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As he rides the elevator up to his penthouse, Tony slips a hand into his pocket and touches the box there. Not a ring box, of course, even Tony knows it’s much too soon for that. It might be too soon for any gift at all. God knows Pepper had chided him more than once for gestures all out of proportion to the occasion in question. But one month with Stephen feels important, and once the idea came to him Tony hadn’t been able to resist working on it.
Tony’s not entirely sure that Stephen knows that tonight marks one month together. Most people, he is reliably informed, don’t keep track this early on. Stephen had been the one to suggest they have dinner tonight, but they have dinner pretty frequently now, it could just be a coincidence. You don’t have to give it to him, Tony reminds himself. It’s not going to go bad. If this is a regular dinner, it’ll keep until six months.
The thought reassures Tony enough that he stops fiddling with the box. The elevator reaches the penthouse, but when Tony emerges there’s no sign of Stephen in the living room or kitchen areas. The dining room has long since been repurposed, so he can’t be there.
“Tony, out here,” Stephen calls, and Tony turns toward the terrace.
Stephen is standing over a table for two set out under the fading sunlight. There are candles, and a proper place setting on some very nice dishes that Tony doesn’t recognize. It’s definitely fancier than their usual fare, even on those nights when they don’t eat out of take out boxes, and Tony finds himself smiling as he meets Stephen’s gaze.
Stepping outside, Tony pulls Stephen into a soft kiss. “Happy one month,” he murmurs when they part.
Stephen lets out a relieved breath and smiles. “I was worried you might think it was silly.”
Tony laughs softly. “So was I,” he admits. “I, ah, made you something.” He pulls the box out of his pocket and hands it over.
Stephen opens it and his breath catches. Slowly, he lifts the watch out of the box and examines it more closely. His face lights up and he traces a finger lightly over the watch face and then around the edges of the dial. “These are my favorite complications.”
“You mentioned once that you’d never found a piece that had all of them and nothing extra,” Tony says, bouncing on his toes a little.
Stephen slips the band over his wrist and secures it before leaning in to kiss Tony again. “It’s perfect,” he says. “And…” Trailing off, he turns and picks something up from one of the place settings and turns to hand it to Tony.
It’s a rose, painstakingly folded out of beautifully textured and colored paper. Turning it slowly, Tony realizes that the petals form a perfect golden spiral. He smiles, and then his smile softens when he realizes: Stephen would never have asked anyone to make this for him. “You folded it yourself, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Stephen says, blushing slightly. “Every petal.”
Tony rests the rose against his lower lip and shoots Stephen a teasing look. “Stephen Strange, a romantic. Who would have guessed?”
Stephen ducks his head. “Let’s keep that a secret, shall we?”
“I have no intention of sharing,” Tony promises, smiling.