nostalgiabomb | riverview: ic contact;

[ His amusement falls away instantly when he brings up Gamora, if indirectly.

That's been on his mind. A lot. Gamora hated Thanos, was terrified of him, so the thought of that bastard having taken her, of Peter having failed her—

It hurts. A lot. And his mind shies away from it, even as he tries to think of ways he might be able to alter their course, once he's home. Maybe there's a chance he remembers everything, once he's back. Maybe there's a chance his experiences – his powers – in Riverview will go back with him, and they can fix things. Take down Thanos before the bastard is even a blip on their radar.

But that's wishful thinking, Peter thinks. But wishful thinking is a whole lot better than the choking helplessness that takes him over when he thinks on all this for too long. ]

... I might have to hold you to that, too.

[ Even if he says it lightly, there's a dark little thread that still runs through his voice. ]

[Yeah, well, Peter doesn’t like that dark thread. But it’s mostly a matter of worrying about Peter’s state of mind than anything else. So he considers the moment at hand right now, chewing on his lip before shifting his feet and leaning in to offer a curved pinky finger.]

... Well, then I might as well pinky swear with you, too.

I’ll help out wherever anyone needs me. And I’ll try my best to keep up with... whatever happens, whenever it happens.

I promise.

[ Peter blinks at the kid for a second or two. He'd call the kid out on how ridiculous pinky swearing on this is, but—

Well.

Peter has totally pulled the same shit before.

It's why he lets out a breath, something that might actually be a laugh, before he crooks his own pinky around the kid's. ]

Same from me. You have my word.

[He grins, a little more at ease.

But lord, he's gonna have a lot to think about. It can wait, at least.]

Sweet. It's a deal.

[His smile fades, just a little, and he doesn't release the pinky swear just yet.]

... And, uh. Can you — promise to also... not tell Mr. Stark I know about all of this?

If it comes up.

—Uh.

[ Nope, okay, Peter will be pulling his hand back now. ]

... Why?

[ In that slow, cautious way that makes it all too obvious that Peter is realizing that he maybe shouldn't have shared this much information with Little Pete.

It's like in a sitcom, when a kid wants to go to a party by asking their dad after their mom has already told them no.

Is Peter the clueless dad? ]

... Aw, shoot. I totally thought that would work, too...

[He says it with a sheepish smile and a hint of knowing this second promise was not gonna succeed.

Cue the laugh track???]

It’s just — Mr. Stark hasn’t said anything about this, and I don’t even know if it’s connected or not, but he ended up in the hospital over something from home. And if he doesn’t want me to know, it might be because he doesn’t wanna freak me out? Or maybe he thinks it’s his problem? But he hasn’t mentioned a peep to me about the reason he’s been acting worried, so I haven’t asked, but—!!

[Slow down Peter, stop fumbling with the edges of your dorky buttoned shirt tails.]

He’s got stuff going on and he doesn’t need to freak about me knowing that I’m stuck in space getting ready to fight weird alien mass murderers! I can be in blissful ignorance around him and he can feel a little better about whatever’s messing with him.

[... you’re the clueless dad.]

[ that is.

a lot to take in.

And when it does, Peter groans, slouching back against the pillows and covering his face with his hands. ]

Oh, come on. [ Completely dismayed. ] Dude.

[ is stark going to kick peter's ass

only time will tell ]

.... So, uh.

Are you not gonna tell him?

... Big Pete, best bud?

[#hopeful stare]

[ Peter heaves out a massive sigh, letting his hands drop to his lap. ]

Why doesn't he want you to know any of this?

[He clears his throat, glancing aside.]

Well, I... I don't actually... know if he doesn't want me to know any of it...

... I don't even know if he knows all of this, it's just... a, a, a feeling. Is all. Just covering my bases here, really.

[.........

Also real answer Peter is assuming things right out of the gate, because he is too scared to ask Tony.]

Edited 2018-06-24 02:45 (UTC)

[ Isn't it weird, how a beat of silence can feel so disbelieving?

Because that's what's happening right now. Incredulous silence.

Then, ]

... Have you even asked?

[..................................]

N-no. I have... n't...

[for fucks sake]

[ Peter drags both hands down his face. Again. ]

Oh my god.

[ Pure, concentrated exasperation. Little Pete's probably lucky there's nothing for Big Pete to throw at him, right now.

He screws his eyes shut for a second, his fingers pressing against the bridge of his nose. (He can feel a headache coming on, which is probably a sign that he needs to choke down a couple more painkillers soon. Or maybe it's a result of this conversation going in weird circles? Either way.) ]

Ask him.

[He looks like he would rather face plant a building.]

What, just... ring him up and ask if he's ran into a big overlord alien that wants to wipe half of everything out yet?

Uh. Yes.

[ Obviously. Why is this even a question???? ]

Maybe he already knows everything. Maybe he doesn't, in which case, you can pull your punches.

But if he does know everything, what's it really gonna change if he finds out that you know at least a little of what happens, too?

I don't know? Maybe a little?

... I'm not supposed to be involved in that kind of stuff. Stay low to the ground, and all that. And space is definitely not... low to any ground. It's space. I kinda got into some trouble when I got involved in stuff I wasn't supposed to be in.

[... But he is starting to see just how ridiculous it is, to try and skirt around the topic with Mr. Stark. Because as much as he doesn't want to cause any trouble and keep his nose out of Tony's own situation, he's recognizing more and more that maybe they're just too intertwined to pretend it's a separate thing at all.

He breathes out, looking a little worried.]

... I guess you're right. I should... I will. At some point. Talk to him about it.

I'll ask, okay?

... After everything here's settled down, though, and he's had time to get back to the usual.

Edited (when u typo after you edit something in to fix a sentence gj me) 2018-06-24 04:09 (UTC)

[ Peter frowns for a second, studying the kid. ]

... Okay, then. That works.

[ He still sounds at least a little skeptical, though. It's 100% hypocritical of him, admittedly, to press the kid into talking things out, considering Peter has a tendency to avoid difficult conversations when he can. Maybe that's why he doesn't entirely believe Pete when he says he'll talk it through with Stark?

But, well. That's not really his business, and even if he feels like he should probably press the kid so he's a little more certain about the whole thing, it's not really his place. ]

Just so we're clear, if he asks me what I know, I'm not gonna lie to him. [ Peter Quill? Not lie?

Hell is freezing over. ]

But I'm not gonna go and find him to tell him what we talked about.

... Fair enough. I shouldn't go behind his back.

[He thins his lips as he looks at Peter, a little worried about the whole thing. And maybe a little stressed. But just, like. A touch. It's his own fault, really. And now that he's really thinking on it, wasn't this all the kind of thing Tony was pissed off at him before for? Going behind his back? Ugh. He sucks.]

... Sorry I asked you to lie, though. That was kinda a dick move.

[ Peter waves a hand dismissively. ]

Don't worry about it. I don't actually care about lying.

[ Unless someone is lying to him, in which case, he totally cares. But otherwise, there was a long while where his primary job with the Ravagers was to lie through his teeth, to play conman for them.

He's not bad at it, either, when he really sets his mind to it. ]

I just don't want Stark beating my face in for letting the cat out of the bag.

[He looks incredulously at him.]

You think — Dude, it's not like he's my caretaker or something; he'd probably choke on his coffee if you even implied that kinda thing. He just keeps an eye out to make sure I'm not blowing up half of New York.

And he definitely wouldn't beat you up over it. It'd all be on me.

[As far as Peter knows, Mr. Stark just sort of checks in from time to time. And takes his suit when he screws up (which, okay, he knows that was fair). He's more used to dealing with Happy more than anything, and — and you know. He's just not someone Mr. Stark has to trouble himself with.

That's one reason he's been kinda worried about bringing up the future. Because obviously, he must have snuck through the radar and gotten involved without Mr. Stark's want. There's no way he would have let him go into outer space for Avengers-style fights, right? Unless... maybe he becomes an Avenger by then?

Oh man. That's a thought.

Dude.]

[ Peter's expression pinches, and he gives a defensive sorta shrug. ]

How am I supposed to know all that? I mean, you talk about him, like, all the time. I figured he was, like, your Mr. Miyagi or something.

I mean, not exactly. I was doing this hero stuff before I met him.

[He crosses his legs, looking pretty thoughtful, actually.]

But he's helped me a lot, and he was a big deal to me growing up, I guess... and he still is. I owe him, like, more than I can probably pay back ever. [He smiles a little brightly.] I don't think he knows, but he actually saved me from a crazy murderous robot once when I was about... nine or ten? It was awesome.

[ Peter's about to say, "That doesn't sound awesome," except he abruptly remembers a time when he was about twelve, when Yondu had sent his arrow whizzing through the heads of about a half-dozen security bots bearing down on Peter.

... that had been pretty goddamn cool, too.

So, wisely, Peter decides to keep his comment to himself. What he says instead is, ]

What the hell has been happening on Earth since I've been gone?

... Oh, y'know. Stuff. I dunno, maybe I just have bad luck?

Just a month ago my almost-girlfriend's dad ended up being a bad guy that I had to fight on a plane full of superhero gear, and we crashed on a beach and duked it out. That was pretty... scary, actually.

It's way scarier when you're older and smarter.

Oh.

[ Startled, like the word is punched out of him. ]

Um. I can see how that'd be a lot to process.

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