Christmas Confusion

<I realized I hadn't done the basic "Peter gets sick because he doesn't know when to stop" sickfic, so here's that. Also, the comments about not taking 5 AP classes is totally a jibe at myself 😂. This is your friendly reminder that even if you're like me and applying to extremely selective schools and trying to be involved in everything, your own mental and physical health needs to come first😘>


Peter squinted at his calculus homework. He blinked his eyes to try and clear the pressure building behind his sinuses, but it didn't seem to work. He'd better not be getting sick, he still had so much work to do, with midterms and projects and Christmas shopping and patrol and all the other things he did.


"Peter! Think fast!" Peter practically jumped out of his skin when Clint dropped out of the vents in front of him and chucked a flyer at him. Why hadn't his Spidey senses told him that was coming? The stress must be getting to him.


"What the hell, man?"


"Had to make sure you were awake, you looked pretty bored by this—what is it? Greek?" He asked, holding the text book upside down.


Peter grumpily grabbed the book back and set it back on his desk. "It's calculus, if you must know."


"Well, it's all Greek to me anyway." Clint replied with a wink.


Peter ignored him, trying to focus on using the quotient rule correctly to give him the correct derivative that would maximize the volume of some random cylinder shape, but seeing that Clint hadn't left yet, he gave up. He threw his pencil down. "I give up. Clint, spill it. What do you want?" He really wasn't in the mood for anything right now.


Clint motioned to the flyer that was sitting on the floor. "Read that."


"The Avengers 1st Annual Prank War? Clint, what is this?"


"Well, I know we've pulled our share of pranks, and of course Sam and Bucky never stop trying to get the best of each other, so I thought the whole team could benefit from a little bonding and laughter."


"That might be the worst idea you've ever had. Do you even know how competitive people are? Someone's gonna get hurt, and knowing my luck it'll probably be me. I'm really not in the mood for that right now, sorry Clint. I have stuff to do."


"Geez, Pete, what's wrong? I thought you of all people would be in to that. Just sleep on it, okay? I'm gonna go give flyers to everyone else and we'll talk about it tomorrow. Sleep tight, kid." And he climbed back into the vents. Peter shook his head. He was always amazed how fast Clint could change from Literal Kid to Concerned Dad.


The idea did sound fun, as long as it didn't interfere with his long hours of homework. (He knew taking 5 AP classes was a mistake, but what was he supposed to do, be bored?) He'd think about it. He scribbled down his final answer and shut the textbook with a decisive thud. He checked his watch. 11:30. He laid his head down on his giant throw pillow shaped like Captain America's shield and was out like a light.


The next morning, Peter woke up to see Christmas lights and tinsel strewn all around the room.What the heck? Christmas wasn't for another three weeks—oh. Clint's prank war had started already, hadn't it. He walked downstairs to see Tony wearing a sparkly red apron and humming "Jingle Bells" while cinnamon pancakes cooked on the stove. What was going on? "Hey, Pete! Merry Christmas Eve!"


"I'm sorry, what?" Peter blurted. "It's December 14th. I'm not stupid, you know. Hey FRIDAY, what day is it?"


"It is December 24th, Peter."


Peter flipped out. "No it's not! It is December 14th. This stupid prank is not funny! Now that you've all had your laughs at my expense, can we please stop pretending and act like mature adults? I have stuff to do and I'm not dealing with this right now!" And he ran back upstairs to his room. He knew he was overreacting, but his head hurt and felt achy and awful (like he always did when he overworked himself but he wasn't gonna admit that, not in a million years). He just wanted to have a normal, quiet Saturday, but nooooo they all had to get in on Clint's stupid prank. He took out his StarkPad and opened to a blank document, trying to think of stupid words to put in iambic pentameter for the stupid poem he had to write, and then he still had to record his conversation for Spanish and study for a chem test, and ugh it was just too much. He laid his head down on his desk as the tears flowed.


"Hey Peter, are you alright?" Peter didn't even sit up to acknowledge Wanda. He just felt dead, and he didn't have enough energy left to even lift his head.


"Peter?" She asked again, gently laying her hand on his neck. "Oh! You're burning up, Peter, what's wrong?"


"I don't know," he sobbed. "I'm just overwhelmed and I don't feel good but I have way too much stuff to do and they're all being stupid with the prank, and—"


"Shh. It's ok." She hugged him gently, and Peter felt himself relax. "Just calm down," she whispered, gently letting her magic flow into him. Peter leaned into her touch, and she worked her fingers through his curls gently. "See, it's going to be alright. Do you want me to tell Tony that his joke wasn't funny? He'll stop, I'm sure."


"Wait, it was Tony's idea? I thought it was Clint, because I thought Tony would know I wouldn't like it, and..." he trailed off again, tears beginning to prick at his eyes again.


"He was trying to cheer you up, Peter. He knew you were overwhelmed and he thought you would find it funny. He really didn't mean to upset you. I'll let him know it was nothing personal, that you're just overwhelmed and sick."


"Don't tell him I'm sick."


"Peter..."


"Please, Wanda? I just really can't deal with everyone babying me right now. Like sometimes it's nice, but today that'll just overwhelm me more."


"Alright, I won't for now, but if you get any worse I'm gonna have to call him."


"Fine," Peter mumbled.


"Why don't you go lie down?"


"But my homework..."


"You still have time, and if you don't get around to it, I'll fix it." She winked at him. "You need to focus on not overworking yourself, I mean you're literally a genius, and besides if it's too much, you do have a billionaire playboy philanthropist and a witch on your side."


"Thanks Wanda, you're the best." He hugged her, and then laid down, already feeling a little better.


When he woke up, Wanda was still there. She checked to make sure his temperature had gone down, and then she whispered her plan to Peter. The next day, all the Avengers could be seen running around the tower looking for Easter eggs while Peter and Wanda sat back and laughed. It really did pay off to have a witch on your side.

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