So this installment is a lot longer than most in this series will probably be, and has more narrative to it, since it takes place over a few days. I hope it still fits in.
Warnings: Mention of waterboarding that Tony dealt with in Afghanistan
"Hey, Mr. Stark!" The kid bounded into the lab with his usual excitement and slung his backpack on the couch. "What are we working on today?"
Tony looked up wearily, but smiled at Peter's enthusiasm. He was glad the kid was feeling sunnier this week, and that things weren't pressing on him as much as they had been a month ago. "We're working on my presentation for the tech conference this weekend," Tony said flatly. He didn't mind presenting, but he hated putting these together. Unfortunately, most people didn't understand what he was talking about well enough to assign it out. He just ended up having to re-do a lot of it anyway.
Peter was already on his way back from the mini-fridge, arms full of snacks, and an apple in his mouth.
"Seriously, kid? What happens if you trip and fall, and that apple takes a tooth out? Good luck super-healing from that."
Peter set his snacks down and took a bite of the apple contemplatively. "You know," he said, through a mouthful, (kids were gross) "we haven't tested anything like that. I mean, if it would regrow."
"No. Absolutely not. We are not knocking out a tooth just to find out if it will grow back. Helen, and your aunt would kill you. And then me, for not stopping you."
"Sheesh, it was just a thought. I wasn't actually gonna do it. That would be dumb." Peter's protest was incredulous.
Tony stared at the kid, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean, I've done dumb stuff before, but not that dumb. C'mon, Mr. Stark. Have a little faith!"
Tony finally broke, and smiled at Peter, standing and stretching out his back with a groan before heading to the fridge himself. He had started reminding himself to eat something when the kid did, so at least two days out of the week he got plenty of calories in. Pepper was grateful.
Tony ruffled Peter's hair on the way by, and the boy pretended to be annoyed. But Tony had felt him lean into his hand first before moving away. He had learned (through experience and through talking to May) that Peter liked to be touched, and needed it to feel secure in a relationship with anyone he was close to. Tony did, too, if he was honest with himself, so it worked out.
Peter sat in Tony's chair in front of his presentation and started looking through it. "You don't seem very excited about this," Peter said, "but it's a really awesome topic."
Since the kid had stolen his seat, Tony kicked back on the couch to eat his snack. "No, I'm actually excited to present it. I just hate making the visuals for the presentation. Usually someone else can do it, but for these tech conferences, I still have to do most of the nitty gritty. And it seems like the program changes in between every time I do it, so I have to relearn stuff," he grumbled.
"Now you sound like my old neighbor, Mrs. Owensby, grouching about all the 'new- fangled technology,' instead of like the literal genius I know you are, Mr. Stark," Peter scolded mildly, looking through the slides. He looked back over his shoulder. "Do you mind if I?" He gestured at the keyboard.
"Oh, no, knock yourself out, kid. You probably understand enough to actually be able to work on it," he said, his eyes gleaming in contemplation. "Hmm."
Tony's conference started Friday night and finished Sunday at noon. He wondered if May would allow him to take Peter. The kid could run his presentation for him, eliminating the need to drag an IT nerd (always a gamble what kind of personality he'd get, and Tony didn't like traveling with people he didn't know well) along for that. And the kid would probably really enjoy it. It would be a great experience for him. Those were the only reasons. Mutually beneficial. He picked up his phone.
Hey, May
What's up Tony?
Does Peter have anything going on this weekend?
I don't think so? He might have a decathlon practice Saturday. I'm working most of the day.
How would you feel about me taking him to my tech conference for the weekend? He'd be a big help, and it would be a good experience for him. He'd have to miss school Friday afternoon, but we'd back not too late Sunday night. It would be educational and he might make some good connections.
Way to go. Make it sound like a great opportunity for the kid, so she'd be more likely to agree.
She didn't respond for a few minutes and Tony found himself unaccountably nervous. Why did he suddenly care so much if the boy-genius came?
He answered a few questions for Peter, and halfway watched while the kid did, frankly magical things, streamlining and brightening up his presentation. Finally May texted back.
It's not in Germany, right? It's here in the States?
I deserved that. No, it's in Phoenix.
I guess it would be okay, if he's fine missing school and his practice. And you promise not to leave him on his own. At all, ever.
Cross my heart.
Okay then, you can ask him what he thinks.
Perfect. "Hey, Pete?"
"Yeah?"
"You ever been to Arizona?"
"Uh, no. Why?"
"Want to come be my tech guy this weekend in Phoenix?"
Peter turned fully around on the swivel chair. "Are you kidding?" he said excitedly. "You want me to come with you? All weekend?" Peter looked blown away.
"Yeah, I just cleared it with your aunt. You'd have to miss Friday afternoon at school, and maybe a practice Saturday?"
"Wow! Yeah yeah yeah. That's fine. Uh, are we gonna fly on the same plane this time?"
"Yeah, yeah," Tony growled, rolling his eyes. "I know, I'm the worst. Yes, we will fly on the same plane. Actually, I had to swear to your aunt to personally stay with you the whole time, so you'll be sick of me by Sunday."
"Nah, I don't think so. Hey, can we see the Grand Canyon while we're there?"
Tony gave the enthusiastic kid a pitying look. "FRIDAY, pull up a map of Arizona, dear. The kid's top drawer at science, and apparently, at over-the-top PowerPoints. But let's do a little geography today."
The flight was long, but Tony enjoyed it more than he usually would. Peter was excited to look out the window, and had lots of questions. They talked about Tony's presentation, about Rhodey's weekend visit the next month, and about Peter's upcoming Decathlon meet and science fair project. It was so relaxing and domestic that Tony wasn't sure what to do with himself.
The kid ran out of steam after about two and a half hours, and before long Tony felt soft curls brushing his ear as Peter fell asleep on his shoulder. That was nothing new, since movie nights at the Tower had become almost a weekly occurrence. The kid gave 110% to his days, and then probably a little too much time being Spiderman as well, so when he stopped moving for a while, he tended to crash. Tony was often still surprised how flexible Peter was though, observing the boy's knees tucked up into his chest. The kid could get comfortable in almost any position.
Tony sighed in feigned annoyance, and continued his work one-handed. Though, truth be told, he was getting awfully good at that lately.
It was still early evening in Phoenix when they landed, and Peter was very enthusiastic about the temperatures.
"Mr. Stark, it's already summer here!" he crowed, tugging his jacket off as they walked towards the terminal.
"It's basically always summer in Phoenix, kid. I've been here in January when it's 80º."
"It's gotta be even warmer than that now. It's so nice!" He twirled around, taking in the flat landscape and the actual mountains in the distance. "You can see so, so far here. It's crazy. HEY. Mr. Stark. Do you think we could go swimming? Like outside?" Tony shook his head with a half smile. Well, traveling with the kid was going to be anything but boring, that was for sure.
They arrived as the reception was already starting, so they just dropped their luggage in their rooms and changed. Soon Tony was mingling with the other presenters, as well as donors, VIPS, and local tech company reps, Peter at his elbow. The kid didn't look very comfortable in his shirt and tie, but otherwise was holding his own, and hiding his yawns well. It was almost 11 PM in New York. He'd probably better try to wrap up soon.
Ugh. There came trouble. It was Gavin Ford, Justin's Hammer' successor when the latter ended up in jail. Somehow his aura was just as slimy as the company's founder.
"Stark!" So good to see you here. I hadn't seen you in a while and was starting to wonder if you were still in the game." Idiot.
"Ford," he drawled. "Yeah, just been a little busy lately. You know, fighting aliens, building murder bots, making headlines."
Sometimes if he could make people uncomfortable enough, they'd go away. But whoops. Peter's eyes were also wide when he glanced at him. He set a quick steadying hand on the kid's shoulder, and shot him a wink. It worked, because Peter relaxed a little, and took a drink of his sparkling cider.
Ford, unfortunately, didn't take the clue. "So who's this? I didn't know you had a son, Stark." Peter quietly choked on his drink, but recovered quickly. Tony had also startled, but imperceptibly. His parents had trained social reactions like that out of him by 16, and the muscle memories were still there.
"This is my intern, Peter Parker. He agreed to come along and run my tech for me, in exchange for warmer temperatures than New York has to offer this time of year. Peter, Gavin Ford," Tony finished flatly.
"Your intern, huh?" Ford looked skeptical. "Are you a freshman, Parker? You look pretty young to be-"
"Oh, there's Brandt. Sorry, Ford, I need to speak to him," Tony said, steering Peter away by the elbow.
"Gavin Ford, like Hammer Industries?" asked Peter quietly. He forgot how much the kid read. He probably knew who half of the people here were already. Tony vowed to find someone more enjoyable to introduce the kid to on purpose. It wouldn't be the worst thing if he started making some connections now, though the thought of Peter actually working for anyone else after he finished school did weird twisty things to Tony's chest. Still, networking was important, especially for a kid of Peter's caliber and intelligence. Tony sighed, resigned to putting on the charm for a little while before they called it a night.
Forty-five minutes later, he and the kid staggered into their two-bedroom suite at the Hyatt Regency, eager for some sleep. It had been a long day.
"I meant to say earlier, Mr. Stark, this is even nicer than Germany. You're gonna ruin me for the Motel 6," Peter said, as he tugged at his tie.
"The Motel 6?" Tony said incredulously. "When have you ever-"
"The last time I stayed in a motel, hotel?" Peter's head tilted in confusion, "other than Germany, and then D.C.," he said, walking across the room to his bedroom door, "was a road trip with May and Ben when I was 11, and we stayed in like, I dunno, five different Motel-6's across several states? That's the only kind of hotel I'd seen before then," he smiled. "But it was nothing like this."
"I'd guess not," Tony scoffed softly. Sometimes he forgot how different the kid's life was when he wasn't with Tony. Before he could get too far into his head, Peter spoke again.
"So you present tomorrow morning, right? You're the keynote? When is everything over?" Then wistfully, "Any chance we could try out that awesome swimming pool sometime tomorrow?" How could a 15-year-old still have puppy-dog eyes?
"Of course, kid. Stuff isn't over for the afternoon until four, but I'm not that interested in the after-lunch speakers anyway. What say we hit the pool after lunch?"
"Awesome!"
"Hey kid?"
"Yeah?"
"Go to bed," Tony said with a smile.
Tony knocked it out of the park, as usual, and Peter handled his tech flawlessly. He was going to have to steal the kid for more of these things. It was more fun to travel with him than alone, too, and Pepper wasn't usually available unless they planned ahead. Planning ahead was not Tony's strong point.
Lunch started right after Tony's address, so he had to socialize for a while, but again he kept Peter with him. Promises, and all that.
He was knee-deep in a conversation about sustainable plastic substitutes when he noticed Peter staring longingly at the giant buffet that was set out across the room. Oh. Peter hasn't eaten since breakfast. He was probably starving!
"That is a fascinating idea. Sorry, Larissa, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that one. I just realized I've really gotta feed my kid." He smiled politely before ducking away, pulling Peter with him. Peter didn't say anything, and when he glanced back at his intern, the kid's eyes were wide. Tony stopped walking. "What's up, Pete?"
"You called me your kid," he said with a shy smile.
Oh, Freudian slip and all that. "Well, you're more my kid than any of these peoples' kid, aren't you?" Tony teased with a grin, and continued pulling the young superhero towards the mountains of food.
Peter ate several platefuls and then hopped up, an excited look on his face. "Swimming?" he said hopefully. How could Tony say 'no' to that face?
As they walked up to their room, Tony took a deep breath. "Uh, kid, would you mind terribly if I don't actually swim?" Peter turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"You don't like swimming, Mr. Stark? You can swim, can't you? Or you're just not in the mood today, or…" Peter trailed off. They had reached their room, and Tony opened the door. As they entered, Peter turned and sat on the couch, face still turned to Tony, waiting. Ugh, the kid really wanted an answer, apparently. Okay, then.
"Uh, sometimes I still swim, a little bit. I do okay in the ocean, ironically, since it's definitely less safe and sanitary than a chlorinated pool. But some of the stuff that happened in Afghanistan makes me a little anxious about being in water." There, he'd said it. Well, he didn't come right out and say 'hey, kid, sorry. I was waterboarded so much that I think I actually drowned once and they brought me back, so swimming is less appealing than it used to be,' but he'd at least shared the real reason, which was more than he'd do with most people.
Peter's face looked sad and understanding at the same time, and he hurried to reassure his mentor. "Hey, no, that's fine, Mr. Stark. You don't have to swim if you don't feel like it. You don't even have to come down with me if you'd rather rest or hang out up here, or-"
"Hey," Tony stepped over to him and set a hand on Peter's head. "I'll come down with you; it's no problem. I could use a little sunshine anyway. Go get your swimsuit on."
"Okay," Peter said softly, flashing a small smile, then heading into his room.
Tony decided to join in the spirit of the outing anyway, and put his own swimsuit on, topped with a t-shirt and with… ugh… flip flops. The things he would do for that kid.
Peter had regained his enthusiasm by the time they made it down to the pool, which was thankfully not crowded at all. They had paused at the desk to buy some sunscreen, because Tony was going to be responsible, dang it, and not bring May's nephew back broken, bruised, bleeding (again) or even sunburned.
"Hold up, Michael Phelps," Tony said when Peter tore his shirt off and was about to jump in. He held up the sunscreen and waggled it menacingly. Peter sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, Mr. Stark?" He obediently walked back over and held his hand out, and Tony passed him the tube. Peter spent several minutes smearing the white cream everywhere he could reach. "Am I good?" he asked impatiently.
"C'mere and let me get your back real fast."
"You've got to be kidding me," Peter muttered, but he let Tony get where he hadn't reached. Tony rubbed what was left on his hands on the tops of his own shoulders, not that he was planning to stay out in the sun long, but it couldn't hurt.
"Okay, I'm going in now." Peter informed him, and made an impressive shallow dive that was a safe enough trajectory for the 7-foot pool, but still made Tony's heart stutter slightly. What was up with him lately?
Tony watched Peter for a while, but the sun was kind of making him drowsy. They'd had a late night, and he hadn't slept well with his presentation running through his head. Maybe he'd just turn over and get a little sun on his back, and drowse for a bit. He was sure Peter would be done swimming soon. The kid would be hungry again, right?
"Mr. Stark? Hey, Mr. Stark? I really think you should wake up, sir. Uh, your back's looking pretty red, and…" Tony's awareness was fuzzy, but returning, and he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
"Hmm? Pete?" He should not have fallen asleep in that strange position. His neck was absolutely killing him. But his back didn't feel great either. Tony groaned and pulled himself to his feet.
"Had enough swimming, Underoos? What time is it?"
"Uh, it's like 2. And yeah, I'm ready to go up to the room. But… I think you're sunburned. Your back looks really red."
"What? Nah. It was only like an hour and a half, right? I've got my mom's skin; I never burn that fast."
"Well, you did this time," Peter muttered under his breath, his face looking strained.
"Seriously?" He went to pull his shirt on, and yeeeeah, that wasn't very comfortable. Could have have burned that fast?
When they got up to the room, Tony took his shirt off and turned to look at his back in the bathroom mirror. "Holy crap. I look like a lobster!" His whole back (minus his shoulders, and some random finger swipes where he'd wiped excess sunscreen) was a startling shade of red.
"I told you," Peter said sadly. "Do you want me to go down and see if they have any after-sun gel?"
"Nah, I already checked when I bought the sunscreen." Peter looked at him weirdly. "What? I was just covering all our bases."
Ugh, it really didn't look good at all. Tony thought he could even see some little blisters. And his head was kind of pounding. What should he do? Times like this he was doubly sad that Bruce was missing or whatever he was. But Tony couldn't dwell on that. "Hey FRIDAY? Call Dr. Cho."
Silence. Oh, right. He wasn't home. Why did he think that would work? His head was a little funny.
"Mr. Stark? There's a CVS a few blocks away. Want me to go get some stuff?"
"No, no, Pete. This isn't the best part of town to be wandering around by yourself, and I don't think I want to put a shirt back on. Let me just talk to Helen real quick and then we'll order something through the concierge. Why don't you grab a shower, bud?"
"Okay," Peter said quietly. "But I'll be right back, okay?"
Peter left, and Tony went into the other room to get his phone, where he could finally say "FRIDAY, Call Dr. Cho," and actually get a response.
"Tony? Aren't you in Phoenix? Is everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Hey Helen. So, I seem to have gotten what might be a pretty bad sunburn. Like my whole back, and I'm wondering what I should do for it."
"You got a sunburn? That's why you're calling me?"
"Yeah, I believe I just said that."
"Don't you know what to do for a sunburn, Tony? Or doesn't Google? You even have FRIDAY to Google things for you…."
"I don't know! I never get sunburns. I have no idea. It's got little blisters, and my head hurts, and I'm feeling like total crap."
"Tony, didn't you just finish an antibiotic for that strep throat you had a couple weeks ago?"
"Uh, yeah, but I finished it like two days ago. And I haven't had any symptoms for over a week now."
"Yeah, but certain antibiotics, including the one you were taking, make lots of people more prone to sunburn. Didn't you know that? Didn't you read the warning labels?"
Tony didn't deign to answer.
"Okay, I forgot who I was talking to."
"Hey, that's uncalled for."
"But is it? Did you read them?"
"No." He heard her sigh. He probably still didn't pay her enough to deal with him.
"Get some ibuprofen for the pain, and for the headache. If it's bad, you might even run a fever or be nauseated. Get some kind of after sun gel, though I don't know how you'll put it on; you can't reach most of your back."
"Well, I have Peter here with me…"
"Oh." She sounded surprised. "Well, that's good news for you, I guess. Do that stuff, drink lots of water, and try to sleep it off. Let me know if it looks worse instead of better tomorrow."
He hung up the phone with her as Peter was walking back in, rubbing at his head with a towel.
"Did you get burned at all, Pete?"
"Nope. Remember all that sunscreen you made me put on, but didn't use yourself?" The kid actually sounded upset. That was weird. "Can I go get that stuff now?"
"No, I'll put in an order." He started to put his shirt back on, but hissed and decided against it. "Want to watch something?" His head felt a little worse. He got up and walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, then went into his room to get his phone again (ugh, he missed FRIDAY) and called down to the concierge to ask about more water, Advil, and something for his back. Unfortunately they were a little backed up that afternoon, and it was going to take some time.
As Tony came back out into the living room, Peter was sitting on the armchair next to the couch, flipping through channels. "Are they sending it up?" Sheesh. Who knew the kid could be such a mother hen?
"It'll be a couple hours, impatient one."
"Mr. Stark! Why won't you just let me go get stuff?"
"I'm not sending a kid out alone in Phoenix to get a bunch of stuff that we can just wait for."
"I'm Spiderman. I'm pretty sure I'll be okay," he argued with an eyeroll.
"Nah, kid. I promised Aunt May. Plus, it's not even that bad," he lied.
Peter glared at him and huffed a breath out. Was he pouting? It sure looked like it. Tony hid a smile, before he winced as he brushed against the couch as he sat down. Guess he'd just sit on the edge then.
They watched a mindless sitcom for a while before Peter suddenly muted it and turned to him. Tony kinda felt like death, but tried to put a neutral expression on his face.
"Hey, Mr. Stark! You know how May's not the world's uh… best cook?" Tony wondered where this was going.
"Yeah, I've heard rumors," he said dryly.
"Well, she kinda burns herself a lot, too. Just her fingers, and hand, and sometimes her arm," Tony's eyebrows had shot up. Sheesh.
"So anyway, we have this plant in our kitchen, an aloe vera plant, and she always says fresh aloe vera is so much better than the bottled stuff. So when she burns herself, she just cuts a little piece off and slices it open and uses that, and it's almost always completely healed by the next day. She used it on a sunburn for me once, too, and it was amazing. She kept it in the fridge and everything, and kept putting it on every few hours."
"Okaaay," Tony said. "But how does that help us?"
"Mr. Stark, there are huge aloe vera plants pretty much everywhere downstairs. Like the landscaping is full of them. I thought it was awesome to see such big ones, so I took a picture and sent it to May. If you have a knife, I could go get some," he said persuasively. Tony could feel his own incredulous expression.
"Let me get this straight. You want to go down and cut off pieces of the hotel's landscaping and use it on my back?"
"Well, yeah." Peter acted like there was zero problem with this plan.
"Uh, won't someone see you and wonder what the heck you're doing mutilating the local flora?"
"Nah, my spidey sense lets me know if I'm being watched. Most of the time, anyway. And security cameras. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have been outed like 50 times for all the changing I've done in alleys…"
Well, that was new information. Tony blinked. How had that not come up before?
"Please, Mr. Stark! I can tell it hurts a lot. Your heart rate is up, and you have that look you get when your head is really hurting." Peter was turning on the puppydog eyes again. Heaven help him. "It is hurting, isn't it?"
Tony sighed. "Yeah, kid. It hurts. But that doesn't mean that-"
"Okay. I'm gonna get that little laundry bag I saw in the closet to carry the aloe vera. You have your multi-tool, right? And it has a blade?"
Tony knew when he was beat. Peter was kind of like a bulldog when he got an idea in his head that was going to benefit someone else. He sighed, reached into his pocket, and handed it over.
"Thank you, sir!" the kid crowed, bounding over to the closet to get the bag.
"Take your phone! And if you're not back here in ten minutes, you're grounded until you're 25. And don't tell your aunt I let you go down by yourself!" Peter just grinned, and practically skipped out the door.
What a kid.
When Peter got back, he had the whole laundry bag full of giant, spiky, slimy aloe vera leaves? arms? They looked like some kind of alien plant. And like they might be better used as a weapon than as sunburn aid. Tony eyed them doubtfully as Peter laid them all out on a towel. There were a lot.
"Okay, kid, you just cut the stuff out, and then I should be able to reach most of it."
"Nah, it gets kinda slidey and falls off. It's not as easy to use as the gel. But if you can get comfy on the couch there, on your stomach, I'll put it on for you, and then you just have to not move for a while. It works best to put big pieces all over, rather than just rub the juicy stuff on. That's what Aunt May does. It's easier with a finger than with your whole back, though…"
"Kid, I don't know… We can just wait for the stuff they'll send up?" He felt bad even saying that after all the trouble Peter had gone to, but it was weird to let the kid spend all that time and energy putting slimy aloe vera chunks all over his back.
"Mr. Stark, it looks so bad. And this will help; I know it will!" He was so determined. " Please, Tony." Tony's eyes widened. As much as he had invited the kid to use his name sometimes, along with "Mr. Stark" and "sir" that Peter preferred, this was the first time he'd actually done it.
"Okay," he said in defeat. He grabbed a pillow from the bedroom, hoping to not tweak his neck again, and tried to get comfortable on his stomach on the couch.
Peter started slicing and peeling, and began laying long strips of the weird slimy plant on Tony's back. It felt kind of sticky, and stiff as it started to dry a little, but he was also feeling significantly less pain as Peter finished covering the burned area. When he was done he came in with a hand towel he'd gotten damp and stretched it over Tony's back as well. That felt kind of amazing.
It took a good 20 minutes for the whole process, and by then, Tony was relaxed enough (and probably worn out enough) that he was feeling sleepy again. He was aware of Peter saying something about refrigerating the remaining leaves for even better relief later, and moving around cleaning up, but his head was fuzzy, and he felt like he might be in that twilight-y stage in between awake and asleep. Peter scooted the chair closer to the couch where he lay, and sat in it, changing the channel and lowering the volume. Didn't the kid have a tv in his room, too? But he was going to sit out here with Tony instead? The last thing he remembered was Peter quietly urging him to see if he could take a little nap while the home remedy did its thing, and maybe the feeling of a hand gently touching his head once or twice.
When Tony woke later, it was to a knock at the door. The concierge had finally brought his order, it seemed. Peter noticed he was awake, and stood up, glancing at Tony for permission to get the door.
"Yeah. My wallet's on the table there. Grab a twenty out for a tip, would you?" Tony's voice was rough with sleep, but the kid understood.
Peter did, and brought the bag of supplies in. Tony actually felt quite a bit better, and sat up gingerly. He was still interested in some Advil for his still-there headache, but his back didn't hurt nearly as much.
"How do you feel?" Peter asked a little anxiously.
"Better, actually. Thanks, bud. Your weird alien leaves did good." Peter beamed. "But I don't know how I'll ever get them off my back," the older man grumbled teasingly.
Peter grimaced slightly. "Yeah, it's a little messy. Let me get that towel. Maybe take a cool shower, and I can put some more on if it's hurting after that?"
"Yeah, good idea. We need to eat soon too, though, right? What time is it?"
"Nearly six." Wow, Tony had slept quite a while. Peter was fidgeting a little bit, and Tony leveled his gaze at him.
"What's up, Pete?"
"I, uh, I sort of… ordered room service? It should be here soon. I was starving, and I knew you'd be hungry, too, so I hope it's okay that I did that. I'm sor-"
"No, you did just fine, kid. Perfect idea. Have you ever ordered room service before?" he asked with an amused glint.
"No!" He threw his head back in fine dramatic teenager form. "I had no idea what I was doing, and it was so awkward, and I hope the order is right, because if not, it's probably totally user error, because-"
"Peter." The kid stopped babbling and looked up at him nervously. "Take a breath. You did great. I'm the only one who should be apologizing, for being so stupid as to get sunburned so you had to take care of me, and mess up our trip. You're a top-rate nurse though; my compliments to May. At this rate, by tomorrow morning I'll be healed enough to wear a shirt, so we can go to the rest of the conference."
Peter flushed and ducked his head. "It's nothing you wouldn't have done for me, sir," he said quietly.
"Oh, I don't know about that. Can you really imagine me ninja-ing my way through the resort, stealing pieces of their random alien bushes without getting caught?" That made Peter laugh, and Tony (carefully, so as not to stretch any tender skin) reached over to tousle his hair.
"I'm going to go wash all this otherworldly slime off, then hopefully dinner will be here and we can eat. If they come before I'm done, grab another tip out of my wallet, yeah?"
"Yeah, okay," Peter said with a smile. "Then after dinner I can put another layer on, so it has time to work before you go to bed. Unless you want to go to sleep with that stuff all over your back."
Tony groaned, grabbed the bottle of Advil, and gingerly made his way into his room. Such a little punk. Such an amazing, brilliant, caring, competent little punk.