Let's hang out sometime
Peter’s head is pounding, his eyelids are weighed down by bricks, his arms are aching and his throat is so dry, it’s hard to breathe. A whimpering sound thunders through his ears, and it takes a second for his scrambled brain to realize it’s his own scratchy voice.
He forces his eyes open, blinking slowly. Everything is blurry, out of focus, grey and dull and where is he? He shifts, or tries to, but the clattering noise is so loud and exploding and what is going on?
He shifts again, gritting his teeth and trying to focus his vision. He takes a deep breath, feeling the cold air like razors in his sandy throat. His hands are numb, he can’t feel his thumbs and his wrists are sticky and throbbing and…
“Pete? Oh my God, you’re alive!” Tony? Peter blinks again, forcing the moist in his eyes to clear up. His breathing is catching up to him, and everything hurts with every intake of the freezing air.
“Tony? What’s going on?” He tries to move his arm, tries to get a grip on what’s going on, but his brain is liquified and he can’t see, and the clinking sound is echoing around and he doesn’t understand.
“Hey, hey! You need to calm down!”
“Calm down?! What the hell is going on?!”
“I don’t know, but if you don’t stop moving you’re gonna tear your own hands off.” What? He forces his breathing down, and tries to connect with his body, peel away whatever invisible blanket keeping his nerves in check.
He wants to scream. Something is wrong. I can’t feel my own skin, but everything hurts and I can’t see and everything is loud and my heart is going insane and what the hell is going on?!
“Where are we?” He tries instead, not trusting his voice to be able to say anything other than a few words without disappearing.
“I don’t know. But it’s okay. We’ll get out of here. I promise. Just stay calm for me, yeah?” Something in Tony’s voice is telling Peter that it’s not okay. They’re not getting out. But Peter doesn’t want to make Tony panic too, so he focuses on his breathing and blinking his eyes with every exhale.
“Do you have a plan?” Peter asks after a while, the sudden silence too much, and the only reason Peter knows that Tony is still there is the frantic beating of his heart.
“No, sorry. I’m working on it, though. Don’t worry. We’ll be out of here in no time, and I’ll take you out on that sushi date you keep nagging me about.” That sushi date is the last thing on Peter’s mind right now. He can’t even remember what he was doing before he woke up.
“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been here?”
“A day or so. I’ve been awake for a couple hours longer than you, but I bet someone will make an appearance soon. They can’t just lock us up in here and leave, y’know. That defeats the whole purpose of kidnapping, don’t you think?”
Peter hums, no wonder his throat is so dry.
He lets his head fall, resting on his chest. So he’s the right side up, then. He closes his eyes and gives in to the exhaustion of trying to make his vision less obscured.
“Can you just wake me up when you have a plan?” Normally, Peter would gladly help come up with an escape plan, but he can’t even tell the difference between up and down. He still has difficulty feeling his body, except for the piercing pain pulsing through every muscle and bone. And he’s so tired.
“No, no. You need to stay awake, honey. I need the company.” Peter whimpers. He doesn’t know if he’d be able to stay awake even if he wanted to. His eyes are painted with lead and he just wants to go back to their bed and stay cuddled under the covers until the end of time.
“Just a little nap, Tones. You’ll manage.” he mumbles, and welcomes the cotton wrapping around him, secure and warm and…
“Hey! Asshole! What do you want?” Peter is startled from his slumber, but he has completely left his body at this point, and it’s so relaxing. Tony’s going to be fine. He’s a genius, he’ll figure this out.
There’s a loud creaking noise coming from somewhere, and Tony’s heartbeat beats even faster, like drums, and it’s the only thing keeping Peter from closing down completely. He focuses on the sound, trying to send his own calmness over to wherever Tony is, letting him know it’s okay. They’ll make it out fine. Eat sushi and laugh and have fun. Tony just needs to relax.
“Fuck.” That’s a new voice. Peter hasn’t heard it before. Not that it matters. Nothing matters. He’s calm, warm and cuddled up in a cloud of safety.
The clattering sound isn’t nearly as explosive as it used to be, and he can vaguely feel his arms drop to his sides. Something cold is pressing against his back, but it’s so soothing against his aching body.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” Tony’s voice is muffled by the cloud he’s wrapped in, but Peter wants to tell him it’s okay. That everything will be fine. But he can’t find the strength to open his mouth. Or do anything really.
A darkness creeps up on him, a different kind of shadow than the one blinding his eyes, and there’s something so tempting about it, Peter wants to reach out and absorb himself in it. Everything around him is tuned out. insignificant. Unimportant.
He craves it. He wants to coax it closer. Faster. Come and take me away from this numbness.