IronStrange Haven, formerly IronStrangeHQ

Stephen woke to raised voices. He stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out who could possibly be yelling in Tony’s apartment.

He slid from the bed, moving quietly toward the kitchen. He paused at the end of the hallway where he could see into the kitchen, but the people in the kitchen couldn’t see him. Tony was at the counter, back to Stephen, hunched in on himself. Across from Tony was Howard, his expression furious.

“—one job, Tony. But you seem eager to throw away my trust. I made you head of R&D, and yet I’m hearing the weapons division has barely seen you!”

“The other divisions are underdeveloped,” Tony started, tone monotone. “If we can revamp—”

The backhand, when it came, shocked Stephen so much he found himself jerking back, as though he’d been the one hit.

Tony’s head jerked to the side, but he otherwise didn’t react even as Howard’s breathing went heavy with exertion. “Stark Industries isn’t your playground, Tony. The only reason you have anything is because of me.”

It took everything in Stephen not to storm into the kitchen and tell Howard to fuck off. If it weren’t for the fact his and Tony’s relationship was a secret because of Howard, he would. Stephen would not give Howard another reason to hurt Tony.

Thankfully Howard had apparently conveyed his message—threat—because he left a few minutes later.

Stephen was at Tony’s side just as the door shut. “Let me see. How bad is it?” He cupped Tony’s chin, tilting his head to see the damage. A red imprint colored Tony’s cheek.

Tony looked resigned. “You saw that?”

“Yes.” Stephen took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to make it worse.”

Tony’s smile was a little tired. “Thank you,” he said. “If he’d known about you…” He trailed off, but Stephen knew what he meant.

“Are you okay?” Stephen asked.

That earned him an exhausted laugh. “Howard’s pushing 80, Stephen. It hardly hurts, anymore. I can defend myself against a 76-year-old man if I need to.”

Rage at Howard twisted in Stephen’s chest, but he didn’t let it show. “Physically, maybe,” Stephen said. “But you weren’t always physically able to protect yourself. Spending so long unable to protect yourself starts doing its own sort of damage.”

“I wasn’t abused, Stephen,” Tony said, tired. “I was a difficult kid.”

Stephen bit his tongue to stop himself from arguing. He’d help Tony more by showing him what it meant to be safe rather than demanding he accept what his childhood had really been like. “You deserved better,” he said instead. “No matter how difficult you were.”

“Yeah, well I’m still difficult,” Tony muttered. “The weapons division is our biggest moneymaker and…” He trailed off, sighing.

“It’s the weekend,” Stephen said, because Tony needed to hide from this and Stephen could give him that. “Come back to bed.”

Tony seemed grateful for the out and let Stephen tug him back to bed.

Tony closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep the moment they were in bed, but Stephen couldn’t stop thinking. He couldn’t protect Tony from Howard, not really. Howard wasn’t just Tony’s parent, he held Tony’s future in his hands considering Stark Industries. Even if Tony was the key to SI’s future.

The thought revolved in his mind.

“Tony?” Stephen prodded.

Tony grimaced, but did open his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about Howard,” he said.

“All right, all right,” Stephen said. “I’ll get on with it.”

Tony watched as Stephen started shaping the magic, fascinated when he realized that his raven eyes saw more than just the normal orange that Stephen’s magic normally manifested as. The core was still orange, but the flickers of static were a mix of silver, gold, and a neon blue. Huh, fascinating.

Tony watched as the magic extended from Stephen reaching out toward Tony. An instinctive part of Tony wanted to get out of the way of magic’s path, but that would defeat the purpose. Stephen’s magic wouldn’t hurt Tony.

The magic stopped a few inches from him and Tony looked past it to Stephen, whose brow was furrowed with concentration. The magic seemed stalled where it was. Tony was about to caw to get Stephen’s attention before it clicked.

The magic was waiting for him.

Well then.

He extended his head and carefully tapped the magic with his beak.

The magic immediately washed over him, and he felt a little bit like he was drinking hot chocolate while also relaxing in a sauna: Warm and satisfied.

He gave a little shake, and felt the magic dance off of his wings.

Tony? Stephen’s voice seemed to whisper in his head.

It took Tony a moment to focus on something other than the magic. Hear you, he answered. Did it work both ways?

“Yes,” Stephen said aloud. He looked entirely pleased. “Perfect.”

Tony had to agree. I take it back, Tony said. That did feel good. He was a little reluctant to admit it, but if they were going to continue with actual experimentation, it felt important to acknowledge that the experience thus far was going well.

Now Stephen looked abominably smug.

Sam had to admit that he was a little hesitant about the game himself. Yes, it was going to give them multiple chances to get Tony and Stephen to see sense—there was a pre-approved list of truths and dares to pose to the two—but it also meant the rest of them were fair game. Sam didn’t want to know what truths Natasha could wrangle out or dares that Tony could think up. 

Truth or Dare was far better than spin the bottle or seven minutes in heaven, which had been considered for a short time. Sam wasn’t ashamed to say he’d helped Steve put the kibosh on those, even if Wanda had promised she could make sure the bottles landed on the right people.

They all settled on the floor, different snacks settled around them. Sam stole the chocolate covered cashews, narrowing his eyes at Steve who looked like he wanted to take a few. These were Sam’s.

“All right,” Tony asked. “Who starts?”

“I do, of course,” Natasha said. She smiled at Tony, eyes glinting with devious glee. “Tony, truth or dare.”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think I considered just how dangerous this game was going to be,” he said. “I’m not sure I trust you with either a truth or a dare.”

Natasha just arched an eyebrow, smug and challenging.

Tony, of course, wasn’t the sort to back down from a challenge. “Dare,” he said. “Please remember, you’re not allowed any dares that will have my PR team sending Pepper after me.”

Sam snorted, because honestly? Fair. “No dares that will have the Avengers PR coming after any of us,” he agreed.

That earned an exaggerated sigh from Natasha. “Well, if you insist on putting limitations…” She looked at Tony. “We’ll start easy. I dare you to kiss…” She looked around the room as though trying to decide who to make Tony kiss. They’d played around with the ‘jealousy’ card, but had decided not to go that route—something about the psychology of rewards versus punishment. “Stephen,” she finally finished.

The faintest hint of pink touched Tony’s cheek—Sam didn’t think he’d ever seen Tony blush before—before he shrugged nonchalantly. “All right, get over here Stephen.” Since the two had—to no one’s surprise—sat next to each other, it was as easy as Stephen leaning in.

The kiss lingered a little longer than was really necessary, but that was somewhat the point. Stephen pulled back, a little pink in his cheeks, too.

“All right,” Tony said, looking mostly unaffected—Sam didn’t buy it—looking around gleefully. “Steve, truth or dare.”

“Dare,” Steve answered, expression making it clear he had no intention of backing down.