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Peter has wanted to come out to Tony for a while.
They've gotten closer. He stays at the Tower almost every weekend and has come very close to calling the man "Dad". But he won't. Peter made a promise to himself to never slip up and do that. Things are going so so good. Tony has hugged him on multiple occasions, and even lets Peter hand things to him. That's right, Tony Stark lets someone other than Happy Hogan, James Rhodes or Pepper Potts hand something to him.
So, yeah, things are great.
But for some reason, the boy couldn't get the fact that he's asexual out of his mind. Peter has known it about himself for a while. He's out to his friends and to his aunt and practically everyone that knows him. With the exception of his new Avenger friends.
He wants to tell Tony. He really does.
Now, it's after a battle. Peter got pretty badly hurt and for some reason he's feeling very confident in the fact that he's ace. I should be proud! Proud and loud! Right? Yes, that makes sense. All Peter wants to do right now, as he stares at Tony in his hospital room doorway, is to come out to him. He's getting this crazy urge to yell about it, to text him, to tap it in morse code-- anything. He just wants him to know.
But he can't help but worry that Tony won't accept him. That he'll tell him he's a freak. That he'll kick him out and tell him to never, ever return back. Then he'll lose another father figure. Another. Again. And this kind of loss will be worse. Because Tony will still be out there and Peter will miss him like crazy and the man won't even care that he's gone.
Damn it, brain, shut up.
Ha, ha. I'm so funny.
"Kid, you feeling okay?" Tony asks with a soft smile as he advances towards the boys bed "We were worried for a second there. Are you in any pain?"
"No, sir," Peter slurs with a loopy smile.
"They gave you the good stuff, huh?" Tony raises an eyebrow, shaking his head with a laugh.
"Come here." Peter smiles brightly at him, arms open wide.
"Are you sure?" Tony questions, laughing when Peter pouts. "Okay, if you insist."
"Yes, I do!" Peter sighs happily when Tony lays down next to him. The man wraps his arms around Peter and pulls him into his chest.
Tony starts running a hand up from the top of Peter's head and then across the boy's cheek. When Peter sighs again, he continues running his thumb from his forehead and down to the boys cheek. "Are you a cat or something?"
"No! Don't be silly!" Peter smiles. "You're my best friend, Mr. Tony Stark, Iron Man, sir!"
"I understand. Okay. I won't stop petting you then, little cat." Tony laughs.
"I'm not a cat!"
"Mhm."
Peter's quiet for all of two seconds. "Tony, can I tell you something?"
Tony chuckles, making Peter's head shake on his chest a little. "I'm all ears."
"Okay, good. You will need all your ears for my words," Peter mumbles, eyes closing tiredly. "I have an announcement to make about myself! And I forbid you from being mad."
"Is that Dash kid bothering you again?" Tony suddenly has worry pouring into his tone, as he searches Peter's drugged up looking face. "I swear to all that is--"
"No, it's not him." Peter smiles, secretly happy that Tony's so protective and mad when it comes to Flash. It's a new side of Tony that he hasn't quite seen before, but is slowly coming out. "And it's Flash! Not Dash, silly goose."
"Oh, I'm the silly goose, huh? I don't call myself Flash." Tony brushes Peter's hair back and then goes back to running his thumb across Peter's cheek. "Sorry for interrupting. Anger got the best of me. Please, continue with your announcement."
"Thanks, Mr. Stark." Peter smiles brightly.
"No problem, Mr. Parker."
The boy rolls his eyes. "Anyway," he enunciates slowly. "I'm asexual!"
Tony tilts his head, not responding for a few agonizingly long seconds. Well, they would be agonizing if Peter could actually process anything going on around him. Tony's mouth opens and closes a few times before he sheepishly smiles. "Sorry, Pete, I don't understand. Could you explain what you mean?"
"Well, you've heard of bisexual and gay and pansexual and, and all that, right, righty, righty, right?" Peter checks, cracking his eyes open so he can see Tony nod. "Okay. I'm asexual!"
"Remind me what that means again?" Tony squints his eyes with a smile. "I'm sorry, bud. I know I've heard that word before, but I don't think anyone's ever told me what it means."
"No problem!" Peter exclaims. "Silly, silly me. But not as silly as a goose! It means that I don't experience sexual attraction to anyone! Like at all. Nope. None. No, sir. It means I don't want to have sex with someone ever-- well, not to all aces! But to me. I still want to date and kiss and stuff, though. And I still find people nice looking. Like MJ. She's very, very, very pretty! So pretty. Don't tell her I said that. She'll punch me! Anyways, I'm asexual!"
Tony's smile fades a little, not completely, but a little and his hand stills. He stares at Peter's face, almost like he's trying to figure something out. He gets that look on his face, the unreadable one that he gets whenever he's deep in thought about something.
The man's eyebrows are pulled together, and his eyes look strangely glassy. The drugged up Peter that lays on him doesn't seem to notice, though. Tony's mouth opens and closes a few times before he finally snaps it shut, jaw clicking.
"Um, kid," Tony's quick to say, voice thick with an emotion that Peter cannot pinpoint for the life of him. He gives up trying to as he takes ahold of Tony,s hand. The boy frowns when he realizes Tony stopped petting him. "I just, uh--"
The older superhero attempts to swallow the lump in his throat, but fails. His eyes are still watery as he manages to speak again. "I, uh-- that's a thing?"
Peter suddenly feels defensive, frown darkening his features. "Yeah. It's a thing, Mr. Stark! Why would you even--?"
"There's a word for it?"
Tony's voice is so small. If Peter didn't have Super Senses, there's no way he would have heard him. The boy's doe eyes widen at this question. He knows what it's implying, that Tony too feels this way. But he doesn't know for sure.
"I--" Peter leans back a little bit, taking a long look at Tony's relieved, yet broken expression before he begins nodding rapidly. "Yes, yeah, there is! There's a word for it! It's a real thing that many people are. It's real. Promise. Do you . . ." He trails off, placing a hand over Tony's heart, blinking his drugged up and glossy eyes at him. "If you feel this way, it's okay! Promise! You're not weird or anything! Completely normal."
The man stares right at Peter, eyes still shining. The boy is almost offended until the man pulls him into a tight hug, almost so tight that Peter can't breathe. Peter returns it with a loopy smile.
"Thank you," he whispers, then he clears his throat. "Uh, for telling me. Thanks for telling me. I support you."
Peter smiles, running a hand up and down Tony's back the same way his father figure does whenever he needs it. "Of course, Tony! I trust you . . . and I support you too!"
When Tony tenses, Peter worries that he's said something wrong. But the man clears his throat again and says, "Thank you." Peter feels himself getting more and more tired, body going pretty limp against Tony's chest. He's almost asleep when Tony's voice startles him a little. "It's real?"
"S'real, Tony!" Pete confirms, face pressed against his chest. "And there's different things on the asexual . . . thing! The scale thing! There's demisexual and grey asexual! Also, some people want to have sex and some people don't care and some people don't want to! It's depends on the person!"
Tony sighs a breath out, trying to ignore the way his heart pounds in his ears. He would be lying if he said this conversation wasn't making him feel better about himself. All these years of sleeping with people to try and feel normal, to try and fix himself. When, in reality, he's most likely just asexual. It makes him want to cry.
"I'll teach you all about it!" Peter informs him, taking a deep breath in. "That way you know how you identify! And now I can send you ace memes! This is so fun!"
"More memes." Tony chuckles. "Great."
"They're good ones!" Peter mumbles, pressing his face harder against Tony's chest. "Promise, Tony, Tony, Tony! The colours on the flag are really pretty too! Purple, black, grey, white, grey, purple, black--"
"Think you named them all, bud." Tony starts rubbing Peter's cheek with his thumb again.
"Pretty, right?"
"Sounds beautiful."
"Mhm!"