"God I love this weather," Tony says while looking outside his window with a cup of warm cocoa in his hands,
It was one of those days when New York would be filled with constant water everywhere and cold wind blowing making his nose and cheeks rosy pink. There was nothing Tony loved more than pouring rain, well besides building his suits, AC/DC, alcohol, and beautiful blue/ green orbs staring back at him.
He was currently in his garage building a suit when the rumble of thunder broke his focus, smiling at the loud roar he dropped his tool and quickly headed upstairs to see the sky turning into a charcoal grey and letting heavy amounts of water appearing from its clouds to soak up everything around him in a second. Whenever it would rain it would bring back many childhood memories, some were good and some were... not so good. Mostly he would only focus on the good ones since he was closer to his father at a young age.
One memory he would always love and cherish would be when Howard had got home from a stressful day at work.
**********
Flashback
December 20, 1975
Quickly taking off his damped coat to hang and kicking off his shoes before heavily slumping down on his favorite chair near the fireplace. Howard started to undo his tie and rolling up his sleeves to his elbows and turns his head when he hears a loud squeal coming down the steps.
Before he can get up and give a proper hug a small little boy with brown hair and beautiful honey brown eyes is crushing him down on to the chair with a giggle. Smiling down at his young and only son he picks him up and throws him over his shoulder as he spins them both around in the living room earning a happy yell from his five year old.
From the doorway of the living room stands his beautiful wife, adoringly admiring both the love of her life's with a smile. Before placing a squealing Tony on the floor he gives his wife a small peck on the lips and smiles at her with pure love.
"Well I missed you too champ," Howard tells his son when he placed him back on the ground,
"Daddy guess what I made today in class!," Tony all but screams just like any five year old does at that age,
"What's that champ?," Without hesitating Tony gives his father a drawing he made,
Looking at his sons art he notices how very detail it is. Seeing all kinds of colors everywhere, along with a full body which seems to be covered with some metal armor all over and a glowing circle right where a human heart is. In the top corner in a speech bubble it read, 'I am Iron Man,' it was very well done and neat for a fiver year old.
Feeling proud for raising his son just the way he wanted, smart, active, caring in his own way, and creative. Howard always wanted a son who can carry his knowledge and continue his path whenever he retired, thankfully god heard his wish and blessed him with a beautiful boy.
"This is a fine piece of work Champ!," Howard tells his son with a bright smile, bringing a wide one on his sons face from the complement by his father,
Taking the detail art he grabs a unused frame and places it inside before hanging it on the wall right where anyone can see it. A small Tony smiles wider when he sees his very own idea being hanged on the wall by his own father who is a great mechanic of his own.
"There. Now whoever enters this home they will see another Stark coming into the future," Howard says proudly and turning to grab his son into a tight embrace,
******** Present*******
Smiling at the memory of that night he takes a another sip of his hot cocoa. Tony always wished he could have that same bond back with his father all the way until... until his passing. Tony never understood why his father started to grow more distant from him throughout his growing years, no matter how many times he tried his hardest to make him proud he would always only receive a nod along with small a comment.
It would hurt him whenever his father pretended like his work could of been better, eventually Tony got used to his fathers comments and got used to not being loved by him anymore. He grew immune to love towards his father, the only love he actually had left for was his mother. She would always be there —when he won first place in a science fair project, was there for his first year of high school, and was there when he went out to his first date. His mother would mostly play both parents since Howard was always distant and constantly working, not having time for being a father.
The sound of a slammed door along with a few curses brings him out of his thoughts. Turning around he sees a slight soaking wet Stephen, not making him less attractive. His hair was wet from the rain and had a couple loose strands going down his face, his navy blue coat was damped along with his grey— now dark grey button up.
"How did I lose again?," Stephen says out loud as he places their takeout food on top of the island,
"Because you suck at Rock Paper Scissors," Tony reply's back with a smirk and makes his way towards him,
Stephen rolls his eyes at Tony's comment with a smile and tugs off his cold wet coat and hangs it on a chair. Then he runs his fingers through his damped hair to remove it away from his face. Watching in amazement but quickly looking away when Stephen looks at him Tony clears his throat as he places his mug on the counter.
Smirking at his embarrassment from being caught Stephen starts to retrieve their food from the bag and placing it on the counter. Once Tony's enormous sandwich and Stephens burger are out they both eat in comfortable silence, once in a while they would make small talk or laugh at their dumb jokes.
Ever since Titan happened and everyone came back safe to earth both Tony and Steve decided to put everything behind them. Even though Tony still didn't trust Steve or that other guy that is starting to look like Jesus, he wanted to be a whole again just in case anything else happens and they know they have each other again.
Tony was some what relieved everyone had came back alive, glad Peter was still by his side annoying him with questions and ecstatic to see Stephen there as well. At first they couldn't be beside each other without throwing sarcastic comments and stubbornly arguing, but eventually even they both had gotten used to each other's presents.
Technically with Stephen being around in his life has helped Tony with his panic attacks and anxiety attacks. Tony had gotten more comfortable around Stephen, the more they would hangout and the more Stephen would visit the Avengers pond. Whenever he would visit he would either be there because they had a meeting, visit some friends, or go down to the lab where Tony would be building new suits to keep him awake.
After finishing their meals, well more like Stephen waiting for Tony to finish his meal. Tony got up from the table with his Freshly new cup of hot coco and started to walk away.
"Where you going?," Stephen asks when he sees Tony getting up and walking somewhere,
"To watch the rain,"
"To watch the rain?," Stephen repeats his comment with confusion and crosses his arms in front of him as he leans more in his chair and watches Tony walking towards the large window that looks over New York,
He saw how Tony stood quietly there and admiring whatever he was staring at. He saw how his back seemed a bit tense from all the work he has been doing downstairs. Sighing softly he gets up from the table and walks towards him to join him, he stands near him and stares out to the city that is being covered by the pouring rain. He then turns his gaze to the smaller man beside him, seeing how he is lost in thought as he still looks out the window.
Stephen then admires his features, his hair slightly messy due to running his fingers a lot, bags under those beautiful brown whiskey eyes, his lips that look very kissable at the moment everything about him Stephen knew well and fell for the moment he first saw him. He never told him since he didn't know what he was feeling at the time, but once he was sure on how he felt for the billionaire he kept it to himself. Deep down he knew Tony felt the same way, by the way he would catch him staring at times and smirking when he'll just send him a wink and would make the playboy blush and look away with a smirk.
When he comes back to reality he then notices Tony is still lost in thought, seeing how he furrows he brows together and clenching his jaw every once and a while.
"What are you thinking about," He says and sees Tony finally coming back, but he doesn't look up towards Stephen.. he just stares back down at his warm cup,
"Just some.. memories," He says,
"Good or bad?," Stephen asks and leans on the window as he faces him,
With a bit of hesitation Tony then reply's, "Both,"
He lowers his head to try and catch Tony's eyes and when he finally does he speaks out again.
"Wanna talk about it?," Dropping his eyes from Stephens and taking a deep breath, he looks out the window before speaking,
"I was just remembering how my father was once a father, a father that I once loved," He says and continues, "There would be times, days like this where he would come home from his work.. and he'll do the same thing like any other day. Removing his soaked coat, hanged it, rolled up his cuffs, and sat by the fireplace in his favorite chair.," The whole time he talked Stephen listened, he always listens which is why Tony is always comfortable with telling him anything because he actually listens and never gives him shit for it,
Stephen then saw how Tony's eyes had gotten a little softer and a bit sadder as he talked about the memory. He wanted to reach out to his cheek for comfort, letting him know it was okay but stopped himself before making things weird and awkward.
Stephen never knew much about Tony's past since he would hardly ever talk about it. He never even knew about his parents passing until Peter spilled it out when Tony had to excuse himself when Stephen made a comment about something he quite can't remember. He still remembers how horrible Stephen had felt when he heard such news about Tony.
He left Peter and went inside the base to look for him, searching the whole base until he found him alone in the kitchen making himself a coffee.
"Hey Strange," Tony says when he notices his presence, "you think you can help me with something? I've been working on this gadget for yo-," He wasn't able to finish his sentence since he turned around and was met by a tall heavy body wrapped around him,
"Uhh.. Strange? I'm not much of a hugger," Tony says,
"I'm sorry Tony... I didn't know," Stephen says softly,
He then hears Tony's breathing faintly since he stopped breathing. All he did was stand in Stephens hold as he thought about god knows what, but then felt two pair of arms going around his waist and a head going on his neck and hearing him exhale deeply.
"It's alright wizard, you didn't know,"
Ever since then Stephen never asked about his past or father, he respected his choice and would be patient whenever Tony feels ready to speak to him.
After Tony finished telling his memory of his father silence goes in between them. They both stare out the window, staring at the city that's being covered by dark grey skies. Tony with his cup of coffee and Stephen with his hands crossed in front of him. Then after a couple of seconds Stephen speaks out.
"Not really into this type of weather," He couldn't help but share a laugh when he saw the horror in Tony's face, looking offended by Stephens comment,
"What? I think this weather is the best. No offense to the heat and it's beautiful blue water," Tony says,
"Yeah well, no offense to the cold winter and it's white puffy snow but... I prefer the sun and the heat," Stephen replies as he stares out into the pouring sky of New York,
They both stay quiet for a couple minutes. Stephen observing the dark grey sky of New York and Tony observing Stephens form, he takes his time to actually look Stephens strong form and thinking to himself how in the hell did he get so lucky to have someone like him. Tony has been too afraid to actually accept his feelings towards the Sorcerer because he feared he would get hurt again, fearing he will trade him over someone else and leave him alone on the floor. Again.
Although, Tony knows Stephen will never do to him because he's.... different. Under all that sarcasm, rich attitude and serious stare he knows he has a heart. A heart that cares for everyone, a heart that survived a horrible accident and a heart that kept Tony from ending it. He fell in love again, but he fell in love hard and he knew it will be hard to shake away, and ignore.
"Not even once?" Tony asks while keeping his eyes on the tall Sorcerer,
Stephen then looks away to look into those whiskey eyes, "Not that I remember,"
"Come on, you at least had to have one day out on the rain,"
The Sorcerer shakes his head, "My family would move a lot, and we were mostly in some big hotels or mansions, and my mother was very strict about going out into the rain,"
With a low hum Tony stares into those piercing eyes of his before letting a smirk appear. Stephen furrows his brows at him and turns his body to fully face the shorter man and having a smile tugging at his lips, sensing something from Tony and knowing all to well he'll probably won't like it. Without a word Tony turns around and heads towards down the hall that leads out into the garage, without thought Stephen follows but stops in his tracks when he sees Tony walking out into the pouring rain.
He sees how his spiked hair is soon flatten by the rain, his AC/DC shirt being soaked in an instant and seeing the mechanic lifting his head up to the sky with a smile. Tony then turns around and motions him to join him with a wave of his hand, all Stephen does is chuckle and shakes his head. Then Tony grabs a medium foam surf board from... who the hell knows and puts it on the ground before stepping on it. He then extends an arm towards Stephen, but only receives another shake of his head.
"It'll be fun trust me! I believe somewhere online it states you've never had a childhood if you never ran or played in the rain," Tony says with a smile and not caring he's soaking wet and might end up waking up with a horrible flu,
Stephen snorts before answering, "I'm gonna say it's not true,"
"Which part?" Tony looks at him with a smirk,
Smirking back and leaning on the door he stares at the soaked mechanic, "The online part,"
Seeing Tony grin and seeing a slight shade of red on his cheeks makes Stephens chest warm up. He shakes his head with a smile before peeling away from the his position and walking out into the rain, flinching at the drastic coldness and feeling his shirt sticking on his skin from the pouring rain and feeling his boots get soaked from the inside as well but not caring anymore since he has Tony's hand in his as he stables him on the foam board.
They both ran like children in the rain and chasing each other to the ground. At one point Tony had pushed Stephen causing him to fall on his ass, he looks up at Tony with a devil glare before chasing Tony around the whole yard until he finally catches him by the waist. Unfortunately Tony got startled by the strong arms around his waist and made him lose his balance which sent Stephen falling backwards and him taking Tony with him. Stephen lands on a puddle of water with Tony falling on top of his lap and hearing a huffing noise when he lands hard on the Sorcerers lap.
They both let out a laugh when they both calm down after a wild game of chasing and both settled on the ground, and Stephen not even caring if Tony is still sitting on him. If he was being honest, he enjoyed having him on his lap and only wished it will soon happen again. They both soon stop laughing when they lock gazes and being lost into each other's eyes. Rain was still pouring hard and hitting their faces, making the rain drip from their faces and soaking everything around them. After a while of staring into each other's eyes Tony notices Stephen leaning in slowly, and feeling his heart beating faster in his chest when he sees his face inching closer to his.
With one look down at the mechanics lips, that's all it took for the shorter man to break the short distance by roughly connecting their lips together. Stephen groans at the quick movement but gladly kissed back as he brought his hands around Tony's waist and holding him still. Tony soon gets his confidence back and straddles the Sorcerers lap without breaking the kiss and licking his lower lip for entrance, with a smile playing on his face Stephen opens his mouth and let's Tony's warmness collide with his.
The kiss wasn't heated, it was slow and gentle. Tony let's his fingers run through Stephens wet hair and softly pulling at the strands, earning a small groan from him. While kissing each other they can feel drops of the rain making its way inside their mouths, but that doesn't stop them from kissing, it only makes Tony devour his mouth ever more. But of course, the sound of a loud roar makes them break the kiss and looking up at the sky. They see the sky getting darker and the rain coming down ten times as hard, looking back at each other and smiling at one another they both kiss one last time before getting up from the puddle and walking inside the Avengers compound.
With a quick flick of the wrist, both their clothes were instantly dried, including their hair. They were still cold but knowing a nice fire will keep them warm, and having each other's arms wrapped around them while having a movie playing on the screen. Tony then walks away from Stephens hold and goes towards the kitchen to prepare some popcorn while Stephen looks for a movie on the T.V. Once the popcorn was ready and Stephen waiting for him on the couch they both sat together with a blanket draped over them both and being warm together.
Tony's back was against Stephen chest and could feel him move every time he'll take a long breath and feeling it go down slowly as he exhales. Tony only smiles to himself as he snuggles more into him and looking up at those eyes of his that make him paralyzed every time he sees them. Stephen then makes eye contact with him and smiles down at him before leaning down to place a small chaste kiss on his lips.
"Thank you," Stephen says after breaking the kiss,
Tony smiles before answering, "Anytime Wizard,"
With another smile appearing on his face Stephen leans back down to place a kiss on his lips and kissing his forehead before focusing back to the film. After an hour both men fell asleep in each other's arms with the movie credits playing, with the sound of pouring rain hitting the roof and firewood cracking in the living room, making it sound peaceful and safe.