Work Text:
Tony’s not sure what he was expecting from a date with Stephen Strange. A portal to another country, maybe, or even another dimension. A display of magic. Expensive formalwear and exclusive events. Something grandiose, anyway. Something meant to impress him.
But when the day comes, a week after Tony had agreed to the date, Strange arrives wearing skinny jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. They do take a portal, but it only delivers them across town, to an out of the way Greek restaurant whose name Tony doesn’t recognize.
As Strange ushers him inside and greets the hostess by name, Tony finds tension that he hadn’t really been aware of easing out of his shoulders. Fancy dates could be a lot of fun, but they were also a lot of pressure, and Tony… Well, he was still only a week out from his divorce. He didn’t particularly want to perform for anyone.
The hostess leads them to a table tucked into a back corner, but not too near the kitchen. No one gives either of them a second glance as they sit. The anonymity is nice.
“I’ve been coming here since med school,” Strange explains.
It quickly becomes apparent why. The food is incredible and the staff expertly manage the fine balance between unobtrusive and attentive. The conversation ranges from their school days to heroing to research projects and down a dozen marginally related tangents, and by the time they take a portal to a sculpture garden for an evening walk (probably in New York, but who knows?) ‘Strange’ has become ‘Stephen’ and Tony is already thinking about the timing for a second date.
“I was expecting something more grandiose,” he admits as the date winds down.
“There’s a time when that’s exactly what I would have gone for,” Stephen says, smiling wryly. “Half my dates with Christine involved awards dinners where I was receiving the award.” He pauses and winces. “Maybe more than half. But you don’t actually get to know someone very well at an event like that. I wanted tonight to be more… personal.”
“It was,” Tony says, bumping his shoulder against Stephen’s. “How about we do it again?”
The way Stephen lights up at that is, Tony decides, very attractive.