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Christine felt profound, utter relief. It was a familiar feeling in this situation. Stephen, for all of his arrogance and his lack of respect, though both things were seemingly in the past, had always come when she called for him.

This felt exacly like all those previous times: so utterly familiar. Stephen stood silently beside her, reading the chart, that well-known look of utter concentration on his face as he pondered the possible solutions. "You are out of practise. Could you do it?" She asked him softly when he finally looked up.

As ever, he looked utterly assured in whatever decision he'd made. "Yes." He didn't need more words than that, and she understood. She always had.

It was almost eerie to Christine how well she already knew this entire situation. This Stephen; focused, skillful and confident, just the right amount of self-assured, she could recal to an absolute t. The fact that Stephen also had a pleasant smile and was dressed entirely in blue robes was strangely redundant.

Entering the staff room with Stephen dressed in said manner however, now that was a blast. The cloak - which Christine made certain to pet in greeting - was hanging obediently from his shoulders in a very skillful imitation of an actual piece of clothing, but while that made Stephen look decidedly less like a sorcerer, he still looked a bit... well, like a spiritual leader in an organisation which was suspiciously like a cult.

Ignoring the blank stares and the silence, Christine sat down at one of the tables with her lunch, not missing the well-made home-cooked meal Stephen had brought with him. "Elice is still staying with you?" He smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I am helping her look over one of her final assessment scores and assignments. She is considering going back to medical school for her finals and practise years. I have promised to help her."

"That is kind of you," Christine could feel herself just how warmly she was smiling. For all that the intensely successful, slightly bad-boy Stephen of the past had drawn her in, almost against her will, she really was attracted to this well-mannered, patient, grown-up version. And she liked it. She was proud of him.

"Stephen?!" They both turned their heads and saw a wide-eyed Nick West staring at Strange. Stephen and he had met again since the accident, but then Stephen had been in scrubs, looking just a little bit different from what they'd been used to. Now, in his blue robes, he truly looked like the changed man he was. Nick blinked and smiled, half baffled, half condescending. "So, what have you been up to?"

Christine found herself really admiring Stephen's calm, especially as the entire room was suddenly listening. He had always been confident, but now he was so very self-assured in such a secure way which still was absolutely not arrogant. Changed indeed. He merely looked up at Nick, with that same 'you are not worth my time' demeanour, but this time complemented by a humorous smirk as he replied calmly. "Meditating."

"Meditating?" Nick just looked more baffled, not knowing what to make of that.

Stephen nodded, politely elaborating. "Yes, trying to center my will and heal my hands."

Nick was looking decidedly condescending now, expecially seeing Stephen's still shaky hands. "I take it that that didn't work!"

Stephen merely smiled, looking back at his food. "Oh, it works perfectly. But along the way I found other things to focus on, and my hands can wait. I can do that when it is needed," he was still smiling. Having seen first hand what he could do, Christine found herself smiling into her glass.

"Like when cooking?" Nick tried to mock him, not realising how ineffective it was.

"No, he has one of his cult-members do that for him," Christine told him, noticing how Stephen hid a smirk at the jibe.

"He joined a cult?" When Christine just tried not to giggle instead of responding, Nick turned to Stephen instead. "You joined a cult?!"

"He did. Then he learnt it all, made master in record time and now he is running the cult. Though he still doesn't believe in spirituality," Christine teased them both, but mostly Nick.

"Well, most of it is nonsense. Just because I know how to focus my energy and enter astral pathways doesn't mean I cannot still consider it spiritual nonsense," Stephen argued, smiling. "And Elice is not just a cult-member. She is my apprentice."

"Your mystical cult apprentice?" Nick asked disbelivingly, blinking.

"No, she is a medical student," Christine explained, starting to laugh as that finally made Stephen break down and giggle. She had not heard him giggle since the early days of their original relationship, and it was infective. Oh, by whatever spiritual forces Stephen now believed in, she had missed this part.