st_arkintern | (no subject)

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"Are you really unhappy here?"

Peter's question cut through the relative silence of the woods, which he and Tony were surveying together. If Liz hadn't brought it up to him, he probably wouldn't have noticed, but now, it felt like he was looking for it in every one of Tony's words and in every one of Tony's movements.

It felt like something he should have noticed first, but the two of them hadn't spent much time together ever since he and Alec were fighting in the bar. He wondered if he had made Tony mad, but that wasn't a conversation for now.

Maybe later, but not now. Peter was ready to cut through one issue at a time.

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"It's a classic and he deserved to experience it." Tony rolled his eyes. "The Overlook? The Madonna Inn? Uh, hello? I didn't want to be alone in the references, here. I make one little ax-murdering joke and someone takes it the wrong way..."

Well, Thor had to take it personally with his ax-hammer.

"I just found a copy of Clueless and I haven't watched it yet," Peter says. "I read the back of the tape and I think that's probably going to be a lot safer than The Shining."

"Why not? We can all be polaroids of perfection together." Usually, Tony would have put up a fight, but just being together sounded like medicine.

"Unrelated. Just between you and me, I'm working with someone on getting a lab up and running. A proper one."

Peter's eyes light up with interest.

"What for?" Peter asks. "For getting us out of here?"

"Compiling all the available data on the Madonna Inn and gathering more. Escaping is a sub-goal." Tony answered quickly, having clearly given this extensive thought. "It's looking like simply getting out won't be enough."

Compiling makes enough sense to him; they need all the information in one place if they want to have even the smallest possibility of getting out of here, but --

"Why not enough?"

"Just escaping doesn't answer every question I--or others--have." Tony jumped some rocks leading over a small stream. "'What will we retain when we leave?' 'Where does this place exist in space?' 'Is it possible to communicate with the outside?' To name just a few."

Peter makes a little humming sound at that.

"Do you think we'll remember anything?" he asks. "If we did, don't you think it'd bungle up the timeline?"

"Isn't that the fun of it, Pete?" Tony landed triumphantly on the last rock, spinning and raising his arms.

"This is where we distinguish the difference between 'Theoretical Physics' and 'Plain 'ol Physics!'" His clever mind was firing in what could be described as intellectual jubilation.

"I guess so," Peter concedes; he was so married to the remember nothing theory that he was still having a hard time grappling with the possibility that he might remember.

He's not sure if that's better or worse than not remembering at all.

"I mean, there are already several other Peter Parkers that I know of, so I guess it wouldn't be totally implausible that there's a reality in which I remember everything."

Tony waited for Peter to join him on the same rock.

"And other Tony Starks. All far less charming than myself, apparently." He exhaled briskly. "This isn't good or bad. It's just data. It's all just data."

Data, Peter thinks to himself.

"How many Tony Starks do you know of?" he asks. "I think the only one I've heard about other than you is the one Kitty and Maya know."

Maya and him had a really long conversation about that other Tony a few months after he arrived here.

"Got an earful from Ms. Pryde about myself." Tony's eyebrows popped up. "I think she likes me for me, now. Not keeping track of all the rest."

"Yeah?" he asks. "I think there's 2 or 3 Peters that I know of. One possibly-me, if you include Annie. All older than I am." That was kinda weird.

The talk of other-thems makes Peter think of that conversation he had with Maya months and months ago. Now doesn't seem like a good time to talk about it, though. The whole day's been a series of rollercoasters for them.

"What do you think of Kitty?"

Finally committing, Tony hopped onto the bank. The stories of kids wandering in the woods was something he missed out on, but he was starting to see the appeal.

"Kind of a spitfire, ain't she?"

"Yeah, kinda. She's been here longer than I have. I take classes with her sometimes."

Peter presses his lips together. Part of him wants to ask Tony if he'd consider teaching him too, but somehow it feels too difficult to ask.

"I do art with Piotr and history with Professor River, too."

"She and I are planning on raising a baby. A lab baby." Tony bounced on his heels as he waited for Peter to cross. "Haven't met the other two, yet."

"Piotr's really quiet," he says. "He's a mutant, like Kitty. And Professor River is cool. Really cool. She has really great hair, too, and really smart."

Listening to Peter chat about his experiences, the people he met--it was nice. There was no other way to describe it. Tony had to step back and appreciate it.

"Spider-Man. Making friends. Taking names. I need to take a page of your book."

"If you stay here long enough, I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends," Peter says. "I only made as many as I have because I've been here so long."

Almost 13 months now.

"If you're in the mood to make more, I'll introduce you. To Poi--to Thor. I've mentioned you enough, God knows he wants to meet Spider-Son." Tony walked backwards ahead of Peter. "He's also had a rough time lately, so this'll be good for him."

It never even occurred to him that he might be under-the-weather. Peter hadn't really interacted with him at all since Thor's arrival, but he had seen his journal entries and he seemed to be in a pretty good mood most of the time.

"What, because of his breakup?"

That really seems like the only rational reason Peter can think of why Thor would be having a rough time.

"I'm sure he'll find someone eventually," he says. "I mean, he's good-looking and he's nice and the girls at school would talk about him in gym class."

And Tony, too, but it felt weird admitting that the girls in his class seemed to favor marrying him in their games of Eff, Marry, Kill.

"Uh. Yeah. I'm sure." Tony turned back ahead, pushing his hands in his pockets. "He got any takers yet?"

He really couldn't resist. Damn the curiosity.

"It's not like I'm watching him or anything," Peter says quickly. The last thing he wants is for Tony to think he's some sort of Thor stalker. "But I have seen him hanging out with Jane and Professor River and Clarice sometimes."

"They're probably just friends." Tony replied just as quickly. "Everyone needs friends."