No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 2

Chapter 30: Silver Poetry (Part 10)

Victor Strange was staring at a bit of "snow" that was currently melting in the palm of his hand. It took a long while for it to melt, so it stirred about a couple questions.

The "baby" Strange glanced over at Ezekiel Stane when the technology-based snow eventually melted against his skin, so he broke the silence and spoke.

"Do you remember the first time you ever saw snow?"

Victor had to ask. Ezekiel walked him home from the bar, and it felt like it was time for the two of them to part ways. Victor couldn't have Ezekiel in the apartment that he shared with Clint Barton. No friggen way, Jose. Victor also didn't want to see the new home that the somber crime-lord mentioned to him earlier. Victor heard what he said, but he didn't take the bait.

He couldn't take it, but he wanted to. Ezekiel thought about the question he received about seeing snow for the first time. He recalled the moment when he saw it, then he looked at the ground. Obadiah's son reflected on the time, place and the people involved… He felt something stir within him after Victor asked him the question, because all along, that was all Ezekiel wanted.

After he met Victor Strange, the White Jackal was hiding himself. Everyone around him did all the talking about who he was and what he did. He actually wanted Victor to ask him questions quickly after they met, and he began to remember how all the others, like Clint Barton, answered questions about his suit as if he understood something about it. The idea of that bothered Ezekiel, so he revealed himself to Victor pretty quickly.

"I was in Istanbul, with my father. It doesn't snow there that often, so it was treated as something special by the family who housed us."

Ezekiel let the memory pass from his mind and throughout his soul. He failed to mention that his father intruded on a family's home when he first saw all the snow. Before they moved on from that location, the people who reluctantly housed them were, killed.

His father had them executed, because his precious cargo had been seen during the export. Ezekiel held onto that side of the memory as he focused on Victor. Based on Ezekiel's expression, Stephen and Donna's younger brother could see that there was more to the story about snow.

"How old were you?"
"I was ten."
Victor gave a small nod after his response. In that moment, it seemed as though Ezekiel's ability to reflect was sharp and crystal clear. The guy never behaved as if he had amnesia or anything, but Victor understood that he was very guarded about the information he dished out to others.

Victor had witnessed people like Nick Fury, and Natasha Romanov try to extract information out of Ezekiel, but he normally left them empty handed. That crime-lord only "revealed" what he wanted, and that was it.

"But, how do you know you were ten? I barely remember being ten years old. I do know that I was in Nebraska. I was probably out in the dusty corn field, bored out of my mind."

Bored and lonely. Victor hated being in Nebraska. He asked Ezekiel a question, but then he buried it with a bunch of talk about being in Nebraska. The baby Strange realized what he did to his precious question, so he laughed at himself just a little bit.

He just felt excited in that moment, because it felt like Ezekiel was opening up to him again. He always had been opening up, but for Victor, things just felt ….different.

"I know I was ten years old, because I listened to Howard Stark wish his son a happy birthday over the telephone. Tony turned 13 when I was in Istanbul, and I always counted backward by three whenever Tony had a birthday. That's how I kept track of what year it was, and my age."

His father never celebrated his birthday. Ezekiel couldn't recall the notion. His father also kept him under lock and key as he grew up, so Ezekiel never understood any sort of normalcy when it come down to simple stuff like keeping track of time. Victor took in what he heard and his mind started going a bit berserk. I mean, he did his best to date Ezekiel Stane after their emotions took over the chat.

They dodged the world together, but Victor was slowly realizing how things went off the rails.

"Wait, hold up. Do you even know when your birthday is? Do you know what day you were born?"

"No, Victor. I don't know what day I was born."

His father only mentioned that Tony Stark was three years older than him, back when Obadiah Stane compared himself to Howard Stark. Ezekiel remembered witnessing the conversation, but he cleared it from his mind after he saw Victor's reaction.

"I could find out, if you want me to? My family and I can look into it. I really think you should know that information, and, maybe it can help you. You'll feel more like you are your own person, well, you are, but.."

Victor stumbled a little. He stood a little closer to Ezekiel too, I mean. He didn't like what he heard about his mysterious upbringing. Victor wanted Ezekiel to know himself, and understand his roots more than anything. He watched Obadiah's son ponder what was said. Knowing the day he was born was something that Ezekiel Stane hardly thought about, but…

He smiled at Victor a little, then he drew in a slow breath. Ezekiel started giving the birthday thing a bit too much thought in that moment. He stopped when he noticed how close Victor had become. He wanted to skip the rest of the conversation, and his soul started feeling warm.

Ezekiel glanced at Victor's left arm, then he brought his hand up toward his skin. Victor welcomed the touch for a sec. He processed and stepped in once again. Shit, they could skip all the talk…

Victor wanted to skip it all, but he knew that was the issue they had going on all along. Victor always skipped the talking between them, and he skipped asking him questions. Victor always leapt before he looked, so Ezekiel wasn't surprised at all to find himself in a slow-brewing kiss.

Victor was normally the one to rush for something physical between them. He pulled Ezekiel in as close as he could get. The baby Strange started heating up around all of that fake snow. He almost brought up the two of them going to the apartment behind them, but he also started thinking they could hook up right there in the damn alley. Victor's body started taking over the gig, but…

Something shocked his baby soul to the core. The sexy kiss he was building up with Ezekiel was suddenly interrupted by a painful shock to his soul. Victor stepped backward from Ezekiel and processed his body and bones being random scorched. He opened his eyes to determine if he had been struck by lightening, and….

"I'm sorry little brother, hope you can forgive me."

Donna's voice loomed over the sudden change to the situation. She didn't want to butcher such a tender moment between her brother and Ezekiel, but what's done is done. The older sister stared down at her baby brother. She officially BLOCKED Victor's soul from occupying the same space as Ezekiel's.

Her "baby" brother wasn't going to be kissing on anyone, or doing anything foolish for a long time, and that notion carried over to anyone Donna felt like including.

Ezekiel felt the shock as well, so he slowly rubbed his arms. He quietly processed what happened and he found himself looking around the grounds of the Kamar taj. All of the surveillant "snow" he constructed was suddenly gone as well. The White Jackal processed that too, then he glanced up at Victor's older sister.

She was floating far up above them. Ezekiel listened as Donna started saying something to Victor about getting to work.

Chapter: END

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