Work Text:
“Hey Underoos, mind looking for some fire wood while I set up the tent?” Tony called from where he
was unloading the van. Could the great Tony Stark have taken some other, flashier vehicle? Yes. Did he
want to ruin the aesthetic of Peter’s first camping trip? No.
“Sure thing Mr. Stark!” Peter grinned and practically bounced into the woods.
Tony shook his head and laughed. The kid’s excitement hadn’t died down since Tony had offered to take
him camping. Of course, he was a little embarrassed to admit that he had never been before, but it was
fairly easy for Tony to tell him it was fine.
“This good Mr. Stark?” Peter came back out of the woods, breathless from running. He was carrying
what seemed to be two normal armfuls of wood at once.
“That’s great kiddo.” Tony nodded towards the fire pit. “Can you put about a quarter of that in there for a start?”
Peter complied, then asked “Are we gonna set up the tent?”
“That’s my job.” Tony told him as he started to pull the pieces out of the bag. Sure, he hadn’t done this in decades, but hey, how hard could it be?
“Ok!” Peter sat down to watch, munching on a Clif Bar.
“Kid, we’re literally going to be eating hotdogs in an hour. Why are you having that?”
“Spider metabolism Mr. Stark.” Peter grinned from place on the log.
“Of course.” Tony struggled with putting two of the frame pieces together. “Son of a-”
“Language Mr. Stark.” said Peter innocently.
“Kid I swear-”
“Frequently!”
“Peter!”
“Not sorry.”
“Kids these days.” Tony muttered while Peter cackled. “Hey, can you pass me the duct tape?”
“Is something broken?” Peter asked worriedly.
“Nah, just can’t get these to—ah there we go. Never mind!”
Peter snorted. “Aren’t you an inventor-slash-engineer?”
“Oh hush.” Tony grumbled, connecting the last pieces of the frame.
Peter leaned over to pass him the fabric of the tent, but when Tony went to attach it the whole thing fell on him. “FU-”
“Are you ok Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, laughing his head off.
“No. I have been beaten by a tent. A tent.” Tony said, trying to untangle himself. Peter just snorted and
watched with some degree of amusement.
“What, no pop culture references?” Tony asked, lying on his back with his legs still entangled.
“You’ve fallen and you can’t get up.” Peter said calmly, drinking some water.
“Isn’t that from a senior citizens’ ad?”
“I am taking nothing back.”
Tony finally extracted himself from the tent, glaring daggers at Peter, who was still giggling. “Alright, you
try it.” he grumbled.
Peter stood and bowed dramatically. “Gladly.”
Tony shook his head, hiding a chuckle.
Within five minutes the tent was up.
“How?” Tony asked, bewildered.
“I followed the instructions on the bag Mr. Stark.” Peter sat back on his heels and looked up at Tony. “Wasn’t that hard.” he shrugged.
Tony made a face like he was on The Office. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope!” Peter grinned and passed him the tent bag, which did indeed have instructions. “See?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tony grumbled, then looked around the clearing. It was nice, with a bit gap in the trees so he could see the sky, which was still a clear blue color.
“Want to play a game Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, rifling through his bag.
“Sure, why not?” Tony sat down on the log next to him. “You have Uno in there kid?”
“Of course I do!” Peter said, procuring the deck. “Never leave home without it.”
Tony raised his eyebrows. “What, not even on patrol?” he joked, but Peter’s reply was serious.
“You never know when you’re going to need an Uno Reverse card Mr. Stark.”
Tony choked on air. “Kid, what the-”
“Oh schist you were joking weren’t you. Forget I said that.”
“No. That is one of the things I will never forget.”
“That’s mean Mr. Stark.”
A minute later they had a small pile of cards already laid down, and Peter pulled a schist eating grin
before laying down a +2 card. “Take that Mr. Stark!” he crowed, as Tony sighed and accepted his fate.
On Tony’s next turn he smiled nicely at Peter. “Enjoying your winning streak kiddo?”
“You bet I am—wait why are you smiling like that? Mr. Stark what are you- NOOOO!” he cried, watching
in horror as Tony calmly put down a Draw 4. “Payback time Underoos.”
“Mr. Stark how could you?” Peter asked in disbelief.
“You hit me with a +2!”
“That’s not the same!”
“It is in my book.”
“That’s cruel.” Peter fake-pouted.
“Is the Spiderbaby upset?” Tony joked, ruffling Peter’s hair.
“Yes, yes the Spiderbaby is upset.”
“Awh.” Tony pouted. “Well I know something that will help.”
“What?”
“Uno.”
“ASDFHGKJL NO!” Peter yelled, but alas, it was too late. It wasn’t his turn. Tony was picking the color.
Doom was upon him.
Tony put the card down in slow motion, maintaining eye contact with Peter the whole time. Peter tossed his cards down in defeat and put his head in his hands while Tony cackled.
As the sun set, Tony started trying to set the wood on fire with matches. Apparently, the wood was a bit
damp, however, because nothing happened. Two minutes through this, Peter threw some kind of bark
on it and it took right off.
“How’d you do that?” Tony asked in surprise.
“Birch bark Mr. Stark.” Peter explained, holding up another handful as evidence. “It’s kinda like paper.”
“This is the best idea you’ve ever had kid.”
“Thank you.” Peter said, tossing more bark onto the fire with a flourish.
“So, you could say that this stuff starts fires like a birch?”
“Mr. Stark!” Peter giggled.
As dusk fell, the pair roasted an entire package of hotdogs.
Tony only had three.
“Peter what are you- DID YOU JUST SHOVE FOUR HOTDOGS INTO YOUR MOUTH?!”
“An’ wha’ ‘bout it?” Peter retorted, thoroughly muffled through the said four hotdogs.
“I- you know what? Never mind.” Tony bit into his own hotdog, that he kept on a bun like a civilized
person.
“Do we haf any ke’u’ Mi’er ‘Ark?”
“What are you going to do, squirt it straight into your mouth?”
“Yeh tha’.”
“Jeez kiddo, what would your aunt say about this?”
“’m not gonna ‘ell her.”
“Wise move.”
After about half an hour, Tony brought out the marshmallows. They spent several happy, silent minutes roasting them, until-
“Mr. Stark did you just set yours on fire?!” Peter exclaimed, looking horrified. “It’s going to be burnt to a crisp!”
“Just the way I like ‘em.” Tony blew the fire out, then blew on it again to make it cool down faster.
“With all due respect, that’s disgusting.” Peter checked over his lightly roasted marshmallow before
squishing it between the graham crackers.
“To each his own I suppose.” Tony shrugged as he popped his own into his mouth.
The fire cast strange shadows around the clearing, but rather than being frightened, Peter and Tony
watched them dance about and spotted shapes in the flickering forms. Sometimes there were cats,
sometimes there were Caps.
“Look at those stars Mr. Stark.” Peter said, flopping down on the cool grass.
Tony carefully lay down next to him. “Amazing, right?”
“Mhm.” Peter pointed to a group of stars. “That’s the Big Dipper, right?”
“Yeah, I think so. North Star’s up there-” he gestured towards it “-so must be.”
Peter let out a sigh. “You ever think about how big everything else is, and how small we are?”
“Sometimes.” Tony admitted, staring straight up.
“Well then imagine how bugs must feel.”
“Kid, every so often I think ‘Wow, he’s really on to something. His inner genius is poking out, he gonna finally show off his big brain.’ And then you say something like that.”
“You think I’m a genius?” Peter asked, genuinely baffled. “Why?”
Tony propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Peter. “Kid, you literally made your own suit, have
been accepted to MIT, and are excelling your current classes. I know a genius when I see one.”
“I- thanks Mr. Stark.” Peter blushed, but it was too dark to see.
“On that note,” Tony checked his watch “Bedtime. C’mon.”
“Aw. . .” Peter rolled over and got up, heading towards the tent.
Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s like 10pm Pete.”
“’snot a school night.”
“You woke up at 5 this morning because you were so excited.”
“Eh, details.” Peter muttered sleepily as he slid into his sleeping bag.
Tony chuckled at that. “Night kiddo.” he turned off the light.
“Love you.” came Peter’s voice out of the shadows.
Tony froze. “W-what?”
Tony could hear Peter sitting up in record speed. “Oh my gosh Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry! It’s just a habit, I say it to Aunt May and-”
“It’s ok.” Tony assured him.
“Ok.” Peter hesitated. “In that case, I really do love you Mr. Stark.”
Tony might have choked up a little at that. “Love you Underoos.”