A/N: This one was particularly hard for me to write, just considering generic semi-plotless one-shots were never my strong suit. So here is some really generic pointless IronDad and SpiderSon that's set in a bit of an AU where Tony survives the snap and comes out of it unscathed (because I just need some generic fluff). Sorry if there are any writing and/or continuity mistakes. Wrote this one quite late and haven't been feeling 100% today, but wanted to take a crack nonetheless :) Also, I absolutely see Peter as the type that will bring his own pillow from home because he can't sleep as well on random pillows. Either that or I'm projecting again lmao

Peter was glad the door opened automatically as F.R.I.D.A.Y. buzzed him through, arms full of enough duffel bags and pillows to make him look like he was going camping for a week. This was the first time he'd set foot in the new Avengers facility since Thanos levelled it almost two years prior. It'd taken almost that whole period to reconstruct everything from the ground up, and Peter was impressed at how nearly identical it looked to the last time he was there, pre-Snap.

Of course, leave it to Tony to want to build it back as it was. After all, it was one of his babies; practical and virtually perfection, the building just screamed 'Tony Stark'.

Subtlety was the name of the game in the facility. Small lights soundlessly lit Peter's path, quietly directing him to the part of the structure that Tony had territorially claimed as his. Tony had promised Peter his own bedroom, and Peter was more than excited to dump his numerous bags on the floor and just take a breather.

In the few months he'd had off since graduating from high school, he hadn't had a single moment to himself. Not that he could really complain. Most of his time was occupied by Ned and MJ, whether that was both of them together or spending time one-on-one. He'd already told Ned that he'd gotten into MIT and would be moving interstate in a little over a month and a half, but there was one conversation he was absolutely dreading, and that was with MJ. Since Junior year, their relationship had been pretty perfect, if Peter said so himself, and he was loathe to see it end over him moving to Massachusetts. Sure, they could make it work – it wasn't that far, and Peter really wantedit to work. After some deliberating, Peter decided he'd ask Mr Stark; he'd know the answer.

As he rounded the final corner, his eyes were met with a large glass cube-shaped room, windows tinted like charcoal that almost reminded Peter of the Tesseract. Not that he'd ever seen it in person, but he'd seen enough video footage courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D. to vaguely know what it looked like. Aside from not glowing, not being blue, and not having the menacing aura of the little Shining Cube of Death, the resemblance was uncanny.

Peter froze in the centre of the hall as F.R.I.D.A.Y's voice chimed overhead. "Welcome Peter, Boss is waiting for you in the lab when you are ready. You may drop your belongings in your room."

Taking confident steps forward, Peter only then realised he had no idea where he was going. Pausing momentarily, he paused to ask the A.I, "Uh Fri, where -"

"It is the third door on your right."

"Thanks!" Peter bounded down the hall, needing to gracelessly manoeuvre and shimmy the door handle down. There was no dignity in putting all his bags down only to pick them back up again while propping the door open with his foot, all the while looking as if he were developing a new yoga position. As the black door swung open, he marvelled for a moment at how despite it having been a high gloss lacquered finish, there wasn't a single fingerprint from where he'd pushed it open along the lock stile.

Dropping his bags haphazardly at the foot of the queen bed (draped in the softest looking navy satin sheets Peter had ever seen and he had to stop himself right then and there from just passing out on top of them), he freshened up in the bathroom, changed from his T-shirt to a smart-casual button up, and made his way back to the Not Tesseract.

Once he found the entrance – after checking three out of its four sides – the door slid open, and he was greeted by a room that could aptly be described as every tech geek's fantasy. Peter wasn't quite sure if he was hallucinating, what with the numerous colourful and interactable holograms floating in various parts of the room, a few artificially intelligent robots doing their own thing because of course they were, and Tony Stark standing as enigmatic as ever bent over his latest project that looked an awful lot like a new Spider-suit upgrade. Peter only hoped that one day he would be able to exude the same confidence and charisma that Tony managed to accomplish just by breathing.

Tony looked up at the sound of the door sliding shut behind Peter and shot him a smile that bled with pride. "Congratulations on MIT, kid. You know," Tony removed his reading glasses (since when did Tony wear reading glasses?), "I always knew you had it in you. Then again, I'm usually right about these things." He paused in front of Peter, and Peter forced himself to smile in return.

Truth be told, Peter had been struggling with some Imposter syndrome after receiving his acceptance letter. It wasn't that he felt he didn't do well enough in school, he absolutely did. He didn't want to say anything for being afraid of what the answer would be, but he had a nagging feeling that Tony may have pulled some strings on his behalf, what with being one of MIT's greatest alumnus and all. Over the years it had come up in conversation, subtly woven in between how he was doing in school, how his relationship with MJ was faring, and who was definitively going to be named New York's best pizzeria – it was a topic of conversation which had gotten quite unabashedly heated, and they still could not come to a conclusion.

All Peter ended up saying in response, quite pathetically in his opinion, was a half muttered, "Thanks, Mr Stark."

Tony's eyes narrowed, and Peter made as much effort as possible to look anywhere but straight into the eyes of his mentor.

"That didn't sound happy. What's going on?"

Peter was naïve to think that Tony wouldn't notice his subdued response to getting admitted to the university of his dreams. He was following in the footsteps of his mentor, a man who became like his father, but Peter was torn between feeling honoured at being Tony Stark's legacy, and between wanting to be his own man and achieve out of merit and not just affiliation. Maybe that made him sound ungrateful, but to almost everyone at school, he'd been Peter Parker: that kid doing the Stark internship. Peter Parker: that kid who hung out with Captain America a few times. Peter Parker: Anthony Stark's prodigious 'adopted' son.

"N-nothing, I was just uh," Peter decided any other dumb excuse would be better than 'hey, so I feel like my acceptance into MIT is one big joke and so am I.' He eventually settled on, "I was actually wanting to study Biophysics, if that's okay with you."

Tony looked unconvinced, but to Peter's relief, he let it go. "Do whatever you want, it's your life, kid. Have you picked your subjects yet?" Tony walked back towards the largest and most central computer station, summoned a large projection of Google on the far back wall that was surrounded by a mini bar setup and black leather couches, and handed Peter a tablet after he had shook his head 'no' in response.

"C'mere," Tony said, having made his way over to the kitchenette. He poured an ounce of liqueur the colour of butterscotch from a crystal decanter that looked as if it cost more than Peter's whole apartment into one crystalline glass, and only put a smidgeon of the liquid caramel into the other. Peter took a crack and guessed that it was scotch. Gesturing for Peter to sit next to him on the couch, he handed Peter one of the glasses.

Peter took hold of it, setting the tablet on top of his thigh. At some point, the display must have changed over to MIT's Biological Engineering 'Courses Offered' page, and Peter's breath caught in his throat. He didn't realise how nervous he was about his future, how much weight he had put on himself to pick the right subjects and pursue the right major. It was the first time he'd really felt like a normal kid his age in a long, long time.

"I'm not promoting underage drinking, so you better not say anything to your Aunt May, okay?" Despite the stern look on Tony's face, Peter knew Tony for long enough to detect the mischievous undertone to his words.

Despite his best attempts, Peter felt the prickle of tears behind his eyes. He had never known his father, and he hadn't really entertained the thought that he would ever be able to share his first drink with someone who he considered to be his 'dad' in any sense of the word. Yet here he was.

"Congratulations." Tony looked at Peter as their glasses clinked together. His dark eyes were warm with pride and a special type of second-hand excitement only a parental figure could experience, eager to be a part of the next chapter of life Peter was about to embark on.

"Thanks, but couldn't've done it without you." The liquid burned its way down Peter's throat as he took his first and only sip from the glass, Tony having only put just enough to taste. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand not knowing how much Tony pulled strings for him at the MIT admissions.

Peter groaned internally when Tony didn't correct him on his comment, hoping that he would have taken the bait and saved Peter the awkwardness of asking straight up whether his achievements were based on his own merit or his fortunate affiliations.

"Right, let's have a look at your classes."

The time displayed on the projection was now showing 12:48am. Peter's eyes had begun burning about an hour prior. While his usual bedtime was usually the early hours of the morning, the exhaustion of having to manage his anxiety and responses while in the observant company of Tony Stark left him feeling withered and needing to enter the void that was the realm of sleep.

"Thanks so much for tonight Mr Stark," he was cut off by a yawn as he made a move to head back to his welcoming satin sheets, "but I'm gonna head to bed and get some of those sweet -" and once more, "- sweet dreams."

Tony just gave Peter a closed-lipped smile and nodded his head towards the door, the bags under his eyes telling Peter it wouldn't be long before he went to bed too. Peter wondered with some concern how long it had been since Tony had a good night's sleep, and if this was day two on what might end up being a three-day long passion-project fuelled bender. If the slowly rotating blueprints of what looked like a newly designed Spider-suit gauntlet were anything to go by, there was a higher chance than Peter initially thought that Tony would not be sleeping tonight.

Disappointed in himself that he couldn't muster the courage to ask Tony if his Imposter syndrome regarding MIT was founded, he made his way to exit the room, fully prepared instead to pursue the subject tomorrow when he was far less tired. As the door automatically slid open as Peter approached it, he couldn't help the grin that spread across his cheeks as he heard Tony call out from where he had just stood up from the settee. Maybe he didn't have to get his answer tomorrow after all.

"In case you were wondering, it was all you, kid."

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed just some good ol' wholesome vibes. I feel like I can relate really strongly to Peter's Imposter syndrome in this, and I'm sure many of you guys can, too. Check in again tomorrow for the final part to 'The Mines' mini story arc as well x