Tony Stark the Science Dad™ has a realisation. Peter's TED talk
It was after Harry and Teddy left claiming, Teddy needs to nap before he gets cranky that Tony and Peter get to have the lab for themselves.
Tony was suprisingly enjoying himself.
They worked in comfortable silence for a bit.
Peter was tinkering with his web-shooters.
Tony was tweaking a new gauntlet design.
At some point, Peter spoke up.
“So, Mr. Stark—”
Tony groaned.
“What have I told you about calling me that?”
Peter smirked.
“To do it as often as possible?”
Tony rolled his eyes.
Tony let him hang around the Tower even when he wasn’t working on anything important.
Peter was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor, fiddling with a piece of tech like a toddler with a new toy.
Tony, watching from his desk, sighed dramatically.
“Kid. It’s a stabilizer, not a Rubik’s cube.”
Peter grinned. “But it’s fun.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “You need better hobbies.”
Peter shrugged. “I think my hobbies are great.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Your hobbies include getting hit by cars.”
Peter scoffed. “I do not get hit by cars.”
Tony gave him a pointed look.
Peter hesitated.
“…Not that often.”
“Kid, I’ve seen you trip over air.”
Peter threw his hands up. “That was one time!”
Tony groaned. “God, you’re worse than Clint.”
Peter beamed. “Thank you.”
Tony sighed.
Eventually, Tony took pity on him.
“Alright, fine. Break time.”
Peter perked up. “Really?”
Tony stretched. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get food before I start regretting my life choices.”
Peter grinned.
“You mean, more than usual?”
Tony pointed a warning finger.
“Don’t push your luck, Parker.”
Peter snickered.
Later, as they sat in the lounge, eating ridiculously overpriced Tower snacks, Peter glanced at Tony.
Then—
“Hey, Mr. Stark?”
Tony groaned.
“Peter.”
Peter grinned.
Then—
“…Thanks.”
Tony blinked.
“For what?”
Peter shrugged.
“For… y’know. All of this.”
Tony was silent for a moment.
Then—
“…Yeah, alright. Don’t get mushy on me, kid.”
Peter snickered. “No promises.”
Tony sighed, but secretly?
He didn’t mind.
Not one bit.
Peter Parker was not shutting up anytime soon.
Tony had made the mistake of casually asking, “So, what’s Harry like?”
He had expected a short answer.
Maybe a brief summary.
Instead, he got The Peter Parker TED Talk on Harry Evans.
(Atleast he can gather information)
“Harry is literally the coolest person I have ever met in my entire life—like, you don’t understand, Mr. Stark, he’s like Batman, but if Batman actually got therapy and somehow knew everything about everything while also being the best big brother ever.”
Tony blinked. “Batman?”
“Yes!” Peter waved his hands. “Like, not the billionaire part—that’s you—but, you know, the whole insanely skilled, fights like a ninja, knows all these secret things, super mysterious, and lowkey terrifying but also really nice thing.”
(Harry: I'm a billionaire too just on the magical side. All I need to do is convert galleons into no-maj currency and i will be a billionaire in no-maj world too.
Does that mean I can be Batman?)
Tony stared. “I—”
“And,” Peter continued, ignoring him completely, “he’s got this whole effortless elegance thing going on, where, like, he could literally be wearing a hoodie and jeans, but somehow he still looks like he belongs in a James Bond movie. And the way he talks—Mr. Stark, I swear, sometimes it feels like he’s secretly a prince or something, but then he turns around and just starts casually eating takeout like the rest of us.”
Tony squinted. “Did you just say my son gives off James Bond prince ninja vibes?”
Peter nodded furiously. “YES.”
“And he’s so smart!” Peter kept going. “Like, obviously I knew he was smart, but then one time, I was stuck on this super complicated physics problem, and he just looked at it and solved it in, like, ten seconds—and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, cool, guess I’ll just pack my bags and quit school now.’”
(Harry: Occulmancy is a funny thing. You read something and it gets stored in a library. You just pick the book you need.
I just happened upon the same question while trying to catch up.)
Tony raised a brow. “Are you telling me my kid is smarter than you?”
“…I plead the fifth.”
Tony smirked.
Peter groaned. “Anyway!, he started training me in actual hand-to-hand combat, and let me tell you, he does not hold back. Like, the first time we sparred, I thought I was gonna win because, you know, super strength even if I held back—”
Tony grinned. “And?”
Peter groaned. “And I got my ass kicked.”
Tony burst out laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Peter grumbled. “But it was so cool! He’s like a ninja, I’m telling you! He can predict moves before I even make them!.”
(Again magic is a funny thing. Add that to experience)
(Tony: wow, my sixteen-year-old son is an elegant ninja-genius with terrifying combat skills, suspicious legal knowledge, and Bond villain charisma?....I have soo many questions.)
"Oh, and did I mention he’s, like, super dad mode with Teddy? It’s adorable—you should see him! He’s got that whole, like, protective dad glare down perfectly—like, I once saw a guy try to cut in front of him and Teddy in line, and Harry just looked at him, and the dude immediately backed off.”
On one hand, he felt a deep, overwhelming pride that his kid—who he had barely gotten to know yet—was apparently a total badass.
On the other hand, he was deeply alarmed that his sixteen-year-old was apparently skilled enough to have Batman comparisons thrown at him.
“…Jesus Christ, what the hell kind of life has my kid had?” Tony muttered under his breath.
Peter, oblivious, was still going.
“Oh! And then there was this one time that Ned and I were theorizing, and we were like, ‘Dude, are you secretly a doctor or something?’ and you know what he said? He just shrugged and was like, ‘Not officially.’ NOT OFFICIALLY, MR. STARK. When we ask what that he said, he has emergency treatment permission along with trauma specialization certificate due to his work but he doesn't get paid and doesn't have post in med bay/hospital. That's why it's not official"
Tony choked.
(Ofcourse Tony knew about the certificates.
But what the hell.)
(Harry: I have a mastery in healing, so ofcourse I have a certificate for it in no-maj world, what if I have to suddenly use my skills to save someone? It's a good cover as long as I do not do anything suspicious and if I had to use magic openly to treat - I can simply erase their memory)
“Oh yeah,” Peter said sagely. “Harry and May? Terrifying duo."
Tony laughed. “So you did get the lecture about ‘dying in an alley’ from both of them?”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Peter grumbled.
“There was this one time Ned and I tried to figure out what he actually does for work, and we came up with this whole theory that he’s a doctor-lawyer-ninja-spy. Because he somehow knows law stuff, like, he can quote legal codes verbatim, which is weird—”
“—and then he fights like a total badass, and whenever we ask him about it, he just smirks like some kind of anime protagonist and says something vague like, ‘I’ve had an interesting life.’”
Peter grinned. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! He’s also the Best Big brother ever.”
Tony raised a brow. “Oh?”
“Yeah! There was this one time when Ned and I were super stressed about finals, and Harry just—showed up—told us to stop studying, and took us to an arcade. And not just any arcade—the best arcade in the city. Then he got us ice cream and kicked our asses at laser tag.”
Tony chuckled. “Classic big brother move.”
“Right?! He’s awesome! And it’s not just the fun stuff—he’s always there for us, you know? Like, May loves him, and he’s my secondary emergency contact in case anything happens. He even threatened our school once because he found out Ned and I got bullied.And even though he’s all mysterious and cool, he’s, like, the most reliable person ever.”
Peter paused, suddenly more serious.
“He just… he really looks out for us.”
Tony stared.
Tony was quiet for a moment, taking that in.
Then, with a soft smile, he said."wow, underoos you really Love him don't you"
Peter flushed.
Then in a tiny voice."..yeah"
(If Peter comes here often and Harry considers Peter as a brother while Peter looks up to both him and Harry-
Did I accidentally get myself another son?!
Tony quickly pushed the incoming panic again.
Because Damn it.
He needs a drink)