“U-uh, Mr. Stark?”
“Not now kid. You gotta wait here for a second while I go over and talk to that guy about something, stay right here. Happy?” Tony looked over to his guard and pointed to the kid and his friend nodded. “I’ll be right back. Don’t. Move.”
“But Sir I-“ Peter started to protest, but Tony was already gone.
They’d been at the conference for three hours now- and it had been oodles of fun. Going to all the different booths and looking at all the tech had been amazing; Peter had a thousand questions, all of which required in depth answers and long explanations- and Peter had a blast trying out all the demos that were on offer. They’d just finished attending one of the talks one of Tony’s colleges had given on renewable energy; and Peter had already filled the notebook he’d been given with ideas and equations.
But along with all the free pamphlets, stationary and other junk he’d been given, had been the complimentary refreshments; and Peter had drank several cups of soda- which far surpassed his bladder capacity. He kind of had to pee in the middle of the talk but elected to ignore it- but now he had to, and he’d just been about to ask Mr. Stark when the man was whisked away by another colleague.
It was already more than a little uncomfortable. As soon as he stood from his seat at the talk, gravity had hit him and he’d been forced to clench his thighs together. He’d tried to say something then but he’d had to run to keep up with the adults.
Shifting on his feet, Peter bit his lip and looked around. The hall where the conference was being held was rather large, Peter being unable to see the entrance they came from; but he could see several signs dictating where they were and just how far they were from the nearest restroom. Peter was known for wandering off and getting lost, hence why Mr. Stark was very adamant that he stay close with Happy- but Peter was confident that he would be able to find his way back to the man if he quickly slipped off to the restroom..it was worth a shot..
“I’ll come right back Mr. Hogan I just need to-“ Peter paused and the guard raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘what?’ He should have just said it, he knew that at the time but the words just escaped him, as per usual. “I j-just want to stretch my legs a little.”
“Nice try kid. You’re staying put.” Happy replied gruffly, giving the teenager a stern look before returning his focus to his phone.
Peter reluctantly leaned against the wall next to the man and waited for Tony to return. It would’ve been easy for him to just say where he actually needed to go- except it wasn’t. He couldn’t get the words out, and even if somehow he managed to, the agent might say no anyway; if they left and Tony came back and they weren’t there the man would likely be very upset. Which was understandable but very inconvenient considering the man was taking a long time.
So the teen elected to wait until his mentor came back. It was nearing twelve o’clock and they had another talk to get to soon, so Peter knew Tony would be back before then; hopefully in time for them to swing by the bathrooms on the way past.
They waited. And waited. And waited. But Tony was nowhere to be seen.
Peter was getting anxious. More than anxious, he was starting to panic. He pulled out his phone to text the man and ask where he was but Happy sighed.
“He left it with me kid, no point.”
Great. Of course. Fantastic. The one time Tony wasn’t glued to his phone. Just Peter’s luck.
It was starting to get bad, the teen could barely stand still at his point and he was shocked that Happy hadn’t called him up on it. He was glad that he hadn’t- because that would have been mortifying, but still the eagle eyed agent usually noticed if Peter so much as flinched; so the fact that the man hadn’t commented on him pacing back and forth or bouncing on his toes. He almost wanted the man to say something, just to get it over with. Almost.
The teenager was debating just bolting and texting the agent after he slipped away to tell him where he was going. He didn’t for several reasons; mostly because he knew that was ridiculous, he should just tell the man where he was going first. Mr. Stark wouldn’t be very happy with him if he decided to just run off and scare everybody. He also knew it was a bad idea because even though he was fast, he was pretty sure the agent would find a way to catch him before he got too far; and the image of the man twice his size grabbing him whilst he had a dangerously full bladder- was not a fun idea. That wouldn’t end well for anybody.
Peter’s desire to stay out of trouble outweighed his want to empty his bladder; that combined with his usual anxiety about admitting he had to use the restroom lead to Peter staying silent and biting his lip, as he stood leaning against the wall, trying his utmost to stay still. But he couldn’t do so for long.
Finally Peter saw the familiar face walking through the crowd as it parted around him.
“Alright let’s go-“ Tony said hurriedly. He hadn’t meant to take so long talking to Pym but they’d gotten onto a really interesting topic of conversation about- what was wrong with the kid? His face was bright red and he looked like he was about to cry. “Peter are you okay?”
Rather than nod his head like he automatically wanted to, Peter shook his head. “Mr. Stark I’m s-s-sorry but I really need to-”
Tony grabbed the kid by his shoulders and started steering him through the crowds; all of which were luckily (for the most part) preoccupied, so not many people stopped to look at them- which Tony was grateful for as he knew Peter would be mortified if a bunch of people started staring at him, especially in that state. “Come on.”
For some reason the kid looked horrified rather than relieved. “But sir I can’t i-i-“
“Kid I’m taking you to the bathroom not to another seminar.”
“Oh.” Peter said simply, clearly embarrassed for misinterpreting his mentors motives. He was blushing even more scarlet than he previously had been. “Thank you, s-sir.”
“Did you tell Happy you had to go?” Tony asked and the teen shook his head. Tony knew his bodyguard wouldn’t have denied the boy that right and it was more likely a case of Peter not telling him. “Next time do that. He won’t tell you no.”
“O-okay, sir.” Peter nodded shakily and Tony couldn’t help but be slightly pissed at his head of security. Happy knew the kid well enough now to know both the warning signs and the fact that the kid wouldn’t ask- he should have noticed.
But Tony couldn’t be too mad. Lord knows he’d made enough mistakes with the boy in the past; and Tony should have been there sooner. In fairness he should have asked Peter ages ago if he needed a break, the kid hadn’t been in a while; not since he’d gotten distracted at that VR booth and Tony had to pull him away before he embarrassed himself. The kid hadn’t even noticed he had to go.
Well apparently the kid didn’t realise he had to go now because he was walking agonisingly slow for someone who was apparently dying for a pee. Not a moment later, just as Tony was about to snap at the kid for the snails pace he was walking, when he stopped in his tracks completely.
“Peter come on I thought you had to piss?” Tony sighed exasperatedly.
“I-I do I just uhm, need a second..” The kid mumbled under his breath, which prompted Tony to take in the boy’s stance. His legs were bowed in and clenched together, as he tried to surreptitiously shift his hips from side to side. As much as he tried to be subtle it was obvious to anyone who looked at the boy that he was moments away from wetting his pants. And people were starting to look, clearly torn between helping and finding out just who the child belonged to. The poor kid looked so small and lost surrounded by all those people and Tony had one of those rare moments where he felt like picking the kid up. Obviously he didn’t, because that would likely lead to them both getting soaked and more than a few unsavoury tabloids being written.
Tony sighed and walked back over to his charge, placing a hand on the small of his back and started gently, but quickly, pushing him along. He bent down slightly to whisper in the boy’s ear, trying to look as casual as possible (which was a difficult task). “It’s just down that hall there, can you make it that far?”
Peter nodded fervently. He wasn’t about to admit that he was struggling to contain himself and would possibly have an accident to his boss; even though said boss was pretty clued in on the situation anyway.
And by some miracle Peter did make it that far; well, far enough to the bathroom but there was a line of at least fourteen people. As soon as the pair clocked eyes on it Peter whined like a kicked puppy.
Tony didn't even ask if he could hold it that long, because he already knew the answer; the kids crossed ankles and pinched face told him that much. The man just pushed the boy boy forward, going around the rest of the people, ignoring the stares they received, to the front of the line; completely ignoring the boys protests.
“M-Mr Stark what are you-“
“You wanna piss your pants?” Tony sighed when Peter shook his head with a scared look on his face. “That’s what I thought. No ones gonna say anything while you’re with me kid.”
Peter usually verbally protested the man playing the ‘I’m Tony Stark’ card but in that moment he didn’t care as he was dangerously close to watering the floor. He simply nodded and limped to the front of the line behind his mentor, keeping his face and eyes cast towards the floor both so people wouldn’t be able to recognise him in the future and because he was embarrassed beyond belief.
“Excuse me sir, mind if my intern here cuts in front of you? It’s a bit of an emergency.” Tony said smoothly to the shocked man at the front of the line.
“Oh you’re-“ The man was about to launch into the usual ‘oh my god you’re Tony Stark’ thing, but he noticed a very desperate child standing behind him; and quickly recovered. “-no, no by all means go ahead kid, you look like you’re dying!”
Peter tried to ignore the burning sensation he felt on his face so he could get rid of a similar burning sensation in his lower abdomen a lot quicker; but good god that was humiliating. He stuttered out a thank you and ran inside the bathroom, which thankfully was remarkably clean, and into an equally clean stall. For a scary moment the teenager struggled with his belt; he could swear whenever he had to go the thing magically transformed into a Rubix Cube. He ended up leaking a little because his bladder just got way too excited and he saw a small dark patch appear on the front of his jeans. At that point he gave up with his belt and used his superstrength to snap the buckle entirely. He just about managed to pull his pants down and slam himself down on the toilet, sitting because he didn’t trust his aim as his bladder gave out.
Good god that was too close. He wasn’t sure he could bare facing Mr. Stark after all that- let alone all the people who had been patiently waiting in line.
But Peter knew he couldn’t keep the man waiting. He exited the restroom looking relieved but ashamed- but fortunately for him Tony didn’t draw attention to it. “Come on kid, we can still make it to Dr. Harrison’s talk if we move fast.”
The teen barely spoke two words to him for the remainder of the evening and declined any further offers of food or drink; most likely to avoid having to run to the bathroom again. The silence was becoming awkward and it was making Tony tense, he didn’t know how to deal with the subject; he didn’t want Peter to be embarrassed or uncomfortable if he brought it up but it was obvious that the kid was feeling that way anyway if he continued to ignore the subject. Over the months they’d been working together they’d built up a bond and Tony felt he was better at handling sensitive topics than he had been in the very beginning.
He waited until they were back in the car, where he put the divider up between them and Happy. Peter visibly tensed like he knew what was coming and he was waiting to be yelled at.
“Kid-“
“I’m sorry.” Peter blurted out, interrupting his mentor which he didn’t usually do.
Tony decided to play into it, purely out of curiosity. “For what?”
“Embarrassing you. Acting like a baby. I should’ve..I should’ve…” The teen trailed off, turning away to look out of the window.
But Tony refused to drop it, knowing it would only cause more issues down the line. “Should have what, Pete?”
“Been able to wait..”
“Until?” Tony prompted when the boy fell silent again.
“Huh?” Asked confusedly. Clearly he wasn’t expecting a follow up question.
“Well how long were you supposedly meant to hold it?”
“I-I don’t know…” Peter mumbled. He was obviously unsure what the right answer was supposed to be. “Until...I got home?”
“So you expected yourself to be able to wait five hours without a bathroom break?”
“I..well no-“
“Good because that’s ridiculous. Most adults would struggle to do that, let alone a kid who pees every hour.” Tony said bluntly. A lot more bluntly than he intended; Peter cringed when his bathroom habits were mentioned and Tony did too, albeit internally. He hadn’t meant to make the situation worse by embarrassing the kid for something he couldn’t control- he was trying to do the opposite. He quickly tried to backtrack before the kid started having a tantrum; “Which is normal-“
“No it isn’t.” Peter crossed his arms and sunk down in his chair staring angrily at the dash in front of him.
Ah fuck.
“Peter. You can’t control it, it’s a bodily function. Whether you believe you should be able to hold it longer or not doesn’t matter because you can’t change it. You can’t punish your body for doing its job so cut that shit out now, capiche?”
Peter shrugged and looked out of the window, the conversation clearly making him very uncomfortable.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I thought we were getting better at that.”
That got Peter to look at the man again, though he didn’t look too happy. “I-I tried to! You walked away when I was about to ask..”
Ouch, that made Tony feel bad. He hadn’t realise dthats what the kid was asking about- but he should’ve. Even if it wasn’t about needing something he still ought to have waited for Peter to ask his question. Tony had automatically assumed it was something tech related sinc ethe kid had been bursting with questions all day- but he was actually bursting with something else.
Despite his guilt Tony remained stoic and matter of fact. “Then you could’ve told Happy.”
“No. I couldn’t.” Peter huffed and Tony quirked an eyebrow prompting him to elaborate; even though once again the adult knew the answer. “The words wouldn’t come out.”
“We’ll have to think of some kind of code then huh?” Tony relented. Really they should’ve already had something like that in place. It hadn’t been necessary up until that point because Tony was usually pretty good at catching it before it got bad; but this time Peter had actually tried to tell him, and he’d been ignored. “Don’t sweat it, kid. Nothing bad happened.”
“But it almost did.” Peter suddenly sounded tearful which made Tony literally jump slightly. “I almost peed my pants ‘cause I was too scared to ask and I couldn’t hold it for an hour.”
“Peter it’s.. It’s okay. Don’t get yourself upset.” Shit Tony wasn’t sure how he should deal with this. He could handle Peter getting snappy or tired or cranky but sad he couldn’t do. What was he meant to do? His first reaction was to hug the kid but he knew that wasn’t very professional. But maybe given the extraneous circumstances it would be appropriate? He wasn’t sure but he had to do something. He eventually settle on clapping a hand on the kids shoulder and giving it a squeeze in ways of comfort and it seemed to work. That was the good thing about being a less than tactile person, physical signs of affection meant more. Even something as little as a hand on Peter’s shoulder worked to make him feel better, by a little at least- it was evident in the boy’s face.
Peter let out a small sigh as he sat up slightly. “I just don’t want you to think I’m a baby. I know I’m young but I try not to act like it.”
“I don’t think that. At all. I promise.” Tony said earnestly, a sudden tension filling the car when the pair realised they were talking about more than just a near accident. The whole conversation was far too symbolic of their entire relationship and Peter shifted to show his discomfort.
“Okay Mr. Stark..can we stop talking about it now please?”
“Sure kid.” Tony conceded. Though he had a lot more to say on the matter, he figured now wasn’t the best time to talk about it. Not when the kid was upset and tired and-
His thoughts were interrupted when Peter’s stomach growled angrily- and embarrassingly loud.
“Jesus Christ, hungry?” Tony laughed.
“A little.” Peter blushed sheepishly but couldn’t help laughing also at his stomachs timing.
“I’m not surprised, you haven’t eaten or drank anything since-“
“Yeah. I know.” Peter snapped giving the man a pointed look. They had literally just agreed to stop talking about what had happened.
“Wasn’t gonna mention it.”
“Were too.”
Tony found himself smirking slightly. Despite knowing he shouldn’t wind the boy up it was just too easy- and he was bored. And hungry. And having the boy enter in such an immature slinging match after literally just talking about being viewed as a child was amusing. “Were not.”
“Was not.” Peter smirked as he corrected him.
That little shit- “Oh wow, thanks for agreeing with me Pete-“
Peter scowled, realising he’d been caught out. “I did not!”
“Did too.”
“Ugh! You’re so annoying!”
“I know you are but what am I-“
“I’m stopping at McDonalds because you’re both driving me crazy.” Happy yelled from the front seat, having overheard the growing altercation even through the privacy screen.
“What’s the point of the divider if you earwig anyway, Hap?”
“What’s the point of putting the divider up when you’ve got a big mouth, Ton?”