~Iron Family~

Doctor Dr. Banner

Peter would've slept in, if it hadn't been for Friday's convenient alarm.

He was so wiped out from yesterday's events, he almost forgot he was staying in the Stark Tower. When he opened his eyes to an alarm, he had had a brief moment of panic. He thought that the cops might've found him and stuffed him into a backseat, but then why would he be wrapped in blankets?

He pushed them off as yesterday slowly came back to him. An alarm was echoing through the room, not loud enough to wake anyone but the occupant inside. Peter groaned when he saw the time: 6:30.

He'd had another nightmare last night, which wasn't surprising. He had one every night--Aunt May or Uncle Ben dying, and Peter not being able to help. Some were worse than others, though, and fortunately last night hadn't been too bad.

He yawned and pushed open the closet door. The window screens were displaying the weather, time, and some news headlines.

"Ugh, Friday...please turn the alarm off," Peter groaned, rubbing his eyes. As his head was clearing, so was his superhearing.

The alarm quieted.

"Good morning, Peter," Friday greeted. "The dining hall opens at seven am. May I recommend a shower?"

"Are you calling me dirty?" Peter crossed his arms over his chest. "Because this is the cleanest I've been for months."

He took a shower anyway, thinking it might make the state like him a little better. He made sure to brush his teeth extra well and comb his hair, too. His hair looked even longer when it was wet, but as soon as it began to dry his curls slowly shrunk the length.

He pulled on his old converse and grabbed his phone before heading into the hallway.

There weren't many people up this early, just rushed businessmen hoping to get an early start on their busy day. Peter tried to blend in, but people were giving him a six-foot berth. Maybe there was a rumor he had fleas or something.

He was worried that when he got to the dining hall they would refuse him, saying he needed money, but they just wanted to scan his Stark Tower ID.

"Oh..." Peter hurriedly dug through his pocket and handed it to the smiling woman at the counter. "Sorry. I keep forgetting about these things."

"That's all right," the older woman said, waving her arm dismissively. "I get fellows in here who've forgotten their IDs all together. I recognize almost each and every person in this tower, though. I just go by recognition!"

"You--you know each and every person in this tower?!" Peter exclaimed. "That's--how do you do that? That's incredible!"

The woman laughed and tapped her head. "Years and years of experience, boy. Years and years of experience."

Peter took his food tray and started down the line. "Thanks, Miss Edna! Have a nice morning!"

"No problem, kiddo!" she called. "You too."

Peter had never seen so many options for breakfast, and he didn't even know what half of them were! There were pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs, oatmeal, and cold cereal. He was still full from the pizza last night, so he took one pancake and a spoonful of eggs.

The tables were filling up quickly. Peter chose a small table by one of the windows in a corner and decided to do something he hadn't done in awhile: open his phone.

At first, Peter had thought that his phone would be his only source of anything to do as a homeless kid. He had quickly been corrected, though--he was too busy finding his next hiding place. Phones took forever to charge, and when he took his charger to the public library, he spent the time reading. After his phone was charged, he didn't get on it for a few days. You never knew when an emergency might pop up and you needed a fully charged phone. If he texted all day, he would have had to hide in the library for hours every day.