February 3rd
Stephen turned his head to the side as the sun irritated his eyes. He wasn’t ready to start again. Then the doctor felt a small pressure on his temple and a breath on his skin. He made a sound between content and disagreement as he lay his hand onto his chest to remove the Eye of Agomatto but he just felt his bare skin under his fingertips.
“Hey, Stephanie.”
Strange frowned and opened his eyes reluctantly just to rip them fully open a moment later. He quickly looked around. Not his bed, not his floor, not the color of his walls, not his furniture-
“Tony? Why are you still here?”
“It’s my house”, the billionaire smiled softly. “And you said you didn’t want me to go, so I didn’t go.”
“What day is it?”
Stephen sat up in the bed, looking at the other man desperately.
“What day, Tony? The date.”
“13th of February. Hey, calm down.”
“Calm. Down? Oh my God, Tony-“
He pulled the other into an emotional hug.
“You don’t understand. It’s tomorrow. Today. Today is tomorrow.”
“It- yes. I guess you’re right. Are you okay?”
“Am I okay? Jesus Christ. Thank you. Thank you, whatever you did or said saved me.”
“Yeah. Of course, yeah. I’m awesome.”
Tony caressed Stephen’s back until his hand moved up to his cheek, drawing circles onto the other’s cheekbone with his thumb.
“Come here.”
He pulled Strange forward slightly to give him a kiss. The billionaire nibbled slightly on Stephen’s lip and moved down to kiss his jaw. He put his other hand onto the doctor’s chest and made him lay back down as Tony moved on top of him.
“It should be illegal to have those cheekbones. I could cut myself on those.”
“I always thought you’d enjoy that. You are a bit kinky, aren’t you?”
“Do you want to find out? I usually take good care of my toys.”
Strange turned his eyes and sighed.
“If I was just one of your toys, it’d probably be February 2nd right now.”
“Smart boy. Well, maybe you’re now my favorite toy.”
He put both his hands on Stephen’s thighs and spread them apart a bit to fit properly in between.
“None of my toys have ever complained about it. I am a considerate man.”
“So you really are a playboy asshole?”
“Oh, no. No, no, no, I’m not an asshole as long as my playthings know how to behave.”
“You made a different impression yesterday.”
“You made a very submissive and needy impression yesterday. You made an overall love deprived impression. And I am open to change that. If you are open to behave.”
Stephen looked at the other man with widely blown pupils.
“What?”
“You always have everything under your control. You never trust other’s to lead you. I am not a man to take orders. I give orders. It’s about trust and devotion. And now open your mouth.”
The doctor sunk further into the pillow and almost automatically obeyed. He felt the billionaire’s thumb circling his somewhat dry lips. Once his mouth was slightly open, Tony put his finger inside. “Suck.”
Stephen felt a weird tingling sensation. He did as told until Stark removed his finger again and traced his lips more.
“This isn’t just about sex. It is not just that. It is about the trust you put into me. And you are doing great.”
He pressed a kiss onto Strange’s forehead.
“And don’t pretend you don’t like it. Because your eyes tell a different story.”
“I am an independent man. You won’t change that.”
“I will only change it when I please to change it. I like my partners independent. I want you to have your own life.”
“Yeah, I know. You told me that before.”
“When?”
“February 2nd. One of the February 2nds.”
“Fair. Then you know that I like to take care of my lover. And that I can be dominant in a relationship. With you it is equally as intriguing as it was with Potts. Because you both have the ego to speak up against me. She very much so didn’t give in when I told her to. And she is a great friend but I’m not following in a relationship. I lead in a relationship.”
“We had a day of eating cheeseburgers and walking through the rain before dancing as a trio with the woman you were convinced was my girlfriend before we talked and then falling asleep. You’re calling it a relationship based on that?”
“No, I’m calling it a relationship based on the fact that I didn’t fuck you against the wall last night. And that you desperately held me the entire time you slept. And that you appear so overly confident that there must be so much tragedy inside of you and I have the desperate urge to fix you. That’s what I’m basing it on.”
Strange swallowed hard.
“And for you to help me-“
“You need to give up control. Yes. Because you think you have power over everything in your life. And truly, you’re just lost. Terrified. And I don’t know why but I’ve never seen anyone so desperate in their sleep. Your subconscious mind is so deprived of all love that it hurts even me.”
Stephen nodded.
“And now?”
“Now I’m going to work on my new suit. And you can decide whether you want to collect some clothes and make yourself at home or if you want to leave. Because you have your life to live. I’m not going to make you dance around me 24/7. I want you to, as I said, live your own life. I’m gladly spending time with you but we both have greater responsibilities.”
Tony gave Stephen a quick kiss and got up to fetch some clothes and disappear in the bathroom. The doctor nodded to himself and got up, gathering his clothes. He looked at his phone and unlocked it. Three missed calls. Christine. He sighed and dialed her number. After a few seconds, the doctor picked up.
“Stephen?”
“Yeah, hey. You called?”
“Yes! Yeah, I wanted to check in on you. How was it?”
“Amazing. It was great. Fantastic.”
“Do I want to know? Is he kinky? Does he make up in dick what he lacks in size?”
“We- cuddled. And then fell asleep in each other’s arms.”
There was silence.
“Christine?”
“I think I’m gonna cry. That’s the cutest shit ever. Oh my God. I love you two already. I ship it. I ship it so hard. I’m sorry. Oh God.”
“Okay”, he sighed and massaged his temple. “You are a sixteen-year-old right now.”
“No. You are another human being right now. What now?”
“I’m going to get a few clothes form my flat and bring them here.”
“You’re moving in together?!”
“I’ll spend time here. Calm down.”
“Calm. Down? No. I’ll see you. Move with protection.”
“Chris!”
“I’m just saying!”
“Bye, idiot.”
“Bye, bottom.”
“Rude.”
He hung up with a smile. Bless her. He decided to call Josh as always as well. He always did this whenever he won something.
“Hello?”
“Dad?”
“Stephen! Hey, how’d it go? Did you survive?”
“Yes. Yeah, I did.”
“You sound- clam.”
“I know. I know, listen, I want you to know that I love you, yeah? I do.”
“I love you too”, the older doctor chuckled out. “It’s good to hear that, Stephen. You are in a good mood since yesterday, aren’t you? It suits you.”
“Yeah- I just need to tell you more often. How amazing you are. And- Josh, I saw a couple of very influential people yesterday. And Tony has their numbers. Would you be interested in teaching? At a med school?”
“I- Seriously?”, the man asked in shock.
“Yes! Yeah, I- I would love to!”
“Great. I would love for other young people to be taught by you. You helped me so much. I appreciate it, yeah? Always will. I always will know where I came from.”
“I’m proud of you, Stephen. Take care, yeah? I love you.”
“I love you too, dad. See you.”
He hung up with a very good feeling.
“Hey", Tony smiled at him.
“Hey.”
“You can shower if you want. And I got you a new toothbrush out. Just use my deodorant and towels and all. Feel at home. It kind of is now.”
The billionaire winked and walked to the door.
“I’m in my lab. Stay as long as you want. If you come back, just give me a quick call. My AI will let you in. I’ll program it as soon as I’m down there. Take care.”
Stark gave him a kiss onto his forehead and walked out without looking back one more time.
“Y-yeah.”