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The wind chill of New York's December air bit Peter the second he emerged from the school, pulling his thin jacket tight over his shoulders. The last few students around him, Betty and Abe, walked in the direction of the nearest subway stop and Peter paused, loitering at the front of the staircase. Buckets of rain had dumped down the night before, and he was struck with a cold. Thankfully, even though the air was wintry, the sun was out. His eyes flicked upwards to inspect the ball of fire sinking downwards. His face morphed into a scowl. Days were not meant to end at four or five in the afternoon, that had to be, like... illegal, or something. The school's lights had turned off in ten different classrooms, the only light coming from the building was through the doors. They were almost always open, or at least unlocked, until six.
He blew out a breath, brushing his floppy curls off of his face and glancing at the pick-up lane again. He was waiting for Mr. Stark.
I'm waiting, Peter, his phone buzzed. Peter jumped to his feet, craning his neck further. Thursdays were Decathlon days and the days Mr. Stark picked him up and checked the suit over. He always- Peter squinted at the row of identical cars; which one was it?- included some obligatory fun thing. Last Thursday they went to buy Christmas presents for May. The one before that, they picked up fries and shakes before they went to the lab. The suit update itself was usually never more than ten minutes.
The winter chill ushered him to Tony's car. 'Why do you have a different car every single time I see you?' Peter asked, opening the door. A gust of warmth rushed out and he breathed it in, sliding in.
'I want to show off,' Tony replied offhand, adjusting the thermostat. Peter slammed the car door shut, pushing his poor toes into the vent, shucking off his coat.
'Winter is fun but I really, really don't like the cold,' he said, vigorously shaking out his hair. It was practically frozen after his walk to school in the morning. Peter didn't normally shower in the mornings, but he'd had a long patrol the night before and just collapsed in bed, but he'd woken up at the crack of dawn to do homework. Upon realizing that there was a whole patch of dirty hot dog water- he smashed into a cart- on his body, he'd had to shower.
'Me neither, kid.' Tony shot him a quick smile and Peter flushed slightly. It always felt surreal, going from school to Stark Industries. Mr. Stark was his hero and in the parking pick-up lane at Midtown High School, there was a very large disconnect between the reality of his life and the part where he got picked up in an electric blue Porsche to eat his weight in french fries with the most high-profile hero in the world. He'd had dinner with a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. 'How was your day? Besides the weather, of course.'
He maneuvered out of the lane and Peter kicked his shoes off, tucking his feet under him. 'It was pretty good, all things considered. Decathlon was really long.' Tony flicked a switch and the heated seat started warming up under him.
'Sunset's pretty-'
Peter interrupted him. 'No way! You have heated seats! How much did this car cost?' he asked, smiling, already cozy and warm.
'You don't want to know that answer, kid,' Mr. Stark chuckled. 'And I was saying the sunset is nice tonight,' he said, nodding his head out the window to the setting sun.
Settled in among the puffy clouds, a ball of fire slowly set on the city. Pinks and blues and purples swirled in up there, like something out of a Renaissance painting. And there was a brilliant view. Tony ruffled his hair and merged into the left lane. 'Yeah. Pretty,' he echoed. The tendrils of orange reached into the remnants of rainy yesterday and it bloomed in his chest. He couldn't suppress a smile.
'Want to watch the sunset?' Tony asked.
'That sounds fun,' Peter said, smiling faintly again and finally turning away. The seat was well and truly warm underneath him, now. Tony took the liberty of turning the radio up.
They sat like that, blanketed in quiet silence, as the car steadily sped towards the beach. At least, that's where Peter thought they were going. Hopefully not to get out of the car. Frigid winds soaking in the cold wet air seemed unpleasant, at least compared to this. His socked feet were still tucked underneath him and his backpack was sitting on the floor as Tony slowly moved the car through traffic. A billion months ago- or like, two- he wouldn't have been this comfortable. He wouldn't have felt so soft. But really, he trusted Mr. Stark not to take advantage of the fact that he sometimes cried at kitten photos and liked to take pictures of the sunset on his phone and post it to his instagram. The sun's skies turned from a pale pink to a deeper purple, orange still scattering light around, the longer they drove.
'I went to a press conference,' Tony offered. Peter shook his head, leaving the zoned out space and refocusing. 'It was a peach. Honestly. For once, everything ran smoothly.'
'Was Pepper proud?'
Tony chuckled. 'Yeah. She liked my restraint.' Peter grinned, imagining that conversation. 'Sam Wilson is due to re-enter the US any day now. I think he'll be staying in the Tower, you know, because he's required to be under house arrest, and for a superhero, the house has got to be special.' Peter nodded along. 'This one was about his pardon. Hopefully some more will come along.'
Peter was paying attention! He was! But part of it was split away. The car reminded him of staying cozy in the back of Ben's truck, a blanket folded around him, as it rumbled to a stop in front of his second cousins's house upstate, the first and only time he'd visited them. It reminded him of the first helicopter ride he'd been on, settled in the cockpit with panorama views around him and a set of controls Friday was helping out with in front. That had been with Tony, too. Up in the air and removed from it all. 'Almost here, kid.' He felt a gentle hand settle on his shoulder and startled.
Tony shot him a half smile. 'I must be tired,' Peter yawned.
'I'll bet. You're staying up past bedtime,' Tony replied, settling back. Their car was in the parking lot, facing the sunset, other ones lined up neatly beside it. A whole row of people looking at the same view.
'Not every night,' Peter countered, resting his socked feet on the dashboard. For some reason, Mr. Stark didn't push them off.
'Just most nights, then,' Tony laughed in reply. 'Want to get out? Or will it be too windy?' he goaded. Peter huffed in exasperation and Tony's teasing smile was felt, rather than seen, while he bent over to put his shoes back on.
'Just most nights,' he admitted, already shivering slightly. The sun, though, was a taste on the tip of his tongue, clementine orange bursting with flavor. All he'd had was cold-ish hamburger and a bunch of free milk, an overly large salad, and a box of poptarts for breakfast. Typical school fare, but not enough for a spider human. 'And I'm not tired. Just relaxed.'
That would shut Tony up, he thought. And it did. The shock of someone being relaxed and happy and soft around him was too much to bear. The next thing Peter heard was the car door shutting. 'You're going to miss it!' Tony announced.
Peter rushed after him, tipping out of the car and beginning to shake with shivers. If only his normal clothes had heaters built in. 'Wow,' Peter breathed.
Slowly, Tony's warm arm snaked around his shoulders. Peter beamed, trying and failing to hide it, as he took the chance to tuck himself in there. Wind blew around them and Peter leaned his head there, sighing. 'I'm going to make you nap for a little while before you go out tonight,' he said quietly, kissing the top of Peter's hair.
'I'd like to see you try,' Peter whispered back, lips curling into a smile. It took around three more glorious minutes for the sun to really drop off of the sky and by then, wind was howling around them and Tony had maneuvered him into a hug. Peter's face squished against his chest.
The seats were still warm when they got back into the car and so was the blanket and couch he cuddle into at the Tower.