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

Chapter 53: Istanbul (Part 3)

Hold up.

Victor Strange stopped what he was doing for a sec. His body was burning up in a snazzy shower designed by a crime lord, who apparently had an unspoken king complex. That was an "undeniable" personality trait for Ezekiel Stane, or so they say. Charles Xavier was the first person to mention it. Victor heard the mutant talk about it before they took their shower, because guess what… Ezekiel was required to check in with his shrink.

Victor witnessed a ten minute conversation that was supposed to happen once a week. Ezekiel and Charles spoke about Victor seeing the house, a person's ego, and about the game of chess. Xavier told him he amounted a person's chess obsession to someone believing themselves to be a king. The mutant added it wasn't a bad thing to think highly of oneself, but the notion could get lonely if the "king" is always left unchecked.

It was an interesting conversation, and Victor thought about it for a bit while they were in the shower. They finnnnallllyyy took that shower, and Victor finally had an opportunity to have Ezekiel all to himself. He teased him at first, about being "respectful" for someone, or whatever. That teasing turned into some gentle kissing, then a playful back and forth.

Ezekiel had been intimate with Victor countless times. It felt like second nature to him at that point, and he wasn't lying when he told him that he preferred being with him over, someone else. The Jackal felt more in control with Victor, even though he wasn't the one setting the pace. It just, felt better, with him… and Ezekiel couldn't stop thinking about it.

That is, until he had to take a step back. The Jackal was pulled out of the pleasured zone he was in with Victor, and something abruptly happened that caused them both to stop and stare.

Ezekiel, quickly… sneezed. Twice. It was super short, and super weird. Victor actually laughed at what he saw. It was probably the cutest thing he'd ever witnessed. Ezekiel looked very confused after it happened, as if he'd never experienced a sudden sneeze attack before.

"UHHmahhh….somebody must be talking about you. That, or maybe… you're getting sick?"

Did Ezekiel Stane get sick? Victor had to wonder, because of his technology and what happened with his body before. Ezekiel maintained his puzzled look, then he brushed some of the shower water off of his face. He didn't understand the notion about someone talking about him. He asked Victor to explain what that meant.

"It's a superstition. You've never heard of it?"

LOL, GET OUTTA HERE. Victor was smiling beneath the warm and cozy water. Ezekiel took note of the look on his face, then he slowly shook his head no. He didn't have a clue about silly folklores, or superstitions such as that. The Jackal was confident that he was about to receive an explanation, so he settled himself back up against Victor's skin, and he waited.

"Zeke, you usually sneeze if someone is talking about you behind your back. Duhhh.. AND if you sneeze once, that means good things are being said. But, you sneezed twice, so… somebody's out there right now talking shit about you. Saying something bad."

Oh? Ezekiel started pressing his lips against Victor's shoulder, as he listened to him. He believed in what Victor was saying, because through the Strange family… he'd already witnessed a lot of peculiar things. The idea of "superstition" didn't seem that far off from reality in that moment. He wondered why he was being given that information, so he gently started kissing Victor's skin as he processed.

"What happens if you sneeze three times?"

Victor LOL'd again. He smiled at the question and he tried to remember. He was becoming a bit more preoccupied with what Ezekiel was doing to his skin. Victor kind of drifted back into the behavior they had going before the big sneeze took place. The question pulled him out for a sec, and Victor eventually gave him a response.

"Sneezing three times in a row means the person talking is, in love with you. There's even ancient talk about predicting your future by sneezing. It sounds hella random and stupid, but, it's a thing. I swear."

"I believe you."

Oh, wait really? Victor hid his smile for a sec, because the vibe in the shower was, interesting. The baby Strange felt happy in there, and he hadn't felt that way in a long while. His soul felt a lot better, and he wanted to get back to what they were doing before they were suddenly interrupted. Victor was very well versed in what Ezekiel liked to do, so, he closed his eyes and got back to it.

Elsewhere,

Bucky Barnes eventually left his roof, and he decided to get ready for his day. It broke his soul to see his empty apartment as he walked through it to get to his bedroom. Natasha was gone without a trace, and it hurt.

The brooding brunette was pretty annoyed. Natasha gave him her explanation, so he wasn't pissed off about that. Bucky tried to get dressed, then he planned to just walk off what had happened. He put on a black pair of pants, with a brown pair of boots. He located a dark red shirt, and his favorite jacket. He barely looked at himself in the mirror before he gathered his keys, his wallet, his lighter, and what was left of his last pack of cigarettes.

He planned to buy a carton of them…

Bucky left his apartment and he slowly locked the door behind him. His focus went over toward the door to Steve's apartment, but the brooding brunette decided against knocking on the door. One, it didn't feel like Steve Rogers was in the building, and two…

The Winter Soldier felt like he'd worn out his welcome. He knew his latest stunt had put him in a bad place with Steve. Well, fuck that. Whatever. Bucky knew that Tony and Steve, AKA "Double Trouble" would get over it eventually, and he didn't see the whole thing as his fault.Tony Stark was a fucking tease…

He always had been a tease, and now Bucky felt as though TONY was pulling his Bambi-eyes to get a sympathy card. That tease was officially flipping the table on him in hopes of getting DICKED DOWN by Steve for the millionth time. It was just typical Tony bullshit…. so Bucky Barnes moved on from the gig and he went about his business.

The man tried to distract himself, and somehow justify telling Natasha that he wouldn't "head in" with her for the thirty thousandth time. Her blind devotion toward S.H.I.E.L.D. and her field work was commendable, and… it made Bucky feel like literal dog shit immediately after they spoke. She said her heart was set on protecting other women, and making sure they had a better life than she did. Natasha actually said she felt like she didn't deserve a happy ending, a rotation, or any sort of princess fairytale fantasy.

What the fuck, Nat..

Bucky had a lot of information to process that morning, but what sealed the deal for him was Natasha's comment about never being a "pretty skirt." It had been a long time, but the Widow often inserted her opinion of Donna Strange into the mix when she could. Natasha and Donna only spoke to one another once, and, how long ago was that?

Bucky tried to remember. He remembered a bit too much in that moment, so he decided to give his heart and soul a rest. He ventured out, into town, and the man managed to buy himself his carton of cigarettes. He declined himself the jug of alcohol, and he thought over who to reach out to in that moment. Bucky was all in his head, and being like that bothered his soul.

He didn't want to speak to anyone who had anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. and he definitely didn't want to strike up a conversation with Steve and Tony. Who else could he torment in that moment? Because Bucky Barnes didn't have as much friends as he thought….

His thoughts led him thinking in one direction, so the brooding brunette set his carton of cigarettes down on the sidewalk just for a moment. Bucky fished out his lighter, a cigarette, and his cellphone, then… he began to compose a text message to a person he hadn't spoken to in a long while. He asked that person a very blunt question.

[Don't you ever fix your own shit?]

Bucky smiled as he pressed send. He didn't expect a response at all. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if his text had the ability to reach the person who was supposed to receive the message. The brooding brunette closed up his cellphone, then he struck the flame needed to light up his precious cigarette. He moved on from the message he composed, until he felt a small vibration against the left side of his chest.

His cellphone went off in his jacket pocket, and Bucky was a bit more than surprised.

[ Where's the fun in that? ]

Hah. Bucky rolled his eyes after he read the response. He fired back another text message, because Stephen Strange was a lazy bastard, and Bucky felt like he needed to know it. It also annoyed him to no end that Stephen always knew everything, yet he was a total shit show when it came down to getting shit done.

Bucky had a plan in mind to make sure he knew that as well.. so a fiery text exchange began to take place.

Chapter: END

Thanks for reading.