Work Text:
Peter felt pure joy as he made the discovery at the bottom of his drawer.
His bedroom had been well overdue for a clean. He didn’t mean for it to get so bad, but he simply never had the time or motivation to fix the mess. That was until all three of his favourite pairs of sweatpants were no where to be found, and a rescue mission had to be launched.
Once he had started, he couldn’t stop. He hadn’t done a lot of cleaning, but he’d taken quickly to rearranging. He wanted to organise all the clothes in his drawers into categories, and that’s when he found it.
A tamagotchi.
His entire childhood flashed before his eyes, caring for his baby every hour of the day. The panic at the end of a school day to get home and clean up it’s poo’s, feed it, play games and earn coins. He remembered the times it was confiscated from him in the school yard as all the kids connected them and made their tamagotchi’s friends.
There was no happiness quite like Tamagotchi Parent happiness.
Peter snatched the tiny device, and frantically dug around for a pen. He poked the little reset button on the back, and excitedly flipped it over, only to find the screen hadn’t budged. He tried again, and once more for good measure, before he resigned to the fact the batteries were dead.
He cursed under his breath, until he remembered his last school dance. May had insisted he wear this fancy watch of Ben’s, and they’d bought batteries for it just the evening before. It was a two pack, the other battery should be stored in the kitchen cupboard. If only Peter knew where to find a baby screwdriver in their apartment.
After the hour he searched for the tiniest screw driver in the apartment, Peter sat down at the dining table, Tamagotchi flipped so he could unscrew the back and replace the batteries, only to find the tiny screws were too far corroded to get any grip. The head of the screwdriver just kept turning and turning without any traction.
An absolute crisis.
He’d have to call in the big guns.
Ten minutes later, Peter had landed on the balcony of the Stark tower. He was scanned and greeted by FRIDAY as he crossed the threshold into the building, a security measure Peter had helped construct. It was his first time dipping his toes in the world of AI creation, and he’d been elated working on it with Tony.
Peter made his way down to the hundred million dollar lab, in search for the inventor. Tony would surely have an acid, or another substance laying around that could eat away at the screw. Or perhaps a magnet strong enough to coax it out, or maybe Tony could carefully break the back of the device off. Peter trusted Tony’s clearer thinking in this situation.
The man was leant against a stool, hunched over one of the large work benches, solely focused on the wires between his fingers. He hadn’t even noticed Peter walk in, until the kid was stood just across from him.
“Dad?” Peter leant against the work bench.
Tony’s head flew up to look at him, attention instantly stolen. The Iron Man’s eyes wandered over him, a mixture of concern and eagerness.
Peter knew Tony would do or give him anything he wanted if Pete called him Dad. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
“You okay?” He stood to his feet,
“The battery in my tamagotchi is dead, and the screw has corroded. I need help getting it out without breaking it,”
“Okay, let’s see what we can do,” Tony agreed.
It didn’t matter how little the dilema, example a, Tony took everything with life or death seriousness when Peter used that special little word.
It was an accident, the first time Peter called him Dad. He was sure Tony hadn’t felt nearly as close with Pete as the boy did with the Iron Man. Peter was half asleep, post-battle exhaustion, and it had just slipped out, his eyes half open and lips barely cooperative. He was too tired to even take the words all back, or stress at all about them.
The soft kiss pressed to his forehead however, would’ve killed the words right on Peter’s tongue even if he did have them. Tony was every bit like a Dad, he helped Peter, yelled at him when he was reckless, he clothed the kid and brought him gifts, he grilled him about whether or not he’d done his homework. It was nice to learn that Peter was as important to Tony, as Tony was to Peter.
Tony moved expertly around the lab. He riffled through drawers and reached up on high shelves, moving to Peter’s side and throwing everything down on the work bench as he slipped on his magnifying glasses. He was completely dedicated to the task at hand, and Peter was momentarily stunned that Tony had brought such dedication. It really wasn’t serious or important, not anything for Tony to waste his time on, yet there he was, giving Peter’s little problem every bit of his attention.
Peter felt a little guilty for coercing Tony into helping him. As he watched the man, Peter moved up behind him, arms wrapped around Tony’s waist as he rested his head against the back of Tony’s shoulder.
“Thank you… I didn’t mean to take you away from your work,”
“It’s okay,” Tony hushed him, “let Dad fix it.”
Tony held out an open palm, and Peter placed the tiny device in his hand. Tony instantly got to inspecting the erosion as Peter got more comfortable. The old shirts Tony set aside for lab were so worn and comfortable. He loved the soft feel under his cheek, the warmth that radiated through the thin fabric. Tony didn’t seem to mind the way Peter clung to him, so the Spider-Man had no intention to move.
He trusted the man impeccably, though Peter had adjusted his grip on the man as instructed. Tony wouldn’t allow him to be anywhere near harms way. Peter snuggled up against Tony’s back, arms hidden between each of their warm bodies, and he was glad he’d come over that afternoon. It was nice to be close with Tony like this.
Tony had the task done in minutes, having perfectly calculated exactly how to eliminate the problem without damaging the outer shell. Peter realised he hadn’t watched at all, and maybe it was better that way, he didn’t want to know how close he came to really losing his tamagotchi, for real this time.
“I haven’t seen one of these in years,” Tony handed the tamagotchi back,
“I had about three when I was a kid, but I refused to put them on silent, and it drove May insane. She confiscated them I don’t know how many times,”
“Don’t get me in trouble with your Aunt,” Tony pointed a finger at him,
“I won’t. I’ll keep this one on silent… thanks again… for fixing it,”
“Always, Pete,” Tony settled himself back in his chair, hands busy with his latest project,
“Do you want to watch a movie?” Peter asked, desperate for the Iron Man to know Pete wanted to spend more time with him and not just use him, “or we can work on the suits? Or get something to eat? Or-“
“Is everything okay?” Tony asked carefully, discarding the project in front of him once more,
“Yeah-“
“It sounds like you don’t want to go home.”
Peter didn’t know how much to admit. That was only half of the truth, and he didn’t like the implications of the mistruth in it if he agreed. There was no reason why he’d couldn’t happily go home and wait for May to arrive back from work. He’d love to have a quiet dinner with her, but he’d also love to hang around with Tony for a bit, no reason necessary.
Truth was, Peter couldn’t think of anyone else he’d ask for help. Even when Aunt May, or Ned, or Dr. Strange could give him the exact same assistance. Peter always wanted Tony’s help, wanted any excuse to spend time with the man, to learn from him. Tony was still every bit his hero as the day Peter met him.
“I just wanted to hang out with you,” Peter admitted quietly.
Tony’s features softened, and he wiped his hands down his work pants as he stood again. In a flash, half of the lab lights were out, the music had been cut, and Tony had carelessly tossed his glasses on the bench.
Peter watched him round the table as various corners of the lab packed themselves up. Tony had long perfected each little tuck and turn, all timed down to the second to neatly pack away.
Tony stepped up beside Peter, pressing a careful kiss to the kids temple, “give me five for a shower, okay? Get FRIDAY to order whatever you want. I’ll meet you in the living room in ten,”
“Can we watch Star Wars?”
“Whatever you want, kid.”
They missed the first half of the movie, both too busy eating and engrossed in Peter’s tamagotchi as they created a little life, even FRIDAY had opinions on the girls name. Peter taught Tony how to care for the little creature, and Tony told Peter all about the games when he was a kid, not that he’d ever played with them much, when his father had a whole lab for him to poke around in.
They settled on the couch and relaxed into the movie after an hour or so. Peter didn’t mind the silence and companionship, in fact, we was very much enjoying just watching a movie with Tony. Peter carefully wriggled closer, and very slowly, rested his head against Tony’s shoulder, hoping it wasn’t too much, considering they were still navigating each other’s space and affections, until they had it down to memory.
Tony lifted his arm, an invitation Peter gladly took to snuggle into his chest. By the second movie, they’d shifted to lay out across the couch, tending to Peter’s tamagotchi before they hit play. Peter remembered enjoying Tony’s hand in his hair, snuggled up to the engineer, where he fell asleep before he could catch how tired he was, Tony following him soon after.
When they woke up, a full six hours later, they both had dozens of panicked missed calls from May. Tony and Pete looked at each other, and both scrambled for the front door, Peter rushing back to the couch only to grab his tamagotchi. The lights and television were left on as Tony sped them through the streets of New York, both ready to beg May’s forgiveness when they pulled up.