st_arkintern | (no subject)

(no subject)

Peter Parker is sprawled out on his bed while he waits for Alec to get out of the shower. He's been dreading this conversation for awhile now, but the longer he keeps it from Alec, the worse he's sure things will be.

As soon as he hears the shower turn off, he sits up on the bed and folds his legs at the ankle. When Alec emerges, he immediately blurts:

"Hey, can we talk?"

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Peter looks up.

"Thanos brought down an entire moon. He pulled an entire moon out of outer space and brought it down on Mr. Stark. One of his children was so powerful that we had to blow a hole in the spaceship so it sucked him out to stop him from torturing Dr. Strange. This isn't -- it's not like anything you've dealt with."

It's not anything like Peter's dealt with, either.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I distinctly remember someone once acting like it'll be a piece of cake." Maybe Alec wasn't above the whole 'told you so' thing after all.

He exhaled heavily and leaned against the closest wall. He had a feeling from his conversation with Thor that Thanos was a big deal. Alec couldn't quite fathom a moon being moved to be brought on top of someone, but it was all the more reason to present the man from getting to that point of power.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just a test tube human who's stronger and faster and that's about it. You're right. I can't stick to ceilings or call lighting or turn myself into an animal or whatever else there is in all the worlds where super heroes are a real thing, but I know what I am, and one of those things is a determined son-of-a-bitch. Even if I'm just a distraction, it's enough to get the upper hand."

Peter is desperate for Alec to understand.

"If Dr. Strange hadn't given Thanos the Time Stone, he would have killed all of us." Peter's certain of it. He hadn't fought to subdue; he had no problems killing any of them if it meant he would get the stone.

"And your point?" He felt his voice rising a little. "You're the one who offered for me to come back there in the first place, remember?"

"That was before I knew everything that was going to happen."

"And you think, what? The idea of me dying is enough to scare me away?" Maybe had he been freshly released from Manticore, but Max, Joshua, Corbie, and Peter had all done a good job at making Alec a little less self-centered.

"I think you should value your life more than you do."

It's exactly how Peter feels. He hates the thought that he values Alec more than Alec values himself.

"Yeah, well, I value someone else's more." It came out almost immediately after Peter's words with a hint of annoyance in it, but Alec couldn't help it, it seemed.

"Don't," Peter snaps, and it comes out harsher than he intends it to. He attempts it again, softer than before: "Don't. Please."

"Fine." He lied easily. "But that still doesn't change the fact I'm coming to help."

"Okay." Peter doesn't like it, but he knows by now that it's sometimes not worth arguing with Alec. There are times where it's obvious his heels are dug deep into the dirt and this was one of them.

He paused, then nodded, then paused again as the energy seemed to leave him. He was left with the same thoughts he had been pondering in the back of his mind from the start.

He rubbed the back of his neck, his voice dropping to something more quiet. "I'm glad you told me..."

Peter looks over at Alec, saying nothing. He dampens his lips.

He paced a little again. It looked like maybe he was trying to say something, but he couldn't quite bring himself to say it.

The growing silence is beginning to feel almost oppressive. Peter stands and rubs his palms on his jeans. "I'll let you get dressed," he says before the silence could draw on any longer.

The words Alec wanted to say out loud couldn't seem to manifest themselves. He watched Peter for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah.. okay." He moved toward his room, then paused. "I've always got your back, Peter."

Then he headed to his room.

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