Authors note: This fic was written for Feelstide 2012 for the prompt "Excessive Bundling up for the snow" because I couldn't shake the image of Phil Coulson completely bundled up. Big thanks to the Feelstide mods for organising this. Currently unbeta'd and I'm from Australia so I haven't ever seen a proper snowfall, so please forgive any inaccuracies.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or anything else recognisable as Marvel property.
Phil had never really liked the cold. Sure, he'd done his fair share of ops in frozen conditions, held out until the objectives were met even as his fingers turned blue from the frost, and all without complaint, but that didn't mean he liked it. Phil preferred to stay in the warmth. In Phil's opinion, winter was best enjoyed from behind thick glaze with the heating turned up high.
The Avengers didn't share that point of view, however, and Phil was stood at the window looking down at his team. A heavier than usual snow fall had blanketed the city in snow, and the world's strongest, most capable superheroes were currently having a snowball fight in the middle of the street like children. Taking advantage of rare time off where they could get it. Phil smiled as he watched Natasha knock Clint on his ass in the snow near the ice fort that Tony appeared to be constructing against the side of one of the other buildings.
Content that, for the moment, his team was safe, Phil turned and moved back towards the warm, imitation fire and the book that he'd been meaning to read for months, but things had just kept cropping up and he'd never gotten the chance. Sinking into the couch, Phil let the warmth wrap around him like a comforting blanket and he let out a contented sigh, flipping the book open.
His phone buzzed, vibrating on the wooden side table before Phil had a chance to even read a sentence. Phil frowned, placing his book down next to him reluctantly. He just hoped that the awaiting text wasn't about some new, world threatening attack. Normally, they called for that sort of thing, but Phil knew better than to make assumptions.
Come down?
Phil relaxed and let a slow smile creep across his face. Moving his book over to the table where, hopefully, he'd be able to pick it up again later, he stood and moved towards his bedroom. If he was going out into the snow, he was going to be as warm as possible.
Five minutes later as he passed back through the lounge room, his gaze lingered on the fireplace for a moment, but it would be there when he came back up. He may like to stay warm, but off duty, Phil had discovered that he had a hard time saying no to Clint.
He reached street level and hesitated, not looking forward to stepping into the snow and having the cold start to seep through his boots and two pairs of socks. Instead, he looked out from the doorway at the team's snowball fight. Or more accurately, a snowball war with Steve shouting tactics and strategizing with Bruce, while Thor and Natasha were leading a frontal assault on Tony's fortress. Tony had some how managed to rig up a couple of actual snowball canons that launched at a startlingly rapid speed.
"Friend Tony, your machines take the sport out of the battle. Dismantle them and face us with honour," Thor roared in challenge, but Phil could see the joyous smile on the god's face.
"I'm using the resources I have available to me. No one's objecting to Cap using his strength or Natasha's secret ninja skills," Tony replied as he turned to launch a snowball at Natasha as she flipped up onto his battlements. She ducked the first one, but the second snowball caught her in the chest with a thud. Instead of abandoning her attack, Natasha grinned at Stark, who took a step back, the first look of genuine apprehension crossing his face.
"You know the rules, Natasha. Direct hit means your out for five. Blame Cap, all that fairness and morale fibre, can't be healthy," Tony said, taking another step back towards the protective cover of the building.
"You're too easy, Stark." Natasha smirked, her eyes flicking above Tony's head before she gracefully flipped back off the wall to land softly on the snow below.
"You're going down, Stark," Phil heard Clint shout, and he spotted his boyfriend, perched precariously on an icy overhang above Tony's ice fortress. Tony barely had time to look up before Clint dumped a rather large snowball on his head. Clint howled with laughter as Tony swore and sputtered. Tony recovered quickly, several snowballs firing rapidly towards Clint from his snowballing machine. Clint dove, sliding down a snow bank as the snowballs chased after him. Clint's clothes had a wet gleam in the cool sunlight and his cheeks were flushed, but he was still laughing, free and easy, and Phil felt his stomach flip.
Clint's gaze fell on Phil and his grin only got bigger. He scrambled to his feet and over to where Phil was still hovering in the doorway, something decidedly amused in the way that he looked Phil up and down.
"Phil? What are you wearing?"
Phil felt a brief flutter of self-doubt. His only thought had been to keep the cold at bay, but his jacket was, now that he looked, at least twice as padded as everyone else's; the downy sleeves puffed out to give the impression of a much larger man. Clint's bare head seemed to be mocking Phil's beanie that he'd pulled down at the back to meet his scarf, although pulling the jacket hood up over his hat had at least hidden the earmuffs that were keeping his ears warm.
"Are those mittens?"
Phil could feel embarrassment curling in his stomach, the heat spreading across his cheeks not caused by the cold. He shifted awkwardly, the jacket suddenly feeling overly bulky and his scarf too warm around his neck. He turned to go back inside because he hadn't come outside to be ridiculed for his fashion choices.
"I'm not doing your paperwork when you freeze to death, Barton," he snapped, trying to maintain a semblance of professionalism in front of the rest of the team.
Arms wrapped tightly around his waist, stopping him from going further, and a damp body pressed up against his back. Phil was still tense, not relaxing in Clint's hold, even as Clint tried to wriggle as close as possible. He ducked under one of Phil's arms without letting go and Phil found them suddenly face-to-face. Phil looked at Clint, delivering his best withering stare. Clint laughed it off and pressed a chaste kiss to Phil's lips.
"Don't worry, sir. You're still totally badass," Clint promised with a teasing grin, and Phil let himself relax, wrapping his own arms around Clint. Neither of them was overly big on public displays of affection, but today was all about enjoying the moment.
Clint's fingers fumbled slightly at the front of Phil's jacket, unzipping it a little to give him space to press his fingers into the warmth. Phil flinched back slightly, but Clint followed after him.
"So warm…" Clint smiled at him. He paused for a moment, his hands resting on Phil's chest, before he incredulously added: "Are you still wearing your tie?"
A snowball hit Clint in the back of the head with a soft thud, and Clint let go of Phil with one arm, reaching behind him to flip off the thrower. There's the sound of laughter and another snowball came flying through the air, this time skimming off Clint's shoulder to catch Phil's jacket.
"Basic tactics, Clint. Never turn your back on your attackers," Steve offered with a grin, even as he sent a third snowball towards them. Steve should have been paying more attention to his own surroundings, because as he threw it, Natasha managed to get behind him and dump her own snowball down the back of his jumper. Steve let out a yelp of good-natured surprise.
"Come on, Barton! I need you on my team. Bring Agent Eskimo too. We need to show our super powered friends whose boss," Tony shouted from where he had been backed into the ruins of his fort by Bruce and Thor.
Clint glanced at Tony before looking back up at Phil with a questioning look. Phil lets out an overly exaggerated sigh and tried not to take too much pleasure in the genuine joy that lit up Clint's face. Clint kissed him once more, before sliding out of Phil's arms and tugging on Phil's hand.
Clint laughed as they slid and scrambled across the snow, ducking oncoming snowballs from his teammates. Phil let himself smile, the warm feeling that settled in his chest, having absolutely nothing to do with the extra layers. His team was safe and his boyfriend was happy, and if Phil never made it back to his book or the comforting fire, then that'd be okay.
Some days were meant to be enjoyed, and Phil knew better than to take them for granted.
AN: Hope you enjoyed reading it. Please review :)