Peter wasn't the only one to nap that morning. Tony was asleep as well, leaning against Pepper, who was caressing the back of his head, idly, while watching movies with Romanoff and Strange, and Bruce dozed off reading the Avenger book in front of the fire. They were all woken up, though, when the others started coming in from outside, and Peter sat up, stiffly, when he heard Ned's voice from the changing area by the door. By the time Ned was at the dining room table, Peter was on his feet and had joined him and MJ both, ready to spend some time with his friends and find out what they had been doing that morning.
"How do you feel?" MJ asked, taking one side of Peter, while Ned sat on the other and pulled out his camera to let Peter see the photos that he'd been taking.
"I'm just a little stiff and sore," he assured her. "Did you guys go sledding?"
"Yeah." It was Ned who answered before MJ could. "We used the innertubes and made a chain. Clint thought that we could make the hill faster if we stay in one spot and slide over and over there – it'll ice it over with the friction on the snow. Then we can have the fast side, and the slower side for those who don't care for the idea."
"Did it work?"
"Of course it worked," Clint said, coming up behind them and putting his arm around Peter, echoing the hugs that he tended to get from Romanoff, Tony and Pepper. He clearly wanted to wrestle Peter down, but instead put his chin on the top of the boy's head and ruffled his fingers through his hair, instead, respecting that it probably wasn't the time to be too physical just yet. "I'm a genius at those kind of things. When we're done eating, I'm going to go back out and see if the thin layer of new snow that's falling will make it even faster, or if it'll slow me down."
"Will Doctor Strange let you come, too?" MJ asked as Clint let Peter go and went into the kitchen to see about a cup of coffee and to offer any assistance with lunch preparations.
"I don't know," Peter said, blushing for no reason at the question – or maybe the fact that it was her asking – which meant that she wanted his company, maybe?
"He might," Strange said, walking out of the kitchen holding a cup of coffee, as well. The doctor was wearing jeans and a thick gray sweater, and even after a week at a cabin in the woods, he still looked as sharp and well kept as always. The rest of the men weren't quite as well groomed, and there was a lot more facial hair being sported than there had been in the beginning of the trip. "We'll see what happens after lunch, all right?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Everyone ended up coming to the table, including Stark, who woke from his nap looking grumpy, but settled himself with a cup of coffee and a from the behind hug when checking in with Peter to see how he was feeling. By then the boy was sliding through Ned's camera, looking at sledding photos – which even included a couple of Elmer going down the hill with them, proving that the man was making the most of being snowed in with them.
Lunch was chili – either alone with crackers and hastily made cornbread, or with hot dogs to make chili dogs – and they all ate, hungrily, discussing their morning. Not that those who stayed inside had a lot to tell, but Steve mentioned that he thought the snow might be slowing down, and Ned said that he thought he heard some rumbling and brought up the possibility that there might have been some kind of avalanche somewhere up in the mountains or something.
"We'd probably be okay here," he said, shrugging. "There are a lot of trees protecting the area. It'd have to be something big to pose a threat to the cabin, I imagine."
"I'd imagine so," Strange agreed, buttering a piece of cornbread.
"Don't wander off, though," Tony told the teens. "We don't want to have to go looking for anyone if something comes up."
"If we did, though, you could just go Ironman and come find us," Ned pointed out. "Like you guys found Elmer. Just whoosh in and save the day."
"Or we could leave you out there to get eaten by a moose," Stark told him with an amused smile. "So don't test me. Okay?"
Ned wasn't cowed, and his grin showed what he thought of Tony's threat. He nodded, though, always amazed when he found himself bantering with Ironman – or Captain America or one of the others.
"Yes, sir."
When they were finished eating, Ned helped Steve do the dishes. MJ and Elmer sat at the table with Natasha and Pepper, looking through pictures while Clint and Bruce discussed going back out to the sledding hill once more if Strange allowed Peter to join them. Stephen and Tony took Peter as far as the couch and the doctor ran him through several quick and easy tests to make sure he wasn't going to keel over on them, and then double checked his hip to make sure that the wound hadn't taken any damage the evening before.
"You're not to go crazy and try to do too much," Strange told him, using a lot of heavy bandages to cover the gunshot wound for extra protection. "Do you understand?"
"Yeah."
"No wrestling with Clint – or anyone else – and no running."
"Okay."
"For that matter, I don't want you walking up the sledding hill."
"But-"
"We can pull him up the hill," Tony suggested, winking at the boy. "We'll put him on a sled and someone can play sled dog."
Peter had done it for Tony at the start of the trip, after all.
"Is there a winch accessory on your Ironman suit?" the doctor asked.
"No, but it's worth thinking about."
"How's he doing, doc?" Clint asked, coming into the living room with Bruce.
"He'll live."
"So, can he come out to play with us?"
"No roughhousing," Strange told him.
"Scout's honor."
"I mean it."
"I hear you."
Peter grinned.
"And you have to pull me up the hill, he says."
"What?"
"I don't want him testing that hip with any strenuous activity," Strange said, repeating what he'd already told Tony. He looked at Peter. "And if you get tired, you're done. I don't want you wearing yourself out trying to do too much."
"Yeah. Okay."
"I mean it."
"I know."
"You can always come sledding with us," Tony said, amused and not trying to hide it. Strange was such a mother hen sometimes. Not at all like he was. "That way you can make sure everyone is doing what you tell them to do…"
Obviously, Stephen had been contemplating a nice warm afternoon in the cabin – maybe cuddled up on the sofa with a cup of coffee a good book and possibly even Natasha. His expression was bland as he looked at Tony, but he shrugged and nodded.
"I might do just that."
"Are you done with Peter?" Clint asked, impatiently.
"Yes."
"Then let's get you bundled up and get going."
Hawkeye waved at Ned and MJ and the kids headed for the door to get dressed to go back outside. Peter got up and joined them, with Clint providing a steadying hand to keep him from doing too much bending over and made a show of wrapping his scarf around his neck and face – and then tightening it a little too tight and pretending to throttle him with it. Strange rolled his eyes at that, but didn't say anything. Bruce went with them – to provide some adult supervision, he told Tony – although he was having a good time, too.
"Should he really be outside with them?" Pepper asked, allowing her concern to show now that Peter wasn't there to see it.
"He's healed enough to have some time outside," Strange assured her. "And smart enough to know when to stop and give himself a chance to rest."
She didn't look convinced.
"Do you really think so? He can lose track of things when he's having fun."
He was a teenaged boy, after all.
Strange shrugged, acknowledging that it might not be entirely the case.
"No. Which is the whole point of going out there with them."