No Comment

Ch. 10

It was Sunday night and the conference hadn't been changed.  May and Peter were both staying at the Stark house along with Natasha who insisted on coming as extra security.  Pepper allowed it without argument, so Peter definitely had no say in the matter.  He was glad she hadn't brought the rest of the team, though, because that would have been a lot more attention than necessary.  The press already knew SI was announcing something big.  If the entire Avengers team showed up, they'd be even more desperate for information.

"You know what you're saying, right?"  May asked for the seventh time that weekend.  Peter gave her an irritated look and she raised her eyebrows at him.  "Don't give me that.  I'm making sure you're prepared."

"I know,"  he sighed, his shoulders dropping.  "I'm sorry, May.  I'm just nervous."

"Oh honey,"  May said, moving forward and hugging her nephew.  "I know.  I guess I should expect you to be on edge with everything going on."  A soft knock came to Peter's door and they both looked up to see Tony in the doorway.

"Hey, kiddo,"  he said.  Peter smiled weakly and May released him.  She kissed his forehead then mumbled something about going to bed.  Tony stepped aside to let her out of the room then walked in to talk to Peter.

"Hey, Mr. Stark,"  Peter said, feigning cheerfulness.

"Yeah, we all know you're not that cheerful, Peter,"  Mr. Stark replied.  Peter's face dropped and Mr. Stark sighed.  "I'm sorry we couldn't fix the date back to how it was before."

"Nah, it's okay,"  Peter assured him, shrugging halfheartedly.  "I'd still be nervous even if it was still two weeks out."

"I know,"  Mr. Stark said.  The room was quiet for a moment, then,  "Is MJ coming?"

"No, she has AcaDec after school,"  Peter told him.  Michelle had promised Peter could skip AcaDec and go to his conference which was exactly what Peter didn't want her to say.  Nevertheless, he would have ended up coming with or without permission to skip Decathlon practice, so he figured it was a good thing she was alright with it.

Mr. Stark had a moment where he argued with himself over whether or not to hug Peter, but before he came to a conclusion, his body decided for him.  He found himself reaching over and hugging Peter gently.  Peter sighed and held onto the arm that was wrapped around his chest.

"It'll be okay,"  Mr. Stark promised, giving him a light squeeze then letting go.  "I'll be there, Pepper's going to be there, and so will Happy and Natasha.  May will be on call if you need anything at all, ready to leave work if she needs to, but you're going to be fine, alright?"

"Alright,"  Peter whispered, nodding.  Mr. Stark gave him another short hug then stood up.

"You better get to bed,"  he said.  Peter nodded again before standing up and grabbing his pyjamas.  "Good night, Peter."

"Good night, Mr. Stark,"  Peter replied.  He waited until Mr. Stark was out of the room and the door had shut behind him before he changed into his pyjamas.  After climbing into his bed, he reached for his Spider-Man mask and pulled it over his head, activating Karen.

"Good evening, Peter,"  Karen greeted warmly.  "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay,"  Peter said, looking up at the glow in the dark constellation on his ceiling.  He and Mr. Stark had painted them with a special paint so they were invisible during the day, but bright at night.  Mr. Stark had even managed to make the paint glow in different colours while still being invisible during the day, then hired someone to paint the ceiling so it would look like the Milky Way at night.  Peter loved it more than he felt he could express.

"What's going on?"  Karen asked.  Peter had already told her all about the conference, but she was good at listening so he told her again.

"It's tomorrow and I'm really nervous,"  Peter said, looking up at Sagittarius on his ceiling.  "What if I say the wrong thing and totally embarrass Mr. Stark?  He'll be upset he let me take over Stark Industries and then everything will be ruined."

"I highly doubt Mr. Stark will be upset if you say the wrong thing,"  Karen assured him.  Peter pursed his lips.  "FRIDAY confirms Mr. Stark as just as nervous as you."

"That's not helpful!"  Peter told her.  Mr. Stark was worried?  God, it was probably about how much he'll mess up.

"Mr. Stark has been under pressure by the board, he is not worried about you messing up,"  Karen said, trying to calm him down.  "He is very proud of you."

"Thanks,"  Peter mumbled.  He kept his mask on for a little while longer before deciding he should take it off before Mr. Stark sees he's still awake.  "Good night, Karen."

"Good night, Peter,"  the AI replied.  Peter pulled off his mask and tossed it over by the rest of his suit.  He rolled onto his side, staring out his window across the backyard.  Tomorrow would be fine.  He could definitely do a small press conference without messing up.