Peter Parker being utterly terrified of small spaces after what happened in Homecoming, but he never says it to any of the Avengers because he can’t have weaknesses, he can’t be afraid of anything, none of them are- they’re only going to be reminded of how childish he is if he admits something like that.
Except one night they’re all eating take-out in the compound, and for the life of him Peter can’t remember how they managed to get onto the topic, but they start talking about fears. At first, Peter just shakes his head, denies it, he’s Spiderman, he’s not afraid of anything– but then he hears Steve speak, really quietly, and admit that he can’t stand being in water. Not after the plane crash.
And then Thor speaks up. He tells them all that he’s absolutely terrified of being alone. He can’t stand it, and sometimes it takes as little as a day of solitude before he has to find someone, anyone to talk to, or he feels like he can’t breathe.
Then Natasha tells everyone she’s afraid of dogs, her face blank, her fists slightly clenched, and she doesn’t explain any further, and no one asks. Clint tells them all he has a horrible fear of needles. Every time he needs an injection, he vomits. Bruce? Bruce has panic attacks in large crowds. He tells them all he has to skip out on charity galas and parties because he’s so terrified, sometimes.
Then Peter looks at Tony, and expects nothing, because really, it’s Iron Man. He’s been through everything, and he doesn’t even bat an eye at any of it. He’s the one Peter could never have finding out about his own weakness. Because Tony trusts him, Tony respects him, and if he knew Peter was so afraid of something so trivial, he’d surely-
“I’m scared of the dark,” Tony shrugs, looking down, and Peter just… stops.
The dark. Something as simple as the dark, and Tony is… Tony is afraid of the dark.
Iron Man is afraid of the dark.
Tony raises an eyebrow at Peter, and he realizes he’s staring. He looks down quickly, feeling like his heart is about to beat out of his ribcage.
That’s the day that he discovers something very, very important.
He’s can be scared, and still be a hero.
fucking ow
Before Peter’s brain catches up with his mouth, he blurts, “I’m afraid of small spaces.”
His knees pull in to his chest before he can command himself to stay relaxed, and he throws a quick look at Tony before continuing. “When I— when I was fighting Vulture, he— he dropped a building on me, and—“
A sharp “What.” sounds from his left but he presses on, feeling his heart leap into his throat and tears pour down his face.
“I couldn’t get out at first. And it was scary. And no one could hear me.” He sniffles a little and wipes his nose, staring down at his take-out with shaky hands. “I never told anyone. Not until today.”
He feels eyes on him and something tells him it’s Tony. The hairs on his neck prickle, telling him a building is going to fall on him again, or something just as bad— and his face crumples, so he hides between his knees and sobs into his thighs. “I’m sorry!” He warbles, shoulders shaking. “I’m sorry I never told you!”
“Peter, I— it’s okay.” Tony’s hand rests lightly on his shoulder but still he flinches before leaning back in, too embarrassed to look his mentor in the eye. “You— you told me now. And you got the bad guy. Pete, I’m not mad.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers anyway. “I’m sorry for crying.”
Tony throws an exasperated look at the Avengers before pulling Peter in for a sound hug, putting his chin on top of his head. “Stop being sorry, Pete. I’m not mad. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Peter’s body trembles still, and he feels far too tired to lift his arms to hug him back. “Okay.”
Natasha crawls over, food forgotten. “Petey, it’s okay to be afraid. There isn’t a hero in all the world who hasn’t been scared before.”
Sam ruffles his hair in lieu of confirmation with a smile. “She’s right for once, kiddo.”
Bucky and Steve hum in agreement and Natasha punches Sam’s shoulder. “I’m always right, asshole.”
Peter Parker: -on meeting Loki, offers his hand- Hi, I’m Peter!
Loki: -shakes his hand- Loki of Asgard.
Peter: Aren’t you like…a bad guy?
Loki: It varies from moment to moment.
Peter: So like…on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst evil imaginable, like…killing puppies, and one being I’ll spit on your hotdog…where are you right now?
Loki: …maybe a three?
Peter: Cool. Lemme know if it gets above a six.
Loki: -thinking- I like him.
It had been a joke, a flippant line, but somehow, Loki found himself taking the youth up on it.
It was hard living around these heroic Avengers, hard trying to stay close to Thor. And when he felt his need for mischief rise too high, when he felt exasperation with these Midgardians turn too close to spite, he would casually say “Six.” to the young man, or sometimes “Seven.”
And Peter would spend the rest of his day with Loki. He would badger him with questions about magic, or drag him across his beloved city to see its entertainments, or take him along stopping petty crimes. He grounded Loki to the here and now, and distracted him from the churning, jagged shards of ice in his mind.
WE NEED LOKI AND PETER FICS
Yeah, the people who write the comics agree with you
imagine if someone really pissed Loki off and he turns to Peter and just “IT’s A TEN, CHILD”
Peter: OH SHIT. EVERYBODY EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS
@shesellsseagulls I know this isn’t your normal shtick, but IMAGINE!
ANYTHING with peter is 100% my shtick and I am HERE FOR THIS.
I’m gonna write this. Just give me a bit.
Okay its short and probably really shit, but here we go.
“Hi, I’m Peter.” Loki stares in brief shock at the boy smiling up at him and waiting for his outstretched hand to be shook. People didn’t usually react well to meeting him.
“Loki of Asgard,” Loki answered politely, shaking Peter’s hand.
“Aren’t you like… a bad guy?” Peter asked with such wide, innocent eyes that Loki felt an urge to run away before he ruined that innocence as he had done with so many other things.
“It varies from moment to moment.” Loki tried to act disinterested, but he was worried that his expression may be mirroring Peter’s.
“So like… on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst evil imaginable, like… killing puppies, and one being I’ll spit on your hotdog… where are you right now?”
“Maybe a three.” Thor was staring at them, and Loki didn’t have to look to know that his brother was grinning at how well the introduction was going.
“Cool,” Peter smiled brightly. “Let me know if it gets above a six.”
Loki nodded slightly and stared in absolute amazement at this child who handled meeting a villain so well. I like him, the god thought quietly.
It had obviously been a joke, but Loki had found himself saying a number every time he saw Peter. Whenever it was above a six, Peter would drop everything and just spend the rest of the day hanging out with Loki. It usually wasn’t more than a seven, and Peter was always worried about what would happen if it got to a ten. So far, he had been lucky, but one day that luck would run out.
They were at a coffee shop, waiting quietly to order their treats and go, causing absolutely no problems. When they got to the counter, though, the guy took Peter’s order and refused to acknowledge Loki’s presence.
“Excuse me,” Loki said quietly, trying to get the man’s attention.
“Sorry, we don’t serve evil here.”
“Well then, it’s a good thing I’m not ordering any. I’d just like a chai latte, please.” Loki resisted the urge to glare at the man, choosing to smile politely instead.
“What, are you gonna kill me if I don’t serve you?” The man laughed and turned around to continue making Peter’s coffee.
“No, but I would like to speak with whomever is in charge here.” Loki gritted his teeth and tried to stay calm.
“Oh, you wanna talk to my manager?” The guy laughed again. “Why don’t you just leave, asshole?”
Loki took a slow breathe through his nose, and slammed his fist down on the counter. He turned to Peter, shouting, “IT’S A TEN, CHILD!”
Peter, not knowing what to do, launched himself onto Loki, and started dragging him away before he hurt someone.
“You don’t have to go, kid. You didn’t do anything wrong.” The guys smiled as if nothing had happened, and offered Peter his coffee.
“Hey, you’re being a dick to my friend. I don’t want to stay here. You can’t just treat people like that!” Loki grabbed Peter’s arm and tried to get him to keep walking before they got into trouble. “He hasn’t done anything wrong in years! What gives you the right to act like you’re so much better than him? He made a mistake. Have you never made a mistake before?”
Peter shot a web at a blender behind the man without thinking, and he pulled it forward, hitting him in the back of the head. Someone screamed, and Loki started laughing hysterically and pulled on Peter’s arm.
“You’re going to get us in trouble,” Loki shouted over the other people’s yelling.
Too late, thought Peter when the sound of police sirens brought him back to reality.
He paled and yelled, “Shit!” Loki wrapped his arms around Peter and teleported them back to the Avengers tower. Peter glanced around in shock, having forgotten that Loki can teleport.
“We’re in so much trouble,” he groaned, giving up on life and dropping his head against Loki’s chest. Loki, not really knowing what to do, continued to hug Peter.
“I’ll say I did it,” Loki decided. Before Peter could protest, he added, “They’d expect if from me.”
Peter stepped back to look up at Loki. “Fine, but if they try to actually do anything about it, I’m telling Mr Stark what really happened.”
Loki’s heart melted, and he couldn’t help but smile. Loki’s hand moved to cup Peter’s cheek for a moment. “You’re such a sweet child.” He hugged Peter briefly before saying, “You should probably go establish an alibi.” Peter nodded and ran off, leaving Loki to think about how great his friend is.
