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Stephen had been acting strange. Well, stranger than usual. He’d been limping before their most recent battle, and had disappeared immediately after. But Tony was certain he’d seen Stephen crash all the way through a skyscraper when the giant tentacle monster had knocked him out of the sky, and that plus the limp? He was worried.
He had a suspicion that Stephen might be hiding injuries. Of course, it was possible he’d just slunk back to his wizard tower to get healed by Wong, but he had the nagging feeling that something was wrong. And after so many years in the hero business, he tended to trust those instincts.
Which was why he was now standing on the front step of the sanctum, bag of takeout in hand. He lifted his hand to knock, but the door swung open before he made contact with the wood. The Sanctum’s sentience had unnerved him for the first couple visits, before he’d realized that it wasn’t unlike FRIDAY.
“Hello,” he greeted the empty foyer. “Can you take me to Stephen?”
Tony’s stomach lurched as the world around him shifted, and blinked away the disorientation to find himself now in front of a door he knew to be Stephen’s bedroom. This time, he was able to actually knock.
“Doc? You in there?” He was met with silence, which did nothing to quell the anxiety beginning to spike in his chest. It wasn’t unusual for the Sanctum to bring him to Stephen, but it was unusual for Stephen to be in his room.
Suddenly, there was a muffled “No-”, a distressingly body-like thump, and the door was flung open by a concerned cloak. Stephen was lying in a heap on the floor, shirtless and covered in blood.
“You okay?” Tony asked, trying to control his mounting horror at the sight. The remains of his tunic top, which Tony could now see had been reduced practically to tatters, lay on the floor beside him, and Stephen’s bare back was covered in cuts and building detritus. Even from here, he could see at least two pieces of glass sticking out of the sorcerer’s shoulder.
“Peachy,” Stephen groaned from the floor.
Immediately, Tony set down his bag and kneeled in front of Stephen, carefully helping him up by taking gentle control of his arms, careful not to jostle him too much. “Okay, let’s get you to a bathroom or something, somewhere easy to clean with good lighting, so that I can pick the debris out of your back.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Not really a part of the equation, Doc.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. I’m going to clean your wounds, patch you up, and then we’re going to come back in here so you can lay down and eat some pupusas and do whatever healing magic you do while I clean the blood off your floor.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Even as he spoke, the Sanctum warped them to a nice, brightly lit bathroom that Tony hadn’t seen before. There was a complete medical kit laid out on the counter, and Tony gave Stephen a look.
“Seems like your haunted house thinks it’s pretty necessary.”
“The Sanctum is a worrying busybody,” Stephen muttered, and Tony laughed.
“I believe it, but I don’t think it applies this time. The Sanctum has every right to be worried, have you seen the state that you’re in?”
“I’m well aware of what state I’m in, thank you.”
“Are you? Because it seemed like you were just planning on doing this by yourself. Here, sit down facing away from me so I can help you.”
“I had it under control.” Despite his protestations, Stephen sat down on the edge of the tub, stepping into it so that his back would be towards the light.
“Uh-huh. And that’s why you were on the floor when the Cloak opened the door for me out of concern for you.”
“That was the Cloak’s fault.”
“How so?”
“It was… supporting me. It let go when it realized I wasn’t going to open the door.”
“I see. Sounds like it let go of you because you were being stupid, ergo, your fault.”
Stephen huffed out a laugh that might have been disguising a gasp as Tony sat down behind him and began to delicately pluck bits of glass and concrete out of his back. “I just needed to sit down. There’s a spell that would’ve pushed all the debris out of my back. And another that would’ve cleaned it.”
“And how exhausted would that have made you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed by now that your healing magic is really draining.”
“I would’ve been fine, really. I swear, you’re as bad as Wong.”
“Wong has something at least resembling a healthy work/life relationship. If he thinks you shouldn’t be doing it, you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s okay to call for help, you know?”
“Aside from Wong, or in emergencies Christine, you’re probably the only person I trust enough to treat me.”
“You a bad patient, Doc?” Tony teased, though there was warmth building in his chest. He knew, logically, that Stephen trusted him, but it was nice to have verbal confirmation.
“The worst.” There was a wry note in Stephen’s voice that made Tony smile, imagining the little smile that he knew by now to accompany that tone. It was one of the many things he found endlessly endearing about the sorcerer.
“That’s okay. I’ve been told I’m a pretty bad patient, myself. But you are behaving, so, points to you.”
“Yes, well, perks of being in my inner circle, I suppose.”
“Does that officially make us friends?”
“We’ve been friends for years. It makes you one of my best friends.” Though the words were spoken casually, there was an earnest edge to Stephen’s tone that made Tony believe it. His hand waivered in the air for a moment, hovering above Stephen’s back as he absorbed the rush of positive feelings that the admission had sent flooding through him.
It was true, he’d been skulking around the Sanctum for nearly half a decade now, and Stephen had done his share of visiting Tony as well. It had taken about twenty minutes of bickering before they’d fallen into a rhythm that had been exhilarating then, and still was today. It didn’t matter how much time he spent in Stephen’s company, he was always wishing for a little bit more. And every time he rose the bid, Stephen matched him in commitment. He knew that Stephen valued their friendship. But it was still nice to hear it.
“Best friends, now that I can get behind,” Tony quipped when he realized he hadn’t responded. Truth be told, he would’ve loved to be more than that, but he was happy with any kind of relationship with Stephen. The doctor-turned-sorcerer had never given any solid indication that he had those feelings for Tony, so he’d tried to limit his flirting out of respect. It hadn’t stopped them from becoming close.
He still remembered the night three years ago, when Stephen had admitted that he was touch-starved and they had spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms. There had been a moment, amid their first tentative embrace, when Tony had thought Stephen was going to kiss him, but nothing had happened. Still, it was like that night had broken a dam, and Stephen had never been shy since about asking for contact. It was probably that more than anything that had earned him this spot, cleaning Stephen’s wounds with as much care as he could manage.
“I should certainly hope so, or I might have to revoke the privilege,” Stephen responded, amusement lacing his tone.
“Please. You couldn’t last a week without seeing me if you were in this dimension.”
“You text me every ten minutes when we’re not together. I think you’d crack way before I would.”
Tony bit his lip, glad that Stephen couldn’t see the flush that spread across his cheeks. It was a slight exaggeration, but not by enough that he could really protest. “I’ve never heard you complaining.”
“Why would I complain? I’ve accomplished something that very few people have, and I’ve maintained that consistently for a long time.”
“What, exactly, have you accomplished?”
“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark thinks about me all the time.”
Tony froze. Stephen’s tone was playful, and tinged with the fondness that was ever-present, but he couldn’t help but feel called out. Did Stephen know how he felt? Had he known this whole time? Fortunately, he didn’t have much time to panic, because Stephen spoke again.
“To be clear, I’m proud to have earned such an esteemed place in your life. You often talk about how valuable your time is in meetings, and I’m honored that you consider me such a worthy investment.”
Now he was speechless for a whole different reason. Stunned, he scanned Stephen’s back for further pieces of debris, and found none.
“I, uh- I’m going to start cleaning you up now, okay? Let me know if I need to be gentler.”
“I trust you. Have I made you uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s just- nobody’s ever said that to me before.” He was ‘proud to have earned’ his place in Tony’s life? He knew the value of Tony’s time, and he thought that Tony’s lovesick inability to stop bothering him was some kind of honor? “You think being close with me is an accomplishment?”
“Of course it is. I could count on one hand the people you’ve let get this close to you if we exclude the people you created slash raised slash are currently raising. And it isn’t like others haven’t tried. I’m on one of the most exclusive shortlists in the world. I could use it for two truths and a lie.”
Tony’s heart warmed. Even in a moment such as this, Stephen included the bots and his AIs as people. “Do you play that a lot at wizard school?” he asked, smiling in spite of himself at the mental image of Stephen and Wong playing party games in the Sanctum.
“It’s been known to happen, when the masters get together for a celebration. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s Wong’s favorite part of most of those nights. He’s got them all dead to rights.”
Tony laughed. “Of course he does. All them, but not you?”
“Oh, he’s got me dead to rights too, he’s just not allowed to answer during my rounds because he’s my best friend.”
“Ah, of course. Rhodey and I had a similar rule, but we haven’t played in years.”
“No slumber party games at Avengers get togethers?”
“There might have been the occasional game of spin the bottle or never have I ever, but it’s been a long time since we did something like that.”
“Well, it’s not as if you’re missing out on much.”
“I dunno, it might be fun to learn some wizard secrets.”
“Listen, I tolerate it when you use that word but if you ever attend one of these parties you’ll have to at least call them sorcerer secrets.”
“I think I can manage that. Do you want ointment and bandages or are you going to heal it and then pass out?”
“There’s a jar of green salve in the kit. Use that and it will help the process.”
“Green salve…” Tony stood to examine the rest of the items the bathroom had laid out, and plucked a large Ball jar of green goop off the counter. “This stuff?” he asked, holding the jar past Stephen’s shoulders so he could see it without turning his back.
“That’s the stuff.”
Taking his seat behind Stephen again, Tony began to gently apply the salve, which smelled like mint, to the wounds on Stephen’s back. Stephen inhaled sharply when he first made contact.
“Sorry. Too tender?”
“No, it’s just cold.”
“Does it sting?”
“It numbs. This will let me get to bed and eat the dinner you’ve so graciously provided before I heal myself and… pass out, as you put it.”
“I will literally always give you food after a battle. Or any time, really. Would that be helpful for you? If I checked in with dinner after fights?”
“I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“You didn’t ask. I’m offering.”
“To come check on me after every fight? You already buy me lunch or dinner multiple times a week, if I let you start feeding me after every fight it would be almost daily.”
“I really don’t know if you understand the billionaire thing, Doc. I would happily feed you every day if you wanted me to, fights or no fights.”
“I could never do anything of a similar magnitude for you.”
“Sure you could. You already look me over half the time when I get hurt anyway. That’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not.”
“The spirit of the thing is the same. There aren’t a lot of people that I trust to look after me when I’m hurt either, y’know.”
“Are you not getting proper care when you’re hurt after fights?” There was concern lacing Stephen’s tone, and Tony couldn’t help but smile.
“No, I’m fine, but that’s not the point. The point is that if you need someone to be there, I’ll be there. And if you want to be there for me in exchange, you’re welcome to do so.”
Stephen was quiet as he finished applying the salve, quiet long enough for Tony to begin to worry. But as Tony rinsed his hands, he spoke, his voice warm in a way Tony had never heard before, a kind of brightness that he’d only hear echoes of before.
“Thank you, Tony.” Just those three small words, but it was enough for Tony’s heart to start pounding. Oh God. He’d said too much.
“Anytime, Doc. And I do mean any time.”
When he leaned to retrieve the gauze, he caught a glimpse of Stephen in profile, and saw that he was smiling. The warmth in Tony’s chest spread further.
“Okay, I’m going to put down one layer of gauze to keep the salve in place, and then I’m going to wrap you. Sound good?”
“Yes. You should be able to do it with two gauze pads if you unfold them all the way.”
“We’ll see. Don’t roll your eyes at me.”
“What- you can’t even see my face!”
“I know, but I know.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense, thank you.”
Stephen shook his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Says the guy who rolled his eyes for nobody but himself.”
“Like you don’t do that twenty times a day.”
“Hey, now, twenty is a bit much! I don’t have nearly as many meetings these days.”
“Regardless. You practically invented the eye roll.”
“Maybe so, but you’re the one being dramatic about it now.”
“You’re the one who came to my home to bully me while I’m injured.”
Tony let out an incredulous laugh. “Excuse me? I came here to take care of you, which I’m doing, by the way. I can’t bully you and take care of you at the same time.”
“That’s definitely a thing that’s possible.”
“Not for me. I am being nice, Stephen, nice. I brought you pupusas.”
“Oh, shit, I forgot about the pupusas.”
Tony laughed again, glad that Stephen seemed to have recovered some vigor after he’d picked him up off the bedroom floor. “Yeah, nice, right?”
“Alright, I concede. You’re being very nice.”
“Thank you. I’m gonna wrap you now, do you want to pass the tape around or do you want me to reach?”
“I can pass it. I’ll have to have my arms up, anyway.”
“Alright, here.” Gently, Tony held the bandage in place on Stephen’s back and they began to pass it back and forth in a collaborative effort to wrap his torso. When the wrap was well-secured, Tony pinned it off and helped Stephen stand.
“Okay, you need new pants because your pants are covered in blood. Then, you’re going to lay down, and I’m going to clean the blood off your floor.”
“Don’t bother. If the Sanctum doesn’t get it, I can clean it with magic in the morning.”
“The Sanctum can clean itself?”
“Yes, if it chooses. It prefers being cleaned by its inhabitants, though.”
“Incredible. The Sanctum never ceases to impress.”
Stephen chuckled at his blatant attempt to compliment the Sanctum. Ever since he’d realized it was sapient like the Cloak, he’d taken extra effort to compliment the Sanctum at every turn, and Stephen liked to tease him about it. But Tony maintained that it had worked- the Sanctum behaved better for Tony than for Stephen, some days. Like today. He turned around with Stephen in tow and saw that the medical supplies on the counter had been replaced by a pair of sweatpants and-
“Is that my shirt?” he asked before he could even think about it, shocked. It certainly was- the Iron Maiden logo adorning it had the telltale faded ring from the light on his original arc reactor.
Stephen looked at the counter. “You gave it to me, when I visited the cabin for the first time and you pushed me in the lake.”
“I didn’t push you in the lake! You fell!”
“Because you knocked into me.”
“And you pulled me in with you!”
“You deserved it; you knocked me in!”
“Regardless, that was years ago now. Why do you still have it?”
“Well, I thought that I would keep it here in case you ever decided to sleep here, but you never did.” It was well disguised, but Tony thought he heard a slightly disappointed edge to Stephen’s tone. It was true- though Stephen had spent the night both in the Tower and in the cabin, Tony had never stayed overnight at the Sanctum. He’d always carefully avoided it, not because he was afraid (anymore), but because if he stayed here, he’d be starkly aware of the fact that he was sleeping in Stephen’s home but not his bed, and it would just keep him up. It was foolish and immature and selfish, but it was the one thing he couldn’t do.
“My houses have superior mattresses,” he hedged, hoping he didn’t sound guilty. He didn’t want Stephen- or the Sanctum- to think that he didn’t want to be there. It was his own problem. “Do you need help changing?”
“I can do it, but I need to get a different shirt, first.”
“Why? You can wear that one.”
“You don’t want it back?”
“Nah, I didn’t even realize it was gone. You keep it, but it’s a comfortable shirt, it might as well see some use.” That and, well, the idea of Stephen wearing his clothes was… really nice.
“Alright, then. Hand it to me?”
“Can you stand without a brace?”
“Yes. Probably.”
“You always know what to say to inspire confidence, Doc.” As he spoke, Tony carefully released his hold on Stephen, hovering for a second to make sure he stayed upright, and grabbing the pants first. “Here, do these first, so the shirt stays clean.”
“Alright.” Wearily, Stephen began to struggle to undo the clasps on his belts, and Tony set the pants on the counter again.
“Would you like help?” he asked, after a moment of watching. He knew that Stephen preferred that he wait to be asked, but he also knew that Stephen was exhausted. And though he’d dreamt about taking those belts off of Stephen, it was under decidedly different circumstances- he could be clinical, respectful.
“Please,” Stephen responded after a brief hesitation, so Tony dropped to one knee in front of him to carefully loosen and unbuckle each of the three remaining belts that were still snug around Stephen’s waist. When the last was undone, he looked up to find Stephen watching him with rapt attention. The expression on his face was unreadable, and it took Tony a moment to realize he was staring.
“Anything else?” he managed to ask once he’d realized, dropping his gaze to Stephen’s boots to hide his blush. Fortunately, Stephen was still wearing said boots, so it looked relatively natural.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Stephen was being strangely compliant in all of this, but Tony didn’t examine that too closely, yet- best to focus on the task at hand and ensure that his arms . He began to undo the belts on Stephen’s boots- and really, why did his boots need belts in addition to laces? But once he figured them out, it was actually pretty easy to undo, so he bit back his complaints.
“Brace yourself on the counter and lift your foot,” he instructed, tapping Stephen’s left ankle. Stephen did as he asked, and Tony gently cupped the sorcerer’s calf to steady him as he pulled the first boot off, then repeated the process with the other. When he set the boots aside and rose from the floor, Stephen’s expression had shifted to something that was mostly tired.
“You okay?” he asked, worried. If Stephen was already so tired, would he even be able to heal himself?
“I’m alright. There are a couple of permanent spells on me that allow the ambient magic potential stored in my body to accelerate my healing a little bit. It saps my energy, but it’s helped me many times in battle.”
“You didn’t tell me there was a time limit! I could have just shut up and tended your wounds,” Tony complained, snatching up the pants and holding them out again. “Hurry up and get dressed so you can get in bed.”
“I’m fine, Tony. I can keep going,” Stephen protested even as he discarded his pants- Tony quickly looked away- and took the offered pair, pulling them on much slower. The shirt took him a moment, and his jaw was set in the way that Tony had come to understand meant that he was in pain.
“Whoa, okay, take it easy. C’mon. Do you want to eat and then heal, or heal and then eat?”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat after healing.”
“Eating first it is, then.”
Fortunately for them, they didn’t even need to move- once Tony’s hand touched Stephen’s arm to help him walk back, the Sanctum warped again and they were deposited directly in front of Stephen’s bed. Tony helped him sink down onto it, and pulled the bag of food forward.
“Here, there’s three different kinds; each box is labeled.”
“Thank you.” Shaking hands lifted one of the boxes from the bag, crystal blue eyes peeked inside, and then he sat back, seemingly content with his choice. Content with the fact that Stephen was eating, Tony dug into the bag to grab another box, and stole a glance at the floor to see that the Sanctum had, indeed, gotten rid of the blood stain Stephen had left.
“Do you have any preferred post-battle meals? I can try to bring that next time.”
“Things like this are good. Warm, soft, easy to hold.”
“I can work with that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“This isn’t about what I have to do. It’s about what I want to do. And what I want to do is make sure you’re taken care of.”
Stephen fell silent for a moment, leaving Tony to worry about whether he was focused on his food, or what he’d just said. Was he being too obvious about his feelings? He just couldn’t stand the thought that Stephen believed any part of being close to him might be a burden or hardship. He busied himself with focusing on his own food, so that he could hurry up and leave.
After a few minutes of eating in silence, Stephen finally spoke.
“You know… I always sleep better when we share a bed.”
Immediately, Tony’s heart started pounding. What? “Me too,” he responded, confused. It was true- they’d ended up sharing naps and overnights when circumstances called for it, and occasionally when one of them was having a hard time.
“Would you… consider spending the night?”
Oh, no. There was a rarely-present vulnerability in Stephen’s tone, in his slight hesitation as he asked the question, in the way he was carefully looking at the food in his hands and not at Tony. Stephen wanted him to spend the night. Perhaps today’s fight had taken more out of him than usual. But- he couldn’t stay here, in Stephen’s room in the Sanctum. If he did, he’d have to wake up here and admit that he wanted this more than anything.
“Would you consider joining me at the Tower?” Tony counter-offered. If he could coax Stephen into his bed instead, it wouldn’t be so bad when he left again.
But Stephen frowned, and Tony’s heart panged intensely. “Nevermind. Some other time.”
His tone was neutral, but Tony could see the gossamer threads of disappointment and tension that draped across his frame in the slump of his shoulders and the set of his jaw. Guilt rose in his chest- he didn’t want Stephen to think that he didn’t want to.
“You sure? My superior mattress and I are available to you anytime, that includes nights like this.”
Stephen shook his head. “No, I think I prefer my own bed, empty or otherwise.”
Tony’s heart panged again. Was Stephen implying that he might invite someone else into his bed if Tony didn’t accept? He’d clearly noticed that Tony hadn’t stayed over, but what problem might he have had with that? He didn’t understand, and if he didn’t understand there was nothing he could do to fix the problem.
“You’re upset,” he said dumbly, wanting to address it but not really sure how they’d gotten here, or what they were even doing here.
“No, just tired and in pain.”
“I know you better than that. You’re tired, in pain, and upset. Obviously, since it just happened the problem is something I said, but I don’t know what, so you’re going to have to tell me.”
“There’s no problem. I’m fine, Tony, really.” There was a warning note in Stephen’s tone that meant that he was getting really upset, and Tony’s anxiety rose. He was about two wrong moves away from getting kicked out of the Sanctum for the first time in years, and he did not want that to happen.
“If all you want is a sleeping companion, the Tower-”
“Why don’t you ever sleep here?” Stephen interrupted, eyes still resolutely fixed on the box in his hands.
“What?” Tony asked, bewildered.
“We’ve shared a bed dozens of times, but never once at the Sanctum or Kamar-Taj. You invite me into your bed wherever we go, as long as it’s on your turf, but every time we’re even in a situation where we could possibly fall asleep in my home you’re up and out the door as soon as possible. So what is it? Are you just too afraid for someone to find us and think that they understand what’s happening? Are you still scared of magic? Is it just that I’m not- just tell me what the problem is so I can understand.”
Horror rolled down Tony’s back at the cold realization that Stephen was upset, agonized over wanting something that Tony couldn’t give him.
“Stephen, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that-”
“That I noticed? Of course I did, but don’t you dare deflect this with an apology. You say that you want to let me in and that you want to be there for me but you can’t even give me a straight answer on this, and I need to know. So tell me or don’t, but either way do it now.”
Tony felt like his stomach had dropped into a black hole that was slowly sucking the rest of him in with it. There was no way around it. He would have to admit his feelings for Stephen or risk losing everything they had.
“I-…” he tried to start, but his voice failed him. Stephen finally looked up at him, and his defeated expression, like he already knew Tony was about to refuse him an answer was enough to spur him to try again. “I can’t share your bed with you. Because if I do… If I let myself fall asleep here and wake up here with you, I- there won’t be any coming back from that, Stephen. If I spend the night in your bed and wake up in your arms, that’ll be it for me. I’ll be completely, utterly, irrevocably in love with you. And I can’t- I couldn’t risk losing you, if you didn’t feel the same. So I just… avoided it, and hoped you didn’t notice because you never said anything. I should’ve known better. And I let you into my bed because nobody that I want there stays anyway, so it wasn’t the same.”
“You’re in love with me?” Stephen asked, the confusion in his tone enough to make Tony wish he could melt into the floor. Stephen had given no indication whether he might react favorably to that or not, but he couldn’t just lie. Not about this. Not when asked directly.
“Yes, but it’s more than that. I- Stephen, you’re probably my favorite person in the world. I love you, and I want you in my life as much as you want to be in it. I’d love for us to become more than that, but I don’t need it, it doesn’t have to change anything.”
Stephen’s brow furrowed even further. “Why wouldn’t this change anything? What if I want it to change things?”
Tony tried to contain his wince, but couldn’t quite manage it. “Whatever your choice is, I’ll respect it.”
“If it’s my choice, I want you to stay here with me tonight. If it’s my choice, I would have you here every night for the rest of our lives. Tony, I love you.”
Those three words knocked Tony out of his rising panic, sensation rushing back all at once. Where a moment ago it had felt like he wasn’t entirely present, now he felt over present, hyperaware of everything in the room, of Stephen’s now-hopeful expression and the tightness around his eyes from the way he was twisting to look at him full-on, how it pulled at his injuries. The warm box in his hands, slightly crushed from how tight he’d come to hold it during their conversation.
Their conversation. I love you. Stephen loved him back.
Stephen loved him back.
“You do?” he asked, dumbfounded. Sure, they’d been close before, but he’d never seen and indication that Stephen had feelings for him.
“I have for a long time. I thought- I was certain you didn’t see it that way. See me that way. People told me that you did, but I- I didn’t believe them.”
“What? Who told you?” Tony exclaimed, alarmed.
“Everyone. I’m surprised they didn’t do the same to you.”
“Well…” Thinking back, people had told him that Stephen was into him, liked him, wanted him, loved him. He had just brushed it aside, unable to see it for himself. “I think it might have come up.”
Stephen chuckled. “What a hopeless pair we make.”
“Not so hopeless. We figured it out.”
“We didn’t ‘figure it out’ so much as I hit my breaking point,” Stephen pointed out.
“I guess that’s true. I really am sorry, I didn’t know that I was hurting you.”
“You couldn’t have known. I was quite careful to hide it. But… It hurts. Not- I mean- it’s just that-… There’s not any skin on my back right now. It’s quite uncomfortable. And you were being so- so loving, and I- I didn’t want you to leave.” There was that rare vulnerability again, and oh, Tony longed to pull Stephen into a hug.
“Finish eating your dinner so I can hold you without hurting you,” he said by way of response. Stephen’s eyes widened slightly, and he set the box down.
“I’m done.”
“You had half a pupusa. Finish at least one.”
“I wasn’t hungry to begin with. I’m alright.”
“Finish one now and I’ll order us whatever you want for breakfast in the morning?”
Stephen hummed thoughtfully. “Are you trying to bribe me to eat food with the promise of more food?”
“I’m trying to bribe you to eat food with the promise of better food.”
“Oh I see. Better food. What if I want something homecooked?”
“I can make anything as long as you’re not too specific about how you take your eggs. I can’t guarantee it’ll be better than these, but it’ll at least be passable.”
“Passable, wow.”
“Cooking was never that high of a priority for me, to be honest. But I’d learn, if you wanted me to.”
“You don’t have to do that, but it would be sweet if you did.” Stephen finished his sentence by taking the last bite of his pupusa, triumphantly handing Tony the box. “There. I am done.”
“A deal’s a deal. Portal these to the fridge and heal yourself so we can get comfy.”
“Set them on the end table and the Sanctum will get them. I don’t think I could manage a portal right now.”
“Okay.” Tony packed up the boxes and set it down, blinking when in an instant it was no longer there. “Thanks,” he added, for the Sanctum’s benefit.
Under his breath, Stephen was muttering, face twisted in concentration. Orange light seeped out through the bandages that wrapped his chest for a moment, most visible where his shirt was riding up but bright enough to show even though the black fabric where it lay. After a moment of that, the wraps disappeared entirely in a flash, leaving Stephen to slump forward, dangerously close to falling off the bed.
Tony leapt forward to steady him, and Stephen lifted his head to look at him. His eyes were barely open, unfocused, his sudden exhaustion catching up to him immediately.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” he murmured instinctively, gripping Stephen’s shoulders to keep him upright. “Can you stand for just a second so we can get under the covers?”
Stephen blinked at him, slow and lingering, then nodded. Together, they stood, Stephen leaning heavily on Tony, too tired for words. Tony flung the covers aside with one hand, and guided Stephen into bed with him, arranging them so that Stephen was splayed out across him, legs tangled, arm draped over his chest, head pillowed on one shoulder.
“G’ni…” Stephen murmured into his shoulder, barely audible. Tony couldn’t help the fond laugh that escaped him.
“Goodnight, Carino. I love you.”
Stephen didn’t respond, already drifting off to sleep, but Tony didn’t need to hear him say it to know that it was reciprocated anymore. Stephen loved him. Wanted to spend their lives together. Wanted to welcome Tony into his bed, not just tonight, but forever.
A lot of people had offered him forever, or promised it to him, at some point or another. Some of them, he’d believed wholeheartedly, others he’d seen through from the beginning. But this? Stephen? He couldn’t find it in himself to doubt that this would last. His trust in Stephen, in Stephen’s word, was sacrosanct- not even his own self-doubts could disturb it. If Stephen said that he loved him, for whatever strange reason, it had to be true. He got to keep this.
Here, listening to the creaks and groans of the Sanctum and Stephen’s soft breathing against his shoulder, it felt like finally coming home.