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Man, this was uncomfortable. Cold. Super obvious, too. You and Peter were playing Hide and Seek and it was going to take him less than five minutes to find you.
Underneath the kitchen table was the clever place that you had chosen to hide. You hadn't stopped to consider the temperature or texture of the tiles before diving underneath and were now fated to sit there until Peter figured out where you were. Which, as mentioned, wouldn't be long.
You sighed loudly without thinking and immediately clamped a hand over your mouth when footsteps approached the kitchen. They were heavy and definitely not Peter's but your location could become compromised depending on who they belonged to. Bruce and Rhodey were the best secret-keepers. Steve would most likely take yours to the grave with him. Tony was capable of keeping secrets but whether or not he did was totally and completely reliant on his mood. Clint and Bucky though? Not a damn chance.
So you sat there quiet and still. Not moving. Taking as few breaths as possible. Until-
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
Okay so it was Tony in the room.
"Do me a favor and shock the next person who tries to put an empty carton of milk back in this fridge."
"Sir?" JARVIS replied and, if possible, sounded uneasy. Tony sighed.
"Fine. No shock. But I want them locked in this room and for you to alert me when it happens again so that I can come up here and shove that empty carton up their-"
"It is not possible for me to tell what is being placed into the fridge, sir. I can, however, place milk on your shopping list or simply order it for you."
"Just put it on the list," Tony grumbled, "I'll make eggs instead. Oh wait, need milk for that." You could almost hear the eye roll and giggled into your hand. "Toast then."
You listened to Tony bustle around in the kitchen for a while, silently wishing that you'd thought to bring your phone. More than five minutes had to have passed and Peter still hadn't come to check the kitchen. You were starting to wonder where he was checking first when the chair in front of you scraped backwards suddenly and made you jump. Tony sat down and scooted it back in. You gasped when the skin on your hand got pinched between the leg of the chair and the floor.
Tony froze, halfway through lifting one leg to drape it over the other. He dropped his foot back to the floor and pushed his chair back a little. The tablecloth lifted and suddenly you were looking at Tony's face. You grinned sheepishly. He raised an eyebrow.
"Hello. Are you lost?" he asked."Or hiding from something? You look like you're hiding from something. Am I right? Should we all be hiding?"
"I'm hiding from Peter," you giggled and shushed him as you reached forward to pull the tablecloth down. "Don't blow my cover!"
Tony chuckled and straightened in his seat, crossing one leg over the other as he'd begun to do earlier. He took a bite of toast, a sip of coffee and was barely able to read the first line of his paper when Peter sprinted into the room. He looked up right as the kid crashed into the counter and knocked a bowl of fruit to the floor. You had to bite your fist to stop yourself from laughing when an orange rolled underneath the table.
"Shoot," Peter said quickly, "Sorry, Mr. Stark. I'll pick those up!"
"How's your sense of direction when you're swinging around, huh?" Tony asked as Peter filled the bowl back up. "Cause if it's anything like that brilliant display then I'd rather you not come close to my building."
"I tripped," Peter explained. "I was running too fast." He set the bowl back down on the counter and faced his mentor. "Have you seen Y/n anywhere, Mr. Stark?"
Your stomach squirmed.
"Y/n?" Tony repeated, feigning confusion. "Yea high? (Hair color) hair?"
"Uh, yeah," Peter said and you heard a cabinet door close. He was searching for you inside the island. "(Eye color) eyes. Why are you acting like you don't know her?!" Peter froze, realization dawning on him. "She's in here somewhere, isn't she?"
Another cabinet door slammed shut and you covered your mouth with both hands to muffle your giggles.
"Come on, kid. You're gonna wake up the whole tower and it's too early to deal with everyone."
"Where is she?!"
"She's not in here, Pete." For a brief moment you could have hugged Tony but the feeling crippled seconds later. "She's not dumb enough to hide in a cabinet or under a table. C'mon now. Give her some credit."
"Is she under the table?" Peter asked and you were horrified to hear that his voice had gotten closer.
"Did you not hear what I just said?" Peter stopped walking over. "Surely she'd pick somewhere less painfully obvious then in here, right? She'd use her brain, right?"
You reached up and pinched Tony's side, tired of the jabs, and he was able to mask the resulting chuckle as him laughing at his own joke.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Peter said and walked to the door. Tony took advantage of his back being towards him and reached under the table to try pinching you back but you swatted at his hand and scooted away. Peter looked back and Tony straightened immediately. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "She's really not under there?"
"Even if she was, what makes you think I'd rat her out?"
Peter wasted no time coming back with, "Have you met you?"
"Fair point." He stood up, took a long sip of coffee and grabbed his toast. Before stuffing it in his mouth, he said, "Alright, yeah. She's under there."
"TONY!" you shrieked, betrayed. You tried to scramble out from under the table; if you were able to make it back to base (which was the couch in the TV room) then you'd be safe. Peter's hand slapped against your thigh and you screamed when he pulled you back towards him, laughing maniacally.
"Found you!"
"No you didn't!" you argued, flipping over onto your back once you were out from under the table and Peter had let go of your leg. You propped yourself up on your elbows and glared at Tony who was emptying his coffee into the sink. "He gave me away! And now I don't feel bad for putting the empty thing of milk back in the fridge!"
Tony's head jerked up and his eyes locked on yours. Yours widened. Peter pulled you to your feet and shoved you unceremoniously towards the door.
"Run! I'll hold him off."
"Out of the way if you know what's good for you, kid!" Tony said and Peter allowed himself to be pushed to the side. You looked back and noticed Tony running full force after you. You screamed, running faster.
"Peter!" you complained.
"I'm sorry! He's scary sometimes!"
You managed to avoid Tony for a while keeping various pieces of furniture between the two of you but eventually he caught up, pulled you to the floor and tickled you until you both apologized for the empty carton of milk and promised not to do it again. Peter stayed hidden in the kitchen until the ordeal was over. Tony helped you up and shoved way too much money into your hand to go buy more milk.
"Are you confused how much a carton costs these days?" you teased and he glared at you. You grinned innocently.
"Just bring me the change after and bring Peter with you. I need this place children-free for an hour."
You both tried to protest that you weren't children but Tony kept cutting in with things like, 'nope!' and 'not listening!' until he was able to get you outside. He ordered JARVIS not to open the doors for at least sixty minutes. You watched Tony disappear back into the tower and looked down at the money in your hand, then at Peter. You both smirked.
Tony couldn't even be mad later when he found twenty-five cartons of milk in the fridge and a handful of nickels on the counter with a note that read, 'Your change.'