Spider-Son & Iron Dad two shots

Tread The Water, Child

a/n: this isn't even that long but mannn i don't even want to discuss how hard this was to write,, anyways how r u guys lemme know what you've all been up to!! for me personally i played the last of us again twice in preparation for pedro's new show, read tons of mdzs fics, got diagnosed with severe anemia, and have been working on 💛finals💛

Spooktober 31: Stillness

The wind was rattling against the windows hard enough that Tony could have been afraid they'd shatter.

They wouldn't, of course. He'd invested enough funds into the structural integrity of the compound where the only way it'd so much as crack would be some extinction-level attack. That's the sort of thing someone thought about when developing some off-hand militant group of misfits like The Avengers.

Speaking of—

Peter. Peter Parker, the wannabe superhero, the teenager with bandaids stickily pasted on his forehead, bruises on his chin— was currently in a slumber that was unlike Tony'd ever seen from him before.

Which he hadn't. Seen him sleep, that is.

The kid was always bursting with energy, y'know? He was just like that, had been since Tony met him; a winding baby jackrabbit that hopped from room to room and chewed on whatever he could find his hands on, usually granola bars or fruitsnacks, or whatever Tony now kept stocked at the bar in his lab, and he just— he never really got tired.

(And a voice in Tony's head said: well, that's not really true, is it? You've seen him tired. He gets tired when he's angry— really tuckers him out.

The only two-sided argument they've had, stood at the top of the building and overlooking the remains of the Staten Island Ferry, and Tony had watched in real-time how fast the energy drained from him once the fight left his voice. The exhaustion that it left behind, for him to be angry.

For a hero, the kid really wasn't built for fighting.)

Anyway, he was sleeping now. Curled up with his cheek pressed against his hoodie sleeve and the zipper of his jacket, which no doubt was going to leave a pressured print against his cheek when he got up. Every so often he would furrow his brows and make a distressed murmur before going quiet again.

Tony was, admittedly, beside himself.

When Peter came in today, he seemed fine. Didn't look as though he had slept great, but he was a teenager, and he was also a teenager with the part time night job of fighting crime, so, he never saw Peter without eyebags to begin with. The point being, nothing was out of the ordinary. He sat down, they worked on repairing bugs in the suit's code, and Peter told him about his suggestions for upgrades they could make.

By the time he was going to head home, they realized quickly that the rain and the storm hit pretty hard, too much October ice on the roads for it to be safe to drive him home. So, May was given a quick call, and she said he could stay over until the weather lightened up.

That was two hours ago. Maybe the kid just wanted to take a nap. Totally no need to worry.

Tony pulled his eyes away from Peter as he went quiet again, and resumed his digital schematics testing on the tech he'd been lingeringly tinkering with.

The wind rattled again— the windows creaking against their frames. Trees on the property sweeped against each other, loud enough to hear from inside.

Peter shivered from his spot against the window, mumbling something incoherent and anxious.

Tony glanced up again from his work. A terse frown flattened his lips. Finally, he said quietly, "FRIDAY, turn the temp up, please. How about an even 70? Little high, but I think the itsy bitsy spider is chilly."