Enchanting Sparks | (Doctor Strange x Female!Reader)

Chapter 34 - There you are!

- Third POV -

"There you are!"

Stephen had found (Y/n) in the undercroft doing laundry. They may have been able to wield the power of the mystic arts, but the laundry still needed doing.

"You say that like I was hiding from you." She giggled, seeing his triumphant expression.

A few days had passed, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Or as normal as it could get now. (Y/n) had been cautious to keep her emotions a bit more under control. And she was learning to deal with those strange voices in her head, and therefore, didn't need to worry Stephen or Wong with that knowledge.

"Do you need any help?" He asked, now making his way behind her and snaking his arms around her waist.

"I'm practically done here. Did you need something?"

She had placed the last bit of laundry in the machine before turning around to meet his gaze.

"Yeah. You."

He smiled down at her before leaning in to meet her lips. They melted into each other. The way he kissed her, was so gentle, so loving, and it was impossible not to get lost as their lips moved together. Well... almost.

"Sorry Stephen," She had broken the kiss and moved out of his grip, picking up the laundry baskets and starting to head back upstairs, "I'm busy."

The way she rushed out of his eyesight was abnormal. Stephen wasn't left feeling hurt, but instead curious. What could she be so busy with? She had been busy all day so far, he had barely seen her around the sanctum since he too was busy with chores and such. And he was sure most of their tasks that day were now finished. So, he started sneaking after her. And yes, sneaking as in crouched down, tiptoeing through the sanctum.

As Stephen made his way out of the undercroft and back into the foyer, he caught the tail end of her robes disappearing behind a hallway. He moved after her, trying his hardest not to make any noise as he did. Once he turned down the same hallway, he caught a glimpse of her again, this time heading into a room. That was odd. It wasn't a room she would normally look for or have work to do in. Now that Stephen thought about it, he didn't know what was in that room. It was buried deep in her wing of the sanctum, so it would make sense that she was more familiar with the area than him. Stephen caught up to the doorway and flattened his back against it, taking a moment before peeking his head into the room. The cloak unhooked itself from his shoulders and joined him against the wall.

It took Stephen a second to remember that he lived here, and she wasn't one to normally keep secrets from him, so there was no point in him sneaking around in the first place. He turned the corner and stopped in the doorway. The room was quite large. Dark red wallpaper covered the back wall while the others were black. There was no furniture, but instead, what looked like statues, or shrines? There were scrolls and ornaments dotted around the room along with carpets and tapestries. But it didn't have her. She was gone. Stephen started to panic and rushed around the room looking for any possible clues as to where she had gone. The cloak had started looking as well, equally as panicked as him.

"Ahem."

They both jumped and turned back to the door to see (Y/n) leaning against it, an unimpressed look on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I-uh..." Stephen hastily looked around the room and picked up the first object he could find, which in this case was a small rock that had fallen off one of the statues, "Just looking for this." He held up the rock to her, plastering a smile across his face while the cloak started nodding.

"Mhm."

She was clearly not convinced. She moved to walk further down the hall. The cloak flew to the doorway, checked the hall and motioned for Stephen to follow.

"Oh, come on," Stephen said, rolling his eyes. There was no point sneaking around his own home. And even less point trying to be sneaky around (Y/n). She just knew him too well.

"Where are you going?" He called after her, rushing to her side as she navigated the sanctum.

"I told you. I'm busy."

Stephen had caught up to her and continued following her as she walked.

"Well, do you need any help? I'm not doing anything-"

"Stephen," She had stopped, grabbing his hand and bringing it up to her lips, placing a delicate kiss atop his knuckles, "I'm fine. You don't need to keep worrying about me."

"I- I just wanted to spend..." He sighed, "I just wanted to spend more time with you." He finished, looking away slightly bashful. (Y/n) was taken slightly aback by his answer. But it made sense. Sure they may live together and work together, but they hadn't spent much quality time together recently. After a few seconds to think, she lifted his arm and looked at his watch.

"I guess I could finish all of that tomorrow. Movie?"

She smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll go make some popcorn." He said, quickly kissing her head before he ran down the hall and into the kitchen, leaving her smiling after him.

But that smile quickly faltered as the thoughts started growing in her head.

Forget the movie. Go there.

Go.

She had gotten lost in those words that she hadn't noticed the cloak stay behind and tap her on the shoulders. She looked up and saw the slight purple glow bouncing off the red fabric. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to calm her thoughts and her powers. The cloak nestled itself onto her shoulders, and as she opened her eyes, feeling much less anxious, the cloak picked her up and flew her through the sanctum to Stephen.

---

"So, what were you so busy with earlier?"

The two had finished their pleasant movie night and takeaway dinner, and found themselves curled up in the library with the fireplace warming the room.

"Oh, just, stuff." She said, not meeting his eyes though she could feel them on her. He nudged her, and she shyly turned to him, "I was going to clean the rooftop garden..."

Of course, this wasn't the truth. And if she told him the truth, she would have to tell him about the voices. And she wasn't going to do that. At least, not yet. So she could only hope her lie was convincing enough for him.

"Oh- I didn't know the sanctum had a rooftop garden. We should have dinner up there sometime."

His reaction seemed genuine. He was surprised to learn of this new location in the sanctum, and the thought of a rooftop dinner with her sounded quite pleasant. (Y/n) was relieved he didn't pester her with more questions. But now she had to actually clean the roof. Great.

After a quiet evening, Stephen convinced (Y/n) to let him stay in her room with her. For her safety of course. Even though she hadn't had any more major flare-ups, he never stopped worrying about her. And even she had to admit, waking up snuggled next to him was something she would happily get used to. And if it weren't for the realisation that her emotions triggered her purple glow, she wouldn't have been so hesitant. What if she hurt him while she slept? What if she woke up and her powers took control?

"I promise, (Y/n), you'll be fine. And besides, how am I supposed to help you through this if all you're going to do is avoid me. Use me. I'm here to help you. And love you, of course." He winked at her before crawling into her bed and wrapping himself around her. She snuggled into him, finding the small sounds of his breathing and the warmth of his body quite relaxing. And they drifted asleep, wrapped up in each other's embrace, wanting to never let go.

Ok this one is a bit of a filler, but the next chapter is my FAVOURITE THING EVER. I promise its about to get interesting!

Might even upload it later ;)

Until next time <3