@feralego moved from here
“I– Yeah. I do.”
Harry thinks that, at one time, his father had been like him too. At least a little. His mother certainly wouldn’t have looked twice at Norman if that hadn’t been the case; if there wasn’t a motivation to bring about positive change, one way or another. And Harry’s read all he could scrounge up about Norman’s college days, including the partnership he fostered with Otto Octavius, even digging through old paper files in a hidden room his father didn’t know he had access to.
He’s seen the evidence that, once upon a time, Norman Osborn had wanted to save the world too. But the man’s focus had shifted years ago, drawing in on itself. Growing selfish with his desperation as his wife’s health had declined.
“More than anything.”
Harry thinks about Peter, and how he’s sure he’s heard the same sentiment from him, but how he never seems to get anywhere with his plans. And he is determined not to be his father, or Peter.
He will get things done. He will make good on his promises to himself, his community, and the planet.
“Thank you, by the way,” Harry tells him. “I– Even with Peter, sometimes, I don’t really feel like anyone’s actually listening.”
Red blotches color the hollows of his cheeks, and his throat burns with the thought of all the cancelled after school engineering sessions; all the times he’d been left out in the dark and forced to push himself further to finish things alone.
Lost in his own thoughts–and a little ashamed of himself for speaking negatively about Peter at all to his friend’s mentor–Harry doesn’t initially realize how deep into R&D they’re venturing. But soon enough, he’s brightening again, recognizing devices for their functions, but floored by the obvious improvements.
“I knew you had to be working on some of this stuff, but–” Harry, wonderstruck, approaches the schematics of one of the prototypes being worked on and immediately loses himself in the beauty and precision of the science and mathematics employed within them. “This is incredible.”
“It’s not always my strong suit,” Tony admits, unbothered by displaying his faults. And, partly, to distract from talking about Peter------ because Tony knows exactly why Peter is often distracted, even appearing flakey sometimes. Not necessarily an excuse, but it’s easy for Tony to say so from hindsight, from having done the exact same thing when he was younger. Neglecting his friends, pushing them away. He’s sure Pete doesn’t mean to, because he’s a better man than Tony ever was, but, well. Everyone needs a reminder now and then.
So he doesn’t make excuses for Spidey, just glances sideways to watch Harry as they walk, dark eyes catching on the morose expression that falls into place. He opens his mouth to say something, but as he navigates them through the mess that is the R&D workshops, the kid suddenly brightens, and Tony can’t help but grin.
“Saving the world isn’t just about superheroes.” And doesn’t he sound all wise and mentorly saying shit like that. It’s true, of course. Tony Stark wants to save the world. That had been a headline back when he still made weapons, he remembers that interview. Twenty-five and so fucking naive.
Saving the world comes with a cost. He rolls his shoulder joint and tries to think of something else. He taps a rhythm on his wrist, waves at Marcia across the floor, and then focuses in on the way Harry’s eyes are lighting up. The ache in his chest eases a little.
“You understand how it works?” Tony asks, casually, leaning on an absent engineer’s desk. Tony knows a Lot of geniuses, and most of them work in this room. Most kids would be awed by the tech here but Harry’s looking at it like he understands why it’s groundbreaking.
There’s not many people that can do that. Even in this room.
This is a bad idea. It’s such a bad idea. But------
“You want a job, Osborn?”