THE APPRENTICE II

53

The door from the Sanctum shut with a heavy slam, the sound of feet dragging along the hardwood floors echoing slightly from above. Stephen raised his brow a little, he angled his head upwards as he squinted his eyes, shutting the book he was reading. The cloak swooshed away from his body and he hummed; this was almost a drill. Whenever she was too tired from the day, she'd forget all about magic, even the basics.

The cloak came back with Hazel attached to it, and she immediately sank down the sofa with a 'plop'. There was a moment of silence.

"Are you done for the day?" She asked Strange, and he gestured to the book in his hands. She let out a small sigh.

"This'll only be a minute." He turned to her slightly and opened it back up. He briefly flickered his eyes to her. "We can visit that club you always go to, if you want."

She perked up at his words. Her brows knitted a little and she tilted her head. A smirk began to form on his lips as he watched her with amusement.

"Oh yeah. I know." He revealed with a slight chuckle. "I'm concerned with the drinking,"

"Please, like you never did that when you were young, hotshot doctor?" She said with a small scoff.

"Fair enough, the door's still open, by the way. I don't mind." He shrugged a little bit. She squinted her eyes suspiciously.

"No, no. I'd rather just...stay here." She let her head loll back and slump onto the headrest of the couch.

"Star Wars tonight, then?,"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll just be in my room for a while— spend some alone time." She announced as the cloak began to lift her off her feet. "God, I hope no one tries to ambush or assassinate me tonight."

He pursed his lips together and let out a humorous exhale. As she was flying back, a blue portal appeared from the ground. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Heskit crawling out.

"Well, what perfect timing!" There was sarcasm in his voice and a slight hint of passive aggressiveness. "She's all maxed out today,"

"What?" She turned around quickly with wide eyes and perked up a little. The sight of him about to crawl down the portal filled her with urgency. "No, no! It's fine. What do you need?,"

"It's alright, Hazel. I'd rather not intrude." He responded instantly. "It's nothing I can't do alone,"

"Good. You should be on your way, then?" He gave Heskit a nod and he returned it.

"No, no, I have nothing to do right now. What do you need?" She asked and he hesitated for a bit. Stephen frowned.

"I was just going to ask for your help in speaking with my parents. With... the...agenda?" He hinted about their project with Wakanda and she immediately got it.

"Oh, oh. Yeah. Yeah, c'mon,"

"Okay, what agenda is this? What is this agenda that is so important that she has to come?" There was irritation in his tone.

"The avengers agenda." She responded with a cheeky smile and he rolled his eyes in response.

"But I'd rather you didn't come. As Doctor Strange has said, you seem a little full right now." Half his body was in the portal and he leaned on the floor with his arms with support. "You've officially been uninvited,"

There was a satisfied smirk on Stephen's face as the portal began to close. Her jaw fell agape for a few seconds, stunned.

"Sir." Heskit greeted and poked his head out.

"Heskit." He nodded— maybe he was alright.

He held back a laugh as he turned back to the girl. It was his turned to be stunned as his mouth fell agape, seeing the absence of his apprentice in the sanctum. He looked back at the cloak and it gave a shrugging motion.