Peter Parker's Plentiful Problems

I think I'm funny

Harry walked into the room to see Tony leaning back in his chair, facing the ceiling, speaking to who he assumed to be Friday.

As he stepped in, he surveyed the room for Spiderman, hoping he wasn't going to be stuck by himself while listening to an elderly citizen speak to thin air.

With no luck to back him up, Harry concluded that the guy was probably in the bathroom or wandering off somewhere that would stall at least a minute or two.

He'd given up on finding the game room washer half an hour ago, he just stopped Harley's wash for their floor and restarted it with his sweater in there too. He doubted Harley would notice.

Harry trotted over to his usual corner of the lab, a freshened mind ready to help the blueprints of his and Spider-Man's most annoying prank to date. As he sat down, he exhaled loudly as a sideways call for attention (something Tony had since learned meant 'if you don't address me I will Scream), so obviously there was a reply to such action.

"You okay over there, sport?" Tony asked almost sarcastically, deriving his attention from the ceiling lady.

"You remember the Peter Parker guy we've been talking about?" He heard himself sounding almost nervous—which, to be fair—he was.

He couldn't place why, but it just felt odd saying Peter's name at the tower, as if no one else would know who he was. For a while, that is how it was, but now.. well, Peter was back in touch, and Harley also knew who he was, so secrecy was less of an excuse. So, he had to talk about him. It was like a personal obligation.

"Oh yes, the highlight of conversation this week" Tony had a lace of amusement in his voice, his teasing smile remaining as he leaned back in his chair, no longer facing Harry though.

"Yeah, well, uh.. would it be cool if I invited him over one Saturday? Or maybe—I dunno, hung out with him outside of school somewhere? I just want to catch up a bit before he Harley become a package deal, you know? I'm not so sure we left off at the most natural of terms.." he knew Tony was as cold as he could fake it, but Harry also knew well enough how to set his tone up for more serious discussions, with a hope that the man wouldn't ignore it in favor of keeping up the bravado.

"Honestly, I think that would be a great idea" Tony remained unmoving from his position, rather, his smile growing larger, "maybe not on a Saturday though, not until Spiderman is more adjusted, you know? Superhero identities can be a real kerfuckle with civilians".

"Yeah yeah, I know. It's just—well.. I don't know. It's just weird, you know? Like, he's gone from my life out of the blue during probably the most traumatic point of my life, and now I know that was probably the most traumatic point of his, because like I told you, his uncle and all that, whom he was a hell of a lot closer with than me and my dad, so—I don't know. I'm not sure where I stand yet and where my boundaries are" Harry sighed, savoring the moment of privacy he had to admit the sort of thing that'd been weighing on him for a while.

He and Harley had been practically joined at the hip for a while, during his alone time he hadn't even been thinking about talking about it. Not until Harley had pushed his limit on talking about how damn hot Harry's best friend was.

Harry was his friend first! It was pure and utter bullshit. Dibs meant nothing over a history. That was irrelevant to what was being described, though it seemed to need an honorable mention.

Still, he pondered to himself in silence for a moment, unsure if he should speak again or wait for a reply.

"Well, you're being raised under my roof, I say do whatever the hell you think is gonna get you out on top. Talk to him, bond over your separate shared shit, make fun of third parties like Harley or that cookie guy you mentioned—"