Hello again, I'm back with a new 3 +1, I hope you're not bored of it yet!
i.
Tony grabbed the marker lying on the table, moving closer to the bed where Peter was. He pushed the blanket away, revealing the bright red cast underneath it. Without a word, he signed on it.
"There – just bumped up your cool factor by about a hundred," he declared, capping the black marker before tossing it aside.
Peter grinned, craning his neck to take a better look.
"That'll shut Flash up," he told his aunt sitting on his right. "Thanks, Mr. Stark."
"No problem. Back to what we were talking about before the doctor interrupted us… So, you're telling me that there's a whole discourse out there about Star Trek and Star Wars."
"Yep," Peter nodded.
"Why can't they just like both?" May frowned, confused.
Tony was quick to jump onboard, agreeing with May on it, "Exactly. Explain it to me, kid."
Peter shifted on the bed, adjusting his casted leg carefully. He fielded off question of 'are you in pain? Do you need painkillers?' from May away.
"I – I don't really know, Mr. Stark. I haven't actually seen Star Trek, you know? Like, I've only seen an episode here and there when it's on reruns on TV but I've never really follow up on it the way I do with Clone Wars. I guess it's – it's like Stark Industries with Oscorp Industries? It's sort of same but also different…. It just doesn't mix?"
Tony blinked, a little offended that Peter even thought to think that his company was in any way similar to Oscorp but put it that way, he was starting to see the whole Star Wars versus Star Trek in a different light. Personally, he had seen both and they were both alright.
"Alright, alright, I see where you're coming from. Still, you made the deduction that Star Wars is in some way superior without ever having watched Star Trek saved for that one or two episodes you caught," Tony stared down at him. "Here I thought you watched a lot more shows and movies."
"Hey, that's not cool. Star Trek was during your time. You must have had the time to watch them growing up. For me, I have to actually play catch up, you know, and there's just like so many other stuffs to watch."
May stood up, wandering away from the arm chair she had claimed as her own to talk to one of the nurses. Tony caught wind of 'incessant pop culture argument' and he whipped his head in her direction, unable to believe that she was telling on them to the nurse; a nurse of his pay roll.
"And like, I mean, with Ned it's always just – just Star Wars. We never really got the chance to watch any Star Trek. I – I know there was like a movie that came out in 2009 with Chris Pine, wasn't it? Uncle Ben was – um – supposed to bring us to the theatre to watch it but he had to take on some work or something and it sort of just never happen?"
Out of all the things that came out from the kid's mouth, he was most surprised by the mention of his uncle. Peter hardly ever talked about him.
Tony offered him a soft smile.
"I've never caught the movies myself, only the television series with Leonard Nimoy. So tell you what, kid, let's watch that movie right here, right now. We've got time and you're not going anywhere – not with that leg."
"It'll heal in a few days," Peter shrugged.
"Exactly, you heal so fast the doctors might even remove the screws instead of waiting for months. We gotta keep you occupied before you get bored and hop around on that leg when you're not supposed to."
"Alright, Mr. Stark," he acquiesced. "Let's watch Star Trek."
"Good boy," he ruffled the kid's hair much to his chagrin. "You can't make conclusions until you have all the data in front of you. F.R.I.D.A.Y, put on Star Trek."
Coming back to her seat, May was shaking her head. "I can see why you two get along quite well."
Tony spared her a glance, trying to gauge if that was meant to be taken as a compliment or if it was sarcasm. He was still a tad wary of her. The dressing down and harsh reprimand he got from her four months ago after she found out he had given Peter the suit was still rather fresh on his mind.
He didn't hold it against her, naturally. Peter was her kid and if his kid was running around with enhanced powers that he had kept hidden for nearly a year, dressed in a multi-million dollar suit to play vigilante in their neighbourhood, he would have probably reacted the way she did or worse.
To her credit, she was coming around. She did acknowledge that even without Tony Stark in the picture, Peter inadvertently would still have been roaming around Queens as Spider-Man. This way, at least, she knew that someone else has got Peter's back, someone that understood what he was up to.
"Let me guess… Spock's your favourite character," Peter commented half an hour into the movie. "Am I right, Mr. Stark?"
"Obviously."
"I do like him too," May added, completely focused on the movie. "He is quite poised and blunt. Although, I must say, Cadet Kirk does have the looks…"
"May, don't make comments like that," Peter scrunched his face, trying to reach forward towards the tray.
Seeing him struggle, Tony pushed the chocolate pudding the kid was clearly going for into his hand. He checked his watch, noting that it would be another hour before the nurses would pop by to check on Peter for the night. Tony had no obligation to sit with the kid and his aunt here in the Compound's med bay but truth be told, he was enjoying this companionship.
Ever since the Avengers fell out, it had been a little quieter with only Rhodey and Vision around the private living quarters. Whenever Peter came around for suit upgrades, it was like a breath of fresh air. He lifted the spirit and aura in the Compound, not that Tony had ever told him that.
Tony had other things to do, sure. He needed to upgrade the exo-skeleton for Rhodes. In fact, he was putting in the hours for the nano technology he was developing when F.R.I.D.A.Y had alerted him to the distress signal Karen had put up from Peter's suit. Somehow, the kid had managed to trap his leg in a small gutter behind an abandoned warehouse and had broken his tibia in three different places and fractured his fibula. Tony had extracted the kid, flew him to the med bay before sending Happy to retrieve his aunt.
Post-surgery with screws holding his bones together, Peter was confined to the bed as they waited for his enhanced healing to speed up the process. The medical team, thoroughly briefed on Peter's condition, was expecting him to heal within weeks what would have otherwise taken months. Tony made sure to visit him each day. He was usually never on the same 'shift' as his aunt until today but as it was proving out to be, spending the time with May and Peter Parker together wasn't all that bad.
"That was quite good," Tony remarked once the credits rolled.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, Mr. Stark! Maybe we'll watch the sequel tomorrow?"
"Sure. How 'bout that, May?"
"I've got the afternoon shift tomorrow. I'll only come by at night so you boys have fun."
"Aw, no, we can wait for you May. We can, can't we, Mr. Stark? We started the movie together so we should see it through together."
"Guess the kid has a point," Tony shrugged.
"Well, since you managed to get him to a hospital and get medical treatment by a doctor, which I never could, I guess I can do this one little thing."
Tony frowned. "What's up? You don't like doctors?"
Peter fidgeted, casting his gaze away before dragging it back to the adults in the room.
"N – Not since the spider bite, Mr. Stark. I – I was just afraid that they might … find something different with me and I wouldn't – I can't explain it to them."
Tony and May exchanged a look.
"This is one of my many struggles with our spider kid," May laughed quietly, squeezing Peter's shoulder.
"Alright, okay," Tony exhaled, trying to calm his racing heart. He had never considered that the kid would have nowhere to go when he fell sick. "You've got this place. Right here, alright? May, I don't want you to worry about getting him medical treatment if he even so much as got the flu. You call me and I'll get him to the med bay. These doctors … They've got his records now and they were onboard when the Avengers were still around so they know, alright? They know what's at stake… They know what they are dealing with."
"Thank you, Tony," May nodded gratefully and she looked as if a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders.
He swore this kid was going to be the death of them.
This was based on a tumblr post I made yesterday after I rewatched IW & comprehend that Peter said "Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up" when Ebony Maw came to NY.
If you like it, please drop a review! It fuels me :)