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The day started out great. To be fair, it ended pretty great, too. But the middle was shit.
Peter had started the day at the compound by eating waffles with Shuri. She had come to the compound to do some work with Dr Banner, and Peter was at the compound to work with Mr Stark. At first, he was too shy to talk to Shuri, but when she approached him at dinner and asked to sit down, he couldn’t exactly say no. As it turns out, they had a lot in common, and by the end of the night, there were a number of pranks throughout the property, and the compound was suspiciously low on marshmallows. Peter found himself being open with her, even coming out to her when he noticed her she/they pin. It was almost as if someone had combined Ned and MJ. He went to sleep with the happy feeling of having made a new very good friend.
The next morning, Peter sleepily wandered to the breakfast area in his pyjamas to make waffles. To his surprise, someone was already at the waffle maker.
“Gmorn’ng,” Peter mumbled, putting down his plate on the counter and pouring himself some coffee.
“Good morning,” an unfamiliar voice responded.
Peter turned and blinked. Then he violently started and nearly dropped his coffee.
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even recognize you-”
“It’s fine, Peter,” Shuri smiled. “Here, were you going for the waffles?”
They moved aside and offered him a spoon. He took it and poured some batter onto the machine.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked, relaxing. Sure, he was talking to a princess, but it was Shuri. “Some of the bed aren’t great.”
“It was okay,” they said. “I spend a long time in the library and talking with FRIDAY. So that didn’t leave much time for sleeping.”
He laughed, taking out the waffles. He poured chocolate chips and raspberry syrup on his, then followed Shuri to a table by the windows.
“What do you want to do today?” he asked. “I know you planned to work more in the lab with Bruce and Mr Stark, but maybe we could hang out some more?”
“I would love that,” she smiled. “Maybe set up some more prank traps?”
He grinned.
After breakfast, Shuri decided to head to the lab and start working. They planned to hang out around noon, after Shuri had enough time with Bruce and Tony. Until then, Peter would do some training. So Peter suited up and chose a training program that would project holograms of attackers for him to fight. As a challenge, he blindfolded himself.
“Begin fighting,” the automated voice said.
Peter jumped into an action stance, and let his mind feel what was around him. A figure behind him. Backflip, shoot with web. Down. Someone coming from above. Look up, stabilise, and tie to wall. Down. Two from opposite sides, swing up and - Peter gasped for air - shoot twice? He missed one of them, and panicked. Where was the attacker? He couldn’t breathe. Oh god, where was the automation? He fired five times in a circle, and heard the ding that he had hit the attacker. But he couldn’t breathe. There were more coming.
“Automation shut off,” the voice said. “Hyperventilation found. Support systems notified.”
“No, nonono, I’m fine!” Peter cried out, trying to get a good breath. He ripped off his blindfold. He was surrounded in webbing, kneeling on the ground, heaving. “I- I’m fine!”
“Peter?”
“ Shit ,” he whispered, heaving. “I- I’m fine! All good!”
“Peter!” Tony slammed open the door to the training room, quickly followed by Bruce. Tony kneeled down next to him and put a hand on his back.
“Peter, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Tony asked, pulling him to his feet.
Peter doubled over, still gasping for air. He started to panic. There was no way Tony could find out. This was his fault, all because he wanted to wear his binder. Can’t tell Tony. Can never tell Tony. Never tell.
Tony was leading him out of the training area. Everything was blurry, he was crying. Can never tell.
“Peter, breathe, four in-” Tony was saying.
But Peter’s lungs couldn’t expand. Never tell.
“Get Shuri, there’s something wrong,” Tony said to Bruce, not taking his eyes off Peter. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Bruce run out of the living room. Yes, Shuri would help him. He could never tell Tony.
Never tell. Rule number one. Never tell unless they’re like you. Never tell. He was feeling light headed, and suddenly the ground was coming closer -
He was on the couch, and couldn’t breathe. Never tell. No matter the cost.
“PETER PARKER!” a voice yelled.
He startled and gasped, holding his breath. Shuri’s face came into sharp focus. She was panicked and holding his face. She glanced over their shoulder at where Tony and Bruce where nervously watching. They leaned down in a hug so her mouth was right next to his ear.
“Are you binding?” they whispered.
Peter nodded, and exhaled with a sob.
“Peter, you idiot!”
“What is it?” Tony said nervously.
“Get me a pair of scissors,” she ordered. “Now!”
Tony ran to the desk and brought back a pair of safety scissors. He was very confused. But Peter was twisting away from her.
“No! No! Can’t tell! Please!” he gasped out.
“Peter, stay still, I don’t want to cut you,” they said, forcing him down and unzipping the back of his suit.
“What is happening?” Bruce whispered to Tony, who shook his head.
“Peter, you goddamned idiot,” Shuri hissed as she saw it.
“Oh,” Tony exhaled softly.
The binder was cutting into Peter’s skin, clearly too small, with the trans flag tye-dyed on it. Shuri cut the back of it without hesitation. Peter exhaled in relief as it released. His back had sharp red lines from where it was cutting into his skin. He inhaled deeply, then started trembling. He slowly turned around to face Tony and Bruce.
To his horror, they where talking quietly to each other in hushed voices. Shuri was watching him carefully.
“Are you okay?” they asked.
Peter didn’t respond, keeping his eyes on Tony and Bruce. They turned to him, and they caught the tail end of what Tony was saying. He told. They knew. They’d hate him. Maybe?
“-we have to balance the stretchiness perfectly, I wonder if we keep the back open but extend the stiff part to the sides?” he was saying.
“Tony,” Bruce interrupted, nodding to Peter.
Tony looked over at him. Peter was slightly hiding behind Shuri, holding his arms in front of his chest. He looked terrified.
“Oh, Peter,” Tony sighed. He took the few steps to him. “It’s okay. We love you. You’re… you’re my son.”
Peter let out a huge sob and collapsed into Tony’s arms. Tony paused for a split second, then wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug.
“I love you just the way you are, Peter Parker,” he whispered.
Two months later, Peter stood in his suit next to Tony. They were standing at a podium at a press conference, announcing a new Stark product. It was called the Spider Binder.
“With great pride,” Peter was saying into the microphone, mask on, “do we open a new branch of Stark Industries: Everyone, Everywhere.”
“Stark Industries wants to be supportive to everyone, so we will be expanding our company to make everything from gender-affirming products to mobility aids, and we want your help. There are application and input forms on all Stark Industries websites and social media platforms. Use them to apply or give us feedback for what we should make.”
“Our first product is… the Spider Binder!” Peter cried, dramatically opening the curtain to reveal a huge display of binders. They were in every skin tone possible, in a remarkable amount of sizes, others had all sorts of pride flags on them, and others still had cartoons or flowers or animals on them.
And as reporters milled around the binders, and as some trans employees helped others measure what size was right for them, and as people shook his hand and talked to him and Tony and everyone who had worked on the products, Peter realised something. He could tell. He told. And it worked out beautifully.