Distance is Stupid
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Peter and Tony are both trying to give each other space during Peter's first semester at MIT, but it's not going well.
This story's finishing prompts for @Comfortember 2022 are "Distance" and "Moving Forward." (Marvel MCU)
Peter Parker trudged from his last class of the week towards his dorm room. The chill of the early October air was starting to get more pronounced in the evenings, and he glared at the trees with their fiery autumn colors, not quite able to see them as pretty, because he knew they signaled winter was coming. Even though it had been years since the spider bite, winters always brought a few headaches as he tried to stay warm. His body just wasn’t very efficient at dealing with the cold anymore.
For the six-thousandth time that semester, he wished Ned had decided to come to MIT with him instead of going to Caltech. And sure, he saw MJ several times a week since she was here too, but her freshman classes at Harvard and his at MIT were pretty demanding, and she had clicked quickly with her roommate, and spent a lot of her free time working.
Not that Peter didn’t like his roommate. Peter felt like he could get along with most people, and Garrett was friendly and fun. They even hung out sometimes. But he was pretty into the party scene (as most freshmen were) which Peter had quickly realized he had little interest in. His spider-enhanced senses didn’t take well to alcohol or even secondhand smoke from most other substances, so he had only gone to a few gatherings. There were a few kids in some of his classes that he’d gotten into study groups with, and was enjoying getting to know, but he was just still so lonely.
Even talking to May a couple times a week was only a short-term fix. She was busy a really great new job, and Peter was busy too, and Tony… well, Tony texted him several times a week, but didn’t call unless he had a pretty good reason. And Peter didn’t call unless he had a pretty good reason, either, so they’d only talked a few times since he left New York. And Peter kind of hated it. He knew he was supposed to be “growing up” and “branching out” and “moving on” now that he was in college--whatever those meant--but it sucked. He missed May, and Morgan, and Ned, and Pepper, and he really missed Tony.
But that was kid stuff, right? He wasn’t supposed to be homesick anymore at eighteen. He was supposed to be getting to know new people and trying new things, and having the best time of his life. Most of the other students he knew didn’t talk to their parents, or parental-type-figures more than once a week, or occasional texts, and they seemed fine. So what was wrong with him?
Just then his phone rang. It was… Pepper?
“Hey, Pepper, what’s up?”
“Peter! Hi, honey. How has your week been?”
“Um, it’s been good, I guess. How about yours?”
“Busy, but good. Morgan had a little virus, so that was fun, but she’s doing better now.” Aw, he missed the little rugrat. He’d recently started video-calling with her once or twice a week (because she insisted) and they definitely brightened up his day when they happened.
“That’s not fun. Let her know I’m glad she’s better, will you?”
“Of course. Hey, the reason I’m calling is to give you a little heads up. Tony’s been completely impossible for pretty much the last month, so I finally--”
As he approached the dorm and went to scan his card at the building door, Peter was aware of motion off to the side. He whirled around, letting out a huff of surprise, half startled and half confused that his spider sense hadn’t let him know anyone was there. The only person in Cambridge that didn’t make it buzz a little was MJ, and he knew she was working all weekend, so who…
He focused back in on Pepper’s voice just as he recognized the figure in the shadows.
--so he might be showing up sometime this evening, if he can talk himself into it and… Peter?”
“Yeah?”
“You sound funny. Are you okay? Is-- Oh. He’s there , isn’t he?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“That man. I knew he might be impatient enough to take the jet instead of driving, but he must have taken the suit. Well, I’ll let you go, but I just wanted to tell you not to let him act like he’s there for any reason except that he misses you like crazy, and he couldn’t stand another weekend without seeing you. So, yeah. He might not let that slip, and I didn’t want there to be any confusion.” Peter was smiling slightly now as Tony looked at his obviously one-side conversation in confusion.
“Good to know. I’ll take care of it,” he said, his grin only growing.
“We miss you too, Peter. I hope he’s not too much of a bother, and I hope you two have a nice weekend.”
“Miss you too. Goodnight.”
Tony was wearing a brown leather jacket over his Metallica t-shirt and jeans, and his hair was a few steps away from its typical artful style. He’d taken the suit alright. His face looked uncertain, but was disguised with casual Tony-Stark bravado. “Heya, Pete. I was just in town, and I thought you might be hungry, cause you’re always hungry, and I know you might be busy, but--”
Tony wasn’t able to get any more words out, because Peter had abandoned his backpack and launched himself at the man, pulling him into a tight hug, and breathing in the smells of coffee, his aftershave, and the particular metallic tang that being inside the Iron Man suit gave him. Tony’s arms were around him too, his cheek pressing firmly into Peter’s hair, once he got over the surprise of Peter’s exuberance.
“So, you must be really hungry then, if you’re that excited to see me,” Tony tried to deflect.
But Peter, having the advantage of knowing Tony’s hand already, just said, “I’ve missed you. So much.”
There was silence for a moment, and then much more quietly, Tony said, “Oh, kid. Me, too. I’ve been trying to give you some distance, because that's what college kids want, right?” Another pause. “But I really wanted to see you.”
“Distance is stupid,” said Peter, noticing that his eyes were wet. “I’m kinda done with distance.”
Tony pulled back and held Peter by the shoulders with both hands, studying his face. “So it’s okay that I’m here? I mean, I have a hotel and stuff, so I don’t have to hang out with you all weekend, but maybe we could do dinner a couple nights, or…”
“Tony, don’t be dumb. I don’t have class until Monday morning, and since someone said he wanted me concentrating on classes instead of a job, I don’t even have that to distract me. You’re stuck with me for as long as you’re here.”
Tony grinned, and said, “Why don’t you take your stuff upstairs? Are you in the mood for Thai, or maybe Italian?”
“Yes, please,” Peter said. As they entered the building, he saw some of the brilliant red and gold leaves in the waning sunlight and couldn’t figure out how he didn’t notice how beautiful they were before.
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An Almost Kadam Week 2022 ~ The Master List
So, somehow you managed to land here. I’ve no clue how, but I thank you for taking the time and I hope you’ll have a great time.
First thing first the prompts can be found in here with the proper apologies on how this is a very spur of the moment thing.
During the week (or later on if someone wants to @me their work) I’ll add the links to fics answering the prompt on the following list.
Day 1 ~ Murder Mystery
* Dinner. Dancing. Death?
* A Box of Props by elledelajoie
* story for prompt 1 - A Box of Matches by vcg73
Day 2 ~ A kiss in bed
* Lazy mornings and soft kisses
* Moving on by elledelajoie
* story for prompt 2 - Morning Wake-up by vcg73
Day 3 ~ It’s a misquoted day
* Trust me, I have a pretty good idea this is the way it should be done
* Video Enlightenment by elledelajoie
Day 4 ~ Adam appreciation
* Learning his silences
*. Before and After by elledelajoie
Day 5 ~ Everybody dies
* Everyone is dead
*. The End by elledelajoie
Day 6 ~ If you can’t beat them, dress better than them
* So glad I couldn't get out of it
*. Life after Loss by elledelajoie
Day 7 ~ On the opposite side of the Country.
* Across the country
*. Life Goes On by elledelajoie
Stories filling one or more prompts not necessarily in the same order or within the same chapter:
Time to Move On by elledelajoie
If any of the prompt speak to you please feel free to use them and share your stories, if you @me when you’re done I can add them to the list
I apologize for the wonky format.. clearly I have 0 idea on how to do this... please just bear ʕ ·ᴥ· ʔ with me
I further apologize for the delay in adding all the links and mentioning that I attempted to make an ao3 collection prolly making a mess of thing
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