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_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?"

[st_x5_494]

Alec tried to hide the amusement from his expression and mostly succeeded in the neutral expression again. "Nope. Use that brain of yours and your spider powers."

His lips quirked into a slight wry smile before he pushed off the counter where he was leaning and headed for the lobby. He held up a hand. "See you around kid."

[st_arkintern]

"Hey, not even a picture?" Peter protests. "I only got to see it for a few seconds."

[st_x5_494]

Alec paused, then turned around. Okay, so not everyone had an Eidetic memory like he did.

"I'll let you draw it. But," He looked seriously over at Peter. "You show this to people, I will use my infiltration skills and find you when you're sleeping."

It wasn't anything against him specifically, but if the wrong person saw his barcode, he could be in a lot of trouble.

[st_arkintern]

"I don't have any paper on me," Peter says. He didn't usually carry a lot with him when he's in the Spidey suit. Just the cell phone, which he kept in his pocket out of habit. The costume didn't exactly have huge pockets.

"Why don't you want anyone else to see it?" he asks. "Are you worried I'm going to cheat or something?"

[st_x5_494]

He sighed. "Alright. One picture." Alec looked more uncomfortable than he normally did, but he was still hiding most of how he felt.

"If the wrong person sees that, maybe a new arrival or something, you'd be dead and then so would I, so I'm more worried about breathing than you cheating."

[st_arkintern]

"I won't show anyone," Peter assures him, snapping a picture of it. "And as soon as I figure things out, I promise I'll delete it."

Peter seems pretty confident that he will. Both figure it out and delete it, though the deleting was a definite either way.

"I wouldn't do anything that'd put you in danger." A beat. "At least not danger we didn't agree to beforehand."

Like punching each other in the parking lot. Even though Peter was sure Alec didn't see him as a danger.

[st_x5_494]

Alec paused for just another split second - it was hard not to feel a little anxious, even with Peter, after spending such a long time hiding it from everyone.

"One photo." Which was his affirmative on the subject.

[st_arkintern]

"Got it," Peter says, taking a step back to scan over the barcode. He's still not entirely sure how he's supposed to figure this out -- but it'd at least be something else to do for the next couple of days.

Aside from figure out a new handshake.

[st_x5_494]

It felt dangerously wrong to let Peter take a photo and Max was in his head scolding him, reminding him if he's the reason this kid gets killed he's going to have a hard time living that down.

"We good?"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says. "We good."

Peter offers Alec a hand to shake normally.

[st_x5_494]

Alec took it with a firm shake. "See you around."

Then Alec turned and left with the slightest of smiles on his lips.