liar liar ⦚ spider-man

ACT II, SCENE IX * photograph

Peter put on a brave face.

His expression didn't even falter when Tony knocked on his hotel door. Or when the billionaire sat down to have a heart to heart with the younger boy. It seemed that Tony could already sense the betrayal Peter felt.

"Kid, look." Tony began, smiling sadly at the unflinching teen. "I'm sorry. I know that coming out is a big deal, but I couldn't run the risk of you fighting in a binder. You could've gotten seriously hurt. That hit you took from Captain Fucking America? That would've broken your ribs had you been wearing it. That would've been on me." Peter tried to remain calm, but he was swiftly loosing his composure.

"I'm not forgiving him." Peter eventually choked out, his voice hoarse from crying. His eyes were slightly puffy and his lips were chapped, and honestly Tony felt the need to go into protective father mode and give him a hug.

"I don't expect you too. Not right now." Tony responded. "I don't pretend to understand what coming out as trans feels like, and I can't pretend I know how hard it must be, but he did the right thing. Maybe you don't see it that way, and sure that doesn't take away the fact it wasn't really his place, but-"

"Please stop." Peter said, cutting him off. "Mr Stark, please." Peters voice cracked as a fresh wave of tears formed in his eyes. "I don't wanna talk about him." Tony nodded, and a silence descended on the two.

"Did you know my dad almost kicked me out when I was seventeen because he thought I was gay?" Tony asked, though the question posed seemed more of the rhetorical variety. Peter raised an eyebrow as he wiped tears from his face. "Yeah, he caught me making out with some guy downtown." Peter's eyes widened. "Keep that to yourself." Tony said, his final sentence being a more lighthearted joke than serious threat. Peter smiled slightly, and the silence returned.

"My parents died when I was seven." Peter said, instantly cringing and regretting the statement. Tony's head shot up, and he looked the the young superhero with empathy. "Mugging gone wrong." He said, using air quotation marks. "I don't believe that. Sometimes I wish I even had a dad that could be homophobic. And other time I'm like, yeah I'd rather not." Tony chuckled at the younger kids words.

"Guess we have something in common." Tony said, his expression flickering to hurt for a moment. "Thought my parents died in a car crash. Turns out Steve's walking talking murder machine of a best friend killed them."

"Sounds fun." Peter said, his eyes widening after he said that as he realised Tony may not appreciate his twisted sense of humour. A third silence descended, before Tony broke it with a small chuckle. Peter joined in the laughter, the realisation they were laughing to hide their grief would come later. The air grew serious, as the topic returned to the suits adaptations.

"I know I can't take back time." Tony said, frowning. "And that I cant give you that coming out opportunity back, trust me I would love for it to have gone differently, but if there's anything I could do for you to even begin to make it up, don't hesitate to ask." Tony looked at Peter, who could see the sincerity in his eyes. Peter bit his lip, and made a face.

"Well," he said, dragging the word out -  for a bit too long in his opinion. "There is one possible thing." Peter said, and Tony looked at him, nudging him gently to continue. "It's maybe not the most quickest thing, and I'd need May's permission, and it's not cheap but..." Peter trailed off, internally questioning if he was about to ask too much.

"Anything, kiddo." Tony said, resting a hand on Peter's shoulder in reassurance. "No matter time, or money, or what you need. I said anything, I mean anything."

"I want them gone." Peter said. Tony tilted his head in confusion, and it took a while for him to realised what Peter meant. Peter on the other hand, had taken the look of confusion as a denial of his request. "It was just a spur of the moment thing, I wouldn't expect you to-"

"Now hang on a second," Tony said, straightening his posture. "I said anything, and I'll be damned if I don't follow through with my promise. You want top surgery? Let me see what I can do." Peter barely let Tony finish his sentence before diving forward and pulling the billionaire into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much." He said. The two relished in each others company, and the conversation swiftly moved on. When Tony glanced at the time and announced it was time for Peter to get some sleep before they got on the plane as to not fuck with his sleeping schedule, there was no arguments from Peter.

"Hey, Mr Stark?" Peter asked, as Tony opened the door after saying goodnight. He stopped and turned to face the boy, who grinned up at him eagerly. "Were you serious about the making out with the guy thing?" Tony just smiled and winked, a confirmation of Peter's question.

"Night, Spiderboy."

Sorry for the delay. Have some fluff.
- N A N C Y