A/N: Got home late last night so I didn't have the muse to post on time, sorry 'bout that! But I guess it's still the 21st somewhere?! Enjoy x
"Hey Mister Stark," Peter greets him excitedly when he slips into his car.
The teenager is clad in his new heated coat, scarf slung around his neck and gloves in hand that he's shoving into the open compartment of his backpack before throwing the whole thing onto the back seat and slumping into the passenger seat that Tony has made sure is already at a Spider-friendly temperature.
"I'm so happy school is over for the year," he sighs in exasperation and sounds like an old battle-hardened veteran not a sixteen year old kid who just spent the last few hours watching a movie and eating cookies in school.
Tony chuckles lightly and patiently waits for the kid to put on his seatbelt before putting the car into drive and hitting the gas pedal.
"I'm sure it was horrendous," he agrees, voice dripping with sarcasm that promptly earns him a glare from the side. "So what do you wanna do today?"
Peter shrugs, yawns and sinks impossibly deeper into the leather seat. "Dunno. I thought we'd work in the lab and then catch a movie or something?" Like we always do, goes unsaid but is clear in his calm voice and casual posture. "I gotta call Aunt May tonight she wanted me to help her choose dinner for Tuesday. I think she's a little nervous that Miss Potts is coming, too."
"And here I thought it was my presence that makes your aunt nervous," he whines in mock complaint.
In his peripheral view he can see the teenager turn his head to watch him before he says, "You're not very scary, Mister Stark."
Which is, frankly, insulting so he does what any responsible adult would do and ignores him.
Instead he focuses ahead on the traffic that is one of the worst of the year. Not only is it the last working day before Christmas and schools are out but the snow is still laying on the side of the street and as happens every winter without fail, some people completely forgot how to drive the second the first snowflake hit the ground.
He drums Thank God It's Christmas by Queen into the steering wheel – because apparently that's how whipped he is – and taps the blinker before changing lanes.
"That's not the way home, Mister Stark." Peter's voice sounds a little sleepy as if he's been dozing for the five minutes he's been quiet.
Home. Not 'the tower'. Home.
"We're not going home just yet," he tells him, smiling when that seems to wake the boy right up, and continues before he can ask. "I did some research on things you have to do in winter and for Christmas and, because we'd have to go further for skiing or sledding or hiking, I'm taking you ice skating."
Tony notes with a grin how the energy in the car shifts at his words. Gone is the sleepiness and Peter is buzzing in excitement again, sitting straighter and craning his head to see where they're going.
"That's so cool, Mister Stark!" he exclaims, happily drumming a random melody into his leg. "I haven't been ice skating at all this year! I'm pretty good at it actually. Thank you for taking me," he beams at him, "So does that mean you don't hate Christmas anymore?"
"No," he shakes his head and lets two girls on bikes pass them before turning the corner, "it just means that I like you more than I hate Christmas."
And, really, he's warming up to this whole Christmas thing a little bit, too. No need to let Peter in on that secret, though, it's already bad enough that Pepper has been happily teasing him about it ever since he picked her up from the airport last night.
"Awh," Peter coos – yes, actually coos – and smiles up at him sweetly. "That's cute, Mister Stark. I never would've guessed since you're insulting me all the time."
"I'm not insulting you," he gives back with a roll of his eyes as he slows down to find a parking spot next to the ice rink.
The teenager clicks his tongue in disagreement. "Menace and idiot are insults, you know? And you call me that all the time." Before the billionaire even has the chance to protest, he waves his hand in the air lazily, "Good thing I know that that's how you show you care or I'd be very sad."
"Oh please," Tony scoffs because he knows that he's joking because he's an actual menace, "You're doing a pretty great job dishing out yourself. You should be able to take it."
He swiftly pulls into one last open spot he finds and, as soon as the car is turned off, reaches over to ruffle Peter's hair. "Come on now, we're here. It's time to show me what you're made of. Oh and before I forget," he leans over and pulls out a bobble hat from the glovebox to hand it to him, "Can't have your ears freeze off. And don't forget your gloves!"
Unsurprisingly, Peter is pretty agile on the ice, taking swift turns and racing Tony as if he's never done anything else in his life. He's laughing loudly and freely and it's the best sound Tony has ever heard in his life. So he lets the kid tease him and acts bummed out when he loses most of their chases just so he won't stop smiling.
Competing against a super teen in a race on the ice isn't all that exciting, though, and after about half an hour they switch it up and just mess around on the ice which, incidentally, leads to Tony showing off his figure skating skills, which in turn, leads to an overly excited teenager who desperately wants to learn how to do a spin.
"How'd you even know how to do that?" he wants to now, a little annoyed when he stumbles and almost falls for the third time in a row.
"I did ballet," he tells him as he catches his arm to keep the kid upright on the ice, "My teacher thought it was important to know some ice skating, too. Or maybe she just wanted to do something else once a year, I'm not really sure, honestly."
They spend another two hours there, Tony teaching Peter a few tricks until he's basically sailing over the ice gracefully, completely forgetting about everything else going on around them. That is, until Peter sneezes for the first time, stumbles and Tony looks at him more closely.
He has pulled his hat down so it's almost covering his eyes and his mouth and most of his cheek is hidden by a thick wool scarf. The only thing sticking out is his nose and that's bright red and cold.
The teenager is also yawning and when Tony grabs his hand and pulls him closer to see how cold he really is, he doesn't even protest and just leans into his mentor's side contently.
"Come on, Pete," the older man smiles down at him as he steers him towards the exit gently, "Let's get you home before you turn blue on me."
A dopey smile graces his lips and the motion lets the scarf slip down to his chin so Tony can see the rosy cheeks, too.
"Home," he grins happily, making his mentor's heart clench in his chest, "Yeah, let's. Can we have pancakes for breakfast tomorrow?"
Tony laughs quietly to himself and tugs the boy off the ice carefully, "Of course. It's tradition, isn't it?"
"And movie night tonight?"
He honestly doubts that Peter will be awake for more than twenty minutes of any movie they would watch but he nods anyway because that's not what it is about at all.
"You just wanna be cuddled till you fall asleep."
At this point, the kid is too exhausted to argue and just agrees drowsily which is, for some reason, the most adorable thing Tony has ever seen. "'S true 'n' you should say it."