Work Text:
Peter couldn't really remember what his father was like before he died. Although, sometimes it seems like little flickers of memories would bounce back up from the wafts of certain scents or tastes that reminded him of the home he was born in. Sometimes May would experiment with different recipes and occasionally dinner would taste pretty good, and when the ingredients were just a certain way, memories would wash over him. These memories were usually way too fuzzy and limited to understand, but he knew that they were happy way back when.
Sometimes certain candles would produce these memories as well. These scents would usually remind him of his father's cheaper, yet decent smelling cologne.
He had never really celebrated Father's Day with anyone before, but he had an idea.
A sudden flick to his hand brought Peter back to the present, causing him to blink a couple times up at his best friend with a quizzical glance. "Dude, you're spacing out again," A smurf crossed Ned's features as he shifted into a more comfortable position on the carpeted floor of Peter's room.
Peter blew out a nervous breath, "S-sorry," Peter's eyes averted his best friend's and then landed back onto the Father's Day card that rested on his lap. He had no idea why he was so nervous, and he knew he had no reason to be. Tony and he have basically been mistaken as father and son many times, so it was something they were so used to. He was pretty sure Tony knew that Peter thought of him as a father figure, too. But something just made him so nervous- like what if this made Tony upset? Peter was pretty sure he said he never wanted kids, but then he's also pretty sure he overheard Tony and Pepper talking about wanting to have a child at some point. What if Tony didn't want him to be sort of a part of his new family? Yeah, he was invited to he and Pepper's wedding and everything last year but that didn't mean he was like- family to them-.
"Peter, c'mon, it'll be fine. It's so obvious how close you guys are. Pretty sure he's like your dad anyway, so I'm sure he'll love it!" Ned's voice squeaked at the end as he pushed Peter's shoulder to break him out of his little world of anxieties.
Peter's face reddened slightly. Ned was right, and he knew that. "Yeah, y-you're probably right," Peter huffed and placed the card onto the wooden desk behind him.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Tony snagged another cup of coffee from the counter of his lab. Gosh, he had lost count of how many cups he had today, but it was pretty much what he survived on nowadays, so he'd let it slide. Plus, he needed something to keep him going after getting only a couple hours of sleep last night. He hadn't had any nightmares during the sleep that he did get- which he was indeed VERY thankful for- but it was more like one of those days where staying up was more profitable. He knew Pepper wouldn't approve, but heck, she was busy taking care of some business out of state, so he could get away with anything if he wanted to. But somehow she always finds out about his not-so-healthy extravaganzas sooner or later. He didn't necessarily want to welcome home a displeased Pepper, so he'd keep his risky behaviors to a minimum.
One nice thing about having some more free time, was that he could invite the kid over for some more frequent lab time. Although they always called it "lab time", sometimes it didn't even consist of that. He would usually let the kid choose a movie, which would of course be something Star Wars related. Or, sometimes the kid would insist that Tony choose the show or movie for the night, and one time Tony suggested Star Trek, which got the kid started on something like:
"Mr. Stark... It's either Star Wars or Star Trek, you have to pick a side."
That got a chuckle out of him pretty quick.
They ended up watching Star Wars that night.
Tony cherished those "lab days", especially the movie nights. He (probably) wouldn't admit it to anyone, but a warm, sort of paternal feeling would swarm into his heart when Peter would start to nod off against his side while in the middle of a movie. On instinct, he would usually wrap his good arm tighter around the kid and let the corners of his mouth tilt up in- well, adoration. Tony would keep his arm around the kid protectively while he rested, almost as if something might just snatch him away.
Before he could sink too deeply into that gnawing anxiety, the lab doors chimed at an approved entry, causing him to tilt his head around a prototype of a shiny, new iron chest-plate to get a better view as to who interrupted his work. But, when greeted with the cheerful face of a teenager, any annoyance that was there quickly dissipated.
"Ah! It's my favorite spider-kid!" Tony placed the tablet that was in his hands on the desk in front of him and stood up, brushing his hands across his jeans to rid them of any oil or grease. "How ya doin' kiddo?"
"Hey, Mr. Stark." Peter replied cheerfully, a big grin crossing over his facial features. "I'm okay. Just glad school's finally out."
Tony felt sympathy for the poor boy. He had overworked himself to the point where their lab times in the latter weeks of May were consisting of AP Chemistry studies, and a buttload of Calculus practice problems. Although, Tony was very thankful, to say the least, that the kid was comfortable enough to come to him for some help. They had spent many hours figuring out some of the most difficult questions, but Tony made sure Peter got at least some down time afterwards, either with a movie or just some laid back tinkering in the lab.
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Tony nodded, completely understanding the kid's breath of relief, "Did you ever figure out how you did?"
"Yeah! Just got the results today actually," Peter perked up a little, his cheerful voice music to the man's ears, "Got an A on the Chem and English, and an A minus on the Calculus," Peter's voice lowered slightly towards the latter part of the sentence, expressing a bit of disappointment.
"Hey! That's good though!" Tony praised, topping it off with a big grin and gesturing to Peter the empty seat next to his. "Still an A! Can't beat that."
"Yeah," Peter let out a chuckle, then raised his head, "Thanks a bunch for helping me out, Mr. Stark. The calculus was a real pain in the butt."
"Ah, it's no trouble at all, kiddie," Tony raised his hand and ruffled Peter's curly brown locks. He meant what he said. It was absolutely no trouble whatsoever, and he definitely enjoyed spending time with the teen.
Peter let out a quiet yet offended "hey" after what Tony had done to his curls, and hopelessly tried to straighten them back out the way it was.
"Kid, give it up, it's a lost case," Tony winked playfully, a laugh escaping him.
Peter only stuck his tongue out at him as a response, and gently pushed his arm with one unoccupied hand while the other still tried to straighten out what now looked like a bed head.
"Well, since you're busy taking a trip to 'Peter's Salon for the Hopeless', I suppose I'll have to start working all by myself," Tony drawled out the 'all', sticking his lip out making fake whimpering noises to try to egg on the kid, and it worked.
"Okay! Okay!" Peter rolled his eyes with a chuckle, placing his hands in his lap. Stars filled his eyes at all the projects in front of him, but then the excitement seemed to fade as he looked back at Tony, "Um- Do you think it would be okay if I try to like- make something myself?" Peter fiddled with his hands almost as if he were nervous. This caused Tony's curiosity as well as pride to swell.
"Oh, of course, kid. What did you have in mind?"
"Well- I guess I don't- I don't know." Peter only paused for a slight second before his eyes darted back to Tony's. "But I'll figure it out!"
Tony gave Peter an exaggerated quizzical look, "Hmmm, how mysterious. Alright." The man then glanced around the room as if trying to pick something out from underneath all of his scattered tools and supplies, "There's a workbench with a bunch of neat things to work with just over there." Tony pointed to where he was looking, and Peter turned to look as well, "Right underneath all of those spare copper wires and computer chips. Sorry for the mess, you might have to move some crap around."
"Got it. Thanks, Mr. Stark!"
The mechanic nodded, "You betcha. Oh! And if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask. You can even see if DUM-E will get off his rear and "help" if that's how desperate you get," Tony made the little quotation gesture as he spoke and rolled his eyes. He then pointed pointed over to where the robot was whirring, almost as if he were cooing and waving at Peter.
"Yeah! C'mere DUM-E! Come keep me company, buddy," Peter grinned as the bot rolled happily over to the boy. Tony scoffed playfully and rolled his eyes again.
He couldn't be prouder.
---
Peter had been awfully quiet since then. It was extremely unusual for his non-stop-chatty self. Tony had grown used to how much Peter had talked, and quite frankly he enjoyed it. He wasn't always able to respond if he was busy focusing on a piece of machinery sitting in front of him, but he sure as heck listened to the kid. And now that Peter was leaving the air unusually quiet, it started to make the billionaire feel- uneasy to say the least.
"Hey, bud, you doing alright over there?" Tony casually spoke up, breaking the silence. He hoped the kid was feeling alright. He didn't really notice anything usual about his complexion or anything-
"Yeah! Just kinda- busy. Sorry!"
The boy's voice almost sounded startled and even a tiny bit nervous.
"Hmm," The man let out a short huff and stood up from the desk chair he was sitting in, "If you're having trouble I can come over there and hel-"
"No!" The kid nearly flew out of his seat. Yeah, there was definitely something up, "I mean, no- no I'm doing okay by myself, Mister Stark!"
Tony hummed thoughtfully and tried to casually peek around at what the kid was working on. But then said kid suddenly jolted into his line of sight and glared at him.
"Okay, okay," Tony lifted his arms up in submission, "You got it, you got it." Tony couldn't help the smurf that washed over his features as he gently rolled his eyes and focused back on the project in front of him.
But now, he was generally curious as to what his kid was up to, and he couldn't put his full concentration into the task like he had before.
---
Tony didn't try to figure it out as the night went on. He figured that if Peter needed help, he would ask for it. Unless he was too embarrassed to ask, or something was really bugging him to the point where telling someone felt intimidating.
Oh gosh.
But thankfully, Peter snapped him out of his doomed train of thought when he asked to take a break for the night and go watch a movie. Of course, Tony agreed to settle down for the night as it was already 1 AM. Thankfully it was a Friday night and the kid didn't have school the next day to wrestle with.
Tony plopped down on the couch first and snatched up the remote, choosing an old film he watched all the time when he was younger that he had been wanting to show Peter for a while now. The boy emerged from the bathroom right after Tony had pressed the play button, his hair damp from the shower. He also wore an over-sized Stark Industries hoodie.
"Ah! It's Swampy!"
Peter rolled his eyes at the new nickname but couldn't hold back the laugh.
"Haha, very funny."
After scooting over on the couch a tad, Tony opened an arm for Peter to sit beside him. The boy took the suggestion and happily bounced onto the sofa and curled up next to his mentor. "So, what old man film are we watching today?" Peter cheekily stuck his tongue out after the remark.
"Watch it squirt, the films of my day are TEN times greater than whatever excuse of a movie the Bee Movie is." Tony rolled his eyes in obviously over exaggerated disgust.
"What!? The Bee Movie is THE meme zone, Mister Stark! It's awesome!"
Tony snorted, his eyes glued to the broad screened television, "Whatever you say, kid. Now, let's watch a real movie and avoid our brains becoming sludge."
---
They didn't mean to fall asleep 3/4 of the way through Where the Red Fern Grows, but they did. Tony woke to the sun streaming through the blinds and directly into his eyes. He grumbled in annoyance at the rude awakening and tried to sit up, but realized that Peter was propped up against his chest.
Tony chuckled fondly and raised his hand to run his fingers through the sleeping boy's soft, brown locks.
"Hey, kiddie, time to rise and shine," Tony prodded gently. He was nearly floored by how soft he made his voice sound for this kid.
Peter took a deep breath and his eyes fluttered open. The boy pulled himself up into a sitting position, and his hair was absolutely a mess. Something inside Tony just wanted to straighten it up a bit, and he had no idea where that came from.
The kid's nose scrunched up as if he were confused, which was actually adorable along with the bed head. Then, groggily, Peter spoke up "What time is it?"
Tony glanced down at his watch, "About 9:30, kiddo. We should probably get you some breakfast soon, since your aunt wants you back at about 11:00."
The spiderling seemed to perk up at the mention of food, and he watched as the kid bounced his way to the kitchen with Tony trailing closely behind.
The scent of pancakes and bacon filled the kitchen and most likely a third of the compound. It was worth it though, because Peter loved them. The poor kid, for some reason, felt guilty about asking for more pancakes multiple times and he had no idea why the heck he would. He insisted to Peter that it was alright, and it wouldn't even put a dent in his bank account. He wanted Peter to be able to eat as much as his enhanced metabolism needed. The kid had absolutely no didn't to feel skittish around him about asking for more food, because that was ridiculous.
Peter ended up eating about 12 pancakes, and that was completely okay.
11:00 came around fairly quickly, to Tony's disappointment. The boy made it to the door with all of his overnight belongings, but then set them all down to rush up to his mentor and pull him into a tight hug. It nearly knocked the wind out of Tony, but after the shock wore off he returned the embrace with a chuckle.
"Thanks for letting me come, Mister Stark,"
Tony's smile only grew, "Of course, kiddo! I love having you here. Lab gets a little bit too quiet for my taste now without ya," He patted the boy's back before they broke the embrace.
Peter only chuckled while he leaned down to pick his belongings back up off the tiled floor. Before he completely exited, however, Peter looked back up at the man as if something were on his mind, but it washed away as soon as it came. "I'll see you around!" Peter gave him a soft smile before clicking the door shut and leaving Tony still standing at the door.
---
A little bit later on, Tony skipped down the stairs to the lab area to finish off some of the projects he had been working on the night before. The lab doors clicked open for him instantly and he entered, coming face to face with his disastrous work area.
He cranked his music up before he began to work, drowning out any sounds coming from the other parts of the Compound.
That's when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. On his usual work bench sat a bright blue envelope that was definitely not there yesterday. Even though this place was a whole wreck, he could still tell when things were out of place, and this was one of them.
The mechanic hummed and strolled over to where the card lay. He picked it up in his rough, calloused hands and read the manuscript on the front.
"Tony"
The man quirked an eyebrow and easily opened the envelope, trying not to tear it as best he could. And what Tony saw almost knocked him off his feet.
It was a Father's Day card.
Never in his life would he have ever expected to get one of these. He even double checked the blue envelope to make sure someone else's name wasn't written on there instead. But the name, his name, was still clearly and neatly written on it.
With shaky fingers, he opened the card and read:
Mr. Stark,
I never really had any chance to celebrate father's day before, so I thought, well, maybe I should this time... I've looked up to you ever since I can remember, and I still do, maybe even more now. Tomorrow is Father's Day and- well, you are basically like a father to me. I know this is probably super cheesy but I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me and, well, I love you a lot! So, happy Father's Day, Mister Stark! :)
-Peter P.
ps. You can go look at what I was working on now! Just look at my work bench!
He could barely see the last bit of the writing as moisture clouded his vision and something wet slipped down his cheek. He even sniffled. Gosh, he was turning into such a sap. The man quickly wiped the offending tear away and reread the last bit of the card and followed the instructions.
The man approached the bench that Peter was talking about in the note, and right in the middle of the space there was a little box. An obviously mechanical box. It was colored in the hot rod red and bright gold of the Iron Man suit, and he was sure it was purposely made that way. On the front there was a bright red button.
Tony sat down in the desk chair that sat in front of the bench and leaned on the surface. After a few moments of staring, his thumb eventually found the red button and he pressed it.
The device made a little tune, almost like an 8-bit video game sound. But suddenly it popped open and wads of little pieces of red and gold confetti were littered all over the floor and on his clothes. He nearly dropped the device when it happened, but thankfully he didn't.
After recovering from the surprise, he turned his attention back to the mechanical object and he gasped quietly at the holographic image of an 8-bit Spiderman and Ironman swinging and flying about New York, with the bold words above them: "Happy Father's Day!"
Tony now kept that little box sitting on the counter of the lab, very visible in the actually organized area.
He would never forget that Father's Day. Even though he knew Peter looked up to him for a while now, it just established for Tony just how much he truly cared and loved Peter like a father would love his son.