The Selection

Chapter 7

The time was passing slowly, Peter didn't know that an hour could have more than sixty minutes but turns out he was wrong because according to the clock he has been here for an hour, but for him, it feels like the whole day as passed.

The chair was uncomfortable for Peter liking, normally he liked to read with his feet up in the chair not sitting upright, but of course he wouldn't dare to put his feet on a chair that probably costed more than himself. So, he forced himself to sit all hunched over the book, probably not the best position for his back, but Peter didn't really care, at all.

At the hour and half mark, Peter couldn't take it anymore, he needed to make himself comfortable, he looked at the king and the man was concentrated on his work, so he silently grabbed the book and the tablet that contained the essay he was writing and slide down to the floor.

The floor had a carpet, so he wasn't directly siting on the cold floor. He made himself comfortable with his back against the desk and the book on his lap. Finally, he could focus on his work without changing position every minute. And that way he could pretend he was alone in the room and not with a person that could ruin him.

Tony wasn't a person that you would catch doing his paperwork, more often he was in his workshop working his new invention, but the kid wasn't ready for that. So, while he got used to him, Tony, for once, would catch up on his work. They had spent a couple of hours, in the office together when Tony decided the kid probably had enough, but when he looked up from his papers the kid wasn't there.

The kid hadn't escaped, did he? I mean Tony admitted he was focused on his work, but he would have noticed if the kid had just left the room, if not him the guards surely would.

Tony, slowly, got up from his chair, when something on the floor caught his eye, a leg.

"You know that we have chairs, don't you?"

The kid, that was almost laying on the floor, jumped and looked up

"Mr. Stark-" Peter was so caught up on his reading that the sudden voice almost made him have a heart attack.

"- the chair was uncomfortable" Peter said slowly

"So the cold hard floor was more comfortable" The king asked, raising an eyebrow

"I like to stretch my legs"

"Alright" Mr. stark said slowly, before continuing, "you should go back to the academy, I'm not some monster to steal all your Saturday. You can come back tomorrow, so you can finish your work"

Peter wanted to protest, he was almost finished with the book, and he was curious to see the final conclusions. One more hour, maybe two, and he would have finished, and wouldn't have to come back here tomorrow.

Mr. Stark was looking at him, probably waiting for him to get out of his office, but Peter had one more problem he needed to be fixed.

"Do you need anything else kid" Mr. Stark asked when he didn't move

"Yes" Peter paused thinking how he wanted to say next "yesterday, when I was trying to find the book, I was unable to enter the library. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about that"

"of course, I know about that Peter, I was the one who told them to do that"

"But, why?"

"Well, you told me that you hated libraries and reading, didn't you kid?"

"I did, but I still need to go there for my school work"

"Don't worry about that, you have all the books you need here, you're always welcomed here. Now off you go do what teenagers do"