For Tony - Post Kidnapping

[close_to_the_ground]

He's okay. That's what Strange kept trying to tell Peter as he'd tugged his mask over his head and immediately started webbing through the city, trying to get home. He didn't care if he was wearing his civilian clothes, didn't really give two shits who saw him.

Tony got hurt. And okay wasn't gonna cut it until Peter saw it with his own two eyes. He still didn't understand what had happened. He got beat up? That doesn't make sense and even without the suit Tony Stark can handle random muggers or whatever so there's gotta be more to it than that.

God, it's Peter's fault he doesn't even have a suit, anymore.

He swings to one off the windows of the penthouse because taking the stairs from the roof is too slow and pops the window open, stumbling into the living room.

"Mr. Stark!" he yells, pulling the mask off, hair hopelessly messed up. "Mr. Stark?"

Comments

[close_to_the_ground]

"Yeah well your dad was a dick to you and you're super nice to me so take some of the credit," Peter scoffs, scooping up Red with one arm as he trots over to the stove.

"May used to make me make her this weird matcha tea stuff. It was gross. I can handle whatever honeybush is," he says as he turns on the kettle and fetches the tea. "Gotta give Ben credit, too. He only died a few months before I met you. He did all the cooking and that kind of stuff, actually."

[ahollowman]

"That explains a lot," Tony said from his nest on the sofa. He'd been invited to dinner a few times, usually as cover for an eventual lecture about how hard he was working Peter. Dinner was always predictable, at least, in that it was predictably either burnt and a lost cause, or ... wanting something.

Tony could cook, of course, but it wasn't the same kind of cooking. It wasn't home cooking from a grandmother's recipies. It was dishes that could be picked up at a Le Cordon Bleu boot camp. Good, but a little too fiddly.

"I'm ... it's sad I never got a chance to meet him. Make a whole pot, alright? And get me the tonkotsu? Get yourself some takoyaki, too, like, two orders of takoyaki."

Peter liked them, and they were good cold from the fridge the next day. Tony probably wasn't making any bagged lunches for the next few days.

[close_to_the_ground]

"Yep, yep yep got it," Peter mutters as he punches the order into the delivery app and gets down a mug for Tony.

He doesn't bother to defend May's honor because, well. She couldn't cook. And neither can Peter. But he can make a decent cup of tea and order food off the internet like a damn pro.

"So what are the actual injuries? You can only avoid telling me for so long."

[ahollowman]

"Mm," Tony agreed, because Peter was right. His ability to harp on the same subject all night overpowered Tony's patience too many times over. Tony was, admittedly, not a man overflowing with patience.

"Black eye, cut the inside of my cheek on my teeth. Jaw kind of ... clicks once in a while. Took a few kicks to the ribs, have a hairline crack and a lot of bruising. Dislocated a shoulder, but Strange put it right already. Who, by the way, you accosted the other day?"

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter is about to get another flipped out rant going about how Tony should be in a hospital when he catches the last part.

Fuck.

"What, uh, what did he say?" he squeaks as he brings over the tea. "I mean, I didn't accost him. I don't accost people."

[ahollowman]

"Accosted. He very clearly said accosted. And I might argue except I can think of at least three other times when you have, in fact, accosted someone. Baby monitor protocol?"

Tony's black brows nearly made their way to his hairline as he looked at Peter. It was a very particular look, one which usually signaled Tony launching into a complaint. But he took the warm ceramic mug full of tea and held it against his chest, and no complaint ever came.

"We had a talk. We're dating now."

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter tenses, ready for the yelling or the grounding or the very, very worst option, Tony feeling betrayed but instead...

"Oh shit," he breathes. "Oh, oh my God. That's awesome. I like him. You're dating someone nice. Holy shit. Wait, but, am I in trouble?"

[ahollowman]

He hadn't exactly needed Peter's permission or approval to seek out a relationship, but somehow it was relieving that he had it. Tony was in it for the long haul with Pete, and he knew it, didn't even think twice about having him for as long as it took Peter to fly the coop and be on his own. But it was obvious to Tony that their lives were easier when they weren't arguing.

"Well. I still need you to go meet the delivery girl and also break apart my chopsticks. So, no. You're not in trouble."

After a moment of consideration, where Tony drew circles on his white blanket, he added, "Thank you. I mean, you went out of your way to vouch for me. Maybe it helped."

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter bites his lip and nods, a little shell shocked that he's not in trouble. Or that Tony isn't hurt or something. It's kind of amazing, actually.

"You deserve to have nice people around. You deserve to have someone other than me know how good you can be," he says quietly, fishing two twenties out of his own pocket. The only good thing about Tony being laid up is Peter can use his own allowance to pay for dinner. "I'll be right back, okay?" he mutters, a little embarrassed.

[ahollowman]

How good you can be.

Tony lifts his head and watches Peter go with an odd expression, still clutching his mug.

"Mm-hm."

It was, possibly, one of the kindest things Tony had ever had said to him. But Peter was one of the kindest people he'e ever had the fortune of meeting.

"Don't be too long."

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter nods, feeling oddly exposed even though that wasn't even the most embarrassing thing he's ever said to Tony. But everything feels wrong, seeing Tony hurt like that. So terrifyingly wrong.

He pays the delivery guy with a tight smile and a generous tip and is back up to the penthouse in under five minutes.

"So movie is your choice, tonight. When you get beat up and get a new boyfriend out of it, you get to choose the movie," Peter announces, carefully dishing the food and arranging it on a tray for Tony to eat off of on the couch. "Eat up."

[ahollowman]

"You gonna change your mind if I pick What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" Tony asked, half-teasing.

He watched Peter quietly as he took care of setting up their dinner, and put aside the warm mug only when he needed his one hand to start eating.

The soup was a good idea.

"What if we tried to put a team back together?"

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter just stares for a moment, thrown by the change in topic and it takes a few moments to figure out what Tony's even talking about.

"Wait, seriously? Like the Avengers? But, uh...huh. So like next time, I don't just call you but I call a team? I don't, I don't know how to put something like that together."

[ahollowman]

Tony did turn the television to Gilbert Grape, before hiding the remote in the depths of his sling for safekeeping. At least it had a use.

He plucked some of the chashu pork from on top of his ramen. When he spoke again, his voice was strangely distant.

"You don't need to know how to put something like that together. Because I'm the world's second leading expert."

Although there were times when he wished it weren't true. That Fury had stuck around to look after what he'd created, and not put the burden on Tony's shoulders. To keep them outfitted, and organized, and fed, and safe, and as far away from reprisal as possible.

He'd failed.

[close_to_the_ground]

"I mean, I don't know much about superhero teams but I like the idea of backup. Especially for you," Peter decides, realizing that maybe Thor would be on it.

That would be so goddamn cool.

"Like, we could have a system, right? Like a superhero phone tree where we can easily call for help and someone is always available. And uh, oh man open comms when we fight together."

[ahollowman]

"That's exactly what you need. An open comm with everyone on the field."

Tony snorted and went after some of his noodles. They ordered from a good place. They were always fresh, and the perfect texture. Tony had some texture issues.

Tony had some issues.

"You're right, though. Backup would be good, especially for me."

[close_to_the_ground]

"You can't spend all your nights rescuing me from ridiculous stuff," Peter laughs, taking up his chopsticks to snag some Kakuni.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says, a little quiet. "I know you're in pain but I mean like not seriously hurt. You know that if something happened to you, I wouldn't be okay. I really need you."

[ahollowman]

"What's so ridiculous about sentient hedge animals?"

Tony gave a wry smile. He set aside his food for a minute to set his phone on the table and bring up a holo of the screen. It would be easier to manipulate one-handed. He started by trashing half of his email, and then opened a CAD file.

"That's a new responsibility for me. I'm not used to being needed. It's usually the other way around. "

[close_to_the_ground]

"Yeah, well, you can need me," Peter says around a mouthful of noodles. "Can't just be one sided, you gotta be getting something out of the whole thing other than a reduced bank account."

He leans down and scoops Red onto the couch from where she's been eyeing them patiently. "Huh, girl? We gotta take care of Mr. Stark."

[ahollowman]

Tony laughed when the dog whined, like she actually knew what the hell Peter was talking about, and then winced when the noise pulled at his bruised chest.

He looked at Peter curiously then.

"You know that's not all I get out of this, right? Having you around isn't nothing. Anyway, this was all in the ten year plan. Have children. Create elaborate pranks to have executed in my will."

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter glances up from his noodles, red in face at the 'isn't nothing' comment. He knows, knows Tony loves him and so maybe that's enough like it was enough for May. Peter definitely drained pretty much everything from her, especially after Ben died.

"Yeah, I feel like adopting a teenage spider-mutant kid and a three legged dog was super in your ten year plan," he snorts. "Teach him how to drive, how to swim. Buy him a new chem lab at school."

[ahollowman]

"Hey."

Tony lifted his hand and carded it through Peter's hair, holding his bangs away from his face. He'd seen May do it before, and it felt natural, the first time he'd tried it. And that was the best cue he ever had trying to learn this. Do what felt natural.

He wondered if Peter understood. If someone so young really could. Tony hadn't even understood, not until Pepper. What it felt like to love someone in a way that poured so much of your ego into them that they were more important to your survival than yourself.

"If I teach you one good thing, then I'll have done everything I needed to. I think that was the whole ten year plan all along. Now be a dear and go get my contacts case and my glasses from the bedroom."

[close_to_the_ground]

Peter doesn't even think about how he instinctively leans into Tony's hand, always a little starved for that contact. More than he thinks sixteen year old boys should be.

"Yeah well you've taught me like a thousand good things so I guess you can just kick back and relax for the next two years," he murmurs, closing his eyes for a moment before he pushes up to trot over to Tony's room.

"Pretty sure this right here is why you adopted a kid. Fetching stuff."

[ahollowman]

"Is that not what a child is? An indentured servant?"

Red looked at Tony as if she were offended he'd gotten himself hurt and upset The Boy and Tony looked back at her, frowning. He wasn't about to be lectured by a dog.

"No leftovers for you."

He rubbed her head between her ears, watching them flop while he waited for Peter.

Reaching over, he gave the plans on the holo screen a spin. The suit had a new addition to the design, an electromagnetic force field. But that wasn't good enough, not when he had the Mark L to compare it to.

[close_to_the_ground]

"Your readers, grand-dad," Peter announces, dropping the glasses and contact case in Tony's lap, as if Peter hadn't needed glasses until the spider bite.

He flops dramatically back onto the couch, stretching out on his back and staring up at the suit specs.

"Any way to keep it more air tight or is that not possible without the nano-tech?"