yeah i'm sorry
__Peter__
Today was Mr. Stark's big banquet!! He'd been planning it for a while, but I just found out it's tonight. Guess he didn't realize his guests needed to know when the actual party was.
(or the author finally wanted something exciting to happen 💀)
"You excited, Pete?" Clint asks as he sips his mug of hot cocoa. It's getting to be winter, and New York is definitely feeling the cold.
I stare at Clint, confused. "Excited for what?"
"The banquet?" Nat walks into the room, smirking at my seemingly stupid question.
"Wait..." I freeze. "You mean I get to go?!" My eyes widen with excitement.
"Uh, yeah?" Clint chuckles, sipping his cocoa again.
I explode.
Well, maybe not explode. But you get the picture!
"Oh, this is gonna be awesome! Can I invite some friends?" I question with wide, excited doe-eyes.
Natasha turns away from the coffee machine she had been using to glance at me analytically, "What friends? How long have you known them?"
Clint raises an eyebrow at her, "Geez, Tasha—they're just teenagers."
"Yeah, teenagers I don't know." She raises her eyebrows back at him in retort. "Or trust."
My bubbly mood evaporates at her seemingly cruel words. Natasha notices. "Yet." She finishes with a reassuring sigh. The corners of my mouth perk up again into their usual bright smile.
"So is that a yes?!" I quake in my seat.
Natasha's eyes analyze mine for a moment before she gives in. "Sure." She turns back to the coffee maker, her posture a bit tenser than it had been before.
"Yes!" I pump a fist in the air. "Oh, this is gonna be so cool! Ned's gonna be so excited! I wonder if MJ could come?" I murmur to myself as my mind starts to race a million miles per hour.
"Just make sure you're safe, please?" She asks without turning, pausing for a moment. "I don't want you in danger, especially with Lord Voldemort staying with us."
Clint's voice escalates from a terror-filled whisper to a shriek, "He whO SHALT NOT BE NAMED-"
There's a tingle at the back of my neck, and I spin around to find Loki standing there now. "Someone call?" He smirks slyly at Natasha.
"Nope, go away, Swiper." Nat mutters as she turns around, sipping her newly brewed cup of coffee. "You're not wanted here." Her tone is blunt, unforgiving.
"Ouch, Tasha. I thought we were close." Loki feigns hurt.
Nat scoffs, "Wouldn't touch you with a 39 and a half foot pole."
Clint's head bobs up from being dipped with his cup of hot chocolate, "Was that a Grinch reference-"
"Drink your cocoa, Clint." She waves him off as she goes to stand at the counter opposite where I'm sitting. I'm sure she's only standing there to make sure Loki doesn't try to mess with me while I sit here.
"Grinch?" Loki echos, raising an eyebrow. Clint and Tasha sit silently, confused at Loki's response.
I turn to get a better look at him, "You don't know who the Grinch is?" Sometimes I forget that some people who live here have come from different parts of the universe. What I've known all my life is nothing to them.
His eyes widen slightly. "Am I supposed to?" A small smirk plays at the edge of his mouth, as if something as stupid sounding as "The Grinch" could ever be of any importance.
Another smile spreads on my face, "I could show you! It's almost the holidays anyway!" Ideas of movie marathons, popcorn bowls, and fuzzy blankets disseminate across my thoughts.
"Peter, it's not even Halloween yet-" Natasha looks at me incredulously, probably searching for another reason as to why I shouldn't hang out with the God of Mischief.
"Technicalities." I wave her off. "So?" I turn back to Loki. "What do you think?"
"Woah, woah, woah-" Natasha raises her palms in the air to stop the conversation. "No way." She points a finger at Loki, "He literally destroyed half of New York, and I'm not about to let you watch a movie with this jackass."
Loki sighs exhaustedly, obviously fed up already.
"Well, we don't know if that was even him!" I interrupt her. Loki hesitates, his analytical eyes watching me with an uneasy curiosity.
Natasha freezes. "Excuse me?!" She shrieks. "Of course it was him! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Well, he could have been controlled, right? There's a chance it wasn't him!" I contest with raised eyebrows. He didn't seem very much like a terrorist when he helped me with my nightmare last night! Hm?! Explain that!
"Peter—I saw it. With my eyes." She pauses for a moment, probably to make sure I'm hearing what she's saying. "There's no denying that."
I sigh exasperatedly, "How much could a movie marathon hurt? Hm?"
"Peter, this guy is a terrorist!" She practically shrieks at me. I flinch, my mind recoiling back to how Aunt May had yelled at me before. Natasha hesitates, noticing my reaction. "I'm sorry, Pete."
"It's okay." I murmur quietly, my eyes studying her face for any sign of the anger I so often saw in May's.
Natasha, guilty, gives me a sad smile. After a moment, "Fine." She sighs in defeat and crosses her arms defiantly. "You can have your movie marathon. But Clint and I are either in here with you or we'll be in the next room." She shoots a glare at Loki. "'Monty Python' here isn't laying a finger on you."
I turn to Loki, the same bright smile spread across my features. Loki's eyes study my face, and I have to admit, for a moment—I was scared.
What did he have to think so hard about?
It's such a simple offer, what would make it complicated enough to think about so in-depth? Something as innocent as a movie marathon couldn't be cause for concern, right?
"Alright." He decides after a debilitating moment. "I suppose that would be acceptable."
"Awesome!" I cheer, trying my best to disguise my unease with my usual bubbly attitude. "Tomorrow, maybe?"
Loki watches me for another moment. He gives me a small nod for confirmation. "I'll be in my room." He vanishes from sight, and I guess I can only assume he teleported.
__Nat__
The god vanished from sight and I release an aggravated grumble.
"Pete..." I sigh after a moment, "I really don't want you hanging out with that creep." I can feel the somber concern dripping from my words.
"Nothing is gonna happen, Nat." He tries to assure me with his pure, innocent smile.
If only the kid knew.
If only he could understand that assuming the best of people only gets yourself and the ones you love hurt; If only he could understand just how cruel life can be.
Peter's letting his guard down and I hate to have to be the one to teach him not too. He shouldn't have to worry about this yet. He shouldn't have to avoid terrorists.
But life seems to hate those who can't afford to find anything but the good in it.
No matter how hard a person can try to see the beauty in life, no matter how hard they can try to love it so intensely—life will find a way to drop them off the edge of a cliff.
Life will find a way to destroy their universe, their world—their Peter Parker.
But I refuse to let life take my world from me again.
I refuse to lose Peter.
So, when the god of mischief finally pulls his ace of cards—I'll be there ready to rip the felt off the poker table.
I'll be ready to protect my kid.
"Nat?" Peter waves a hand in front of my face, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Sorry," I shake my head slightly, "I take it back. You won't be spending anymore time with Loki. No movies. Stay away from him tonight."
"What?" His smile falters. "Even at the banquet?" Anger flashes across his features, and I can tell he's about to lash out.
"I don't want to see you even standing near him." I decide as I walk out of the room, anger in each step. I'm not angry at Peter, just worried for what his innocence might bring him.
__Peter, a few hours later__
"Ugh!" I groan frustratedly as I give up on my bow tie.
It was a only couple minutes before the banquet was supposed to start. Mr. Stark had gotten me a suit, insisting that I look my sharpest for the fancy party.
Ben once taught me how to tie a tie, but that was ages ago. I don't remember my father ever trying to teach me, either. Mr. Stark asked me if I just wanted one of those bow ties you just kind of clip together, but I told him no. Mr. Stark then told me he was glad I said no, because he wasn't gonna let me get a clip-on tie anyways. He said clip-on ties were for quitters.
I, naturally, was too afraid to ask Mr. Stark or anyone else for help with it. And I'm way too mad to ask Nat if she knows.
So, here I am—anxiously struggling to figure out how to tie this stupid bow tie. The one time I went to homecoming, May helped me tie it, but I never remembered how to tie it. I'm usually more focused on figuring out how to disarm a robber rather than figuring out how to do something as stupidly domestic as put a suit on correctly. Dress-suit, I mean. Not my Spider-Man suit—you know what, you get the idea.
Eventually, I get so frustrated, I just chuck the bowtie into the air and web it to the ceiling. Aggravated, I flop belly-down onto my bed and lie there with my face shoved into the sheets in defeat.
Someone knocks on the door, startling me out of my self-deprecating cloud of emotions.
Please, god, don't let it be Nat. Cue the mental eye roll.
"Peter?" Clint's voice sounds from the other side of the door. "You in there?"
"Maybe." My voice is muffled by the sheets covering my face. I can hear him laugh quietly then ask if he can come inside. "Sure." I grumble.
Clint swings the door open and leans against the doorframe. "What's wrong?" He asks with a concerned frown.
"Stupid bow tie." I murmur. I hear him push off the doorframe and approach the mirror set up at the end of my room.
"C'mere, kid, lemme show you." He chuckles and waits for me to get up. Begrudgingly, I do and walk up to the mirror with the spy. "Where's the tie?"
I shoot a web up on the ceiling and yank it down. After pulling the webs from it, I set the accessory in his palm. "Here."
"Go ahead and face the mirror." He turns my shoulders so I can look at myself in the reflective glass. "So how much do you know about doing this?"
"Uhh..." I think for a minute. "It goes around your neck." I smirk playfully at him through the reflection. Clint chuckles and starts teaching me how to wrap the bow-tie up.
It gets quiet as he finishes, giving me a pat on both of my shoulders once it's done. "There you go"
"Thanks, Clint." I smile at him appreciatively.
"No problem, bud." He pats me on the shoulder again as he steps away. "You sure that bow-tie was the only thing bothering you?" I notice the concern in his eyes.
I fiddle with my thumbs for a moment. "I don't get why Nat hates Loki so much. I mean, I know I don't really know him at all, but he doesn't seem like someone who could do all those bad things everyone says he's done."
Clint chuckles darkly, "You'd be surprised." He then rethinks his response, "I mean—Nat's just looking out for you, Peter. She doesn't want you to get hurt."
"I know how to not get hurt." I almost snap at him. "Sorry." I sigh, "I didn't mean to snap at you—I just feel like everyone deserves a second chance." Like I gave to May. Then again, look how that turned out for me?
Clint's face softens at my words, the reason in his eyes melting into understanding. "And that's great, Pete. But you gotta know when to have hope in someone." His words bring me back to May again.
A bit of my previous anger flourishes to the surface. "If we got to pick a choose who to have hope in, do you think you'd be here today?" I look at him, "Do you think Nat would be here today? Mr. Stark? Bucky? Me?"
Clint seems mentally frozen at my retort. He gives me a conflicted look after a moment, contrary to how I expected him to respond. I expected anger, the usual 'you don't get it because you're a kid'. "I guess you're right, Pete." He stares at his feet in a delicate silence.
I take a deep breath in an effort to relieve some of the tension that's currently hanging thick in the air. "So..." I start, just as Clint makes his way for the door. He turns to look at me again. "I have a question."
"Shoot." He playfully plops his butt down on my bed.
"Are you and Nat..." I trail off as I try to find the right words, "...like...together?"
Clint smirks, obviously already knowing where I had been going with it. "No, we're just really close."
"So like...a girl bestfriend?"
Clint thinks for a moment. "Exactly like that, I guess."
"Isn't that weird, though?" I tilt my head at him curiously.
"Not at all. I've known Nat for so long, she's basically like a sister to me. We've called ourselves parents before," He smirks, "But not all parents are couples."
I think on it for a moment. "I guess you're right..." Another question pops up into my head. "Do you think Loki meant to destroy New York?"
Clint's smile falls at the daunting question. "Well..." He trails off, "All I know is what it was like to be mind-controlled. That bastard—" He stops himself, squinting at me, "—I mean, uh, meanie—" Clint looks forward again, "—tried to control me, regardless of whether or not he meant to. I could see the look in his eyes." I can almost see him shiver as he recollects the memory of it.
"But doesn't he deserve at least the benefit of the doubt? Plus, even if he meant to—people change. They learn, right?" The look Clint gives me then is one I'm not sure I understand. It's somewhere between the "you'll understand when you're older" and the "oh, you poor, innocent child" look.
"It's complicated, Pete. We'll talk more about it later, okay? We're already late for the party." I nod at him, giving him a small smile. He scruffs my hair playfully and guides me out into the hallway.
Party time, here we come...
____
ya'll please help me idk what you guys want me to write 🧍♀️ i need to fill up some space before i get to the big plot i have planned!
give me an idea and if it sparks, i'll write it, i just want smth you guys wanna read! just throw things in the comment section, even if it's a one-shot or a crack special or something idc
...also ik this is a totally different fandom but i may or may not have started writing a solangelo fanfic if anyone is interested, it's in drafts but 🕴🏻 lmk here if you'd actually read it or not
-uncrustables (i actually hate these ew 🤢)