Tony dropped the glass.
"He's- what? Nu-uh. No way. He doesn't just get to- where the hell has he been? That he thinks he can just waltz in here all high to fucking mighty?!"
As he had been talking, however, a portal had appeared behind him.
Stephen walked through. "Kamar-taj, training in the Mystic Arts. But I have a question for you, Tony."
Tony jumped. "Jesus-" He stared at the still formed portal.
"What the hell is this 'I Am Iron Man' crap?!"
==NYLC==
End of the day, Stephen Strange had come home. He needed his new magic to make himself a doghouse.
(Well he had, fully read to sleep in it if it was what Tony wanted.)
(But then Tony saw the doghouse. He moved Stephen to the couch.)
(Then remembered he had nearly died on that couch- a fact he was set to avoid telling Stephen until Pepper or Rhodey spilled the beans)
(Stephen was moved to a guest room. As Sorcerer Supreme, it would've been more prudent to stay at the New York Sanctum. Especially since the old one died but...Stephen knew he should stay closer to home this time.)
So he was in the 'doghouse'.
==NYLC==
(King...king...I am a king.)
I was born to be a king-
(Odins-)
Laufeyson
They threw me
(I fell...)
==NYLC==
For some people, they would have a few days of quiet between them before they started the fight.
Tony had never been a patient person.
Neither had Stephen.
"You have that on your chest?!"
"Just when did you put pins in your hands?!"
"Iron Man? What kind of bullshit name is that-"
"Did you just slap my ass- okay I'm usually okay with that but not right now- and it was your cape."
It was back and forth for hours. Yet to Tony it had happened in a flash, as soon as Stephen asked that one question.
"You met Loki Laufeyson?"
What was worse was the emotions in Stephen's face. Dismay. Alarm. Grief. Heartbreak. Hope.
"Yeah." Tony held up his glass of scotch. "Came by and left. Pretty much as soon as he saw the name on my wrist. The last name wasn't right."
"But you still think he was our Loki?" Stephen pressed.
(And boy oh boy was that fun to say. Our Loki. Ours. Because he was their Third. He was their Soulmate. Loki was theirs.
And he left)
Tony hesitated. "JARVIS?"
"As it would be, Dr Strange-" Stephen detected some animosity from the AI. "It was indeed your missing Soulmate. He showed me Sir's mark, and was quite relieved to hear that you had been found by Sir. Your absence was much noticed."
Oh yeah, JARVIS was pissed at him.
"Introduced himself as Loki Odinson. Said his name wasn't Laufeyson." Tony spoke up, finding his voice again. "He got...real freaked, when I said what the mark really said. Then he ditched. Jump ship."
Stephen-who had already known that Loki Laufeyson wasn't there- felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under him.
He sat down on Tony's couch- completely unknowing that Tony was pointedly avoiding looking at that spot. Stephen thought over all he had heard, all they had said to him.
He sat up, running his hand down his thighs. They twinged in pain but he was used to it by now.
"What if he was adopted?" Stephen asked. "Soulmarks aren't known for being under assumed names. They're your birth name."
"Even adopted kids have their name there." Tony countered.
"Because their birth parents never gave them any." Stephen explained.
"But they let him keep his first name?" Tony pointed out. "That's weird."
"I don't know, Tony. But...he had our Marks. Not even the Mystic Arts know a way to fake those." Stephen explained.
"Magic." Tony remembered. "Loki he- he had magic. Like that Loki from Norse myths. Wasn't there an Odin in those too?"
Stephen paused. "...yes. And it wouldn't be too far to guess there was a Laufey."
"Well? Was there?" Tony pressed.
"Give me a moment!" Stephen snapped. He ran through his memories, trying to see if he had anything about Norse myths that he could remember. "There was! There was."
"He was a Norse King of the Frost Giants." JARVIS reported. Tony and Stephen stopped. "Noted enemy of the Æsir, which were King Odin's people. According to lore, Odin, with his wife Frigga, had two sons. Thor, the god of Thunder and Fertility, and Loki, the god of Mischief and Lies."
"...fuck."
==NYLC==
Months went by in a routine.
Stephen would be called away on it in Mystic Arts business
Tony would go stop a problem in the Middle East.
Pepper wood pull out her hair on the phone calls about either, forcing Tony and Stephen to choose a path – neither of them recap they just let Pepper go it was excess or they would both be killed by her heel. Tony and Stephen agreed on the former plan.
(When Stephen saw Pepper after he came back, she hugged him and started crying for twenty seconds. When it was done, she stood up calmly and told Stephen to never be so stupid again.)
(On meeting Rhodey, the Colonel said that there was no worse pain than an angry Pepper…but he would give it a shot.)
(This was like Stephen like Tony's friends.)
So life was good. Life was oh, so, good. Good, that was their life.
Well...except for this tiny little detail.
Tony was dying.
Tony was suffering from palladium poisoning, courtesy of his Arc Reactor Core. A fact he was keeping from Stephen.
A foolish beyond foolish notion, JARVIS noted several times. To hide medical knowledge from your Soulmate who was Sorcerer Supreme of the Mystic Arts. Also a doctor. Surely, a man so skilled would be able to find a way to counteract this poisoning. Hell maybe even heal it!
(Keeping in mind, JARVIS said all of this while still mad at Stephen for his… Hogwarts stunt, as Tony called it.)
To which Tony argued that Stephen 's magic couldn't do jack shit for his heart.
(Tony didn't wanna get his hopes up that it could. In his experience, that trail would lead to nowhere.)
Stephen hid things too. He never spoke of his dying– hundreds upon hundreds of times. He never talked about losing the Ancient One, what her loss did to him. Nor did he speak of his heartache, in trying to stop more Mordo from hurting sorcerers.
(Yeah none of them were big on talking.)
Someone once said 'pain shared is pain halved'. Well what good was that half it only added to the other's own internal half?
(Counterpoint: sometimes... the strongest relationships start with something as simple as the other person saying 'me too'.
Just saying...maybe that would help those three.)
==NYLC==
"Do you know what these are going to do, Asgardian? They will suspend you in air, while stretching out your arms and legs from their sockets."
"I am already part of his great plan!"
"Yes...but you loyalty to my Father should be devotion. In order to carry out His bidding, you must know what it is to give everything for Him."
"I do!"
"Yet you lose. Against Nebula."
Loki felt the pain then- new and old as if it was always there but sleeping beneath his skin.
==NYLC==
Stephen woke up, feeling that same pain. He wrote it off as a nightmare.
Tony felt it too. He wrote it off as pain from the poisoning.
==NYLC==
Again. Just saying. Talking for even five minutes would solve a lot of the issues here.
Would stop Tony for staying in the lab all night, to avoid seeing Stephen while in bed so Stephen wouldn't see just how sick Tony was getting.
Would stop Stephen from waking up with night terrors, feeling death once again in all his nerves.
Well...it would make them stop. But...
If Stephen went to the lab tonight, he would've seen DUM-E making a smoothie. Tony would be passed out on a lab desk, after staying up doing repairs. DUM-E would drop it in surprise at seeing Stephen. So, Stephen would help make another one. Stephen would see the ingredients, realize what Tony must be suffering under those effects. Stephen would wait until Tony woke up, before making sure Tony knew Stephen
If Tony had gone to bed in his actual bed that night, he would've been there to see Stephen scream out his night terrors. Tony would see the fear in his post-nightmare eyes, that were probably magic from the start with their ever changing shade. Tony would hear as Stephen mutter about his many deaths, over and over and over again. Tony would remember the night after his press conference and how he had felt worse than dying and would realize it was because Stephen had died. Come morning, he would've made Stephen an (almost non toxic) omelet and they would talk about it.
If they both just sat down at
But Stephen wasn't wearing the Time Stone, so there was no use thinking about those possibilities.
Just cold, unfeeling reality.
==NYLC==
Before either had fully realized, Tony's birthday was coming up.
Stephen could barely believe it had been six months since he had come home. Months longer since Tony had been found. Somehow still months longer that Tony had been dealing with an ARC in his chest.
He could see Tony had been struggling with something. Spiraling down into a strong sort of sickness. They lived together, it hadn't taken long.
Just seeing the problem did nothing to stop it, though. Pushing at this would only make it worse.
Stephen had decided it was best to let Tony come to him first.
A bad idea, all things considered. Such a bad idea it wasn't even funny.
But he didn't know just how bad it was, so he saw no harm.
Tony knew that harm. As far as he was concerned, maybe this was a good thing. He hadn't been able to find any substitute for palladium, so there was little hope for it. He would settle his affairs, giving the company to Pepper and maybe giving Rhodey his own suit.
But for Stephen... Tony didn't know what he could do. Aside from finding Loki Laufeyson, there was nothing.
(Both of them would, at random times of the day, feel that pain again.
Stephen knew it must be Loki- his 'soul being made new' as the book said- suffering through the worst of the worst.
Tony suspected it was Loki- constantly almost dying from something he couldn't save. It took Tony awhile to realize the pain was different from his own. This pain was all Loki's.
What a way to die.)
==NYLC==
Loki felt it everyday. This ache in his chest. It was as if sludge moved through him, a tainted blood.
Yet it was not his own blood. Though his Frost Giant may be tainted, this blood was different.
How Stran-
How odd...
==NYLC==
They were on a plane, headed back to Malibu after the disastrous incident at the races.
Stephen ran his aching hand over his face. It had been a chaotic ordeal. He couldn't even go out to help Tony, beyond making sure the Iron Man suit went next to him. Due to the public nature of the event that was all Stephen could do. No Mystic Arts to help stop a madman from beating Tony with electrified cables.
He was distracted from his thoughts by a plate being put in front of him. Stephen stared down at the thing on the plate, which was vaguely yellow and green. It was burnt in some spots, runny in others.
Tony stood above him, a shaky smile on his face. "Mute." The TV, which Stephen had been tuning out, muted. Pepper must have been paying it some attention though. "He should be giving me a medal. That's the truth."
Stephen stared at the food abomination. "What is that?"
"This is your in-flight meal." Tony answered, sitting across from Stephen.
"...who made it?" Stephen asked, scared at the answer and hoping Tony would prove him wrong.
"I did. Where do you think I've been for three hours?" Tony asked.
Stephen was right to be afraid. "Three hours? You tried and failed to make a- whatever this is- for three hours? How could anyone- Tony this thing is burnt and runny. That's impossible."
"If you don't want it, Pepper would-"
"Tony. I'm getting the feeling you're trying to avoid what happened back there." Stephen interrupted. If Tony dragged Pepper into this, who knows what could go wrong. "Is it because I couldn't help?"
"What? No. You did help. Got me the suit. Nice job." Tony patted Stephen on the shoulder. "Good game."
"Tony. What's going on?" Stephen pressed.
"I don't want to go home. At all." Tony replied. He wasn't at all answering. "Let's cancel my birthday party and- We're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Cipriani. Have you ever been there?"
"No." Stephen answered. "Tony what's-"
"It's a great place to be healthy." Tony carried on.
Stephen was only more confused. "Tony no. I can't leave now. Not only are my Sorcerer Supreme duties important but this is an awful time for you to leave."
"Yeah, but maybe that's why it's the best time." Tony tried to argue. "'Cause then we can-"
"We're going back to Malibu." Stephen stated. "And if you try to leave, I will use the Cloak to grab you then drag you through the portal."
Tony sucked his lips. On the outside, he was weighing his options. Inside he knew Stephen was right.
"Anything else?" Stephen prompted.
"Nope." Tony answered. "Nothing."
But there was something.
And Tony was too concerned- too worried- too anxious- too nearly dead- to say it out loud.
==NYLC==
"One day, we'll break off these bindings."
(A burden. A burden. I have a burden.)
"We'll find their bearers."
(I have a burden. I have a burden.)
"And burn them."
(Must not- must not let them see. Must protect- must protect-)
"I will help you. Soulmates are a burden." Loki told them.
It left him feeling as though his insides were being twisted. He blamed that on his own nature, buried under his skin.
(Anthony-Tony- Stark)
(Dr Stephen Strange)
==NYLC==
Just before Tony's birthday party, Stephen was called away on a lead on Mordo.
They had stopped Mordo from hurting the sorcerer. It had been a close thing. Mordo rarely stayed in one place long. Barely enough time to take down a sorcerer, less so one that had stopped their training.
But like he said. Thankfully they had stopped Mordo. They left the sorcerer with a warning spell- a sort of panic button that would magically alert Stephen should this happen again.
When he came home it was trashed.
Stephen walked up to Tony, still in his mechanical suit.
"Tony?" Stephen asked.
The mask fell away. Tony sat there, only looking more pale.
Stephen moved forward. He tried to lift off the suit. Only there wasn't an easy latch. "What happened? This place looks like one of Kaecilius' crowd ran through it. Why won't this suit come off-"
"Did you know that apparently someone blew up a terrorist camp?" Tony spoke up, voice raspy. Before Stephen could answer, he went on. "The same camp I had been trapped in. And Rhodey checked with me. And that Agent from Strategic- fuck it, he was from SHIELD. They said- they said someone tore it apart. Like, butchered everyone. All I did was clear a path out. That camp? There was barely enough left to tell them what had been done to them."
Stephen stared at Tony. Unsure if the feeling under his skin was 'being gutted' or 'carpet being pulled from under'.
"You didn't have magic yet. And Loki- he came by the house when I was back." Tony mumbled, getting to his feet. "Does that sound like mischief to you?"
He blasted away, using one of the broken glass walls.
Stephen let himself slump down on the floor.
Because while he had wasted his time on books, studying instead of just looking at his phone even just once-
Loki had done more for their Soulmate than Stephen ever did.
This was worse than failing.
(FYI- this was not the kind of talking that would fix things)
==NYLC==
My mother used to tell me that having two Soulmates was a good thing. That I would be loved twice however.
I would have to hide them, until such a time as that my brother found his first.
Even the glorious matter of Soulmates, Thor came first.
Thor always came first.
Thor would always come first.
But let's see if that is the same for his precious Earth...
(Precious. Precious. Something... something he knew was precious.)
(The deep brown golden spark of joy in his Anthony's eyes. Seeing him alive and so far from death.
Burning all those that fought otherwise)
Burning. Them. All.
==NYLC==
Then Tony revealed to Stephen that he was dying.
Stephen wanted to cry.
He held off.
Instead he held Tony's hand.
"No, don't, I know how that hurts-"
Stephen squeezed tighter.
"I'm a Doctor."
"You're a surgeon. I doubt surgeons deal with this sort of thing." Tony excised, meaning the lines of green in his chest streaming from the ARC. "It's out there."
"Loki tore apart a terrorist cell for you. I ignored you for months."
"You didn't know."
"But I should-"
"Stephen. Babe. Honey. Love muffin. Sugar bear." Tony reaches up to hold Stephen on the shoulder. "You didn't know. It's okay. I'm here now. So are you. You want to do something for me? Help me sort through all of Dad's crap, find something that's supposed to help solve this."
Stephen did not do that.
But it was alright.
He decided to kiss Tony.
So he made a good choice.
(See? This was the right kind of talking.)
==NYLC==
They found a cure for his heart.
Rather Tony found it from old shitty movies and help from the metal frisbee his dad made.
Stephen was there an excellent eye candy. Also encouragement for a job well done.
Sure Tony was barely shaking off death but he still had needs. Most of them involving having great 'I'm not dead' sex with his Soulmate.
But they found it.
Found the thing that would keep Tony alive.
Tony and Stephen were so busy celebrating they missed a comment by Agent Coulson. He had come back for the trash can lid.
"Those two are worse than Thor when Jane told him about his Soulmate." Coulson commented.
He took the shield- the precious, priceless, too special to wear without gloves and Jesus Tony was using it for Science what was wrong with the man- with a fond smile.
JARVIS heard that.
He made a note to bring it up later. Sir had a strict 'No Interruptions During Soulmate Inspired Fun Times' rule.
==NYLC==
Tony fought against Vanko's murder discount iron-bots. Because that's the nice thing to call walking garbage cans. Rhodey was at his side. Pepper was fucking up Hammer's day, with the help of Natalia (Sorry Natasha).
Stephen was kicking Vanko's ass personally. At hearing the escaped convict was alone in a lab, he used hisSling Ring to teleport there. Then-according to the audio feed JARVIS was feeding- proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of Vanko.
Tony loved his badass Soulmate.
Tony used his new ARC's core to his advantage. There were plenty of ways to make his blasts more effect. Firing them at the multitude of cheap Iron Puppets.
After a long night of fighting, he met with Stephen on a roof. All of the enemies were taken away with cute little magical bows.
(Okay not really. No matter how much Tony begged.)
"Stephen I think we did okay." Tony says as more explosions go off behind him.
Stephen glowered. "You're hiding from Pepper."
"That woman is terrifying." Tony explained.
"You hid the fact you were dying. Her anger justified. I wouldn't be surprised if this is what makes her finally quit."
"You weren't angry."
"I was. Pepper just shows it better." Stephen countered.
Tony's smile came then. A thing that wasn't big or showy or too wide. This was small. Barely turning up the corners of his lips yet the glint in his eyes would fell a lesser man. "You deserve a better Soulmate than me."
Now Stephen was giving Tony a look. His eyes that could never pick a shade settled in the darker tones. "Tony-"
"You've taken such good care of me." Tony kept on. "I've been in a tough spot, but you got me through it, so…right?"
Stephen was at a loss for words.
The Levitation Cloak flew off. It wrapped around Tony, dragging him-suit and all- to Stephen. It wrapped around them both. If either of the men had children, this gesture would remind them of a child pushing two toys together then saying 'now kiss!'
(But that story comes later.)
Tony had to lean up slightly to meet Stephen's lips. His first Soulmate eagerly returned that kiss. Even if later he'd say he made the first move.
In approval, more explosions went off. Almost looking like the fireworks that hadn't had a chance to go off yet.
Which is when Rhodey spoke up. Kinda spoiling the moment. He should remember the No Interruptions During Soulmate Inspired Fun Times rule.
(And that karma is a bitch)
==NYLC==
"So you're the man behind all this? It's quite a labyrinth. I was thinking they're taking me down here to kill me."
(Look at these mortals. So pathetic.)
(Burdens. Burdens.)
"I've been hearing about the New Mexico situation. Your work has impressed a lot of people who are much smarter than I am."
"I have a lot to work with. The Foster Theory. The gateway to another dimension. It's unprecedented. Isn't it?"
(Thor always goes first. He always got what he wanted first)
"Legend tells us one thing; history, another. But every now and then, we find something that belongs to both."
(Burdens. Burdens.)
"What is it?"
"Power, Doctor. If we can figure out how to tap it, maybe unlimited power."
(But let's see-)
(Burden. Burden.)
(How dare they pick this one? Anthony was a more skilled scientist in this field even Loki could see that)
(-if that is the same for his precious Earth.)
"Well, I guess that's worth a look." Loki told his new puppet.
The puppet echoed that sentiment to his 'masters'.
Loki was ready to burn them all.
(Keep Anthony and Stephen SAFE!)
Burn. Them. All.
==NYLC==
AN: Don't you love it when I'm mean? I mean, keep my word?