WARNING: Swearing, possible dark humour
DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Marvel
This one-shot is based on my AU where everyone is alive and living happily at the Stark Tower. Including Pietro. Peggy's here as well, because the Time Stone but mostly because I wanted her to be part of this AU. Oh, Loki lives here as well.
As anything else in Tony Stark's life, this wasn't planned. He simply improvised, letting the wind blew him. And if it blew him away from the screaming of his house… All well and good, right?
And he wasn't a bad person for it.
Alright, maybe he was a bit to blame. Maybe he shouldn't have said he'd seen Loki using that white t-shirt for cleaning the windows in his and Thor's bedroom when the blond god asked if someone had seen said t-shirt. And maybe he should've kept his mouth shut when he pointed out how similar it seemed of the one Steve had bought Thor for his last birthday. And maybe he shouldn't have helped Loki out by saying he at least cleaned and didn't lie to Peggy about it, right in front of the British woman, right after she'd ended cleaning the five bathrooms the tower had all by herself, and on the same day she'd decided to let it go because she was having a relatively good day. And maybe he shouldn't have said to Pietro, in the middle of the already heated quarrel, that he'd made him another copy of the key, revealing the younger man had lost his.
Maybe he shouldn't have done half of that. Or all of it. But in Tony's defence… He was bored and wanted a bit of action. The key words being a bit of. That was why he left the house as soon as chairs began to fly around the living.
He'd give them a few hours to calm down and make dinner before going back.
That was how Tony found himself, more bored than before, sat on the bench of a park going through all his contacts to find someone to spend time with. Rhodey had declined the offer saying he was working; Pepper still didn't talk to him for that incident concerning the car (and really, Tony still didn't understand what was the deal; he could put the door in place… once he found the interest and time to do it, of course)…
In the end, he came across the last person on his list, seeing a series of unread texts right beside the name. Tony weighed the option.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, he decided, as he typed a brief 'hello', not bothering in reading the 37 messages the boy had sent him the days prior.
"I wasn't expecting your text, Mr Stark" admitted Peter.
And there was truth in his statement, Peter had tried to reach out to the businessman for two weeks since the last time they saw each other (and that time being because Wanda had bumped into him and was nice enough to invite him to supper). Still, he suspected Tony wouldn't believe him much for how fast he'd replied to his simple greeting. Nobody could take his excitement away, though. He was going to spend the afternoon with one of the most intelligent men Peter had had the pleasure to meet; the most successful inventor New York City had had the luck the have. Iron Man, one of the Avengers. How was he going to pretend he wasn't happy? How could he contain himself and not answer less than one minute after reading the text?
…Maybe because of that Peter hadn't a girlfriend…
"Me neither" replied Tony, taking one bite of the last piece of his donut.
Donuts that they were eating on the roof of the store. How cool was that? Of course Peter was beaming. How many kids his age could say they'd eaten with a famous person on the roof of a store, ignoring the curious eyes they got with great ease?
The same amount of kids your age with spider-powers, a part of his brain answered. True, true…
"So…" Tony broke the awkward silence they'd fallen into. "How's… High school?" he asked, saying the last two words a bit uneasy. "You're still in high school, right?"
"Yes"
"Good… You're so intelligent sometimes I've got to make sure" Tony tried to fix rapidly.
"Thanks…" Peter drawled the word, noticing the fake-flattering tone but deciding to let it go. "It's going well" he answered.
"Are you passing?"
"Yes"
"Good, good"
Another uncomfortable silence fell. Peter decided the glaze of the donut was the most interesting thing in the world right then.
"Have you had those talks about universities already?" inquired Tony again.
Peter let a pause sink in before responding. "Yes"
"Good, good…" nodded the inventor, licking his teeth and looking at the horizon, as if it were going to give him the right subject to talk to a teenager about. "Do you like any?"
"I've got a few in mind, yes" answered Peter, biting the food slowly so he would not lose his source of distraction.
"Good, good" repeated Tony, gaining a curious look from the boy. "Girls?"
The abrupt question made him choke on his last bite. Peter coughed a few times, tapping his chest and taking in a deep breath before giving a response.
"No, I, uh… No" he shook his head, a faint image of Liz making its way on the top of his mind and embittering his mood.
Tony seemed to notice and raised a curious eyebrow. "Boys?" he tried.
"No!" hurried to say the teenager, his face red as a tomato. "I mean, I've got nothing… But it's not my… Everyone can do whatever they want, but I… I've got friends who are, but I…" he struggled.
Tony waved one hand. "I'm not judging. You're in the age of experimenting"
"Okay, but no" cut off Peter, reclining in his sitting position. "No love for me" and he threw a sad laugh.
"Don't hurry, boy. Sometimes, it's better like that" advised Tony.
"Hm…"
"Ask Steve if you don't believe me"
"Mr Rogers?" asked Peter, in disbelief. "I thought he was with Miss Carter?"
"Yes, but in his free time he's the annoying partner we've all had at some point to Bucky" elaborated Tony, finally looking at him directly.
Peter couldn't help but laugh. "Really?"
Tony nodded. "You should've seen what happened today" he began, changing into a more comfortable position. "They all started to argue, I don't know why, and Bucky tried to get in between to…"
Tony told Peter the story, and then he began narrating another, and then another, all of them being listened closely to. Tony could feel getting more excited and energetic at each anecdote he talked about, under the attentive glare of Peter, who nodded with a wee smile on his lips at each thing he said, both of them sharing the feeling of never wanting this moment to end. Both looking equally saddened when the sun went down almost completely, and Peter had to go back to his aunt's or he'd get into trouble.
"Well, see you any other day, Mr Stark" said the teenager, preparing himself to swing back home.
"What about tomorrow?" asked Tony, without thinking. "Same place, around same hour?"
Peter looked dumbfounded at the petition at first, but soon the expression changed for one of pure joy. "Yes, of course! I… See you tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow, then" nodded the adult.
Peter arrived home, greeted his aunt and went to get ready for dinner when a notification made his phone buzz inside his back pocket. Pleasantly surprised, Peter saw it was from Tony. An image of a chair broken in one corner, waiting to be fixed, and under it a text that read: "RIP 7.15.2018 – 7.18.2018"
Aunt May didn't understand why he joined her to the table crying from laughter, but shared his happiness.
"Are you going out today as well?"
"What are you now, my biographer?"
"I'm the idiot who cooks for you all, and I need to know if you're coming to dinner or not"
"Ugh, Peggy, what the hell do I know… Maybe"
"Not maybe. Yes or no"
"I'm more of the grey zone"
A scoff from the couch turned their attention away from each other. "Yeah, sure. That's why you divided the house by red painted lines when I moved in" reminded Bucky.
Tony scrunched up his nose. "With your shitty attitude, it was reasonable"
Peggy rolled her eyes. "Like you're any nicer"
Tony turned to the armchair, with puppy eyes. "Steve, your girlfriend's attacking me"
"My girlfriend's saying the truth" deadpanned Steve, turning the page of the book he was reading, impassible.
"The whole house is against me…"
"Who are you meeting with?" asked Wanda, curiously, sticking her head out the window that connected the living and the kitchen.
"Yeah, did Pepper already forgive you for what you did to the car?" chimed in Clint, coming downstairs with a pen-drive in his hand, a mocking smile on his lips.
"I should be the one forgiving her for being so dramatic" countered Tony, frowning in the archer's direction.
"Man, you pulled out the door…" reminded Bucky.
"That truck pulled it out"
"Because you left it opened in the middle of the freeway!" reprehended Peggy, an accusatory finger pointed him.
"Because I ran out of gas!"
"Because you forgot to refill it as you're supposed to" added Steve, still not raising his glare.
Tony looked at them all with hatred. "Everyone against me in this house" he spat, solemnly, as he swung the front door opened. "Everyone against me in this house!"
"But are you dining here tonight or not?" asked Peggy, again.
"Against me!" shouted Tony, dramatically, before slamming the door shut.
"He won't have his share, then" swore Peggy, crossing her arms, indignantly.
As days passed by, Tony fell easily into the routine of meeting with Peter all afternoons, so they could share what had happened in their lives so far, commenting about it and laughing at how ridiculous some events had been.
And that was saying something when it came to him. Tony wasn't a man of habits, he needed spontaneity, new things to keep his mind working, his adrenaline running. He hated to live the same thing all days, to go to the same places or even share his free time with the same persons every day.
But with Peter it became different. The kid looked up to him. And it felt nice. It felt nice to have someone to tell his stories, to give some piece of advice he'd have needed at his age, to spend the time with someone so full of life and will to do things as Tony used to be, that reminded him people like Peter were the ones he'd done so much for the younger generations concerning their studies and futures.
Tony found himself enjoying Peter's company and on more than one occasion had helped him with a matter that his youth made him believe it was bigger than what it already was. On another occasions, it'd been Peter and his quick mind (unpolluted by the troubles maturity brought with it) the one who'd helped him see a clearer solution.
So, it was safe to say Tony and Peter were good, and had bounded, and everything was going fine.
Until the stab came.
Tony was walking in the store to buy the box of donuts when he saw Peter already there, queuing. With Wanda, Pietro and Thor. Talking lively and even laughing.
He was frozen in place, obstructing the way of more costumers that passed him by, looking at him with a mix of bother and confusion.
He didn't move until the group of four turned around and locked eyes with him.
"Ah, Mr Stark, we were waiting for you" greeted Peter, smiling at him.
"Tony?" pressured Wanda, when he kept looking at each of them, lips sealed. "Are you okay?"
And then, something inside Tony's mind clicked.
"How could you?" he asked, under his breath, darkly, as he narrowed his eyes.
"Pardon?" said Peter, disconcerted.
"How could you?" repeated the adult, voice louder and tone harsher.
"How could I what?" asked the teenager, getting nervous.
"How could you, Peter Parker!" exclaimed the businessman, calling the attention of the whole store, that fell into silence.
Peter moved uncomfortably under the stare of all the clients. "What did I do?" he asked, with tiny voice.
"Tony, man, are you having a seizure or what?" asked Pietro, exchanging a glare with his sister.
"Shut up, you two, I'm talking with this backstabber!" said Tony, pointing at Peter, who took a step backwards.
"What did I do?" he asked once again, this time with a firmer tone.
"You've tarnished our meeting place" explained the inventor.
"He what?" asked Thor, frowning.
"I dishonoured it" defined Peter. Then, realization hit him. "I dishonoured it how?!"
"This was our meeting place" repeated Tony, emphasising the possessive adjective with anger. "This was our sanctuary, our sphere of honesty, our cone of trust"
"Cone of trust?" parroted Wanda, slowly. "Are you drunk?"
"It's five pm, what do you think?" said Pietro, to which she nodded.
"I just drank a couple of beers before coming because I came driving, for your information" Tony defended himself, his chin raised with pride.
"Did you fix the car already, Tony?" asked Thor, still not understanding the infuriated mood of his friend.
"No, I took Peggy's"
"Be careful, then. We've got enough when Pietro takes it" warned Wanda.
"I, at least, don't have a license. What excuse does this man have to hit everything on his way back?" complained her brother.
Peter stopped the wrangle between the two. "Mr Stark, I…"
"Silence!" he bellowed. "I wasn't expecting this behaviour from you. I expected it from Clint, from Steve, from Natasha, from Rhodey, from Bruce, from Thor…"
"Come on!" complained the god. "You listed me before my brother?"
"Tony, you're overreacting" stated Wanda, positioning herself in front of a bewildered Peter. "The kid wanted to spend time with his friends as well"
"Ah, I'm not his friend?" gasped Tony, placing a hand over his chest.
"A friend doesn't ignore your texts until he's bored!"
"Come on, Wanda, that's not…" tried to say Peter, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.
"You've turned him against me!" accused Tony, pointing at the three of his flatmates.
"Hey, I just wanted a donut, I don't know what we're talking about" said Thor, holding his hands up.
"Everyone against meeeee!" declared Tony, running out of the place.
Wanda rolled her eyes, tired. "There he goes again…"
"Everyone against meeeeeee!" Tony exclaimed one more time, driving away but looking directly at them, with hatred.
Peter frowned saddened at his reaction. "I didn't think he'd get that upset"
"Ignore him, man, he's an overdramatic" dismissed Wanda, turning around to pay for their box and heading them to a table, all trying to ignore the glares they received for the scene. "Don't even think about it"
"True, if Tony doesn't kick up a fuss for an idiocy, he's not Tony" supported Pietro.
"I don't want to badmouth our friend Tony, but he's always in the middle of all of our fights" opined Thor. "That's too much of a coincidence"
"That's not coincidence. That's him wanting us all to fight because he's bored until he has to meet with friends" pointed out Wanda. She softened her glare when she saw the worry on Peter's face. "Don't even sweat it, buddy. Tony calms down as fast as he overreacts. Tomorrow he'll be here with you as usual, you'll see"
"If you say so…" said the boy, not very convinced.
Just in that moment, the door to the store was opened again. Everyone but Peter half-closed their eyes when they saw Tony walking to their table.
"Listen, we got a little nervous before" he started. "I said some things; you said others… Yours worse than mine…"
"We barely talked" pointed out Thor.
Tony ignored him right away. "But it's okay. I forgive you"
"You forgive him…?" muttered Pietro.
"And though it still hurts I want you to know I hold no grudges"
"But what hurts?" asked Peter, arching one eyebrow.
Wanda swallowed her donut before talking, barely looking at the man. "You just hit Peggy's car, right?"
The table fell into silence. Tony looked at the girl for too long but Wanda ignored his sharp glare with great ease. Eventually, Tony's hard stare flattered and he looked down, his harsh tone turned into one of pure dread.
"Please, help me fix the car faster and don't tattle to her"
Peter looked at Wanda, impressed and she smiled at him with superiority and experience.
"Told you" she said. "You've got so much to learn, little hopper, but worry not because your older sister, Wanda, is here to teach you"
Peter returned the smile. "Good to know"
And both clinked their donuts as if they were glasses, laughing friendly.
This fic didn't go the way you expected it, right? After IW I think we all need some humour, as silly as it can be.
Hope you liked it and thanks for reading!