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"You realise we can just go to IHOP or something?"
Tony leaned against the wall, looking bemused at the flurry of activity in the kitchen.
"Exactly my point" groaned MJ. Her eyes widened. "Ned, watch out for the eggs. Ned, the eggs!"
Peter's hand shot out, grabbing the falling egg, to everyone's audible relief.
"I know Mr Stark" He flashed the man a grin, dropping a bag of flour on the table and carefully placing the egg back in its place. "But this is fun!"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine" he said, starting to walk away. "I have a meeting, so I'll be away for a few hours."
He stopped at the door, glancing behind. "You better not blow up the kitchen again" he warned. "Shuri, MJ, I'm counting on you two to keep the boys in check".
The door clicked shut.
Peter laughed nervously. "So, let's make pancakes?"
"Wait a second" MJ grinned, leaning forward on the table. "You blew up the kitchen?"
Peter groaned, burying his face in his hands.
"I don't know what I did" he cried. "I was trying to make toast and then" He gestured vaguely. "The place just blew up"
"right, the kitchen spontaneously combusted" Shuri said dryly.
Peter scowled at her.
"Have you even made pancakes before?" MJ asked him.
"Nope!" answered Peter.
But how hard could it be? Unless, well, unless you were Aunt May and managed to light the ceiling on fire trying to make pancakes. He'd had to throw a pot of water to put it out. But they didn't have to know what.
Shuri picked up her phone, opening the tab their recipe was on. "Okay first we need to mix the dry ingredients"
"How about Ned and I do the dry ingredients, and you two mix the wet ones?" Peter suggested.
MJ stood up, grabbing the milk. "Yea that works for me"
Ned started measuring the ingredients as Peter mixed them, humming to himself.
"What if we made chocolate pancakes" Ned proposed, his eyes bright.
"Or chocolate chip" added Shuri.
"RAINBOW PANCAKES" exclaimed Peter.
"Maybe try making some normal ones first" MJ suggested. Peter deflated slightly.
"that's probably the best course of action" he admitted.
"so, we know Peter has never made pancakes and based on the blowing up the kitchen comment he's shit at cooking-" Shuri began.
Peter looked insulted but didn't disagree with her.
"And I'm good in a lab but not a kitchen, so has anyone else here ever made pancakes?"
Ned brightened.
"Yea, when I was-"
"A YOUNG BOI"
"Peter no"
"MY FATHER"
"Peter."
"TOOK ME INTO THE CITY"
"TO SEE A MARCHING BAND"
MJ groaned, then flicked a chocolate chip at Ned, who caught it in his mouth. "HE SAID-Hey, no eating the ingredients" complained Peter.
"Peter"
"Hmm?"
"Your mouth is full of chocolate. And sugar. How on earth can you sing with a mouth full of sugar like that?"
"Or eat sugar by itself in the first place" added Ned.
Peter threw a handful of flour at Shuri as a answer.
"Hey, you're getting flour in the wet ingredients" she complained.
Mj glanced at the bowl. "It's fine, you should mix it together anyway at this point"
Peter slowly poured the dry ingredients into the wet ones. "Do you cook?" He asked MJ curiously.
"Sometimes" she admitted. "But it's pretty much common sense that if both the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed, you should put them together."
Ned snorted. "You're talking to a dude who swings around New York in spandex, common sense is out of the window.
"Hey" protested Peter.
It wasn't spandex. Okay it was, but it was reinforced spandex. With web shooters. And an AI. How many people could say they had their own AI? And he had common sense, thank you very much.
"Is it supposed to be this thick?" complained Shuri. "It's so hard to mix"
"I think you need to add more milk"
"YOU HEARD THE LADY IT NEEDS SOME MILK" Peter backflipped to the fridge, grabbing the carton.
"Don't you dare backflip back here with a carton of milk"
"...he did it"
"Of course he did"
Peter bowed, before adding the milk to the batter.
"Show off" grumbled Ned.
Carton still in hand, he bounced up and down on his feet, his face lit with excitement. "Is it ready?"
MJ walked over to the other side of the kitchen, placing a pan over the stove and turning it on. "Can someone pass me some butter?" She called.
Shuri picked up the butter.
"Hey MJ!"
She swung her arm back. "YEET"
MJ dove forward, catching the butter with one hand, before steadying herself on the wall. "Yea, throw it a bit harder next time!"
Shuri grinned in response. MJ rolled her eyes, smiling, if only a tiny bit, before placing a blob of butter in the middle of the pan.
"Peter, bring the batter!"
"Okay"
He brought the now thinned batter to the stove, followed by Ned and Shuri. They all huddled together, watching as MJ poured a circle into the melted butter.
"Ohhh"
"Perfect"
"How long should it cook for before flipping?" Peter reached for the phone to check, but Shuri beat him to the answer.
"I think 2 or 3 minutes" she said, glancing at MJ for confirmation.
MJ nodded. "That's about right."
______________________________________________________
"It looks okay, should I flip it?"
Peter said, peering at the pancake. He poked it gently with his spatula.
"Yea, go for it"
All he had to do was slide the spatula under the pancake and lift it-"WHOOPS"
"PETER" yelled Shuri.
"I THOUGHT IT'D BE HEAVIER"
Shit shit shit. He groaned inwardly.
"I GET THAT BUT NOW THERE'S A PANCAKE ON THE CEILING "
The pancake formed a perfect, innocent lookin circle on the ceiling on Tony Stark's kitchen.
"CAN EVERYONE PLEASE STOP YELLING" screamed Ned.
"Should I climb up and get it?" asked Peter. Mr Stark was going to kill him.
"Yea, do that-OH GOD IT'S COMING DOWN"
Peter watched as the pancake's battery side slowly detached from the ceiling and plummeted towards them. "SPATULA IT PETER SPATULA IT"
Peter swung his spatula like a baseball bat towards the falling pancake.
It sailed through the air and splattered against a dumbfounded Bruce Banner, who'd just walked in.
The spatula fell from Peter's hand and onto the floor.
Oh shit.
__
"So let me get this straight" Tony rubbed his forehead absently. He could already feel a headache forming.
"You started making pancakes"
"Correct"
"Then a pancake somehow ended up on the ceiling"
Shuri glanced at the splotch on the kitchen ceiling. "Also correct"
"Then that same pancake ended up on Bruce"
"Yes."
"And in all of this, why is Peter sitting on the ceiling?"
Peter groaned into his hands. He was sitting cross legged next to the chandelier, his curly hair hanging in the air.
Tony rolled his eyes. First, Pepper had forced him to go to a meeting. Now, he had to deal with this. Still, Tony couldn't help smile as he remembered the bewildered look on Bruce's face as he'd passed him in the hall. The scientist had mumbled something about "teenagers in the kitchen" to him, before walking away, a circle of pancake batter still on his shirt.
"He can't believe he hit doctor Banner with a pancake" Ned piped up helpfully.
"Ah." That explained it.
"I pancaked Dr. Banner! The most renounced scientist of the generation" groaned Peter.
Tony smothered a smile. "Hey Pete" he called.
"Yes, Mr. Stark?"
"Wanna come down to the lab? I think Bruce was heading there. I'll introduce you to him properly."
Peter brightened. He pushed himself off the ceiling, landing gracefully on his feet. Tony couldn't stop himself from wincing as he landed, despite knowing the kid was okay. It was stupid stunts like this that would get him killed, sooner or later. He pushed that thought away.
"Kid, you keep getting footprints on the ceiling and walls" he complained.
"Sorry Mr. Stark" He had the decency to at least look sheepish about it.
Tony headed towards the door. "You coming, Peter?"
"I..." His voice trailed off as he glanced at his friends. "It's fine" called Shuri. "We'll finish making the pancakes" added MJ.
He smiled at them, then turned and followed Tony out the door.
Peter had always walked with a slight, nervous skip in his step. It was one of the first things Tony had noticed about him, how he looked ready to jump up and fight or run away at any moment. He supposed it came with being a teenage superhero. Today, it was even more prominent as they walked down the hall.
"It'll be fine" Tony said finally, breaking the silence.
"You and Bruce are both awkward science nerds, you'll get on like a house on fire"
"But I hit him with a pancake" he said uncertaintly.
Tony rolled his eyes, slinging his arm over Peter's shoulder.
"Kid, it was an accident. There's no way he's mad. It's a fucking pancake"
"Personally, I would have laughed my head off if you'd hit me with a pancake" he added.
"Does he know that I'm Spiderman?" Peter asked suddenly.
"No. It's your personal information, I wouldn't give it out without asking you. You can tell him if you want though, Bruce can keep a secret."
Peter smiled at that.
The door to the lab opened with a soft chime. Bruce was sitting at the far table. He looked up as the door opened.
"Hey Bruce."
He gestured at Peter. "This is Peter. He's my personal intern, and also the kid that hit you with a pancake"
"Oh my god" Peter blurted out. "You're Bruce Banner"
Eloquent as always, Peter.
"I-I've read all your pages and, and researches on Gamma radiation"
Ah. That was better. Tony hadn't known that, and he was impressed to say the least. With his personality and brains, the kid had his whole future ahead of him.
Bruce's eyes lit up.
"Have you really?"
Tony smirked to himself. They were going to get along so well.
-------
"Dr. Banner?" Peter asked shyly.
They'd been talking up a storm about all the researches and articles he'd published, with Tony commenting and voicing his opinion every now and then. He hadn't really been listening as much as thinking of all the possible ways he could upgrade the kid's suit to make it even more secure. Maybe then he'd be able to sleep without worrying about some crazy kid swinging around fighting crime. In spandex. Tony had never seen Bruce so talkative - Peter on the other hand could talk your ear off any time-. They'd finally seemed to run out of things to talk about.
"Would you like to eat pancakes?"
MJ, Shuri, Ned and I, they're my friends, we were making them and I thought..."He trailed off, suddenly unsure.
"I'd love to, Peter" came the reply.
Tony elbowed Peter in the hallway as they walked back. Told you, he mouthed. Peter grinned at him, looking thrilled.
"Why don't you get excited to see me, too? I'll have you know I'm a famous scientist and engineer, too." Tony complained, only half joking.
"Yea but you're you, Mr. Stark"
"Whatever that's supposed to mean" he grumbled.
The scene that greeted then back in the kitchen was so normal it almost threw Tony off. He hadn't thought the three teenagers were able to remain civil for that much time. The smell coming from the table was amazing, he had to admit. He realized he'd skipped breakfast that day. Well, as long as Pepper or Peter didn't find out.
"Nice of you to join us!" Shuri called out from behind a giant stack of pancakes. MJ raised a fork in greeting, while Ned seemed to be trying to drown his pancakes in maple syrup.
"Don't tell me you finished them" complained Peter.
"Relax" said Ned, pointing to a plate on the countertop. "There's plenty left."
The three piled their plates with pancakes, Tony swiping the maple syrup from Ned as he passed.
"Hey" Ned complained half-heartedly
"You're going to finish the whole bottle at this rate. Maple syrup isn't cheap, you know."
"You're a literal billionaire" MJ pointed out. Tony shrugged, shoving a forkful of pancakes to his mouth.
Bruce glanced around the room, frowning. "Why are there footprints on the walls?"
"Spiderman comes here often. I still can't get him to take his shoes off before he walks all over the walls" Tony said smoothly, looking pointedly at Peter.
Shuri snorted her water.
"Oh" said Bruce, looking amused. "These are really good, guys. You're not bad cooks" he commented.
All it took was one glance at the stain on the ceiling before they all burst out laughing.
"Mr. Stark? I think I have a solution for the footprints on the walls problem." said Peter as the laughter died down.
"I have one too. It consists of getting Spiderman not to walk on them". Another pointed glare at Peter, which he seemed not to notice.
No, Mr. Stark. A wall roomba."
"A what now?"
"A roomba, but it goes on the wall."
There was no way this was going to end well.