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Tony Stark was very decidedly not having a good time.
He woke in a modified hospital bed (conveniently located in his home), the same as he had for weeks, except this time there was no one there to help him get up and go through his morning routine. So, he attempted to make it across the room by himself not his best idea but certainly not his worst either, considering he had gotten himself into this position by using the six most powerful objects in the universe to snap away a genocidal grape and his alien army. Anyway, this slightly less terrible idea ended with him partly collapsed halfway to his goal, unable to keep walking forward and now a discouraging distance from his bed. He should have known this would happen at some point, but he still absolutely refused to use a bedpan. Seriously, tech genius Tony Stark using such a medieval piece of medical equipment? No way. Even if it did cause his current issue. He sighed and considered his options.
After five minutes of consideration and a few seconds spent swallowing his pride, he took a deep breath and was preparing to call for help when a red object swooshed through the door and wrapped around his middle, pulling him up and towards the bed.
Tony barely had time to gasp- let alone shout- as he was abruptly deposited back in his bed. He started to reach for the spare Iron Man gauntlet he kept beside the bed before he recognized the floating piece of red fabric.
“Cloaky!??”
-
“Wong!”
There was an answering grunt from the library and no other response.
“WONG!”
At the slightly more desperate shout, Wong exited the library to find Stephen standing in the middle of the sanctum, hair askew and still in his sleeping robes.
“What?”
“The Cloak is gone.”
Now Stephen had Wong’s attention properly along with his disbelief.
“What, did you accidentally toss it in the wash with your robes?”
Stephen looked at Wong incredulously, as Wong stepped closer he could see Stephen had also neglected to shave, a five o’clock shadow visible around his usually impeccable facial hair. Clearly this was more serious than Wong first thought.
“I woke up this morning and the Cloak of Levitation wasn’t in my room as usual, I’ve looked all over the sanctum and it was nowhere! I tried to do a summoning spell but, well, it’s a cloak, it has no DNA to trace!”
Stephen spun around, looking towards the ceiling as though the cloak would fly in through a window at any moment. It did not.
Wong resisted the urge to facepalm and yell at Stephen for losing track of an artifact that was, more often than not, attached to him.
“The Cloak of Levitation is a sentient artifact…”
“ Obviously Wong I’m not an idiot, please tell me your opinion of me hasn’t lowered that much.”
Wong opened a portal to the kitchen to start heating water for tea. Which would be a necessary part of this conversation if he were to keep from smacking Stephen over the head.
“Often the Cloak has responded to your emotions and needs in the past, saving you even when you were unconscious or even the one time you were sick and so it brought you pho and tea from your favorite place down the street.”
“Wong, that doesn’t help me, I’m not being attacked by aliens and I’m a perfect picture of health!”
Wong gave a pointed look at the scars on Stephen’s face that were still slightly red.
“Mostly,” Stephen amended and then refocused himself on the issue at hand, “but the point is I don’t need anything, the Cloak should have nothing to be worried about!”
“You haven’t considered that maybe the Cloak can sense that you are worried about someone else?”
Stephen scoffed, “What? No. Who could I possibly concern myself with to a degree that the Cloak would notice?”
Wong stared at the tomes of research on the coffee table that Stephen had pored over looking for information on handling infinity stones along with blueprints of the Iron Man suit with notes scribbled all over them in Stephen’s shaky handwriting.
“Yes…I can’t imagine.”
The kettle whistled from the kitchen as Stephen stared in confusion at the sarcasm in Wong's voice.
-
Tony thought he and the Cloak may have been having a staring competition but it was difficult to tell since the artifact had no eyes. He sat up in the bed and swung his legs out over the floor, slowly putting weight on his feet and preparing to try the journey to the bathroom again. The Cloak hovered slightly closer, almost seeming to radiate a nervous energy.
“I’m just going to the bathroom, you don’t have to hover, I’m fine.”
Tony wasn’t aware how the Cloak could give off such doubtful energy at that statement without facial expressions, so he rolled his eyes and moved to get on his feet. The Cloak moved immediately to wrap around his middle and Tony attempted to swat it away.
“Hey! I don’t need your help!”
The Cloak paused, once again projecting disapproval.
Tony glared, “This feels like an invasion of privacy. Don’t make me call Stephen to pick you up!”
It was supposed to be a threat but clearly it wasn’t a very good one as the Cloak followed through on its earlier threat, wrapping around his torso and carrying him across the room itself, ignoring Tony’s cursing and threats.
-
“Stephen, please come pick up your disobedient laundry.”
Tony had barely spoken the sentence into his phone before the telltale golden sparks of a portal formed a short distance from his bed. The bedraggled sorcerer emerged with a bit of a manic look in his eyes.
“You found the Cloak of Levitation! I have been looking for it all day!”
The Cloak wrapped itself around his shoulders, collar attempting to pat Stephen’s cheeks as he swatted at it.
“None of that! I’m mad at you!”
Tony resisted the urge to laugh, the normally put-together sorcerer made quite the image in his weird temple PJs, messy hair, and Cloak acting dejected as Stephen continued to scold it.
Stephen turned his attention away from the Cloak and towards Tony. There was a slight flush on his high cheekbones.
“I hope the Cloak of Levitation didn’t cause you any trouble.”
Tony gestured flippantly, “I think it was trying to be helpful, I’m not sure it was but the thought was nice so no trouble really.”
Tony’s brow furrowed as his brain paused a moment on the implications of the Cloak being sentient enough to try to be nice and he gave his head a small shake to dislodge the thought.
“I’m just honestly not sure why it came here anyways,” he continued, “I swear I didn’t do any weird magic mumbo-jumbo to try and summon it here.”
The flush on Stephen’s face had spread to his ears now.
“The Cloak is a sentient artifact and thus may have sensed that I was…concerned,” he paused and cleared his throat, “About you, specifically.”
If Tony beamed at the admission instead of deflecting with a sarcastic quip as usual, he blamed it on the medications and constant bed rest driving him a bit crazy.
Stephen stepped closer to the bed, gesturing at the surrounding machines and IV stands.
“I mean, with all of this who wouldn’t be?”
Stephen looked incredibly flustered now. It was a look Tony had never seen on the sorcerer and he found that it quite suited him. In a moment of possibly medication influenced courage, Tony reached for Stephen’s hand, careful to not grab it too tightly.
“I appreciate your concern,” the Cloak swatted at their hands, “ both of your concerns, but I am fine .”
One of the monitors beeped loudly. Stephen chuckled and reached over with his free hand to adjust it, the steady beeping resuming.
Tony grimaced, “Alright so not completely fine,” he paused to consider for a moment, “maybe I should keep a doctor around, just in case.”
The Cloak gave a little wave of its collar in excitement as Stephen smiled.
“I think that could be arranged,” he reached behind him to pull up a chair, still holding on to Tony’s hand.
It was the easiest excuse to stay with Tony a while longer, though judging by the way Tony still happily held his hand. Additionally, as Tony began a one-sided argument with the Cloak about communication, Stephen had a feeling they might be in this position for a while anyways.