liar liar ⦚ spider-man

ACT I, SCENE X * DEAD (BOY) WALKING

And so the traumatic week of Karter Bailey continued. Tony Stark was laughing at him after he'd tripped over some wiring, and he just wanted to die.

"Tu vas bien, Chariot?" Elizabeth said with a smile, the nickname slipping into her sentence by accident. "Enjoy your trip?"

"Shut up, Elizabeth." He grumbled, standing up. Tony had stopped laughing, and instead was looking at him intently. Karter shuffles around under his intense gaze, slightly uncomfortable.

"Elizabeth, could you leave us for a minute, please?" Tony said, not taking his eyes of Karter, almost as if the boy was about to vanish into thin air and he didn't want to miss it.

"Sure." Elizabeth said, sliding off of the lab stool and walking towards the door. "Play nice." She called out as she shut the door. And then it was just Karter and Tony. Tony and Karter. Kid and his Hero.

"Bit if a day, huh?" Tony asked, standing up. "You met Spangles, spike about relationship issues, and now you're standing in a room with Iron Man after humiliating yourself." Karter went red, and in that moment wanted to die. "How could it possibly get worse?" The question was obviously rhetorically, but it had a slightly sinister tone to it, which confused Karter.

"I don't understand what you're implying." Karter said, folding his arms. Tony grabbed his phone from the desk and flicked it slightly, several holographic videos appearing. All of them were Karter and Spider-Man. Karter stiffened, and the slight movement wasn't missed by Tony.

"That's you, right there." Tony said, pointing. "And there, and there and - oh look at this - there as well." Tony pointed at all of the different videos, and Karters stomach dropped. "You know who the spiderling is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Karter defended, realising he'd probably slip up. "And with all due respect, Mr Stark, if I did know him, I'd never tell you."

"Yeah, okay." Tony said, smiling. "Good kid, won't snitch on his boyfriend. Loyal, that's a good quality." Karter didn't respond, although he probably should have. "No comment on the boyfriend mention, so I'm guessing Peter's the spiderling."

"Spider-Man." Karter said, before realising his mistake. "It's Spider-Man, for one, and I can assure you Peter isn't-" Tony just raised his eyebrows, and Karter sighed. "Damn it. Okay I'm not on the best terms with him, so please don't mention it to anyone. And don't tell Elizabeth."

"Why'd you think I kicked her out?" Tony said, sitting back down on his stool. "I just wanted to ask you his measurement." Karter froze, and internally screamed. Measurements implied he was making a suit for Peter, and Karter wasn't sure whether or not it was his right to mention about how Peter would need a binder or something. Karters internal conflict was noted by the billionaire, who sighed. "He can't fight crime in a onzie."

"It's not a onzie." Karter defended stubbornly. "I helped him make it, it's not high tech like your shit, but it does it job."

"Okay, so let me give him an upgrade." Tony said, smirking. "You want him safe, I want to make an investment, work with me on this one, kid." Tony gestured for Karter to take a seat opposite him, and Karter hesitantly sat down. Peter was going to kill him, and Karter would forever regret what he was about to tell te billionaire who sat opposite him. He took a deep breath and silently apologised to Peter in advance.

"Peter's a great guy, but if you really want to help him, there's something you have to know first ."

Here's an unedited update, while I recover from the weekend