Author's Note: A new character appears in this chapter and his face claim is young Asa Butterfield.
I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 13: New Friendships
Tony made his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee; a triple shot of espresso made from medium roasted Colombian grounds with a big amount of sugar in it.
As the billionaire sat down to take a sip he notice something very unusual.
Riley wasn't up yet and making breakfast for herself.
Usually, the two of them would sit together to enjoy eating the most important meal of the day with Pepper.
Pepper then walked forward and planted a small kiss on his lips.
"Morning, Tony."Pepper greeted.
"Morning, Pepper."Tony responded with a smug look."Where is Rye-Rye? Is she still fast asleep?"
"Believe it or not, Tony, she just went out 30 minutes ago to meet up with Gwen."Pepper admitted.
The smug look on Tony's face dropped.
"What?"Tony asked."And she didn't tell me?"
Pepper let out a soft chuckle as she prepared herself some French toast.
"Well…Riley is growing up, Tony."Pepper informed."Soon she'll reach the age when kids become critical of themselves and their appearance. Even have new interests."
"What new interests?"Tony questioned with a hint of suspicion.
Pepper gives Tony a smirk, making the billionaire realise what his girlfriend.
"Oh, no, no, no, no."Tony denied, shaking his head."Anything but that."
"Can't be helped. That's what every girl will eventually keen to have."Pepper remarked."The weather changes, kids pair off, first love."
Tony's frown deepened at Pepper's declaration.
"Okay, Pepps."Tony complemented as he placed his cup of coffee down."First of all, Riley is an 11 year old girl, who still has so much to learn and I am the only guy she needs the most right now."
"And you're saying that because?"Pepper asked curiously.
"Probably because I don't have to worry like those other poor sap, sixth-grade fathers."Tony declared with a hint of pride.
Pepper simply smiled before she started eating her fruit salad.
At Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop, Riley and Gwen were ordering the desserts that they wanted to eat to a waiter.
Riley wore a rose print crop top, polka dot pants and turquoise blue jacket with black flower designed shoes.
Gwen wore a 'This Abbey Road' (The Beatles) t-shirt, blue lace long sleeve top and studded leather vest, pale blue jean shorts, cherry red tights and short black boots.
"Angel's food cake for me."Riley replied.
Gwen smirked. "And Devil's food cake for me."
"Sure."the waiter replied, finishing writing down the two girls' orders."Coming right up."
When the waiter walked away, Riley and Gwen started speaking to each other.
"So how was your week, Gwen?"Riley asked.
"Surprisingly, calm and simple since I was actually at Las Vegas, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada with my family during the havoc in New York."Gwen remarked casually."How was last week for you?"
"Besides being kidnapped and being stuck at home by a crazy guy that attempted to take over Earth with an alien army and watching superheroes including my dad kicking their butts, I've surprisingly doing fine."Riley remarked brightly."It's all good."
The smile on Riley's face dropped when she caught sight of a camera guy taking a photo of her outside the pastry shop before walking away.
"Except that?"Gwen guessed.
Riley groaned as she covered her face with the menu list.
"Yes!"Riley retorted, struggling to contain her frustration."Every time I do something or even turn, camera people take photos of me and sometimes I get tackled by reporters who asks me questions on the Avengers! It's crazy!"
Gwen simply shrugged at her best friend's outburst.
"Hey. You're Iron Man's daughter."Gwen informed."Would you expect people to just leave you alone?"
"No. But it is still horrible."Riley whined."How does my dad do it?"
The waiter arrived and placed the two desserts that Riley and Gwen ordered to eat on their table before walking away from them.
The two girls then picked up their forks to start eating their slices of cake.
"The paparazzi hyenas are promised a huge can of money if they hound a celebrity for a day or two."Gwen admitted."Even if means the celebrity's entire life."
"That's awful."Riley retorted, her voice mixed with shock and panic."I so wish my dad sometimes didn't announce to the world that he was Iron Man."
Gwen ate a bit more of her intensely chocolatey dessert.
"No offence, Riles."Gwen complemented while licking a bit of her spoon."But that won't still make a difference since you are a Stark."
"You're right."Riley stated."All the fame of the Stark name before my dad actually started with my Grandfather Howard. He was an inventor, scientist, engineer, businessman and movie director."
"Your grandfather was a movie director too?"Gwen chuckled.
"Yeah."Riley replied with an awkward smile."Through his newly formed film production company Stark Pictures, he began development of a movie titled 'Kid Colt' which was adapted from a comic of the same name that itself was inspired by the real-world stories of the eponymous legendary Old West cowboy."
"Kid Colt?"Gwen said in confusion."I never heard of it."
"Neither did I. It was anyway established in 1947."Riley replied after eating another slice of her angel's food cake and going back to the main subject."So, my Grandfather Howard did so many projects. Though to me, his flying car presentation is like Tesla's Cybertruck presentation."
"That's totally true."Gwen agreed with a nod."Then what about your great-grandparents? What awesomeness did they do?"
"My great-grandfather, Howard Stark Sr. sold fruit and my great-grandmother Alice sewed shirtwaists for livings."Riley admitted.
"Ouch."Gwen grumbled with a smile."No wonder the awesomeness of the Stark name depends now on you and your dad."
"Yep. Being a Stark is not just about having fame."Riley remarked and then waved her hands up."It's pretty much making sure you are giving people extravaganza!"
This caused a smug smirk to grow on Gwen's face.
"So how does thou that hilarious video of the Hulk bullying the crazy psycho that attempted to take over our planet?"Gwen asked.
A soft chuckle escaped from Riley's mouth upon remembering Loki getting thrown around like a rag doll by the Hulk.
"I showed it first to my dad and Pepper. In less than a minute, they were laughing their heads off."Riley exclaimed in amusement."I published 'Hulk bullying a guy with greasy hair' video a few days ago in my Youtube account, it already has 1,913,843 views and 260,080 likes."
Riley and Gwen raised their vanilla chocolate milkshake cups in toast.
"Nice."Gwen praised proudly and ate another slice of her devil's food cake."This is so far the best video filmed by you."
"Did you watch it, Gwen?"Riley asked curiously.
"Oh, I did. And the crazy guy's wheeze at the end is the best thing ever."Gwen remarked."I actually watched your video with my family when we finished eating my dad's famous confit byaldi and my mum said 'That's hilarious! Let's see it again!" We watched it like, eight times."
Riley used her fork to cut a bit of her angel's food cake slice.
"You know I actually tried to warn Loki that planning to take over our planet was not going to end well for him, but he was too stubborn to listen to reason."Riley exclaimed."If he quitted being the bad guy, I would've liked having him as a magic teacher."
"Don't mean to burst your bubble, Riles. But war crimes are not comparable to a guy losing his temper on some guy that got on his nerves."Gwen complemented and then smirked."And yet, now that I think about it. I would've totally liked learning magic from a Slytherin."
"Oh yeah."Riley chuckled, her warm brown eyes showing excitement."That's exactly the type of Hogwarts House that would've totally suited Loki."
"I know, right? It suits him perfectly."Gwen sneered in delight."And that silky black hair of his? It's exactly like Severus Snape."
Both Riley and Gwen let out light chuckles as they continued chatting with each other while eating their cake slices.
Once they finished eating their cake slices and paying for their treats, the two girls caught sight of reporters at the opposite side of Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop.
"Oh no. It's the paparazzi hyenas."Riley muttered with a nervous smile."The camera guy must've told them I'm here."
"Wanna take the window of the girls' restroom and head to the subway?"Gwen suggested.
"We totally should."Riley insisted."I don't want to get stuck in the media web again."
Riley and Gwen immediately headed to the girls' restroom of the pastry shop to make their escape to the alleyway that would make them avoid the reporters and head off to another road to continue enjoying their time together.
Peter walked with Ned to the subway station, only to see several workers fixing a few nearby buildings that were damaged during the Chitauri invasion.
"Say Pete, can you seriously believe that aliens just tried to take over our planet?"Ned remarked.
"I find it hard to believe it either, Ned."Peter responded."More importantly, I am just glad that me and the people that were held hostage in the bank on 42nd past Madison are fine. Especially, Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I wish to thank Captain America for saving us."
"Well, you're going to need to be a celebrity for that."Ned informed."I thought you were Iron Man's fan?"
"I am."Peter assured."Though my Uncle Ben isn't a fan of his for some weird reason."
"Really?"Ned said in surprise."Tony Stark is an awesome dude. That armour of his-"
As Ned continued speaking, Peter suddenly stopped listening to his best friend when his eyes caught sight on something on the subway.
It was more of a someone than a something.
The presence of Riley Stark.
The daughter of Tony Stark.
His biggest idol.
Riley and Gwen headed down to the underground subway tunnel and paid for their railcards, the two of them idly aware of the excited chatter surrounding their entrance.
Since the attack on New York City, the Avengers were famously known throughout the world.
Also, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inability to deny Steve Rogers' return had led to a dramatic increase in Captain America comic-book sales within just a few days.
The girls now stood by a bar in the middle of the subway.
Riley glanced around the train and saw there was no camera people around causing her to apply lip gloss on her lips.
"Hey, Riles."Gwen chuckled."Since when do you do lip gloss?"
Riley gave Gwen her signature wide smile.
"Oh. What I forgot to mention is that I'm completely reinventing myself."Riley remarked excitedly."I ride the Subway now, I have kiwi lips now and I'm just as cool as you now."
Gwen looked over Riley's shoulder and then smirked.
"Yeah, let's see how cool you can be when you look at him."Gwen encouraged.
Gwen gestured for Riley to turn.
The brunette turned around and saw a cute dark brown haired boy around their age reading a book called 'Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight'.
The boy then looked at Riley with his greyish blue eyes and smiled at her.
Riley awkwardly smiled, then turned back to her best friend and giggled.
"You're gonna need some lessons."Gwen stated."I am going to show you everything you need to know about boys."
Gwen then made her way to the cute boy to talk to him while Riley looked on.
The dark brown haired boy looked at her and gave her a smile, Gwen gave him a dollar smile and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
"Hi."Gwen greeted.
"Hey."the boy greeted back with a small blush.
"I'm just gonna quickly explain this, so just either nod your head yes if it's okay or no if it's not."Gwen explained quietly, knowing her best friend was looking.
The boy looked confused but nodded for her to proceed, Gwen gave him another smile.
"Okay so I know it's really random but my friend wants me to give an example of boys and girls flirting."Gwen declared."So can I please have you as a demonstration?"
The cute boy raised an eyebrow and gave her a smirk.
"Can I get a name first?"the boy asked.
Gwen smirked. "Gwen."
The boy smiled at the name, he found it really cute and unique.
"Tristan."the boy answered.
"Great we've introduced, now let's start."Gwen suggested.
Tristan straightened his posture and listened to her flirting skills.
"Hi. I came over here because I thought you were really cute. I think we should hang out sometime. You make me happy. You don't pay enough attention to me. Nevermind this isn't working out. It's you, not me. I hope we can still be friends."
Tristan nodded in amusement, Gwen mouthed a 'thank you' to him and proceed to walk back towards her friend.
The boy watched her and sighed, hoping to see her again soon.
"He's available, we just broke up."Gwen declared.
Riley looked at Gwen in concern and placed a hand on her arm.
"Are you okay, Gwen?"Riley asked worriedly."Do we need to talk about it?"
Gwen chuckled at Riley and intertwined their fingers.
"I'm fine, Riles."Gwen assured."Now it's your turn."
Gwen unlatched Riley's hand from the bar they were holding as the train jolted, Riley slid down and fell on top of Tristan's lap.
"Hi. We were just talking about you."Riley declared shyly."You used to go out with my friend Gwen."
Tristan looked over at Gwen, who mouthed 'Just go with it'.
He then sighed, but covered it with a smile and nodded.
"Hi, I'm Tristan."Tristan replied."Tristan Proctor."
"I love it."Riley remarked."And you know who I am, right?"
Tristan looked at Riley a little weirded out and gave her an awkward smile.
He noticed how cute, but shy the brunette was.
"Yes. You're Riley Stark."Tristan admitted."Tony Stark's daughter."
"The one and only."Riley chuckled bashfully.
Riley placed herself on the seat next to Tristan, just as a lady walked over to the duo and cleared her throat.
"Perhaps someone would like to give their seat to someone older."the lady requested causing Tristan to quickly stand up and moved to the side."Oh not you, sweet potato pie."
Riley took a deep breath in before letting a quick exhale out and motioned the lady to move in closer, the lady rolled her eyes but proceed to do so.
"Please don't make me move."Riley begged."I just wanna see where this goes."
"I've just worked a 12-hour shift and I just wanna see where this goes."the lady commented and smacked her booty."Okay, Miss Stark?"
Riley sighed sadly and stood up from the seat.
"Okay."Riley answered and walked over to Gwen."That was great!"
"You're welcome."Gwen replied.
"What if that was the moment of my life?"Riley panicked, she wished she could've kept talking to the cute boy she fell on not too long ago."What if nothing ever happens to me again?"
Without any warning, Gwen simply smirked and unlatched Riley's hand again.
Though, Riley landed this time in the lady's lap.
The lady looked at Riley with an annoyed expression.
"It's for you."the lady stated.
The lady placed Riley on top of Tristan's lap, who looked at her awkwardly.
"Hey, Pete!"
Peter let out a startled gasp when Ned snapped out of his thoughts.
The two boys were in the LEGO Store to buy the next action figures for their Star Wars collection.
"Sorry, Ned."Peter apologised."What were you saying?"
"I was asking you if we should buy the model of the Death Star or the AT-AT Walker five minutes ago."Ned admitted.
"Yeah, yeah, they're both great."Peter answered casually."We can buy both if you like."
"My mum said we can only buy one."Ned reminded.
"Then choose one."Peter insisted.
Ned frowned, knowing Peter was not being himself.
"Come on, Peter. What's up?"Ned questioned."You were so excited to go to the LEGO Store and then you are daydreaming like-"
Ned suddenly paused from talking, making Peter look at him.
"What?"Peter asked.
"You like her."Ned admitted.
"Like who?"Peter questioned.
Ned smiled. "You're thinking about Riley Stark."
Panic started to grow inside Peter, making him let out a scoff.
"What?"Peter chuckled, acting confused by his best friend's declaration."I'm totally not."
"Then how do you explain the drawing of her in your science notebook?"Ned questioned.
"How do you know it's even Iron Man's daughter?"Peter scoffed."It's actually Albert Einstein's wife, Elsa Einstein in her youth."
Ned raised an eyebrow at Peter's utterly poor convincing respond.
"You're not buying that, are you?"Peter asked.
Ned shook his head.
"Nope."Ned responded.
Peter let out a scowl.
"Fine. It's Riley Stark."Peter replied in defeat."No big deal."
"No big deal? You have a crush on your idol's daughter."Ned clarified."Of course, it's a big deal."
The sound of the LEGO Store's doors opening was heard in the background.
"Okay. Even if it is, I wouldn't have a chance to talk to her."Peter commented."Like you said, she's from the in-crowd and we're just nerds."
"No problem."Ned assured in smile."She is just heading to our way just now with Gwendolyne Warren."
Peter frowned. "I'm not falling for that."
"Boo!"
Peter became shocked and hit the floor before lifting his head up to see Gwen and Riley looking down at him.
"Hey, tiger."Gwen greeted with a casual smile."Did anyone tell you or your best bud, it's impolite to talk about others behind their backs?"
Peter frowned before Ned helped him out.
"Thanks, Gwen."Peter thanked sarcastically."I'll make sure to remember that."
Riley simply smiled at Peter and Ned.
"So you're Peter Parker?"Riley assumed."Professor Warren's star pupil."
"Y-Yeah, I am."Peter answered, trying to not act nervous before introducing Ned."And this is my best bud, Ned Leeds."
"Hi."Ned said with a wave.
Gwen smirked and put her arm around Riley's shoulder.
"They were also the ones stalking you when you were singing at Music Class."Gwen informed.
Riley gives a questioning look to Peter and Ned.
"Really?"Riley asked.
"We weren't stalking, Gwen."Peter commented.
"We were just looking secretly watching to avoid getting any unwanted attention."Ned clarified.
"That still counts as stalking."Gwen sneered.
Peter rolled his eyes while Riley covered her mouth to giggle.
"Right now, I am trying to lay low."Riley declared."The paparazzi hyenas are looking for me to ask questions about the Avengers."
"Yikes."Peter chuckled with a small smile."It must be exhausting."
"You have no idea."Riley declared.
"Hey, I have a few questions."Ned remarked."Do Avengers have to pay taxes? What does Hulk smell like? I bet he smells nice."
Both Peter and Riley gives Ned a weird look causing Gwen to simply chuckle.
"No offence, Ned."Gwen spoke up."But when Riles says she wants to lay low, it officially means no questions asked."
"Fine."Ned retorted.
Then an idea hit Riley's head.
"Hey, how about I treat you all at Dave & Buster's?"Riley suggested."There are variety of video games and pizza there."
This caused both Peter and Ned to become excited.
"Really?"Peter asked.
"You want us to hang out with you?"Ned said in surprise."No one has ever done this before."
"Well, I am doing it now."Riley remarked.
"Excuse us."Gwen suggested before dragging Riley near a Lego sculpture of Darth Vader to speak to her best friend."Riles, I thought you said you wanted to lay low."
"I am. But that doesn't mean no fun or making new friends."Riley exclaimed."And besides, if you don't your parents to scowl for failing your science tests, I am sure Peter can help you out."
"Okay."Gwen answered with a shrug."That's fair."
Riley and Gwen then returned to where Peter and Ned were.
"We are all good."Riley declared."So let's go."
"Yes!"Peter and Ned cheered in unison.
Gwen simply rolled her eyes as she and Riley headed out of the LEGO store with Peter and Ned following in tow.