Ternion (FrostIronStrange)

Part 8

Walking the grounds of Kamar-Taj, Stephen was trying to listen to Wong's updates on his students. He gave an approving nod here and there, stopping to adjust a student's stance, still listening to Wong and keeping an eye on Peter who was joining some of the novice students.

His mind was all over the place.

Well, that wasn't true, it was on Tony Stark.

Peter had let it slip that his mentor had given Pepper control of Stark Industries for a while longer, taking time out in his lab, the place he went to when he wanted peace from the world. On the one hand, Stephen was glad Tony was somewhere he considered safe, and on the other, it felt as though a hot poker was steadily piercing his chest.

There was a time Stephen was welcome there, too. And now Tony was using it to hide from him.

Wind blew the dry leaves in a flurried dance around his feet and he stopped to watch, trying to breathe through the pain, to think of a way to fix this. As much as it pained him to admit it, Loki had been helpful, distracting Peter's well intentions of trying to cheer Stephen up, helping him to mediate and search through the texts of the Sanctum's library.

The Asgardian had been a grounding force for him, as well as a way to still feel connected to Tony without intruding on his privacy, his need for space.

'You're useless to me at the moment, aren't you?' Wong shouted, Stephen oblivious to the fact that he'd walked quite a way in front of him.

'Sorry, just distracted.'

'You've been like this for over a week now. Go kiss and make up! I can't take you seriously when you're like this!' Wong stormed off to the other side of the courtyard, muttering under his breath about lovesick puppies.

'Wow, he's seriously scary when pissed,' Peter whistled, stuck to the stone pillar above Stephen's head.

'That he is. What did we say about climbing the ancient architecture of this sacred place?' He tilted his head back to glare at the teen.

'Oops, sorry.' Peter dropped beside him.

'I thought you were doing drills with the other students?' Stephen questioned, continuing his walk.

'I was, but it's hard to concentrate with you looking so sad. How are you, Doctor Strange?' Peter came into step beside him, careful not to crowd Stephen but closer than personal space boundaries.

'I'm...managing, thank you, Peter.'

'Doc...'

Stephen stopped walking, turning to face the basically adopted child of the man he loved. Peter only ever copied Tony's nickname for him when something was wrong.

'Mr Stark loves you, he'll forgive you.'

He smiled, hand ruffling Peter's hair. 'You don't know that.'

'No, he does! I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he watches you when he thinks you're not looking, how happy he gets when FRIDAY tells him you've messaged. Doctor Strange, you're so smart, you've seen the future! How can you be stupid about this!' Peter stamped his foot in anger.

'Peter, he has feelings for Loki.'

Stephen had never said the words out loud, had avoided thinking about them. They felt like glass shards on his tongue, the pain hard to swallow as he verbalised his worse fear. The person you loved felt the same for you, but they were also looking at another.

He'd lost Tony before he'd even had a chance to be with him.

'So? What, you're going to give up? No, that's not how it works!' Peter all but shouted at him, eyes shining with what appeared to be tears, much to Stephen's horror. The Cloak slapped his shoulder, either in agreement with Peter or in a reprimand for making the boy cry.