Varian Spider-Man AU Part 2

"Home sweet home," Scott coed as he opened the door to the tiny house. "It's not much, but it's what we call home."

"Whoa," Varian breathed. "This is what homes here look like? There's no castles or anything?" 

"Uh, yeah..." Scott said. "No castles. Why? Did YOU live in a castle?" he added a little chuckle. 

"No way," Varian told him immediately. "I would never want to live there. Royal life is not for me. Plus, some traumatic things happened in the castle for me when I lived there so... yeah." He tried to shrug it off, but he still cringed as the horrible memories flashed through his head. 

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, kiddo," Scott assured him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I get it. Bad memories are painful. Now, do you wanna see your new room? I'm sure Hank won't mind if you use the guest room up there." He pointed to the stairs that headed upwards. 

"Hank?" Varian repeated, blinking several times. "Who's that?"

Hope joined them. "My father," she said. "He's a scientist." She laughed when Varian's eyes widened. "I'm guessing you do science to?"

Varian waved his hand. "Nah, I'm more of an alchemy guy." He paused when both Hope and Scott looked confused. "Um, I guess here you guys call it something different?"

"Yup," an older voice came from a distance, "here, we call it chemistry. Alchemy is an old school term, you know."

A tall man with white hair and a white beard with glasses came into focus from the stairs and came over and shook Varian's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Varian." He grinned. 

"How do you know my..." Varian said in awe.

"Tony told me," the man chuckled. "You can call me Hank. Scott can bring your stuff up to your new room if you'd like."

"Um... I don't have anything," Varian mumbled. "All my stuff is back at home."

"Dang," Hank said, a little sadly. "Well then, come up with me, and we'll get you settled in."

Hank led Varian up the stairs, and Varian screamed as a gigantic ant nearly pushed him over. He got up and caught his breath while Hank was trying his best not to laugh.

"What was that thing?" Varian wheezed. "It tried to kill me!"

"It didn't try to kill you," Hank reassured him calmly. "It was greeting you."

Varian glanced over at Hank, who didn't seem surprised at all. "So, you guys live with these things?" 

Hank nodded. "We sure do. So you'll have to get used to them to," he added. 

"Ugh, really?" Varian groaned. "I'm not sure how many giant ant things I can handle."

Scott laughed from behind them. "You'll get used to it, kid."

Hank put a hand on Varian's back. "Come on, let's show you your new room."

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"Whoa, I'll be living here?" Varian had to make sure as his eyes fixed upon the enormous bed in the middle of the room. "Like, all of this is for me?"

"Of course," Hank said. "Who else would it be for?"

"I don't know," Varian shrugged, "someone better than me?"

"Aw, don't put yourself down like that," Hank patted Varian's head. "Now, settle in and come back downstairs for dinner in about an hour. Hope will be making something delicious."