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Hands
It took Stephen an embarrassing amount of time to figure out what the creature stumbling through his bubble was. It had taken a good amount of time staring at the creature’s hands (so fleshy and solid with thumbs and- not quite smooth, but lacking the suckers his own had) to figure it out. This was a human like he once had been. “H-” Stephen broke off, coughing.
“Hello?” The human finally stopped staring back at him and instead met his eyes.
“Hello.” Stephen finally managed to cough out.
“Oh shit, you probably need water!” The human realized before taking in Stephen’s form again. “. . . Maybe.” Stephen nodded eagerly. He had forgotten that lack of use would degrade his voice over time. The human handed over the flask attached to his hip and Stephen drank it down greedily, scaled, bird-like talons leaving indents where he gripped it, perfect circles where the suckers had been.
“Thank you.”
“So, you’re the final life form here, huh.”
“Yes. Everything else is gone.”
“How did you survive?”
“I created this barrier. I survived, but nothing else could. Probably because I messed with the time stream too much. It was all my fault. . .” Stephen’s expression darkened as he recalled the events.
The human hesitated, but brushed his hand against the cheek of Stephen’s serpent-like face. “It’ll be okay. I need to come in and out for a bit, but when I leave for good, would you like to come back with me?”
A full-body shudder ran through Stephen.
“Please, yes.”
Eyebrows
With his face closer resembling a reptile than a human, Stephen had forgotten about eyebrows. Tony had been filthy from wandering through what was left of New York and asked where he could wash off, and so Stephen directed him to the nearest waterfall - purified via magic. Tony stood under the waterfall, the water cascading down and around his half-lidded eyes. Stephen couldn't stop himself from staring in awe. He hadn’t had more human features for so long that he forgot they could be useful, like how Tony’s eyebrows kept some of the water from overwhelming his face. Tony startled Stephen by speaking. “Could you tell me more about what happened here while I wash off?”
And so Stephen started his tale. He spoke about how his quest for more and more power started, the endless loops, meeting the Cloak that had accompanied him throughout his endeavors. About losing Christine. Tony’s voice had a sympathetic note to it when Stephen had finished. “I’m so sorry that happened.”
Stephen spoke as he watched the water run down the human’s body, eagerly drinking in every bit about the way a human looked. “It’s fine, it happened a long time ago. For the most part, I’ve moved on. While there isn’t much, there are better things to do than spend the rest of eternity moping.”
“Well that’s quite pragmatic of you.” Tony said, turning around. Tony managed to catch Stephen’s eye before the not-quite man could look away. “See something you like?” Tony teased.
“Yes.” Stephen replied honestly. Tony’s eyebrows rose - they looked incredibly soft. “It’s fascinating to see a human again. I forgot just how soft all of your skin is, and about eyebrows. Eyebrows are more interesting than I remembered.”
Tony laughed. “I hope that’s a good thing. I think I’ve gotten all the dirt I can off without soap, I’m coming out.” Stephen stepped back from the bank, giving the other man room to climb out. “Would you mind turning around?” Tony asked.
“Why- oh! Right, yes, I forgot privacy was a thing you all value.”
“You’ve really been alone for a long time, huh?”
“So long.”
Ears
Tony’s hair was still damp from the waterfall. Tony made a sound of frustration before pushing it away from his ears. “Ugh, that’s so uncomfortable.” He grumbled. Meanwhile, Stephen was staring at his ears. “Everything okay Stephen?”
“Your ears!”
“What about them?”
“They’re so tiny! And round! Did I mention that they’re tiny already? How are they in any way effective?”
Tony laughed. “Not all of us can have caves for ears, Batman.” Stephen’s hands - which he had changed after seeing Tony’s - rose to meet his ears self-consciously. “Hey, no, that wasn’t an insult! Your ears are perfectly fine.” Stephen lowered his hands, but his ears shrunk down to match Tony’s regardless. Tony pouted. “You don’t have to do that to make me more comfortable or anything.”
“What do you mean?” Stephen asked with an air of faux-innocence.
“The whole thing,” Tony waved his hands at Stephen. “Where you change the way you look to match me more.”
Stephen blinked. “Think of it this way - you’re doing me a favor by letting me study and mimic your body. It’s been so long since I’ve worn my human form, I need all the practice I can get. Hundreds of years can do its damage, even to a supposedly eidetic memory. I don’t remember what I looked like.”
Tony sighed, but dropped the subject. Grinning, Stephen altered his face to be as close to his old one as he could recall.
Feet
Tony had jumped between the two dimensions more since their initial meeting. Apparently he needed a good amount of time in any given dimension to add it to the guide he was compiling. However, this was the longest Tony had been away. Two whole months. Finally, at long last, Tony came limping through the portal site. Stephen was by his side immediately.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
Tony nodded. “Sorry, just had a big fight with a big bad and got hurt badly enough that the hospital fought against letting me out even now.”
Stephen’s eyes narrowed, and he channeled some of his powers to locate the injuries. “Clothes off.”
Tony blinked. “Sorry, what?”
“Clothes off.”
“Jeez Doc, I knew you were ogling me, but at least buy a guy dinner first!” Tony chuckled nervously.
“What- no, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I can heal you, but not with the clothes in the way.”
Tony shrugged and started taking off his clothes. “Ah, what the hell. Not the weirdest thing I’ve heard this year.”
Stephen grew a claw on one hand to cut his other hand with. He didn’t even hiss in pain as he bled over the man he had become infatuated with. A quickly chanted incantation healed everything, although the foot produced a sickening crack as it rebroke to heal correctly. Looking down at Tony’s foot, Stephen immediately realized it was different from his.
Tony’s foot, while covered in calluses from walking constantly, was smooth for the most part. While there were hairs, it wasn’t even close to the amount of hair covering Stephen’s feet - which was far closer to a bear’s foot than a human’s, complete with claws and paw pads. Without much thought, he changed that into a more human version too.
“Who did this to you?” Stephen growled.
“Funny story Doc, we found your counterpart on my Earth. Turns out you’re a little bit of a villain there, complete with a magic cult that follows your every whim.”
Stephen blinked. “The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj are evil in your world?”
“Is that what they’re called? ‘Cause it really looks like that. What did they do here?”
“As far as I’m aware, all they did was protect our planet from extra-dimensional and magical threats.”
Tony made a thoughtful noise. “I have no clue if that’s the case here, I got these injuries trying to keep a book away from my Stephen.”
Stephen frowned; the idea of this other Stephen - one who had hurt Tony - being ‘Tony’s Stephen’ feeling wrong. “Do you think I could come to your world yet?”
“Oh, definitely! We have enough data on this world to help your biology get used to our world. We shouldn’t have a problem there.”
Stephen paused before asking his second question. “Do you think. . . That I could be your Stephen?”
Tony’s eyes widened. “Are you asking me on a date, Doc?”
“Only if you want to go out with me!” Stephen flushed.
“Of course. We might be moving a bit fast, but do you want to live with me when we move to my world?”
“Of course!”
Tongue
As he stepped through the portal, Stephen felt the brunt of the world’s universal laws crashing down on him.
“Tony!” He cried out as he fell to his knees.
Tony turned towards him, confused. “Stephen? Stephen, what’s wrong?” Tony went down on his knees next to Stephen.
“World’s laws. . . Qualify as a demon now, all those souls I absorbed. . . Summon me. Pentagram.” And with that, Stephen was gone.
Three years later, Stephen appeared next to Tony. Tony calmly closed the sandwich with the pentagram drawn in mustard. Quietly, he handed it to Stephen, who kissed him gratefully before leaving. A demon could always appreciate a homemade sandwich, and later, he would giggle over how strange it felt to have a rounded tongue on a forked one, even after all these years. He went off to work in a good mood, a ring glinting on his finger.