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The curiousity, or realizing the lack thereof, starts fairly early on. His dad's given him a talk or two about puberty and what to expect, mostly reassurances to talk to him if something seems odd or people try pressuring him into things. Mom doesn't elaborate much more on the matter. It's classmates, really, that bring out the obvious.
"Did you hear Parvati and Alex are going out now?" Ned tells him during recess. They're sequestered in their own corner of the playground talking and playing with blades of grass. Everyone leaves them to themselves - no eleven years old has much interest in the Stark name and what it can be for them, but they also know to play nice (or at least not to play at all).
Peter doesn't mind the quiet.
"What does that mean?" He asks.
Ned explains as much as he knows about 'going out' which mostly consists of holding hands and sitting next to each other as often as possible. It doesn't seem very special until Ned says it leads into marriage and babies and that sounds a lot like what his mom and dad did.
"We should do that. We can be friends forever, just like mom and dad."
Ned then explains even further that that's not quite how it works, though seems pleased with the affection anyway.
The conversation veers off from there and over the next six hours of them 'going out' he ignores the random sudden closeness between them before the inevitable 'break up'. It seems so strange to him and he doesn't like being confused about things.
A year or so later, Ned tells him how he finds this girl in the class above them pretty and apparently that means he wants to 'go out' with her. She's much too mature for their twelve-year-old selves and Ned doesn't actually do anything, but he tries to see what his best friend sees in the thirteen-year-old redhead. Sure, she's... pretty, he supposes. Like his mom, and Morgan. But not as pretty.
He understands calling Morgan cute because she's one year old now and has a little bit of hair and tiny toes. It's the same feeling as looking at a puppy. And dad calls mom beautiful and Peter equates that to art and he thinks it's very true of his mother, and his Aunt Nat, but not really anyone else he knows. Maybe Uncle Thor - he has very nice hair.
Pretty isn't in his regular vocabulary. He's never had that weird feeling in his stomach that Ned says he feels when he looks at her, and some other girls too.
As the months go on, it's not even just Ned. He hears 'hot' and 'sexy' in the boy's locker room and it makes him uncomfortable. Friends start asking people out on behalf of their friends, notes are exchanged, sometimes there's handholding and then gossip if there's kissing.
It doesn't seem like an issue until he's fifteen and Ned's taking Betty out on a date and has spent the past hour on the phone with him going through his entire wardrobe. Once it's date-o'clock, Ned bids a quick farewell and the line cuts out. Peter sets down his phone and sits on his bed quietly for a long while, thinking.
Mom's in the living room on her laptop, doing work, with Morgan by her side playing with some toys. He can hear them both from his room, thanks to the superhearing, and he hones in on their noises to keep calm. He kicks his feet, hitting the side of his bed, and looks around the room that finally feels like his own.
The dresser is full of clothes he picked out on his own, the bedding has been changed form the bland blue guest room ones to a galaxy pattern, he has a picture frame on the wall of him and his family. His dresser has a few knick-knacks on it; his spelling bee trophy, his comb, a couple of books he hasn't sorted in his shelves yet. This is home, but that feeling of not being right in his skin still lingers on occasion.
Dad's in his lab and that's where he decides to go. He walks passed the living room and gives his mom and sister a brief greeting before disappearing from sight.
"Make sure you're up for dinner, alright?" Mom calls out.
"Yes, mom!"
Jarvis opens the elevator doors for him and takes him down to his dad's floor.
His dad is, of course, bent over his workbench and doesn't notice him enter. A while back that may have upset him, but now he knows this is normal of his father. His mom, before she was even his mom, taught him not to take it to heart.
"Hey, dad," he says mostly so he knows he's here and doesn't get a fright once he catches up to his surroundings.
Peter takes a seat on the spare chair a couple of feet away from his dad. He watches him work on some piece of tech or other and there's nothing more soothing. He gets lost in thought while he sits there silently. It takes about twenty minutes for his dad to turn and smile at him.
"Hey, kiddo."
"Hi," he says, "What are you working on?"
"The nanotech."
"Making progress? I couldn't think of anything."
"Me neither, kiddo, but we'll get there. How was school? Ned's got that big date tonight, right?"
"Yeah. He's really excited. And school was fine. Me and Ned are partnered for this history project on Athens."
"Sounds awful."
"It is."
They fall into a comfortable silence. Tony moves his work slightly to the left to make it easier for Peter to watch him, but his focus has averted from his son back to his task. Mostly. There's always a part of him drawn to both his babies, that weird fatherly instinct that bloomed out of nowhere some time seven years ago.
He gives it a few minutes, but it's clear Peter's happy to sit in silence.
Tony doesn't move his gaze, continuing on casually, and asks, "So what's on your mind, Pete?"
"Hm?"
"I know that face, kid. You're thinking about something. So. What is it?"
"Ned's date."
"Are you jealous?" Tony asks, casually enough that it seems like something normal. Unfortunately, it's not so simple.
"No... I don't..." Peter moves his hands around, searching for the right words. Tony stops and stares and says nothing until he can finally decide on what he wants to say. "I don't get it. The whole 'dating' thing, or - or liking someone, like that."
Tony completely stops what he's doing and turns sideways in his seat. He rests an arm on the counter and looks at his son, "I see."
"Pretty much everyone at school talks about dating and asking people out. When I ask Ned to explain it, I can't relate. It doesn't make sense to me."
"Okay," Tony prompts when he falls silent.
"When I think about someone... touching me, or, or kissing me, it makes me really... uncomfortable. Am I..." Peter clears his throat, "Am I broken? Because of what happened to me?"
His eyes fall to his hands clenched tightly in his lap.
Tony sighs softly. He reaches out to his son, lifting his chin so he can meet his gaze with a gentle smile.
"You aren't broken, Peter. In any way, shape, or form."
"But why can't I feel the way they feel?"
The question comes so softly, so sad.
"You're still young, Peter. These things come in their own time for everyone. And for some never at all and that's not a bad thing," Tony says. "That doesn't make you broken, not one bit."
He can tell his son isn't convinced.
"Do you know anything about the sexuality spectrum?"
Peter shakes his head.
"The way that people are romantically and sexually attracted to other people varies. Like a spectrum. It could be to men, woman, both, none, somewhere in between. There's no right way to be attracted to other people; because that's all it is. Attraction. Love too, of course, but love comes in different forms."
"Like you love me and mom differently," he says, remembering the way his father had explained it to him when he was younger.
"Exactly. It's different, but none of it is wrong. So long as everyone is of legal age and consenting."
"Right... But... why does everyone else feel something, and I don't?"
"Maybe your subconscious knows none of them are good enough for a Stark," Tony teases and Peter smiles weakly. "But honestly, I can't answer that for you, Peter. No one can answer that. Why am I not attracted to... um... your Aunt Nat?"
It's a gross example since she's Peter's aunt (even if not by blood), and the boy's nose crinkles.
"But seriously. She's not actually my sister. Theoretically, I could find her attractive. But why don't I? I don't know. Not my type, I guess. There doesn't need to be a reason for everything. Even if some scientists would disagree."
"Like you?"
"Like me," Tony agrees.
Peter's smile grows.
"Yes, you suffered a shit tonne of trauma as a kid, and maybe that's part of the reason it's difficult for you to be romantically attracted to people, but that's not a wrong thing. You're okay, kiddo. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you're still worried about it, you can also talk to Mizaya. She might have some more insight for you."
He only sees his therapist once a month now, rather than once a week as he used to. It had taken a long time to be comfortable enough to share those first nine years of his life trapped in an underground laboratory, but he eventually got there and Mizaya knows more about him than anyone.
"Maybe. But this was good too. Thanks, dad."
"No problem, Pete." Tony reaches out and tugs his son in for a one-armed hug. He presses a quick kiss to his temple. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
"Take your time with all this, okay? I'm in no rush for grandkids."
Peter laughs.
"I'll keep that in mind."