Chapter Text
Peter sighed in frustration as his head hit the surface of his desk. There was no way he was ever going to remember all these facts and concepts by Thursday!
“Hey, you doing ok in here?” A voice asked tentatively. Peter lifted his head and spun his chair around so he could see Tony. Then, because he was annoyed and it was fun, he kept spinning in circles.
“FRIDAY said you were having some trouble.” Tony continued, not at all phased by the spinning teenager.
“You could call it trouble.” Peter said nonchalantly, still spinning.
“And what would you call it?” Tony asked, amused.
“A mistake.” Peter decided, stopping himself and looking at Tony, who raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“What kind of mistake?” Tony prompted.
“I never should have taken AP World History!” Peter exclaimed dramatically, stretching his neck backwards and staring at the ceiling. “I can’t remember half of the main topics and the test is on Thursday!”
“Have you been studying?” Tony inquired, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms.
“Yeah, but it’s not helping.” Peter told him, looking back up at his dad.
“Ok, so what have you done so far?” Tony asked, walking over to Peter’s desk and spinning the teenager around. Peter stared dejectedly at the papers on his desk.
“I’ve read every single packet there is, but it feels like it’s going in one ear and out the other.” Peter explained.
“Well that’s your problem.” Tony said, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You’ve just been reading.”
“What else am I supposed to do, learn through osmosis?” Peter asked, sarcastically, looking up at his dad.
“See, the fact you can make that joke and understand it shows you’re smart and have the capability to remember things. Now we just got to find a way to make your brain absorb the information.” Tony explained, grinning. “Come on, I have an idea.”
…
Somehow, Tony’s idea to help Peter study involved Natasha, Clint, Steve, Bucky, and Bruce. They were all gathered in the lab around a table which Peter set all his notes, packets, and his textbook down onto.
Clint whistled. “That’s a lot of papers.”
“I know.” Peter huffed. Mentally, he was just done with studying. There wasn’t any way that he would be able to remember any of the information. But he figured that he’d at least humor Tony and play along with whatever torture he was about to be put through.
“Ok, let’s start with Time Period 1.” Tony decided, digging through the papers to find the right information. “What years does time period one encompass?”
“Uhh I don’t know.” Peter said, thinking hard.
“8000 BCE – 600 CE.” Natasha supplied, looking at one of the papers.
“Ok, write that down here.” Tony instructed, passing Peter an index card. Peter did as he was told then held the card out to Tony. Tony shook his head and passed Peter a piece of tape. Peter looked at him quizzically, unsure of what to do with the card and tape.
“Pick an Avenger.” Tony told him. Peter looked around the table, his eyes landing on Bruce. “Ok, now tape the index card to the Avenger of your choice.”
Peter looked at Tony, alarmed. Tony laughed. “Just trust me.” He said. Peter was doubtful but followed the instruction anyways. He taped the index card to the front of Bruce’s shirt, then glanced at the scientist warily. Bruce laughed, causing Peter to grin.
“Ok, what’s next?” Peter asked.
“What marks the start of Period 1?” Tony asked, passing Peter another card and some more tape.
“The Neolithic Revolution or sometimes called the Agricultural Revolution.” Peter recited. That was one he did know. Tony nodded and Peter wrote the answer down. When he went to tape it to Bruce’s shirt again however, Tony stopped him.
“Tape it somewhere else.” Tony instructed. Peter raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, instead taping the card to Bruce’s forehead.
They continued at this until Bruce had an index card on his shirt, left arm, forehead, and back. Then they moved on to period 2 with a different Avenger, then period 3, and so on. Bruce was lucky in that period 1 didn’t have as much content. By the time they got to period 3 which was Bucky, Peter had to write out 15 cards and got creative with his taping.
“You can’t put a card on my butt.” Bucky told him, drawing the line. He already had cards taped everywhere else, except his vibranium arm which the cards were held onto with magnets.
“But…” Peter protested.
“Nope, not happening.” Bucky held out.
By the end, every Avenger had a card with years on them as well as specific cards for information taped to their bodies.
“So, what was the point of this?” Peter asked.
“Well for one, the pictures from this are going to be amazing.” Tony pointed out, grinning. “But for real, writing things out stimulates your brain to help you remember things. Then along with that now you have a reference to think about when you’re trying to come up with information.”
Peter looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“What card is on Natasha’s right elbow without looking?” Tony inquired. Everyone but Peter turned to look at Nat’s right elbow.
“Islam began in the 7th century and spread rapidly.” Peter recited. Then his eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. “Wait, how did I do that?”
“By putting the information on everyone’s bodies, you categorized it with where you placed it. It just helps you to pull information.” Tony explained.
Peter sighed a soft “oh”, then he scrambled for another card.
“Forget something?” Steve asked, an eyebrow raised.
Peter scribbled something onto the card, then grabbed a piece of tape. He stuck the card right onto Tony’s forehead.
“What’s it say?” Tony asked, trying to read the card on his own but failing.
“Best dad ever.” Peter announced, grinning. “Not that I’d forget, but just so it’s there.”
Tony reached out and gave Peter a hug.
“Thanks for helping me study dad.” Peter whispered, hugging back.
“You’re welcome Pete.” Tony replied, smiling.