No Lie

Noise Cancelling Headphones Aren't Always Great

Peter was in a very good mood. He'd aced his chemistry test thanks to Mr. Stark (who he'd recently taken to calling 'Dad' after an embarrassing accident) and then Happy had brought him a doughnut after school. What's more, his favourite artist had just released a new album and he had found a new favourite song. So yes, Peter was in a very good mood when he arrived at the Compound for the weekend.

As Happy pulled outside the Compound, his lips moved but Peter could hear nothing. Rather than pause his music and take off the noise-cancelling headphones Mr. Stark had made for him, Peter waved wildly from outside the car.

"Bye, Happy!" Peter yelled before turning and carrying his backpack into the Compound.

He opened the door, humming happily then kicking it shut with his foot. As he hopped along to his music, he dropped his backpack by the door and mumbled along to the words he still didn't quite know.

"Welcome home, Peter," FRIDAY said through Peter's headphones.

"Thanks, FRI," Peter said, probably louder than necessary. Dancing towards the kitchen in search of Mr. Stark, Peter yelled out, "Hey, Dad!"

Spinning around gracelessly, he closed his eyes and attempted to moonwalk into the kitchen. He spun around again and opened his eyes when he arrived in front of the fridge, grinning when he saw brownies. Continuing to mutter along with his song, he opened up the brownies eagerly and picked one up.

He had just taken a bite when FRIDAY spoke up. "Peter, I believe Mr. Stark would like you to turn around."

Peter frowned and turned around to see the entire Avengers team staring at him. He stopped chewing his brownie and went pale. Ripping the headphones off his head and pausing his music, he looked around at the unexpected guests, wondering how much they had heard (or seen, when it came to the matter of Peter's dance skills).

"Hey, kid," Mr. Stark said, standing between Steve and Natasha. "How was school?"

"Good," Peter replied weakly. He nibbled more of his brownie and gestured towards the team. "Um, what are... what are all of them, uh—what are they doing here?"

"Stopped by on their way to Wakanda," Mr. Stark told him, glancing at his team. "Any minute now they'll recover."

Peter counted to 7 before the first throat was cleared. By then, Mr. Stark had moved to stand beside him.

"So, who's this?" Steve asked, nodding at Peter.

"This is Peter," Tony introduced, wrapping an arm around Peter's shoulders. "He stays with me and Pepper on weekends and sometimes on weekdays if his aunt is gone."

"Is he your son?" Sam asked, not rudely but blunt.

Tony gave him a look.

"No, Wilson," he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "He calls me 'Dad' because I'm his brother."

No one really knew how to respond to that; not even Peter who just nibbled his brownie gingerly. At least they weren't yelling.

Before anyone else could ask questions, Pepper walked into the kitchen. She looked between the visiting team and Tony and Peter, nodding as she realised what had occurred.

"Hello," she greeted warmly, smiling at Steve and his group.

They smiled back, albeit still looking confused.

"They just met Peter," Tony informed her gleefully. "I think they like him!"

Both Tony and Peter grinned at her, smiles identical although Peter had remains of brownie around his lips. Pepper smiled back at them, peeking Tony's lips then kissing Peter's forehead.

"I don't see how they could feel otherwise," she replied. Grabbing a banana from the fruit basket, she turned to leave as she said, "I have a meeting at the Tower until 6pm. When I get back, you better have reservations at Daniel's for three, Tony."

"Will do," Tony agreed, saluting her as she walked out.

Peter and Tony both turned back around to face the rest of the team who blinked at them.

"I just got Peter a new game console if anyone wants to try it out."