Coming Back Home (Closed to Peter)

[st_x5_494]

His talk with Kitty and some more time alone caused Alec to return to the Inn. He smelled, but he was used to that, however he did miss showers. Despite the ability to live off the land for at least a month, there were some comforts that Alec missed. Plus he figured he needed to find out how badly he left things with Peter.

He was ready to be told to move out - however he could manage that, anyways.

Alec pushed through the door noticed the note on Peter's bed immediately. The kid wanted to talk - shocker. He dropped his pack and went to hit the shower.

Comments

[st_x5_494]

"Wait. So I have to care about what happens to people in like, Serbia?" Alec made a face. "That's a lot of people I don't know to stick my neck out for." Just less than a year ago he barely stuck his neck out for anyone.

[st_arkintern]

"The people in Serbia especially," Peter says. "They're probably never gonna get their own superhero."

[st_x5_494]

Peter was just so stubborn. Somewhere back home, Max was laughing her ass off and probably saying something like 'serves you right'.

"I'd be really bad PR. I drink and sleep with lots of women." He paused, then added. "I like to steal shit too."

[st_arkintern]

"Mr. Stark likes to drink and sleep with women," Peter points out. He may or may not have read Tony Stark's unofficial biography. Was there an Avenger who stole stuff?

Peter stops to think, trying to dredge up some memory from the superhero chan that he used to visit before things got weird and they started posting pictures of him. He knows Quill stole the orb, but it's probably not a good idea to bring it up now.

Then it comes to him in a flash of brilliance. Peter directs a single finger at Alec, as if he has just suddenly caught him in the act.

"I stole Captain America's shield," he says, excitedly.

[st_x5_494]

Alec gave Peter a look. It was similar to 'the look' that Peter gave him a lot of the time.

"Why do you want me to be apart of the Avengers so badly?"

[st_arkintern]

"Why wouldn't I want you to be part of the Avengers?"

[st_x5_494]

Was this all teenagers or just Peter Parker? Alec thought about the other kids at the Inn. Mostly just Peter Parker.

"Because I'd probably embarrass you when I start calling your friends out on their dumb shit?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter pretends to think about this for a second.

"Mmm... no."

[st_x5_494]

He blinked.

Ugh.

A pause.

"Fine. But I don't think you'd be able to handle all the demands in my contract."

[st_arkintern]

"Mr. Stark's a billionaire. He could handle it."

Peter says this with absolute confidence.

[st_x5_494]

"What if part of the stipulation is I get to be the leader?" Not that Alec ever actually wanted to be in charge of other people. That was much better left to someone like Max.

"I'd definitely need at least 5 weeks of vacation. Paid, of course. And my own mansion. A book deal would be nice, but I'd need a writer because I wouldn't want to write it myself. A burger chain named after me. At least like, 10 different cars and motorcycles...."

[st_arkintern]

Peter frowns. Alec was being unreasonable.

"You don't need all those things," Peter says sternly.

[st_x5_494]

He did a palms up "I don't need them, but they'd be fun to have. Wouldn't you want all those things?"

[st_arkintern]

"No," Peter says, looking confused. "I mean, would I like May not to have to worry about money? Yeah. But it'd be weird if we suddenly moved into a big house or something."

[st_x5_494]

He blinked. Alec didn't get that at all. "Weird? How about awesome? Money's the best."

[st_arkintern]

"It's different if you're used to living a different way," he says. "I'm still not entirely used to this place --" He waves an arm around at the rest of the room. "-- and I've been here for nine months now."

Peter looks at Alec, brows furrowed.

"It wouldn't be weird for you?"

[st_x5_494]

"Hell no." Alec was being completely truthful this time. "If I had money I'd have a big mansion and a pool. Big screen TVs. Silk blankets. All of it."

[st_arkintern]

"If Mr. Stark could give you that, would you be an Avenger?" Peter asks.

Back to the Avengers line of questioning.

[st_x5_494]

Probably the biggest deterrent was having to take orders from Tony Stark. "I don't know... I'm not big on following orders. I did that once and look where it got me."

[st_arkintern]

"Mr. Stark told me to leave the Vulture alone," Peter says, "But I still went after him."

Tony had tried to stop him, but had apparently underestimated Peter's strength of will. Peter couldn't imagine Mr. Stark would do that again.

[st_x5_494]

"Yeah, but if we all have to work together in some sort of -" Alec made another vague gesture with his hands, "-Kumbaya fight thing, wouldn't I have to listen to his orders?"

[st_arkintern]

"In Germany, half the Avengers fought against him," he says. "And me and Vision and Black Widow and Black Panther and War Machine."

Peter takes a breath.

"So I think it's okay to make your own decisions," he says. "Cap's team did."

[st_x5_494]

He blinked at Peter. Vision? War Machine? Maybe Black Widow sounded cool. Maybe. Seriously, though, who came up with these names? Alec clearly did not look impressed as he listened other superheroes.

"Wait, so... there are two Avenger teams? How does that work?"

[st_arkintern]

"It's kind of complicated," Peter says, because he doesn't really understand it because Mr. Stark really didn't tell him anything at all. "Mr. Stark just told me that Captain America was wrong and that he thought he was right and that made him dangerous. So I tried to stop him."

And didn't really do a good job of it.

"I got to fight The Falcon and Winter Solider, though. And Cap and Ant-Man," he says. "The Winter Soldier had a metal arm."

[st_x5_494]

"Ant-Man?" ANT-man?

Alec brought fingers to the bridge of his nose. Seriously, what the fuck was with these names? Did the Winter Soldier only fight in cold weather? Did people in Peter's world really think these names sounded cool? He was sure Max would also eye-roll at all of this. He really wished she was here so he could feel validated in thinking all this was lame.

Still, what Peter said didn't escape notice.

"So basically what you're saying is you went into a fight with 'he's wrong and he's dangerous' but you didn't ask what he was wrong about?" Fuck the metal arm, that's the part that bothered Alec. He had seen a lot worse than just a metal arm before.