Work Text:
The water stung in his still healing wounds, and he let out a soft noise as he ran a hand over his aching bicep. The journey through dimensions had been long and tiresome this time around, and he would surely be paying for it for at least three days onward. He’d taken an ibuprofen an hour ago, and while it dulled the pain, it was still nagging insistently at the back of his mind. It had gotten harder to ignore it recently, but he guessed it came with age. He was almost fifty, and probably wasn’t supposed to be running around like some other youngster.
He was startled when he heard the bathroom door open, ready to bring out his sword or a shield to protect himself. His nerves were still on edge, and he needed a few seconds to realize that he was home and safe from otherdimensional magic. He sighed deeply and lowered his hands, the orange magic disappearing, as he looked at the face of none other than Tony Stark. The Tony that had more or less taken him in a few years ago. “Breathe, wizard, it’s just me” he said softly while stripping himself of his clothes.
Stephen took a breath and leaned against the shower wall. “It’s-” he spoke, but Tony interrupted him with a finger in the air.
“I know the term” he said, stepping out of his pants and throwing them to the side before walking up to join Stephen inside the shower cabin. “I just prefer not to use it. It’s long and boring and wizard sounds cooler”.
Stephen let out a chuckle, letting his arms wrap around Tony’s waist as they stood under the spray together. The shorter man put his arms loosely around Stephen’s neck. “Wizard makes me sound like an old cartoon character” Stephen mumbled, tilting his head to place a kiss on Tony’s forehead.
Tony smirked. “Isn’t that what you are, old man?”
Stephen leaned back to give Tony a hurt look. “Did you just come here to make fun of me?” he asked, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes.
“I came here to take care of you” Tony responded, pulling Stephen in close to himself. “It’s 3am and you look like you haven’t slept in days. There are bags under your eyes, and you’re covered in cuts and bruises”.
“Probably because I haven’t” Stephen mumbled for a response, dipping his chin and burrowing his nose into Tony’s wet hair. He sighed, thumbs trailing little circles over Tony’s skin. “Can’t remember the last time I had a full eight hours of sleep”.
“Well, we better change that then” Tony spoke, smiling softly and digging his fingers into Stephen’s hair, caressing his scalp with the tips of his fingers. A soft grunt left the man, and he visibly relaxed into Tony’s arms. “Come on, turn around and I’ll soap your back”.
“Tony-”
“Nu-uh, turn around”. When Stephen didn’t listen, Tony moved his hands to twist the wizard around where he stood. He made quick work of dousing his hands and one of the loofas in the soft lavender-smelling soap, then moved to give his impromptu lover a well earned back massage. “Since you apparently can’t take care of yourself, I have to do it for you” he said, pressing his lips against Stephen’s shoulder. The magician didn’t respond, but exhaled a deep breath and hung his head. Tony continued to move his hands along Stephen’s back, then wrapped them around his waist to pull him into a hug.
“Thank you” Stephen whispered. Tony could hear that he was close to tearing up, but didn’t say anything. He simply kept still and rubbed his palms against Stephen’s chest and stomach as the man wept. He would pretend that he didn’t know — that the water was hiding the tears running down his cheeks, and that the shivering of his shoulders was because the water was running cold.
Afterwards, he carefully wrapped Stephen in a large, soft towel, rubbing him dry and massaging his scalp to get the wetness out of his hair. Tony made sure to plant little kisses here and there and hum a tune that he usually reserved for when he was working. He wouldn’t pride himself on his singing, but it was a simple hum, and Stephen didn’t complain.
“Friday, cancel all of my appointments for tomorrow morning” Tony said. Friday chimed delightfully, but Stephen gave him a worried look.
“Tony, you have an important business meeting” he said, wrapping the towel closer around himself as he watched the man put a bandaid on one of the smaller wounds. He doubted it would help, but he appreciated the attention.
“It’s not important anymore” Tony declared while standing up. Water was still dripping from his hair, and driplets rolling down his skin shimmered as they caught the soft light from the candle in the room. “Besides, it was only to pass the time anyway. You’re home now though, and you clearly need more attention than some stupid business meeting”.
Tired eyes looked up at the engineer, who was smiling brightly. Stephen sighed and dipped his head. Tony caught it in his palms and rubbed behind Stephen’s ears with the pads of his tumbs. “Don’t worry, wizard. I got you” he said.
Stephen stood, pulled Tony into an embrace, and nuzzled his nose into his hair. “Thank you” he repeated.