[ For just a brief moment, only a second or two, Steve thinks that the look of regret on Strange's face might be genuine. He doesn't know the man well enough to comprehend his true nature, or to be certain whether he's really the sort of person who would knowingly have sex with someone who was already promised to another.
But then Strange's face cracks into a sharp smile and it all becomes very clear. Steve's stomach churns. ]
It isn't about what you want. [ Steve stands abruptly, not in the mood to be sharing any sort of personal space with Strange in light of this discovery. Despite the edge to his tone, his clawed hands remain at his sides. ] It's about being decent enough to not jump into bed with someone who's compromised and is going to regret it in the morning.
[ He's picking a fight, but this isn't about Sanguis. This is all Steve Rogers, incapable of letting something lie when he feels there's been some kind of injustice. So here he is, ready to go to the mat for someone who most likely wouldn't even want that from him. Here he is, ready to be some kind of shield when he'd tossed his aside back in Siberia.
That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. The words still ring clear as a bell in his head. So why can't he stop? ]
[ Steve stands and Stephen just... doesn't fucking move. looks up at him from where he's resting comfortably in the grass, unruffled, unlikely to ruffle. as if the disaster choice itself wasn't bad enough, now he's got to sit through a guilt trip from Captain America, of all the people in the multiverse? it's almost funny how on the nose it is.
hard pass on providing him with any level of satisfaction. the vicious curve of his mouth smooths slowly into spiced neutrality, still just that hint of something redder than calm waiting in the creases at the corners of his eyes, the measured delivery of his words. ]
As opposed to what? Decent enough to leave him sitting alone at night in the Prismanode shelter where he landed trying to run away from you?
[ please, Steve the sinless, protector of virtue, you keep casting those stones with your eyes tight shut. ]
[ Running away from him? Steve's brow furrows and his mouth twists to one side as he thinks back to those three days a month ago. Other than that brief encounter in the hallway which had happened after the fact, he doesn't remember a specific interaction with Tony that would have sent him running away. Strange most likely means it in a more general sense, or is just saying it to actively try and provoke him.
The fact that Strange remains so unaffected by all of this really only gets further under Steve's skin. It makes his want to bare his fangs and tackle Strange into the ground, makes him want to do something other than this ineffectual arguing. ]
There are ways you could have helped that didn't involve having sex with him, you know. [ Steve doesn't pounce, but as his tone grows in volume his fangs become more obvious while he talks. Of course, he realizes they could have offered Tony that kind of help too, but how could he have known how bad things were when they were barely on speaking terms?
It becomes an internal struggle rather than an external one. Is he somehow at fault for this? Should he have noticed something in the days leading up to this terrible mistake? Steve draws in a deep breath, chest expanding, and then slowly releases it. ]
Nevermind, just... [ And then the Sanguis comes in, as he issues an order: ] Don't get near him again.
[ there are ways you could've helped that didn't involve having sex with him, you know and Strange's brows rise, the distorted mirror of an earlier picture of innocence, half disbelief and half oh, really? astonishing. but there's no time to drop a comment - Steve's moon is coming into play, gearing him up, and there's a moment—
there's a moment where he's reminded of Loki, of Steve's casual reference to a fight he started, to the potential of something unsavory and potentially a little entertaining—
and then Steve takes a breath, allows it to work, and lets it go. lets whatever he was building up to go with it. the crisis seems averted.
then he opens his mouth.
Stephen's twitches in turn. smile? frown? doesn't matter. with a fluid momentum, he raises himself to standing. as he does, the air around them goes warm, rich with static, alight with a power crackling away just out of reach. there's no violence in it, not even as orange sparks hop from random spots of nowhere and die out again, energy buildup behind the scenes of observable reality too much to remain completely contained.
there is, however, a hint of violence in the sharp focus of his eyes. the curve of his smile. this harmless magic a none too subtle reminder that Steve may have impressive brawn and sharp teeth, but he wants to be careful who he picks his fights with. and who he goes around telling what to do. ]
Good of you to step up, Rogers. I'm not quite sure what he would've done without you.
[ When Strange stands as well to square himself up against him, that tugs at some urge inside of Steve. It's not an outright threat, but it's the suggestion of one. After dismissing Steve's reaction to what he and Tony had done, now Strange is rising to up it. He's meeting Steve halfway in the argument, or at least that's how it translates to Steve.
Even that, he might have been able to push past. He would have felt the need to get the last word in, but he also would have been able to walk away.
But then Strange calls on his magic, and even if he doesn't do anything offensive with it, the fact that he makes a show of it is a clear sign that he's posturing. He's showing Steve what he's capable of and establishing himself as a potential threat. The energy sparking around them seems to run through Steve's body like a current, different from Chroma and yet in this instance, no less electrifying. Then, that smug smile becomes the last straw.
What Strange says is ultimately inconsequential. The Sanguis urges in him fully awakened, Steve's tail goes stiff and straight behind him and his ears angle forward. He bends his knees slightly, then pounces, claws extended — ]
[ that smile dropping from his face is the last Steve gets to see of Strange before the swiftly closing distance between them is engulfed in bright amber sparks and he's not pouncing at Stephen Strange anymore, he's pouncing at an empty expanse of hallway, familiar, the residential quarters offered to them on arrival to the city.
if he turns, he'll see nothing but those same sparks sputtering out into nothing.
and if he takes stock of his surroundings after that, he'll find that the nearest door isn't alien either. it's the door to the given apartment of Tony Stark, the place he would've gone to be alone the morning after this whole thing started. ]
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no subject
But then Strange's face cracks into a sharp smile and it all becomes very clear. Steve's stomach churns. ]
It isn't about what you want. [ Steve stands abruptly, not in the mood to be sharing any sort of personal space with Strange in light of this discovery. Despite the edge to his tone, his clawed hands remain at his sides. ] It's about being decent enough to not jump into bed with someone who's compromised and is going to regret it in the morning.
[ He's picking a fight, but this isn't about Sanguis. This is all Steve Rogers, incapable of letting something lie when he feels there's been some kind of injustice. So here he is, ready to go to the mat for someone who most likely wouldn't even want that from him. Here he is, ready to be some kind of shield when he'd tossed his aside back in Siberia.
That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. The words still ring clear as a bell in his head. So why can't he stop? ]
no subject
hard pass on providing him with any level of satisfaction. the vicious curve of his mouth smooths slowly into spiced neutrality, still just that hint of something redder than calm waiting in the creases at the corners of his eyes, the measured delivery of his words. ]
As opposed to what? Decent enough to leave him sitting alone at night in the Prismanode shelter where he landed trying to run away from you?
[ please, Steve the sinless, protector of virtue, you keep casting those stones with your eyes tight shut. ]
no subject
The fact that Strange remains so unaffected by all of this really only gets further under Steve's skin. It makes his want to bare his fangs and tackle Strange into the ground, makes him want to do something other than this ineffectual arguing. ]
There are ways you could have helped that didn't involve having sex with him, you know. [ Steve doesn't pounce, but as his tone grows in volume his fangs become more obvious while he talks. Of course, he realizes they could have offered Tony that kind of help too, but how could he have known how bad things were when they were barely on speaking terms?
It becomes an internal struggle rather than an external one. Is he somehow at fault for this? Should he have noticed something in the days leading up to this terrible mistake? Steve draws in a deep breath, chest expanding, and then slowly releases it. ]
Nevermind, just... [ And then the Sanguis comes in, as he issues an order: ] Don't get near him again.
no subject
there's a moment where he's reminded of Loki, of Steve's casual reference to a fight he started, to the potential of something unsavory and potentially a little entertaining—
and then Steve takes a breath, allows it to work, and lets it go. lets whatever he was building up to go with it. the crisis seems averted.
then he opens his mouth.
Stephen's twitches in turn. smile? frown? doesn't matter. with a fluid momentum, he raises himself to standing. as he does, the air around them goes warm, rich with static, alight with a power crackling away just out of reach. there's no violence in it, not even as orange sparks hop from random spots of nowhere and die out again, energy buildup behind the scenes of observable reality too much to remain completely contained.
there is, however, a hint of violence in the sharp focus of his eyes. the curve of his smile. this harmless magic a none too subtle reminder that Steve may have impressive brawn and sharp teeth, but he wants to be careful who he picks his fights with. and who he goes around telling what to do. ]
Good of you to step up, Rogers. I'm not quite sure what he would've done without you.
no subject
Even that, he might have been able to push past. He would have felt the need to get the last word in, but he also would have been able to walk away.
But then Strange calls on his magic, and even if he doesn't do anything offensive with it, the fact that he makes a show of it is a clear sign that he's posturing. He's showing Steve what he's capable of and establishing himself as a potential threat. The energy sparking around them seems to run through Steve's body like a current, different from Chroma and yet in this instance, no less electrifying. Then, that smug smile becomes the last straw.
What Strange says is ultimately inconsequential. The Sanguis urges in him fully awakened, Steve's tail goes stiff and straight behind him and his ears angle forward. He bends his knees slightly, then pounces, claws extended — ]
no subject
if he turns, he'll see nothing but those same sparks sputtering out into nothing.
and if he takes stock of his surroundings after that, he'll find that the nearest door isn't alien either. it's the door to the given apartment of Tony Stark, the place he would've gone to be alone the morning after this whole thing started. ]