The Arachnoids [A Starker Rock Band AU]

1: Soundcheck Setback

Peter swears he can feel the blood drain from his face when he sees the number of security guards surrounding the stage terrain. Of course, they're necessary to keep out anyone who tries to catch a glimpse without a valid ticket. It's highly intimidating, though, that they're gonna have to walk up to them and ask for entrance. He clamps his backstage pass a little tighter and swallows as he huddles a little deeper into his warm winter coat.

MJ notices and she cracks a smile at him. Her curls playfully dangle from underneath her red Christmas-themed winter hat. She looks adorable, honestly, and if it weren't for the fact that Peter was gay as fuck, he'd probably have fallen for her at some point.
"Impressive, uh?" MJ teases, referring to the guards. Peter snorts and nods at her. MJ might seem cool and collected, but he knows she's an expert at hiding her true feelings.
"Who's gonna walk up to them?"
"It can't be that hard, can it?" Ned squeaks, looking equally terrified with the mere thought of talking to the guards. MJ bumps his shoulder playfully.
"Should I do the talking, boys?"

Peter and Ned nod in unison, grateful for her offer, and follow after their lead singer timidly. The guard they're headed towards spots them and smiles.
"Hi there, how can I help you?" The woman's voice is warm and kind, and Peter's nerves settle a little. Security guards are just normal people too, Pete.
"We're opening for The Avengers today, uhm, we got out passes right here?" MJ says politely and raises her own backstage pass. The guard checks it and nods.
"Ah, The Arachnoids. Of course! Wait, let me call for Harley. He's one of the roadies for The Avengers, sweet kid. He will inform you about everything you need to know."

The woman asks for said roadie, Harley, using her radio and not soon after a young blonde appears. He gives them all a spontaneous hug and waves at them to follow him.
"Come, let's get you settled!"

-

Not much later, the three of them are waiting in front of the stage. It's 4.20 PM, and the soundcheck was supposed to start at 3.45. Everyone, everyone , is here. Except for Tony Stark.
Peter doesn't know why it makes him feel somewhat disappointed. Steve Rogers- the drummer, and Natasha Romanoff- the bassist, don't seem to be too surprised by the absence of their bandmate.
"Do you think he's always this late?" Ned whispers quietly. Peter shrugs.
"I dunno. But he better gets here soon or we don't have time to do our soundcheck anymore," he murmurs. He knows how it works. The headliner gets to do a soundcheck first to make sure everything works as it's supposed to. The opening band gets the remaining time. The Arachnoids haven't opened much, but it wouldn't be the first time they missed out on some vital installations on Ned's pad controller.

"Harley?" Natasha speaks into her mic. "Let's get started without him. It's no use waiting." Harley sighs and throws his hands up into the air.
"Fine. God- Why must he always..." Harley's voice fades into an agitated mumble when he signals for the tech crew to get started. His previously bright personality is nowhere to be seen.

Steve is up first and right when his foot taps into the kick pedal of his drum kit, Tony saunters onto the stage with a smug grin on his face. He walks up to Steve and pats the man's blond hair. Peter can see the forced smile on the drummer's face.
"Getting started without me, uh?"
"Tony, grab your mic. We don't have time for this," Natasha spits out. "We're kicking off with The Dark World ."
"Gloomy."
"Shut up, Tony."
"Thought you wanted me to sing?" The man laughs at his own joke, the sound reverberating around the otherwise quiet area.

Peter frowns and clamps his jaws together. Is... Is this the man he adores so much? A part of him wants to believe the man is simply having a bad day, but it's clear that everyone is used to the man acting like such a jerk. And he's not the only one who caught on.
"What an asshole..." MJ whispers. Peter doesn't know what to answer to that, so he just nods. She's probably right. She always is. This isn't just Tony Stark being in a bad mood.

Strange enough, when Tony does in fact take his microphone... Everything seems to change. His voice is warm and rough around the edges, ringing in Peter's ears like a sweet melody demanding his full attention. The rockstar's whole demeanor changes. He no longer carries himself like he owns the stage. No. He melts into it. Into the scenery. Like singing is all he's ever done. All he's ever wanted to do.

I've got this under control.
Satisfaction is not in my nature.
You must be truly desperate to come to me for help.
We're not gods. We are born. We live. We-

"-alrighty, so that sucked." Tony stops himself and shakes his head. Instantly, the near-enchanting vibe vanishes. "Can you fix that or should I come up there myself?"
The young girl seated in the control booth doesn't know what to say. She parts her lips and then shuts her mouth again. Her big, brown eyes innocently worried about the judgment of the legend.
"Sir, I-"
"I don't want to hear it. Vocals were completely buried. Right?" Tony boasts and he looks at Natasha. The bassist only glares back. Tony scoffs. "Of course. The Red Queen is pissed off once more."
"Tony, cut it. This show's important. After this, you can do whatever you want." Steve talks over him. "Let's get this soundcheck done and over with."
"Can we have a cheeseburger after? Harley? Do we have cheeseburgers?"
"Fuck you," is all the roadie responds and he shakes his head. Harley walks over to the control booth and whispers into the girl's ear. A smile reappears on her face and changes the settings.

Peter bites down his lower lip. It doesn't sit right with him, the way Tony Stark treats everyone around him. This is not a one-time thing, he's sure of that now. He feels bad for the people that work closely with him. Steve, Natasha, Harley, the rest of the crew... It must be hard to deal with the man. Peter sighs. He's still excited to play, heck, he never even dared to dream of playing for such a large crowd, on New Year's Eve to be precise. It's all of his teenage dreams come true.

Yet, Tony Stark's behavior has soured the mood. Peter hopes it won't get worse. It won't... Right?