coveted magics, 6
Peter stared at the wall behind the spot where Mr. Stark’s image had just flickered out of existence with an empty sort of fullness. Harley had already taken to gently massaging one of Peter’s shoulders, knowing well that tight pressure helped Peter to regulate. It was helping rather well, acting as a tether to keep Peter grounded in the world and out of the reclusive shell his mind instinctively wanted to hide in. Peter had come a long way in that sense, being able to let himself be grounded.
“You gonna be okay, darlin’?” Harley asked gently.
Peter considered the question. “Yep. I just need time to… process, I guess. Like, there are things he said that make me really happy, but it’s also just really overwhelming? It’s like… I never got a chance to tell him that I saw him as a father, and it’s not an easy thing to know that he actually felt the same way. Plus, you know, everything else he said.”
“Yeah,” Harley hummed in understanding. He ran his hand down Peter’s back, sending a calming wave of simple sensory pleasure through his body. “For a brief moment, I wondered why Tony left a message for you and not me, but now I guess it makes sense. He did leave me one, the spell just ate it. Good thing I’m a little younger than you, huh?”
Peter didn’t want to think too hard about that just now – the fact that if Harley had actually received his message from Mr. Stark, he and Peter might never have met. Or… if they did, things could have been completely different. For now, he was just trying to sit with the wave of emotions bubbling within him. All of the tension and giddiness and stress and guilt and forlornness. Yeah, he was definitely going to keep that projector disk and play the message again in the future, probably a few times.
So, humour deflection. “And how exactly does a spell eat that message? Maybe it has teeth!”
Harley sighed. “Message received, we can talk about that later. How can I help you now?”
Peter hummed softly, enjoying the way Harley’s hand moved up and down his back. “I think if you could just hold me for a bit, that’d do the trick. Then I want to go downstairs and talk to Pepper and Morgan and actually experience this trip so I’m not stuck in my head the whole time, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it,” Harley acknowledged, and gently pulled Peter closer to his body. “Now come here.”
Gradually, Peter felt his nervous system calm down. His muscles relaxed and his breathing evened out. His mind stopped racing, and his thoughts about the message coalesced into something comprehensible – a strong, profound appreciation that Tony thought to leave him that message in the first place. That Tony saved everyone from Thanos, and that the notion that it was all really just for him and Harley was something intense that Peter would need time to accept and feel comfortable with. After all, he still had some lingering self-doubt and shame after the huge breakdown following the memory spell.
After five minutes of Harley squeezing the stress out of Peter’s body, he finally felt calm enough to gently pull away and stand up. It was time to go and have all the experiences that the Lakehouse had to offer, like getting to know Morgan and rebuilding a relationship with Pepper. And, of course, meeting Harley’s mom and sibling properly.
Peter got up with a surprising amount of strength and comfort, and moved for the door with Harley following close behind. It was surprising in that he was still getting used to being able to bounce back from such strong mental overwhelm so quickly – something that he wholeheartedly attributed to both his own healing and having such good people around him again. It was the kind of thing that was hard to notice day to day, but really stood out at times like this.
After waiting for Harley to gently shut the bedroom door, the two of them walked down the stairs to find Pepper standing over three mugs with chamomile tea bags in them. Noticing the boys’ arrival, Pepper grabbed a kettle from behind her and promptly filled the mugs. “I do believe Morgan is waiting to show you both something in the garage. Peter, do you take sugar in your tea?”
“Just one spoon,” Peter nodded, this time noticing the pang of sorrow at Pepper’s memory loss but not letting it take over. “Thanks! Any idea what she’s gonna surprise us with?”
Pepper smirked. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise now, would it?”
“Touche,” Peter chuckled, and gratefully accepted his mug of chamomile tea with one spoon of sugar now well mixed in. Harley collected one that’d had some milk added, and the two of them made their way over to the garage.
The duo were greeted with the sight of Morgan standing over a small laptop set up on a desk with an HDMI cord running to a much larger monitor. It was almost amusing to see her using rather standard tech, but Peter supposed that Tony would have wanted her learning from the start instead of skipping steps if she chose to follow his path. The monitor was currently displaying a mostly white screen, belonging to a window labeled at the top as ‘Python Turtle Graphics’. The nostalgia brought a soft smile to Peter’s lips.
“Boo,” Peter blurted out teasingly to get Morgan’s attention, seeing as she had been totally immersed in her laptop and hadn’t noticed the arrival of him and Harley.
Morgan’s head suddenly swivelled, and her face lit up with excitement.
“Ah!” She screamed with over-the-top dramatics, even stumbling back a few steps for the added effect. Peter cracked up at that, and that was all it took to truly give Morgan a place in his heart. Morgan giggled too, and then pointed at the screen. “Look!”
She hit a button on her laptop, and Python’s graphics interface quickly drew a three by three grid with no outer borders. “The monitor is a touch screen, so you can press one of the spots in the grid!”
Peter quickly glanced over to Harley, and they silently decided together that Peter would be Morgan’s volunteer/participant. He stepped forward, and tapped the middle spot on the grid. The cursor promptly moved there and drew an ‘O’. Morgan giggled, clicked on her mouse, and an ‘X’ appeared to the left of Peter’s ‘O’.
“I made this all myself,” Morgan declared proudly. “Setting up the rules for the game was easy peasy, but I had to learn a couple new things to figure out how to make the display work. This stuff is waaay cooler than what I learn in school. So? So? What do you think?”
“I think this is pretty awesome,” Peter answered. “How long have you been working on this?”
Morgan hummed, and put a thoughtful finger to her chin. “Wellll, I started learning Python almost a week ago? And I started coding the tic tac toe yesterday but I was thinking about it when I went to sleep the day before!”
“That’s really impressive,” Harley said, offering his hand to Morgan for a high five that was quickly delivered with a soft smack. “So what’s next on your journey of protesting how boring school is and teaching yourself cool stuff?”
Morgan hummed some more, and then all semblances of emotional expression fell away from her face, which morphed into the perfect deadpan. “Next I’m gonna take mommy’s job so she can retire, and I’ll be the CEO of Stark Industries.”
“Really, now?” Harley played along. “Do Peter and I get to work for you?”
Morgan nodded eagerly. “Yeah! You can do all the boring stuff so I don’t have to.”
“Just like your mom did for your dad until she became CEO, huh? Does that mean one of us will take over after you, too?” Harley then asked.
“You both can!” Morgan assured him and Peter. “Mommy said you’re boyfriends so I’m sure you can share, right?”
Peter grinned, and lightly elbowed Harley. “We can definitely share.”
They spent the next hour discussing what they each thought was the silliest part of python as a programming language, which included no less than forty-seven questions from Morgan about things either Peter or Harley had mentioned that she wasn’t yet familiar with. Throughout, Peter’s mind was occupied with one recurrent thought: Damn, Mr. Stark would be proud.
Almost as if Pepper could sense all of the processing Peter was doing after that message from Mr. Stark, she didn’t bring up the memory spell once for the whole afternoon. True to everything Peter had ever known about her, she was sharp when it came to people, and kind to boot. Instead, he, Pepper and Harley played a couple games of Scrabble and exchanged little ordinary stories about their lives while Morgan fervently worked on baking what she was calling “the world’s best chocolate fudge brownie” in the background.
Just as the third game of Scrabble was wrapping up, Pepper barely just scraping past Peter’s lead by turning the word ‘optic’ into ‘panopticon’ on a triple word tile for 48 points, Harley’s phone vibrated on the table. He lifted it up, and let out a pleased little hum that easily succeeded in warming Peter’s whole body.
“Ma and Xan are gonna be here in just a few minutes now,” Harley informed the other two before setting his phone back down. “Pete, ready to meet the in-laws?”
While Peter almost choked from surprise, face flushing red, Pepper took her opportunity by the scruff of its neck and milked it for all it was worth. “Moving a little fast, aren’t you?”
“Well, you know, time’s have changed,” Harley joked, riffing off Pepper’s teasing words. “But hey, darlin’, they’re gonna love you.”
“Uhuh,” Peter managed as he worked on calming himself down. “I’m pretty sure Xander has it out for me, though.”
“Right, I totally forgot about that,” Harley lied, with a grin that made it crystal clear that he had not, in fact, forgotten about it at all.
After quickly gathering up the various scrabble tiles and packing away the well-used set into its box, Peter, Harley and Pepper made their way out to the front porch just in time for a slightly off-colour blue pickup truck to pull up beside Harley and Peter’s rental. The first to exit the car was clearly Xander. Xe stood almost a head shorter than Peter, with a blue-green almost mullet and a roughed up leather jacket that Peter was prepared to guess was a hand-me-down from Harley. Followed by Xander from the other side of the car was Macy, who was dressed in a more casual hoodie and sweatpants, and had long wavy dirty-blonde hair tied into a loose low ponytail.
Xander stretched with xier hands over xier head for a few seconds, yawned and then practically sprinted from the car to the porch to tackle xier big brother into a rather relentless hug. “Long time no see, dirtbag!”
“Good to see you too, you little monster,” Harley laughed, easily pulling Xander off the ground for a few moments. “I know I’ve seen it already in pictures and on calls, but I’m lovin’ the new hair!”
“It’s badass, right?” Xander grinned as xe took a step back and then turned xier attention towards Peter. “Do you do hugs?”
“Sure,” Peter smiled, and welcomed Xander into a hug.
Mid-hug, Xander got up onto xier tip-toes and whispered into Peter’s ear. “You’re still on thin fuckin’ ice, and I don’t care if you’re Spider-Man, I know where you live.”
“Got it,” Peter said with an only partially feigned seriousness. “And you’re welcome to visit whenever. You know that, right?”
“Course,” Xander answered. “I gotta make sure that you’re takin’ good care of my big brother. Even if I’m kinda still a little mad at you, it’s nice to meet you for real.”
Peter couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person Xander might become under the tutelage of someone like Pepper, with xier heart full of love and fierceness. A force to be reckoned with, for sure – though, Peter suspected Xander would become that regardless. Mindful that he wanted to make a good first impression, Peter turned his attention next to Macy, who had just given her son a rather impressive squeeze-hug of her own. “It’s really nice to meet you, Macy.”
“Oh darlin’, I’ve been waitin’ to meet you since the moment my Harls first mentioned you,” Macy responded with a huge smile on her face, and swept Peter up into a hug that he could only describe as deeply maternal. “I couldn’t help but be worried what with my boy goin’ into the big city to study at college, but after his very first day he called me with such excitement to tell me about his first new friend. And I know you’ve been watchin’ his back out on the streets, which makes you as good as family already.”
Peter let himself sink into the embrace, because he hadn’t been held like this since May died. “I’ll always have his back, ma’am, you have my word. And he has mine, too. He’s the best boyfriend, and the best friend anyone could ask for.”
Macy let go, and then turned to face her son again. “You’re right, Harls, he is real sweet! I’ll try not to quiz you too hard, but I do have one burnin’ question.”
“Oh god Ma, not this again,” Harley groaned, which only served to pique Peter’s curiosity.
“Ask away, Mrs. Keener,” Peter encouraged her, much to Harley’s chagrin.
“Oh, just call me Macy, darlin’,” said Macy, and before Peter had a chance to correct himself, she popped the question. “What would you say is your absolute favourite pasta dish?”
Peter snorted, and that was the best he could do to curb the tirade of laughter that wanted to unleash itself from his chest. He completely expected that she was going to ask some completely serious make or break question that would determine her opinion of him forever after. No, now Peter could see where the autism came from in Harley’s family. There was just something about the passionate way she asked the question that gave it all away to him.
“I think I’m going to have to go with a nice and easy cheesy pasta bake,” Peter decided, thinking back to the disaster-turned-delicious-dinner when he had tried to make a pasta bake for Harley only to set a pot of boiling water on fire, after which Wanda came and saved the day by helping him make something truly homely and delicious.
“Ooooh!” Macy nodded approvingly. “Never ever undersell the value of simplicity in a meal. My personal favourite would be penne alla vodka, at least when the budget allows for it. Perhaps that’s just a remnant of my younger party days, though!”
“Huh,” Peter said, realising quickly that it would be well worth it to save up some time and energy to sit and listen to Macy talk about food sometime. After a little more back and forth chatter, everybody went inside and settled down on the various sofas for a little more idle socialising. At some point Pepper moved to the kitchen, not to cook any fresh food but rather to put some foil trays into the oven. It was a Potts tradition to be mindful of the colonial history of Thanksgiving but also to use it as an excuse for a different kind of deliberate family gathering, and Peter was so glad to be included.
“So, Peter,” Pepper started with a weight of gentle seriousness as soon as the episode of the latest popular medical drama ended on TV. Macy and Xander had turned in early after a long day of travel on the road, and it was past Morgan’s bedtime, which left Peter and Pepper in the lounge room while Harley worked on cleaning some of the dishes in the kitchen. “I’m under the impression that you might like to talk with me about that memory spell?”
Peter let out a careful, calming exhale. “Yeah, I… When Harley originally asked if I wanted to come with for this visit, I put a lot of thought into that. It’s been… well, hard dealing with most of the world forgetting who I am. I kind of ended up avoiding a lot of people because of it, so…”
“So it’s hard for you to be spending time with someone who, as I understand, used to be a somewhat important part of your life?” Pepper offered, and Peter nodded. She gave him a reassuring smile, and leaned back a little in her seat. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you for working through it. I’m happy that you’re here, too. Morgan’s been so delighted to have you entering into her life.”
Tears welled up already in Peter’s eyes, and he did nothing to stop them. Around Pepper, he didn’t feel like he needed to compose himself. Peter could also tell that Harley was listening in, just in case it seemed like Peter needed him, which only made it feel safer to let his emotions surface. “It’s really hard, I’ll admit. My first day on campus at MIT, I went to a statue of Mr. Stark and decided to let myself not leave him behind as I started this new chapter of my life. That’s actually where I met Harley, too. I wanted to live a life that would make him proud. Well, I still do. I always will, I think.”
“I’m sure you will,” Pepper assured him. “Will you tell me some of the things I’ve forgotten? I know of your involvement with the Avengers, of course, but everything else is gone.”
Peter nodded, a pang of pain entering his chest at such an explicit reminder. “Well, Mr. Stark took me under his wing back when the Avengers were breaking apart, and I went to help him in Berlin. After that, he kind of went silent on me for a month or two, but eventually he called me in to start training me. Sometimes I’d come around to the Stark Tower penthouse. It was a little weird at first, but you were both so welcoming to me that it sort of became a regular thing. Plus, Nat came around sometimes even though she was technically a fugitive and one time I overheard you convincing Mr. Stark that he absolutely should not report her presence because it was obvious she cared about me and she wasn’t going to cause any problems.”
Pepper chuckled at that. “Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me at all. I think one of Nat’s biggest griefs was that she couldn’t have children of her own, despite sorely wanting them. Her taking you under her wing is totally in line with that. I miss that woman often.”
“Me too,” Peter agreed. The thought of her having any kind of maternal feelings towards him never truly crossed his mind, despite the joke of calling her ‘Mama Spider’, and it brought a smile to his face to hear Pepper suggest she might have felt that way. “Oh yeah, you were the one to invite me and my aunt to your wedding, even though I guess we never got to come because of Thanos. Mr. Stark didn’t want to cause some media scandal and according to him, you insisted that the papparazi was no excuse to not invite family to a wedding.”
“Did I, now?” Pepper said, a smile on her face that Peter could only guess meant she was pleased to hear about it. “It must have been such a loss, having that spell take all this away from you.”
“It was,” Peter responded. “I almost lost myself to it.”
Pepper frowned, and reached out a hand for Peter to take, which he did. “I’m glad that you’re still here, Peter. I may not remember any of these past events, but even just interacting with you today has made it clear that you belong in this family. I can see you’re having a hard time reliving these things, so I won’t push you to share any more unless you volunteer it yourself. What do you say to making new memories instead?”
“New memories, huh? I’d really like that,” Peter smiled, because somehow with Pepper, this all didn’t feel so treacherous. Maybe, one day, he could try and make new memories with MJ and Ned too.
Peter spent the next couple of days making all sorts of new memories with Pepper and Morgan – and, of course, Macy and Xander. They played board games, watched shows, and cooked together. They went for a hike in the nearby abundant natural landscape, and even noodled for fish in the lake. Peter was declared the noodling champion thanks to his superhuman advantage, catching forty fish in the span of half an hour. Xander came in at a not very close second of twelve fish, which was still absurdly impressive.
All in all, Peter had fun.