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It didn't take long for Tony to find out who the spider kid was. Really, it's almost concerning how little time it took him. He certainly has more resources than more people, but if he was able to find her in less than a day, he's sure anybody could figure it out. Eventually.
Ann Parker. Attends Midtown High School. Lives with her aunt. Uncle passed away a few months ago. Apparently dresses up in red pjs after school and fights crime. Typical teenage girl stuff.
Now here he is, sitting in said kid's living room. It's homey, much more.. lived in than any of Tony's properties, that's for sure. Tony flashes the aunt —May— a smile as she hands him a cup of tea, walking over to sit on the other side of the couch.
"Thank you," Tony takes a sip. It's decent. "I wanted to talk to you about your niece—"
"Nephew," May corrects immediately.
"..Nephew?" No, Tony's pretty sure she just has a niece. That's what the files said.
"Peter."
Peter. Peter. Right, her school file listed Peter as a nickname, didn't it? But— oh. Spider-Man, that's what the kid goes by, isnt it? Okay, so Tony might be a little stupid, it seems.
"Oh," Tony mutters. "That.. makes sense, actually."
"Is that a problem?" May asks. Tony can see the protectiveness on her face, even as she tries to keep her voice polite. Good, is the first thought that pops into his head, she seems to care.
"Not a problem at all, ma'am." May gives a little nod of approval, which Tony takes as his sign to keep going. "So, your nephew applied for an internship with my company."
"And Tony Stark personally sees to this internship?" May asks, raising an eyebrow.
Is Tony really that detached? Pepper always tells him he doesn't pay enough attention to his "actual job" anymore. But he thought that was just a heat of the argument phrase, along with 'you always take up the whole bed,' and 'it's like you don't even care about me.' Maybe she was right.. actually he shouldn't be too surprised by that, Pepper's always right, she says so herself. (Which, obviously, she's right about, as she's always right. Tony's just repeating himself now. Point is, his lady is a genius and way too good for him.)
"Well, frankly, I don't really have anything better to be doing right now." Tony lets out a fake little laugh, grabbing one of the walnut date loafs she'd placed down and taking a bite.
Maybe she already knows. Tony would be surprised if that were the case, sure, but not too surprised. At the very lease he doubts this kid is too good at covering her—his tracks. Especially not from his guardian. Most teenagers aren't, no matter what they believe. Tony knows, his parents had no problem telling him exactly what he did wrong whenever they'd catch him sneaking around.
Still, he's not going to risk it. If she doesn't know, he isn't about to ruin his shot at recruiting the kid by freaking her out.
It's dry. The loaf, that is. Very dry. Tony still forces it down, offering May a grin. "This is remarkable, by the way."
"So you're only here because you're bored?" May asks, ignoring the comment.
"See, I never said that," Tony points out, sliping back into his usual pretentious mask.
"That's the thing, people always twist my words." Tony doesn't actually care. He might not prefer everybody misquoting him, but he really doesn't care. "Yes, normally I would have sent a representative. But that is mostly because I don't have a lot of freetime between, you know, saving the world and funding the next generation of scientists and all of the other very important things I do on a daily—" May looks very unimpressed. Alright. "—But, I did have it, today, so I thought I'd come see the star applicant."
That's believable. Definitely. Tony ignores May's disbelieving little hum.
"Right, a lot of free time between.. both your superhero team breaking up, and, apparently, your actual relationship."
…Okay. Ow.
"Ow." Tony places a hand over his chest, over the reactor. "I mean that was just plain rude. Where'd you hear that from? TMZ?"
"The news," May shrugs. "Why? Is it inaccurate?"
Not at all. "The news lies all the time, dear." It hasn't been lying too much recently, at least not about him. Though, he supposes that's mostly because they have no reason to lie when he's already feeding into all the beliefs about him.
"Of course it does, because that's more convenient for you."
Tony's starting to think May might not like him all that much.
The kid seems to be a fan though, hopefully she's one of those parents (guardians?) that do the "as long as you're happy, I'm happy" bullshit. Very hopefully. Tony hadn't really thought of a backup plan if the kid doesn't agree to help him.
Sure, it's not like Steve would actually start a fight or anything, but, still, it's better to be prepared. Especially if Barnes is there. Tony doesn't need a sequel of what happened in Berlin just yet.
Tony's pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening, closing, then footsteps behind him. He feels himself tense up. Tony doesn't know when it became instinct. When he started needing to check for exits, for threats.
"Hey, May."
He watches as May turns to face the kid who just walked in. Peter, Tony presumes. He forces himself to relax. He's being ridiculous, obviously it would be the kid. It's, Tony checks his watch, 3pm. Just about the time he'd be getting home from school if he took the bus. Tony already checked, he already knew this, why is he getting so worked up?
"Hey," May replies easily. The earlier suspicion stripped away. Or hidden, more likely. "How was school today?"