5 times Tony hates Peter's quirks. And the 1 time Tony loved every little thing about Peter.
1. Jokes/Puns
"Haha...get it. I'm falling for you. It's Valentine's Day, and I fell. Ha." Peter's laughter turned away into a series of wet coughs. Every cough led speckles of blood to fall around him.
Tony would have laughed out of the pure innocence Peter had, but he couldn't. Not when Peter had practically fallen from the sky, and was bleeding out in his arms. Tony didn't have his suit, and he had no ways of calling for one. His only hope was to hold onto the kid as Happy raced the streets of New York to get their current location.
Tony pulled Peter closer to his chest. "Stop that. Don't talk."
Peter opened his mouth again, but he ended up coughing harder than the last time. In between them though, when he was able to get a decent breath of air in his lungs, he said, "Don't w-worry Mr. Stark. I-I'm fine."
'No your not. You're coughing up blood. You probably punctured your lungs or something, and what are you doing? You're literally telling me jokes right now!' Of course Tony didn't say it out loud.
No, out loud he smiled at Peter and nodded along to his slurred words. "Yeah. Everything is going to be fine."
Tony refuses to move from Peter's bedside.
2. Forgiving/Forgiveness
'I want to punch that guy until his face is impossible to recognize.' Tony clutched his hands into fists.
It was only noon and he already wanted a drink.
He had just come back from court. It was a whole hour since he had come back, and he couldn't believe what Peter had done. When Tony agreed to May's terms of Peter not allowed to 'Spiderman' on Thursday nights - because it was May's only night off, and she wanted to spend some quality time with her nephew - Tony wholeheartedly agreed. What was he supposed to say? What place was he in to deny May from seeing her nephew.
How Tony wanted to slap his past self. It was last Thursday when Peter had been coming home from school, and had been dragged into an alley by a mugger. It was last Thursdaythat the very same mugger shot Peter twice.
If it were Tony, he wouldn't think twice about sending that monster to prison, but Peter - oh gods Peter - was too forgiving. Tony couldn't fathom it. Peter, in the middle of court, told the judge to not to charge the man. Of course, he was charged, but by much lesser terms that what he would have - should have -gotten.
Tony settled for taking an Aspirin, instead.
3. Selflessness
Tony had to set down his pasta filled fork. It was right there in front of him, on the news. The news reporter began to speak with a picture of Peter screaming Parker on the screen right behind him.
"Today, a young man managed to save a six year old child from a burning building. Even with firefighters in the location, this young man ran into the building and was able to rescue the child from the third floor. However in rescuing the child, he had received serious burns and inhaled much smoke from the fire. He was checked into Elmore hospital at 3:36. This is what the family has to say."
'Blah blah blah,' was all Tony heard after that. "Gods." Tony set his head in his hands. How many times had he told Peter not to go looking for trouble. Was that to hard to ask? Peter was always risking himself, for no reason in fact! There were professionals here! Why did he need to place himself in danger? Tony shook his head and went back to eating his suddenly sour pasta.
"We got further information that the kid is fine and it released into the custody of his aunt. Now onto the stock market."
Tony decided he wasn't hungry anymore.
4. Unquestionable Trust
Hands down, no questions asked. That was Peter.
Tony could tell him to go jump off a building and Peter would do it. Sometimes he actually does want to tell Peter to do it, just to see if he would. But, Tony already knows the answer.
He would do anything for his hero. Iron Man. Tony Stark. And it was only proved time and time again when he hung out with the kid.
How many times had they been working in the lab, and Tony wanted to test something - that had a 87% chance of blowing up - and he would tell Peter to stand back. But no, Peter would always tell him the same thing. "I trust you Mr. Stark. It will work. Nothing's gonna happen."
And then Germany. The kid hadn't even wanted to come along in the first place. But when he did, he followed all - well, most - of his orders. That was the terrifying part. Peter followed all of his orders, and if that lead to him being killed, who was going to live with the guilt? That's right - Tony screaming Stark. The kid had so much faith in him, even after all the news reports and his mistakes.
Sometimes he wanted to grab Peter by the shoulders and tell him that he wasn't a god. Thor was, but that's besides the point. Tony wasn't it, and he made mistakes. He wanted Peter to know this. One day, it will be his fault the this miracle of a child is dead.
Tony didn't sleep that night.
5. Physical Affection
It was one thing that Tony was able to survive without. Peter couldn't.
Tony didn't miss it. Peter was always peppy, always ready to throw hugs and handshakes out to others. Tony would just watch as Happy and Pepper would embrace the kid - sometimes forcefully. They couldn't even walk into the building with Peter shaking hands and conversing with the other scientists and receptionists in the tower.
Tony could also see that Peter wanted to give him a hug. But Tony couldn't.
Tony would give the world to the kid, but he couldn't give him a common hug.
May had been held hostage in a bank once. She was stabbed, the other hostages were also a bit cut up, but they were taken to the hospital. Peter sat beside her, crying. Tony stood behind him. He could see Peter's need for something physical, something there. He needed someone to ground him.
But Tony was not the person. He couldn't be.
Later, he wished that he could have hugged Peter at the time.
Tony went home that night, wanting to punch himself.
+1. The Little Things
It was on the news again. 'Captain America: Now A Convict?'
It had been months, but he couldn't get over it. His friends, those that he trusted above anyone else, gone. Everything they had was tossed away, but by what? Tony wanted to do something good for once. So much for how that worked out.
He was on the floor of his lab, back to the wall, his legs straight out in front of him. He was crying. There was no point in dancing around the truth. He was crying, and he hated it. He lost everything.
At least almost everything.
At some point, Peter walked in. They made eye contact. Peter dropped his schoolbag on the floor, and slowly made his way over. He sat beside Mr. Stark, with his legs criss-cross-applesauce. Tony froze when Peter lied his head on the billionaire's shoulder. Tony sobbed harder.
Tony didn't realize how much he needed Peter right now. How much he had always needed Peter. Tony lived his childhood without something or someone that he could call a friend. Or even a dad. It was s simple fact. There was no time for him. But Peter, god, Peter always had time.
Peter didn't question Tony. No matter what he would do, Peter would always be on his side- at least until Tony did something that really crossed the line. But for now, Tony had Peter. When the kid overheard him talking about Siberia, it only took seconds for the kid to rant about Captain America. No Tony could have let it slide there, but he didn't.
He told Peter whose real fault it was. All of the stupid mistakes that lead up to it. But Peter didn't have a bone in his body to hate Tony, or Captain America for that manner. The kid repeated to him time after time that none of it was his fault. It made Tony's heart sore. The kid's trust in him pushed him to be better. He couldn't survive without Peter's pride in him. How strange was it that it was this way and not vice versa?
And the forgiveness. Tony never showed it, but god, did he get tired of what the media said. He wanted someone to look at his success, not his faults. Was that too hard? But Peter was always there to remind Tony that he was a hero for a reason. He was a good person with good intentions.
Peter's selflessness was really what drove Tony to meet the kid in the first place. Badly recorded videos on the subway or from the street didn't stop Tony from noticing how Spiderman risked everything for the little guys. Even when everything was himself. Tony didn't see how 'selfish' the Avengers were until Peter turned down the offer after "The Vulture incident."
Tony hiccuped. He was smiling now. He thought about tall of the other things that Peter did. Heck, the kid was annoying, but it was always worth it. Peter's hugs were the things that made Tony want to save the world's innocence- if only to give Peter more time in it. The kid deserved it.
And the jokes and puns. Tony had never met anyone with a sense of humor like him. And while Tony had always isolated himself, and the only things that could genuinely make him smile were jokes, Peter was always happy. The kid didn't need a reason to save the world. He was out there, because he wanted to be the reason that other's would save it in the future.
More and more thoughts ran though Tony's head. After a few more minutes, (It was probably 15 minutes after Peter walked in, who knew how long Tony was there before), that he shifted so that he could wrap his arms around the teen. Peter on his part hadn't said anything. But that didn't matter, because he was there.
Peter was there for Tony.
And Tony wasn't one for random displays of affection, but he decided to voice it.
"Peter, I'm so glad you're here."
He could feel the kid smile into his shoulder. "I'll always be here Mr. Stark. After all, who's going to handle you? I would feel bad for Pepper."
Peter laughed and Tony made a mock gasp."Peter! How could you say that?!" They both laughed again at their antics. It was the laughter, Tony realized, that he craved most.
After they stopped laughing, and had lulled into another comfortable silence, Tony seriously asked, "Promise me one thing kid."
Peter shifted a bit so he was looking up at Tony. "What?"
The promising eyes made Tony's heart clutch again, and the man found himself pulling Peter in for another hug, crying into the teen's hair once again. "Don't ever change. Always be you, because nothing— actually, no one is better than you, to me."
He could feel it. Peter's own tears soaking into his shirt. "I promise Mr. Stark."
Yeah there were quirks that Tony hated about Peter, but at the end of the day, they were a part of the kid that he couldn't live without.
Done! A quick Idea I had, but I thought it was pretty good, so I built up on it. I hope you guy's like it! I don't think the fluff was too good at the end, but I'm practicing!
I wish my readers an amazing day/night!
-OnlyEscape
