Biography | Quentin Beck

[Father's Day] - Saturday, June 20th, 1976

After the birthday incident from last month, Tony was actually doing a lot better. The rest of the month of May was smooth sailing and things were finally seeming to look up for the younger boy. They spent most of the days at Burger King, the hideout in the woods or in the middle of town. The beginning days of June were the same as well. With Tony's arm now fully healed from the incident that happened on the field trip, they were able to do a lot more.

But it would turn out the world was out for those two. Tony shared his house's code with Quentin, along with having him on the list of people for Jarvis to always allow in and Quentin... well... he always leaves the window unlocked in case Stark ever wants to stop by. Unfortunately, without a house key, the young Beck couldn't risk locking the door. 

Even with Tony having access to his house, he still didn't expect to wake up with him leaning over him. How long had he been waiting? The friend was climbed all the way onto the bed on his hands and knees. Thankfully, this time, it didn't scare Quentin. It obviously startled him, but scared? Nah, he was used to this by now. Besides, what made him wake up was the quick whiff of cologne. 

"...Tony?" The older boy mumbled, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes, as his friend scooted backward to sit up as well. "What are you doing here?" Quentin was still half asleep, his vision not clear enough to notice how awful the other looked.

"I just needed to see you..." He sniffled. That was when Quentin saw his appearance. His hair was tangled, his eyes red and puffy, and his clothes were damp. He had clearly been crying... and pretty hard.

"What happened?" His friend asked in concern, using some of the tissues from his bedside table to wipe the remaining tears leaking out of the boy's brown eyes. "Is it your father again?"

Tony nodded slowly, "It's Father's Day today, and you can probably already guess why I'm upset." He replied, just wanting the comfort as of right now, and Quentin gave him exactly that. The two boys stayed there for a while. Beck combing out Stark's hair with his fingers while the other slowly began to doze off. When he did, Quentin took this opportunity to shower and get ready for the day so that he could continue to comfort the other when he would wake up. That was... until he got a brilliant idea for what else he could do.

-~-

There was something so peaceful about sleeping in Quentin's house, in his room, in his bed. It was surprisingly comfy depending on the two's very different wealth areas. Maybe it was from the Elvis record that Quentin had left on for him, or maybe it was the comfort of knowing he was safe and away from Howard for the time being.  Seems the roles were to be reversed, again, as Tony was the one to wake up to the other, but something was different... Quentin was short, this figure was taller... this wasn't Quentin.

Don't worry, it was, he was just cosplaying a certain celebrity. After getting ready for the day and checking on the sleeping prince, Beck had an idea and was able to pull it off with the extra cash Tony would give him. He remembered when he would loathe this day as well. How he would be out doing his paper route and seeing kids with their fathers and becoming jealous and depressed that he couldn't have that. Eventually, he just became numb to it. Don't get him wrong, it did catch up with him from time to time.

Tony, still half asleep, had no idea what he was witnessing, but it became pretty clear to him when what seemed to be a stranger, spoke.

"Hello son!" It was so very obviously Quentin, the way he was trying to deepen his voice to sound like an adult, Tony couldn't help but stifle a laugh at how goofy he looked. 

The facial hair drawn on with a marker, the adult sized clothing that was clearly too big for the child, and the way he was standing on a chair to appear taller. The good thing about the Stark family being famous, was it made it easier to know what Howard looked like from a newspaper article. 

Tony playfully rolled his eyes, "That's funny." He stated, a small smile on his face.

"Go with it." Quentin mouthed, leaning more forward to try and tower over him, which is when Tony noticed that his friend also messed up his hair to try and match the adult's style, causing him to giggle. 

"Thanks, dad."

"How are your grades, Tony?"

"Straight A's. You wouldn't expect anything less from a Stark."

"Straight A's?! Wow! You're so smart, son! I am so very proud of you!" This caused Tony to freeze which made Quentin panic, thinking that he was doing too much, but before he broke character, the young Stark spoke.

"Can you say that again?" His voice genuine and gentle, causing Quentin to smile softly, leaning in closer to be more face to face with his friend.

"I am so proud of you, Tony."

"...One more time?"

"Tony, my son, as your father... I am very proud of you, for how far you've come and how successful you are going to be one day." Quentin panicked when silent tears started to form in the other's eyes. Thinking his idea was no longer working, he wiped the marker, smearing it all over his face as he hopped down off the chair.

"Sorry, I think I took it too far-"

"No, shut up." Tony responded, hugging his friend instantly as he remained crying, "Thank you. Even if it wasn't real, it did the job. Seriously, Quentin, thank you." 

"Do you want me to say it again?" Beck somewhat joked, but was completely willing to do so if it would continue to help.

"No," Tony chuckled, "No it's okay, but I'm not going to stop thanking you."

"I'm going to take it I did a good job, then?"

"Spot on. If- he was a good person... spot on if you were my dad- No, no, that's even weirder. Spot on if-"

"It's okay, Tones, I get what you mean." Quentin smiled.

"Okay," Tony smirked, not being able to hold in his laugh by how ridiculous Quentin looked in his makeshift cosplay, "Come on then, let's get you cleaned up."