Falling Into Madness - Dr Strange x OC

Chapter 3

Stella's eyes slowly opened as the light filtered into her new temporary bedroom, letting out a tired groan as memories of yesterday returned to her.

She pushed herself up, unsure if she felt worse for her husband's situation or her own. She closed her eyes, wanting desperately not to think of how worried Stephen must be with her disappearance.

Looking around the room, she sighed, trying not to be ungrateful for the 'hospitality' she was shown. In truth, this universe's Stephen, who she had taken to calling Dr. Strange to clear possible confusion, seemed just as unsavoury as the one she knew personally.

When both he and Wong agreed to help get her home, Dr. Strange had stated Stella wasn't permitted to stay within the sanctuary, needing to find some other place to sleep.

Wong had taken her defence however, arguing that a true master of the mystic arts would not turn away someone that needed their help, which Dr. Strange had begrudgingly agreed to.

Withholding the rest of the grievances he had, Dr. Strange told Stella that he would put a mattress in a spare storage room for her. Before he let her retire for that evening however, he gave her two rules. Don't get in his way and don't touch anything.

Which led to now, with Stella tiredly crawling out of a bed surrounded by mountains of boxes, all overflowing with books. She took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

She was stricken with worry, but oddly enough, calmer than she'd been in years. Shaking the feeling, she decided to head down stairs and look for a kitchen.

'Maybe a coffee will help my brain settle.' She thought to herself, pushing past the boxes towards the door.

Stepping out into the hallway, Stella looked around, taking note that all the lights seemed to be off.

'He mustn't be awake yet.' Stella mindlessly thought. She was used to this, always getting up well before her husband to make sure he had breakfast and coffee waiting. It was therapeutic in a way, the routine allowing her to turn off her brain for an hour before getting on with the day.

Finding the kitchen, Stella couldn't help but sigh as she went through each cupboard. There were a few basics, coffee, milk, bread, but that was mostly it. Typical bachelor.

As she spun around the kitchen finding all the mugs and cutlery, Stella found herself falling back into her routines, not realising she'd made two mugs of coffee until soft footsteps could be heard coming up behind her.

"Goodmoring Stella." Stephen called from behind her, causing Stella to spin around quickly.

"Morin' Dr. Strange." Stella greeted nervously, feeling somewhat weird about the whole situation.

Stephen looked over at the two mugs of coffee sitting on the bench before silently looking over at Stella, an eyebrow arched quizzically.

"O-oh, sorry about that." Stella sighed, picking up one of the mugs and holding it out to him. "I guess I'm used to making two. I don't know if you're even a fan of coffee, but you're welcome to have it if you'd like."

Stephen stepped forward, looking down at the coffee before gently taking it from Stella.

"I prefer tea, but coffee is fine too. Although I usually have milk and sugar." Stephen sighed, not quite awake yet.

"Really?" Stella replied with shock, receiving a confused nod from Stephen. Stella smiled, taking back the mug and placing it next to hers, adding milk and two sugars to each. She gave it back, explaining her confusion in a soft tone. "My husband only ever had it black, claiming only bad coffee needed milk and sugar."