If there was one thing Tony Stark hated it was bosses. And social situations. And the cold. And not having enough money in cash for things. Okay so there were a lot of things Tony hated but bosses, especially horrible ones, were at the very top of that list.
The restaurant was crowd and loud. Or as Capsicle would kindly put it: Tony's personality. So it was weird Tony sat slightly slumped in his chair, playing with the napkin on his lap.
The rest of the Avengers talked and laughed around him, Thor every once in a while nudging Tony to try and include him. He was grateful to Thor for the gesture but tonight just had him feeling weird. Normally he'd be laughing and being fully engaged, making sure everyone was happy and having a good time but tonight was different.
There wasn't anything in particular, at least Tony didn't think so. He'd actually gotten a decent sleep the last couple of nights. And by decent sleep he meant four hours but hey, any sleep was decent sleep. Banner disagreed but tony still said it was.
Maybe it was how loud the restaurant was or how crowded. Maybe it's the stupid fuck he has called anxiety. His knees kept bouncing up and down and his pants felt too tight and the tag on his collar just wouldn't stop itching. His knee bounced faster, his eyes narrowing at the ground.
Stupid brain reaction.
"Sir." Tony almost jumped at the voice in his ear but steady when he recognized it. "I suggest you try and calm down. Your heart rate is spiking and there's been a dramatic increase in your adrenaline. I secured the perimeters when we came in. It's safe."
Tony gave a tiny nod, despite knowing the AI system couldn't see it.
"Thanks, Friday."
"Anytime sir."
Tony took a deep breath and focused on his teams voices, trying to not let the whole restaurant's blend together.
Across from him, Steve sat next to Bucky with an arm around the brunettes shoulder. They were a cute couple, Tony had to admit. They deserved to grow old together. If they did that, he means. Growth was a weird thing with the serum and it was best not to speculate.
Next to steve, Natasha and Sam argued about how many salt packets Clint could eat before having to drink water and were watching as Clint tested their theories.
Wanda and Vision had stayed back at the compound, earning some well earned couple's time. Recently, they'd had a hard mission where Wanda was badly injured and almost died. Tony understood what they must be feeling so he agreed with them staying home. Not like he was actually going to force them to come out. He made sure they had pizza money and a few extra hundreds just incase.
You know. Typical billionaire things
Thor and Bruce were engaged in small talk with Thor laughing loudly and bruce hiding behind his sweater. Thor's sound attracted lots of attention as well as a few sultry looks. Thor ignored them all, pulling Bruce into a mighty bro hug.
Tony smiled at the sight. Thor wasn't on earth often but it was always a show when he was.
So that left Tony by himself, to fidget in his seat and inconspicuously check out the rest of the restaurant while they waited for their waiter.
If they were waiting for their waiter then technically weren't they the waiters?
Tony voted for shwarma but apparently shwarma three times a week was too much so instead they'd gone to a Italian place in queens.
It was packed tonight, the tables buzzing with excitement and laughter.
Tony's eyes drifted over to the far wall by the kitchen doors a few tables from them. He frowned.
A man who was the manger or somthing, based on his quiet shitty suit was yelling at a red headed kid, who from the back didn't even look in his twenty's. Tony couldn't see his face but he immediately felt sorry for the kid. Tony had been on both ends of this one.
"Jesus, Caron! You can't do anything right can you?! You're fucking useless!"
The managers loud voice caught the rest of the Avengers attention, as well as a the nearest tables. The restaurant was still filled with chatter but more looks were getting tossed their way.
The kid shuffled on his feet, his head bowed. "Sorry, sir."
"Damn right you better be sorry! Stupid kid like you doesn't know how to respect anyone. You think you're so high and mighty. You're a stupid fuck is what you are."
Tony, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to help the red head, started to rise but a large hand caught stopped him.
He looked back at Thor who gave him a sorrowful look. "This is not your fight, brother. Things will get worse if you intervene."
Tony sighed and nodded. Thor was right. He always was. Most people thought Thor was an idiot, golden retriever of a man. Well, they weren't wrong but there was more to Thor. Someone who's lived for as long as he has as to be some kind of knowledgeable, right?
Tony kept his eyes trained on the scene by the kitchen. The older man huffed and pushed the boy backwards, closer to the tables.
"Get back to work, fag."
The was it. Tony's face hardened and his hands formed into fists. That fucker thinks that just acceptable to use the fa word? To just throw it around like that? Nope.
Tony was apart of the LGBTQ+ community himself. Not many people knew he was a flaming bisexual but if you looked close enough it was pretty obvious. He was only officially out to a few people but tumbler pretty much had everything confirmed.
He was about to get up and go have a not to kind talk with the manger when he paused. The red head was walking over to their table.
Tony recognized the face and floods of emotions ran over him.
Anger. Sadness. Rage. Admiration. And a little bit of lust too, he wouldn't lie. The kid was cute.
The kid, now turned waiter, stopped in front of their table, plastering on a painfully fake smile.
"Hey guys, I'm Beau and I'll be you're waiter today. Sorry for the delay. What can I get you to drink?"
The Avengers, now quiet, gave each other side glances, not quiet sure what to do. The kid looked seconds away from tears and yet was still offering them food.
Steve cleared his throat, cocking an eyebrow. "Son, are you alright?"
Beau gave a cold chuckled and shook his head. "No. No I'm not. I'm just a broke ass twenty-five year old who sleeps in his car and has a fucking shitty job where all I do is get yelled at and discriminated against because of my sexuality but hey, I'm getting paid. And there's nothing I can do about it because I'm me and the worlds them and nothing in life will ever be fair. So until I get a sugar daddy or get arrested for all my unpaid parking tickets I'll still be here working this shitty job. So, Captain America, what can I get you to drink?"
The team went silent at Beau's out burst and gave him their drink orders. He wrote it down, gave them a forced smile and walked off towards the back room.
Five or so minutes later a different waitress came back to there table with their drinks. It wasn't Beau and instead was a woman in her thirties with a cheerful smile.
"Here are you drinks, Avengers! Are you ready to order yet or do you need a minute?"
Tony cleared his throat, catching her attention. "Uh yeah, what happened to the kid from before?"
The woman gave a sad sigh and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Oh you mean Beau. He's out back on his break. I agreed to cover this table for him while he'd there. This is the fifth time Jerry's yelled at him this week. It's not his fault, you know, Jerry's extremely homophobic. Beau's a good worker too. It's just sad he got stuck with this job."
Tony gave a slow nod at her ramble. "Where's the back entrance?"
The words surprised the waitress as well as Tony himself. She gaped for a second, most likely wondering what someone like Tony start would want with Beau before pointing through the kitchen doors. "He's through there. There's a door next to the fridge that leads to the back."
He gave her a quick thanks before heading out the back and through the kitchen doors. A few people shouted at him but all he had to do was say his name and they went silent. Who was going to argue with Tony Stark?
Tony found Beau crying outside on the steps leading to the kitchen entrance. Beau sobbed into his arms, still clutching his notepad.
Tony, having no idea what to do and completely living on pure impulse at this point, slowly walked over and sat down next to the boy. He placed a hand on Beau's back who jolted upright in shock.
"Y-You're Tony Stark."
Tony gave him a forced smile. He hated when people said it like that. Like he was some supreme being and was worth more than everyone else. He really wasn't. At least he didn't think so.
"Yup. That's me. We met like a week ago at the bakery, remember?"
Beau nodded and wiped away some of his tears with the back of his arm.
"Y-yeah. Hi."
Tony stifled a laugh. "Hi, kid."
They sat in silence after that, Tony's hand still resting on Beau's back.
He honestly had no idea how he'd ended up in this situation. Wait no. He did. A mix of impulse, anxiety, hatred, and a little bit of hunger were bound to lead to something big and he didn't totally hate that this was it.
Beau let out a shuttered breath. "I hate my life."
Tony raised an eyebrow, his hand rubbing circles on Beau's back.
"Well no. Not really. I hate the situation I'm in. Unpaid parking tickets, living in my car. I mean I've got friends, you know, but I always feel like I'm bothering them so..."
He trailed off and Tony nodded. He understood. He felt it too.
Beau sighed. "I hate my job. But I can't quit it because I make money which gives me gas and groceries and shit. And all I really want to do is take a fucking bubble bath, drink some red wine, and chill. And not have to worry about money or jobs or anything shitty like that."
They sat in silence again and then Tony spoke before he could even think. It was stupid. He didn't know Beau and Beau didn't know him. But if there was one thing Tony was, it was spontaneous.
"Come back to the tower with me tonight. I think I can make some of those things happen."
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(word count: 1869) not edited
okay so Thor autocorrected to thot and I love that.