Tony Stark was incredibly important to Peter.
That was a given and the primary reason he was so concerned with the fact that Tony was here, as an apparently corporeal ghost. But there was more to it than that. Peter had lost so many of the people that he loved and cared about. His parents had disappeared when he was only four, his Uncle Ben died in front of him, shot by a fleeing criminal. It had taken Parker a long time to grapple with the fact that, regardless of how responsible he felt for his Uncle’s untimely passing, he couldn’t change it. Things like this were ultimately out of his control.
But Tony had shown him that sometimes you can take control. Tony has found a way to rewrite history and bring him back from the effects of the Infinity Stones. Stark gave up his family and his life to set things right, and Peter couldn’t put into words how much he admired that; how much that action alone inspired him.
And so he’d put his foot down. Either they would find a way for Tony to leave his place and come back with him to their timeline, so Stark could see Pepper and the daughter that he deserved to watch grow up, or Peter would stay. He owed him that. Tony has sacrificed too much; he’d earned the right to have someone put everything on the line for him.
And that’s what had brought him down to the main floor to see Lucas. Peter didn’t know the first thing about ghosts — not actually: when he’d been a kid he’d read one Goosebumps book and couldn’t sleep for three nights, so his Aunt wouldn’t let him get any more out of the library. Thus, his foray into the mystic arts had been both short-lived and terrifying. He needed someone else’s advice and Lucas seemed like just the right person.
Before he made it to the Study, Peter had taken a quick detour to the kitchen, and he arrived with a tray of snacks, like dried fruit and nuts, and two chilled bottles of sparkling water. His aunt was Italian. She’d instilled in him the notion that you don’t ask for help or advice without an offering of some kind of food. The kitchen’s offerings were dismal, but he’d done his best.
Parker struggled with his tray and the door as he left himself into the Study. “Hello? Lucas?”