I almost forgot to add an author's note...

Well, enjoy and I don't own it. That's that sorted. ;)

TapTap

Stephen was being reassuring. No one would think that the great Doctor Stephen Strange could be any good at that, but he was.

For all that he could be arrogant and prideful - especially before he grew up, as his fiance called it - he was so in a rather - all things considered - harmless fashion. For all of his prickliness he was not only a supremely good surgeon, but a responsible one, and he was also a mentor.

The Ancient One had once pointed out that he was someone inclined to fight hard in whatever he did do, and mentoring was no exception to this rule. He was on surprisingly good terms with all the people who relied on his expertise in the operating theatre, and this was no fluke.

No one who had never experienced it would ever believe it - with one or two notable exceptions, who were generally all scrub nurses of the first order - but Stephen Strange had always been a very good option if you needed a shoulder to cry on.

He was an excellent teacher in every way, and he was exceedingly good at soothing and reassuring. He needed to be, when tests were to be had or results determining new doctors' future careers were about to be delivered.

It was not an aspect of his personality many knew about, for sure, but his many changes as of late had not blunted the ability one bit.

Succinctly put; Elice was about to take trials in the same hospital Christine worked at, which had used to be Stephen's place of work as well, in the hopes of continuing her medical career. Steady and capable as the Islandic novice usually was, she was neither of those things at the minute, and the cloak had been immediately alarmed. Stephen, not so.

There was still some time before Elice needed to be off - portals rather do have an advantage in a time-perspective over most other methods of travelling - and Stephen had spent the last twenty minutes expertly calming her down. Later, she'd joke about it gratefully, but now she was in no state for it.

Finally, as Stephen coaxed his apprentice into eating some toast, he offered some practical advice. "Just remember to be steady on your hands - and that it is your hands that know. You believe you're out of practise, well, the muscle memory won't have faded one bit. Have faith in your ability, and you will be just fine."

"Thanks," Elice swallowed, trying to press down her nerves, as she lifted the toast to her mouth. Before taking a bite, she added, "Thank you - and sorry for this morning." With an off-hand comment about how it was merely natural, Stephen waved it away immeditely, just as the cloak arrived in the kitchen with Elice's bag and shoes.

"Thank you, Crimson," Elice smiled, more herself again as her sudden panic had faded. "Do you think I need a jacket?" In response to this the cloak dramatically flung itself over the young woman's shoulders, refusing to be shook off.

In fact, it was still there as she stood by the front door, coat and bag in hand and wearing her shoes. "Crims," she tried futily to reason with it, wrinkling her nose as she pondered the open portal Stephen had opened to his favourite broom cupboard in the hospital and tried to think of ways to get rid of a clingy magical cloak.

She could hardly wear it - it would seem very strange to everybody and was hardly practical, not to even breach the subject of how inappropriate it was as it was not her relic. Of course the cloak cared little for rules like this. It did what it bloody well pleased, thank you very much, as it had proven more than once in the past.

She was just about to turn around and beg Stephen for help, when the aforementioned sorcerer upended an enormous box of dominoes on the carpet, not twenty feet from them. The cloak barely hesitated for a second before it pounced, thus leaving Elice's shoulders.

With a relieved, nervous little laugh, Elice waved goodbye, stepping through the portal followed by Stephen's amused, "Good luck!"