Backdated to Early September - In My Life [Closed to Tony]

[st_arkintern]

"Moment of truth," Peter says as he plugs in the phone. The screen lights up and an outline of a battery fills the screen; green rises up within the battery icon, then resets and rises again steadily.

"Bingo," Peter says. He turns and grins at Tony. This was the second time they had to fix his phone, the first being the first time he was at the inn; now, this was an entirely different phone that arrived with him from back home, cracked during impact with a fast-moving train. With the assistance of Tony's lab (and once or twice Tony himself), he managed to nearly restore his phone back to its original condition pre-train collision.

Almost.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Almost." Tony was quick to toss a case Peter's way--one he'd stowed away for this very moment. It was lightweight and pliable with a reinforced inner layer and perfectly measured for Peter's phone. "Third time is not the charm."

[st_arkintern]

Peter catches it -- no Peter tingle necessary -- and smiles. "Thanks," he says, turning it around in his hands. "There's actually something I wanted to show you on my phone. I guess I could have told you about it, but I thought maybe it'd be better for you to see it yourself."

Peter unplugs his phone just long enough to put on the case; he plugs the power cable back in, then powers his phone on. The home screen lights up with an image of Peter and Tony holding a Stark internship certificate.

"Just a second," he says, as he navigates to his gallery, fingers swiftly moving across the screen. When Peter finally hands the phone to Tony, a smiling brown-haired girl is on the screen.

"That's Morgan."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony parted his lips to ask as he sat back in his chair, but he didn't need to. Something fired off in his body like instinct--no words, just a knowing sense.

He sunk over onto his forearms as he stared at the girl smiling back at him.

[st_arkintern]

"I babysit her sometimes," he says, watching Tony carefully, as if he's worried about how he'll react. "So there's a lot of pictures on there. We went to the zoo two weeks before I left for Europe. I got a lot of pictures of her there. You can keep looking through the gallery if you want."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony's slowly tapped the screen, too light to even trigger the touch sensitivity. It was the only bit of movement he could manage, overcome as he was. He hadn't been this overcome since the night he laid waste to his own room in a fit.

The pieces were slow, but they came together--Pepper lived through Thanos' reckoning. God, he missed her. He could trace the shape of her smile in Morgan's.

"She looks happy."

[st_arkintern]

"She is happy," Peter confirms, eyes still set on Tony. "She's great. She's..." He takes a breath. "...gonna be as smart as her dad. You can tell just from talking to her."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"I should hope not. With Pepper in her, she'll be far smarter." He chuckled and sat with her, bringing himself to look at the next picture.

[st_arkintern]

"You and Pepper and Morgan live in a little cabin out in the middle of nowhere," he says. It takes everything in him not to slip up and use past tense. It's Tony's not-so-distant future, he rationalizes. It is okay not to use past tense if it didn't happen for him yet. "I've been there." For the funeral. "It's really nice."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Humming, Tony sat for awhile as he scrolled through Peter's memories.

"Pep. How is she?"

[st_arkintern]

"She's good," Peter says. Or at least she projected the image of being good. Peter was sure sometimes she was, but he was sure there were moments she wasn't, just as there were for him. "She is running Stark Industries again. She made this huge donation to this foundation May and Happy have been volunteering for. They help people who have been displaced by the blip."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"The blip."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, it's what everyone calls it. Probably because people blipped out of existence." Peter wasn't familiar with the etymology of the term, but he could make a few educated guesses.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Always trust the public to have a goddamn sense of humor about things.

"What about the others?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter furrows his brows. "What do you mean? Like... what is everyone doing?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony gave Peter a brief look. "Yeah."

[st_arkintern]

"Um," Peter starts, and he presses his lips together. "There's a lot I really don't know because I really wasn't around for it. Dr. Banner's still around, but he's kinda half-Hulk, half-Dr. Banner." That had been pretty weird. "No one knew where Thor was for awhile, but Mr. Fury told me he was off-world when I suggested we ask for his help during my last mission."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Half-Hulk, half-Banner? Alright, the blip was one thing, but you're lying to me right now."

[st_arkintern]

"No, he's seriously huge and seriously green," he insists. "If I had a picture, I'd show you."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“So he’s a Hulk with PhD’s.”

[st_arkintern]

"I mean, I guess," he says. "Physically Hulk, but mentally Banner. He even wears glasses."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony thought before deciding there would be no explanation that would make it all make sense. Moving on.

“And Thor...off-world again, eh?” So on-brand.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah. Mr. Fury didn't tell me anything about where he was, so I don't really know where."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Fury’s gotten you running around? You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, during my school trip," he says. "He's kinda intense."

Probably understatement of the year.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony’s eyes naturally drifted back to the phone. Of all the urges that arose, there was only one he could fulfill—telling Thor ASAP.

Well, and another. He extended an arm towards Peter.

[st_arkintern]

Peter moves into the hug.

"You can borrow my phone if you want to," he says. "That was really the only reason I wanted to fix it."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Thanks.” He squeezed the boy right across the back. “Seriously.”

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says before something can catch in his throat.