Surrealist: Doctor Strange x Fem!reader

Chapter 8 - Missing subject

Clouded skies poured harsh rain against your windshield, the looming grey catching up to any clear space it could grasp out to. Water splashed along the roads, puddles were disturbed and warm lights fading in and out of sight. A chilly breeze drifted through the car, grazing over your bare skin, prickling bumps forming until the tower garage had opened for your arrival.

A stressful night without a doubt. Now missing two heroes, you appreciated your friend's efforts to get Daredevil and Moonknight on board with the exhibition. However, it was their choice and anonymity was nothing to disrupt. Besides this, three other heroes had been dispatched to space for the next month; Captain Marvel, Kate Pryde and Storm. Plus the two other X-Men had decided it was not a good idea to partake in the exhibition.

"Thirteen," you mumble whilst in the elevator. It was your exhibition, but it still needed to be run through directors, and a minimum in the contract was fourteen subjects. Yet here you were with thirteen.

Deprived of all energy, you were further confused by your studio, your second home. Were you too tired or had it grown? Skimming the room, everything was in the same spot, but... more space had formed. What had Stark done?? How had he done it??

Before a word could be put in, you sat in the middle of the room, lying down with an exasperated look. This was a tomorrow problem, so for now all you needed to do was remove the heroes now unavailable. A claw made of ink tore down every photo and name, now left was the team and one missing spot.

Just one.

~~~

Deep in your sleep, a small flash of eldritch magic seeped through your dreams. A blank room, nothing but a forming portal to lure you forward. It seemed soon your hand reached out, placing the moving canvas on the wall where the missing hero was to be placed.

Eldritch.

That's all you could remember. That word and those sparks could only mean one hero was to be your new subject.

~~~

"Wong," you were so relieved when the sorcerer had returned from the purple dimension. Waiting on the doorstep of the sanctum for the past hour, you were glad to hear it unlock and show the magic user. "God I missed you," hugging him tight, it was apparent he was confused and slightly injured.

"I'm afraid I do not understand," he stares blankly once you pull away, adjusting his wrapped wrist.

"I need to talk to you," walking into the sanctum once he allowed it, you saw Stephen passing through the halls with a small limp, "I know you both just got back, and you're probably tired but... I need someone for my exhibition. I have the entire team but need fourteen people at least,"

"Your artwork? I don't think so," he chuckles, waving his non-sprained hand.

"What? Are you serious- I mean I respect your decision, but you didn't even hear me out, and I had a dream about eldritch magic," you ramble on.

He laughed heartily, "I know I am not the right choice, that is for certain... but I'm not the only sorcerer here, Y/n," he looked to Stephen slumped in a chair with a medical kit.

"Oh hell no," you back up, "nope. No."

"Why not? Surely thirteen will do fine," he walks to the kitchen hoping for a soothing cup of tea.

"It's part of the contract; fourteen is the minimum," you sigh, "it's a complicated agreement,"

"Then this rivalry you have should not matter, yes?" he raised a good point, this was your job, and while personal, it was also no place for pettiness. "He will need this," handed over to you was a cup of steeping tea.

"Right... thanks, Wong," awkward steps were taken towards the sorcerer supreme. Thinking over your words and approach, you were stopped by the cloak of levitation that floated to block you from coming any closer. "Uh, hey,"

He folded its arms, almost protectively mad and determined to keep you away from Stephen.

"I brought tea," you show him the cup, but he simply shakes his head. "Come on, Cloaky, let me through," immediately he brightens at the nickname, "Cloaky? You like that name?" You chuckle as he nods, spotting a small tear in his collar, "hey, how about you let me through and I sew you up?"

This was a deal he obviously loved, his two gold clasps laying on your shoulders and ends flailing happily.

"You're fun, we should hang more often," soon you came into Stephen's peripheral, "hey, Doc," you place the tea down, "Wong said to give this to you,"

"Thanks," he was too busy wrapping the cut on his leg up.

"Shit," you eye it, "got you bad?"

"Yeah," his one-word replies made the tension thicken, Cloaky curling into you.

"Right well... hope you get that fixed up," stepping back, the cloak now caught his attention, "sorry bud, I'm gonna head back." He simply hugged you closer, not wanting you to go which you only assumed was because he still had a hole in his collar. "Ah, right, don't worry," you use your grimoire to form a magical thread, mimicking that of the cloak's material, "let's get you patched up, yeah?"

Stephen watches in confusion as you leave, opting to sit at the foot of the stairs with his cloak on your lap. Cloaky winced a little as the needle was shown but you seemed to calm him, starting to pull the thread in and out the fabric until it slowly sealed shut.

"Not so bad, was it?" you tie off the knot, lifting him up and smiling, "looking good as new," but this only meant you would leave, so he clung back onto you. "Woah- okay, I know I'm amazing but I have to go home," gently pulling him away, you hold your pinky out, "I'll see you soon okay? Promise. Maybe even tomorrow night if Tony invited Wong and Strange,"

He gives you one last hug before waving you goodbye, Wong being kind enough to open a portal for you. Despite having a car, New York parking was atrocious, so you tried to use your car as little as possible. After a wave to the two, your eyes landed on Stephen for a quick second before the portal shut.

This was going to be more difficult than you thought.

~~~

Ooo yuh presentation went well !!

- Anna ❤️