If Tony and Peter had a love language, it was food.

It was their fondest and most frequent form of communication. Peter was a teenage boy and Tony Stark was….Tony Stark. Meaning neither was ever inclined to openly share emotions and tell each other how they felt from moment to moment.

"I'm proud of you" was usually gruffly said while shoving a box of pizza under Peter's nose.

"I'm sorry I did the thing you told me not to and almost got hurt doing the thing" was implied by handing Tony a freshly made Delmar's sandwich right after school.

"You look like shit" was communicated through coffee cups filled to the brim with their favorite flavors.

And "You're annoying but I want to keep you alive" was the most commonly expressed emotion.

Peter would slide cartons of takeout out across the workbench during lab sessions that ran a bit late into the evening, knowing Tony wouldn't even realize he hadn't eaten in hours. Or Peter would replace some of Tony's tools with fresh fruit ("Can't have you dying of scurvy, Mr. Stark. No, I don't know what scurvy is. But Ms. Potts made it sound really serious!")

Tony, on his part, kept hordes of food stashed in every kitchen of the Avengers facility, as Peter often wandered around dramatically from floor to floor in search of food whenever he would visit. As a growing teenage boy with enhanced metabolism, Spiderman seemed to literally need to eat something every hour, on the hour.

Peter could and would eat just about anything, which never ceased to amaze and disgust Tony ("One day, kid, these calories are going to catch up to you. God I hope I'm around to see that"). But through some trial and error Tony figured out which foods were a hit and which were a miss. Tony discovered the kid loved Nutella, wasn't big on carrots, abhorred chopped salads ("You mean people literally pay extra money to have someone chop what is already a mediocre meal into tinier, even more mediocre pieces?") and could inhale a Burger King cheeseburger at alarming rates just like his dear old….mentor.

Peter's favorite treat? Ice cream. Tony had sworn off dairy, but it was his favorite (and easiest) way to appease Peter when the kid wanted to hang out. Tony never minded indulging him, even if he himself didn't eat any ice cream. Haagen Dazs, Baskin Robbins, Van Leeuwen's, McDonalds ("C'mon kid. We can do better than this- I'm literally a billionaire") – they didn't discriminate. Although, as with all foods, Peter had strong opinions about flavors. Praline was the devil's work. Strawberry was a summer classic. Vanilla was for squares (but sometimes he'd crave it) and rocky road reigned supreme.

Ice cream runs became their favorite go-to activity whenever Pepper would throw them out of the lab declaring they needed fresh air. In the Spring following Homecoming, once the city had warmed up a bit and they no longer needed coats to go outside, Tony and Peter would venture out (Happy trailing them, of course) on a mission to find Peter's next favorite flavor. They'd sit in content silence, Peter happily and messily enjoying his cone as he scrolled through his social media, while Tony rolled his eyes and threw napkins at him.

Sometimes, Peter would catch Tony with a bliss-ed out look on his face. His whole body would relax and the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly as he closed his eyes. It was as though his favorite thing in the world was to sit beside Peter in the sun, eating ice cream.

The moment never lasted long because Tony always managed to catch him trying to sneak a pic.

(Mr. Stark) Emergency situation. Do you copy

(Mr. Parker) Spiderman can be there in 15 tops

Suit's in my bag

You have to come over here & taste me.

I'm delicious

Sorry sir…but huh?

...did Colonel Rhodes take your phone again?

Oh, I realized what that sounded like the min I sent it

Just come over my place after school

Something big is happening

Wow this is all coming out so wrong

…So there's no emergency.

I mean there is

just not an urgent one

Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?

Yea man, I'm taking a physics exam

You were going to leave in the middle of an exam?

Shame on you.

We'll talk about this behavior when you get here

Wooow ok.

You should delete those texts now before someone calls the cops on me

Already done.

An hour and a half later, Peter stepped out of the elevator onto one of Tony's personal floors with a cautious frown that only deepened when he saw Tony in the kitchen. He'd never seen the billionaire this excited. The man was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, clasping his hands and rubbing them together in anticipation.

Peter stepped toward him ….and blinked when he realized what Tony was standing next to.

"Mr. Stark, please tell me I did not run all the way over here so you could show me a new freezer." He was only partially kidding, his genuine curiosity taking all the bite out of his words.

"Take a look inside, Mr. Parker. And prepare to be amazed."

After cracking the door to the freezer open, Peter scoffed. "This is all….ice cream." He turned to Tony , face contorting in confusion at Tony's borderline manic grin. "I mean, yay cool! But are you feeling ok? Have you slept?"

Tony waved his hand in dismissal, signaling to Peter that no, he had not slept, but that was beside the point.

"Not just any ice cream. Look at the flavor."

Peter went back to the freezer and peered more closely at the cartons. Then he turned back to Tony with comically widened eyes.

"No freaking way."

Tony was right. He did taste amazing. Or at least Stark Raving Hazelnut did.

Together they'd made their way through 3 bins (for research purposes, of course. And one was gluten free so they needed to see how it competed).

Peter, with a dramatic sigh, made to open a 4th before falling over in fake exhaustion.

Tony prodded his form with a spoon. "Alright kid, what's the verdict?" The man raised his eyebrows in anticipation, leaning against one of the cabinets where he and Peter sat on the floor together.

"Hmm…" Peter rolled over on his back, hands across his chest and staring at the ceiling as if deep in thought. Tony scoffed, tapping his fingers against the tiled floor in mock impatience.

"The verdict, the verdict…well it was dense. Rich. Really rich. Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so."

Tony nodded in total agreement at his assessments.

"Super smooth" Peter continued lazily. "Mildly nauseating after too many doses"

He sat up suddenly.

"Actually….wow….they really captured the essence of you in an ice cream container. Way to go Ben and Jerry!"

It took Tony half a second to realize what the kid was saying before he chucked his spoon at him. "you think I'm nauseating? After all I've done for you, really Parker?"

Peter couldn't answer back for snickering, holding his hands to his sides to stop the stomachache that came from too much ice cream and too much laughter. Tony just rolled his eyes in mock irritation, slight chuckles betraying him as he leaned his head back against the cabinet.

"Whatever. Stark Raving Hazelnut too much for you, Parker?" Tony joked.

Peter, finally having calmed down a bit, yawned and reached again for the next pint of ice cream, lightly punching Tony's shoulder along the way.

"Nah, I think it's perfect. Definitely my new favorite."