And so, I manage to get my gift exchange done in time!
@strangemischief, I’m your gifter for the IronStrange Exchange hosted by @ironstrangehaven! Your prompts were butterflies and feels, and while i’m not great at like, angst, i do fancy myself pretty good at fluff, so enjoy the art above, as well as the fic below!
Ps i would like to preface this with the fact that i don’t write much shipping stuff so i apologize if this isn’t the best thing in the world im lowkey insecure about it anyway enjoy
Morpho peleides
Rating: Gen \ Warnings: a sickening amount of mushy feels\ Word Count: 1123
Donna had always loved butterflies.
It had been her obsession as a toddler, and the love for the insect never really left. Shirts, blankets, stuffed animals, stickers, the whole lot.
She’d been wearing that damned butterfly bracelet when she died. It laid on his desk, on a small pillow. He kept it with him, even at the sanctum. A reminder. Little, semi precious butterflies.
And the motif followed him through life
One of the first things he ever conjured with his magic… was butterflies - all harsh angles and crystalline. He began to wonder if he would ever escape the multitudes.
Wong noted that the manifestation was deeply ingrained in himself, if his own magic formed as much. Strange acknowledged it, but never told Wong why specifically
It was both bothersome, and comforting.
When the battle with Thanos commenced, he knew how it would end. He knew the pain, both physical and mental that would be placed on all involved. He just had to push through, to turn the tide of the battle so that the one - in - 14 - million chance could at least have stronger odds. Any increase in those odds was a good increase, and as each attack and counter attack and movement lessened the likelihood of other realities, he saw that perhaps the win would come… at a price
And when Thanos attacked him, breaking the mirror dimension and sending it back to him, he turned it into butterflies.
Always, always butterflies. Gentle and fluttering and blue.
He lay defeated, and gives up the time stone. There is a brief time of rest.. And then… dust
As he looked Tony (Not Stark anymore, just Tony) and told him there was no other way, he faded, feeling light in a sickening way.
-
Butterflies danced in his vision when he woke
The universe, saved, the “snap” reversed.
He stared as he watched the young Spider-Man come together, and trembled like a leaf in the wind at his own reconstruction. The cloak moved to comfort the boy at Stephens request, and the sorcerer shut his eyes.
He was still seeing butterflies.
When a ship landed nearby, and Iron Man - no, Tony, just Tony - ran out, pulling Parker into his arms with a quip Strange couldn’t actually hear. His eyes opened to the sight of a hug that would pull at anyone’s heartstrings. Stark was dressed almost alarmingly casually.
He turned to Strange.
“... You’re a real bastard, you know that?”
Stephen fought off the urge to laugh. 14 million outcomes, 14 million lifetimes, and he’d come to … care deeply… for the man of iron.
“But we won, didn’t we?” He responded, only offering a smirk
Tony kept one arm on Peter’s shoulders, but his eyes on Stephen “I won, you were gathering up on a shelf somewhere”
His dark eyes warmed the sorcerer down to his core, and he could feel the flutter in his stomach.
That certainly wasn’t good… was it?
-
The return to earth was a muted affair. He reunited with Wong and he returned to his life - with occasional visits from a spider boy who either couldn’t take a hint or didn’t want to
(It didn’t help that the cloak had developed a sweet spot for him… or that he had softened to the boy as well. But that was neither here nor there)
He was getting more regular visits from New York’s favorite Billionaire Philanthropist.
They talked, and they talked, and they stared into each others eyes.
Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies.
Unrequited, invasive butterflies.
And then, one evening, over tea, his hand his held. Gently… so, so gently.
“.... Tell me something, Strange”
“... Yes?”
“... If I kissed you, right now,” Tony asked “What would you do?”
Strange stared back, reading Stark’s expression before leaning in “What would you want me to do, Anthony?”
“... Don’t answer my question with a question, asshole”
Stephen smirked “Find out your answer, then”
And by the Vishanti, he did.
When their lips parted, there was a spark of magic, an accident
Gentle, baby blue butterflies.
Stephen chuckled. Tony looked almost bewildered.
“Butterflies?”
One of the translucent beings flickered and landed on their joined hands, creating a tingling feeling through both of their hands and up their forearms.
“Heh, my magic has a tendency to manifest like that” Stephen explained quietly, recalling why within his contemplation.
“... Any reason?” Tony asked, quietly.
Stephen looked up at the man he just kissed, whose eyes seemed softer.
Was he really doing this? Really going to finally tell someone, anyone what the butterflies meant? Why they were everywhere?
No, he wasn’t telling just anyone. He was telling Tony Stark. A man he fell hopelessly, madly in love with well over several lifetimes ago.
“... Donna loved them”
“.... Donna?”
-
It was not a seamless change - adding Tony to his life and Tony making room in his own, that is. But they managed, they thrived, they lived.
And, some time later, bathed in gentle hues of a rising sun on the Atlantic, they said their vows in a private ceremony. Stephen wore his sisters bracelet on his hand (his wrist too big for the petite jewelry). They kissed - all love and promises and gentle affection.
And my god, the butterflies.
They’d erupted from him, landing wherever, and eliciting a slight, amusing yelp from Peter - one of the 5 witnesses to this event.
Stephen looked down at his slightly shorter husband - his husband, wow - who was covered in the pale, glowing blue magic and grinning from ear to ear.
“Is this going to happen every time we kiss, Mister Stark- Strange?”
“By the Vishanti, i hope not” Wong grumbled from the sidelines, eliciting a laugh from the pair, and another kiss.
“Okay buds, time to bust this Popsicle stand!” Tony announced “Party happens in 2 hours and I want time to rub my marriage in the media’s face before Stephen and I straight up disappear for a month”
Christine and Pepper both rolled their eyes with big grins on their faces, and Rhodey just laughed, ushering everyone to the door “Can’t wait to see that in the mags, Tones” the Colonel commented as they left the rooftop
“Oh lord above” Stephen huffed, remembering just then that they would be facing paparazzi
“Ready, Stephanie?” Tony asked, half joking, half serious.
“With you by my side? Always” He snuck just one more kiss “Lets go”
Tony grinned, gently brushing off a remaining butterfly, which flew off for a few seconds before fading. He intertwined their hands, deliberately and gently holding the hand with Donna’s bracelet.
“Lets give ‘em a show” Tony encouraged. Stephen just nodded, raising his head up high.
Life could throw what it wished at him now. He could handle it
They both could handle it. Together
He found himself quite fond of the fluttering in his stomach, this time around.
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