MJ and Peter Parker: as seen through Tony’s eyes
There was something wrong with the kid, Tony could tell. It wasn’t just that he was completely quiet which, in and of itself was already pretty weird but Tony could attribute that to the tiredness the kid must be facing since he was out late fighting some sort of giant lizard or something weird like that. And then he had had to get up early to go to school since he had a History quiz.
Maybe what was weird was that Tony knew Peter’s schedule almost by heart even if he didn’t know his own.
But, regardless, Peter had been completely quiet since he got to the lab, he hadn’t eaten anything and now, he wasn’t even bothering to pretend like he was listening to Tony; only humming along while he told him about the latest of Morgan’s antics.
He figured he could let it slide, the kid had been through a lot with coming back from the dead and that whole thing. Also, he imagined that it was probably hard on him to see Tony in the hospital for so long and to find out he had a pseudo- sister who was 5. But, then again, he was still Tony Stark and even though he bothered Peter endlessly about his inability to keep quiet, he still was just as bad when it came to tolerating silence.
“So, yeah. Morgan was all like “I’ll be a superhero when I grow up”,” Tony continued his story, eyeing Peter to see his reaction, “And I said, “When you grow up?Why wait? Let’s start right now”, and I built her a suit.”
Peter didn’t even look up from his homework as he responded, “That’s great Tony” and the silence overcame them once again.
“Okay kid. Focus up.” Tony grabbed the rag he was using to wipe his hands from the car oil and threw it at Peter, he caught it without even looking up. Great to know his reflexes still worked. “What’s going on with you? You’ve barely said a word in the hour and a half we’ve spent here. Everything okay at school?”.
“What? Yeah- yeah. Everything’s fine” Peter sighed, knowing that once Tony knew something was wrong, it was only a matter of time before he found out what. That didn’t stop him from trying to lie to him. “I’m just, you know, tired from the whole lizard thing. And- and, the quiz was kinda hard so, you know, just tired. Yeah, jus-just tired.”
“Mhm” Tony said while looking at him. He had known the teenager for a really long time, longer for him since he had grieved him for 5 years, had moved heaven and hell to bring him back, so he was aware of the fact that all it took to catch him in the lie was to get him to look him in the eye. “Well, I suppose there’s no need for you to be here in the lab if you are so tired, Pete. You can go to your room and have a nap, I’ll call you when dinner is ready”
Peter looked at him then, almost dissapointed. But it was really a testament to how much better the kid was at lying through his teeth that he just sighed once more, got up and with a quiet “Okay, thanks” he left the lab.
“Friday, let me know when Peter reaches his bedroom please” he said as he slid under the car to continue his tinkering.
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It was almost an hour later when he heard his lab door open and a soft pair of footprints approach the car. He didn’t need to look to know who it was.
“ Daddy, Mommy told me to tell you to wake Peter for dinner”. Morgan told him in a tone that suggested that she was very excited at the prospect of being the message carrier. He got out form under the car and sat on the board.
“Okay, Moguna” He told her sweetly as he got up and washed his hands on a cloth. “I’ll be in the kitchen with Pete in a minute, why don’t you go wash your hands?”
With that Morgan turned around and ran upstairs while Tony followed after her until he got to the hallway towards the bedrooms. He walked up to Peter’s room, right in front of Morgan’s and quietly opened the door, just in case Peter was still asleep.
What he found, however, was a shocked, mask-less Spider-man staring at him with wide eyes standing in front of an open window.
The minute Peter saw Tony he started getting out of the suit while rambling nervously.
“Mr Stark, I-I-I can totally explain” he started saying while he grabbed a Stark Industries sweatshirt and some pants. “I was just- you know, um, just getting fresh air.”
“Mr Stark, huh?” Tony answered, his arms crossed and his eyebrows knitted. “Let me get this straight, you were so tired that you couldn’t even speak, so I send you to bed like the responsible parent I am,” Peter blushed at that, “and you decide to go out to “get fresh air” in the Spider-man suit?”
Peter’s shoulders slumped, he sat on the edge of his bed and dropped his head between his hands.
“Okay so,” he started looking up at Tony, who decided to walk closer, “ I wasn’t actually tired and, I didn’t really went outside for fresh air”.
“Oh, really?” Tony answered sarcastically, “Well, you had me fooled”.
Peter groaned at that, frustration evident and making Tony feel particularly bad. “C’mon, Pete.” He said, sitting next to the young hero, “tell Papa Stark what’s going on”
“Please don’t ever call yourself Papa Stark again”. Peter mumbled, letting his head drop on Tony’s shoulder. “I’ve just been having a hard time with this whole being back thing. Like, you guys have been great and I’m so grateful that Ned is with me through all this even if that is a bit twisted,” he started, Tony whispered that it wasn’t twisted at all. “But 5 years have gone by and now I have to compete with fucking Brad and I am never gonna beat him because he is tall and sporty and smart”
“Wait,wait” Tony stopped him because he was honestly kind of lost. “Who the hell is Brad?”
“That’s what I said” Peter answered almost with a squeak. “He is just this guy who goes to my school who was 5 years younger but know he is our same age and he has a massive crush on MJ and I just, I can’t compete with him”.
“So I take it, you have a crush on MJ too?” He asked, not wanting to make any assumptions.
“Well, duh.” Peter replied as he got up and started pacing around the room, “She is just so smart and pretty, and great and I really missed her while I was gone even though I don’t really remember any of it. But, I just, I feel like I can talk to her.”
“Kid , you can talk to literally anyone. I once saw you have a conversation with the tree alien from Wakanda and he only says three words”. Peter glared at him, so Tony put his hands up in defense. “But look, if you like this girl, just ask her out. It really is that easy, if she says no then she says no but at least you’ll know you tried.”
“I can’t ask her out Tony,” the kid was trying to get impatient, throwing himself face down on the bed, “She’ll say no and then I’ll day. Again.”
Tony flinched at the memory. “You won’t die because I won’t allow that.” Tony started running his fingers through Peter’s hair, “And why would she say no? You are the best kid out there”.
“You have to say that ‘cause you are like my dad. It’s like when Aunt May says it, it doesn’t count” Peter explained almost patiently. “But Brad is gonna ask her out because he told Betty who told Ned who told me that he would. And MJ will say yes and I will be screwed. I mean, the guy is literally the school’s star basketball player”
“Dude, you are literally Spider-man” Tony told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Yeah, well. She doesn’t know that” Peter sighed disappointed. “ And I won’t tell her that just to get her to go on a date with me because then she would be going on a date with Spider-man, not Peter Parker”
“They are one and the same, kid” Tony got up and pulled Peter with him, “But okay, say you don’t tell her you are an avenger. You still have a lot of things going for you.” He started, “Like, you are super smart, and kinda funny. In a dorky kind of way. You are kind and you have known this girl almost your entire life, you have the whole shared experience going for you.”
“That’s true”, Peter mused as he opened his bedroom door and they started walking towards the kitchen.
“I know, I’m a genius”. Peter rolled his eyes at that while Tony put an arm around his shoulders, “I say you go to school tomorrow and ask her out, first thing in the morning. That way, you beat Brad to it and it will be like taking a band aid off.”
“You know what? I’ll do it” Peter smiled at him. Then he sat down at the table next to Morgan while Tony went to the kitchen counter to help Pepper grab the food.
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Tony found himself nervous all morning after dropping his kids off at their schools. He knew the kid would be fine though.
It was still nice to get confirmation. Which he did via text a couple of hours later.
“Guess who has a date this Friday?” - Spider-kid
“Actually don’t guess”- Spider-kid
“That’s great underoos, I’m happy for you”- TS
Yeah, he would be fine. He was part Stark after all.
