[Third POV, Year 2001, Broken Loop, 19th of April]
"Oh, the music I made, right? Honestly, I didn't expect you to find it so soon, that being honest. Now, about working on something—what do you mean by that?"
With a look of realization, Adrian answered Tony. Honestly, although Adrian expected Tony to find out about his musical "career", he found it very fast—one has to thank JARVIS for that, he really wanted to get an AI too.
"Yeah, you have a very simplistic naming sense. For things like music, you have to be flashier, you know? But whatever. About the work thing—taking into account that you're pretty smart for your age, I cannot allow myself to let it go to waste—hey, Happy, get the money and let's go to the car."
Putting his transparent phone back in his pocket, Tony waited for his bodyguard and friend to get the money from the chips he had already ordered to cash out.
"So, like I was saying, how do you feel about getting a job as my assistant? Of course, you wouldn't get a contract—you legally can't—but a thousand dollars an hour is pretty good, don't you think? You'll learn some things while at it."
Seeing Happy coming with the money prompted Tony to start walking toward the exit of the building. Meanwhile, Adrian's voice was heard again through the phone.
"Working as your assistant? I mean, it sounds good, but like… how does the job even work? Is there like job hours or a schedule I have to follow? And I also have to attend my classes at school, you know?"
"Don't worry about school, kid. If your parents allow it, I can make it so that you can graduate in less than two weeks. There aren't any specified work hours—if I feel like making something, I'll call you and send someone to get you to my house. It's where I usually work on all my stuff. Of course, you'll have to ask your parents for permission, but I don't think that'll be a problem, isn't it?"
Looking at his mother from the corner of his eye made Adrian hesitate a little. While he was sure he could convince his father about working for Tony, he didn't know if he could do the same with his mother. The reason? She didn't like and even felt disgusted by Tony Stark—because of his arms company and his reputation as the Merchant of Death.
Shaking his head, Adrian gave his answer to Tony. He couldn't let the opportunity to get closer to Tony slip through his fingers—he needed his reputation and security so that Hydra wouldn't target him anymore for the next seven months, ensuring his anti-terror plan succeeds.
"I think I can convince my father. My mother's another case, but I'll find a way to do it. So… I think I'll accept working as your assistant."
"Great. Talk to your parents about it and convince them to let you graduate early and work for me. I'll handle the rest. Now, take note or write down the number I'm going to tell you—it'll be the number you'll have to call to confirm everything. Also, it's my private number. I only give it to people I trust, so you better appreciate it, kid."
Taking out his own flip phone—as everyone in his house had one now—he saved Tony's number. Meanwhile, Happy got in the car and started driving out of the casino parking lot.
"Happy, drive us to my mansion. Alright then, buddy, call me to confirm and I'll handle the rest. For now, I have to go do some things. Good luck, kiddo."
"Goodbye, Tony. Have a good day."
With that, the call was ended by Tony. Putting the phone away from his ear, he stored it back in his pocket.
"Who was that person you were talking to? What was that about working as his assistant? You have some explaining to do."
Suddenly, the voice of his mother was heard. Adrian looked to his side—Laura was watching him while eating some kind of biscuit. Looking at his mother, Adrian pulled up his save file screen and decided to save.
{File saved}
'This is going to take some tries.'
Sighing internally, our protagonist decided to speak to his mother.
"Ah, that person? That's just Tony Stark. You know, the one from the TV. He asked me if I wanted to work as his assistant. You know I'm pretty smart."
Meanwhile, Laura remained completely stoic on the outside, but inside, gears were turning in her head.
'Tony Stark? What the fuck does he mean by Tony Stark? As in the CEO of Stark Industries? That Stark? Is he pranking me? Is it actually Tony Stark? What does Stark want to do with Adrian?'
"What do you mean by that? What does working as his assistant even mean? Like a secretary?"
Seeing that his mother hadn't reacted much gave our protagonist a glimmer of hope. Quickly answering her doubts, he tried to be as convincing as he could.
"No, no, no. By assistant he means like someone who helps him with making new things, or whatever he wants to work on—like creating a new device or tweaking something he doesn't like but doesn't want to work on personally. Trying to make some advancements with tech. He said he's gonna pay me like one thousa—"
"NO! You absolutely can't! I will not allow it!"
And the glimmer of hope was crushed.
The moment Laura heard that the assistant job involved helping Stark make new things, it triggered the memory of what she saw in the camera—the expression of the man in it and the device her son had made. The thought of Adrian making more weapons, and that those could be distributed, made her instantly deny the possibility of letting him work for Stark. Her facial expression quickly twisted into one of fear and stress.
'He's already one of those mutant freaks... I can't allow him to become a murderer like that Stark.'
Meanwhile, Adrian, after hearing what his mother said, pulled up his save file screen and decided to load—this try was already botched.
'Again.'
{Savefile1 Loaded}
Looking at the now calm face of his mother again, Adrian tried once more to convince her... with negative results.
"NO!"
'Again.'
{Savefile1 Loaded}
'Again.'
{Savefile1 Loaded}
'Again.'
{Savefile1 Loaded}
{Savefile1 Loaded}
{Savefile1 Loaded}
And with that, our protagonist kept trying until he could finally convince his mother—with some concessions, of course.
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Author Note: Hello everybody, i'm starting to think of making a dinamic where if we reach a certain goal of powerstones i make longer chapters until the stone counter resets, like making them 500 words longer or something.
Add to your library, drop powerstones and review the fic! The more stones the better! Future rewards could be longer or more chapters per week!