Work Text:
Gifts
“I’m not saying I told you so…” raven, mourn
“Look, man, I’m not saying I told you so…” Ned trailed off, unable to finish his sentence without contradicting himself, the traitor.
“Yes, you are, Ned. And now I have to hear it from you, and from MJ, and May-” Peter bit out a sigh, staring mournfully down at the road below him. All that work, and preparation, and time spent hyping himself up in the mirror- for absolutely nothing. “I can’t believe I dropped it.”
Ned snorted. “I can’t believe you didn’t believe us when we told you that you’d drop it. That’s, like, a law of the universe. If something can go wrong-”
“-it will, yeah, yeah, I know, Ned.” Peter finished for him. “What do I do now?”
“Well, Peter,” Karen chimed in, as helpful as ever. “I think you should get a new one to replace it.” Which is to say, not helpful at all.
“Karen, I can’t just replace it. That was the point in making it for him! If I got Tony Stark something he could just buy, it would actually be the lamest birthday present ever.” He forced himself to take a deep breath, before his frustration could overwhelm him.
“Lucky for you,” Ned said, interrupting his pity party. Which was just rude of him, really, because that party was by invitation only. “I put a tracker on it.”
“Plotting course now,” Karen informed them, and, sure enough, a little pulsing dot appeared on Pete’s display. It was a pulsing dot of betrayal: just further proof that his friend didn’t trust him to be even somewhat competent.
“You… put a tracker on Mr. Stark’s birthday present?”
“I knew you’d drop it! Everyone knew you’d drop it! Which is why we told you-”
“To just call Happy to come pick me up, yeah, I know. But he’s so busy with hiring staff for the new building, and it’s not like it’s that far-”
“Peter, if you want to make it to the tower in time for your scheduled lab hours, you’ll need to collect your present soon,” Karen informed him.
“Right,” he acquiesced. First, present retrieval. He could whine about Ned’s complete lack of faith in his ability to function after that.
----
As it turned out, his whining would not be the next thing on the day’s agenda. No, his brain had decided that the next thing on the to-do list was question the whole birthday-present endeavor in its entirety.
“Ned, what if he hates it? Or thinks it’s dumb?” A quiet sigh came from the other line. The package in question was now safely tucked under his arm. Peter was now properly on the phone with Ned, having just changed out of his suit and into his lab clothes.
He had his own set of rooms here in the tower, now, along with a few changes of clothes. Spider-Man couldn’t really be seen swinging around with the same backpack as Peter Parker, after all.
“Didn’t we already have this conversation? Like, twelve times?”
“Ned, I’m serious!”
“Okay, okay, sorry. Just, like, take a deep breath and step in there. And then hand him the thing. It’ll be fine!” Ned’s tone was carefully light, and Peter knew that it was supposed to be reassuring, but it just made him feel worse for freaking out again, which made him freak out more.
“But-”
“Peter. You have tossed around the infinity gauntlet like a football in a game of keep-away-from-the-scary-murder-raisin. Y’know, the guy that literally killed half of the universe . I think, maybe, you can handle handing a homemade birthday present to your mentor-slash-father-figure.” Ned huffed, like he had a right to be huffy.
“ Father-figure ?” Peter screeched quietly, his breath coming in tight now. “No, no, it’s not like that, I mean, I did get a hug-”
“Peter, if you don’t get in there and give it to him in the next five minutes, I will tell MJ about your crush on her in front of the entire decathlon team.” Peter winced.
“ Dude , that is so not cool.”
“Yeah, well, neither are you.”
----
“So, do you remember the Stark Expo that got attacked by those drones?” Tony actually stopped what he was working on to turn and give Peter a look, which, yeah, that was fair. It did seem like an odd question without any other context.
“Uh, yeah, kid. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting it any time soon. Why?”
“Mm, well, it’s a funny story. I was actually there, so-”
“Wait, what? What do you mean, you were there? If this is another round-about way of telling me that you’ve gotten yourself into more trouble, kid-”
“No, no, Mr. Stark, it’s nothing like that, I promise.” Peter choked down a groan. This was going to involve feelings . Disgusting. “Look, I just, I got you something- well, made it, really- for your birthday, but it won’t make any sense if I don’t explain it first.”
“Okay, sure,” Tony said, still sounding a little confused. “But really, Pete, you didn’t have to get me anything.” He flashed a smile. “I’ve been told I’m impossible to buy gifts for.”
Peter cleared his throat. “Um, yeah, you are. Which, like I said, is why I had to, um, make something.” Oh, god, he could feel a blush creeping up his face. Why did he have to be so damn awkward?
“So, yeah, the Stark Expo. I’m not sure if you remember it, but that’s actually the first time we met. Those drones started attacking, and I was just a kid, but I had these homemade Iron Man mask and gauntlets, right? And I-” Tony’s eyes widened in recognition.
“You-you stood up to one of the drones and tried to blast it,” he inferred, sounding a little stunned. “I slipped in behind you and took care of it. God, kid.” He ran a hand through his hair, agitated. “You were so damn lucky that I was paying attention!”
Peter bit out a laugh. “Yeah, I know. Even back then, I was trying my best to be just like you.” Tony’s face softened a bit.
“So? What does that have to do with this present?” He looked at Peter expectantly, and Peter shifted, feeling his anxiety starting to creep up again.
“Well, I came across it while cleaning up the other day, and I thought it might be a nice thing for you to have. I know you’re not really the sentimental type, but…” Peter pulled out the package and handed it over. Tony promptly tore into the wrapping, revealing the very same Iron Man mask that Peter had been wearing that day.
It was propped up on a stand in a square display case, with a plaque beneath it that read, “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.” This time it was Tony’s turn to choke on a laugh. “Kid, how did you-?”
“Oh, the inscription? I asked Pepper for help. She said you’d get it.” Peter frowned. “She also said that it should remind you that you had something to tell me, whatever that means.” Tony winced.
“Did I ever tell you the story of how I invented time travel?”