Dark Paradise

Thank you.

"Actually, it's not that bad here," the boy shrugged. He was dressed in Tony's dark jacket again, which made him highly visible in the white snow as he stood in front of a snowy area that took on the shape of a lake during summer. The man behind him chuckled and folded his arms across his chest. "And I think I already remember how to get here," Peter said proudly, facing the man. He was in a good mood. During today's walk, he was no longer on a "leash" like a naughty dog. Tony was probably starting to trust him. It pleased him. The boy kept reminding himself that when the time came, he had to apologize for his previous behavior. Tony hasn't punished him yet, which was unusual. Maybe calm before the storm.

"Really?" the man laughed. "So I'll leave you here and see if you can find your way before it's dark and tem-"

His voice was brazenly interrupted by a small "thunder" multiplied by echo. 

"What was that? A shot ?!" Peter said, a little horrified, looking from side to side. Tony was surprised, too. But he kept his stony face. 

"Probably someone went hunting or just shooting. We'd better get back, we can't risk that you will be seen," he motioned to the young man. But Peter stood like a statue, looking in the direction from which the sound had come.

"Pete, come on," the man repeated after another shot. The boy turned his head to him, but didn't do anything. Anthony sighed and grabbed Peter by the shoulders and led him through the trees. "Let's go home and you can build a snowman in the garden, does it sound good?" The boy fixed his dark eyes on him and nodded.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The bearded man stood on the terrace leaning against a pillar, watching with interest the young man, whose face and nose were adorned with red from frost. He sat on the ground with his legs spread, finishing the little snowman with a smile on his face. Small snowflakes were flying through the air and the wind took a vacation today. Tony would be able to watch the scene in front of him all day.

The vibration of his phone disturbed his thoughts. He looked at the name on the screen and pressed the button to answer the call. "What is it this time?"

"Have a nice day, too," came a deep voice before the person started to explain why he was calling. Anthony looked away from the smiling child and turned his back on him.

"Come on, just do it," he answered, rubbing his nose. "And then let me know how you ended up ... Exactly, yeah." He listened for a moment to the caller's talking. "Steve, I'm calm and patient, but don't irritate me," he laughed, and immediately went on. "Fine, I'll see you then. Bye," he said goodbye to his friend and ended the call. As soon as he hid the phone in his pocket, a snowball landed behind his neck. He closed his eyes and exhaled. He turned slowly to the distant boy, who had a smile on his face. He threw another ball at the man, but it flew right next to Tony's head and hit the wall of the house.

"Oh, you little," Anthony said seriously. He left the terrace and picked up a lot of snow. He walked over to Peter, whose smile faded. The young man began to back away slowly before he started running across the snowy lawn to the other end of the garden.

"Wait till I catch you," Anthony laughed at the younger as another teenager. He soon caught up with the boy, grabbed him from behind and rubbed a snowball behind his hood, and a little snow fell on the young face too. Peter screamed, stumbled, and both men fell into white duvets.

"What are you going to do now, huh?" The man whispered, staring into the shining eyes of the boy below him. Peter broke the eye contact as he put his palm to the man's face and began stroking his brown beard with his frozen fingers, watching his lips, craning his neck and rubbing his mouth gently against Tony's for a moment. The man was taken aback by the boy's gesture, but pleased. 

"I'm cold," Peter muttered. And I'm not, Tony thought, rather the opposite.

"Okay, let's go inside and have some tea," Stark swung to his feet, helping the boy to stand.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I didn't even apologize for what happened yesterday," the boy whispered. He stared at the mug of hot drink in his palms, and a disobedient tear ran down his cheek as the man sat down on the couch beside him. Anthony knew very well what he meant. He had to smile at the memory of the previous day's events. Peter was locked in the bathroom for almost half an hour, Stark slowly beginning to worry about him before he finally climbed out. Until the evening, he had his head down and making eye contact with him was a superhuman task for Tony. "Just ... pl-please don't pu-punish me," he began to beg.

"All right, you have nothing to apologize for. And ... try to relax, you're sitting right here straight like a ruler," Tony wiped away the boy's tears and stroked his curly hair. Peter pushed his head up into Tony's touches, smiling a little and closing his eyes. As if Peter were a dog who wanted petting. "You were good, very good. And if you don't do something bad again, I won't have a reason to punish you."

"Besides," he continued after a few seconds of silence, "you built a very nice snowman." Peter laughed and nodded. "So ... I'd see you get a chance to convince me if I can trust you one hundred percent. When you'll go to bed, I won't lock you in the room. What do you think?"

The boy slowly looked up at Stark, his face adorned with a smile from ear to ear. "I can handle it. Thank you. I appreciate it."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Peter went to bed two hours ago. The man still spent some time at the desk in his study before deciding that he had enough for today. He went downstairs to make sure the front door and all windows were locked and the knives in the drawers inaccessible. He turned lights off, took a quick shower, and went to bed. He turned off the small lamp and settled under the duvet. He closed his eyes, waiting for a sleep.

He was startled when the mattress suddenly sagged under the weight of another body.