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You're only everything I ever dreamed
Ever dreamed of, ever dreamed of
You must be kidding me, did you really think
I could say no
~ Don't Think Twice, Utada Hikaru
"Stephen?"
"Hmm?" Stephen answered absently, still trying to commit one especially stubborn spell to memory.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?"
Tomorrow? Wednesday, wasn't it? "Nothing much."
"So you're free?"
There was a strange undertone in Tony's voice that finally made Stephen pay attention. "I should be, yes. Why? Is there something special going on?" The sudden silence on the other end of the phone told him that he'd said the wrong thing. Again. He was a clueless, hopeless idiot and he knew it. "Tony?"
"You know what? Forget it. You obviously have other things to do. I'm sorry. I just thought…"
"Thought what? Come on, Tony, you can't throw me a line like that and then shut up about it."
More silence and the bad feeling in his stomach grew. He'd screwed up somehow, he just knew it. But he didn't know how or why since there was nothing to screw up. Just some nice sex on occasion, no matter who much Stephen might wish it to be more.
"Tomorrow it'll be a year since you kissed me," Tony finally said.
Oh. "And?" Tony was silent once again and that was unnatural. "Tony?"
He could hear Tony take a deep breath and could almost see him gathering all his courage to speak. He'd seen the same display a couple of times before and it was always awe-inspiring to see him power through something but he never wanted to be the reason for it.
"Since it's our anniversary I thought about taking you out for a nice dinner."
If there had been a bomb going off next to him it wouldn't have stunned him like this. "Anni… anniversary?" he finally stammered, completely thrown off-guard. "A year?" Had it really been a year since he, tired of waiting, had grabbed Tony and kissed him senseless?
Gentle laughter was the reward for his confused rambling. "Did you play with the time stone again, darling?" Tony asked in a deep, almost seductive tone. That, and the nickname, made Stephen shiver. "You know you shouldn't do that. It always fucks with your sense of time. And it's much more fun if we're fucking each other."
It did, actually, and he had done a ritual including the stone not too long ago. But still… "Anniversary of our first kiss?"
This time he could hear a shrug. "Sounds more romantic than 'one year since the first time we fucked', don't you think? And regardless what some people say romance isn't dead." There was another, short pause. "It's been a year, Stephen. We're doing rather well, I think, and I want to take you out in style to celebrate."
Take him out… Stephen closed his eyes and resisted the urge to pinch himself. The idea that he'd somehow crossed into another universe flittered across his mind but he knew that that hadn't happened. They had never been on a date, just met at the tower or the Sanctum for some urgent kissing and groping, sometimes one or the other spent the night for an enthusiastic round of morning sex that Stephen felt for the rest of the day.
The idea that this was a relationship was laughable. And then Tony came along, wanting to take him on a dinner, celebrating their first kiss of all things…
"Yes," he whispered. "I'd love to go out with you." All the things he wanted but never dared to speak about and here they were offered on a silver platter.
"Great! I'll pick you up at seven. Wear something nice. I like it when my presents are wrapped up in pretty packaging."
Stephen was still busy blushing and searching for an answer then Tony disconnected the call.
It was the Cloak who finally dragged him from his contemplative pose and into his bedroom to change into 'something nice', just as Tony had requested.
*
"And you really thought that it's nothing but sex?" Tony's tone was teasing but there was a note of hurt in it that made Stephen wince.
A great dinner and even better wine had wrapped them in a sense of unreality and Stephen had slipped up.
He could feel himself blush once again at the question and looked down at the table, unable to answer verbally.
"Hey," Tony said, put his fingers on his chin and gently forced his head up. "No hiding. We're beyond that. Tell me the truth. What was the last year for you?"
Stephen swallowed, captivated by Tony's beautiful eyes. "A dream come true," he answered after a moment. "The best year of my life. But still not…"
"Enough?" Tony guessed and Stephen nodded miserably. "Because I insisted on hiding? And you thought that because it's just sex." Since Tony still held his head upright the closed his eyes to escape the situation. "Oh, baby. I'm sorry." He could hear and feel Tony standing up and coming to his side of the table. A second later a tender kiss was pressed first against his right than his left eye. "I love you, baby. Have done so for longer than a year. I just wanted something for me - us - away from the media frenzy. You know how they went crazy when Pepper and I broke up and I didn't want to put you through anything like that. I never thought that I'd hurt you with keeping it secret."
"You didn't." He held his eyes closed and followed Tony's gentle push to lean his head against Tony's chest. "I'd never dared to hope for more than what I got."
A watery chuckle was the response he got. "You've got my heart, my body, my soul if you want it, Stephen. What more do you want? I'll give it to you."
He swallowed down the tears of happiness that threatened. "You? Moving in with me?" he suggested. Tony's hold around him tightened to an almost painful degree.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Stephen leaned back and upwards while Tony leaned down to kiss him. It was wet from tears, tasted salty and was the best kiss of both their lives.
*
Later, in what would soon become their shared bedroom in the Sanctum, Tony's fingers danced across his naked back, petting and tickling him in equal measure. Stephen resisted the urge to purr like a cat.
"We're both idiots," Tony announced and Stephen just nodded tiredly, pleasantly fucked out and perfectly willing to play the cat for Tony.
"I love you, too," he murmured into Tony's chest, mindful of the crater of scar tissue where the arc reactor had once kept him alive.
Tony's hand slipped lower, coming to rest just above his ass. A possessive gesture if there ever was one. Stephen shivered once again and relaxed into Tony's hold.
"A match made in idiocy and miscommunication. We're truly perfect for each other."
Stephen forced his tired and pleasantly aching body up so that he could kiss Tony, slow and deep. "That we are," he agreed. "And now either fuck me into the mattress again or shut up and let me sleep."
Tony choose option one. Stephen didn't complain.