#IronStrange

[in-baby-themselves-event]

https://sarah-261.mjcyd.asia/bw/eB1FxPv

[accept-long-our-able]

https://angela-458.mjcyd.asia/sv/JVQwmbo

[airas-story]

since you asked for prompts: ironstrange within a winged!universe?

Stephen stared at the picture of Tony from before Afghanistan. He looked majestic with his dark wings flared behind him. Tony was only a few inches shorter than Stephen, but without wings he’d always felt… smaller.

Stephen traced the outline of the wings. The feathers would have been soft, well cared for. Tony would have had quality wing-care product.

Would Tony have let Stephen touch? Let him preen those golden-brown feathers with all the intimacy that required?

Tony had never touched Stephen’s wings. Stephen longed for it but didn’t know how to ask.

“Looking at my golden age?” 

Stephen startled at Tony’s voice. He flinched back from the computer screen and turned. Tony leaned against the doorframe, watching him. 

Tony’s eyes were the same color as the wings in the picture, rich brown with undertones of gold. Beautiful.

“Sorry. I…” didn’t have a good excuse.

“It’s fine,” Tony said. “I get that I’m a rarity.”

It was no excuse. Stephen had worked in a hospital, he’d had exposure to those who had, for one reason or another, lost their wings. He knew how painful a subject it could be. After his accident there had been concern that his own wings would need amputation. They’d healed, but even now Stephen’s left wing hurt with too much exertion. The cloak had kept him in the air more than once when the pain got bad.

“Do you miss them?” The question slipped out without permission.

“Sometimes.” Tony tapped the arc reactor. “I don’t let it keep me down.” It made light of the situation, but it had been a sensitive question. Tony’s gaze ran over Stephen’s tucked wings. Understanding flickered in his eyes. “You have beautiful wings, Stephen. They could use a good preen, though.”

Stephen’s heart jumped at the implied offer. 

“Please.”

[infiniteeight8]

Something with age difference and meeting again when the other is older or it could be magical.

(An additional Ask was sent to clarify that this is IronStrange.)

This is going to be very exposition-y. I got the idea and really liked it and there isn’t space to write it properly in a prompt response, but I like it enough that I don’t want to come up with a different response, either. 

Looking up timelines for this got frustrating fast, so please just take any timeline weirdness as part of the AU. 😀

-

Tony has never told anyone—not Pepper, not Rhodey, not anyone—but he’s pretty sure he met the love of his life when he was 18.

It was a weird, liminal period of his life. His parents had just died, he’d graduated college but hadn’t been inducted into the company yet, and he was in that limbo between teenager and adult. Obadiah, for better or for worse, had been too tied up in stabilizing the company after Howard’s death to worry about Tony.

Tony had been very much at sea, and he probably would have gone unrecoverably off the rails if it hadn’t been for Stephen.

Stephen should have been the first of those unrecoverable decisions, really. He was twice Tony’s age, male, and apparently free of any responsibilities or ties of any kind. To any normal person, Stephen was a panoply of red flags.

To Tony, he’d been a safe harbor. Someone who would never turn him away and never judge him. Stephen was the one person Tony could say anything to without fear. Which wasn’t to say Stephen was a simpering yes-man. God, no. He could be acerbic as hell, and he didn’t hesitate to tell Tony when he was being an idiot. He also never left, no matter how much of an idiot Tony had been.

The end, when it came, hadn’t had anything to do with Tony. There are people looking for me, Stephen had said, and if they find me here, there will be terrible consequences. I can’t let that happen. My life would be… meaningless.

Tony had argued, of course. Had sworn up and down that he could protect Stephen. But he wasn’t twenty-one yet and didn’t have the resources or the clout he had now, especially not to protect a male lover back then. He doesn’t blame Stephen for not believing him. They had two years before Stephen was forced to vanish. Tony had always assumed he was running from the mob, or something like it. 

Now, the words Keeper of the Time Stone ring in his ears as Tony stares at Stephen Strange. He’s younger than Tony, the gray at his temples less pronounced than it was before, his crow’s feet almost absent. It’s only a few years, but it’s a few years in the wrong direction; Stephen should have been almost twenty years older than Tony.

Somehow, Tony manages to shake his hand. “The Time Stone, huh?” he says. “I guess time travel must be just another Tuesday for you.”

Stephen chuckles. “Not at all. Time travel can have terrible consequences; it’s always a last resort.”

Terrible consequences. 

A giddy feeling wells up inside Tony. He met the love of his life at 18, but the love of his life hasn’t met him yet. 

The relationship never ended, it just hadn’t started yet.

[geekyandnerdyblog]

Proud ironstrange defender

What can I say? I've always been one for "weird" ships. (It's not weird at ALL! Gave you seen the way they flirt?)

Honestly you'd think they were a married couple. I MISS TONY NOW AHHHHHHHH

[ladylokilaufeyson5]

“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional

[redvh205]

Guys, I just found out that if I read a fic on ao3 and log out, I can give kudos as a guest, and when I log back in, I can give kudos with my account, and both is counted, which basically means I'm finally able to give fics kudos more than once!!!

[kyuyua]

Nerds nerding

[ktrew]

I think Tony likes to kiss Stephen out of the blue.

[emmedoesntdomath]

one thing people never understand is that i can and will ship characters with multiple other characters. like, we’re not discriminating here. not in this household, my good sir. equal opportunity. if they want to make out, they can make out. don’t stand in the way of that. love is beautiful. thank you for coming to this ted talk.

[slasher-art]

Merry Christmas to everyone. May all your wishes come true. :)

[airas-story]

You're not supposed to be this good at lying to me.

Hurt/comfort

“You’re not supposed to be this good at lying to me.” 

Tony sat next to Stephen on their bed, keeping space between them. Tony wasn’t sure if it was the act of lying or the lie Stephen had chosen—I don’t need you—that hung between them.

Stephen glanced at him. “Not nice being on the other side of the situation, is it,” Stephen said, tone stiff. Stephen always got defensive before he got apologetic.

“That’s it? Revenge?” Tony asked; his frustration flared. “I lied to you, you lie to me? I thought we were above that.”

Thought they’d agreed that they’d clear the air instead of getting bitter.

Stephen slumped forward to bury his face in his hands. His next words were muffled but Tony heard the quiet “—didn’t know how—” and filled in the blanks.

His frustration faded. Because he understood. Tony never lied out of spite, not to Stephen. He lied because he didn’t know how to tell the truth. How to be vulnerable. How to open himself to weakness.

What a pair of pretty liars they made.

“Try. Please.”

Stephen’s words, when they came, ached with honesty. “I can’t do this alone, Tony. I need help.”

[infiniteeight8]

Idk if you'll make this but here's it

Stephen having an awful relationship w this guy resulting them constantly argue at the end parted ways. Tony on the other hand has been his rock, advising and supporting every Stephen's decision. Stephen at the end finally realised that he picked the wrong guy to lay down and take care of his daughter (it's America) so at the end they finally confesses (could be AU)

This is too long for a prompt, so we’re going to call 90% of it backstory and you get the confession at the end.

Patrick is an OC, if there’s an MCU character by that name I’ve just forgotten them.

-

Stephen is barely conscious when he finally makes it to Tony’s penthouse. America is sleeping against his shoulder, tiny thumb firmly planted in her mouth and small body lax against him. He’s been trying to curb the thumb sucking, but after today he doesn’t have the heart to stop her.

Tony meets him at the elevator and holds out his arms. Stephen passes America over gratefully; he’d kept hold of her through sheer force of will.

While Tony settles her in the guest room, Stephen slumps onto the couch. He lets his head fall back, eyes closed. A minute later, Tony’s weight settles onto the cushion next to him. “Thank you,” Stephen says quietly. He couldn’t have gotten through this without Tony.

“Hey, I’d do anything for you two, you know that.”

It’s not a new sentiment, but tonight it rings differently. Stephen turns his head and opens his eyes. Tony is watching him with a warm smile. It’s not at all the expression you’d expect from a friend who’s just dumped himself and his toddler on you with no warning. Sympathy? Sure. Relief, maybe, that he’d gotten out of a bad situation? Maybe. But this tenderness? That was something more.

Over the last two months, Tony has given Stephen and America everything that Patrick never did. Tony… Tony makes Stephen feel like it’s worth trying again. 

He reaches out and takes Tony’s hand. “I love you.”

Tony lights up, but what he says is, “I don’t expect—”

“Stop trying to be noble,” Stephen interrupts, “and just tell me you love me, too.”

Tony laughs and lifts Stephen’s hand to his lips. “I love you, too.”

[xenocorner]

Supreme family? I don't know her, all I know is Team Well, Shit.

[solid-white]

Me, reading a fic with the tag "slow burn" that has 50+ chapters:

The fic six chapters in:

[kyuyua]

Tea >>> Coffee ☕️☕️

I’ve been sitting on this forever so I’m finally releasing them from my basement :)