December 21:st - "What's your name?" Or "The Three Doctors" Or "Doctors, Doctors Everywhere!"
Doctor Strange lay in bed, reading. It was still only morning on the 21:st of December, and he was enjoying a very heavy, very pleasant book on the history of sorcery. Well, much of that history was rather grim, but this focused on old spells, and he was thoroughly enjoying it. Learning a few new (old) tricks certainly did not hurt either.
The cloak was draped over his legs, not twisting around them today in any fashion, but instead mimicking a normal blanket. For all that he deeply enjoyed all of its excentricities, it was a nice interlude.
It seemed that he thought too soon, however, as the cloaks's collar perked up in the middle of his reading as if listening to something - or simply thinking up something else to scare the novices with when one came over. Strange smiled internally at the thought. They were really asking for it whith how easily they were to startle. The cloak never actually hurt them, so he rarely intervened. Also, he'd like to know how long it'd take before they realised themselves how it never hurt them.
He kept on reading, until the Cloak, now determined, started pulling at him. He looked at it with surprise. It often clung to him, in a myriad of different ways, but it had never pulled before. Not outside of battle, anyway.
"What is it?" He asked it, but it didn't stop tugging at him. He sat up, but that didn't do it either. Frowning, he rose, and as if encouraged, the cloak flew towards the closet, attempting to pull him along. It reminded him about the time when he was fighting Kaecilius in the Sanctum and it insisted on him walking towards the right weapons.
Deciding to play along, he let it decide, raising an eyebrow when it insisted that he got dressed, but obeying none the less. It was a supremely powerful magical relic, after all. It probably knew something he did not. And he smiled at thinking how the old him would have bristled at that thought.
After he dressed, his loyal companion fell with ease around his shoulders, but did not stop with tugging him along. It did not do so with much force any longer, though, as he followed its directions easily enough. As they entered the grand entrance hall, he heard the "hello" called out by the other Doctor. The one with the kidnapping, blue box.
He stepped forward - not hindered in doing so by his cloak, he noted - to shake the other man's offered hand. "Happy Christmas!" The Doctor grinned. "No decorations up yet?" "Merry Christmas. No, I like to focus on the cake" Strange replied with a smile, teasing lightly knowing the other man's weakness for everything cake-related. "You shall have to teach your relic not to kidnap people" he added, sending the TARDIS a stern glance.
"Yes, I heard about that. My apologies... it has done that several times in December, must be something mystical going on. I trust it was not too much of an inconvenience?" "Not at all. I was seen by a older woman, though, I do not know if..." "Yes, she told me" The Doctor cut in, shrugging "she's a good friend. No harm done. But I came to invite you to a Christmas Adventure!" The Cloak immediately started to pull Strange towards the TARDIS. Both the doctors looked at it with a small degree of surprise, but they both obeyed, the TARDIS door opening by itself to let them in.
"This won't take a minute" The Doctor grinned and started touching buttons, Strange staying well away from them. It was indeed only 23 seconds later that they stepped out of the TARDIS... into that same hallway it had taken Strange to before. "I thought we'd visit Mrs Hudson first "Doctor Who explained. "She is the woman you ran into. She's been asking to meet you, if you don't mind.
At the other man's shrug, he walked up the stairs to an empty living room, and then suddenly the cloak left the neurosurgeon's shoulders. He understood why a second later, as it met its best friend the carpet mid-air. The other relic - if it was a relic - had seemingly been lying in front of the fire, just like the Cloak enjoyed doing, Strange noted.
"As, yes. It has gotten friendly with Mrs Hudson's - she's an old friend of my TARDIS, you understand - favourite surrogate son, you see. You'd like him, though I think he is at Barts today. It is a hospital here in London" he added for explanation. "He's a doctor, as well?" Strange asked, looking around the room with its worn wallpaper, English flag cushions and... was that bullet holes in the wall?
"No, he is a Graduate Chemist. His flatmate though, he is a doctor. A MD, like you" the Doctor held back another broad grin, just as the tell-tale "ho-ho!" sounded and Mrs Hudson appeared with a well-laid tea-tray, including "Cake!" She chuckled at The Doctor's exclamation, announcing "don't you want some tea, boys?" It might have been disguised as a question, but it really wasn't one. The two doctors sat down, while the two magical fabrics played out some sort of slow-motion air-battle behind them.
Mrs Hudson played mother, pouring them all tea while The Doctor cut the cake (to his great enjoyment). She praised Doctor Strange for the cookies the TARDIS had brought them, offered him to try some of hers, and was just interrogating him on how to care for magical fabric relics as John walked in with the shopping.
It said something about the usual life at Baker Street that John did not even bat an eyelid, instead just asking "Client?" and after getting two negative replies walking through to the kitchen as he put the groceries away. He emerged again after a few minutes and graciously accepted the teacup Mrs Hudson held out without even looking at the unknown man for longer than for a polite nod during which he registered nothing about him.
"John" The Doctor smiled, pretending to ignore the wink form Mrs Hudson. "This is Doctor Strange - former neurosurgeon and still an excellent consultant in his field. Stephen - this is Doctor Watson, former army captain as well as field surgeon. He is a GP now, and backup for Sherlock - Mrs Hudson's surgogate son I told you about".
"Hello" John smiled at the stranger and reached out a hand, his stomach dropping as the man replied. "Hi John". It was that same voice he had heard outside The Doctor's kidnapping "TARDIS", calling the sentient cloak away. A quick look around the room revealed that the cloak was indeed there, playing with Sherlock's carpet. Swallowing, mouth suddeny dry, he smiled at the man, noticing now, after hearing his voice (and could that knock a man down or what!) just how immensely attractive he was.
It took all of his determination not to blush as the handshake got far too long, and the other man's searching gaze did nothing to help. Behind them, Mrs Hudson and The Doctor smiled knowingly to each other, and the Carpet and Cloak high fived each other. How they managed that, neither having any hands, no mortal can figure, but they did.
This ran on for a bit - the characters were just never finished today. Of course Mrs Hudson is the greatest Matchmaker ever... While I suck at writing meet-cutes!
I do not own anything you recognise - I don't even know where some of it is from!
TapTap