Work Text:
On his way back to work, Tony was struck with inspiration. Now granted, it wasn’t the type of inspiration that would directly help him amass an even larger wealth, but it would further solidify his status as the most amazing boss ever. In his humble opinion, that is.
He made a point to stop by his favorite café on his way back, despite the fact that Stark Tower was fully equipped with not one, but three facilities that served excellent coffee. Not including the fully stocked living quarters. Tony wasn’t always up for the scrutiny that he was often subjected to when he wandered too far from his personal domains in the tower.
Scratch that. Tony was rarely up for the scrutinizing he received from just about everyone. Such was the life of a man who grew up in the eyes of the media. Over the years, Tony had learned that if he managed to tone his clothing down, he could usually get by with only a few people recognizing him. He’d also figured out a while ago that simply averting his gaze helped him escape a tight situation unnoticed, much to his father’s chagrin.
Everyone was generally nice enough, but Tony had a sneaking suspicion that that could be chalked up to the whole having your name on the damn building aspect of things, if he was being entirely honest with himself.
Once inside his preferred café, Tony put in an order of enough specialty drinks for the recruits to have both their choice and fill. Checking his watch, Tony decided to buy his assistant and routine savior not one, but two of her favorite drinks. He’d undoubtedly be in for an earful, but maybe he could manage to shove the coffees into her hand and distract her long enough to lock her out of his lab and office for a spell.
Their addiction to caffeine was a shared weakness.
Tony quickly paid for his purchases, making sure to leave an exceedingly large tip and make arrangements for someone to deliver the beverages upon completion before hustling out of the eatery.
Once Tony arrived at the tower, he made a beeline for the elevators, thankful that he hadn’t run into anyone except various security personnel.
“Good afternoon, sir.” JARVIS intoned. “In a hurry this afternoon, are we?” Tony could hear the AI’s nuanced amusement loud and clear and was once again attempting to pinpoint when exactly he’d managed to give the AI the ability to be so damn sassy.
“I suddenly have plans, J.” Tony broke out into a small smirk, knowing his AI and friend would appreciate the playfully lecherous look. The all-knowing JARVIS selected Tony’s floor for him and shut the elevator doors before anyone else could clamber inside.
“Very well, sir. Would you like me to catch Ms. Potts up on these mysterious plans of yours?” JARVIS offered.
“No need, Jar. Let’s just keep this between us for a bit, yeah?” Tony suggested as he stepped out of the elevator.
The ride up to Tony’s office was far shorter than it should’ve been thanks to some intense tinkering on his part. He may or may not have been slightly (highly) inspired by a certain Turbolift, but JARVIS was sworn to secrecy on that little tidbit.
“Any messages for me, J?” Tony asked, only half interested as he tapped away at his phone.
“None of any real import, I’m afraid. Aside from those you received prior to taking your lunch, that is.” The AI answered. “Are you quite certain I shouldn’t inform Ms. Potts that you will be missing the conference call tonight, sir?” JARVIS pressed. The AI was fully aware of the fact that his creator would only blame him later when Pepper went off on Tony.
“Now who said anything about missing any conference calls, J?” Tony inquired in an affronted manner. The AI’s silence spoke volumes.
Tony sighed. “I’ll tell her myself, buddy. No need to worry.” Tony waved his hand dismissively with a scoff before striding down the hallway to his office. He glanced up to see what appeared to be someone leaning against the wall beside his office door.
“Understood, sir.” Tony briefly considered that he may have been simply imagining the AI’s disapproving tone, but ultimately, he knew better. At this point, he supposed he could really only blame himself for the unruliness of his creations.
At the end of the hall, there was the figure of someone diligently awaiting Tony’s arrival. Tony paused and gave a wince before continuing his admittedly lengthy walk to his office. He briefly entertained the idea of a hasty retreat, but thought better of it at the last minute.
That AI of his could’ve at least warned him that he had company. But no, he’d much rather watch Tony flounder as a means to get his comedy fix for the day.
As he got closer, Tony could just make out who was at his door. He wouldn’t mistake that awkward wave anywhere.
“Peter! What brings you to my humble abode?” Tony asked, reaching to swipe his access card into the console beside his door.
“Hi, Mr. Stark.” The kid was all smiles and Tony found himself breathing a sigh of relief. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me figure something out?” Peter asked with some hesitation.
“Sure thing. Come on in, Pete.” Tony shooed the younger man inside as the door closed automatically once they were clear of it.
Peter began rummaging through his backpack, a few papers slipping free of his grasp. Tony took note of Peter’s flustered state before bending to collect the escaped papers and depositing them on his desk. He made a mental note to look into buying the kid a better bag. And maybe some heavy duty folders (maybe trapper keepers?) to keep everything in place.
Peter started shuffling through his work, dog earing some pages and folding others in half as he quickly scribbled last minute notes across his already well-annotated documents. “Sorry. I just remembered something and it’ll be easier if I get some of it down now.” He shrugged, attempting to write with even more haste.
“You okay?” Tony asked, tilting his head in an attempt to catch the younger man’s gaze. It was all for naught, however, given how enraptured the boy was as he bent over his work. Tony could respect someone being entirely engrossed in a project, but he’d be lying if he said this little display wasn’t a bit concerning.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine it’s just this solution I’ve been working on.” Peter straightened and handed a sheet of paper to Tony before continuing.
“The nanobots I’ve been testing are fine without the solution, but once I introduce a vehicle through which they can be safely administered, I run into a ton of issues.” Peter huffs in annoyance, raking his hand through his hair and dropping the rest of his papers and files on Tony’s desk.
“I’ve tried affixing some kind of flagella to help with propulsion, but the mechanism just isn’t working fast enough in solution.” Tony nodded as Peter continued.
“I was thinking mini jets would help speed things up. And, come on, how awesome would that be? But then I’d need some kind of magnetic fuel via high-powered capacitors of some sort which would call for synthesizing yet another fluid. And we only have so many samples on hand to test.” Peter continued. Now that Tony was really getting a chance to look at Peter, the boy appeared unmistakably agitated and downright exhausted.
That simply wouldn’t do. Tony wasn’t running a playground per se, but on some days, it was a near thing. He firmly believed that better science and engineering took place when there was fun to be had. While things could get intense, it wasn’t really supposed to involve the bad kind of stress, especially at Peter’s level. He was still only in high school so he was technically an intern. The internship was with pay because Tony was not running the Stark Industries of his father’s day, but nonetheless the kid was there to learn, not dissolve into a pit of anxiety and agitation.
Besides, the kid’s aunt would surely have Tony’s head on a platter if she thought he was doing her kid more harm than good.
“Alright then.” Tony rubbed his hands together and lifted his brows. “All that’s left for us to do is figure out what does work. And maybe add some very necessary, extracurricular explosions in on the side. Show me what you’ve got so far, padawan.”
That earned him a fairly small, yet relieved chuckle and the two talked through the schematics and equations Peter had drawn up.
After laying out a game plan, sneakily convincing the younger man to eat a couple slices of leftover pizza, and ordering him to take a much needed nap, the impending crisis that all mini geniuses suffer at some point or another was mostly averted until the next day at the very least.
Now Tony was blessedly free to spend his time in whatever way he saw fit.
Once left to his own devices, Tony found himself basking in the quiet and calm. For a second, that is. In the back of his mind, Tony knew something felt just ever so slightly off, but he ignored it.
He quickly grew bored and decided to have JARVIS call up his best friend. He picked up on the second ring.
“Rhodey, my dear, where are you?” Tony tried to keep the whine out of his voice.
“I’m just now leaving work. You need something?” James Rhodes sounded distracted, but happy enough as his voice filtered in through the lilting thrum of activity that was surely surrounding him on all sides.
“You. Here. Now, preferably?” Tony hedged, voice hopeful. Tony was well aware of the fact that Rhodey didn’t mind a bit of whining. If he did, Tony doubted the man would’ve stuck around for so long. However, Tony wasn’t even entirely aware of why his voice was verging into whining territory to begin with.
Tony could hear Rhodey sigh on the other end, but could also hear that the man wasn’t displeased in any real way. “I’ll be there in a bit, Tony. Think you can manage on your own until then or do I need to get Pepper?”
“Don’t threaten me, Rhodes.” Tony shot back. “Also, no Pepper. I have to miss a thing later and let’s just say she won’t be entirely pleased about it. Nothing to concern yourself with, mind you.” Tony put on a blasé air, hoping his best friend would get the picture and, well ignore said picture.
“Uh huh. You can tell me all about it when I get there, Tones.” Rhodey chuckled good-naturedly before the men ended their call.
By the time Rhodey arrived, Tony had started making a small dent in the documents that would be administered during the call he would miss later that evening. He wasn’t entirely irresponsible regardless of what his so-called friends might say. And while Tony would always deny it, a stack of paperwork looming over him always had the effect of putting him slightly on edge. That being said, he had no qualms with pushing the packets off into other capable hands, as long as it got done.
When the door to the office slid open, Tony paused only a second to make sure it was in fact the man he wanted to see before launching himself unceremoniously at him. Rhodey’s arms shot up to catch him as JARVIS belatedly announced his arrival.
Tony proceeded to haul his best friend by the hand to the sofa he kept in front of the large windows overlooking the city.
Rhodey chuckled, throwing his arms back around Tony as they lowered themselves to sit. “So what’s the emergency?” Rhodey looked at Tony in expectancy. Jim Rhodes was a man of action and was always looking for solutions. Those very qualities were pivotal in making him the highly esteemed lieutenant colonel he was today.
Tony backed out of Rhodey’s grasp, turning to face the other man as he sat on his haunches with a reserved smile in place. “I met a very hot guy today.” He responded conspiratorially.
Rhodey’s brow wrinkled as he waited patiently for Tony to elaborate. Being met with silence, Rhodey threw his hands to his sides, shaking his head. “I’m going to need a little more information here, Tones.”
Tony nodded easily. “Well, he was all dark and brooding. Brooklyn accent. Kinda like emo done right, you know? His man-bun was pretty damn majestic, mind you. Real intense kinda guy, but seemed like he had a nice sense of humor. So maybe emo hipster bad boy would be a better descriptor?” Tony shrugged thoughtfully, waiting for his friend to reply.
“I doubt it.” Rhodey scoffed. “But what’s got you so worked up over this guy? You’re always surrounded by attractive people.” He pointed to himself. “Case in point, man.” The men broke out into small giggles.
“True. But he saved my life and then agreed to go out with me later.” Tony supplied.
Rhodey playfully shoved Tony so he fell out of his stance and onto his back. “Now why the hell didn’t you lead with that?” Rhodey asked. “Not that tons of people don’t want to date you or anything, but you never look this damn happy about it, Tones. Also, the dying thing which I fully expect you to explain at some point.”
“I don’t know. I guess I just haven’t been able to focus much on it until now?” An introspective look crossed over Tony’s face before he abruptly sat up, pushing into the other man’s space.
Tony suddenly let out a screech. “Holy shit, pumpkin- I have a date!”
“Didn’t we just establish this?” Tony shot his friend an unimpressed look.
Rhodey was trying his best to keep up. “Okay this vaguely manic thing you’re working with right now is a little worrying. Tell me what’s going on.” Rhodey reached for one of Tony’s hands in an effort to gain his attention.
“I have a date with this guy- this Bucky or whatever and he seems nice and all. Like heroic as hell nice and sweet nice, but what was I thinking? Just asking people out like that?” Tony looked into his friend’s eyes searchingly.
“Maybe you were thinking you liked the guy?” Rhodey supplied easily.
“Be that as it may, I don’t relationship, Rhodey. You know this!” He tugged his friend’s other hand in agitation.
“No one expects you to be relationshipping yet, Tony.” Rhodey tried to reassure him. “All you’re doing is dating. No even dating, really. Simply going out on a date. Singular. No pressure.” He added urgently.
Tony looked unimpressed. “Then why do I feel pressured?” His mind was going a mile a second and he found himself scooting closer into Rhodey’s side.
In response, the other man shifted Tony so he could clasp his arm around his shoulders in an effort to calm his friend. “I think you’re overthinking this one, kiddo.” Rhodey gave Tony’s shoulder a firm squeeze. “Tell me what you’re thinking?” He’d taken on an airy tone so as to signal to the other man that whatever it was, it could most definitely be worked through.
Tony nodded with a sigh. “I’m terrible with people. None of my relationships have lasted that long and I’m the obvious common denominator here.”
“Okay.” Rhodey nodded easily, mouth quirked just ever so slightly into a frown. “What about us, then?”
That gave Tony pause. He’d never really considered his rather obvious outlier. Not in that sense, anyway. What he had with Rhodey wasn’t really romantic in any sense- regardless of what an overwhelming majority of people seemed to think. As a result, the connection had gone unnoticed. Tony chalked it up to surface feature dissimilarity and all that nonsense.
Tony knew, had always known, that Rhodey was in it for the long haul when it came to Tony. The reverse was true as well. Rhodey had seen Tony at his worst time and time again only to offer up encouragingly hopeful smiles as he astutely picked up the pieces.
“Us?” Tony seemed to ruminate on this further before fully replying. “With us, it’s just different. We’re both wildly brilliant and shockingly handsome, with just a touch of derangement added in for luck.” He smiled mischievously, but it didn’t really reach his eyes.
“Look, I know you’re a little out of practice on these things, but you’re the most charming and sweet person I know. Period. What’s not to like?”
Tony answered him with a look of mild disbelief.
With an exasperated look, Rhodey continued to rock them back and forth. “You’re a catch. You just need to surround yourself with non-assholes and go from there.”
“While you may have a point, in the meantime I think I’m just gonna cancel this whole thing.” Tony reached for his phone. “I mean, why prolong the inevitable, right? I have some stuff I should probably sort-” He cut himself off abruptly.
His mind made up, Tony nodded to himself and began tapping away at his phone.
A gasp sounded throughout the otherwise empty office. “Oh no you don’t.” Rhodes murmured threateningly as Tony continued to ignore him.
In a series of swift swiping, shoving, and overall admirable athleticism, Jim Rhodes snatched the phone, held it in the air for a beat, and upon finding that Tony wouldn’t easily relinquish control of the device, he tossed it across the office as he rolled off of the sofa and landed in a defensive crouch.
The phone slid across the floor as Tony stared in abject horror, mouth open in a silent yet severe scream of disbelief. His attention was split between the other man and the phone, head whipping from one to the other.
Rhodey started to back away from the other man just as he found himself being pounced on. Tony snarled at him for a bit, hands firmly pressed into shoulders along with a matching death glare.
“Honeybear.” Tony ground out roughly. “If that were made of lesser tech, it would be utterly destroyed right now.”
The form beneath Tony shrugged. “But it isn’t. So it isn’t.” Rhodey offered in an unimpressed manner.
“Do know what would’ve happened if that were the case though, dearest?” Tony smiled icily and Rhodey wondered for the eighth time that day how this could possibly be his life.
“Would it involve you killing me by any chance?”
Tony’s brow crinkled and shook his head vigorously. “Oh no, of course not. I could never do it myself, mind you. I love you too much, cupcake.” Tony patted his friend’s shoulder reassuringly. “Now, Pepper on the other hand. I’m sure she could’ve easily figured something out.” Tony deadpanned.
“Now, Tones. Why in the world would you be so angry over something you could easily replace like that?” Rhodey snapped his fingers.
Tony responded automatically. “I can’t exactly replace Bucky’s number, now can I?” Tony’s eyes widened as Rhodes broke out into an elated grin and made to sit up, carefully pushing Tony off of him and onto the floor.
Rhodey could always count on Tony’s blabbermouth impulsiveness to come through for him.
“Still think cancelling’s the way to go?” Rhodey gave him an all-knowing smirk.
Tony huffed and narrowed his eyes. “You’re a damn witch, aren’t you? You know what? Don’t even respond. This explains everything.” He made a show of standing up and brushing imaginary lint off of himself. “I’m watching you.” Tony lifted an eyebrow in suspicion.
Rhodey burst into giggles as he stood.
“Now, I can’t let you in on all of my secrets, man.” Rhodey cackled as he took in Tony’s deepening blush.
Rhodey retrieved the phone and held it above his head, eyes wide and daring as he grinned at his friend. “Alright kid, you gonna act like a responsible adult and not chicken out, or do I need to text this dude for you before you make a fool of yourself?”
“For the millionth time, I’m not a kid.” Tony tried his best not to sound petulant, but was fairly convinced that his friend would simply filter his tone as such regardless. “And while I may make a fool of myself, I won’t cancel on him.” Tony allowed as he crossed his arms stubbornly.
“Because…” Rhodey prompted. He really just wanted to get a rise out of Tony at this point.
“Because he’s hot as fuck and knows his away around a car in lifesaving situations and otherwise?” Tony provided as Rhodey groaned and tsked.
“I was going for something a little more nuanced and self-respecting, but that works too.” He handed the phone over, taking pains to look over Tony’s shoulder as he typed.
“Did that asshole call you an idiot, you idiot?” Rhodey frowned in disapproval that he struggled to maintain. He was fairly convinced that Tony must’ve done something pretty stupid to warrant a complete stranger having to risk life and limb in order to save his ass. He was only supposed to go out for lunch, after all. This wasn’t exactly a cognitive resource taxing endeavor for a supposed genius.
“So you’re the only one allowed to insult me?” Tony was not impressed.
“Yeah, asshole. I am.” Rhodey rolled his eyes before hip checking Tony.
Tony responded by delivering a swift kick to the other man's ass. Like a mature adult, dammit.