Chapter Text
Nobody Peter talked to was looking forward to today, but especially Mr. Stark.
At the end of every year, Stark Industries hosted a huge gathering going over the accomplishments and failures of the past year and advertising new projects in the works. It was mainly attended by reporters, random associates Peter had only heard the names of, and acquaintances from lifetimes ago.
That last reason was specifically why Mr. Stark despised this yearly tradition. Every time, no matter what he did or how many strings he pulled, there were at least a dozen people from his party days. Mr. Stark hated being reminded of that phase, the constant drinking, drugs, and women. He loathed who he was, and each year he was reminded of that.
On the other hand, that also means Peter, Pepper, and Rhodey got to remind him how far he’s come. He went from drunken one night stands to saving lives on a daily basis. It was hard to believe that the Tony Stark from 10 years ago and the Tony Stark now were the same person. Well, maybe in body, but definitely not in mind.
The doors officially opened in an hour. The designated floor was none other than the party deck, one of the largest floors in the tower. And that was saying a lot, considering the smallest room in the entire tower was significantly larger than Peter’s apartment in Queens.
Peter stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom–Mr. Stark had taken the liberty of assigning Peter his own room when he started sleeping over almost every weekend, as May usually worked and neither she nor Mr. Stark liked the idea of Peter being alone all weekend.
Mr. Stark had bought him a custom, tailored burgundy suit equipped with a black button up and matching burgundy tie. Peter had been working incredibly hard recently, the added stress making his spidey-sense go haywire, so he was looking forward to the gathering. That being said, to say he was nervous would be an understatement. It was the first publicity gathering Mr. Stark had invited him to. That wasn't because he didn’t want him there, Peter knew that, but because he didn’t like Peter getting wrapped up in all the business aspects of Stark Industries.
But Mr. Stark had started giving Peter more responsibility lately, he’d even parenthetically mentioned the idea of him being an heir.
Just then, Peter caught the soft approaching of footsteps and a heartbeat getting closer. A few moments later, someone knocked on the door.
“You can come in, Mr. Stark.” Peter said loud enough to be heard through the door.
“I still have no idea how you always know when it’s me.” Mr. Stark chuckled, opening the door. He was wearing an identical burgundy tie under a classic black suit and white dress shirt.
“It’s not just you,” Peter explained, not looking away from the mirror, “Everyone’s footsteps sound different.” Mr. Stark stopped a few feet behind him.
“Oh shit, Pete, you look great.” Mr. Stark smiled, approaching him.
“No need to sound so surprised.” Peter rolled his eyes, but laughed. Mr. Stark stood in front of him, admiring the suit before frowning.
“What on earth have you done to your tie?” He asked, a hint of disgust in his voice. Peter looked down at where his tie was sloppily strewn across his chest.
“I thought it looked okay.” He murmured.
“You thought wrong.” Mr. Stark snickered, undoing the frankly poorly made knot. “Luckily for you, I’ve been tying ties since I was younger than you. Comes with the Stark name I guess.” He spoke under his breath, quickly tying it into a signature windsor knot. “There,” Mr. Stark smiled, backing away to admire his work. “Perfect.”
Peter turned back to face the mirror, messing with his hair to make a little swoop. He had to admit, the suit fit him very well. It was a mature color, but still young enough for him. Mr. Stark was right, it was perfect.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Peter said, looking over at Mr. Stark seriously. “You’ve done so much for me.” Mr. Stark frowned.
“Of course I have, kid, I love you.” It wasn’t the first time Mr. Stark had told him that, but each time made his heart warm a little more. “You really want to know how to thank me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, definitely.” Peter answered, nodding enthusiastically.
“Convince Pepper I don’t need to wear this horrid vest.” Mr. Stark scowled, motioning to the black vest thrown over his shoulder. Peter grimaced.
“Guess I’ll never pay you back.” Peter winced at the thought of telling Pepper Potts to do anything. Mr. Stark just laughed.
“Nah, you being here is enough pay back, kid. There’s no way in hell I’d be able to get through tonight if you weren’t joining me.” Peter felt a wide grin plastered across his face.
“Feeling sentimental tonight?” Peter teased as Mr. Stark ruffled his hair. “Hey!” He exclaimed, “I spent a long time on that!” Mr. Stark simply rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” He tutted, “You kids and your fashion.”
“What, no ‘back in my day’?” Peter asked, a mischievous smirk growing. Tony looked down with a scandalized expression.
“Alright, someone’s feeling cheeky tonight. I’ll get you back for that, kid.” Peter laughed loudly.
He was glad he and Mr. Stark were able to joke around like this. When they first became acquainted, Peter was too intimidated to even crack a joke, let alone make Mr. Stark the brunt of it. They’d gotten close enough to where Peter could openly tease him. And he loved that.
While Mr. Stark still occasionally insisted Peter call him Tony, it was kind of unsaid knowledge that ‘Mr. Stark’ had simply turned into a term of affection. Calling him Tony now would feel like breaking that little bond between them.
“Ready to meet with Pepper and Rhodey?” Mr. Stark asked, patting him on the back.
“Yep!” Peter smiled, following Mr. Stark out the door.
Mr. Stark and Peter entered the kitchen to see Rhodes sitting on one of the bar stools on his phone.
“Hey Tony,” Rhodes grinned, settling his phone down. “Took you guys long enough.” He cocked his head to look at Peter.
“Looking dapper.” He nodded at him. Peter gave him a giddy smile.
“And you.” He returned the compliment.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough. Where’s Pepper?” Tony asked, just as the woman herself walked in.
“I’m here.” She said, slipping in a dangly earring. She was wearing a silver sequin floor length gown. The sparkling dress was sleeveless with a high neck and a matching sash wrapped around her waist. Peter thought she looked very beautiful, and if Tony’s elevated heart rate said anything, it was that he agreed.
“You look breathtaking, honey.” Tony said in awe, kissing her forehead.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “As do you, but you’re still wearing the vest.” Tony let out a little frustrated groan, giving Peter ‘help me’ eyes.
“Your dress is very pretty, Ms. Potts.” Peter chirped. Pepper gave him a warm smile.
“Thank you Peter. You look very handsome.” Peter’s smile widened slightly. “Hello James.” She greeted Rhodes.
“Hey, Pepper.” He responded, standing up. “Is everyone ready to go down?” Tony sighed loudly.
“Just about. Happy’ll meet us down when the doors open. Alright kid,” He said, shifting his gaze to Peter. “Brace yourself. We’re going to war.”
Later, Peter thought back to Mr. Stark’s joke and wished he’d taken it seriously. He wasn’t aware how much he really did have to brace himself.