Thursday, April 8th, 2021

Chat: mj, ned

ned: plz tell me you've been taking notes

mj: GASP

mj: nedthaniel LEEDS

ned: wtf is nedthaniel?

mj: your name is too short for me to say and still sound disappointed

ned: ah

mj: aHem back to it

mj: NEDTHANIEL LEEDS

mj: how dare you not listen to this very important lecture about color schemes on pamphlets

mj: mr. rosewood is bound to be disappointed

ned: you weren't taking notes either, were you?

mj: nedthaniel you are absolutely right.

ned: pete is soooo lucky he's not in this class

mj: how dare he not suffer with us

mj added peter to the chat

peter: what

mj: welcome to mr. rosewood's advanced business and marketing chat

ned changed the name to hell

peter: ah. yeah. so sorry i couldn't be in ab&m with y'all.

peter: i just. didn't have space in my schedule. so sorry.

ned: "im not taking business because i'm not a soulless bureaucrat"

ned: that was your reasoning parker

ned: don't lie to michelleiel

ned: i forwarded those texts to tony and i am prepared to forward them to EVRRUONE else

mj: *everyone

peter:

peter: pepper is still low key upset abt it

peter: also? michelliel?

mj: nedthaniel don't snitch

ned: its an ab&m thing

ned: you and your soul wouldn't understand

peter: i am feeling so unnecessarily attacked right now

mj: FUCK

peter: ???

ned: aH AH aH aaaHHJSK

peter: o boy

mj: Im Dropping Out

mj: guess who has lunch detention

peter: what HAPPENED

mj: rosewood

mj: is an evil

mj: evil

mj: man

ned: he called on her to answer on the whiteboard, but she wasn't paying attention to the question, so when she got to the board she wrote "fuck this shit im out"

peter: omfg

Chat: peter, Happy

Happy: Hey, kid.

peter: hey hey hey mr hogan

Happy: What's on your schedule for this Saturday? Tony wants to do some suit modifications, and Pepper wants to have you in a meeting with other high-ups.

peter: why me?

Happy: PR and community outreach. We they want to show the public that SI helps the community, I.E., hiring a teen intern from Queens.

peter: you just want me for the photo op

Happy: Yes.

Peter:

Happy: Also, we can raise your $/hr salary by nine dollars.

peter: does 10 am work for you???

Chat: mj, ned

mj: what did he just say

ned: u already gave up on paying attention?

mj: yes

ned: field trip on saturday for some

business conference

ned: at stark towers

mj: haha

Chat: hell

peter: yooo guess who got invited to the tower this saturday

Chat: mj, ned

mj: HAHA

Chat: hell

ned: same

peter: what

ned: very cool**

peter: what

mj: its nothing have fun

Chat: mj, ned

mj: sometimes i really love my life

Saturday, April 10th, 2021.

10:27 A.M. Eastern Time

MJ ties her shoes swiftly. As soon as her combat boots are laced, she stretches and pulls her bagel out of the toaster at the same time.

"I'm heading to the school," She calls. However, as the bagel is between her teeth, it sounds like, "'m hbeain' tah bue chol". There is no response, so she throws her bag over her shoulder and opens the door.

The walk is busy. She counts three -- no four, defintiley four -- police chases by the time she rounds the corner. Thankfully, she lives within a few blocks of the high school, so she can get there in no time.

The cliched yellow bus is waiting at the curb when she strolls past it. Even though it's April, it's New York. It's still chilly. Practically running, she makes it up the stairs and into the school before she freezes to death.

Ned meets her at the door. "Michelle!"

"Nedthaniel," MJ greets with a nod.

He laughs. "I still don't fully understand that."

Michelle Jones sighs dramatically and leans against the glass door smugly. "Me neither."

Ned raises an eyebrow. "Well... Let's go, we have to get to the library before they do headcount without us."

She loops their arms in a shrugged and tired gesture. "Parker's going to kill us."

"Oh," Ned says. "Definitely."

10:54 A.M. Eastern Time

Peter walks into the foyer of Stark Towers. Luckily, he's less than ten minutes late. Unluckily, there is a crowd of people waiting in lines at the front desk.

Crowds are not his thing. Talking to strangers one-on-one isn't his thing. It's gotten better since he turned thirteen, and he's been on testosterone for a few years now. Thankfully he's passing, so there's no awkward gender mixups. It's mostly smooth sailing.

Still, he's about socially awkward and anxious as it can get.

Just as he's considering ditching the meeting altogether, Lou from the tour desk grins at him.

"Hey, Pete! It's been awhile," they say.

Peter nods graciously. "It has. Sorry about that, we just got back from spring break."

and i spent the entire time as spider-man at the upstate compound Peter finishes in his head.

Lou nods understandingly. "Well, that's how it is. Come over here, I'll scan you in."

Peter slides his badge through the scanner, and he lets himself through the glassdoor after a wave at Lou. As soon as the door closes firmly behind him, the noises -- practically shouts -- of the lobby leave his ears. He can still hear it, of course, with his heightened senses and all, but it is much less direct.

He already felt like he has a head cold, and to add the anxiety headache on top of it - well... Now it's time for the real challenge.

11:03 A.M. Eastern Time

The small Advanced Business and Marketing class is grouped in a corner of the large lobby. Their teacher, Mr. Rosewood, is hastily making last minute changes to their schedule with Lou Rodriguez, from the Tour Department. They are talking and working as fast as they can, but teenagers get rowdy very fast.

"Finally," MJ says when Mr. Rosewood walks back to them with twelve security badges. "I thought I'd have to be buried here -- which I amvery against. This is not where I want my bones to go."

"That's... Where do you want them to go?" Ned asks, morbidly curious.

She sighs. "That's a long story. We don't have time."

"Okay," Ned says. " April Ludgate ."

Once in side a board room, they get to go around a venue and meet buyers and sellers. The purpose is to see how they interact, but Mr. Rosewood knows he can't keep them in one place, so they're allowed to roam the entire floor. Now, as the entire floor is this convention, this isn't much of a big deal.

"There's a presentation in ten minutes, so try to be in our assigned seats by then," Mr. Rosewood had said before dismissing them. The poor man looks tired; MJ plans to capture his wrinkles and prune-stained teeth in charcoal when she gets home.

That was seven minutes ago. Currently, MJ and Ned are walking around the crowded venue, trying to avoid Flash and his friends. Naturally, Flash's father has coworkers in attendance, so they are all trying to 'buddy-up' with the rich businessmen.

Ned mimics holding a champagne glass, and MJ walks dramatically in her flats, arching her foot as if she was in heels.

"If I wasn't a raging lesbian," MJ says seriously, "We would be more of a power-couple than Pepper and Tony."

Ned nods. "Yeah, yeah. I can see that."

MJ snickers. "Look! Speak of the goddess..."

Ned tilts his head to see Pepper Potts, standing near the edge of the stage. She is talking into a earpiece, which would usually look intimidating, but she's smiling and laughing at whatever she is hearing.

Ned Leeds rolls his eyes. "Oh! There's Happy!"

"Which one is he again?" MJ mutters, looking around the room. They've started to make their way to their seats. "Oh, I see him."

Happy stands at the opposite corner, walking in with none other than Tony Stark... And Peter Parker.

MJ lists her palm and waves with her fingers only. "There's our boy," She says. Ned coughs out a surprised laugh.

Peter meets their eyes, and at the same time, they reach their seats. His eyes grow and he stumbles. Tapping away at his StarkPhone, Tony reaches out with an arm to catch Peter before he completely face plants. Peter mutters something to him, that Ned and MJ obviously cannot hear from there, and Tony glances up.

MJ does her signature wave once more, and Tony bursts out laughing. Peter does not look amused.

11:15 A.M. Eastern Time

"Hello, everyone!" Pepper says from onstage. "As you know, today is basically a celebration -- of you; our most influential sponsors. We wouldn't be here today without you. And because of that, after a brief speech from the man himself, Tony Stark, we're going to show you just what we've done to pay you and the community back. And, of course, we have food after. Without any further ado, Tony Stark!"

The crowd claps politely. Despite a maybe two hundred people in the room, it's not rowdy in the slightest.

The entire time, Flash sits in the row in front of them, in a case of frozen shock.

Peter stands behind Tony, and he fiddles with a second microphone. As soon as Tony stops buttering-up the investors, he moves on.

"Now, this company has changed a lot since it's post-World War Two days. We no longer sell weapons, but tools that can save and revive countries. We are working to change the world in more positive ways, but we also haven't lost sight of our own community. I'd like to introduce someone; this is Peter Parker, and he is one of our high school interns. Peter?"

Peter steps up, and he waves. "Hello!"

There is a murmur from the crowd.

"If the reporters have any questions for Mr. Stark and Mr. Parker, now's the time to ask them," Pepper says from off-stage.

It works.

Immediately, the reports start shouting out questions. Cameras flash. Ned can only imagine how Peter's senses are dealing. Even Flashflinches at the sudden noise.

Peter's eyes are wide, and he looks frozen as reporters scream questions; interns this close to the company are not in mainstream media. Mainly, as the Engineering department does not have an internship program. So, the reporters want information. Naturally.

Tony sees as well, and he raises a palm. The noise stops. "No, this is over. Direct all questions to our media liaison, Nadya Gibbons."

Tony lightly presses a hand to Peter's shoulder, and guides them off the stage. Even as they leave the room, the noise builds up again.

Flash Thompson turns as soon as the doors shut.

"What the fuck?"

Notes:

no i dont ship ned and mj theyre just close friends.

next work will be ?? something with sick peter and tony and peter being very close i promise! i couldnt fit the sickness in here, and i also did a 3rd pov with ned n mj, so the tony n peter wouldve been unrealistic. next time!! i promiseeee!

so,, howd i do? also. i did write the entire thing while watching parks and rec -- ned and mj are basically april and andy in this - expect not married. does that make peter LESLIE. oMFG TONY IS RON AND MAY IS DONNA. FLASH IS JAMM. NEW PLAN WHO WANTS A PARKS AND REC AU

im also reading the tempest by willy shakes, and antonio and seb are such bros, that''s where a lot of the banter stemmed from.
NEW PLAN WHO WANTS A PARKS AND REC AU

im also reading the tempest by willy shakes, and antonio and seb are such bros, that''s where a lot of the banter stemmed from.