Tony had ordered us Chinese take-out, and now we were hungrily gobbling it all down. Actually, it was pretty much me eating it quickly while Tony looked at me with a curious expression and taking bites here and there. I couldn't help myself. I was just so hungry. I hadn't really eaten anything since yesterday besides a french fry today.
Tony asked me, "Did you eat lunch at school?"
"Uh... yes," I lied, unless a french fry counted.
"What about breakfast?"
"Yep, I ate breakfast as well," I continued to lie.
"Dinner?"
"Of course, with my Aunt May. We always have dinner together."
"Okay." He frowned but went back to his own food.
We continued eating the food which is about the time I remembered what had happened yesterday. Friday had told him I was starving and malnourished. He probably realized I was lying. Uh oh. An intern shouldn't lie, especially to Tony freaking Stark. He was going to kick me out now. I started biting my lip from worry until I tasted the sharp metallic taste of blood enter my mouth.
"Would you like to join us for dinner today?" He offered, surprising me.
"Dinner?" I squeaked.
He nodded. "Yeah. I think Steve will be there as well as Nat and Clint. Bruce probably as well, if we can pull him out of the lab. Wanda isn't here, neither is Vision or Thor. You know, they come and go as they please."
"I would, Mr. Stark, but I have to go to work," I explained. Mr. Delmar would have my head if I wasn't there yet again.
His brow furrowed. "Is it possible to give someone else your shift for today? Or I can just pay you for any hours you'll miss."
My own eyebrows jumped. "Mis-Mister Stark. I can't. Mr. Delmar would fire me if I missed another shift or came late to one of mine. I'm sorry, but I really can't."
"Okay, when are your working hours?"
"Five to eight pm, Monday to Friday. I have the weekend free for homework and the like," I explained.
"How much do you get paid?" I could almost see the gears turn around in Mr. Stark's head. He was up to something.
"Minimum wage."
"Huh. Okay, I have an offer for you. Rather than go to your job, stay a couple of hours more here from Monday to Friday. If you need time to do your homework, I can let you do that as well. We'll cover the food as well. And I'll pay you double for your hours."
My chopsticks fell out of my hand as I gaped at him. "Seriously?"
He smiled at my reaction. "Yeah, if that works with you."
"If that works with me? Definitely! I'd love to!" I laughed in joy. Finally some good news!
"By one condition, though," he paused and I looked at him with wide eyes. "You start today." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding in.
"Okay! I'll have to call Mr. Delmar later to tell him. And I guess I can then stay for dinner tonight, if that is alright with you?" I asked, even though he was the person who offered in the first place. I just wanted to make sure that it was still okay for me to come. Maybe he changed his mind...
"Yeah, of course." He looked up when we heard voices nearing us. "Oh, looks like you'll meet Clint and Natasha."
"What?" I gasped. "But-but I'm wet because of the sprinkler system. They'll think I'm-"
"Relax. They wouldn't care. Besides, I'm drenched in water too," He told me.
Clint and Natasha finally made their appearance, immediately taking note of me and Mr. Stark in the kitchen eating food.
After a moment Natasha smirked. "So I'm assuming this is why there were wet tracks coming from the elevator to here? What happened?"
"We accidentally lit something on fire in the lab," Tony informed them as if it was an everyday kind of thing, drinking some water from his cup.
"Of course you did." Natasha rolled her eyes at us. "What is it- the fourth time this week?"
"Fifth," Tony corrected shamelessly.
Clint pouted. "Aw, and I wasn't there. You should have called me."
Natasha ignored Clint, saying, "And this time you involved a kid in the fire, too. Who is he?"
"I'm uh Peter, ma'am. Peter Parker."
She gave me a weird look and shifted her gaze back to Mr. Stark. "Where'd you get this kid from, Tony?"
"He's my personal intern," Tony explained as Natasha and Clint made their way to the couch of the connected living room, Clint turning on the TV.
"Huh," She said and focused on the TV, where they were on a news channel that was currently displaying a Spider-man hanging onto a car. They were talking about the actions of the 'vigilante'. Some of the reporters accused me of being a dangerous person who could turn evil any moment and present a threat to the public, and others were defending me, saying that I was a good person who was willing to help out the neighborhood.
"You going after him, Tony?" Clint asked from the couch. I tried to hide my expression of surprise, shoving a bunch of noodles into my mouth.
"Hm, Spider-man? Not yet. Why? You want him on our team?" Tony, and I looked at Clint just as curious. Did Hawkeye really want me on the team?
"Why not?" He shrugged. "He would be a good asset."
Natasha spoke up, "Clint's got a good point, for once-"
"Hey!" Clint said, offended, "I always have good points."
"Right just like your 'good' point to prank Bruce with an air horn, frightening the hell out of him and causing the big green guy to appear and break down his entire lab."
Clint laughed. "That was hilarious. I should do that again."
Natasha slapped his arm, causing him to yelp. "Ow! What was that for?" I watched the dynamic between the two. They must know each other for a long time.
"Ignore them. They're always bickering like an old couple, especially Clint." Tony snorted at the two.
Clint yelled, shooting a glare at Mr. Stark, "I heard that!"
"Good," Was the only reply he got from Mr. Stark. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the group which caused the attention from the group to shift to me. Blushing from the attention, I focused on eating the last pieces of food on my plate.
"What was your name again?" Clint asked, head tilted with a small smile on his face.
I was halfway chewing through my food when he asked me the question, causing me to panic. I didn't want to open my mouth while eating! That's disrespectful. May was pissed when I did that once. I could make them wait, but then there would be an awkward silence as they would wait for me to finish. I could cover my mouth and say my name, but then that just looks weird.
"His name is Peter, Clint. Aren't you supposed to be a trained assassin who remembers stuff like this?" Natasha quipped at him, saving me from having to make a decision, but causing them to go off into another argument.
Mr. Stark looked at me. "So what do you think about Spider-man?"
Gosh, they are having such a great time. It would be a shame... if something were to ruin that.
Soon...
maybe...
we'll see...
😉