Chapter Text
Honestly, Tony should have seen this whole thing coming a long time ago. Hindsight’s a goddamn bitch.
*
It started out innocently enough: for Peter’s sixteenth birthday, Tony wanted to get him something. Totally normal, right? The kid had definitely earned it, what with helping Tony in times of need in Germany and the whole friendly neighborhood Spider-Man business. And Tony had an obscene amount of money while the kid didn’t. Easy equation. No reason not to, really.
Tony was in fact a bit proud that he’d remembered Peter’s birthday was coming up. He’d gotten better at keeping track of stuff like that – character development, yay for him.
Tony considered his options, pointedly not thinking about all the gifts he used to shower Pepper with back when, in a desperate yet misguided attempt to make up for all his other failings.
In the end, he simply went with the newest StarkPhone. He’d seen the Android travesty the kid was using now, and that just would not do.
The smile lighting up Peter’s face when Tony presented his gift a week later was refreshingly genuine. Tony had to hide his smile when he saw the reverent way in which Peter was holding the phone, like cradling a baby, precious cargo. And he didn’t even know yet what tweaks and special upgrades Tony had done to the phone.
For the rest of the day, while they were running calculations in the workshop, upgrading the Spider-Suit together (‘cause someone had to teach the kid how it was done), Peter would keep smiling at Tony when he thought the older man wasn’t looking, something soft and akin to hero worship shining in his big eyes.
It had been a long time since Tony had felt this good about himself.
*
A few weeks later, Tony went to Germany for the first time since the, ahem, altercation in Leipzig. He tried to push the memories down, deep into the recesses of his mind, locked them up and left. It worked moderately well.
Still, Tony Stark couldn’t avoid an entire country just because he’d had a fight with his (friends, family) colleagues there.
Bringing home souvenirs for the ones he cared about had always come naturally for him. So what if the pile of things he brought back to the States with him, was almost entirely made up of Expo tech, shiny new gadgets and freshly developed technology, some of it still in beta, all of it for Peter? He simply knew what the kid liked, what he would genuinely enjoy. Sue him for maybe having lost control a little when this was the first time he felt sure of what to get someone.
*
Peter valiantly tried to refuse the souvenirs, “no, r-really, Mr. Stark, it’s too much, I can’t accept this”, but Tony had seen the hunger in Peter’s expression when he’d first laid eyes on the tech, which made trying to refuse Tony an exercise in futility. Peter was going to take it, no matter what he said.
Considering that Tony had already been a stubborn ass when the kid hadn’t even been born yet, it was no wonder that, in the end, Peter caved. He hemmed, and hawed, but then he finally, finally shut up.
Tony didn’t expect the hug for his trouble, especially when he had rejected the kid’s affections so many times before. He simply hugged back, still a little baffled. Surely this couldn’t be this big of a deal?
It seemed that way, though, so Tony shut up and grinned to himself, accepting the kid’s weirdly satisfying gratitude.
*
It didn’t take long for Tony to notice the condition of Peter’s jeans, obviously worn down, fraying at the knees and hems, and not in that artificial way that’s supposed to show off how little of a fuck you give – it was the unintentional kind of wear and tear.
Now that he thought of it, most of Peter’s clothing seemed to be a bit past its prime, and Tony couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it earlier. It was so obvious now that the kid desperately needed some new clothes.
Before he could stop himself, he gave the loops on the back of Peter’s jeans a playful tug, hoping this would come across the right way, more playful than patronizing.
“Hey, kiddo, you do know you can ask me if you ever need anything?”
Peter turned to look at him, confused. “Yeah, I – obviously. I mean, you’ve already made me the suit, and then you gave me the phone, which was so nice, I love it! Seriously, Mr. Stark, I’m good. But I know you’re here, erm, here for me, so…” He trailed off, apparently still not quite getting what Tony was trying to say.
And Tony appreciated it, he really did. All of his life, he’d been surrounded by people asking for things, demanding stuff, having their own agenda (with a few exceptions, of course), so it was a nice change of pace for Peter to be so very obvious guileless and earnest in his interactions with Tony, simply happy to have his attention. It made Tony want to give him even more nice things.
Well, if Peter wasn’t getting it – not like Tony needed permission to spend money. He made a mental note to order some nice, form-fitting Versace jeans for Peter later and have them shipped directly to his apartment.
*
“You shouldn’t have, Mr. Stark, really, we’re – Aunt May and I, we’re fine, I promise! You don’t need to – “
Tony waved off Peter’s protests. “Stop doing that, kid. I wanted to give you a little pick me up, and so I did. No reason to get your brand-new panties in a twist.”
Peter blushed, presumably at the reminder that the clothing care package Tony sent him had indeed contained everything he might need, jeans, shirts, new shoes – and underwear. Well, obviously not panties, because Peter was sixteen, and Tony, contrary to popular belief, was not a pervert.
The underwear thing was probably toeing the line a little, or a lot, but Tony just wanted to see Peter taken care of. The kid had enough on his plate, being Spider-Man, managing high school, which Tony remembered being a bitch, and all that jazz. He shouldn’t have to worry about the bare necessities as well, screw you, Baloo.
“So, how are things?” Tony asked while gesturing for the waiter to refill his Bourbon. He and Peter had been tinkering in the workshop the whole day, yet again, the only sign of the passage of time the sudden growling of Peter’s stomach. Peter had blushed, oh so embarrassed, which was just precious. Tony didn’t know how the world hadn’t eaten the kid up yet, complete with spoon and sugar on top.
Ordering food had been done one too many times lately, and so they found themselves here, in an upscale restaurant in Manhattan. Tony had insisted on the place. Peter was obviously overwhelmed, having gone along with it despite everything, and slightly uncomfortable in his casual street clothes. They’d have to do something about that soon.
Peter shrugged, and looked down at his plate where his caramelized calf-liver spread was painstakingly arranged. It was obvious that the arrangement was supposed to showcase the cook’s plating skills instead of letting the food speak for itself. Still, it tasted incredible. “Like I said, it’s fine, well, May is still kinda pissed that I kept so much stuff from her, and I get, I really do, but it’s still not so great. Sometimes she just looks at me, you know? Like she doesn’t recognize me anymore or something, and I hate it. Oh, and Ned, I’ve mentioned Ned before, right? He has a girlfriend now. Or something like a girlfriend, a maybe-date, and he talks about nothing else so I -” Suddenly, Peter stopped, an adorable flush creeping onto his cheeks. “Oh God, I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t mean to ramble, you probably don’t care about that. You totally meant the suit, right?”
To his surprise, Tony found that yes, he did care even though he couldn’t exactly relate. The kid was so passionate in everything he did, and said, that it was nice to just float along for a change and watch the glimmer of excitement in his eyes. Even he knew better than to voice that thought aloud, though, so he just gestured for Peter to go on.
When the check came, in a discreet black leather folder, Tony didn’t even look at it.
*
After that, it became something of a habit for them to go out to eat. Tony embarked on a mission to show Peter the best restaurants around the New York area, his awe at the food so gratifying and fondly amusing to Tony. Every time, Peter seemed a bit less uncomfortable, so Tony counted that as a win. Of course, he had to buy the kid a proper, bespoke suit after it grew obvious that this was going to be more than a one-time thing. If it was going to go on for a while, Peter would need to fit in and look the part.
In the end, Tony was happier about the suit than Peter was, which was just par for the course. It was still hard for the kid to accept things that weren’t food or Spider-Suit related.
“Are you sure this is necessary?” Peter asked skeptically, spinning slowly in front of the mirror in the dressing room. “It feels weird, I don’t mean to be ungrateful, and this suit is really, really awesome, but you’ve spent so much money already, Mr. Stark.” He looked at Tony with his big eyes, and Tony swallowed back his instinctive response of oh there’s so much more where that came from, baby. It was probably time he got laid again, the stress and the break-up with Pepper had been some while ago. That was definitely the reason Peter looked so appealing in the well-fitted black suit, nothing else, nothing to see here, people.
Tony just smirked, Don’t sweat it, you can wear it a lot, so it’ll balance out the price, maybe if you finally get a girl and you take her out, no, Peter, I’m serious, and handed the tailor’s assistant his credit card.
*
To absolutely no one’s surprise, the press blew everything right out of proportion when Peter and Tony had been spotted together at one too many a pricey place. All it took was a paparazzo, just a singular guy, that was in the wrong place at the exact right time.
Tony snorted when he read the headline, Tony Stark and the New Man in his Life?, Stark and New Boytoy Seen at Pierre Michelle’s, and, his absolute favorite, Sugar Daddy Tony Stark? Who is the mysterious sugar baby on the billionaire’s arm? Despite himself he kind of had to admire the gossip rags’ unwavering resolve to make everything sound salacious.
Every time he thought the rainbow press couldn’t get worse, they stooped lower than even Tony anticipated. Oh well. It wasn’t like they were doing something illegal, no matter what the little twinge in Tony’s stomach at the accusations told him. He shouldn’t feel called out, he decided. What for?
Pepper, when she stormed in half an hour later while Tony was elbow-deep in one of his favorite cars, grease-stained and sweaty, told him pretty vividly exactly what for.
“You know what this looks like, Tony, don’t pretend like you don’t! You’ve done a lot of stupid things in your lifetime, I swear to God, Tony, but this is just –“
“Completely untrue and blown out of proportion,” Tony interrupted her rant before she could move on from this particular thing to all his other failings in general. “Just tabloid reporting. They’ve said worse about me. Remember that one time they claimed to have found my long-lost twin brother, Ross? Why Ross? What was up with that?”
“It’s only manageable now because they don’t know who is yet, and how old he is,” Pepper said, accusatory, “and you better make sure they don’t find out. The implication in the media of you having… that kind of relationship, that’s unfortunate. But if statutory rape comes into it? Then we’ll have a whole new mess to deal with. I, specifically, I will have to deal with it, and I really don’t have the time right now, with the new subsidiary, and the Thompson merger.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Tony stomped down the vague feeling of guilt. If anyone could do, it was Pepper. When he said as much, she smiled tiredly.
“I just wish you would think, Tony, before you go and make my job that much harder.”
“Not my fault the whole media apparatus consists of money-hungry hacks,” Tony offered, in way of apology, not much of one, he knew that. “It’s really not what it looks like.”
Pepper lifted one incredibly judgey eyebrow. “Isn’t it?”
“Jesus, Pep, he’s sixteen.” A sixteen-year-old to the thought of whose soft skin and pliant body Tony had jerked off a few times over the last months, but that wasn’t anyone’s business. Didn’t mean anything, anyway.
Pepper didn’t look mollified by that in the least, and she only calmed down after Tony had sworn up and down that nothing had happened, and no, nothing was going to happen.
She left an hour later, but not before admonishing Tony to consider the effect this could have on SI’s image and, by extension, stocks.
Tony sighed and went back to his cars.