Wizards and Geniuses [IronStrange]

A Good Change |45|

I am the Watcher. We've met before, back whenever Stephen's journey began. We watched him endure lots of suffering, however he met the love of his life. Unfortunately, this is where there's a pause in Tony and Stephen's relationship.

Stephen settled into a dorm two weeks after he said he would. Tony insisted on paying for his dorm, due to the ridiculous price Stephen could not afford. He cut off all communication with his old roommates, including his beloved. It's been a month since any of them talked with each other, it was a week before Christmas.

He moved into a dorm with a new student, Bruce Banner. They got along great! They both had the mindset of successful students, everything was mellow with them, no drama. Stephen befriended Quinn, they aren't close, but they tolerate each other; they ended up enjoying each other's company.

I expected Tony to go downhill, but he managed to prove that he was willing to change himself. After Stephen left, Tony mourned a lot, but that didn't stop him from improving his self journey. He's been watching his attitude, exploring personal books, being more friendly with strangers. He built the courage up to apologize to Quinn, it didn't go well. She never forgave him.

The gang respected Stephen's decision on leaving, they helped him pack up and offered extra assistance. None of them were mad at each other, their friendship remained. Stephen truly needed a break from his friends and lover, he needed time to reflect upon himself. He also needed time to figure out what's been going on with him and Christine, nothing yet.

Bruce, Christine, and Stephen, became an unstoppable trio. A very odd one, I must say... but I've seen weirder. I didn't expect their friendship to bloom, but all of them are good for each other. As an introduction to Bruce Banner, he's a brilliant man. In your universe, he was known as the Hulk too. In this universe, he's just a college student with a smart mind. Bruce was the opposite of Tony, yes they were both smart, but Bruce was more thoughtful. He didn't have an ego complex.

The two lovers secretly had hope for their relationship to come back in the future, but as for now... everything seems to be lost with them.

"Decor!" Stephen slammed a big box full of Christmas lights and ornaments on Bruce's desk. Bruce rubbed his eyes, he's been working for hours, so his eyes were straining. "Why?" He was perplexed. "Uh, because it's almost Christmas?" Stephen said in a playful way, he held out a red ornament.

His lips formed a wide smile, "My mother made this whenever she was a little girl." He held it up for Bruce to see. Bruce carefully took it into the palm of his hand, "It's beautiful." He gave it back to Stephen.

"Yes, and I'm going to hang it in a clear spot on the tree!" Stephen announced, he took the box and went to his side of the room. "Uhh, but we don't have a tree?" Again, Bruce was perplexed by Stephen, he typically was. Stephen made a childish chuckle, "Not yet."

He sat the box on his bed and waved his arms out. Magic formed in the corner of their room. A medium-sized tree appeared, it had no decorations on it. "Ta daaa!" Stephen turned around to see Bruce's reaction, he was bewildered. "H-How...!?" Bruce stood up from his chair and looked over the tree.

"Magic, my friend!" Stephen was proud of his creation, he hung his special ornament in a high spot. As Bruce picked out an ornament from the box, Stephen said, "Christine should be coming. She's going to help us decorate our dorm."

"Okay, but I have to work on an essay... I can't do this now." He hung up one ornament, he saw Stephen's disappointed expression. "Sorryyy." Bruce went back to his desk. Stephen pouted, Tony would've hung decor with me even if it meant the world, he thought.

He huffed with a smile, "It's fine. Christine and I will do it."

A soft knock pattered the door, "Speaking of Christine." Stephen moonwalked, yes, he moonwalked, to the door. "Hello, your majesty." He playfully bowed to Christine. "Ohh, stop." Christine chuckled, she had a huge box of decorations in her hands.

"I brought some extra decorations you might want." She said as she sat them down on Stephen's bed. "That's very thoughtful of you, but I think we have enough. I don't know, what do you think?" He pointed at the Christmas tree. "I didn't bring any ornaments, I brought lights and signs, all that stuff." She told him.

"Ohh, I think we're good. I can conjure my own lights, ornaments are different because some of them have a special meaning." He sheepishly smiled, he felt bad for turning down her decor. "True but... they're from me." She looked down while blushing.

Stephen registered what she was saying, "O-Oh! Okay... in that case, I'll hang them. Gifts from friends are important." He took lights in his hands and beamed a smile at her. He used his magic to hang the lights around the small room. "Hey, you two should hang mistletoe at the door." Bruce suggested while smirking down at his work.

Stephen felt embarrassed at that suggestion. "Wow Bruce, if you wanted to kiss me, you should've just told me." Christine sarcastically told him. Bruce went pale, "That's not what I- never mind." He muttered under his breath. Stephen and Christine exchanged smiles.

"Boys, I'm hosting a Christmas party. I was wondering if maybe... you'd like to come?" She shyly asked them. Stephen crouched down and plugged in the cord to the lights, "Ooohh, a party? How many people are going?" He questioned.

Christine took an ornament from Stephen's box. "About 15, it's not too big. However..." She hung the ornament on the tree, she continued, "Your roommates might be there."

Stephen's smile dropped as he stood up, "Oh..."

"Yeahh... I'm sorry, I ended up inviting them before I could invite you."

"You know what? It's fine, I'm not going to let them ruin my experience. I haven't talked with them in awhile, so it'd be nice to catch up."

"You sure? No pressure if you don't want to go."

"I'm sure." Stephen turned to his friend, "Are you coming Bruce?"

"Um... what day is it?" Bruce asked.

"The night before Christmas." Christine told him.

"Hmm... I think I'm free." He scrolled through the calendar on his phone, "Yeah, I can go."

"Great! I'll send you both the information on the group-chat sometime today." They continued with the decorations.

(The Watcher) Oh boy... the Christmas party, you're in for a ride.