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It was fine. He was Tony Stark, and he didn’t need to pay attention to someone like Peter Quill.
Laughable, really, his schoolboy crush on a genius and a billionaire. Bad enough that Tony had to deal with Peter’s presence at Avengers HQ, but he had to suffer through Peter’s stupid, stupid crush.
What a mess he’d gotten himself into.
“Mr. Quill? Are you listening Mr. Quill?” Oh, someone had told him something.
The Guardians had to meet with The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. after the whole Thanos business, setting up contingencies and communication lines and this and that and blah blah blah. Peter was trying, he really was, but this particular meeting was so boring, he was pretty sure Captain America himself had checked out.
And Tony was really distracting in those clothes. His dress shirt was casually unbuttoned a few buttons and his hair was all messed up. Probably from working some upgrade or another. Tony was always doing that. Oh shit, Tony noticed him staring.
“Star Prince, you alright?” Fuck, the meeting, right.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m good. Can you repeat that?”
A higher up of S.H.I.E.L.D. was prattling on and on about chain of command and who has authority over who in what situation. They seemed to defeat Thanos just fine without any of this bullcrap, so Peter wasn’t sure what this was all about.
This was meeting three out of eight and Peter was probably going to murder either himself or someone else.
Well, at least Tony kept holding gatherings every night. Peter’s team got to get to know “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” and Peter got to admire Tony Stark. He wasn’t even going to attempt to talk to him. He was Tony Stark, known for his charisma and being a playboy.
“Is that not what you are known for?” Drax had reasoned when he asked Peter why he was hiding in a corner at last night’s party. Peter just made a noise of agreement. He couldn’t be bothered to explain himself to the man. He would just wallow in self pity until he got over his stupid, stupid crush. And he would just ignore the fact that he’s fallen in love with all of his stupid crushes, and take off on the Milano at the end of the week.
Peter tapped his fingers against his knee and glanced over at the clock. 15 minutes left. Damn the stupid logistics meetings.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Captain Rogers asks a question about the rotating roster.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Agent Romanov adds a snarky comment.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Gamora asks a question that annoys the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Peter makes a joke about said comment.
Tap. Tap. Stop.
Tony smiles at Peter. Peter smiles back.
Tap. Tap. Tap. For the next 15 bloody minutes.
And then the meeting finally ends. Peter trusts that Gamora listened and understood whatever-the-hell that meeting was about. Peter was just gonna go back to hiding in his guest room.
But, damn his luck, Peter was stopped in the hallway by one Tony Stark.
“Hey Quill, you and I should talk.” He said. Oh boy.
“Talk? About what?”
“You really zoned that hard? I’m supposed to make you and your team some upgrades.” Tony laughed.
“You’re gonna have a hellava time telling that to Rocket.”
“I’ll play nice if he does.”
“Not likely with him. Doesn’t even play nice with me.”
“What about you, huh? How do you play?”
Was Tony, flirting with him? No, he couldn’t be, that’s ridiculous.
“Um, well, I uh.” Peter was sure that he was good at this at some point. Tony just grinned and continued on his way.
Stupid, stupid crush. That’s what it was.
Okay, so maybe it was more than a crush.
Really, can you blame him? It’s Tony-fucking-Stark. He’s a good man. With a great ass, that Peter was admiring - not ogling, thank you very much Gamora - from a far.
It was kinda embarrassing. Peter had only had about 5 conversations with this man, and his heart still skipped a beat every time he saw Tony. Peter sighed and ordered himself another drink. Maybe if he got drunk enough he would forget about it.
He slumped down in his seat and put his head on the bar counter. The counter that Tony Stark himself put in Avengers HQ. Because he was rich and famous. Who was Peter kidding? Stark was out of his league.
Someone sat down in the bar stool next to him, but he didn’t look up. Peter focused on the beat of whatever song was playing. It wasn’t one of the better songs of the twenty first century, but it was alright.
“Peter, you alright?”
Shit, speak of the devil. Peter’s head shot up and he was face to face with Tony and his big brown eyes.
“Uh, yeah,” Peter cleared his throat, “Yeah I’m doin’ great. What brings you to my dark corner?”
“Technically, it’s my corner, but you looked bothered by something. Team related?” Tony asked. Peter was going to lie, but he could see honest hints of concern in the man’s eyes. Damn him.
“No, not exactly.” Peter answered. Tony made a gesture as if to say ‘go on’. Peter stared at the counter, contemplating on how much to reveal.
“It’s stupid, really. A silly problem.”
“A problem, nonetheless.”
“A solution, for which, I can find another day.”
“Well, can I get your mind off of it?” Tony leant forward ever so slightly and winked at Peter. Peter’s breath hitched.
“You can certainly try.”
Tony slid from his seat and held out his hand to Peter. Oh boy, Peter thought, I better not screw this shit up.
A slow song starts playing over the speakers. People start pairing up. Peter curses the universe and everyone in it.
“Look at that, a slow dance.” Tony is all charm. Peter cannot seem to remember a single pick-up line or flirting strategy. The roles had flipped on him and he really didn’t know what to do, he was just along for the ride.
Tony tugged Peter into his chest, his hands on Peter’s waist. Peter instinctively put his hands on Tony’s shoulders.
“If I didn’t know better I’d think you had planned this.” Peter phrased it more like a question than a statement.
“Then I guess you don’t know better. I suppose if you did, you would’ve made a move by now.” Tony grinned up at him. Peter sputtered for a few moments before giving up.
“I’m that obvious, huh?”
“No, but your friends are.”
“Gamora is going to suffer for this. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I can make it up to you. Or not. I can just finish up here and be off into space.” Peter was rambling. He knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop himself at this point.
“Or you know I could leave now. Just my team could stay here, or-” Peter was cut off by Tony’s hand covering his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise as the other man planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Or you could take me on a date.”
Before Peter could stop his mouth from moving, be blurted out “Uh, why me? I mean, I’m interested, but you’re Tony Stark and I’m, well, a space pirate.” Tony snorted at ‘space pirate’ and shook his head.
“I guess I’ve a thing for mysterious men from space.”
“Oh.” Peter did not blush. Absolutely not. He was suave, he was fucking Starlord. Iron Man did not make him blush.
Peter was going to rain hellfire upon Gamora.
Peter was going to buy Gamora a fucking gift basket. If those were still a thing on Earth. After he destroyed her, of course. But he still had to thank her.
If it wasn’t for Gamora being an absolute gossip, Peter would not be stargazing on the lawn of Avengers HQ with billionaire Tony-fucking-Stark. The date might be the only thing Peter was proud of in this whole fiasco. It started with dinner, then a movie, and then dessert on a picnic blanket on the grass.
Cheesy, yes, but who said cheesy didn’t work?
Tony was curled up against Peter’s side as the brown-haired man pointed out constellations in the sky. For all the planet hopping Peter did, he didn’t know Earth’s little corner of the universe. It was a foreign sky to him.
“Maybe one day you can see the constellations up close from the Milano.” Peter suggested.
“Mr. Quill, are you asking for a second date?” Tony twisted around, resting his chin on Peter’s chest.
“Uh, yes, if you, if that is a thing, something, that you want.” Peter said. Tony giggled. Tony Stark giggled.
“Relax, Rocket Man. I’d love another date.” Tony’s grin turned into a softer smile.
“Hey, I understood that one!” Peter laughed at Tony rolling his eyes.
“Oh boy, this is gonna be Rogers and Barnes all over again. We have a lot of catching up for you to do, because I’ll be damned if someone I’m going on dates with doesn’t like AC/DC or at least Metallica.” Peter leaned back and listened to Tony ramble on and on.
Peter knew he was catching feelings fast, but how could he not? A genius inventor who was beautiful and kind and snarky, he was just Peter’s type. More so, Tony was a hero. A good man.
Peter’s hand ran through Tony’s hair, drawing a sigh out of the man. Tony twisted around again, resting above Peter this time. He leaned in, giving Peter a chance to push him away. When Peter flicked his eye’s down to Tony’s lips, said man dove down and placed his lips against Peter’s.
Peter placed a hand on the back of Tony’s neck, deepening the kiss. Tony swung his leg over, effectively straddling Peter. Before the kiss could get any more heated, Peter placed a hand on Tony’s chest.
“What? Did I overstep?” Tony immediately leaned back.
“No, no. I just want to do this right. I like you, Tony.”
“I like you, too.” Tony laughed, leaning back down to place his head on Peter’s chest.
Maybe, Peter thought, maybe this will work and something beautiful will come out of this war.