Archive of Our Own ^beta

“College is going by so fast,” Scott Lang says at 11 am to an already dressed Tony Stark as he yawns and gets out of bed.

“Yeah, you slept through all of it.” Tony groans back.

Though Scott apparently thinks he has nowhere to be, Tony has to go to his new second semester computer science class. Scott is in it too, but Tony has known Scott for enough months now to know that telling him goes in one ear and out the next. Hope will haul him out of bed if she deems if necessary.

The class is bigger than expected. It’s practically in an auditorium. Shouldn’t Computer Science classes be in a computer lab? Tony thinks to himself. He sees the girl his best friend Rhodey has a crush on sitting in the front row sitting next to and chatting with a girl he’d never seen before. Rhodey said she was bold. He sees the familiar faces of acquaintances like Sue and Reed and the famous faces of the basketball star and his less famous friend and his cheerleader girlfriend and plenty of faces he doesn’t recognize because it’s so packed. Tony isn’t even late. The class starts at 11:30, it’s 11:25 and there’s barely a seat in the room. He gets stuck in the back, which is probably no great way to make a first impression next to a kid he’s never seen before.

The kid is hiding behind a black zip up hoodie, still in pajama pants, and had his laptop open to some compiler for a language Tony was pretty sure he’d never seen before. Tony couldn’t get his vibe and that bothered him. He couldn’t tell if he was the druggie type or if he was one of those really smart video game addicts or just depressed. He also couldn’t see his face which usually helps and is a pretty big indicator if someone takes care of themself or not.

Tony found himself distracted as the professor went on and introduced himself and the course and the language they’d be learning. The boy next to him did every introductory with so much ease, barely paying attention. The boy was so focused on his screen he didn’t even notice Tony staring.

He texted Rhodey to meet up for lunch, and like an ROTC kid he texted back he couldn’t because of training, so they decided on dinner at the campus chipotle.

“So, I saw that girl you like in the front of the my computer science class today.” Tony said.

“Yeah, I saw her at training. Why are you telling me this?” Rhodey replied.

“Well, she was talking to this girl I’ve never seen before and they were like all over each other.” Tony said. Rhodey looked surprised. “Are you saying she’s gay?” Rhodey asked. “I was in the back I couldn’t completely tell, just saying she might not be into you.” Tony replies. Rhodey looked disappointed as he ate his burrito.

“So, anyway there was this kid I’ve never seen before who i got stuck sitting next to today and I’m curious who he is.” Tony said.

“What did he look like?” Rhodey replied.

“He just wore a black hoodie, couldn’t see his face. He was super focused on his screen and he’s definitely a CS genius.” Tony said.

“How the hell do you expect me to know who that is with a description that vague. Half the kids on campus look like that. We go to school that’s half anti-social nerds, Anthony.” Rhodey exclaimed.

“I couldn’t read his vibe, you know.” Tony said.

“Enough with the vibe shit.” Rhodey replied.

They wolfed down the rest of their dinner and returned to their respective dorms. Tony told the whole story about the kid in the computer science class to Scott and Hope, who Scott didn’t tell Tony was coming over, but he was too concerned about finding out who the kid was to care.

Hope piped up and said: “I bet it’s Victor Von Doom.” Tony was shocked she was even paying attention because she was so immersed with Scott in whatever they were doing, Tony was of course trying to look away.

“Who?” Tony asked.

“He’s this shady kid. CS genius though. Apparently hacked Reed Richards and holds a personal grudge against him. They used to be friends apparently. At least that’s the rumor and what Reed told me.” Hope said.

“So he’s a smart asshole?” Tony said.

“I guess.” Hope replied, clearly irritating that Stark was interrupting her time with Scott.

Tony makes the decision to sit next to him during class for the next week. It’s definitely Victor because Tony may or not have looked him up and learned he developed his own programming language at the age of twelve and the online program which he may or not have downloaded looks exactly like the one that was always on the boy’s computer.

On the Friday of that week Rhodey sends Tony a text.

got carol to come to basketball with me. I think it’s a date. Got 4 tickets wanna come and u can bring whoever

Tony texts back: yeah, I’ll see if Scott wants to come

The seats are shit. They’re nosebleeds. If Rhodey was trying to impress Carol this definitely wasn’t it. Scott and Tony get to know Carol throughout the game though and she’s a lovely girl with an interesting story. She wanted to be in the Air Force to become one of the few female pilots to see combat and work on planes. It turned out aeronautical engineering wasn’t her thing and how she’s an English major still dead set on her original goal. She’s determined, she’s sweet, she’s funny. Tony can see why Rhodey likes her so much.

The game is great. They defeat Texas Tech in an ass-whooping with star of the show, Steve Rogers scored lots of 3-pointers. The game was so good his best friend and benchwarmer, Bucky Barnes even got a couple points. Steve’s girlfriend was the star cheerleader and they kissed after every game and it was gross. All four of them agreed public displays of affection which will also be broadcast on live television are irritating.

“You know, Steve is in my CS class.” Tony says.

“Oh my god, not the CS thing again.” Scott groans.

“You mean, our CS class.” Carol chimes in.

Tony rolls his eyes and lets out a “yes, our CS class.”

“Wait what does Scott mean the CS thing?” Carol asks.

“You’re lucky you’re unaware,” Scott groans. “Tony got stuck sitting in the back to some mysterious kid who doesn’t talk or whatever and he’s way too obsessed with figuring out who he is even though Hope told him he won’t shut the fuck up.” Scott says. Carol whips her blonde bangs out of her face and gives a semi-sarcastic “must be hard for you.”

They part ways and Tony whispers to Rhodey “good luck,” before heading back to his own dorm.

Carol didn’t go home with Rhodey. She walked back with him, though. He was so close, but so far and he was definitely going to get back at Tony for this Victor bullshit by complaining about carol to him to the point where he’ll have to shut his ears off like Rhodey does when Tony goes on for too long.

Rhodey 7:20am
lunch today chipotle at 12

Tony wakes up at hour later and says he’ll be there.

They order their usual: Tony always gets steak tacos and Rhodey always gets a chicken burrito and they split the chips.

“Dude what happened with Carol?” Tony asks.

“I don’t know.” Rhodey replies. He goes on and on for a while and Tony eventually says “Maybe she’s thrown off. Just ask her out officially on a date. You’re absolutely terrible at being obvious or showing any interest.”

“That was harsh.” Rhodey says.

“I think I’m just telling the truth.” Tony replies.

“Fine, I’ll try it. Give me a few weeks.” Rhodey says.

“Pussy.” Tony replies. They end their lunch on that note.

It’s a Monday morning. Scott is still asleep. Rhodey still hasn’t asked Carol out yet no matter how much Tony bugs him and texts him and irritates him to do it. Tony is on his way to his morning CS class to take his spot next to the mysterious boy. He had no hoodie on today. The first day in a week. This time he was wearing a school t shirt, sweatpants, and beat to shit slides. Tony could actually see his face. He was chiseled. He had a strong jawline, fluffy light brown hair. Tony couldn’t see them entirely, but from what he saw Victor had piercing green eyes that were nearly surreal. He stopped staring before the boy would notice, or even if he would notice. It’s been almost two weeks of the same class and not a word. When he stops staring he notices the girl Carol was always with had moved and they weren’t speaking. He wondered why. Thankfully, Tony starts paying attention at some point and the professor says he has a test Friday, which is not exactly how he’d like to be spending his Friday morning.

The rest of the week is uneventful. It’s comprised of trying to stay out his room as much as possible because of Scott and Hope or when Scott is sleeping, studying with Hope. It’s filled with lunches with Rhodey, and sometimes Carol. Rhodey still hasn’t asked her out on an official date yet. Tony thinks the poor blonde girl must be really confused what his intentions are at this point.

Friday rolls around. Tony doesn’t exactly want to take a handwritten test on computer science. How does that even make any sense? He takes his usual spot and thinks about saying something stupid to the boy next to him, but he bites his tongue and decides too. Tony catches Victor looking at him for the first time since classes started. His eyes are truly stunning. They’re a piercing, bright green. They don’t even look real. Tony has to stop himself from getting lost in them. He definitely feels something and he doesn’t know or like what it is. The way he feels distracts him from the test, but he’s cocky enough to know he’s Tony Stark And is decent enough at anything STEM-related to at least get a B.

Tony decides he really needs someone to talk to about this who isn’t Scott because he’s preoccupied with Hope and sleeping and someone who isn’t Rhodey because he’s preoccupied with the Carol Danvers situation. He decides on an old friend and mentor: first year masters student: Bruce Banner. They met when Tony was younger because Bruce was giving a lecture at Tony’s high school and was interested in his work and helped him create some of his earlier technologies.

Bruce was a genius, his plan was to get like three PHds and he was running a lab on gamma radiation next to the iconic Jane Foster’s lab on abnormal changes in environment or something. Tony decided to stop by. Bruce ran up to Tony and gave him a hug.

“What are you working on these days?” Tony asks.

“Gamma radiation research.” Bruce replies.

“What does that entail?” Tony asks.

“I know you’re too arrogant to actually care so tell me why you’re really here, Tony.” Bruce says, straight to the point.

“I just needed to talk to a friend who isn’t Scott or Rhodey.” Tony says.

“So, you really don’t have any other friends?” Bruce asks.

“I do, just no one I want to talk to about this. Scott is always hanging out with Hope in our room and Rhodey is irritating me too much with his girl problems.” Tony says.

“You’re still a baby, or at least dramatic like a gossip girl. What do you need to talk about?” Bruce asks.

“I think I like someone I’ve never spoken to and that’s uh, not normal.” Tony says.

“Who is she?” Bruce asks.

Tony rolls with the whole she thing and says “kid in my computer science. I sit next to her every day. She’s cold hearted. Won’t say a word. Wore a hoodie every single the day the first week I couldn’t even see her face. She finally wore a t shirt instead of a hoodie and she’s got these gorgeous green eyes and I think I’m in love.” Tony says. It was a mouthful but it felt good to get it out to someone.

“You always like the hard to get ones, don’t you Stark?” Bruce asks. Tony didn’t want to think about how he was referring to his high school girlfriend, Pepper. It took Tony three months to get her to go on a date with him and they dated all of high school, just for her to dump him not even a month before college move in day. She said it was something about distance, and she was probably right, going to Penn for business and all while Tony was pretty much smack in the middle of the USA.

“Stark?” Bruce asks again. Tony laughs it off and goes “I guess your right.”

“Why’d you bring this to me exactly?” Bruce asks.

“I just figured you’re old and wise and would know what to do.” Tony says. Bruce thinks how he doesn’t know what to do after the unfortunate disaster of his last relationship with Betty Ross which ended so poorly she left the university to get her masters somewhere else. Something told Bruce to keep it together for Tony though.

“I don’t know man, just make small talk with the girl and eventually get her to go on a date with you.” Bruce says. Tony decides to take the advice and run with it and not be like Rhodey, who still hasn’t asked Carol on a date.

On Monday Tony wakes up pretty early and to no one’s surprise Scott is still asleep. Tony figures since he’s going to actually try and talk to Victor today he should look nice. He puts on designer jeans, gucci tennis shoes, a plain t shirt, and a black jacket. He looks sleek and he looks rich which is pretty much his style at this point. Tony walks to class and sees Carol walk in and almost wants to ask her for advice but he’s too embarrassed of himself to do so. He takes his now ritualistic place in the back And comes up with a quick plan. He’s “accidentally” places his bag on top of Victor’s and says “I’m sorry.” All he gets is a quiet “it’s okay” back. The boy is buried in his computer which made Tony sad because he couldn’t see his chiseled face and eyes. At least he was still wearing a t-shirt and not a hoodie. Tony was kicking himself in the foot for not trying to start a conversation. He’s still doing better than Rhodey and he still has tomorrow. It’s a small step, but at least it’s a step.

On Tuesday Tony makes the bizarre effort to workout before class, which he never does which throws Scott off because he actually wakes up before lunch time.

“What the hell are you doing dude?” Scott asks.

“And why the hell are you awake dude?” Tony asks right back with his typical snarkiness.

“You woke me up.” Scott groans.

“Good! You can actually go to class today!” Tony says both rudely and excitedly.

“Fuck you, man.” Scott says, turning out his bedside light and attempting to go back to bed.

The truth is Tony couldn’t sleep thinking about that damn boy. He was up all night so he figured he’d make the most of it and went to the gym as soon as the clock hit 5am and didn’t come back until seven. He stopped for a coffee though, because there was no way he was making it though a morning class with no sleep and no caffeine. He hadn’t even done anything like this since he was fifteen and had a crush on Pepper to the point where it drove him mad.

Tony is going to force himself to make conversation with the boy today. He has the confidence, just not the conversation since Victor appears to be in some ways, a blank slate. He takes his usual seat and mutters a “hey” and Victor mutters a “hey” back, not even taking his eyes off his screen. Tony was starting to worry the boy had way too much screen time.

On Wednesday he takes a break. He’s tired. He’s crashing. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. In fact, if anyone tries to talk to him he’ll probably slap them across the face. He looks like a hot mess too. Victor looks at him, but doesn’t say anything. He seems to note Tony’s off-ness and return to his computer screen.

On Thursday, Tony tries again. He’s nervous, he’s dressed extra well again, he’s losing sleep again. He walks to class a little too fast that day and forgets to say hi to Carol on his way.

“Afraid you’re gonna be late, Stark?” She says. Tony laughs it off and lies and says “yes.” Carol knows he’s lying but she’s too preoccupied with her own life to care enough to bother to ask.

He sits down next to Victor and just blurts it out. “Hey do want to go out to dinner with me?” His face blushes bright red after. “Try again tomorrow” is Victor’s reply. The average person would be confused or disappointed by this response, but Tony was intrigued. He was thinking that maybe it was a hint Victor was picking up his hints or Victor was an asshole in the same way Tony was, meaning their personalities will probably mesh well together.

On Friday Tony dresses extra extra nice. Designer from head to toe. Tom Ford sunglasses, a really expensive leather jacket, a Versace t shirt that you couldn’t even tell Versace, Calvin Klein Jeans, and of course his Gucci tennis shoes. He actually takes the time to style his fluffy hair too, which he never does. The noises of him getting ready manage to wake Scott up earlier than his liking.

“The hell are you doing dude?” He says, groggily.

“I might have a big date tonight.” Tony replies.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” Scott asks.

“You’ll meet ‘em eventually.” Tony laughs a bit uncomfortably not wanting to admit the truth to his roommate, despite the fact his roommate is Scott Lang and Scott Lang doesn’t give a shit about anything.

“Let me know how it goes, dude.” Scott replies.

Tony gets to class. He paces himself, not too fast, not too slow. He’s trying his very best to treat this day like any other day of school.

“Hey.” He says to Victor, keeping it short and sweet.

“How about you let me take you out to dinner tonight? Campus bar seven o’clock.” Victor says.

“Sounds perfect.” Tony replies, nervous and excited.

Tony was so thrilled. Victor just wanted to be the first to ask and god, Tony admired that. He might’ve just been the tiniest bit in love. The downside is the day was going to go by way too slowly awaiting this meal.

Unfortunately, Tony’s dorm isn’t as close to the downtown area of campus as he likes and it’s a heftier walk down there than it is for most. He leaves at 6:15 sharp, figuring better early than late. He takes time to admire the campus. In a way it’s like any other college town: the buildings combine the neocolonial and modern aesthetics, the student athletic facilities are no where nearly as nice as the varsity ones, there’s always that one group of girls walking and gossiping way too loudly. It felt normal and that’s the feeling Tony needed.

It turns out Victor is like Tony. It was 6:45 and they were both at the bar. Tony genuinely appreciated Victor’s pre-punctuality, but decided against ‘complimenting’ him on it.

“Hey.” Tony says.

“Hi.” Victor says, as they walk into the restaurant. Tony notices how much victor has cleaned up for dinner. Black skinny jeans, plain white t shirt, black vans, a chain necklace, a black jacket, black sunglasses. He was sleek. Tony was really into that: a man with style. Tony wants to compliment him on the look, but he isn’t quite sure if this is one hundred percent a date yet.

“Two?” The hostess asks. Victor nods yes. Tony notes she’s cute. She’s got reddish hair and beautiful blue eyes, Tony could get lost in, but not as easily as he could on Victor’s. The girl seats them at the high top table at the actual bar where Tony realizes her name is Wanda.

“Let me buy you a drink since you’re getting dinner. I figured you picked this place because they don’t card.” Tony says and laughs.

“Alright.” Victor says. Tony orders a Coors Light and Victor orders a Corona which Tony notes as an odd choice considering they’re not as easy to get drunk off of. Maybe, Victor just has more control than Tony.

Tony is a straight to the point type of man. “So, why’d you bring me here?” Tony asks.

“Because I wanted the first word,” Victor replies.

“I like it,” Tony says.

“So, who are you, really?” Victor asks.

“That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t entirely know who I am. I’m Tony Stark, son of the legendary Howard Stark. I’m a futurist, interested in innovation and technology and pushing the world forward in a different way from my father. I know I’m not my father.” Tony says. He’s unsure why he said it. Maybe it’s the beer, maybe it’s the way Victor makes him feel.

“Wow.” Victor says, surprised the young heir to a billion dollar fortune spilled that much.

“And, who are you, really?” Tony asks, nicely mocking Victor’s original question.

“I’m Victor Von Doom. Honestly, I’m nobody,” He says, sadly.

“Come on. You’re somebody,” Tony says.

“I don’t think so,” Victor replies.

Tony orders another round of beer. They end up talking all night about other things like school and their major and very basic getting-to-know-each-other things. Tony wants to take him home, but he’s too tired and drunk for that and Scott is probably passed out in the dorm room anyway.

“We can get lunch after class on Monday. My treat.” Tony says.

“Sounds great.” Victor replies.

A very wobbly, drunk Tony Stark managed to make it back to his dorm room. He sees Hope walk down the halls which means Scott is probably still awake which is not exactly the interaction Tony wants to have.

“Hey man, how’d it go?” Scott says when Tony unlocks the door.

“Great. We’re doing lunch on Monday. I’m drunk. I’m going to bed.” Tony says.

He does exactly that.

-

Rhodey
got 4 tickets to basketball game Friday. Taking carol and you and whoever ur +1 is

Tony wakes up Saturday morning to a text from Rhodey. It’s perfect. He can ask Victor to be his +1 to the game on Friday when they get lunch on Monday. He wonders if Tony officially told Carol this one was a date- probably not, but he’s keeping his hopes up for his best friend.

Tony doesn’t dress as extra nice Monday but he’s still on his designer, pretty boy bullshit.

“So, where am I taking you to lunch?” Tony asks Victor who is dressed just as gorgeous as he was on Friday.

“Honestly, I’m craving Chick-Fil-A.” Victor replies.

Tony is amazed that Victor knows he’s a billionaire and chooses a restaurant where combined their lunch will cost fifteen dollars maximum. It’s nice to meet someone humble every once and a while.

At lunch after they order and sit down they start to talk.

“So, do you like basketball?” Tony asks.

“Yes. I love it. I love that it’s impossible to predict, yet you can mathematically code every move on the court. I love that the analytics don’t work. It’s a puzzle I want to solve. I’ve been working with our analytics in the coding language I created. I also work court and locker rooms cleanup for 50% of home games.” Victor says. “Sorry got going off, I’m just passionate about that.” He says again, when Tony doesn’t reply immediately.

“That’s really cool man. Also, you made your own coding language? Anyway, do you maybe want to come with me to the game on Friday? My best friend, Rhodey got four tickets and he’s taking Carol who’s in our CS class. You can be my plus one.” Tony says.

“That sounds great.” Victor replies.

“Wait, so you really have your own programming language that you developed?” Tony asks.

“Yeah. I started it in middle school. It’s sort of based on C++, but I just couldn’t find a language I liked that could do everything like gaming and sports analytics and app writing so I made my own.” Victor says.

“That’s seriously incredible, no wonder you go here.” Tony replies.

“Says Tony Stark who practically created flying car technology when he was twelve.” Victor replies.

“So, you looked me up.” Tony says and laughs.

“Maybe.” Victor says with warm pink cheeks.

“Are you free the rest of the day? Maybe, we could hang out.” Tony suggests.

“Yeah, sounds wonderful.” Victor replies.

They walk all around the campus shops and don’t buy a thing, mostly because the campus shops are catered towards rich hipster girls. They get desert at the school’s creamery. They settle in the library studying for their computer science class and Victor teaching Tony the language that he created. They eventually go their separate ways before dinner. Tony is sad because he just wants to hang out with him more and all that, but Victor has tests this week and Tony shouldn’t distract them.

Friday rolls around slowly. It’s a hard week academically, lots of tests and projects and presentations. Tony is running on coffee at this point and can’t wait to just relax tonight.

When he gets to his computer science class he says “meet at the arena at 6:30 tonight at the non-main entrance. I’ll be with Carol and Rhodey.”

“Okay.” Victor says.

Tony takes a moment to look at Victor. He looks incredible. He’s wearing a SnapBack, he’s got the school basketball jersey over a t-shirt, he’s wearing black skinny jeans and the same vans he wore when they went out last week. He’s gorgeous, Tony thinks.

Victor is early to the game, as Tony expected, which is why he made Carol and Rhodey get there so early. He assumed Rhodey had finally told Carol this was a date because she was dressed to impress. She looked stunning in a white crop top that left nothing to the imagination and gray skinny jeans. Rhodey also looked extra nice too in a zip up and nicer jeans instead of his typical jersey. Tony felt underdressed in just his t-shirt and jeans. They went in together and took their nosebleed seats. Tony finally came to realize for the price Rhodey paid per ticket, nosebleeds weren’t bad at all. yeah

The game is a great one. They all make small talk about the game throughout. The star of the show Steve Rogers, comes close to beating an NCAA record in the blowout against TCU. The atmosphere is electric.

“Mathematically, we shouldn’t even be this close to becoming a Cinderella story in the bracket, but here we are about to be.” Victor says.

“It’s amazing how many times math can be wrong in these types of events.” Tony replies.

Victor’s passion of sports analytics is starting to grow on Tony. It’s fascinating to hear him discuss it and why it doesn’t make sense, but he loves it anyway. Tony can relate to that.

After the game, Victor and Tony start walking back in one direction and Carol and Rhodey in another. It’s a clear night. The sky almost looks like a painting: true navy blue, the stars are shining, and the moon is nearly full. At some point along the wall they both notice Carol is with the mystery girl, and not Rhodey. Victor sees the mystery girl put a hand on Carol’s ass and start to make out with her. Victor figures now is as good a time as any to try it. He copied the mystery girl’s moves exactly and feels a major sigh of relief when Tony kisses back. Tony happens to see Carol and Carol happens to see Tony. After he breaks the kiss with Victor he sends her a text: don’t tell Rhodey and I won’t tell Rhodey meet me for lunch at Chipotle tomorrow at 12

Victor and Tony hold hands the rest of the way back, except for a moment when Tony feels his phone buzz in his pocket. It’s just Carol agreeing to the terms which is a pretty large sigh of relief.

“Who was that?” Victor asks.

“Just Carol.” Tony replies.

They end up in Victor’s dorm room. He’s the only one who lives in it. He has a roommate, but his roommate’s older brother is an upperclassmen and he snuck into his brother’s apartment. Victor thinks he was too much of a princess for dorm life anyway. He explains to Tony quickly before he can question it. The room is plain. It’s the typical furniture, a PC, a Mac, a Nintendo Switch, an XBox One, and a PS4. Victor hops up on the loft bed, which is clearly his given it has sheets and Tony plops down on the low bed that’s still a mattress and very sketchy pillow.

“So, how did you know?” Victor asks.

“Know what?” Tony asks in reply.

“You liked dudes.” Victor clarifies.

“I don’t really know. I dated a girl all through high school. Her name was Pepper. She was cold and calculated kind of like you, but also soft and sweet and caring, like you. She was difficult to get on the first date and she was one for pacing. She liked logistics. I’ve always liked girls like that. But, I guess I like guys like that too.” Tony says.

Victor can tell Tony isn’t telling the whole truth, as flattered as he is. Tony is easy to read. The expression on his face was over-confident for an answer like that.

“How did you really know?” Victor asks.

Tony’s cheeks go bright red. He looks like a tomato and lets it out “Okay, fine. It was after the first basketball game of the season and the captain kissed his cheerleader girlfriend. I was looking at her way too much and felt guilty for thinking she’s hot because my father was family friends with her aunt who brought her over sometimes. We were childhood, family friends. It felt wrong. I shifted my focus over to Steve fucking Rogers and realized, maybe I do like boys.”

Victor almost laughs. “At least I know you’re not lying.” Victor says.

“And what about you, Von Doom?” Tony asks.

“Honestly, I’ve always known. When all my little friends were into the hottest girls I was into the hottest guys. I hated it. I still do. But at least I know and I’m honest with myself about it.” Victor says.

“Do your parents know?” Tony asks.

“They couldn’t care if they tried. Did yours?” Victor says.

“My father would be disappointed and my mother would be happy I’m finding love. Why wouldn’t your parents care?” Tony asks.

“They’ve never cared about me my whole life. I couldn’t tell you if we’re rich or poor or what my mothers maiden name is. I couldn’t tell you love I couldn’t tell you a thing about family because I never had any. I like to think my mother hid the pregnancy and never wanted her family to find out about me because of shame or something, but I’ll never know. They did the bear minimum. My parents drove me to school, got me one nice Christmas present and one nice birthday present, but never let me have a party. I never met the rest of my family nor do I know if I have one. I had what I needed to be successful, maybe I’m just ungrateful.” Victor blurts Out. His eyes start to tear up.

“I like to think all parents should be like my mother. They should love and support their child and only be tough on them when needed. Though my father was a brilliant man with an eye for innovation and economic genius like no other, he disregarded me. I was never enough for him. I was supposed to be the boy in his spitting image, but when I wanted to change direction of my research I was punished. I don’t want to build weapons, it’s boring and I’m already rich. I want to make a flying car or a product to help the homeless. I want to change the world for progress. I’m a futurist I guess, and I think my father hated that.” Tony blurts. He doesn’t mean to say that much, but he does.

Victor gives him a look of understanding. “Hey, man wanna just play x-box or something?” He asks.

“Sounds great.” Tony replies.

They decided on borderlands and play for an hour or so. At some point Tony kisses Victor and they’re on the bed without sheets making out and yanking each other’s hair.

The next morning, Tony wakes up naked on top of Victor. It’s already eleven in the morning and he has to get to the chipotle fast. Thankfully, Victor wakes up a few minutes later. Tony isn’t exactly sure what to do at this point. He can wear the same jeans and shoes he wore yesterday but his shirt isn’t going to cut it.

“There’s shirts in the top drawer.” Victor says, pointing to the wooden dresser, barely moving his body out of the bed.

“Thanks.” Tony replies. He picks one for the school of computer science, which Tony isn’t in, so it’s obvious the shirt isn’t his. It’s like a trophy or something.

“Where are you going?” Victor asks.

“Lunch with Carol.” Tony replies.

“Bring me back something. I’ll text you what I want after you text me where.” Victor says as he lays back down to check his phone.

Tony gets to Chipotle and sends Victor a text in hopes he didn’t fall asleep and can bring back his order. Carol shows up a couple minutes after Tony, looking like a hot mess. Her hair is all curly, she’s wearing a t-shirt from the art school, and black jeans that are much too long on hers and they’re cuffed a ridiculous amount. It’s obvious they’re in the same situation, or so Tony thinks. They order and pay (Tony gets Victor’s order to go) and take a seat at the metal high top tables.

“This isn’t what it looks like.” Carol says.

“This is exactly what it looks like.” Tony replies.

“Well then, you go first.” Carol says, taking a bite out of her bowl.

“I’m in love with him I think. We went back to his room and talked. We have matching childhood trauma. We played video games. We fucked. I woke up in his arms. It was kind of perfect.” Tony says.

“Sounds great. My night was not like that at all. After the sex I was supposed to leave and then I didn’t. I fell asleep in her arms and now I’m here, in her clothes, regretting everything.” Carol says.

“Who is she? What’s the deal? I’m lost.” Tony says.

“She’s my ex. Her name is Val Brunnhilde. She’s in the art school. We broke it off last week because I don’t think we’re right for each other but I keep running back whenever she catches my attention or I catch hers. I also kind of like Rhodey though and really want to give him a chance when he actually decides to ask me out.” Carol says.

“Well that’s, um, complicated.” Tony says.

“Yeah.” Carol replies.

“Are you going to do anything about it?” Tony asks.

“I keep trying and failing, but I guess I’ll keep trying.” Carol replies. “Anyway why didn’t you want me telling Rhodey? Does he not know you’re gay or something?” She asks.

“He doesn’t, but you know, more importantly I don’t want to make him feel bad for not getting laid first.” Tony says, laughing.

“You’re such an ass.” Carol says and laughs.

Tony brings Victor back his order and hopes it’s right, which apparently it is. Victor still has no clothes on and is eating Chipotle in the bed-truly the college experience.

“Do you want your shirt back?” Tony asks.

“Keep it. It looks good on you.” Victor replies.

Tony blushes. It was off again in a matter of minutes.

The next few weeks for Tony and Victor are chill. They spend every waking moment together they’re becoming just as bad as Hope and Scott. They’re more productive in every way though. Tony has practically moved into Victor’s room and Hope has practically moved into Scott’s. Rhodey still hasn’t asked Carol out yet and she’s pretty close to asking him out herself.

Bruce Banner and Jane Foster still need interns. They have so many applications he actually calls Tony to help him go through them, and Tony of course brings along Victor. Jane makes her selection quickly: a meteorology major named Sif. Tony and Victor read through application after application and Tony jokingly suggests one: “How about this guy?” He says, laughing. Bruce grabs the application and sees its for Thor Odinson, a junior who is currently on the injured reserve for track and field. His major is allegedly cellular biology, so on paper he has the qualifications, but how many division one athletes actually do anything having to do with their major. “You know, I don’t need someone to do science stuff. I just want an intern who will clean up and talk to me so I’m not so lonely all the time.” Bruce says.

“You’re actually going to hire that guy?” Tony says.

“He’s my actual roommates’ older brother. He lives with him.” Victor pipes up.

“Wait who is his brother?” Bruce asks.

“Loki. He’s a drama major, huge princess. He decided dorm life wasn’t for him, fucked out and took the second bedroom at Thor’s apartment.” Victor says.

“At least you got a single.” Bruce replies.

Bruce makes the call. Thor is hired. Thor is not the smartest, but he’s not that stupid either. He doesn’t realize the call isn’t from one of Jane’s already existent interns hiring him for Jane’s lab. Bruce says he starts on Monday.

On the Monday, Thor comes in. He’s confused. He looks out of place, Bruce thinks. He’s got this crazy long, blonde hair and he’s wearing athletic wear and open toed shoes which is absolutely not lab apparel, not that Bruce cares about the rules that badly.

“Hello. Aren’t I supposed to be in Jane’s lab.” Thor says.

“No, she hired a different intern. You’re my intern.” Bruce says, pointing over to Sif and Jane in the lab across from them. He’s sees the disappointment’s in Thor’s face when he realizes Thor only applied because he had a crush on Jane.

“If you only applied because you have a crush on Jane, get in line, so does everyone. You’re stuck with me now.” Bruce says. Thor just groans.

“Listen, I’m not going to make you do any of the actual science shit I just need someone to clean up and talk to while I research.” Bruce says, trying to reach out.

“That I can do for a whole seven dollars and fifty sense an hour.” Thor says.

They end up talking for hours on end. Bruce takes Thor to dinner. They don’t stop talking. It turns out an ambitious researcher with plans to get three PhDs and a division one athlete aren’t so different after all.

It’s Saturday, February 2nd and Tony is at his now, all too typical lunch with Rhodey. Victor is back at the room doing some computer science stuff that’s too advanced even for Tony to understand.

“Listen man, Valentine’s day is coming up. That’s like the perfect window to ask Carol out.” Tony says.

“I don’t know if she’s into me or if she thinks we’re really good friends.” Rhodey replies.

“I’m not saying I talked to her and heard about how she’s really willing to give you a try, but.” Tony says and ends at the coordinating conjunction.

Rhodey rolls his eyes.

“Look, man you should do it. You’ve been meaning to do it for like a month. Just ask her out. I want this for you.” Tony says.

“Fine I’ll do it but there’s a condition.” Rhodey says, a bit hesitantly because that’s way more of a thing Tony would do than he would do.

“Which is?” Tony asks and rolls his eyes.

“Tell me what the hell is going on between you and Victor.” Rhodey says.

“Ugh fine. I guess we’re dating. I haven’t officially asked him to be my boyfriend or whatever but I think we’re together.” Tony says.

“For how long?” Rhodey asks.

“Since the basketball game we went to with Carol.” Tony says.

“Wow.” Rhodey replies.

“You have to ask her out now. Before February 14th, and send me proof if you can.” Tony says.

“Fine.” Rhodey replies.

The next day Rhodey texts Carol.

hey do u wanna grab dinner tomorrow night. like on an official date

Carol: yes! sounds great

Rhodey screenshots the text and sends it to Tony: fuck u I did it

Tony: proud of u man

Dinner with Carol is great. They go to the campus bar, where Victor and Tony had their first date. Carol apparently knows the hostess, Wanda because they had some classes together. She seats them at a high top table at the actual bar.

“You look amazing.” Rhodey says. Carol is stunning: she’s straightened her blonde hair and bangs, she’s wearing a black crop job with one of her ROTC jackets over it and skinny jeans.

“Thank you, you too.” She replies.

It’s a different kind of first date. They already know each other and have known each other since day one. It’s a lot more how are we going to make this work than who are you and why are you interested in me. They end up in Carol’s dorm because her roommate, Maria Rambeau is out with some of her friends tonight. They talk for hours and hours until Rhodey decides to go back long after midnight. Of course gets a text from Tony: how’d it go?. He tells Siri to reply with “great.”

They’re sitting in Victor’s room on a Saturday night playing MarioKart on the switch for the hundredth round when Tony asks: “Victor, do you like surprises?”

“I suppose I do.” He replies.

“Dress up on Valentine’s day. I have a big one for you.” Tony says.

Victor is insanely excited. He knows it’s going to be extravagant, he’s known Tony long enough to know that. He doesn’t even know what to say.

“Will do, Anthony.” He says.

Tony doesn’t know how to feel about Victor’s new thing of calling him by his full name, which nobody ever does, but it’s Victor and somehow that makes it okay. They pretty much just play Mario Kart and fuck the rest of the day because they’re really becoming that couple.

One day, Tony actually goes back into his room and sees Scott there without Hope.

“Where’s the girl?” Tony asks.

“She went to class.” Scott replies.

“I forgot she’s actually responsible.” Tony says and laughs.

“Where have you been the last while?” Scott asks.

“With Victor.” Tony replies.

“You got any plans for Valentine’s day? I’m taking Hope out to a nice restaurant off campus.” Scott says.

“It’s a surprise but we’re going to the nice steakhouse. I’ll tell you that.” Tony replies.

“Sounds expensive.” Scott says.

“I’m rich.” Tony replies.

Tony is out for his usual Chipotle lunch with Rhodey.

“You know, you gotta ask her out for Valentine’s day too. It’s not a one and done.” Tony says.

“I’m not an idiot, I know that.” Rhodey replies. “I have a plan.” He continues.

“What is it?” Tony asks.

“I’m sending flowers to her dorm in her favorite colors: red, yellow and blue and in them there’s going to be a note telling her to meet me at the fancy restaurant off campus at 7pm on Valentine’s day.” Rhodey says.

“I’m impressed and proud.” Tony replies.

Tony sees Bruce walk in with another person behind him who looks vaguely familiar.

“Hey.” Bruce says to Tony.

“How’s it going?” Tony asks.

“Good. Taking a break from my research for lunch, obviously.” Bruce replies.

“Who’s he?” Tony asks, obviously referring to Thor.

“This is Thor. He’s my intern.” Bruce says. It all comes back to Tony now.

“Well Thor, I’m Tony and this is Rhodey, nice to meet you.” He says. They both shake hands with the tall, muscular blonde.

“What are you two doing here?” Bruce asks, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Well I am making sure Rhodey is actually going ask his girl out for Valentine’s day.” Tony says, a bit arrogantly. Rhodey’s cheeks flush.

“Sounds nice, we’ll be stuck in the lab doing radiation experiments.” Bruce says.

“It won’t be all that bad.” Thor chimes in.

Tony and Rhodey exchange a look and both wonder what the hell is going on.

“What the hell is going on with them?” Rhodey asks Tony as they walk back towards the dorms from lunch.

“I have no idea. I’ve barely even seen Bruce since I helped him read applications to hire an intern.” Tony replies.

“Something is going on.” Rhodey says.

“Should we investigate?” Tony asks.

“I think we should.” Rhodey replies.

They spend the rest of the walk back discussing how they’re going to try and figure out what’s going on between Bruce and Thor without ever going to the lab so it’s not too obvious.

“Victor would know what to do since he’s extra good with computers and shit.” Tony says.

“You’re right.” Rhodey replies.

They go to Victor’s room and tell him the idea.

“If you want me to hack them I’m not gonna do that. I don’t do that anymore.” Victor says.

“Oh.” Tony replies. He doesn’t really know why and based on what Hope told him he doesn’t entirely want to know why: it’s a combination of not wanting to know someone you love dearly did something bad and the fact for Victor’s sake he doesn’t want him holding onto the past.

“You know, you could just ask them.” Victor suggests semi-sarcastically.

“That takes the fun out of the mystery.” Tony replies and Rhodey nods in agreement.

“Okay.” Victor laughs.

Eventually Rhodey leaves when he officially starts to feel like a third wheel which reminds him to order the flowers for Carol with the note. He orders them to arrive on February 11th so they have time.

“Why don’t you hack people anymore?” Tony asks.

“Other than the obvious that it’s wrong and I shouldn’t have done it in the first place?” Victor replies with the question.

“Well, yes.” Tony says, climbing the wide wooden ladder up to Victor’s loft bed to sit with him.

“It was a stupid way for me to cope with things. My ex-friend group led by Reed Richards and accompanied by Susan and Johnny Storm, as well as Ben Grimm ditched me a couple months into school. They were all I had because my roommate fucked out and I’m not the best at being socially outgoing. I was so mad because I was back in the state of what felt like forced isolation back home, you know?” Victor says. Tony nods his head and lets Victor rest his head on his neck and strokes his fingers softly through his warm, brunette hair.

“I hacked him because it was the only thing I knew how to do. If someone pissed me off or said something about me I didn’t like I hacked them and everyone knew their secrets. I’m not proud of it, it’s immature. I wanted college to be different from high school and home, and when it was just the same shit in a different place, I lost it. I am not a god, I make mistakes too and I should not have punished people for what some of was my own wrongdoing.” Victor says, a tear shedding out of his gorgeous green eyes. It made Tony sad to see him cry. You’re too pretty to cry, Tony thinks.

“You are not defined by your past mistakes, let alone the ones you make when you’re young or when you’re a freshmen.” Tony says as he wipes the tears off Victor’s olive skin. Victor is losing it at this point.

He says through tears: “you know, Tony, I feel so guilty for the way I treated people. I don’t deserve you, I don’t deserve this. I’m not a good man.”

Tony just kisses his head and lays back on the bed, letting Victor cry into his chest. Tony felt guilt for asking the question that lead to this, but at least Victor was able to vent it out.

“I don’t deserve you. You’re beautiful, you’re amazing, you’re humble. In a way you are everything I am not, Victor. I love you.” Tony says.

It’s the first time he says it. It doesn’t feel like it is, but it is. Tony’s heart races for a moment hoping Victor will say it back.

“I love you too, Anthony.” Victor says into Tony’s chest where he still lays.

They lay like that for hours. Victor in Tony’s chest while Tony combs through his hair with his fingers. Victor wraps his arms around Tony’s neck and comes up for a kiss every so often. Tony loves this feeling. He doesn’t think he’s ever quite experienced love like this before: this tender and this raw.

On February 11th, Carol gets her flowers from Rhodey. She can’t stop gushing about him to Maria. She tells her so many stories of him like the time he shut down the boys for laughing at her and falling off the ropes and how it took him so long to ask her out. Maria just laughs: “Carol I was literally there.” She keeps saying. Maria is glad Carol has finally found someone who treats her right.

“I’m really happy for you.” Maria says.

“Thank you. It means a lot.” Carol replies.

Valentine’s day rolls around and Carol has no clue what to wear to the first nice date. She’s so used to being in practically army wear or jeans, she’s clueless. Her impulse decision is to text Tony at four o’clock so he’s not late for his own date. He rushes to her dorm immediately.

“I’m truly honored you’ve considered me to help you out.” Tony says.

“I don’t have a ton of time just help me pick a dress.” Carol says.

“What about this one?” Tony asks, pulling out a red one shoulder dress with a black belt attached to it.

“Isn’t that a bit too bold?” Carol asks.

“You know, when Rhodey told me he liked you he said he loved how bold you were, how you weren’t afraid to speak your mind and go out of your comfort zone.” Tony says, only half answering the question.

“Alright, that one it is. Thank you, Tony; seriously.” Carol says.

Tony hurries back to his own room to see Scott getting ready for his date with Hope. Tony hasn’t even started to get ready and he doesn’t have too much time. He sends a text to Victor to remind him to dress up and be ready at 6:30 and a text to his assistant back home, Happy to make sure the car will be ready outside the dorm at 6:45. Tony puts on a nice suit. It has black pants, a dark, Heather gray jacket, and a gray Hermés tie. He of course, being the incredibly extra man that he is finished the look with Ferragamo loafers.

He walks to the front door of the dorms and waits for Victor. The whole two minute wait was worth it. Victor looks stunning he’s in black pants, loafers, a white button down, a black tie, and an incredible green, velvet suit jacket. His hair is slicked a little bit and he cleaned up his face. His eyes are popping more than ever. Tony is in love.

“You look amazing.” Tony says.

“So do you.” Victor replies.

“Thank you.” Tony says.

“Where exactly are we going?” Victor asks.

“Follow me.” Tony replies.

Tony leads him out the dorm entrance to the black audi A4 equipped with a personal driver and blacked out backseat windows. He opens the door for Victor and signals for him to get in. Tony follows.

“You really didn’t have to do all this for me.” Victor says.

“But I wanted to.” Tony replies.

“Why?” Victor asks.

“Because I love you.” Tony says, leaning over and stretching the seatbelt to give Victor a kiss on the cheek.

The car stops roughly ten minutes later outside the steakhouse Tony is taking him out for dinner. The hostess greets them and Tony says: “reservation for two, Stark.” She leads them back to a private room that’s been blocked off. The room has huge windows that overlook the flower garden behind the restaurant and has nothing but a table for two with a crisp white tablecloth and set as formally as could be. Tony and Victor take their seats as the hostess hands them their menus. It was a lot to take in for Victor.

“Why all this for me?” Victor asks.

“Because I really do love you and I want to make this special and I have something to ask you.” Tony replies.

“I really don’t think I’m worth all this, Tony. Anyway, what do you want to ask me?” Victor says.

“Well, I mean, would you like to officially be my boyfriend. I realized I never asked and felt sort of bad.” Tony says, almost embarrassed.

“Of course I would like to be.” Victor says.

The tone of the meal lightens up. Tony orders a bottle of the most expensive red wine and somehow got away with it. He’s ninety percent sure the restaurant knew he was rich and would pay for it which meant carding him would have been an after thought. In terms of food they go all out too, trying three different appetizers and each getting a piece of steak over fifty dollars and a rather pricey dessert.

The sleek black Audi comes back to get them and does not take them to the dorm, but takes them to a five-star hotel a few miles out of campus.

“Where are we?” Victor asks.

“The nicest hotel in town. I booked us the honeymoon suite.” Tony says as they through the golden rotating door.

Tony walks to the front desk and pulls a credit card out of his Lois Vuitton wallet to pay and they get two keys and go up the elevator to the end of the hall on the fifteenth floor where the suite is.

The room has a breathtaking view, or a view as breathtaking of a generic American college town can be. The bed is huge. There’s a nice couch, a big closet, a fancy bathroom. The room must have cost a fortune.

“Not to ruin the mood or anything but did you happen to bring clothes and phone chargers and shit if we’re staying the night?” Victor asks.

“Of course I did. I’m not that irresponsible.” Tony replies.

Victor wonders for a second how Tony got his clothes, or if they’re just Tony’s, or if Tony just bought them. He gets lost for a minute in his own brain and suddenly brought back when Tony kisses his lips. Victor yanks on Tony’s six-hundred dollar tie in an attempt to get it off, which spoiler alert, doesn’t work that well. The rest of the night is spent tangled in the white hotel sheets. It’s the best valentine’s day either of them ever had.

They don’t wake up to any alarm the next morning which leads to an obvious very heavy session of sleeping in. They both wake up around eleven, lying in each other’s arms and hearing the other’s heart beat.

“Shit, don’t we have class?” Victor asks, laying on top of Tony.

“It’s fine.” Tony replies.

It probably wasn’t fine, but today was not the day to care. Victor just nuzzles his face back into Tony’s chest and tries to fall asleep again.

At some point they wake up again.

“You know, I booked this place for the whole weekend.” Tony says.

“Why the hell would you do that?” Victor asks.

“So we can actually do stuff off campus like go see a movie or go to a restaurant that isn’t Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, or the bar, and like go to Target or basically just go places with a car because he’s also hired for the whole weekend.” Tony says.

“Fair point, but god you’re ridiculous and I’m hungry.” Victor says.

“I’ll order room service.” Tony replies.

They spend an outrageous amount of money on the most basic of food because that’s how full service hotels are and decide to go see Alita: Battle Angel at the fancy movie theater with the reclining seats in the nice mall a few miles away because they have a Schaefer and they can do that. They both love the movie because it’s fun, it’s sciencey, and it’s visually stunning. They then proceed to walk around the mall.

“Okay, you’re right, leaving campus is actually kind of fun.” Victor says.

“When was the last time you even left? Mine was like before winter break.” Tony asks and says.

“I never have, my whole time here.” Victor replies.

“Why?” Tony asks.

“I can’t drive, I’m a broke college student, and I haven’t exactly had many friends. It’s just easier to stay in the however-many-mile-radius of campus.” Victor days.

“Of course you can’t drive, you’re gay.” Tony says.

Victor just laughs.

“I don’t need to when I have you and a personal driver driving a luxury car.” He says, smirking.

“God, I love you.” Tony says, pulling him aside for a peck on the lips but

Tony really meant that. He had never quite experienced love like this, love with someone with shared experiences and equivalent intelligence and snark, while also being so beautiful. He was head over heels.

“I love you too.” Victor replies.

“Anyway, let me buy you something for Valentine’s day.” Tony says.

“Was dinner and a hotel room for two nights not enough? I should be the one buying you something.” Victor says.

“You know, I like my things and I wanted to get you something nice and you’re broke. I’m not letting you buy anything.” Tony says.

“I’m not broke broke. You don’t need to go crazy all out. I’m not letting you buy me anything. I’m buying you something instead.” Victor replies.

“God, we’re already an old married couple.” Tony says.

“Indeed.” Victor replies.

Victor ends up buying Tony a Star Wars pop figure for Valentine’s day at hot topic of all places. It was more sentimental than anything. Tony will treasure the little BB8 forever.

The rest of the weekend is a success. It’s a nice break from reality and getting fresh air is always good. For now, they must go back to school and go back to caring about the basketball team’s push for the bracket.

The end of February seems to fly by as it always does. It’s a short month, it’s uneventful, it’s cold. It’s just February. Victor and Tony attend several basketball games with Rhodey and Carol as the Rangers fight to secure a spot in the bracket. Hypothetically they should make it, but the NCAA is a corrupt organization without a proper playoff format designed to make it look like teams have a chance when they don’t. During games Victor likes to go off about probability and analytics, and Tony has fallen in love with listening to him talk about it. Tony never thought of sports as mathematical, but Victor changed his thinking. He really liked that about it. Their conversations at games became more productive. The four of them would discuss probability and rankings instead of how irritating the sideline couples were, especially now that the benchwarmer was dating the sexiest cheerleader on the team, Natasha Romanoff.

After the game, on the last day of February, Carol gets invited to a post-game party at the nearest frat house and decides to go and drag Rhodey along with her. Tony and Victor go as backup in case anything terrible happens.

It’s a typical frat party. There’s burly boys in varsity jackets, topless girls trying to get with them, loud and overly bass filled top forty music, tables upon tables of beer pong, and people openly doing drugs from juuls to cocaine. It’s a shot out of a bad comedy about college. As they walk a few steps a huge guy, who might’ve been on the football team offers them “sluts and mojitos.” They take a drink and ignore the offer of scantily clad women, for now anyway.

Carol isn’t much a partier. She is used to the strict, military life but, she knows how to have her fun. She takes shots, kicks all the boys asses at beer pong, gets every varsity athlete, male and female to drool over her, and in the process she loses her boyfriend.

At some point, Carol is wasted beyond belief off of Mojitos, shots, and Natty Lights. Tony and Victor are making out in some corner, and Rhodey has found a less drunk group of friends to hang around with. Carol suddenly a feels a familiar hand on her back. It’s warm, it’s something she can recognize in her alcoholic haze in a place she doesn’t know. The taller girl turns Carol’s neck and leans down to kiss her lips as a room full of varsity athletes drool.

Some of the alcohol must’ve worn off during the kiss because Carol pulls away and wipes off her mouth.

“What the hell?” She yells at the other woman.

“I just missed you.” She says, slurring her words, revealing her drunkenness.

“I have a boyfriend, you’re drunk, go the fuck home.” Carol yells.

Val takes a shot of Vodka before leaving the room.

“Can someone get me another drink?” Carol asks, knowing one the men would serve her.

Carol was truly a specimen. She’d knocked off her jacket hours ago to reveal her muscle tank top and unbelievably toned arms and she’d taken her hair down to let it flow it’s in natural waves too. She was the life of the party and she didn’t want to leave until the moment Val tried to kiss her.

Victor and Tony eventually stop making out to hit the makeshift open bar when they realize that Rhodey and Val are in the same room. Though they don’t say anything to one another, after collecting their beers they jolt from the bar. Tony goes on a mission to find Carol and Victor distracts Rhodey enough to bring him into another room. Victor texts Tony: success

Tony’s journey is not as easy and filled with several surprises. He wants to believe it’s just the several beers and mojitos and shots he’s had that he’s seeing what he’s seeing, but something tells him that’s not true. He walks by a partially open coat closet and sees Bruce making out with a blonde who appears to be Thor. He wants to unsee it. If he can remember by tomorrow he’ll tell Rhodey that maybe they were onto something, but his brain is in no condition to keep thoughts right now. Eventually, after walks through long hallways and opening many wrong doors and finding more to unsee like the benchwarmer and the cheerleader fucking on a bed that wasn’t theirs he finds Carol in the back playing beer pong and winning.

He walks up to her. “Carol.” He says.

“Hey everyone this is Tony Stark.” She yells to the crowd watching her.

Tony is trying his best to let his rational, least drunk section of his brain take over right now.

“Carol, we need to go. Something bad almost happened.” Tony whispers, as Carol shoots a perfect shot into one of the few remaining red solo cups.

“One more game Tony, come on.” She bickers.

“Fine.” Tony says.

He takes a seat and watches her play. She’s pretty damn good. He texts Victor: what a journey can’t wait to tell u about it. trying to get carol to stop playing beer pong so we can leave but she keeps winning

She wins game after game after game. It’s well into the hours of the morning at that point. Finally she gets so drunk and loses by one to some vaguely familiar looking hockey player. It’s nearly six am by the time they leave the party and they’re miserably hungover if it’s even possible to get a hangover without sleeping first.

Thankfully, it’s Saturday. They can go back to their dorms and sleep it off.

“Carol, you look like shit. Where the hell have you been?” Maria asks.

“We went to a party after the game. I won the beer pong tournament.” Carol says.

“You’re still drunk.” Maria replies.

“It’s just one night off. We never get them, might as well go wild.” Carol says.

“Never change Carol, never change.” Maria says.

Carol passes out on the tiny twin bed and doesn’t wake up for several hours.

Tony and Victor of course also pass the hell out when they return to their dorm. They both reek of alcohol and don’t even bother to shower because they’re so exhausted. They awake back up by dinner time.

“We might as well be nocturnal.” Victor says.

“What the fuck?” Tony asks.

“You’re still drunk baby aren’t you?” Victor asks.

“You are too.” Tony says.

“I’m not gonna argue with that.” Victor replies.

“Fuck. I had to tell Rhodey something and now I can’t remember what it is.” Tony says, grabbing his phone and putting it back down.

“I wouldn’t know either babe.” Victor says.

Victor has never called Tony that before and he doesn’t hate it, but he knows Victor is drunk and it won’t happen again, so he enjoys it while it lasts. Tony just rests his head back on Victor’s chest and they’ll make some sort of half-assed dinner plan before it’s too late to order Postmates.

So it turns out that even though the bracket isn’t officially announced the Rangers are going to be in the challenge and Tony really wants to surprise his friends by taking them to their regional part of the tournament over spring break in New York City which will cover the first two rounds. Though they aren’t the most important rounds, a trip to New York with some good basketball never hurt. Tony buys advance tickets for the south section of the bracket, courtside. He buys six: him and Victor, Rhodey and Carol, and Scott and Hope.

Tony makes a group chat called “surprise bitches” and says to it : meet at chipotle at 1pm today It’s probably more ominous and mysterious than it should be, but Tony is okay with keeping it that way.

“What the hell is that text about?” Victor asks.

“It’s a surprise.” Tony says, kissing Victor on the cheek.

“Your surprises are always extravagant.” Victor replies.

Tony just smiles devilishly.

One pm comes quickly enough. The group of six gathers outside the Chipotle and walks into the shorter-than-usual line, all ordering their usuals. They all follow Tony to the long high top, silver table in the middle of the restaurant like a well-coordinated posse.

“Why were we summoned here?” Carol asks, breaking the silence.

“I have a huge surprise for you guys.” Tony says.

“Which is?” Rhodey asks.

“I’m taking all of us to the tournament in New York City at Madison Square Garden. We’ll be staying in separate suites in a five-Star hotel and get a day of shopping and a day at the Met. All expenses paid.” Tony says.

“Are you kidding?” Hope asks.

“I’m not. Pack your bags for spring break. The flight leaves March sixteenth at 6pm. First class by the way.” Tony replies.

There is a coo of thank yous at Tony.

“You’re crazy. You know that.” Victor says.

“And you love it.” Tony replies.

A week later all the teams are announced. Their Rangers are ranked number one in the south and will playing undeserving sixteen seed, Alabama Crimson Tide. There’s apparently a lot controversy around them making the tournament; Victor won’t shut up about how it mathematically doesn’t even make sense that Alabama is in it.

Tony sends a text to the group chat: I made a challenge on the espn website. submit ur brackets and we’ll put in $20 each. Winner gets all the money

They all meet and submit their brackets. Victor chooses Duke “because it makes the most mathematical sense,” Tony chooses their own school, Scott picks Villanova “because they won last Year,” Hope picks Purdue, Carol chooses Buffalo “because they’ve had a hot streak,” and Rhodey picks Gonzaga. There is much excitement to go around for the plane ride tomorrow.

“I’ve never been on a plane before.” Victor confesses to Tony.

“Well this isn’t how most people ride them.” Tony replies.

“I figured as much.” Victor says.

“You look adorable.” Tony says, flat out.

Victor is dressed in an oversized black hoodie for the university, black adidas sweatpants, and black tennis shoes.

“I think you’re just tired.” Victor says, aware of his poorly fashioned look.

Tony looks put together. for packing last minute and getting no sleep. He’s rocking the gucci slides and hoodie look. Douchey? Yes. Put together? Also, yes.

“You look so cozy, I just want to cuddle you.” Tony says.

“Definitely, just tired.” Victor replies.

Tony was never quite that soft.

“It’s sure weird to be riding a plane instead of practicing flying one.” Rhodey says to Carol.

“Take the time to enjoy it.” She says.

“Scott! Wake up!” Hope nearly yells in the terminal filled with black chairs in dire need of new leather and large glass windows overlooking their plane.

“Oh shit, is it time to go already?” Scott asks, rubbing his unique, green eyes and picking up his bags.

“Yes it is, hurry up!” Hope replies.

“Do you ever get tired of babysitting him?” Rhodey asks.

“If we’re being honest, yes.” Hope replies.

“Don’t lie, you love it.” Scott says, kissing her cheek.

Hope just rolls her eyes.

They all get comfortable on the plane, in their more-spacious-than-everybody-else’s seats and lovely accommodations of soda and mediocre airline snacks and individual movie screens. Scott and Hope sleep the whole plane ride, which is pretty much their brand. Rhodey and Carol mostly talk the whole time, but watch a few episodes of tv on Netflix with the complementary WiFi that comes with a first class ticket. Victor and Tony decide to watch Baby Driver.Tony falls asleep on Victor’s shoulder for at least half of it and Victor can’t help but finally feel at peace.

The plane lands at JFK international airport. The getting off the plane part is smooth, but the airport part and baggage claim in hectic.

“I don’t think I’ve seen this many people before in one place in my life.” Victor says.

“Welcome to New York.” Tony replies.

They wait for what feels like hours for one small suitcase per person.

They finally get out of JFK by late afternoon and expect to be hailing a taxi.

“I have one more surprise for you all.” Tony says.

There’s a black limousine parked outside the crowded airport with a “stark industries” sticker for them to board.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I feel noticed in New York.” Hope says.

“Your family made you take taxis?” Tony retorts.

“My mother is a practical woman.” Hope fires back.

“You’d never know how rich her parents are.” Scott says.

Tony smiles at the comment. He wishes his father actually cared about him like Hope’s parents care about her. He has all the money and experiences in the world, if not more. His look saddens as he thinks about how he never won over his father’s love and wasn’t mature enough to appreciate what his mother endowed him with. He rests his head into the crook of Victor’s neck and Victor kisses him softly. In the somewhat short time they’ve been together they seem to know each other all too well.

The darkened mood seems to brighten up when after a long sit in New York City traffic the limo stops outside their hotel. It’s a big, modern building in the heart of the city. They check in and are sent up the elevator to their suites. They unpack, get some rest amongst other things, and wait for the games tomorrow night.

Tony decides they should go on a shopping spree on fifth avenue before the games.

“Tony, we’re not all literal billionaires, we’re broke college students.” Rhodey says.

“It’s still fun to window shop.” Tony says.

“It will be fun.” Carol says, to her boyfriend.

Rhodey just hopes he doesn’t have to buy her anything too expensive.

Tony is dressed to the nines, at least in hypebeast standards. He’s rocking the Kaws x Uniqlo x Sesame Street collaboration crewneck sweatshirt, Helmut Lang Archive Jeans, and couldn’t be missed without his all-too-recognizable CDG play converse. He also puts on a Rolex GMT for the extra flex. Victor will make fun of him for this because he’s wearing jeans a hoodie and Tony is dressed like an Instagram influencer.

“We go to New York and now you dress like you’re a famous tiktok star or some bullshit.” Victor pokes at Tony.

“It’s called fashion.” Tony replies.

“You look like you went to a rich private school and bought your outfit with daddy’s money and say the n word during Astroworld, but okay.” Victor says.

“If i’m not cute then why are you still here?” Tony asks.

“Fine, you’re still extra cute.” Victor says.

Victor runs his fingers through Tony’s hair and kisses the shorter boy on the cheek.

Hope also takes a page out of Tony’s book for their trip to the famed avenue. She looks stunning in jeans and a t-shirt and a limited edition Louis Vuitton bag. Scott wears sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Hope is too tired from the prior day to rail on him for it.

Carol and Rhodey cannot be bothered.

The limousine drives the sixth of them to end of the avenue and they all take their own routes.

Hope and Scott and Carol and Rhodey window shop for hours dreaming of the day when they’re out of college and are ready to waste the money or have the money to waste. The luxury of a red box from Cartier or a blue box from Tiffany with more than sterling or a Louis bag with the New York tax price tag. They try on many things in many stores like Gucci loafers and Omega watches and fantasize about their futures hopefully filled with high paying jobs from their hard-earned degrees at a high end school.

Victor and Tony get the luxury of Tony having to walk into every store and decide if he wants to buy something or not.

“Let me buy you something.” Tony says to Victor as they enter Tiffany & Co’s iconic flagship coated in its signature blue.

“I’m not big on jewelry.” Victor says.

“But you wear those chain necklaces sometimes.” Tony retorts back.

“You can buy them at Home Depot. I’m not letting you waste your money on me.” Victor says

Their next stop is of course the Gucci store. Tony could buy the whole thing out if he so pleased- literally. They go up to the ready to wear floor filled with shoes and scarves and brightly colored bags with the legendary gold “GG” on them.

“What about something here?” Tony asks.

“Maybe.” Victor replies.

Victor walks around. He feels out of place. He wanders for a while, wonders what the hell anyone would need gucci gloves for and who would buy pre-dirtied seven hundred dollar shoes. He eventually finds something he likes that doesn’t feel obnoxiously flashy and actually fits his casual, yet gloomy style.

“What about these?” Victor says, picking up the black lather ace tennis shoe and showing it to his boyfriend.
“I love them.” Tony says.

Victor tries them on and they fit.

“Please, let me buy them for you.” Tony begs.

Victor wonders why Tony does this. He doesn’t know why he wants to spoil him so bad but he figures he shouldn’t complain and give up the fight.

“Okay fine.” Victor replies after a long argument with himself in his head.

After tax the shoes come to $628.71 and they come in a pretty black and white box, each with their own silky dustbag, all topped off with a Gucci ribbon.

“Thank you. I really mean it. I love you.” Victor says to Tony as they walk down the staircase of the store.

“You’re welcome. I love you too. You better wear them tonight.” Tony says.

“For what they cost I’ll wear them twenty-four seven.” Victor says.

Tony just laughs. Victor didn’t know how he got so lucky so fast.

Several hours later everyone is decked in school gear- truly decked, as in Scott Painted his face the school’s colors and is going to look like a clown on television. The group of six takes their seats, court side at the historic Madison Square Garden. Though it only seats 20,000, it was still a lot to take in. The iconic ceiling, the older seats, the energy in the room from fans of their school and Alabama alike. The room was a wave of color.

Tony spots something oddly familiar out of the corner of his eye.

“Is that Bruce with the intern guy over there?” He asks Rhodey, who is sitting on his right.

“I think. They probably got special graduate student tickets. There’s other people he works with over there too.” Rhodey replies.

“Why did he take the intern?” Tony asks.

“I don’t know.” Rhodey replies.

Tony decides to watch over there for the next while.

“We have a ninety-percent chance at winning this game.” Victor says.

“Why not one hundred?” Tony asks.

“Statistically impossible, especially in this sport.” Victor replies.

“Disappointing, but not surprised.” Tony says.

“From my personal view point, we’re winning.” Victor says.

“God I love you.” Tony replies.

“I love you too.” Victor says.

The game starts. It starts out at a slow pace with their University taking an early lead. Star player Steve Rogers gets three three-pointers in the first seven minutes and his blonde haired girl is practically shrieking on her cheerleading sideline.

“Why do we even have cheerleaders?” Carol asks.

“Division one scholarships.” Hope chimes in.

Their cheer team was known for being just the slightest bit irritating. With that being said, they were some of the best in their conference.

During a break in gameplay the “wheel of cameras” spins. It circles through emoji camera, fan camera, and many more, but lands on the classic, second-hand embarrassment inducing, kiss cam.

To just about everyone in the room of twenty-thousand’s surprise it lands on Bruce Banner and his intern, Thor Odinson.

“What the hell is the camera guy doing?” Rhodey asks.

“I have no clue.” Carol replies.

Bruce gives his intern a kiss on the cheek. No one knows what is going on.

Though the group of six are very confused about what they just witnessed, their main focus is on the game. They’re hoping to keep a steady lead against the crimson tide and move on to the round of thirty-two. They spend half time buying mediocre stadium nachos and using fake IDs to get shitty beer. Their eyes are glued to the orange ball for the second half of the game as they ultimately kick the ass of SEC team 106-81.

“Let’s find an after party.” Tony suggests.

“Or you could just throw an after party.” Scott replies.

“That’s a galaxy brain idea and I fucking love it.” Tony says.

Tony calls the hotel and tweets out about it and it gets noticed by the players of the team.

Within a couple of hours the entire basketball team, cheerleading team, and most of the students who traveled are in the ballroom, getting drunk, possibly doing illegal drugs that Tony has magically rented out.

A very drunk star player with one arm around his hot blonde girlfriend and the other around his brunette best friend yells “thank you Tony Stark!” very loudly and raises his glass for Tony. Tony blushes just a little bit, because Steve Rogers is kind of hot.

“You’re the star of the show and you didn’t even win the game.” Victor says.

“Feels good.” Tony replies, sipping on a Corona that Victor brought him.

“Why do you only drink Corona?” Tony asks.

“Don’t get drunk as fast. Have more control.” Victor says.

“I wish I had that control.” Tony replies, his look saddened.

“Wanna Dance?” Victor asks.

“I don’t want the whole basketball team knowing we’re gay.” Tony says.

“They’re more drunk than we are and are probably snorting coke as we speak. Who’s going to remember?” Victor says.

“You’re right. Let’s dance.” Tony says.

They join the other two couples they’ve traveled with on the wooden floor and are slow dancing to Sicko Mode because they’re drunk and it is what it is.

“Wasn’t much of a dance.” Victor says.

“We can make up for it later.” Tony replies.

The party has died down significantly by four in the morning and a very drunk Tony and sort of drunk Victor head back to their room following Rhodey and Carol, but still waiting on Hope and Scott.

“How about we really dance?” Victor says, pulling out his iPhone.

He puts on Tiny Dancer by Elton John.

“Let’s dance.” Tony replies.

blue jean baby, LA lady, seamstress for the band

Their steps are trippy as the song plays with Tony stepping on Victor’s foot and the olive-skinned boy just laughing at it.

oh how it feels so real lying here with no one near

Victor’s hands are soft on Tony’s shoulders as he looks into his gorgeous, yet tired eyes.

hold me closer tiny dancer, count the headlights on the highway, lay me down in sheets of linen, you’ve had a busy day today

Victor eventually kisses Tony softly on the lips pushing him back. They end up on the fresh hotel linens in each other’s arms.

The group will be spending their last day in New York City at the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The black limousine that has been chaperoning them everywhere on this trip takes to the iconic, several block long museum.

They start in the Egyptian section. It’s breathtaking. It’s walls are aqua and the iconic cultural sculptures jump out against its walls. Tony begs Victor to take his picture with one of the sculptures of Queen Hatshepsut and Hope has to make sure Scott doesn’t touch anything. Carol and Rhodey just take their time to observe. They enter to the room with the pond.

“You know there was a Chanel fashion show in here?” Tony says.

“You know this was an ancient Egyptian temple build thousands of years ago without modern technology?” Carol replies.

“Can’t we just look at it and not care?” Rhodey says.

“What if we went into the water?” Scott asks.

“I fell in love with an idiot.” Hope says.

They’re wandering into the next section they planned to look at of Pacific Art.

“Come on Victor, we’re moving on.” Tony says.

“I’m just so fascinated. I’ve loved art my whole life and this is like the first time I get to see it.” Victor replies.

Tony smiles and lets him finish reading the plaque before they move into the giant room with blue walls collected with art from tiny islands.

After Pacific they do Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Impressionist, Modern, American, Persian, East Asian, and many, many more styles of art. They all take pictures for Instagram and take a few moments to take it all in. Everyone else heads out to the probably-not-legally parked limousine on the side of the building before Tony and Victor.

“You know, thank you so much for this. I mean it.” Victor says as they walk out of the building.

“You’re welcome. I never even knew how much you liked art.” Tony says.

“You know what I love more than art?” Victor asks, as they start to walk down the iconic staircase.

“What?” Tony replies.

“You.” Victor says.

Victor kisses Tony right then and there on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for all to see. There are several “aws” coming from the hard-to-miss limousine several feet below them.

Tony likes New York because it makes it even easier to forget he’s famous. When he’s at his place in Malibu it’s hard on him because the paparazzo follow his life being a billionaire heir and all. In New York he’s uninteresting, barely even a C-list celebrity because people like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have penthouses just right there. He feels he can truly be himself.

They go to an incredibly expensive dinner at Nobu for their last night, eating and drinking it up. Tony insists on paying for the whole meal. They go back to hotel and pack and set their alarms to be at JFK on time for their flight the next day.

Tony rises the next morning before his alarm to his phone ringing frantically. He picks it up, not even bothering to see who the Caller ID is.

“Tony, you’re a PR nightmare.” Happy says.

“What the fuck?” Tony asks, in a very groggy voice.

“Read the news.” Happy says.

“What?” Tony asks again.

“Obadiah is pissed, personally I don’t care. This isn’t going to go over well for you. I’m sorry. Tony.” Happy says.

“I’m confused. I’ll call you back.” Tony says and hits the red circle.

He figures he should google his name and there’s a long list of headlines reading: Gay Billionare Heir,” “Who is Tony Stark’s Mystery Man?”, “Will This Hurt Stark Industries?”

That’s all Tony can take before he starts sobbing. He feels stupid. He regrets everything. He starts shaking Victor’s body.

“Wake up.” Tony says.

“What is it time to go?” Victor says, clearly confused.

“No, but the media found out about us.” Tony says, trying to hide the fact he’d cried.

Tony never had the I’m famous talk with Victor because he figured it would be only be relevant if they’d visited Malibu or Los Angeles because that’s the only place in all his travels he’d ever experience paparazzi interested in his daily or personal life.

“Well, what do we do?” Victor asks.

“I have no idea. The current COO of our company is very upset with me which could hurt my future at the company. I don’t know what to do or how to fix it.” Tony says, starting to cry.

“We had our goddamn privacy stripped from us.” Victor says, now angry.

“At least they don’t know who you are.” Tony says.

“They want to.” Victor replies.

Tony just cries into Victor’s chest until he forces himself to get up to prepare for the flight. He hides himself in every way imaginable: big and baggy hoodie, big and baggy sweatpants, and dark sunglasses. He doesn’t talk to anyone the whole way down the elevator and into the limousine.

About half way through the ride to JFK he gets a call from his ex-girlfriend, Pepper Potts. He sends it to voicemail, far too distressed to answer. He plugs in headphones and listens to her message: “did you ever love me? is this why we really broke up? I always thought maybe we’d get back together one day and now I don’t even know. I always thought we’d be a team at stark industries after we graduate. That dream is dead now I see. I really want to know did you even love me or was I just a ploy?” Her message is loud and tearful.

Tony rests his head into the crook of Victor’s neck and cries the whole way home.