st_arkintern | (no subject)

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Today, Peter Parker's the one behind the bar. Tony sits on the barstool opposite from him. Typically, they stand at about the same height, but when he's seated, Tony's just the tiniest bit shorter.

Peter looks down at the glass, and then down at him. "You think this is enough alcohol?" he asks, gesturing at the glass, filled with amber-colored rum. He'd asked Tony if he'd help him learn how to make drinks, but Peter was self-conscious about the entire affair, checking in for the Tony Stark seal of approval almost every step of the way.

He really wanted to make a good drink for Tony.

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"Well that's what the ginger ale's for." Tony promptly added a single shot and stirred it in with one of the stirrers placed up in a tin. "Don't try and take it from me, either. I've got a history with that."

That requires some clarification.

"What, with people taking your drinks away?"

"Yes, with--ginger ale." There was an ancient memory dredged up. It didn't feel so fond to recall now, but it wasn't unwelcome. "Ginger ale. Just...something dumb."

Peter gets the feeling he should change the subject, but he's not sure how to do it without it seeming obvious.

For a few long moments, he doesn't say anything, trying to mentally scramble for that perfect segue. Then suddenly, he blurts out:

"Ned's really nervous about meeting you."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't his best attempt. He tried, though.

"Mm." Tony stared at the warped reflection in the poppling liquid. In those moments of silence he'd fully immersed himself in the memory and all the twists and turns that came after, leading up until now.

"Something dumb." Tony murmured, rubbing his eyes under the glasses. "Jesus."

Okay. Tony definitely has something on his mind. Really on his mind.

And Peter's getting the feeling that maybe Tony needs to talk about it.

"What's going on?"

Not "is there something going on", but what.

"Counting those blessings." Tony shot Peter a smile as he gathered his hands together. He let the ginger ale be for now--it was oddly bittersweet. "Point Break. I was hoping he'd be here. Maybe give you a few pointers on shotgunning."

"I'm sixteen," Peter points out in a moment of self-awareness. "I probably shouldn't be shotgunning anything."

He probably shouldn't be drinking, but this place wasn't exactly America and the only person he really drank with was Tony.

"Not with that attitude." Tony chuckled. "Maybe he can teach you how to bench press. He did that with me, once."

Peter's eyes narrow ever-so-slightly.

"You and Thor work out together?"

Tony barked in laughter. "No, no, he pressed. I was--well I wasn't the bench but I was the weight."

"Wait, what?" Peter blinks. "You guys did that here?"

"That was a few years ago. But we've done it a few times since. My idea. Can you believe that?" The creases around his eyes had softened, and Tony's shoulders shook slightly in more silly laughter.

"Yeah?" Peter asks, not entirely sure what 's going on or why Tony is currently waxing nostalgic about somebody who is already here and available to bench press him basically any time.

"You should see if he will show me."

“Yeah, I—are you humoring me?” Tony blinked in Peter’s direction.

"No! I mean, who wouldn't want to see Thor bench pressing Iron Man?"

Tony buried his face in his hand, cackling uncontrollably. It wasn't hard to see he was flushed from more than just the many, many drinks he'd loaded his heavy mind with. "Stop, stop, Pete. You're gonna kill me. That's a little..."

"I'm serious," Peter protests. "The visual in my head is really ridiculous. I wanna see it in-person."

"That's a bad idea." Tony wiped at his mouth, trying to calm the giggles. Clearing his throat, his forearm smacked the counter. "He's not all brute strength."

Peter looks skeptical.

"I'm pretty sure I could bench press you, and I don't have Thor strength."

“Y-Yeah, I know. Not what I meant.” Tony waved Peter off, clearly passionate about this point. “He’s sensitive. Surprisingly deep thinker.”

Suddenly the pieces begin to click into place and Peter's not sure if the picture he's being presented with reflects reality at all.

Especially because Tony was with Pepper.

Still, he knew people who were married who were with other people here because they didn't know when or if they'd return.

But how is he supposed to broach this topic? If he's wrong, then he's probably going to die of embarrassment.

"You really seem to like Thor," Peter ventures carefully.

"We have our ups and downs." Tony shrugged.

"Yeah, but it mostly sounds like you like him."

Peter looks at Tony's glass of water. He hasn't drank a lot of it, but that doesn't stop Peter from adding a few ice cubes and topping it off.

He sets the drink in front of Tony.

"Do you?"

"I...ha." Somewhere in the background some crooning vocal jazz began. Tony couldn't catch the lyrics in his fuzzy brain, but the beat was incredibly familiar. His attention was split between trying to make sense of the lyrics and finding the right words to answer Peter's question.

Suddenly, it came together.

"I've got him under my skin."