you can call me axi and prompts/requests are open! if you need a friend, you can always come to me and talk. i use they/them pronouns if you wanna find my works, look up the tag “axiwrites” and you’ll find me :)
I tried writing something again. It sucks, just like everything else I create. Enjoy.
Make eye contact
They were working across from each other. Tony was making additions to his newest suit, as always. But Peter... Peter was definitely not doing what he should have been. He was basically staring a hole into the older man, not stopping even when Tony raised his eyes to look into Peter's. He couldn't read anything from the younger one's face no matter how hard he tried.
After a while, he decided to say something. He smiled and raised his eyebrows, "Not that I'm not enjoying the attention, Spiderling, but what are you doing?"
Peter's eyes widened, a blush spread over his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was quiet and stuttered so Tony can't understand anything.
Peter didn't look at Tony for the rest of the day.
Start talking, initiate a conversation
When Peter arrived to the workshop, Tony was already there and working on something. Peter took a deep breath and just went for it.
"Hi Mr. Stark," he greeted cheerfully.
"Hey Pete."
"How are you doing?"
Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy. "I'm old, kid, how do you think I'm doing?"
"Um... I was just... uh how was your day?"
"So far so good. Pepper came in earlier to yell at me again but god forgive me, I wasn't listening."
Peter chuckled. "You fight a lot with Miss Potts?"
"Not that much, but she likes to call me out on my stupidity."
"Y-you're not stupid, Mr. Stark."
Tony smiled and turned back to what he was doing a minute ago. And there, the conversation lost its flow so Peter panicked. Quick, Parker, think about anything, just say something!
"Do you think aliens are real," he asked, making Tony laugh.
"Kid, I've fought against aliens with the God of thunder and a man from World War II on my side."
"Yeah, right, s-sorry."
When the conversation stopped again, Peter asked something even more dumb.
"Would you like to be buried or cremated when you die?"
Tony's eyes opened so wide and Peter was sure he went too far this time.
"Why? Do you think it's time for me to start thinking about this?"
"No," Peter shouted, almost falling out of his chair, "I'm not saying you're old or anything, I just asked something, sorry. You're in no way old, Mr. Stark, you're still a very attractive man. Not that you wouldn't be attractive even if you were older. BUT it's not like I think you're attractive or anything. I mean, you are, but I don't look at you like that... I mean I do look at you just... I-I'll go home."
The boy stood up, almost tripping over his own feet as he shrugged on his backpack and hurried out of the workshop.
"Wait, Peter," Tony called after him, but Peter didn't even listen.
Use body language
He tried his best to do what he read, turning his body towards Tony, not crossing his arms or anything. But it was hard to make it look like he intentionally turned his body towards the older man since they were yet again in front of each other. So he twisted and turned his body so it looked like he was facing another direction, but his torso was turned towards Tony. He placed his hands on the table to make sure Tony saw they were open.
When the man finally looked at him, Peter smiled and fluttered his eyelashes as flirtily as he could.
"What are you doing Pete? Are you alright?"
Peter looked over his body and saw how stupid he actually looked. He cleared his throat and straightened up, getting back into his normal position. He mumbled an apology and went back to work.
Break the touch barrier
This time, when Peter got to the workshop, he stood next to Tony on purpose. He didn't talk because after the last time he tried, he thought it would be a suicide mission.
Instead, they were just working next to each other quietly, Peter slowly inching closer to the older man and "accidentally" touching his hands when they reached for the same tools.
He ever-so-slightly moved closer and closer until their shoulders rubbed together. Tony turned his head to look at the shorter boy and Peter looked up at him as well. Their lips were so close to touching and Peter suddenly felt dizzy, just the closeness of Tony made the butterflies in his stomah rage.
"Pete, I'll need some space to work," Tony said lowly and stepped away from Peter.
He felt so embarassed again. He apologized and moved back to his place to let Tony work.
Compliment the other
When Peter arrived, Tony was trying out the new repulsor smiling widely when it succesfully worked. He looked at Peter like an excited child, "Did you see that," he asked.
"Yes, I saw it," Peter said with a grin, "You know, Mr. Stark you always amaze me with how smart you are."
"Ah, I'm flattered, kid," he joked.
"I'm serious, sir you're a genius."
Tony looked at him with slightly furrowed brows and a gentle smile on his face. "Thank you."
That's it, keep going Peter! "And you have a very nice smile too, you know."
"C'mon-"
"And your eyes are pretty as well. I- I really like your eyes. And have I told you that your hair looks amazing today? It usually looks good but today... it looks good as well."
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing, I just think I don't tell you enough how amazing you are, sir. But you are, you're truly just perfect, Mr. Stark."
Tony didn't say anything for a while and for a second, Peter thought he'd gone too far. He was about to stutter out an apology and ignore the older man like so many times before, but Tony spoke before him.
"You really think that, don't you?"
Peter looked at the man and nodded shyly. He did, of course he did. His hero, his favorite person, the love of his life was standing right there, in front of him, of course he thought Tony was perfect in every single way.
"Peter," Tony sighed, then trailed off and shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's get working, shall we?"
Later that night, when Tony was alone in his lab and sitting in a chair, he couldn't help but wonder what was Peter on about this past week. It didn't bother him until today because he just thought there was just being awkward as per usual. But he didn't usually compliment Tony, that's what caught his attention.
"FRIDAY?"
"Yes, boss?"
"You saw what Peter was doing in the past few days, right?"
"I record everything that happens in and/or around the tower, sir."
"And do you know why he was doing that?"
"Would you like me to analyze his actions and start a search?"
"Oh yeah, for sure. Thanks babygirl."
For a minute or two, there was silence in the room. Tony was still replaying the scenes in his head while he let the A.I. work. He was interrupted by FRIDAY's voice.
"I found something, boss."
"Shoot."
"I believe Peter was trying to flirt with you, sir."
Tony almost jumped out of his chair. Peter? Flirting? With him? But why, why, why would that happen? Peter was... a very attractive young man, he could've got anyone he wanted, why would he want Tony? He was an old man with so many problems and mental illnesses he could barely count them.
Tony watched as FRIDAY pulled up the link she found on the screen of his laptop that was in his lap. On the page, there were advices on how to flirt with others, most things he could recall Peter doing. Poorly, but at least he tried.
"Thanks FRIDAY," Tony sighed. God, how was he supposed to sleep now?!
Tony spent the weekend trying to digest that his mentee was indeed flirting with him, and figuring out what he should do the next time they would meet.
Which came on a Monday afternoon, when Peter came by, like on every weekday after school. This time, Peter wasn't acting weirdly like the week before. Maybe it was just for one week? Did he scare Peter away so quickly?
"Uh Pete, I think we should talk," Tony said as he wiped his oily hand on a dirty handkerchief. Peter looked up from his current project and his face immediately turned serious when he saw Tony's expression. "It's about last week." God, what was he even doing?
"Of course," Peter set down the tools in his hands.
"I know... I know you were flirting with me. Well I didn't until Friday night, but now I know and I-"
Tony was cut off by a frustrated groan. Peter buried his face in his hands, mumbling to himself to close out what Tony was saying. "Please don't be mad at me," he finally said audible for Tony as well.
"Mad? Kid, I was about to ask you out."
Peter snapped his head up, his big brown eyes sparkling like a puppy's. It was truly an adorable sight. "Are you serious?"
"I wouldn't joke about that, Peter. So what do you say, will you go on a date with me?"
"Hell yeah- I mean... yes, thank you sir."
"Save that for later, call me Tony, kid."
"Then please stop calling me kid, it really kills the mood."
Tony chuckled lowly, making the younger one smile as well. "Alright, Peter. Then it's a date."
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i personally hc that Tony stark started understanding popular memes bc he’s been spending so much time with Peter.
so like theres probarly a video of him going ‘THIS BITCH EMPTY YEET’ of a villain or a badguy
theres DEFINIFTLY a video of him responding to someone saying ‘hit or miss’ with a ‘I GUESS THEY NEVER MISS HUH?’ (its a dead meme but hes trying okay? let me live kid)
and all of his memes are sort of outdated and mostly WAY too late but it’s frikin hilarious and everyone loves it
holy shit i wanna write a five + one of this so bad where it’s five different times he used memes in front of the media and one time they all figured out where he got it and that’s how his and peter’s relationship is revealed disjjsjdjdjs
Not sure if you're still doing fluff prompts, bit I'd love something where Peter is the new boy in school and Tony is immediately attracted, and goes out his way to make Peter feel welcome.
I am always doing fluff prompts. Need me that good shit !!
—————————————————————————————
Tony doesn’t usually notice when a new boy starts attending his school. He doesn’t usually care. The school is too big to discern a new face in the crowds of people that walk in and out of those double doors every day, not to mention his attention is in a far too high demand for him to even think of taking note of however many others surround him day by day.
But when, during first period, a new boy comes strolling hesitantly into his first biology class of the day, Tony’s head perks up.
He’s got the cutest mop of curls he’s ever seen, and although he would never, ever dress someone with a physique like that in clothes like those, they kind of…suit him, actually. All in all, he doesn’t look half bad, which is what catches his eye first before he even notices the Star Wars pin on his backpack as the boy starts making his way toward the back of the classroom past where Tony usually prefers to sit.
Tony’s head actually turns, too, to watch him. That must have been quite the sight for anyone involved. Tony is usually the person who turns others’ heads, not the other way around. But clearly, this boy is an exception.
He goes and sits right behind Tony, which gives him an opportunity to twist in his seat and give him his most charming smile.
“Hey, new guy. Nice badge,” he says, one corner of his mouth turning up until a hint of teeth is revealed. That usually works on the ladies around. Tony has yet to figure out if it works on the guys, too, but that’s a program already in progress.
The boy looks a little bewildered at first, as if he can’t really believe he’s being addressed. He blinks at Tony, who silently notes that he has the most lovely brown eyes he’s ever seen, and the cutest frown too, when his brows knit together for a moment.
It sinks in quickly enough and he realizes that he is, indeed, ‘new guy’, and he flashes Tony a nervous but enthusiastic smile, probably catching up to the fact that Tony is talking about the Star Wars pin on his backpack strap.
“Thanks!” He beams, then his eyes are searching for a moment, and Tony tilts his head, unsure what the boy is searching for exactly.
“I like your…” He starts, hesitates, and then seems to find something, “Sunglasses.”
Tony casts his eyes up toward his hair where he knows his Ray-Bans rest on top of his head. He reaches up, tips them down with a single finger, and then pushes them down his nose further so he can look over the rim and send the new boy a quick wink.
“Thanks, geek.” He makes sure he says it fondly, to get across that he does not think of the word as something derogative.
Hopefully the boy will soon find out just how much of a compliment it is in reality.
Class starts and as the lesson progresses Tony finds out that Peter – that’s his name, as their teacher introduced him in the first few minutes, which seemed to make Peter very nervous, and it was the most endearing thing as he stumbled through the forced introduction – is not just a geek, but an actual, proper nerd. It’s like he harbors knowledge or something, with how effortlessly he seems to make it through their first class. And that’s something coming from Tony, who spends so very little time actually studying and yet he still always manages to get near-perfect grades.
He only fails, or gets below average, when he wants to annoy his family or grab the attention of his father. It’s warped, because it should be the good grades that do the trick – but instead it’s always the bad, and nothing else.
It doesn’t matter. Peter is clever. He’s bright, intelligent, knows how to keep up in class even though any time Tony glances over his own shoulder to catch sight of him for a moment, he sees he’s drifting off, mind clearly somewhere else. Like he’s a bit of a scatterbrain.
More than once does Tony wonder what he’s thinking about. He kind of hopes that somewhere in that clever brain of his, he makes an appearance. A positive appearance, of course. First impressions are everything, and Tony thinks that he’s nailed it when it comes to Peter, but there is only one way to really find out, and he starts the second the bell rings and he stands to turn to Peter to extend his hand.
“I’m Tony,” he introduces himself candidly. Peter looks surprised again, although this time it’s mostly directed at the hand that Tony is holding out. Nevertheless, much to Tony’s delight, the boy takes the offer, and they briefly shake hands.
“I’m Peter,” he says, “But you already knew that, thanks to Mr. Cower’s embarrassing introduction.”
Tony chuckles. There is something about the way Peter looks genuinely humiliated that kind of makes him want to slap a hand on his back and tell him he’ll be alright, and that no one will think any worse of him because of it. And if anything, he’ll make sure that Peter is welcomed at their school like no one else ever has been.
He’ll get the whole VIP treatment, from the one and only Tony Stark, and if anyone has a problem with that then obviously they’ll have to go through Tony first. But hopefully it won’t get that far. He’ll just need to make sure that everybody knows that Tony has taken Peter under his wing and there is one way of getting that across, and that’s by walking Peter to his next class.
“It’s fine, honestly. Don’t worry about it. Mr. Cower is always like that, I’m sure people forgot the second they walked out of here.” Tony gives Peter an encouraging little smile and is glad to see that the boy actually looks slightly more relaxed at the reassurance. And when their hands retreat at the same time, Tony sticks his into the pocket of his jeans while he waits for Peter to pack up his backpack.
He’s already packed up himself. He only had one book out and he shoved that into his bag seconds before the bell rang so he’d be able to make a quick escape like he normally does, but obviously his plan has changed quite drastically now.
“Thanks. Still really hope I won’t have to do that in any of my other classes,” Peter smirks.
Tony waves the hand that’s not in his pocket with gentle dismissal, pushing that worry away.
“That’s just the first day. After that is when the real stuff begins.”
“I hope you mean the real school stuff, not the real humiliating stuff.”
Tony laughs, and can’t help but think that Peter’s smile is just the cutest thing he’s seen all day.
They walk toward the door together, and Tony asks Peter what class he has next, and where. He pretends that it’s on his way to his own next class, and walks Peter there, asking him about himself and why he’d transferred to his school halfway through the year.
He finds out pretty quickly that Peter lives with his aunt, and that a few weeks ago his uncle was murdered, and with the life insurance money his aunt had moved them to a slightly better part of town, where he’d be able to attend a better school. And hopefully avoid getting snuffed himself, although that’s not something that Peter said – Tony just assumes that it’s a part of the whole moving thing.
Tony, in turn, tells Peter a little bit about himself, although it’s mostly shallow. He lives nearby, used to go to a private school but didn’t want that anymore and convinced his parents to let him go here. It’s nothing particularly exciting, but Peter listens to his every word, and seems interested.
It’s strange, but pleasant. Tony doesn’t think anyone has ever showed such genuine interest before. He has plenty of friends, and if he threw a party then it is guaranteed to be popular, and kids in the halls usually say something when he walks past them – but other than that, he supposes he doesn’t really have any true friends at the school.
But Peter is so open, and so welcoming, and he’s so sweet and genuine, and Tony can’t help but think that maybe, if he does his best and plays this right, Peter might be the kind of person who could actually be his friend.
And hey, if he can somehow get a little bit more than that, then Tony will consider himself the luckiest boy at their school. But it’s too early for that, and Peter flusters easily. When they get to Peter’s next class and Tony touches his arm, he can see the boy go red around the neck, and he bustles through a timid goodbye when the bell rings before Tony is off in the opposite direction to make his way to History.
“See you at lunch?” Tony calls before Peter has the time to duck into the classroom. Tony walks backwards to watch Peter turn, and give him a shy smile.
“Sure. I’ll meet you at the cafeteria. If I can find it.”
Tony doesn’t usually go to the cafeteria, but for Peter, he’ll make an exception.
.
The cafeteria hall is bursting with kids, freshmen running around and screaming to be heard over the cacophony of voices, sophomores a little quieter but still just about as energetic, as if they have yet to shed their downy feathers. Juniors and seniors are mostly outside on the football field, hanging out on the bleachers or taking advantage of what little sun they’ve had lately on the grass.
Peter sheepishly admits that he forgot to bring lunch, which is why he wanted to meet up here. Tony doesn’t hesitate in paying for Peter’s lunch when the boy is digging around in his wallet for the right amount, and he can see, over his shoulder, that he’s going to be short.
“Let me cover it this once, as a welcome present.”
And when Peter protests, it gives him an excuse to offer for him to pay him back on the weekend, maybe with a coffee somewhere. Peter looks so sweetly flustered again and Tony can’t help but adore him a little bit more for it. Jesus, what’s wrong with him? What is he doing, asking out a guy who, up until a few hours ago, didn’t even exist for him?
Tony doesn’t know why he even noticed him in the first place. Maybe it was the ugly button down, maybe it was the curls, maybe it was the way he moved that suggested he really didn’t want anyone to notice he was there in the first place. Maybe that’s why Tony saw him more than he had ever seen anyone else.
Whatever the case, whatever the cause, Tony knows that he’s done for even before Peter coyly agrees to get coffee with him on the weekend.
They sit down outside to have their lunch, and are soon swarmed by peers, but Tony’s attention keeps going back to Peter – who sits, mostly quietly, eating his lunch as he tries to remain invisible for the most part. But Tony notices him. He sees him. His new favorite thing might be when Peter looks up and catches his eye and subsequently smiles. He does it a few times throughout their break, and Tony loves it more and more every single time it happens.
He walks Peter back inside after, and to his next class. Peter comments on how many friends Tony seems to have, and Tony kind of shrugs it off.
“It’s nice to have someone to hang out with,” Peter insists, giving Tony a meaningful look, “Thank you. For kind of like…taking me under your wing today. I was really freaking out about the first day, this morning. Thought it would be… I dunno. Kind of lonely, I guess.”
Tony smirks. “Trust me, you’ll be so sick of me by the end of the week that you’ll wish you were lonely.”
Peter connects his knuckles to Tony’s upper arm at that, and quite firmly too. Tony flinches and wraps his hand around the assaulted spot, giving the other boy an affronted look and “hey!”.
“Serves you right,” Peter says, even though he looks torn between standing his ground and making sure that Tony is alright, “I know I won’t be sick of you. I actually think you’re really nice. And I’d like to spend more time with you.”
No one’s ever really said that to Tony before, not in those exact words. It’s usually the opposite, so it takes him a little bit by surprise. Clearly, Peter notices.
“Why are you surprised? We have the same interests, we’re both similarly intelligent, and—y’know…” Peter trails off with a shrug. Tony doesn’t, in fact, ‘know’, but the dozen or so options to fill that in that Tony can think of are all positive. “Besides,” Peter unexpectedly continues, “We have a date this weekend.”
Tony is now well and truly stunned into silence. If he wasn’t before, he is now. A date. While it’s what Tony intended for it to be when he offered back in the cafeteria, he knew he’d do best not to fool himself into thinking of it as such, since he was convinced that it would never come across that way. But now it seems that Peter thought of it the same way as him all along, and he’s pleased. Beyond pleased.
He realizes he hasn’t said anything yet when Peter’s expression changes into something disheartened and ashamed, and he’s about to say something when Tony quickly cuts in.
“If you’re not sick of me by then, that is,” he says, as if correcting Peter. The boy looks privately relieved.
“Like I said,” Peter says softly as they approach his next classroom, “I know I won’t be.”
Tony leaves him in the door opening, and he doesn’t see him a lot the rest of the day. He only catches up to him briefly on his way out of the building and toward his bicycle. Tony offers him a ride, but Peter declines with a fond laugh.
It doesn’t matter anyway.
Tony gets to watch Peter ride off and twist around on his bike to wave at him one more time before he turns down the street. He heads off in the direction of his car with a skip in his step.
He has a date. But moreover, he thinks he’s made a friend. And he doesn’t believe he’s ever really had one of those before.
written to make myself feel better after a couple of shit weeks
warnings: 18+ peter, guilty!tony, babysitter au
—
Tony wants to ruin him.
Peter is sweet with Morgan, takes her to school, splits a PB&J with her in the afternoons and always gives her the bigger half. He sits on the floor and helps her with homework and doesn’t correct her when she colors the sun purple and the trees orange. He braids her hair and lets her put cheap, glittery nail polish on his fingernails and doesn’t take it off when he gets home at night, showing up to breakfast with a chipped manicure that Morgan touches up before they leave.
Tony loves that Peter loves Morgan.
And he hates himself for wanting to take the boy’s innocence.
To rut against the pert ass that sticks out when Peter leans in to retrieve a juice box from the fridge. To walk in and lock the door behind him when Peter uses the guest bedroom shower and leaves the bathroom door open. Or that one time he got his hand stuck amongst the pipes beneath the sink and Tony caught him on his hands and knees in the kitchen, in the perfect position for Tony to take what he wanted.
Tony doesn’t claim to be a good person. Never has. But damn, if he didn’t want to try for his daughter. For Peter.
For Peter, whose innocence could be a facade, if the nude photos Tony sees on his phone that night are anything to go by.
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"Please, I can't handle this from you too." (For the sentence prompt thing 😊)
hope you like hurting, anon
warnings: angst with little comfort, talks of neglect, sexual, and physical abuse, abusive!quentin beck and neglectful!may parker, small instance of victim blaming, high school au, teacher!tony. peter is 17.
—
“Peter, stay behind, will you?”
Tony had had enough. He’d been Peter’s teacher for nearly three years now, going over multiple subjects with him from chemistry to anatomy, and he was sick and tired of it. The boy looked fearful of him, brown eyes flashing with panic, before he ducked his head and joined his classmates in gathering their things.
Of course, there was the usual jeering. Ooh, you’re in trouble! from a few students, some mirthful snickering from others. Tony snapped his fingers and motioned sharply to his classroom door. He had no patience for immaturity right now.
The other students filed out unhurried. Ned, one of Tony’s other bright students and Peter’s friend, stopped by Peter’s desk to quietly ask him a question. Peter avoided his gaze and nodded. Tony could hear him quietly encourage Ned to leave before the other boy filed out with a statement that he would be waiting for Peter in the school parking lot, and then shot Tony a quick look.
He was out, closing the door a little too forcefully. Peter flinched.
Now, they were alone.
A few moments of patient waiting showed that Peter wasn’t going to approach his desk, so Tony took the initiative. He stood and crossed the room until Peter was sat in front of him, eyes still downcast and hands kneading themselves nervously in his lap. They were shaking.
“Wh-What did you want to talk about, Mr. Stark?” he asked. His voice was weak and shook as badly as his hands.
The chair Tony pulled away from a student’s desk scraped loudly across the floor. Another flinch. Tony sat down in the seat and propped his elbows on his knees. He leaned forward, trying to look Peter in the eye. The boy’s sight was focused solely on his hands.
“I see the bruises,” Tony started. He kept his voice as calm and quiet as possible. Peter still ducked his head further, somehow, and recoiled from him. Tony threaded his fingers together to keep his hands to himself. Touching the boy was out of the question.
When Peter said nothing, Tony continued, “I see the bruises, and I know you’re being abused. I can help you, Peter. I’ll do whatever I can, but I need to know who’s doing it. Who’s hurting you?”
“No one,” Peter answered. His answer followed so closely to the end of Tony’s question that he knew the kid was lying. He had barely gotten the last word out of his mouth. “No one is hurting me. I’m fine. I don’t need help.”
“Yes, you do, Peter.”
Tony reached to tug at the collar of his sweater, where he could see a bruise so black it looked like rot poking out from beneath it. Peter ended up kicking his desk from how violently he pulled himself to his feet and away from Tony. His hand audibly slapped against his skin when he put his hand over to hide it. Tony straightened up, then.
Fear. So much fear, and his face was pale. Peter’s bottom lip wobbled for just a moment, and he dove for his collected books. “I have to go, Mr. Stark. My aunt is going to be home late and I need to have dinner on the table tonight before Quentin gets home—”
“Or, what? He’ll beat you again?”
Peter froze. He nearly dropped his textbooks. Tony stood to look him in the eye. He closed in so only Peter’s chair sat between their legs.
“I know he hits you, Peter. I know that he abuses you, and maybe your aunt, too. Does she even know, or is she willfully ignorant?” he demanded. His voice twisted into anger and disgust. Peter took a step back from him. “I want to help you, Peter. Whatever he’s threatened to do to you, whatever he’s threatened to do to your aunt if you leave, I won’t let it happen. I can protect you, Peter, but you have to tell me.”
“Please, Mr. Stark, you don’t know what you’re saying...”
“I know exactly what I’m saying. I can’t just turn a blind eye because that man will kill you if you let him!”
“I have to go.”
Peter scrambled to gather his books again. Tony caught his wrist, wrenching it away. Peter tried to pry his fingers away and pull his arm free, but Tony only tightened his grip until the boy whimpered in pain. He pulled Peter closer and leaned over the chair to speak to him. A weak fist thudded against him, pushed to escape, but failed as Tony only brought him closer.
“I’m trying to help you, Peter!”
“Please, Mr. Stark...”
“Is he hurting you, or threatening to hurt your aunt? Has he done more than put his hands on you, Peter?”
“Please—”
“I need you to cooperate, Peter, or this is going to continue for however long you let it! You’re allowing this man to do whatever he pleases to you and your aunt by not saying anything. If you won’t let me help you, you’re as good as dead in another year!”
“PLEASE!”
Peter’s broken wail halted Tony’s words in their tracks. Tony watched, in stunned silence, as Peter broke down. The fist that had been beating his chest earlier was now pressed against it, weak and defeated, shaking so hard that Tony could feel it trembling through his chest.
“Please,” Peter repeated, words struggling to make it through his hiccuping sobs, “I can’t... I can’t handle this from you, too.”
He caught sight of the hand holding so tightly onto Peter’s wrist that the bones creaked beneath it. He no longer saw his hand clutching Peter’s thin wrist; it was Howard’s, white-knuckled and cruel.
Tony released Peter immediately. Peter’s arm fell limp to his side, and the boy did nothing to fight him when he wrapped his arms around his frail shoulders and pulled him against his chest. To his surprise, the boy threw his arms around Tony, burying his face in the older man’s man, still sobbing.
His hand ran through Peter’s hair, shushing him, tightening his hold.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. He swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. “I’m so sorry.”
Five Times Stark Industries Employees Saw Peter Parker
(And One Time They All Found Out Who He Was)
Word count: 9128
CW: none
Notes: I promised @tony-is-my-daddy that I would tag them in my fluff fic and that was literally almost 2 weeks ago so I’m really, really sorry. I got caught up with finals and everything, but, I finally present to you, A Self-Indulgent Fic Where Peter and Tony Act Sappy And Confuse Employees
1.
Peter couldn’t focus. His eyes were bleary and his mind was wandering. His attention was completely taken up by the hollowness in his chest. The workshop felt all too empty and quiet, but he knew that background noise wouldn’t help. He needed someone there. He needed people— hell, even just a person— to be with him. His mind felt distant, yet all too aware at the same time and it was driving him insane. He hated the winter. He hated seasonal affective disorder. He hated this.
In a rash decision, before his brain could even think, Peter pulled out his Stark Phone and tapped into messages. He tapped on his most recent contact and began to type.
Five Times Stark Industries Employees Saw Peter Parker
(And One Time They All Found Out Who He Was)
Word count: 9128
CW: none
Notes: I promised @tony-is-my-daddy that I would tag them in my fluff fic and that was literally almost 2 weeks ago so I’m really, really sorry. I got caught up with finals and everything, but, I finally present to you, A Self-Indulgent Fic Where Peter and Tony Act Sappy And Confuse Employees
1.
Peter couldn’t focus. His eyes were bleary and his mind was wandering. His attention was completely taken up by the hollowness in his chest. The workshop felt all too empty and quiet, but he knew that background noise wouldn’t help. He needed someone there. He needed people— hell, even just a person— to be with him. His mind felt distant, yet all too aware at the same time and it was driving him insane. He hated the winter. He hated seasonal affective disorder. He hated this.
In a rash decision, before his brain could even think, Peter pulled out his Stark Phone and tapped into messages. He tapped on his most recent contact and began to type.
Peter: hey, do you think i could go down to the intern labs and just work down there?
Peter: like the ones with the individual workspaces?
Peter: i need to be around people
Tony: Of course! I should be done with my meeting at about 5 so then we can go binge shitty rom-coms and cuddle and eat Chinese food
Tony: Pepper saw me on my phone. Gotta go
Peter: <3
Tony: <3
Peter, now with confirmation, gathered up what he was working on in his backpack and shoved his phone in his pocket before getting up and moving to the elevator.
“Where to, Peter?” FRIDAY asked him.
“Fifty-fourth floor please.”
The elevator moved relatively quickly down the floors, and it wasn’t long until it dinged and the doors opened, revealing rows and rows of worktables with interns scattered around and working on individual projects. Peter knew that they moved on and off the floor, depending on whether they were working in groups with their department or solo.
People looked over to the unknown young man while he set his stuff down on a table. He paid no mind, feeling comforted by having people around. He always felt nice when he knew that he wasn’t all alone, that the world was still there and time was still moving on. Just as he sat down, though, a lab director from some floor below them walked right up to the desk.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re allowed to be here,” he said in a sickly sweet, obviously fake voice.
“Excuse me?” Peter asked politely, looking up to the man.
“This space is for interns and employees. You don’t appear to be either,” the man elaborated.
“No, I’m allowed to be here,” Peter shot back simply before looking away from the man and reaching for his bag to pull out his project materials.
“Who do you think you are?” the lab director interrogated. “I’ll get you kicked out of this building!”
“I’m Peter-” the young adult started, but was cut off by FRIDAY interrupting.
“No last names, Peter,” the AI warned. “We don’t want anything to happen to you. I can assure that Peter is allowed to be here.”
Peter simply looked up and gave a shrug to the lab director before continuing to pull out the materials from his bag. The man looked up to the ceiling fearfully before retreating back to his own workspace.
That was the first time they saw Peter.
2.
The next time Stark Industries employees saw Peter could only be described as chaotic.
The door to the stairs opened and somebody rushed out, weaving their way around people and workstations with practiced ease, all while laughing so hard that there were tears falling from their eyes.
Upon closer inspection, the employees realized that it was, in fact, the mysterious young man from only a week earlier.
Moments after Peter rushed in, the elevator dinged and the doors opened, and out ran the Tony Stark, covered in red and blue glitter. Not to mention that he looked furious, but not the type of furious where he was genuinely angry. It was more like that fond kind of furious, where you’re annoyed and upset, but can’t help but find the situation a bit funny and the person responsible is somebody you care about.
Tony ran out of the elevator, also weaving around his employees and their projects, obviously chasing the young man. By that point, though, the young man was laughing so hard that he had slowed down considerably. Thanks to that fact, Tony caught up and tackled him to the ground. All the employees were frozen in shock and just watching as their boss stood up and rubbed glitter off his skin to get it onto the man he was now standing above.
“No!” shouted the younger, getting up from his spot on the floor and giving the engineer a light shove. Both of them were still smiling and laughing about it though. “This is gonna take forever to wash off!”
“How do you think I feel?” Tony retorted, sprinkling some glitter into the other man’s curly hair. Once again, the younger man gave him a light push.
That’s when the two of them became acutely aware of the attention they had garnered.
“Sorry for disrupting your work,” Peter apologized to the crowd of employees sheepishly.
“We’ll send somebody to clean up the mess we made,” Tony told them, eyeing the trail of glitter he had left on the floor, “but get back to work.”
Hesitantly, they all began to go back to their workstations, but kept their eyes on the two men as they talked quietly and walked back to the elevator. Nobody said a word until the elevator doors had closed, obscuring their view of their boss and the mysterious man.
“Who the fuck is that kid?” Ashley questioned, turning to the coworkers she was in an experimenting group with.
“I have no idea,” Dylan answered, slowly tearing his eyes away from the elevator doors.
“He’s definitely a weird one,” Jenna piped up decisively. “I mean, have you ever even seen a picture of Tony Stark smiling that fondly?”
“And he talked back to him!” Dylan added on. “Like, holy shit, that kid shoved him and Stark only laughed!”
“I’ve seen a lot of strange things while working here,” Ashley told them, sparing a glance at the elevator, “but this is definitely one of the strangest.”
3.
“Please?” Peter begged.
“No,” Tony answered for what felt like the hundredth time. “Gossip spreads across the building quickly and basically every employee is already trying to figure out who you are! I don’t want them finding out and leaking it to the press!”
“But they already know, so what does it matter? It’s not like the rumors will go away if they just don’t see me again!” Peter argued, jumping up from where he was seated in order to stand in front of his boyfriend.
“The rumors will die down if they don’t see you again. They’ll eventually move onto talking about something else,” Tony replied, grabbing Peter’s hand and pulling him close. Peter embraced the man and the two just stood there for a few moments.
“I just want you to be safe,” Tony told him quietly.
“I’ll be fine,” Peter responded, pulling away but still holding onto his boyfriend’s hands. “All your employees sign NDA’s, so even if they did leak something to the press, which I doubt they would, legal would be on their ass and sue them for all they’re worth.”
Tony sighed, realizing that Peter had a good argument that he just couldn’t counter.
“Fine. You can come help me with the presentation.”
Peter pumped his fist in the air and let out a whoop in victory, causing Tony to roll his eyes fondly.
+++
When the employees working in R&D walked into the small auditorium on the 16th floor, they knew Tony Stark was going to be there, but they didn’t expect the infamous mystery man to be there. On the stage, Peter was talking animatedly about something or other while Tony just listened, a fond smile on his face and his eyes sparkling.
The crowd walked in hesitantly, everybody’s eyes on the two men up front, who still hadn’t acknowledged them. When everyone was seated and the clock struck the exact time the presentation was supposed to start, the two finally turned to them to get started.
“Hello, R&D department! I hope you’re all doing well!” Tony greeted with his press smile on. “You all know who I am, but I have somebody else here with me today.”
“What’s up? I’m Peter,” the younger man introduced himself, hitting the woah as he said his name.
“Did you just-” Tony started with a sigh before cutting himself off. “You and your fucking tiktok dances.”
“You say that as if you didn’t ask me to teach you the Renegade last week!”
“That was different! That was for the Stark Industries tiktok! I need to be relatable so I stay relevant!” Tony defended.
“And yet you still won’t let me teach you the dance to ‘Say So’ even though it’s iconic!” Peter shot back.
“You and I have different ideas of what counts as iconic,” Tony said dryly before turning back to the crowd of employees.
“Anyway, today Peter and I will be telling you all about the new prosthetics line that your department will begin developing!”
Despite the importance of the presentation, the employees were only half listening as they were more focused on whispering about the mystery boy.
“Okay but what the actual fuck happened at the beginning of this?” Jenna asked quietly as she leaned over to her coworker on the right of her.
“No fucking clue. I can't believe this dude is just casually talking and joking around with Tony fucking Stark!” Dylan whispered in reply, not taking his eyes off the stage.
“And apparently he taught Stark how to do the Renegade. That’s fucking insane,” Ashley added from Jenna’s left.
The three turned their attention back to the two men on stage, finally listening to what they were saying again.
“Street smarts!” the younger man exclaimed, jumping in about something they were saying before.
“Stay alert out there,” both Peter and Tony quoted with large smiles. As if nothing happened, they jumped right back into the presentation.
“This is the weirdest fucking thing in the world,” Dylan declared quietly.
“I second that,” Ashley muttered.
“I third that,” Jenna added on without taking her eyes off the stage.
The presentation went on a bit longer, but it didn’t drag on. It helped that the entire time the two men were joking around and making the employees progressively more and more confused.
Peter and Tony wrapped up the presentation soon enough and the R&D employees began to file out, most of them keeping their eyes on the two men talking quietly on stage. Jenna, Ashley, and Dylan walked out together, some of the last to exit the auditorium, and the three made it to the elevator before Jenna realized she left her jacket behind. She told her friends that she would catch up to them and way back to the now empty seats. Not paying attention to the world around her, she looked for where she had sat and made her way through the row until she reached her seat and found her cardigan.
“See, I told you it would be okay,” said a voice from the stage. Jenna turned around and saw Peter talking to Tony, the men standing close together.
“You know I just get worried,” the billionaire replied, his voice more sincere than Jenna could’ve ever imagined. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I can take care of myself, Tones. You don’t need to worry so much.”
Jenna felt like she was intruding on a private moment, so she started to make her way out of the rows of seats and back to the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
“Just because I don’t need to worry doesn’t mean I won’t. I care so much about you, Peter. You know I love you.”
Jenna froze in place, right at the end of the row of seats and about to step into the main aisle that led to the doors. Against her better judgment, she found herself staring up at the two men on the stage, her gaze stuck on them. She just couldn’t look away.
Peter and Tony were basically right up against each other. They only were a couple inches apart with both their hands intertwined. She couldn’t see it earlier, but, now that they were right next to each other, Jenna could tell that Peter was about half a foot shorter than Tony. The younger man was looking up at the billionaire with a bright smile that was returned. It was like nothing she could’ve ever imagined; a ball of sunshine and pop culture references right next to a man known to be scuffed up and rough around the edges. It was like this boy brought out a completely different side of Stark.
“I love you too,” Peter replied softly before leaning up on the balls of his feet to give Tony a soft kiss on the lips.
Jenna, sucked in a breath of air harshly, the sound being enough to alert the men to her presence. The two men stared at her with wide eyes for a moment and she stared right back.
“Shit.” Tony broke the silence of the room, his voice conveying the concern written across his face. Peter put a hand on his forearm and schooled his features into a comforting look. The man looked over at him and tried to take solace in his lover’s gentleness.
“I told you something was gonna go wrong,” the billionaire said with a mix of concern and fear on his face.
“We’re not getting into this argument again,” Peter responded decidedly, his tone making it sound final.
“I- I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I was walking in on anything. I just came in because I forgot my jacket! I . . . please don’t fire me, Mister Stark,” Jenna stammered once she had broken out of her shocked stupor.
“He’s not going to fire you,” Peter reassured her with a kind tone.
“Well . . .” Tony said, but his tone was a bit humorous.
“You’re not gonna fire her because we decided we couldn’t wait until we got back to the penthouse to be all sappy.” Peter gave the man a stern look and it occurred to Jenna once again that this soft, delicate-appearing brunet clad in pastels had somehow reined in the man who had spent so many years being known as a playboy.
“I’m not going to fire you, but you can’t tell anybody, not even anyone within the company. If you do, my legal team can and will sue you for all you’re worth. Understood?” Tony had a dangerous edge to his voice, letting the girl know that he was completely serious. There was no way that this was an empty threat.
“Understood,” Jenna replied with a curt nod. “But I just have one question.”
“Shoot,” Peter told her.
“How old are you? Because . . . well, you look pretty young.”
Tony started laughing and Peter gave him an annoyed look.
“Stop laughing! You do this every time!” Peter exclaimed, lightly slapping his arm.
“Everybody thinks you’re, like, sixteen! You look barely old enough to have your license!” Tony shot back, his laughter dying down.
“I’m twenty-one,” he told Jenna. “I’m not underage, if you were wondering. Tony may be a bit of a mad scientist, but he doesn’t date people who are underage.”
“Okay, good. I was just worried for a second. Um, thank you for not firing me and I swear I won’t tell anybody. I should get going,” she rushed out with a relieved smile. Without another word, she made her way out of the auditorium, holding her jacket close to her chest.
When she got back to her floor, Dylan and Ashley bombarded her with questions about what took her so long, but she just told them that it took her a second to find it. Of course, they weren’t satisfied with that answer, but Jenna didn’t let anything slip.
That was the third time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.
4.
When Jenna walked into work the next morning, early as always, she found an envelope sitting on her designated area of her group desk, which separated into four sections for her project team to sit at. Across the front, it had her first name written out in a neat, cursive scrawl. She furrowed her brows as she looked at it, questions racing through her mind as she wondered who it could’ve been from.
Without another thought, she ripped it open and pulled out the contents. She unfolded the paper that was inside only to find a letter written in the same handwriting.
Dear Jenna,
I wanted to write you a letter, but realized that I never caught your name yesterday. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked FRIDAY who you were. Thinking back on it, that definitely makes me sound like a creep, so I apologize.
I wanted to thank you for not completely flipping out on Tony and I in the auditorium yesterday. I know that the whole thing was definitely crazy and it would’ve made sense if you freaked out. I also wanted to thank you for not immediately telling anybody. Seeing as no news stories have come out and nobody in the building has confronted Tony, I’m assuming you didn’t leak it, which is relieving.
I hope you’re doing well and if you need literally anything, just drop off a letter in the company mailroom in box 106.
As a thank you, there’s a Starbucks gift card also in the envelope! I wasn’t sure if you liked coffee, but seeing as you work in R&D and most of the employees in that department survive off coffee, I’m going to assume you do. Enjoy!
I’ll (hopefully) talk to you soon!
-Peter
P.S. Tony might not say it, but he’s also grateful that you haven’t leaked anything! I can promise that you’re good in his books :)
“What’s that?” Ashley asked, sneaking up behind Jenna and startling the woman.
“It’s nothing,” Jenna replied quickly while shoving the letter back into the envelope and cramming it into her bag. Ashley gave her a suspicious look but let it go, sitting down at her area of the group desk that was beside Jenna’s.
“I have a prediction!” Dylan announced as he entered the almost empty floor and waltzed over to Jenna and Ashley. He collapsed onto his stool and dumped his bag onto the floor beside him.
“This should be good,” Ashley muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms.
Jenna just looked away.
“So, we’ve established that it’s strange that nobody has ever heard of Peter and how, out of nowhere, he shows up!”
“Yeah, that’s kinda why we all think it’s weird,” Jenna shot at him, hoping that it covered up her panic.
“It’s also odd that he’s got a bit of a resemblance to Stark,” Dylan continued, decidedly ignoring her.
“I don’t see it,” Jenna interrupted once more, but the man didn’t stop.
“Maybe, just maybe, Peter is Stark’s son who he didn’t want in the spotlight until he was old enough to handle it!”
Ashley gasped while Jenna glanced away from them with a look of both panic and amusement.
“Or Peter is Stark’s illegitimate child and he doesn’t want to have a scandal!” Ashley built on the theory with an excited smile and wide eyes.
“What do you think, Jenna?” Dylan asked, and both of Jenna’s teammates had their eyes on her.
“I think you two are full of bullshit,” Jenna told them, trying hard to keep her voice steady. “He’s probably just Stark’s intern. Maybe he’s a super genius or something.”
“Bor-ring!” Ashley replied with a roll of her eyes.
“Yeah, our theory is way better,” Dylan bragged, a bit of humor in his tone.
Jenna stayed oddly quiet for the rest of the morning.
+++
When lunch rolled around, Dylan and Ashley went off to the food court floor of the building, but Jenna decided that she wanted to make use of the Starbucks gift card she’d been given. When she opened the envelope back up to get it, she discovered that it was a two-hundred dollar gift card, which left her in shock for a few moments. Still, she shook herself out of it and went to go get a sandwich and a coffee.
After lunch, she found herself back with her teammates, working on their project, but sipping on a venti white chocolate mocha this time around. Around half an hour after they’d come back from lunch, the elevator doors opened to reveal Peter, wearing a sunny yellow sweater that matched the smile on his face. He walked out of the elevator and seemingly ignored all the eyes on him. He made his way over to a table working on prosthetics and began to help them out, the team there looking a bit surprised but extremely grateful for the assistance.
When Peter looked up and spotted Jenna, he gave her an even brighter smile, which she returned. She shook the coffee cup in her hand a little, bringing his attention to it, and he gave a silent chuckle. Jenna took a sip of her mocha and turned back to her project.
“What the fuck was that?” Ashley asked, drawing both of her teammates away from where they were designing arm prosthetics.
“What?” Dylan and Jenna replied in unison.
“That little interaction you just had with Peter,” the blonde woman elaborated, looking at Jenna accusingly.
“What interaction?” the man piped up before the brunette could respond.
“She and Peter made eye contact and smiled at each other and then Jenna held up her coffee cup and Peter chuckled!”
Dylan gave Ashley an incredulous look before shifting his gaze to Jenna.
“It was nothing,” Jenna defended with a level voice before getting back to work.
“Does this have something to do with the letter from this morning?”
“What letter?” Jenna and Dylan asked in unison.
Ashley sighed. “Jenna, come on, just tell me what’s going on? Is there something you know that we don’t?”
Before the brunette could even respond, Peter passed by their table.
“Hey, Jenna!” the young man greeted cheerily.
“Hey, Peter,” she responded, a smile on her face.
When he was gone, she went right back to her work, ignoring the looks from her teammates.
Jenna knew it was going to be a long rest of her day.
That was the fourth time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.
5.
By the next Friday, the questions from Dylan and Ashley had died down, but the suspicious glances were definitively not stopping, nor becoming anymore secretive. Luckily, though, Jenna was becoming better and better at ignoring the looks from her coworkers.
There were no more appearances from Peter, but Jenna had been enjoying exchanging letters with the brunet. The letters would sometimes be accompanied by pictures, mostly of Peter and Tony, and the woman had fun printing dumb pictures of her own and sending them back. The two would share funny stories and talk about themselves, though Peter still never shared his last name, but the brunette didn’t blame him for that; she knew he wanted to continue to keep himself on the down low. Tony would sometimes put in a few sentences on a letter, mostly a short quip about something his boyfriend wrote, and Jenna couldn’t help but find her boss’s dry wit rather humorous.
As the weekend approached once more, Jenna found herself feeling glad to get away from her teammates’ conspicuous looks and probing questions. When it reached midday, she was beyond happy to escape to the food court, rushing in order to get ahead of Ashley and Dylan.
When she walked into the food court, she knew there was something going on. The chatter of the floor was quieter than normal, despite the normal amount of people being there. It was less conversation and more pointed whispers. When she followed where everybody’s eyes were looking, she discovered Peter sitting at one of the round tables on his own.
The young man had a couple slices of pizza on a plate in front of him, with one slice in his hand. He had wireless earbuds in and his phone was propped up using a pop socket attached to the back. It was obvious that he was watching some show or another.
Jenna simply shrugged and went to grab her own food, paying no mind to the whispered gossip spreading across the floor. She got a container of Chinese food from one of the stations and looked around to find a place to sit before realizing that she didn’t know where to go. She usually sat with her teammates, but she had been trying to escape them until she had to get back to work, which left her with nobody to eat lunch with.
In a strange and unusual burst of confidence, Jenna walked across the floor and toward Peter’s table, decidedly brushing off the eyes that followed her. She put her food down and sat in the chair across from her boss’s boyfriend, attempting to act casual as the quiet chatter toned down in order to hear what happened next.
Peter looked up when she sat down, seemingly confused that somebody was joining him at his table. When he saw that it was Jenna, however, he cracked a bright smile. He took out his earbuds and put them back into the carrying case before shutting off his phone and setting it face down on the table.
“Hey, Jenna!” His tone was bubbly, an air of familiarity to it. Just hearing him talk made Jenna feel calmer; the boy had a way of doing that.
“Hey, Peter,” she greeted back, less excitedly but still conveying that she was happy to see him again. “What’s up?”
“Not much! Tony’s in a meeting and I decided to come down here for lunch. I didn’t like how quiet it was.”
“I think you mentioned that once. That you don’t like being alone in spaces, I mean.” Jenna paid attention to every word in every letter she received from the young man. She felt like she connected to him in a way that she’d never connected to anybody before; it wasn’t like any friendship she had in the past.
“Yeah. It just feels nice to know that the world is still turning and I’m not completely alone.” He looked sad for a moment, eyes glazed over and distant. It was a somber kind of happiness, a mix of emotions that weren’t supposed to be mixed in case of an explosion, but not a loud one; it was more of a combustion, internal and quiet, soft and powerful. “But, anyways, what’ve you been up to?”
“Not much,” Jenna replied, trying to move on from the delicate moment. “Been working on the prototype for the prosthetics and I think it’s going well. There’s a few bits and pieces that me and my teammates have gotta work out before we send the design to our lab director, but I think we’ll get there soon.”
“That’s really cool! I honestly can’t wait for the prosthetics line to go into production! I think it's really gonna change the game since it’s gonna be a high tech line but also more affordable than the competitors!” Peter’s eyes were shining, the gleam replacing the far off look from only moments earlier.
“I’m excited for it too!” Jenna admitted. “I know it’s gonna help so many people and I can’t wait for it to go on the market!”
Peter opened his mouth to respond, but his phone buzzed before he could speak. He picked it up and read the notification, giving a small chuckle and typing out a response before looking up at Jenna.
“Was that . . .?” Jenna trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence but sure that the brunet caught her drift.
“Yeah,” Peter responded easily with a fond, but exasperated, look. “He finished his meeting and asked if I saved him some food from my lunch. I did, but I’m tempted to eat it myself and tell him to go get his own food.”
Jenna snorted.
“I’m not that mean, though, so I’m gonna take him the last two slices.” He slid his phone into his back pocket and his earbuds case into his front one before standing up and grabbing the plate with the two slices of pizza.
“I’ll see you later, Jenna!” he called as he walked away, heading towards the private elevator.
“See you, Peter!” With that, the woman went back to eating her lunch, as if nothing had happened at all.
When two people sat down at the table, Jenna looked up at them, only to find her two teammates, who had bewildered and suspicious looks on their faces. Dylan’s brow was furrowed and Ashley’s eyes were narrowed, the blonde obviously more dubious than him.
“What the actual fuck, Jenna?” she asked, voicing everybody’s thoughts.
“What?” the brunette replied as if she didn’t know.
“Don’t act all innocent! How are you so friendly with him?! This shit doesn’t add up!” Dylan nodded along to Ashley’s words.
Jenna gave an exasperated sigh.
“Sorry, but that’s confidential information. NDA’s and all that, ya know?” She was trying everything she could to weasel her way out of it, but it was the first time she’d given her teammates a semi-straight answer, even if it wasn’t that revealing.
“Oh, come on, Jenna!” Dylan finally spoke up. “It can’t be anything that serious! Just tell us what’s going on?”
“I’m afraid that Ms. Locke is right, Mr. Hoffman. This is confidential information that Ms. Locke does not have the authority nor the necessity to reveal to you,” FRIDAY interrupted, garnering the attention of the people watching.
Jenna only shrugged under the intense gazes of her coworkers, but it still shut them up about it.
That was the fifth time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.
+1
It was relatively quiet for the next few weeks after the food court incident. While the suspicious glances remained, the questions had died down, though whispers still followed Jenna around as her coworkers spread rumors about how she knew Peter.
Speaking of the brunet, he hadn’t shown up since the incident, but he and Jenna had continued to exchange letters, becoming closer friends as time went on. The next time news about Peter came, it was only news for Jenna, as nobody else had any clue of how the young man was involved.
It had happened when Tony Stark had come to the R&D floor to talk to the employees there about the progress on the prosthetics line. Everybody had been trying extra hard to look busy as the man went around, all of them hoping to seem like they were valuable employees who actually did work.
Jenna’s team was the last that the billionaire came to, but as soon as he started talking to them, the brunette noticed something.
He had an engagement ring on.
The woman mentioned nothing, though she did freeze for a moment when she noticed it. Still, she pushed through and continued with the discussion about the progress they had been making.
When her boss later stepped away to answer a text, she quickly told her coworkers she had to use the restroom, rushing away and going down the hallway that Tony had gone down, which happened to lead to the bathrooms.
When she got there, she found him smiling down at his phone and typing quickly.
“Did you guys get . . .?” Jenna started, but trailed off at the end, startling the man a bit. He looked up at her, eyes a bit wide, but immediately recognized her. He looked confused at the question for a moment before realizing that her eyes were on his ring.
“Yeah, we did,” Tony answered, looking a bit sheepish as a blush painted his cheeks.
“How did it happen?” It was obvious that the girl was excited to find out.
“It’s actually pretty funny. I got down on one knee to propose and he looked so exasperated and I freaked out because I thought he was gonna break up with me or something. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. He was planning on proposing that night too.”
“That’s absolutely incredible!” Jenna told him excitedly, but still kept her voice quiet.
“When we told our friends, they all looked so unsurprised that something like that would happen for him and I.”
The two both laughed before the billionaire’s phone buzzed again.
“I’ve got a meeting in, like, five minutes, so I should probably go.”
The two said their goodbyes and he started to walk back out to the main area to head to the private elevator, but stopped and turned around before he could.
“Just do you know, you’re invited to the wedding.”
Without another word, he walked away, leaving Jenna standing there in shock. A million thoughts were racing through her head and her eyes were still trained on the end of the hallway where the man had disappeared from.
“I’m invited to the wedding,” she whispered to herself. Taking a moment, she shook herself out of it and began walking back to her team’s table to get back to work.
Before she could get there, though, Ashley rushed at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back the way she came. The blonde pulled her into the women’s restroom and checked every stall to make sure they were empty before turning back to her coworker.
“What the fuck it this?!” She held up a letter and Jenna immediately knew who it was from. She snatched it from her co worker's hand and skimmed through it, praying to Thor that it wasn’t one of the letters that explicitly mentioned Peter dating Tony. She then proceeded to thank Thor when she realized that it was one one of the notes that mentioned a relationship, but not outright who it was with.
“Okay, Peter and I have been talking through letters. So what?” she replied, attempting to keep her voice steady so it sounded like she wasn’t fazed by the whole thing.
“Are you fucking with me?! You’re friends with this mysterious dude who’s all buddy-buddy with Tony fucking Stark and you’re expecting me to just let that go?! You’re out of your mind!” Ashley was obviously worked up about the whole thing and the brunette didn’t know what to say, but, luckily, her coworker started talking again before she could get a word out.
“You’ve been so secretive these past couple months and it’s been annoying as all hell! You’re not telling me anything and it feels like I’m so disconnected from you! Just tell me what’s going on!”
“I can’t! I can’t tell you what’s going on! I’m sorry that I don’t wanna lose my fucking job just so you can know every aspect of my life! Just let it go and leave me and my letters alone!” Jenna blew up, which was something she didn’t do very often.
Unsurprisingly, Ashley looked taken aback, shock written across her face. Jenna immediately regretted it.
“I’m sorry,” she told her friend softly. “I just can’t tell you.”
Jenna turned around and left the bathroom, the letter in her grasp. As soon as she was out, she went to her lab director and asked if she could leave a little early, giving the excuse of feeling sick. Of course, her lab director was understanding as always and let her go. She quickly gathered her stuff, ignoring the looks from Ashley and Dylan, and hightailed it out of there.
+++
“Dylan!” the R&D lab director, Kelsey, called from her office.
The man shot up from his team’s table, where the silence was as dense as molasses and the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
“Yes?” Dylan asked as he made his way over and placed himself in the open doorway. The director stood up and handed him a couple files.
“I have to go to a meeting, but these files need to be turned in. Could you take them up to the boss’s office for me?”
“You- you want me to take these to Mr. Stark?” His voice was a bit shaky.
“It’s not that big of a deal. You go to floor 89, you find the office with his name on it, you knock on the door, you tell him that I sent you, you give him the files, and you leave. I promise it’s not as stressful as you think it is.” Kelsey’s tone was comforting, but it did little to ease his anxieties.
“Okay,” he muttered, turning around and heading towards the elevator.
When the doors opened and Dylan stepped in, he found himself alone in the elevator. The silence was filled up by his anxious thoughts about what could go wrong. He spent the entire ride up trying to take deep breaths and remember that it was a simple job; just go in, give him the files, and leave.
The elevator stopped and he stepped off onto the eerily quiet office floor. It seemed that nobody was there and it freaked him out; it felt like a horror movie. He crept along the halls until he made it to a door with his boss’s name on it. He raised his hand to knock until he heard voices coming from inside.
“I don’t get why it’s such a big deal.” That was Tony Stark’s voice, and Dylan recognized it immediately.
“It just is!” A voice replied. It took Dylan all of three seconds to realize that it was the mysterious Peter who seemed to show up at the most random of times.
Against his better judgment, Dylan peered through the semi-open blinds that covered the windows of the office. When he did so, he found Peter sitting on the edge of the desk and Tony a couple feet in front of him.
“It doesn’t seem like that hard of a decision. If you don’t like this guy, don’t invite him to the wedding! It’s so simple!” The billionaire looked confused at the dilemma at hand, though Dylan had no clue what they were talking about. He was getting married?
“But it’s not! I don’t want to invite him, but it would be rude if I didn’t!” Peter looked worked up about the whole thing, face slightly flushed and fiddling with his hands.
“It might be rude, but if you don’t want him there, then don’t invite him!”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Except that it is.”
“Maybe for you!” It wasn’t a yell, but it wasn’t quiet. Peter had stopped fiddling with his fingers and was now pulling slightly at his hair.
“What do you mean?” Tony spoke like he could accidentally shatter the young man in front of him if he wasn’t careful.
“I mean that you’re Tony Stark. You’re a famous billionaire that can do whatever you want. If you don’t want to invite somebody, you don’t invite them. You don’t care if it’s rude because you’re Tony fucking Stark and you can do anything you’d like. I’m not like that, I can’t just do whatever I want. I’m Peter Parker, an average guy from Queens, and I’ve always been just that. If I’m rude, there’s consequences and it can actually affect my life. I have to think things like this over, even if you see it as trivial.”
Tony paused for a moment, letting the words sink in.
“Except you’re not just some average guy. You’re Peter fucking Parker. You’re incredible. You’re gonna change the entire world. Maybe I don’t get these kinds of things because I was raised in such a different world than you, but all I want is for you to be happy. Whatever choice you make here, I’ll be fine with, but that isn’t what I care about. I care about you, because you’re the most amazing person on this planet. You’re Peter Parker, the man I fell in love with.”
Dylan’s jaw dropped as he finally found the closure he’d been seeking for months. He knew what Peter’s last name was, he knew what relationship he had to Tony Stark, he knew who Peter was. He had never expected this, though. He cringed as his mind went back to that theory he had about Peter being Tony’s son.
He watched as the two shared a short kiss and finally moved back in front of the door, feeling the need to give his boss the files, run back down to his floor, and tell his teammates everything.
Dylan knocked on the door and he could almost feel the two men inside freeze in shock. It only took a second before the door opened, though, and revealed Peter Parker standing there with Tony Stark slightly behind him, both of them looking worried.
“Uh, I’m from R&D and my lab director, Kelsey, asked me to deliver these files,” Dylan stuttered out, failing at his attempt to remain casual.
“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, thanks,” Peter replied, seemingly relieved as he took the files.
“I, um, bye, I guess,” Dylan stammered before turning around and booking it out of there. He could feel the two men’s eyes on him as he left.
When Dylan got to the elevator, he pressed on the button a few times, praying for it to arrive faster, and jumped on the moment the doors had opened wide enough to get through. He then adamantly pressed the button for the R&D floor. The elevator ride down felt much longer than the one up.
When Dylan did get to his floor, he raced through the doors and to his teammates, grabbing each of them by the upper arm and dragging them into the men’s restroom. He checked every stall to make sure they were alone before locking the bathroom door and turning back to his teammates.
“You guys aren’t gonna believe this!” Dylan announced. “I found out some crazy shit!”
“Why am I here?” Jenna asked him in a deadpan voice. “Can I leave?”
“Jenna, you’ll actually wanna hear this! I found out who Peter is!”
Ashley and Jenna both froze, but for different reasons.
“You gotta tell us!” Ashley exclaimed excitedly.
“No, you better fucking not!” Jenna said over her.
“What?! Why?!” Dylan looked genuinely confused.
“Because we’re not supposed to know! It’s obvious he wants to keep his identity a secret! You can’t go around telling people! You need to tell him and Stark that you know so they can feel sure that his identity won’t get leaked!”
“God, you’re such a buzzkill, Jenna,” Ashley shot at her.
“No, I’m a good person.”
It made her teammates go silent, the words piercing through them like knives.
“If you wanna go and tell and lose your job, then go ahead, but I want no part of it.” Jenna turned around and started to leave.
“Do you know?” Dylan asked her, making the woman stop in her tracks.
“What?” Jenna slowly turned back to him.
“Do you know?” he repeated, voice cold and serious.
Jenna stayed silent for a few moments, mulling over what she could say.
“Not on purpose . . .”
“And you didn’t tell us?” Ashley questioned, betrayal written across her face.
“Sorry I respect their privacy!” It was obvious that she was very much not sorry.
“Wait . . . did you find out when you went back to get your jacket after the presentation?!” Dylan exclaimed, looking like he had put all the puzzle pieces together. When Jenna stayed quiet, he knew that he had gotten his answer. “Holy shit! What happened?! Did you, like, see them kiss or some shit?!”
“Kiss?!” Ashley shouted.
“Jesus Christ,” Jenna muttered, putting her head in her hands.
“No fucking way! They’re in a relationship?!”
“Yeah!”
“That’s it,” Jenna declared decisively and turned around.
“Where are you going?” Ashley asked her, bewilderment shining in her eyes.
“I’m going to go tell them that Dylan figured it out and that you know,” Jenna told the blonde, voice laced with venom.
Jenna unlocked the door and left, not letting her teammates get another word in, but the two followed her out and watched as she stormed past all her coworkers and to the elevator, disappearing as soon as the doors opened.
“I might lose my job,” Dylan muttered, eyes wide and trained on the now closed elevator doors.
“Is it true?” one of the other employees, Amelia, asked as she walked up to Dylan and Ashley.
“Is what true?” Ashley replied.
“That Peter and Stark are in a relationship? You guys were implying it in there, and you aren’t exactly good at being quiet.”
“I’m definitely gonna lose my job,” Dylan whispered, correcting his earlier statement.
“So it is true!” Eric, another employee, shouted.
Everybody started talking, the floor turning into a storm of chattering.
“We’re so fucked. We’re absolutely, completely, utterly fucked,” Ashley murmured, only loud enough so Dylan could hear, and the man only nodded in agreement.
The two slowly walked forwards, looking around at their gossiping coworkers as they made their way back to their desk. They looked completely horrified, and guilt was quickly eating away at Dylan.
Before they could sit down, the elevator doors opened and Jenna walked out with Tony and Peter in tow. Everybody stopped, staring at the three of them. Peter looked nervous and tears were glistening in his eyes, but Tony just looked furious, his expression mirroring Jenna’s.
“Okay, which of you knows?” Tony asked the room, his voice deadly calm. He didn’t yell or scream, but that steady tone was almost worse than him blowing up at them.
One employee raised their hand, and everybody else followed, the last people to put their hands up being Ashley and Dylan.
“All of you, go to the auditorium. Now. All the other employees will meet you there. Do not say a word of this to them before I get there to talk to them about it. Do I make myself clear?”
If looks could kill, all of the R&D employees, minus Jenna, would be dead. All of them mumbled their confirmations or nodded and slowly shuffled off to the elevators, heading to the auditorium floor.
Ashley and Dylan had fallen into the back of the crowd and were the last to get onto an elevator, meaning they could see the floor before the door closed. The two watched as Tony turned back to Peter and Jenna, who were looking regretful and heartbroken respectfully. The last thing they saw before the elevator started moving was Peter beginning to cry and burying his face in Tony’s shoulder as the man embraced him and Jenna putting a comforting hand on his back.
By the time the R&D employees reached the auditorium and began to make their way into the seats, other employees were either already there or just getting there. There was chatter, a mix of people confused why they had been called there and those who knew praying that they wouldn’t be fired. The chatter seemed to die down a bit as everybody was seated, all of them waiting in anticipation for whatever was going to happen.
After a few minutes, the doors of one of the entrances to the auditorium, which had been closed, slammed open. Everybody turned, though plenty of them couldn’t see the doors, and watched as Tony Stark stormed down the aisle towards the stage, Jenna Locke behind him and looking slightly less, but still plenty, furious. The two made their way up the three stairs that led up to the stage.
All the employees gazed up at the two standing center stage, and they were glaring back at them with serious faces. After a moment of silence, Tony finally spoke.
“I’m sure the majority of you are wondering why I called everybody to the auditorium. Today, somebody found out something that they shouldn’t have about my private life and, instead of coming and talking to me about it in order to keep it confidential, they went and told somebody, and those people’s department overheard. That person who found out and told will be fired and the person who was first told and was complicit in revealing information about my life will be put on probation.”
In the back of the auditorium, Dylan and Ashley sank down in their seats.
“You may also be wondering why I have one of your coworkers up here with me today. If you weren’t already aware, this is Jenna Locke.”
Jenna gave the audience a curt nod.
“Jenna also found out about this information a couple months ago. Instead of telling anybody, she talked to us and promised to keep it to herself, and she has kept that promise. She was also the one who told me about the information leak.”
The employees, minus the R&D department, were on the edge of their seats, eager to find out the information but scared of their boss and what he could do to them if things got out.
“Seeing as nothing can seem to stay a secret here, I have elected to talk to you all about it. Keep in mind that what happened in terms of this information being revealed was a serious breach of confidentiality and disrespected not just my own privacy. Take this as a warning. If any of you are to tell anybody outside of this company about this, your employment will be terminated and my legal team will sue you to kingdom come. This is not a three strikes you’re out situation. Do not tell a soul about this. Keep in mind the fact that you all signed non-disclosure agreements when you took this job. This counts as a company secret, and you will treat it as one.”
Everybody seemed to nod or give a murmur of confirmation. It wasn’t much, but it appeared to satisfy the man.
“Moving on, I’m sure you’ve all either seen or heard about Peter. Only a select few of you know who he is, though without his consent, and others have seen us interact but never known who we are to each other. This information about our private lives was discovered and we have no choice but to let you all know in fear of rumors and gossip being spread around and taken outside the company. Everybody, please meet my fiancé, Peter Parker.”
The room was shocked into silence, the only sound being the clacking of Peter’s shoes as he softly walked out from the wings and to Tony’s side. None of the employees uttered even a sound as they looked up at the boy, whose eyes were still slightly red and puffy from when he had cried only ten minutes earlier.
“Hey, everybody. I’m Peter. You’ve all probably seen me around,” the young man introduced himself, voice only loud enough to hear. “Like Tony said, we weren’t planning on telling people yet, but we don’t get that choice anymore.”
They were still silent.
“Since this will be your only chance to do so, we’ll be answering questions about this,” Peter continued. Nobody spoke, until one person in the third row raised their hand and the young man motioned to them. “Yes, go ahead.”
“How, uh, how old are you?” the woman asked quietly, looking slightly concerned.
Peter sighed as Tony looked to him with a humorous smile.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he told the billionaire, who didn’t have a chance to respond before Jenna started laughing a bit. “You too?! I can’t believe you would betray me like this! This happens every fucking time!”
The employee who asked furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly mirroring the confusion of the rest of the audience.
“I’m twenty-one,” Peter told her. “Tony likes to make fun of me because I look like I’m not old enough to drive. Jenna’s laughing because she asked the same question when she found out.”
The woman nodded along with the explanation and everybody went silent again before another person raised their hand and Peter pointed to them.
+++
Eight Months Later
“And this is your team!” Kelsey told the new employees excitedly. “Meet Jenna and Ashley! They’ve been here for a while and are definitely excited to show you the ropes!”
“It’s nice to meet you!” Jenna greeted. “What’s your name?”
“I’m River,” the new guy replied quietly, cheeks flushed.
“I’m glad to have you on the team, River!” Ashley exclaimed.
“I’ll leave you all to it!” Kelsey gave River one last smile and walked off to talk to some teams about their projects.
“We’re finishing up some last touches on the update to the prosthetics line,” Jenna explained to the new recruit as he sat down. He nodded along as she began to explain the project.
Jenna was cut off by the elevator doors opening and Peter walking onto the floor.
“Excuse me for a second,” the woman told her team before jumping up and running over to the brunet.
“Who’s that?” River asked Ashely as he watched Jenna excitedly embrace the man and begin to talk to him.
“Have you signed all your NDAs?”
River nodded.
“Peter!” Ashely called. “Come meet the new kid!”
Peter bounded over eagerly, a large smile on his face as he approached the two employees, Jenna trailing him.
“Uh, hi, I’m River.”
“Nice to meet you, River! I’m Peter Parker. It’s always great to see new faces around here!”
“It’s great to be here,” he replied awkwardly.
Peter nodded and was off again, going around to teams and helping with projects, but, more importantly, just talking to the employees in general.
“Is he a director or something? Everybody seems to know him,” River questioned his team.
“He’s even better than a director,” Ashley told him with a grin. “He’s Tony’s Stark’s fiancé.”
Shock painted itself across River’s face.
“There’s no way that’s real!”
Ashley and Jenna glanced at each other before turning back to River. They didn’t say anything else to him, which was unnerving to the new employee.
As if on cue, the elevator doors opened once more and the Tony Stark walked out, a small smile adorning his face. Peter worked up from where he was helping a team and flitted over to the man happily. The two shared a short kiss before Peter turned back a bit.
“We still on for lunch on Friday, Jenna?”
“Of course!”
Peter shot her a smile and the couple entered the elevator, talking quietly as they disappeared behind the metal doors.
“Okay, so maybe it is real.”
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King Anthony Stark longs for something more. Tonight he will have his deepest desire granted.
| mentioned/implied abuse |
King Anthony Stark sits on the throne. His throne.
It’s silent and cold in the throne room. It’s silent and cold across the kingdom.
The silence began with Maria and Howard Stark’s murder. The coldness began with Anthony’s coronation.
The silence is noticeably absent from Anthony’s mind, though. His thoughts race a mile a minute as he tries to comprehend his parents’ death.
Nausea rests heavy in Anthony’s stomach. He knows the throne is not where he belongs. He’s never wanted the title of king, but his father made him train for it.
When Anthony was younger he would dream of running away from his princely duties. He didn’t have a clue where he’d run to. But that didn’t stop eight-year-old Anthony from staring out his window into the starry night, looking for an answer to a question he didn’t know he had.
Despite the lingering resentment Anthony has toward his father, the death of his parents hurt.
It feels like a rug has been pulled from underneath his feet. Anthony can hardly bear walking past their portraits everyday. Being reminded that he’d never see them again.
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i high key low key wanna write a fic where peter has ADHD. i actually have ADHD and i hyperfixate on stuff and it really affects me when people get annoyed when i ramble on about my fixation.
so, consider:
-peter rambling on to tony about his current fixation and then stopping and apologizing for rambling, but tony is like “no! i love hearing you ramble about things!” and it makes peter super happy
-peter fidgeting a lot and feeling like he’s weird for it, but tony reminding him that it’s okay
-peter having trouble paying attention when doing work and tony having to get him back on track
-peter forgetting he said something/told tony something already and tony reminding him (in a super gentle way) that he’s already said it
-peter forgetting to do things/grab things he needs to grab and tony helping to remind him and make sure he has everything.
-tony reminding peter to take his meds
in conclusion: starker with ADHD!Peter. thanks for coming to my ted talk.
GIVE ME FUCKING «SOFT PETER AND SUGAR DADDY TONY THAT THINKS HE’S NOT PETER’S SUGAR DADDY, HE’S JUST MENTOR THAT HELPS KID UNTIL ONE DAY WHEN PETER SEND HIM HIS NUDES WITH CAPTION “THANKS FOR WATCHES/SHIRT/NIKES DADDY”» DRABBLE RIGHT NAO-
Tony taking Peter under his wing. Tony letting Peter inside Stark Industries as a full-time worker even if he was only an intern for six months. Tony paying Peter’s student loans. Tony complimenting Peter on his intellect and laughing a little too loudly when hearing Peter’s snarky jokes. Tony seeing Peter gaze longingly at a Balenciaga outfit and buying it for him on the spot. Tony driving Peter home every night until one day Peter leans in and kisses him.
Peter not being afraid to call Tony out on his bullshit. Peter gazing at Tony with those big doe eyes when he thinks Tony can’t notice. Peter being twice as hardworking as any executive in the company. Peter’s bright smile every time Tony compliments him. Peter’s boldness in kissing him first. Peter looking like a gorgeous angel under Tony’s sheets, grinning up at him with so much love.
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im back home from college during quarantine and i was in my room, writing some fanfic, and my mom came into my room so she could grab something she needed and then she started talking to me while i was awkwardly sitting there and praying she wouldn’t ask me what im working on. i cant wait for the fall when i can sit in my dorm in peace and lie to my roommate about what im working on.
i’ve had a starker fic with witch!peter in my drafts for so long and so i’m working on finishing that shit and i’m actually really liking it so far. expect that in the next week or so :)
