Tony
Tony sends Peter away with a wave, promising to see him in Saturday. He tried his best to be irritated with the kid for meddling in his love life, but in all fairness, it did work out for him. He has a date with Pepper Potts on Friday.
The first thing he does is call Rhodey, of course. The man has been rooting for him every step of the way.
Then, he spends a day trying not to stress about what he’s going to make. Why did he say he would make dinner? He should’ve just said he would take her out somewhere. He just kind of panicked in the moment. Not a lot can make him panic, but a date with Pepper Potts is definitely something that can.
Thursday night, instead of freaking out and wallowing in his anxiety, he decides to practice a recipe so he can be prepared. He picks one of his favorites from his mother’s Italian cookbook. He’s good at Italian food. Fettuccine a la bolognese. It does take a while though, so he’s going to have a late night if he’s planning on doing a practice run.
The sauce has been simmering on the stove for a while, and Tony is debating if he should make a dessert when there’s a familiar knock on the window. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to someone knocking on the outside window of his 93 story building, but he supposes it’s better than Spider-Man strolling in through the lobby at midnight a couple times a week.
The kid slips easily through the now open window and pulls off his mask.
“Wow, that smells amazing, Mr. Stark.” Peter says, skipping over into the kitchen.
“Yeah?” Tony asks. “It’s fettuccine. I’ll share if you stick around a while.”
Peter shrugs. “Why not. It’s been a slow week. The criminals just haven’t been out doing anything exciting.”
Tony snorts. “Only you would complain about not enough crime. Is that why you’re stopping by?”
“Well that and Karen told me you’re freaking out about your date tomorrow. She said you needed help more than the people of Brooklyn right now.”
Tony scoffs, a little offended. “I don’t remember giving your AI permission to spy on me.”
“No, but you did give her permission contact with your AI, who is always spying on you.”
“Touché.” Tony responds. “I guess I could use some help. Dinner will be fine I’m sure, but do you think she’s expecting dessert? She probably is. You know that me and baking aren’t a good combination.”
Peter chuckles, probably remembering the thanksgiving pie incident. “No, you should probably leave that to me, Mr. Stark. Does Miss Potts like chocolate?”
“Loves it. She’s a fiend for it. Don’t tell her I told you though.”
Peter jumps up from where he had sat down on a stool and starts rummaging through Tony’s cabinets like he owns the place. The kid starts pulling out sugar and bars of chocolate and cake tins and things that Tony didn’t even know that he owned. When did he get baking supplies?
Tony checks on his sauce again, but it’s pretty much finished except for needing a little more time to simmer. His pasta he made from scratch earlier, he just has to boil it and his portion is complete.
Peter is doing something with chocolate on the stove. Tony peers over his shoulder.
“…can I help you?” Peter asks, glancing at Tony who has very much invaded his personal space to see what he’s doing.
“Just trying to see what’s going on in my own kitchen.” Tony responds sassily.
“I’m making you chocolate mousse cake. It’s supposed to be made in advance and refrigerated, so we can make it tonight and you can bring it out after dinner tomorrow.”
“Ah, genius.” Tony says happily. “This is why I hired you.” He ruffles Peter’s hair and sits down to watch the kid work his dessert magic. It wasn’t too long before Peter had his cake in the oven and mousse in the fridge.
Tony scoops a couple plates of steaming homemade fettuccine a la bolognese for the two of them, and sits them down at the table. Peter takes one bite and literally moans.
“Oh my god, Mr. Stark. This is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
Tony can’t help the smile that forms on his face. “Glad you like it, kiddo. It’s one of my favorites from when I was a kid. My mother was Italian. She would make it fairly often.”
“It’s so good.” Peter says again, mouthful of food. “You should cook more often.”
Tony chuckles. “I don’t have time for that. All my free time is dedicated to looking after Spiderlings.”
Peter glares at him, but chooses to keep stuffing his face with pasta over a come back.
Peter finishes his first bowl so fast Tony is sure he must’ve set some kind of record, then he goes back for seconds.
He finishes his second plate before Tony has finished his first, and Tony guesses it was enough because Peter drops his plate in the sink and flops over onto the couch, groaning.
“Too much pasta?” Tony calls to him.
“Uuuuuggghhh” is all he gets in return.
Tony stands up and puts his plate in the sink alongside Peter’s. The timer to the oven goes off, so he pulls the cake out and sets it on the cooling rack Peter set out. He looks around the kitchen and sighs. They made quite a mess. He loads his dishwasher and washes the few dishes that don’t fit. When he finishes wiping the pasta sauce and chocolate splatters off the counters, he strolls back into the living room to the kid currently in a carb coma on his couch.
He smacks Peter’s food that’s hanging over the side of the couch, eliciting another groan.
“I’m guessing you’re done with patrol for the night?” Tony asks.
Peter’s face is currently buried in a cushion, but Tony still sees him nod. “Can’t move. Too full.”
Tony grabs his legs and drags them off the couch and onto the floor. “Come on Spider-Boy. Let’s get you home.”
Peter reaches out a hand, which Tony grabs and uses to pull him up.
“Let’s go, kid. I’ll drive you back.”
Peter’s eyes are still closed, so Tony leads him with an arm around his shoulders to the elevator.
“You don’t have to do that, Mr. Stark. I can just walk or something.” Peter mumbles.
“You’re not walking, you look like you’re about to fall over.”
Peter doesn’t argue. Tony walks him through the garage, Peter leaning not an inconsiderable amount of weight against Tony’s side, but he doesn’t mind. He deposits Peter into the passenger seat of one of his cars and makes him put a seat belt on. By the time they’re on the highway, Peter is fast asleep.
Tony glances over at the kid, his head tipped sideways onto the passenger window. He looks so young when he’s asleep. He’s been through so much already that Tony forgets sometimes that the kid is really only fourteen.
He puts on some soft music and drives the rest of the way to Peter’s apartment before gently shaking him awake.
“Wake up spider-kid. Time to get into a real bed.”
“Wha-?” Peter mumbles, glancing around the car with sleepy eyes, trying to figure out where he is.
“We’re back at your apartment, kiddo.”
Peter blinks a few times and rubs at his eyes before waking up fully. He looks out the window and sees his apartment building.
“Oh. Thank you, Mr. Stark. You didn’t have to drive me all the way back.”
“It was nothing, Pete, really. Consider it a thank you for the cake waiting back at my place, okay?”
Peter nods sleepily. “Yeah, okay.” He opens the door and stumbles outside, slipping his mask back on.
“I’ll see you Saturday at the tower, okay? It’s a tower weekend this time, not the compound.”
“Okay. I’ll see you Saturday.” Peter mumbles again with a halfhearted wave before shutting his door and walking away. Tony is a little worried about the kid getting back up to his bedroom, but he can’t see anything past the front door to the building in the dark. He starts driving back to the tower.
“Friday, text Peter to let me know when he gets up to his room safe.” Tony tells his AI, who of course is programmed into all of his cars.
“Message sent, boss.”
When he arrives home, he pulls out his phone and sees the confirmation text from Peter that he didn’t fall off the side of the building. Perfect.
He decides to just call it a night and go to bed. He has an important day tomorrow. Probably best if he get some sleep.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
He tries to get some work done the next day, staying busy and all to distract himself from temptations. It only kind of works.
He puts together the pasta sauce. It needs to simmer for a few hours before it’s ready to eat. He puts the cake together like Peter told him last night, complete with little chocolate shavings on top. It looks really nice, way nicer than anything he could’ve done on his own. He gets himself ready, showers and shaves and puts on some of the cologne he knows is Pepper’s favorite. He’s got this.
Pepper arrives exactly on time, as always, and also as always she looks completely stunning. She’s wearing a simple light blue dress that hits just above her knees.
“Wow, Tony.” She says upon entering. “This place smells amazing.”
He holds out her arm for her to take and leads her over to the kitchen, where he’s set up his table to look proper for her arrival.
“I brought this for us for tonight.” She tells him, handing him a wine bottle. Upon closer inspection, he sees that it’s nonalcoholic wine. He gives her a soft smile and goes to open it, pouring them both a glass. Then he serves their meal and invites her to sit down at the table.
They talk for a while about how they’ve been the past few months while enjoying the pasta that Tony made for them. They’ve still been around each other of course, but they pretty much only spoke about the business since their break up. She catches him up on what she’s been doing recently outside of work, how her family has been. Tony tells her about his time with Rhodey and the team.
It takes them both a long time to finish eating, as they’re both so distracted by talking to each other. When they do finish, Tony takes their plates and comes back with dessert plates and the cake.
Pepper gives him a sly smile as he cuts her a slice. “Why Mr. Stark, I had no idea you could bake.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” He says, but she sees right through it like he knew she would.
“Okay, fine.” He concedes. “I had a little help.”
“And who exactly did you find to help you make this beautiful cake?” She asks, taking a bite.
“I’ll admit, Peter did most of the work.”
Pepper nods and smiles like she was expecting that answer. “Well you make sure to tell him that his dessert turned out wonderfully, and that I loved it.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that.” He tells her.
“You two seem like you’re spending an awful lot of time together lately.” She says, digging a little bit for information.
Tony shrugs. “He’s a good kid, Pep. I told him he could come by any time he likes, and he has been. He showed up late last night just because he thought I would need help preparing for tonight.” Tony tells her, smiling at the thought.
“And his foster parents are just okay with him leaving late at night to come visit?” She asks, not mean or accusing, just curious.
Tony shrugs again. “Honestly, I don’t really know the story with them. They don’t know he’s sneaking out in the middle of the night, that’s for sure. But I’m not sure if it’s because Peter is just really good at sneaking out, or because…”
“You’re worried his foster parents don’t care enough to find out.” Pepper says, finishing his thought.
“…yeah. I’ve tried to ask him about them a few times, but he never wants to talk about it. I don’t know if that means anything, though. He’s been through a lot. He might just be sensitive about being in foster care, or trying on purpose not to get attached to them because they’re just temporary.”
Pepper reaches across the table to take his hand. “I’m glad he has you, then, to look after him.”
Tony takes her hand, but doesn’t have anything to say in response.
“It’s getting late, I should probably be going.” She says, standing up and grabbing her purse. Tony stands up with her and walks her to the elevator. Before she can leave, Tony pulls her in close by her hand, lets her know exactly what he’s planning on doing so she can back away if she wants, and when she doesn’t, he kisses her.
Call him cheesy or whatever, but he’s been thinking about this moment for months now. The feel of her lips against his. He reaches the hand not entwined with hers around her lower back, and hers go around the back of his neck. They kiss deeply for a few minutes before she pulls back just an inch.
“Can I convince you to stay a while longer?” Tony mutters, holding her close. She pulls away a bit further so she can look him in the eyes again.
“Not this time.” She says quietly.
“Does that mean there’s a next time?” He asks, smile growing wider.
“I would like there to be.” She says, skimming her nails on the back of his head and neck, almost giving him chills.
“Same time next week?”
She hums, as if thinking about it. “I suppose I could do that.”
“Good, I’ll take you out next week, somewhere nice.”
Pepper steps away from him fully and into the elevators. “I look forward to it.”
The elevator doors close between them, and Tony sighs deeply. Wow. That was wonderful. He knew he missed Pepper’s company dearly, but he didn’t realize how much until tonight. He wanted to hold onto her and never let her go again, but he knows she needs boundaries.
He finds himself far too awake to go to sleep, so he heads down to the lab for a while to clear his head. Only one week until he can see her again. He can wait.