#drpepperony fic

[jaythesaltybastard]

Title: Too-Loving Eyes

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)

Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Pepper Potts/Stephen Strange, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Stephen Strange

Characters: Pepper Potts, Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), others mentioned - Character

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stephen saves Tony in Endgame, POV Pepper Potts, minor Stephen POV, its like 3 paragraphs, Stephen is extremely obvious and Pepper is so onto him, Stephen Strange Parenting Morgan Stark, Pre-OT3, Slow Burn, but not really because there is no timeline, One-Sided Attraction, for now, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Established Relationship, Established Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Time Skips, First Kiss, Stephen is like a baby deer, No beta we die like Tony (not), Fix-It

Summary: Tony snapped his fingers. Pepper was prepared to let go.

Then a wizard with too-loving eyes appeared, and the rest of their lives began.

[amethyst-noir]

Hey, I'm not sure if you have explained this somewhere or its something you don't wish to discuss (I apologise in advance for starting this conversation in that case). I actually have been obsessing over your works about Drpepperony on Ao3 for a while now (its amazing! Not just the ideas cause they are on point but even your writing is so beautiful, thank you soooo much for uploading them btw. It always brings me joy to read them and on sad days I find myself gravitating towards your written work.) I've realised you don't really post drpepperony anymore and I can't find anything similar on your tumblr either. Have you lost interest in the theme? I did read a post you had tagged about your account being gone and I'm so sorry for all the hurt and terror that must have caused. But yeah sorry I'm not too well versed in the tumblr Ao3 world from a creator viewpoint and I just got curious if you will ever go back to drpepperony and just to ask how you have been doing. Thats all I suppose :)

Hi!

So, first of all sorry that it took me a couple of days to get to this lovely ask of yours. Second, thank you so much! 💜 I'm so happy you like my drpepperony stories! They are such an cute OT3 but I'm sorry to say that I have lost interest, along with the whole of the MCU. I haven't kept track of any of it for a while now. (Black Widow and the first two episodes of Moon Knight were the last two things I saw of it.)

I've been writing in other fandoms until recently. Things are going on and writing is not really happening anymore. I hope it will return one day, for whatever fandom. I'd like to finish at least the 3 The Untamed WIPs I have lying around; I see no chance for the MCU WIPs that are sleeping on my computer.

While I was still holding on for a while after Endgame my love for it was starting to fade after that movie. I still have one unposted Ironstrange (not drpepperony, sorry!) story lying around, actually.

Yes, I managed to nuke my account twice in a row while trying to answer an ask a couple of years ago. That was a weird bug and I'm glad I got it back - yes, it was rather stressfull at the time and I would have been heartbroken if I had lost this blog. While my actual stories are backed up a couple of times many of the headcannony stuff is only here. I should probably change that but that requires more time, energy and brainpower than I currently have. Let's hope this site doesn't implode anytime soon.

Which brings me to your question of there being drpepperony on my blog. There actually is! I don't know if you did a bit of tag crawling here or not but I have snippets and headcanon style written things for them here. They can be found under #drpepperony and #amy imagines but you have to scroll through the Ironstrange and Tony/Stephen/Wong stuff as well. Sorry. My tagging system has never been the best. 😅

Again, your ask has made me so happy and made me smile every time I thought about it! 🥰 I'm sorry I can't give a "better" (happier) answer.

Drpepperony will always have a place in my heart but it's a fond memory by now, alongside the other pairings I have loved and written for in the past.

[darkkitty1208]

would you ever write a polyship?

Probably. What's better than one partner taking care of my fave if not two partners?

I've read some drpepperony & ironstrangefrost stuff in the past. I'm a bit iffy about Pepper in some ways so it's unlikely I'll ever write the former, but I can see myself writing ironstrangefrost if I come up with a good enough idea.

As for MP100 I'm absolutely in love with ekuserirei and yoshiekuserirei (which is probably the ship name?) but haven't exactly been brave enough to write Ekubo that much aside from the like, one scene I've written of him. Not that I've written much for the fandom at all but, you get what I mean. I also don't really know much about how the fandom perceives Yoshioka despite reading several fanfiction with him in it, though several of the fanfics have different takes on him so I suppose it's up for different interpretations. For now though I'll probably stick with writing serirei/reigen-centric fics as the brain worms are festering inside me and I have no choice but to surrender to them.

[harpywritesfic]

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

(I will not be tagging as many people as I have wips. I don’t think I even have that many followers.)

I was tagged by @j-snapdragon!! Thank you, I love doing these! The first five are in their own docs and the rest all live in the megadoc. there's a few more (maybe, like, a dozen?) that are excluded for various reasons.

masters of communication

NOT dating

three for the price of one

hacked ur phone

you need to eat

tfw ur drunk bestie tells you he likes you

weekends

mmm words

i am sick again

vampire stephen (again)

Sub Stephen for the soul

Cat time

COUNTRY ROOOAAADS, TAKE ME HOOOOOME

He needs a NAP

Drpepperony again

Un-poisoning

ANOTHER self-indulgent fic

Battle of the proposal dates

Harpy has a headache

Wow! An abandoned wip!

Stop breathing i don’t like it

Dirt nap averted

He’s just like me fr fr

Drpepperony tag team

BDE

Car rides are for the uninitiated

concussion roomate

Uh. praise kink

owie

Dum-e is now an ESA

Cat Curse

Dead rats

The old sex pollen thing

Now you care?

Pre dawn breakdown

truth or dare without the dare

Prompt #1257

prompt 1229

donut ship has dry ice

road rash and bruising

silly string

what is love? baby don't hurt me

ily, goodnight

hazy

alien flu

This isn’t even a wip its an outline

stephen got kidnapped again

long day

blood magic

good boyfriend

teatime

hacked ur phone

i don't know

good luck!

sleep

smother

[illicien]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @hiddenxplaces-blog

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

52

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

1,098,853

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Marvel. Specifically TFATWS at the moment.

4. Top five fics by kudos:

Time-Lost (IronStrange) Fathomless (IronStrange) Scribbles On Our Souls (DrPepperony) Heart of Gold (IronStrangeFrost) Persistence (IronStrange)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost every time. Sometimes I get a bit caught up or delayed, but typically I respond to comments pretty regularly. I love chatting with readers!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think I've actively posted the fic with the truly angsty ending, yet, so I think the closest is probably a bittersweet ending with Still Here. (IronStrange / Stephen & Peter)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well this one took a sec. Keeper (IronStrange), probably?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Oh not typically to my face, no.

9. Do you write smut?

Yep.

10. Craziest crossover:

I don't really do crossovers, so really the only crossover I can think of plainly is the DRoP/IronStrange fic we did, Heart of Gold.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I've seen so far.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! A fair few of them. 💓

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yep. A few!

14. All time favorite ship?

"All-time"? Time hasn't ended, I could hardly say. 😏

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

At this point? Embraced. And I'm so sorry to everyone who was waiting for more.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Wait you want me to say nice things about myself? Goddamnit. I used to think dialogue was a weakness of mine, but I think I've improved a lot over the last couple of years since writing scripts necessitated writing solid dialogue, so I'm pretty confident in that, now. I'm also fairly strong where creating lore and histories are concerned; you want me to explain the magic in a universe? I've got you. You want to know the history of a region? I've got that down, too. World-building in general is my bread and butter.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Does "actually finishing a story" count? The reality is, I lose motivation really easily. I function best when I have someone to consistently bat ideas and things back and forth with, otherwise I get severely in my head about things to the detriment of whatever I'm writing. I also rely more heavily on degree modifiers than I should, and while I'm aware of it I still suck at minimizing it.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I find it highly dependent on whose PoV the story is in. If the PoV character doesn't speak the language, I love being just as confused as them by not knowing the language. If the PoV character does speak the language I can be a little more picky about it, unless it's simply a singular word of endearment or something, because those can be difficult to translate even if you know both of the languages. But I have a love of and fascination with languages.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

Uh.... Yu-Gi-Oh!, I think?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

What an excellent question. I'm actually really proud of (Loss Of) Control (WinterBaron). I set out with some really specific goals for what I wanted to accomplish with it, and I mostly succeeded. There's definitely a section that's weaker than the others, but I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and made an effort to tackle a trope I'd never written in fic, and to tackle an element of that trope that I felt like I wanted to see handled more in depth. And I'm proud of the result.

Tagging -> @descaladumidera @atypical-snowman @amethyst-noir @jeromesankaraao3

@the-elle-kat @kiki-shortsnout @turtleoftheabyss

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

*huge, heavy sigh*

I know that you know how I feel about This Genre of Stephen Strange fic. But as inevitable as were the words imprinted on Stark's and Stephen's bodies, this was too compelling a concept, and you're too good at what you do for me NOT to read it--especially as it's a one-shot. Dammit, that was brilliant and poignant...and clearly demonstrates how well you know your man. No surprise whatsoever! Your Author's eye is apt, to discover a path to soulmate-hood that sneaks up on the pair, while keeping each true to their nature. For both would choose to save the world without a second's hesitation, even if it meant no chance for a future together.

I particularly appreciated that you allowed for Pepper to be Tony's heart. Heartmate, in fact. It makes me realize that one of the key reasons I don't normally read This Genre is that most authors discard her like she's yesterday's refuse, because her canonical existence is a major inconvenience to the stories they wish to tell. Brava to you for stressing her and Morgan's importance to Tony.

Also worth noting, that Tony sought to get to know Strange better in the aftermath, always searching for the reason Stephen chose to say his life by surrendering the Time Stone. It makes absolute sense for Tony's inquisitive, restless mind to seek such answers, and makes for an effortless headcanon to accept.

Even though I don't ironstrange--and never will because the idea of two people so much alike in both good & negative ways, falling in love with one another, feels far too narcissistic to me--I imagine Stephen and Tony would have had a productive, albeit terribly prickly, coworkers-to-good-friends relationship. I'm fairly sure that's comic book canon, too. Your take on this, your deft treatment, leaves me in admiration enough😉to want to prove it with a reblog.😄

PS I do have a surprising prediliction for Drpepperony fic, if you should ever write some. There's just something about seeing My Beloved as the apex of that triangle that can float my boat...from time to time, anyway.

Goodnight, Farewell, and Amen | Oneshot

(Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Angst)

TBH I'm too wrung out by this to make a graphic. Yes, the title is referencing the finale of M*A*S*H*.

Summary: In a world where your Soulmate's final words spoken to you are written on your body, Tony Stark's aren't the typical goodbye. When he finally understands what they mean, he and his soulmate are out of time.

Notes: This is for my @avengersbingo square, Soulmate AU

I first saw the concept of Soulmate words being the last words your soulmate says to you in a story by JazzJo for the West Wing fandom, all the madness in my soul, which is achingly beautiful. This story uses the trope a completely different way, but please read hers.

Warnings: Canonical character death, Angst

Length: 1,719

Tags (guessing!): @starryeyes2000 @deepbatched @cabinofcontentment @chickensarentcheap @themaradaniels @starksbf

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.

Tony has read those words on his skin over and over so often that he feels like they are indeed etched on his soul, not just his upper thigh. They’re the last words his soulmate will ever speak to him, and sure, he’s grateful they’re not the typical goodbye that seventy percent of the world bears on their bodies somewhere. The problem is, he can’t tell if there’s a hint in there, some kind of prophecy he could follow.

There’s a whole branch of psychology devoted to that, the deciphering of fate, the question of whether you’ve already lost the battle to prevent your death or your soulmate’s (or perhaps equally painfully, your separation, never to talk to each other again) once the words are spoken. Tony’s been haunted since his parents’ death by their final words to each other, confused call-outs during a traumatic moment. They’d expected those phrases would be spoken at the end of a long life, perhaps in hospice care-- but no, it was on the side of a road in misery, with no help and no hope.

After their deaths, Tony had wasted some of his inheritance on private investigators, trying to find the person he’d met when visiting his dad at an office building he no longer remembers. That person (oddly dressed, accent unplaceable) had told an eight year old Tony Stark that he would only know his soulmate for less than twenty-four hours. He’d loved that, something unique and different-- but when he’d excitedly told his mother, she’d gotten so angry that he was never allowed to go to that building ever again.

Now decades later, he’s got the arc reactor, Pepper, a host of superheroic friends, and the knowledge of life on other planets. Tony has figured out that the place he’d been banished from was SHIELD, and he imagines his mother was angry about the idea that her son would grow up a womanizer like his father. She’d probably thought that the prophecy was a jibe towards her, rather than a real prediction, but at seventeen, nineteen, all the way up to twenty-one when he’d taken over the company, Tony had wanted to find that person and know the answer for himself.

He’d never found them, but the strangeness of his soulmate’s last words has sat with him for years. Tony had done just as his mother had feared, pretending he was searching for his soulmate by spending night-long chunks of time with countless women. Plenty of them had tried to play it up during their morning farewell, so often that he’d learned to leave them satiated and sleeping, with no chance to speak those words as some sort of lasting incantation.

Pepper’s own words are mysterious enough, in a way the two of them don’t address (‘It’s been a wonderful second life, Darling’ is… nothing he can imagine ever saying). It seems possible that they are each other’s hearts but not souls. After a life as exciting as theirs, that’s okay.

They plan their wedding as they watch friends and loved ones make choices about their future in no small part weighed down by the lettering on their bodies. Then a man walks out of a golden, sparking circle and changes Tony’s life forever.

Stephen Strange’s interruption is actually a ‘saved by the bell’ moment, as Tony had been in the middle of trying to remove his foot from halfway down his throat, regarding Pepper, his arc reactor, and pregnancy. Strange clearly takes an instant dislike to him, probably on reputation, and Tony leans in. He’s heard enough comparisons made between the two of them (intellect, snark-ability, goatee style) that he’d be offended if there wasn’t at least a slight feeling of rivalry there.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t on the same side, though, and when the chips are down and Strange is in peril, Tony follows behind to save him. It’s the right thing for that moment, even if it’s not the right thing for Pepper or Peter. After almost fifty years on this Earth, Tony’s learned that there’s almost never an action that’s unequivocally good for everyone involved.

Tony’s reminded of that as he’s forced to watch Strange bargain the Time Stone for his life-- the exact thing he’d said he wouldn’t do. The reasoning is clear, but as Tony feels the magic reversing his deathblow, it’s confusing, maddening, even heartbreaking.

Their fight is over, both the physical one and the ongoing argument that’s sparked between himself and Strange since they’d met barely hours before. Strange retreats into a mental world of his own as the rest of them stand stunned and silent-- and then… dust.

The words that haunt the next five years of Tony’s life belong to Peter and Stephen.

I don’t want to go.

There was no other way.

One represents a failure of Tony’s past, the other a potential failure in the future-- because he knows Strange had firmly believed his promise about sacrificing their lives for the greater good. If there had been another way, he wouldn’t have given up the Time Stone. Stephen Strange had seen a need for Tony’s life to continue instead of his own, but he’d offered no blueprint, no contingency plan.

That kind of trust is staggering, and Tony’s not sure he’s worthy of it.

He builds a life. In Peter and Stephen’s honor, Tony keeps his eye on two roles in particular: father figure and friend. He’s pretty sure he’s shitty at both, but the next years give him practice at being a father and a partner, at least, and he does okay without the requisite explosions in his wake.

What’s always there is the desire to make something of Stephen Strange’s sacrifice. That’s what draws him to the Avengers compound after sending Steve, Natasha, and Scott away. It’s what throws him back in time, what forces him to think on his feet-- because he can do it. He can bring the infuriating sorcerer back, along with everyone else. That’s the reason he’s alive, and consequently the reason everyone else isn’t. Because Tony’s read up on the man. He’s gone and spoken to people. Stephen Strange had been a lot like him: an arrogant man glorying in his niche until a devastating injury forced him into a new life. He had been a doctor, and over and over again, Tony’s heard the same thing from the people who knew him:

Stephen Strange was all about preserving life. He wouldn’t let half of the universe die just to save one man. Not unless it was the path to saving everyone.

It’s maybe a lot to live up to, now that Tony’s standing next to a compound in ruins, staring down another fight with Thanos.

Tony’s riding high, after seeing so many people brought back to life. He’s hugged Peter and fought next to Pepper, watched everyone work together to keep Thanos at bay as they work to send the Stones out of his reach. He sees Strange and lands nearby; there are years of Things To Say crowding his throat, but the most important one comes first.

“You said one out of fourteen million we win, yeah?” Strange’s expression is full of dread, and Tony almost falters, but he can’t. He can’t. “Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen,” Stephen says.

Tony’s bluster drops away. There’s no mistaking those words. Strange isn’t acting like anything momentous occurred, but something deep inside Tony is screaming that there’s one more thing to say. Probably the last thing. He wishes there was time to make it mean more, maybe even make it absurd, or at least make it memorable, but there isn’t.

He’s not that much of a dick anyway, Tony decides. “You better be right,” he says-- and there it is. Stephen freezes, recognition and understanding flushing his face. 

The following moment is short, but somehow it’s still a decent percentage of the time they’ve gotten to spend together. As Tony takes off to continue fighting, seven words reverberate in his head.

One of us is going to die. One of us is going to die.

The weight of that knowledge is almost enough to negate his repulsors, and the longer Tony battles with it dragging him down, the more he understands the shape it’s going to take.

The fact is, Stephen Strange has already died for him.

He’d died without knowing what Tony has feared since he was eight, that the soothsayer was right. Tony has already spent less than a day with his soulmate. If Howard Stark hadn’t interrupted the conversation right after that revelation, would he have learned a second, more triumphant secret? Would Tony have known since he was a child that he’d bring his soulmate back to life? What that would have done to his confidence, over the years?

He’s forced to compartmentalize all of this as he keeps fighting, and whether finding his soulmate has anything to do with it or not, Tony’s on his face in the dirt when the worst happens: Thanos is wearing the gauntlet again. Morgan’s face swims in front of his eyes, and Tony looks around to see who’s left to make a last great stand with him. That’s when he catches Stephen’s eye.

There’s a whole unlived lifetime in that look, in the seconds it takes for Strange to give Tony a single, miserable, hopeful signal.

This is the one.

‘I know what to do,’ Tony can’t say. ‘I owe you one,’ goes unsaid, too. When the time comes, when he’s picking what to say before the snap that saves his wife, his daughter, his soulmate, and the rest of the universe, Tony hopes they each understand what he says in their own context.

For Pepper, it’s an apology. He never could stop.

For Morgan, it’s an attempt to be her hero, one last time.

For Stephen, it’s about inevitability. He was the guardian of the Time Stone, and that’s the one thing the two of them never had: time. Without those roles, they never would have met. Without their deaths, the world would be a different place entirely.

He hopes they’ll remember him.

“I’m sorry, Pep.”

[ironhusband]

The Mystery of Tony’s Good Cooking

Tony has all the qualities of a good househusband, except that he sucks at cooking. So I decided I’ll gift him the gift of good cooking. 

~~~

Stephen has recently noticed that everything Tony has been giving him to eat, was good. If it were any other person, Stephen would pass it off as someone improving in their cooking skills, but Stephen knows that Tony can’t improve since he tried teaching him himself. 

He paid no heed to it, however, and brushed it off as Tony buying takeaway, no matter how much Tony insisted that he cooked it himself.

His mind was changed, though, when he came home one day to find Tony standing in the kitchen, next to the stove, and cooking. 

“Nothing’s on fire,” Stephen noted as he came closer. Tony was really cooking, making noodles that had a rather nice aroma. Could this be store-bought, and he was just pretending to cook it?

“Thanks,” Tony said and turned around to give him a peck on the lips, “want a bite?”

That’s when Stephen started getting suspicious, “it’s not ready yet.”

“The sauce is, though,” Tony pointed at some tomato sauce that was cooling on the counter. 

Stephen frowned. Maybe the sauce was store-bought, and Tony managed to make some pasta. “I don’t want sauce with nothing else.”

“Your loss,” Tony said and took a dip of the sauce, putting his finger into his mouth. 

Pepper walked into the kitchen, and took a look at Stephen, and pointed at Tony, “dear, are you seeing this?”

“I’m still not buying it,” Stephen said and took his own peck from Pepper. “Something’s not right.”

“No, no, he started cooking when I got home. This isn’t some trick.”

“Will you guys stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Tony complained, “I can cook now, deal with it.”

“Maybe he learned some magic?” Pepper asked Stephen. 

“He sucks at it, too, but it’s more plausible than him learning how to cook.”

“Hey! I’m not bad at magic or at cooking, now call Morgan to tell her dinner’s ready.”

Stephen followed Tony’s wish, but he still wanted to know how he did it.

~~~

FRIDAY would not share how Tony can cook, so Pepper went through Tony’s bank accounts, looking at his expenses. 

“No takeaway food, he’s actually buying groceries.”

“Well, what else did he pay for?” 

“He wrote a check for George Richards.”

“Who’s he?”

~~~

Turned out he was a private cooking teacher, and Tony was seeing him when Pepper and Stephen were at work. 

Pepper and Stephen decided to ask Tony why he was doing this, and tell him he didn’t need to prove a point. But Tony’s answer was sweet, and he didn’t get that kind of response at the end. 

~~~

“Hey, Tony, do you know anyone named George Richards?” Pepper approached the topic gently, while Tony was busy fixing the lamp.

“Rings a bell,” Tony answered cheekily.

Stephen rolled his eyes, “come on, Tony, we know already. Why did you want to be taught cooking?” And who’s the genius who succeded, Stephen didn’t ask.

Tony stopped his work and looked his partners in the eye, “I love our family, I just wanted to not waste your time. While you’re both busy at work, someone has to take care of Morgan's lunch. I didn’t want her to eat leftovers from your cooking at the weekends every week, so I decide I’ll make the food for her, and you guys will have something at dinner to eat. Plus, there isn’t much to do, now that I’m retired.” 

~~~

Pepper and Stephen decided Tony had good intentions, and let him continue meeting his very expensive tutor. 

But turned out Tony’s cooking lessons, weren’t all smooth sailings. So they watched Tony’s amusing failed attempts at cooking when FRIDAY lets them see the security feeds. 

Rhodey, Peter and Happy all found it very entertaining as well. Which is how a tradition started, that before every big meal Tony made, they all laughed about how he got there. 

[iwritefanficsometimes]

Polyverse DrPepperony Get Together Fic

So, I think my new OTP might be DrPepperony. Expect more pepper/Stephen/Tony content in the future.

It feels really good to be writing again.

Part 2 coming maybe? Warning! For Stephen having a panic attack at the very beginning. I don’t know how accurate it is, but that’s the intention of the scene, and I feel I should warn for it. I’m posting on mobile, so sorry that there’s no cut. I kind of should be in bed. Will post to Avengers Polycule Series on AO3 eventually.

———

Stephen takes a deep breath through the non-existent restraint around his neck. He knows it’s not real. He’s touched his neck with shaking hands and felt that there was nothing there. He’s reached out with his magic and has sensed that no one is attacking him. He forces himself to breath through the non-existent restraint and closes his eyes to focus his energy on his breath.

Panic attack, his doctor hindbrain supplies, but it’s ignored. Stephen barely has the composure to keep breathing. He can’t analyze the root of his problem, not while he’s in the middle of it.

He forces his chest to expand and contract, to take in air despite his mind telling him that he can’t. His throat is not constricted. His blood needs to be oxygenated. He needs to breathe.

He jumps when a hand touches his shoulder. His eyes open and he’s staring directly at Tony Stark, who should not be able to come into his room without his knowledge, but apparently had.

“You’re doing good.” Tony says and it exasperates Stephen. He doesn’t need coaching. He doesn’t need help. He’s been handling it perfectly fine on his own. He’s always handled it perfectly fine on his own.

He forces himself to breath through the non-existent restraint around his neck.

“You’re doing really well, Strange. Let’s do another one.”

Tony is following along with Stephen’s breath and Stephen finds his eyes focusing on a glowing blue and metal beacon in Tony’s chest, watching it move with every one of Tony’s breaths. It’s easier to look at than Tony’s eyes, eyes that are too familiar, shouldn’t be but are.

“There you go. Whatever helps.” Tony keeps breathing, in time with Stephen’s breaths, not any faster or slower. “You’re doing good, Steph. Pep, yeah, I got him, don’t worry.”

Stephen doesn’t see Tony answer his phone, but he must have, at some point, because he doesn’t sense Pepper in the room. He throws his energy out like a beacon and can’t sense her. He wishes she was there. “Yes, we’re good. Keep breathing Stephen.” Tony squeezes his shoulder and Stephen looks up at him helplessly. He was. He had been. What more did Tony want?

Tony kissed Stephen on the temple, but immediately pulled back when he realized it hid his arc reactor from Stephen’s view. Stephen wished he wouldn’t pull back.

It’s only a few minutes later that Tony pulls Stephen in against his chest, resting his head in the crook of his neck. “That’s right. You got through it. You did good, Stephen, you did good calling me.”

“Didn’t.” Stephen mumbles, still forcing himself to breathe in a regular even meter, not trusting his body to breathe on it’s own just yet.

“Sure you did. Friday alerted me when you hit the panic button on your phone.”

Stephen doesn’t know when he did that, but he’s glad he did.

“You alright for now? Want to stand up? We’ll get you some water.”

Stephen can only nod, his mind still spinning and trying desperately not to end up back where it had been.

They stand together, and Stephen is leaning more on Tony than he’d like to admit. Tony doesn’t mind, could probably pick Stephen up and carry him all the way to the elevator, but won’t. Wouldn’t.

Stephen is eternally grateful to Tony, and Pepper, for the kindness and consideration they show him. Tony doesn’t ask what triggered it. He doesn’t ask if Stephen is “done.” He helps Stephen to sit down in a plush chair and squeezes his forearms before he leaves the room for a glass of water. Stephen follows his life-force to the small attached kitchen in his tower apartment, and then back again. The glass of water is tall and has a straw, which Stephen is grateful for.

“Thank you,” he manages to say when Tony sets the glass near enough to the edge of the table sitting on his side that he can just lean over and sip from it.

“Of course, anytime.”

Tony takes a seat in the identical plush chair on the other side of the end table his glass is set on, and pulls out his phone. Stephen watches him, because the movements of Tony’s hands are a good distraction from the still-racing thoughts that he’s trying not to focus on.

And then Tony starts talking. Stephen breathes a sigh of relief that releases tension he hadn’t even realized he was still holding as Tony explains the intricate details of his more recent schematic, things Stephen probably didn’t have a hope of understanding even if he was in a good headspace. As it stands, he focuses on Tony’s words, makes sense of the ones he knows, lets the rest of them string together meaninglessly as Tony’s voice chips away at the last of the panic.

“And that’s the wife.” Tony smiled, looking at Stephen as the holo-screen of his phone turns into a caller ID for Pepper. “I’m gonna take this, okay? One sec.”

Tony hit “accept call” and was immediately greeted with a hologram of Pepper’s face.

“Tony!” She smiled, and she didn’t look outwardly frazzled except the corners of her mouth were too tight. “I hadn’t heard from you. Everything alright?”

“Yeah, Pep, everything’s all good. Want to say hi to Stephen?” He asked, but didn’t wait for a response before he turned her to face him.

Stephen smiled half-heartedly and the tension in the corners of Pepper’s mouth relaxed. “Stephen, it’s good to see you. I didn’t know you were spending this weekend at the tower.” She didn’t sound accusatory. They had told him that the apartment on their penthouse floor was always available for him, and he’d made use of it before without consulting with them, but it still felt good to have the little reassurance.

“Yeah. The other Sanctum Masters were… concerned that I was overworking myself.”

“You probably were.” Tony said, and Pepper nodded along with him.

“We’re always happy to see you, Stephen. It’s Avengers team night, if you want to stop in? I think it’s…” She glanced away from the screen and focused somewhere just to the side. “It’s Clint’s turn,” she smiled, “He’ll probably bring the kids, which means it’s a Disney or Pixar night. We’ll make extra popcorn.”

She said it so certainly that Stephen didn’t have the heart to turn her down. That had been Pepper’s intention, even if she hadn’t said so.

“It’ll be good to get the team used to you. You’re officially an Avenger in, what, less than a month?” Tony added, “Assuming someone doesn’t screw up the paperwork at the last minute.”

Pepper sighed. “If you just jinxed us, I’m going to throw you off the balcony.”

“Stephen, Pepper is making me feel unsafe. Protect me.” Tony pouted, and Stephen laughed and he felt a little less like a cardboard cut out trying to pass for a sorcerer.

“If she wants to throw you off her own balcony, I don’t have any right to stop her.”

“Thank you, Stephen.” Pepper smiled at him, and Stephen smiled back at her, her eyes bright even over the blue toned hologram. Stephen didn’t think of himself as a romantic, but she seemed to be glowing, and he could have gotten lost in her eyes.

Tony cleared his throat and turned the phone back towards himself. “Pepper, stop making eyes at him, I called dibs.”

“I thought we agreed to share.” Pepper said with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous lip bite. Stephen was a bit caught off guard, eyes widening as they… flirted? With each other through him? But... they were also flirting with him. Maybe. Pepper had the same sort of look that she’d had when she was threatening to throw Tony off the balcony, except it was different in a way Stephen couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“You’re gonna scare him off, Ms. Potts.”

Well, that didn’t answer any of Stephen’s questions, but it did make a mark in the “they’re flirting with me” column of his mind.”

“We tried it your way, all the passive romantic gestures a man could ask for. It didn’t work. Now we’re trying it my way. Turn me back to Stephen.”

Stephen glanced from the hologram to Tony, and back, not exactly following even as the hologram Pepper looked him directly in the eyes. They were flirting with him, but not just flirting. They were also-

“Stephen, we want you to sit with us during the Avengers movie night. Would you like to?”

Stephen stared at her, still not entirely down from the panic attack he’d had just a few minutes before, or maybe it was longer? How long had he been sitting there?

“Don’t keep us in suspense, please.” Tony smiled, just a trace of nerves in the crease of his forehead and the tension in his hand that held his phone.

Suddenly Stephen realized that they were serious. Completely and totally serious. The realization hit him like a truck and he knew he had to accept their offer. He would never forgive himself if he didn’t.

“Su-Um, yes.” Stephen finally said, and when he saw the twin looks of pleasure on Tony and Pepper’s faces he straightened his posture a little bit. “But I’m not looking for a serious relationship right now.”

That was true. He wasn’t. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t even like it. Probably.

“That’s fine.” Pepper smiled brightly. “We know you’re busy, we just… want to spend more time with you.” Her eyes were mischievous, and Stephen forgot how anxious he’d been (three hours) earlier. He forgot that he shouldn’t be letting himself get caught up with personal affairs. He was the Master of the New York Sanctum. When does he have time to maintain a relationship? But a little bit of time having some fun with Pepper and Tony… couldn’t hurt. Probably.

“By more time, she definately means sex.” Tony cut in and Pepper rolled her eyes at him.

“Subtlety, Tony. Believe it or not, it works for some people.”

“Boring people.” Tony stood up and turned the phone back towards himself. “I’m going to get back to work, you,” he raised an eyebrow at Pepper, “Have a company to be running. Get to it, chop chop.”

She laughed and Tony turned his gaze to Stephen, his look softening. “And you need to have a nap. You look exhausted. We’ll catch you at the movie night, alright?” Tony stepped around the table and rested a hand on Stephen’s shoulder, squeezing it gently to reiterate his point. Stephen nodded mutely, not quite ready to move while he processed what was happening.

“Will that be all Mr. Stark?” Pepper asked and Tony smiled at her.

“That’ll be all Ms. Potts. Say goodbye to Stephen.”

“Well turn me around then!” She laughed, and she was still laughing when Tony turned her to face him. “Have a good nap, Stephen. If you’re not ready by the time team night starts, don’t worry about it. It’s a come and go sort of thing. Friday will direct you where you need to go.”

“I’ll see you then.” Stephen said quietly and she smiled a genuinely pleased smile at him.

“I look forward to it,” with that she hung up and Tony put the phone back in his pocket.

“I was serious about the nap.” He shook a non-plussed finger at Stephen who rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need to be told when to sleep. I’m not you.”

“You only dream of being as amazing as I am.”

“I usually call them nightmares, but sure.”

“God I like you.” Tony said with a smirk and then a small salute. “See you tonight, Steph.” Before he goes he pecks the sorcerer on the cheek, quickly to keep Stephen from trying to fend him off

Stephen couldn’t even be irritated by the annoying pet name Tony had taken to calling him because he was too busy thinking about that small kiss, those twin smirks. Stephen Strange was in trouble from the likes of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, but maybe just this once trouble wasn’t such a bad thing to be in.

[kstarlitchaotics]

I don't mind in the ironstrange fics that Tony & Pepper are broken up I don't mind that at all it's how it's played out is the problem I read people have her be not in friendly terms with Tony and have her being like the former friends he used to have aka with Steve and the rest I don't like that one bit Pepper is a good person who like with Rhodey stood on Tony's side and no way in hurting him yes they broken up at one point but he said it was mutual before Endgame of course but the way people have Pepper sometimes is they put her as a cold person where she is one of the sweetest characters in MCU and I hate on having to stop reading it cause of that problem but Pepper is also one of my favorite MCU characters even if she doesn't get enough attention it just upsets me sometimes on how some parts of the fandom sees her thinking as if she didn't even deserve Tony in the first place which I think is opposite

[lafourmii20]

My favorite pairing is probably DrPepperony if I had to choose one, and I'm a sucker for 30 (the protective one). While I tend to swerve to "people protecting Stephen", please write it however you'd like - if you're interested in this combination. :)

Thank you for the ask, @aelaer 💕

I love drpepperony and I was very happy to write this OT3 with this prompt. It's a bit longer than I thought, and maybe not exactly what you imagined. I hope you like it!

~~~

drpepperony, pre-relationship (could almost be read as gen), hurt stephen, with a bit of blood, protective pepper, protective tony, not clint friendly (sorry i had to find sort of a bad guy), post Endgame but Tony lives and Steve died

~~~

“If you’re so powerful, why couldn’t you save her?!”

Clint’s shout echoed on the lawn, all the way to the cabin. Tony instantly got to his feet.

“Stay with uncle Happy, Maguna.”

He left his drink on a table, and his daughter under Happy’s careful watch, and hurried outside. When he pushed the front door, he frowned, deeply unhappy with the scene.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen whispered in such a thin voice Tony wasn’t sure anyone heard him –not sure the guy even wanted to be heard.

“You’re sorry? Is that what you just mumbled?” Clint answered, his tone getting angrier and angrier with each word.

“I am truly deeply sorry,” Stephen articulated more clearly this time.

It did not seem to appease Clint. At all.

“Well, great! You’re sorry. But Nat is dead because of you. And your sorry ass apologies won’t do shit to bring her back!”

Clint was furious. He was grieving. But he was taking it out on the wrong guy.

“It’s all your fault!”

Stephen didn’t move, didn’t even blink when Clint lurched forward and punched him square in the face. He fell backwards and blood splattered on the ground.

“It’s all your fucking fault!” Clint bellowed as Sam and Bucky restrained him, tried to stop him from attacking again.

He almost tore free, and Tony took a step forward. He was all for letting his fellow Avengers sort things out between themselves the way they wanted to –and if they had to punch some sense into each other from time to time, well it was their business. But no one was getting beaten up, without even trying to resist, on his lawn.

But before Tony could say anything, Pepper stepped into the scene.

“What is going on here?” she asked in her no-nonsense voice. Se didn’t wait for someone to answer –as if there even was a correct way to answer when she used that voice. “No one is fighting in my home! Today, we celebrate those we brought back, and we grieve those we lost. This is not a time for fighting and I will not tolerate it. Is that clear?”

Clint might try to protest, there was no way he would sway Pepper. He was an Avenger. She was even more dangerous, Tony thought with pride. Looked like he could let his wife handle the dirty business.

He crossed the lawn, got to the poor wizard still slumped on the ground, haggard and defeated. His nose was bleeding profusely, and the corner of his eye was starting to turn purple. Tony grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Come on. Let me take care of you.”

Stephen looked up at him. There was a deep sadness, a resigned look in his eyes that broke Tony’s heart. Then Stephen got up and it was gone. They walked silently through the crowd, crossed the lawn and reached the house. Tony pushed him as carefully as he could in a bathroom.

“Here we go,” he said softly, helping Stephen sit on the edge of the tub. “Fri, where’s the first aid kit?”

“Under the sink, boss,” the AI answered immediately and Tony dived under the sink to retrieve the little box, opening it to get some cotton balls and antiseptic, though he wasn’t sure what to do with those. “May I suggest the ice pack, boss?”

“You’re the best, baby girl.”

“Of course,” she answered, and Tony chuckled.

He went back to Stephen with a slightly wet towel to wipe off the blood while he handed him the cold pack. Stephen’s fingers shook wildly when he took it and pressed it on the side of his head, with a painful wince.

“You don’t have to do all this,” the Wizard of Oz finally said. “I’m okay.”

“Yeah, look in the mirror, doc, and tell that to your face,” Tony scoffed.

He got a brief glimpse of a smile before he moved the towel over nose, lips, chin, and all the mess of blood that covered Stephen’s face.

“Why didn’t you send Clint to the Sinister Dimension or whatever the name of that hellish world is?” Tony asked, trying not to wince with Stephen every time the towel stroked over a sensitive area.

“Dark Dimension,” Stephen corrected.

“Sure.”

A moment of silence passed. Tony took the time to rinse the blood out of the towel before applying it again. It seemed like the bleeding had stopped. That only left the big ugly contusion at the corner of Stephen’s eye. Ouch, that looked painful.

“Fri, can you scan our good doctor? Make sure there are no deeper wounds?”

“I’m fine,” Stephen protested with another wince that said otherwise.

“Fri?”

“The good doctor is right, boss. No deeper injury.”

“Great.”

As Tony looked at the slumped and beaten up form in front of him, it seemed that nothing was great. If there were no physical wounds, it seemed that there was a more profound, more painful, psychological one. That man was wounded, burned out, and morally exhausted. And Tony was suddenly filled with the impulse to help him, to fix this, whatever this was.

He wanted to see the powerful and cocky sorcerer he clashed with, when they first met.

He wanted the weirdly flirty wink after great prowess of magic, and butting heads with someone that didn’t take his nonsense but actually listened to him, and compromised.

“So, why didn’t you stop him?” he asked again after a minute of almost comfortable silence.

He threw the bloody towel in the laundry basket and leaned against the sink, watching Stephen intently.

“Because he’s grieving. And he’s right,” Stephen answered in a too small voice.

Defeated.

Tony was not taking any of it. If Pepper had to protect Stephen from Clint, Tony would have to protect Stephen from himself, apparently. It was far from the weirdest thing he had ever done.

“Bullshit. It’s not your fault.”

Stephen arched an eyebrow behind the cold pack, before he winced and dropped it. Tony picked it up for him and, instead of giving it back to the wizard, he brought it up to Stephen’s face and gently hold it up against his temple. Stephen just sighed, closed his eyes for a second, letting Tony take care of him. The situation was slightly more intimate than Tony anticipated but it warmed his heart to see Stephen accept his help. And yeah, he could see himself get closer to the wizard in the near future.

“It’s not your fault,” he repeated.

“It kinda is. I chose this path, the one where Natasha and Steve had to die. Their deaths are on my hands.”

“That’s just pure bullshit! You didn’t push Nat on Vormir, she jumped. You didn’t put the gauntlet on Steve’s hand, he took it and snapped his own fingers knowing he would not survive it. You did not murder them. They chose to sacrifice themselves to save us all, and believe me, I would have done the same thing, without blaming you. You know what you did?”

“Wallow in self-pity, dishonoring their great sacrifice?” he whispered defeated and seemingly disgusted with himself.

“No.” Damn, that man really needed to be protected from himself. Tony knew a thing or two about blaming himself for everything, but Strange was on another level completely. “You put us on the right path, you risked your sanity to view all those possible futures and other timeline. You are a hero.”

That seemed to finally shut Stephen up. He blinked, looked up at Tony, but this time, there was something different in his eyes. A deep emotion Tony couldn’t really name. It made his heart race.

Stephen’s hand rose, lightly touched Tony’s at the side of his head. It was delicate and far more intimate than he expected. But before Tony could say anything else, the bathroom’s door opened, and Pepper stepped in.

Stephen quickly took his hand away, but Tony kept his position. There was nothing he wanted to hide from his wife. Besides, if something ever happened with the wizard, he was pretty sure Pepper would want to be included. Yep, that would be very nice actually, the three of them in the cabin. Tony could almost picture it.

Wait, he was thinking a bit ahead of himself, wasn’t he? Well, who could blame him, he was a futurist, after all.

“Are you okay, Dr. Strange?” Pepper asked.

“You can call me Stephen. And yes, I’m okay. Tony took care of me.”

Pepper looked at her husband. Tony winked, she smirked in return. His hand was still pressed against Stephen’s head –there was a cold pack between them, but did that really matter?

Pepper went to Stephen’s other side, carefully took his chin in her hand to examine him –and there was no cold pack or any medical supply to excuse the proximity. Stephen tensed for a second, then he relaxed in her grip.

“You did well,” Pepper finally concluded, with a small stroke on Stephen’s cheek. The wizard shuddered. Then she stepped back and the fluttering moment was over. “Tony, you stay with him, I’m gonna send everyone home,” she ordered more than asked.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Tony answered immediately.

“And Stephen?”

“Yes?”

“Stay for dinner with us tonight. Please?”

A moment of hesitation, blue-green eyes jumping from Tony to Pepper, a gulp and finally.

“I will.”

Well, well, well, Tony thought. That was a very interesting turn of events. He couldn’t wait to see where all of this would lead them.

~~~

Inspired by this intimacy prompt list

Prompts filled: 3. touching foreheads (ironstrangefrost) 23. wearing someone’s clothing (ironstrange) 29. kissing while mad (ironstrange) 59. height difference (ironstrange)

[sneckoil]

drpepperony driving home

[unfortunatelyevent]

*literally every fic rec I ever do*

"gays this is the BEST™ fic I've EVER read"

[doodleimprovement]

Concept for a DrPepperony Fic I wanna write one day when my WIP load is lighter:

Warning that this is just an idea and not thoroughly fleshed out. Also no sexy times because my ace ass can’t write sexy times to save my life

Its early in the relationship. In an inversion of the norm its actually Pepper and Stephen who get along really well and Tony and Stephen who - while genuinely liking one another - seem to have a wall put up (internalized homophobia? a deep misunderstanding of one another as people? You decide!) between them. 

One day, while Stephen and Tony are attempting to get to know one another better they take Peter and Morgan to the Sanctum, where he shows them some of the safer relics and explains their functions. He lets Morgan fiddle around with an amulet that does nothing but protect against the effects of magic - meaning that its essentially harmless - and shows a piece that was created using residual energy from the time stone (which no longer exists, so its kind of a big deal). While doing so he and Tony get into something vaguely resembling an argument where the two men disagree on what to do with it, and i the process, activate it

Thus, Tony, Stephen, Peter and Morgan are all tossed back in time, to roughly 1996-97. But thats not all, since im a sucker for Kid! Peter, all except Morgan - who had that amulet that protected against the relic’s effects, are de-aged by roughly a decade, though its hard to tell. Stephen is now in his “just got out of med school” look, Tony is back to his state when he was in IM2/Avengers - fluffy hair and all, and poor peter is about 6 or 7 - still older than morgan but barely taller ((Morgan is confused but delighted, calling Peter her “older littler brother”) 

Its basically a fic where the A plot is Tony and Stephen navigating the situation with Tony’s parents (because i have to get “Howard stark being an asshole” in there somewhere) and the B plot is Wong, May and Pepper working together to get these idiots back. 

By the end of it we get some nice DrPepperony cuddles and Stephen and Tony better understand each other - also we get some Mama Bear/Protective Stephen Strange and Tony Stark which is one of my all time fav tropes

[amethyst-noir]

drpepperony angst: a private night with the three goes horribly wrong, and tony and pepper learn about the extent of stephen's childhood abuse.

Move in from the Dark

(AO3, 1.818 words, mind the warning!)

TW: Mention of childhood abuse (very vague because I really don’t care to describe things like that in detail)

@badthingshappenbingo prompt: Flashbacks (16/25 and a second bingo!)

There are landmines, Stephen had warned them when things had started to go from friendly into something more. Probably more than I can really remember. There’s a lot of shit I buried under other shit in an attempt to forget about it. He’d paused then, nervously playing with an edge of the Cloak until Pepper had reached out and held on to his right hand. Tony had taken his left one a heartbeat later. My mind’s been screwed so much with I really don’t know what’s going on in there some days. Sorry.

[harpywritesfic]

wip tag game!

yay i love these! i love talking about my wips (this is the only way some of them will see the light of day) so thanks @space-mermaid-writing for the tag! this is also a good push to go in and organize my megadoc a bit.

RULES: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPs. (i don't even know that many people so no :))

Most of my longer wips are in their own documents, but the smaller ones live in what i call the megadoc. basically it's all of them in one big house until they're grown enough to move into their own place. I usually separate them out once they break a page and start getting unwieldy. trouble is, the whole thing is unwieldy now that it's so large. seventy-five pages of wips. i'm not counting the really small ones bc all they are are snippets.

under a readmore because there's 40

Independent fics:

Occupational hazards (snail mail exchange fic)

Three for the price of one (nsfw, aka the tentacle fic)

Hacked your phone

Masters of communication

You need to eat

NOT dating

metal and bone (whumptober 2022)

thread and blood (sequel to metal and bone)

Megadoc fics: (newest to oldest. newer is better)

ANOTHER self-indulgent fic

Battle of the proposal dates

Harpy has a headache

Wow! An abandoned wip!

Stop breathing i don’t like it

Dirt nap averted

He’s just like me fr fr

Drpepperony tag team

Car rides are for the uninitiated

concussion roomate

Uh. praise kink (nsfw)

owie

Dum-e is now an ESA

Cat Curse

Dead rats

The old sex pollen thing (nsfw)

Now you care?

Pre dawn breakdown

truth or dare without the dare

Prompt #1257

My own prompt :)

prompt 1229

BTHB: chronic pain

donut ship has dry ice

road rash and bruising

BTHB- twisted ankle

silly string

what is love? baby don't hurt me

ily, goodnight

hazy

alien flu

stephen got kidnapped again

long day

blood magic

good boyfriend

teatime

hacked ur phone

i don't know

have a seat

feel free to ask for more than one!

i'm tagging @darkkitty1208 and@hithertoundreamtof23! no pressure ofc :)

[van-dyne]

i see you're having some doctor strange/ironstrange feels and i approve

yeah it’s making its way back to me, I put it on hold after Endgame because I got mad, like I know it’s not Stephen’s fault nor is he to blame, far from it, but it’s just fucking sad and Im still not okay with Tony’s death, never will be tbh. But as I decided to swear by discarding the ending of Endgame, I can appreciate things again! I like Stephen, he’s a good man and he respects Tony. I love that even when they disagree with each other, instead of making one compromise, they can find a solution together, I love a constructive relationship dynamics. Also somehow I got introduced to the concept drpepperony, and I’m surprised how on board I’m with that lmao