Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

7. Distracted

Friday evening equals tinker time with the one and only Tony Stark. Peter often goes on patrol before he heads for the Avengers tower, but his mind is currently not where it's supposed to be. He headed straight to the lab after school. His excuse was that he has a new web fluid formula that he wants to try, but Tony knows something else is up. He's Peter's mentor. It's not like Peter to not talk about what's bothering him.

At first, he decided to let the kid tell him whenever he felt ready, but Tony can't help but get slightly irritated with Peter obviously only pretending to work.
"If you want to use the lab, you're going to have to actually do something useful," Tony states, not looking up from his work. He gets no response and scoffs. He glances at the other side of the lab where Peter sits forward, leaning all his weight on his table. His cheek pushed up from being squished by his forearms.

"Kid?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Peter is scribbling in his notebook. It's blatantly obvious he's not actually paying attention.
"Are you even hearing me?"
"Uh-huh..."
"I'm gonna sell your suit to Flash."
"Great idea." Peter stops scribbling and frowns, finally looking up from the paper. "Wait, what?"
"Oh, so that you hear." Tony gets up from his chair. It wheels backwards as Tony takes big strides towards Peter, who scrambles to sit upright.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I'm just-" Peter looks down, embarrassed. "Distracted."
"So I've noticed." Tony walks to the mini fridge and opens it, assessing its contents and settling on two cans of coke. He shuts the fridge door with his foot and tosses Peter a can. Peter catches it with ease. "Anything I need to know?"

Tony leans against Peter's desk, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow.
"It's stupid." Peter opens the can, but doesn't take a sip. He taps his foot compulsively.
"Well, I can't have a distracted mind in my lab," Tony says, gesturing at Peter. "Cause it distracts me. So you either talk or you go home." Tony chugs half the can and places it on Peter's desk. The kid looks at him with doe eyes and Tony can't help but sigh. "Look, I've got quite a few years on you. Maybe I have useful advice." Peter pushes his tongue against his teeth, glancing away.
"There's this girl..."
"Hoo, boy." Tony gestures to his desk chair, which automatically rolls towards him. He sits down in it, across from Peter. "I'm the last person you should be going to for romance tips, to be honest." Tony pulls his hands through his hair and leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "But you can always talk to me."

Peter has his lips pressed on top of each other. He has no clue what to say. He's sitting across the man who was once known as one of the greatest playboys.
"Come on, Pete." Tony gives him a pat on the knee. His eyes glimmer with genuine curiosity. "What's she like?"
"She's..." Peter leans against the back of his chair, looking up to see if there are any words on the ceiling to describe her. But there aren't any. He sighs deeply. "Everything."
"Oh, is she now?" Tony smirks cheekily.
"She makes me feel things I didn't know I could feel?" Peter poses it as a question, because he has absolutely no clue what he's feeling. "I don't know how to describe it." Tony looks at him, slightly amused at the puppy love. "It's just..." Peter frowns. "I've had crushes before I got bitten. But this time it's different." Peter puts the untouched can on his desk.
"How so?"
"The Spider bite heightened all of my senses. Everything is way more intense than it used to be." Tony starts to understand where this is headed. "So now I feel like I'm going to explode whenever we touch."
"Do you evade her?"
"No, no, the opposite." Peter leans forward again and his breath hitches. He puts his hand through his hair. "As much as I hate the feeling I also... Kind of like it."
"Does she even know you exist?" Peter chuckles at the question.
"She definitely does."

"Wait, did you meet her at that ballet thing you're doing now?" Peter jolts upright, eyes wide.
"You know about my ballet classes?"
"Yeah, Karen put it in last week's report."
"...Oh..." Peter stares at Tony, his mouth slightly opened.
"Do you ever check the reports she makes?" Peter closes his mouth and looks at the can resting on his desk.
"Not really."
"That explains a lot." Tony coughs and gets up, thinking back to a few reports that should probably never be brought up. He frowns at the kid and sends his chair back to his work bench. He grabs a small stress ball from Peter's desk and starts throwing it at the wall repeatedly. It bounces right back into his hand every time. "So. Ballet girl?"
"Yeah." Peter fiddles with his fingers. "We have class together on Tuesday and she teaches me the basics on Thursdays."
"Wait, so on Thursday it's just the two of you?" Peter nods, his mouth dry.

Tony laughs, but stops when he suddenly sees Peter's shoulders droop. His face is a mixture of anger and sadness. He clenches his hands into fists and his knuckles turn white.
"She has a stalker."
"What, you?" Tony jokes, trying to lighten the mood. Peter furiously shakes his head.
"No." Tony catches the ball and lets it drop to the floor.
"Has she called the police?"
"She says she can't." Peter bites the inside of his cheek. "I can't help her, but I want to." Tony sighs and puts his hand on Peter's shoulder.
"The hard part about our jobs is that we can't help everyone, no matter how much effort we put into it." He clears his throat and grabs his can from Peter's desk with his free hand. "It's important that you're there for her when she needs you." Tony raises one eyebrow. "Or, you know, the other you."
"Shouldn't you be telling me I need to keep my secret?"
"Once again, I'm the last person to give you advice on that. Remember the 'I am Iron Man' press conference? That was a joyous day." Tony turns to walk back to his own work bench. "Though, yes, you should probably not be telling anybody." Peter leans back into his chair again, staring at the scribbles he'd drawn in his notebook.
"Right."

"Oh, and Peter?" Tony puts his legs up his desk and his laptop on his lap. Peter looks at Tony, waiting for what he's going to say next. "Figure out her favorite flower, but don't give her an entire bouquet. Start with one." Peter smiles wide.
"Thanks, Mr. Stark."