Peter looks out the window.

Pietro and Wanda look out the window next to it, because Peter has officially dubbed them the friend-est of the Avengers and he wants to spend as much of his last day at Avengers Compound with his new friends as possible.

The rain has picked up in the last couple of minutes – so much so that they can hear the drops slamming into the roof – and they all had the same question: is Loki still outside in this torrential downpour? And it seems they have their answer: he is still outside, sitting on a fallen log with his back to the compound and his head down as the rain falls around him.

"Is this normal?" Peter asks. He knows that Tony and Pepper said he'll sit outside rain or shine, but the weather is awful right now. There are puddles of muddy water in the divots of the dirt and grass. The rain is coming down hard enough to explode a poor misplaced worm that gets hit with a drop. Every now and then, the faint roar of thunder can be heard in the distance. He doesn't care how long the guy was locked inside for. He can't imagine choosing to sit outside in this.

"It seems to be," Pietro says. "But I do not pay much attention to him. There are more exciting people in the compound to spend my time with."

That's a fair point. Loki seems... not too awful... but he's not Steve or Bruce or Clint. He doesn't come off as the most exciting person to hang out with.

"Does he look sad?" Wanda wonders aloud.

"I think he's just protecting his face from the rain," Peter says. He can't imagine getting hit in the eye with rain that's coming down this hard. It sounds like a great way to lose the ability to see. (Is that dramatic? Probably. Does he want to test it? Not at all, and he's sure Loki doesn't, either.)

Pietro looks at his sister suspiciously. "Does he feel sad?"

"I am not in his head," Wanda says. "You know he does not like that."

"Well, maybe not in his head on purpose," Pietro says suggestively. Peter does not know what that's supposed to be suggesting.

Wanda heaves a sigh. "Yes, Pietro, he feels sad."

Pietro grins. "I knew it," he whispers. "I am so good at reading people."

Peter looks out at the god with a frown. The fact that he's sad does make sense. He can't see another reason one would sit out in the pouring rain like this. He feels bad for the guy. He doesn't know what's going on and he's almost positive it has nothing to do with him, but still. He feels bad.

So Peter looks at his friend and asks, "Does someone want to go out there with me?" Because last night went fine. He didn't come across any real reasons to be afraid of him. But he still would really like some adult supervision when he talks to the guy.

"Not at all," Pietro deadpans.

Wanda doesn't dismiss it so quickly; instead, a small smile makes its way to her lips. "You want to talk to him?"

Peter shrugs sheepishly. "I just want to make sure he's okay."

"I think he'd appreciate that," Wanda tells him. "I do think he likes you."

"But he does not like us," Pietro says, "so no, we do not want to interrupt his moping to make him mope more."

"Oh." Peter nods slowly. He's not sure what's going on between the three of them, but if they won't go with him, then it's probably best to leave things where they are.

As if reading his mind (which he's pretty sure she can do, so maybe she was?), Wanda adds, "But I think he'd like to see you. I think he likes you."

"And he definitely likes you more than he likes us," Pietro adds.

Peter hesitates. "I don't think he'd want..."

"I think he'd appreciate it," Wanda offers. "But you don't have to if you don't want to. He will come inside eventually."

Peter looks out the window once more. Now that he knows Loki's sad, he really does just look so... sad. It's hard not to feel bad for the guy – which is a bit ridiculous because he's obviously choosing to sit out there in the rain and it's not like Peter has any idea what he's sad about or if it's at all a big deal, but still. He feels bad for him.

So finally, Peter looks at the twins and asks, "Do you have an umbrella I could borrow?"

Wanda smiles – what looks like a nice, genuine smile. It makes him feel better about this choice that he's really not sure he should be making (and that he's pretty sure he doesn't want to be making). If she thinks this is a good idea, then it's probably a good idea.

By the time he's looked Pietro's way, the boy has disappeared in an aggressive breeze, and when he reappears, he does so with an umbrella and some much-too-big waterproof boots. By way of explanation, he says, "I do not know what size shoes you wear, but at least your feet will not hurt in big ones."

"Are those Steve's?" Wanda asks, an amused grin on her lips.

"I will not answer that," Pietro replies.

So Peter puts on the boots (that definitely belong to Steve) (even after lacing them up as tight as he can, he's still afraid his feet will fall out of them) and the umbrella, and he puts his hand on the doorknob. This will be fine. This will be good. If nothing else, he's showing Loki that he cares about his feelings and his well-being. That's a good way to begin their professional relationship.

"Do you want us to stare out the window while you talk to him?" Pietro asks. "Because I will gladly stare out the window while you talk to him if you want me to."

Wanda rolls her eyes lightheartedly, but she doesn't disagree with his sentiment, which he appreciates.

"If you want to," Peter says. He'd appreciate having a long-distance bodyguard. He doesn't expect to need one, but it will make him feel better just to have them here.

Pietro grins, which answers that question.

Peter takes a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Pietro says cheerfully.

"You don't need luck," Wanda assures him.

"You might need luck," Pietro says.

Wanda just slaps him on the arm.

Peter takes one more deep breath for good luck, then opens the door. He sticks the umbrella out first, and he opens it and holds it up before he takes his first step outside. He can feel his borrowed boots squelch into the muddy ground, and he's definitely going to have to figure out a way to clean these before he gives them back to Steve.

He's not sure how good Loki's hearing is. He's a god, after all. For all he knows, a god's hearing may be even better than his own. But if he hears the door open or the gross squishy noise of the boots or the onslaught of rain against this poor umbrella, he doesn't show it.

Peter slowly makes his way across the yard, his toes curled in his boots to keep the mud from suctioning them off his feet. There are a few moments where he's afraid a gust of wind or an intense drop of rain is going to physically break his umbrella, but otherwise, it's going okay. He's outside in the yard alone with Loki, and everything's okay.

That is not a sentence he could have predicted he'd think to himself two weeks ago.

When he's nearly reached the god, he clears his throat loudly. "Loki?"

Loki looks back over his shoulder at him, and as his face scrunches in confusion, he takes his earbuds out of his ears. (No wonder he didn't notice Peter sneaking up on him.) "What are you doing out here?"

Not quite the warm welcome he'd hoped for, but in a realistic sense, it's the warmest welcome he probably could have gotten. He's just glad that Loki's confused instead of upset.

Peter shrugs awkwardly. "I saw you were out here, and the weather's getting pretty bad and it sounds like there's some thunder coming, and I just wanted to make sure you're okay." It's a bit of an all-over-the-place kind of answer, but it's the best he has.

Loki cracks a smile, and he brushes his soaking wet hair out of his face. "I appreciate that," he says. "But I am perfectly alright. If I see lightning, I will go inside, but I don't mind a little rain or some distant rumbling."

Peter frowns. "I don't think I'd call this 'a little' rain."

"My brother is the God of Thunder," Loki reminds him. "I am no stranger to rain." With an almost wistful smile, he adds, "It's a bit of a comfort, really."

Peter can't lie: that's kind of cute. He wishes he had a brother. He hasn't even met Thor, and he can already tell that he and Loki have the most adorable – and somewhat jealousy-inducing – relationship.

"I imagine you do not enjoy this kind of weather, though," Loki adds, and he has to brush his hair out of his face again. "You don't have to stay out here for my sake. Though I greatly appreciate the thought and the effort, you should probably go back inside where it's both dry and warm."

"If you're sure," Peter says. He feels bad just leaving him out here, but if he's enjoying the rain...

"I'm sure," Loki says. "But thank you, Spider. I can already see that you will be a wonderful addition to the team."

Peter can't help the smile that creeps up onto his face. At no point in his life did he ever think he would care what Loki, God of Mischief and terrorizer of Manhattan, would think of him, but this really means a lot to him. So he bids his new... acquaintance... farewell, and he begins his hazardous trek back to the compound, once again being very careful not to lose these boots to the muddy ground below, and he opens the door.

Steve is there now.

Peter goes outside in his boots for ninety seconds, and he comes back and the guy is standing right there.

(Bucky is also here. That part doesn't bother him as much, because he didn't steal Bucky's boots to go outside in the mud.)

Peter just stands outside the door awkwardly. He really was not expecting this. He's not sure what to do right now.

Wanda goes over and holds a hand out to him. "Come inside," she says. "You are going to freeze."

"I'm not going to freeze," Peter assures him, but he does take a step inside, making a point to only stand on the conveniently placed mat in front of the door.

Wanda takes the umbrella from him before he can protest, and she shakes it off outside and closes it up for him. That leaves Peter to deal with the boots. (He doesn't know how to deal with the boots.)

"How's he doing?" Steve asks, gesturing at the door with his head.

Peter shrugs. "He seems okay. I guess the rain just reminds him of Thor." He certainly didn't come off as very sad, contrary to Wanda's sneak peek into his mind.

Wanda smiles. "That's cute."

"Isn't it?" Peter agrees. He's so sappy and sentimental – definitely not what he expected from the most famous alien terrorist in history.

Steve pulls out his phone. "I'm going to text Thor and see if he can come back soon. I think Loki'd appreciate that."

Peter tries not to get his hopes up, but he really hopes that Thor takes that as a sign to come back today. He'd kill to see the guy before he has to go home in a few hours.

Steve looks down at his phone as he types, but he's only made it a very (embarrassingly slow) taps before he pauses, and he raises his gaze to meet Peter's. "Are those my boots?"

Peter clasps his hands behind his back and looks down at the muddy shoes on his feet. "Uh..."

Pietro scoffs. "Peter, why would you steal the Captain's shoes?"

Peter's head snaps up to look at him. "Pietro!" How's he going to do him like that?

Steve huffs, and to Peter, he just says, "Pietro gave them to you, didn't he?"

"Was it that obvious?" Pietro asks.

Steve nods. "Mm-hmm."

"It was pretty obvious," Bucky agrees.

Pietro just sighs dramatically.

Peter glances over at Wanda, but she's still looking out at Loki through the door she hasn't quite closed yet. He gives her a weird look. What is she doing?

"Wanda?" Pietro says cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Wanda hums quietly. "I still think he's sad."

Steve sighs. "That's probably my fault," he admits. "I don't know if I should go out and talk to him or leave him alone."

"I guess that depends on what you did to him," Wanda says.

"Do you know if he wants to see me?" Steve asks.

Wanda looks over at him. "You were upset with me for looking in his head before," she reminds him. "You do not get to ask me to do it now."

"I wasn't," Steve says quickly. "I was just wondering if you knew."

Wanda just raises a brow. Steve looks away.

"Well, this works out great!" Pietro says brightly. "Peter already has your shoes for you!"

Steve rolls his eyes, but he wears a slight smile at that.

Bucky claps him on the back once. "I think you should go talk to him."

Steve hesitates. "Will you wait for me in case he tells me to get lost?"

"I will," Bucky says, "but I don't think he'll tell you to get lost."

While Steve debates the merits of torturing himself with the downpour outside, Peter crouches down to take off his boots. If he is going to go outside, he's going to want these – and even if he isn't going outside, Peter suspects they won't take kindly to him tracking mud through the compound.

With another sigh and a murmured "thank you" to Peter for the boots, Steve prepares to go outside. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to mind that Peter accidentally stole his boots and covered them with mud, which makes him feel better about that.

Once his boots are all tied, Wanda holds out the umbrella.

Steve waves that off. "I don't want Loki to think I only went out because you guys did. It'll look premeditated if I come out with the same umbrella."

"I can get you a different umbrella," Pietro offers.

Steve shakes his head. "I'll be fine."

"Do you want a jacket, at least?" Bucky asks.

Steve shakes his head. "I'll be fine," he says again.

"You're going to freeze," Bucky deadpans.

Steve just shrugs. "Did that once," he quips. "Wasn't all that bad, all things considered."

Peter can't help but laugh (even if it is a rather stupid joke), and Steve grins at him before he ducks outside. As soon as Steve's gone, the four of them line up at the windows to watch.

Honestly, there's not much to watch. Steve ducks his head as he walks, protecting himself from the rain the best that he can with absolutely no rain-appropriate gear on his person. Loki's once again oblivious to his presence until he gets close; then, Loki looks at him over his shoulder, much the same way he did when Peter approached.

Loki frowns, and he pulls his earbuds out. His phone disappears into a flash of green as he stands up, and he says something that Peter can't quite make out, even with his super hearing. A sweatshirt appears in his hands, and he holds it out to him.

"That's sweet," Peter remarks.

"His magic still weirds me out," Bucky admits.

Peter can't fault him for that. It is pretty weird.

The sweatshirt disappears, and then there's a blanket in Loki's hands, which he once again holds out to Steve. Steve shakes his head, gesturing for him to put it away, but Loki says something and again emphasizes his attempted handoff. This time, Steve does take it, and they sit down on the log together, this time facing the compound.

Immediately, everyone steps away from the windows. They will not be caught staring at them while they have what looks like a heart-to-heart.

"Well, it's not Thor," Wanda says, "but it's probably the next-best thing."

Peter, who knows very little about the dynamics here, nods in agreement. He can't deny that that was really cute. This actually might have done more to get him to like Loki than his own conversation with the guy. He saw that Steve was out in the rain with nothing but a t-shirt and jeans, and his first priority was trying to keep him warm. That's not something an evil villain does.

"Am I still supposed to wait for him?" Bucky wonders aloud.

Nobody jumps in with an answer. The instructions weren't very clear, now that they think about it.

Finally, Pietro says, "If you're going to wait, we can show you our new Vine."

Bucky raises his brows. "You have a vine?" he repeats. "Like, from the jungle?"

Peter fights back a laugh. Is it a logical assumption? Yes. Is it hilarious to him? Also yes.

"It is an app," Wanda explains. "You make six-second videos and post them for people all over the world to see."

"Peter and I posted one this morning," Pietro adds, a hint of pride in his voice. "Do you want to see it?"

Bucky spreads his arms in a careless shrug. "Sure," he says. "Why not?"

Pietro grins and pulls out his phone, and Wanda looks over his shoulder, so Peter does the same. Bucky does not join in, but when Pietro opens Vine, he turns so that Bucky can see. He really doesn't look at all interested, but Pietro doesn't seem to care.

Peter has obviously already seen this Vine. He is in this Vine. He helped make this Vine. But he's still just as excited to see it as he was a dozen watches ago, so he can't help the grin on his face as it plays.

Peter stands in the middle of the kitchen, wearing his old homemade Spider-Man outfit.

Pietro steps into view, and he gives Peter a pointedly disgusted look. "What are you wearing?"

Peter plays up his confusion as he answers, "I'm Spider-Man."

"It looks like a baby's first Halloween costume," Pietro deadpans. "Let's fix that."

Before Peter can object, Pietro runs around him in circles. There's a near seamless cut, and when Pietro stops running, Peter's wearing his new suit, courtesy of Tony Stark himself. Peter and Pietro both look at the camera, and they both show two thumbs up.

And that's it.

Is it funny? Not really. Does Peter love it? Damn right, he does. He's proud of this cheesy little thing.

The video begins to loop, and Bucky looks between the three of them. "Was that the end?"

"Mm-hmm," Pietro hums.

"It can only be six seconds long," Wanda reminds him.

Bucky nods slowly. "Well, it was... great." He forces a smile that looks more like a grimace.

"Well, it already has thousands of likes," Pietro tells him, "so it must be great."

"Do you think we can get verified?" Peter asks him. "Would Vine verify an anonymous superhero?" Is it conceited to call himself a superhero? That's not conceited, is it? Not in this context, at least. He's calling himself one because that's what other people view him as, that's all. That's not conceited. Right?

"I do not know," Pietro says. "But Stark could probably bribe them into it."

"You think so?" Peter asks. That's an okay use of bribery, right? Something that won't hurt anybody? And it will prevent imposter Spider-Men from trying to hurt people – by scams or pushing dangerous trends or whatever the imposter Spider-Men might try to do – in his name, so it's a good thing, right?

"There are very few things a man of his power can't do," Wanda tells him. "I'm sure this will be easy."

"Am I supposed to understand what you're talking about?" Bucky asks.

Pietro pats him on the back and shakes his head condescendingly. "It's okay," he says. "You're an old man, and we know that."

Bucky jerks away from his hand, and he takes a step to the side, looking at Pietro with a scowl. Peter looks away and tries to pretend this isn't happening.

Wanda takes another peek out the window. Bucky follows suit. Peter and Pietro share a glance, and, with a shrug, they do the same, because why not?

"I don't think he's coming back too soon," Wanda remarks.

It's difficult to know if that's true. Loki and Steve are still sitting on the fallen tree together, but Steve is largely hidden by the blanket he holds over his head that is absolutely drenched in rainwater that drips down in front of his face.

"I think it's safe to leave," Bucky decides.

"Good idea," Pietro agrees. "What do we want to do now? Something mindlessly fun and maybe a little stupid?"

"Obviously," Wanda says. "Do we ever do anything else?"

Pietro clicks his tongue. "No, we do not."