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Tony had been so excited to introduce Peter and Harley that he’d barely let the Tennessee teen take a single breath of New York air before he whisked him up in a car and raced back to the tower.
He knew Pete would be busying himself with their latest project, had made sure of it, so the moment they stepped in the room, Tony had an excuse to keep the two boys together. He’d already thought of his questions, his excuse to leave them be once they’d settled in.
That initial shyness lingered for an hour or two between them before Tony finally struck up the right topic, the two of them batting theories back and forth like old friends, no longer guarded or careful with each other.
Tony watched as the two boys shuffled in close, deep in conversation as their hands worked across the desk. He couldn’t keep his smile at bay. They were getting along already! He knew it was a genius idea to introduce them, they could teach each other and take care of one another. They’d be a good support for each other when Tony handed Stark Industries over to them.
He wished Stephen was here to see it.
Silently, he fished his phone out and texted the sorcerer, hoping he wasn’t in the middle of some dimensional battle. A Kamar-Taj meeting wasn’t much better, but Tony would take it, to know that Stephen was safe, and would be home sooner rather than later.
Tony watched Harley and Pete for another twenty minutes, fond and relieved, and ready to talk Stephen’s ear off about how he was right!
He knew Stephen had returned, had felt the man come up behind him, warmth radiating from his chest. The sorcerer slipped his scarred hand into Tony’s, and he saw the room through his lovers eyes.
Peter and Harley were older, more grown into their bodies. They still chattered amongst themselves, fingers busy with a project on the slab, working in perfect synchrony, and that was when Tony noticed the wedding bands on their fingers.
Before the question even popped into his head, Peter leant over and pressed a kiss to Harley’s forehead, going back to his work as Harley rubbed a hand across the Spider-Man’s lower back.
Tony almost cried. He’d hoped they’d be close, more than future co-CEO’s, but he hadn’t even considered they’d be the one for each other. He loved that.
Stephen let his hand go, bringing them back to the present, where conversations were nervous and smaller hands fumbled over each other’s, learning how they each moved.
Tony turned around and smiled at the Doc. He knew exactly what he’d done, a little smug as Tony wrapped his arms around Stephen’s waist.
“They’re gonna be alright?”
Stephen nodded, “yeah…”
“Good… we get to be there, right? -No bullshit about not being allowed to tell me,”
“They know exactly who loves them,” Stephen answers vaguely, but Tony gave in and accepted it.
He snuggled in closer, hiding his face in Stephen’s neck as the sorcerer wrapped him up tighter. He couldn’t help but smile wider now, as he heard equations and mathematical terms be thrown between the two. Not looking right at them, Tony could hear more of the adoration in their voices, the curiosity and fascination at each other’s intelligence.
Tony had done a lot of things wrong in his life, but at least he’d gotten this right.
“I love you,” he told Stephen, with a kiss pressed to the man’s collarbone,
“I love you, too.”