Work Text:
Tony had been trying his best with Peter. Before the snap he wasn't nearly as close to Peter as he should've been. He'd been hot and cold with him, and that wasn't fair. He'd swirled into Peter's life, and been a chaos in his already chaotic life.
He'd promised May, and Pepper, and Happy, that he'd be a more solid figure in Peter's life. He'd promised himself too. He'd be there for Peter, he'd unwittingly taken up a father like role in the boys life and Tony wasn't going to be an absent parent. Tony could do this, he'd been doing it for Morgan, and he could do it for Peter.
"So kid," Tony said, as Peter settled at his table in the family lab, "how's your boyfriend?" That was a question parents asked their teenage kids? Wasn't it? Yeah. Definitely. And the kid did have a boyfriend. He'd met him, once or twice. Maybe a few more times. Butch something or other. Or maybe it was Barry? Bill? Something beginning with a b. Butch seemed too on the nose.
Either way the boyfriend in question was a nice, kind kid. A big heart. A bit rebellious at times, if the tattoo was anything to go by. Big, buff, protective. But nice. He was a good person. From what Tony had pieced together.
"Boyfriend?" Peter asked, his voice a little high. Tony scrunched his eyebrows up and looked back over to Peter.
"Yeah kid, Butch isn't it? The big muscle guy, that you always talk about. The one with the tattoo," he said. Peter turned as red as his spider-man suit and turned away to look at the small robot he'd been working on.
"You know, I've just remembered I had something to do," Peter mumbled. Tony stared at him.
"Pete, this is what you had to do. You come here every Friday after school," Tony said. Peter shrugged and mumbled something out that Tony couldn't quite make out. All he could do was watch as Peter rushed to pack his things up.
"What made you think we were dating?" Peter asked, freezing suddenly. Tony shrugged slightly.
"The way you talk about him," he said, shaking his head slightly. "You act like a couple," he added.
"Right," Peter said, before dashing out the lab with his things. Tony grabbed his phone to call May. He really wasn't sure what he'd done wrong there. He was certain Peter and Butch were dating.
Peter wasn't sure what had given Tony the idea he and Butch were together. He knew why it had scared him so much though. There was the massive blaring problem of his raging crush on Butch. But it wasn't like he could do anything about.
He wasn't all that sue why he was running to Butch either. But he couldn't be with Mr Stark while he asked questions about him and Butch as if they were a couple. It was strange! It was embarrassing.
Butch still lived at camp, but he visited the city a lot. Most of the time it was to visit him, and Peter tried not to think on that too much. Really he did! There was no need getting caught up in useless what-ifs. If there was meaning behind it, it wasn't Peter's place to pry and ponder it.
He knew where Butch would be staying. It was hard not too, given they spent a lot of time together when Butch did visit. Peter didn't bother with the main entrance of the hotel.
What was spider-man for if not a little light breaking and entering in his time of need?
It didn't matter that his time of need happened to be a sudden desperation to get to Butch because someone, the Tony Stark, had mistaken them for a couple. No, that didn't matter.
"Peter?" Butch asked, as the balcony door to his hotel room opened. Why anyone would want a balcony door off a hotel room in New York City, Peter didn't know. But he wasn't going to complain. Sure, he could have got in through a window off a fire escape, or any window. A door felt fitting though, the perfect amount of drama.
He stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and tugged the curtains closed. All without saying a word. He could feel Butch watching him as he tugged every curtain closed.
Lights turned on, thanks to Butch reaching for the light-switch.
Peter turned to Butch, sat on the bed staring at him. He tugged the mask off and tossed it at him. He watched as Butch scrambled to catch it.
"What's up?" Butch asked.
"Mr Stark thinks we're dating," Peter said. Butch took a moment to just stare, before he slowly blinked. Gradually he started to nod.
"Annabeth and Percy think we are too," he said. Peter took a moment to process that. Annabeth knew everything, she was probably the smartest person he knew. Percy didn't always agree with Annabeth, and he was smart in his own right. He only agreed on things when he was sure Annabeth was right.
Mr Stark thinking he was dating Butch was one thing. He'd met Butch a total of twice, and those hadn't been very memorable meetings. They'd barely interacted.
Mr Stark's assumption was based entirely on Peter. Butch, his actions, whatever feelings he may or may not have, played no role in how Mr Stark viewed their relationship.
Annabeth and Percy though? They knew both of them. Annabeth had known Butch since she was a kid, though he had been one of the blipped like Peter.
Their opinions, their assumptions, they were based on both of them.
They saw and interacted with both of them. They saw them apart, they saw them together. They knew them.
Their assumptions, their opinions, they were based on both of their actions. They were built atop both Peter's and Butch's feelings, whatever feelings they may or may not be.
"Are we dating?" Peter asked.
"I," Butch started, cutting himself off. Slowly Butch shrugged.
"I mean, is it something we want to do? Is it something you want to do?" Peter asked. He'd taken up pacing in a circle around the room. Floor, wall, ceiling, wall, repeat in a straight line. More a square he supposed. He could feel Butch watching him, could feel his eyes trailing after him.
"What do you want to do?" Butch asked. Peter laughed, high and stressed. If he knew he wouldn't be pacing in a circle.
It wasn't as if he didn't know he had a crush on Butch. Of course he had a crush on Butch! How could he not? It had started without him really meaning to get a crush on anyone. And then, boom. Feelings.
But that didn't mean he had to act on them! It didn't mean anything. It didn't even need to be acknowledged. But Tony had practically thrown his own feelings in his face.
He'd been forced to acknowledge them, and he really hadn't wanted too.
He'd had a good thing going with Butch! He didn't want pesky things like attraction and romantic feelings getting in the way.
"If you're up for it I'd be happy to date you," Butch said, snapping Peter out of his thoughts. He'd been mid-step on the ceiling when Butch's words had registered, and as he turned to look at Butch, he still was.
"Yeah?" he asked. "I mean, cool. Cool cool cool."
"Yes Peter," Butch said softly. "Half the Aphrodite cabin think we're dating. The other half have bets for when we'll start. It's mostly because they can read my feelings for you."
"God, you mean we could have been dating sooner than this?" Peter asked. He finally remembered to drop down from the ceiling. Mid air he flipped, and he landed lightly on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah," Butch said.
"Are we dating?" Peter asked.
"We are now, if you want to be," Butch said. Peter nodded, and shuffled slowly closer. He could do that.
"It'll be dangerous," he reminded.
"You'll be busy, you'll put the city first. I know," Butch said. And he did know. Because they'd practically been dating already for weeks, months. They just hadn't realised it. They hadn't said anything about it.