8

Spidey
Hey guys!
Before you freak out, I'm not texting in class. It's lunch right now

KittyCat
What up im Jared im 19 and i never fucking learned how 2 read

Capsicle
Language!

Spidey
I like your accent where you from?

KittyCat
I'm Liberian

Spidey
My mistake
*Whispering* I like your accent where you from?

KittyCat
Wouldn't you like to know Weatherboy

Spidey
Ok you are definitely not KittyCat!

KittyCat
I'm his sister and better than him in every way possible
I'm gonna add myself before he realises I've got his phone

???
I have returned!

Spidey
Welcome back, MemeKween

MemeKween
Happy to be back, VineLord

Spidey
YoU mAdE mE ViNe RoYaLtY?!
tHaNk YoU!!!
Alas I must depart and go to the Hell that is gym class!

MemeKween
Oh boy
You like Vine
Something tells me you'll be fighting for your life to survive gym
Try not to die.

KittyCat
Sister what have you done?!

It was a miracle, but somehow Peter managed to survive gym class and leave school in one piece. Now he was standing outside Stark Tower, anxiously looking up at the huge building where he would be interning at after-school twice a week, plus Saturdays. The Tower looked a lot smaller from a distance, up close it was far more intimidating.

Taking a deep breath, Peter went inside...

The interior of the lobby was just as grand and intimidating as the exterior. Part of Peter wanted nothing more then to run right back out the door and never look back. But no matter how hard he tried to run away, his legs kept walking him closer to the desk at reception.

Before he could do anything about it, Peter was stood right in front of the desk with a kind looking lady talking to him.

"Hi, sweetie, are you lost?" she asked warmly, "We don't do tours for children on weekdays, unless it's holidays." (Do Americans say holidays or vacation?)

"I'm not lost," Peter squeaked out, an octave higher than usual, "my name's Peter Parker, I'm here for the Stark internship..." The lady typed something into her computer, smiled at him brightly, then went off without a word.

Peter just stood there awkwardly for a minute, while she was gone. After what felt like an eternity, she returned. She seemed as smiley and bubbly as before, so Peter took that as a good sign.

"Right then, Peter Parker! My name is Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Lizzie! Here is your badge, you will need to scan it when you go through security, and it's a good idea to keep it visible at all times to keep our head of security Happy! Oh, and by the way, the elevator doesn't have any buttons because Mr Stark's AI will take you wherever you ask, as long as it's within your security clearance!" the lady, Lizzie apparently, said merrily.

Peter took the badge from her and waved goodbye, "See you later, Lizzie! Have a great evening!" All of Peter's nerves had now vanished. He walked through security with a huge smile plastered on his face. Peter was always a cheerful person, but Lizzie was equally infectious!

When Peter got into the elevator, he noticed the lack of buttons, and did as Lizzie said and tried asking the AI. "Um...Hello, Mr, Miss or gender non-conformant AI...how are you? Could you please take me where I'm supposed to go? Thanks..." Peter had no idea if he was doing it right, but gave it his best go.

To Peter's surprise, not only did the elevator start moving, but the AI replied, "Good afternoon, Mr Parker. My name is FRIDAY. Whilst I am an AI, and therefore genderless, Mr Stark and the Super Secret Boy Band use female pronouns when addressing me. I am good and fully functioning, thank you for asking. I am taking you to Mr Stark's lab, where you will be working with him."

Peter smiled at FRIDAY's Irish accent. He was about to start freaking out over the fact that he was going to Mr Stark's personal lab, but was so rudely interrupted from his imminent spiralling by the elevator stopping to let a woman in.

Instantly, Peter knew who she was. Between the strawberry blonde hair and the business suit and heels, it wasn't hard.

He was desperately trying not to fanboy over being in the same space as The Pepper Potts!

He had expected her to ignore his presence, but instead she spoke, sounding slightly surprised, "You're Tony's new intern? Be careful, and watch out for explosions. You must be a good kid to get FRIDAY to talk to you, she never normally replies to anyone except me, the Avengers, and a few close friends!"

Peter just stood there in shock. He was completely frozen.

After ten seconds spent regaining the ability of speech, Peter stuttered out, "Y-you're Pepper Potts!"
"Yep! But call me Pepper, please," she politely smiled back.

Then it came to fast for Peter to stop and hold back, and just like that, the fanboy was released...

"You're the CEO of Stark Industries! That is so awesome! It's amazing that there's a woman in charge of one of the biggest companies on the planet! My friend, MJ, absolutely loves you! She says she wants to be like you when she's finished high school and college! She's also a huge fan of how you won't accept any discrimination from anyone!"

When Peter finished his fanboying, he looked at his shoes, hit by the wave of embarrassment. His cheeks were still scarlet, but he forced himself to look back up at Pepper. He was about to apologize, but then he saw the look on her face. It wasn't angry or annoyed, and it wasn't the previous polite paparazzi smile either. She was looking at him with a genuine smile! She didn't hate him!

"Don't you dare even think about saying sorry!" said Pepper, "That is the nicest thing I've heard all day, probably all week. It's not even a stretch to say that might have been the sweetest thing I've been told in my whole life! Did you say your friend was called MJ?"

Peter was shocked to say the least. "Yes, her name is actually Michelle. Michelle Jones. But her friends call her MJ," he said, regaining some composure.
"She goes to your school?"
"Yes..."
"Well then, Peter," Pepper smirked, "you can tell your friend, MJ, that I will be giving her an internship."

Peter's jaw dropped. "Seriously?!"
Pepper's smile grew even wider, "I'll write the letter this evening, so she should be able to start next week."
"Thank you so much, Pepper!" Peter exclaimed.

Peter lost all control over his muscles, and couldn't stop himself from hugging Pepper.

He realised what he was doing, and was about to stop hugging her and apologize endlessly, but Pepper spoke first, "Don't." She then returned the hug, taking in the purity of the Cinnamon Roll.

Finally, the elevator got to the floor with Mr Stark's lab, and Pepper led Peter to it. "Don't worry, he'll love you!" Pepper whispered to Peter as he opened the door.

Peter stepped into the lab, saying goodbye to Pepper.

The lab was a sight to behold! It was pure science nerd heaven! The perfect blend of unsafe clutter on the floor, with equations written on whiteboards, and machines and computers on workbenches!
Peter breathed it all in.

He saw Mr Stark standing by a workstation that was shockingly tidy compared to the rest of the lab. Completely terrified and ecstatic, Peter said, "Uh...hello, Mr Stark?"

Mr Stark instantly spun around, and smiled at the sight of Peter, "Hey, kid! Peter, right?" Peter nodded, still unable to believe he was with his hero, before Mr Stark resumed talking, "Ok, this is your work area, I cleared it just for you! I've got some stuff planned for us to work on together! I know you're a bright kid, and probably not learning anything new at school, so I will be doing my best to teach you things you don't already know! You managed to get perfect marks on the entry test, which only me and Bruce have done, so I didn't even know that was possible! If you're lucky, you might get to help me work on some of the Avengers' gear and possibly even some Iron Man suits! Sound good, kid?"

Peter was stunned. It was as if Mr Stark was fanboying over him! He was extremely happy that Mr Stark appeared excited to work with him!

"That sounds great, Mr Stark! What are we doing today?" Peter asked, excitement seeping out of him.

"Today, Petey, I will be showing you FRIDAY's coding, so you will be able to make you own AI! And I'm going to teach you how to make a proper artificial intelligence, not just a crappy one like Siri or Alexa!" Mr Stark said happily. (I'm running out of words for happy and excited, help!)

Several hours later, Stark and Peter were working on the new AI, until disturbed by another teenage boy...

"Heyyy, Tonyyy?" the boy asked nervously.
"What's up, Harley?" Tony asked, but before Harley could reply, Tony turned around and all but shouted, "What the hell happened to you?!"

Peter then turned around too and saw that the boy, Harley, was covered in black soot, with multiple holes burnt through his clothes.

Harley looked nervously at the floor, and mumbled "There was a small explosion..."
"Small?!" retorted Tony, slightly amused. Harley just avoided all eye contact with Mr Stark.

"Sorry, Pete, I'll be back in a minute. I trust that you won't blow anything up without my supervision. Can't say they same about Harley though." Tony said.

"Hey! I am very responsible!" cried Harley, outraged.
Mr Stark just laughed back, "Sure you are, Keener. I'm still waiting for my tuna fish sandwich from when we first met!"
"I told you we didn't have any tuna!"
"And in all the years since then, have you still had no tuna? No? That's what I thought. Harley, you're coming with me. I'm not going to let you corrupt Peter already! I'll be right back, kiddo, as soon as I sort this one out."

Peter just nodded whilst grinning. Since he had nothing to do until Mr Stark came back, Peter got out his phone and texted the 'Avengers' group chat.

Spidey
Hey everyone!

Scarlet
Pебенок Паук!

Silver
How's the internship?

Natalia
I swear if Stark let's anything happen to you, I will not hesitate to kill him!

Hawk
Kill him, yes, but torture him first!

Spidey
Мама, Папа, relax!
The internship is amazing!
Mr Stark is teaching me how to make an AI like his!
He left me for a minute because a guy came in covered in soot, saying there'd been an explosion, so Mr Stark had to go help clean up or something.

Scarlet
That's great, Pyotr!

Silver
Tell us if Stark blows anything up with you!

Hawk
Your Мама and I are so proud of you right now!

Spidey
I also met Miss Potts in the elevator and told her about MJ, and now Miss Potts is going to give MJ an internship with her!
Oh I forgot Miss Potts said I could tell MJ about it!
I'm going to tell her now!

Peter noticed that when he was texting on the group chat, Mr Stark's phone was buzzing as well. Weird, thought Peter, probably just a coincidence though.

Loser
Hey, MJ!!!

MJ
What, Loser?

Loser
What do you think of Pepper Potts?

MJ
She's an amazing badass independent woman, who I absolutely love and idolise!

Loser
And you call me a dork!

MJ
That's because you are a dork, Dork.

Loser
Well, I had some news to tell you but if you're going to be like that...

MJ
Just tell me already.

Loser
I was in an elevator with Pepper Potts for the Stark internship

MJ
OMG THAT IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!

Loser
No, cooler things happened...

MJ
Such as...?

Loser
We had a conversation...

MJ
You are so lucky!

Loser
Oh it gets better...

MJ
How can it get better than a conversation with Pepper Potts!?

Loser
I hugged her after she agreed to something...

MJ
You hugged her?! So lucky!
But what did she agree to?

Loser
During my fanboying, I may have mentioned you and how much you love her and everything she stands for...

MJ
You did what?!
Thank you for embarrassing me.

Loser
I didn't embarrass you!
I got you an internship!

MJ
I'm sorry, what?!

Loser
Pepper though you sound great and intelligent, so she told me she's going to give you an internship with her!

MJ
OMG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, DORK!!!

Loser
She said she'd write the letter tonight, so you should be able to start next week!

MJ
You are the best!!!

Loser
I know
Gtg now, Mr Stark is back
Bye

MJ
Cya later, Loser

Peter put down his phone once Mr Stark returned. "Who were you texting, Kid?" Mr Stark asked.
"My friend, MJ," answered Peter, happy as ever, "I was telling her that Miss Potts was going to give her an internship!"
"This MJ must be smart if Pepper wants her as an intern," said Stark, "but are you sure MJ is just your friend?"
Peter blushed and desperately tried not to stutter, "Fine. She may or may not be my girlfriend..."

Mr Stark just smirked at Peter's embarrassment. They had only been working together for a few hours, but they had instantly hit it off and were close already.

Me Stark sighed, "I say we've done enough work for today, don't you? Harley has completely drained me. He and I are doing surrogate father/son bonding movie and pizza night, you're welcome to join us."

Peter's eyes lit up at that and he eagerly agreed to it, after triple checking that they didn't mind him joining.

Thankfully, all the Avengers were away so Peter didn't have to worry about a fanboy overload.

They watched Star Wars, which Peter and Harley both adored, and the two boys laughed as they recited the lines from memory.

Tony was slightly terrified at the thought of what the pair could do together. Harley and Peter barely knew eachother but they were like brothers already! Once the movie was over, Peter and Harley teamed up to try and convince Tony that waffles are basically pancakes with abs. They even showed Stark a PowerPoint they made god knows when. Alas! They failed to convince Tony, who just said "Do your minds even work?" before sending them off to bed (or at least Harley to bed, and Peter home using the Happy taxi service. At least Harley wasn't on the group chat with Peter...

The Next Day

MemeKween
Hey, Spidey!

Mr Stark
How did you even get on here?

Spidey
Through the mysterious power of Vine!

MemeKween
Exactly

Mr Stark
Kid, how was school?

Spidey
Not too bad
I had history first lesson but I slept in so I was a minute or two late...

Mr Stark
Did you get detention?

Spidey
I would have, but I got out of it

Mr Stark
How?!

Spidey
The teacher had a LotR meme as the screensaver on their computer

Mr Stark
I don't see how that can get you out of detention.

Spidey
It's simple!
The the teacher said, "You're late"...
I replied, "A Wizard is never late Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

MemeKween
That teacher sounds cool

Mr Stark
How?!
How can that stop you from getting detention?!

MemeKween
Oh, Anthony, one day you'll understand

Spidey
Anthony?
Oh yeah, Mr Stark...
But not the real Tony Stark...
...I think...?
...Right...?

MemeKween
Spidey, do you mind if I add two more VineLords?

Spidey
Do it!

??
What's up?

???
What have I been forced into now?

MemeKween
Harley, Loki, this is Spidey
He is a fellow member of the Vine.

Spidey
Greetings, my fellow VineLords

Loki
Good evening, Muggle

Harley
Hello there,

Spidey
General Kenobi.

Mr Stark
Shuri, why did you introduce them to Peter?!

Harley
Peter?!

Spidey
Mr Stark, why did you call MemeKween Shuri?

Mr Stark
Because...
She's KittyCat's sister, so if KittyCat is named after Black Panther then his sister is the Princess Shuri so...

Spidey
...
...That...makes...sense...?

MemeKween
To answer your question, Stark...
Worshippers of the Vine must stick together.

Mr Stark
Your cult scares me.

Spidey
Mr Stark!

MemeKween
Vine.

Loki
Is.

Harley
Not.

Spidey
A.

Loki
Cult!

Harley
Now leave us in peace while we recite the seven-second hymns of our ancestors.

The butter knife will return...
:D