Steve Rogers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
onlyforthedream) wrote2011-10-19 02:48 pm
onlyforthedream) wrote2011-10-19 02:48 pm
[for Peter]
The last time I saw Peter, the situation was charged, to say the least, and as such I'm not positive that he'll show up today. Our training sessions have been going well- he's stronger, his balance better; he's nearly as sure footed if not quite as dexterous as he was when he was powered. He learns fast and, despite his concentrated efforts to fill every possible moment he can with patter, he's focused and dedicated. I hope he shows up today.
Even if we don't get down to training, we still have matters to address. At least, that's the impression I got.
Even if we don't get down to training, we still have matters to address. At least, that's the impression I got.
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"Which, again, fine. I made a career out of that. You wanna trade words with Tony, that's your prerogative. But don't talk about something you weren't even there for in front of the guy who nearly died, alright? I'm friends with enough jerks."
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"Peter, if you didn't want me to talk about it, you shouldn't have given me the entire thing put down in print." I fall back into the spar, settling back into the defensive after the quick change up, without so much as pausing for breath.
"I'm glad the two of you worked out your differences. Your friendship is your business, and if you've been able to look past what he did, it must be a strong one. But that event is a matter of public record and your personal involvement doesn't change that- or the fact that it happened."
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It doesn't escape my attention that I'm bringing it up now, but the difference between Cap and I is that people don't tend to like me, anyway.
"Look, I gave you the entire thing in print because I had an idea about what where you were coming from, and I thought it was in everyone's best interest if you didn't just hear it through the grapevine. So, yeah, it happened. I don't forget that it happened. But don't pretend you weren't just trying to sling a little mud in the guy's eye, and didn't care who else you got dirty."
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"Because I was. For everyone who was there- I couldn't fathom how there were no consequences for anyone, it seemed, except you. But all you've done since the minute I showed up here is defend Tony Stark from my anticipated ire. Needlessly, I might add. I was never going to go after him for the sins of another man. His own actions, though," I say, frowning deeply, "his own words, those I'm going to hold him accountable for, and to date, I am not impressed."
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Blowing air through my teeth, I add, "And this is why I don't like to discuss things. 'Cause what'd we accomplish? Oh, let's see -- well, I'm all in a huff about something I didn't even really care about to begin with, and you revealed the startling news that you don't like Tony. Wow. I feel so much better now."
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"I wasn't trying to make light of it, Peter. But I was trying, however ineffectually, to engender the slightest sense of humility in Tony Stark. I went about it the wrong way, I admit that."
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"I'm sure he could be less respectful if he tried, but I won't necessarily be on hand to stop Bucky or Thor if he goes too far. He's pushing my own patience to the limit." I shake my head a little.
"None of us expect to be friends, that's not the nature of the business, but some respect is due or someone's going to stop caring that outside of the suit, Tony's just a man, and try to take it out of his hide." I stop, my hands anchored on my hips, my jaw tense.
I don't want this to happen, but it's being set up as an inevitability. Peter can't warn Tony off this path any more than I can. He may listen to Peter, but he'll do as he pleases. At this point, I don't even know why I care.
Except maybe I feel like something would be irreparably broken that shouldn't be. Which isn't a feeling with much weight- there's really nothing to break.
"It doesn't matter," I murmur, shaking it off, all of it, loosening up the joints in the shoulder that was so egregiously injured so many months ago.
"Feel free to be in a huff. I won't bring it up around you again. Don't worry."
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In the same breath, I also know that it's not my job to protect Tony, even if it's my inclination. After everything him and Pepper have done for me, he's practically family, and that's not something I say about just anyone. Still, I'm not blind to the fact that he's a jerk more often than he isn't, and if there's one thing I've learned the hard way, it's that actions have consequences -- and that they should, so that the big mistakes don't get repeated, if you're smart about it.
Tony's one of the smartest people I've ever met, but I honestly don't know if he's got it in him to learn this particular lesson without taking a fall first. It took a few near-death experiences between the two of us to become friends, after all. His track record for this sort of thing just isn't the greatest.
"But I am done being the mediator."
At the end of the day, I'm nobody's keeper. While I would've preferred if my few friends here who haven't disappeared yet didn't want to kill each other, Cap's right. It's not the nature of the business.