oliver has already freed himself by dislocating his thumbs. I love that trick. Mia’s reaction is the perfect combination of horrified and impressed. She really wants that trick to be on the next lesson plan.

Mia is bumming hard over not ringing the bell and boozes it up with some scotch. THY NAME IS GENETICS.

Oliver has had enough of his kids almost dying and is putting their asses on a plane back home BECAUSE THIS ISN’T DISNEY WORLD.

William jumps firmly on Team Mia and reminds their father he’d be dead without them. Oliver has been dislocating his thumbs on his own for awhile now children. I think he’d survive without your help.

It’s time to set these kiddies straight.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Mia tries to argue the whole adults saving the city angle, but that’s not going to fly in this timeline cupcake.

In this timeline, Oliver smooshed those perfect chubby cheeks one more time before he left to save the universe

Source: oliverxfelicity

and his rebelling teenage son, who was ousted from the present storyline to make a ridiculous plot point work in the future storyline, ignored his phone calls. (I’m never getting over the whole William never moves in with Mia and Felicity thing. NEVER.)

So, all of his children can take several seats and do what they’re told or they will be grounded! That includes no computer for you, William and Oliver will be taking that bow and arrow back little miss Mia.

Side note: This was a perfect time for William to explain WHY he didn’t return any of Oliver’s calls or if he even received them, but NOPE. Why would these writers attempt to clean up this mess of a storyline with reasonable explanations? Better to just ignore the Grand Canyon sized plot holes and keep driving through.

Stephen Amell does a wonderful job in this scene as Oliver’s voice quivers with emotion. He’s skating the edge of keeping his composure and losing it all together perfectly this season. Neither Mia nor William have offered much understanding for where Oliver is coming from. Yes, they are adults but 1) No matter how old they get they will always be Oliver’s children and 2) HE MISSED TWENTY YEARS.

Oliver has been very clear this was not a choice he wanted to make. Mia and William are not the only ones who lost something precious. Oliver lost a lot too. Part of being an adult is letting go of the natural narcissism we all have as children. So, if Mia and William want to put on their big boy and big girl pants then they need to show their father a little understanding and compassion.

Mia: And because you made the choice to protect us I had to spend my whole life alone. I didn’t have a chance to get to know my brother to get to know you.

Mia is not ready to do that yet. She throws Oliver’s choices in his face once again. He is still the one she wants to blame. If this reaction frustrates you then that’s understandable because Mia is supposed to be frustrating right now. It’s odd for us to be identifying through Oliver, but that’s what happens when the hero becomes fully evolved. This entire episode is about showing how much Mia still has to learn not only physically, but emotionally too.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Oliver is getting used to Mia’s blame by now and it doesn’t really change his opinion on this situation. The worst part of this argument is Oliver believing his children hate him. His worst nightmare was Mia and William not understanding his choices and resenting him for it. Oliver’s greatest fear isn’t death. It is his children believing he abandoned them.

Mia being angry at Oliver over not growing up with William is really not his fault and it’s bizarre how the writers are insistent on lumping that in with everything else she’s ticked about. I did a deep dive on Mia’s emotional and psychological viewpoint last week and I won’t repeat it here because everything still stands. But how is Felicity never going back for William Oliver’s fault?

I’m not putting the blame on Felicity here either. It’s a ludicrous plot point that makes absolutely no sense, so it’s pointless to even try to argue the logic. And yet, that’s exactly what the writers keep trying to do. But it merely shines a brighter spotlight on their illogical reasoning behind the decision.

We are already sympathizing with Oliver because we know how heartbroken he was to leave his children. We know he sacrificed everything for a bunch of ungrateful twats who caught a lucky break for existing in the universe. But forcing Mia’s character to continually blame Oliver for EVERYTHING can rapidly make this character unlikeable. Particularly since her father left to SAVE THE UNIVERSE. The writers need to tread carefully. This has the same nonsensical threads of the Season 4 break up. Or, even worse, Mia channeling the same the anger/blame/bitterness of Season 1 & 2 L*urel Lance. Nobody wants a repeat of those hot messes.

Oliver is floundering. He missed twenty years of his children’s lives. They’ve arrived from a different time as adults. Oliver was still learning how to be a parent and then the universe flipped the board. He has no idea how to do this and the one person who can help him isn’t here. If there was ever a time Oliver needed his Felicity this is it.

So, the only guiding light Oliver has right now is the promise he made his wife and mother of his children.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Not to get too nitpicky on the details Oliver, but as @callistawolf pointed out in our Watchover episode of 8x05, we never heard him make any promises to Felicity about the children.

In their final goodbye, it was Felicity promising Oliver to do whatever was necessary to keep their children safe (re: Nyssa Al Ghul). So, let’s just create our own head canon there was some Olicity discussion about the future kids being in present day off screen and he made the promise to her then. Cool? Cool.

OR Oliver is merely trying to score points in an argument via emotional manipulation, which hey man. More power to you. Whatever it takes to keep kiddos safe, I guess. I did have to chuckle about Oliver keeping his promises to Felicity NOW that she’s off the show. Where was this guy in 6x23? Or maybe I sobbed quietly. Probably a little of both. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s an EPIC speech. Dad for the win.

Oliver decides it’s time to get boozy. Amen brother. Pass the scotch.

Anatoly is no Felicity Smoak, but in the ever-spinning weekly wheel of characters trying to fill her role, he asks the obvious question. Is Oliver sending his children home because he believes they cannot handle Russia/vigilantism/life?

Of course, the answer has been obvious from the moment Oliver decided to only share the good. It’s not about what his children can handle. This is about what Oliver can handle.

Anatoly: That is understandable. You’re ashamed. You have truly done some terrible things.

Oliver: Thank you for the reminder.

Anatoly: But you also have done some good things. It’s important that the kids see both.

Can’t you just hear Felicity Smoak saying these lines? Only in an adorable ramble and less booze? I miss her. Just leaving this here.

I absolutely understand Oliver’s refusal to share the darkest moments of his past. It’s not like my dad has gone chapter and verse into his Vietnam experiences. But I know he was there. I know some of the stories. Maybe Oliver doesn’t need to go into detail about the time he skinned a guy, but he can be honest with his children about being in the Bratva.

Anatoly: That’s the thing about teaching. It’s not about what you want to say. It’s about what they need to hear.”

This part of the speech is all Anatoly.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

He taught Oliver living was not for the weak because this was the lesson Oliver needed to hear. Maybe he missed out on teaching William and Mia how to tie their shoes or ride a bike, but nobody understands what it means to be a hero better than Oliver Queen. The Crisis is coming and if Oliver is marching slowly but steadily to his death then he must pass on all he’s learned. There is still so much to teach Mia and William about Oliver’s life and who he is. Those lessons can only come from their father. What William and Mia need to hear is the truth.

“You were so little. I think that’s what I’ve always wanted all these years. Is for you just to stay little, quiet and safe. But you’re not any of those things. You’re loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of me.” Derek Shepherd, Grey’s Anatomy

His children are loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of Oliver Queen. But there’s a deeper fear driving his hesitation. Oliver is afraid that if he tells Mia and William the truth about his past then they’ll only hate him more. He is constantly afraid of losing his children’s love.

But truth is the path to understanding. Anatoly is right. Oliver must give Mia and William a chance. The real truth is there’s nothing he has done or will ever do that will make his children stop loving him. Sure, Mia is angry at Oliver, but she’s only angry because she loves him. She craves her father’s approval more than anything.

Oliver changes his parenting tactic. He cannot shield his children from the very life they have chosen for themselves. He asks Mia to fight in the ring with him and William to help get them in. Oliver treats his children like they are part of the team – like partners.

Mia has been trying to show her father what she’s capable of since the moment she came to the present. Underneath all that anger and blame, is a little girl who just wants to make her daddy proud. What Mia needs to realize is she already makes Oliver proud merely by existing. However, he offers her the support and belief she’s been craving as they enter the ring together.

Source: oliverxfelicity

The look on her face says everything about how Mia truly feels about her dad.

Source: arrowdaily

FATHER DAUGHTER FIGHT CLUB. From the moment, we met Blackstar in the ring I hoped she was Olicity’s daughter and we would somehow, someway get a scene of Oliver and Mia teaming up. But I never imagined these circumstances. It’s awesome.

After kicking butt as a team and a family, Oliver opens the door to his past and lets his children walk through. And what better place to start than the beginning?

Source: olivergifs

The truth is a tie that binds and it will be the foundation of Oliver’s relationship with his children. Something he never had with his parents until it was too late.

And did William and Mia stop loving Oliver after they heard the truth? No. They understand him better and love him all the more for what he’s survived.

Mia: Don’t forget to send me that picture of my dad with that haircut.

Anatoly: Don’t forget to ask about Bratva tattoo. We have matching.

Oliver: Used to. Used to actually.

William: Oh I’m gonna need to hear that story immediately.

Well... son this raving loony burned my tattoo off my chest after several hours of torture.

The warm banter of this scene isn’t to make light of what Oliver Queen suffered. It’s to show the power of telling our stories. Pain and fear lose control over us, bit by bit, the more we talk about it and share with our loved ones. We let them inside the good and bad, so we don’t have to carry it by ourselves anymore. Overtime, we begin to see our suffering for what it is - something we survived. Children, in particular, have an ability to find the light in the dark. We can see our life through their eyes and remarkably, yes even find the humor in what was once unspeakable pain. And come on - Oliver’s flashback hair is always funny.

Family is the source of Oliver’s strength. It always has been. It’s what helped him survive the unsurvivable.

He can only become his children’s strength by teaching them how he became a better man. William and Mia can only understand who their father is, and how to be heroes, by knowing the good and the bad. Hiding either tarnishes the beauty of his story. Oliver is finally strong enough to tell it and his children are strong enough to hear it. And that’s how the past, present and future will find harmony, acceptance, forgiveness and love.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Diggle and Roy

John enlists Roy’s help obtaining the plutonium.

Source: thistributeisonfire

We’re going to run through this pretty quick because this storyline is all about getting Colton Haynes back on Team Arrow for the final episodes.

Diggle tells Roy what happens to him in the future. The cure for Roy’s bloodlust wasn’t hiding out on Lian Yu for 20 years. It was rejoining the team and fighting for the city again.

Diggle: Maybe this time you don’t have to wait that long.

Diggle’s ENTIRE motivation is to change Roy’s future and it’s not difficult to figure out why. Obviously John cares about Roy and wants to help him. However, Roy also makes a very good test case. Diggle is also desperate to change Connor, JJ and Zoe’s future as well. If they can make their own hope in the present then maybe things can be different for his children in the future.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

We all need love and support. None of us can truly survive on our own - particularly when we are suffering. Roy fights John at first, but eventually he comes to realize he’s right. Roy found purpose and family when he met Oliver so it makes sense to him they are the reason he gets better. So why wait? He comes home and begins the path to healing twenty years earlier. And thus, a major storyline from Season 7 flash forwards begins to change.

ROY MADE SENSE Y’ALL!!!

L*urel L*nce

I truly could not figure out why L*urel was in Russia. I guess to help Oliver track down these plans, but she spent the better part of the episode staring at her fingernails. That’s not even an exaggeration. KC stared at her fingernails for an entire scene.

Source: thistributeisonfire

Her interactions with Oliver are even more bizarre.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

I’m sorry, but does L*urel go here? Bl*ck S*ren has been on the show since Season 5. You’d think at this point she’d know Oliver Queen can easily handle one guy twice his size. I’m chalking up this stupidity to the acting version of a layup, so Stephen Amell can spike it with the epic comeback of, “I’ll give him half a chance.”

I guess L*urel is primarily in Russia to betray Oliver Queen and steal the plans or something, per Lyla’s instructions.

LL: And here I thought I was supposed to be the bad guy.

At last count Lyla never murdered innocent people, so I think she's still ahead by the numbers Bl*ck S*ren. This is the problem with L*urel’s character this year. The comparisons her character makes this season are INSANE. Putting on a new suit and calling yourself Bl*ck C*nary doesn’t automatically make you morally superior to everyone.

At least when Season 7 L*urel was playing attorney she had a healthy perspective on herself. I was a big fan of the snark last season and found her character to be refreshingly amusing in her biting honesty, but this year the writers lost the snarky humor and have gone straight to obnoxious hypocrisy and judgment. Sometimes she’s just downright mean in a way none of the other characters deserve. Yes, Lyla is being shady, but this in no way erases the horrors of your past L*urel.

L*urel: If saving it means going back to the person I used to be then what the hell is the point?

We all know this whole betray Oliver thing the Monitor is playing at with L*urel is a trick. She’s not going to betray Oliver and prove herself a worthy and useful hero. Ok. Whatever. I know I’m supposed to get excited about her big speech, but this line kind of gnawed at me.

L*urel is unwilling to save an ENTIRE EARTH because she’d have to do something shady. She’s not willing to do any dirty work if it sullies her good name. So, Earth 2 only matters as long as L*urel gets to be a hero on it? I guess I should be happy L*urel is holding onto her moral center, but if there’s anything Oliver Queen’s story has taught us sometimes heroism requires doing unpleasant things for the greater good.

Take Lyla for example – a person L*urel feels quite comfortable judging. Lyla has been lying to her husband, something she does not want to do, for the greater good. I think we know enough about Lyla’s character by now that even though her actions are hurtful we can trust her reasons.

LL’s primary function this week it seems is to rat Lyla out to Diggle and Oliver.

Source: stevesrogered

I guess we’re supposed to rejoice there’s no price L*urel is willing to pay for her morality, but this is still the same person who has yet to take any responsibility for the people she’s murdered. The line just sounded so arrogant and self serving to me. I don’t know. Maybe it was just KC’s delivery.

It’s been difficult for me to imagine what role either L*urel or Dinah will play in the spin off and seeing as how the writers are struggling to find a purpose for their characters in the final season of Arrow I am not encouraged. That said, L*urel’s scene with Mia was one of the few bright spots for her character in this week’s episode. Mia believes she’s not cut out to be a hero because she failed to ring the bell like her father and Zoe’s death still weighs heavily on her conscious.

Mia: Every time I try and live up to my dad or to prove I can do what it is you all do. I fail.

L*urel: If you’re trying to live up to us, don’t. We are just as flawed as anyone. Especially me. All you can do is live up to yourself.

Damn L*urel. That was really good advice and a truthful reflection of the person you are. CAN WE HAVE THIS ATTITUDE CONSISTENTLY WEEK TO WEEK PLEASE WRITERS? This is the first time I can see a version of L*urel working in the spin off, but that’s always the problem with the writing of her character. We never know which version we’re going to get.

Season 8 is slipping back into very bad Season 1 habits. There’s a lack of cohesiveness with L*urel and they really need to get this sorted out before the new show hits the air. Otherwise, we’re going to have the same problem we’ve always had with her character. No matter how many versions of L*urel’s character these writers create they never figure out who she truly is because they don’t want to devote the necessary screen time. This leaves us with a half baked canary every single time.

If L*urel is going to play Rupert Giles to Mia’s Buffy in the spin off then this scene is a good indication of how it could work, but that’s only if this path stays on track which seldom happens with this character. The key to LL is a very specific supporting role. She worked great in Season 7 because her focus was getting Oliver Queen out of jail. Then,it was about fleshing out her redemption and shipping her back to E2 to make amends.

L*urel lacks a concrete To Do list this year. They toss her into scenes and she takes up space looking at her fingernails. Or she arrives a few minutes after Oliver frees himself to scream down a door he could have easily opened. Or she says something hypocritical and nasty. REALLY? This is the best these writers can come up with? Sadly, history points to yes.

Keep her scenes short. Keep her scenes specific. Keep her scenes supporting. That’s the only way this character works. And believe me I wish it was different, but there doesn’t seem to be any version of L*urel L*nce these writers can keep a handle on.

You know what I appreciate about this scene between Anatoly and William though? Anatoly addresses his less than honorable past and apologizes. I can’t fully remember what Anatoly did to William - I think it might have been related to kidnapping or a bomb or a nuke or all three. See? I told you I don’t remember S6. My point is - can we expect an apology from L*urel for being an accessory to William’s mother’s murder? I won’t hold my breath. It would be extremely helpful if they addressed LL’s past in an honest way and actually had her show remorse to one of her victims, but again that requires more screen time and effort than this show is ever will to give her character.

SO WHY DO THEY KEEP HER AROUND?

Stray Thoughts

Connor isn’t in this week’s episode because he’s checking in on Sandra. Soooo… Connor can visit his mother but Mia and William can’t visit theirs? I know this is yet another EBR plot hole, but find a better reason for Connor to be MIA writers. It just makes the Smoak-Queen family look uncaring, which we know they are not. And if Connor can get an off camera mother moment mention then why can’t Mia and William? THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ANNOY ME.

“Has anyone fought six men before?” Mia and Oliver’s side eye is hilarious, but didn’t Mia fight six goons by herself? And we’ve watched Oliver take down twenty without breaking a sweat. Raise the number in the ring a little if you want me to take their hesitation seriously.

Diggle is absolutely horrified to find out Lyla is working against the team with The Monitor. “I didn’t want to believe it was true.” Boy, really? Who are you kidding? This is Lyla Michaels, super spy. She’s been lying and doing shady things from minute one. She’s the Oliver to your Felicity. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is totally something she would do and you know it. Lol

William doesn’t like the field, but the allure of beautiful couture convinces him otherwise. At least he didn’t have to go on a skeevy date with Ray Palmer to wear it. Source: felicitysmoakgifs

William’s “Wrap it up” sign while Mia was fighting was such a funny and wonderful way of showing their team within a team.

“I can be the fun uncle.” Raise your hand if you want Anatoly as a fun uncle.

He was a complicated, but ultimately wonderful character who made Arrow a better show.

Goodbye Anatoly. I will miss you. source: oliverxfelicity

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 8x05 gifs credited.

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intothestarkerverse · 4 years

Text

Welcome to My Dark Side (2)

Sequel to ‘Time of Our Lives’

Tony Stark has done his best to fit into the 21st century by embracing his new role, new family, and even his new nicknames. Determined to become a hero worthy of calling Peter Parker his life partner, everything seems to be going better than he could have hoped…until Tony’s efforts to help Peter uncover the truth behind his parents’ death put everything he knows and loves in terrible danger. In the face of absolute darkness, how can love and life survive?

(STORY CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS)

Read on AO3

“You have breakfast yet?” Tony eyed the six year old perched on a stool at his breakfast counter. Her responding expression was beyond her sparse years, little mouth drawn into a serious frown, brows furrowed, dark eyes humorless with their intensity. “Guess I should ask if you had anything good for breakfast, instead, right?” Without waiting for a response, he turned back to his cupboards, plucking two bowls, two spoons, a carton of milk and a box of cereal out before precariously balancing his bounty back across the kitchen to the counter.

Morgan immediately perked up at the sight of the sugary breakfast treat that Pepper tried very hard to keep away from her growing daughter. The fact that she had dumped Morgan on him this morning because she had an early morning conference call with someone in Japan just meant that Tony had a chance to spoil her, and spoil her he would. Tony couldn’t bring himself to look on her as a daughter no matter what genetics said about the matter, but he’d always wanted a little sister and Morgan Stark was special in every single sense of the word. He loved that kid and he’d happily murder anyone who even breathed on her wrong.

Morgan examined the box of cereal carefully as Tony prepared their meal, amused by the sugar-covered pieces of processed grain in the shape of tiny arc reactors and corresponding red and gold iron man helmet-shaped marshmallows. “Let’s not tell your mom about this, huh?”

Morgan cocked her head at him, providing him with a half smirk as she chewed.

“Yeah, okay, don’t know what that means. Kid, you’re the most cryptic six-year-old I’ve ever met.” He enjoyed a few spoonfuls of his own bowl before he thought to ask, “Happy’s taking you to school in a bit, right?” Pepper hadn’t said anything about Tony playing chauffeur, but he also hadn’t been paying much attention when the mother and daughter had arrived early that morning either. Pepper could count her lucky stars that he didn’t require a lot of sleep and that he was still almost obsessively focused on the puzzle that Fury had presented to him after the fundraiser or he’d likely have been down for the count like most of the civilized folk in Manhattan at that hour. As it was, he’d been deeply ensconced in his workshop with something that was going to benefit his future plans with Peter...a project he’d had to artfully hide from Pepper before she connected the dots and realized something he’d rather she not know.

“Mhm,” Morgan barely afforded him a grunted response around her heaping mouthful of cereal. It really was a shame how Pepper fed this kid. Cutting sugar out of her breakfast food regimen was un-American. School plans settled, the two fell into a companionable silence, eating their cereal and glancing over the graphics of the Old Man on the box from time to time. Some kind of idle statistics about his do-gooding and IQ adorned the back. The IQ was off by twenty points. He was going to have to make them fix that.

Tony didn’t realize Morgan had finished her cereal until he looked up from the box to find her staring at him with that same intense expression. “You okay, Maguna?”

“How come you and daddy are the same?”

Tony almost spit his cereal out. Somehow, he managed to swallow it in a gulp and stall for time with a little coffee as he coughed and sputtered on the soggy grain and milk. “Uh, well, it’s just genetics kid. You and the Old Man are a lot alike, too.”

“Um...no. You and daddy are just alike, TJ.”

“Okay...well...there’s an explanation for that...”

Morgan pursed her lips and raised both brows at him, moving to a kneeling position on the stool so she could lay across the counter and reach out to place her hands on his face. “You look just the same. And sound just the same. And your fingers are the same. You’re the same as my daddy.”

Yeah, okay, so she was a Stark and he really should have seen this coming. He could almost pity Howard in this moment if this gave him any clue about what he’d been like as a six year old. Christ. Tony cleared his throat, searching for something to say to explain it all away. Instead, all he could do was stall for time. “How did you figure this out, Kid?”

“Miss Friday helped me.”

“Seriously? What do you have to sat for yourself, Fri?”

“You told me to assist in Morgan’s education whenever possible, Boss.” Tony let out a long sigh, that had not been what he meant. “She asked me about your fingerprints and voice analysis and how they corresponded to Mr. Stark’s so I provided her with detailed comparisons of both.”

Tony tapped the back of the little girl’s hand on his cheek with his finger. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”

“Cause I am.”

“Mhm, and what made you think to compare my fingerprints and voice with your father’s?”

“My teacher said everybody has a voice that is just their own and not like anybody else in the whole wide world but you and daddy sound just alike. Sometimes when you put me to bed I close my eyes and pretend you’re him.”

God, she was actually trying to kill him, now. Tony felt his throat constrict as he plucked her hands off of his face and gave them a tight squeeze. “I’m not your daddy, Morgan. I wish I was because you’re so damn smart and beautiful and amazing, but I’m not. You’re right, though, I’m not you’re brother either. I just....I really need your mom and everyone else to believe that I am so can this be our little secret and I promise that sometime real soon I’ll sit down and tell you everything, okay? For now...believe me when I tell you that your daddy is out there watching everything you do and he’s so freaking proud of you kid. Whenever you see a rainbow or a shooting star or something crazy good happens to you out of the blue, that’s your dad telling you how much he loves you.”

“3000.”

Tony blinked away the tears in his eyes, clearing his throat and abandoning the counter to tidy up. “Exactly.”

“Boss, Happy is here to pick up Morgan for school...” Saved by the AI.

“You hear that, Maguna? Get a move on or you’ll be late. Wait...I want a hug first. Yep, that’s the stuff right there.” He buried his nose in the little girl’s hair for a moment and gave it a good ruffle with his fingers before he let go. “Be good and kick butt in school, okay? Love you, kid.”

“I love you too, TJ.”

“3000?”

A pause. “2005.”

“Ouch.”

~~~~~

“I’m still not sure about this.”

“What’s not to be sure about, Beautiful? I’ve thought of everything.”

Peter turned back to the holographic read outs with a long sigh. They were blueprints of the old Oscorp labs, or at least what little information Tony had been able to hack his way into at Shield, along with a few other reports that looked like weather and topographic readouts of the area. Peter knew that this was their best bet, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t think he could attribute it to his Spidey Sense, or Peter Tingle as the rest of the Avengers had taken to calling it (thanks to May). No, it didn’t feel quite the same. There was no sense of impending danger, just a heavy blanket of foreboding that was threatening to choke off his air supply. Tony obviously didn’t feel the same, so maybe he was just being silly. Or maybe he wasn’t.

Peter was supposed to tell May that he was going on a spring break trip with Tony, MJ, and Ned. While MJ and Ned were actually going to go to Florida to live it up, he and Tony were heading to upstate New York to infiltrate Osborn’s lab. Ned would be armed with a special Stark Phone that Tony had outfitted with the tech to provide realistic synthetic substitutes of Tony and Peter. If May or Pepper sent texts, they were going to get varied and believable responses meant to replicate the young men’s actual speech and text patterns. If they called or video chatted, a variant of the BARF technology was going to provide a realistic computerized response that would again fool the older women into thinking they were both in Florida living the good life by utilizing actual noise pollution and visuals from Ned and MJ’s vacation. The guilt of leaving May at the airport thinking they were taking Tony’s private jet to Florida when they were instead flying headfirst into danger...it was almost suffocating and he couldn’t ignore the worry any longer. “What happens if we’re not back in a week, Tony?”

“If we’re not back by the time that MJ and Ned have gotten back, than Friday is going to reveal our true destination to May, Pepper, and Fury so arrangements can be made.”

Funeral arrangements or just rescue mission arrangements? Peter wanted to ask, but he knew better than to say any of that out loud. He and Tony rarely fought, but Peter knew that nothing made Tony angrier than mentioning their own mortality. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Because Peter wasn’t sure at all. He’d heard Tony’s argument a hundred times but part of him still felt sick at what they were planning to do.

“Your parents are out there. They’re alive. We don’t leave men behind. Besides, if there is something big and nasty coming than we need to know what it is and how to stop it. I refuse to do what the Avengers did and just sit around waiting for the Big Bad to come knocking down our door. We’re not going to be surprised again, Peter. Whatever this bad thing is...we’re going to identify it and even after we close that gateway...we’re going to be ready for it because there’s no guarantee that closing the gateway will end the danger. None.”

Peter could only nod slowly. “Yeah, okay. No, you’re right. Of course you are. I’m just...I’m nervous about getting my hopes up and visiting another world and just...everything.”

Tony laughed, reaching out to tug Peter across the room and into his arms. His lips ghosting against the younger man’s, breath hot against Peter’s mouth as he embraced him, “We had sex in two different times, Baby, now we get to consummate parallel earths. Tell me that’s not hot as fuck.”

“Depends on the parallel earths.”

Tony snorted a laugh as he nuzzled into Peter’s neck and nipped at his ear, “You need to stop worrying. We’re superheroes, Baby. Arguably the two best superheroes on the planet.”

“Only because Thor is off world with the Guardians...”

“Honestly, you and Thor. If I didn’t know better, I’d be jealous.”

Their conversation died off as the Quinjet came to a quiet landing. Peter held onto Tony for several more seconds, eyes closed, breathing in the scent of the older man in an attempt to calm the frenzied beating of his heart. Finally, though, he gently pushed himself away and tapped his watch to engage the Ironspider suit.

Several things became apparent to Peter as the two descended the ramp from the cloaked jet plane. This was clearly going to be even more difficult than Peter had thought. Fury hadn’t been lying when he said that Shield had sealed the lab in an attempt to prevent anything from the Gateway from breaching the outside world. From outward appearances, it looked like the entire building had been encased in a giant block of cement. “Uh, so...”

“Don’t worry, I had the Iron Legion working on our way in for the last twenty-four hours. Believe it or not, inside this cement, there’s another layer of titanium. Anyway, it took six suits, but we have a way in. Follow me.” Iron Man circled the building with Spidey close on his heals. The moment they turned the corner, Peter could see the suits. It appeared that they’d concentrated their repulsers into a succession of laser-like beams that had sliced a rectangular chunk of cement and metal to reveal one of the doors on the blueprints. “I’m leaving them on guard duty while we’re gone. Friday will make sure that nothing comes out of this facility until we get back...and if by some miracle something gets by, she’ll radio the New Avengers. You don’t have to worry, Pete.”

“Famous last words.” It was in times like this that Peter found himself missing Mr. Stark. Tony just hadn’t experienced the level of failure and defeat that Mr. Stark, or even Peter, had. He didn’t know to expect the worst, but Peter did. He cast a wary glance at the Iron Legion, biting his tongue as Tony moved for the door.

It came open with a pop, the musty smell of stale air, dust and mildew washed out around them. Peter only got the smallest whiff before he felt the filtration system in the suit come online.

The interior looked like nothing but darkness. No light could penetrate from the concrete and titanium covered walls, so there was nothing visible beyond a few feet into the entry. It wasn’t as if Mr. Stark hadn’t thought of those concerns a long time ago. Something as mundane as darkness was hardly any match for Iron Man. Lighting and night vision had been built into the earliest models of the suit, after all. As Iron Man stepped into the abyss beyond, that tech came online to illuminate the area around him and several feet in front of him. A similar array of artificial illumination ignited on the Ironspider suit as well. Gulping back his fear, Peter reached out to close the door behind them and they were bathed in black.

The entire facility was filthy, awash with dust, debris, and cobwebs. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter caught sight of what he could only assume was the corpse of a fallen Shield Agent, but he did his best to avoid looking at it for too long. Still, the momentary glimpse of the skeleton was burned onto is retinas. “Tony...”

There was something wrong with that sight. The body. As much as he wanted to avoid looking, he couldn’t help but glance back towards it. “Tony, if the building is sealed...how is that body not mummified...”

Tony was already bending over it to examine the bones as the oddity of the body struck him as wrong at almost the same time. “I think these are tooth marks...”. He held up an ulna, running an armored finger over the grooves on the bone. “These are definitely toothmarks. Friday says they appear...humanoid.”

Peter certainly hoped that Tony couldn’t hear him gulping in fear behind his own mask....but with the sensitive comms, he probably could. “Tony...what are we locked in here with?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just...be careful, and hope that Peter Tingle of yours is on point tonight.”

“Spidey sense.”

“Hmm,” Tony reverently replaced the bone and stood, brushing off his gauntlets.

“I prefer the term ‘Spidey Sense.’ “

“Give me one good reason why I should call it Spidey Sense, Baby, because that name isn’t nearly as funny...”

“Because you’re the only thing that makes my peter tingle.”

Tony had to brace himself against the wall to support himself as he laughed. “God, Beautiful, every time I don’t think I could love you more...you go and drop one of those gems on me. Damn.”

Peter’s response was lost on his lips. He felt the telltale warning of danger shiver down his spine as he caught sight of movement just at the periphery of their location. There wasn’t time to warn him, there was really only time for Peter to fire a quick line of webbing at his lover and tug him back as something dark and terrifying lunged from the shadows. Peter could swear he could hear it moaning the word ‘meat.’

“What the fuck...” A repulser blast bit into the wall inches from the creature, scorching its arm and the tatters of what appeared to be clothing and once more driving it back into the shadows before either hero could get a good look at it. “Well, at least we know what ate the bodies...”

“Yeah, Tony, that’s not nearly as comforting as you think it is.” Even worse, perhaps, were the observations from both Karen and Friday that the creature had no heat signature and wouldn’t be visible on infrared. Now their trek through the building was much more careful and calculated. There were signs of the creatures everywhere. Claw marks on the walls, ransacked rooms, shattered furniture, the little skeletons of rats and mice and anything else unfortunate enough to have been sealed into the lab with them. It was only the knowledge of the Parkers’ distress call that kept Peter moving through the corpse of the once thriving laboratory. His parents were alive. They’d escaped this place, and so would he and Tony. They just had to.

At least Tony seemed to know where he was going. He’d studied the blueprints much longer than Peter and had no doubt pinpointed precisely where a lab with a dimensional gateway would be located. Neither man mentioned the occasional sound of shuffling footsteps, the soft grunts and moans, the momentary glimpses of shifting shadows. There were clearly more than one of those things in there with them, but for the moment, they were hanging back. Maybe Tony had scared them with the repulser. Or, maybe as with many of the hunters in the animal kingdom, they were stalking their prey and waiting for exactly the right moment to strike.

The Gateway didn’t look anything like Peter had imagined it would. Shows like Stargate had always made them out to be large and imposing, a shifting, whirling mass of colors housed within an intricate metal or stone structure that provided it shape. This portal was anything but.

Peter could barely make it out without one of the specialized lenses of his suit. To the naked eye, it appeared as little more than the somewhat fluid appearance of very hot air on a humid July day. It was in that subtle wavering of the light that the slightest glimpse of a world beyond their own could be captured...but never long enough to make anything out. A quick sweep of the area showed that the portal was being maintained by a strip of metal along the ground that was joined to a large and imposing computer. While Peter had been examining the Portal, Tony had been taking stock of the technology.

“They cut off power to the lab in the hopes that it would cause the Gateway to close. It didn’t, which means that whatever is powering this portal isn’t coming from our dimension anymore.”

“That’s comforting.” Peter reached out to touch the shimmering air. As his finger hit the air, the tip of it vanished. He felt nothing. No pain, no tingling, no disconnection. Nothing to suggest it was a portal to another world besides the fact that the tip of his finger had vanished before his very eyes.

“Peter, stop poking the portal. It has a radiation signature...”

The young man withdrew his hand quickly, glad that Tony couldn’t see what he was certain was a guilty look on his face. Neither of the men had withdrawn their suits since entering the laboratory. The air inside the lab was breathable, if their read outs were any suggestion, but also so stale that it would likely not be pleasant for either one of them. Besides, with those monsters running around, it seemed smart to have some kind of protection on hand. Now, with what looked like a radiation signature emanating from the portal...the suits were staying on for the foreseeable future.

Tony was busy patching one of the main computer terminals into a handheld arc reactor to allow him to reboot and access the information they both hoped was still accessible on the hard drives while Peter was pacing the lab like a nervous animal in a zoo. Just like a nervous animal in a zoo, he could feel what was an indeterminate amount of eyes trained on his every movement and his inability to know where they were or what they were planning was making his every instinct scream warnings in his head.

Desperate for some distraction, Peter started to look more closely at the room itself. It looked as if the place had just been abandoned in the middle of a shift. There as a mug of coffee by one terminal with what appeared to be dried contents of a cup still housed within it. A stack of granola bars and food from what must have been a break room vending machine sat next to a swath of complicated equations that Peter picked up and shuffled through silently. Not everything was immaculate, however. A few desks had been upturned. Chairs broken. There were bullet holes in the wall near the door and the door itself had clearly been forced open from the outside by organic means.

“I think...I think after they sealed them in here, my mom and dad must have gathered some supplies and tried to stick it out in here. But um...whatever’s out there...it must have wanted them pretty bad.”

Tony glanced up from the computer, the expressionless mask of his armor giving Peter no hint as to what was going on in the mind beneath.

Peter’s foot met with something on the floor and it skittered forward. Upon closer inspection, he recognized an old school camcorder with a tape still housed inside. “You um...you think you can make this work?”

Tony had already Jerry-rigged a thumb drive to the computers’ memory to download any and all information he could. Waving Peter over, he took the camcorder and in a matter of minutes had it once more powered up, tape rewound.

For several seconds it appeared to be a tape recording the team’s initial attempt to establish the Gateway. Then, the scene cut out and a familiar face came into frame.

She was a little older and much less put-together than she had been the last time that Tony and Peter had seen her, but there was no mistaking Mary Parker for all that she and Peter resembled one another. She was dirty, sweating, tired, but still very much alive as she addressed the camera.

“If you’re seeing this, than that means you came back for us...which...all due respect, Fury, but that was stupid. I told you we’d be okay if you sealed us in here, that we’d figure something out...and we did. I think. I hope. No, I’m sure that we did.”

A loud sound shook the frame and with wide eyes Mary glanced off camera where Richard was shouting “Hurry up, Mary, we don’t have a lot of time here.”

“Right. Right. We can’t stay here, Fury. The anomalies are...they’re not like we thought. They appear to have higher brain function, an ability to communicate. They’ve displayed a remarkable ability to reason and hunt and now that they know they’re trapped in here with us...that we’re the only food supply left...they’re pretty determined to eat us. So uh....it’s time to go. And since we can’t get out of here through the door....we’re going to use the Gateway.”

“I’ve had a little bit of time to work on the math. I think I understand how this thing works at least as well as the men who built it...which arguably isn’t very well.” She held up the swath of complicated equations that Peter had seen on the desk nearby. “It’s all here. I’ll...leave if for you. Hopefully...hopefully it‘ll still be here for you.”

Another loud sound, a curse from Richard, and Mary paled considerably. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry I’ve got to cut this short. I...I can’t shut the Gateway down because it’s not being powered by our dimension anymore. Unless or until we find the power source, this thing is open for good...but I can change the world it opens up to. We’re not going to the world where these things originated...but beyond that. I don’t know. I’m going to try to make it home, Fury. But if we don’t...you keep your promise and you make sure my baby boy is taken care of, you hear me. You owe us that.”

The sound of wood splintering, of those creatures hissing and screaming and moaning. The camcorder dropped, still recording and slid against a desk, catching the image of Richard and Mary Parker as they ran through the Gateway to the screams of the monsters they left behind.

Peter closed the camcorder, hands trembling slightly. “Tony...if those things are as smart as she says...why aren’t they coming after us?”

Tony hazarded a glance towards the broken door and rubbed the back of his neck with a gauntlet. “I don’t know, Beautiful, but I don’t like it.”

Peter considered it for a moment. “Maybe they’re trying to get out again...”

“I don’t care how scary they are, Peter, there’s no way they’re getting past the Iron Legion.”

“So...when they can’t get out the door and they realize that we’re the only food source...”

Tony cursed, “Yeah. I think the ones we can hear are sentries...”

“They’re watching to make sure we can’t get away.”

“‘Fraid so. Or hoping that when we get done here we’ll leave them an opening to get out.”

Peter was already gathering the papers his mother had left behind, stuffing them into a briefcase he’d found discarded beneath a desk. He threw the camcorder in with it and after a moment’s hesitation grabbed the handful of granola bars as well. They probably didn’t go bad, right? And he might get hungry later. “What I don’t get...is why they didn’t go through the portal, too. If they’re smart and they’re hungry and they’ve been surviving in here for over a decade....why not try that other world out?”

“Because your mother was smart enough to leave it open to a location they wouldn’t be able to utilize, Pete. Radiation signature. Whatever is on the other side of that portal is deadly for them...at least as deadly as it would be for us.”

“But my parents...”

“They didn’t go through to that world, Pete.” Tony gestured to a read out near the floor where a long alphanumeric sequence could be seen. “You can see most of the readout on the video. It’s not the same. After your parents went through...they must have found a way to redial the Gateway and make sure it emptied to someplace...innocuous.”

Peter didn’t know if this new made him feel better or worse. “Okay...so...what’s our next move...” His words died on his lips, replaced by an anguished cry brought on by what felt like the pain of being set on fire. His Spidey-Sense had never felt like that before. It had never been so strong that it was excruciating, but as his gaze moved from Tony to the doorway and he caught sight of what had triggered the tingle...Peter completely understood.

His Spidey Sense was right.

They were so totally and completely fucked.

#starker

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twokinkybeans · 4 years

Text

Jar Of Dirt 12: Pizza Party [Starker Fanfiction NSFW/18+]

There's a LOT going on in this chapter, sorry for this crazy amount of warnings whoops.

Kink/Sexual Warnings: Daddy Kink, Praise Kink, Dirty Talk, Voice Kink, Name-Calling, Public Teasing, Exhibitionism, Explicit Fantasies about some of the other Avengers, Anal Sex, Sex Toys, Spitroasting (with a toy), Blindfold, Sensory Deprivation. Other Warnings: Beck is back - being a creep & implying some dubious things.

All Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11 . . . Masterpost (More to come!)

---

Chapter 12: Pizza Party Peter’s late, as usual. He just can’t help it; if there’s a robbery down the street he has to do something about it. Even if he’d want to ignore it, it’s simply not his nature. He’s Spider-Man. That’s what he does. Besides, it’s not like he misses anything too important for his physics lecture. Professor Dane is super old and usually takes half an hour to even get started. Peter knows it’s a bad trait to be tardy, so he does make an effort to get there as soon as possible. He cuts a corner and ducks to evade a few other students who stare him down. When he’s almost at the door of the lecture hall, he slows down. Hoping to ease his panting before he walks in. He doesn’t want to look like a wheezing idiot. His skin’s tingling and Peter frowns. That’s highly unusual. It’s probably the leftover adrenaline making his Spidey senses kick in though, so he tries to shake the warning signs his body is trying to give him.

When he feels like he’s collected himself enough, he wraps his fingers around the doorknob and slowly opens it, flinching at the squeaky sound that comes from the hinges. His head is ducked down, trying to evade the gazes of all the students that are staring at him. They can’t help it, the door is at the front of the lecture hall and someone coming in late is the perfect distraction from Dane’s slow, monotone sentences. Something’s off though. There’s something ominous hanging in the room. “Ah! Peter Parker!” Peter stops dead in his tracks when he recognizes that voice. That is not Professor Dane. Oh, no. Peter slowly turns his head to the man in front of the whiteboard. A shiver running down Peter’s spine when he sees the wide, toothy grin and slicked-back hair. His big, bright blue eyes pierce through Peter’s. “Glad you could join us, after all.”

Beck takes a few steps towards Peter and cocks his head, his grin causing Peter’s blood to run cold. His jaw is clenched. Every molecule inside his body is screaming at him to run. But he can’t cause a scene. He shouldn’t. He’s not like that. To the class, Beck hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary. “Mr. Beck,” he says politely, not missing how that only deepens the man’s smirk, his eyes glimmering in victory. “Heard many good things about you, kid.” Kid. He called him kid. Like Tony does. Fucking hell. "I'll be taking over from professor Dane, while he's recovering from surgery. Now, please take a seat. Page 26 of your handout.”

During the lecture, Peter doesn’t miss the way the girls in his class seem to flock together, sending Beck flirtatious smiles, giggling. Peter presses his lips together. He gets it. Beck is charming as fuck. If Peter didn’t know any better he’d be sending Quentin the exact same gaze. But he does know better, and it doesn’t sit right with him. He tries to ignore Beck as much as he can. Taking notes and reading along on the handout. But he feels Beck’s gaze brushing past him each and every time, making him break into goosebumps. He knows he’s the center of the man’s attention and he hates it. He has no clue what the lecture is actually about. So when Beck asks him a question, he doesn’t know what to answer. “Uhh- I- I don’t know.” “You don’t know,” Beck mutters. “First. You’re fifteen minutes late. And now you’re not paying attention. I expect you to behave in my class. Is that understood?” “Yes,” Peter breathes out, his heart thumping in his chest. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Beck doesn’t leave it at that, cocking an eyebrow at him. Peter’s cheeks flush in embarrassment. He knows what Beck is forcing him to say. He doesn’t want to say it. He feels sick to his stomach at the thought alone. But he can’t misbehave in class. He can’t show the others what’s going on. So he looks up, forcing a smile on his lips, feeling them quiver.

“Yes, Sir.”

When class is over, Peter’s the first one outside, ignoring Beck by staring straight at the floor, not listening when the man calls him back. His heart is thumping in his chest. His thoughts all jumbled up. Beck. Beck. Beck. After ten minutes of long strides, he finally feels like he’s far enough away from the lecture hall to allow himself to breathe. He drops himself on the nearest bench and stares at the students lounging on the little grass patch in front of him. “Dude-” Peter’s shaken out of his thoughts by Ned, running to catch up with him. Peter’s unsure how long he sat on that bench, his mind racing too much to keep track of time. “What the hell happened back there, man?” Ned pants as he sits down next to Peter, spreading his limbs slightly to cool down.

Peter scoffs, bending forward to press his hands against his forehead, elbows resting on his knees. “Mandatory class,” he mumbles. “What?” “It’s a mandatory class, Ned!” “Of course, it’s mandatory, Pete- you’re literally studying physics! Attendance isn’t optional.” Ned leans down forward to get to Peter’s level. “Why are you so worked up? Don’t you like Mr. Beck?” Peter scoffs again and looks at Ned with raised eyebrows. “That man is Mr. Stark’s abusive ex. Tried to get in my pants at Tony’s birthday party.” “Holy fuck.” Ned leans back again, still panting from his workout earlier. “Wait- abusive?” “Don’t-” “Alright, alright, sorry. Personal stuff, I get it.” Ned opens his palms and nods once. Peter lets out a deep sigh and squeezes his eyes shut. “Can’t call in sick either, every class for the entire upcoming month is important…” Peter mumbles. “Got the practicals- can’t skip those.” Ned places his hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezes once. “Pete, it’s only one week. Prof Dane will be back before you know it.” Peter takes a deep breath and bites the inside of his cheek. “Yeah- yeah, it’s not a big deal- I mean, it’s a big deal, but I can deal with it yaknow-” “Peter. Stop.” Peter presses his lips on top of each other and purses them, nodding slightly. Ned gently pulls Peter back to help him sit more comfortably on the bench. They stay there, quietly staring ahead and Peter can’t be more grateful for his best friend.

“What are you gonna tell Mr. Stark?” Peter keeps staring ahead, blinking a few times, processing Ned’s words. “Nothing.” Ned shifts in his seat, pulling a face at Peter. “Nothing?” “I’ve seen how anxious Beck makes him. And he wasn’t even in the room when it happened. I- I can’t. I don’t want to make him scared for something that’s probably harmless. It’s only for a week and then we can forget about all of this. Forget about him.” “I mean, fair.” Ned sucks at his teeth. “Besides, Beck wouldn’t try anything on campus anyways; there’s cameras everywhere.” Peter nods and scratches at his head before realizing Tony’s coming over to their dorm tomorrow. He turns to Ned, eyes wide. “Please, don’t tell Mr. Stark about this. Don’t tell him about prof Dane, or any substitute. Just- just don’t mention physics class at all, okay?” Peter’s intensity has Ned shift back a little, raising his hands defensively. “Okay- okay, I gotchu, man. I’ll keep my mouth shut.” “Promise me, Ned.” Peter gives him a pleading look, causing Ned to roll his eyes and smile. “I promise.”

Peter expected a lot of things from Tony sleeping over at their dorm. He thought it’d be awkward. Thought Tony might feel out of place or not know what to say to Ned, or anything uncomfortable really. Instead, Tony’s propped up on Peter’s small bed in between the boys. Legs splayed out, the black sweatpants hugging the man’s skin loosely. He’s staring at the screen intently, his upper body moving to the right fast when he’s nearly causing the green squishy to fall off the Rainbow Road. “Fucking hell,” he mutters, making Peter laugh. “Dumb Dino… I’ve actually raced a solid ten minutes in the Formula 1 in Monaco, this is the biggest downgrade ever.” He curses when Mini Hulk actually falls into the void. “Great, now I’m way behind.” Ned perks up at the mention of the Formula 1. “Oh right! That was way back, right? With the Stark Expo? Think I saw it in this documentary once.” Fuck, these kids are young. “Yup, was fun till Vanko decided to ruin it.” “Did you know that’s actually when we first met? That Stark Expo?” Peter’s voice chimes in and Tony looks at his boyfriend, wide-eyed. No longer paying attention to the TV screen, T-Rex failed him anyways. “What?” “Yeah! You probably don’t remember me, but I was one of the kids with an Iron Man helmet? I actually still have the magazine you signed for me somewhere in a box." Tony stares at Peter. God, the boy isn’t even joking. “Wait, how old were you back then? That was ages ago.” Peter doesn’t answer, he just grins. “Oh my God, I’m old.”

“You guys want more chips? I can get more chips.” Ned says slowly, shifting forward to jump off the bed. He grabs the bowls and leaves for the kitchen. Peter blushes. He hadn’t meant for Ned to feel uncomfortable. They’ll start a new round when the boy gets back to make up for it and move past this conversation. Peter can’t help but to make one more comment, though. “Lemme rephrase. I was the kid with the Iron Man helmet who was dumb enough to stand up against one of those drone thingies.” “That was you?!” Tony huffs out a surprised breath. “Fuck, kid, that’s not dumb. Always thought that kid- you were brave, Jeez.” He smiles at Peter proudly. Fuck. Even when he was an actual child he didn’t shy away from a fight. He’d been right to take Spider-Man under his wing all those years ago. Peter’s made for it. “Wait, so you remember that?” Peter’s blushing, a smile breaking through the expression on his face. “Fuck, yes, I do.”

Ned returns with the chips and gets back on the bed again, picking up his console. “Pete, what do you say, Baby Park next?” “Hell yeah!” The other uni student replies. Tony groans. That name alone doesn’t sound very promising. He lifts the controller and looks at the symbols once more, making sure he knows where they are located, and snorts when he sees a tiny green blob in his kart on the screen. Those Millennials are another species, that’s for sure. Tony can hear Peter’s voice echo in his head. “Mr. Stark, Millennials are in their late 30s by now, I’m a Gen-Z.” “Yeah, sure, kid, go catch your Poké-mans.” It made Peter laugh, so that’s all that really mattered. He might not get all their references and jokes, but he loves spending time with Peter in his world like this.

Later that night, right before Peter wants to hop into his bed, his phone buzzes. He frowns, looking at the screen. It’s a message from Natasha. Peter grins. She’s joining the surprise pizza party for Tony next weekend as well. Awesome. Peter smiles proudly as he types a quick message back. He did it. He got all the Avengers together. Awesome. He presses the send button and frowns when he sees there’s a little notification in his MIT Mailbox as well. They never get any emails there. “Hey Ned, we got a message from the MIT Security Staff?” Peter frowns. He sits down at the edge of the mattress, his fingers moving over the screen swiftly to open it. His eyes scan the text quickly. “Oh, shit,” he mumbles. “Some alien chemical got stolen from the lab?” “What?” Tony takes Peter’s phone out of the boy’s hands. His eyes glide over the letters and not much later, he snorts. “Unidentified, yet most likely harmless. Sure.” Tony rolls his eyes and hands Peter his phone back. “That’s damage control. They need to know who did it but they don’t want people to freak out.” “Yeah-” Ned adds, reading the email on his own phone. “They’re asking for our alibis.” He scratches his head. “Would they believe me if I said I spent the day with Tony Stark?” Tony chuckles. “If you want a selfie, just ask.” Ned’s cheeks flare up and Peter laughs. “Not such a bad idea, though. We should probably take one.” Peter gestures Ned to come in closer. Tony groans, leaning in as well. “Do not post this on the Internet. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Peter steadies the phone in front of their faces, nudging Tony to stop looking so serious. The older man rolls his eyes and breaks into a wide grin as he looks at the screen. Right after he snaps the picture, Ned perks up. “Why don’t we ask Mr. B- our substitute teacher if he knows more? Isn’t he specialized in this field? He did mention knowing a lot about this kind of stuff, didn’t he?” Peter’s eyes widen and he smacks Ned’s chest. “Ouch, dude!” Peter shakes his head furiously, glaring at his best friend. Ned raises his arms defensively and Peter groans, muttering something inaudible. Tony watches the boys carefully, cocking an eyebrow. “Substitute teacher?” “Y-Yeah, it’s nothing, Mr. Stark!” Ned stutters. “I just-” “H-He just means that we have to ask our teacher about that one, uh, project, right Ned?” “Yes! Yes. The… Project!” “You girls keep on bickering, I’m going to make some phone calls to some of my old MIT buddies, see if they know what’s going on.” Tony gets up, fishing his phone out of his pockets and walking to the hallway, leaving both boys at whatever little argument they were having. College kids…

Tony always looks back at his time at MIT with fondness. He took the first chance he got at permanently moving out of his parents’ house. It allowed him a lot of freedom and a chance at at least somewhat of a normal life before he fell into the rabbithole that was Stark Industries. He hasn’t talked to his MIT friends in ages. He shared everything with them at the time. A frat house, a room… Underwear. Tony shudders at the thought but collects himself and looks up Eric’s number in his phone, quietly hoping it’s still the same as back then. Spending the day with Peter and Ned definitely grounded him. It brought him back to his own time at MIT and it was… Nice, honestly. Extraordinarily ordinary.

“Hey Eric! Yes- it’s me- I have a question, did you hear-...”

“Surprise!”

Tony stands in the opening of the elevator doors of the Tower. Baffled. Everyone is here. His eyes search for Peter right away, finding the boy in the middle of the living room. Looking quite pleased with himself. There’s a large stack of pizza boxes on the coffee table, all of his friends scattered around it. Bucky and Steve propped up on the couch together, both smiling at Tony widely. Natasha and Bruce lean against the little bar behind the couch. Thor’s walking around, two huge pints of what must be Asgardian beer.

They’re all here. .

“What-...,” he stammers, voice trailing off. He’s literally speechless and watches his boyfriend walk up to him. “Remember how you wanted to celebrate your birthday with just your close friends? Well, it took me some time to get it all organized but, here we are!” Peter smiles proudly, looking at Tony to give him a featherlight kiss on his cheek. “You organized.. A-” his hands wavering in the air, “-pizza party. For me? Fuck, baby… That’s, wow.” Tony has to shake his head slightly, trying to collect his thoughts. No one has ever organized such a thoughtful thing before. “Do you like it?” “Yes. Yes, Peter, this is perfect.” He breaks out into a wide grin. “But please, tell me you didn’t order a pizza with pineapple.” Peter grins sheepishly and Tony groans. “You hurt my Italian pride, baby.” “Hush, I’m not Italian. I’m allowed to sin. I got you the Spicy Chicken one though! Does that make up for it?” “I’ll make you make up for it.” Tony wriggles his eyebrows playfully and Peter snorts, turning to the other guests.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough guys,” Natasha laughs from a distance. “You do that when we’re gone.” Tony doesn’t miss how it makes the boy’s cheeks flush. It’s not embarrassment though. Oh. He grins, smacking Peter’s ass lightly. “I’m sure Peter wouldn’t mind.” “Tony!” Peter exclaims and laughs, but there’s something shimmering in his eyes. Tony grins. He’s had his suspicions for a while. He doesn’t say anything about it. For now. But an idea is definitely starting to form in his head. Natasha grins at the both of them. “I know you two aren’t innocent, but, you’re not that kinky.” Tony smirks, lowering himself into one of the big leather chairs near the coffee table, thinking about all the possible snarky comments he could throw back at her. He didn’t expect soft, shy, innocent Peter to go first. “Ask me again in an hour, and I’ll spill all our dirty secrets, Agent Romanoff,” Peter grins, taking one of the pints from Thor’s hand and gulping it down. Someone wants to get tipsy. Natasha simply smirks. “I will. Mr. Parker.”

A few hours later, when everyone is properly buzzed from the alcohol, Peter’s seated on the floor, chatting about one of his science projects, a half eaten slice of pizza in his hand. The cheese is slowly falling down, but every time it nearly snaps, Peter catches it in his mouth, taking another bite. Bucky is sitting on the couch right behind him, slacked, legs slightly spread so Peter can use the couch as a back rest between Bucky’s knees. Bucky doesn’t know too much about whatever it is Peter’s rambling about, but he could listen to this kid for hours. Peter’s so passionate, and after three huge pints of whatever Thor’s having, the boy’s letting his thoughts run freely. Peter’s mid sentence on something about quantum physics or something like that, when Bruce clears his throat and leans back in his chair. “Hey Nat, think Pete’s got enough alcohol in his system for your interrogation?” Peter looks up startled, cheeks flushing instantly. Uh oh. He giggles. “Kid’s a bad liar, Nat, go easy on him,” Tony grins from the other side of the coffee table, still leaning against the big armrest. “Traitor!” Peter throws at him and Tony shrugs. “You asked for it, baby.”

Peter groans, pouting as he turns to Natasha, stuffing the rest of the pizza slice into his mouth in an attempt to silence himself. But fuck, it tastes good. And he’s nearly choking, so he does start chewing and swallows it all. “Can I have another slice, Bucky, please?” He asks, but Bucky shakes his head with a grin. “First you gotta answer.” He pats Peter on the shoulder with his metal hand and a shiver runs down Peter’s spine. “Alright. What do you want to know? I can tell you lots about Tony’s adorable moans and-” Natasha raises an eyebrow, causing him to shut up. Fuck. He’s probably a little too horny for this to not get inappropriate. Also maybe a little too tipsy. But he’s not sure whether he should stop it. He wants to see where this is headed.

“No- by all means,” Tony chuckles. “Keep going.” “Oh, please!” Sam exclaims. “Are we really doing this right now?” Nat cocks her head and she leans forward in her chair. “We sure are. You can leave if you want.” “Y’all are disgusting. I’m gonna grab another beer.” Sam stands up and walks towards the kitchen. Bucky leans forward in his seat and Peter presses his lips on top of each other, trying not to let the other man’s hot breath in his neck get to him. “Go fetch me one too, would ya?” He asks Sam. “Use your own legs.” The group laughs and Bucky drops himself back again. Peter’s eye twitches when the sound of Bucky’s metal hand running through his hair scratches the inside of his ear. The fact that Tony is staring intently at him, watching his every move, seeing what Bucky is doing to him has him throbbing in his pants. “Alright, I’m gonna get some fresh air. I don’t need this right now-” Stephen Strange gets up from his seat, shaking his head. “Or ever, to be honest.” Wanda gets up as well, Vision immediately following her out of loyalty.

“Was actually planning on getting some of that myself anyway, so we might as well join you.” When everyone who wanted to stay out of this has made their way outside, all eyes turn back to Peter. His heartbeat speeds up again immediately.

“Let’s start with an easy one,” Natasha says with a wide grin. “Who tops? Who bottoms?” Tony scoffs. “Isn’t that a little too easy, Nat?” he quips, cocking an eyebrow. “I intend to be surprised tonight.” Her eyes bore straight through Peter’s and he swallows. This is an easy question. Anyone who would’ve given it the slightest bit of thought knows the answer. “I only topped him once.” A few of the Avengers nod understanding. Tony licks his lips, thinking back to the Italian spa, and decides to give the boy some credit. “For the record, he’s really good at it.” Peter goes beet red and hides his face in the pillow he’s been cradling since the start of this conversation. “I prefer subbing, though,” he says muffled. He can feel a couple heartbeats speed up. Including Bucky’s. Oh, god. “Subbing?!” Clint exclaims. “You’re telling us you two are actually kinky?” Peter raises his head, the people around him are unsure if his cheeks are red from embarrassment or the Asgardian beer he’s been drinking. Maybe both.

“We have a jar with notes in it!” he exclaims, louder than he intended. “Helps us try new things.” Natasha laughs and leans back in her seat. “A jar filled with kinks?” She bites her lip. “Filthy, I like it.” Bucky chuckles behind Peter and the boy shivers. “We call it the Jar of Dirt,” Tony chimes in, rather proud. Bruce purses his lips. “A fitting name.” Tony nods, agreeing. “That’s what we thought.” “So,” Bucky leans forward again, angling himself so he can look at Peter’s side profile. Peter swallows when his senses pick up on the man’s every little move. “What’s the last thing you pulled out of it?” He presses his lips on top of each other, eyes wide. “Oooh, a good one?” Nat takes a sip from her beer. “Go on, doll, what didya grab?” Doll. Peter’s mouth is dry. Bucky called him doll. “Lingerie,” Peter whispers quietly. “Wha- we didn’t catch that.” Bucky grins. Peter knows Bucky heard. He just wants him to say it again and it has Peter stifling a moan. Instead of repeating his answer, he moves the pillow from his lap and toys with the hem of his sweatpants, lowering them far enough for everyone to see the black lacey tulle.

Peter hears Bucky’s breath catch at the sight and he quickly drags the pillow back into his lap before they all see just how hard he is. They probably already saw, though. The outline is hard to miss in those sweats. Peter takes a quick glance at Tony. The hot, dark gaze he’s met with tells him enough. Tony loves this as much as he does, showing off his pretty boy. “Tsk, now,” comes his low, deep voice. “Behave, baby. Can’t show off your ass just like that.” “M’sorry, da-!” Peter stops himself just in time and whimpers. “Y’all being mean!” “What were you gonna call me, baby? Tell them, Pete. Tell them who you belong to.” Tony’s voice is grounding, yet so demanding and authoritative that Peter just can’t help himself. He’s never been good with secrets and Bucky’s fingers trailing slow circles on his back doesn’t help at all. “D-daddy. I’m daddy’s.” “Ohh, look at you…” Bucky’s breath is warm against Peter’s skin. He scoots forward in his seat behind Peter, until his crotch is practically right next to Peter’s head. The man quickly glances at Tony and continues when the boy’s boyfriend sends him a nod of approval. He brings his face to Peter’s ear and Peter gasps when Bucky’s metal hand runs through Peter’s hair, tugging at it slightly. The cold vibranium sends small jolts of electricity through his body. The near-quiet but fast beating of the other man’s heart is evident behind him. He feels it. Every single thud. “You sure are daddy’s pretty boy, aren’t you?”

Peter wants to sob and he nods frantically. Painfully aware of everyone watching the both of them. None of them seem bothered, too buzzed by the alcohol to care. Heck, Peter can practically hear all their fast beating hearts and his eyes roll back as his senses are dialled even further up under the attention. He’s so incredibly turned on. It doesn’t help that Tony’s right there opposite him. Staring at them, licking his lips and seeing how Bucky’s metal fingers are now slightly curled around Peter’s throat. He loves it. Loves the attention. And fuck, most of the people in this room are turned on as well. He can feel it. Feel them. Nat, Steve, Bruce- They’re all disgustingly filthy and it only adds to Peter’s arousal. “Continue, Nat,” Tony’s voice breaking through the silence. She smirks and nods, taking another sip of her beer before continuing her interrogation.

Peter gasps when Tony pins him against their bedroom door, the other man’s mouth hot and rough on his own. Claiming him with his passionate kiss. Peter just takes it. He’s so ready. He’s tipsy and he’s horny and he just wants to feel the pleasure sparking throughout his entire body. “Mr-” “Hush, baby.” Tony breathes against his lips, tickling his fragile skin and sending a jolt down his spine. “Think you talked plenty, don’t you? Making daddy so hard.” His hands trail down his boy’s sides. Peter shivers into his touch. Leaning in, following Tony’s lead. He’s so sweet. So submissive already. “Y-You don’t mind? I mean, I. I don-” “Baby, if I would’ve minded I wouldn’t have let it happen. Fuck, loved it baby. Showing everyone how perfect you are. Perfect for me.”

He grabs Peter’s ass tightly, lifting the boy up and carrying him to their bed. He hovers over him, hands creeping underneath Peter’s shirt to be met with the smooth, soft skin that’s him. He growls, already knowing what he’s going to do to Peter. He needs… supplies, though. “Baby, listen to me carefully. I’m going to grab a couple things. I want you to take off those sweatpants and show me that lace, alright?” Peter swallows. He has no clue what Tony’s up to, but it sounds all the more promising like that. He watches Tony move up and away from him, leaning sideways to gather everything he needs from their nightstand. Peter wriggles out of his sweatpants, kicking it off his feet and hearing it drop to the floor. The cold air near-stinging on his legs. Fuck, he’s probably had a little too much of that Asgardian beer. His Spidey sense is all over the place. “Lose the shirt too, Pete,” Tony orders him without even looking. Peter whines and does so, throwing it aside. “What are you gonna do, daddy?” He asks breathlessly. “You’ll see, baby…” Tony mumbles, turning around with a soft, black blindfold resting in his hands. “Or actually, you won’t.” Peter gulps. They’ve never done anything like that before and damn, he’s so ready for it. Tony is eyeing him, gauging his reaction. Peter just nods, lips parting. “Please.”

“Turn around, hands and knees, darling.” Peter scrambles up right away, arching his back on purpose to give Tony a good view of the black lace hugging his ass tightly. “Can’t believe you showed off to all of them, sweetness.” Tony whispers, slowly sliding the blindfold over Peter’s eyes. The boy whimpers when everything goes dark, feeling how Tony’s fingers brush through his hair as he makes his way to tie the ends together. He’s shuddering. A mess already. “Stay down.” “Y-yes…” Peter stays put exactly where he is. Head hanging low, relishing in the helpless feeling that comes with not being able to see anything. His already on-edge senses shooting through the roof. He hears the air moving around Tony’s body as he moves. There’s soft noises in front of his face. Tony’s… Doing something with the headboard? Peter has no clue. He just hears how the man’s fingers occasionally tap against the wood. He just waits. Silently and still. Like a good boy. Gosh, he wants to be good for Tony. He’s aching for it. Aching for the praise.

Suddenly, Tony’s fingers tangle in Peter’s hair, gently tugging his head backwards. Peter’s breath hitches and his hips buck involuntarily. The smooth panties create the slightest bit of friction on his cock and he moans. “You like him. Don’t you?” Tony whispers, barely audible. But Peter hears him loud and clear. “W-what?” “Bucky. You’d let him fuck you, wouldn’t you?” Peter doesn’t know what to say. He can feel the blush creeping all the way down to his shoulders. It is so very obvious what his answer is. They both know it. But he isn’t sure whether he should admit it. “Say it. I want to hear you say it, Peter.” The boy gasps out loud, panting, when Tony drags his head up even further. His other hand creeping down Peter’s spine, leaving a cold trail of lube that has Peter shivering. Without warning, Tony tugs the panties aside and slips one of his fingers into him. He wants to jolt forward, but the grip on his hair is so tight that he’s held back. “Say it.” “I-I would let Bucky fuck me, Tony, I don’t-” Peter doesn’t know what happens next. Tony tugs on his hair, dragging his head forward. Something - a toy - slips into Peter’s mouth and it shuts him up right away. “Then suck him, Peter.”

Tony lets go of the boy’s curls and Peter moans, nearly sobbing in pleasure as he does as asked. Wrapping his lips around the toy and sucking on it. His mind flashes back to the way the man had dragged his metal fingers through his hair, the static between them, the way he’d threatened him by gripping his throat ever so gently. Doll. Tony’s fingers fill him up, stretching him so good, his fingers teasing around his prostate, only dragging across it lightly. He feels so full and Tony’s not even actually fucking him yet. But he knows the man will. “You’re gonna make Bucky come, baby? Make him throb and spill- all over that pretty face of yours?” Peter wants it. So bad. He knows it’s just a fucking toy but he can’t help sucking harder, bobbing his head up and down more passionately. He wonders what Bucky would sound like above him. Telling him how sweet he is for letting his daddy��s friend fuck him like that. The soft, broken moans falling from his lips as he would. He feels how Tony carefully removes his fingers, only for them to dig themselves into Peter’s hips harshly. He moans, hoping they’ll leave pretty dark bruises like last time. They don’t stain his skin for long but he enjoys every single minute of seeing them on his skin. As a sweet reminder of yet another amazing high.

“I’m gonna fuck you, Pete,” Tony growls from behind him, shifting closer. “Don’t you dare stop giving Bucky your full attention. Show him what a pretty slut you are.” With that, Tony pushes himself all the way in, pushing Peter further forward, the toy slipping deeper into his mouth. His muffled cry around it has Tony grunt and fuck into him mercilessly. “You’re gonna let the others watch as well, sweetness? Show them all how you like to be used by us? Hmmm?” Tony’s voice is everywhere and he can feel the way his pleasure starts building deep inside his gut. A tingling fire spreading towards his legs, nearly making them give out. “Gonna show Natasha all the details to our little kinks, uh? Have Bruce remember your filthy moans in case I shackle you to my desk once more?” Peter wants it. He wants it all. “Gonna ride Bucky’s hard cock while I watch you, honey? Would you do that?” Peter nods, as far as the toy in his mouth allows him too. His jaw’s hanging slack as he lets Tony fuck him forward, setting the pace. His lips sliding over the toy as he does so. He can feel some drool dripping down his chin but he honest to god doesn’t care anymore.

His mind is shattered. All he sees is their faces. Hears their supposed groaning in his ears. His imagination flaring all his dirty little fantasies at him without pause. Natasha sitting on his face as he eats her out, his own cock hard but ignored. She wouldn’t make him come. Would make him wait and beg. He sees himself sucking Tony’s cock while kneeling under the sturdy desk, Bruce at the other side of it knowing exactly what’s going on. He sees Steve, standing in front of him - tall and strong and powerful - while he kneels and takes his come all over his chest.

And then, Tony’s hand wraps around his cock, jerking him off so hard, so fast, that all the images just turn into a white flickering light in his mind as he comes. Hips bucking wildly in Tony’s steady grip. “G-Good boy. Fuck. Peter.” Tony leans in, his hand tangling in Peter’s hair once more as he slams into him again and again and again. Peter just takes it. Wants to take it. Wants Tony to fill him up and make him drip like the filthy boy he is. He’s moaning softly, lips still grazing around the toy. He couldn’t let go of it even if he’d want to. “M… St…” He tries to mumble the man’s name. “Ple-zz.” “Yes, baby. I- Fuck. I-” Tony’s loud groan fills the room, ringing in Peter’s ears when the man pushes forward once more. His cock jerking inside his body, making Peter clench around it as he takes it all. “Peter…” Tony collapses on top of him. Shaking. The grip in his hair loosening. The boy’s no longer being pushed forward and he lets the toy slip out, finally, his jaw aching and tight from holding open all that time, but he loves the strain. He drops his head onto the mattress in front of him, panting. Trying to catch his breath.

“Fuck.” Is all he manages to say after a couple of seconds. Tony lets out a breathy chuckle, slowly moving both their bodies down onto their sides and hugging Peter from behind tightly. His arms are warm and secure; Peter nestles closer. “Fuck indeed, baby.” Tony’s hands move up to undo the blindfold and Peter squeezes his eyes shut to keep the too bright light out of his system for just a bit longer. The other man grabs the blankets, pulling them up over their still slightly trembling bodies. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.” “Shhh, baby. I enjoyed it just as much.” “R-Really?” “Really.” He plays with the boy’s curls for a bit. “You know I don’t like to share, but fuck, Pete, you should’ve seen the hungry look on everyone’s faces tonight. On Bucky’s face. He knew damn well you’re mine and mine alone and I’d make him know it if he were actually here right now.” Peter smiles and makes himself smaller, keeping his eyes closed. “M-yours, daddy,” he mumbles. “My sweet baby,” Tony sighs, pressing a kiss on Peter’s hair. “I love you.”

--- More: Chapter 13 Masterpost

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spideycentral · 5 years

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Spider-Man, No More?

In the first Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer, it appeared as if Peter Parker had no interest in taking his costumed alter-ego to Europe and some fans even wondered if the events of Avengers: Endgame had taken their toll on the wall-crawler, leading to him (temporarily) abandoning the mantle.

However, Watts makes it clear that this isn't a retread of the "Spider-Man, No More" moment from Spider-Man 2. "We tried not to be melodramatic in that way," he laughs. "You have a lot of things that have been done very successfully in the past, so you consciously avoid them. This is just for a week. Peter wants to go on vacation. He's earned it."

When Does The Movie Take Place?

With Watts confirming that this trip only lasts for a week, Feige shed some more light on the setting and it sounds like Marvel Studios may have abandoned the idea of jumping to a different year in Peter Parker's high school life going from film to film.

"We had talked about, do the Spider-Man films take place in his sophomore year/junior year/senior year, Harry Potter style?" However, it was then that the idea of a summer break came to mind. "We started homing in on that idea of the class trip. How do you continue the fun of a kid in high school with his high school friends?"

Getting London Right

Thor: The Dark World came under fire for it's geographically incorrect take on London, and Watts confirms that they looked at that movie when it came to making sure they got the city right this time around. "I think we got our London geography right. You don't put Big Ben next to Tower Bridge and hope no one will notice!"

When he was quizzed about a recent poster for Spider-Man: Far From Home which had the London Eye the wrong way around, he laughed: "I did not approve that!"

A Different Take On MJ

It's now become clear that Michelle/MJ is a new take on Mary Jane Watson, and after being described as being "a lot more Ally Sheedy in our movies" by Watts, Zendaya adds: "She's not the coolest girl in school, she's not the prom queen, she's not popular. Exploring that dynamic between two oddballs and loners is cool."

Producer Amy Pascal, meanwhile, notes that "The movie is about [Peter] wanting to get together with the girl. That's what makes him want to go on this trip."

Peter Parker's Relationship With Nick Fury

We've already heard that Spider-Man's relationship with the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director isn't quite as cordial as the one he had with Iron Man, and Holland has now shed even more light on that.

"The relationship between Peter and Tony is admiration," he explains. "The relationship between Peter and Nick Fury is more fear. I think he's a little bit terrified of him. When he shows up, it's no joke. He knows this isn't some silly mission. He knows the stakes are real and it's time to step up."

Why The Wall-Crawler Heads Overseas

Explaining that the idea to take Spidey "Far From Home" came during Spider-Man: Homecoming's international press tour, Watts elaborates on why he wanted to put the wall-crawler in new settings.

"Seeing Spider-Man in Venice was always on the list. I've seen Spider-Man swinging over buildings, but not over canals. We loved the idea of a big night festival going on in Prague, a beautiful medieval city."

The Elementals

While we recently learned that The Elementals known as Hydro-Man and Molten Man aren't necessarily the characters we know from the comics, Watts confirms that he wanted to deliver a new take on some lower tier bad guys from the hero's rogues gallery.

"I wanted to figure out if there was a way to take some more of the definitely B and C level villains and bring them to life in a way that's surprisingly cool. Who are people not going to expect?"

Spider-Man Vs. VFX

Of course, the possible downside of having Spider-Man face a group of VFX bad guys is that he'll be squaring off with huge CG monsters as opposed to an opponent who is a little more grounded. Watts relished the challenge. "It opens up a new style of combat for Spider-Man when you have bigger creatures, or a creature that's so hot he can't get close to him because it melts his webs."

"Or a water creature that you can't punch because you go right through it," he adds.

Jake Gyllenhaal Reflects On Not Being Spider-Man

When Tobey Maguire injured his back, Sony Pictures considered replacing him in Spider-Man 2 with Jake Gyllenhaal. That didn't happen, of course, but he's obviously now entering the wall-crawler's world by playing Mysterio. "I guess you could say that, when you work long enough, stories tend to come back around. There was a beautiful thing that happened here."

However, he doesn't believe that had he been able to play Spidey, he would have done half as good a job as Tom Holland. "Watching Tom Holland, I have to say that I wouldn't have held a candle."

Why He Chose Now To Board A Superhero Project

It seems like Gyllenhaal has spent years avoiding big budget blockbusters, so how did Marvel Studios finally convince him to change his mind? Feige confirms that "we met with him on some Marvel Studios movies long after Spider-Man 2 and just never found the right timing or the right thing," presumably alluding to those Doctor Strange rumours.

As for Gyllenhaal, he says: "Why now? This was a really interesting take on the characters. I really loved it, and thought, 'Let's have a little fun.'"

Mysterio Is Indeed A Hero Now

"In the comics, he's a washed up old stuntman who uses gas and puts springs in his shoes to to try to trick people," Watts explains, making it clear that some changes needed to be made.

"The idea of Mysterio as a hero was something we had never explored before," he continued. "Having the power of Marvel behind you means that you can make those crazy swaps. You'd hope there's a little more to it that it seems with Mysterio. But we went with Mysterio being a hero, which I thought would really surprise people. Mysterio was always at the top of the list."

As for Gyllenhaal, he adds: "Villain or hero, I don't think that's how you can define him."

Including The Helmet

One of the best reveals from Spider-Man: Far From Home has been the fact Mysterio has his classic helmet. "That was so fun to design," says Watts. "You take away the fish bowl, that's not Mysterio. It's such a classic design. It's my favourite design of all the Spider-Man characters."

Quentin Beck Fills The Void Left By Iron Man

"The relationship on the page changed when Jake and I met each other and became very fast friends," Holland explains shortly after revealing that Mysterio ends up being a substitute for Iron Man. "So you get to see two people become really quick friends, and teammates essentially. It's kind of like a two-hander between Jake and I."

"It's a pretty fun ride to see this kind of back and forth banter between these two superheroes, fighting these crazy monsters."

What Jake Gyllenhaal Learned From Tom Holland

When those comments were made known to Gyllenhaal, he had nothing but good things to say about his co-star. "Yeah, but Tom had a lot to teach me too."

"It's a whole new world to me. We became friends through the process of making the movie. It doesn't just work one way. It works both ways. That's what I like about it. Peter and Spider-Man have a lot to teach people, particularly in terms of friendship and giving."

No, Tom Didn't "Accidentally" Reveal The Film's Title

Tom Holland has become well-known for seemingly dropping MCU spoilers, but did he really reveal the sequel's title by mistake on Instagram last June? "That was totally planned!" the actor confirms.

"That was a complete press stunt," he continues. "I'm so cautious with what I put online when it comes to spoilers and stuff. Come on there's now way I would do that. I'm way better with spoilers than Mark Ruffalo - I love him, but he's a terrible spoiler. Sometimes they pair us together because it's easier to control one source than have both of us out there."

#sm:ffh #long post #article #news #ffh spoilers #endgame spoilers

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

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Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours Thoughts

Many years ago I was contacted by someone who recommended this novel to me and others from a Mary Jane fan point of view. You can read the recommendation here.

Whilst I own the novel and started it at least twice for whatever reason I stopped reading it before the start of the first big action set piece. However since Dreamscape audio released the novel on audiobook I’ve finally been able to experience it for myself.

So how’d it fair? SPOILERS ahead

I don’t usually do this these days but because this story is relatively obscure I’m going to provide a synopsis. Or more accurately marvel.wiki is:

“Even though he is a chemistry teacher, Peter Parker has now been forced to be a substitute basketball coach over at Midtown High where he works. His ineptness soon negatively draws the attention of basketball star Samuel Larkin, who challenges Peter and refuses to cooperate with his own teammates. Going over the player's records, Peter soon discovers that Larkin has not taken all of the required vaccines needed to play at the school, which will mean his automatic expulsion from the team for the remainder of the season, as well as dwindle his chances of getting a scholarship to a good university.

After a long day of coaching, Peter returns home and discovers that Mary Jane has won a part as Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. However, the play is held in Atlantic City, so in order to compensate for the long drive, MJ bought a car despite not having a driver's license, let alone any idea how to drive. They began discussing whether or not Peter should teach her. In the middle of the talk, however, the Rhino attacks Times Square, so Peter leaves to go fight him as Spider-Man.

While on the way there, Spider-Man runs into Black Cat, who claims the rampage is a trap and that Peter should not go. He ignores her warning, though, and continues to head there. Peter easily defeats Rhino, knocking him unconscious in the process. Just as he does, however, the siblings of Morlun - Thanis, Malos, and Mortia - appear. They blame Spider-Man for their brother's death despite the Other being the true person who ripped his throat out, and now want revenge by killing him. Spidey initially flees, but with the help of a SWAT team and Black Cat he eventually takes them on (he also seeks help from Doctor Strange but is declined, with Strange asserting that his interference would harm the cosmic balance). Mary Jane comes to the fight scene and becomes jealous that Felicia is able to help Peter fight the siblings, as well as how the siblings are treating her husband. Enraged, she takes her car and runs Morlun's siblings over, distracting them and giving Spider-Man the time needed to banish them to a barren netherworld using three trinkets Strange had secretly arranged to be given to him.”

Let me get some admissions out of the way.

a) I’ve not read a ton of Spider-Man/comic book based novels, although I own the majority of the Spider-Man ones that Wikipedia claim exist. I dunno why, I just never manage to get around to them for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s because comic book superheroes being designed for a visual medium which so often emphasises action makes the jump to prose (or in this case audio) difficult. Indeed I must admit when reading/listening I do zone out a bit when action scenes occur.

b) I’m not familiar with the work of Jim Butcher although I hear great things

c) I’d actually forgotten the specifics of the recommendation for this book. I just remember it was recommended and it was because it should feed the MJ fan/shipper in me and others. Forgetting this was lucky actually as it allowed me to enjoy some aspects of the books I’d otherwise have not been surprised by.

Let’s also get the technical aspects out of the way since this is an audio book I am discussing.

The narrator, Jack Meloche is...okay...mostly.

I find his performance of Peter a little too nasaly and early on in the audiobook you do have to kind of power through his performances of Mary Jane and especially Felicia. By the end of the story I grew to tolerate them but never love them. Hearing a grown ass man do his best to convey a sultry kinda sorta femme fatale can be a bit cringe inducing I must admit. His best performance is as the Rhino though.

Other things you should know is that this novel is loosely in continuity with ‘Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder’ (which I talked about here),

https://hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews.tumblr.com/post/140091613524/spider-man-drowned-in-thunder-my-thoughts

another novel from the same range of books. It was published and is set after the events of this novel and both are set chronologically during the J. Michael Straczynski ASM run prior to Spider-Man joining the New Avengers.

I’ll be upfront with you I found ‘Drowned in Thunder’ to be better for the most part and downright ingenious. It did not however use Mary Jane as much or as critically as this story. She was important but didn’t have as big of a role as she does here. Does that make one novel better or worse than the other? Neither, they’re just different. It’s healthy to mix up the emphasis certain supporting characters get after all.

Looking at ‘Darkest Hours’ on it’s own merits for the most part it nails the characters in terms of the sentiments but my personal problems with it are in the presentation at times. Not even all the time just some of the time.

Let me put it more clearly.

There is exactly one scene featuring Aunt May, specifically a phone conversation. And this phone conversation progresses into a very involved inspirational speech from May to Peter about how awesome he is as a person/hero and the scene’s drama stems from the fact that Peter might be fighting his last battle soon after this. Are the sentiments Aunt May expressing in character? Of course. Are these things she would say? Yes!...but...I felt it was kind of...off that her one scene in the whole story is her showing up and giving the most involved inspirational speech Spider-Man has ever gotten from her or anyone else. Spider-Man 2’s backyard scene was tame by comparison. I just feel it would’ve been better for May to have both featured in some way prior to that scene and for the speech to have been dialled back a bit.

Much more relevantly though is the book’s handling of Peter and MJ’s relationship.

Throughout the novels there are scenes of Peter and Mary Jane being very much in love. The most common way this is expressed is via Peter complimenting Mary Jane in his head.

Would Peter feel this way about Mary Jane. 100% yes! But...I don’t know if it was the vocal performance, the fact that we have this back in the comics now, or really JUST me but personally I kinda...cringed a bit.

I’m not saying it’s bad!

I’m not even saying it could be better!

I’m sure there are many readers who adore this.

I’m not well versed in romance fiction so maybe I’m missing something here and actually it’s perfectly acceptable or great writing.

I’m saying just for me personally again...I’d have wanted it dialled back. It just got a little much, a little cringey for me personally.

But you know that happened sometimes in the JMS run which I loved and agree with everyone else wrote the marriage better than it has ever been written.

Speaking of Straczynski we really need to talk about his Spider-Man work.

Commonly original Spider-Man novels (i.e. not novelizations) that are trying to vaguely present themselves as being canon (so we aren’t talking about stuff like ‘Hostile Takeover’ set in the Marvel Gamerverse) try to have synergy with the status quo of the day or a very recent one.

This novel is no exception. My research tells me it was published in 2006 and whilst it’s not reflective of the then status quo of the comics where Spider-Man was unmasked and a member of the Avengers, it is reflective of the dominant status quo immediately preceding that which ended circa 2004-2005.

To refresh your memory that involves Peter being a teacher at Midtown High, Mary Jane being an aspiring stage actress who recently reconciled with Peter, and both Aunt May and Black Cat knowing his secret. To drive the point home about just when this novel is set there is an entire dialogue exchange discussing the idea of him hypothetically joining the Avengers. A discussion that in my eyes throws some wonderful shade at the idea.

This is the same status quo that ‘Drowned in Thunder’ was set during but ‘Darkest Hours’ hardcore embraces this status quo in a way ‘Drowned in Thunder’ never did. ‘Drowned in Thunder’ if anything drew more from the Paul Jenkins PPSM run than JMS’ run and exempting Aunt May being in on the secret felt like with a few changes it could’ve exorcised every other element of his run. Peter’s teaching job was a factor in the story but it was used as a brilliant and organic segue way into a Bugle/Jonah centric investigation.

‘Darkest Hours’ though...doesn’t do that.

Rather it is practically a lost arc from JMS’ run. No, not his ‘era’ wherein we’re talking about every title during his time in charge. I mean that if this was a comic book story it could’ve been straight up slotted in directly before or after ‘Sins Past’ and no one would’ve batted an eye.

The way the story tries to handle Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane, Peter’s teaching job, the inclusion of Doctor Strange and Dex, the potted history of Ezekiel, the direct references to Shathra and friggin ASM #500, and of course Morlun’s siblings. This FEELS like the JMS run!

And for a lot of people that’s going to be a huge deal breaker for this novel.

In my experience of Spider-Man fandom whilst there is a lot of appreciation of JMS’ run it was divisive for various reasons. A lot of people just for whatever reason turned off by Peter being a teacher (or more accurately not being a photographer for the Bugle) and recoil even more over the presence of mystical elements like Morlun or Doctor Strange.

Now if you liked or tolerated that stuff then this novel is a hidden gem of sorts, whether you want a shot of nostalgia or just found that stuff compelling.

Me personally, I liked the first half of the JMS run for the most part. And Jesus Christ looking back at it after what we got after he left it’s a Hell of a lot better.

Say what you want about Ezekiel and Peter being a teacher but I’d take that stuff over fucking Superior Spider-Man and Parker Industries!

Of course the elephant in the room regarding this novel in the modern day is that it predates Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon as stories establishing Morlun had a family.

And...did...it...BETTER!

In Spider-Verse/Geddon Morlun was the main character and his family had unbearably simplistic personalities that boiled down to being variant action figures of him!

Now don’t get it twisted. Mortia and her brothers are a million miles away from the greatest villains in Spider-Man history. In fact they have LESS personality than Morlun did.

And yet in context this actually works for the story more effectively than in Spider-Verse/Geddon.

Morlun as originally presented was essentially a very eloquent predator and a hunter, not quit a full on force of nature but close to it. He was intimidating because he really didn’t do anything besides hunt Spider-Man and want to eat him.

Where Spider-Verse/Geddon failed was in reintroducing Morlun and then immediately watering him down by having him appear alongside his variant action figure family with moments and even back up stories told specifically from their POVs. Sure JMS gave us moments focussing on Morlun’s character outside of Spider-Man or Morlun, but they existed to introduce the character and briefly build him up before we realize just how utterly outclassed Spider-Man is against him. When we already know who the Hell Morlun is we don’t need scenes focussing upon him because he isn’t a character who can support that level of attention. Nor should he be because he’s SUPPOSED to be a one not hunting and killing machine basically.

That’s why this novel makes better use of ‘the Ancients’ than S-V/G made of ‘the Inheritors’. We don’t have scenes from their POV thus they can basically be what Morlun was when Spider-Man first met him. Ruthless predators on the hunt, except now there are three of them so Spider-Man is truly screwed!

The plot cleverly focuses instead on the characters who have to DEAL with the impending threat the Ancients pose rather than trying to pretend these guys have actual characters. Butcher also makes them much scarier than the Inheritors because rather than monsters who basically just port in wherever and kill indiscriminately, the Ancients have riches and resources. They are a part of society and Peter is racing against the clock hoping those resources don’t zero in on who he is and where his family lives. This dread, this tension is delectable and far more effective than what Slott of Gage ever did. It helps that we actually see Peter reacting believably to the pressure and stress of his potential demise rather than be a generic and passive as he was in Spider-Verse.

Also the fact they appear alone rather than alongside Morlun is better too as it means Morlun doesn’t look less unique and they look less like variant action figures.

Additionally Butcher does a great job fleshing out the backstory to the Ancients, helping to integrate them well into the established Marvel Universe, developing their abilities and how they worked. Hell he even remembered how they were supposed to work as JMS defined them rather than how Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon just ignored these abilities and did whatever they wanted. For instance Butcher establishes clearly the Ancients CAN feed off of life forms other than Spider-Man as opposed to S-V/G just having them do that with no explanation and feed off of just anyone. Butcher also remembered Morlun saying that eating Peter would sustain him for a looooooong time and incorporated it into the plot. Similarly he provided a clear explanation for why Spider-Man couldn’t simply use the same trick he used against Morlun again (because he’s outnumbered!) or get help from other heroes like Doctor Strange. Speaking of which we got one of the best ever explanations for how magic works in the Marvel Universe ever. Wasn’t expecting that nor for Wong to be so delightful!

The only real misstep Butcher makes as far as the Ancients are concerned is the idea of the Rhino being a potential snack for them when he never got his powers from a real rhino or anything like that. He was even referenced as one of the pretenders to totem powers by Ezekiel. I guess you could that the Lizard (who was also referenced) should count so...whatever the rules aren’t clear here.

Let’s leave our main villains behind and talk instead about our more grey characters.

So yeah...Jim Butcher wrote one of the all time great Rhino stories here!

Again wasn’t expecting that!

The Rhino in Aunt May’s home breaking bread with Spider-Man is so insane an image that you’d love it for the absurdity alone, but Butcher makes it totally organic. He also keeps Rhino in character (with the exception of a time he refused to kill Spider-Man which I don’t remember being a real story) and fleshes him out rather wonderfully. He draws some great parallels between Rhino and Spider-Man and frankly the scene where Mary Jane is literally shaking with laughter over these comparisons is unquestionably the highlight of the whole novel!

What was really great was that Butcher didn’t change the Rhino or compromise him. He’s still a mercenary, he’s still not really a good guy, but he’s more human. He doesn’t like Spider-Man, he wants to beat him, but he also on a certain level respects him.

It’s just expertly done!

Then there is Felicia. Had Spencer not already fixed Felicia this story would’ve ignited fury within me. Not because this was bad but rather that this story used Felicia so wonderfully that BND and Slott’s ruination of her would’ve stung all the more.

Felicia is purrrrrrrfect here!

Not quite good, not quite bad, sultry, catty, territorial, smart, aggressive, dangerous, loyal. Butcher NAILED her character!

The fact he uses her to open up a philosophical debate about the differences and moral justifications between Peter, herself and the Rhino is inspired. There are differences but the lines aren’t as clear cut as Peter treats them as. In a sense he really does have a bit of a double standard in regards to her and everyone else. This isn’t the only time Butcher brings out Peter’s flaws very well. The scene where Peter has momentary lapses into light machismo are well done. Spider-Man is a hero but he ain’t perfect that’s why we love him!

This brings us to Felicia and Mary Jane. Sorry...I love it. Maybe it’s problematic, maybe it’s problematic that I do love it...but I just do.

Okay from a strict continuity point of view Butcher puts MJ and Felicia at greater odds than they really should be. By this point in time there were tensions but there was also friendship. Truth be told Butcher puts that friendliness in there but only at the very end of MJ and Felicia’s arc together and the resolution to the tensions are off-page. And yet...what can I say the pure soap opera of it was fun for me on a very base level. Who says marriage is free of tension again?????

The peak of my enjoyment was when the pair were just unrestrained hurling insults at one another. Again, shallow I know, but it was just fun for me and I really loved Peter having to step up and be the grown up in that situation and coldly let everyone know where they all stand. MJ doesn’t get to talk to Felicia that way because she’s their friend. Felicia doesn’t get to talk to MJ that way because she’s his wife.

This brings us to Mary Jane herself. Apart from again the romance stuff for me personally going a bit too far she’s mostly done very well. She’s supportive, she has a subplot of her own dealing with a real life problem (learning to drive), she makes mistakes, she’s great at analysing Peter, and helping figure things out via being a confidant. Oh and she totally saves the day at the end. No straight up she does. If not for MJ the day would’ve been lost and Spider-Man would’ve been dead.

It was such a baller as fuck scene I am slightly pissed off that it wasn’t realized as a comic. Her throwing shade at Doctor Strange was also priceless.

The final thing to mention is the subplot involving one of Peter’s students.

I am once again going to draw comparisons to both the JMS run and ‘Drowned in Thunder’ as they are apt here.

Okay basically strictly speaking the subplot regarding Peter helping one of his underprivileged kids retain a spot on the basketball team was a weak spot of the storytelling. Not because it was necessarily bad (though a 30something trying to write ‘inner city youths’ leaves something to be desired) but because it really didn’t tie into the main plot all that much.

In ‘Drowned in Thunder’ Peter’s teaching job was integrated seamlessly.

But in this you could tweak the novel and exorcise the whole subplot. It’s relevance really is mostly thematic (Peter and the kid both need to embrace team work to succeed) and to illustrate character traits of Peter Parker. He’s so responsible he would still make time to help out this poor student even whilst his life is potentially ticking away. Nor will he abandon this kid to save his own skin, even though the kid’s physical life might not be endangered at all if he did.

Now that all being said I LIKE the subplot’s inclusion. Not only because it does demonstrate Peter’s character and the lesson he needs to learn for this story, but because I view it as part and parcel of this book’s mission to be a lost JMS story.

Really the subplot could’ve been one of the handful of stories told during the JMS run concerning Peter helping out his impoverished students. If viewed as part and parcel of trying to capture the ‘flavour’ of the era the subplot succeeds.

Finally I must say I loved Peter’s words of defiance before his possible demise.

Over all I’d say this was a very strong story. Okay, as an over all package not quite as good as ‘Drowned in Thunder’ but still up there, with moments and aspects that are as good if not superior to the latter.

Highly recommended.

P.S. I can’t believe we got development and a great use out of Dex of all the obscure characters out there!

#Spider-Man #Jim Butcher #Morlun #j. michael straczynski #black cat #Felicia Hardy #the black cat #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #mj watson #rhino #the rhino #Aleksei Sytsevich #Alex O'Hirn #Peter Parker #Spider-Verse #Spider-Geddon

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smokeybrandreviews · 5 years

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Cheeseburgers

The Infinity Saga is over. The MCU is moving forward into uncharted waters. Disney+ has pushed back certain shows and moved up WandaVision. Black Widow finally has a well deserved movie, postmortem. The future is wide open but, before we get on a brand new pain train, i wanted to take a look back and talk about some of my favorite movies from the first eleven years of the MCU.

Avengers: Infinity War

This movie, man, is probably peak MCU. There are better films in the series but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film that walks the line of comic book and cinema to deftly. This is the penultimate tale for that first decade and what a f*cking climax it was. Holy sh*t! There was just so much good in this film, from character development to visual flair to legitimate stakes. I’m a massive Marvel fan and i am well aware of the Infinite Gauntlet saga in the comics but seeing this sh*t? Seeing Thanos actually Snap? I never though in a million years that would happen onscreen. And then it did. It was at that point i absolutely knew the MCU was about that life. I knew to expect the unexpected because , with the wealth of the Marvel universe to draw from, they were going to craft some motherf*ckers of stories.

Like, I f*cking cried when Pete got dusted. I shed legitimate tears and I’m not even embarrassed to say it out loud. For a film to move me like that? and it’s not Forrest Gump? Motherf*cker had to be on point, for sure. The entire theater was silent as those strings hummed and Thanos sat on his farm, smiling contently. I had never experienced that before The entire auditorium - completely silent. We were in disbelief. We were in mourning. I saw Infinity War in theaters four times and literally every time, the same thing happened. In two hours and some change, Marvel had gave a theater full of people straight emotional trauma. Your movie has to be absolutely on point for that to occur.

Speaking of Thanos, yo, how was this big ass purple grimace looking motherf*cker one of the best antagonists of film, period? How was this cat written so well? I lost my sh*t when they teased him at the end of Avengers and that little bit we got of him in Guardians was cool but i was not prepared for how goddamn formidable he turned out to be. Josh Brolin brought this character to life but the writing gave me real agency. I was flabbergasted by how great this character turned out to be. Thanos felt real. He felt flawed. He felt legitimate. Id have to put him up there with The Dark Knight Joker and Hans Landa as one of the best antagonists ever.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

I adore Spider-Man. Ive written at length about that love. He’s the reason i even picked up that Marvel comic all those years ago. I’ve seen every cinematic iteration of Webhead and i mst say, this portrayal is the truest to the source material i have ever seen. Cats get on the MCU about making him Tony Stark jr. but most people don’t understand that’s where he was going anyway. Most people don’t know that, in the comics, he’s basically Reed Richards jr. and since the MCU has no Reed, Tony is a pretty smart substitute. But that argument is inconsequential because the core of who Spider-Man is, the actual spirit of the character, has been captured so perfectly by this version of Pete, it’s borderline miraculous. I love Tobey McGuire’s take in Pete because he was the first to do it. Kind of like how i have such nostalgia for the 89 Batman. That version of Spider-Man felt like the old Lee/Ditko version from the 60s. Andrew Garfield was adequate. He didn’t get a fair shake though, mostly barbecue the writing in his run was so goddamn terrible. But this new kid? This casting was as perfect as RDJ was to Iron Man.

Tom Holland kills it as Spider-Man. His version of the character feels right. It feels modern. It feels like Ultimate Pete but grounded in the spirit of the 90s cartoon version. He’s this massive geek, this kid really, granted power in tragedy and it feels so goddamn authentic, i couldn’t believe it. The second he showed u in Civil War, i absolutely knew Underoos was about to be a star in these films and that is saying a lot considering how loaded this cast has become. Homecoming was the first film we got to see Pete stretch his legs and it was f*cking brilliant. Everything about this movie is what a great Spider-Flick should be and the MCU nailed it! if i never got another Spidey appearance, this movie was more than enough to sate my appetite. Homecoming is my second favorite MCU movie. I loved every second of it!

Also, how about that Aunt May stinger, though?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Look, i love the Dark Knight. For me, that is the pinnacle of a capeflick. That movie was a great crime thriller first, a Batflick second. Nolan approached it with a grounded sense of reality that left you, as an audience, breathless. It is one of the best films i have ever seen in my entire life and Ledger gave one of the most brilliant performances ever captured on celluloid. There is nothing as good as that film in the MCU. The Winter Soldier comes f*cking close, though. This movie made me sit up and realize that the MCU had some teeth. Until this thing came out, i thought we were going to get a bunch of flamboyant costumes and snarky Wedonisms. I wasn’t mad, mind you, Avengers was dope, but Winter Soldier took all that campy bullsh*t out back and murdered it. This movie was the MCU growing up and almost everything afterward has been brilliant. The Winter Soldier forced everyone to step their game up with how goddamn brilliant it turned out to be. I can’t say there were any performances as great as Ledger’s Joker but i can make the argument the overall writing was better than The Dark Knight, and that is stupid high praise.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This film has no right to be as good as it is. I went into this thing on a whim, mostly because I thought it was going ti be filler like Ant-Man or something, and then it wasn’t. It was great. Legitimately great. I had no idea the MCU could take a C-rate team like the goddamn Guardians and uplift them so beautifully. James Gunn took those characters and wrote the best Star Wars film since f*cking Empire and I didn’t think that was possible, not with this wayward branch of Marvel History. Seriously, if you do even a minuscule amount of research on who the Guardians are, they’re a joke. I mean, they have a f*cking talking Raccoon on the team! Gunn had the wherewithal to lean into that and he produced one of the best in the entire MCU. He took these loser clowns and injected so much emotion and humanity into them, you couldn’t help but love their rag-tag asses. This was the first MCU movie to move me to tears. That stuff about Quills mom? I felt that. Both times. On an extremely personal level. I was the young Quill. I watched my grandma, the only person who i believe loved me unconditionally up to that point, die just like Quill’s mom; Cancer and everything. I was about his age when it happened, too. That sh*t f*cked me up. To this day, i have nightmares about it. Seeing that sh*t so accurately captured in a capeflick was the most for me and I legit had to leave the theater until the first part of the movie passed. To this day, i can’t watch that scene. I can just barely make it through the Dance of to Save Th Universe, but that opening gambit? No way. It hits way too close to home for me. Still, for a comic book movie to solicit such a response? It has to be special and Guardians is one of the best.

Iron Man

Boy, we’ve come a long way since Tony Stark uttered those fateful word, “I am Iron Man.” But none of these other films would even have the opportunity to exist if he hadn't said them. Iron Man had the tall order of being the first, proper, MCU film AND compete with The Dark Knight. N one thought a film about B-List superhero, narcissistic billionaire, and straight up lush, Tony Stark, would amount to anything. How wrong everyone turned out to be. I knew, from that second i saw the teaser and concept art by Adi Granov, that Marvel was taking this sh*t crazy serious. Then there’s the casting of Robert Downey Jr. That sh*t was a boon, for real. The entire cast of this first film was impeccable but RDJ makes this movie. He IS Tony Stark. Even before he got comfortable with the character like in the later films, fresh out the box with the scripts, you can tell he knows how to bring this tinkerer to life. You had to nail that aspect in order to have any chance to build something great and Marvel hit a goddamn bullseyes, for sure. Revisiting this flick, Iron Man isn’t as good as the later films in the Infinity Saga but it still holds up against the vast majority of entries and that’s saying something.

I love these films, man. As a geek growing up reading these stories, reenacting them with their action figures, sitting glued to the television every Saturday as their cartoons aired, I never imagined id see such a berth of fantastic media brought to life on the silver screen. Seriously, some of my favorite interpretations of these characters appear exclusive in the MCU. War Machine, Thor until recently, Ant-Man, f*cking Hulk? i never gave these assholes the time of day in the comics but in the MCU? They’re fantastic! And it has everything to do with how well written they are in-universe. There are over twenty films in this run an i love all of them to varying extents. Spider-Man: Far From Home, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Ragnarok, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 all could have made this list. For sure, they’re 6 - 11 or whatever, but that speaks to the sheer depth of the MCU. I’m not even counting flicks i would consider B-tier like Captain Marvel or Avengers or Iron Man 3 or Doctor Strange; All of which are still dope in their own right.

There is just SO much great in these films and i can’t wait to see where we go next. With Disney acquiring Fox, Marvel finally has the full toy box to play with and i am absolutely a tizzy with the potential arcs they can adapt. Secret Wars? Annihilation? Age of Apocalypse? Avengers Disassembled? Dark Reign? F*cking Onslaught?? I have no idea where we are going but i am, for sure, jumping on this pain train once again.

#Marvel #MCU #Infinity Saga

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smokeybrand · 5 years

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Cheeseburgers

Avengers: Infinity War

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Also, how about that Aunt May stinger, though?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Guardians of the Galaxy

Iron Man

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mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker · 6 years

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Its definitely my favourite version of Mary Jane. Who’s changed careers from model and damsel to sassy investigative reporter for the Daily Bugle. A role that gives her more to actually, you know, do and embodies her with a lot of wit and drive. A smart update for a world where the bombshell party girl is no longer the romantic ideal it once was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGs09OiyEQ

Let’s debunk this.

Whenever some dipshit talks about MJ not having enough ‘to do’ specifically in relation to her PS4 career it boils down to this.

MJ didn’t do anything in the comics directly related to Peter’s role as Spider-Man.

Which is asinine because the story of Spider-Man isn’t about Peter being a superhero!

It’s about the life of this guy who HAPPENS to be a superhero and exploring how those two sides of his life impact upon one another.

You know the whole great power/great responsibility thing?

Yeah you can basically translate that more linearly to “This character is about juggling the responsibilities normal people deal with against the responsibility of being a hero’

THAT is the damn point.

For example, literally every Aunt May sceanario from the Steve Ditko run.

Oh no, Aunt May is sick Peter has to get medicine for her. He can earn money as Spider-Man to do that but oh no that means he won’t be home to look after her and he’s so worried about her that it might impact how he fights.

Or.

Oh no, Aunt May is sick Peter has to cut out on this crime in progress to go help her!

I’m not saying Aunt May’s character was handled the best back then by any means. But people did adore how she was used in the JMS run where she was you know...also not directly involved in his superhero life.

Fuck even Alfred isn’t REALLY directly involved in Batman’s life but people still love him.* Same for Ganke Lee in Miles Morales stories.

The book is about Peter’s life not specifically his life as a superhero, but everything.

His job, his friendships, his romantic life, his financial straits, everything.

And they impact upon and get impacted by his life as a hero.

At which point Mary Jane doesn’t need to directly interact with that side of his life because she’s already ‘doing stuff’ by interacting with the Peter Parker side of his life.

Her role works great in a video game because in a video game you aren’t going to play a character who has to study or has to pay the rent or has a mini-game about managing his anxieties and neuroses. Everything revolves and feeds back into what he does in the context of being a superhero which is where you don’t just spend over half the story (like in most Spider-Man yarns) but where you spend the overwhelming majority of the time because that is the whole point.

For many people Peter’s superheroics in the comics isn’t the point or at best it is only half the point.

People often say Spidey has the best supporting cast ever and that’s true but that’s a weird goddam statement to make if you define a good supporting cast member as someone who directly contributes in some way to his role as Spider-Man. Because Flash, Harry, Gwen, MJ, Liz, Aunt May, Betty Brant and everyone who wasn’t Jameson, George Stacy, Jean DeWolff or Felicia didn’t do that!

And yet we were still invested whenever Flash became an alcoholic, or Liz got pregnant, or Harry and MJ’s relationship hit the rocks, or Jameson got engaged or Betty left her husband or whatever.

Why?

Because we cared about these characters because Peter cared about them and we cared about Peter because we were reading it for his LIFE over all not his superhero side of it.

MJ thus would’ve been doing enough by just interacting with Peter via normal life soap opera and human drama. Was it always handled great? No. but the fix for that isn’t giving her something that directly taps into his job as a superhero.

Let’s move on to the rest of the quote.

Being a journalist embodies her with a lot of wit and drive.

Why the fuck does this specific profession innately give people who work that profession these personality traits? That’s not how life works.

More poignantly it presumes that MJ in the comics didn’t have any wit.

And certainly no drive.

And how about that whole ‘bombshell party girl isn’t the romantic ideal it once was’ huh?

Um....what?

First of all a ‘romantic ideal’ is rather subjective. Some people (for the sake of argument let us presume for a moment heterosexual men) want a party girl. Some people would prefer more of a chilled out person. Some guys want a bombshell but other guys might be physically attracted to girls who are more amazonian in their appearance. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Second of all, even by modern stereotypical standards (again from a heterosexual male POV) classic Mary Jane is still absolutely within the ‘romantic ideal’.

Third of all MJ was presented as not being the romantic ideal when she was introduced in the 1960s. She was played as a foil for Gwen Stacy with Peter (shallowly as young people are want to do) finding her party girl personality a major turn off.

Fourth of all this statement speaks to the absolute ignorance of the author (and many fans) who seem to weirdly think MJ was a party girl when she debuted and then stayed exactly like that until she married Spider-Man.

She didn’t. Her party girl personality had even been reigned in by the time she began dating Peter in the 1970s.

Fifth of all why the fuck is ‘updating’ MJ from party girl going to naturally land on journalist?

Finally let’s tackle the bullshit model and damsel thing.

This mentality needs to fuck off and die ASAP.

MJ was not placed in a damsel-in-distress role any more frequently than most recurring superhero love interests.

Defining that as her role, as her ‘job’ practically is bullshit, insulting and an erasure of her whole goddam character.

Being a damsel-in-distress isn’t an act of negative penalization upon your character, wherein you can be awesome outside of that instance in the story but it doesn’t matter because you were made into a damsel in distress.

I mean FFS NOBODY treats male characters this way in spite of the uncountable times Robin, Jimmy Olsen, Commissioner Gordon, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson or whoever have been in need of rescue by Superman, Batman or Spider-Man!

I can understand criticising using a female character like that but it’s nevertheless a BAD thing to treat it like it erases and boils down a female character to nothing but that merely because it happened.**

And then there is the modelling thing.

Jesus Christ do I hate the modelling thing.

Not only is MJ’s jobs in wider media NOT as a model, not only was that NOT her first job, not her job for over a decade and never her most noteworthy job...it’s just fucked up.

It dismisses rel life people with that job as shallow or less worthy and it defines a female character specifically through her looks.

And real talk MJ being a model is LESS relevant to her character than Peter being a photographer is. Photography isn’t even one of Peter’s passions, science is, science actually speaks to who he is as a person. Photography is just a means to an end. So being a photographer is not important to who peter is as a character and MJ being a model is even LESS important to her character.

And yet people like define her entire character through that job. I dunno if that’s sexist for reasons I talked about above or messed up because it defines her purely through her job when real people are more than the job they do.*** Either way it’s fucked up.

And as a fan it just grinds my gears because the ONLY reason MJ being a model is talked about as much as it is or appeared as much as it has in the comics is BECAUSE writers and fans keep throwing the term around in relation to MJ.

It’s a shitty self fulfilling prophecy

*And Batman unlike Spider-Man actually does prioritize his costume life over his superhero one.

**And not for nothing the video plays clips from the Raimi movies when talking about her being a damsel in distress (specifically a moment where she was substituting for Gwen Stacy) because of course it does. Because everyone knows judging a comic book character by their comic book versions would be stupid and Dunst MJ is everything comic book MJ was.

***Someone who works as a janitor isn’t less worthy as a person or wholesale defined through that job, they have a life and personality beyond that.

#Spider-Man #Insomniac Spider-Man #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #Peter Parker #MJ Watson #insomniac games #Spider-Man ps4 #Spider-Man Playstation 4

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