Irondad & Spiderson Oneshots

Coffee Cups and Chemistry Class

This drabble takes place in a world where Peter is Spiderman but Tony never scouted him for the Avengers.

This silly little platonic coffee shop AU idea has been stuck in my head for ages now, and it made me really ridiculously happy to write haha. Hope you enjoy!

On an ordinary Monday, during an ordinary November, nearly halfway through an ordinary sophomore year, the day starts usually enough for Peter Parker.

He swings out of his apartment, stuffs his suit into his backpack, and by four a.m., he's already downtown. The teen has a feeling he's going to need to nick more than a few coffees from the counter of machines to keep himself going until eight a.m..

Working at a twenty-four-hour coffee shop was absolutely May's idea, though she lets him take credit for it. It's extremely generous of her, considering it was a genius idea. Peter wanted to make some cash- although May told him excessively that he shouldn't take on a job at his age solely because he was worrying about money- and he likes doing nice things for people. He works slim part-time during hours he doesn't have school, which means that the establishment is rarely busy when he's there. And he gets to treat himself to drinks and pastries.

So, aside from the four a.m. part that's just making Peter a little tired this morning (it's okay- he can hit the hay by nine-thirty tonight), the job is perfect.

And it only gets better from there, although it becomes no longer 'usual'.

The same man has been coming in every morning, far before the rest of the city is to any degree awake, and he's been doing it for weeks. He never shows his face, usually ducking around, keeping his back turned, or placing an order ahead of time and sneaking in when Peter's preoccupied.

When Peter hears a snippet of his voice, though, he immediately jumps as recognition hits him. Whip cream sloshes over the coffee he was making and onto his hand.

"I'm telling you," the man says from his spot, turned away and tucked in the front corner of the shop, "it's gonna work out. I'll be there."

It sounds like he's trying to keep his voice down as he mutters his words into the phone. Peter takes note of the device in his hand. It looks extremely high-tech.

"Yes, yes, I promise to be on time," the man continues, huffing a little laugh. "But this time only. Okay. Bye."

Peter quickly re-tops off the whipped cream, trying his best to pretend like he wasn't eavesdropping. He glances at the name entered for the order, which he scrawled on the cup not two minutes ago. Harry. Same as it always has been. It doesn't exactly bolster Peter's theory, but it could easily be a lie, too...

"Your coffee's ready, sir," Peter calls out, since they're the only two people at the shop so early. The man sticks his phone in his pocket and comes up to the counter, tilting his head up so Peter can see underneath the baseball cap.

And holy shit, he was right.

"Ah, nope, you never saw me," says Tony Stark.

"Oh, no way," Peter replies, a little (a lot ) awestruck. He's holding his personal hero's drink hostage behind the cash register in exchange for a few more words of conversation. "I totally saw you. Lame disguise, by the way. That's your cover? A hat and sunglasses?"

To Peter's relief, Tony just laughs heartily, as opposed to telling him off for being rude. (He's still working on his habit of rambling.) "Well, they told me it was either this or shave my goatee, so. Also, it fooled you for three weeks, kid."

Peter scoff-laughs, feeling his face go flaming red. "Actually, I totally suspected it was you the whole time."

"Sure, of course."

"Um, yeah." Peter grins and pushes the coffee across the counter carefully. "So, what're you doing here? Harry?"

"The name was my friend's idea," Mr. Stark replies. "And I'm here to inhale caffeine at five in the morning, like any other sane person."

Peter shrugs. He never suspected that Tony Stark would need coffee to exist every day like an ordinary civilian, but it kinda makes sense. He could definitely get it from his Tower, no doubt, but there's something charming about getting out into the nitty gritty of the city.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asks.

Peter glances at his nametag. "Um, I work here?"

"I mean, why? Don't you have school in a few hours?"

Peter nods. "You're not the only one who runs on caffeine. I'm bringing my own latte right to Chem class."

"Science nerd, then?"

Peter's eyes widen. "You have no idea. I mean, not on your level, obviously."

Tony laughs. He's got his glasses slipped off now, so Peter can see the smile-lines around his eyes. "Are you calling me a nerd, kid?"

"A nerd who can run a nonprofit, create sustainable energy, and mechanize superhero suits all at the same time."

"So you are a science nerd."

"Guilty," Peter chuckles. (It's probably more of a giggle, considering that he's standing three feet away from Tony Stark, but he'd never admit it.)

"Well," Tony says, taking a sip from his coffee, "If you ever want a job that's not here, making coffee, SI has paid internships."

"Like, to make your coffee runs and stuff for you?"

"That would be nice, but I was actually talking about doing science nerd stuff with me."

Peter's jaw drops, and he even kicks himself in the right leg with his left. He feels it, which means he didn't drift off due to the early-morning exhaustion. Always good to check.

"Oh my- That would be amazing, obviously!" Peter exclaims. "I've, uh, got something after school most days..." Tony raises an eyebrow, and Peter bites his tongue. Iron Man knowing Spiderman's real-life persona would most definitely not go well, right?

"It's a club," Peter lies. "But it's flexible."

"Great then," Tony replies. He hands Peter a tiny piece of paper. "Here's my card, Mr..."

"Parker. Peter Parker."

"Feel free to reach out, Mr. Parker, and you might have a shot, if you want it. As long as you don't tell anyone I'm actually the ill-disguised person here every morning."

Peter chuckles and nods before taking the card. He is kind of dying to tell Ned about this, but he'll be able to keep the secret. He knows a thing or two about secret identities. "Don't worry. I'll totally keep your secret. But you might wanna get out of here before normal people start coming in."

Tony agrees. "You never saw me," he reiterates, taking a sip of his coffee and sliding his sunglasses back on. "But I'll see you around, kid."

Peter waves. After that, he makes it though the seven a.m. coffee rush, Chemistry class, and the entire school day before running home to May and telling her the news.

Needless to say, she's supportive of his new job proposition just like she was the first time.

[The End]

Thank you so much for reading! :) If you have any Irondad oneshot ideas, feel free to comment about what I could write! Have a great day/night!

Bye :)