"I'm coming to you with an offer that you can't refuse." Pausing, Scott groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Wait, no, that was lame. I'm sorry. So, um, the offer, right. Can you babysit for me? I'll pay you! And Cassie's awesome, you'll love her. Maybe you'll love her, I mean, maybe you don't like kids and..."
"Wait, dude!" Algebra long forgotten, Peter leaped up and grabbed both of Scott's shoulders. "Are you offering me a job?"
"Um, yeah?" Blinking owlishly, Scott took a few steps back. "I mean, I completely understand if you don't want to take me up on that offer, but it's just that Hope and I were hoping to go on a double date with Maggie but if you can't that's totally cool, I guess I can ask Hope if we can..."
"No! Yes! I mean, a job! With money!" Clapping his hands together in excitement, Peter offered Scott a wide, excited grin. "Thank you so much, Mr. Lang!"
"Uh, please," Scott smiled sheepishly at Peter. "Just call me Scott."
"Alright, Mr. Lang." Peter responded agreeably, without missing a beat. "Wait, you have a kid and you chose to become a fugitive instead?"
Scott grimace at that, guilt and worry flickering over his features long enough for Peter to realize that he had never intended for it to go so far as it did. "I didn't know the full details." He admitted, gritting his teeth unhappily. "I didn't think too much about accepting it, about what it would entail. And I didn't really want to go in the first place. The others told me that I shouldn't let them hold me back from an opportunity like this and I thought, well, Captain America..."
He blew out a deep sigh, short and loud, and scrubbed a hand over his face.
"Pretty stupid, huh?" Scott asked.
"Nah," Peter pulled up his legs into a criss crossed position. "That was basically what I did with Mr. Stark, anyways."
Scott snickered at that, tipping his head back ever so slightly and closing his eyes. "So we're both idiots?"
Peter pretended to think about it. "Maybe you are," He replied teasingly. "But I've got a pretty high IQ."
Scott threw a pillow at him. "Aw, zip it, Spiderling."
"Wait, no, don't call me that! Did Mr. Stark tell you about that?"
"I think it suits you."
"No, Mr. Lang, I'm sorry! Forgive me!"
"I don't know..."
"I'll babysit for free!"
"Aw, kid, you don't have to go so far. Look, whatever I am, I'm not a cheapskate."
"Says the guy who won't go anywhere without a coupon."
"That's just being smart with your money!"
"It's called being a penny pinching old lady!"
"Better than being a broke little brat!"
"Yeah, well, at least I'm still young!"
"Are you implying that I'm old?"
They bantered back and forth a bit more before stopping for breath, and then, in one single instant, made eye contact.
Scott was the first to break, bursting into laughter, and Peter was quick to join him.
"So, your daughter." Peter gasped out when he finally managed to get the words out in between giggles. "What's she like?"
Scott held up a hand and laughed a bit more, before gasping for breath and he smiled fondly, his wide smile turning into something a bit softer and sweeter. "She's the most perfect thing ever." He sighed dreamily, and Peter tossed the pillow back at his face.
"Oh no, you're a sap." Peter groaned, burying his face in his hands.
Scott stood up and gave Peter a solid whack with the pillow. "Zip it, kid, like you're not the same when you talk about that aunt of yours. But I kid you not, within one second of seeing her you'll be smiling, she's just so amazing and..."
Needless to say, listening for the better part of an hour to Scott just raving about Cassie, it was a while before Peter managed to get to his Algebra.
(Though, seeing that sappy, fond smile on Scott's lips, Peter couldn't find it in himself to regret it.)
(Then he met her and it was true, she was the sweetest thing ever.)
