Spidey and the Iron Girl: Vol. 1

#4: Scientific Curiosity

May was taken aback by Collin. Sure, neither of her apologies had really struck her as particularly heartfelt, but now the girl was sitting at their breakfast table chatting her up like they were two old friends. Questions, questions, questions, with a sparkle of genuine interest in her eyes and an odd, very un-teenager-like confidence. She had to have inherited that from her father. Just like Tony, she pulled attention like she had a spotlight on her. Like she knew she was the smartest person in the room. It was weirdly charming, though May could see how her personality could easily turn abrasive.

Peter, for his part, was stubbornly silent, glaring at his plate of pancakes as he shoveled them into his mouth. Collin didn't even try to talk to him-- and May knew that even if she did he'd be short with her, one-word answers only. Peter didn't get angry often but when he did, he set his mouth into a thin, closed line and nothing was allowed to escape.

The surprises kept rolling when Collin quickly offered to help clear the table when they were done.

"Sure, if you want to--," May accepted, Collin already rapidly stacking dishes in the crook of her arm. She slid the plate out from under Peter's fork, one last piece of bacon still left.

"Hey!" he protested. "I wasn't done with that!"

"Oops," She replied, not turning to offer it back to him and dumping it all into the sink. She turned, tapping something into the widescreen of her watch. "But we've got a packed schedule today and the faster we get started, the faster we finish. Go get dressed."

Peter made a face at her and didn't move. She pushed her glasses further up onto the bridge of her nose and pursed her mouth. May sat on the sidelines, resisting the urge to jump in. The Stark girl wasn't her kid to discipline and Peter needed to learn how to defend himself...

"The longer you take getting ready, the longer we have to be out there together..." Collin pointed out. Peter sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, heaving up from his chair to go get changed. Collin dropped onto the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table, fiddling with her watch.

"Uh, Collin... No feet on the furniture, please," May asked quietly.

"Oh, sorry," The girl didn't look up from her watch, but removed her feet from the coffee table.

May set about cleaning dishes, keeping an eye on Collin from the corner of her eye. The girl became increasingly twitchy waiting for Peter. After five minutes had passed, she sighed loudly and stood from the sofa.

"Pardon me, but which door is Peter's room?" She asked May.

"Oh, first one on the left--? But he's probably almost done--," May didn't get a chance to finish before Collin was gone with a swing of her ponytail to bang on her nephew's bedroom door.

"Peter," She called in a sing-songy voice. "You get lost in your sock drawer or some shit?"

"Collin, language..." May cut in, even though she was getting the feeling it would be useless.

Peter yanked his door open, pulling on his shoes.

"Are you going to be like this all day?" He griped at her.

"Like what? Punctual? Efficient?" Collin put her hands on her hips.

"No, annoying," Peter hissed, disappearing down the hall towards the front door.

"Hardy har har, Spider-jerk," Collin bit back, hot on his heels.

May was shocked by how quickly they'd devolved into bitter bickering, but the teenagers were already half-way out the door.

"Be careful, you two!" She called after them. "Play nice!"

------------------------

"So," Collin put her hands on her hips as soon as they were outside. It had stopped raining, thankfully, though clouds still loomed over the city. "I need to measure your walking, running, and jumping speeds, as well as total distance endurance. We're going to need somewhere with wide open space, but not too public--."