Sock on the Door (For Peter)

[st_x5_494]

It was sometime in the afternoon when Alec returned to the room. He hadn't been back since he came upon a sock on the door and so he spent the night with someone else. He had to give Peter props for the amount of times the kid was using the sock, but he was slightly surprised every time he'd come in, take one look at Peter, and just know nothing happened. Alec often wondered what the hell was wrong with Peter since it seemed like they were both willing to get busy with one another, but at least he was having sex and at the end of the day, that was wall that mattered.

When he pushed through the door, he called out a 'hey! I'm back." In case Peter cared, which Alec knew he would.

Comments

[st_x5_494]

Clearly Peter and Ned were doing it wrong.

"So.. you just pined over one girl the entire time?" HoeHow boring. His expression did not look impressed by that.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says defensively. "She was really pretty."

[st_x5_494]

That was sad. Then he thought of Brain who pined after Max. Seemed like maybe nerds couldn't help themselves.

"Okay, well, fine. As sad as that is, I'll roll with it. Why was Liz pretty? The one from home which you screwed up."

[st_arkintern]

Peter gives him a look, then pulls his phone out of his pocket. After a few quick movements, he pulls up an image of a girl on the screen, then passes the phone over to Alec.

"That's Liz." Peter doesn't think there's any need for any further explanation.

[st_x5_494]

He took a long look at her, then nodded with an acknowledgement of agreement.

"Okay, yeah, she's pretty." For a teenager anyways. Probably she'd be hotter in college.

"And you almost had a chance with her,huh? Bummer."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, sounding strangely sad about it. "When I asked her out, I was sure she'd say no, but it turned out she was so busy planning Homecoming, she didn't have time to think about who she'd go with."

Peter looks at the image of other-Liz for awhile, not saying anything.

"I don't know why no one asked her before me."

[st_x5_494]

Alec's expression almost seemed to call Peter an idiot as he quietly sat there. "Or, you know, the girl just liked you and you were too dumb to see it."

[st_arkintern]

"She never said she liked me," Peter says. "When I told her I liked her, she just said I know and --"

Peter stops there and looks at Alec.

"Han Solo said I know."

[st_x5_494]

"... what?" Alec just started at him. "You mean that guy in Star Wars?"

Alec was not following at all.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, nodding. "In Empire Strikes Back, right before Han Solo is about to be frozen in carbonite for defaulting on his loans, Leia tells him I love you and he tells her I know."

Peter looks at Alec wide-eyed.

"Liz liked me."

[st_x5_494]

"No shit." Alec deadpanned. He had to wonder if there were any other girls who liked Peter now and the poor kid was just completely oblivious. "It took you this long to figure it out?"

[st_arkintern]

"Well, yeah!" Peter gestures in the general direction of the phone. "You saw Liz! You know what she looks like! She's a senior and I'm a sophomore, and -- and look at her!"

He gestures again.

"She's gorgeous and smart and funny and --"

Peter stops. He's still stunned by this whole realization. He'd thought her I know had been an I know of acknowledgement. Not a Han Solo I know of I like you, too.

[st_x5_494]

Alec wasn't sure to be embarrassed for Peter's revelation or happy or what. For a kid who was so smart in some things, he was so dumb in others. "Maybe when you go back, you can find her again and ask her out and not fuck it up this time." He said the comment before really considering it.

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks at Alec.

"I ditched her at Homecoming and I got her dad arrested and she moved cross-country to Oregon," he says. "I don't think it's going to work out."

[st_x5_494]

"You didn't get her dad arrested. Spider-Man did." Alec figured the girl back home had no idea who Peter was. "Besides, her dad was a tool and you can move if you really like her."

[st_arkintern]

"It's not happening," Peter says, shaking his head. "I don't think that I should date anyone while I'm still Spider-Man." When he was back home, anyway.

Peter had been flaky and unreliable because of his responsibilities as Spider-Man. Even if it weren't malicious, he still hurt the people around him. Especially those that didn't know he was Spider-Man. And it was better that not a lot of people knew. Ned and May and Mr. Stark and Happy were enough.

[st_x5_494]

"Wait." Alec looked at Peter. He didn't really care about who Peter dated, but. "Please tell me you're not planning on being celibate for your whole superhero life."

[st_arkintern]

"Maybe," Peter says down at his hands. "I don't know."

[st_x5_494]

"Dude, you can't live your life like that. You can have fun and still save the damn world. Or are all your other superhero friends equally as alone and depressing?" Alec could not phathom it.

[st_arkintern]

"No, but they're all out about who they are," Peter says. "Everyone knows Iron Man is Tony Stark. Everyone knows that Steve Rogers is Captain America. Everyone knows James Rhodes is War Machine. It's not really the same when your identity is a secret."

[st_x5_494]

"You're really good at limiting your own personal enjoyment, you know that?" Alec looked at him as if he was considering rolling his eyes again.

"Trust me. After you've had sex for the first time, spending the next twenty years without it will be out of the question. Besides, you need a life."

[st_arkintern]

"I don't think I'm the sort of person who can have sex with somebody without us being in a committed relationship," Peter says. "And I don't think -- after everything with other-Liz that that's going to happen unless my girlfriend knows. And since my girlfriend can't know..."

Peter lets Alec draw his own conclusions.

[st_x5_494]

"Then find yourself a superhero girlfriend. There has to be some around - there's like five hundred in the inn." Alec was perhaps hyperbolizing the amount. "Then you wouldn't have to hide, right?"

[st_arkintern]

"They're all like, 33," Peter says. "I'm kinda the youngest superhero."

Peter can't imagine Natasha would ever be interested in him, and even if she was, that'd be weird.

[st_x5_494]

"Right, because somewhere else in the whole world there's probably not some mutant or other kid running around close to your age." He rolled his eyes. He got the sense that there were more superheroes around than most places.