Say it Back - [ironstrange]

19: Careful

It had been a while since Stephen and Tony had a sleepover, and both of them forgot how much fun it could be. Finally Tony wouldn't have to feel uncomfortable around the dinner table with his parents since they would talk to Stephen, and sometimes Tony could interject and feel safe to do so.

His mother was always nice but his father was another story. He never hurt him but he was cold and indifferent most of the time, and that puts some strain on you too.

"What happened to your hand, Stephen?" Maria asked. She spotted a longer cut along his wrist to his thumb that was red but not really bleeding. A shallow cut but a cut all the same.

Stephen hadn't even noticed. He pulled his hand back without grabbing the bowl of roasted potatoes he reached for and looked at the hand.

"Oh." Was all he could say.

Tony knew how annoying his mother could be when it came to just simple cuts, since she was so caring, so he immediately grabbed Stephen's hand and put it under the table by their legs.
"He's fine, mom," Tony insisted.

Every time Tony would emerge from the lab with a cut or just a bruise she'd worry her ass off. But it wasn't surprising considering what happened to them when Tony was a child.

"It's okay, Maria. Just a cardboard cut," Stephen lied.

Tony was still holding Stephen's hand under the table and let go once he realized. He just sat in his chair waiting for Stephen to finish while keeping his head down.

"Is it okay if Stephen stays the night?" Tony asked, picking at his food. Something was bothering him, but what? There was a very slim chance he'd tell Stephen had he asked.

"Of cour—" Maria was going to answer but was startled by a loud thud upstairs. It sounded like a person had fallen face first into the floor.

"What was that?" Wondered Howard, also putting down his cutlery while looking up the stairs.

"I think a hammer fell," said Tony quickly. "Let's go check it out." He took Stephen's hand again and pulled him away from the table. "Thanks for dinner!"

"Thank you!" Stephen exclaimed shortly after.

"That's your cloak-pet-thing, for sure," breathed Tony after they rushed up the stairs to Tony's room.

"Yeah," he agreed.

The horrible sight of the cloak on Tony's bed made Stephen stop dead in his tracks and his jaw drop... while his lip curled. It was acting like a cat bumping its head into everything.

"Oh my god, stop that!" Stephen hissed and ripped the cloak off Tony's bed. "You're so embarrassing!"

"I think it likes me," smirked Tony and waved at the cloak which had positioned itself on Stephen's shoulders, where it belongs. The corner of the cloak waved back.

"I think it likes you more than me..."

The two of them watched a movie together, one which they had seen countless of times: The Matrix. Tony remembered the year when they dressed up as Neo and Morpheus, people didn't realize they were even dressed up so they didn't get the good candies.

That year sucked, but at least it sucked for the both of them.

Like the pair always did they gravitated closer and closer, which neither of them would ever mind. Until now. Until Tony changed. He'd realize his legs were too close to Stephen's and would discreetly move away by stretching or by reaching for his phone to check the time.

He was reminded that he had practice tomorrow, earlier than usual. Last practice was an epic fail so coach felt it was necessary to punish them for making the practice difficult. Tony didn't mind. You can always be better... unless you're already the best, which Tony was in the school at least.