Ch. 5 – Strange of Heart

Aloof. Was exactly how Strange could define her. She could easily fool the rest of the students and her peers as they taught lessons. He knew though, in the small time frame they had spent together privately he knew when she was really engaged or just there just to be there. He did not like it one bit. It did not help she only taught very few classes that were still a bit advanced for his group. This motivated him to get ahead from the group and move up to get to her. And when it was not during those working hours, he had hoped he'd run into her before she had gone to her room. That constant schedule he had rely on before was now gone.

As Strange walked back to his room he couldn't help but overhear music coming from one of the dorm rooms. He did not know which room but it was coming from a hallway he had not ever pass through. He edged closer to make up the lyrics that were playing. The door to the room in question was left open. It was the only one with a simple doormat that had two pairs of shoes placed neatly on the side. He grinned, it was definitely his mystery girl. He stepped in front and peeked in to see her folding her bed sheets.

"Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams." He spoke as the song was nearing an end over her small speaker. She looked over and gave him a half smile, "What do you know about that?"

"Maybe because I grew up listening to that era of music."

She stifled a laugh, "Boy, you're old."

He crossed his arms at her, "And you're not that far off?"

"You know I stopped counting after twenty-five." She tossed some clothes into the basket near him as if she was trying to hit him, "Also congrats on finding my room."

"You are probably the only one who plays music around here."

She pulled a chair and offered him a seat which he accepted. She then turned down the volume all the way down so she can devote her attention to him but it was still loud enough to be background music.

"What can I do for you, Stephen?"

He opened his mouth to begin but stumbled in his words. He did not want to come across too strong, "I was wondering if there is anything to do outside of Kamar-Taj?"

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, "You mean out as in Nepal?"

He nodded, "I have spent the last few nights in the library with Wong, I figured I need a break from him."

"Well…" She blew out a puff of air as she loomed it over in her head, "Besides the holy tours you saw and getting mugged. I'd say… there is a nice little coffee shop that sells these donuts."

"Sounds like a plan."

This was the first time she saw Stephen outside of the normal garb he wore every day. He was wearing jeans, had a grey v-neck t-shirt, and a navy-blue sweater over. Another thing she finally took notice is he had cut his hair shorter gain. This time it was not jagged and the lengths on either side were no longer uneven. He had combed it as well. She could spot the grey streaks on either side of his face. His beard was no longer long and shaggy but short and defined his jaw line. She'd be fooling herself if she said he did not look attractive.

"Never saw you as a vans kind of guy." She pointed as she looked at the obscured street signs, ensuring she was going in the right direction.

"Coming from someone who wears Jordans." He stared down at her all-white colored sneakers. Not a speck of dirt or mud on them. He assumed she took the time to clean them whenever she is done with them. His eyes travelled up and she was wearing a high-waist, tighter fit jeans than the ones she had when he first met her. Her black and pink tie dye pattern sweatshirt was cropped at the waist and appeared a little oversized for her. He didn't think she was wearing anything else underneath… not that he was looking or anything.

The cafe shop that she was talking about was right beside the corner where she turned. They had at least three tables set up outside and there was street vendor right by them with a fryer serving the donuts she was adamantly talking about. She had ordered for the both of them and placed the remaining change in the tip cup.

"You speak Nepalis?" Stephen had asked as he carefully sipped the hot coffee.

"No, I just know enough to order food." She took a bite from the fried sweet bread and smiled. Her inner child was pleased.

This was probably the best mood he had seen her in a while. He did not know what had caused her to be so moody around Kamar-Taj but he was glad he was not the cause of it.

"How long have you really been practicing?"

Her mind shifted from the year her mother died to the year they were currently in now, "Hm… about four years almost five?"

He had stared at her eyes in wonder, "The skillset you have and the things you teach. You learned so much and project so far in that timeframe?"

"It's not that impressive, Stephen." She shrugged as she poured sugar at the center of the table, creating a small pile of sugar, "I had a teacher who was rather hard on me and pushed me every day to my limit." Her hands glowed of Eldritch magic and before him the sugar levitated.

"The mind is a very powerful thing to project and manipulate all things around." Her fingers moved as she manipulated the sugar to create random shapes, "As is the body to keep the endurance of the magic going." The sugar sparked and dissolved into nothing.

Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sighed, "I am just like you with a little seniority. There is so much more out there than what we know."

"Correct me if I am wrong but it seems you are being limited." He placed his chin on his hands as he leaned toward her.

"Hm… what makes you say that?"

"It's the restraint in your eyes and due to the fact that most of the spells you cast while training seems shorter range than what you are capable of doing." He explained to her, watching her with curious eyes.

She smirked at him, "You think you know me?"

"Judging from our private sessions in the beginning… It is fair to assume."

"That is a fair deduction." She replied and started chewing at the bottom of her lip, emersed in her thoughts, "How can I explain this to a newcomer like you…"

Stephen's eyes squinted as if he was insulted, "You don't need to underestimate me like that."

"I don't mean any offense." She corrected herself, her eyes staring down and not meeting his, "It is just, what I am about to say, there is not much you can really do…" She sighed as she stared off into the distance, "There are certain limitations that have been placed on all of us, which is somewhat unfair if you ask me, the sorcerer supreme has vast knowledge on all things. The knowledge itself is not prohibited but once you reach a certain level and the craving for more power…" Gosh, she really did not want to sound like her old teacher but in some ways he is correct. She sighed again, "If I was Sorcerer Supreme, I feel like I could change a few things."

This piqued his interest, "What changes would you make?"

"Well for starters, I'd change some of the level of responsibility. All our actions go through the Sorcerer Supreme for approval and from recent events I could understand the level of micromanaging but not all of us are insider threats." She was now venting. She did not mean to do it in front of some neurosurgeon, but she could not help herself. She never realized it, but she had bonded with Stephen on some level. She could probably even call him her friend.

"My opinion if there was more of a level of trust in all of us Masters and less secrets, then we'd have a better force behind the mystic arts." She wanted to cry. The words that the Ancient One had told her a while ago still hurt, "If that makes me a bad sorcerer, well… then I do not think I am meant for Kamar-Taj."

Stephen had sat back and took in her words. He empathized with her by relating to how he would experience things back at metro general. They were somewhat similar. Thirsty for knowledge and the heavy need to expand her skills. The only difference is that she was more inclined to follow their rules and be as disciplined as Mordo.

"For what it's worth," Stephen began, "I do not think you are a bad sorcerer or an insider threat." Her eyes finally met his as he continued, "I see that you are a very kind, brilliant, and strong sorcerer. I know you care deeply about your students from the interactions I see, and I do not think there is anything wrong with to surpass those limitations. From what you've told me and from what I know about you, I see it as you want to gain more knowledge to protect us… from what I do not know but that is how I see it."

She stayed silent for a bit, leaning back with arms crossed, "Well that is better than being called someone's follower."

"Someone being… Kaecilius?"

Her eyes hardened, "Where did you learn that name?"

"People talk."

Of course, they did. She thought as her eyes rolled. That never really goes away no matter where you go in life.

"Kaecilius was my teacher. Almost all knowledge I have learned was through him." She explained, "I ended up switching and learning under Master Wong and the Ancient One herself when they realized he was becoming obsessed with the dark ways." She shook her head, "There are some things he says that I agree with but serving a dark god is just asking for trouble even I would not follow." She told herself, "Even if I were to be seduced by its temptations."

Stephen remained quiet as she continued, "I will never intentionally take or sacrifice a life even if it meant to bring back something that was lost."

"I can't really see you as a murderer." Stephen commented.

"I don't like to think I am." She muttered which had caused him to think about the response. Realization had hit his eyes on what she meant. She turned away from his and she stared off searching for something, "Only to protect those I care about as you said earlier, Stephen."

His mind was on overdrive as to what she meant. He knew that the people he trained with were nothing more than just civilians trying to find their way back to their "normal" selves and some just seeking a better path in their lives. Those who had the rank of "masters" and the rest of the teachers, he had yet to fully comprehend just what else they do besides teach them the metaphysical ways. What hardships did this woman go through to talk in such a way? Why did she have to carry a burden to protect them? Protect the world from Kaecilius? No, this was something big. Stephen did not think Elise was going to further say anything else more. She was too busy looking around. It made him feel cautious and maybe a little anxious.

"What are you looking for?" He asked as he watched her eyes search.

"My dog." She answered softly.

"You have a dog?" He arched a brow.

"Well, he's not exactly mine but normally he follows me everywhere and he is usually here." She commented as she rose from her seat. She took the remaining piece of her Nepalis donut and started to whistle.

Stephen rose from his seat and thanked the waiter who came and picked up their mugs. He proceeded to follow Elise just before she had crossed the empty street. It was really late they were one of the few people who were still out and about. He heard her tone of voice go a little high as if she was calling for a child.

"Bats, where you at boy?"

"His name is Bats?" Stephen asked looking around for this four-legged creature as his hands slipped into his pockets. It was getting a little chilly.

"Yeah, he's got these huge ears that resemble a bat." That was her response, and he just gave her a look.

"It makes sense in my head!" She exclaimed as she continued to search. She was walking a few paces away from Stephen as he stood at the curbside. He suddenly heard a small whimper from behind. He turned to see a dirtied dog limping in their direction. His eyes soften as he knelt, "Elise." He called to her as he let a hand out to the dog.

Based on the dog's face, it looked older than the age of 7. Eyes still looked a bit youthful and yet cautious. He was very timid towards Stephen, but his big ears perked, his bottom, and tail wagged side to side when he saw Elise approaching.

"Bats! Oh my god, what happened to you!" She rushed to the poor dog and placed him on her lap, "Your paw, something is wrong with his paw!" She was trying to examine one of his front limbs, but Bats whimpered as it pained him when she moved it. Stephen observed the movement, and he noted it was a sprain on his wrist. He searched around for something that could help the poor dog and his eyes were set on a crate filled with wooden sticks. What luck, he thought as he walked towards it leaving Elise to comfort the furry thing.

"What asshole did this to you, boy?" Elise asked the dog, "I'll beat that sucker up, you know I will!"

All Bats did was lick her face. Despite being the one in pain, he tried his best to cheer his best friend up and not get her so angry. Stephen suddenly came right up close to her with a stick in hand, "Hold him still." He commented as he gently went to grab the injured limb from Bats. The dog watched him carefully as did Elise. She did not even notice that Stephen had gone out of his way to look for a stick. He then tied the stick to the dog's arm with a small rag, stabilizing it, "There we go, that's a good boy." She watched as he carefully wrapped and tied two knots against the limb. Of all the times she had witnessed his hands go to work during their sessions, this moment was the only moment she had seen his hands barely tremble. Like if nothing had happened to him. She wondered if he had mastered the control or if he was too focused on being a healer. She watched his concerned blue eyes. She's never seen him so gentle and at work. She felt warmth rising from her chest to her neck, and up to her cheeks. It was certainly not the dog that was making her warm.

Bats, then, leaned over and licked Stephen's face as a sign of appreciation, "Yeah, okay, okay." He leaned back, "Now you show me affection."

He chuckled, "Just wait till you see the bill, how does your insurance look?"

"Way to ruin a sweet moment." Elise scoffed as she rose up and allowed the dog to stand on its own.

Stephen gave a cheeky smile, "It was a joke."

"Come on, Bats, lets go home before the doctor diagnoses you with something else."

Bats went ahead of Elise and scurried to her room. He knew where the makeshift bed she had for him was placed at. Elise turned to Stephen and placed her hand on his bicep, "Thank you for what you did for Bats tonight."

"It's no problem. I was not going to bill you."

She laughed with him this time, "And thank you for listening to me today. It's nice to take things off my chest. I did not realize how much I had been holding back." She let go of his arm, but he reached for her hand. Like the first time their hands had met during the training session, she felt a little spark in between them.

"Don't ever think you're alone, Elise." Stephen said, "I am here for you." He was glad he could be there when she opened up to him. It was a first and he wanted to wait for her to be more comfortable with him.

She displayed a warm smile and gently squeezed his hand as a sign of thanks. He honestly forgot about everything and anything mystic arts related. He just wanted this moment to last. Unfortunately, she let his hand go and began to walk to her room. She noticed him going to the opposite direction from his room and she asked, "Where are you off to?"

"The library," He called back over his shoulder, "Hopefully, Wong understands my pop culture references this time."

She laughed, "His favorite artist is Beyonce, by the way."

"Noted."

"Goodnight, Stephen." She called out to his departing figure.

He looked back at her over his shoulder and he smiled, "Pleasant dreams, Elise."

A/N:

Influenced by the deleted scene in Doctor Strange (2016) and from the adoring character in the comics.