Let's measure our.... Egos (closed to Peter)

[st_x5_494]

Peter was the one who wanted this fight. Alec would totally use this as his excuse even though, yes, he was technically the adult and sure, he could say no to the whole thing. But the kid needed to learn he didn't know everything and that there were plenty of people here who could help him get better. The kid needed to learn to stop hiding behind the 'I'm a superhero so therefore I can do everything' and learn help is... Helpful.

And, okay, yes. Alec wanted to win, too.

So Alec stood in the parking lot at the allotted time demanded by the 15 year-old Spiderman and waited casually with his hands in his pockets, though he was keenly aware of his surroundings in case the kid wanted to start off with a big surprise.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

"I'll heal up pretty quickly," Peter says. "Though I'm not going to say no to some ice anyway." Healing quickly didn't mean that he didn't feel pain now.

[st_x5_494]

"Come on." He gestured with his hand towards the bar and started to walk, assuming the kid would follow. He was never really good at the 'did we understand the lesson' part of the lesson. Max was better at that part, at least when it came to him.

At the bar, which seemed to be empty, he went behind and put some ice in a bag and then poured the kid some soda with, maybe with a little bit of vodka in it, but it was for the pain... probably. He pushed the mostly soda over to Peter and then went for some Whiskey for himself. "Your web stuff is pretty cool." He was sure Manticore would be all over that.

[st_arkintern]

Peter presses the bag of ice against his swollen face; already a bruise was beginning to form over his cheek and eye. With any luck, it'd be healed up before Liz's next visit. The last thing he wanted was his girlfriend to think that he was part of a Madonna Inn fight club.

Peter pauses to think about it. Was Fight Club out before 2001? He wasn't really sure.

"Yeah," Peter says with enthusiasm, taking a sip of his drink. It tastes weird, but he doesn't really remark upon it; he's got a cut on the inside of his mouth that probably accounts for that weirdness. "I made it in chemistry class and it was a lot of trial and error. I have these little --" Peter gestures with his hand, forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger. "-- dispensers that I can swap out easily when I'm in combat. Mr. Stark was really impressed when I showed it to him."

[st_x5_494]

He downed some of the whiskey, hiding a smile on his face when Peter drank the soda.

"And Mr. Stark is your...?" Not father, since Alec knew the kid's last name. Maybe it was his publicist or agent.

[st_arkintern]

"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you about him, did I? He's the guy who made my suit."

That doesn't seem like explanation enough, so Peter continues.

"Mr. Stark is --" Peter starts, then stops to think, and then continues: "Mr. Stark is this multi-billionare who moonlight as another superhero, Iron Man," he says. "He saw me on YouTube and just kinda showed up at my Aunt May's apartment one day and just started talking about my costume and then going to Germany, which I did, like you saw in the video I showed you."

And then Peter remembers.

"He was the guy in the car at the very end of that video," he says. "The one that's sitting next to me in the backseat."

[st_x5_494]

"Right, right." Logan used to be a millionaire before Alec kind of ruined it all, though technically most of it wasn't his fault. His family dealt with blood money and Logan was all about the moral high ground.

"Speak of the suit, how come you didn't let it help you?"

[st_arkintern]

"I don't want to beat you because I had the help of somebody else," Peter says. "Even if it's just the AI in my suit. In real combat... it'd be different."

Not that this wasn't real combat, but no one's lives or property or anything else were really at stake. This was a matter of personal pride. Pride that was a little wounded right now.

[st_x5_494]

"Okay, one on one. I can respect that." He did, actually. "But In a full on fight even the best soldier uses back up." If there was any, anyways. That's why Max let him help with things, even if some times he pissed her off.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says. "Even if it's not fair."

Peter takes another sip of his coke with one hand while his other still holds the ice to her face. He's starting to feel a little less sore already.

"Other than that one time with the Avengers, I fight solo," he says. "The stuff I do is below the Avenger's pay grade." The whole plane incident suddenly springs to mind. That was definitely an Avengers-level fight, he thinks. "Most of the time. I'm just the Neighborhood Friendly Spider-Man."

[st_x5_494]

Alec really didn't get the need for all these titles. They sounded so...well, they weren't for him.

"Do you like it that way? Solo?"

[st_arkintern]

"I don't know," Peter admits. "I mean, I want to be an Avenger, but I don't know if it's because I want to work on a team, or I just want people to take me seriously. Like I'm not just this kid running around in spandex just stopping bicycle thieves."

There, it's out. And somehow, Peter didn't realize what he was saying until he said it. And maybe that's precisely why he was able to do it.

[st_x5_494]

He caught that last part and leaned causally against the counter. He understood this sentiment a little. Alec had to work pretty hard to convince people he wasn't like his psycho twin Ben.

"Alright. But let me ask you this, then. Do you stop bad guys because you want to or because it impresses people and will make you famous?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks at Alec with a perplexed expression.

"I stop bad guys because it's the right thing to do," he says.

[st_x5_494]

"Then fuck everyone else." He shrugged. Alec had been expected that answer. "If you can do what you do and you're helping people, then screw what other people think. If you're not doing it for them, then don't worry about them."

Lots of people thought Alec was incapable of many things and Alec didn't let their views bother him.

[st_arkintern]

"It's not that easy," Peter protests, because Alec makes it sound like it's just as simple as turning a lightswitch on or off. "I mean, all I really want is for Mr. Stark to think I'm good enough. I just--"

Peter just sighs. There's no explaining it. Even Peter wasn't sure why what Mr. Stark thought was so important to him.

[st_x5_494]

Most kids in Manticore went through a time early on where they just really wanted to please their commander. It got old quickly though because affection was never shown.

"I don't know Mr. Stark at all, but from my experience, he'll only start to realize it when you back off. Stop telling him you're good enough and just do you thing. You can kick some pretty good ass."

[st_arkintern]

"If I don't tell him I'm good enough, he's never gonna know that," Peter counters. "It's not like he's always watching me, or something. The only time he has any idea what I'm doing is if I make the news or something happens to activate something on my suit. And the last time that happened, he just ended up chewing me out, telling me I couldn't handle it."

Peter lets out a frustrated sigh.

"I started to think right before I came here that maybe he was starting to respect me, but... I just." Another sigh. "I don't know. I mean, I guess he was glad that I set everything right, but that's it."

[st_x5_494]

"Ki- Peter." Alec corrected himself, just this once. "If I respect you, then he definitely does. Because I think you look like a super dork in that outfit and he's the one who made it for you."

Subtle, Alec is not.

[st_arkintern]

"It's not dorky!" Peter protests, but then the rest of Alec's words finally register in Peter's head:

"You respect me?" There's real, tangible awe in Peter's voice as he says it.

[st_x5_494]

Damn.

"Don't let it get to your head or I'll have to throw you into the dumpster next time." He took a long sip of his whiskey and pretended like he didn't just say the thing he had said.

[st_arkintern]

Peter suddenly can't stop smiling, as much as he tries to hide it. The ice in his baggie is starting to get melty, so he sets it down on the bar and takes another sip of his drink.

"I respect you, too," Peter says, still smiling. "Even though you're a jerk sometimes."

[st_x5_494]

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Alex knew he was a bit of an asshole.

He finished his drink, downing a lot at one time. "You good?" He didn't want to leave if Peter had a concussion or something

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Well, mostly fine.

But there's one last thing that Peter wants to ask, even though he's 100% sure it's going to sound dorky.

"Hey, do you mind if we come up with a secret handshake sometime?" Peter asks. "Ned and I used to have one, but I have had no one to do it with for eight months now."

[st_x5_494]

Alec stared at Peter with a deadpanned expression. Yep, super dork.

"Tell you what. You figure out my barcode and I'll even let you decide what it looks like."

[st_arkintern]

"Challenge accepted."

Peter fishes his cell phone out of his suit, runs his finger along the screen to unlock it.

"Can I try something?" he asks, swiping a few times until his barcode app appears on screen. He taps it. "Think you can turn around so I can get a better look at it?"