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“Trust me,” Stephen said, laugh in his voice.
Tony stuck his tongue out in the direction of Stephen’s voice. “Of course I trust you. You just apparently don’t trust me.” He tapped at his temple where the Cloak had wrapped around his head as a blindfold. “I said I’d keep my eyes closed.”
Stephen snorted. “You’d absolutely peek.”
Tony made a face at Stephen, but couldn’t actually deny it. He’d absolutely peek.
He heard the sound of a portal opening and then Stephen was carefully leading him through. His hand stayed on Tony’s arm, guiding him forward. “All right,” Stephen said. “This is going to take some work. Lift your foot.” The next few minutes were awkward, with Stephen helping Tony step up and over something. Tony reached out to try to figure out what he’d just climbed, but Stephen had put him far enough away from it that there was nothing to touch.
A burst of noise, like a flamethrower, came from above him and he jumped. “What the hell is that?” Tony asked. What in the world was going on here? He was pretty sure this whole ‘blindfold’ thing was going too far. It’d been ages. What surprise could Stephen possibly be bringing him to? They weren’t even moving, right now!
“Almost there,” Stephen told him. “Just give it a little bit. Gonna move us through another portal.”
Despite the words, Stephen didn’t help Tony step through another portal. Maybe he’d used his sweep and slide move, though, because Tony felt immediately as it got colder. He shivered.
“Okay,” Stephen said. “One last spell…” A moment later Stephen was pulling off Tony’s blindfold. Tony blinked, the sudden light momentarily blinding him. Except, when he finally could see properly, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.
They were surrounded by a wicker wall, but beyond it was…
Tony let out a startled laugh. “Are we in a hot air balloon?” He looked up, but while he saw a burner—though the noise had died down, now that it’d ignited—there was no balloon? He squinted, because wait… There was a shimmer there. “Did you turn the balloon invisible?” he asked, amused.
Stephen smiled, looking smug. “Of course. “How are you going to enjoy the sky if there’s a balloon in the way?”
A giddy sort of feeling filled Tony’s chest. He’d spent time in the sky before, had flown as Iron Man more times than he could count, but this… There was no movement, no effort, he just… stood there, one with the sky. Limitless.
“I might have borrowed the Eternal Flame from the artifact room in Kamar Taj to keep the burner running,” Stephen said, sounding a little sheepish. “But that means we don’t need to worry about gas supply.” Stephen shrugged. “I figured we could fly for a bit, watch the sunset, do some star gazing.”
Tony turned to look at Stephen, marveling at him for a moment. This was… perfect.
“I think you just won date night for the rest of our lives,” Tony said.
Stephen laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. I’m sure I’ll find a way to surpass this. But you’re doomed, obviously.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up.”
“You said it first!” Stephen pointed out.
Tony ignored him, instead moving to the edge of the basket. Stephen had gotten them over the water—he must have opened a portal large enough for the entire balloon to move through—and Tony was surrounded by a world of blue.
A laugh escaped him, sheer joy overwhelming him.
Stephen came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist and resting his chin on Tony’s shoulder. “You said once, that before we ever met I gave you the sky. And that was when you started loving me.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m falling more and more in love with you all the time,” Tony said. “Which, really, doesn’t make sense. Not that I’m saying love is finite, but I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be exponential, either.”
Stephen’s laugh was warm against his jaw. “I’m not getting into the mathematical nature of love with you,” Stephen said. “I’m far better at the neurochemistry behind it.”
Tony shushed him. “Don’t ruin the romance of our date by telling me that my love for you is the equivalent to taking cocaine.”
“That’s not—” Stephen sighed. “Okay, so there are some dopamine-related similarities, and of course that’s what you remember, but that’s not what I was going to say.”
Tony snorted. “For once, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, let’s keep the math and science out of it. I just want to enjoy this moment.”
“Before that, there’s one thing I need to ask,” Stephen said.
“No, I have not taken cocaine, so I can’t compare—”
“That was not the question I was going to ask,” Stephen said, laughing. “You are ruining the moment, Tony!”
“Sorry,” Tony lied.
The cloak fluttered in front of them, momentarily marring the perfect view. It shifted, holding out a box in its fabric.
“Tony,” Stephen said, tone serious. “Before we ever met, I gave you the sky. It was unintentional and effortless, a quirk in the universe I was born with the right color eyes.” Tony’s breath caught as he realized what was happening. The cloak opened the box, revealing a ring, the metal a blue so dark it looked like night, with glints of silver like stars. “But now I know you, love you. I want to give you the sky again. Not as a quirk of the universe, but as a choice.”
Tony swallowed hard, heart pounding.
“Tony Stark, will you marry me?” Stephen finished.
“Yes,” Tony whispered, then again, louder. “Yes.”
He spun in Stephen’s arms and kissed him, pressing every inch of his love—never finite, seemingly as exponential as the universe itself—into the kiss.
For the second time—and for the nth—Stephen had given him the sky.
Was it any wonder Tony loved him?