Comfortember Day Five Alt: Four: Orchard

Tony didn't miss Peter side-eyeing him while they worked on their respective suits in the lab. He could tell the kid was trying to be sneaky but it wasn't hard to catch him in the act, considering the moment Tony looked at him Peter's eyes shot straight back to his suit and he even whistled. Tony grabbed a hand towel and wiped the grease off his hands.

"What's with all the side-eyes?" Tony asked.

"I'm not!"

"Pete."

"I was just looking at all the new adjustments you were-"

Tony's deep sigh was enough to get Peter to stop with the excuses.

"Okay," Peter relented. "I just couldn't help but notice that you almost seem down. Are you running low on sleep?"

Tony chuckled. "Since when have I ever run high on sleep?"

"I guess you have a point...But you know what I mean!"

"I do," Tony said. "I'm fine, kid. Really."

"But you don't seem fine. I just told you that you seem down."

"That's just your opinion."

Peter frowned. Tony rubbed his eyes. He knew Peter was right. He wasn't necessarily down but he was stressed. Tony had been stressed lately and he had been doing his best to rid the feeling, but when was he ever good at that? He wasn't. His coping mechanisms still needed work.

"Are you going to be okay?" Peter asked, quietly.

Oh. Oh, no.

Peter was getting the wrong idea completely.

"Kid, I'm not depressed," Tony said, sternly. "I might be a little-"

"A little?"

"-Stressed, but I don't feel what you think I'm feeling."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Peter smiled slightly and Tony walked over and ruffled the kid's hair. He was too caring for his own good. Tony was too lucky to have this kid.

"Why don't we stop for now and get something to eat?" Tony suggested.

"Sure!"

That was better.

XXX

"Wakey, wakey!"

Tony jolted when Peter hopped onto his bed and straddled his waist. Little did the kid know that that made his heart practically jump out of his chest.

"Hey, kid. Don't forget that I have a heart condition," Tony said with a scowl. His heart slowly started to beat normally.

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking! I'll, uh, I'll get off!"

Peter moved off Tony's body and sat at his side. Tony huffed and lightly bonked Peter's head, causing him to laugh. Tony sat up and rubbed his eyes with a long yawn. From the light seeping into the room he figured it was 10:00AM or so. It was a decent sleep, he supposed. Then Spider-boy jumped on him.

"So, what's going on?" Tony asked, looking at Peter.

"I have a surprise for you," Peter chimed, puffing his chest out with pride.

"What kind of surprise makes you jump on someone's bed?" Tony asked, skeptically.

"A fun one," Peter answered. He rubbed the back of his head and looked away.

"Pete."

"Trust me."

Tony caved when Peter gave him his freaking bambi eyes. Tony had to find a way to get immune to those. Maybe glue sunglasses over his eyes.

...No. He loved the kid too much for that.

One day he'd find a solution.

After Tony got dressed in an ACDC T-shirt and jeans he went to the kitchen to find Peter sitting on the ceiling popping candy into his mouth. All this time, Tony still wondered how he didn't choke.

"Get some coffee and then we'll be on our way," Peter said around a mouth full of his candy.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Tony scolded. "And where exactly are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"This sounds oddly familiar."

Peter winked. Tony just shook his head with a light chuckle. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Tony got a nice steaming hot mug of coffee. The kid planned surprises now and then but something felt different this time. After all, Peter never jumped on him while he was still sleeping.

He'd need to get some payback for that one.

XXX

"Annnd here we are!"

Peter gestured widely with his arms to the entryway of an apple orchard. Of all the places Peter would take Tony, he didn't expect this to be one of them. Their bus ride went through a route Tony hadn't personally been down before which helped with the surprise.

"What is this?" Tony asked, looking down at his young mentee.

"An apple orchard?"

"No kidding," Tony snarked. "What I mean is, what are we doing here?"

Peter grabbed a wood-woven basket and shoved it into Tony's hands. Tony, with anyone else (excluding Rhodey, Pepper and Happy), would've snapped at them for forcing something into his hands. He didn't like being handed things. It took a lot for even his friends now and Peter to feel comfortable with being handed things.

Or in this case, having something shoved into his hands.

"We are going to pick apples!"

Peter took Tony's sleeve and dragged him into the orchard. Tony had never been surrounded by so many apple trees before. There were other families further down the orchard, laughing and having the time of their life. And even with others there, there were still a lot, a lot, of apples to pick.

There was something about the area that made Tony feel calm. Relaxed. He followed Peter and watched as he jumped up and picked some of the largest apples Tony's ever seen. He laughed when Peter started juggling some of the apples while walking backwards, putting on quite the show for Tony. Then he plopped them in the basket.

"Now you pick some," Peter said, taking the basket from Tony. "But pick the best. It's important."

Tony hummed. "Why?"

"Because there's only one good reason to pick apples, especially like this."

Tony grabbed an apple and looked it over. "And that reason is?"

"We are going to bake apple pie!"

Tony tossed an apple in Peter's direction for his opinion. "Are we now?"

"Absolutely," Peter tossed the apple back. "You can eat that one."

Tony rolled his eyes but smiled. He took a hesitant bite. His eyes widened for a moment at the fresh, sweet taste that invaded his taste buds. He wiped the juice that accidentally spilled past his lips after the second bite with the back of his hand.

"It's good, right?" Peter said, excitedly.

"Mhmm," Tony agreed, taking another bite. He swallowed, showing a good example to Peter to not talk with his mouth full. "Very delicious."

Peter twirled around and then kept walking. "And there's way more where that came from!"

"But do we really need a lot for an apple pie?" Tony asked, skeptically.

"No, but we might as well take a bunch. Y'know, in case we mess it up."

"I can agree with that."

With that settled, the two of them wandered the orchard, picking the apples Peter deemed perfect. Meanwhile, Tony was somewhat distracted with how peaceful it was here. It was quiet, but not too quiet and not just thanks to Peter's blabbering. He never thought he'd like or appreciate an apple orchard. He thought they might be boring.

But today Peter proved him wrong. It wasn't boring and although that was almost all because of Peter's company, Tony felt he could probably come back on his own just to go for a quiet stroll. No loud noises from the city. No rushing cars. No city smells. It was quite literally a breath of fresh air.

When the basket was full with apples almost falling out, they headed to the entryway where they had to pay for what they picked. Peter originally offered to pay but Tony quickly shut him down. He almost felt as if he owed it to pay considering he knew exactly why Peter took him there.

It wasn't just to bake apple pie (or a lot of them, depending how much they screwed up). Peter was doing his best to relieve Tony of his recent stress. And Tony had to admit that it worked. It did feel like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. That and Tony really did need some fresh air, despite loving his time in the lab.

Before they got into the car to leave, Tony said, "Hey, kid."

Peter looked up and raised a brow. "What?"

Tony pulled him into a hug. Peter returned it before saying,

"Mister Stark?"

"Thank you."

Peter held onto him tighter. "You had a good time?"

"I had a great time."

And after they got home and burnt three attempts at apple pies, the day was still going great.

Author's Note: Another alt. prompt I know, but tbh I just thought it'd be fun to write a scene with Tony and Peter in an orchard and I knew I was gonna use this one eventually, so I figured why not in this chapter?

And have these two burn apple pie because why not? Can't succeed at everything xD

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki