Hush Little Baby (Discontinued)

Ch. 24

Hi." The blond stuck his hand out, grin wide and friendly. "Harley Keener."

It was too early for this.

It was way too freakin' early for this.

"Please tell me you're not a figment of my fractured imagination."

The stranger- Harley- laughed wryly, scuffing one of his boots against the tile floor. "Nah. I've wondered what that would be like, though. To be sort of a ghost... I guess that's what you'd call it."

His gaze wandered to the window, going out of focus.

There was an awkward silence as Peter waited for him to zone back in.

It took a minute.

Finally the blond shook himself, easy grin returning. "Anyways. I'm Harley."

Squinting up at him, Peter gave him a quizzical half-smile. "You... said that."

"I did?"

Peter tipped his head to the side, smile widening. "Yeah. About five minutes ago."

"Huh."

He plopped himself down in a chair beside the bed, folding his legs under him. "So you're the spider guy, right?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Spiderman."

"Whatever. You're the dude in a onesie, right?"

The teasing glint in his eyes showed that he knew quite well what he was doing.

So when Harley continued to stare at him, grin wide and innocent, Peter did the only thing possible from his bedridden state.

He whacked Harley with a pillow.

The other boy jerked away, hard enough that the chair he was sitting on tipped over, and he landed on the floor with a thud that had Peter wincing through his laughter.

"Dude." Harley pushed himself up on his elbows, scowling playfully at Peter. "You could have damaged me irreparably. Where would Tony be then?"

"In peace," a voice deadpanned from the doorway.

The two looked up quickly, Harley grinning widely, and Peter mirroring him.

Tony closed the door with one foot, balancing trays on his arms. "Get over here, problem child #2."

Harley bounded over, and when Peter tried to sit up, Tony fixed him with a glare. "Not you, problem child #1."

He fixed his dad with an impish grin. "Aw... I'm number one?"

"Not for much longer," Tony grumbled. "After the stunt you pulled yesterday Harley can take your spot."

Peter stuck out his lip, giving his best puppy dog eyes. "But dad..."

"Nope. Not falling for it."

He took the chair, and Harley sat at the end of the bed, eyes bugging out at the size of Peter's tray. "Dude. How can you eat so much?"

"Spiderman," Peter mumbled through a mouthful of food. "Fast metabolism."

Tony smacked his shoulder lightly. "Don't talk with your mouth full. Did you learn nothing from May?"

Peter thought for a second. "I learned that you used to test fly the suits, and shoot yourself into the walls."

"You did what?" Harley choked on his mouthful of french fries. "Please tell me there's videos of that."

"There are-" Tony winced at the resounding whoop that came from Harley. "-but they are restricted government property."

He grinned at the matching groans of disappointment. "They weren't that funny, trust me."

"I'll form my own conclusions, thank you."

Peter folded his legs under him, wincing slightly, and stared murderously at Tony. "You think you can hide them from me? Friday loves me, Tony."

"Ohhhhh. Tony, is it?"

The teenager met his stare with an uncowed grin. "Yup. Pulling out the big guns now."

"I've got a big gun too," Tony said carelessly. "Wanna meet her?"

On cue, a tornado came through the doors, wild brown hair, wearing jeans, and generally making everyone in the vicinity shrink back. "Peter Benjamin Parker!"

Crap.

He's dead.

He's so dead.