Chapter Text
Tony hadn’t planned to have a makeshift party of the biggest innovators in commercial nanotechnology, he really didn’t. It just so happened that he didn’t particularly feel like being alone all Saturday while Pepper was out of town. She’d told him to relax, not plan anything, and just hang around -- so he hadn’t made any firm plans. Yeah, he’d casually mentioned to a few acquaintances and friends that they could drop by and tinker if they felt up to it, but that didn’t count. So when twenty six engineers and scientists showed up throughout the day, the man realized that he needed to start writing down when he invited people over.
In the middle of trying to find more refreshments for the slew of people chatting and networking in his living room, Tony heard yet another knock at the door. Jesus, this was getting out of hand. He might have to call Happy in for reinforcement if the impromptu gathering got any bigger. He told FRIDAY to let the guest in, explain what had happened, and tell them to make themselves at home. Not two minutes passed before FRIDAY spoke to him again.
“Peter Parker would like me to ask if he should leave.”
Tony swore. He totally forgot he’d told the kid to come over to get a few things fixed in his suit. How had Peter even gotten up here without Happy chauffeuring him? The billionaire was hit with a wave of guilt as he imagined the teenager standing on the crowded subway or swinging his way miles and miles to the tower. Tony instructed his AI to have Peter wait for him as he made his way over. Fuck, this was the biggest slip he’d made since taking the suit away. When he caught sight of a clearly uncomfortable Peter, he flashed a sheepish smirk.
“Hey kid, how’s it going?”
“Hi Mr. Stark. Did I get the wrong day or time? Because I can go back home if I misunderstood. I’m sorry if I crashed your party, I really didn’t--”
“No, I’m sure you got it right,” Tony interrupted. “I’m the one who got things confused. If you wanna go I’ll have someone drive you back, but you’re welcome to stay.”
Peter shifted his weight. “Who are these people?”
He chuckled. “About 80% of my contacts from the mainstream market. Stark brand phones, tablets, watches, the whole nine yards. Do you wanna rub elbows with the men who’ll work for you one day?”
The teen’s eyebrows lifted noticeably and his mouth dropped a little before his gaze went to the floor. “Thank you, but I wouldn’t even know how to say hi, I’m just a kid and everyone’s busy…”
“Nonsense! Just being in the tower at your age will impress them, and they aren’t so great anyway. I’ve seen most of these people puke on themselves.” When Peter still looked at him with guarded eyes, Tony racked his brain for how to make this work. He wanted the kid to have fun and he felt like shit for multi-booking on him. He had almost given up on making the evening bearable for his intern when the answer came to him out of the corner of his eyes.
“Skippy! Come on over here!” Tony motioned the aggressively blonde man over to where he was standing in the entryway. “Pete, meet Skippy, he’s the kid of one of my friends. He just moved back to the city for grad school.”
The new addition to the conversation grinned and rolled his eyes. “It’s not Skippy anymore, it’s Steve. And nice to meet you.” He reached out a hand and shook Peter’s.
“Oh no, we already have too many Steve s in our lives. You’ll by Skippy for life.”
“If you call me Skippy I will only refer to you as Anthony from now on.”
Tony let out a bark of a laugh. “Can we compromise to Skip?”
“Deal,” the man said.
Peter coughed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. uh, … Skip?”
Tony made a show of wincing. “Nope, you can’t call Little Skippy Mr. anything, it makes me feel ancient. You and him are the only ones here young enough to not have back problems. In fact, if he wouldn’t mind, he could talk to you a bit about what college is like in the 21st century,” he quirked his eyebrows as a question.
Skip grinned and slung an arm around the kid's shoulders. “Of course I don’t mind. C’mon Peter, there’s a whole table of popcorn over there I haven’t gotten to ransack yet. Do you know where you wanna go or what you wanna study?”
Tony smiled to himself as the two headed towards the snacks together. Before he could enjoy the moment too much he was pulled away by an old friend, and that conversation flowed into another which flowed into more chaos until an hour and a half had passed without Tony really noticing. He eventually broke away from the crowd to sneak into the kitchen. He got himself water, leaned against the counter, and took a second to breathe. He closed his eyes and wondered to himself how long this gathering was going to last and if he’d be able to get everything cleaned up by the time Pepper got back.
When his eyes opened again, Tony nearly jumped. Standing three feet in front of him was the spiderling, wringing his hands together and jiggling his leg.
“Think you could give a guy some warning?”
“Sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter said towards the floor. The boy’s cheeks were flushed and he had a noticeable sheen of sweat along his hairline.
“What’s up? You look like crap.”
He darted a look towards Tony. “It’s probably nothing, I think I’m just being paranoid.”
Tony had to control the look on his face. “Okay, you got my attention. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t figure out what it is, but my spider-sense,” the man snorted at the term (as he did every time it came up), but Peter kept going, “keeps bugging me. Something’s wrong.”
“FRI, do an additional security scan of the property.”
After just a few moments the AI responded. “The assessment didn’t show any threats, boss.”
Tony lifted an eyebrow. “Are your senses still bothering you?”
“Less than they were fifteen minutes ago I guess, but yeah,” he ran a hand through his hair. “Something’s off.”
Tony thought for a moment before smiling. “Oh kid, I think you’re just nervous about being at a party.”
Peter took a breath and nodded. “Maybe? I guess that makes sense, I told you I was probably just being dumb. But Mr. Stark, I really think something’s not right.”
“That’s social anxiety for you,” the man waved a hand in dismissal. “But better safe than sorry, I’m glad you told me. Now go back out there, have some fun, eat some food. Try to calm down, everything’s fine.”
The teen looked like he was going to say something else, but after a second he nodded and shuffled off. Tony relaxed back into the kitchen counter. This definitely wasn’t how he’d intended to spend the day, but he wasn’t hating it. He just hoped Peter didn’t feel too pawned off. But the kid was social and could talk an ear off like no one else, he’d be fine.
Tony spent the rest of the party floating around from visitor to visitor, not absorbing too much of any one person. Pepper had always been the host; her people skills and organization blew his out of the water. Being sociable wasn’t exactly his forte, but he was trying hard to change that. Tony was doing his best to notice if food and drinks were always available, to make sure everyone had someone to interact with, to say goodbye to the people heading out. As he did his visual sweeps of rooms throughout the night, he noticed Peter talking in that wide-eyed, wildly gesticulating way of his and Skip nodding along to whatever was happening. Tony smiled -- at least he’d done one thing right tonight.