Take A Hint

Chapter 2

"I need-" Well, damn. The excuse had been right on his mind before he had entered the Sanctum. Where was it now? Lost somewhere in the sapphires which were Stephens' eyes. Who could blame him?

"Yes?" Thank god the Sorcerer was already preoccupied with one of the thousand books in his 'bedroom' and didn't bother paying attention to the now stammering Tony.

"I just had a question."

"Hm?", Stephen mumbled absentmindedly, starting to make his way over the massive piles of paper and towards a shelf on the other side of the room. Tony was surprised that there were actually books stocked inside of it. Where did this man get so many books from?

"Yeah, you see..." He bit his bottom lip in concentration, trying to remember his old excuse or at least to come up with a decent new one instead. It was to no avail.

"Oh, excuse me. Did you say something?" Stephen turned away from the shelf and regarded him for a split second, raising an eyebrow in question. When Tony failed to answer yet again, he sighed and focused his attention back on the new book in his hand.

"I was wondering if you had any information..."

"Hm?"

"About the Chitauri?" That didn't sound convincing enough. "About their origin, perhaps? Their weaknesses?" He cocked his head to the side and put on his best innocent face. Stephen looked up from his occupation.

"The Chitauri?", he questioned him. "Why would you want to know about them?" His eyes grew slightly bigger, one hand balling into a fist. "Are they coming? I didn't notice anything of their return."

Tony quickly shook his head to dispose of his worries. "No, I just want to be thorough if they ever decide to actually return. Getting into the fight prepared already seals half the deal, don't you think?" Now, he was laying it on a bit too thick and of course, the sorcerer didn't miss it.

"Getting into the fight prepared already seals half the deal?", he repeated with a snort. "Who are you and what have you done to Anthony?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Can you help me or not?" He was embarrassing himself. Next time he'd definitely write his excuse down. "Because otherwise, I can just leave." There was nothing in the world he'd rather not do.

"You really can't take a joke today, hm?", Stephen teased with a smirk.

"I'm just not used to it.", Tony snapped back at him immediately. "Where is this mysterious grumpy persona of yours?" To be fair, he wasn't quite as bad as Wong when it came to looking like a sad monk but it was close.

Stephen shrugged slightly and walked past him. "I've had a nice breakfast, I guess. Come along, Wong will know if we have any of the information you are searching for."

They made their way back into the main room, Tony trailing behind the sorcerer with a sheepish grin on his face. He knew that he should go to Wong whenever he had questions regarding writings and books. Hell, Stephen told him so every time he asked for one.

Surely, he had caught on by now.

"I don't know how often I have to tell you this until it gets into your thick skull, Anthony, but next time you can just go to Wong with a problem like that."

Apparently not.

"Other than some people," He turned his head and gave him a look. "I actually have stuff to do." Master of The Mystic Arts, Sorcerer Supreme, a man with a PhD and an M.D (yes, Tony had researched him and no, he wasn't a creep) and he still didn't get the fucking clue.

"I'll keep that in mind, next time I come here." He wouldn't. "But in my defence, your best buddy is kind of scary. Are you constantly giving him a hard time or why does he always looks like he has just bitten into a lemon?"

"Believe it or not but we sorcerers do have a lot of weight on our shoulders.", Stephen explained while leading Tony downstairs. "And Wong in particular also has the job to watch over the library back at Kamar-Taj."

Tony being the carefree and happy guy he was, of course, had no idea about the pressure a job could bring upon oneself. Iron Man was nothing but a nice hobby. But he understood Stephens point of view, in his eyes he was constantly sneaking around his home. It probably looked like he had run out of stuff to do.

"Alright, Dumbledore. Noted." He stopped when Stephen whipped around, brows furrowed in anger.

"I'm warning you. I told you not to call me that, douchebag.", he growled with that deep voice of his which made Tony's' knees weak, almost sending him to the floor. He quickly lifted his hands to calm his outburst.

"Okay, fine. I'll stop." It had taken him months to finally get the sorcerer to call him Anthony. While he'd prefer it to be Tony or maybe darling or honey it was better than Mr Stark or, well, douchebag. "It was supposed to be a joke."

Stephen huffed. "I imagine a lot of people tell you how unfunny you are but I won't miss out on rubbing it in your face again." With that, he resumed making his way towards the still sitting Wong, who looked everything but surprised to see the two once he noticed them approaching.

"What is it, Stephen?", he asked, closing the book in his hand and setting it on the table in front of him. "Does Mister Stark require our services yet again?" He glanced briefly at Tony, eyes bored and unamused, perfectly normal.

"He does, Wong." Stephen quickly explained the situation, missing the disbelieving looks the other sorcerer kept on giving him and Tony. It was hilarious.

"So, Mister Stark here...", Wong started to repeat once Stephen had finished. "Is in need of a book about the Chitauri in order to study them?" If it wouldn't have raised too many questioned, Tony would have taken a picture of his face.

He was in for a ride.