mr stark is blonde?!
Peter sighed as he stepped into the elevator. It had been a long day-no a long week. So what if it was only Tuesday?
“Welcome back, Peter. Where to?” FRIDAY’s voice asked. Peter sleepily mumbled “lab, please,” as he shut his eyes and let a gentle smile creep onto his face at the thought of unwinding after school in Mr Stark’s lab. It was always relaxing to slip into rhythm with Mr Stark. Sometimes they worked in silence, words unneeded as they focused on whatever project sat before them, their motions in sync as if they had a quiet understanding, and sometimes they rambled at the other, (well, that one was mostly Peter) words about science and Karen’s programming and Spider-Man’s patrols and school flowing fast and without stopping for breath. Tony would deny it, but he actually found Peter’s rambling endearing and was always there to listen if he needed to rant.
Peter shuffled out of the tower’s elevator, ready for the quiet kind of afternoon when he froze in the doorway to the lab, watching as Mr Stark spun around in circles in a chair. And he had also dyed his curly hair... blonde?
“Uhh hello Mr Stark? I didn’t kn-“ Peter cut himself off when the man stopped spinning and looked at him. Ok, either Peter was really tired and just hallucinating but that looked like a boy around his age. In the lab. And Mr Stark was nowhere to be seen.
He blinked as if to clear his vision but that obviously didn’t do anything to change the scene. “You’re not Mr Stark,” he stated dumbly.
“No,” the boy replied, looking amused at Peter who just blinked again and stared at the stranger, taking in his floppy hair and bright blue mischievous eyes and his growing smirk, wondering who on earth this kid was and how he was here in Mr Stark’s private lab and how did he look so hot with that dumb smirk before he realised he should probably say something.
“Who are you, then?” Peter stumbled out, “wait no that sounded kinda rude I just mean i haven’t seen you around before and Mr Stark doesn’t let just anyone into his lab unless I went to the wrong floor but that would mean FRIDAY made a mistake and she doesn-“ he cut himself off as the boy’s amused smile just grew even more at his rambling and Peter wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Why was he so awkward?
“I’m Harley,” the other teen chuckled, his voice laced with a slight southern drawl. He wasn’t giving Peter incredulous or annoyed looks so he let himself relax slightly and told himself to calm down.
“Peter,” he said, pointing at himself and continued to stare dumbly, words lost in his haze of a brain and he really couldn’t deal with this right now. He was so confused.
⎊
Harley continued to smirk at the cute dork that had appeared in the doorway. The poor guy was clearly struggling but Harley was a little shit and didn’t help out, just continued looking at the random kid with the brown waves and big doe eyes and nerdy sweater who apparently knew Tony.
He raised an eyebrow, before sassily asking “...sooo are you just gonna keep staring or..?” And when the boy- Peter- blushed and looked away, Harley almost died at how adorable and bashful he looked and ok wow that was quick. How is he already enamoured when he doesn’t even know this person?
He apparently decided to take pity on him and added “I’m kidding. Tony told me to wait here, he’ll be back in a second.”
Right on cue, a voice sounded behind Peter’s head as Tony froze in the doorway too. “Oh no,” he muttered quietly as he looked between the two, “the apocalypse is coming...”
“Hey, old man! When were you going to introduce me to this cutie?” Harley chimed, motioning to Peter in front of him. Tony shook his head, “There’s a reason I never introduced you two murder children. For my own sanity.” He looked exasperated and Peter chucked at the look on his face before what Harley said sunk in. Wait, did he just say-
“That’s rude, we’re great, and you denied us our friendship,” Harley put on an exaggerated innocent face, his lips curling into a pout as Mr Stark looked at him disbelievingly before sighing.
“Well I guess I was just delaying the inevitable, especially now that you’re in New York and about to go to the same school as Peter...”
Peter tilted his head like a confused puppy so Harley added: “I’m from Tennessee, baby! And now I have escaped to come and enrich this billionaire’s life.”
“By enrich he means live with and leach off of, and apparently, torment.”
Peter was still confused. He didn’t have the brain energy to try and figure this out right now, and one of his only functioning brain cells was having a gay panic at the new kid, which wasn’t helping, like, at all. “...Cool?” He said, eliciting a giggle from Harley.
“You’re a man of many words, I see.”
Peter blushed again, but Harley’s laugh seemed to wake up some of his brain cells at least, allowing him to respond. “Oh honey, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Tony blinked. What.
“Did you just fucking giggle??” He stared at Harley, who was definitely acting weird. Then at Peter, also acting weird. He had never heard the kid respond so smoothly and so sassily before. When he first met Dr Banner he had stuttered so much that he gave up trying to talk to him and just gave him a thumbs up before practically running away. He would be proud right now if he wasn’t currently fearing for his life.
They ignored him.
“Well I just know you’re gonna show me.”
Tony was so done with this. I should probably warn the avengers... he thought.
“You’re gonna need a tour guide around midtown, right?”
They boys looked at each other with twin smirks.
Tony whispered to himself, “I cant believe I’ve done this,” before turning to walk away, not missing the completely synchronised, deadpan, “aw fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this,” and two voices laughing.