Spider-Son & Iron Dad one shots

Panic Attack

a/n: what happened o.o

Spooktober.18

⚠️panic attack tw⚠️

The air was stagnant, the room was dark, and Tony Stark was panicking.

He knows what a panic attack is. He's had them before. He just wishes he hadn't been triggered right before Peter was scheduled to come over.

Tony didn't know exactly what had triggered him. Maybe it was just a bad day and he was sensitive to things he didn't realize. Maybe it was a collection of small things that wouldn't normally bother him but stacked up and tipped him over the edge.

All of these possibilities were racing through his head as he struggled to take a deep breath in. He felt like he was dizzy, even as he was sitting down.

Which, by the way, was one of the strangest places he's ever sat down in. He had placed himself in the middle of the floor for no reason about two hours ago and just sat there, and then he started panicking.

He felt like he needed to do something. Tony didn't know what this something was, which in conclusion only spiraled him into a deeper panic. It was clear he wasn't going to be able to calm down from this one on his own.

He had protocols set in place for this, because he always prepared for everything. These protocols were a little slow on the uptake, however, and also required verbal communication. This is a dilemma because Tony Stark does not ask for help unless it is necessary.

Luckily, Peter Parker was on the way.

Tony didn't even notice when the door to the lab had slid open, and footsteps started.

He finally noticed Peter as Peter noticed him.

"Mr. Stark—!" Peter says quickly, rushing over to him. Tony holds a hand up, and Peter seems to understand. He keeps a distance away from him. "Are you okay? Do you need me to call your doctor? What happened?"

Tony thinks briefly that a normal person probably would not like these questions thrust at them when in a vulnerable state. Tony is not a normal person. He eases at the questions, luckily all of them he was able to answer. It eases his panic.

"I'm fine," Tony manages to grit out. "Don't worry."

That was partially true. Tony didn't want Peter to worry about him. That was never something he wanted on Peter's mind.

Sure, at the end of the day it's inevitable with the work they do. But when they're like this, all domestic with lab days and such: Peter shouldn't have to worry about him. This was a sentence he believed to its full extent, and he carried it with all of his children.

But was he fine?

As he breathed in a little too shallow for comfort, trying to pull himself together in front of somebody who was one of the closest people he had to call a son—he figured he probably wasn't. He didn't tell Peter this because of the last truth.

Tony didn't like being touched when he had panic attacks, but Peter was smart. He knew exactly how to calm down his mentor. It was simply just using his best talent. Talking, and talking, and talking.

"Today MJ told me she was gonna paint my nails," Peter starts in a quiet voice. He somehow knows how to make his words have a tempo. "She showed me all of her nail polish collection, and I surprisingly learned a lot about her."

"She had like, a whole bunch of pinks and yellows and bright greens, because she used them when she was younger. She also has a colour she named 'old book beige', which I think is beautiful for many reasons."

"Does Pepper have any nail polish?" Peter asks, knowing to engage Tony without Tony knowing himself that it would help. Funny how that works: Peter knowing how to calm him down better than he does.

Tony nods. "Yeah."

"Oh, cool. What colours?"

"Blues, mostly. Her favourite is periwinkle."

"That fits her."

"Mmhm."

They talk for a little while longer, and then Peter brushes it off. They go back to work, and Peter doesn't think any lower of Tony. It seems like he barely even remembered it happened.

Tony feels safe by this fact.

He also smiles when Peter comes back the next week with his nails painted beige.

(catch me crying to the acoustic of take on me 😔✌️)