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FRIDAY had alerted Tony to some suspicious activity down in Greenwich Village and he had suited up when she had mentioned possible magical anomalies. Tony wasn't a fan of magic ever since Wanda decided to manipulate his mind, but he had an obligation to check it out. FRIDAY had led him to a townhouse that looked pretty normal, but when he landed in front of the door and lifted his hand to knock, he suddenly found himself inside. The inside waa definitely not what he had expected. It looked like a museum.
His curious mind told him to touch. Touch everything. Tony managed to refrain though because what had come down the stairs to greet him successfully garnered every bit of his attention. Namely the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Until said man opened his mouth that is.
"Tony Stark. What brings you from your tower?" His voice was music to the engineer's ears.
"Don't you think it's a little rude that you know my name and I don't know yours? Didn't your parents teach you common decency?" Tony snarks and smirks when it causes the man's brow to twitch in annoyance.
"Doctor Stephen Strange. Master of the Mystic Artes and guardian of this Sanctum."
"That's a mouthful. So are you some kind of wizard?" Tony fiddles with some kind of pointy artifact until Stephen's cloak lifts itself and smacks the object out of his hands. "...I'm going to allow that."
Stephen huffs. "Why are you here Stark?"
"Got a little ping on my This-Doesn't-Belong radar. Came to see what it was and I find a wizard and his museum." A very hot wizard, but Tony kept that little bit to himself.
"Sorcerer." Stephen corrects. "As you can see, there's nothing for you to stick your nose in."
This arrogant fucking asshole, Tony thought. They had barely spoken and already this man had matched Tony's snark with some of his own, and the engineer loved it. Other people just rolled their eyes, ignored him, or called him an asshole. But Stephen? He was meeting him toe-to-toe with quips of his own.
Tony had left feeling elated after they traded some more half-assed insults and snarky remarks, and he wanted more. Nobody had ever matched his wit like this before. It was refreshing. Stephen was obviously intelligent, and when Tony got home, he did a little poking around in the man's history. Nothing too invading, just enough to know he had been a neurosurgeon until a car accident had ruined his hands, and in turn his career, before seemingly disappearing from the face of the earth.
He had visited Stephen often after that. Usually with the constant excuse that he wanted to know who he might be working with if a future enemy called for a magic user. Stephen at first had been snide, but over time just accepted that Tony would only be leaving on his own terms and acted as if the billionaire wasn't there. They had small conversations, mostly about what had happened after his accident, and sometimes Stephen humored him with an answer...other times not so much.
Then one day, Tony had visited the Sanctum and right off the the bat, knew something was wrong with the former neurosurgeon. He looked tired, his hands shook violently, and he even looked sick.
"Hey Doc--"
"Not today Stark. Please." The quiet interruption had Tony approaching the couch and looking over Stephen with concern.
"You're bleeding." The engineer states when he notices a weeping cut on the younger man's temple and he goes searching for the first aid kit he had seen Stephen retrieve in the past.
When he returned and tended to the small cut (after some argument from Stephen), the sorcerer had given him a confused look. The look only evolved when Tony carefully took one of his trembling hands and gently massaged the pain away. Tony was incredibly gentle about it, and Stephen was too stunned to pull his hand away or even make a sarcastic remark. It was likely because his massage was helping with the pain, and also the fact that Tony had a heart. He knew he could be difficult, but he really did care about his friends and the ones he considered family.
When he had finished, Tony directed him to bed with the excuse that he couldn't protect the Sanctum if he didn't take care of himself.
Their unusual relationship evolved from that point on. Tony brought take out for them whenever he visited in the evenings, and their snarky conversations lessened. They never went away of course but when they did trade quips, it was fun. Talking was enjoyable and comfortable. It even got to a point that Tony could ramble about whatever work he did on his suits, and Stephen would doze off against his shoulder. At first Tony had been offended, but the sorcerer admitted that listening to the engineer talk was soothing.
"Like the sound of my voice Stephanie?" Tony teases.
"Shut up Tony." Then Stephen had laid his head in Tony's lap and fell asleep.
It was the first time the engineer had seen him so relaxed. It was also when he discovered that Stephen enjoyed physical affection. Tony had run his fingers through the man's hair and when he got a content sigh in response, he had actually smiled. It became routine after that.
Then, one day, Stephen had visited the tower. Granted, he had scared the shit out of Tony who had been engrossed in welding something together, and the sorcerer only smirked. Tony had been surprised that Stephen came to him this time but said nothing as they spent the rest of the day binge watching movies and eating Chinese take-out. That had been the first time they kissed. They had been arguing over something mundane that happened in the movie and Tony had been distracted by Stephen's mouth that he had pulled the younger into a kiss before he even realized it. And because it was them, it didn't stay gentle. It very quickly turned into a passionate, lip biting make out session that left them both breathless in the end.
When they finally got around to the sex, it was mind-blowing. Tony was pleased to discover that Stephen could be an animal in bed despite being on the bottom, but he also didn't mind the gentle love-making when the sorcerer had a long day. Tony took care of him those days. It was after one of these sessions, curled around the sleeping doctor that Tony realized how much he cared about Stephen.
He would even go as far as to say he loved him. So with the assurance that Stephen was asleep, he whispered that love into his ear before falling asleep, completely unaware that Stephen had been astral projecting. He had heard...and returned the sentiment with the knowledge that even if Tony had been awake, he wouldn't have been able to hear it.
Then Stephen met Peter. The kid had been spending time in the lab with Tony and they were working on upgrades when the sorcerer had portaled into the room. Peter had shouted in surprise but Tony just grinned and introduced the teen to Stephen. The sorcerer had looked ready to turn around and go back to the Sanctum, but then Peter started to gush about Stephen's work as a neurosurgeon and that was it for him. Tony had said that he mentioned the sorcerer in passing and Peter must have done his own research because the engineer never said anything about Stephen's work.
Then, on a day that Stephen visited the tower while Peter was there, he had asked a question that had both Tony and Stephen freezing. Tony and Peter had been working on the suits, and Stephen was sitting on the couch nearby reading one of his books when the teen stopped and looked up at Tony.
"Mr. Stark?"
Tony didn't even look up from the part of the suit he was fiddling with. "What's up Underoos?"
"Are you and Dr. Strange dating?"
That got the billionaire's attention, and he glances at Stephen who was giving him an odd look before looking at Peter. "Why do you ask kid?"
"You guys are the human embodiments of heart-eyed emojis."
The unexpected analogy had Tony laughing for a good five minutes, and when he finally settled down to look back at Stephen, he found just the faintest glimmer of hope. So faint that one would have to look for it, and if he hadn't gotten to know Stephen, he probably would have missed it.
"Yeah kid. I guess we are." Tony finally says and Peter stares at him.
"What do you mean you guess?!"
"Never mind that."
Peter sniffs and looks back down at his web shooters. "Well...I'm glad you're happy again Mr. Stark. You need it."
Tony had smiled when he turned back to his own project. Happy? Yeah. Definitely.
His affection for the sorcerer grew even more when Stephen started to give Peter attention. He made sure the teen was fed whenever he was visiting the tower (Tony was kind of bad about making sure Peter ate since they both got so engrossed with their projects when they were in the lab), patched him up whenever Peter came directly from patrol, and listened to the teen talk endlessly about anything and everything. Peter was important to Tony so the fact that he and Stephen got along was a big deal.
Then May had passed...and Stephen supported them both through it. Peter for his loss, and Tony through his stress as he went through adopting the teen so he wouldn't be put into the system. Peter was his kid...and when he came home one day to find his boyfriend and teenage son cuddling on the couch, fast asleep...
Tony's life had finally felt complete.