Peter Parker and Tony Stark

Peter had decided, with what he believed to be great maturity and admirable emotional regulation, that this was a Good Thing (capital G, Capital T). It was a milestone. A real one. The kind adults talked about. Meeting {{user}}’s dad shifted coffee dates and movie marathons where his hand never left theirs from cute dating, right into serious relationship territory. And a serious relationship was one of those things he hadn’t really made time for in his twenties. He hadn’t even intended to make time for it now– but one chance meeting with {{user}}, and he was done for.

He’d spent the morning in a low-grade anxiety spiral, showering long enough that the water ran cold, debating between two hoodies before choosing the one without chemical stains on the left sleeve, and upgrading from his everyday jeans to the darker pair. Dress up jeans. These ones were even clean. He’d checked. Twice. Peter had spent at least fifteen minutes practicing a respectful smile in the mirror and a calm, steady “Nice to meet you, sir,” while trying not to think about possible worst-case scenarios involving pointed questions about long-term goals.

On the walk over, he passed a small sidewalk flower cart and stopped abruptly enough to startle the vendor. Flowers were a good move. Flowers said polite. Flowers said raised right. Flowers said ‘Hi! I am non-threatening! You can like me!’ As the vendor handed him a bouquet with daisies and little white flowers he couldn’t name, he beamed proudly down at them. No dad could possibly dislike a man standing at the door with flowers. Universal truth.

20 minutes later he knocked on {{user}}’s door the way he had a dozen times before. He straightened automatically when he heard them yell something that sounded like Dad, can you get the door? Okay, cool, cool– he would meet the dad without {{user}} at his side. That was fine. He was brave. There was an answering groan from inside the house, long and suffering, the kind of sound a man made when deeply inconvenienced. Peter inhaled once, centered himself, and fixed his practiced smile in place.

The door opened. And so did Peter’s mouth.

Standing on the other side of the threshold was Tony Stark.

For a painfully long second, Peter’s brain refused to reconcile the image in front of him with the situation he had prepared for. Mr. Stark. Mentor. Iron Man. The man who knew he was Spider-Man. The man who had lectured him endlessly-- and let’s face it, hypocritically-- about responsibility, risk assessment, and not getting himself killed, was there– standing in sweatpants, looking mildly annoyed– until recognition landed.

Tony’s expression shifted in phases. He had not wanted to be here– he was doing it for one reason, {{user}} liked some boy enough to introduce them to him. And that had never happened before, so it felt like something he was contractually obligated to show up for. And he fucking loved his kid. Sue him. But now, now he was here, in the apartment he paid for, because he would die before his kid lived in an apartment they could actually afford on their own– looking at not just some uppity kid that thought they were good enough for his kid. No, he was looking at Peter Parker. Confusion flickered first, then clarity, then his eyes narrowed. His gaze dropped to the flowers in his hands– cheap grocery-store flowers, definitely grabbed on the way here. A panic purchase. Then his eyes lifted back to Peter’s face with laser precision. “No,” Tony said flatly. “Absolutely not.” He was already beginning to close the door as though reality could be edited by simply refusing to participate.

Peter reacted on instinct. His hand came up to catch the edge of the door before he thought about pressure or angles or the fact that door hinges were not designed for enhanced resistance. The door stopped moving. It simply refused to budge another inch no matter how hard Tony pushed– and Peter wasn’t even trying.

Tony’s eyes lowered slowly to where the door met Peter’s hand, his jaw ticking before his gaze returned to Peter’s face.

Peter grimaced. “I’m sorry,” he whispered urgently, leaning in just enough to keep his voice from carrying. “I didn’t know!”

Tony mirrored him, leaning in a little, eyes still narrowed suspiciously, considering if he had to kill Spider-Man or if he could simply scare him off. “Oh, you didn’t know? Well that helps things,” he said back in a low, cutting murmur, his shoulder still blocking Peter’s entrance.

“You’re {{user}}’s dad?” Peter breathed, because somehow, if he could just confirm this impossible thing, he could start figuring it out.

“You’re the boyfriend?” Tony shot back. He looked over his shoulder to make sure {{user}} was still in the kitchen.

“I mean yeah? Yes. Yes, sir,” Peter said, squaring his shoulders for only a moment before Tony’s gaze fixed back on him like he was a failing prototype.

“Nope.” Tony said matter-of-factly. Like that settled the matter, and then started to shut the door again. Peter, more carefully this time, braced his hand firmly against it, refusing to let it close. The absurdity of the situation hung between them– two superheroes whisper-wrestling a front door because neither of them could escalate without {{user}} hearing.

“I swear,” Peter rushed, words tripping over each other, “{{user}} didn’t give me your last name. They just said that you work in tech.”

“I am tech,” Tony replied, visibly resisting the urge to gesture at the skyline.

“Sir, this is like really not helpful,” Peter hissed, tightening his grip on the flowers until the paper crinkled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tony replied coolly, “am I inconveniencing you?” His gaze dropped to the flowers again. “Are those for my kid?” His voice stayed low, dangerously even.

Peter grimaced again and nodded. “Yeah. Of course, Mr. Stark.”

Tony studied him– clean hoodie, nervous posture, eyes wide with what he could only assume was horror and classic Parker earnestness. For a moment he just leaned into the door– as though testing if he could catch Peter off guard and slam the door. He could not. “I’m going to need you to stop being charming immediately,” Tony said, voice low and lethal.

Peter blinked at him like he was trying to work out if that was a compliment or not. “I’m not trying to be charming.”

“Yeah, exactly, that's the problem!” Tony replied. “You’re just… like this. It’s obnoxious.” Tony looked over the kid for a moment. This sucked. He knew multiple facts to be true at once. Peter was a good guy. Peter was a respectful guy. Peter probably treated {{user}} very well. He also knew exactly what Peter’s life looked like. He knew about bruises under sleeves, the risks, the near-misses and close calls. And now that orbit brushed too close to the most important thing in his life. Gun to his head– he trusted Peter, he didn’t trust Peter’s world. “You have to see why this is complicated, Parker.”

They heard footsteps come closer and Tony sagged and pushed the door open, letting Peter in as {{user}} stepped into the hallway leading to the front door. “Hey, look what I found outside!” Tony declared thinly, his hand slapped down on Peter’s shoulder harder than necessary, shaking him. “Looks like a boyfriend if I ever saw one!”