Tony has had a college fund set for Harley since right after he met the kid.
“Harley Keener is calling, Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice rings out over the music in his workshop.
“Go ahead and put him through,” Tony said, not looking up from the Iron Man gauntlet he was trying to repair.
“Hey Tony,” Harley’s voice squeaked through the speakers.
“Hey, kid,” Tony says, motioning for Dum-E to bring him a different screw driver. Dum-E brings him the wrong one. “How’s the summer going? You gone to freshman orientation yet?”
“No, that’s next week,” Harley dismissed, “I was actually calling because the strangest thing just happened.”
“Yeah,” Harley says slowly, “So I was sitting here, barbecue sauce on my titties—“
“—playing Dark Souls on my laptop when I got a funny email. It was an email from financial aid telling me that my student loans had been declined because my account was at zero, and that I no longer needed to sign up for the tuition payment plan. Because the whole thing had already been paid off.”
Tony froze what he was doing and glanced at the ceiling before responding.
“Wow…. that is weird,” Tony said slowly, “I wonder what kind, gracious soul would be generous enough to do such a thing.”
“Cut the bullshit, dude, we both know who’s fault this is.”
“Okay, first of all, language,” Tony said, finally putting down his screwdriver and running a hand through his hair, “second of all, don’t call me dude. Third of all, I just saved you from being literally thousands of dollars in debt for the next 30 years of your life. How about a ‘thank you, Tony. How kind of you.’”
“How did you even do it?”
“Oh, it’s from the college fund.”
“Uh, yeah? I made it for you back in like… 2013.”
“Tony, you’d only known me for like a week in 2013!”
“Oh my god,” Harley said in exasperation, “while I appreciate the gesture, I’m not looking for charity, Tony, I don’t need you to—“
“Woah, who said anything about charity?” Tony said, pushing his chair back and glaring at the speakers in the ceiling. “I fully expect for you to pay me back.”
“—and you can’t just— wait, what?”
“Yeah. After you graduate and you finally come work for Stark Industries, I fully expect you to pay me back—”
“—by using that big brain of yours to do great things in my company, create crazy genius inventions, and change the world for the better.”
“So really when you think about it, it’s not charity, it’s an investment in the future,” Tony said with small smile, “I’m being selfish.”
“Right,” Harley agreed, though his voice made it clear he didn’t actually agree at all. It sounded like he was trying not to laugh, and he was definitely smiling. “Selfish, you. Of course.”
“Naturally,” Tony smirked.
“Right. Well… I supposed I’ll allow you to be… selfish. Just this once. I really wasn’t looking forward to nearly $150,000 in student debt when I graduated anyway.”
“Thank you,” Harley said sincerely, “you know, for being… selfish.”
“Anything you need, kiddo.”
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