Chapter Text
A shiver went down Peter's spine. He's been out for a little too long in 20°F temperature.
A guy in a rhino costume is webbed out cold on the piss-covered wall in the back alley, waiting for the police to arrive at the scene. Serves him right for attacking an innocent, unsuspecting, older woman and her grandson. And for choosing this truly ridiculous theme for his thief activities.
Because, really, no one of sound mind would ever think: ‘Oh, I would look great with a horn plastered on my nose’. Did he even think about the amount of blind spots this fashion statement would create?
The woman, Mrs. Primrose, as he learned a minute ago, kindly asked Peter to walk her home a few blocks away from where they were, and he graciously agreed.
It's a pretty, rather cozy neighborhood, with every tree wrapped in Christmas lights casting a warm glow on the snow all around.
Despite not celebrating Christmas, Peter could appreciate the atmosphere and effort people put into all of this.
As they get to the apartament, Mrs. Primrose and her grandson stand on the doorstep searching for their keys. Peter’s phone vibrates. and he doesn't feel it at first, with the train of thoughts and the numbness in his limbs, but when he gets another two notifications he finally does.
The phone lights up, showing three new messages from Tn- Peter barely manages to scan the text when the phone falls out of his hand. ‘Lucky him’, he thinks, when the device falls on a snowdrift, no new cracks present.
Picking up the device, holding it more carefully this time, he reads the contents of the message.
Why has Tony just texted him? He never texts. He is a perfect example of how the generational gap stereotypes weren't baseless. How texting is a Gen Z thing, while calling is reserved for… older individuals like Mr. Stark. There was not a single text conversation initiated by the man. He always called.
The Lake incident; A call.
The Ferry thing; A call.
The warning about May finding out about his absences; A call
That one time Tony learned that Rhodey only snored for the first half of the night, thus winning their bet at 2 A.M; Another freaking call.
They had a lengthy conversation about that last one regarding boundaries. Oh how he wished Tony hadn't taken his words this much to heart now.
Peter's fingers feel… He can't feel them at all, actually. Completely numb. They are shaking as if a demon has possessed them.
He scans over the contents of the last few messages, making sure there are no name-drops, addresses etc. The jingle of Mrs. Primrose's keys is audible, they are about to enter the apartament. Last chance.
“Hey, uh, sorry to stop you, but could you type a message for me? My hands are kind of, well, dead, with being out in the cold and all.”
The teenager, who is maybe two years younger than Peter, takes the device and asks “Sure, whatcha need me to type?”
“Just a quick ‘Sorry Mr. Stark, can't do Saturday”
The teenager chuckled. “I am about to text Tony Stark? You're gonna pass on IronMan just like that?”
“Do you think I should give him an explanation?”
“ Duh. It's the IronMan we are talking about!”
“Right. So, you know how there is a tree in the Rockefeller Center every year?” The kid nods enthusiastically. “So, I might've had a crash with it while trying to stop some villain of the week from blowing up half of the metro tunnels under the city. So it’s gone now.”
The kid’s gaping at him in disbelief. He nods and starts typing and muttering. “Spiderman says a villain made him crash against the Rockefeller Center tree...”
“In my defense,” Peter keeps dictating, “it wasn't just me. The Falcon, Hawkeye and Bucky were there as well, making a mess, so not entirely my fault. And man, there was so much broken glass on the ground after the incident. I mean, why would they even make any of these decorations out of glass? A stupid drone could fly into the tree and damage those.”
The kid was furiously typing on the keyboard trying to keep up with the fast-paced story of Peter’s.
“And now the city gov wants the four of us to set it back up. The lawyers Mr. Wilson called said it's a lost cause, so we're all stuck doing it, and Saturday is the only time everyone has time. Bonus, it’s my first time decorating a Christmas tree, so that's also really cool! You got everything?”.
“I should go to JJJ with all of this.” Shane grins, finishing up the message.
“Loving the takeaway, but, let's avoid doing that at all costs”
“Well, I hope you’ll have a great time despite the cold.” Mrs. Primrose adds, turning away and entering their building. “And thank you again for saving us dear.”
Shawn holds out Peter’s phone for him to take back.
“Hold UP! Wait wait wait, can you just add a smiley face?” Peter stops them once again.
“Sure Dude, which one?” Shawn excitedly takes back the phone.
“Does it really matter all this much?” The lady mumbles, rubbing her arms and glancing longingly at the cozy inside. .
“The simple colon and “D”? I think?” he tries to mimic the expression, not that Shawn is gonna see it through the mask.
“I low-key feel like the colon and parenthesis would fit better.”
“How about this on the left? It's funny” Mrs. Primrose urges, pointing at an upside down smile suggestion on the slider above the keyboard.
“It would mean he wants to die Ma,” he deadpans.
“It's a smiling emoji baby, I'm sure this, Mr. Stark, would appreciate it.”
“Nonono, he's right,” Peter intervenes. “I can't send him this one, he'd just call in the middle of the tree-thing thinking I want an excuse to leave.”
“See? It's actually a really big deal!”
“Ok, so the normal smiley then. Standard, non-complicated” Mrs. Primrose rolls her eyes.
“Only a little passive-aggressive.” The kid nods along theatrically as if to prove his point.
...
Several minutes later, somewhere in Manhattan, Tony Stark receives a five-hundred-word message from his mentee, written all in third person, with a colon and parenthesis smile at the end, signed “relayed by Shawn, Spider-Man’s new friend”