Hallie
It felt weird continuing in the elevator without Peter, even if it was just another 25 floors or so. She guessed she wasn't completely alone.
"FRIDAY?"
"Yes, Ms. Dayton?"
"Do you think maybe you could call me Hallie? I'm already feeling a little out of place here."
"Of course, Hallie." The AI sounded gentler than usual.
"Um, is anyone in the penthouse right now?"
"The Starks are at dinner. Miss Morgan and Mr. Hogan are in the Boss's suite." Then a pause. "They are unlikely to emerge anytime in the next half hour or so until the Starks arrive home."
Hallie let out a slow breath. "Okay, thank you, FRIDAY."
"Your thanks are unnecessary." A pause. "But you are welcome."
Hallie felt like some of the AI's pauses spoke as much as her words did. She seemed to accept Hallie's presence here readily enough though. Everyone had been accepting and welcoming so far. So why did she feel so crazy right now? Hallie leaned against the elevator wall as it slowed and stopped. She didn't move even when the door opened.
"Ms. Dayton, are you well?" FRIDAY's voice sounded concerned. "Your biometrics indicate some distress. Should I call Dr. Parker?"
Hallie's mouth quirked at the AI's insistence in calling him that.
"No, FRIDAY," she said, straightening and exiting the lift. "I'm okay, I just need to rest for a moment."
She walked through the shared living area and continued through to Peter's suite. She looked around for somewhere to set her satchel, then headed into the walk-in closet. As Peter had mentioned, there was a new dresser in there. She set her bag on top of it, and turned to her duffle bag to put away the rest of the clothes that hadn't needed to hang in the closet.
She felt… weird. She felt cold, but she was sweating a little bit. She didn't have a fever, did she? She just felt uneasy in general, and a little shaky. She walked into the small kitchen area, and found a glass. Maybe some water…
She did feel a little better after drinking, but still very off. Instead of sitting in the suite's living room she stumbled into the bedroom and onto the bed. OH. The bed. She loved this bed. It was seriously the best bed ever. Laying down did help, but she was starting to feel nauseated. Was this from their bond? She checked her watch and tried to remember when they had separated. It had only been about 12-15 minutes. But she was feeling increasingly awful.
"FRIDAY? Do you know if Peter got the food yet? Is he on his way back?"
"Peter seems to be experiencing similar symptoms and has asked for the food to be sent up when it's ready in a few minutes. He's on his way." The voice wasn't FRIDAY, but Karen's. Oh, that's right, Karen was wired into Peter's suite. She sounded concerned.
"Thanks, Karen," she said. Unable to contain it, she whimpered softly. She hoped she wasn't going to throw up. Thank heavens that he was headed back. And if he was experiencing similar symptoms, there was a good chance it was just bond-related, and should resolve once they were back together. Hallie closed her eyes to try to keep the room from spinning. She just laid there, trying not to think about food, or walking, or breathing very hard.
A couple minutes later she heard the suite's door open, and then Peter was through the door and climbing onto the bed next to her. His breathing was ragged, and he scooted closer, only pausing to pull off his shoes. He curled himself around Hallie and with one hand found her soul mark on her lower back. Instantly, the nausea and room-spinning eased, and she could finally think again. She fumbled for his arm and found his mark as well, but couldn't reach his skin.
"Blazer," she muttered. He growled softly and let go of her, struggling up on his knees long enough to lose the offending jacket, then resuming his position next to her on the bed, hand pressed firmly into her lower back. She found his mark with her fingers and heard his own sign of relief. They lay like that for several minutes, just breathing and trying to regain their senses.
"Karen," Peter said after a few minutes. "What happened to us? Why did it get so intense, so quickly? It wasn't much longer than we'd been apart in the lab."
"I have been researching, Peter, and it appears that a new soul bond is especially vulnerable at the 24-hour mark. You hadn't quite reached it in the lab, plus you were still in each other's presence, even if you weren't touching. There is about an 8 hour period here where it is inadvisable to be separated for longer than 2-3 minutes, and experts wouldn't recommend even that for a while, since you were both just suffering fairly intense bond withdrawal." She sounded worried.
"Peachy," said Peter, burying his face in Hallie's neck. "Why didn't anyone warn us?" He didn't remember having that issue with Tony and tried to remember what had been going on at the 24-hour-mark of their bond. Oh. It was the weekend, and they were in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon on the couch in a pile of limbs and blankets. So they wouldn't have felt any ill effects. Still, though. This was something he should have been aware of!
Hallie adjusted her position slightly, lifting her head and looking around. When he saw her eyes focus on a pillow several feet away, he snagged it and pulled it snugly under her head.
"Better?"
"Yes, thank you. Are you comfortable?"
"More or less. Way better than I was five minutes ago, and I think it was probably worse for you. My super healing seems to fight with it, so I have moments where I feel decent before it kicks in again."
"Yeah, I didn't have any of that 'feeling decent' stuff. That was trippy. It felt almost like when I got the flu really bad, and was having hallucinations, I think. Not the hallucinating part, but the so-dizzy-I-wanted-to-puke part, and my head felt like it was full of cotton. That was NOT fun. I can't decide if this was better or worse. You are never leaving my side again, mister," she mumbled into his chest. Peter full-on grinned. Apparently Hallie could be a bit of a motormouth. He wondered if it was just a sick-thing, or if this is what happened when she truly relaxed and was her real self. He couldn't wait to find out which it was. Either way, he was a fan.
"What? Why are you smiling?" she demanded, having pulled back to look at him. She had the cutest disgruntled face he'd ever seen.
"You're just completely adorable," he said, ducking his head to kiss the tip of her upturned nose. She froze, eyes wide, and he met her stare, his smile settling to something softer.
"Just for the record, I'm okay with the 'never leaving your side again' part." he said, kissing her forehead gently and then pulling her into him with a happy sigh.
They lay there quietly for a few minutes, just breathing together before Karen interrupted. "Mr. Stark is asking if he can come in and check on you both. He has your food."
"Oh, the food!" exclaimed Hallie. She seemed to finally take stock of their situation, completely entangled with each other in Peter's bed, and struggled to sit up.
He put his hand on her head and pushed it gently back onto the pillow. "Not yet, love. Not long ago you couldn't even see straight, and I wasn't much better. Please, stay down." He did reach down to pull the comforter up so it was partially over them.
"Karen, let him in."
Tony entered gingerly, food in hand, a worried look on his face. His eyebrows raised slightly at the state he found his kids in. He looked abashed as he said, "so, apparently you didn't know about the 24-hour issue?"
"Apparently." Peter's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Tony's face looked pained. "I'm so sorry, Underoos, I just didn't think about you not knowing. I thought we mentioned it during our bond, and remember we did the couch and movie marathon thing during it, and…"
"Well, apparently 17-year-old kids aren't always the best at retaining information," Peter sighed.
Tony set the food down on one of the nightstands and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching his hand out to gently touch Peter's hair. Peter leaned into his touch and sighed happily.
"You're both okay, now?" Tony asked anxiously, eyes darting from Peter to Hallie. His gaze rested on her, waiting to hear from her directly.
"We're okay," she said shyly. She sounded like any girl who had to talk to her son's dad when she had only known him for 24 hours and was already snuggled in bed with him. Of course, Tony could care less about that.
"Can I get you guys anything?"
"Maybe a couple glasses of water from the kitchen?" Peter said. I think we're here for the duration. We'll try sitting up and eating in a few minutes. Are there utensils in the bag?"
"Yep."
"Thanks Dad," Peter motioned him closer, so he could reach his arm, and press his hand briefly to his soulmark, taking time for just a tiny reconnection.
"Love you, Pete."
"Love you, too," Tony smiled, and stood up. "By the way, the paperwork was filed today, so you guys are official. I'm leaving your registration card here by your wallet, bud. Make sure you keep it on you to avoid any issues when you guys are out of the Tower."
Peter nodded. That was good news.
"You two get some rest," Tony finished, smiling at Hallie. He left, closing the door quietly behind him. Peter's super-hearing heard him say, "Karen, you let me know if they are having any continuing ill-effects, whether Peter says you can, or not."
"Mr. Stark, I cannot-" she began.
"Override protocol 'Because I Said So.'"
"Yes, sir."
Peter lay back on the pillow, stretching out of their curled up position to relieve a slight cramp in his arm. He urged Hallie to do the same, helping her get comfortable snuggled against his side.
"Registration card?" questioned Hallie.
"Yeah, it's proof in case something happens and we need any special accommodations at any point during these first couple months," Peter replied, lazily playing with her fingers. He glanced at the food Tony had delivered.
"We'll try getting up in a minute. I'm starving."
"Did you get my Cobb salad?" she asked, trying to rise up again, craning her neck to look.
"Yes, it's there," Peter said, laughing. "Alright, let's try this." They sat up, scooting back against the headboard and pulling out the food. Some sweet food court worker had snuck two giant sugar cookies in. Happy day, indeed.
"No spilling food in the bed though," he mock-scolded. Hallie gave him a quelling look and dug into her salad.
"After we eat, do you want to watch a movie?" he asked between bites of his burrito.
Hallie glanced at her watch. "We should probably try to sleep before too long, right?" she said, looking a little unsure. I have that 4 AM shift tomorrow…"
Peter groaned. "You're killin' me Smalls!" Hallie covered her giggle at his casual Sandlot reference.
"You know that reference, but aren't up on your Star Wars?" he said incredulously.
"I remember watching that one with my mom. Grandmother would never. She didn't approve of movies in general, except a lot of documentaries and musicals and stuff, and some of the old-frankly, trauma-inducing-Disney cartoons."
As much as Peter was enjoying new, chatty Hallie, his heart ached when he thought about her years with that woman. "I see lots of movie nights in our future." Bracing his hand on the opposite side of her head, he reached over and kissed her temple.
Instead of tensing, she giggled. "You smell like salsa. Again."
"And how do you feel about salsa, Ms. Dayton?"
She didn't answer, but just bit her lip as she smiled at him, then ducked her head and pretended to be absorbed in finding the last bites of chicken in her salad.
"What time do you need to get up in the 'morning,'" he asked, giving it air quotes. "Do you need to shower before?"
She giggled again at his disgust (man, he loved that) and said "No, I was kind of hoping we could squeeze a work out in the gym in after work, and then shower?" she said hopefully.
"Karen?"
"Hallie's shift ends at 10, and with traffic that time of day, I would estimate 30 minutes to get home. Your first meeting is at 1, so if you're fast, there should be time for that."
"Great, we'll aim for that, then. Mind if I invite Tony or whoever is around? You can do your thing and we'll get some work in as well?"
"Um, sure. I'd probably just like to run a few miles. You said there's a track in here?"
"Yep. Not as good as running outside, but it's safer and has better weather," he smiled. Then, "I can't believe I'm going with you to a 4 AM shift. Can't I just buy the diner? cafe? and hire other people?" he whined.
"Now you sound like Tony," she teased sleepily. And I usually call it a diner, but lots of people say a café. It's kind of nondescript."
"You become who you hang out with," he admitted to the Tony jab.
"Hey, don't fall asleep on me," he said as she yawned and scooted back down to a prone position again. "You want the bathroom first?"
That woke her up. Her eyes turned serious and a little shy. "Um, sure."
He propped his head up on his hand. "Are you okay just sleeping in here tonight? I meant what I said, and we'll take things slowly. But I know we'll sleep better in an actual bed, especially after what we dealt with tonight."
She nodded slowly, and stood up to go find her pajamas.
"Hallie?" She turned to look at him. "Be fast, okay? I don't want you to start feeling sick again, and Karen texted me earlier to let me know we're both more prone to it the next day or so since it got so bad."
"Okay, I'll hurry."
They ended up having to take a break in between each of them getting ready to snuggle together in the bed and go over the rest of their schedule the next day. Hallie had gotten shaky again in the five minutes she'd been gone, though the other symptoms hadn't come back, thankfully.
Peter was even faster, and she seemed okay when he got back. She raised her eyebrows at what he was wearing (a plain dark blue fitted t-shirt and khaki joggers).
"Hey, I'm just planning to roll out of bed in the morning and go," he said. "I'm getting as much sleep as possible!"
She shook her head at him and started to get comfortable in bed, her back to him.
"Hal, do you move much in your sleep?" Peter wasn't sure why he felt awkward all of a sudden. Maybe because there was a beautiful girl in his bed, who he was totally smitten with even though he'd only met her the day before, and it was taking a lot of self control to keep from scaring her with his enthusiasm, which might lead to running away from him… Anyway. She had rolled onto her back a bit so she could look at him quizzically, so he pressed on. "Tony and I mostly slept on the couch, so we were able to stay in contact, but he said he had trouble at first with Pepper and him rolling apart in the middle of the night and waking up feeling sick."
"Huh. I guess I… hadn't even thought of that. I don't know if I do. Did they find anything that helped?"
He said they just did their best to start out really close, and put a pillow on either side of them to discourage rolling. You know, like when you have to share a bed with someone you don't want to touch, and you put a pillow between you to help with that, but opposite, and…" He was babbling now. That was something he had mostly grown out of as his life experience and confidence increased, but apparently he could still feel insecure.
Hallie was smiling. Good. That was… good? That was better than the whole running away thing. Not that she was able to stay away from him without almost dying. Oh man, how had she even gotten into this mess, tied to him without any way out, really and-
She leaned forward, interrupting his inner monologue, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Well that was. That was. His brain short-circuited just a little bit.
"Peter, I think we can agree this is all kinds of awkward. But I trust you, and I like you, and I'm happy to be here with you, even if it's going to take a lot of getting used to."
Peter's heart soared. This girl. His soulmate was just amazing, and she blew him away with how mature and accepting she could be, despite the rough time she'd had of the last eight years. And he loved her so much. Yes, he said the "L" word, at least in his head.
"Now come on, let's get nice and close," her face betrayed that she was still nervous and not sure about this whole sleeping-together-but-not thing "and see if we can get some sleep. 3:30 comes awfully soon."
Ugh. The worst. The absolute worst. He was definitely going to remind her to turn in her two-week notice if she was still willing. What was UP with the mental monologue? His mind was usually active, but especially so tonight. He wondered if it was part of the effects of the 24-hour thing. Oh, Hallie was looking at him, wondering if he was going to lay down. Whoops.
"Sorry, I have a lot in my head tonight. More than usual."
"Me, too," she sighed. "I'm not feeling or acting quite like myself."
"You sure? I like all the chatter," he teased, snuggling into her back and wrapping an arm around her waist. He took a moment to tug a pillow into place behind his back to hopefully keep him close enough to maintain contact.
Hallie hummed skeptically at him, but pressed back into him as well.
Though the effects of being apart this evening had been awful, now that it was resolved, and she was fine, he was a bit grateful for it. He had not looked forward to sleeping on the couch again after another "movie night" to help her feel comfortable. He was very grateful to be stretched out in his own bed. Apparently he was getting old, because he had gotten used to sleeping in one spot like a civilized human being after all. Tony would be so proud. Or vindicated.
"Peter?"
"Hmm?"
"Good night," came Hallie's sleepy whisper.
"Good night, love."
Later, Peter was surprised how quickly he had been able to fall asleep.