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As Tony sat in front of what had to have been no less than six holo-screens, he growled in frustration. He had things to do. A million things to do and none of it could hold his attention. He was far to aggravated with... life in general. The day had gone south by eight in the morning when the accords committee had gotten together and decided to disregard everything he had to say. That had left him vexed to the point that he ended up arguing with every single person he'd crossed paths with from that point forward. Including having a heated altercation with several members of the press. After that, Pepper'd 'had enough of his attitude' and had ushed him off towards his lab to 'cool off.'
That's where he remained for the rest of the day. Jumping between projects and avoiding all human interaction. Neither of those things had alleviated any of the stress that was still lingering from that morning. Mostly because he couldn't get it all out of his mind and replaying the entire series of events in his head, word for word, over and over again had only served to exacerbate his bad mood. Then in an act of sheer desperation, to get his brain to shut up , he asked FRIDAY to up the volume of the rock music that was already blaring into the room.
However, rather than raising the volume the AI cut it off completely. "FRIDAY! What is the matter with you? I said turn up the tunes not turn them off. Do I need to add your code to the list of everything else I'm supposed to fix now?", he snapped without hesitation. It seemed like everyone wanted him to fix something. From the accords to his attitude, apparently. It was aggravating.
"Sorry Boss, but according to your 'Little Ears Protocol' I'm to turn off the music upon Mr. Parker's arrival.", the AI promptly explained leaving Tony to stare at the ceiling.
After several moments of thought, he shook his head in utter confusion. "What is he doing he, FRIDAY?", he asked in defeat before a more alarming notion crossed his mind. "He's not hurt is he?"
"Mr. Parker is unharmed. It's Tuesday, sir.", FRIDAY said but when Tony growled in aggravation, she continued. "Your calendar shows that you have ongoing Tuesday and Friday appointments with Mr. Parker from five PM until nine PM."
"Dang it!", Tony uttered out loud. The nights leading up to the meeting with the accords had been short. As in he didn't really sleep, meaning he'd lost track of the days. Well, he'd had a vague idea of what day it was but he'd not really put two and two together there. Basically, he'd forgotten Peter was due to come over and found himself rapidly trying to come up with a way to get out of it. "Tell him... Tell him I can't see him today or something.", he finally spat out without realizing that sliding doors had already opened.
"Mr. Stark?", Peter asked as he slowly dropped his backpack to the floor.
Everything in Tony hoped that the kid hadn't heard him but the look on the teenager's face made it very clear that he had. He wasn't smiling as he normally would upon entering the room and more so, he was quiet. "Yeah, I, uh... it's not a good time. So... you can have the day off and... I'll see you back here on Friday.", he said, avoiding Peter's eyes. He wasn't sure he could handle any more guilt at the moment. It seemed as though he'd let everyone down that day. Himself included.
Peter squinted his eyes as if he were trying to figure out an unsolvable enigma but made no effort to reclaim his things from off of the floor. "Did I do something wrong?", he asked sounding so innocent and confused that it made Tony's heart skipped a beat. Despite that, his bad mood prevailed and he found himself right at the edge of snapping at the boy and he really didn't want to.
"Pete. I can't do this today, alright. I don't want to yell at you so please... just... go.", Tony said still making sure to avoid any chance of eye contact. When the kid continued to stand there he had to take several measured breaths not to scream at him to get the hell out of there.
"How, how about I, um... I mean, if you're not mad at me... can I just work on my stuff here? I promise I won't bother you! I won't say a word.", Peter hesitated. Now that he was sure that the man's negative aura had nothing to do with him, he didn't want to leave him alone. In fact, if his tense shoulders and clipped words were anything to go by, the man had probably been holed up the lab by himself for the majority of the day.
"Kid. I... it's really not a good day for this.", Tony said with a sigh. He was in no way out to hurt the kids feeling but he was sure there was no way his frazzled nervous system could handle having another human within his proximity at the moment but, unlike, Pepper, who knew how to give him space when he was like this, Peter had clearly never gotten that memo. Probably because he'd never gone so far as to yell at him the way he had her and so many others. He planned to keep it that way.
Peter took a deep breath and started towards his desk in the corner despite Tony's insistence that he leave. "I don't think you should be alone right now, Mr. Stark.", the boy said carefully as he began to slowly pull his suit out of his bag. "I promise to just stay at my desk. I just... think I should stay.", he added with conviction and despite his slowly flaring temper, Tony nodded his head curtly and went back to his own table.
From there, he couldn't stop looking across the room. The kid was being as still and silent as possible as he worked and it made him feel like an absolute jerk for not wanting him there. The problem was that he really wanted to have the freedom to throw things and curse on a whim but instead, he found himself having to swallow down those impulses every time he made even the smallest mistake. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore. "Listen, kid. You don't have to sit here and keep me company.", he nearly growled but it didn't seem to phase Peter in the least.
"I know I don't.", Peter said with a small smile. "I want to though. You're like, the most awesome person I know and I just really want to be here. Even if we don't talk or anything."
Bringing his hands up to his tired eyes, Tony leaned back in his chair. "I don't want to yell at you.", he mumbled but he had to admit, even if only to himself, that hearing the kid says that he wanted to be there even if there was no interaction to speak of made him feel less stressed. Like the pressure was off. Peter wasn't expecting anything from him. Knowing that seemed to be enough to ease some of the tension in his shoulders.
"It's okay if you do.", Peter said quietly from across the room and Tony's eyes snapped in his direction.
"Kid, it's definitely not okay for me to yell at you.", he said with so much conviction that for a moment all of the other swirling unease was set aside. If Peter thought it was okay to be yelled at by him then there was a serious problem there that needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. He seriously hoped that the boy knew that he would never shout at him, not like that anyway. There was a huge difference between scolding the boy and angrily dumping his emotions on him.
Realizing that he'd not been as clear as he'd meant to be, Peter held up his hands in defense. "I just mean that if you want to, you know, rant or something. I'll listen. I don't mind.", he said before hanging his head so low that his chin nearly touched his chest. "You listen to me rant all the time."
Despite the ongoing strain, Tony smiled softly in the boy's direction. "You're a kid, Pete and I'm the adult. Allowing you to vent to me is very different than me turning it around and venting to you.", he said with a sigh. Something about the way the boy was so adamant about being there for him was almost consoling. It made him feel wanted beyond a technical solution or a demanded explanation. It was a nice change of pace.
"I'm not saying that you have to, Mr. Stark. I just want you to know that you can.", Peter replied without missing a beat before taking another deep breath. "I know I won't understand it all and that I can't really give you much in the way of advice but... I can be here. Then you don't have to be alone."
As much as he wanted to tell the kid that being alone was exactly what he wanted, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Maybe because as much as his entire being was screaming that he should go ahead and lock himself away from the world, he found himself surprisingly undaunted by Peter's presence but he said nothing.
After that, the room grew quiet, save for the steady clinking of the machinery and the periodic whir of the robots whizzing around the room. Peter continued to tinker with his suit and Tony continued to spend more time watching his mentee than he did getting any work done. He found it interesting that simply having the kid there in the room with him was enough to help lighten his mood. He knew there was still a lot of things in his head that would need unpacking at some point but for now, he was content to allow Peter's good spirits and pleasant demeanor rub off on him for a while.
Later, once he realized that he wasn't going to get anything else done, he got up and crossed the room towards Peter. "Hey, kid?", he whispered as he cautiously placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Hmm?", Peter said as he stared up at his mentor.
"It's after six and I bet you're hungry.", Tony replied with a small smile that was meant to convey not only his appreciation, for the kid sticking by his side but also the remorse he felt for not being very good company himself.
Peter smiled back and turned his body so that he could get a better look over his shoulder. "I can get something on the way home of you don't feel up to doing anything, Mr. Stark."
Taking a few seconds to appreciate how considerate the kid was, Tony sighed. "I'm good, kiddo. In fact, I think going upstairs, making us a few sandwiches and watching some mindless television with you is exactly what I need right now. Think you can handle that?"
"I think so.", Peter said with a laugh as he started cleaning up his own work. "Can we watch Myth Busters?"
"If we must.", Tony replied as if they hadn't binged a season and a half over the last several weekends. "Maybe make some popcorn, too."
"With, M&M's in it?", Peter asked with cautious enthusiasm even though he already knew the answer was yes. Tony had scoffed the first time he'd suggested it but they'd never eaten it any other way since.
Tony laughed lightly and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder, leading him out of the lab. "Is there any other way to eat it?"
"Nope!", Peter returned and with in the next hour they were sitting on Tony's couch, with empty plates and a bucket of candy adorned popcorn between them. They laughed through the shows and at some point, Peter set the snack aside so that he could lean into the man's side.
By the time the second episode had ended, Tony was becoming acutely aware that his time with Peter was growing short and to have been so eager to send him home, he was no dreading the boy leaving. He was sure that once he was gone he was going to have to go back to brooding about everything that had gone wrong that day and that all the pressure that had been put on him that day was going to return. Sighing he squeezed Peter in a little more tightly. "You're a good, kid. You know that?"
"You always say that.", Peter replied absentmindedly. The man did tell him that often and while he didn't always agree he'd learned not to argue. Tony was Tony and whatever he says goes, end of story.
"Because it's true.", Tony assured with a smile. "You're a good kid."
Peter smiled and looked up at the man who was staring straight ahead, towards the television. "You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Stark.", he replied with mirth because the truth was, Tony was his favorite person in the whole world, right outside of May.
"Is that so?", the man asked with a laugh having been slightly thrown off by the declaration.
"Mm-hmm.", Peter replied with a nod of his head before dropping his voice from teasing to something a little softer. "Thanks for letting me stay today."
All Tony could do was scoff. 'Letting him stay' was an overstatement. "Thank you for blatantly disobeying me and not leaving.", he said with as much seriousness as he could through the smile that was trying to pull at his lips. "...but don't get any ideas, kid. That was a one-time thing."
"I know.", Peter readily agreed. He knew that he'd been pushing it when he didn't leave as asked but he was glad he took the chance. He'd been right. Tony needed the company even if he hadn't known it at the time. Insisting on staying had been the right choice.
Tony nodded his head in approval and before he could stop himself he was leaning down to kiss Peter right on the side of the head. Though once he realized what he'd done, he froze for a moment, half expecting Peter to squawk or tease but he didn't. He simply leaned further into his side and hummed with contentment. The whole thing suddenly felt more sentimental that he was prepared to deal with at the time and so he lightly nudged the kid off of him. "Great. Now go make me another sandwich.", he clipped, smiling when Peter immediately hopped to his feet to do so.
"You got it, Mr. Stark!"