Chapter Text
The next day Tony was rather rudely awoken by a great deal of noise and somebody shaking him.
"Tony! Tony! Come on, man, this isn't the time to sleep!"
He squinted up at Rhodey.
"What's the rush? We have all day to break camp. Let me sleep."
Rhodey shook him again.
"Break camp? What the storms are you talking about!? You're getting bonded today!"
Rhodey grinned down at him.
"What, did you celebrate so hard you forgot? Without me? You should be ashamed of yourself."
Tony sat up.
"Did you get drunk in solidarity? You're talking nonsense. And what the storms is all that noise?"
Rhodey's was still smiling like he'd been kissed by a goddess.
"That would be all the other suitors getting ready to crawl home in defeat. Now get up! It's your bonding day! And wipe that spirits-sick expression off your face before your new mate sees you, they'll think someone died."
Tony scowled to hide the stab of hurt at Rhodey's words.
"I'm not spirits-sick and haven't been from just one bottle in decades. Are you angry with me? I know I dragged you to the desert for nothing but-"
Rhodey cut him off.
"What the storms, Tony? I'm not angry with you! Why would you think that?"
"Because you're mocking me! I know you're annoyed with me but I've never known you to be the type for that."
Rhodey's face did something complicated before settling into a completely blank expression.
"Right. Of course. I'm mocking you. Having a laugh. Trying to pull your leg. And just to make the joke that much more amusing I got the Sandwalkers to let me borrow their priceless temple artefact to make it look genuine."
Tony's maudlin thoughts ground to a halt.
"What? What artefact?"
Rhodey stepped to the side and pointed to an ornate chest behind him. Which definitely hadn't been in the tent the day before.
"The Eye of Aga-mumble? It's the bonding price. They brought it here while you were still kissing clouds."
Tony suddenly felt like someone had dunked him into a frozen lake despite the desert heat.
"So it's real? You're serious!?"
Rhodey slapped his shoulder.
"Now he gets it! Look, whatever you said in that meeting must have been inspired by the goddesses themselves. I don't claim to understand why but yes, Lord Stange chose you. You're meeting him for the bonding tonight, so I suggest you get ready."
Tony blinked dumbly at his friend.
"I'm going to need a moment."
Rhodey ruffled his hair, ignoring his protesting noises.
"Alright. But then you better get out of that bed or I'm dragging you by the hair."
A somewhat hysterical fit of laughter and two thirds of the day later, Tony entered the bonding tent feeling like his heart was going to give out from nerves.
And nearly fell flat on his face when his feet caught on the hem of his ceremonial garb.
He didn't know how exactly he ended up on his back on top of a stack of pillows instead, but it certainly beat kissing the floor.
Somewhat discombobulated, Tony stared up at... the omega he'd met in the temple?
That couldn't be right. Now that the man was wearing clothes that showed his neck, one could see the crescent-shaped bonding mark there.
It took a moment before Tony found his voice.
"I think I have the wrong tent."
The omega smiled.
"No. I don't think so."
It took an embarrassingly long moment for things to fall into place in Tony's mind. He heaved himself out of the pillows.
"Sometimes I think the goddesses are playing tricks on me."
Lord Strange's smile waned a little.
"I'm sorry if I am not what you expected."
Tony shook his head.
"No, I'm just... surprised. When we met in the temple I never would have thought..."
"Yes well. I didn't expect to meet again either but..."
Tony mustered a smile, still feeling rather unsteady. He sat back down on the pillows.
"Here we are?"
He got a smile in return.
"Here we are."
Lord Strange also sat down, a good deal more gracefully than Tony.
There was a long moment of silence where both of them clearly had little idea how to go on.
"You know, if Rhodey could see me know he'd break something laughing."
"Rhodey?"
"My dearest and oldest friend."
Lord Strange started unwinding the elaborate bindings around his wrist.
"And what would your friend find amusing?"
Tony deliberated for a moment, then decided that if he was going to go through with the bonding, he might as well put all his gems in the basket from the beginning. It was no less than his future mate deserved.
"That it's you."
When the omega looked confused, Tony elaborated, grinning despite himself at the memory.
"When I came back to our tent after meeting you in the temple, he told me that I needed to take a bath because I smelled like I was in rut and that he was very disappointed in me for making such a poor impression on our hosts by taking gifts from every pretty omega I came across. Or something to that effect."
Lord Strange burst into laughter.
It was infectious. Soon enough they were both giggling like children.
When they finally calmed down, Lord Strange's head had somehow found its way onto Tony's shoulder.
He found that he quite liked the feeling. He felt a lot lighter now, with the scent of happy omega in his nose and the warmth of another person close to him. His heart was still galloping, but for an entirely different reason now.
Maybe that was what prompted him to put even more of his heart on display than he already had.
"I'm glad it's you. As you can tell I was quite smitten with you. I still am."
He gently picked up the omega's hand, linking their fingers together and ignoring the scarring he found there.
"Now Lord Stra-"
"Stephen. Please."
"Stephen. I've never... well. I have no idea how Sandwalker bondings work. And I'm afraid that I didn't read up on it either. I hope you can forgive my ignorance."
A touch of red had crept in around Stephen's sharp cheekbones when he lifted his head to look at Tony.
"It's very simple actually. You bite me and then my magic will do the rest."
Tony frowned. Stephen's scent had suddenly turned sharp and sour. His smile looked forced now. He tried to lighten the mood, unsure what had caused it and wary of touching on something forbidden or painful. Bondings were sacred things to all peoples.
"Oh good. And here I was afraid that there'd be some vows for me to butcher horribly."
That at least brought the smile back.
"We will need vows for the official joining. I think we can take the time between our bonding and the formal ceremony to come up with them."
"That sounds like a good plan."
Silence feel again. This time it was the tense and nervous kind.
After a few moments Stephen suddenly withdrew his hands and leaned in, sticking his nose into the crook of Tony's neck. His breath puffed warm against the sensitive skin.
"How many scented oils did the temple aids drench you in!? I can't even find your own scent under all this!"
That made Tony laugh again, dispelling a lot of the tension.
"I have no idea. I don't smell them that much. But I think there were at least five."
Stephen giggled against his neck.
"I bet I know who was behind that."
He drew back a little, still leaning into Tony's space.
"So. Now that the surprise has had the chance to wear off a little, are you still glad that it's me?"
Tony felt like his smile was going to split his face.
"Yes. Out of all the flowers in the garden, I got the desert rose."
Stephen ducked his head.
"That's very poetic."
"It's a saying of my mother's people. It actually goes 'the blood rose' but that always sounded a bit gruesome to me."
"I like your version."
Stephen put a hand on Tony's cheek.
"Would you be terribly offended if I kissed you before we were bonded?"
Tony didn't even grace that ridiculous question with an answer. He just leaned in and brought their lips together.
He didn't know if the Sandwalkers truly used it for everything, but there was certainly magic in that kiss.
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