Tony groaned.
Peter Parker aka Spiderman was asleep again.
The cliché that teenagers sleep all the time never held much ground with Tony. Sure, he often snoozed in short intervals during the day, but not like this. He peered down at Peter, who was curled up on one of the sofas in the lounge area. A little bit of drool dribbled out on his face, which was propped up by his mask.
"Didn't even bother changing!" Tony exclaimed, staring at the boy who hadn't bothered taking his uniform off (costume wasn't a word Tony liked using.)
"Is Parker asleep again?" a voice from behind him called.
He turned to see Natasha Romanoff standing behind him. Her hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail, something that was unusual for Natasha.
"I was gonna give him the talk—you know, about the Accords-but it seems like that isn't happening now."
Natasha sighed, shaking her head.
"Look at us! The Earths mightiest heroes and we can't deal with an adolescent boy who sleeps way too much," Tony said softly, running his hands through his hair.
He walked over to the kitchen area in the corner, and observed the mess Peter had made. Three empty glasses sat upside down in the sink, and a carton of milk lay on the floor.
"Thank god he screwed the lid on," Natasha muttered, walking over to help Tony.
"God, he's annoying. Every time I need to talk to him, he's sleeping like a little kid," Tony replied, closing the cheese-it box.
"He's growing up. That means he's gonna sleep more, Tony. You have to talk to him soon though."
A thump came from the other side of the room, and Peter's messy head popped up from behind the couch. Drool was smeared all around his mouth, something which he didn't seem to notice. His hair was sticking up every which way, and his mask somehow got thrown to the other side of the sofa.
"It's about time," Natasha said, chuckling a little under her breath.
Tony glared at her, which made her smile turn upside down quickly. Turning back to Peter, he took a few steps forward. Peter had jumped up and was clinging to his mask nervously. He looked like a sad, lost puppy.
"Okay, Peter. Really?"
"Yes sir. I'm sorry sir."
Tony rolled his eyes, and shook his head.
"At least you're up. Sit down we need to talk!"
"No!" Peter yelled.
He backed up to the other side of the room, and the next thing Tony and Natasha knew, Peter was half-way up the wall.
"Peter, get down!"
Peter shook his head profusely, glaring down at Tony. His face was contorted with fear and confusion. He continued clinging to the wall, shaking his head every few seconds.
"DOWN PETER! DOWN!" Tony yelled, pointing at Peter angrily.
Natasha grabbed his arm, and pulled it down.
"Tony, he's not a dog . . . Peter, what's wrong?"
"All because I am generally labeled a nerd and can fix computers and build technology of the future does not mean I'm stupid!"
Natasha and Tony stared at each other, each of them trying to connect what Peter outburst meant. Peter crawled into the center of the ceiling, and hung upside down. Tony groaned.
"Was I like this when I was a teenager? Oh god, please forgive me if I was!"
Natasha step forward, and reached up to try to pull Peter off the ceiling. She could only reach his head, and figuring that pulling him from the head wouldn't get anywhere, she stepped back.
"Hey Peter, maybe if you get down we could talk. We have some things we want to get out on the table, so if you just—"
"I'm sixteen! Ma'am, please don't make me—"
"Peter, you knew what you were getting into when you agreed—"
"I already talked about this with Aunt May—"
"You told Aunt May?" Tony yelled, causing Natasha to glare at him furiously.
"Did not! She came to me, wanting to talk about it and I didn't like it and I don't want to do it again! It was really embarrassing and no offense, but I don't know you guys that well."
"Hey, you were the one that wanted to join the Avengers, Mr. Parker!" Tony yelled "If you want to be a part of this group, you have to come down and listen to me right now!"
"What does this have to do with being an Avenger?"
Tony opened his mouth, ready to yell at Peter again, but Natasha tapped him on the shoulder before he could. He turned to her, frustrated that she was interrupting this very long tedious process. Natasha's hand was still on his shoulder. She was staring at the ground, and then a smile crept across her face slowly. The smile got bigger and bigger and finally, she burst out laughing. Tony frowned and then glanced up at Peter, whose face was red like a tomato.
"Peter, you didn't think?"
Natasha couldn't continue for she was laughing so hard. She flopped down onto the couch, almost choking from laughter. Tony eyes widened, unable to believe that Natasha was laughing at the fact that Peter was hanging from the ceiling, refusing to talk about the Accords.
"Oh, Parker! You should want to talk to Tony about that. He has a lot of experience!"
Peter's face grew even brighter, and he closed his eyes miserably.
"Tony! He thought you wanted to talk to him about—"
"Oh my god!"
The realization dawned at Tony, and he himself turned bright red also.
"Peter, I want to talk to you about the Accords and send your signature into the U.N!"
"What?" Peter said slowly, the color draining from his face.
Tony ran his fingers through his hair once again, almost unable to comprehend what was going on.
"You don't want to talk about—"
"No! Why on Earth would you think I wanted to talk to you about puberty?!"
"Or sex!" Natasha exclaimed, her laughter turning into hiccups.
Peter gazed at Tony, unsure of what to say. He slowly dropped down from the ceiling, and stood up straight, like a soldier. Tony couldn't tell if he was still embarrassed or ashamed, and quite honestly, he didn't care.
"Peter, sit down. I need to explain a couple things to you and get your signature. You read through the packet concerning the Accords, right?"
He nodded, moving towards the sofa. Natasha's laughed grew quieter and quieter as Tony stared detailing some of the Accord's rules. She eventually got up and left the room, ready to tell Rhodey about what just had happened. Peter sat as still as a statue as Tony droned on and on and on. When he finished, Tony looked up and asked "Any questions?"
Peter was sitting up still, his eyes half-open.
"What the hell? Peter wake up!"