the skies are grey

spring

Spring is Tony's favorite time of year. The weather's just warm enough that the gentle breeze that blows on their faces feels nice combined with the sun shining down on them. Flowers sprout through wherever they feel like it: through cracks in manmade things, or in the large expanses of grass. There's a sad sort of happiness at seeing them amongst all the clutter and dismay.

Peter's been quieter lately. Where he once liked to fill the silence with chatter or jokes, now he's more reserved and keeps to himself. It makes Tony worry about what happened with Quentin before he got to the restaurant. The sight of seeing Peter wail down on the already dead man with a machete is a sight Tony will never get out of his head. He has no doubts Peter has worse memories flickering through his mind.

Peter's a bright kid, from what Tony's learned over the year they've been together. His mind never seems to stop wondering about things, and Tony slowly got more and more used to answering his many questions. Traveling down the abandoned road now wasn't the same. The teen was quiet, questions lurking behind the brown of his eyes, yet he never speaks up to ask them.

"One thing I miss most about life before all this was building bots in my lab," Tony says, catching Peter's interest. "Harley and I used to build a couple things here and there, but my greatest pride was in these little helper bots. They weren't the greatest at times, but they were... family, you know? Kinda bummed I had to leave them in Miami." He sighs softly and looks at Peter, who's look of awe has yet to fade. "If we're ever able to figure out how, I think we should test that brain of yours. Maybe build something together."

Peter looks back at him, surprise on his face. He smiles at Tony, then, and Tony considers it a win.

"I would like that," Peter says after a moment.

The two of them keep walking until they reach a blocked off intersection. They're what looks to be a road leading downtown, but was blocked off when the quarantine zone was put into place. There's a nearby building that looks sturdy enough for them to cut through, likely where people used to officially enter and exit the quarantine zone at one time.

"It's kind of weird seeing all the moss and whatnot growing on the cars," Peter comments, letting a hand drag over the hood of a grass coated car. He smiles when he sees a small patch of dandelions growing at the base of the deflated tire.

"Nature didn't used to run this wildly," Tony says, standing next to Peter. "It's only been since the infection hit that it started growing wild. With everybody's focus on surviving, well. Maintaining lawns was the least of everybody's worries."

Peter smirks and fiddles with the necklace around his neck. Tony wants to ask so badly what it means, but he keeps his mouth shut. Peter will tell him when or if he's ever ready.

When Tony takes a step back, he can't help but wince a little when he sees the eyebrow nick on the right side of his face. The wound from being cut had healed nicely, but the eyebrow hair never grew back. Just seeing it seems to remind the teen of what he went through.

"C'mon, kid, let's get to the hospital," Tony says, gently squeezing Peter's shoulder.

They have yet to talk about the elephant in the room. Peter hasn't called him 'dad' since the incident and neither seem any closer to bringing it up. Tony isn't sure if the teen meant it or not, but hearing it stirred something inside him. Old memories of Harley keep flashing up whenever he thinks about it, and every time it does, Tony can see the similarities between the two boys.

He isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Neither say much more as they walk into the building. On the inside are rusted gates from a long ago attempt at controlling crowds. Some had fallen over through the years, and backpacks and suitcases lay in various places scattered throughout what looks to be an old train station. Peter wanders off towards the old lockers while Tony digs through the old luggage to see if there's anything of use in any of them.