Comfortember 2022 Prompts Night Time and Getting Sleep.

Irondadmadlads Irondad Prompt #22

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Near-Arctic Adventures

"Mr. Stark, when you said we were going to do some field testing with your new nanotech suit, I imagined it being a lot more fun than this."

Inwardly, Rhodey agreed with the kid, but he couldn't help but smirk as he saw the look of distaste the teenager had on his face. He was bundled in the biggest parka Rhodey had ever seen, and he knew for a fact the kid had his spider suit (with its built-in heater) underneath his normal cold-weather clothes, but he was still giving off angry puffed-up kitten vibes.

"What are you talking about? This is the definition of fun," Tony said absentmindedly as he adjusted some of the equipment they were setting up.

"But why are we staying the night?" Peter pressed. "I just really don't understand why it's necessary. It's like -50° Mr. Stark!"

"Which is why we are here, of course. Theoretically, we know how the nanites will respond in cold temperatures, but without some field testing, there might be things we can't anticipate, and I don't want to take any chances." ('If I ever end up in space again' was the unspoken end to that sentence.) "Do you?"

"No," said Peter with a long-suffering sigh.

"And I'm not sure what you're complaining about, because our little command center here is perfectly warm, and I bet you'll sleep like babies. It's an adventure, Petey-pie!"

"Don't call me that," the annoyed teenager growled.

"Perfectly warm?" asked Rhodey in astonishment. "Tones, it's got to be about 50° in here."

That's a hundred degree difference, Platypus! It's positively balmy in here. Besides, I'm the one who's going to be out in it while you guys stay cozy and watch all the readouts for me. So I really don't know why you're complaining. And it's still warming up. It should warm up a few more degrees soon," he said cheerfully. "We've got all the best winter gear, extremely comfortable bed rolls, and a giant box of snacks. It's like a party!"

"A party in the Northwest Territories. Uh-huh," said Rhodey dryly. How had Tony talked him into this?

Tony was right, and their "command center" (which was about the size of a large bedroom) did warm up a little more while they finished setting up the equipment and their sleeping area. Rhodey mostly set up their bunks (which did seem way too comfortable for a typical camp-out, even a cold weather one,) and prepared dinner, which was now-cold pizza they'd grabbed from the Tower's food court on their way out, and copious amounts of hot chocolate. While he was doing that, he enjoyed listening to Tony and his kid. Yes, his. Because who was he kidding? Rhodey could tell by now how much Tony cared about his young protégé, and from what he could tell, the feeling was mutual.

Rhodey had recently been floored when Tony had mentioned to him how he was hoping Peter would be up to, and interested in, taking over in R&D at Stark Industries once he finished up with school and got some experience, and that he was even hopefully grooming the kid to take over Pepper's role as CEO after that if possible. Rhodey was pretty sure he's the only one Tony had confided that information to, and he was just a little blown away.

Whenever he spent time with them, though, he could see it. Even now, with their heads bent together, calibrating the sensors they'd be setting up outside tomorrow, they seemed to almost be speaking their own language. Tony would throw half-sentences at Peter, and Peter would finish them, or hand him something, or nod his head, and the understanding would flow. Or Peter would ask a partially-formed question and Tony would start answering it, bumping shoulders with the boy when he teased him, and helping him ask better questions when he was on the wrong track (which wasn't often). Rhodey had never heard Tony be so patient with anyone before, and he explained all the "whys" as well as the "whats," making sure the young genius at his side understood every step and connection. Rhodey had seen this several times before: Tony automatically falling into teaching mode whenever he was with Peter and they were working on anything new. And he didn't just give him all the answers, either. He asked Peter questions, mostly, leading him in the right direction when needed. If Rhodey hadn't seen this part of his personality with his own eyes, he wouldn't have even believed it existed.

Suddenly Tony clapped the boy on the back, and they both stood from their crouched position, interrupting Rhodey's musings. "Hey, Chef Boyardee, are we ready? I think we're done with the hard work over here, if you're finished making the beds and not even warming up the pizza." Tony's eyes twinkled as he teased his friend, and Rhodey rolled his eyes. But he couldn't help but smile. He hadn't seen Tony in this good of a mood in quite a while. Big projects could do that though, and so could being with Peter, so it wasn't unexpected.

"The hot chocolate is all ready, though I'm not sure you get any." Tony ignored him, and grabbed a thermos.

"After we eat, we'd probably better get ready for bed. Four o'clock comes awfully early."

"Why d'we have to do the tests then?" asked Peter around a bite of pizza. He'd already commandeered a whole meat lover's for himself.

"Because that's when it will be the coldest, according to weather reports. I've been waiting for a weekend like this, when it's not stormy, but the temps have dropped super low. It should give us a good approximation of how the suit will respond in extra cold temperatures, and then the chopper will pick us up before lunch tomorrow, so you can stop freezing your spider-butt off." He poked at the kid with a plastic spoon, and Peter just rolled his eyes and half-smiled as he angled his side away. Then more quietly, Tony asked, "How's the heater in your suit working? Any issues, or are you staying warm enough?" There was that soft, almost-paternal tone in his voice that Rhodey was still trying to get used to.

"Yeah, it's pretty good. But even in the suit, my fingers are a little chilled, and of course there's my face. I just might sleep with the mask on tonight…" Peter looked like he was really contemplating that course of action.

"Not the worst idea for you, but see how you feel once you get inside your bedroll. Those blankets are heated too, you know."

"Oh, I know. I'm looking forward to it!"

"Rhodey, how about you? Any issues with your braces here? I know they're not rated for these temps, but you shouldn't be outside the shelter any longer than it takes for pick-up. Peter and I can compress the walls down after you're already on the chopper."

"I'm good, Tones, thanks."

Rhodey found himself being quieter than usual, but it was a good kind of silence. Other than Tony and Peter's bantering, it was so quiet up here in general. And of course his normal I-don't-belong-to-Tony-Stark phone didn't have a signal, so there was no chance of getting called in to work, either. Who knew a night in the nearly-Arctic in October might be enjoyable?

Later, after they climbed into their (very warm, very soft) Coleman airbeds and heated blankets, and Rhodey had kind of started to drift off, suddenly he could hear Peter tossing and turning a little on the other side of Tony.

"What's up, Underoos?"

"Mr. Stark, I can't sleep."

"What do you want me to do about it, Parker? Tell you a bedtime story?"

"Really?" Silence. Then Tony sighed.

"Yeah, really. Stop moving so much, close your eyes, and listen up."

Rhodey couldn't see Peter smile in the dark, but he could sense it. He had a matching one on his own face. This could be good. Or terrible. Either one sounded entertaining.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Honeybear Rhodes who wanted to go to a ball in the magical land of MIT, and-"

"Tony? No."

"Aw, Platypus, you're no fun." Rhodey could hear the evil grin in Tony's voice, and the surprised giggle from the other side of him.

"Let's try again. Once upon a time there were two geniuses who graced the fair college of MIT with their presence. They held court in their dorm room every Wednesday at 4 PM, and the other students would come to ask for favors from the young overlords."

"You're making the borderline-cheating 'tutoring business' you had going sound awfully glamorous," Rhodey remarked.

"Shh, Sourpatch, you're ruining the story. Anyway, on this fair Wednesday, a very medium-sized (because it was MIT), but very grouchy and entitled football player came, and he had some demands..."

Against his better judgment, because he should probably be monitoring this, Rhodey pulled himself over on his side and tried to go to sleep. He knew how this fairy tale actually ended: with Tony getting the best of said-football-player but then having to hide from him for almost two weeks before he got expelled in order to avoid being beaten up. It was quite the adventure story, and who knew if it would help the teenage superhero fall asleep. But it did help Rhodey, who drifted off just as the story was getting good (complete lack of accuracy aside.)

Some hours later, Rhodey's sleep was interrupted by frantic whispering.

"Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark!" Shuffling noises. "Tony, wake up!"

"Pete? What is it?"

"I can hear something outside. It sounds big. What's big in this area?"

"Heck if I know, kid. FRIDAY?"

FRIDAY's voice responded from Tony's phone. "There are many polar bears in this area; it is likely one of those."

"Are you kidding me?" Peter squeaked. "Shouldn't they hibernate or something?"

"Only mothers who are birthing cubs stay in their dens all winter. Polar bears' primary food sources are still fully available in the winter, and they do not hibernate like some of their southern cousins."

"Well, crap," Peter whispered. "Mr. Stark, what should we do? I don't want to be a secondary food source!"

Tony sounded disgruntled. "FRIDAY, time?"

"2:14 AM, Boss."

"What we're gonna do, Underoos, is we're going to stop talking and go back to sleep. This shelter should be bear-proof."

"But what if it's not?"

A long-suffering sigh, but Tony's voice was gentle. "Peter, do you think there's a bear out there that could take me in the suit? Or you, even in your giant winter coat? C'mon kid, there's no reason to be worried."

"Oh, well… I guess I hadn't thought about it that way."

"Can you try to relax and go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Get a few more hours in, and then we can look for polar bear tracks in the morning."

"Oh. That would be cool, I guess. As long as he's gone by then."

"Gone or not, testing is happening at 4 AM. So sleep ."

"'Kay."

"Mr. Stark, I don't really wanna do this," Peter nearly whined.

"We can't collect the necessary data if we don't see how the nanites react to impact at these temperatures, Pete. It's set on low; you're not gonna kill me, even if they fail."

"Not gonna… What exactly is it gonna do if the nanites fail? What's the worst-case scenario here, hmm?" The teenager sounded pretty upset to Rhodey, who was listening over comms. Tony had been outside since about 4:15 AM putting the suit through its paces, and it had passed in almost every area, but he'd already gathered some important data points for improvements.

"Take a breath, bud. They're not actually going to fail, we're just collecting data." Tony sounded exasperated. Rhodey watched them on the monitor. Peter was in his spider suit, complete with mask, plus all his winter gear, including a bright green scarf. He was wearing the watch-gauntlet, which he was supposed to be firing at Tony. But it wasn't going so well.

Rhodey toggled his comms. "Just shoot him, kid. If it knocks him down a few pegs, that can only be a good thing, right? I'd happily come do it myself if my legs wouldn't freeze up."

He heard Peter huff a laugh, and saw Tony open up his arms in a "come at me" gesture, and then the boy finally took aim, squeezing his eyes shut as he fired the lowest-intensity blast the gauntlet had at Tony's left shoulder. Rhodey heard Tony grunt, but it didn't seem to affect the integrity of the suit.

"You getting these numbers, Platypus?"

"Yeah, they're coming in just fine, Tones. No abnormal reactions on that one."

"Great. One more hit, kid, on the leg this time."

After a long reluctant sigh, Peter took that shot as well. But this time instead of absorbing as the suit should have, some of it seemed to make more impact, and Tony's leg spun around behind him, causing him to do a little head-over-heels maneuver and land hard on the ice.

"Mr. Stark!" Peter was at his side in an instant.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. What kind of data did that give you, Rhodey?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I see some stuff happening. Not sure why they didn't function quite as they should have, but I'm sure you'll figure it out later. How's the ice, buddy?"

"Oh, very cozy. Soft as a pillow. You should come join me, and I'll show you," Tony growled with amusement in his voice. Peter helped him up, and they both inspected the suit for any visible damage.

"Are you feeling any malfunctions? Any loss of heat, or any pain?" Peter quizzed his mentor. "Colonel Rhodes? Are you seeing any damage?"

Rhodey shook his head at the kid's insistence on some sort of politeness when addressing him, and reported back negatively.

"Everything feels fine. I don't think there's any loss of performance," Tony said, firing the repulsors briefly then landing back on the ground. "How about you get yourself back in the command center so you stay warm, and you can help Rhodey track me as I do some speed trials to finish up?"

Peter was reluctant, but also cold, so he did as Tony asked. They had run through everything they could think of, and had all kinds of data to take back with them. Unfortunately the helicopter wouldn't be coming for them for another three hours.

"Just gives us time to finish up all these snacks," Tony said, tossing a single serve bag of Oreos at Peter, who caught it without looking up from where he was poring over the most recent data. Rhodey still hadn't gotten used to his crazy spider reflexes.

"Look at this," the kid said, holding out the tablet to Tony. "What if you…" He touched a few places on the screen.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Do you think if I just…" He did something weird with his fingers. Was that supposed to mean something?

Peter nodded. "That should do it. Do you think that will avoid the problem?"

"Yeah, it should. Unless…"

"No, I think it will be okay."

Rhodey had had about enough. "You two need to remember that there are other people in the room, and stop talking in child-prodigies-only-secret-shorthand," he growled. "It's exhausting to almost be able to follow the conversation."

Tony looked up with a grin. "Don't sell yourself short, Honeybear. You're an MIT grad, too. You should spend more time with us, and then you could be in our secret club." Then he ruffled Peter's hair and said, "You heard him, boy-genius. Rhodey's requesting full sentences." Peter, at least, had the grace to look embarrassed.

They got most of the sleeping materials and tech packed up and ready for whenever the helicopter arrived, but then they were just sitting around snacking. Peter had opted to leave his mattress unrolled, and was laying on it, playing catch by himself with a can of Pringles. He didn't seem to be that great at holding still.

"Hey have you guys ever played that fun game, Two Truths and a Lie?"

"Can't say that I have," said Tony, preoccupied with the data on his tablet.

Rhodey looked up from his novel, a recent mystery he was enjoying having some time to read. "I don't think so. How does it work?"

"Just how it sounds," Peter said, stopping his Pringle-launching to grab a handful of chips out of the can. "Each of us tell three things about ourselves or our past or whatever, and two have to be the truth, and one has to be a lie. Then we have to guess each other's lies."

"Huh. There's no way you'll fool me with that," Rhodey said to Tony. "Sounds fun; let's do it."

"You go first, Pete. I've got to think of stuff that won't traumatize you."

"Mr. Sta-ark. I'm sixteen, not six."

"My statement stands."

"Okay, um… Before the spider bite I used to have asthma, um, I got to go to the Stark Expo when I was ten, and I've never been on a sports team."

"Um… okay, not what I was expecting. Are we supposed to guess now?" Tony's gaze was thoughtful.

"No, you have to say yours first."

"I'll go," said Rhodey. "I've never been to Australia, I had leftover lasagna for breakfast yesterday, and my first kiss was at fourteen." Tony narrowed his eyes at Rhodey and smirked, obviously already sure of his answer. "Your turn, Tones."

"I've been thrown off a horse before, I once ate a full-sized watermelon in one sitting, and I've never had a cavity.

Rhodey and Peter both looked at him doubtfully. Maybe this wasn't as easy as Rhodey thought it would be.

"Rhodey, I call bull on your first kiss being at fourteen. I'm pretty sure you told me it was sixteen."

"Peter?"

"Um, I'm gonna agree with Mr. Stark, since he knows you better than me…"

"Fine. You're right."

"Lasagna? Really?"

"What? I didn't feel like making anything, and I was worried it would go bad before we got back from this little shindig. Tony, I'm going to say there's no way you've been thrown off a horse, because I've never heard of you even riding a horse."

"Peter?"

"I think it's the cavity one. Your eye twitched when you said that one."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Peter's right," he said simply. "I had two cavities when I was twelve, and one in my twenties."

"You've ridden a horse?" Rhodey asked in confusion.

"Joke's on you, Honeybear. I took lessons for two years when I was a kid. I've actually been thrown twice, and was just starting to jump small fences when I got thrown the second time and my dad made me quit. He was worried I'd screw up my brain, and he was already a little too invested in it." Tony delivered the last part in a carefully neutral tone.

"Did you want to stop?" Peter asked curiously.

"No. I really enjoyed it."

"Have you ridden since?"

"Also, no." Peter hummed softly at that, regarding Tony with a thoughtful expression.

"Okay, Peter, your turn," Rhodey said. "I'm gonna guess the Expo, if you did used to have asthma, it makes sense for those two to be true together."

Tony was regarding Peter now, with a hard-to-read expression, even for his best friend. "Since the last Expo, when you would have been ten, ended in a fiery disaster, I'm kinda hoping that's the lie, too. Though I guess you could have gone in the weeks leading up to it."

"Nope, I have been on a sports team. I did soccer one year, and t-ball another year. I sucked at both."

Tony was quiet. "So when did you go to the Expo? With you aunt and uncle?"

"Yeah, my Uncle Ben got tickets through work. I was so, so excited, and it was just as amazing as I thought it would be. At least for a while, because it actually was that night that all of Hammer's crazy soldier suits attacked," Peter said sheepishly, glancing at the two heroes who'd had starring roles in that dumpster fire.

Rhodey glanced sideways, and he was pretty sure Tony had stopped breathing, but his friend was trying not to show his horror on his face.

"Actually, that's the first time I met you, though you wouldn't remember it." Peter was tossing the Pringles can again. Up. Down. Up. Down. "I got separated from them for a minute, and I was scared, but Uncle Ben had just gotten me an Iron Man mask, and I had brought my little light-up repulsor gloves that Uncle Ben and I made, and I really thought they might scare the robot at least, so I aimed it at him with the light on, and then you landed behind me and blasted him, and you said-"

"Nice work, kid," Tony breathed out.

"Uh, yeah," Peter said, stopping his chip-launching and turning to look at Tony. "I didn't think you would have remembered. You took off right away, and thankfully Uncle Ben found me pretty soon after. But I was so in awe. I mean, I was already a huge fan," he said, ducking his head, "but I was pretty much obsessed with you after that. I had Iron Man sheets and everything, and I read everything you published, and watched every news spot about you."

"How long did that last?" Rhodey asked with a smile, trying to give Tony a little time to process.

"Uh, it never really stopped, I guess. I mean, he hasn't published anything lately, but I'm still a huge dorky fan. Of Tony Stark, I mean, though Iron Man's pretty cool, obviously." Peter was carefully avoiding eye contact after that confession.

"Obviously," Tony said in a strained voice.

Rhodey watched Tony for a minute as he stood there looking out one of the plasticky windows. He looked like he was just casually resting, but Rhodey could see his hand holding the thermos quivering slightly, and a bead of sweat on his forehead.

"Hey, Peter?" Rhodey asked quietly. The boy was also watching his mentor now, a confused expression on his face. He slowly turned his head to look at Rhodey, his eyebrows raised in concern.

"I think that little piece of information shook him up, kid. I can't believe I'm saying this, but he might need a hug or something."

Tony finally processed what he'd heard of Rhodey's low conversation, and turned abruptly. "I do not need a-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence though, because Peter had moved almost unnaturally quickly, and Tony's arms were suddenly full of teenager.

"Hey, I didn't mean to freak you out," Rhodey heard the beginning of what Peter was murmuring. He got up and moved to the other side of the room to pour himself some more hot chocolate, so he didn't hear the rest of the exchange, but when he glanced back, Tony was holding onto the kid like he was afraid someone was going to rip him away. Peter was just hugging him back, forehead pushed into his neck, as their muttered conversation slipped into silence.

Just as Rhodey was starting to get uncomfortable, wondering if he should say something, Peter spoke up, and pulled back. "Mr. Stark? I hear the helicopter. Should we start gathering stuff and getting our winter gear on? I mean, if you're okay now."

"Yeah, of course, bud," Tony said in an approximation of his normal voice. He sniffed and scrubbed at Peter's hair once, then released him, and started to gather all the leftover pieces and parts into their respective totes. Rhodey moved to help him, but wisely kept his mouth shut, just gripping his shoulder for a moment in support.

If he'd had any doubts about how much this superpowered teenager from Queens meant to his best friend, it had just been answered pretty definitively. Rhodey smiled slightly to himself as he put on his own winter gear, preparing to be the first piece of the human chain they'd use to transfer all the materials to the chopper.

The day he'd first met Peter he had teased Pepper about him being Rhodey's nephew, but there was no humor in it now. The sheer terror he'd seen on his friend's face at the thought of what might have happened was sobering. Rhodey hoped the young superhero would be careful. Rhodey had picked up the pieces of Tony more times than he liked to count, but he didn't think even he could put Humpty Dumpty back together again if anything happened to that kid.