Chapter Text
It seemed strange, but after their chance sushi encounter, Peter Parker seemed to pop up considerably frequently in Tony’s average day. He wasn’t complaining – actually far from it – but the assistant’s presence in his day had ultimately become distracting. Much to his own dismay, Tony found himself coming into work on time, just to see the content smile pulling at Peter’s lips when he bumped into Tony on his usual rounds to get Pepper coffee at 8:25. He had started to order lunch regularly, just because he loved when Peter carried in his meals with a look of faux exasperation. He even found himself sitting at his desk and actually doing the work Pepper emailed him, simply so he could burst into her office with the excuse of having done it all, and engage Peter in mindless small talk before Pepper inevitably chased him away.
Peter seemed cagey. Perhaps it was just his personality, but it seemed as though he was unsure how he felt about Tony’s keen interest. Sometimes Tony would catch the younger man smiling out of the corner of his eyes or stifling a laugh when Tony said something particularly shrewd. He was half-convinced that the young man had even taken to using any excuse to come to Tony with information, sometimes something as simple as just “hey, did you see they’ve gotten rid of the tater tots in the staff canteen? You should speak to someone about that.” And yet, for every smile, there was a nervous smile and a step backward to create distance.
And if that didn’t make him even more intriguing then Tony didn’t know what would. The brunet was so damn interesting that Tony craved his attention with the same ferocity that he craved a drink at the end of the night.
Something he was determined he could somehow rope Peter into.
Despite Pepper’s original plans, Peter was slowly becoming a part-time assistant for Tony as well. He was frequently seen darting between the pair’s offices during the day, likely spending as great a deal of time with Tony as he was with his actual boss.
With their more frequent interactions came a tentative relationship; they were by no means as close as Tony desired, but Peter had developed brass confidence with Tony that took most people years. He wasn’t afraid to call Tony out, and the respect that gained him from the billionaire had slowly aided their budding companionship.
“Allison?”
Peter sighed, “Nope.”
“Abigail?”
“No.”
“Alice?”
Peter slouched forward with a sigh, his hands resting on the tabletop of the clear glass desk in front of him. “Mr. Stark-”
“Ah ah”, Tony interrupted, holding his finger up immediately to derail the younger man’s sentence.
Peter sighed. “Mr. Stark”, he powered through, ignoring Tony’s look. “You really should try learning the names of your close business associates. Angela Brand will be here tomorrow at 9 am. Please make sure you’re here then too.”
Tony smirked, but it melted into a full-blown grin when Peter rolled his eyes in response. “When am I not on time?”
“Last time I set up a meeting at 9 am you walked through the door at 4 pm”, Peter said as he straightened up and began to collect his things from Tony’s desk.
“Ah, but see I was distracted then because I had a sudden and urgent meeting with a maniac wielding an electric whip”, Tony said, jumping from his seat to follow the younger man towards the door.
Peter nodded. “Which is why I rearranged said meeting with Miss Brand for tomorrow at 9 am.”
Tony quickly pressed his hand to the door, stopping Peter from opening it to leave. Peter stopped suddenly, his arms tightening around his folder. “Mr. Stark?”
Tony edged around him just slightly, peering around at the assistant’s face. He grinned at what he saw. “I knew it. See? You hate that I do it but you can’t help but find it funny?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re smiling. You might hate me but you find me amusing at least. Admit it” Tony smirked, allowing himself to fall against the glass door. He crossed his arms across his chest, bowing his head to observe Peter closely.
Peter’s lower lip twitched, which Tony was starting to realise was a subtle indicator that the man was impressed. “Mr. Stark, I most certainly do not find you inconveniencing everyone funny.”
Tony sighed, “You’re tough, y’know.” He leaned his head back against the door, his eyes traveling slowly over Peter and watching him closely. “Hard to get a read on you.”
The brunet nodded slowly, almost thoughtfully. “Whatever you need to know about me is written on my resume, Mr. Stark. I can email you over a copy if you’re so keen to read up on me?”
The startled laugh that escaped Tony’s lips made Peter visibly jump, but his face settled into one of neutrality when he saw Tony chuckled into his hand. The corner of Peter’s lips quirked just slightly, a clear sign he was forcing back a smile. Tony preened inwardly, proud of himself.
With a final sign and a fond smile, Tony nodded and relented. He pushed himself from the door, stepping aside and allowing Peter to duck out of the room. He grinned when he saw the smile on Peter’s face as his employee darted around the corner down the hall.
In the following weeks, Tony’s schedule was tightly packed and he rarely had any time to find excuses to see Peter. He often passed Pepper and the assistant through the halls in Stark Tower but it wasn’t until 2 weeks before his birthday that he saw the younger man for more than 5 minutes at once.
“Tony”, Pepper said, clearly exasperated. “This is ridiculous. Just answer the question.”
“Ah but there are multiple potential answers to this question, Pep. You’re gonna need to be more specific.”
She shook her head, the blonde strands flying over her shoulder. Her hands took up residence on her hips, and Tony could see Peter wince at the action over Pepper’s shoulder. It made the corners of his mouth raise in a rueful smile.
Peter noticed, and immediately glared. The look Tony received was clearly one of disapproval, but Tony didn’t care. With Peter’s attention solidly on him, Tony used the opportunity to smile at him.
Peter seemed momentarily taken aback- perhaps surprised that Tony was smiling and not simply smirking. Tony seemed soft, maybe even fond.
As Pepper continued to speak, Tony was forced to look away. His friend’s voice slowly came back to him, the piercing sound of her berating him making him groan internally.
“Pep, it’ll be fine, okay?”
“-No, Tony. No, this isn’t fine. Do you think I don’t have a million other things to do besides plan your birthday party? And you don’t even want to help me out just a little by answering the simple question of what you want?”
Tony gaped at Pepper, unsure what to do with her stress. She was clearly overwhelmed, and Tony made a mental note to find a way to lessen her workload.
“Miss Potts”, Peter said quietly as he approached. He seemed confident around Pepper, clearly very familiar with her, and yet someone still less so than when dealing with Tony. “I’m more than happy to take over the party planning. You’re right; there are far more important things for you to deal with.”
Pepper paused, clearly hesitant on how to proceed. She nodded slowly. “Yeah, yes. Yes, okay. Thank you, Peter. Remind me to give you a raise”, she said as her panic returned and she began to dart around the room gathering her things.
Peter smiled placatingly. “Oh no, that won’t be necessary, Miss Potts.
“Not necessary but not unwarranted, Mr. Parker. I’ll leave you to it?” She asked as she paused at the door, her arms full with folders. She nodded once to Tony.
Peter’s eyes followed her direction, landing on Tony for a moment before he nodded frantically. “Oh yes, of course.”
Pepper nodded once more and without another word, and only a glare sent in Tony’s direction, she hurried down the hall and away from Tony’s office.
Tony turned to Peter, his grin returning. “So, Mr. Parker. Do tell me, what should I do for my birthday party this year?”
“How old will you be, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked not unkindly as he allowed himself to gently lean against Tony’s desk.
Tony, from where he sat in his desk chair, seemed pleased. “I’ll be 40.”
“So, a big one then?”
Tony scoffed. “I still feel 21.”
Peter’s eyes fell to the bourbon tumbler that sat on Tony’s desk, half full. “I’m sure”, he said, shooting the older man a look.
Tony laughed, looking down at his lap. “Not but… I don’t know if this should be as… colourful as my usual celebrations.”
It was Peter’s turn to scoff now. “Mr. Stark, I would never volunteer to organise anything as ‘colourful’ as your usual celebrations.”
“Understated it is then”, Tony said nodding. “Any ideas?”
“I’m assuming you’re not wanting to draw attention to the whole ‘40’ thing?”
Tony shrugged. “It’s my age, isn’t it?”
Peter paused, observing Tony in silence. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before he quietly spoke. “Yeah, it is.”
Tony dared not move, lest it break the heavy eye contact they were sharing. “I tell you mine, you tell me yours?”
Peter’s held tilted adorably as his nose scrunched up in confusion. “You really have never looked at my resume, have you?”
“Nope”, Tony said without a hint of regret. “I prefer to learn about you, rather than read about you. Lot more personal that way.”
Much to Tony’s surprise, that didn’t appear to affect Peter in any particular way. Normally, it would be now that the younger man withdrew and stepped away from the situation. Now, however, he only raised an eyebrow.
“Personal? Since when are we ‘personal’, Mr. Stark?”
“Well, we aren’t. But we certainly would be if you decided to answer my questions… ever.”
Peter took a deep breath and Tony was momentarily distracted by the rise and fall of Peter’s chest. Even through his shirt it was clear that the younger man was well defined. It made Tony’s mouth water.
“25”, Peter said softly, his eyes vacant as they darted between Tony’s eyes and what he could only assume was his mouth- or his chin, of course.
“25?” Tony repeated, his eyebrows arching.
“Surprised?”
“That you’re not younger, honestly.”
Peter nodded, “I’ve been told I have a young face.”
“Not a young mind, though”, Tony said simply. “Why is it that you’re an assistant again? You could run this entire company with that brain of yours.”
Peter smiled. Tony suspected that it was rare for Peter to receive genuine praise for his intelligence. He would be sure to do so more often.
“Seriously. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you corrected a note I sent to Pepper.”
Peter finally broke their eye contact, looking away nervously. “My apologies, Mr. Stark.”
“Don’t apologise”, Tony said immediately. “Someone would have found the mistake eventually, you saved me the embarrassment of people thinking I missed it.”
Peter smiled ruefully. “Ah I see, so you just don’t want to be called out on your mistakes.”
Tony leaned back in his chair, the white leather seat leaning backward easily. He crossed his arms across his chest and allowed his feet to rest on the edge of his desk. “On the contrary, I love it when you call me out on my mistakes.”
“Me”, Peter acknowledged the condition with a small twitch of his lips.
“You”, Tony nodded like it was no big deal.
Peter suspected that to Tony Stark, it wasn’t. He was a man dripping with confidence, and it took very little to acknowledge his attraction to Peter.
Something about that revelation made Peter… angry. Angry that, to him, that confession would take almost every ounce of confidence he had. In a fit of defiance, Peter refused to back down.
He leant forward on the desk, his wrists bent. He kept his eyes firmly on Tony’s lips as he spoke, but kept his attention on Tony’s reaction. “Why me, Mr. Stark?”
Tony shifted, dropping his legs and sitting forward in his chair. There were only mere inches between their faces.
“I don’t need to answer that question, Mr. Parker.”
Peter frowned, cocking his head to the side. Finally, he smiled. “You don’t”, he agreed. He pushed himself back on his hands, taking his weight off of the table. He kept his gaze on Tony, but this time raised it to his eyes. Peter allowed his own eyelids to drop slightly, looking at Tony through his lashes.
“Call me if you have any party requests, Mr. Stark.”
Tony felt a deep shiver down his back at Peter’s breathy voice. The assistant clearly knew what he was doing, and was utilising Tony’s attraction to him in every conceivable way possible.
“I have one now, actually”, Tony said when he saw Peter turn to leave the room.
Peter paused before he spun gracefully to face Tony once more. The smile on his face wasn’t subtle anymore and was instead large and fond. “Yes, Mr. Stark?”
“Now this is an absolute must, you really can’t forget this one”, Tony said as seriously as he could muster.
Peter nodded, taking out his StarkPad and taking the stylus into his hand. He looked up, waiting patiently for Tony to expand.
“The guest list”, Tony said simply. “Top of the list, the utmost importance that you send off this invitation.”
Peter quickly scribbled something, before meeting Tony’s eye once more.
Tony smiled softly. “Peter Benjamin Parker. Please ensure he gets his invitation.”
Peter hesitated, his lips curling. “Mr. Stark, I’m required to attend as staff… I-”
“Well make sure that you let Mr. Parker know that he has that evening off. And that I would be delighted if he chose to spend said night off, in my company. Perhaps he’ll even call me Tony outside of hours.”
Peter seemed unsure but after a pregnant pause, he finally nodded. “I’ll… be sure to let him know, Mr. Stark.”
Tony nodded, his smile widening as he watched Peter leave.