Work Text:
Everyone knew demons and gods lived among them, and they also knew, and accepted, that they wouldn’t ever know who they were.
Most of them never revealed their true nature to anyone else; the basic magic required to hide a god’s wings and halo or a demon’s horns and tail used so little effort that they almost never removed it, appearing mortal nearly all the time.
At any given point in time, there might be no known gods on the earth.
Surprisingly enough, at this point in time, three gods were known to the world.
Two of these gods were part of the upper class, the gods who ruled over all others.
They, of course, were Thor and Loki.
The third known god was none other than Tony Stark, tech genius, superhero and billionaire.
He was rather… infamous when it came to gods.
Most of the time, gods were looked upon as a blessing, an exaggerated version of all that was good in a person, like an over amplified charity worker, or all the qualities of the nice old lady down the street, but crammed inside an all-powerful god.
Instead, Tony seemed to act more like a demon; unfriendly, even hostile, constantly ready to leap headfirst into conflict.
He disregarded the ancient laws about gods and demons, and received constant hate for it.
The only things that stopped people from speculating that he was a demon in disguise was his redeeming qualities; how often he was willing to risk his life for others, constantly striving towards the greater good, how much he seemed to care for others.
He was an odd one, that was for sure.
Even Loki, who had done some bad things, wasn’t questioned- he was, after all, a Frost Giant, one of the most ancient demon races, though he was still considered a god, though he was more of a hybrid; he had the horns of a demon, the wings of a god and an odd, not at all demon like tail.
Even odder was Tony falling for a mortal.
Gods only ever fell for other gods.
Demons only ever fell for other demons.
It was common knowledge; it was how the bloodlines were kept pure, and beyond that it avoided the heartache of losing a mortal lover after what was a short time to a god.
But Tony wasn’t known for respecting the ancient ways.
So when it became public that Tony had fallen for a mortal, and the sorcerer supreme no less, it wasn’t a big surprise.
In fact it was more like a mild shock, if even that.
It was the kind of fact that you heard, thought “Oh, I didn’t know that,” and continue on your day.
The day it became public, in Tony’s opinion, was the most interesting, stressful and nerve filled day he’d ever had, and being a god that meant a lot.
At the time, Tony had been down his lab, quite happily tinkering with his suit when FRIDAY’s voice met his ears.
“Sir? The media has an interesting depiction of you today.”
“I’ll see it later, FRIDAY,” Tony replied, waving the soldering iron in his hand in the general direction of FRIDAY’s voice; not a smart thing to do, but Tony was a reckless god, and did as he pleased.
“Boss, I assure you, this can’t wait,” FRIDAY said insistently.
“I said I’d look at it later!” Tony hissed as his angry waving of the soldering iron caused it to drop, bouncing off his thigh before hitting the ground; his skin burned, but it’d heal quickly.
One of the perks of being a god, enhanced healing.
The stubborn AI blatantly ignored Tony, bringing up the news feed.
The god was about to start yelling again when he noticed the subject of the feed; Tony Stark’s mortal crush?
It included multiple photos of Tony stealing glances at Stephen, some dating back months- this person was dedicated, he’d grant them that- along with video footage of Tony risking his own life for Stephen’s.
Tony groaned, running his hands through his hair and pulling at it a bit in agitation.
Now, Tony didn’t care that the world knew about it; he’d never cared what the world thought of him, or at least not cared to some extent.
But all he could think was oh god, Stephen’s going to hate me.
Speak of the devil, as a slight fizzing noise alerted Tony seconds before a portal snapped open and the sorcerer supreme himself stepped through.
“So,” came his voice, sounding rich and thick like honey to Tony’s ears; a voice he would never tire of hearing.
The sorcerer nodded in the direction of the news feed FRIDAY had so helpfully left playing.
“I take it you heard the news?” Tony said, smiling thinly at Stephen, and removing his disguising magic, something he rarely did but found himself doing often around Stephen.
He let out a small sigh at the feeling of his wings being revealed. He was constantly forgetting how freeing it felt to reveal his wings, and his halo.
“Thought I owed it to you to let you know what you’re getting into,” Stephen replied evenly, though his eyes were angled down, not quite meeting Tony’s gaze.
“What do you mean?” Tony’s wings spread a little, then one of them hit something in his lab, knocking it off, and with a wince Tony drew his wings against his back.
Stephen said nothing, but he didn’t have to; Stephen’s own basic disguising magic slipped away, leaving him there, revealing small horns poking through his hair and a lashing, almost comical demon tail.
Tony let out the smallest laugh. “And to think all this time I was worried about how I’d go on after you die and the entire time you’re immortal like me.”
All traces of tension left Stephen at that, and he gestured pointedly at Tony’s wings. “Can’t relate.”
“Of course you can’t,” Tony muttered rolling his eyes. “Freaking demon.”