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Tony had been completely minding his own business when it happened. He was humming along to the low volume of KISS playing in his shop, being completely innocent and unprovoking. The music wasn’t loud in the least, thanks to Peter’s sensitive ears, and they were both doing their own little thing. He didn’t even know what in the world had come over the kid to provoke him to do what he did.
So, yeah, he was doing his own peaceful little thing, engrossed into his own little world - humming and tapping his foot to the beat while tinkering on a new robot arm for Dum-E - when he felt a large mass collide into his back. He pitched forward with a misstepped stumble and yelped loudly in surprise as he desperately tried to balance himself with the sudden weight clinging to his back.
In a moment of pure panic, fueled by his instinctual fight-or-fight instincts, he whirled himself around harshly, in an attempt to throw the intruder off his back. It didn’t work, but a round of unmistakable giggles erupting from the added mass of weight helped calm his overactive heart rate.
“Geez kid,” he groaned, voice laced with annoyance, hands busy rubbing down his face as he urged himself not to get frustrated.
Peter’s only response was another bout of giggles as he adjusted himself. His arms were draped neatly over Tony’s shoulder, clasping together firmly above the man’s collarbone, and his legs were wrapped tightly around the man’s waist.
“Kid, you’re gonna break my back. I’m too old for this,” Tony grumbled, turning back down to his project, assuming the kid would cut with the shenanigans and get off him. He usually listened…
“Aw, c’mon Mr. Stark. You’re no fun. You know you can hold my weight.” Peter laughed tightening his arms around Tony’s neck for emphasis as he adjusted himself into a position that wasn’t threatening the man’s sense of balance, which would result in them both keeling over. The genius felt a chin land harshly atop his head and he rolled his eyes at the childish action.
“I’m an old man Pete. I can’t carry the weight of an entire teenager, it’s not good for my bones.”
“Oh please,” Peter scoffed, “you and I both know I’m only like 70 pounds because of my hollowness. You bench much more than that.”
Tony rolled his eyes again and grabbed for a screwdriver lying across the table, finding it much easier to maneuver around than he would have thought with a 70lb weight hanging off his back.
“Plus,” Peter continued excitedly, “I’m conducting an experiment, and I know you can never say no in the name of science.”
“Yet, here you are still attached to my back instead of off doing that very thing.”
“This is my experiment Mr. Stark!” Peter laughed outright, right into his ear.
“So, you’re testing how quickly my patience runs out are ya?” Tony teased back, smiling as Peter presses his face into his hair to muffle the giggles.
“Nope! Shuri dared me that I couldn’t stick to something for a whole 24 hours, and I thought it might be a good hypothesis to test, y’know?”
“Hmm,” Tony hummed offhandedly, not quite piecing it together.
“So, instead of just sticking to a random wall for a whole 24 hours, I thought I might stick to something that moves so that I won’t get too bored staring at the same thing for so long. Plus you don’t like it when I climb on your ceilings so…”
“So you decided it was a good idea to latch onto my back?” Tony finished, arching his brow suspiciously. He didn’t like not being able to see the kid’s face.
“Yeah, Shuri thought it was a funny idea. She double-dog dared me to actually stick to you, and y’know, I can’t turn down a double-dog dare… Plus, she said she’d let me hang out in her lab if I actually did it and I just can’t pass up that kind of opportunity Mr. Stark.”
“Did she now?” Tony sighed, already resigning to his fate. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
“Yep,” Peter smiled, resting his chin atop Tony’s head again while he watched him work, “plus I get a piggy-back ride out of it.”
“How old are you?” Tony questioned patronizingly.
“Fifteen!” Peter answered proudly, flicking the underside of Tony’s chin just to annoy him.
“I figured as much,” Tony muttered under his breath, walking a few steps to his left to pull up a holographic screen. “Why didn’t you go stick to Cap? He’s better built for a 24-hour long piggyback ride.” It was a low blow, and Tony could practically hear the disgusted grimace from the kid.
“Na,” the boy answered, “Shuri said it specifically had to be you. She said she wanted to patronize you through me.”
“Figures.”
“Don’t be like that Mr. Stark,” Peter smiled, “this’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, sure, I don’t think so.”
***
It didn’t take much longer than an hour for Tony’s back to start feeling the effects. So, in an effort to keep the Spiderkid pleased, and to keep his back from completely giving out, he set up a weird, two seated stool type thing. He pulled the two stools together, and according to Peter it wouldn’t be cheating as long as he was still using his sticky powers to stay latched to his back, so they did that for another couple hours.
To be honest, Tony was actually surprised at the kid’s resilience. He would have predicted for Peter to have become bored by the two hour mark, but nope… the kid kept firm in his ambition. His legs remained wrapped around Tony’s waist as he sat in the stool behind him, and his arms dropped from his shoulders to circle around his chest as he slumped forward tiredly in the chair. By hour two, Peter’s forehead was nuzzled into the center of his spine as he snoozed, and Tony simply continued on tinkering, finding slight comfort in the small vibrations of Peter’s contented humms reverberating through his back.
By hour three, Peter’s soft snores and rhythmic humming came to an abrupt stop, which was followed by an insistent grumbling from his stomach.
“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter interrupted softly, using one of the arms wrapped around his chest to tap the tip of his finger on the man’s collarbone to get his attention.
“What’s up Pete? Finally gonna give up with this nonsense?”
“No,” Peter answered through a big yawn, “if you’re back’s feelin’ better, ‘m just a little bit hungry… whenever you got time.”
Tony shook his head humorously at the kid’s antics.
“Alright, just let me finish up with this real quick and we can head up for some dinner.”
“Kay,” Peter hummed softly, pressing his cheek back against Tony’s spine. “How long was I ‘sleep?”
“About two hours perhaps,” Tony answered noncommittally, standing from the seat slightly to reach across the table to grab the desired tool. Peter just went right along with him, without an inch of effort on either of their parts.
“Cool,” Peter mumbled, trying to repress the grin, “only 21 more hours to go.”
“You sound rather happy about that squirt,” Tony accused him.
“You are a really comfy pillow.”
***
They were approaching hour four rather quickly when Tony finally hobbled off the stool, with a snoozing Peter firmly attached to his back, and headed towards the elevator.
“The things I do for this kid,” he muttered under his breath, glancing down at the four limbs wrapped around his upper body and rolling his eyes. It was like wearing a ridiculously heavy backpack.
He strolled into the main Living Space, purposefully ignoring the strange looks he received from Rhodey and Sam sitting on the couches as he passed. Sam’s face was priceless, by the way. Utter shock and confusion was always a great combination.
“Uh, Tones,” Rhodey called out pointedly, not quite as surprised as Sam, but just about as confused.
“What’s up Honeybear?” Tony asked offhandedly, throwing open the fridge while Rhodey approached him and Peter from behind.
“Um, well,” Rhodey chuckled, “it looks like you gotta little passenger hitching a ride.”
“Oh yes,” Tony replied sarcastically, “how could I forget the 70 pound weight on my back?”
Rhodey raised an eyebrow at him and soon Sam was joining them in the kitchen, mouth agape as he stared at Peter snoozing against his back.
“Fine,” he muttered, turning to face them, “He wanted to do an experiment to see how long he could stick to something and Shuri dared him to stick to me for 24 hours. He’s bad at turning down dares, and I’m bad at putting my foot down when it comes to science.”
That reasoning seemed to appease Rhodey, and the man shrugged offhandedly before returning back to kitchen, but Sam just stared at him as if he were crazy… and he probably was honestly.
“Hey,” Tony addressed, turning slightly to expose his and the kid’s side to the man, “poke him a bit, would ya? I need to know what he wants for dinner.”
***
By hour six, Tony had found it was easier to carry the kid’s weight as long as he was moving. Peter also found easy ways to redistribute his weight to make the whole ordeal that much more comfortable for both parties. So, Tony just made sure to keep himself moving around his workshop when he wasn’t sitting on the stool.
Then, Peter had somehow convinced him to take a visit down to the gym. ‘Change of scenery’ and all that. So, at hour seven, Tony found himself doing pushups and throwing measly punches at a bag in the corner of the room. It was strange similar to wearing the suit without any the extra strength. Which… wow, made it a major workout for sure. Turned out, adding seventy pounds to your body weight while trying to do pushups decreased your reps by almost half. It was nice having his own personal cheerleader though.
That sucked up about another hour of their time, and Tony was feeling exhausted yet invigorated all the same. It left him sweaty and breathless, and Peter fanboying over his abilities without the suit.
But that led to another problem at hour 8 and a half.
“Peter I have to take a shower. I’m all sweaty and stinky, do you really want to stick to a stinky old man for the next 16 hours? Didn’t think so. Off you get.”
“Aw, c’mon, Mr. Stark. That’s breaking the rules. I have to stick to something for a complete 24 hours.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you rushed me down to the gym.”
“I was bored!” Peter defended with a squeaky lilt to his voice, “I wanted a change of scenery.”
“Well, you got it. Now stick to something else for the 10 minutes it takes me to shower. It’s not technically cheating your experiment, and I won’t tell Shuri if you don’t.”
“Fine,” Peter grumbled.
Tony rolled his eyes and backed himself up to the far wall in his bedroom. Peter’s limbs slowly detached from him and he pulled away, rolling his shoulders and turned to look at the pouting child. It was hilarious.
“Ooh, feels good,” Tony joked, giving an exaggerated stretch to his free arms and shoulders, “no spiderkid to carry around.”
Peter glared at him, and Tony grabbed clean clothes before retreating into the bathroom to take his shower.
***
Hour eleven rolled around and it was nearly two in the morning. Peter was slouching against him again, and Tony was back at it in his workshop. He was used to long binges with days without sleep, so it wasn’t a very big change of pace for him. The only problem that arose was his need to sit on the dual stool every hour or two to rest his back. He swears there will be muscles he never even knew existed sprouting soon. Pepper was sure going to have some fun with that.
Peter fell asleep almost right at the halfway mark and Tony was only slightly impressed by the spidery powers still going strong. By then he was already used to the constant contact, and he was honestly becoming quite curious as to how long the kid was able to stick to something, and he wasn’t about to give up when they were already halfway through. Peter just slouched against him again, arms wrapped over his shoulders, and chin digging into the space joining his neck and shoulder while Tony was standing in front of the holographic screens. When he sat in the stools, the kid would almost melt down his back. His arms fell from his shoulders and wrapped beneath his arms, across his chest, and his cheek found its spot against his spine.
He slept for a good straight 3 to 4 hours before Tony accidentally woke him with a loud bang. He’d dropped a heavy piece of machinery, startling both him and the kid from his sleep. He scrambled in surprise just enough to have Tony himself pitching forward at the sudden misdistribution of their combined weight. He braced himself against one of his lab tables while Peter calmed down. Then the kid apologized profusely before Tony was sitting back in the stool, coaxing him back to sleep, and soon the soft purr-like humms were back to vibrating against his back.
At hour sixteen, Peter was still asleep, and Tony was ready for breakfast. It was seven in the morning, which meant Steve was up and already cooking. So Tony thought it would be the perfect time to sneak up and steal two platefuls before all the food disappeared.
He opened his mouth wide to release a big yawn as he stepped out of the elevator onto the main floor. Then glanced around at the random placement of his teammates lounging comfortably in the large room.
“Good morning Stark!” Thor boomed loudly, startling Tony out of his wits and causing Peter to stir momentarily against his back.
“Shhh,” Tony urged angrily, pressing an index finger to his lips. “The kid’s sleeping. Hush.”
The admittance drew the attention of everyone else in the room, and they all turned to stare.
He had to admit… it must have been an odd sight. They’d only met Peter a handful of times, and none of them knew about his spider-powers yet. What an odd sight indeed.
“Is that-is that um... Peter?” Steve questioned warily, raising an eyebrow suspiciously as Tony rounded the counter and approached the mountain of food the man had cooked up.
“Yep, he’s testing out an experiment right now. Leave him alone, he’s asleep, and he’s quiet. It’s peaceful.”
“You’re just… um… carrying him around on your back?” Clint questioned from his perch on the counter.
“Yeah. Got a problem with it?” Tony snarked without looking away from the coffee pot he was tampering with.
“Nope,” Clint hurriedly defended, “no problem.”
“Great. Be a pal and fix him a big ol’ plate, huh Cap?” Tony instructed, piling on the eggs and bacon onto his own plate before shovelling it into his mouth.
“Uh-uh yeah sure.”
By the time Steve was done fixing the plate, Tony had already cleared his. He traded with the supersoldier, shoving his newly dirtied plate into his confused hands, and grabbing both the plate and mug of coffee before turning to exit the room.
“Hey, Tones,” Rhodey called nonchalantly from the Dining table, as if the sight of a child stuck to the genius’ back was a completely normal appearance. And considering the odd things Rhodey’s caught them doing in the past, this really wasn’t very outlandish. “When are you free from the kid’s experiment. DC wants me and you for a quick debrief this evening.”
“I’m off at 3:07 I think.”
“Great, meeting at 5 then. Don’t forget.”
Tony shot him a mock salute before scampering over to the elevator with Peter still peacefully asleep on his back.
***
Peter finally awoke at hour eighteen. It was a slow process.
Tony first noticed the wiggling and slight stretching about 10 minutes before he actually awoke. Then, he heard the distinct sound of smacking lips and annoyed grunts as he attempted to stretch his limbs, which led to him knocking the screwdriver out of Tony’s hand a couple times. Soon, the kid was sighing and nuzzling his face into his shoulder blade to hide from the morning light.
“Welcome back to the land of the living kid,” Tony laughed, taking a seat on his stool.
“Hng,” Peter grumbled irritatedly.
Not a morning person apparently.
***
Peter wasn’t fully awake and ready to start the day until hour nineteen. He devoured the food Tony left out for him using one hand and he immediately jumped back into his excitable, talkative self once food was in his belly.
“What time is it now Mr. Stark?”
“We’re still going strong at 19 hours kiddie if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“So, only five more hours then?”
Tony could have sworn he sounded sad, but his ears were probably just playing stupid tricks on him again.
“Yep, five more hours until we’re both free.”
Peter just rested his chin on top of Tony’s head, curled against his back, watching as the man messed around with the holographic images in front of them, coffee in one hand, and his tablet in the other. Peter put in his input where it was needed, and the small project kept them both occupied for another hour or so.
***
By hour 21, Peter was bored again, and Tony wasn’t having it.
“C’mon Mr. Stark,” he whined, “pleeaaasse?”
“No,” Tony snapped with an air of finality, “I’m already letting you cling to me for a straight 24 hours. I am not going to run around like an idiot and give you a freaking ‘legit piggyback ride’. You’re fifteen not five, now shush and let me do my work.”
“Whatever Dad,” Peter sassed, rolling his eyes. He plopped his chin on the man’s shoulder and pouted for a good ten minutes while Tony worked.
“Oh my god. Fine!”
“Yes!”
***
Everyone probably thought he was crazy, for sure. It was time for lunch already, and Peter was fully awake, excited and completely jittery. He was practically vibrating, and Tony knew because he could feel it. The vibrations were reverberating against his chest and he could almost feel himself get a bit nauseous at the constant motion.
He’d admit they were eating lunch fairly late… but Peter had had a late breakfast, so at 2:00, they were both ready for a proper meal.
And it just so happened that everyone decided to be lazy that day and hang around reading, drawing or… apparently playing go fish?
Peter didn’t seem to notice the mass of nosey ears that tuned into their conversation when they entered. He rambled on about his recent science adventures in Chem class and the ridiculous questions that were brought up in his Calc class, and Tony nodded along.
“Still going at it I see?” Natasha smirked, looking up from her book to smile warmly at the pair.
“Woah! Hey!” Peter’s eyes bugged out when he saw the group on the couch. “What’s up guys?”
Tony rolled his eyes and started shuffling into the kitchen, wincing at the uncomfortable pinch that had developed in his lower back. He only had another hour to go though, so he could deal with it.
“Hi Peter,” Natasha responded, her mischievous grin growing along her face. Tony glared at her, but Peter seemed indifferent to it, throwing himself right back into his in depth explanation about Ned’s new Lego Star Wars set. Completely oblivious to the fact that it might be considered a little weird for a fifteen year old intern to be getting what looked to be a ‘piggy-back’ ride from his mentor.
Tony swore the team didn’t stop staring.
***
“3:07” Tony announced quickly, “off you get kid.” He rolled his shoulder a bit for emphasis.
Peter grumbled as he slowly climbed off of the man’s back, and Tony moaned happily at the release of tension.
“Don’t sound so happy about it, geez.” Peter sounded offended as he stretched his own limbs.
“Oh please,” Tony scoffed, “I carried your weight, literally, for an entire 24 hours. Any person would be happy to weigh 70 pounds less.” He rolled his neck around in a slow circle, then bent his back backwards to stretch out the muscles. “You coulda started me out at just an hour or two at least before dumping the entire 24 hour pack on me. Goodness kid, I’m gonna feel this all week.”
“Sorry.” Peter actually sounded a bit sheepish.
Tony turned around to look at the apologetic kid wringing his hands together while he stared down at his socked feet.
“I-I didn’t mean to hurt you or make you uncomfortable.”
“Don’t sweat it kid,” Tony smiled reassuringly, “I’d go through a lot more for the sake of a dare… or science.”
“Dare?” Peter asked confusedly, cocking his head to the side.
Tony narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. “Yes… Shuri’s dare… the whole reason you had to stick to me instead of something normal or reasonable... like a wall.”
“Oh,” Peter muttered, eyes widening, “oh yes! Of course! I don’t know how I forgot.”
“Sure,” Tony muttered suspiciously. “Now, why don’t you go skedaddle and go share your findings with your pal. I’ll vouch for you if you need it.”
“Oh! Yeah, okay, sure!” Peter stumbled, grinning slightly as he scampered out of the room with a quick wave and shout of ‘thanks’.
***
Tony didn’t find out the whole truth until weeks later after the effects of the incident had worn off his back and shoulders.
He had called Shuri for some input on his new suit design, and somehow the subject of Peter had come up.
“So, did you feel good sticking a 70 pound kid to my back for a whole day?” Tony joked offhandedly for sake of conversation while he inputted variables into his suits coding.
“Excuse me? What nonsense are you talking about this time Stark?” She questioned incredulously.
Tony blinked and turned to stare at the screen.
“The experiment… the dare,” he responded slowly, studying her face for any flicker of recognition. “The experiment to find out how long Peter can stick to something… a week ago.”
Shuri’s face lit up at that. “Oh that! The one where he dared himself like an idiot? I swear he is such a dork,” Shuri laughed a little before looking back at the screen. “Where did he stick? A wall? The ceiling? I’m curious; he wouldn’t tell me the details.”
Tony slowly processed. Then his face hardened and his gaze snapped over to the overturned backpack slung across the kid’s designated desk.
“That little brat… he coulda just asked.”