Going Through Changes -> Peter Parker

17.

Peter and Ned unpacked in a hurry, splattering spare wires and other technical devices on Ned's bed until it looked like a spare part box of an electronic store. With a skilled movement of his slender fingers, Peter connected a red wire to the USB port of the suit. Ned was watching him over the screen of his laptop waiting for his cue.

"Does it work?", Peter asks presenting his fine with which and Ned looks down, watching complicated lines of code flash over the screen, the soul of the built-in Stark device. "Looks like it,", he answered as he started to decipher them for their functions. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Peter jumped to his feet to open it, already knowing it was Liam who had been placed in another room.
"You're on it?", the young agent didn't waste time on a greeting as he rushed past the younger boy and towards Ned.  "We're in.", Ned told him, beaming at the older teen brightly. "You're awesome.", Liam responded, tossing a bag of the boy's favorite gummies in his lap, earning a joyful "Thank you." in return.
Meanwhile, Peter had taken his place on the floor again, holding a flashlight between his teeth in the most adorable way as he worked on detaching the tracker from the suit's material. "Gotcha", he mumbled as the small chip laid in his palm. In a swift motion, he stuck it to the lamp on the nightstand: "Have fun tracking this lamp." "Way better entertainment than pay-tv.", Liam joked as his eyes meet Peter's. The younger boy couldn't help but blush.

"Guys, there's a ton of other subsystems in here...", Ned spoke up, his eyes still taking in the flickering code. That piqued Peter's interest and he hopped up next to his best friend, looking at the code himself. " A smirk appeared on Ned's lips as he added: "...but they're disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol." "What?" In broad red letters, the codes declare that a Stark Industry Key is needed to disable the program.  "Training Wheels Protocol.", Peter reads out aloud, feeling a slight bang of hurt in his heart at the name. Ned on the other hand was highly amused and chuckling to himself; joined by Liam who was watching Peter grimacing. 

"Turn it off.", the younger boy demanded, but Ned hesitated. "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, they're probably blocked for a reason." "Come on, man. I don't need training wheels.", Peter started to whine looking at Liam for a little help. "Training Wheels just means you never completed the introduction to the suit.", the agent pointed out for consideration. "Maybe you should do so as soon as we're back in New York." Peter looked at him with the accusation of betrayal in his puppy eyes. Liam was usual always in for dodging Stark's instructions. Him not being on Peter's side was not fair.
So Peter chose to ignore him and jumped onto his bed instead, jumping up and down like a child who wasn't allowed to have candy. "I'm sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It's not cool." "You are a kid.", Ned and Liam responded simultaneously to that statement, making Peter huff: "Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands." "And I'm a highly trained agent on a decathlon trip, Pete. I get your feelings. But that suit is military gear. And you were doing perfectly fine without all those fancy features before.", Liam moved towards the bed, looking up at Peter, catching his gaze again. But Peter was way too excited to be charmed by those blue eyes at the moment and pleaded to Ned again instead, targeting his best friend's soft spot: "You can be my guy in the chair."

Liam sighed, knowing he had just lost the argument as Ned's eyes sparkled. With his fingers moving quickly over the keys, he typed reluctantly. A blue flash of light briefly pulsed through the suit in response to unlocking the protocol. Peter stepped down from his the mattress and over to it, eyeing it in wonder. "You the best!", he declared with a thankful lool towards his best friend. 

"Still don't know if that's a good idea.", Ned whispered to Liam as the two watched Peter climb into the suit. "Let's hope he doesn't find the big guns.", the agent sighed back. But Peter looked so happy, now hiding the gear underneath a layer of his own clothes, that Liam couldn't get mad at him for manipulating Ned into hacking the safety protocol.
"Keep the glowy thing safe, it's evidence.", Peter told Ned who nodded dutifully. After a quick check on the holographic map, Peter peeked out of the door to make sure he wasn't running into one of his classmates. "Looks good.", he decides, briefly looking at Liam who was standing closely behind him. And with that, the two of them entered the hallway. "Make sure to be safe.", the agent whispered to him as they hurried further. Peter looked at him puzzled.

"You're not coming?" "You're faster without me. But call me if you need help and I come to get you.", the other boy explained. "But...", Peter wanted to argue with being stripped of his alone time with the other teen, but was interrupted by Liz approaching, dressed in her bathing suit, making them stop hot in their tracks "Perfect timing!", she grinned at them mischievously, oblivious to their intentions. "We're going swimming." she declared, waving the rest of the team forward in direction of the community pool. "What?", Peter was still confused. Passing by, Flash Thompson slapped his butt, making Peter squeel in a high tone deeply offended  and Liam glare at his roommate in disapproval mouthing "Don't do that ever again.", after Flash,who just shrugged it off.

Meanwhile, Peter was trying to think of an excuse to dodge Liz."I...I was...", he stuttered " I was gonna go study, um, in the business center." Liz just shook her head: "Peter, you don't need to study. You're the smartest guy I've ever met." That caught Peter completely off-guard, after all, he had been waiting for such a compliment coming from her for a long time now. "So get your trunks on and come on.", she added with a wink, now clearly focusing on Liam. "I'll be there in a minute.", the older teen promised so Liz would go on with her plans.  "Cool!", she beamed and went after the others. Peter watched after her, then turned towards Liam. "Well, looks like you found your occupation for the night." He tried his best to make it sound less sour than the feeling in his guts was tasting, but it wasn't working that well as something sparked in Liam's eyes.

"I'm high in demand, darling.", he coed, causing Peter's cheeks to blush viciously. "I'm going to be just fine without you.", he quickly tried to save himself from further embarrassment. "You will do great.", Liam agreed. And with that he leaned forwards, placing a soft kiss on Peter's right cheek.It was just a small peak but enough to make Peter's breath hitch in his throat at the sensation running through his body, tingling his nerves and making the tiny hairs of his body stay up as if hit with a wave of electricity. Liam smiled at him cockily, an unreadable expression buried in his piercing gaze. "You have to go.", he softly reminded Peter and the younger boy blinked to reboot his brain. "Right!", he stuttered and off he jogged, his face now as red as a ripe tomato.