Strange Connection (Stephen Strange x OC)

Chapter 7

Fifteen minutes later, Stephen entered the library to see Arianna standing at the table, looking down at her tablet, her back to the door. Briefly he considered the fact that in the several times he'd been in her presence her hair was always up in a rather long pony tail. He wondered what it would look like down. He shook himself of the thought and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, that took a bit longer than planned, but you really should have told me how badly I smelled. I took a shower so I wouldn't be quite so offensive for our actual meeting."

He came around the opposite side of table to face her to find her smirking. "I didn't want to burden you further after your rough diplomatic meeting by broaching the subject of your body odor. Besides, I grew up with a brother, I'm used to stink—yours wasn't too bad." It was only then she looked up, to find him in a t-shirt and jeans. Her smile dropped as she first she felt shock to see him out of his normal sorcerer garb, then she was struck by how equally handsome he was in street clothes...then how defined his arm muscles were.

He grinned as he saw her look him over. "Good to know. So, what do you have for me?

She closed her now hanging open mouth and smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Alright, here we go..."

She pushed a button and suddenly between them rose up a 3d image of Kamar-Taj. He gasped. "This is—amazing. You did this?"

"Well, technically the computer program did it, I just helped it along."

He shook his head. "I'm fairly certain you did more than 'help it along'. Arianna, really, this is remarkable."

"This is just the map, let me show you the part I actually did." She tapped a button on her tablet and several red dots appeared. "So this is the location of your current access points and router. This was perfectly adequate about...twenty years ago...but for modern day needs, including modern day technology such as your phone, computers, tablets, etc... you're going to want a more up to date system. Not to mention the fact that your most recent outage was just a sign of things to come. It's only going to get worse with that old system."

"But you have a solution, don't you?" he said with a smile. He loved watching her, she was in her element and seemed totally at ease and comfortable—confident in herself even.

"Oh, yes." She tapped another button and the red dots dissolved, replaced by green dots. "I recommend moving your router to the library, much more convenient access than someone's living quarters." She said, pointing to a green star located in the corner of the library. "Then, replace the old access points with newer devices, in these locations." She tapped another button and circles started radiating out from the dots. "These locations will provide maximum coverage to the compound and I can absolutely guarantee they'll provide consistent service for years to come."

"Hmm, I'm not sure if this is a satisfactory plan."

Arianna frowned. "Why on earth not?"

He looked away from the diagram and to her, resting his weight on his hands that rested on the edge of the table. "It sounds a bit too fail proof. How am I ever going to see Stark Industries best IT tech again if she installs a fail-proof system?" Arianna blushed and stared down at the tablet. She felt Stephen's eyes on her from across the table, just above the 3d image. "Seriously though, this seems remarkable. But how much is it going to cost us?"

"The tech is a donation from Stark Industries. My time, I believe you had an arrangement with Mr. Stark regarding that."

"Ah yes, that I did. I'm sure I'll be paying on that for quite some time."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry?" She wasn't sure what exactly he meant, but there was no telling what Tony had put him up to.

"It's nothing. Based on what I've seen so far, you're worth it."