December 18th, 2012

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Following the Battle of New York, Tony Stark and his brand were becoming many things. The days of being a no-accountability war profiteer were already well behind him, but he hardly anticipated playing landlord to a ragtag team of honest-to-god superheros. In the aftermath, that was one the first things he set about doing with Pepper. With her blessing, Tony had thrown himself into it. Never one to half-ass things, he oversaw the extensive remodeling to accommodate the specific needs of each and every Avenger. Several were essentially homeless and there was no initiative for the superpowerly-abled, even in a place as progressive as New York.

Including Steve. Even if he called Stark Tower ugly and immediately found an apartment somewhere in Brooklyn. Even though Tony set aside one of the top 12 floors for him like everyone else. Fine.

Today was all about adding that personal touch. He was giving free room and board, might as well be a gracious sugar daddy about it. Besides, who wanted to thwart crime with a guy or gal whose liquor of choice you couldn't name? Just bad form.

Stopping outside the luxury suite dedicated to the arguably most unique new friendly friend, Tony bounced on his heels. He contemplated just walking in for a split second, but he liked having his cranium hammer-free. And it was still about being gracious--as much as he could be. "JARVIS? Ping Point Break for me." Tony didn't feel like knocking. This was a compromise.

"Mr. Odinson, you have a visitor." JARVIS dutifully announced from within Thor's quarters.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

Peter is still walking around on skates. The fact he's still wearing them doesn't even register in his head right now.

"Always, s-- Mr. Stark," he says. "I really want to be an inventor when I grow up. Just like -- you know, just like you."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Uh-huh. Eat your spinach and peas and get A's and B's and you can be just like Iron Man one day." Tony pushed to stand, mentally cringing at how identical he sounded to those god awful Captan America PSAs. "Wanna, uh, get your feet on there, champ?" He gestured towards the skates.

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks down at his feet, realizing for the first time that his skates are still there.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," he says and he sits down and begins to unlace just as Thor joins them and sits right beside him.

Thor. Sitting next to him. Unlacing his skates like a normal person.

Was this real life?

[st_ormbreaker]

"Are we leaving?" Thor asks as he begins, untying his skates. It proves an easier task than tying them up. He can barely remember Tony's explanation now, except it involved dogs and rabbits. Or was it wolves and rabbits? Thor can't remember.

"Did you give him your autograph?"

Thor sets a hand on Peter's back, and he can feel the boy tense beneath his hand, so he gives him a few more friendly pats to loosen him up a little. Far less strong than he might give them to Tony. Midgardian children were precious, but they were also very fragile.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"We can come back another day." Tony gave a few firm pats to Thor's back in turn. "Pen and paper is being delivered courtesy of Christine. C'mon, boys." Tony set off, motioning them to follow. The Bentley was no doubt waiting right past the gates.

[st_arkintern]

Peter tugs on his shoes, then watches without judgement as Thor attempts to wrestle with his shoelaces before shoving the ends into his shoe under his foot.

It's so weird how normal they are. Well, sort of. Maybe they didn't have tennis shoes in Asgard? It didn't really match the aesthetic if Thor's uniform (was it a uniform?) was typical Asgardian fashion.

"I can't go for very long," Peter says, following after Tony, Thor right behind him. "My friend's mom's watching us and if she doesn't see me after awhile, she's probably going to freak out." They were all only 10 after all.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"It'll be fine. Thor's not scary. Right, Cupcake?" Letting Peter walk ahead so as to make sure he was within sight, Tony gave Thor's arm a light punch,

[st_ormbreaker]

"If we're taking preferences into consideration, I prefer Point Break."

Peter turns around, walking backwards. "Point Break?" he asks.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"My cute nickname for him. It's the hair."

As the emerged from the skating rink entrance, Tony's Bentley sat resplendent in wait, hugging the sidewalk in the drop-off zone. As humbly as Tony and Thor were dressed, the sight of them approaching such a high-end vehicle began to attract looks and murmuring.

Tony paid it all no heed. Their attempts to go incognito were likely in vain from the beginning.

"Here, let me just--" Tony slid in.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor waves at the murmuring humans as he climbs in after Tony. If they were already discovered, there's no reason that Earth's Mightest Heroes might be known as Earth's Unfriendliest Heroes.

Peter, on the other hand, uncertainly looks around as he stands outside the vehicle.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony poked his head out, leaning right over Thor to do it. "You coming in, kid? It's cold out."

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks behind him, hesitatingly. "We're not going to be gone long, right?"

Amy's mom was going to freak if she saw that he was missing, but... what other chance was he going to get to hang out with Thor and Tony Stark?

Without giving it another thought, Peter quickly scrambles inside and sits next to Tony.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony was handling a 4x8" notepad, doodling on it readily with the pen as he wanted for Peter to make himself comfy. There was a drawing of a child--presumably Peter--lifting Iron Man above his head as a monster drawn in the vein of Godzilla fell to the earth in defeat.

"What's your name, kid?"

[st_arkintern]

Thor watches as Tony doodles on the paper, as does Peter.

"Um, Peter," he says, cheeks growing red. The nerves he felt the first moment he saw the two of them hadn't abated.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony passed the drawing to Thor as if having the other proud warrior doodle on a notepad were the most expected thing on earth.

"Well, Mr. Peter," He reached out to ruffle the boy's hair, "You saved Iron Man from the cold, hard ice. How do you feel?"

[st_arkintern]

Thor begins to doodle a character that is clearly him. Though he's taller and broader than the Tony figure, the Thor-figure's height is eclipsed by a Mjölnir that is larger than even he is, which he holds over his head.

"I didn't really save you," Peter scrambles to say. "I didn't even help you up."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Wow. Were kids always such a tough crowd?

"No, no, it's about energy. You know. Morale." He prodded Peter resolutely in his chest. "You didn't know who we were before you helped us up, right? You did it because it was the right thing to do."

[st_arkintern]

That manages to draw a smile from Peter.

"He's right," he says, finishing it off with his signature. He hands it over to Peter, who looks down at it, grinning.

"It's important to do the right thing, even it's not convenient."

Peter nods at that. "I'm just..." Peter takes a breath there. "I'm just really excited that I really get to meet my two favorite Avengers."

That draws a grin from Thor.

"Just don't tell the others they're not my absolute favorites," Peter scrambles to say. "I still like all of them."

Just not as much as Tony Stark and Thor.

Especially after Tony had saved him.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"It'll be our secret."

Mostly. Pepper was going to be the first to hear about it.

Tony offered his knuckles for a fist bump. "Alright, young buck. Don't use that to make your friends jealous, alright? Now skedaddle." 'I don't need anyone thinking the Avengers abduct children.'

[st_arkintern]

I won't.

Peter fistbumps him back and begins to depart until Thor holds his hand up to him to high-five.

Thor knows the high-five.

And with that, Peter departs, clutching his autographs. He grins down at it.

Ned's not going to believe this.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

As the boy disappeared into the crowd, Tony gave a pleasant wave to the crowd, blew a little kiss, and then the doors were shut and the superhero pair were once again left to themselves.

"...Cute kid." Tony shrugged in a way that could almost be read as bashful. "Good taste."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I wonder what Banner and Rogers would think of that," Thor says, smiling. He's sure there's plenty of kids who are diehard fans of the other Avengers, but Thor liked that the humans liked him. He especially liked it when the small ones did.

"You're good with kids," he tells Tony. "I did not think you would be."

It's true; Tony's personality didn't exactly scream kid-friendly.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Oh, of course. Tony Stark has a cold iron exterior and a cold iron heart. He has to pay people to kiss the babies at publicity events for him." Tony made a 'go on' gesture.

"Kids are fine. Thunder gods who don't make good on their offers to let me touch their immaculately golden hair? Not so much."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor looks at Tony, perplexed. "I recall telling you you could touch it, but you recoiled from it in fear or disgust."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony raised an insistent hand. "Yeah, your hammer came out of nowhere right as I was going for it and I jumped. It's a perfectly natural physiological reaction people get. Earth doesn't deal in flying blunt objects when we're making small talk."