Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 864
Pairing: TonyBruce
Snow Day
"GACK!"
Tony got a face full of snow, and Clint laughing in his ears. The archer—asshole that he is— had decided to jump straight down from a high branch in the tallest tree of the compound, right onto Tony's back.
"Why are you like this?" Tony complained, shrugging him off and into the snow.
"Snowball fight!" Clint announced, and suddenly, Tony could see the rest of the team at various places all over the compound grounds.
He grinned. "Oh, it's on!"
"No suit allowed," Clint warned, when Tony's gauntlet materialised over his hand.
"Boo, you whore," Tony muttered. "Steve and Thor and Natasha all get to use their superpowers."
"Natasha doesn't—"
Tony just gave Clint a look, and the archer nodded. "Okay, fair, but also, they can't help it."
Tony wrinkled his nose, and then grinned. He still had his genius; he couldn't help that.
The look on his face must have told Clint that he had something up his sleeve, because before Tony could say anything else, the archer was off and running across the snow-blanketed grass.
Tony chuckled. They were all going down.
…
"Hey Boo-Bear," Tony greeted, hours later, freshly showered and warm in his favourite pyjamas. He dropped into Bruce's lap, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Missed you this afternoon. You didn't want to play in the snow?"
Bruce wrapped his arms around Tony's waist. "Didn't think it was safe."
There was something so… resigned about the tone of Bruce's voice and it made Tony sad. It also made him feel guilty, because he should have realised, shouldn't he? He chewed on his bottom lip, cursing himself.
It was his responsibility to keep Bruce happy and smiling now, after all. And involved. He'd promised himself, when Bruce had returned to the team, that he'd make sure the scientist was involved in the team bonding.
"What have you been doing today?" Tony asked, smiling when Bruce's face lit up a little as he began talking about his latest experiment. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he continued to listen to his boyfriend while texting Pepper a list of things he needed, if she could pretty please have them sent over on an urgent delivery.
"What about you?" Bruce asked, nudging Tony's cheek with his nose. "Did you have a good day at the office?"
Tony snuggled into Bruce's arms. "It's better now."
He smiled when he saw the thumbs up text from Pepper light up his screen and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be fantastic.
…
"Tony, I told you yesterday—"
"I'm not interested in your excuses," Tony replied, waving Bruce off as he threw black snow boots and green gloves at Bruce. "Get dressed, it's going to be fun, I promise."
"Tony—"
Tony turned around and stepped closer to Bruce, taking his hands. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, you know I do."
"Then trust that this will be fun, and absolutely not a hulk-party, okay? Much as I love my green bean, this is for you."
Bruce stared at him for a long moment before he nodded and started pulling on the snow appropriate clothes.
Tony smiled.
…
Bruce stepped back to look at their handiwork and grinned at Tony. "Clearly this is the most superior snowman ever built."
Tony nodded seriously. "Obviously. I mean, we made it, did you have any doubt?"
He handed Bruce the supplies Pepper had shipped him, and carefully, Bruce applied the little coal eyes, the carrot nose, and the perfectly placed pebble smile.
Tony finished it off with coal buttons and a plaid red and gold scarf.
"Told you that you could still have fun in the snow, Brucie," he murmured, leaning into his boyfriend's side. "Now… snow angels."
"You don't think we're a little old for snow angels?" Bruce asked, amused.
Tony frowned. "You're never too old to make snow angels!"
Tugging Bruce to some untainted snow, Tony fell back, shifting his arms and legs while pouting up at his boyfriend until Bruce did the same.
When they were done, Tony stood and with the most carefully placed beam from his gauntlet, wrote their names in the snow above the angels.
Bruce chuckled and wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulders. "Thank you, Tony."
"Uh huh. You ready for—"
He turned when he heard a bang and then scowled at Clint, who'd just gone straight through the snowman on a sled.
"How dare you murder my snowman!" Tony shouted, gesturing to the sad pile of snow that had once been their majestic snowman.
Bruce shook a little beside him, and Tony disregarded Clint to pay more attention to Bruce.
"Come on, Boo-Bear, let's go and make some breakfast, hmm? We can get Clint back later. How much do you think he'll hate being woken up at 5am by Christmas songs being blasted from his alarm clock?"
Bruce relaxed incrementally and then chuckled. "Breakfast sounds good. We can talk about getting Clint back later."
Tony nodded, and shaking his head at Clint, who had the good grace to look apologetic, led Bruce back inside.
It had still been a perfect morning, even with Clint adding another mark to his body count.
Asshole.
Written for:
Record Collection: 21. Building a snowman
Book Club: Fire Alarm: receiving a text / urgent / black
Amber's Attic: 1. Build a snowman
Angel's Archive: 12. Responsibility
Film Festival: 12. Running
Marvel Appreciation: Hawkeye: Jumping from something high / self recrimination
Forecast: 11. "I'm not interested in your excuses."
Naughty Or Nice: Naughty: 16. "How dare you murder my snowman!"
12 Days of Shipmas: Day 2: Your ship is playing in the snow.
Insane: 258. "You're never too old to make snow angels."