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

Chapter 40: Sunset (Part 10)

Victor Strange eventually pulled his body up and out of the bath.

He noticed that his sister had a towel and a set of dry clothes set out for him. Joy. Victor's soul was processing what his sister said, and he was thinking over her behavior. OBVIOUSLYyyy she was pissed off at him, but whatever. Victor rolled his eyes a thousand more times as he changed his clothes.

He threw his wet clothes against the farthest wall, then he processed that he was being a bit of a brat.

….

The baby Strange tried to dry his body as much as he could, because it was cold. Nights at the Kamar taj were pretty cold, so…

….

Victor continued processing the evening as he approached the door to the bathhouse. He took a moment to fix the clothes that covered his skin, and his hair. Victor liked his hair to look a certain way, but there wasn't a mirror around him to help him out. He just pawed at his forehead for a bit and he made sure the top part of his hair was going toward his left.

Victor accomplished that as he migrated his way back down the long hallway. The baby Strange planned to ignore his sister, and…

He saw three people at the end of the hallway. Bucky Barnes was leaning against one of the walls and Steve Rogers was toward his right. Ezekiel was in the middle of the small group, but he didn't seem very engaged. Victor made eye contact with him as he approached.

Ezekiel seemed…

"Feeling better?"

Steve Rogers was beyond kind and sincere. Victor glanced in his direction after Oshtur's host broke the silence. Victor thought about how he wasn't actually feeling anything at the moment. He felt only indifferent to the question. The baby Strange shrugged up his shoulders, then he looked back in Ezekiel's direction.

Bucky Barnes spoke after that. He asked if it was "lecture time" and Steve gave a gentle laugh. Victor was unaware of any sort of domestic drama going on between Bucky and Steve. He picked up on a bit of tension between them, off and on, but Victor remained pretty oblivious.

In that moment, he wondered if he was allowed to be oblivious to things like that, now that he was given the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Victor's mind felt heavy all of a sudden, but Bucky did something that quickly brought him out of it.

Bucky said that he'd check back in with them in the morning, then he reached over and messed up the top of Victor's hair. It was a quick gesture with his hand, and it was something that Stephen Strange did all the time. Victor was hit with a bit of feels after Bucky copied the familiar gesture.

He realized pretty quickly that he missed his brother, but Victor just gave Bucky a small smile.

It actually was "lecture time" according to Steve. He said goodnight to Ezekiel and Victor, then he left the hallway with Bucky Barnes. Victor watched them leave, then his focus returned to …

Ezekiel was wearing dark red training clothes. Victor took note of the color as if it mattered. He kept looking at them for a short while, then he brought a smile up to Ezekiel's line of sight. The baby Strange did feel better after his dip in the tub, but his processing power was running on empty.

He kept thinking about some psycho fuck that was about to show himself, yet again. Wade Wilson was officially haunting him, or whatever. Victor really friggen hated him, especially the sound of his voice. The baby Strange pondered over how to talk to Ezekiel about it. He had no idea how to bring it up, or how to prepare his soul for another encounter.

"Did I show you where the rooms are?"

Victor forgot how far his grand tour reached. He figured he showed Ezekiel everything except the library, oh and Tony's lab. He planned to wander down there at some point, because Tony was making him something? Victor heard some of the talk as he was paraded to the bath house.

His mind was restless, and Ezekiel's quiet nature didn't help. Victor looked up at him again, just when Ezekiel stepped toward the end of the hallway.

"Yes. You showed me where the rooms are."

That's where they changed their clothing. Ezekiel didn't feel like including that information when he responded. He could tell that Victor's mind was running haywire. The "White Jackal" could also see that Victor was struggling. He seemed very confident before he was taken to the bath house, but now..

Obadiah's son studied Victor's behavior. It was very familiar, so he considered stepping in.

"Oh. Whoops. Too much has happened, so I kinda spaced. Wanna go, back? Back, to the rooms?"

Victor felt like a scrambled mess. He was very used to Ezekiel going mute on him. The baby Strange figured he was being super quiet because he was processing what Oshtur did. I mean, it was kind of jacked up for the Vishanti super freak to freeze out his soul like that. Victor missed the memo on that, and he was inwardly glad that he didn't reach out to Hoggoth or Agamotto..

Ezekiel watched Victor as he quietly laughed to himself. He was thinking about Hoggoth roasting his soul. Agamotto had powerful elements within him, and they were very similar to, electricity? Wait, he manipulated light. Victor recalled that detail as he watched some crime-lord ex boyfriend slowly arch his eyebrow.

"You're going to get through this, Victor. Your sister told me her plan, and it's not as bad as it seems."

…

Ezekiel kept his left eyebrow arched up high as he spoke, then he turned his body in the direction of the rooms. Victor's jaw kind of dropped down to his feet, then he hurried himself after Ezekiel. Hold up. Victor wanted to know how much he knew. That CRIME-LORD started walking toward the rooms, but Victor was following along and locked in.

"WOW. Thank you for the motivation. What wonderful plan did she actually share with you?"

IF SHE TOLD HIM ABOUT WADE, VICTOR PLANNED TO KILL HER. He wanted to kill her dead if she broke the news to Ezekiel. I meannnnnn….. Victor started scrambling again, because at that point, the subject of Ezekiel hooking up with Wade hadn't happened. Victor didn't know how to talk about it, ask about, or know about it. It was just ….

Ezekiel could feel all of Victor's stress and inner frustration. He stopped walking just outside one of the rooms. Victor almost walked directly into him, but luckily, he stopped just before the two of them collided. Ezekiel turned around and faced him. He thought over how to answer Victor's question, because yes, he knew about Wade Wilson eventually showing up at the Kamar taj.

"If my father was here right now, he'd relate this moment to playing chess."

His father was a horrible person. Ezekiel knew that and he accepted it. In a way, he moved on, but the lessons he was taught about playing chess had roots deep within his soul. It was his father's only likable trait, and it was a big part of Ezekiel's personality. Victor didn't expect the subject. He stopped wigging out for a second, and he just looked forward…

"Chess is about seizing opportunity and being firm with your decisions. Have you ever played the game?"

Victor hadn't. They didn't play games when he was a kid. He only ventured into the world of video games after he grew up a bit, but playing chess was never a thing. They didn't even have board games in their house. Victor bit his lip a little, because Ezekiel seemed..

…

He seemed very Steve Rogers like, in that moment. Victor felt glad to see it. He shook his head no shortly after the question. Ezekiel watched Victor's behavior soften up a bit after he spoke again.

"Chess is also about thinking ahead. Your sister and your brother are thinking ahead and they are trying to stay ten steps ahead of your enemies. I live that way everyday."

More like, every second. It felt like "lecture time" was happening on both sides of the Kamar taj. In that moment, Steve Rogers was speaking similarly with his best friend. The subject was about Tony, but it was also about Bucky's behavior. Steve stopped them both by his favorite tree.

Bucky was fresh out of comments. A number of comments came to his mind when Steve started talking, but the not-so-winter soldier decided against it after a while. He only listened to Steve, because apparently, Tony Stark was no longer up for grabs. Steve made a bold declaration there about Tony, and Bucky said he was fine with it.

"I want what you've got Steve. I hate to say it, but that's all it was."

Tony was always good for Steve, even from the beginning, Bucky knew it and he hated him for it. He tormented Tony for years. He tried to make things difficult for him, and in the end… it really bit him in the ass. Bucky accepted his fate when it came down to all of his failed relationships.

The lecture seemed to cease, so the not-so-winter soldier took a moment to explain himself a bit more, for Steve.

Chapter: END

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