Chapter Text
To say today was a slow day, was an understatement.
And this stupid headache Peter's having isn't making it any easier. Thank you very much, brain.
Honestly, it was partially his fault. This week he stayed on patrol longer than usual, and when he wasn't patrolling he was finishing assignments. Literature assignments.
The subject he dreaded the most.
It isn't that he hated the subject itself, he hated the teacher. The teacher that SOMEHOW thought he was cheating and/or plagiarizing the work, and when he insists that he isn't, the teacher just uses a stupid detection app and usually the results are above 50% because a lot of words are the same.
Well, yeah, cause he's still using English words. He seriously doesn't know how the app works but it's seriously stupid, like what's he supposed to do? Invent a new Language???
The bell rang, and Peter felt his head ring with it. The teacher started yelling 'just one minute guys, sit down!' which made the ringing in his ears even worse, he used every fiber in his being to not put his hands over his ears.
He became too aware of his surroundings, the teacher's loud voice, the whispering around the class, the teacher in the class next to them, the horrible bright lights, the sound of everyone breathing, the sound of his own breathing.
Yep. Definitely a sensory overload.
Joy.
Seems like his misery was obvious, because he heard a tap on his left and looked over to see a worried Ned. It looked like he wanted to say something but the teacher yelled again,
"Alright guys that's it. You can leave for your next period. I will inform the other teachers,"
Peter took this as his que and quickly walked out of the classroom into the restrooms. He saw MJ on his way there but he just walked quicker. She may not have noticed anyway.
When he got there, he slowly sat on the floor and tried to control his breathing. A few moments later he heard footsteps but he quickly recognized them and relaxed again.
He felt the person sit in front him, he opened his eyes to have his suspicions confirmed that, yes, that was Ned. He seemed to get the idea because he didn't say anything and instead smiled slowly at him before opening his hand and revealing a set of earplugs.
He almost cried. Ned was a life saver and an angel.
Peter took the earplugs and put them on. They usually don't do much but they make everything more bearable by 20% because other than sight, hearing a great deal in his sensory overloads. Sadly, he can't do anything about his eyes because there's no way he is gonna walk around school with sunglasses without getting detention or humiliated. Or both.
He suddenly remembered that today was a lab day with Mr. Stark which, on any other occasion, lab day would sometimes be the best part of his day but right now all he wanted was to crawl in bed and die, and he REALLY didn't want Mr. Stark to see him in this miserable state.
He was brought back to reality when Ned shuffled beside him, trying to gain his attention but without making too much noise ( again he's an angel), and he realized that he still had two more classes to go. Woohoo.
Slowly Peter stood up (which took ridiculously a lot of effort), and they both made their way out of the restroom-
-only to find MJ waiting for them.
He was kinda surprised, but he couldn't do anything except slightly raise his eyebrows. He was exhausted and his throat felt dead right now.
She looked at him and her eyes went a tad bit softer, thankfully she didn't say anything and just made a gesture with her head for them to get moving. Thank God for his friends.
The two periods went in a blur and honestly Peter had no idea what they were about. He just knows that one was with Ned and the last was with MJ which made everything a little bit less overwhelming. A little.
He tried to take notes but honestly it looked like old Egyptian. At the end of each period his friends just opened his backpack, put some notebooks inside, then closed the bag again. He didn't ask, he just accepted his fate. Also he got a feeling those notebooks will be useful.
The last bell rang (as well as his head) and they made their way outside. Once they spotted the fancy black car, his two friends waved their goodbyes, but Peter quickly grabbed Ned's arm stopping him and MJ in the process, before they could question it Peter mumbled a weak, "Thanks."
Ned smiled while MJ said to not mention it in a very hushed voice.
He made his way to the car as fast as he could (which wasn't that fast) and mumbled a hello to Happy and closed his eyes.
"Rough day at school?"
Peter nodded his head but he didn't want to be rude so he whispered a small "yeah" that made him sound even more dead than he looked.
Happy looked at him from the rear view with concern, "you okay kid?"
Not wanting to concern anyone with his stupid senses, so he smiled sheepishly, "y-yeah, yeah, it's just a h-headache, it'll wear off soon."
Honestly, that didn't even sound convincing to himself.
Happy scanned him a few more seconds before looking back at the road (he heard some typing but he was too tired to think about it)
Peter just closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to calm down his senses the best he could, before hearing Happy's voice that they had arrived.
Peter sluggishly got out of the car and thanked Happy (who was still looking concerned) and went into the tower. He made it to the elevator before FRIDAY'S voice filled the room.
"Welcome again Peter, boss is still in a meeting and would like me to inform you that he will be late." FRIDAY greeted in a warm voice.
"Thanks, FRI." It was too quiet, but he was sure the AI got it.
"Peter, you seem to be unwell, would you like me to inform boss?" She said in the same warm voice but with an edge of concern to it.
"N-no, thanks, FRI, it's just a headache, I'll h-head to the lab until M-Mr. Stark is done," stupid voice making him stutter a lot like that. He knew she'll inform him anyway.
"If you're sure, but I would recommend resting." God. Even the AI didn't sound convinced
He brushed her off and went to the lab. Once he sat at his desk, he tried to get some work done but his head was pounding loudly so he closed his eyes and rested his head on the table.
A few seconds later someone was shaking him (which was rude, he just shut his eyes!)
He opened them and was met with the face of a concerned Mr. Stark. Wait- what? FRIDAY said he would take longer!
The man seemed to read his mind because he answered,"I just finished my meeting, FRIDAY said you came here an hour ago. It seems like you had a nice nap, buddy" he smiled but Peter could see a hint of concern.
"didn't realize I fell asleep, s'rry Mr. Stark," he slurred tiredly. Well, at least his head felt clearer, though the lights are still a little bright.
"No need to apologize kiddo, Happy said you were dead on your feet so you probably needed it," he paused, trying to address the elephant in the room, "any reason why? Do we need to sit this one out?"
"Nonononono, It's just a headache, Mr. Stark, I feel much better now! Just a sensory overload," the kid answered quickly.
"Sensory overload?" he repeated, confused.
"Uh, yeah, it came with the bite, um, it's just sometimes everything's loud and bright, but after some rest it's all good," well, it's kinda the truth. He didn't want to cancel their lab session because he couldn't handle some noise.
Mr. Stark didn't look very convinced but he gave in, "alright, kiddo. But! If you feel like you need to stop, let me know, I don't mind"
They started their lab session quietly. Mr. Stark gave him some calculations to work on while the older man was doing research about something that seemed important (he was searching about sensory because he knew the kid could downplay everything, but Peter didn't have to know that.)
Peter just appreciated the silence. He didn't think he could handle a lot of talking right now, although he could literally hear what was going on two floors beneath him.
After he was done with the calculations, they started applying them to the armour but suddenly his Spidey sense sent electricity down his spine and he looked to where the danger is located only to find DUM-E about to cut one of the wires.
"Wait- DUM-E-" Snap. He cut it. Oh god.
Before any of them could react, whatever machine was attached to the wire started malfunctioning and made a REALLY loud noise.
If his head was killing him before, right now it was ripping itself apart. He closed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears in a desperate attempt to block the noise (spoiler alert: it didn't work at all.)
He didn't know how long he sat there but the noise died down….and he was still dying.
"I swear I am this close to donating your parts to an orphanage" he heard a voice and it seemed familiar but it felt like the person was SCREAMING right next to his ears.
"Well, that was something, hey, Pete! whaddya think we call it a day?" A pause. "Pete?" The voice was getting closer but he couldn't move, "oh god, kid are you crying? Did you get hurt?" The voice started getting panicky.
He didn't realize there were tears but he couldn't do anything, he just curled tighter, "kid? C'mon buddy I can't help you if I don't know what is going on?" The voice was getting more and more panicky, he didn't want that. It was just. Too. LOUD.
"Loud" he groaned. Even his voice felt like thunder to his ears.
"Come again kid?" Then he felt something pulling his hand from his ears but it also felt like a thousand ants crawling on him. He moved his hand and punched something in hopes that whatever that was would leave him, " 'sss soooo loud" he tried again.
"Oh shit- okay okay not the time- kid how about you take your hands off before you hurt yourself," the same voice tried again this time a little quieter but everything was too loud and now he heard a thousand chatters above and beneath him.
"noooo" he slurred, and punched again, he was getting really scratchy.
"Kid- okay calm down- FRIDAY!" Once again something tried to pull his hands from his ears but this time it felt cold. It moved his hands a good 10 cm away from his face before something brushed against his face and suddenly, nothing. He could hear his breathing but that's it.
He breathed for a few moments before he heard a quiet "kid" from his left. Huh. That was actually bearable.
He opened his eyes to see a very concerned Mr. Stark with gauntlets on his hand...but something was wrong… it looked like he was watching from a screen or something.
Before he could think more about it, Mr. Stark removed the gauntlets, "hey buddy, is that good?" He asked with concern evident in his voice,
Peter didn't know what exactly he was asking about but he nodded anyway and brought a hand to his face… only to be met with cold metal.
He hummed confusingly at that and tried to take the metal off before a hand snapped at his face, "hey, hey, no touching, I'd keep that on if I were you" the older man looked at his phone and then at Peter, "well, FRIDAY says you're tired, how about we head back to your room, I don't think the floor is too comfy" he said, this time with a little relief.
He didn't think he could still talk, but something told him that no, isn't an answer right now so he just nodded. Mr. Stark smiled and pulled Peter to his feet. He felt really wobbly and fell right into the man's chest, "woah, easy there buddy, c'mon" he wrapped an arm around him, and practically carried all his weight (not the he weighted much)
They made it to the room and Peter threw himself at the bed while the man sat next to him. He couldn't help himself so he borrowed into the man's space and wrapped both arms around his waist.
He felt his mentor chuckle, he knew that they were gonna have a long talk about that but right now he didn't care,
his eyes were so heavy and he was out in two minutes.