An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/5
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man (Movies), Doctor Strange (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Loki/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Loki/Stephen Strange
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Ancient One (Marvel), James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Ho Yinsen
Additional Tags: Multiverse Variants, Supreme Strange - Freeform, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Multiverse, Canon Rewrite, Anal Sex, Mind Sex, Oral Sex, Threesome - M/M/M, Morally Ambiguous Stephen Strange, POV Tony Stark, Hurt Tony Stark, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brief Suicide Thoughts, Bad Parent Howard Stark, Bad Parent Maria Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Light Bondage, Sex Magic
Summary:
All his life, Tony has heard voices in his head. Two, to be precise. One that makes him think of crimson and frost, the other of darkness and fireflies. They say they’re guardians from another lifetime, guardians that will guide him towards the two people who will love him most in this world.
But what if…what if Tony doesn’t want the Loki and Stephen from his universe?
What if he wants the Loki and Stephen who speak in his head?
Just a short snippet of a FrostIronStrange thank you story I'm working on for @hayanwulf Thank you so much again for all of your endless patience and support.
Current working title: An Alliance of Frost and Amber
He couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t hear the voices.
They were an intrinsic part of him, just as his hair was brown and his name was Anthony Stark.
He hated the name Anthony.
His father used it with such derision that it made him flinch whenever anyone else used it. His mother, when she was present and not glassy eyed from escaping into her wine, used it as a sharp exhale, as if his presence was tedious.
The boy learnt quickly that his achievements went unnoticed, that he couldn’t compete with the name Steve Rogers. He wasn’t sure if Steve had been the child his father wanted, a brother, a friend, but his earliest memories were of his father shouting that he needed to look for Steve, that his company was worthless if it couldn’t find him.
It was one of the ladies who looked after him who told him, who handed him a plastic red and blue doll and said it was Steve Rogers, Captain America. Excited, he had presented it to his father, convinced he had found who his father was looking for.
That was the first time his father had hit him.
Curling up under his bed, he had imagined the darkness pressing around him, that it was a living tangible thing, enveloping him in an embrace. Lifting a hand to his cheek, he winced at the pain his fingertips evoked.
‘Tony, sweetheart, it’s okay,’ a voicehad crooned, and he felt it then, a shaking caress over his head.
‘In his simple-mindedness, he does not understand your brilliance. It is not your failing, it is his,’ another voice hissed.
Two distinct voices.
The first time he’d felt cared for.
From that moment on, he called himself Tony Stark.
***
‘Do you hear voices in your head too?’ Tony asked Jarvis as he peered over his elbow, praying the apple being cut up wasn’t his snack.
Jarvis was the only person he trusted enough to ask. Mentioning it at school had made the other kids laugh at him, and Tony had been the victim of relentless bullying for weeks. Jarvis was the only safe person he could talk to, the only adult who didn’t call him Anthony, or asked him things about his father instead of listening to him.
‘Voices?’ Jarvis asked, reaching down to ruffle his hair, laughing as Tony pulled a face at the apple juice now staining it.
‘In your head, telling you things,’ Tony explained, opening his mouth obediently as Jarvis offered an apple slice, shuffling from foot to foot in excitement as he bypassed him to stick it in the peanut butter jar.
‘Does it sound like your own voice? Like when you’re thinking about what to do next?’ Jarvis asked, and Tony thought about it as he chewed, swaying a little bit in happiness.
SO... I just checked my ao3 after a LONG time and thought to reread all my fav strangefrost fics yea? And what do I see?(my dumb ass doesn't bother with tags or the number of chapters so i didn't notice this before🤦)
Vampire! Stephen and Donor!Loki is NOT JUST A ONE SHOT?!! And we also have some spice?!! AND you plan on writing more full length fics for these idiots?! Excuse me crying shaking and screaming in the corner
AUTHOR YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GRATEFUL I AM THAT YOU WRITE FOR THIS PAIR. Like Seriously, they have me in a FREAKING CHOKEHOLD AND YOU WRITE SUCH AMAZING STORIES 😭😭🤧
ahem.... How did you get into this pairing anyway?
I kinda brought this upon myself when i decided, "Hey, a threesome with Tony Loki and Stephen? seems interesting, let's see...." and then "Ooh Loki and Stephen kinda give a vibe" and then came the comics.... BOY did I underestimate just how bad I could go down (not that anyone asked, sorry)
So, do you see? Do you get it? Do you understand how thankful I am??? Do you know I love you? Do you know i ADORE your fics??
Gee, thank you, dear reader! Do YOU know how amazing you are for letting me know all of this? Strangefrost is such a tiny community, and yet I have readers like you who fully appreciate my work. Thank you so much!
As for how I got into this pairing.. pretty similar, in that I was already into ironstrange, and also I really really love Loki, who is only second to Stephen in being my subject of affection. So like, oh you're telling me there's frostironstrange fics out there? Sign me up! And down I went the rabbit hole which I do not wish to get out of.
It's a shame that there aren't nearly enough fics in the strangefrost and frostironstrange categories. The few that I've read are absolutely brilliant and addicting and I wish there were more of them. But hey, maybe I can contribute a few. I do have several fics planned at this point for both strangefrost and frostironstrange, just waiting on my muse to finally pick them up which.. is being difficult lately. So we'll have to wait and see.
Loki’s genderfluid identity within the Marvel universe actually comes from ancient Norse mythology from the time of the vikings, over a thousand years ago. There are Norse myths that describe that, while the god of chaos was born male, he presents himself as both male and female, and uses his shapeshifting powers to transform himself into a woman, such as the time when Loki posed as a handmaiden, and also spent several years in a female form and bore children. The myths refer to him as both a mother and a father.
While Loki presenting as both male and female dates all the way back to Norse Mythology, there wasn't a moment in Marvel comics where Loki seriously spoke about his gender identity until 2014, a whole 52 years after his first appearance in Marvel Comics (and 65 years after his first appearance in Timely Comics).
However, while Loki's female form didn't become an express part of his identity until 2014, traces of his genderfluidity still existed in Marvel comics, even if it wouldn't be expanded upon until much later. In fact, the first appearance of Loki in a female form was back in 1993 in Thor Annual #18, when Loki briefly transforms into a woman.
(Thor Annual #18, released June 8, 1993)
We see this form again 14 years later in December of 2007, in a Thor comic run that takes place after Ragnarok and all the Asgardians have been reborn, and Loki has been reborn into Sif's body. This comic run is also where the name “Lady Loki” became popularized.
(Thor #5, released December 28, 2007)
And while there is a brief conversation had by the Warriors Three discussing Loki's gender identity, there still wouldn't be a comic that states this form as a part of his identity for another seven years.
(Thor #9, released May 29, 2008)
Agent of Asgard, a Loki-centered comic series released in 2014, is a huge moment in Loki's genderfluidity. This is when we really start to see Loki refer his female form as a true part of himself, as first seen in issue #2.
(Agent of Asgard #2, released March 5, 2014)
We see this form again in issue #5, where Loki once again describes this form as not just something he can just transform into.
(Agent of Asgard #5, released June 4, 2014)
Loki then continues with a female form for a majority of issues #14-16.
(Agent of Asgard #14, released May 20, 2015) (Agent of Asgard #15, released June 24, 2015) (Agent of Asgard #16, released July 22, 2015)
While there had been whispers of Loki's queer identity in other comics before this point, Agent of Asgard was huge in solidifying Loki's genderfluidity and really cementing him as a queer character in the Marvel universe. Since then, Loki has carried his genderfluidity on into several other comic series by many different authors:
(Loki #2, released July 12, 2023) (Loki #3, released September 11, 2019) (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #27, released December 13, 2017) (Defenders Beyond #1, released July 20, 2022) (Vote Loki #1, released June 15, 2016) (Immortal Thor #3, released October 25, 2023)
Appeared on the covers of Marvel's pride comics:
(Marvel Voices Pride #1 2022 Variant Cover, released June 22, 2022) (Marvel Voices Pride #1 2023, released June 14, 2023)
Showcased him shapeshifting into other female Marvel characters:
(X-Men the Wedding Special #1, released May 29, 2024)
Other characters in the Marvel universe have accepted his identity:
(Agent of Asgard #11, released February 18, 2015) (Loki #4, released October 9, 2019) (Original Sin #5.5, released September 17, 2014)
His gender identity being mentioned in the novel “Where Mischief Lies”:
(Where Mischief Lies, chapter 22, released September 3, 2019)
And even a very brief mention in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when his TVA file in the Loki series lists his sex as “fluid”:
(Loki season 1, released June 9, 2021)
The term “genderfluid” falls under the trans umbrella, which includes any identity that involves you identifying as something different than what you were assigned at birth. While we still have a long way to go in terms of trans representation in the media, Loki being firmly cemented as a trans character within the Marvel universe is a huge step in the right direction.
Loki is very vocal about identifying as male, and female, and sometimes neither. He doesn't care if you don't get it, or think it's weird. It makes perfect sense to him, and that's all that matters. And he refuses to change his identity for anyone.
(Where Mischief Lies, chapter 18, released September 3, 2019) (Where Mischief Lies, chapter 19, released September 3, 2019) (Agent of Asgard #2, released March 5, 2014) (Agent of Asgard #14, released May 20, 2015)
i really really loved your marvel rivals strangefrost! ... could you write more of them please
Last time they were on same team, figured I should have them on opposite team this time.
I feel the need to clarify this does not 100% follow MR game logic.
Seol sprinted out of the spawn room, anxious to join her team as soon as possible.
She was all the way at the first gate of Yggsgard, while her team relentlessly fought in front of the second gate, trying to push through. They had to destroy Loki’s Yggdrasil tapping device, or the Ten Realms might as well be doomed. But with the enemy team running triple rez, they were at a huge disadvantage. No matter how many enemies their team killed, they simply kept resurrecting instantly.
As she was about to run though the first gate, she suddenly collided with a solid wall. “Oof!” She yelped, stepping back to watch as the wall — the gate, closed — solidified into existence, shimmering with green magic. “What..?”
She was sure the gates couldn’t be closed randomly like that. But nevermind that now. She turned to the narrow hallway just to the right of the gate...
...only to realize it was closed, too.
“What?” She exclaimed, much louder now. “How?”
“Ah yes, that would be me,” spoke a smooth voice behind her, and she immediately turned around, coming face to face with Loki.
“You!” She wasted no time in hitting the trickster with a freeze, and killing him with two critical blows.
Wait, she thought, staring down at a frozen Loki corpse on the ground, uncertainty crawling up her spine. That was too easy.
A low, rumbling laugh made her jump in surprise, and she looked up at the ledge above the gate, finding Loki standing there, very much alive.
“You really thought you could get me with those pitiful abilities of yours?” The trickster smiled mockingly.
“The only thing pitiful here is your sorry excuses of illusions,” She snarked back. “Open the gates, Loki. You can’t just close them.”
“Oh, but I can. I am the King.” Loki jumped down, the dark, wicked smile on his face making goosebumps rise on her skin. He slowly began advancing towards her, and she found herself instinctively backing away. “Do not fret, though. I won’t take much of your time. In fact, I only needed this one, trivial thing from you.”
Seol realized her back had hit a pillar.
“Those powers of yours..” Loki drawled, something sinister in his voice, as he creeped ever closer to Seol. “Give them to me.”
Seol’s heart raced. Very slowly, she hid her left hand behind her back, reached for the communication watch with the same fingers, and hoped that an ally would come for her.
Luna Snow: Need Help!
Stephen gritted his teeth, forced to back out of the narrow tunnel as his health dropped rapidly, holding up his shield to deny the enemy strategists access to the chariot. Magneto was still preventing the chariot from going through the second gate, somehow still alive with Stephen blocking as many heals as he humanely could.
He took one look at the comms, another at his Moon Knight trying to fight Magneto while Illyana slashed her blade through Adam and Rocket, and turned to Namor who was with Susan on the back.
“Namor, go help Seol.”
“You do not command me, Strange. Don’t you see I’m protecting my dear Susan?”
“Namor, you aren’t doing shit!” Susan snapped, pissed enough that Stephen could tell this had been going on for a while, as she force-pulled the enemy Hela off her high ground.
Stephen realized his focus was slipping, and he unleashed dark magic to force the imposing Adam to back off. “Just go!” He yelled at Namor, unsure if he followed through. He couldn’t focus on that, not anymore. He was the one holding the front. If he fell now, his entire team would follow, and they would lose this opportunity to depose Loki.
Seconds passed as he tried to hold up, but the way he slowly stopped getting healed told him that Susan was overwhelmed trying to keep everyone alive. His shield, too, had barely any durability left. This was bad. They needed Seol, or they would soon fall.
And then, he heard it somewhere far behind him, high up in the sky.
“Legendaryyyyy!”
His heart dropped as he turned around to face the Star-Lord going all-out on them. Susan immediately went invisible, which unfortunately meant she couldn’t heal. Moonknight dropped dead first, Namor followed right after. With Illyana somewhere out of sight, Stephen was next.
And his health was critical.
He held up his shield, weak as it was, maybe it would buy him few seconds. But it broke immediately, and then he was being showered with bullets. He closed his eyes, ready to die on top of the chariot.
“Ice up!”
He felt the touch of an icy-emerald magic heal him, and opened his eyes. As Luna Snow walked forward, outhealing a Star-Lord ultimate with nothing but her abilities, he felt relief and hope wash over him.
Susan came out of hiding, protecting Seol as Star-Lord tried to target her for the last moments of his ultimate.
“Ready, Doc?” Seol asked with that radiant smile on her face as the two women stepped closer to the chariot.
Never in his life had Stephen thought he would feel so excited about a K-pop idol’s performance.
“It’s the grand finale!”
It was a full-on battle on the chariot. The enemies outnumbered them, but it didn’t matter, not when Stephen called upon the power of Agamotto and Illyana released the Darkchylde. In a burst, almost all the enemies fell, just in time as Luna’s ultimate concluded.
Magneto remained the only one still alive in front of the chariot. Stephen and several others engaged him as he tried to evade them, and quickly fell even with all his shields.
“Born Agai— Agh!”
Stephen’s heart flipped for a brief moment as he heard those words on the other side of the tunnel, immediately quelled when he realized that Seol was in there.
“I’ve got it!” She called as she walked out. “No one will be born again today!"
He breathed a sigh of relief as the second gate finally opened. He turned to Seol, giving her a smile of gratitude. “Thank you, Seol. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Doc, we all know who was the real star of this show. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have one last destination to reach.”
“Right,” Stephen nodded, growing a little sober as he watched Moon Knight and Namor join them back. “One last destination,” he muttered to himself. One last push, and they would reach Loki’s Yggdrasil tapping device. Speaking of..
He glanced around, wondering where Loki was. If he was back with his team, or if he was right there with them, observing them all in hiding. Or perhaps if he had gone back to the Palace.
Stephen hadn’t seen the god for some time now. Or perhaps hadn’t noticed him in the heat of battle. He highly doubted the latter, though. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize Loki’s magic in close proximity. He would recognize that magic anywhere.
Then again, Loki’s magic was present everywhere on Yggsgard.
Looking behind at the structures self-repairing themselves with Loki’s magic, he wondered how Loki had achieved such a feet of magic. He wondered if Loki could show him, could share—
He shook his head. He is not your Loki, he reminded himself even as he felt a pang in his heart. He is a different Loki, he repeated to himself.
Stephen had the duty and responsibility to guide and protect his team. He couldn’t let his own partiality distract him.
He is the enemy.
If he repeated it enough times in his head, maybe he would finally convince himself.
He turned back to his strategists. “Susan, Seol, protect the chariot as you escort it. The rest of you,” he turned to the rest of his team, “Come with me. We must gain control over more space before they are back.”
“Leave it to us, Stephen,” Susan reassured him.
“Nothing will happen to the chariot while we’re on our feet.” Luna gave a confident smile.
Stephen gave them a nod and went ahead with the rest of the team. Just before turning the corner, he looked back at them, sensing.. something in the air.
But there was nothing there, except for his strategists and the chariot.
He shook his head and walked off.
As ‘Seol Hee’ watched the sorcerer disappear around the corner.. her smile turned just a hint sinister.
Sup y’all !!! It’s that time of the year again! That time where we do the announcing stuff for IronStrange Week. This year IronStrange Week will be from July 6 to July 12, 2025.
Another eventful week, just for two sarcastic people intent on lovingly snarking at each other! This year the prompts are all over the place from fluff to hurt to any way you interpret them. We hope you take those prompts and interpret them any way you want. You can go SFW or NSFW it is up to you. (Just tag your work appropriately) If you aren't able to create a piece of fanwork every day of the week, that's okay! You can create any number of fanwork that you can.
{Prompts}
We have provided two prompts per day (separated by |) and you can choose one or the other or even both prompts. We will leave the artistic interpretations of the prompts up to you!
Day 1 [7/6]: Chronic Pain | Time Loop
Day 2 [7/7]: Hate at First Sight (and then Love) | Death
Day 3 [7/8]: Nobility | Crime
Day 4 [7/9]: Parenting | Courting
Day 5 [7/10]: Learning About Their Area of Expertise | Touch Starved
Day 6 [7/11]: What Could Have Been | Witty
Day 7 [7/12]: Meeting Their Multiverse Selves | Pick Your Own Prompt
{Rules}
All forms of fanwork are accepted, including but not limited to digital art, traditional art, fanfiction, poetry/prose, Photoshop, videos/gifs/related multimedia, cosplay, edits, music playlists, etc.
To be added to the blog and featured on the IronStrange Discord server, please (1) tag #ironstrangeweek2025 in one of the first five tags of the post and (2) add @ironstrangehhaven or @ironstrangeh on Twitter in your description so we can find you!
Any NSFW content must be tagged appropriately and under a “Read More” link ( for those on Twitter, the tweet should list any warnings or any other appropriate information), or it will not be featured on the blog/discord server.
Please submit fanworks to the IronStrange Week Archive of our Own Collection if possible. (The link to the collection will be shared in the next post as we get closer to the event.)
Mind your tags, and tag gore, violence, and other significant tags.
Our Tumblr (@ us or reply to the post on twitter) ask box is open, so don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!
IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME DURING IRONSTRANGE WEEK, YOU CAN STILL POST YOUR WORK AFTER THE WEEK. JUST MENTION US OR USE THE TAG #IRONSTRANGEWEEK2025 SO WE CAN FIND YOUR WORK.
How many asks do you get per day? How many are in your inbox right now? What are your current WIP's? What are you working on rn? How do you get these amazing ideas? How do you WRITE SO GOOD?
And now.... the million dollar question.
How are you? Anything exciting happen this week?
(you don't have to answer anything you don't want to, forgive me if I made you uncomfy )
Helloo, dear reader. Well, I’ve got semester exams coming up in less than a week, I guess that counts as exciting?
Haha, not super stressed though, don’t worry. Writing self-indulgent fics happens to be a great way to de-stress, so you might even see one or two one-shots pop up in my ao3 in the next few weeks.
I get rather infrequent asks, there is no regular rhythm. Currently there’s like 20 in my inbox (10 ironstrange, 10 strangefrost). Some of these are kinda super old actually, since I also write with the pace of a snail lol. (writers block is NOT fun)
My current wips.. if you mean the ones I’ve posted on ao3 already? There’s roughly 10. If you mean all my projects? ....Way too many to count, I’m afraid. My creativity is always running wild — way too wild, like seriously I lack the discipline required to sit down and write only One Thing before jumping into another lmao. You can look up the tag #wip game in my profile to have a sneak peek at few of my wips.
Out of the wips shown in #wip game, currently working on Out of Sight, Out of Body. From my posted works, working on my most recent isekai ironstrange, and Protege of Magic & Science might finally get an update, as well as some of my shorter posted wips that I really ought to have completed a long ago (Water Has Memory, Two Black Cats, Your Savior, For An Unspoken Vow).
Also working on a wip mentioned nowhere else thus far. It involves a world where powerful, dangerous winged fae dwell in the woods, a certain lonely fae who lives amongst the humans as a human healer, and a blacksmith who went through an awful tragedy, turning into a vengeful fae hunter...
(psst—I need a name for this story, guys, anyone got any good ideas?)
Anyways. Gee, I’m flattered you think my writing is so good. I suppose I love to feel and make others feel intensely, and that’s what mainly inspires my writing style. But then I turn the page back to see what I’ve written and go eugh, what the fuck is that? (impostor syndrome is not fun) Certainly enough to give me a constant low-burning posting anxiety, but thankfully I have readers like you to help me dispel that. So thank you.
I’m not sure how to answer where I get these ideas. It’s a complex mix of consuming other media — comics, novels, movies, fanfics (including other fandoms, not just marvel) — imagining what ifs, looking at common tropes/cliches and going do people not get bored of seeing the same predictable shit again and again? lemme twist something, the internet, the fandom, the english literature, tragedies & regrets of my own life, and everything in between. Sometimes all of them contribute to this new idea that popped up in my head, sometimes it’s none of that and was just a dumb half-remembered dream.
But the most important aspect is and will always be: the desire to share. I have these characters in my head that I absolutely adore, in this specific scenario, and they react in this specific way. And I know it’s so good, it’s sweet and beautiful and agonizing and heartbreaking all at once. But it’s not enough. It’s not enough because I want others to know how heartwarming and gut-wrenching this thing is. I want to share it, with the people who adore these characters just as much as I. This urge, this need to share the love and joy is what gets me to write. And as long as I have it, I’ll keep writing.
Prompt: Human Tony wants Vampire Stephen to drink his blood but Stephen very gently says it tastes weird so Tony is forced to eat healthy and have a healthy sleep schedule and he’s grumpy about it but his desire to get sucked (not like that) is stronger
“Come on,” Tony urged again, wrapping his hands around Stephen’s shoulders from where he sat on his partner’s lap, unapologetically blocking Stephen’s access to the book he’d been reading. “How can you resist an entire grown human, wrapped around you and willing?”
He knew Stephen had an extraordinary self-control, but god damn, was it frustrating when he wanted Stephen to drink from him.
“You’re not a snack, Tony.”
“No,” Tony agreed, placing a hand under Stephen’s chin to encourage him to look up and leaned closer. “I’m a full-course meal.”
That earned him a smile of amusement. Stephen closed the rest of the distance, capturing Tony’s lips for a gentle kiss. When the kiss ended, he leaned away to look into Tony’s eyes, cupping his face with a trembling hand. “Are you sure?”
“ ‘Course I am. Wouldn’t have insisted if I wasn’t.” Tony left a peck on the tip of his nose. “I trust you.”
There was hesitance in those blue eyes, but also a certain tenderness, like Stephen couldn’t believe Tony would trust him — so fully and intimately — with his life.
Tony trusted Stephen with the entire world.
“Alright,” Stephen said, and leaned in, this time towards his neck. Tony closed his eyes as he felt the brush of gentle lips on his jugular, inhaling slowly.
Fangs dipped into his skin, sending a sharp pang through his nerves, but the pain was gone as soon as it had come, quickly replaced by a feeling of light-headedness, like he was floating in the clouds. And then came the weird feeling of pleasure and intoxication that could only come from vampire bites.
“Ah,” he moaned softly, going boneless in Stephen’s embrace who held him oh-so-gently, and he felt the safest he had in a long time, here, wrapped up in the love and careful arms of his lover, completely at his mercy.
It didn’t last nearly as long as he’d wanted. Soon, he felt Stephen withdraw his fangs and lick the wound close. He left another kiss on the spot and then simply held Tony through his intoxicated state, not that that lasted much longer either.
“Let’s.. not make a habit out of that,” Stephen murmured.
“Why not?” Tony turned a little to look at Stephen where he’d buried his face into the crook of Tony’s neck. “You’re not exactly enthusiastic about those bags of cold preserved stuff. You can drink from me sometimes, instead.”
He felt a soft breath of sigh against his neck, and then Stephen leaned away, eyes decidedly looking away. “Tony, you blood tastes..”
Tony blinked, tensing up a little. “It tastes..”
Stephen pursed his lips, still not looking at Tony. “..different. A little bitter.”
Tony was silent for a moment, jaw half hung in the air, unsure how to even respond to that. “I— my blood tastes.. bitter?”
His voice must have come out more wounded than he’d intended, because Stephen winced a little. “I said a little bitter.” He finally looked up at Tony, eyes apologetic. “It mostly just tastes.. well, very different from what it’s supposed to. One’s lifestyle greatly affects their blood quality, Tony.”
Tony’s shoulders fell visibly. “Oh.”
Stephen hummed, silently wrapping an arm around Tony’s back, the other hand entwining with Tony’s. It was a lot more tact that Stephen usually spared, and Tony wondered how much worse his blood had actually tasted than what Stephen was letting on.
He looked down at their joint hands. “So what, if eat salads, quit caffeine, start yoga.. that’ll improve my blood quality?”
“Well it doesn’t have to be yoga,” Stephen replied, idly caressing Tony’s fingers. “You could join me on morning walks. Vitamin D is good for your health.” He looked up at Tony, expression a little reprimanding. “As is 8 hours sleep a day.”
Tony huffed, grumbling under his breath. “Fine. But only if you stay with me in bed too.”
Stephen slightly quirked an eyebrow, like he had doubts that Tony could actually go through with it all. “Sure,” he drawled.
AUTHOR!!!!! I just read your Marvel Rivals fics and as you said, you really do have the art of words!! They. Are. So. Good even if a bit short.
Just curious - you said you've been playing the game recently? Who do you play most?(though I think that pretty easy to figure out from your blog 🤭) What skins do you use? Ever try to make a Stephen and a Tony (or a Loki) kiss 😆?
Well then, allow me to color you surprised, because my main character isn’t Stephen (well not main main anyway)
I am, in fact, a proud Loki lord.
He’s by far my most favorite character to play, though a few others that I immensely enjoy are Jeff, Cloak & Dagger, Stephen, Wanda, Mantis, and Adam, in that order. Yes, Tony is non-existent in that list, his playstyle just does not appeal me. (Also I believe flying characters are universally harder to play just because of how little your healers help you. I try to remedy that when playing Jeff/Cloak & Dagger by paying extra attention to my Tonys and Johnnys and Ororos.)
Also make no mistake, I’m.. well, not a fan of MCU Wanda, like at all, but when you grow up playing support characters like Loki and Mantis only to be killed again! and again! and again! by (*JJJ voice*) the MENACE SPIDER-MANNN..!!! Yeahh you lose it, and the next thing you know, you’re chasing after that menace across the multiverse, hunting and murdering him as Wanda. (For those of you who didn’t know, Wanda is the best defense against fast-moving slippery sons of bitches like Spider-Man, Black Panther, Illyana etc.)
Anyway, skinnnsssss! I have quite the collection for my main characters (sue me, I like to look pretty while playing). Although I’m gonna stop spending on the game now due to the changes they’re bringing in season 2.5. We’ll talk more on that later.
So I’ve got Loki’s symbiote skin from s1, japanese-inspired skin, and his god of stories skin from the Loki TV show. I also do plan to acquire the President Loki skin and I’m getting there. I would like to own all his skins even going forward, just because he is like my most special character in the game, but like I said above I won’t be spending anymore, so we’ll see how things go.
My sweet lil land shark! Look at how cute this guy looks in dolphin costume. He got done dirty in the 2.5 update :( that’s the thing that has me upset with this update and the reason I’m gonna stop spending now. They are basically killing Jeff’s personality with the so-called ‘rework’, it would have been kinder to simply remove him from the game. If NetEase continues to stay quiet on the matter and refuse to fix things, I can genuinely see my interest in this game dwindle.
Anyway, moving on.
Very pretty cloak & dagger skin from season 2. I only (finally) acquired it like 2 days days ago, and don’t see myself switching to any other skin they could possibly bring for them.
Look at how freaking gorgeous Stephen looks! Honestly all of his skins are so damn pretty, but I always had some or the other minor complaint about em. In his jade skin, his dark magic is very hard to detect since the cloak is such a light color, and in his dilf skin— cough I mean the sorcerer supreme of the galaxy skin, the cloak is so damn pretty but.. I’m not a fan of what they did to his hair lmao. The god of magic skin, though. It. is. PERFECTION.
That will be the s1 Wanda skin as well as her recent free skin, both very beautiful.
The free Mantis skin and the s1 Adam skin, the latter of which I really REALLY love. Like, Adam can just aura farm by simply existing lol. These guys have a pretty high skill ceiling and require a damn good aim, but my aim is just decent at best.. I would really love to play them more if I could. Their game style is so satisfying.
Now for the fun stuff. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to have my favorite characters kiss each other, Jeff is an outlier because his entire one skill is made to kiss other Jeffs lmao (bye bye Jeff kisses in 2.5 update 💔) But have this fun lil Jeff montage I cobbled together with few of my many manyyy Jeff clips. I’ll miss my lil land shark ♥️
I just wanted to say how wonderful of an author you are and how beautiful all of your works are!
IronStrange was my first love and all of your fics are amazing but ever since I read your StrangeFrost fics, I've been hooked. Like, can't-go-a-day-without-thinking-about-them , consumed-whole hooked. You've converted me.
I especially love the Arranged Marriage AU, the Vampire AU and the recent Incubus AU. They are so so good, i cannot even count how many times I've read them.
So thank you for writing all of our (never ending) asks, thank you for being such an amazing person. 💙💙
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for that, sweetheart. There aren't words that can express the absolute joy and delight your words brought me today. I can count on my fingers the number of vocal, regular readers that I have. Which.. well, I know a lot more people read and love my writing than the percentage that chooses to interact with it, but lack of encouragement can be a bitch when you're someone with some severe self-confidence and self-esteem issues.
It's not often that I feel so fully validated in my writing skills. You've made me feel valued, like what I do really matters. Thank you for that. Truly.
Incubus!Loki bargains for one night with the Sorcerer Supreme in exchange of ancient knowledge that Stephen requires.(if you don't mind add in some spice too)
I looooooved your touch-starved demon!Tony (chef's kiss 😘)so this is kinda inspired by it 😅
This got way longer than intended. Also nothing spicy yet, I'm afraid.
Anyway. If you’re curious what the touch-starved demon!Tony is, go here.
-
Find the creature with the sharpest of wings, the master sorceress from twelfth dimension had said. With eyes of emerald and tail of venom.
With only that bit of description to go by, Stephen had — rightfully so — expected the subject of his search to be a majestic creature, like a dragon. What other creature could fit the description of such sharp, intimidating features?
It certainly did not help that he’d had to pass several hurdles to get here, deceptions and elusive traps he couldn’t help but interpret as some sort of test, as if the being had set them up to judge the competence of their seekers. Powerful ancient creatures were known for their enormous ego; for all Stephen knew, they simply liked to put their seekers through hardships, maybe to mock them, or assess if they were “worthy” of having an audience with them.
So when, after a long and tiring day, Stephen finally arrived at the odd hut in the middle of nowhere and was greeted not b the sight of a majestic dragon, but that of a much, much lesser creature...
Well, he wondered how Wong would feel about ending their alliance with the twelfth dimension by dropping their master sorceress into a portal to the infinite sky dimension.
Wong would probably not be amused by that.
The creature was leaning his back against a wall, green wings tucked, hands crossed over his chest, menacing tail flicking around lazily. There was a hint of smile in his lips, a smile that promised mischief.
“You have my acknowledgement, sorcerer. There aren’t many who have slipped past my traps and found the true me. So, what brings you here?” He lilted his head curiously.
Stephen couldn’t help but notice the way the emerald of his eyes shone brighter at the different light angle. The sparse scales on his body and the color of his wings were also green, but a darker shade. The main bends of his wings showcased a pair of very sharp spikes protruding out of the wing bones, pitch black in color. His accent color — which included highlights on his wings which, typically, were expected to be a bright lustrous color for his species — was also black. And from what Stephen could see of his nape, he was fairly certain there were retractable spikes running down the being’s entire spine.
His horns were interesting; very long and very pointed at the end, curved towards the back. They were pitch black but for bright gold veins that ran across, standing out against the darkness. It was the only hint of gold in his entire form, though.
And then his tail — it was not the slim, lithe kind that Stephen would imagine when thinking of a succubus or incubus. Instead it was thick and seemed to have a strength to it, covered by impenetrable ridged scales on the anterior side, its tip ending like an arrow head pitch-black in color with only a single thin line of bright, neon green running down the middle of that blackness. It definitely screamed that it could spit out venom, but Stephen was calling that bluff. Incubi were not venomous, just a little aphrodisiac.
Stephen had read that incubi and succubi could shape their own appearance in their growing years. But looking at this one, he wondered if Kamar-Taj’s information was wrong and the creature in front of him was just an unlucky mix of genes from both parents.
It was a very bold, very non-traditional look, that this incubus possessed. As if it was meant to be intimidating.
Then why did Stephen find it so damn beautiful?
He shook his head, partly in answer to the incubus’s question but mostly to snap himself out of his daze and stop blatantly staring at the incubus. “Nevermind,” he said. “I must have the wrong address. You don’t look like my guy.” With that, he turned to leave through the door.
A shadow zapped past faster than he could notice, and suddenly he found his path blocked by large unfurled wings and emerald eyes.
“Ah, but you do not yet know that I’m not your ‘guy’, do you?”
Stephen narrowed his eyes. “No, I’m quite certain. Now, move.”
“What’s the hurry now, sorcerer?” His voice grew just a hint sultry. “You must be tired after such arduous journey. Perhaps you could use some.. Rest.” The incubus, now in Stephen’s personal space — when had that happened? — caressed his cheek with one sharp, black fingernail, the sensation sending goosebumps down Stephen’s spine. He stepped a little closer to Stephen’s ear, close enough that Stephen could feel warm breaths against his neck, and whispered in a smooth, sultry voice, “What do you say? Won’t you like a good time?”
Stephen shivered. He knew he needed to leave, needed to step away because this was all just the incubus’s natural charm aura that had him so mesmerized. But.. he couldn’t. He liked that singular point of touch, wanted more of it, wanted to hear more of that smooth voice.
A sharp-nailed thumb joined the caressing index finger, nudging Stephen’s face closer to the incubus’s, their touch careful and gentle despite the sharpness of the claws.
Stephen glanced down at the said perfect claws, then back up at the bright green eyes.
“Your appearance is quite bold, for a sex demon. Just how many people have you managed to bed, sashaying that venomous tail around?”
The incubus’s smile grew impossibly wide, showing a peek of sharp, predatory fangs. “Humans have all varieties of preferences, sorcerer. Not all wish to have a docile, pliant being to warm their bed. Some like a challenge. To play with a little danger, if you will. Say, aren’t you someone who also likes that? Don’t you fantasize about taming danger?” He held Stephen’s cheek properly now, the cool of his palm and sharpness of his claws leaving a strangely warm tingling sensation on Stephen’s skin. When the incubus next spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“Or perhaps you wish to be tamed by it?”
Stephen swatted his hand away, backing a step away as he struggled to snap himself out of the odd feeling of high. He vaguely registered that his heart was pounding loudly in his chest, and he was feeling a little lightheaded, but he could assess himself all he wanted once he was out of here.
“You are wasting my time here. Unless you’re any help in telling me how to find the Book of Vishanti, move.”
“Ah.” The incubus said, his demeanor seemingly changing from flirtatious to formal in a flick of a switch. “So you search for the book that does not exist.”
“Right, of course,” Stephen drawled, finally able to shoulder past the incubus, now that he wasn’t so firmly blocking his way.
As Stephen exited, though, he missed the devious smirk on the lips of the incubus he left behind.
“Does not exist in this plane, that is.”
Stephen paused at that, turning around to look at the incubus. “And what would you know about which plane that book exists in?” His skepticism was loud and clear in his tone. Because there was no way a lowly creature as him could know anything about such a sacred book.
The incubus simply raised an eyebrow at him. “More than you, that I’m certain.”
“You’re bluffing.”
That prompted him to raise both eyebrows. “Oh, am I?” He hummed in a pretense of giving it a thought. “Ah! Then you must also be able to tell if this is a bluff: It rests where all paths cross yet none lead. A place between places, seen only by those who do not seek it.”
There was no way some incubus had such an information. “Where’d you get that? Did you sleep with some master sorcerer to cajole it out of them?”
The incubus smiled like the cat that got the cream. “Please, like I would have need of such trivial methods when I possess much more knowledge than you could ever conceive.”
He was lying, he had to be. Stephen had a total of five sentences worth of credible information on the Book of Vishanti, and he had just spoken two of the five. He simply happened to be lucky. It was just cheap deception, Stephen was sure. This creature was full of tricks, after all. “Tell me, where did you get that information. Who told you?”
“Denial does not become you, sorcerer,” the incubus said, slowly turning away from Stephen. “But if you insist.. then I suppose I shall take my leave—”
“Wait!” Stephen reached out with a hand, brushing past the cold edge of a wing, and caught his arm. The incubus paused, looking back at him with an inquisitive raised eyebrow. Stephen swallowed around the dryness in his throat, swallowing his pride along with it. “Wait. What will you trade.. for knowledge?”
The incubus hummed fully turning to face him, and suddenly turned haughty, pretending to be fascinated by his sharp black nails. “Oh, I don’t know. Could someone like me truly know about your all-powerful sacred books of light?”
Stephen held back a wince.
Yeah, he probably deserved that.
“Look, you wanted to sleep with me didn’t you? I’ll consent to that, if you trade me the knowledge of where to find the Book of Vishanti.”
The incubus stared at him with an unreadable expression for a long moment. “You are a curious one, I must say. Willing to surrender your soul for a night not for the promises of pleasure and ecstasy, but for a speck of knowledge which you have no way to verify the truth of.”
“I just like to try out all ventures I can.” It was bullshit. Truth was, Stephen had damn near exhausted all of his resources in search of this book which he only barely knew was real at all. Something was coming, something big, and it promised destruction on Earth. Stephen still hadn’t found a viable way to stop it or defend against it, and he was growing desperate.
So if he had to sleep with a sex demon for the ultimate protection of Earth, so be it.
“Very well,” the incubus said, and if Stephen knew better, he’d have thought that the demon had clocked him on his bullshit. “Then, two days from now, I expect a fine Midgardian dinner arrangement from you.”
Stephen’s brow slowly furrowed as he tried to interpret those words. “Wait. What do you mean a dinner? I thought it’s only sex.”
That smile of mischief was back in his face. “Call me Loki. I expect a welcome at sharp 8 o’clock, Stephen.” With that, the incubus — Loki — vanished into the air in a flash of green.
Aww the omegaverse one is so cute! Could we maybe get a part 2 where Tony finally allows them to have sex during his heat?
Decided I want to keep that for the future, do some natural build-up first. Feel free to prompt again!
Click here to read Part 1
As Tony came to, he felt like he’d had the best sleep of his life.
There were still some cramps and he felt too warm and sticky, but there was no accompanying headache or the feeling like shit that he usually felt post-heat.
He didn’t open his eyes just yet, but he had this vague awareness that he was in Stephen’s room, currently wrapped up in his Alpha’s arms. How had he gotten here, when he only remembered going into pre-heat at his penthouse, he had no idea. It didn’t matter though, because he trusted Stephen.
“Feeling yourself, Sweetheart?”
Stephen’s gentle voice spurred him to finally open his eyes and look up at his Alpha, those kaleidoscope eyes carefully scanning over Tony’s features, one hand running up and down his back in a soothing motion.
The way Stephen gazed at him.. there was no hysteria like one would expect from an Alpha in the presence of an omega in heat. There was no lust, no leer.
No; when Tony looked into Stephen’s eyes, the only thing he saw reflect back was pure, unconditional love and fierce protectiveness.
A raw emotion lodged in Tony’s throat, and he buried his face into the crook of Stephen’s neck, pulling them impossibly close, inhaling a lungful of that calming scent of rain and fresh tea leaves and old bookshelves.
God, when was the last time Tony had felt so at peace, so.. safe, right after a heat?
“..And that was not a whimper, so I take it you’re feeling yourself again.”
“Ugh.” Tony further buried his face into Stephen’s neck, wanting to melt into the bed underneath them and disappear, beyond mortified to remember the whimpers he made during his heat.
“Tony, hey.” Stephen gently nudged him until he was looking into those beautiful eyes again. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He cradled a hand on Tony’s cheek, pulled them closer to place a kiss on Tony’s forehead, followed by a chaste one on his lips, a shaking thumb gently caressing Tony’s face. “I know you’re feeling especially vulnerable right now. It’s okay. I’m here with you, and we’re okay.”
Tony swallowed, letting himself be pampered by kisses and gentle, innocent touches, feeling himself go boneless against his Alpha. Then they lay there for some time just hugging each other, basking in the comfort and safety of their den.
Stephen spoke up after a while, “Feeling up for a shower? We smell less like heat and more like sweat.”
Tony exhaled a slow breath, resting a few more moments before he replied. “Yeah.” This felt like heaven, like somewhere he could happily spend an eternity in. But he also couldn’t ignore the grossness of all the dried sweat.
After taking another moment to just laze around in Stephen’s warmth and love, he sat upright, supporting himself on his hands.
And blinked when an article of clothing was caught under his palm.
It was intuition more than anything that told him he didn’t own any clothes with this particular texture, nor did Stephen, because yes he was that well-acquainted with Stephen’s wardrobe, despite them never having had sex.
He picked up the article of cloth, finding it to be a purple colored fur night shirt. Definitely not theirs, but..
As he brought the shirt close to his nose, his hunch was proven right.
“You got Pepper’s clothes?” Tony asked as he turned back to Stephen, and it was then that his eyes fell on the bed, really noticed the haphazard of clothes lying all over, on which they had been sleeping.
A nest.
“Stephen..”
“And Rhodey’s too,” Stephen replied, sitting up to lean himself against the headboard.
He picked up Stephen’s Columbia hoodie, the one he had stolen a few weeks back, and brought it close to his face, staring around at the nest in awe. “I.. you made a nest for me..?”
The last time he remembered being in a nest was all the way back in his childhood, with his mother. He remembered having a special, designated spot for his Captain America plushy in the nest, not to be moved unless it was night when he would drift to sleep hugging it close, lulled by his mother’s stories or songs. He couldn’t recall the exact words of her lullabies. He couldn’t recall the pattern stitched on her favorite pillows.
He could barely even recall those memories anymore.
But to think that his Alpha made this nest for them, and brought Tony here.. he felt like his heart might burst.
Stephen, however, shook his head. “You made it, Tony.”
Tony blinked and looked at him dumbly. “I’ve never made a nest in my whole damn life.”
Stephen grimaced. “Yeah, and we’re going to have a talk about the serious medical repercussions of that. But later.” He got up from the bed, moving to fetch some fresh clothes from his closet.
“No, I.. you don’t get it. I don’t know how to make a nest. I—” Tony swallowed, staring down at the hoodie now in his lap. His voice grew quieter. “I was never taught to.”
Stephen paused abruptly, turning to Tony with an unreadable expression. After a too long moment of silence, he averted his gaze. “Your.. mother? Maria was an Omega, right?”
Tony huffed, idly playing with a sleeve of the hoodie, feigning nonchalance. “Guess it doesn’t matter much when your daddy dearest is 100% sure his son will turn out an Alpha.”
A long silence stretched, bordering on awkwardness. Tony feared that he had spoken too much, that maybe Stephen was having second thoughts about courting such a broken Omega, but then he began to make his way back to Tony, depositing the clothes in his hand on the backrest of a chair.
He wordlessly sat down next to his Omega, taking one of Tony’s hands in his. “Tony..” He paused, as if trying to figure out how to express what was in his mind. “I don’t know.. what kind of childhood you had to live. And I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through that, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. You don’t deserve to feel so.. wrong, or broken, or like you’re inferior somehow. You’re not. You’re the most brilliant, beautiful, stubborn man I’ve ever met.” Stephen brought his hand to his lips, leaving a soft kiss on Tony’s knuckles. “I’m here now. Please let me be here for you.”
Hot tears slipped from Tony’s eyes as he let himself fall in Stephen’s arms again, his Alpha catching him and wrapping his arms around him.
Stephen’s heart dropped as soon as that voice registered. Even with the robotic filter, he could tell who that voice belonged to even in a dream.
Forgetting all about the monstrosity of tentacles that he had wrapped under golden ropes mere inches away from his feet, slowly, very slowly, Stephen turned around.
There Tony was, hovering in his suit of gold and red.
Oh god, please no.
Tony gently touched down on the ground, close to Stephen — way closer than he would prefer — as the suit’s repulsors powered down. “I would ask what the hell did I just watch, but actually, I’ve got more important questions.”
Tony retracted his helmet, taking two more steps towards Stephen, putting them mere four feet apart now. Stephen’s heart thundered in his chest as the genius stared straight into Stephen’s eyes, his gaze so intense and sharp that it was almost overwhelming. There was no way Tony could tell who he was, right?
Right?
“Does your name happen to be Victor Strange?”
Silence took over the field as Stephen took a couple of seconds to process that sentence.
Victor. Stephen’s... Evelyn’s only remaining living family, estranged decades ago, sharing the same eyes as Evelyn and Donna: heterochromic eyes with blue and green.
Tony thought.. he thought that Stephen was Victor.
Of course. It made sense. Stephen did look very similar to the female form he had left behind; the transformation spell had changed his feminine features into masculine, but the shape of his face, the curve of his nose, the frame of his lips, the pupils of his eyes, all these things were still the same.
He did have more prominent cheekbones now; it was the most striking and discernible change he had observed in his facial features after the transformation, and honestly, he liked it.
But back to the present — Tony had never seen Victor, even in a photo, and his extent of information on the man was limited to what Stephen had told him over quiet conversations at late night cuddles under dim light.
And so.. meeting a stranger like this now, who looked so much like a certain someone Tony had loved in the past, but she had only one remaining blood family... of course it made sense that Tony immediately jumped to the conclusion that Stephen must be Victor.
Which.. it was good. It meant that Tony did not know who Stephen truly was, it meant that Tony would not figure it out.
Then why was Stephen’s heart twisting inside his chest? Why did it feel so wrong, why did Stephen have this overwhelming desire to just tell Tony who he was?
“Victor,”
Stephen jolted at Tony’s voice, snapping out of his thoughts, and looked at the genius.
“Do you..” Tony paused, then swallowed, and tried again. “Is Evelyn with you? She.. I haven’t been able to contact her after her accident, she just up and left without telling anything. I’m.. I’m worried about her.”
“What are you, an obsessive ex?” The words left Stephen’s mouth before he could allow himself to second guess. He immediately wanted to kick himself and take his words back.
Tony looked affronted. “I was her friend before I was her lover,” he said, voice low and flat. Stephen stopped himself from flinching, feeling like a lead knife was jabbed into his heart. “And I still was after she broke up. But she wouldn’t accept help from anyone after the accident. Wouldn’t even talk to us. And then she just suddenly sells her apartment and disappears off the face of earth. I have the right to be worried and to know how she is.”
Each word pierced another arrow into his heart. Stephen thought he could shrivel up and die right here. He’d be lucky if that happened.
Instead, he had to face a Tony who looked entirely composed, but whose eyes burned with fury, ready to defend his loyalty and friendship. Stephen found it harder and harder to resist lowering his eyes in shame.
After a few moments of intense staring, Tony closed his eyes, took a step back, and inhaled a deep breath. When he turned back to Stephen again, the hardness in his features had melted to give way to exhaustion and a quiet resignation. “Look.. all I want to know is if she’s okay.”
She’s dead, Stephen wanted to say. She’s not coming back, ever. Why are you still waiting for her?
Stephen had no idea what Evelyn had done in her life to earn the love and devotion of this man. This beautiful, impossible, stubborn man.
“She’s.. doing much better now,” Stephen said. It was all he could give Tony.
And Tony took it. His shoulders relaxed. Something in his eyes eased up. He took the little crumb of bread Stephen gave him and accepted it as if it had stopped him from starving to death.
Stephen hadn’t thought it was possible for one man to feel as much shame and guilt as he was feeling at the moment.
“Thank you,” Tony breathed quietly. “Thank you. Does she live with you? Is she—”
No, no. Stephen could not do this. He could not stand in front of the man he loved like a stranger and talk about a persona that he had never wanted to be, a persona that was dead now.
“I’m done here,” he snapped, and turned away from Tony to focus on the incapacitated eldritch creature that lay behind them. A few quick hand gestures and it was banished back to the dimension it belonged to.
“Okay, did you really just make it go poof? Like a rabbit in a hat?” Tony stepped forward and waved an arm over the spot where the creature was a second ago, no doubt running several different kinds of sensors and scanners over the area, only to find nothing and immediately turn to Stephen. “Seriously, how’d you do that? Where did it go?”
Instead of responding to any of the questions, Stephen turned around and began to walk away from the scene.
“Wait, Victor!” Tony quickly rushed to block Stephen’s way. “Can I call you Victor?”
Stephen did not respond to that either — let Tony assume that Stephen was his estranged brother, and not ...her — and forced himself to move and shoulder past Tony. “Leave me alone, Stark. I have no more business with you.”
His voice had never felt colder than it did at that moment.
Not waiting for any response from Tony, he drew a portal to the courtyard of Kamar-Taj and stepped through. He should close the portal immediately. He knew in his mind he needed to, before Tony could try to call out to him again, try to persuade him into listening, because god, he was so weak for Tony, but he couldn’t give in. He couldn’t.
No more calls came from Tony, though. But Stephen was still a weak man. Slowly, he turned to his side and glanced back on the other side of the portal, taking one last look at the man he loved with all his heart, but could never have now.
Tony’s eyes were on the portal, his face a mix of awe and fear. He wasn’t only looking at the portal, though. No, his eyes wandered on the view on the other, scanning, searching for something. Something he wasn’t going to find ever, now.
His eyes, brown swirls filled with so much fleeting hope, settled on Stephen at last.
It was all Stephen could do to not run straight back through the portal and pull Tony into his arms.
He turned his back on the portal and let it dissipate into golden sparks. Guilt and heartache immediately clawed at him, wondering what Tony was doing now on the other side, what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
He forced the thoughts away, tried to clamp his feelings down into a box to be locked up and thrown away to the farthest corner of his conscience. Because it didn’t matter what he felt, or what he wanted.
Because Evelyn Strange was dead, and there was only Stephen Strange now.
And Stephen Strange had no place in Tony’s life. Most definitely not in the void left behind in Tony’s heart by Evelyn.
(YouTube fed me with Jurassic Park and Jurassic World shorts while I was trying to study, so here I come; since you're very aware of my obsession with turning everything into Ironstrange)
Tony is a T. rex and Stephen is a Spinosaurus. Enemies to lovers.
Went for a magical mishap instead of a full dinosaur AU.
Tony, the six-ton apex predator, was sulking.
Well, as much as a T. rex could sulk. Which is to say, he was stomping in circles around a patch of ferns, muttering to himself while occasionally snapping at a dragonfly like it owed him child support.
“This is your fault,” he grumbled, trying and failing to scratch his snout with his comically inadequate arms. “I got violated by your stupid fossil, and now I’ve got scales and no fingers!”
Across the clearing, a much sleeker, currently sparklier from a display of attempted magic, and definitely wetter Spinosaurus dwelled half-submerged in a swamp, watching Tony like he was the stupidest carnivore to ever live — which, Tony wanted to take offense to that, but given their current situation, was not entirely unfair.
“Remind me which one of us has given firm, clear, multiple warnings about not touching unknown relics in the Sanctum, and which one of us went ahead and made a wish to the Chronos Fang?” Stephen squinted down at his claws that seemed unable to summon more magic than a few bright sparks. Tony imagined that, if dinosaurs could frown, that was the expression Stephen was making right then. “And now we’re dinosaurs, and I have algae in places I didn’t know existed.”
Tony huffed. “You’re just mad because it turned you into a water lizard. Bet you smell like low tide and bad decisions.”
“I am semi-aquatic,” Stephen snapped. “And I have claws longer than your entire forearm. Don’t talk to me about bad decisions, Mr. I-can’t-keep-my-hands-to-myself. At least this had one good merit, and you won’t be causing me anymore trouble with those non-existent hands while I fix this.”
Stephen ignored the glare Tony directed at him, and went back to his attempts at summoning magic. The only thing that was preventing Tony from quipping back was the fact that it was entirely his fault that they were here.
He mentally amended — no, not entirely his fault — after all it was Stephen who had left the suspiciously fossil-like relic all out in the open for the scientist in Tony to be naturally drawn to it. But they could argue all about that when they were back home again, safe, sound and scaleless.
“...Okay,” Tony said, breaking the silence between them that had stretched for way too long, “But real talk, have you seen yourself? That spine thing? It’s working for you.”
Stephen blinked. “What?”
Tony awkwardly shuffled closer. “Just saying. You’ve got the whole majestic swamp dragon thing going on. It’s weirdly hot. In a terrifying, prehistoric way.”
Stephen stared.
Tony coughed. “Not that I’m into scaly wizard fish or anything, but y’know. If I were, you’d be... uh, top tier.”
There was a long pause. Then Stephen slowly rose from the swamp, water cascading off his scaled hide, and stepped closer. “Tony,” he said, low and dangerous.
Tony tried to look casual, which was difficult when one’s arms were the size of breadsticks and their body weighed more than a pickup truck. “Yeah?”
