Work Text:
Penelope Stark sighed for the hundredth time.
Currently, she is in her spacious room, getting ready for this years Gala. Every year, there is an event where everyone who is anybody is invited-be it models, actors, CEOs, inventors or anybody even remotely well-known. And as a general rule, the whole of the Stark Family is required to attend, being on the small list of multi-billionaire families, with every member of the family being well-known for their own accomplishments and for just being Part-Stark.
To start with, there was the most well-know Stark, which was her father, Anthony Edward Stark. Known as Iron Man. A member of the Avengers and owner of Stark Industries. Since a young age, he has continued to impress the world with his intelligence, even managing to graduate from MIT at fifteen years of age, with two degrees in Engineering and Physics. A credit to those skills would be the different models of the Iron Man suits that he keeps designing and developing. But not only does he have an abundance of intelligence but also a large amount of wealth. This could be contributed to Stark Industries, which makes billions every year and more. The company is known for its Defense products, which involve developing and manufacturing advanced weapons and military technologies. The compony also builds the helicarriers used by S.H.I.E.L.D, and the Quinjets used by the Avengers. Recently, it has even produced more common products that could be used for the public, like a Stark Phone that are hard to hack into.
Then, there was her mother. Patricia “Pepper” Stark is a woman of grace and elegance of the highest order. Pepper Stark is better known as being the CEO of Stark Industries. Unlike her husband, her education and knowledge focuses more on the Business side of things, having graduated from Harvard University with a Masters Degree in Business Administration. But not just known for her business savvy personality, but also her beauty. With strawberry blond hair with her baby blue eyes, she strikes an image of control, of herself, of her family, and of her surroundings.
Is it not a wonder then, that with all these qualities, their children will turn out just as accomplished as these two, with looks to match?
First, you have the oldest child of the bunch. Nebula Celine Stark, who is 21 years old, with waist length brunette hair, with her fathers inherited brown eyes. As the oldest, she is much more accomplished than her younger siblings, with a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering with another one on the way but in Business Management. Her ambition is to open her business that deals with the development and manufacturing of her own Aerospace Travel creations. She already has experience working part-time at her fathers company, where they develop and craft aircrafts. A young woman with a fierce attitude, who does not any kind of shit from the people around her. She has no trouble in letting other people know when they irritate her, including her family members. People normally aren’t keen on crossing her, which helps when she is known as a Mixed Martials Arts Champion for 6 years in a row. Starting from when she was a young child, she found passion in Hand-to-Hand Combat, with a lesser passion for Weapon Handling.
The whole of the Stark Family has that in common, in that they are required to have some kind of Combat and Self-Defense Training for their own protection. Nebula just has a brighter passion for it than her whole family.
The next oldest would be the only boy in the family, apart from the father. Harley Drew Stark is 19 years old and the only one to inherit Peppers blond locks and her blue eyes. The charmer of the family with 2 or 3 girlfriends every month. But no less intelligent than the rest of his family. Like most of his family, his interests and passions lie in engineering but his lie in mechanical instead. Already, Harley has a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is considering getting some type of Business Degree, for he dreams of one day owning a business that sells the type of cars he wants to develop. There is no one in the family who knows their cars and vehicles better than him and sometimes, it gives him a bit of an ego boost. Harley is the one she is closest to due to their similar age, being only two years apart.
Then, you have her.
Penelope Iris Stark.
The Second to Last Youngest Child of the Stark Family.
Penny is 17 years old, having barely graduated high school last year at Midtown High School a Top STEM School. A young girl with shoulder length chestnut hair with their fathers brown eyes. The sassiest of her siblings, Penny always has a cheeky sentence at the ready. Like her older siblings, her passions lie with Engineering but instead of Aerospace or Mechanical, she wants to work with the Chemical aspect of it, with a side of Physics. At the current time, she is working towards earning a Degree in Chemical Engineering, taking online classes at MIT and working part-time in her fathers company to save money and pay for her classes. A lesser interest of hers is her ability and skills in inventing, a trait she inherited from her father. Because of this, she and her father like to spend their free time holed up in the labs working on their respective suits.
Her having a suit deals with the family secret.
She, Penelope Stark, was secretly “Spiderwoman”.
Has been since she was fourteen and got bit by a radioactive spider at a field trip to Osborn Corp. This means that she has superhuman strength and speed, heightened reflexes, a sixth sense that tells her when danger is near and among other things. Her and her father like to bond as the only tow members of the family that are part of the Avengers. When she first became Spiderwoman, it took forever in convincing her father in letting her participate in Avenger missions but showing him how responsible she was in her role was what finally assured him of her suitability. Unlike most superheroes, Penny makes her own equipment, like her web shooters and the web itself. Her making her own web was what prompted her into deciding that she wanted to go into Chemical Engineering so she could have the opportunity to create her own formulas.
And last but not the least, you have the youngest of the siblings.
Morgan Patricia Stark was a surprise baby but not less doted upon by the rest of the family. A cute girl of ten years old with long chestnut hair that is always up in a high ponytail with bangs parted to the side with their mothers sky blue eyes. As the youngest child, she often finds herself given everything she wants from the rest of the family. Luckily for the rest of the family, she is more satisfied when spending time with their parents and older siblings, given that she looks up to them. Since she is barely ten years old, her career goals aren’t as clear cut as the rest of her family, but she was already showing signs that she would choose a different path compared to the rest of her family, who have shown some type of engineering. She is more passionate in the arts, like drawing and painting. Their house has evidence on that fact, considering that it is covered with her drawings. Their father likes to boast the fact that the family has a future artist in their mist. Not helped by the rest who encourage that behavior with their own proud boasts. Going as overboard as getting Morgan her own private arts room in their large spacious house. Morgan also has a lesser passion in the way she dresses, preferring wearing cute dresses and the latest kid fashions. Because she is the youngest, the family tend to become overprotective of her, always watching her every move and limiting the people she has contact with, unless their absolutely trusted.
Well, that is her family in its entirely, not counting the people not related to them, like the Avengers.
She sighed again.
“Penny, are you ready yet. The limo is going to be here in 30 minutes.”
Hearing her mother, Penny snapped her head up. “Give me ten minutes, mom”
Focuses on the present again, she looked towards her king-sized bed, where her dress for the evening was laid out.
The dress was of a red color, of a floor length. It was strapless, and it hugged her figure exactly right, until it reaches her knees, then it just flowed to the floor.
With her dress in place, she reached her chosen heels that were next to the bed. Just some red ankle strap high heels. Just knew she was going to be sore by the end of the day.
For her makeup, she kept it simple. Just some red lipstick, a light blush, and black mascara that brought out her eyes. Since there wasn’t enough time for her hair, she just brushed it back, and put two red hair pins on her bangs to keep them from covering her face.
All done, she gave herself a glance in her full-length mirror, then picking up her black handbag that already had everything inside, like her money and her Stark phone, she left the confines of her room.
Coming down the stairs, she took note of the rest of the house.
The Starks primarily lived on a spacious four-story home, that was just outside the city. The first floor boasted a large living room, the kitchen with a dinning room connected to it, two medium bathrooms, and a large garage that housed all their vehicles. The second floor had a large family room, three modest guest room, a cool game room, a schooling room where any education is to be learned, their little sisters art room, and finishing it up are two other bathrooms. The third floor is where all the siblings have their own bedrooms next to each other. Unlike the other two floors, each of their bedrooms has their own bathroom. The home gym is also on this floor. Harley and Nebula also each have their own study rooms right next to them that is used for their chosen work. The floor also has two empty rooms that the family hasn’t figured out what to use for, instead treating the empty space as a storage unit. Then there’s the last floor up top, where their parents master suit is placed. Each of her parents also hold a study room on this floor, since every room is so big and spacious, there’s only room for a large family meeting room. She also can’t forget the ground floor, where all their labs are with state-of-the-art equipment. The family also has a large pool in the backyard with tables that have umbrellas installed to block out the sun.
“Well, look who the cat finally dragged out”
Coming down the stairs, she raised a brow at Harley, “It takes a while to look this good, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Harley barked out a laugh.
Taking stock of the room, she noted that she was the only one late. Everybody was already here. Her dad was at the door talking with her mother, wearing matching outfits. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a blue vest and tie that matched perfectly with their mother dress. Her mother was wearing a long formal cocktail dress in blue and gold with a slit going up the side and only one sleeve. They made for a perfect picture.
When she looked at her other siblings, she found that they also made for a gorgeous picture. Her older brother in his all black suit with a red tie and his hair all slicked back. Her oldest sibling with her dress that almost gave their father a heart attack. Her dress was of a gold color that hugs her body in all the right ways then it just ends up flowing to the floor. The reason her father had a problem with it is because of the way it is open back, meaning it shows all her back. Their father really didn’t like that, especially with her hair up, showing even more skin. Morgan finished the picture with her cute purple dress, a sleeveless style dress with a flowing skirt and a ribbon in the middle.
Her mother clapped, bringing everybody’s attention to the front. “Okay, is everybody ready to go. The limo is just waiting outside.”
Everybody replied in affirmative.
She smiled, “Okay, then if we could just calmly head on to the front, where the limo is waiting. Make sure you don’t forget anything.”
Tony smirked, “You heard her, kiddos. Hop, Hop”. His kids all struck their tongues at him.
Penny followed her family to the front, where a slick white long limo was waiting with the chauffeur holding the door open.
Getting in one after another, Penny had one last thought.
‘Please, let this one be more enjoyable than the last’
On the way to the event, the family spent it in lively chatter. They always liked getting to know what has been happening lately in their lives.
A sign that they were near was the noise increase. The paparazzi always posted themselves at the front entrances, looking to take the best picture and be able to shout out their questions.
As soon as the limo stopped, the family all visibly prepared themselves, then put their game faces on.
The paparazzi went wild when catching sign of their limo with the Stark logo on the sides. Shouting out as soon as they stepped out.
“Tony, Tony look over here”
“Pepper, a smile for the camera”
“Nebula, how does it feel winning another fighting competition”
“Harley, what’s the status between you and Jessica Ashely”
“Penny, now that you have graduated high school, what are your plans this year”
“Morgan, aim a smile this way”
The family just kept on walking, stopping at the entrance and aiming a family smile for the photographers, almost being blinded by the flashes of the cameras.
Heading inside, they quickly found their sitting arrangements, close by the center of the other tables.
Harry Osborn was looking forward to this year’s Gala.
It could be contributed to a number of reasons, like finally stepping in the spotlight, meeting new worthwhile people, or even just because he liked the party scene. But his main reason had one name.
Penelope Iris Stark
It may have sounded weird, considering their families well-known rivalry and Tony Starks dislike in general. But he can’t stop what he has been feeling since he was just 14 years old.
It started when he first met her at a Charity Ball. One could even say that it was love at first sight as soon as he laid eyes on her from across the room.
It was one of the most memorable times in his life, especially when he got to make conversation with her. As expected, she was wary when she found out he was an Osborn but as time went on, she eased up on her defenses.
The only downside was that her family called her back before he could get her phone number.
Ever since then, he has been following her media platforms and any information that is released to the public. (No matter if Marco thinks that sounds like stalking. He is not stalking her; he is just observing her movements. Shut up, Marco)
Since he has stuck at a boarding school in France, he has not had another opportunity to chat and meet with her. But that will not be a problem anymore since he graduated a year ago and he has decided to study close by where she decides to study for her own degree.
This Gala is his chance at forming a close relationship with her and he will not let anything get in his way, even her family.
Getting ready to step out of the car, he had one last thought.
‘Penelope Stark, hope you’re ready for me’
“Having fun, baby sister”
Penny frowned, “Does this pretty face scream fun to you, does it Harley.” Harley smirked and shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, all your faces look the same to me”
“Oh, go jump off a cliff, you jackass”
He let out a chuckle, getting blushes from nearby ladies. “But seriously, follow the rest of the family in talking to somebody”
Looking around the ballroom, she searched around for her family. Her father was nearby, talking with Bruce Banner and James Rhodes. Most of the Avengers having gotten an invitation but only a few having accepted.
Her mother was further away, talking with the other married ladies. From here, she could just make out that they were talking about their respective children’s education. Knowing her mother, she was most likely subtly boasting about her own children.
In the corner, she could barely make out Nebula talking with her circle of friends, which involved a worldwide known famous band named “The Guardians of the Galaxy”, GG for short.
Morgan was the only one who had someone keeping an eye on her and following her around, making sure she wasn’t acting how she wasn’t supposed to. Also, making sure anybody who wasn’t cleared to talk with her has the chance to. The poor bastard who got stuck with that duty for the night was Harold “Happy” Hogan.
Again, poor bastard.
Penny and Harley were closer to the bar, standing by while observing the rest of the party guests.
She shrugged, “I just don’t feel like talking right now, their fake and vexing attitudes will just annoy me right now” Not even with the people she had something in common with. “What about you, Harls. Why aren’t you sucking face with your current girlfriend.”
He averted his eyes, muttering. “Ah, I’m in the process of hiding from her”
Penny giggled, “What’d she do now~” Not surprised in the least by his predicament, since his girlfriend’s always wanted more than he was willing to give.
He made a face, “Currently, she’s trying to make me meet her parents, even when I try to tell her the relationship is not that serious.”
Penny looked at him in pity, “This is what you get for dating regularly”, letting out a small laugh.
Harley rolled his eyes so hard she was surprised they didn’t pop out. “We can’t all be patient to wait for the perfect lover, or in your case, the forbidden fruit.” Hinting at her small crush on the Osborn heir.
Now that he mentioned it, Penny looked around again. Where was Harry Osborn?
And she wouldn’t say she had a crush on him, just a healthy amount of respect for him and an appreciation for his handsome face. (And she was sticking to those reasons, even in the face of her older siblings teasing)
Not finding him, she looked towards her older brother again. “Maybe that’s why you have such short relationships”
Harley scoffed, “Nah, that’s because all my girlfriends were such needy, and clingy women. Fun for a short-term relationship but not ready for something long- term”
“True enough”
Harry entered the ballroom.
From the outside, he could hear the music playing and people talking in loud voices.
He ended up sitting at a table that was near one of the corners, with 2 actors and 3 businessmen that he couldn’t exactly remember the names of.
Looking around, he spotted Penny by the bar talking with her brother.
Making sure his appearance was in place, he stood up to approach her.
Penny and her brother were in the middle of talking about her plans for the upcoming year when they sensed somebody walking towards them.
They looked forwards to see who was approaching them, only to see Harry Osborn striding towards them, staring straight at Penny.
She flushed, averting her eyes.
Harley Smirked.
“Hey, Osborn. What brings you to this part of the woods”, noting how he only had eyes for his sister.
Harry finally looked away from Penny and towards Harley. Smiling, he replied, “I was hoping your sister would allow me the honor of dancing with her.” Looking towards Penny at the end of his question, waiting for his answer.
Penny flushed even more at his question, annoyed when Harley nudged her with his elbow.
“Hmm…I don’t know if-”
Penny interrupted her smirking brother, “I’d love to dance with you, Mr. Osborn”, sending a small glare towards her ass of a brother.
Smiling charmingly, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor. “You can call me Harry; Mr. Osborn is my father”
Blushing at their joined hands, she beamed at him. “You can call me Penny, then”
Arriving at the center of the dance floor, Penny put an arm around his shoulder while one of his went around her waist and lastly clasping their available arms together.
Staring straight at each other, they started moving around the dance floor, swaying, twirling, and just moving along to the music.
Harry smiled down at her, “Long time no see, Penny”
Penny smiled back, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? How long has it been, 3, 4 years”?
“4 years exactly”
She giggled when he gave her a twirl, “Well, I see that time has been kind to you”
Harry gave a deep chuckle, making her flush further. “I could say the same for you, I’ve forgotten how beautiful you are”.
“Oh, you”, she giggled harder. Inwardly cursing herself, she forgot how she gets in his presence, resembling an airheaded bimbo compared to her usual self.
Controlling herself, she spoke again. “I hear congratulations are in order for having graduated from boarding school, are you planning on staying there to continue your education or are you planning on taking your studies someplace else?”, genuinely curious.
He nodded at her, smiling “Thank you”, then looking thoughtful, replied to the rest of her question, “As for the rest of my studies, I’m planning on staying here for those and I’m thinking either MIT or Harvard for my first two choices of University”
Beaming, she answered honestly, “Maybe I’ll see you around more often, because I’m also considering enrolling at MIT this spring.”
Feeling a smile creep up his face, “That would be great, getting to see your pretty face on a regular basis”, complimenting her. Inwardly thinking that that answered his question of which University to apply to.
Continuing to talk throughout the song, she noticed her family out of the corner of her eyes.
Her father and mother were now talking together, while sending her different looks.
Her father looked disapproving of her dancing so close to a man, the Osborn heir at that.
Her mother, on the other hand, looked approvingly at her.
It also seems that Nebula has managed to find Aunty Natasha and Aunty Carol. From here, she thought she could hear the words, “Fight”, “Strike”, “Winning”, fairly sure they were talking about their past fights.
Morgan was just zipping across the room, never staying in one place for more than a few minutes. Again, poor Harry.
Looking for Harley, she saw that he was also on the dance floor, twirling with a beautiful young lady. A young lady that was not his girlfriend.
Muffling a giggle, she took note of where the girlfriend was located.
Outside of the edge of the dance floor, glaring death at them.
‘That won’t end well, for him anyway’
They continued to dance to two more songs, before her father interrupted them to snatch her away all the while leaking displeasure at their closeness.
As soon as the next song started, her father looked at her while raising an eyebrow.
Penny flushed brightly, hissing “What” under her breath.
Tony rolled his eyes, “Don’t what me, really Harry Osborn”
He continued, “Why couldn’t you have a crush on literally anyone else, someone like that Ted you like to hang out with.”
She glared, “First of all, its Ned and second of all, I do not have a crush on Harry Osborn”
He scoffed, “Yeah, I think you’re the only who thinks that, kiddo”
“Ugh, can we talk about literally anything else”
“Fine, Fine”
For the rest of the night, she danced with her male family members and close friends. When not dancing, she catched up with everybody and their lives. Taking teasing about her dancing with Harry, while also teasing her brother about the slap his now ex-girlfriend left on his face. That scene amused everybody who was watching, including their father who couldn’t stop laughing for five minutes straight after watching that.
For the rest of the night, she only caught glimpses of Harry, either somebody trying to talk to him or being surrounded by women, all batting their eyelashes at him.
Those scenes left a feeling of discomfort rising within in her.
It was only as she was leaving with her family that he caught up to her.
“Penny”
Harry hurriedly made his way to where Penny and her family were leaving.
He looked back towards the time he got to spent with her.
As soon as he saw her in her dress, looking all pretty, he knew he was screwed. Her media pictures not doing her justice in real life.
He really enjoyed dancing with her and talking to her in forever. He was annoyed when their time got interrupted by her father.
Even more annoyed when he couldn’t get the opportunity to approach her again, with all those people wanting to talk to him and all these desperate women wanting to bag him.
As soon as he saw that she was leaving, he took one last chance in approaching him.
“Penny”
She paused at the entrance, along with her family.
He noted her family sending her looks, while giving them a little privacy.
Thankful for the privacy, he finished approaching her.
They smiled at each other, “Hey, leaving already”
Fidgeting, she replied, “Yeah, some of us have got to wake up early for work tomorrow, plus its Morgan bedtime”.
Chuckling, he grinned at her, “Well, I don’t want to keep you for long, I just noticed that I’d like to hang out with you and maybe take you out to dinner, ah but I don’t have your number”, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Penny flushed, squealing inwardly, “Well, that won’t do now, will it”. She took out a piece a paper and a pen, writing her number on it, handing it to him when she was done.
Harry smiled at her, “I’ll call you sometime soon, so expect my call, okay”
Penny nodded, beaming at him.
After a few seconds of standing there, she got a determined look on her face and looked back towards him.
He looked back, curious. That led towards surprise when he felt her arms going around his neck.
Next thing he knew, a soft sensation was pressed against his lips. Recognizing it as a pair of lips, he delightedly pressed firmly back, wrapping his own arms around her waist.
In the background, Tony could be heard making a commotion about the kiss while the rest of the family tried calming him down, some helping more than others. Her brother just adding fuel to the fire.
Ignoring that, they just focused on each other.
A few minutes of just kissing each other, they separated with a string of saliva the only proof of what happened between them.
He grinned down at her, “That sure was a welcomed surprise”
She could only manage to nod against his chest, flushing at her actions.
He opened his mouth to comment further when-
“Penny, say goodbye to your boyfriend, it’s time to leave”
Her brother could be heard calling, smirking.
Harry sighed, looking down at Penny. “Hey, I’ll call you soon, okay”
She smiled back at him, “Don’t take too long”
They separated, and after one last look at each other, they went their different ways. Him going back to the ballroom and Penny towards where her family was waiting, with a still frowning Tony.
Her family congratulated her as soon as the limo started driving back home.
Her father the only one seemingly not happy with the development, only letting the matter go when her mother had a word with him.
The only one not concerned with the situation happened to be little Morgan, who was too young to really understand, other than saying, “ewwww”.
After a while, everybody went back to their own things.
“So…”
Harley spoke up beside her, grinning.
Penny rose her eyebrows at him, “…what”
“Did you end up having fun, after all”, wiggling his eyebrows.
Penelope Stark smiled softly, while looking back towards her last location.
“Yes, I enjoyed myself, after all”