Touch the Stars {Peter Parker}

Act 5: Fly to the Beat of the War Drums

Liam pursed his lips and refused to say anything. While Peter had never shared this information with him, Liam already knew what he was talking about. On a plane ride, his mother and father had died. It was a bit morbid, but Liam clamped his mouth shut. Instead, he patted Peter on the shoulder consolingly, a silent show of support.

"But anyway," Peter turned back to Liam. "Shouldn't you at least see the suit?"

Peter wasn't going to drop it, was he? Liam sighed and curbed the urge to massage his forehead. "Alright, let's see what he's made."

Deftly placing both of his thumbs underneath the locks, the reincarnation flicked them both open with a set of clicks! Gingerly, he pulled the suitcase back and immediately grimaced at the items within the suitcase. Of course, the suit was fucking spandex. Go figure.

"It's...not that bad?" Peter tried tentatively, noticing the look on Liam's face. "I mean you have a really cool mask!"

Well maybe it was some consolation, but it wasn't much. The mask was fashioned in the likeness of a men-yoroi, Samurai facial armor. However, it was only for the lower half of the face. Sleek and black, the lips were curled back to show the visage of sharp teeth and canines.

Liam inspected it, holding it up to the light and at different angles before putting it back into the suitcase. "I'm keeping my jacket."

"That's fine," Peter agreed disarmingly to the declaration. "It suits you!"

Whether or not it suited Liam was another question entirely, but Liam appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

"So have you ever been out of the country?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Liam shrugged. "Been here and there. Not much."

"Oh, where'd you go?"

"Seoul," Liam replied dryly. "Johannesburg. Novi Grad. You know."

"Oh...yeah," Peter blinked. There was a tint on his cheeks that betrayed the embarrassment he was feeling. Liam clicked the suitcase before poking Peter in the temple. "Wanna finish our homework and then binge some movies?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me."

They had taken the liberty to take two weeks' worth of homework from their school in advance so they didn't fall behind on their schoolwork. It was fairly easy considering Liam had been fed up with the whole situation to flip to the back of the textbook and obtain the answers. Not his greatest achievement, but who wanted to sit during a plane ride rotting their brain over math equations? Certainly not him.

It was in the middle of their movie binge that Peter started dozing off. If it was intentional, Liam wasn't going to ask, but Peter had used his shoulder as a cushion for his nap.

The reincarnation sighed and looked over to the boy draped over his shoulder. His breathing was soft and almost inaudible, and his curly hair was falling over the top of his forehead in swirling cascades. He looked peaceful... soft.

Liam was seized by the desire to bring the other closer, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he sighed and quietly clicked the movie off.

Despite his agreeing with this egregious mess of a plan, Liam couldn't help the bitterness that bubbled up within him. The reincarnation huffed as he sent a withering glare at the suitcase that sat innocuously by his feet.

Was he jealous? Liam wasn't even going to try and deny it. Yes, he was jealous that Tony Stark managed to get to Peter Parker and be on friendly terms with him simply because he was Ironman. The same Ironman that made Sokovia occur...and Liam despised that. What right did he have to just barge in, use Peter Parker as a device to locate Ronin, and have the gall to spit on his face like that?