The World I Knew [Discontinued]

Back Again

Peter didn't bother to open his eyes when he woke up, knowing he would only be sensitive to any and all light, and not wanting to deal with that while his body was already on fire, due to the bed, blankets, and pillows that would've been considered as comfortable, that now scraped against his skin roughly like sandpaper.

A hand landed on his shoulder, making the blankets rub against his skin and drawing a soft whimper of pain from him, the sound of the blanket shifting overwhelming to his senses.

"G-go—away," he breathed as quietly as he could, grimacing as his own breath thundered in his ears. "Please."

"Mr. Parker," said a robotic voice—though it, surprisingly, wasn't loud enough to irritate Peter's hearing, "Mr. Stark sent us to take care of you while you go through this... sickness?" it tried, though Peter could've laughed at it. Was this a sickness, or would it just be called 'the mutation process'?

"Cool, cool," Peter whispered, grimacing as pain flared up anew. "B-but I'm—good."

"Will you allow us to move you?"

Peter tried to open his eyes, then whimpered and immediately shut them, as even the smallest amount of light was too overwhelming. "W-will it hurt?"

"We are 90% sure we are capable of not inflicting pain upon you in your current state."

"Th-then fine."

Peter gasped in shock when the blankets were pulled away from him, leaving him cold shivering. He would've tried to curl up, if only the unbearable pain would just go away.

Then, startlingly, he felt himself being lifted up, but he couldn't feel what was picking him up. Odd, given that his sense of touch was probably the most overwhelming of all.

"W-woah, wait," he croaked, gasping sharply in pain as his voice echoed painfully in his head, "h-how are you doing that? I-I can't—f-feel you."

"We are programmed to deal with extreme sensory overloads."

Peter frowned. "A-are you an Iron L-Legion soldier?"

"We are." Then, Peter realized that he could feel the ILS's robot hands under him, but it was only providing a gentle warmth that was enough to warm him up, but low enough to keep from burning him, just warm enough to be unnoticeable. So, despite his discomfort, Peter let himself be manhandled, weakly resting his head against the ILS's shoulder.

If he was being honest, Peter wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting the ILS's would do, but he wasn't expecting to be bathed in pitch blackness, the quiet hiss of some sort of chamber opening, then closing after they'd... descended?

Peter tried opening his eyes, and was overwhelmingly grateful to see nothing, and hear nothing.

Yet two more overwhelming senses eliminated.

Shuddering in relief, Peter relaxed with a sigh, now curious as to how the release of air was swallowed by the darkness, despite the pain (not induced by his senses) still crawling through his body.

It was like they were gliding downwards, and while Peter could've enjoyed the feeling of being weightless for a long time, the slope eventually evened out, and then he was swaying from side to side, still floating against gravity, until the ILS stopped moving, and Peter was laid down on something so freaking soft, he practically melted into it with a groan the moment he touched it.

"Are you hungry?"

"Sure."

*****