ironstrange headcanons

prohibited love.

"i'm Anthony by the way."

"i'm...Stephen"

that's it. that is how they met. this is how two people that are supposed to be enemies fell in love.
In the 1700, vampires and hunters were the two breeds that caused the worst carnage that ever existed.
the contrast between the beasts and the humans resulted fatal for the beasts.
the hunters conquered the vampires' territory after killing the 90% of the population.
Stephen was part of the 10% that survived after his family was killed in front of his eyes.
he was just a kid at the time, an innocent one who still needed his parents' comfort and support.
it was so hard for him to gain Tony's trust, it was really hard to open up with him, but with time, they got so close and affectionate that nothing stopped them from opening up about their childhood.

when they met for the first time, Stephen was so miserable, he was dying alone in the forest because his clan kicked him out, since he tried to save a young hunter years before.
he begged tony to kill him, ripping away his clothes to give him free access to his heart, crying and shaking for the pain.
Tony did not want to hurt him at all. He helped him up and took care of him, healing his wounds and suturing the bigger ones.
Tony remembers the look on his face like it was yesterday. The vampire wearing ripped blood-soaked clothes with a wounded and malnourished face was the worst thing he's ever seen before.
he never wanted to be an hunter, but his family forced him to become one.
he passed all the years of his youth by training and killing innocent animals and people, thing that built up such a strong and insensitive behavior that still affects him nowadays.
but under that armor, a caring, loving and lovable man hides, reason why he had mercy on Stephen.

The vampire is the opposite. he is an angel, as Tony describes him. he killed a person one time and cried for days because of it.
the person he'd killed was his brother. His eldest brother, the one who always hated him because he wanted to be a surgeon and not a warrior.

[flashback to the day he killed his brother ]

"YOU NEED TO GO STEPHEN, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SURVIVE! at least save yourself. please, just run. RUN!" tony screams as the armed vampires were running after them in the woods "i beg you, i'm hurt and i'm slowing you down, you are going to get killed too!"

"AND THEN I WILL DIE WITH YOU! I AM NOT LEAVING YOU ALONE, I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE NOW, YOU KNOW HOW I AM!"

Tony sighs and looks back, noticing that the army was gone. he is genuinely confused and stops running, turning to Stephen that looks worried.

"what.. what happened? why are they gone? did they give up?"

Stephen's body is shaking at an uncontrollable speed, and in the moment Tony understands that nothing good is going to happen.

"Stephen.. are.. are you alright? what does this mean?"

" they are not looking for you, they are looking for me. this is a technique we use during battles to disarm the enemy. Run, Tony!"
as the hunter moves to run, he finds himself on the ground, unconscious.
"TONY, NO!" Stephen screams, looking at the body. he's tempted to run to him but somebody holds him back with a weapon.

"oh, Stephen, now you even live with hunters? your life couldn't get any more pathetic. you are sick in mind."
the taller man freezes. he recognized his brother's voice.
"what do you want from me, Victor?"
a sarcastic laugh echoed through the woods, making the situation even harder for Stephen. "you never deserve to be called Strange. you do not deserve to be in the royal family. you are such a shame for all of us. you cannot even defend yourself without your filthy human there"

victor nonchalantly kicks Tony's body to irritate Stephen and grins at the sight of his brother flinching. "don't you dare to touch him again or.."
"or what? you will kill me as you threatened before? yeah i sure do think that you can kill me. you'd be dead in a second, Stephen."