Doctor Strange, Doctor Palmer and the Cloak of Levitation

by TapTapAlways

Doctor Strange settles into the New York Sanctum, accompanied by the boa constrictor which is his new cloak. Aside from saving the Earth, Stephen finds himself with a lot of unfinished affairs with Christine, not to mention the desire to settle them and make it right. A slowburn Baby Strange story with a twist.

23. By Outside Eyes

No copyright infringement is intended. Only fluff is intended.

TapTap

Pangborn had ever been an interesting neighbour, for sure, at least the owners of the shop next to his metalworking workshop thought so. He had lost all use of both of his legs - total paralysis - in an accident, and he'd disappeared for a while when that happened. Naturally. The woman who took over the shop's daily upkeep for him seemed to hint at some kind of journey of enlightenment for healing, something very spiritual. Humorous as they'd all found that, they had also been honestly delighted when it had actually turned out to be working and he'd come back, safe and sound; completely healed.

Things had gone back to normal for a while; he'd been the good neighbour he'd always been, and they'd been happy for him. There might have been a new quirk or two to the man, but such an experience must doubtlessly leave you a tad superstitious, so no one payed that much notice.

Then came the sudden evening when he'd slipped and fallen, and they'd found him in the morning - due to some lamps being on at a very strange time - and he'd responded by calling out when they'd knocked on his door; he was unable to get up off of the floor. It seemed like he'd had a complete relapse, and if anything he seemed even worse than before. Though that might just be a mental thing, they realised - on either theirs or his side. Possibly both.

Then, as they'd expected him to go into the hospital again - he had, too, for a few days - or to embark on another epic journey of discovery in either a spiritual or physical sense (they guessed it may also be both) he had emerged this morning. He had been walking up to his shop door, greeting them with a smile. Whole and well. Apparently, a second journey of regaining movement was way quicker than the first. Maybe after one such experience, you knew your way around that part of the metaphorical world? One thing was sure, he was a strange and fascinating neighbour, that Langborn, and they wished him all the peace and happiness in the world.