#ironstrangerbb

The early hours of December 1st saw Tony Stark in his exhaustion riddled bouts of wisdom, balancing precariously atop a step ladder as he tried to string garish strands of lights across the ceiling of the common room, singing ‘Santa Baby’ loudly and proudly off-key at the top of his—albeit slightly diminished—lungs. Hips swaying to his own internal beat, glittering tinsel wrapped around his neck like the feather boa of some Vegas showgirl and an oversized Santa hat perched atop his head that kept slipping down into his eyeline every time he looked up, Tony made quite the sight as various members of the team grumpily slouched into the area having been woken up by what sounded like a cat being strangled underwater.

“Tony? What the hell are you doing?” came Rhodey’s call of disbelief, that somehow managed to be louder than both Tony’s singing and Friday’s exasperated instructions combined, the AI trying valiantly to help direct the lights straighter despite her boss clearly not paying attention to her guidance.

“Oh! Hey Honey bear! It’s December, that means it’s Christmas!” Tony laughed, the sound slightly manic as he tried to turn on his perch and almost fell off. “I’m making the Tower look all festive and shit!” he added with a completely unnecessary sweep of his hand around him as if anyone could have missed the chaos that resembled an explosion in Santa’s workshop around them.

“I—Tones, I get that bit even if I do personally think it’s a little bit too early for this, what I meant was: What are you doing singing that loudly and putting decorations up at 5:30 am?” Rhodey replied, his voice much softer now his best friend wasn’t trying to deafen them all.

Yet, all that achieved from the eccentric billionaire was an elongated blink, as if Tony believed if he took long enough to do so everyone would vanish and reveal it was just his imagination before he slowly raised his arm to gaze at the watch strapped around his wrist in confusion. Because surely it wasn’t that—

Oh. Oh.

“Oops?” Tony offered, wincing as he gazed sheepishly over at the group stood watching him, the whole thing looking ridiculous as the hat once again slipped down over his eyes. “I thought that was 5:30 pm. I was wondering where everyone was actually.”

“When was the last time you slept Tones?” Rhodey dared to question, pinching the bridge of his nose, partly in disbelief, but mostly to hide the amused smile at his friend’s actions.

Boss has been awake for almost 84 hours sir.

“Thank you, Friday.” was said at the exact time Tony muttered an almost petulant “Traitor.”

Without another word, which was probably a testament to how many times this had happened in the past, Tony let the string of lights drop and climbed down the ladder, allowing himself to be led away by his oldest friend past the other Avengers—all of whom were kept quiet about their rude awakening by the War Machine glare shot their way—and guided up to his penthouse and into his room, where Rhodey went through the familiar routine of nudging Tony into his en-suite bathroom to get changed and ready for bed, before finally all but shoving him into bed with strict instructions not to move for at least five hours and disappearing once again back to his own room.

Tony sighed and resided himself to five hours of laying there bored out of his mind, thankful that he had access to his blueprints and schematics from wherever in the tower he was, otherwise he would have gone stir crazy in minutes. The truth was that despite his reputation for spending all hours in his workshop, ever since Stephen Strange had literally appeared out of nowhere into his life with a shower of orange sparkles, and promptly magicked his way into Tony’s affections, the mechanic had been getting a fairly regular amount of sleep.

Apparently once a Doctor, always a Doctor, and Stephen had taken Tony’s lack of self-restraint in the workshop as a personal slight, often turning up to forcibly portal the billionaire off into bed. And if Tony managed to convince Stephen to climb into bed with him in order to make sure he behaved then that was all for the better.

However, in true ‘Stark style,’ once Tony had gotten used to having Stephen in bed with him while he fell asleep, it had become increasingly difficult for him to do so without him. Now, every time Stephen was away fighting some inter-dimensional threat that even his brilliant imagination couldn’t fathom, Tony struggled to fall asleep; and if he did, he often woke up multiple times a night with his night terrors until he gave up and barricaded himself in his workshop, preferring to wait for Stephen to return so he could sleep then instead.

This time, Stephen had been gone for three nights already with no real idea of how long he’d be, promising Tony he’d aim to be back for Christmas Eve, but could otherwise not say when he would be home. Tony had been disappointed that they wouldn’t get the chance to spend the lead up to Christmas together, but the absence had also given Tony the chance to create the perfect Christmas presents for his Wizard partner without giving anything away to those sharp, curious, two-toned eyes that had an uncanny ability to sweep once across his work and be able to work out what he was building.

Reaching across for his Stark pad tucked away in his bedside drawer, Tony smiled as he scrolled through everything he had planned for Stephen. His plans for such an extravagant Christmas had begun almost a month ago. The pair of them had been laid in bed, Tony’s head propped up against Stephen’s stomach as he lay perpendicular across the width of the bed, reading out loud from the list of Iron Man merchandise that Stark Industries were planning on releasing for Christmas, trying not to purr as Stephen’s slightly trembling fingers played with his hair. Offhand, Tony had held up the holopad to show Stephen the designs for Iron Man naughty Santa briefs and joked about getting the first pair as a gift for the Sorcerer, when Stephen had laughed, fingers pausing against his scalp and explained that he hadn’t really celebrated Christmas since before he’d become a surgeon.

Knowing how long ago that was, Tony had blinked in shock up at his partner, before the sharp wave of determination had swelled within him, deciding in an instant that he was going to give Stephen the best Christmas he’d had in years. This year would not be a simple exchange of presents on Christmas day before going off to work, Tony was going to use the whole month to his advantage until Stephen had Christmas cheer coming out of his ears.

Tony had explained how he and Jarvis—the original one, not the AI—had quickly come to develop a ritual of sorts over the years, in which on the four Mondays leading up to Christmas gifts were exchanged. Thus ensuring that the full month was considered festive and everyone involved felt appreciated. Knowing from personal experience how such a small weekly act could liven the mood of what to most is an incredibly dark month, Tony had carried on the tradition long beyond Jarvis' passing by gifting toys to Children's hospitals, supplies to public services and such. But this was the first time since losing his only decent Father figure that Tony had wanted to try the tradition on someone close to his own heart.

Of course, that plan had completely collapsed in on itself when Wong had turned up to warn him of some threat causing havoc in other dimensions that needed his immediate attention, and Tony had barely had time to kiss Stephen good luck before the Sorcerer was vanishing through a portal to go do his thing.

But that didn’t mean Tony was going to completely abandon his plans, no sir. Even if he was planning on delivering Wong the biggest bag of coal in punishment for stealing his wizard away at such a pivotal time, he was still determined to get Stephen’s gifts sorted.

Once he was sure Rhodey wouldn’t come to check on him, Tony got up and re-dressed before sneaking back down to the workshop to start working on the actual creation of his gifts, quickly setting Friday to the lock-down protocol to ensure he wouldn’t be accosted and sent back to bed like an unruly child. He was going to use his time to ensure Stephen was utterly spoilt, and Rhodey and the others could kick and scream and pound on the windows of his workshop all they wanted but he wasn’t leaving.

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Monday 3rd December saw Tony sneaking his way into the Sanctum Sanctorum—although he doubted he was actually sneaking in unnoticed, he may be bitter towards Wong right now, but the man was not that oblivious—and making his way upstairs towards Stephen’s bedroom. The man was still not back, but a quick phone call to Wong had assured him that the Sorcerer would be returning ever so often to replenish his strength, but not long enough to include a trip to see Tony. As much as that fact stung, Tony was focusing on the positive, that Stephen would be returning to the Sanctum and would hopefully be able to find the gifts Tony would be leaving every Monday up until Christmas Eve when they should—hopefully—be reunited once more.

Setting the ornate, slim, velvet box onto the bedside table, Tony stepped back and shuffled around the room to make sure it would be visible from all angles, before setting a small envelope atop the box, propped against the bedside lamp. Nodding to himself in approval, Tony span on his heel and rushed out of the building, forgetting all sense of stealth as he raced and all but dived into the car where Happy was waiting patiently for him to return, holding his chest as he tried to calm his thumping heart of its nerves.

Inside the box he’d found tucked away in his closet, Tony had painstakingly laid out a pair of rich, dark apricot leather gloves, the wide gauntlet cuffs, embossed with a small row of runes asking for strength, support, dexterity and calm that Wong had aided in the design of, and had helpfully agreed to activate before Tony had placed them in the box. Whilst they appeared to be normal gloves, Tony had spent hours fusing the insides of the fingers and back of the hand with supports; lightweight, conductive splint-like supports that worked in sync with Stephen’s hands and not only helped to soften the tremors, but offered strength and grip to do things that the Sorcerer normally had to rely on magic or the cloak to do. All without dampening his magical output, or at least Wong had said so when he’d been badgered into testing them out. The envelope atop the box contained a rarely done hand letter, the beginning a little scratchy with how Tony had all but forgotten how to write on real paper.

Dearest Stephen,

Today is the first Monday of December and the first of your gifts for the holidays. I know you’re off fighting some weird alien, magic squid-like Gandalf, but Wong has assured me you’ll be returning at some point to recover your strength. If he lied to me I’m downgrading him from coal to an Orange! Anyway, I hope you don’t mind the gloves, I wanted to make them subtle whilst still offering you the support and strength you might need. Plus this way if you think about it, whenever you wear my technology, it’s almost as if I’m there with you to hold your hand. I hope that gives you the strength you might need in whatever darkness or despair these dimensions lead you to.

Stay safe Dumbledore. Remember, help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.

Love, Tony.

What Tony hadn’t been expecting when he arrived back at the Tower, was to find the common area completely decorated. Ever since his attempts at decorating had been thwarted two days previously, Tony had been locked in his workshop and had not bothered to continue with his interior decorating in case the others had tried to stage an intervention and tie him to the bed. But he had assumed that everything would have been left how he had abandoned it. Except now, the lights were strung across the ceiling delicately, leading the eye like runway stripping to the large real-life tree in the corner of the room, perfectly decorated in a rather explosive amount of colours to try and accommodate every superheroes costume choices. Even more amazing, was the mistletoe branches hanging innocently over every doorway leading to the rooms, support beams, the stairs and even the elevator where he’d just come from.

“Ah! Friend Tony!” jumping at the sudden booming voice from across the room, Tony blinked as he realised Thor was still by the tree, somehow camouflaged against the branches despite his size and stature, his fingers surprisingly gentle as he attached baubles to the Christmas tree. “Do you approve of our attempts at your Midgardian decorations?”

“I—Yeah! Point break this looks amazing thank you!” Tony grinned, eagerly moving forward to take a closer look at the tree. “You did this by yourself?”

“Nay, I had help from the man of Spiders. He explained a lot of the traditions to me. Including your strange adaptation of our mistletoe tradition.” Thor returned the grin with one of his own as he attached a Spiderman themed bauble to a branch, leaving Tony to wonder where it had even come from. “Did you know that the mistletoe comes from Asgard? Brave Balder was slain with an arrow of mistletoe, which was then given to the Goddess of love who mounted it and declared that all who passed beneath the arrow must share a kiss to celebrate the new meaning of love not hatred for the flora.”

“Really?” Tony queried, blinking up at the God of Thunder in a mix of confusion and awe.

“Really man of Iron. And on that note--” Thor started before pointing upwards to the support beam above the tree, where a small bundle of mistletoe was hanging, barely giving Tony time to register what it was before the God was bending down to press an almost bruising, loud, brotherly kiss to Tony’s cheek and proceeded to saunter off towards his room as if nothing was out of the ordinary and he hadn’t left one of the most intelligent men on Earth spluttering, lost for words.

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Monday, December 10th came and Tony smiled as Wong opened the door this time to let him in, not bothering to hide the roll of his eyes as he stood to one side and let the genius head off towards Stephen’s bedroom again. Upon opening the door, Tony felt his grin widening when he spotted the envelope had been opened and carefully tucked into the book Stephen had been reading on his bedside table, the box left open and empty on the bed, which the mechanic hoped meant the Sorcerer was currently off fighting the forces of evil wearing his new gloves.

This time, Tony sat a large, rather heavy, ornate box down on the bed, rubbing at his lower back as he groaned and stretched back to try and ease the strain in his muscles. Depositing another envelope on the box as he turned to leave, Tony stopped in the hallway only to cheerfully hand Wong a lump of orange coal, having decided to combine his punishments for maximum annoyance. Tony barely getting chance to enjoy the look of sheer annoyance he got in return, before he was running from the sanctum and laughing rather obscenely as the coal suddenly multiplied with a swift wave of Wong’s hands and started to chase him, diving down to pelt him like he was being hit with bags of chalk dust, until his once pristine designer suit was covered in orange smudges.

It had been so worth it though.

Dearest Stephen,

Second Monday, which means the second present. I hope you’ve managed to return by now to find your first one, if not, then you’re being even more spoilt by having two presents to open at once. This time I had to really go out of my comfort zone to find what was needed, but I guess that’s all I’ve been doing ever since I met you. You’ve really opened my eyes to what I’ve always believed impossible, and I’m not just talking about your magic (which I’m still determined to prove through science) but the way you’ve managed to make me believe that something about me is still worth loving. As for your gift, I found this wonderful little shop and got you your own personal Grimoire. I know you’ve been working on your own spells and other stuff I don’t understand, but apparently, this kind of thing is helpful? I hope this helps to show how much I’ve embraced your world, as much as I like to make fun of it. You amaze me with the stuff you can achieve, and your strength and power just utterly astound me every time I see you in battle. I hope this can be of assistance to you to help expand that vast knowledge of yours.

Whoever you’re fighting, make sure to give them an extra kick from me. I don’t appreciate you being taken away from me.

Love, Tony.

Back at the tower, Tony laughed as he found Peter and Ned covered head to toe in flour in the kitchen area, the remains of what looked like an attempt at cookie dough forgotten on the counter in favour of some kind of flour fight.

“This looks productive,” Tony smirked, laughing as the boys jumped and turned to look at him guiltily.

“M-Mr. Stark! W-We were making cookies!” Peter spluttered in his attempts to speak fast enough, his eyes widening as Tony tugged his slightly ruined suit jacket off and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

“Awesome, let's get baking then shall we?”

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When Tony pushed his way into Stephen’s bedroom next Monday on the 17th, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief when he saw the grimoire had been opened and moved to the end of the bed. Unable to resist, Tony crept closer and carefully reached to open the book, only to yelp as he was shocked like he’d just ran his hand across a bunch of static.

“A Sorcerer always guards his grimoire against outsiders Stark.” Wong’s irritatingly monotone voice spoke from the doorway. “You would do well to not touch, as hard as that may be for you.”

“You know me too well Wong, I just can’t help but touch,” Tony smirked, enjoying the way Wong’s eyebrow raised in a telltale sign of amusement. Or irritation, Tony always seemed to cause one or the other in the other Sorcerer. "I was just curious about what Goatee'd Merlin was planning on creating."

“Yes well, I assume you are here to leave your next needless gift? Stephen has become almost distracted by it all whenever he returns. It was unclear whether I would let you in today, he needs to remain focused on his job, not wondering what the next gift he’s going to receive from the Iron Santa.” Wong retorted, clearly concerned about Stephen’s work ethic, but without any real heat behind his warning, Tony almost proud of himself to be able to recognise the fact the Librarian was approving of the attention Stephen was getting. Even though he'd probably rather spend time locked in with Tony than admit he cared for his fellow Sorcerer.

That aside, it didn’t help the slight sensation of guilt that bubbled in Tony’s gut. He hadn’t wanted to distract Stephen from his job, only leave him gifts to celebrate the season even with him dimensions away, wanting the Sorcerer to know he was being thought of and missed. Setting the small jewellery box down on the bedside table once again, Tony snatched a pen from Stephen’s desk and hastily tore open the envelope of the letter he’d written, ignoring as Wong walked away muttering to himself about idiot engineers, and quickly penned a postscript onto the end of his letter, before tucking it back into the envelope and setting it on the new box.

This was another one of Tony’s inventions, a small, almost delicate, round talisman, engraved into the shape of one of Stephen’s signature mandalas. He hadn’t needed any kind of help with recreating magical symbols this time, Tony had watched the Sorcerer work so often that he practically had the whole sequence of mandalas memorised depending on what he needed them for. And true to Tony’s form, the talisman was embedded with a small tracking device that remained quiet and resistant to magic. Call him paranoid, see if he cares, but he felt better knowing that he could potentially know where Stephen was when he wasn’t in his direct vicinity.

Dearest Stephen,

Here is gift number 3. I saw that you’d opened gift number 1 so I’m hanging onto the idea that you’re still managing to get home in time to see the gifts. Your third gift is a talisman. Nothing magical, I didn’t know how it would react since I recreated your signature designs, I didn’t want to accidentally teleport you somewhere every time you put it on. I won’t lie though, it contains a tracking device that I have connected to my satellites. The strength of it should mean that no matter where you are on Earth, or even to a certain distance in space I will be able to locate you. I’m not sure how it works through dimensions, but if there’s ever a time I need to come to help you on Earth, I am determined to make sure I can get there as soon as possible. I hope you don’t find this too clingy or smothering, but I just want to keep you safe. It works both ways too, if you need me, you can use it to call for me, or find where I am.

It drives me insane not being able to follow you through the dimensions, but knowing I can get to you in this dimension helps my peace of mind. I hope you don’t mind.

Love, Tony.

P.S. I just tried to open your grimoire and got a shock. Wong enjoyed that far too much. I’m writing this extra bit as I drop off your third gift this time because Wong said something that bothered me. I never wanted to distract you from your work with these gifts. Please stay safe and come back to me okay? Focus on defeating the big bad and then we can spend Christmas together.

More love, Tony.

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Christmas Eve rolled around both far too quickly and not fast enough for Tony’s liking. The final Monday before Christmas meant the final gift for his Sorcerer. He had spent the previous night sprawled across the sofa in the common room, Peter tucked against his side, the rest of the Avengers gathered around them on various surfaces as they watched a variety of Christmas movies. There had been a Stephen shaped hole next to him on the other side of the sofa, but he had quickly squashed the feeling, knowing the Sorcerer was working hard and hadn’t entirely gone off on his own violation. That didn't detract from the fact that Tony felt both incredibly prepared for Stephen's return and yet so worryingly not ready at the same time.

The final gift was probably not as physical as the rest, but Tony was confident that Stephen would understand the meaning behind it and appreciate the trust involved in such a gift. But that did nothing to stop the nerves from rolling in his stomach as he stepped through the main doors of the Sanctum, already able to tell Stephen was back, just from the way the building felt around him, it filled him with a sense of euphoria that he knew wasn’t entirely his own, as if the Sorcerer’s building was excited that its Master was back permanently for the time being.

However, as Tony stepped into the bedroom, whistling happily and once again wearing his oversized Christmas hat and the comfiest brushed cotton designer cardigan he owned, his glasses perched on his nose to try and ease the strain of the past few weeks work, Tony frowned as he found the room empty. His gifts had been moved, the grimoire now tucked carefully onto a shelf, and his empty gift boxes stacked neatly on the bedside table but otherwise not a single sign of the Sorcerer even being here.

Just as he was about to leave, since his final gift had nothing to be left behind, Tony blinked as he spotted a small envelope atop the empty gift boxes with his name on. The excitement once again building, Tony grinned and quickly snatched it up, feeling like he would expect a giddy child would on Christmas morning as he hastily tore open the flap and tugged the small fold of paper out of it.

Meet me by the mistletoe.

Frowning at the vague, anonymous note that he only just recognised as being written in Stephen’s stereotypical Doctor’s handwriting, Tony forgot about leaving the note he'd prepared just in case behind for his partner and instead returned home, still clutching the slim piece of paper from Stephen in his hand even as he stepped into the elevator and then out again onto the common room floor.

The soft tinkling of Christmas music had Tony snapping out of his daze, attention refocusing on his surroundings, his eyes widening as he found the entire crew gathered in the lounge area having a Christmas Eve party, food and drink cluttering up every available surface as everyone stood around in groups chatting and generally having a good time. Those caught under the mistletoe laughed and obligingly pecked at each other’s cheeks before rushing off once more, determined not to get caught out again, apart from Thor who seemed to enjoy loitering under the foliage as if determined to get a kiss from everyone before the clock struck midnight.

Since everyone was in various forms of Christmas regalia, Stephen was visible almost instantly as he stood to one side having what seemed to be an in-depth conversation with Bruce about something scientific, Peter stood beside the pair of them, head swivelling like he was observing a tennis match, eyes glittering in awe as he listened to them speak. Still dressed in his traditional robes and sentient cloak, Stephen’s hair was a little windswept, and Tony was struck by the possibility that Stephen had come straight there after leaving him his note, and that was all the nudge Tony needed to make his way over to the group.

The conversation stopped instantly as Bruce caught sight of his approach, the Doctor quickly taking his leave and wandering off to find someone else to talk to, managing to somehow find himself ensnared under the mistletoe by Thor who jovially declared that Bruce was the first to receive his third kiss before promptly kissing his cheek sharply.

“I thought I was supposed to meet you by the mistletoe?” Tony teased, holding up the paper aloft as Stephen quickly turned to face him, his cloak eagerly perking up and waving a corner at him in greeting as it detached from Stephen's shoulders, which he returned happily. Yet, what really caught Tony’s attention was the shining silver of the talisman around Stephen’s neck that settled snug and flat against his chest just above the eye of Agamotto, as well as the deep, rich, apricot coloured leather, wrapped securely around the Sorcerer’s hands. He was wearing his gifts. Stephen was wearing the gifts he made for him and wearing them proudly, and suddenly the long month waiting had been worth it.

“Well...” Stephen began, before he lightly nudged his head back in a small upwards gesture, causing Tony to glance up and laugh loudly as he found Peter now attached to the ceiling, one sleeve of his uniform on as he held a sprig of mistletoe—the one from above Thor if the God’s petulant pout was anything to go by—over their heads with a cheeky grin on his face as he winked at the mechanic.

“Oh, would you look at that. How convenient, I guess it is a tradition...” Tony hummed as he returned his focus to Stephen’s face, swallowing at the way his eyes had darkened in those short moments his attention had been elsewhere. “Did you know the tradition actually comes from Asgard? Something about Balder getting shot with an arrow m--”

Anything else Tony had been trying to explain was lost as Stephen suddenly moved and curled his large, leather encased hands around his face and held him steady as he lowered his head to press his lips to Tony’s, effectively cutting off his rambling. The grip on his face was sturdier and stronger than anything he’d felt before with the Sorcerer, and somewhere in the back of his mind Tony congratulated himself on a job well done, the rest of him however, ignoring that little boost to his already large ego as he eagerly wrapped his arms around Stephen’s neck and pushed up into the kiss, one hand sinking into the hair at his nape, the other sliding to gently rest over the sharp point of the Sorcerer’s cheekbone, the rest of the world disappearing until there was only this moment here and now, where Stephen kissed him, that talented tongue tracing a familiar path, promising so much but remaining reserved, because at least one of them seemed to stay attentive to the fact they were not alone.

Pulling away a few moments later, Tony smiled as he moved to wrap his arms around Stephen properly in an embrace, sighing at the familiar feeling of warmth and security and a slight bit of static that Tony always attributed to the man’s magic. From his new position, Tony could enjoy the way the shine of the talisman complimented the rich colours of the Sorcerer’s robes, his fingers curiously moving to play with it as he simply enjoyed being close to the person he’d missed the most this season.

“Oh!” Tony suddenly exclaimed pulling back, tucking Stephen’s note back into his pocket which he was somehow still holding onto, and retrieving another envelope that he’d intended to leave in the Sanctum. “Here’s your final present,” he explained, handing the paper over to the other man, watching nervously once again as Stephen took it and carefully peeled it open, unfolding the paper inside and reading over the words on the page. It only takes a moment before Stephen’s head shot up in surprise to meet Tony’s gaze.

“Is this what I think it is Tony?” Stephen questioned softly, fingers playing with the paper in what was his own nervous type of gesture. “Are you sure about this?”

“Of course I’m sure. I trust you, and, you’re probably one of the only people who would understand what that means, and I want you to have it.” Tony explained, ignoring the now curious looks of everyone else as Stephen pulled Tony flush against his side with one arm as the other clutched carefully to the paper. Written out across the final gift wasn’t another letter, but a list of codes and commands. Codes and commands to Friday’s systems, that allowed Stephen the same level of control as Tony had himself, meaning the Sorcerer could override commands, set up protocols and even tear them down, including ones that Tony himself had set up. Tony had already programmed Friday to accept Stephen’s orders at the same level as his own, and she had seemed rather happy that Tony was at such a point in their relationship already that he was allowing his partner to have the same level of control as he did.

“Thank you, Tony, this has been the best Christmas I’ve had since I was a young boy,” Stephen spoke softly, leaning for another kiss even though Peter had long since moved away to return the mistletoe to Thor after caving under his glare.

“Oh darling, you think this was good, just wait until next year.” Tony laughed softly, going easily into the kiss with an almost dreamy sigh. “Just you wait.”

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