The Perfect Illusion

A Changed Man

Narrator's POV

"Hm..." Stephen groaned as he felt the rays of sunshine warming up his face. He slowly opened his eyes.

He saw a closed bottle of medication and nothing else.

The French doors to the balcony were opened, and the wind blew the curtains, making them dance.

He closed his eyes.

A smile spread across his lips when he felt fingertips caressing his head.

"Awake already?" Came a the voice he couldn't get enough of.

"Yup." Stephen said.

"You sleep good?" Tony asked.

Stephen nodded, nuzzling closer to Tony.

"I know." Tony said. "You didn't even move last night."

Stephen looked up at him, staring into his eyes.

"What?" Tony asked.

Stephen smiled. "Nothing." He said.

"Hm." Tony smiled. "You know, I thought happiness started with "h", but it starts with "u"." He winked at Stephen.

"I think you have dyslexia." Stephen told him.

"Oh, shut up." Tony laughed.

///0///0

"Be sure to not to get any of the paint on the crest of the fingernail. We want these to look very neat. Also make sure that you complete each coat before placing another on top because clumps will form."

"Wait, what did she say about the clumps?" Tony asked, pausing the video on his tablet and backing it up.

Stephen sat in front of him with a hand out.

Tony held Stephen's hand in one of his hands and held the small brush of nail polish in the other. He was giving Stephen a manicure. He thought it'd be a good idea to do this, maybe Stephen would finally leave his hands alone after realizing how pretty they actually were.

"She said not to put coats on desperately." Stephen said.

"Could you stay still for a moment?" Tony asked. "God..." He closed his eyes after realizing what he'd say. He looked up at Stephen to see him a little saddened. "I'm sorry Stephen. I wasn't-"

"It's fine." Stephen said, smiling but a little hurt. "Don't worry about it."

"I didn't-"

"Hey, Wizard." Thor's voice came into the room.

Stephen turned around to see Thor. "Hi." He gave him a small wave.

Tony cleared his throat and continued to paint away.

"What're you doing?" Thor asked.

"Just trying to get my mind off things." Stephen said.

"Oh." Thor said. "Well, Bruce and I are gonna go on an outing."

"You weren't suppose to tell them that." Bruce said, coming into the room.

"Oh." Thor said. "Just kidding. I didn't say that."

Bruce laughed. "Never mind." He said. "We will be back in a few hours." He directed Thor and himself to the door.

"Good luck on your date, lovebirds." Tony said, consecrating hard on his nail polishing skills.