The Waterspout

In Which Kittens are Less Messy than Nanoparticles

Peter came right away. He came as soon as humanly possible.

The wall to the workshop shicked open, and Peter ducked inside, inhaling the odor of oil and metal and burning plastic. It had only been a week, but god how he'd missed the place. Today, however, the metal, tools, and scraps that usually covered the tables were cleared to the edges of the room, and the holoscreens flickered up against the walls instead of in their usual haphazard configuration around the room. The surfaces were instead covered in what vaguely resemble brownie pans, except they contained iridescent, golden, red, blue, and silver sheets of thin metal instead of fudge. Mechanical arms moved diligently above the layers, their ends tapering to the point of minisculinity, working at on a scale Spider-Man could only sense by the light glinting off the silk-thin ends.

Nanotech.

(So much better than fudge. Well...)

"This is fantastic," he said to the empty room, spreading his arms and grinning.

"Isn't it?"

Spider-Man whirled, wrists outstretched, then relaxed. "Oh, hi FRIDAY."

"Hello, Mr. Parker."

Suddenly nervous, Peter set down his backpack and unzipped it. "Uh... Did Karen tell you..."

"I know what you need. The files you seek are in the boss's office. Do you plan to access them today?"

"Um, yeah. But... later." Peter shifted.

"Of course."

Peter could tell by her tone that FRIDAY did not approve of this plan.

"Does Mr. Stark know I'm here?"

"Yes, he is on his way as we speak."

"O-okay." Peter stood up, his clothes in hand, and rocked back and forth on his heels. He watched the door for a moment, then stripped out of his suit and pulled on his jeans and t-shirt as quickly as he could.

Peter heard the door opening moments after he finished stuffing the suit back into his backpack. He stood hurriedly, looking towards the entrance, every ounce of nervousness disappearing beneath excitement.

Tony didn't see him right away, stepping into the workshop and casting his gaze about. His hands fidgeted around his sunglasses, as they always did, flicking the left temple in and out with a rhythmic clicking.

Peter cleared his throat quietly.

Tony turned to him, and for a moment, Peter saw a strange expression flutter across his eyes, a mix of fondness and... fear? But then it was gone, and Tony was smirking, stalking towards Peter to slap him on the shoulder in greeting.

"How's it?"

Peter smiled. "I'm good, Mr. Stark. You?"

"Better now that I'm here." The man turned to face the tables and spread his arms. "What do you think?"

"I think it's fantastic."

"Thought you would." Tony grabbed Peter's elbow, dragging him towards the nanotech. Peter laughed and slapped away the other man's hand before bounding after him.

Tony knelt next to one of the trays and carefully slid his hand between it and the robotic arm. After a moment of fiddling, the arm retracted, and Tony tapped the pan twice in quick succession. It slid forward a bit, allowing the man to remove it and fold the sides back.

Peter leaned forward, excited, and Tony handed him the now-flat pan.

It was shockingly light, and, when the pan was jostled from Peter's being caught off-guard, the sheets of metal shifted. Peter couldn't keep in his gasp when the previously golden metal shimmered, undulating almost imperceptibly as it shifted into ruby redness.