#tldr tony pretends to want to take breaks himself in order to make peter take breaks

[sapoteylx]

Tony knows that Peter's self-care is in the negative values.

Peter will barge into the lab with his bag slung over one shoulder and nearly dent the wall in his recklessness, and Tony can practically smell the sleep deprivation on him. He'll laugh it off, chide Peter a bit on watching his strength, but he sees it.

Happy will message him sometimes, something small like "kid's tired today" or "off day" (he appreciates it, despite his short one-word responses) and Tony sees it.

And, at the end of the week, Tony can only take so many drool stains on his desk.

The first time he tried to say it outright, Peter simply didn't receive it. It took two separate confrontations and a flu that Peter vehemently denied until his condition had every germ in the immediate vicinity feeling self-conscious for Tony to realize that his methods weren't working. He sat Peter down on the couch with an episode of Glee playing and came up with a damn plan.

He was going to fix this. If Peter noticed the suspicious timing of Tony's back pains or impromptu meetings that he had to wait in the lounge for, he didn't mention it. Tony had bullshit on hand wherever he went, quick-witted excuses on the tip of his tongue and Pepper on speed dial. I mean, come on, Tony was pretty damn quick — but not when it came to fake business calls. He spent too many meetings carefully mastering the art of Not Caring (read: having his head up his ass) to know how to navigate any meaningful business conversation. Pepper could lead.

So, eventually, every break that the two took became Tony's fault. Peter didn't have to feel guilty for interrupting Tony's work because of his own poor time management, and Tony didn't have to watch Peter drive himself deep into the hole that Tony was still trying to pull himself out of. Peter started joking again. Tony started to trust the kid enough to look away.

Long work nights turn into early ones with Tony's fingers hesitantly running through Peter's hair, the boy's face smashed unceremoniously into Tony's side. Tony rests easiest when he's doing it for someone else. These nights are slept through.