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Stephen had no idea that Tony was this good at handling traditional weapons. Sure, he figured that Tony would be good with guns and other explosives, given his history of being both a weapons manufacturer as well as a very physical, hand-on learner and inventor. And to top that, there was unarmed combat as well. Stephen knew that Tony knew how to fight, given his status as an Avenger, what Stephen wasn’t expecting was for Tony to pick up martial arts so quickly, let alone within half an hour of an impromptu sparring lesson after Tony teased Stephen about signing up for a local taekwondo couples' class.
Stephen had readied his shields by the time that Tony had eased into a comfortable stance, back straight, knees bent, and training staff held securely and hanging at his side in a way that came with familiarity.
Stephen had been impressed with Tony’s blocks, how his form was impeccable – almost better than Stephen’s own form, hindered by starting late in life. His kicks were high, straight, almost always landing their marks on Stephen's shields. He even held his hands correctly, keeping his arms near his chest and face, his strikes quick and short.
Tony landed a kick square to Stephen’s chest when he wasn’t paying attention, distracted by his shield randomly dissipating, but before he could diagnose the problem, Stephen stumbled backwards, instinctually casting a spell to stabilize himself before he hit the ground. Tony laughed at Stephen’s shocked expression and Stephen glared at him.
“Your form is impressive,” Stephen remarked when he dragged himself to his feet. “Where’d you learn?”
“That’s assuming I’ve taken lessons before,” Tony retorted, returning his borrowed staff to its rack – he had set it aside to kick him, Stephen suddenly remembered.
“I can’t be your only experience, it’s impossible to be at your level with a half hour lesson,” Stephen explained, joining Tony in tidying up the practice room space. Apparently they were done sparring and had moved on to talking about sparring. Tony was fighting near Stephen's level – the equivalent of years of constant training at Kamar-Taj and sparring with some of the best martial artists in the magical community on a weekly basis.
Tony grinned. “I did become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics in one night, so I wouldn’t put it past me to learn martial arts in half an hour if I were you, doc.”
Sometimes, their bickering was fun for Stephen, but sometimes it put into question why Stephen fell in love with this insufferable man. “You’ll have to tell me about that sometime, but right now… where did you learn martial arts? I genuinely want to know. I've trained for years at Kamar-Taj and even longer in the Dark Dimension and you're fighting close to Wong’s level and he did his Mastery in combat. That's not a one-time thing.”
Tony shrugged. “I’ve had lessons since I was a kid. Jarvis wasn’t just a butler, y’know, he competed professionally in the MMA when he was in his late twenties before an injury kept him from the ring and he started working for my dad. He taught me while I was growing. Then, I was forced into dance lessons like every rich white kid, and before Happy, before he decided to follow me around as my bodyguard, was a professional boxer. I like sparring with him sometimes when I get bored.”
Stephen just stared. Somehow, he could imagine it, despite how absurd it seemed – a young Tony Stark, skinny and still growing into his personality, sparring with his 60-something-year-old butler.
“Did I break you?” Tony asked, laughing as Stephen blinked. “It shouldn't be a surprise, I mean jack of all trades and all that,”
“I just… never expected you to be the fighting type, is all,” Stephen answered.
“Huh. Well now you know,” Tony said. Stephen hummed, thinking.
“You clearly still have the skills…” Stephen paused. Tony cocked his head. “We need a bigger space. Think you could take me in a fight? No magic, no tech, just hand to hand combat.”
Tony grinned. “I’m going to beat your ass so hard, wizard.”
“We’ll see about that, Stark,” Stephen mirrored his boyfriends’ grin, opening a portal to the massive training grounds at Kamar-Taj. The sun was hanging low in the sky, but there was still daylight enough to have a proper spar.
“Mind if I cast a protection spell? I want to see your skills, but I don’t want us to seriously hurt each other,” Stephen asked. It was a simple spell, enough protection that hits could still land, the physics of a fight were normal, but neither Tony nor Stephen could actually injure each other. It wasn’t a common spell around Kamar-Taj, but it was useful when training younger novices who were either just starting out or didn’t know their own power yet.
“I don’t mind,” Tony consented. Stephen nodded and cast it. As soon as the portal closed and the spell settled, Tony lunged for him. Stephen blocked it easily, the thrum of adrenaline coursing through his veins and hitting him like a ton of bricks.
Stephen had just dodged a powerful right hook from Tony and retaliated with a misplaced knee to the thigh (he was aiming for the groin but decided against fighting dirty and was too late to correct) that had Tony limping slightly at the force when he noticed the first of the spectators. Two apprentices standing to the side, just within the reach of the sun’s last few minutes of daylight.
Distracted as he was with the students, Stephen’s head whipped back as Tony’s fist collided with his jaw. It didn’t hurt, not with the spell, but it took him by surprise and left him reeling. Tony punched again, the chest this time.
Stephen barely had time to react before he was being hit with a barrage of kicks and punches as Tony danced around him, his focus zeroed in on one thing, his mouth set and his eyes hard with grim determination. Sweat dripped from his forehead, his collar glistening with it. Lean muscles, usually hidden under well-tailored shirts, bulged from under his loose tank.
Despite the circumstances, Stephen found himself thinking that it was the hottest thing ever.
Something in Stephen suddenly snapped back to reality and he blocked a punch, then whirled out of the range of Tony’s leg and launched himself into the air with a quick sprint. He was going for a roundhouse kick, using the momentum from his first spin to carry him through the air – this was much more of an effective move with the Cloak, he realized midair – and follow through with what was usually a deadly kick. The technique was impressive, and Stephen vaguely heard claps and gasps erupt from his forgotten audience.
But Tony, used to having the villain of the week launching themselves at the Iron Man armor, blocked his kick by grabbing Stephen’s leg before it collided with his chest, using the last of Stephen’s momentum to fully flip him over his shoulders before slamming him into the ground and twisting his torso to land on Stephen’s chest, shoving his arms above his head and wrapping his legs around Stephen’s thighs to immobilize him and keep him down. Stephen’s brain short-circuited at the sheer amount of power and experience the move would have taken. Tony was at a serious height disadvantage to Stephen, and he had been able to throw Stephen over his shoulder. It wasn't impossible, especially with certain moves, but Tony had grabbed him out of midair and then had the audacity to smile breathlessly at him.
All Stephen could do was stare at his boyfriend. His gorgeous, smart, powerful boyfriend, all while trying to hide the blush creeping up his neck and the half hard prick in his pants at the sudden jolt of arousal that came with a hot and sweaty Tony holding him down after a very public display of just how competent and in control of his body he was. The sun suddenly hit Tony in just the right way, illuminating his hair and making his eyes flash golden as light bounced off the sweat drying on his arms and neck. God, his boyfriend was gorgeous . Stephen had to actively control his breathing and clench the muscles in his legs to hide the arousal still coursing through his veins.
“I think this means that I’m better than you,” Tony said, oblivious to Stephen’s excitement.
Stephen let out an inarticulate noise.
Tony took his noise as a sign of indignation. “If you had your magic, sure, you’d beat me, and I definitely want to talk about our strengths and weaknesses in hand-to-hand combat and improve from there, but for now– Stephen?”
So Tony had finally caught on to the fact that Stephen was barely holding it together, his blush fully erupting across his face. Tony was so much more powerful than Stephen could even imagine, and it was the most attractive thing Stephen had seen, watching Tony take him down so effortlessly all while displaying yet another thing that Tony was an expert in. Stephen could almost see the way his own cheekbones accentuated the deep red, the way his pupils were blown wide at the thought of Tony’s knowledge and body, his mouth almost incapable of closing, memories of the time that Tony had fucked him in front of a mirror and forced him to watch flooding his mind along with an endless stream of endorphins.
Stephen swallowed. He felt trapped, his dick almost painfully hard against the compression underwear he wore for sparring under his sleeveless training robes, aching for some kind of friction. The thought of Tony just leaning forward a tiny bit and being able to feel the outline of Stephen’s hard-on against his stomach tore a needy, breathless moan from Stephen’s lips. Tony blinked, his own pupils dilating as he stared at Stephen.
“I take it you liked my little show?” Tony asked, smiling dangerously, like he knew that he could take Stephen apart piece by piece and Stephen would let him. It was true, but the thought still made Stephen’s stomach fill with heat. He breathed out a needy ‘yes’ and swallowed again. In for a dollar, in for a dime, he figured, when Tony leaned forward to adjust his legs and Stephen let out an embarrassingly loud moan.
The blush spreading across his cheeks only deepened when Stephen suddenly remembered that they had an audience. Hoping they were mostly gone, Stephen cast a quick cloaking spell over them. Not only was Stephen’s private life private , but Tony was for Stephen’s viewing pleasure and Stephen’s only .
Stephen took a deep breath and looked up at Tony, took in the sweat and the grime and his gorgeous brown eyes, and, trying to keep his voice steady despite the pressure on his groin from Tony’s hips and said, “If you don’t fuck me in the next three seconds, I will kick your ass to the bottom of the mountain.”
Tony just laughed and leaned down, pressing him into a searing kiss as Stephen portaled them to his bed in the monastery just as the last of the Himalayan sun slipped behind the mountains.