Chapter 11
2008
6 day, 2 weeks, 0 months, 0 years
Peter was pressed up against Tony's side. His head rested on his shoulder, the older man's arm wrapped around him, pulling him close.
They were lying on Tony's bed, the sheets pulled up to the chests as they stared at the ceiling. Neither of them felt as though they could sleep but neither seemed quite willing to be the one to break the silence between them.
After a moment, Tony spoke.
"What colour trainers would you like me to get for you?"
Peter shifted slightly to give him a confused look but, when Tony's gaze didn't waver from it's spot directly above him, he shifted back again.
"You don't need to get me trainers, Mr. Stark. You've already got me a lot of things."
"I know I don't need to," Tony replied. "But I want to."
He dragged his thumb back and forth across the fabric of Peter's pyjama top in a reassuring gesture.
"Give me a colour. Any colour you like."
Peter thought for a moment before replying.
"Blue."
He paused and then continued.
"A really bright blue, like the bright blue Snow-White wears."
He paused again, for a little longer this time. Tony almost decided to speak up before the kid went on. His voice was quieter this time, shy and almost nervous about the words he was saying.
"Or red. Like the red on your flying suit."
Tony could almost feel his heart swell in his chest, just like it did every time Peter made some kind of comment that made it seem as though he idolized Iron Man. It meant the world to him that Peter felt inspired, even somewhat proud, of what Tony had created.
"Good choice," he replied with a small nod that made his chin brush against Peter's dark brown curls. "I'll get you a pair in each colour. I think I might even get a pair of matching red ones for myself too."
"Really?"
Peter seemed genuinely curious.
"Of course! Iron Man red would be an awesome colour for a pair of shoes," he said.
Tony made sure to clearly convey his enthusiasm in his tone of voice. He didn't want Peter to think he was just saying what he thought he wanted to hear, especially not when he was being entirely genuine with his words.
"Maybe," Tony continued. "I'll get a matching pair for Rhodey and Happy too. Pepper might even want a pair; we'll have to take a trip down to her office at some point and ask her."
There was a pause. Tony let his thoughts drift to the logistics of taking Peter on a trip down to the office levels of the tower. It would be somewhat risky. Either people would be able to see Peter and they would probably be confused as to why the infamous Tony Stark was walking around with a child, or they wouldn't be able to see him and they would probably think that his trauma had made his go completely insane.
"Who's Happy?" Peter asked.
"Happy works for me, and he's a really good friend of mine. You haven't met him yet but you might have seen him around before we met. He's got a bad haircut, wears the same suit almost daily, and he has this entirely miserable expression that he seems to be sporting whenever he sees me. Always the miserable face; it’s not exactly what you’d expect from a guy who's name is Happy."
Peter giggled quietly and squirmed a bit closer. Tony tightened his grip to hold him there.
"I think I've seen him," he said. "He has a black tie that he wears with his suit, right?"
Tony let out an affirmative noise.
"You should get him a new tie for his birthday."
"Oh yeah?"
"A colourful one that lights up and has a button that plays music when you press it. We could make it together and then it would be really special and there would only be one of them so no one else would have a tie as cool as his."
Tony smiled goofily at the ceiling. He was glad it was dim in the room and that the kid wasn't looking in his direction because he can't help but think they would both be rather embarrassed if the kid knew how much his little idea made him smile.
"Maybe then he wouldn't look so miserable all the time."
A laugh shuddered through Tony's body at Peter's statement, he couldn't help it and he was sure the young boy had felt the way his chest vibrated with the sound. Of course Peter, the kid who tried to deny every little gift Tony brought him and was quick to insist that the horrible things he'd been through were nothing so Tony wouldn't worry, would immediately want to make something special to cheer up someone who he thought wasn't entirely happy.
"That sounds like a brilliant idea," Tony mused. "But who said we have to wait for his birthday? And who said we only get to make him one? I say we make a whole collection of colourful, light-up, singing ties so he doesn't have to wear the boring black one ever again, and you can give them to him as soon as they're done."
"I'd like that."
The two of them fell back into silence. After a short while of Peter being incredibly quiet, Tony went to speak, to check that he was okay, only to notice that his head had rolled to the side with his cheek pressed into Tony's chest. His tip of his nose was less than an inch away from the arc reactor. His eyes were gently closed, eyelashes fluttering gently against his cheeks, and his breathing was slow and deep.
For a moment, Tony just let himself watch, admiring the look of pure peacefulness that looked so at home on the kids features. The soft fond smile that he was sporting more and more often these days spread across his features, and he muttered a quiet 'sweet dreams, Pete' before he too fell asleep.