Doctor Strange One Shots

Delicate Hands - Part 4

(Y/n) awoke in her bed to be met by the bright orange light of the city sunset peaking into her room. Her whole body felt fine. Until, of course, she tried moving.

Big mistake.

She felt a wave of tiredness and dizziness simultaneously wash over her. Every muscle in her battered body started to burn, the aches and bruises coming alive. This, however, she was used to. What she wasn't used to was the rather incredible pain coming from her leg. A pain like she had never felt before. She chanced a glance down to find her leg partially suspended in the air by a spell, and her leg medically attended to, quite professionally wrapped up she thought.

Just another thing to have a go at Stephen for.

Not only did he lose focus in the middle of a battle, which is the first thing anyone would tell you not to do. But he also brought medical professionals into the sanctum. There are healers at Kamar-Taj for a reason. This reason, to be specific.

She adjusted her elbows as best she could, trying to prop herself up ever so slightly to scan her surroundings better. But the more she looked, the more she started to feel confused.

She didn't remember having that many books on her desk that morning. Did she?

And her wardrobe looked much neater than it normally was...

"Ah, you're awake."

Her attention, and neck, unfortunately, snapped towards the bedroom door, to see Stephen holding a tray of tea and cloths. She winced slightly, feeling the muscles in her neck tighten against her quick movement.

"Careful. You took quite the hit..."

(Y/n) rubbed her neck, feeling an anger start to rise as she registered Stephen get closer to the bed.

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?"

Her eyes pierced his, and if it wasn't for the spell suspending her leg, she'd be moving off the bed and out to continue training, or, doing something. Anything to get her out of a room with Stephen 'tending to her' like an incapable child.

"I-"

Stephen sighed, and placed the tray down on the bedside table. While her tone would normally set him off on his own pity fit of anger, instead, (Y/n) read a completely different expression on his face.

One that wasn't immediately clear to her.

"(Y/n), I'm so sorry. I-" He paused, cautiously finding a seat on the edge of the bed next to her, "I know exactly what you're going to say. I shouldn't have gotten so distracted. I shouldn't have lost my focus. It's because of my overconfidence that you're badly injured."

Stephen shifted his gaze down to his hands, fidgeting nervously. Regretfully. It was clear to (Y/n) that he felt remorseful for his recent performance. And there was something so human about him in this very moment. She had never seen this soft side to him before. And she felt... bad?

"Stephen-"

(Y/n) carefully shuffled her hand down the bed. And when her hand found his, she held onto it; A gentle squeeze reassuring him of her next words.

"Not every fight is perfect. I- I don't know what made me do it. But I know you'd have done the same for me if the roles were reversed. At least," She nervously chucked, "I'd hope you would have."

Stephen squeezed her hand back, and turned his body towards her. This softer side they were both letting out felt incredibly comforting, and there was nothing on his mind apart from making sure she was ok.

"Of course I would have done the same for you."

Stephen waited patiently for her to meet his gaze. 

(Y/n) couldn't for the life of her remember the last time Stephen showed any sort of caring kindness towards her. In fact, all she could remember right now, with her heavy head, was everything they had done to fuel their hatred.

Fighting over the washing machine, and leaving the undercroft with a devious grin when they tampered with said machine, hearing the other master screaming downstairs hours later once they've found their 'freshly washed clothes' either the wrong size, or colour. Or just gone entirely. 

Cooking a meal for the other master's that were visiting? As long as Stephen wasn't around to throw an ungodly amount of hot sauce or salt into the pot, ruining the food and making (Y/n) look like an absolute idiot in front of her peers. 

Oh, but if you were attending classes back in Kamar-Taj, better make sure you double check you brought the right books, unlike Stephen, who ended up unleashing several dimensional demons into the courtyard thanks to (Y/n)'s 'little prank'.

But in her defense, he was the one that started all of this.

Stephen was the first to show any sort of disliking towards her. So, if he wanted to play dirty, so could she.

But now he wasn't?

So, (Y/n) finally looked up and met his sincere gaze, noticing his gesture as their hands remained connected, and once she did, a smile broke loose on his lips. A smile of genuine care. And then one broke through her's, returning his small gesture of comfort.

This felt odd, she thought, that he was actually... being nice to her? And she wasn't immediately snapping back at him??

And as cosy and nice as this all felt, considering how drained and tired she was, she was definitely starting to question things.

Was this real? Is this genuinely what's happening right now? Is this another prank?

But most importantly of all...

Was this the right universe??

The disbelief was just eating her alive.

---
Yay! Normally I'd have this kind of development over SEVERAL chapters but since this is a one shot I'm trying to condense it in a way that still feels natural but shorter.

Until next time <3