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Roger Harrington will never deny the fact that high school teachers are gossipers.
It's just that… When he started working at Midtown School of Science and Technology, with it being a prestigious, private institution and all, he had thought maybe that wouldn't be the case. He could not have been more wrong.
"Did you hear about Betty Brant and Ned Leeds' break up?"
"Do you think they'll get back together this time?"
"Who knows. This is break up number five, I think."
Every time he walks into the teachers lounge, he hears his colleagues chatting like they're suburban mothers after a PTA meeting. He tries to stay out of it most of the time, sitting on the couch and going on his phone to avoid being roped in to some discussion over student relationships. Roger swears that 70% of the things he knows about his students he doesn't know from them, or their parents, or their records—he knows them from his colleagues overhearing conversations on their lunch monitor shifts.
Personally, Roger doesn't care for any of it. Why should his students' personal lives be any of his business? As long as his students are safe, happy and passing his classes, he's perfectly fine to pretend not to hear things like Cindy Moon recounting her first hook-up to a friend. He actually would love to not hear such things, but teenagers are not known for their self-restraint.
Teachers should be though, so Roger will never get the obsession with students' lives.
"What about the new rumour on that Parker kid?"
Correction: Roger will never get the obsession with most students' lives. Peter Parker, though, is different. Roger's both got a soft spot for the kid, and is increasingly annoyed at his lack of drive in school. He's pretty sure Peter's dropped almost all of his extra-curriculars, with academic decathlon being so far spared. But with all the new free time, instead of his grades going up, they've actually been starting to dip. And that doesn't even mention the constant skipping of classes. Obviously, Roger knows Peter's been through a lot, but he had seemed to be doing so much better before the blip. So maybe Roger is a little curious about what's going on with him. Sue him.
"Peter Parker?" He tunes in to the conversation just in time to watch Andre, the gym teacher, pull an incredulous face across the room before continuing, "What rumour could he possibly have going around? Kid can barely run a lap without keeling over."
Andre's sat at one of the tables in the lounge, a forkful of some sort of chicken and rice dish in hand—he uses the fork to point accusingly at Julius, the history teacher who had brought up Peter. Julius chuckles at Andre's words, but shakes his head.
"Put the fork down, Coach. Parker's been skipping a lot of lessons recently. Rumour has it-" Julius pauses to lean in closer to Andre, but he doesn't lower his voice, "-that the internship is fake, and he's actually joined a fight club."
Roger highly doubts that—the fight club part, that is. Roger's taken Peter on enough academic decathlon trips to know by heart the allergy list and the types of inhalers the school nurse keeps stocked away for him. Although, Peter hasn't had an asthma attack at school for a long while now… Maybe his health's on the up. Not enough for a fight club though.
"Like the movie?" Andre questions, a frown on his face. "Did you not just hear what I said about Parker and his allergy to general movement?"
"No! Like- Like a boxing ring or something." Julius nods as he says it, and Andre continues to stare at him as he finally eats his forkful of food. Eventually, he shakes his head and sighs.
"Man, thought you had something interesting to share. There's no way that kid fights. And if he was it wouldn't be between the hours of 8:30 AM and 3 PM. You hear this guy, Harrington?"
Roger jumps in his seat at being addressed, and looks wide eyed at Andre. Andre grins at him and raises his eyebrows—they both know how Roger claims to avoid gossip. Now they probably think he's a fraud. And maybe he is, but only a little!
He decides to double down.
"Sorry, I don't make a habit of discussing my students' personal lives."
"You look pretty interested right now." Julius points out, and Roger just huffs. And then takes out his phone for good measure.
"You're ones to talk." He grumbles, his last defence. He ignores their responding scoffs as he looks through his notifications.
(11:04 AM) Brucie: Hey, how's work going?
(11:26 AM) Brucie: I just remembered your lunch break isn't till 12. Sorry if I'm distracting you!
(11:27 AM) Brucie: And for distracting you more with more texts… You know what, I'll stop texting
A smile tugs at the corners of Roger's mouth as he reads the words from his boyfriend. His (so far) three month relationship with Bruce Banner has been.. a very unexpected, but welcomed, outcome of reconnecting with an old friend from college. A very famous old friend from college. It feels strange now to make eye contact with Bruce's photo in the science hall of fame that decorates one of the hallways near his classroom.
He unlocks his phone to reply, and hopes Bruce still has his phone in reach. If he doesn't, Roger won't be getting a reply until 7 PM with the way Bruce has been obsessing over editing his latest research paper.
(12:13 PM) Roger: Babe, never apologise for texting you know I love to see your texts. Work's good! Currently listening to Julius and Andre being gossips as usual.
(12:14 PM) Roger: How's your paper going? I want to see you soon, I miss you when you hide away to write.
Roger doesn't expect a reply anytime soon, so he pockets his phone and finally opens his lunch: A meal prepped and freshly microwaved breakfast burrito. If only his salary could be high enough to buy lunches when he's working. You'd think with it being a private school and all, he'd be okay, but living in New York City... is expensive.
Just as he takes his first bite, his phone buzzes in his pocket again. He tries not to look too eager as he puts down his burrito and gets his phone out again, lest his colleagues make him the subject of unwanted gossip. A shudder runs down his spine at the thought of the Midtown staff finding out about his relationship with a renowned scientist. No thank you.
(12:16 PM) Brucie: What are they gossiping about now? Gimme the student drama.
(12:17 PM) Roger: Same old, same old. Teenagers being teenagers and breaking up only to get back together thirty minutes later. And don't think I didn't notice you dodge the question on your paper!!
(12:19 PM) Brucie: I wasn't dodging! I was thinking. But if you must know, my paper is going well I think I'll be able to send it back out for review by Friday, so… Weekend date? ;)
(12:19 PM) Roger: Yes please.
(12:20 PM) Roger: You're staying at Stark's right now right? So we can do it at mine.
Sometimes, Roger thinks about how surreal his life is after typing things like that. He dreads the day he has to meet any of the Avengers, if he's honest. He will embarrass himself.
(12:22 PM) Brucie: I was actually thinking you could come to the tower? It's family dinner this Friday, you could meet Tony.
Roger's brain short circuits. Then reboots. Then he takes another bite of his burrito as he tries to think of if there's any way out of this. A shovel talk from Tony Stark actually kill him.
(12:24 PM) Brucie: No pressure, obviously. It's just that he's been bugging me about meeting 'the guy who has me making heart eyes at my phone all the time' since I started staying with him.
Roger's a weak man.
(12:25 PM) Roger: Of course I want to meet your chosen family. Give me a time and I'll be there, babe. <3
For the rest of the week, Roger tries to distract himself from the anxiety of his upcoming meeting with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts-Stark by doing something he thought he'd never do. He eavesdrops on students' conversations on purpose. It does little to help him.
(His call with Bruce on Wednesday night does help a little, though. Apparently, family dinner is a small affair most of the time, and he actually considers himself lucky that only the Starks will be there this weekend. Apparently it's usually at the very least James Rhodes as well, with Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff and sometimes Thor (only when he's 'on world' apparently, whatever that means) making appearances too. Open invitation. It's actually a little sweet that the band of superheroes are close enough to be having weekly—or bi-weekly, or monthly, or whatever—dinners in the first place. And the fact that only Stark and his family will be there makes him feel a little better about it.)
He keeps hearing bits and pieces about Peter around the school, though. Which is.. concerning? He thinks? He's not sure how much merit to give to the rumours he's hearing, because if he believes all of them then Peter is: a prostitute, secretly rich, part of a fight club, clinically delusional and worryingly obsessed with Spider-Man all while being a compulsive liar. Maybe the prostitute rumour should concern him, but if the only people saying it are Brad Davis and Eugene Thompson…
He decides while in the taxi to Stark Industries (because of course Stark lives inside of his own company) that he'll talk to the kid next week about it. Just in case.
Right now though, he has bigger things to worry about. He gets out of the taxi, and looks up at the building in slight awe and slight fear. It seems to loom over him.
"You got this, Roger. Just meeting the family." He mutters as he forces himself to walk toward the side of the building, "Just a.. normal, obscenely rich superhero family. Totally normal."
It takes him a second to find the 'personal' entrance to the tower that Bruce had mentioned. It's at the end of an alleyway, and easy to miss. Which, he supposes, is the point of it. He approaches the door, which is not made of glass like the rest of the ones he's seen and instead looks very reinforced, and knocks uncertainly.
"Name?" A robotic voice, that's Irish for some reason, speaks up suddenly. He jumps so hard that he has to take a step back and a deep breath. The robotic voice repeats itself, and Roger can't see a microphone or speaker so he aimlessly raises his voice as he replies.
"Uh.. Roger Harrington? I'm here for dinner with-" He cuts himself off as the door opens itself, "Okay then."
He steps in, letting the door fall shut behind him, and is met with the sight of an elevator and a door to (he assumes) a stairwell. The doors to the elevator open with a light ding, and the robotic voice speaks up again, louder now that he's inside.
"Please step inside, Mr Harrington. I will take you to Boss's personal floors."
"Right. Yep. Thank you." He hurries to step inside, and then the elevator is shooting upward at a fast but smooth pace.
He tries not to freak out too much as the elevator goes up, but he feels very observed now that he knows a robot, or an AI or something is controlling things. He just hopes that the first person he sees is Bruce, and not anyone else. If he has to make awkward small talk with Tony "I am Iron Man" Stark he doesn't know what he'll do.
The elevator slows to a stop with another ding, and Roger finds himself holding his breath until the doors open, and he breathes a prompt sigh of relief at the sight of Bruce waiting for him. Bruce's eyes practically light up at the sight of him, and Roger's pretty certain his face is softening in a similar way as he looks at his boyfriend.
Bruce is wearing his smart pants, tailored to fit him perfectly that he only wears for 'special occasions', a soft-looking white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and his most expensive watch. His hair is pushed back with a bit of gel, with a few curls coming out of place to lay on his forehead. He looks gorgeous.
"Hey babe." Bruce greets in a gentle voice, and Roger steps forward to give him a quick kiss in greeting.
"Hey yourself." He replies as they come apart, and Bruce holds him close for a second with a soft sigh.
They've not been seeing each other as often as they'd like with all of Bruce's meetings about his research paper. He's at that phase where he has to go to meetings to defend his findings, and discuss edits he should make, and discuss peer review opinions. Really the list goes on, but it's hectic enough that he's in the city centre with Tony instead of in his usual, quieter borough further out.
"I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that. 'Hey babe', who are you and what have you done with Bruce?" Roger jumps at the sudden voice that he knows all too well from TV. He peeks behind Bruce to see Tony Stark stood in a doorway down the hall, arms crossed as he leans against the doorframe with an amused expression.
Roger's face flushes as he processes his words.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Mr Stark. I'm Roger." He eventually gets out, and Stark actually rolls his eyes at him and wavse a hand somewhat wildly in his general direction. Roger's not sure what he's done wrong.
"God, you're just like the kid. Am I gonna have to bribe you to call me Tony too? And I know who you are, Jolly Green over there won't shut up about you." Tony says, gesturing both of the men over, "Now come, come, we've all gotta be sat down at the table before Underoos gets here so I can properly scold him for being late."
With that, Tony Stark dips back out of the hallway and into what looks like an open plan living area. Bruce chuckles from beside Roger.
"Well, you survived meeting Tony." He says quietly, and then takes Roger's hand and starts leading him toward the room.
"Who's Underoos?" Roger asks as they go, and Bruce chuckles.
"Practically Tony's kid, I'm telling you. Tony's gonna introduce him as his intern, but.. Yeah. They may not be blood related, but you'll see." Bruce says.
Roger mentally frowns at the words. So Tony Stark does have a kid intern. How funny. He wonders what Peter would say if he knew.
He lets himself be dragged into the living area, and is greeted with the sight of Pepper Potts-Stark lounging on a couch with a giggling five year old that Roger can only assume is the infamous Morgan Stark, while Tony is setting placemats and cutlery at a few places at a comically large table. Probably for all those family dinners they apparently host. It's very domestic, in a kind of jarring way.
"Guys, this is Roger. Roger this is Pepper, and you've met Tony already." Bruce introduces simply, and Pepper nods her head at him with a polite smile and a "nice to meet you". She's much more restrained than Tony, clearly.
The little kid jumps up to run over to Bruce and tug at his pant-leg, a frown set on her face.
"Uncle Bruce, you didn't introduce me. Hi, I'm Morgan. Daddy says you're a teacher. I wanna be a teacher when I grow up." She says, and Roger can't help the laugh that's startled out of him.
He crouches down to be at her eye level, and smiles when she doesn't shy away like a kid meeting a stranger might be usually.
"It is very nice to meet you Morgan. My name is Roger, and that's very cool. Teaching is a lot of fun, what would you like to teach?" He holds out a hand for the little girl, who shakes it very enthusiastically and then runs back over to the couch to her mom.
"I wanna be a unicorn ballet teacher that goes to space!" She proclaims, and Roger nods with a serious experession as he stands back up.
"Two days ago you wanted to be a superhero." Pepper says with a fond smile.
"And I can do that when I'm not being a teacher!"
"Right." Tony says with a clap and a glance at his watch, and Roger glances over at the table to see that it's set, "What did I say about sitting down. I need the kid to be grovelling when he gets here and he's about to come up, I've been tracking him."
At that Pepper stands up and hoists Morgan onto her hip, wandering over to the table. Roger is glad when Bruce guides him to sit next to him, and Morgan is set down opposite Roger. She stares curiously at him while Pepper walks toward the kitchen island.
She stands beside her husband, who's looking intently at his phone, and points at the oven.
"Tony, pay attention. You don't want it to burn, again." She says with a fond eye roll directed at Tony, who gasps in an affronted manner at the words.
"From my own wife-" He starts, but then there's another ding from the hallway signifying the elevator has arrived at the floor again, and soon after there is the sound of hurried footsteps until-
Until Peter Parker appears in the doorway, looking straight over at Pepper and Tony.
Roger's pretty sure he's in shock as Peter starts to ramble.
"I am so sorry I'm late everyone, I know I was told not to be late for once so I could meet Bruce's boyfriend, but you gotta believe me there was a crazy incident on the subway and I couldn't just ignore-" Peter glances over to the table in the middle of talking and cuts himself off, finally noticing who exactly is sat at the table with Bruce. His face drops, and there's a moment of silence.
"Roos, what's got you looking like a deer in headlights? I was planning on making you feel so guilty you'd serve up dinner." Tony says eventually, and Roger blinks a few times before Bruce starts to speak.
"Usually he has better manners, but this is Tony's kid I was talking about. Roger, this is-"
"Peter." Roger cuts him off.
Everyone is silent for a second, until Peter gives an awkward wave.
"Heyy Mr Harrington."
Bruce looks at Roger, squinting slightly.
"What school do you work at again?"
"Midtown."
"Oh shi- oot."
Tony bursts into laughter at the exchange, dipping his head to rest on Pepper's shoulder.
"Only you, kid. Only you."
Peter slowly comes over to the table and sits down next to Morgan, and Roger is suddenly nervous for a different reason. Because what the fuck?
Peter's internship is more than real, clearly. And he's very comfortable with the Avengers of all people, getting his hair ruffled by Tony Stark once he wanders over and a fond smile and wave from Bruce. And. What the fuck?
Eventually, Tony calms down enough to go into the kitchen and serve up his food, and Pepper comes to sit at the head of the table.
"So, Pete. How was school today?" She asks, clearly trying to start up conversation as Peter and Roger continue to stare at each other like they're strangers.
Roger quirks an eyebrow as Peter hesitates. Roger knows for a fact Peter has attended three out of seven classes today. And Pepper and Tony seem to be very parental figures for him. He wonders if they know. But also doesn't really care. He's here as his boyfriend's guest, not Peter's teacher.
"Uh, good! Yep." Peter says simply, nodding vigorously and avoiding Roger's eyes.
Tony comes back in after that, setting down two trays of lasagne in the middle of the table.
"Bon appetit, family and Bruce's boyfriend. Or should I say, buon appetito!"
It's quiet as everyone serves themselves food, with Peter helping out Morgan. Once everyone has a plate full of lasagne, Tony starts talking again.
"So what do you teach at Midtown, Roger?"
Everyone's eyes cut to him, and Roger tries not to be intimidated. He's only talking about his profession as a lowly high school teacher to the richest couple this side of the globe.
"Well, I teach science. Physics, mainly. I also run the academic decathlon team."
"Petey does that!" Morgan exclaims excitedly, and Peter nods and ruffles her hair.
"That I do, Morg. Mr Harrington is a great teacher." He says.
Roger would be flattered by the compliment, but can't help the face he pulls.
"Is your lasagne not good, Roger?" Pepper asks in concern, and Roger blushes.
"No! No, it's great, really. It's just weird for Peter to call me Mr Harrington right now. I mean, I'm-" He chuckles, "I'm meeting my boyfriend's family, not hosting a parent-teacher meeting."
It's Peter's turn to flush at that, and he grumbles something unintelligible to himself as Bruce speaks.
"I'm still working on getting him to call me Bruce instead of Dr Banner, so good luck with that."
"And it took me almost dying to get him to call me Tony."
"He only calls me Pepper because he's healthily scared of me."
"I'm just trying to be polite! It's how May raised me!" Peter defends himself.
Everyone at the table laughs at that, and conversation seems to flow a little easier from then. And maybe the expensive red wine he's offered helps too.
Roger spends dinner trying to decide if having Peter there makes the whole situation feel more or less surreal, and he remains undecided. It's clear that the boy is incredibly close with the Starks. Morgan calls him her brother multiple times as they eat. Which is surreal. But also, seeing someone so normal interact with Tony and Pepper make them seem less untouchable. Peter teases Tony and rolls his eyes as Pepper at Tony bicker, and makes silly faces at Morgan every so often. And Bruce is so comfortable around him.
All in all, it's a very strange evening.
Once they're done eating, they migrate to the couches and continue talking. At some point, Tony's in the kitchen clearing up, Morgan is off getting changed into her pyjamas with Pepper, and Bruce has gone to the bathroom. It's just Roger and Peter left in the living room, and it's awkward for a second.
"So…" Peter says, obviously floundering for something to talk about and coming up empty. Roger is now a few wine glasses deep and decides to take it into his own hands.
"So there've been some crazy rumours about you lately at school, did you know that?"
Peter frowns in a way that clearly says no, he did not know that, and then his face settles into something very apprehensive and a little nervous. So Roger continues after another sip of his drink.
"There's only two that have me concerned. Mandatory reporter and everything. You're not part of a fight club or doing sex work, right?"
Peter actually chokes on his drink, coughing and going red in the face.
"What?! No!" He yells, and Roger laughs.
"Yeah, didn't think so."
After his very surreal weekend spent with Bruce and occasionally the Starks, it's strange to be back in the teachers lounge on Monday at lunch time. This time he's on his phone, waiting for his leftover Chinese food to reheat in the microwave as he listens to his coworkers. Julius and Andre are at it again, but he's too busy reading some texts from Bruce to pay much attention.
(12:04 PM) Brucie: I remembered what time your lunch break is this time. I hope you're having a good day. I miss you already!
(12:06 PM) Brucie: By the way, Tony definitely likes you. Apparently you're Peter's favourite teacher, so that gets you a few points. Don't be put off by his sarcastic everything.
"I'm telling you, none of these rumours about Parker are true." Andre insists.
"I don't know, the fight club seems more and more real every day." Julius defends in response.
"We can both agree the one about him being secretly a rich kid is insane though." Andre says.
(12:07 PM) Roger: I miss you already too <3. Glad Peter's getting me brownie points with his old man.
(12:07 PM) Brucie: I told you he's practically Tony's kid.
"Yeah. I overheard Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones saying something about him and Tony Stark and family dinners today. Can you imagine?" Julius laughs incredulously as he says that, and Andre joins in after a second.
Roger smiles, holding back a laugh of his own for a very different reason to the other two teachers, and looks up from his phone to contribute to the gossip session. He can't resist just this once.
"Peter? Being part of the Stark family? That's insane."