Chapter Text
`“Hello, name please.” The lady at the front desk of MIT asked as Tony walked up.
“Um… Tony Stark.” He said quietly.
“Ah, Tony yes, I remember speaking to your father this morning, welcome. Here’s your dorm key, you will be in room 317, with Sam Wilson. We have asked Steve Rodgers to show you around tomorrow to help you acclimate to the new campus, he is a sophomore this year, so he knows the campus quite well, I believe you will get along with him and his friends. Here is your schedule, classes will be starting next week.” The lady said quickly, her hot pink acrylic nails shining in the light as she handed him a stack of papers and two keys.
“Thanks.” He said with a practiced smile. He followed the directions on the map he had been given to the dorms.
Eyes up. Shoulders back. Face neutral. He had known it since he was tiny. He plainly remembered his father explaining this when he was younger. He had been walking out of the hospital after the second kidnapping that year, and somehow the press had found out about it. His father’s biggest priority had been, of course, the perception of the Stark family, not his son’s comfort, despite the fact that having two broken ribs at 4 was very uncomfortable. He shook his head as he walked, determined to clear his mind of the thoughts. That had all been 11 years ago, he wasn’t tiny anymore.
“Hey!” Someone yelled as he bumped into them, “Watch where you’re walking.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time I cross paths with a semi-truck.” He retorted smoothly. Not his best comeback by a long shot, but enough to shut them up, and make them flip him off, which he laughed at. All a facade, eyes up, shoulders back, face neutral. He could do this. Nobody seemed to be looking at him weird yet, which he was relieved about. He knew he could pass for older, his constant state of sleep deprivation was helpful for that, but his mother had been worried nevertheless. Before he knew it, room 317 was staring him down. He stared right back for a solid 7 seconds, cycling through a breathing exercise once before swinging it open.
Thank goodness nobody was there. Surely he would have to face his roommate at some point, but he was glad it wasn’t now. Unless of course, he completely converted to being nocturnal, which if he didn’t have classes would seem like a genuine option. For now, he just through his things on the bed that didn’t have sheets on it and promptly flopped down after them. He knew he should probably change everything on that bed, and then burn it, but he didn’t really have it in him to get up at the moment.
He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew there was someone knocking rather loudly on the door, worsening the headache that had been edging its way to the front of his focus the whole day. Slowly he got up, straightening his hoodie as he did so in an attempt to look somewhat pulled together. He reluctantly swung the door open after realizing the knocker wasn’t going to go away, revealing a tall blond boy, who looked far to chipper for Tony’s liking.
“Hi! I’m Steve Rodgers, I was told to show Tony Stark around?” The guy, Steve apparently said, stating it like a question.
“Um… that's me. But we really don’t have to. I have some homework I can do so…” He trailed off. He didn’t actually have homework he could do, but there were endless calculations he could be running for his current AI project right now.
“Sorry, non-negotiable,” Steve said, promptly turning on his heel down the hallway, indicating Tony should follow. Reluctantly he tied on his Converse and sprinted after him.
“So we’re in the dorms right now.” Steve started.
“You don’t say.”
“Shut up, we’re in the dorms, the right side of the hall is guys, the left side is girls, don’t get caught in a girl’s dorm after 7 PM or the hall monitor will have to report you.”
“Mhm, and who’s the hall monitor?” He asked, causing Steve to blink for a second.
“Me.” He replied finally. Of course, it was. Tony had started to get this guy’s vibe by now, somewhere toeing the line between a goodie two shoes and a jock. Something in his posture was interesting though.
“Did you get really tall recently?” he asked before he could stop himself.
“What?” Steve asked, looking surprised.
“Oh, um… sorry. Sometimes my brain and mouth filter is screwed up. Like… always. Just ignore me.” Tony promptly clamped his mouth shut, focusing on his knotted laces. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he kept his eyes downcast.
“Yeah, I did… how did you know that?” Tony snuck a look at Steve, who didn’t seem upset in the slightest, simply baffled. Tony could handle baffled.
“The way you… It’s the way you stand. Like you are unsure of how tall you are, and you stand up sorta straighter than normal, but not in like, a trained way, more of a… compensation. I dunno, you just carry yourself like you are used to looking up to people. Probably just a lucky guess.” He tailed off lamely.
“I was 5’2 all through highschool. Holy shit, are you a psych major? You should be.” Tony snorted far louder than was socially acceptable, rolling his eyes at the idea.
“Hell no, Mechanical Electrical and Aerospace Engineering. For now, but maybe nuclear later. Oh, and computer science.” He did it again. Every time he told people his major they gave him the look, somewhere between confused and distrustful.
“Really? Are you even allowed to do that?” Steve asked.
“They had to make a few exceptions schedule-wise, and I have a lot of online classes… but yeah.” Come on Tony, he knew how to finish sentences. He had been carrying on conversations with adults since he was two and a half. Not that he could remember anything before three, but he had seen news.
“That must be hours of homework, how on earth are you going to keep up.” Steve seemed genuinely concerned.
“My dad’s been doing engineering with me since I was little. All the 101 classes I learned when I was 7.”
“Seven! Geeze, is your dad insane?” The older man exclaimed.
“Yes.” He answered, looking at him unblinking. Tony forced a laugh after a second for Steve’s sake, wanting to save the conversation from as much awkwardness as possible. “I mean he builds mass weaponry in his spare time, I think you need to be at least a little crazy to do that.”
Steve laughed uncertainly “Yeah…” The older man pushed open the large glass door to head outside, which Tony had not at all been prepared for because a sudden burst of cold air attacked him.
“Gah! Why is it so cold?” He asked indignantly, wrapping his arms around himself and pulling his hoodie tight.
“It’s only like, 50 right now.” Steve laughed.
“hmph,” He muttered, pulling his hood up to block the wind.
“Where were you born, Florida?” Steve asked.
“No, Manhattan,” he replied,
“Doesn’t it get cold there too?” The elder asked.
“Only if you go outside.”
“Ha, oh hey there’s Natasha,” Steve said pivoting, waving to a slim redhead reading under a tree, “Hey Nat!”
The girl, Natasha, jerked her head up quickly, before crossing the lawn to them. She had a book gripped loosely in her hand, which Tony now saw was on the history of Ju-Jitsu. “Hello, Steve, who’s this?” She asked with a nod thrown Tony’s way.
“Tony Stark.” He supplied, extending his hand.
“Stark, as in Howard Stark?” She asked with a quirked eyebrow. He bobbed his head in confirmation. She smirked and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Tony.