Work Text:
Stephen is about fifteen minutes from going to bed when his phone rings. His caller ID doesn’t attach a name to the phone number, and it’s far too late for any kind of sales person or scammer. After a moment, he answers the call and lifts it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Doctor Strange,” Tony Stark says. “I hope I’m not calling too late?”
Stephen hadn’t ever expected to hear from Stark again. His heart rate picks up just a little. “Close,” he says. “But no, not too late yet. What can I do for you?”
There was a tiny hesitation. “I wanted to say thank you,” Stark says. “It seems like everyone I ever met sold their piece of me to the media while I was missing. But you didn’t, even though an interview about my form and what it means for my survival could have brought you a pretty penny and fifteen minutes of fame besides.”
Not the type of fame and wealth Stephen was interested in, but instead of that he says, “I take doctor-patient confidentiality seriously, Mr. Stark.”
“Tony,” Stark corrects. “Please.”
This phone call, Stephen suspects, has very little to do with saying thank you. He goes to his kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. “Tony,” he obliges. The obvious question at this juncture is to ask about Iron Man. Or how he’s doing after his captivity. Or what direction he’ll be taking Stark Industries now that they’re out of the weapons game.
But if Tony wanted to have those conversations, he didn’t need to call a surgeon on the other side of the country that he’s met exactly once.
“Which car is your favorite to drive?” Stephen asks.
“Excuse me?” Tony sounds confused, not upset.
“You have a whole collection, if I recall correctly,” Stephen says, taking his tea into the living room. “Which one is your favorite to drive? I’m in the market for something fun rather than functional.”
Tony laughs. “Well, that depends on where you’re driving it and how much you’re worried about tickets,” he begins.
Stephen smiles and settles onto the couch, facing the glittering expanse of New York at night, Tony chattering comfortably in his ear.