Work Text:
The portal closed with a soft buzz behind Stephen. He had just finished his last class for the day in Kamar-Taj. The apartment was quiet and empty.
‘Oh right, Christine is on night duty today,’ he thought. He considered going to the Sanctum to check in on Wong and his apprentices, but first, dinner. Who knew teaching could be so taxing. Back in his neurosurgeon days, he could go for hours without food and sleep. But these days, just a few hours of training the hopefuls in the temple could leave him starving.
His phone vibrated with a single ding in his pocket. He took it out and read the message.
Tony: Come over if you’re not busy. Rhodey’s here and we’re having a Christopher Nolan movie night.
Hmm, was he really up for a movie? His phone chimed again.
Tony: Chinese is on the way too. ;-)
Damn you, Stark. Oh well, eating was more fun with good company anyway, so might as well. He took a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothes, a plain light grey t-shirt and soft black jeans. He put on his sling ring and portaled straight to the mansion’s foyer. He walked in on Tony and Rhodey in the TV room, their eyes glued to the huge flat screen on the wall.
“What’s on?” he asked. Take-out boxes were piled on the wide, low table in the middle and the aroma assaulted his senses, amplifying his hunger.
“Inception,” Tony answered without taking his eyes off the screen. “Come sit and help yourself, I can hear your stomach rumbling from over here”
Stephen was going to fire back a response but he really was hungry, so he just huffed and took a seat next to Tony and reached for a box and a pair of chopsticks.
“Eames, I am impressed,” Joseph-Gordon Levitt was talking on the screen as he sat back.
“Your condescension, as always, is much appreciated, Arthur, thank you,” Tom Hardy retorted.
Stephen finished his egg rolls in no time and was soon reaching for a helping of Ma Po tofu and some fried rice. Tony was already on his second serving of sweet and sour chicken and Rhodey was devouring all the Chow Mien. The movie was engaging enough to keep them from talking and doing anything else, so they kept on like that for most of it.
“Security’s going to run you down hard.”
“And I will lead them on a merry chase.”
“Just be back before the kick.”
“Go to sleep Mr. Eames.”
“These two bicker like an old married couple!” Tony suddenly exclaimed, referring to the witty exchange between the characters of Levitt and Hardy.
“Oh, you should know. You and Doc over here are no different,” Rhodey said chuckling.
“Ouch Rhodey-bear, are you saying I’m old?” Tony brought a hand to his chest, mockingly looking hurt.
Stephen raised an eyebrow, “Funny you weren’t offended about the ‘married couple’ part.”
“Shut up and eat your dumplings,” Tony deadpanned, reaching for another take-out box and bringing his attention back to the film.
By the time the credits were rolling, the three of them were in various state of food coma.
“I think I may have eaten too much, I need tea,” Stephen said, forcing himself to get up from the couch and heading to the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’m so full, I’m just gonna lie here and close my eyes for a bit,” Rhodey sprawled comfortably on one of the longer couches and hugged a throw pillow to his chest.
“Go ahead, I’ll get myself some coffee,” Tony said standing up and following Stephen to the kitchen.
Stephen was leaning on the kitchen counter when he came in, waiting for the water to boil. Tony reached behind him to turn on the coffee machine. The sorcerer made no intention to move and in those few seconds, they were mere centimetres apart. Tony could smell the cologne from underneath the taller man's cotton shirt. He was tempted to bury his nose on Stephen’s neck but of course, that was out of the question. He settled on standing beside him while waiting for his coffee to brew.
“Have you got a name yet?” Stephen broke the tension.
“Huh?” Tony said, a bit taken aback.
“For your son, Pepper’s due soon, right?”
“Oh that, right, in a week or two…” Tony looked contemplative for a moment. “Actually no, we haven’t got a name yet. Like I told you, unlike Morgan, this one was kind of unexpected, or rather ‘unplanned’. Not that I will love him any less though, I’ve always wanted a son. I even thought Morgan would be a boy, good thing the name I prepared the first time was good for either gender.”
“Doesn’t Pepper have any ideas?”
“Nope, she said I’m in charge of the ‘naming’,” Tony air quoted. “Apparently, I did well with Jarvis and the bots, and Morgan of course.”
“‘Arthur’ would be a good name," Stephen suggested.
“You think so? I was leaning more towards ‘Eames’ honestly.”
“Is that even a first name? That was the character’s surname, right?”
“Who cares? It sounds cool… Or maybe I can take both –”
“Or maybe you can take both –” Stephen said at the same time, making them laugh. “Yeah, take both. One doesn’t sound right without the other anyway.” Stephen gave him a wink before turning around to take the kettle, which has just boiled, and filling his mug with hot water. Then he left to go back to the living room.
Tony was still processing how he should feel about it when his coffee maker beeped.
A week later, he was filling in the form for his son’s birth certificate: Eames Arthur Stark. ‘You musn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling,’ he thought with a smile.
***
Sometimes, Tony liked to think that his sleepless hours, or rather days, at his workshop were some sort of preparation for his predicament at the moment. Having two kids, barely a couple of years apart, was even more demanding a task than looking after the world, Stark Industries, the entire Avengers team (Peter included) and his bots put together. He agreed on hiring a nanny to help out as soon as Pepper decided to go back to work, but he insisted on taking care of his babies as much as he can. When Stephen arrived that evening, Tony was currently sitting on the couch, head resting back, with a sleeping baby boy in his arms, while watching some sort of fantasy-adventure movie playing softly on the screen in front of him.
“Hey,” Stephen greeted half-whispering, so as not to wake the baby.
Tony looked up to the man standing right beside him, “Hey, what‘s up?” He then moved to stand up, walking over to the cot nearby and placing little Eames on it with utmost care.
“Sorry, I didn’t call before dropping in. It was just… I had nothing else to do, so I thought we could hang out or something.”
“No, no, it’s fine. It was getting too quiet in here anyway. Morgan’s already sleeping upstairs and Pepper’s on a business trip. I could use some company,” Tony smiled. “Have you eaten? I could order take-out --”
“No need, I passed by the deli on the way here. I actually brought you a sandwich. Knowing you, you probably haven’t eaten or slept in days. Again.” Stephen held out a brown paper bag, which Tony hesitated to take, but did so anyway.
He peered inside the bag and took out the contents, unwrapping the sandwich and taking a bite unceremoniously. “Hmm, just a couple of days, but thanks,” he said incoherently. “Sit, this is a good one,” he continued, gesturing towards the television.
Stephen sat on the couch facing the screen as Tony went to the kitchen. They only watched movies together during movie nights with the team, but seeing that Tony couldn’t really leave the baby behind to go out to a bar or something, why not. It looked like the movie was just starting as a voice over was narrating something about a village within a wall, or was it behind the wall? Tony came back with a pitcher of water, a carton of juice and a couple of glasses, which he placed on the side table. Then he sat on the same couch Stephen was sitting on, not exactly beside him, but close enough. He went back to eating his sandwich as the movie started.
“I love this one. It’s about a star that fell from the sky and a man who went to seek the star, so he could bring it to the love of his life,” he told Stephen between mouthfuls.
“I didn’t know you were into these types of films,” Stephen teased.
“It’s not exactly the kind that I could propose on team movie nights, you know. The guys are always after war or espionage or some deep philosophical shit genre. I actually discovered this one while searching for wholesome family films I could watch while doing daddy duties. I read somewhere that even though the babies seem uncomprehending, the films you watch or the songs you listen to when they are around could have an effect on their mental development.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You didn’t have to be all defensive. Admit it, you’re a softie.”
Tony pouted at that, but didn’t deny it either. He crumpled the empty sandwich wrapper and tossed it in the bin near the television. He then leaned back to focus on the movie.
A few minutes into the film, Stephen suddenly spoke, “Wait, wasn’t it Tristran?”
“What?” Tony asked confused.
“The name of the protagonist, it was supposed to be Tristran, not Tristan. I’ve read the book!”
“Oh. Wow. Okay, I didn’t know you were into those types of books Doc,” Tony grinned.
“I like to read fiction from time to time, especially when the terminologies started to become overwhelming back in med school. Actually, I still do now. As much as the books in Kamar-Taj are fascinating, they are not always easy on the eyes, you know. Besides, the works of Neil Gaiman are interesting enough."
“Yeah, yeah, no need to be all defensive about it,” Tony said mockingly, patting Stephen on his back.
Stephen stiffened a little bit at the contact, but was able to shake it off immediately, “Still doesn’t explain why they changed it in the movie.”
“Oh well, to be honest, Tristran is a little hard to pronounce. They probably changed it so they wouldn’t have to waste as much time and money on re-takes just because of a tongue-twister of a name, you know.”
“Whatever,“ Stephen rolled his eyes but accepted the attempted explanation. It somehow made sense, anyway.
Admittedly, the movie was good in its own way. Stephen had forgotten the details from the book, having read it many years ago. But he undoubtedly got engaged in the film, deep enough, that he only noticed halfway through, that Tony was somewhat leaning on his side. He looked down on the man and saw that he was asleep, his long eyelashes unmoving. Stephen debated on nudging him awake, but decided to wait ‘till the end of the movie to do so. It was getting to the good parts after all. He scooted a little bit, so they would be in a more comfortable position, wrapping an arm around Tony, and stared back at the screen. A few more minutes passed and Yvaine was professing her love to Tristan, who at the time was turned into a mouse.
“…to see the way that mankind loves. I mean, you can search the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and, well, strangely easy mistaken for loathing. And what I’m trying to say, Tristan, is I think I love you!”
At these words, Stephen was suddenly overcome with a warm feeling that radiated through the entirety of his being. How could a few words from a movie summarize exactly what he was feeling? He looked back down at the man in his arms and saw that this time, Tony was awake, staring right at the television screen himself.
Tony had actually been awake for a few minutes now. But upon realizing how close he was to Stephen, he dared not make a move, afraid to break whatever spell was cast. During Claire Danes' little monologue, he could feel Stephen’s heart beating loudly through his shirt. It didn’t help that his own heart was rhythmically doing the same, if not louder. But it would be wrong to make any move and he had no other choice but to quietly suffer through it, a tear threatening to escape from his eye.
They stayed that way until the credits rolled, each lost in their own emotion and thoughts, weighing the probabilities and the consequences and in the end, both deciding on what seemed right than what felt right. Tony faked ‘just waking up’, stretching his arms as he stood up, already missing the warmth of Stephen’s closeness.
“You missed half of it,” Stephen force-joked.
“Oh, that’s fine. I’ve seen it many times.”
“How many exactly?”
“I lost count, twenty-three? No, I think this is the twenty-fifth time.”
“Hmm, you like it that much.”
“What can I say? It’s magical, just like you,” Tony flashed a grin.
Stephen was thankful the room was dim enough to hide his crimson face. Or not. Tony's smug look said otherwise.
***
“‘Christopher’,” Christine said as she emerged from the bathroom. Her bathrobe failing to hide the huge bump that was soon to be Baby Strange.
“Sorry?” was all Stephen could say.
“You think of the first name, but I would like his second name to be ‘Christopher’,” she smiled.
“‘Tristan’,” he replied in a heartbeat.
“Wow, you’re… prepared.”
Stephen hummed in agreement but didn’t say anything else. That warm happy feeling was being pumped by his heart again, coursing through his body, and all he could do was remember and smile.