OOC:
“I’m gonna rock the FUCK outta that cradle” — Immortal words of Vi.
Anonymous
I get bitched at for working, remember. I get little crickets sitting at my desk telling me to sleep more and leave the shop and stop fixating. Because we’ve done that dance too, Pete.
[He can’t deny the fact that the kid has a point. Tony’s well of friends wasn’t all that deep, and he’d already slept with most, if not all of them. It probably wouldn’t bode well to crawl back into any of those beds.
Not that it’s ever stopped him in the past.]
So what about sex with strangers? Hookers? Drunken sloppy makeouts?
Sounds like a good way to risk STD’s, muggings, accidental pregnancies, and stalking.
Maybe that’s just the highschool PSA’s warning against doing all that stuff talking though.
[ Can’t be someone’s conscience without being a boyscout first. ]
Anyway you still don’t seem to be getting the, y’know, the point here Tony. You can cope healthily. You don’t have to spiral downward with something. You can work productively without late nights being jacked up on caffeine, you can talk to people without having sex with them, I mean—
[ The spiders shifts, crossing his arms. ]
Do you just wanna go out to lunch or something?
[Tony’s expression settles into something a little more worn at Peter’s words. He’d actively avoided his conscience, both literally and metaphorically since things went to shit with him and Steve. But there were limits to everything. Like his ability to stare down Pete’s earnest face and not feel like the worst human being alive.]
You’re not…it’s not an unprecedented thought process. And you’re probably right. I’d pretty much fall in bed with anyone who showed up with no underwear.
[The shrug feels heavier than he’d like.]
What’s the lesser of two evils here? I’m genuinely asking, Pete. Is it better to get drunk in shop and not come out? Sleep with anything that moves? Because I’ve got to do something.
Sex isn’t a coping mechanism, Tony. 
You can’t just go around doing that, especially not with the friends you’ve made. Feelings will get tied in, and people will get hurt, because not everyone is just using it to feel better and distract themselves like you are. There’s a good chance they’d be having sex with you because they liked you, y’know?
So then you’d just fall into the trap of hurting someone, and then you’d feel worse about yourself, and so then you’d go and drink anyway.
[ There’s a soft sigh from the teen’s lips. ]
Look, there are healthier ways to go about these things. You, you—You just have to try healthier things, y’know? Like, throw yourself into your work, or try to hang out with your friends in a healthy manner, don’t just go on falling into these cycles like they’re your only two options because they’re not.
equalpowerandresponsibility replied to your post: This is just a feeling but I can kinda sense that…
—Okay, okay. Maybe like, okay…
[ There’s a deep breath from the teen’s slender chest, an irritable roll of his shoulders that seems to steel his words. ]
Maybe I’m out of place here, and I’m totally off center—But I’ve seen you crash and burn a lot since we’ve been friends and I’m pretty sure I know the warning signs. Something always happens that will shake you up, like this thing with you and Cap, and then you go down one of these spirals and make it look like a big giant party, but it’s not.
Like how many people have you tried to have sex with in like….the last 48 hours tops? Not even actively tried, just offered, or flirted with.
Like, c’mon, you don’t just fall back into being a playboy because nothing’s wrong.
❝I think I do rather well when it comes to picking the subject of which to converse…❞ A small, sly chuckle then and there.
The mentioning was already known, and in fact foreseen. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. A cherub would have giggled. It was cute.
❝… You may call me Michael. It is nice to meet you, Peter.❞
[ No one seemed to grasp the concept of the mask. ]
Hey Mikey, mind telling me how you know my name? Because I don’t remember mentioning it, and last I checked this mask is pretty good for all that “secret identity” stuff.
I take it pretty seriously.
[ Very seriously. Which is why Peter’s tensed up all over and on his guard.
Cryptic sages with a serene smile that was really starting to piss him off that seemed to know everything there was to know. Casually. Like his whole life had been a walk in the park of just knowing these things, and he didn’t even expect Peter to freak out about it. ]
