*/protecting your reality

Stephen sighed, looking over at the dark haired inventor. Things were...different since everything happened with the snap, the blip as people were beginning to call it. Everyone had to adjust. It was only natural for people who had experienced something none of them were prepared for. Stephen wasn't anything short of GRATEFUL. After all, Tony shouldn't have survived that. Something Stephen had resorted himself to living with for the rest of his life. It was he who had set all that in motion after all. Knowing he was sending someone to their death, and seeing him survive. It created a perfect storm of need to live up to the new standard.

A long sigh left the Sorceror's lips as he sat down, his cloak fluttering as he did so. His hand raising to his forhead he rubbed his temple a moment before looking over at Tony. " Everything is different now Tony. The fabric of reality is reworking itself after we...After YOU corrected it. We need to take time. Look at this from all levels. " As he looked at Tony he couldn't help but come to the realization. The realization that he was staring down a man that he not only essentially killed, another one on top of his ever growing list after swearing an oath when he became a surgeon, but also a man that he was finding he actually cared a great deal for.

RANDOM ASKS | Accepting!@kaeciilius

Peter’s hands are shaking, and he sucks in a sharp breath. He can feel himself slipping into sensory overload– scratch that, after dying, and then ending up in a crowded place with so much NOISE and unfamiliar things, his ears are RINGING as everything hits him, just eleven times more intense than others. 

His eyes are still watery as he looks at the other, trying to stop the way he’s still trembling, already trying to PRETEND he’s okay. 

“The– the…soul realm?” He can’t breathe right, he practically has to choke out those words, gasping for air. He died, he died, Thanos won, and now he’s gone, and he left everyone who might still be alive. “I–….I can’t…”

       IF ANYTHING, HE IS VAGUELY SURPRISED, and it takes him a moment to rebound.  ❛ —— thank you, ❜ says he at long length, and it’s almost cautious, as though expecting some punchline. but one does not come, and he lets out a weighted exhale of his own.  ❛ there is not much that can be done, i think. ❜ his smile twists, faintly bitter.  ❛ there have been many tricks he has pulled, but i fear this is not one of them. ❜

RANDOM ASKS | Accepting!@mischievisms

“ I’m  so  sorry,  Stephen. ”  It  was  hard  to  even  look  at  Stephen  knowing  he  couldn’t  give  him  the  answers  he  wanted.  Tony  wanted  to  make  this  go  away  for  him  but  he  couldn’t  do  that.  Reaching  over  for  him,  he  stopped  and  hesitated.  There  was  no  way  he  could  touch  his  hands  but  he  wanted  to  be  able  to  hold  him  and  he  couldn’t  even  do  that. 

Swallowing  the  lump  in  his  throat  he  looked  up  and  finally  looked  to  Stephen.  “ Eleven stainless steel  pins,  multiple  torn  ligaments,  severe  nerve  damage  in  both  hands. ”  His  hand  reached  forward  and  rested  on  Stephen’s  side  then. 

“ They  did  the  best  they  could.  You  were  on  the  table  for  eleven  hours.”  a  sympathetic  smile  appeared  on  his  lips  but  it  didn’t  last.  “ We’re  gonna  work  this  out,  okay?  Me  and  you.  I’m  not  going  anywhere. ” 

Stephen felt his whole world falling around him. He couldn't hear Tony. Not really. All he could hear was the echos, though he could still comprehend what he was saying. It was the worst feeling. Everything was over for him. Everything he had worked for...Gone. As Tony explained what happened, his panic began to swell, anger laced in there. His life's work, out the window.

" Eleven...Steel pins? " It was obvious in his voice he was panicked. His lip quivering as he shook his head. No. This wasn't how his career was ending. He couldn't just be done. This couldn't be happening to him.

He’d  lost  track  of  how  long  he’d  been  sitting  there,  hours,  maybe  a  couple  days?  The  only  time  he’d  left  the  room  was  because  the  nurses  insisted  he  ate  something,  he  had  refused  several  times  but  when  they’d  been  stubborn  enough  he’d  caved.  Even  then  he’d  left  for a  matter of  minutes  before  returning  with  food.  

If  he  hadn’t  been  starting  to  drift  off  he  might  well  have  noticed  Stephen  moving  before  he  spoke.  But  when  the  other  man  did  speak  up,  Tony’s  eyes  shot  open  and  he  sat  up  in  his  char  to  look  over  at  him.  “ Stephen. ”  The  relief  could  be  heard  in  his  voice  as  it  washed  over  him.  Tony  wanted  to  reach  for  him  but  he  couldn’t,  not  with  his  hands  pinned  the  way  they  were  and  a  huge  part  of  him  worried  about  Stephen’s  reaction  to  those. 

“ I  starting  to  think  you  were  taking  a  real  long  nap,  you  know. ”  When  he  stood  up  he made  his  way  over  to  the  other  man  and  sat  himself  onto  the  edge  of  the  bed.  “ I  know  it  looks  bad. ”  It  wasn’t  as  he  could  tell  him  it  wasn’t.  “ I  mean  I  can’t  lie  to  you  and  tell  you  it’s  not  either.  You  came  off  the  road,  crushed  your  hands. ”

Stephen was in a state of panic. His hands didn't looke like HIS hands anymore. They hardly even looked like hands. Staring at the tangled mess he tried to move them, coming up empty with results. His panic turned into anger. What had they done to him? What had they done to his life.

" No... " he said shaking his head. Tears fell down his cheek, rage boiling up inside of him. He couldn't move his hands. He tried to make a fist. Nothing.