Prompt: Harry Osborn tries to charm Penny at a gala. (This is a sequel to my last prompt)
Harry Osborn didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be at Tony Stark's Holiday Gala or whatever it was called. Didn't want to meet the Avengers or watch his dad try to smooze and try and fail to steal contacts right out from under Tony Stark's nose. He didn't want to spend his whole night standing in the corner with a bunch of adults he didn't know who, for the most part, either hated or distrusted his dad. It wasn't even that he blamed his dad. His dad was an asshole. But he had other things he would much rather be doing. Like sitting in his bedroom. Or drinking bleach.
Okay, so maybe he was being dramatic. But he had a paper due at the end of this holiday break, and his head was killing him and honestly an hour spent working on his homework would have been preferable.
"Aren't you Norman Osborn's son?" The voice jerked him out of his thoughts and Harry forced a smile that he hoped looked somewhat friendly. Or at least not outright miserable.
"I am. Harry Osborn. Nice to meet you," he greeted the older woman and clasped the hand she held out. "Nice to meet you."
Once the lady was gone, he ran a hand through his hair and made his way across the room to the drinks table. At least he could try to get a drink. He doubted that Tony Stark would have hired someone that would be willing to serve a minor alcohol, especially considering what had happened several months ago. He'd only gotten the official version...the story from the news. Pepper Potts' daughter had been stabbed after pushing him out of the way of an attacker. And she'd recovered. He hadn't learned anything else about her, other than her name. Penelope Parker.
He wondered if Penelope Parker was at this party, and if she was, what she was like. Pepper Potts' daughter...well, adopted daughter? Harry didn't know all the details. As he approached the table, slipping behind someone he thought was Hawkeye, the music soft in the background, he wondered if Penelope Parker went to school around here. Or was she homeschooled? Had he ever run into her in the city? He'd never thought to google her.
Maybe he should.
The lady working behind the bar handed him his requested cherry coke and he was taking a sip when he turned, and the sip caught in his throat, nearly choking him.
The girl standing next to Tony Stark was a few inches shorter than him, and instead of wearing heels like most of the women, she wore flats. Her short brown hair was curly, touching the bottoms of her ears. Her dress was blue and brushed her knees, and Harry found his eyes trailing from her knees to her shoulders to her face...her face. Her lips were pink and shiny and she was laughing softly at something Iron Man was saying, reaching up and pushing some of her hair behind her ear, revealing long, dangling earrings that, if he knew Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, had to be real diamonds. He caught a flash of her teeth when she laughed, and Tony Stark smiled at her, softer than Harry had ever seen the man as he crossed his arms and shook his head.
She was the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen.
He'd heard of people falling in love at first sight. And he had always thought it was stupid. You couldn't fall in love with someone without knowing them. But looking at her smile and her fingers tucking her hair back and hearing her soft laugh, he felt his heart literally skip a beat, a strange warmth filling his whole chest.
A man it took Harry a moment to recognize as Steve Rogers approached the two of them, and she smiled at him too. More than anything, Harry wanted her to smile at him like that, familiar and happy. Tony Stark put his hands in his pockets and Steve Rogers said something Harry didn't catch and then the girl was moving in his direction and Harry's heart stopped altogether. Tony Stark was talking to Captain America but all Harry could see was her...her eyes that scanned the room like she was on the lookout for trouble.
And then her eyes met his. And the whole world stopped on its axis. Moving on autopilot, Harry tried to lean against the bar and took a drink, trying his best to look normal. Casual.
"Wow. I didn't think Tony invited people my age to these things," the girl said, and her voice was perfect too.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, praying that something witty came out, but to his horror, he'd forgotten to swallow, and the cherry coke spilled down his chin and the front of his shirt. Horror choked him and he coughed, staring down at his shirt that was covered in sticky soda. The girl's lips turned up in a tiny smile as she seemed to fight a giggle, her mouth dropping open, a tiny 'oh' escaping her mouth.
And then a tiny giggle escaped and Harry felt his whole face catch fire. Immediately the girl was contrite. "Oh god…I'm so sorry...are you...um...here!" The girl reached over the bar and grabbed a pile of napkins, reaching out and dabbing at his shirt. She was touching him. She was dabbing his shirt and looking flustered and amused and embarrassed and Harry brought his hand up and captured her wrist. The girl froze, looking up at him with wide-eyes, and her wrist was so small.
"I'm Harry," he blurted. "Harry Osborn."
Her lips turned up into a real smile and she lifted an eyebrow. "Osborn? As in…"
"Norman's son. Yeah," Harry told her, unable to help the bitterness in his own voice. She softened.
"I'm Penny. Parker. Pepper Potts is my godmother."
"You...you're Penelope," he half-whispered, forgetting about the soda.
"Yeah."
"You saved Tony Stark. You...you were stabbed!"
"Barely," Penny waved him off, still smiling. "Nice to meet you, Harry."
"You...uh...you too."
"I really am sorry. I didn't mean to laugh." She looked at his shirt again, then looked around, as if checking to make sure they weren't being watched. "Come on."
Harry blinked. "What?"
She smiled, a mischievous smile, and his heart flipped in his chest. "Come on," she urged again, reaching out and taking his hands, her fingers slipping into his. He nodded, dumbstruck, and followed on numb legs as she led him to a side door and into a hallway he didn't feel like he was allowed to be in. Still, all thoughts of homework and his father had flown out of his mind as the two of them stepped into an elevator.
"Fri, take us to the penthouse."
"Of course, Penny."
Harry blinked again, mouth dry. The penthouse? As in...Iron Man's penthouse?
It wasn't that Harry hadn't been in a fancy penthouse before. Hell, he'd lived in one for half of his life. But this...this belonged to Iron Man. And Penny toed off her shoes, revealing her toenails which were painted black and covered in spiderwebs. He stared at them for a moment before she followed his eyes and laughed a little self-consciously.
"My friend MJ loves to practice her nail art on me," she told him with a little laugh, opening one of the drawers in the kitchen. "I know Pepper keeps a tide pen around here…"
"Penny, please tell me you didn't sneak a boy up here...please tell me I'm not interrupting something," a familiar voice called, and Penny snorted when Iron Man himself stepped into the kitchen. "Come on, Pen. How the hell am I supposed to explain this to your aunt?"
The girl laughed and she held up the little red tide pen. "He spilled his drink. I accidentally snuck up on him."
It was a lie, but Harry appreciated the attempt to save his dignity.
Harry jumped up, remembering himself and holding out his hand. "Sorry, sir, uh Mr. Stark. I'm...uh...I'm Harry." He thought about leaving off the last name but Tony Stark was staring at him, eyebrows raised, head tilted, and so Harry went on. "Osborn. Harry Osborn." He said it with lowered eyes, sure that he'd be kicked out of the penthouse any minute, but then Tony Stark reached out, gripping his hand and giving him a friendly smile.
"It's just Tony. Sir makes me feel old. So does Mr. Stark. And my age. Nice to meet you."
"You too."
Tony looked down at his shirt and waved Penny away when she approached with a tide pen. "Sorry, kiddo. Tide pen isn't going to cut it. Come on, Harry. I've got a shirt that I'm sure will fit you. We'll throw that one in the wash."
"Can I order Thai food!" Penny called from the kitchen as Tony led Harry away, beside him, Iron Man laughed and spun around to look at the girl standing by the barstools, Tide Pen still in her hand.
"There's literally a party going on downstairs."
"A party with no food," she shot back.
"There are hors d'oeuvres!"
"Hors d'oeuvres are not food."
"They are, by definition, food."
Penny rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to order enough for you?"
The man laughed and turned, leading Harry toward the hallway. "There's plenty of food downstairs."
"Fine. Harry, what do you want?"
"I…" he stammered, looking up at Tony Stark who grinned.
"Get us both Pad Thai. How's that sound?" he asked Harry who nodded, turning back to glance at Penny who nodded, pulling out her phone. "And get enough for Pepper too."
"Already done."
Tony Stark dug around his closet, coming out with a shirt that he handed to Harry, and he changed as quickly as he could while Harry pulled the new shirt on and retied his tie. Hopefully, his father wouldn't even notice. When they reentered the living room, the TV was playing a Disney movie and Penny was sitting on the sofa, bare feet up on an ottoman.
"The gala is still happening, you know. Remember? The gala? Big party downstairs. Thrown by my company. Ringing any bells?" Tony asked, walking by and ruffling her hair, and Penny laughed, swatting him away.
"You finally invited someone my age. And I made him spill his drink. The least I can do is buy him dinner…"
"With my credit card," Tony interjected with an easy smile as he pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and held it out to Harry. An offering. Harry nodded, hesitant, and Tony tossed it to him as Penny went on.
"...and get him out of standing around with a bunch of boring adults talking about your company. No offense."
"Yeah, none taken." Tony pulled out two more bottles of water and tossed one to Penny, then took a swig of his own. "I'd better head back down. Put my Thai in the fridge?"
"Will do!" she called, then Tony Stark was gone and Harry was standing in the kitchen like a robot waiting to be activated and Penny threw her arm over the back of the sofa and gave him a rueful smile. "Sorry...I kind of abducted you. You can go back down to the party if you want."
"No!" Immediately he knew that his voice was too loud and he lowered it, fiddling with the cap of his water. "I mean...uh, I was bored anyway. Not that it was boring, I just…" Harry huffed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Do you want to watch a movie and eat Thai food?"
Harry nodded, feeling the knot of anxiety in his stomach start to loosen. This was fine. She was a pretty girl. He'd met lots of pretty girls. This was nothing. Just a movie and Thai food with a stranger. But it was better than being at that party downstairs. So he tried for nonchalance as he sat down on the sofa an appropriate distance from her. "Yeah. Sounds good."
And that was the night that Harry Osborn fell for Penny Parker.
