The World I Knew [Discontinued]

Speaking

"D'ya finds a good one?"

Peter startled awake from his half-asleep state, blinking blearily until Tony came into view, standing above where Peter was cuddling a sleeping Hope to his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, Peter's arms wrapped around her while her arms were trapped between their bodies--though the arm that was under her was numb.

"Oh," Peter yawned, careful to whisper to not agitate his voice. He relaxed again. "It's just you."

Tony raised his brow. "'Just' me?"

"Just you." Peter smirked, looking up at his mentor with the one eye that wasn't smooshed in his pillow.

"Okay, smart mouth," Tony sniffed, leaning back on one foot and crossing his arms, "how'd'you like the room? The pillows comfortable?"

"Yeah. I thought you were joking about the whole 'joining the Avengers' thing, but this is just awesome. I never got to say thanks, but I guess I'll do it right now. Thanks, Mr. Stark."

Tony stared at him for a moment, then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Either I'm getting soft, or you're some sort of warlock and you've cast a spell on me."

Peter smiled, a little sleepily, and reached out, wiggling his fingers. "Wooooo. I cast a spell on you. And now, you're mine." He only smiled more when Tony smacked his hand down—lightly.

"Very funny, kid, and frankly, I'm not on the market for broads like the Sanderson Sisters."

"Sure." Peter took in a deep breath and stretched, groaning softly as his cramped muscles were stretched out. "So why're you here?"

"I thought maybe you'd want to talk—unless you're having fun where you are now." He raised an eyebrow, gesturing between Peter and Hope.

Peter wrinkled his nose. "Ew! No!"

Tony chuckled. "Right. Do you want to talk?"

"Oh. Uh... y-yeah, actually, I did."

Nodding, Tony took a breath and stepped back, gazing around the room. "I'll be in the hall." Then he left, and Peter was left alone, Hope still soundly asleep in his arms—though the one under her was numb, as he noticed too late when he started shifting.

He hissed softly in discomfort as pins and needles erupted from his elbow and down, reminding him of when the tree had fallen on his leg. "Okay, get off," he muttered to her, knowing full well she wasn't waking up any time soon, "my arm is falling asleep."

He managed to get his arm out from under her, and managed to get out of the bed without stirring her. Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, he shook his arm out violently, before securely tucking her into the covers. He shook his arm out again, massaging his fingers roughly as he walked out the door to find Tony on his phone, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

"Hey, kid," Tony greeted without looking up.

"Hi," Peter whispered in reply.

"So what's with the whispering thing?"

"Well, I sorta used my voice too much too soon. My throat's just sore, and it hurts to actually talk. Whispering and writing down everything on a piece of paper were my alternatives."

"And you chose the easiest."

"Right." Peter leaned against the wall opposite of his mentor, looking around. "So... how is everything?"

Tony took in another breath and leaned back, pocketing his phone to look at Peter. "The world's flipping out. Apparently everyone wasn't really prepared for a zombie apocalypse."