I'm going to start adding music to chapters for you guys, sometimes the music with go with the chapter, and sometimes it'll be random.
Tw: Eating Disorder, while nobody has any, the lack of food could be triggering to some.
[Peter's POV]
Peter and Hawkeye didn't talk much after that, the archer simply made him promise to visit and Peter swung away. There were things much more important.
He had an application test to finish. He was already on the last two questions. One was a complicated math equation and the other was a write-in answer.
Peter finished the math problem after working it out three separate ways. He wanted to cover all bases alright?
Now for the last question. What was it?
'Why do you want to work/intern here at Stark Industries?'
Oh, it was one of those types, how in the world was he supposed to answer this? It seemed he would have to wait to figure that out since his phone had started to ding. Maybe Mr. Stark was texting? He picked it up.
It wasn't Mr. Stark.
[???]
Hello Peter.
[???]
Who is this?
[???]
I told you that if you didn't stay in touch I would find you, Parker.
What in the world? Who was this?! Who knew his name? Peter was panicking mentally before another message was sent.
[???]
Stop freaking out.
I'm not going to hurt you.
How did this guy- or gal or non-binary pal, know he had been panicking?!
[???]
It's me kid, Stephen Strange? Ring a bell?
Peter relaxed almost immediately. Oh. That made a lot of sense. He felt a little dumb now, but he quickly responded.
[???]
How did you get my number, Mister Dr. Strange?
[???]
Don't call me that.
[???]
Okay, sir.
[???]
The way I got your phone number doesn't matter right now.
Peter shrugged. He was talking to a bloody wizard, he shouldn't be surprised.
[???] Was changed to [Dr. Wizard]
[Dr. Wizard]
How creative.
[???]
You don't like it? ('^')
[Dr. Wizard]
I don't dislike it, Peter.
[???]
Well, now you have to name me!
[???] Was changed to [Peter]
[Peter]
How creative.
[Dr. Wizard]
Ha ha, kid.
Shouldn't you eat some food now?
You haven't eaten all day.
Peter felt a little nervous now, that was pretty creepy.
[Peter]
That's creepy, how do you even know that?
[Dr. Wizard]
I didn't.
Not until you just confirmed it for me.
[Peter]
Oh wow, okay. I don't know what to say to that.
[Dr. Wizard. ]
Maybe say that you are going to eat now?
Peter hesitated. He was a little hungry, but he didn't want to pay for the food later in the week. Rent had spiked up a little after the landlord's daughter crashed her car. The landlord was now raising the total rent by five percent. That doesn't sound too bad but when you have a crazy fast metabolism and get injured often and have a low-paying job, five percent is a rather large toll.
He didn't want to just tell the other this though. He didn't want the other to worry, or worse pity him.
[Peter]
Alright, I'll eat.
That was a total lie. Peter was just saying that to get the other off his back.
[Dr. Wizard]
Send me a picture of what you are eating as proof. I don't doubt you're just lying to me.
Well damn. There goes that plan. Peter grumbled and went to his mainly empty pantry, did he have any food? He had some cereal but one look at the contents proved it was not edible in any way. So Peter checked the fridge. He had some bottled water...That was it? When had he gone shopping last?
Oh. It had been a good few weeks.
When had Peter last eaten? He ate a sandwich for lunch yesterday. That was it, and with his crazy metabolism, one meal missed was like a day with little to no food.
One time, Peter didn't eat for almost two days and he almost passed out. That hadn't been very fun.
Peter's phone dinged again.
[Dr. Wizard]
How long does it take you to find food?
Shit, Peter had forgotten about him. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't just lie, could he?
No. While Peter knew the wizard was probably pitying him, he wanted to pretend he cared.
[Peter]
This is going to sound bad but I don't have any food.
The long pause that came before the next text Peter nervous.
[Dr. Wizard]
And is it fair to assume you don't have enough money to get some food?
[Peter]
Maybe.
[Dr. Wizard]
Then whatever job you have is not paying enough. You know the Stark internship is paid right?
The job Peter had was paying enough for the average seventeen-year-old with a loving family to afford, not the seventeen-year-old vigilante that had to pay for everything himself, and seriously? This guy knew way too much. Peter certainly did not remember telling him about the Stark Internship!
[Peter]
No, I had no idea it was paid, but my job pays enough for me to live off of.
[Dr. Wizard]
Do you have any shifts today?
[Peter]
No, I worked most of the shifts for the past few weeks so my boss made me take some time off.
[Dr. Wizard]
Do you have anything planned today?
[Peter.]
No, I was just going to finish my application.
[Dr. Wizard.]
On an empty stomach? Stop by the sanctuary and we'll catch lunch.
Peter must have reread that text seven times by now, and he still felt a little confused. Did the man really want to meet him for lunch or did he still just pity him, Peter wasn't sure.
[Dr. Wizard]
Before you even think about saying no, it wasn't a request. You're going.
Peter couldn't formulate a proper response to that.
[Peter]
Okay, give me like an hour to get there.
[Dr. Wizard]
How long will it take to get ready?
[Peter]
Well, I wanted to get the application done. Technically I'm ready.
[Dr. Wizard]
Where do you live?
Peter frowned down at his phone. Why did he need to know?
[Dr. Wizard]
Never mind, Grab the application and be ready to go in fifteen minutes and I'll be there.
Peter felt oh so confused but at this point, he just went along with it. He decided to take the time to clean his stab wound. The one from chapter 3.
With his lack of eating the right amount of food, it was healing much much slower. Peter dabbed the washcloth over the wound. He winced slightly when he pressed too hard.
Peter decided to wear a red shirt over the Spider-Man suit he almost always wore nowadays. That way if the wound reopened there was no way that magic man would ever know! He did a quick brush through his hair before grabbing the application paper. Peter had decided to print it out at the library, luckily they were doing them for free that day.
A knock on his door sounded and Peter stared at it for a minute. One heartbeat was all he heard. He could take on one guy if it was a threat
So Peter opened the door, almost going slack jaw as he saw the magic man himself, Doctor Strange standing there. He wasn't in his usual hero getup, rather he was in a crisp blue button-up and slim black pants.
A sharp smile flickered on his face as he saw Peter's look of utter confusion.
"How-How did you get my address?!" He stammered out.
While remaining completely dead-faced, Dr. Strange did jazz hands and simply stated. "Magic."
Peter wasn't quite sure how to react to that.
"Are you ready Peter?" The older man asked, looking down at the seventeen-year-old boy standing in the doorway before him.
"Uhm, yes Mister Doctor sir."
The doctor groaned and shook his head. "Kid, don't call me that. "
"Yes sir."
"That's not much better but I'll allow it"
Peter let out a dry laugh as he walked out and locked the door behind him, shoving the keys in the pocket of his rather worn-out jeans.
They walked in silence for a while before Stephen spoke up. "How far did you get on that application?"
"I'm on the last question sir."
"Is it difficult?" The man asked, glancing down at the teenager beside him. He was trying to be as friendly as possible.
"I have to explain why I want to intern there."
Strange hummed to himself slightly as Peter continued to speak.
"I'm not quite sure what to write for that just yet, I figured I would simply write about my passion for science and stuff."
The doctor nodded. "On another note, I hope you like Pizza, it was the first thing I could think of getting." Strange had no idea what this kid liked, so he panicked and just ended up ordering some pepperoni pizza. He felt so guilty about completely erasing this kid's life.
How could he have done that? He knew for a fact that the only forgetting spell he had cast had been on Spider-Man. It was pretty clear this kid was either Spider-Man or had some close connection with the local vigilante. He would have to ask about that later. Now, all that mattered was getting this kid some food.
"I'm fine with anything sir, it's honestly enough that you're even doing this," Peter said honestly.
"Well, you are only seventeen. If anybody remembered you, you'd been in a foster home instead of a run-down apartment."
Peter nodded, he saw the words as a confession. A confession that the doctor was only doing this because he felt guilty.
They walked in silence for the remainder of their journey, arriving at the sanctuary after a short while.
"Sometimes I forget just how large this place is," Peter mumbled, craning his neck up to look at the impressive building.
Strange opened the door, beckoning Peter to follow him inside.
Peter was led to the base of the stairs, where just off to the side was a small table and chairs. "Here sit down Peter, I'll get the food." The doctor went out of view for a moment and Peter sat down.
Peter set the paper on the table, deciding he would start brainstorming at least. Tapping his pencil to the paper as he thought about what to write.
He wasn't sure what to write down, so he just started to word vomit onto the paper. Writing down his passion for science onto the paper, about how much he loved chemistry and how much he liked engineering. He had a pretty good paragraph going by the time the wizard came back to the small table with some pizza. His stomach growled rather loudly and he sheepishly peered up at the amused doctor. "Well, good thing we have plenty of pizza."
Strange sat down the box in between them after Peter moved his papers out of the way.
"I hope you like pepperoni."
"I do sir."
Stephen sighed. "Just eat."
He didn't have to tell Peter twice before the kid dug in, munching on a slice happily.
Strange found himself observing the careful way the kid ate, Peter held the pizza carefully and ate small quick bites, as if he wanted to savor it and quickly get it down at the same time. It made sense for someone with his living conditions.
Strange only took two slices for himself, he was fine letting Peter have as much as he wanted.
The kid ate about half the pizza by himself and there was a few slices left. "Hey kid, you can take the slices home with you, hopefully it'll let you save up so money so you can buy groceries." Strange stated, he would have offered Peter some money but he knew that it wouldn't be accepted.
"Thank you so much sir! It'll help so much!" Peter said, sounding absolutely awestruck. Strange smiled a little before he frowned. "Peter? I think that we should talk about Spider-Man."
[2024 words! Wow. That's the longest chapter yet I believe! I know it's been a while but I've been really busy, so I'm going to try to get some more chapters out!]