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The lab smelled faintly like burnt metal and coffee that had been re-heated one too many times.
“Kid, leave it alone. I’m not going to tell you.” Tony didn’t even look up from the wires and circuits splayed on his desk, the faintest smile tugging at his mouth.
Peter jumped. “Mr. Stark! I wasn’t doing anything!” Peter straightened quickly, hands snapping to his sides, eyes lingering on the documents spread across Tony’s desk.
“My birthday won’t be there, Pete.” Tony stepped away from his work bench, crossing his arms.
“Hey, you don’t know that I was searching for that!” Peter raised his eyebrows, leaning forward defensively.
“You’ve been asking for my birthday for the past two weeks. Lucky guess, kid.” He huffed a quiet laugh, grabbing a stack of papers and heading out of the lab. Peter followed immediately.
“Mr. Stark, you can’t just not celebrate your birthday?” He refuted, walking backwards to still stay in Tony’s vision. That mattered. He’d learned that.
“I’m not a kid anymore, Peter. Birthdays are just a reminder about how old I’m getting.” But every adult said that. Yet, they still celebrated their birthday. Peter knew it was something else.
-
Peter decided to search the internet for Tony’s birthday, it had never done him wrong when stalking his loved ones, why stop now?
The very credible fan blogs and gossip sites all came to a consensus of four dates: March 3rd, May 28th, August 15th, and December 16th. So, logically one of them had to be right. Twenty five percent chance of getting it right. Peter frowned at the screen.
Peter recalled Pepper mentioning spring being her favorite season, so it obviously had to be one of the former dates. Fifty-Fifty chance, and that was good enough for Peter.
-
It was now May 25th. Peter had less than 72 hours to make Tony’s birthday unforgettable.
“Pepper, does Tony like chocolate or vanilla more?” Peter asked, notepad in hand.
“Neither, he prefers strawberry…? What is this about, Pete?” Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, walking next to him.
“I’m planning a birthday party for Mr. Stark. Just making sure everything is perfect.” He said, pride beamed on his face. Pepper’s face dropped.
“Pete, I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Tony never liked his birthday. Maybe it’s best to just leave it.” She suggested, her hand squeezed Peter’s shoulder.
“That’s exactly why I’m going to throw him the most amazing party he’d ever seen. Then he has to like his birthday!” Peter smiled.
Pepper sighed, pausing. “Look, I’m not going to stop you, but it is my duty as his wife to strongly discourage this.” She walked into the elevator, a thin smile across her lips before the doors shut.
-
Shortly afterwards, a couple packages arrived at the tower. Peter hid them behind his back, hiding them somewhere he knew Tony would never find.
Tony saw him hiding the packages, but Peter didn’t know that.
“FRIDAY, what’s the tower's newest packages received?” Tony asked, still focused on his work.
“The newest packages that have entered Tower include: party streamers, candles, balloons, and sprinkles. Tony sighed.
“Would you like me to cancel the following four other orders, sir?” FRIDAY asked Tony.
Tony paused. Logically, he knew he should’ve said yes. He knew that a birthday party wouldn’t go the way Peter wanted. But that’s just the thing, Peter wanted this.
“No, that’s alright. This matters to Peter.”
-
Tony walked into the common room with confetti being thrown in his face, and everyone screaming “Happy Birthday, Tony!” all at once.
He hated it. But the kid loved it.
He squints, walking through the wave of people. There was cake, obviously home made, on the kitchen island, as well as chips, drinks, and just about anything else Peter could think of. It was a lot for Tony.
People pat him on the back, wishing him a happy birthday, smiling, shouting, and dancing.
Tony made his way over to his lab. Away from everyone.
He began to tinker with the scraps around his lab, building who knows what.
Peter walked in. “Mr. Stark..?” His eyes landed on Tony, and something broke in that poor kid’s heart.
“Hey, kid.” Tony walked up, greeting him eye to eye.
“Why’d you leave?” He hesitated.
“Listen, Pete. I appreciate it. I really do, but I don’t do birthdays. I never have.” Tony explains, his eyes softened.
“I know- That’s why I put this together! So you could enjoy your birthday!” Peter’s voice cracked as he stepped back. He didn’t want to disappoint Tony.
“But this is all what you want, kid. Every day is about me. My birthday is already overwhelming as it is. It’s unpredictable. People handing you presents, gossiping, drinking, I can’t control it. It’s a reminder that I can’t control my age, that I will get old, and I won’t be doing this forever.” And for once, Tony didn’t make eye contact. He moved his thumb over his index finger repeatedly. When he looked up, Peter was gone.
-
The sun had started to rise when Peter walked in Tony’s lab. “I uh, cleaned everything up.” He looked as if he’d been crying. “I salvaged a piece of cake for you. Pepper said you liked strawberry. I know it isn’t your birthday anymore, but happy birthday, Mr. Stark.” He hands him the pink cake with red and yellow frosting.
“Today is my birthday, kid.” He says, taking a bite out of the cake.
Peter paused. “What?”
“Today’s my birthday. May 29th, 1970, I graced the world with my presence” He let out an unimpressed laugh. “Thank you, Peter.”
Peter and Tony ate their cake, very few words exchanged between the two of them, because they understood something that words couldn’t say