Oh, Whoops. I’m On the Ceiling, Aren’t I?

“Holy SHIT!” he screams at the top of his lungs, dropping his pizza and jumping at the sudden appearance.
Upon realizing it’s only Natasha, he tries to calm his racing heart and begins laughing almost hysterically, because he hasn’t been startled in almost two years; since he gained his powers (aside from the first time he heard FRIDAY speak, but we don’t talk about that). Of course it’d be Natasha to startle him.
Once his laughing quells, he sucks in a breath and tells Natasha, “Dang, you got me good there.”
Nobody else says anything. Tony’s jaw drops, and Natasha stares at him, frozen.

Notes:

Hope you enjoy!

Work Text:

It was a regular evening. Peter had just come from school and was currently pulling his notebook out from his bag and grabbing his current project: a holographic display. The goal was to enable the projection to eventually create better mobile cloaking technology. Essentially, it would allow the user to create realistic holograms to cover themselves with and change their appearance.

Peter smiles, sighing happily through his nose. Finally time to test the ideas that’d been on his mind all day. Sitting in math had been hell after he’d realized what was wrong with the display. His fingers had been itching to fix it all afternoon.

He tilts his head, straining slightly to hear the sound of the kettle in the kitchen being flicked off and coffee pouring. At the sound of Tony’s footsteps coming down the hall, he swivels around in his chair.

“Hey, kid,” Tony says from the doorway behind him, “Already getting started?”

Peter nods, “Couldn’t get it off my mind all day. Think I need to change the base of the projector. It’s messing with the light reflection.”

“Yep, that would be a problem. Play some Back in Black, Fri?” Peter smirks slightly at the predictability, letting the familiar sound of Tony’s favourite band wash over him as he picks up a pair of pliers.

Man, interning was the dream. Peter gets to spend time with Tony, learn all about his technology and gather new ideas for Spider-Man all at the same time! He’s even met the Avengers, and sometimes gets to hang around while they have movie nights and on occasion during a training session.

It was originally Pepper Potts’ idea, she’d told Tony it’d be good for PR if Tony “Interacted with the public a bit more” and made a contest for high schoolers to compete for a month internship. Peter had been ecstatic to hear about it and had entered fully expecting to be rejected upon the first test. A few weeks later he received an email informing him that he was the only one to score a perfect 100%. Thus began his internship under Tony Stark — billionaire and genius engineer.

In the beginning Tony really seemed to hate the idea of having him around while he was working, but eventually he warmed up to Peter and, dare he say, began enjoying the company. The kid seemed to keep up with him in the lab, and even offered new insights. A second set of eyes never hurt. At some point he’d started talking to Peter outside of what was required and even spending time with him outside of the lab.

One night Tony walked into their lab to find the area where Peter’s work usually stayed bare. He squinted in confusion and asked Friday where Peter was. At the news that the month was up, he blinked, picked up his phone and called May. The next day, Peter’s things were back and he had settled in for a more permanent spot in the lab.

Tony sat down at his computer and pulled up the file he was working on. Peter looked up from his table, “Whatcha working on today, Mr. Stark?”

Tony enlarged a photo of Queens’ vigilante, clad in red and blue.

“Just figuring out the best way to approach a slight issue I’ve been working on for a couple days.”

Peter’s eyes widen at the sight of his alter ego. A slight issue? Had he accidentally done something illegal? The file he had pulled up doesn’t seem to have much on him, just an estimate of hight, some audio files and a breakdown of his web fluid, but suddenly the lightweight web shooters on his wrists felt a whole lot heavier.

“…What kind of issue?” Peter voices his thought and tries his best to keep his voice steady despite his internal panicking.

“Well, to be honest I’m just trying to figure out how on earth the guy managed to recreate spider string and enhance it to a point where it holds the weight of an entire person! People have been trying to do that for decades and have gotten nowhere,” Peter feels the tension drain out of his body at Tony’s rambling. Under usual circumstances, a file on Tony’s screen would mean bad things for the person (usually criminal) involved. This time it just seemed to be a product of Tony’s endless curiosity.

“Seriously, I hate to admit it, but I can’t figure it out. Even though I’ve got the chemical breakdown and all the ingredients I can’t seem to get the ratio right,” he frowns.

Peter holds back a proud smile at the unintended praise. “I’m sure you’ll get it. But uh…” he leans over at the second tab Tony had open, “I think there needs to be more serine? Regular spider silk would have less but Spider-Man’s is more dense, right? The bond would need to be stronger so—“

“— It needs more hydrogen bonds! This is why you’re my chemistry guy, Pete.” He turns to type that into the notes, and Peter peeks over. Tony’s getting pretty close to how he makes his webs, and Peter wonders at how quickly he was able to figure most of it out so quickly.

Peter’s very, very tempted to give him the rest of the formula. But Peter shouldn’t know more than Peter should know, and Peter definitely shouldn’t know what Spider-Man knows, so he holds his tongue and continues removing the base of the projector. Not for the first time, he imagines what it would be like if Tony knew he was Spider-Man. Maybe they could improve his web shooters together and he could help Peter with the new earpieces he was designing. He wants them to filter out unnecessary noises and protect his ears better. Super senses were great, but sensory overload was decidedly not.

He thinks that he’ll definitely tell them at some point. Either that, or they’ll figure it out. Natasha, for one, seemed to notice some of the irregularities Peter lets slip accidentally. She’s seen him dodge thrown food (don’t ask) just a bit too quickly not to be suspicious, she’s definitely onto him.

A couple minutes later he peers over at Tony’s table again because sue him, he’s curious. There doesn’t seem to be much progress, and Tony’s looking at the screen as though it had murdered his best friend or something.

“Maybe it’s time for a break?” He asks, pulling Tony’s gaze away from the screen.

After a moment he pushes the chair back and shakes his head as though to clear his mind. “Yeah… yeah, let’s do that.”

The two of them make their way to the kitchen for dinner — pizza. Because, as Peter had been surprised to learn, even billionaires liked a nice, greasy slice of Domino’s pizza.

Peter watches the amount he eats fairly carefully, being sure to eat only a touch more than a teenager with non-enhanced metabolism would. He tends to go to Delmar’s to get a sandwich sometimes after the internship time when he wants more. Just as Domino’s is clearly the superior pizza place, Delmar’s has the superior sandwiches.

He guesses he must have gotten pretty submersed in between the good food and the conversation he has going with Tony. Also Natasha’s stealth skills are unparalleled, because he doesn’t even hear so much as a tap before the Black Widow is behind him.

“Hand me a slice?”

“Holy SHIT!” he screams at the top of his lungs, dropping his pizza and jumping at the sudden appearance.

Upon realizing it’s only Natasha, he tries to calm his racing heart and begins laughing almost hysterically, because he hasn’t been startled in almost two years; since he gained his powers (aside from the first time he heard Friday speak, but we don’t talk about that). Of course it’d be Natasha to startle him.

Once his laughing quells, he sucks in a breath and tells Natasha, “Dang, you got me good there.”