Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

sixteen

Peter

"Mind if I talk to you alone for a sec, kid?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Stark."

After Alexandra and Ned left the lab, leaving Peter alone with Tony. Even though they had known each other for several months now, Peter still found himself growing nervous and in awe whenever he was in the room with the famous Tony Stark. Iron Man. He was standing in the same room as Iron Man!

Play it cool, Parker.

Peter looked at Tony with a certain sparkle in his eyes. "What did you wanna talk to me about, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked.

Tony held a hand up. "First of all, kid, you can call me Tony. All this 'Mr. Stark' business is too formal. Just call me Tony, okay?" Peter's eyes widened in surprised and he nodded. "Okay, good. Next, I fixed your suit, so you can have it back now. Should be good to go for patrols."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Tony."

"Right—sorry—"

"No problem, kid," Mr. Stark replied. There was a moment of silence before he clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess that's it then," He said. "I'll keep in touch with you, kid. If Octavius shows up again, don't take him on unless you're sure you can handle it."

"I won't, don't worry," Peter told him.

Mr. Stark nodded, and then there was a silence. He then turned to Peter and said, "So, that Alex girl. She your girlfriend?"

Peter immediately turned a bright shade of red. He shook his head quickly. "What? No!" He exclaimed. "Nononono, Alex and I are just friends! She's been my best friend since we were like—seven!"

The billionaire looked at Peter and smirked a little bit. This didn't make Peter feel any less embarrassed. "All right, whatever you say." Mr. Stark shrugged. "But just so you know, I can spot romantic tension a mile away and that right there—"

"There isn't any romantic tension, oh my God!" Peter hid his face in his hands. This was the worst conversation he'd ever had with Mr. Stark—and he'd had to call him to ask for help after being stabbed before.

"Right, right, sure—Hey, does she like Star Wars, too?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Peter asked.

"She's the Princess Cinnabon Lady to your—Space Pilot Guy." Tony grinned.

Peter stared at him for a moment. "Did you—did you just try to make a reference to Princess Leia and Han Solo and call them Princess Cinnabon Lady and Space Pilot Guy?" He asked, honestly feeling somewhat offended.

Mr. Stark shrugged. "I don't know Star Wars. But you can't tell me there's not something going on there."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter whined.

"Tony." He chuckled, shaking his head and raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, I'm done. See ya around, kid. I'll be in contact soon."

Peter, relieved that that was finally over, nodded and turned around to leave the room when a thought occurred to him. "Hey—Mr. Stark?" He turned back to the billionaire superhero.

"The Tony thing isn't happening, is it?" Peter blushed. "Okay—what's up?"

"Uh—so, a few weeks ago I was talking to my aunt," Peter began. "And she was asking about what we were doing in the lab at my 'internship,' even though she knows about Spider-Man. Don't you think it's kinda weird that she was acting like I was just gonna come work with you in your lab even though she knows my secret?"