The snow was starting to fall heavily and quickly, meaning you and Peter were heading home early from ice skating. Ever since winter break started, you and Peter had spent nearly every day ice skating. You would leave late in the morning, and return home about an hour or so before sunset—him back to his apartment, you back to Stark tower. Sometimes he would spend the night.
You would usually be sore the next morning, even though the two of you would take breaks for hot chocolate and food, sometimes you forgot to take breaks, and it was all you could do to walk the several blocks back to the tower.
But now, it was noon, and you knew you should head home before it started to snow more, and your dad got worried about you being out in this weather.
You were a block away from home—it stuck out, and was lit up brighter than a christmas tree. Your dad really decided to go all-out with the lights, and it was like a beacon, even in cloudy weather like this. You and Peter had to trudge through the snow to get through it at this point, when you heard a sound coming from the alleyway next to you. Peter froze.
"Did you hear that?" He asked.
"I—I think so, yeah." You whispered, peering into the alleyway—it didn't look like anyone was down there. It didn't have any good shelter, or any good places to sit, so there weren't usually homeless people down this particular alleyway.
"...you think it'll be fine if we see what it was?"
"Probably." You answered.
"Okay, stay behind me." He whispered, slowly walking towards the sound. You looked behind you to make sure no one had been waiting for you to go into the alleyway or anything. You realized that two trans kids—one being the son of Tony Stark—really shouldn't be going into an alleyway in what looked like the beginnings of a winter storm, but you followed Peter nonetheless, and couldn't help feeling safe with him.
Silence fell between the two of you. A few moments later, you heard the noise again, and Peter jumped.
You laughed, and walked towards the box it was coming from.
"Don't go near that! It could be dangerous!" Peter whisper-shouted.
You waved the comment away, and lifted the already open lid of the box. You gasped a little at seeing the golden wad of fur in there, and picked it up carefully. It was shivering, and barely fought against your grasp.
"Is that a puppy?"
"No, it's an extremely dangerous entity." Without really thinking, you took your coat off, and wrapped it around the puppy, holding it against you for added warmth.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking it home."
"Don't take off your jacket, now you'll be cold. Here, take mine." Peter said, taking off his coat, and putting it around your shoulders.
"No. Now we'll both be cold. Just put it back on. I'll be fine."
"No. Fine, we'll both wear the coat."
"What?"
Peter awkwardly maneuvered the coat so that it was partially around both of your shoulders, though that meant you had to walk pressed up against each other to keep it on.
By the time you got back to the tower, your faces were flushed red, and the warm air partially soothed the cold, and partially stung.
You two made it into the living room, shivering though still trying to keep the puppy warm.
"Um...okay...you—you get some blankets, and I'll um...stay here." Peter said, giving another violent shiver. You nodded, and quickly walked towards the nearest supply closet where there were extra blankets, and hurried back to Peter, and set them down.
"Where are you going?" He asked reaching to wrap one around himself, and gathering some for the puppy.
"I'm going to get it some water, and I'll see if there's something it can eat."
"Okay."
You walk into the kitchen, and see Dr. Strange with his back to you at the stove. You forgot the Avengers had a meeting, and he was one of the only people who could get up and leave without anyone really noticing since he could duplicate himself. Not wanting anyone to see you visibly freezing, and worry, you made sure you were facing away from him, while you grabbed a bowl, and turned on the faucet.
You waited until the water was warm, before pouring it into the bowl.
"Do you really think that's going to help?"
You jumped, and looked up at the man who rarely spoke to you. He was always friendly to you, sure, but he didn't talk to many people when he was here.
"I–what?"
"You're close to getting frostbite. Warm water will only make it worse. You need dry clothes, and to sit under some blankets to regulate your body temperature."
"Oh, um...thanks...do you um...happen to know what food is good for dogs."
"Dog food."
"We don't have dog food."
"Cheese. Lunch meat, too. I'd stick with that." He said, picking up his tea, and sipping it. "Is Peter with you, too?"
"Yeah."
He sighed. "Okay, where is he?"
"In the living room."
Strange shook his head, and started walking in that direction. You opened the fridge, and got some slices of cheese, and a bit of lunch meat, before walking back to the living room
"...I just...please don't tell Mr. Stark."
"Not my tower, not my problem. Just get changed, I'll make sure the dog is fine." Strange turned to you, who had just entered the room, and held out his hands, waiting for you to hand over what you had been carrying. "You, too. Go."
You handed the bowl and the food to Dr. Strange, before you and Peter hurried off to your room. If that's all it would take to get warmer, you happily obliged. You handed Peter a spare shirt, and sweatpants, and he went into the bathroom to change.
One you and Peter returned downstairs, you heard a commotion.
"...thought we wouldn't notice."
You stood in the doorway, watching Tony and Dr. Strange arguing. Steve stood somewhat to the side, while Thor sat with the puppy in his lap, wrapped with blankets, and now the cloak. Natasha and Clint were kneeled around him.
"It wasn't an important meeting." Strange insisted.
"Okay. Next time we have a meeting you can lead it."
"He's got a bit of a point, Stark. You did start talking about what you were getting Y/n and Peter for Christmas." Clint added.
"Thin ice, Barton." Tony warned.
"Speaking of which." Steve said, and made his way towards the two of you. "Are you two better now?"
You and Peter nodded. You both had hoodies on to keep yourselves warm.
"Good. What were you doing? Didn't you have coats?"
"We um..." you were about to explain, but realized how it would sound to them if you said you took your coats off.
"They wrapped the puppy in their coats." Stephen explained. You realized then that both of your coats were missing from the piles on the floor.
"Y/n wrapped the puppy in his coat. I took mine off and we both wore mine."
Everyone paused, and looked like him.
"Um. Okay, yeah. Hi, genius." Tony stated sarcastically, waving his hand at you. "Your coat is supposed to be worn on your body."
"I—I know. I'm sorry...it was."
"The was part doesn't really work for me, it needs to stay on for you to stay warm."
"I wasn't too cold."
"Is that right? Because Dumbledore seemed to think you were cold enough to take priority over a meeting."
"We just wanted to keep the puppy warm." Peter insisted.
"And no one was going to, I don't know, tell me?"
"Y/n, Peter." A calm voice came from behind you. You spun around and saw Bruce holding two mugs. "Hot chocolate. Stephen said you were cold."
You nodded, eagerly taking the mug. "Yes. Thank you, Bruce."
"Thank you." Peter said, taking the mug, and taking a sip with little regard for how hot it was.
"See. So you were cold." Tony stated like he proved something.
"Tony, it's snowing and they were walking without coats on." Bruce responded calmly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Wizard, how about you sick around for when they get colds."
"That's not how colds work. But by all means, the next time they're freezing and you think a meeting is more important, feel free to call."
Tony gave him a look that could send daggers. "Okay—" he said, raising a finger to point at him, but whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by Natasha.
"So what are we going to do with the puppy?"
You and Peter shared a look.
"No," Tony said, "absolutely not. You two have already cause enough trouble today, this will just enforce that."
"Aw, come on. Please?" Peter asked.
"No. Peter, you don't even live here."
You feigned an offended expression. "How dare you? I could've died today saving this puppy, and now you say I can't keep it and you say Peter doesn't live here?"
Tony shook his head. "I can't believe you two sometimes."
You turned to Peter. "I guess we'll just have to move in with Aunt May now. Or Uncle Steve and Uncle Bucky."
"Mr. Barker can be friends with Alpine." Peter agreed.
"I'll pack my things. It was nice knowing you, dad."
"Are we really not going to talk about the fact that Peter just named the dog 'Mr. Barker'?" Tony asked.
"Sounds like it won't be your problem." Clint said, shrugging.
"Barton—" Tony started, but Natasha interrupted him again.
"I can take him to the vet. It looks like he was out there for a while, and he's pretty hungry once you can get him to eat."
You looked over at the puppy. "Have you gotten him to eat?"
"Only a little. But he'll also need actual dog food." Natasha said.
"Okay, thank you."
Tony sighed. "Okay, fine, we'll keep the dog. But this is your responsibility, y/n."
You nod in agreement.
"I can help him, too." Peter added.
"That's fine, and are we attached to the name Mr. Barker? Because already I have like, five better suggestions." Tony asked.
You and Peter waited for a moment—Peter had come up with it on the spot, and you thought it was a little funny.
"We'll think about it."
Tony shook his head. "You're killing me, you know that?" He walked over to you, and kissed your forehead, before ruffling Peter's hair.
You nodded a bit, and smiled up at him, knowing it was a smile that would be hard to say no to.
You and Peter went to sit next to Thor, who was still gently petting the puppy in his lap. Tony said everyone could go home, and everyone stopped to pet Mr. Barker before doing so. Natasha called the vet, and made an appointment for him in a few hours—you knew that once he got back, that dog would be the most cared-for dog in the world.