The Perfect Illusion

Get Out

Narrator's POV

>knock< >knock<

"Stephen... Stephen are you in there?" Tony asked as he knocked on the door of Stephen's room. "Stephen, is everything okay?"

Stephen was curled up in the corner of his dark room, struggling against himself, shaking. "Ngh!" He groaned as pain spread throughout his body. He had his arms wrapped around himself to keep him from falling apart.

Tears streamed down his face.

"Stephen."

>knock< >knock<

"G-Go away..." Stephen said, shivering. "...please." He gasped, bracing himself.

What had he done?

Memories flooded his mind, reminding him of his past. The light in him, fighting to break through all the darkness in Stephen.

But Dormmamu manipulated him, keeping him prisoner. He pulled him back into the shadows, pulling at his heart over and over again to keep him in line.

Kindness is weakness

He put his hands to his head, pulling at his hair, messing it up. "Ngh!" He groaned as tears streamed down his face. He heard the door open, turning to it. "How'd you get in here?"

"The cloak..." Tony pointed at the cloak standing next to the door with one of its corners on the door handle. "Are you...okay?" Tony asked, slowly coming toward Stephen.

"Don't!" Stephen said, sinking further into the corner. "Get away. Don't touch me."

"Stephen." Tony said, getting down on his knees and slowly getting closer to Stephen, reaching for him.

"Ah!" Stephen gasped, pushing himself deeper into the corner, but wasn't able to do so. He was cornered. He raised his chin, pushing the side of his face against the wall, but watching Tony as he tried to sink into the wall.

"It's okay." Tony said. "It's okay." He said, placing his hand on one of Stephen's knees.

"Ah!" Stephen gasped.

Tony looked up at him. "It's okay." He whispered.

Stephen looked at him.

The kindness in Tony's eyes made him feel safe. That smile, it made him feel light. Tony's touch was very peaceful, calming the storm within him.

Stephen's whole body became warm and soft. He felt light, floating like a feather in the wind. "Hah..." He sighed in broken breaths.

"Better?" Tony asked.

Stephen swallowed, nodding.

Tony gave him a soft smile. "So...about that kiss..."

Stephen looked at him, a blank expression taking over his face. He put his hand over Tony's face and pushed him down on the ground.

Tony chuckled. "Okay. Okay." He said. "I get it. You don't wanna talk about it."

Stephen stood up and walked out of the room.

Tony watched him walk out. "He's a little shy, isn't he?" He asked the cloak.

The cloak looked down at Tony without saying anything and levitated to Stephen.

Tony smiled, shaking his head, laying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling.

His cheeks turning red as a goofy smile spread across his lips.

"Mmm~" He sighed in happiness.

///0///0

Stephen was leaning against the other side wall of the room Tony was in. He had a hand to his chest, looking up at the ceiling. "Holy fuck." He whispered. He closed his eyes and sighed.

He didn't know what he was feeling at the moment. He didn't know if it was good or bad.

But one thing was for sure.

Kaecilius could not know about this. If he found out, Stephen would be severely punished and brought to Dormmamu.

Who know what kind of punishment Dormmamu would give him.

Stephen didn't even want to think about the countless possibilities. He shook his head, straightening himself up. "Hm." He exhaled before walking down the hall.

///0///0

"Good morning." Tony said, coming into the dining room yawning.

Stephen was sitting down in his chair like normal, reading his book.

Tony sat in his chair. He looked at the mug in front of Stephen. He opened his mouth to say words, but was cut off by Stephen.

"No." Stephen said. "It's actual tea this time."

"I forgot you can do that." He chuckled.

Stephen went quiet again.

"So..." Tony tapped his fingers on the table. "Do you want to do something today?" He asked. "We could go to the aquarium. I heard it's really pretty here."

"Ah, yes. Let's go see fish trapped behind glass instead of in the ocean where they belong." Stephen said.

"Okay..." Tony said. "We could go to one of the museums."

"And see how the British show off their shiny badges and medals awarded to them during battles?" Stephen said.

"Okay." Tony said. "We could..." He thought for a minute. "Oh! Let's go watch a play."

Stephen looked at him, raising a brow. "Hard pass." He said, going back to his book.

"Fine." Tony stood up, pushing his chair back. "I guess we'll just stay here and be boring because you don't want to do anything today. I have given you plenty of opti-"

Stephen stood up, a cold gust of wind blew in the house as shadows covered all the light. Stephen stretched tall and long, looking down at Tony with his glowing eyes. He screeched loudly, exposing sharp teeth.

"Okay." Tony said, quickly sitting down in his chair and shutting his mouth.

In a matter of seconds Stephen converted into his normal self, sipping on his tea and reading his book.

Tony looked at him, he was very intimidated.

Stephen gave him a quick glance.

Tony quickly looked away.

Stephen went back to looking at his book, hiding a small smile behind the pages.

///0///0

"Stark." Stephen said as he walked down the staircase with one hand in his pocket and the other holding on to the railing.

"Yeah?" Tony's voice came from somewhere around the house.

Stephen reached the bottom of the stairs and made his way to the kitchen, where Tony was working on some gadget of his.

"Well, you dress nice for just walking around the house." Tony said.

"We're going somewhere." Stephen said.

"I thought you didn't want to go anywhere today." Tony said, screwing in some bolts.

"Look, do you wanna go out or would you like to stay in here all day?" Stephen asked.

"Alright. Alright." Tony said. "Let me finish this first."

"You've got fifteen minutes or I'm leaving without you." Stephen said, walking out of the kitchen.

Tony chuckled, giving a side smirk.