voidtreckerexpress | Sorry Always Seems the Hardest Word

Entry tags:

Sorry Always Seems the Hardest Word

Who: Tony + Varies
What: Varies- but a lot of apologies
When: Basoon 18 (And 19 and 20.. you know, whenever)
Where: Varies
CW: None, language is a given
Notes: If you want something added here, just let me know

[For Tony, Ash and Renee: Mid-Morning 18]

After the council meeting, Tony had approached Ignis and requested that he let Tony and Ash approach Renee. There were a few things he wanted to talk to her about anyway and, frankly, he wasn't sure Ignis would be able to admit his team had needed help.

So mid-morning on the 18th, Tony found Ash and sought out the young redhead who had done so much for the mission. He spotted her in the dining car and waved in greeting. "Hey Renee, mind if Ash and I join you? You've not been an easy person to find the last few days. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me." He, of course, knew this to only be a joke. Why would she be avoiding him?

[For Tony and Ignis: Mid-Afternoon 18]

Tony had opted after the awkwardness in the luggage carriage to give Ignis a chance to cool off. He didn't know if the man would see it that way, but he hoped for the best. When he spotted him in a quiet carriage, he tapped on the door and gave the other man a weak, forced smile. "May we talk?"

[For Tony and May: Over dinner]

It had been a couple days since he'd reacted so poorly to the news of his fate and he needed to set things right with the person who Peter held in even higher esteem than himself- May. So, he invited to have dinner with her. He'd roped someone else into dealing with the meal prep and clean up for this meal. He'd already done his share for the day. Instead, he'd made an effort to set up the table, make iced tea with some berries to sweeten it, and freshen up. She was important, after all.

[For Tony and Peter: Late night dessert]

It had been a long day, but one of those types you had trouble winding down from. He needed to talk to Peter and wasn't all that sure how to do it. Obviously, the right decision then was to seek him out late in the evening when the majority of the train had already gone to bed.

He'd poked his head into the dresser carriage and said quietly (knowing Peter would hear him) 'ice cream'. He hadn't even waited as he headed to the kitchen, knowing the boy would follow.

[For Tony and Reigen: Sometime on Basoon 20]

He felt bad about what had gone down when Ignis and he had been caught by Reigen in the luggage car. He knew what he'd said to the young man wasn't deserved. As he started grumbling about where the little bugger was, he finally found him in the game car.. playing Jenga by himself. Oh the poor bastard.

"Hey, take this, I'm tired of carrying it for you." Or maybe he should've used a more polite greeting. It was Tony, what did you expect?

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Peter usually spends at least sometime in his bed staring at the ceiling in attempt sleep might happen but usually, just like tonight, he gives up after about an hour and finds something else to do. Now that he has a chemistry book again and is currently grounded from video games, he's up in a hammock reading. He's already almost done despite that he only got the book two days ago. He's gonna need to order another one, it seems.

He looks up when he hears Tony step close to the dressing car and takes two seconds to process what he just said. Ice cream? He rolls off the hammock, taking his book with him and landing gracefully on the floor before springing up and following after Tony somewhat akin to an over excited puppy.

Ice cream? Really!? How did you...? Did you make it or did it just kinda turn up? I mean I'd be hella suspect if it just showed up. But hommade ice cream! Ohmygod it's been so long. Is it vanilla or did you manage chocolate? What about strawberry? I guess mints waaay out of the question."

Tony chuckled, pleased he could predict at least some of Peter's reactions to things. His enthusiasm was certainly one of the many good qualities he had, specifically when it came to treats. "We're going to make some." He glanced back at Peter with a grin. "So we can make more than one flavor- but no mint! I saw some vanilla and we do have cocoa powder. We don't have any strawberries to make that."

Getting to work as soon as they were in the kitchen, Tony started handing things to Peter. "We need salt, cream, sugar- see if there are any plastic bags in that cupboard." He was still looking around a bit for ideas on the flavors they could use. Oh! There was some leftover coffee, they could do mocha flavored. "May seems to be doing well so far."

Peter stops mid-steps at Tony's words and makes a face before following after him again, enthusiasm never wavering-not really. "Okay, so are you saying no mint because I'm allergic or because there's no mint flavoring? Because I'll have you know that Buttercup, as sad as it is, had never had ice cream, which includes mint and it's gotta be like a full on crime that she's made it this far into her life having never tasted mint ice cream. Or Ice Cream in general." He says sagely as they make it to the kitchen.

"I mean, she likes sweet stuff, I figure that I can live vicariously through her." At least when it comes to mint flavored things. And Lemonade. Although, he might still try to get away with that last one. He sets about searching the cabinets and does happen to find some bags and sets them down on the table. He might have said something about cooking and chemistry being similar but his attention is snagged on the comment about May and he nods. He's in a much, much better mood since her arrival and it probably shows.

"Yeah, she may not look it, but she's tough and... uh. Good at adapting. I mean, you kinda have to be-to be in our family." He says a little more seriously.

"No to you, because you're allergic and I'm not okay with you throwing up again." Tony gave Peter a really-not-intimidating-but-please-no look. "It does seem a crime that she's not enjoyed ice cream though. We should fix that immediately."

He started measure out ingredients and putting them in the bags. He ended up with three bags and handed them off to Peter. "Alright now you're going to just sit there and shake these okay?" The kid had too much energy, might as well use it.

He does pick up one of the three to shake though. "Yeah well, all your crazy antics have likely added to that too."

He had something he needed to talk to Peter about, but he wasn't ready for them to get into that just yet. Plus, stalling, it was a thing.

"Hey a few days ago, I told that Danny kid and Raven to come find you. Have you run into them yet?"

Peter just waves the comment off like it's nothing. "I'm not gonna throw up if I eat mint. I mean-I can't eat it. If I get it too close to my face I just feel like I'm on fire so no worries there." Except he can't have candy canes and that's a real tragedy.

"Oh, I see how it is." Peter says jokingly as he takes the two bags and starts to shake them. He's curious by nature and the more he shakes them the more he starts to wonder what'll happen if he shakes them really hard and fast? Will the bag break? Probably. It might be funny though.

"Huh? Oh yeah! They're both cool. Danny was concerned about missing school which, I mean, that's a mood tbh. And Raven kinda reminds me of MJ, a little. I bet I can talk to her about how screwed up the world is."

"Is that all?" Tony joked and thought perhaps they could tell the conductor it was okay if they had mint around. The kids would- hopefully- be smart enough to smell it in things and avoid them.

"I knew you'd like them. Well, Raven anyway. I think I rubbed Danny the wrong way, but I'm not planning on pushing it with him again." He needed to get on the red team. There were dishes and he'd already done his share today. "How about other people on the train? Anyone particularly interesting?" He hesitated before adding, "What do you think of Ignis?"

Peter would go on to tell Tony about the only time he managed to put mint in his mouth and resulting fiasco but his attention is snagged again. This time by the not so subtle question about Ignis. This conversation is familiar. Not because Peter's had it with someone before but because he's seen it in countless movies. Besides, Ignis isn't really new.

"Oh my god, are you serious? You're really bringing that up like that? Two out of ten. Subtle as a brick to the face." He laughs. "I don't know, I don't know him all that well but he doesn't set off my senses so I guess that makes him pretty chill."

Tony was taken back by that reaction. For a brief moment, Peter had actually made him speechless. He hadn't realized it was quite that obvious. "I'm not good at being subtle!" He argued, but ended up having to laugh at that and at himself. That had to be about the biggest understatement anyone has ever made.

"Okay fine.. so.. " Wow. This was awkward. He hadn't expected it to be this awkward, but it was really, really awkward. He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering just why this would make him nervous when hardly anything else did. The difference was, it was Peter. Peter needed to be okay with this. If he wasn't, Ignis would walk. "I just didn't want there to be any weirdness between you and I. You're seeing someone, I'm.. sort of seeing someone. You know that's complicated given my situation."

Peter can't help it, he's laughing at the look on Tony's face. He really wasn't subtle at all. He finally calms down a little.

"No. No, you're not." He agrees. "I told someone-Um-I think it was Renee? That you're like the King of Extra." He admits before shaking his head.

"Uh... the only way it's gonna be weird is if you try to talk to me about it. You don't have to try and feel it out-just a quick 'Hey Peter, you know that Ignis guy? We're sorta dating now.' And I'll be all 'Oh, that's cool Mr Stark, I'm happy for you-can you can you help me with this physic problem? I'm having a bit of trouble on it."

Tony shook his head and had to laugh at that. He wasn't sure he was the only King of Extra in this room, but he wasn't going to deny anything that gave him a crown. Still, he had to smile as Peter explained his viewpoint and he nodded. "Alright then." What else was he supposed to say to that? It seemed pretty clear Peter didn't want him to say anything else.

"If you shake that bag any harder, it's going to bust and I'm not cleaning it up." He ruffled Peter's hair a bit and took one of the bags from him to check. "Huh, but it's almost done. Think we should see if Buttercup is awake?"

"Yeah, she deffo deserves to have ice cream. Even if it's not like... Ben and Jerry's." He says casually, still shaking the other bag but not as hard. As funny as it might be to watch the bag explode, being covered in ice cream? Not so much. Plus, he'd probably have to clean it.

"I wasn't lying you know, there really is this bit in the physics book I'm having a little difficulty understanding." He says, flipping the book open to the page he'd stopped at with his free hand.

"I do be being awake." She had not been awake long, woke for her nighttime wanderings and she had made her way to the kitchen to find something to eat. She hadn't expected Tony and Peter to be there and honestly had thought she best leave them alone when she had spotted them but then she had heard her name.

"What do you be doing?" She stepped into the carriage looking between them at the bag and the book in Peter's hand. She's not surprised that they were awake, they were often awake at night. But she had no idea what they would be doing in the kitchen this late.

Admittedly, Peter is usually aware of most of his surrounding and he usually register's Buttercup's heartbeat long before she can startle him. But he's a little flustered tonight-lack of sleep maybe and also Tony Stark starting to mention his dating life which is not something Peter wants to think about and then there's the ice cream.

He's not expecting it when he hears her voice and visibly jumps-eyes going wide and the bag in his hand jiggling.

"Holy shit, you scared me!" He tells her, taking a nice calming breath. "I think I just had a heart attack. Where did you even come from? The Shadows? What are you a ninja?"

Tony startled a bit at Buttercup's voice too, but not nearly as bad as Peter. Although the very next second, the older man was swatting Peter behind the head. "Don't swear in front of kids, you mook."

And in almost the same breath, "Buttercup! So glad you could join us. We are making some dessert. Would you like anything to drink while we are finishing up?"

She let out a delighted laugh when Peter jumped. She's been trying to sneak up on him all week and now when she wasn't even trying that hard she'd succeeded. She raised an eyebrow when Tony hit him, it wasn't a bad hit. Barely a tap but it was interesting to know that cursing was the line that took Tony from disappointed looks to hitting.

"No. I do no be being a ninja. Edge do be being a ninja though." And didn't seem to mind people knowing. Even if that sounded dangerous to her, advertising you knew dark magic. Ninja's were a new concept, but she's not surprised Peter knows about them already.

She smiled at Tony and nodded going over to get a glass. "Would you be liking a drink, mister Stark, Peter?" It's not hard to be better behaved than Peter, barely a challenge but she sort of enjoys being the one who doesn't get into trouble.

Of course, because he's not in danger, his sense doesn't warn him that thwap is coming and even if he tries to duck, it's not fast enough.

"What? Why am I in trouble? She's literally been training for this all week. I thought it was cute at first but now I just went into cardiac arrest" He did no such thing, he's just being dramatic. And then she goes and pulls the whole 'I'm an innocent little girl, I would never do anything bad ever, act. Peter has to admit, she'd good at it.

"Uh... just water I guess." He squints at her. "Mr Stark and I are making ice cream so get ready to taste actual magic."

"Because you swore and she got better at soemthing. How would that make sense to punish her?" He gave Buttercup a gentle pat on the head. It was strange, but it felt like they were in some kind of weird parent and sibling relationship here.

At her question, he lifted an eyebrow and then decided he was going to encourage this before. "Water, thank you."

He looked at Peter. "Why can't you be more like her?"

She hopped up onto the side and filled three mugs with water from the tap, grinning to herself as Tony told Peter do be more like her. It was strange, being someone who was considered a good example, but she liked the feeling.

She thought Peter would have a much easier time of things if he were more like her too, but probably not in the same way Tony did. Tony only thought that because he didn't know her really and that was a good thing.

Sometimes it had been difficult, living in close quarters with light following people and keeping so much of herself hidden. But it had been over a month now and she had been watching them carefully. She knew what behaviour would get her praise and she had seen Peter make many mistakes.

She didn't understand why he was so bad at this. Maybe she should try and teach him, even if her attempts at teaching him the emptiness had gone so wrong. She hopped down from the counter and took the drinks over with a bright smile.

Peter stops shaking the bag to give both Buttercup and Tony a look. He opens his mouth to protest. Is this really a conversation he's having?

"Uh... I'm not an eleven year old girl, for one. And two, I'm in my rebellious teenage phase." He with an obvious trace of amusement. "It's part of being sixteen. Just wait until she turns sixteen." A thought that Peter doesn't really want to think about much. What will she even be like as a teenager?

He accepted the glass of water with a warm smile and a quick word of gratitude. "Well thank god you can tell the difference between yourself and an eleven year old girl," Tony remarked, deadpan. He shook his head at the teenager's rationale wondering if this is what it would've been like had he and Pepper been able to have more children before..., well, no reason to dwell on that right now.

He glanced at Buttercup then back at Peter. "And just why after all this time of being so straight laced did you decide it's my nerves you have to try with your teenage rebellion? What did I ever do to you?" To Buttercup, he asks, "You'd never do that to me, would you?"

She sipped her water silently as she watched them both carefully. She's not sure what she would be like when she was sixteen, it seems a very long way away. But she is pretty sure she won't be disobedient and so she shook her head at the question.

She knew how to behave, or at least how to keep disobedience hidden. Tony was dangerous but he was getting easier to read, easier for her to understand how to act.

Peter takes a drink of his water and then just gives Tony a look. So admittedly, he wasn't typically a bad kid but there was a whole list of things he did that he knew he shouldn't have before the train.

"I mean, I wouldn't exactly say I'm edgy, but even I wouldn't say I'm completely straight-laced." He slides the bag of ice cream back over. "I mean-I talked Ned into disabling the training wheels protocol on the spider-suit and took out the tracker because you told me not to do something and I wanted to do it anyway. And turns out you were right, and I was wrong so I totally learned my lesson but still, I've never been like... perfect."

Tony sighed such a heavy, dramatic sigh at being reminded of those other points of rebellion. "You did? I don't recall you ever learning your lesson or you might actually start listening to me for a change. You're aware that I actually have some experience in most of the things you screw up right? I'm not just making crap up. If you'd used the training wheels protocol on your spider-suit, you might not have needed rescuing as often."

He rolled his eyes. Of course, Peter wasn't perfect. He was far from it, but then they both were. He picked up the bag and grinned. "I believe, kids, we have ice cream. Peter, will you grab a couple bowls from over there?" He pulled out three spoons from a drawer. "We'll see how these turned out. Now, Buttercup, ice cream usually is a little harder than this but I still think these will be pretty good."

Peter, when you are already in trouble reminding people of the times previous that you got into trouble is not smart. She fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead focussed on the new thing that Peter and Tony had made.

"Why do it be being in a bag?"

She pokes the bag, interested. It doesn't look like a thing you could eat and once her finger touches it she jerks it away. It's cold.

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Sorry Always Seems the Hardest Word

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jumping the line.

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