Iron Man Build-a-Bear (Peter Parker Headcanon)
the day peter finds out about the manufacturing of an avengers collection at build-a-bear workshop, he knew he had to get his hands on one. and he knew exactly which hero to worship as a stuffed bear.
and maybe he felt a little bit silly about going to a store marketed towards little kids (and not fifteen year old child genius-turned vigilante)
so he brought you along, thinking maybe it would make the trip more fun and less uncomfortable
you laugh as he practically drags you towards the entrance of the store, seeing the similarities to the toddlers dressed in captain america and hulk costumes as they run around excitedly with their bears
peter, bouncing on his toes, doesn’t look much different
despite being several feet taller than the other customers, peter walks (slowly) at a contained (painful) pace towards the rack to his iron bear, careful not to run over any kids in the process
accomplishment lights up his face when he crosses the store and snatches the last one up in his hands
but his joy quickly dissipates when he notices a tiny iron man grabbing at the empty space where the last bear was moments ago
and peter feels so conflicted when he sees an actual child, dressed up as his favorite hero, with innocence in his eyes quickly turning to disappointment when he sees that they’re all gone
but peter, being the selfless person he is, gives the bear to the kid just to make him smile
which almost makes peter’s own disappointment at the fruitlessness of the two hour bus ride to the nearest build-a-bear (which he filled by excitedly telling you all the reasons why iron man is the best avenger) worth it
and when you went to the store the next day to see if you could get added to the wait list, the manager said that they weren’t getting another shipment for three weeks
but you saw how much peter wanted one and you couldn’t endure three weeks of shielded puppy dog eyes trying to convince you that “it’s okay, really, it’s just a stupid bear i mean i’m practically an ADULT, why would i be sad over something like this y/n coME ON”
but you know this dork better than that so you stop by the craft store on the way home from school and watch youtube tutorials on how to use your mom’s sewing machine
and after hours of extensive research on how to sew
and after studying the composition of the iron man suit (which wasn’t that difficult because all you had to do was step foot into peter’s room and stealthily swipe one of his least favorite action figures)
(it was the mark iv, which is “SOOO not neARLY AS COOL y/n because the NEW SUIT HAS STEALTH CAPABILITIES and camouflage features in it like?? how freaking awesome is that?! i wonder how mr. stark even got the RIGHTS to do that but i mean, it must not have been too hard i mean he is tony stark...”)
needless to say peter wouldn’t miss the action figure with the suit housing an “outdated” arc reactor in it
so you did your best to include the “bEST” features of the suit into the stitching in the bear’s clothes
you even went the extra mile to sew a tiny arc reactor to place inside the bear when you stuff it
just to make it authentic
a few days later flash was especially brutal and of course peter came home in a slump, while trying to act like it didn’t get to him because “it was just a stupid comment y/n, it doesn’t matter. i’m spider-man, he takes down criminals every night he doesn’t get hurt by some dumb teasing” and he’d smile sadly because you knew how hard he was trying to convince himself of it
so you showed him to your room where you had set up a mini makeshift build-a-bear workshop complete with a stuffing center and naming booth
and his eyes welled up and fond confusion knitted in his brows and he just looked from the limp bear shell to you, back to the iron man suit you sewed, back to your band-aid covered hands, and then up to your eyes
you can’t remember a time where peter shut up for more than two seconds when something wasn’t totally going to shit
so you just smiled and took his hand, leading him to the bear and tugging him down to sit on the floor beside it
“wha--what how? i-- y/n i don’t, i---i...what?”
you just smiled and held out the bear to him
and you didn’t even have to explain how you rode the bus for two hours again back to the store the next day to try to get him one, or how you were willing to spend the babysitting money you were saving up to buy the ridiculously overpriced stuffed bear instead of the camera you’ve wanted for the past year
he just looked at you and knew
and you swear he was about to cry because he was just so damn touched
he knew how long you must’ve spent on making the clothing, especially since he knew you didn’t know how to sew
and that whenever he spews about how AWESOME iron man’s tech is, the words go right over your head but you smile and laugh and listen to him geek out every time
he sees the attention to detail you put into the clothes, even embroidering on the newest arc reactor because you knew how much he loves the shape, even though it doesn’t match the features from the older suit you pulled references from
but that makes it even more special because YOU did it, in the most perfect way
peter just sits there stroking the cloth, eyes widening at every new detail he discovers and his fondness for you becomes overwhelming
he swears his heart just grew four sizes
by the time he sees the tiny arc reactor you sewed for him to put inside the bear, he fucking loses it
because no one has EVER done something like this for him? ever?
and he tackles you to the ground in the biggest bear hug ever
and you swear you might just cry too because of how little this precious boy thinks of himself and how happy he is from a stuffed bear
he puts it together, even adding in another stuffed heart beside the tiny reactor because “he’s not just the suit, y/n, he’s a person too” and the fact that you knew to include the heart was almost too much
in that moment he knows how damn lucky he is to have you
the blinding smile that erupts on his face when he finishes carefully pulling the strings to close up the back of the bear makes the countless hours of poking your fingers with needles and cursing tony’s name for making such complex superhero suits worth it
peter was so engrossed in the tiny stuffed bear that he didn’t hear the tiny click of your camera shutter go off
the photo of him hugging the little bear to his chest with bright, childlike glee in his eyes, the happiest you’ve seen him in a long time, warming your heart
it just became your new lock screen
when you catch him dragging the bear around his apartment and tucking it under his arm when he’s crawling into bed to sleep, the pride in your chest swells
and maybe you spend the next couple days sneaking photos of him with the bear
as he situates it carefully on the couch next to him and combs the fur out of its eyes so it “can see the tv clearly too, it’d be a shame if he missed the technical baking challenge y/n”
or putting baby socks on its feet so it wont get cold when the heating goes out and peter is wrapped in ten blankets
because this boy is so precious
and as the final touch, you sneak a couple more photos to text to the man himself from peter’s phone
but as peter is just about to doze off on the couch, with his head in your lap as you run your fingers through his hair
he mumbles a soft, “don’t tell mr. stark”
and your eyes dart from his soft curls and delicate freckles to the well-loved bear with fraying edges wrapped in his arms
and you know you better run before evidence that tony got the photos gets back to peter and he’s ready to die of embarrassment, resulting in him pouting angrily at you
but for the moment you just pet his hair and watch the relaxed boy on your couch and think
