Doctor Strange One Shots

The Art of Seduction - Part 3

The two stood, an awkward silence filling the room as Stephen's mind whirled away. He'd never consider himself the jealous type, but then again, he was Stephen.

"I mean-" Stephen began, plastering an amused look to his face as he forced a chuckle. "It's just one date-"

But his smile dropped once he watched the way (Y/n)'s face contorted with her thoughts. And he knew what she was about to say.

"It's never just a date, is it? I feel like you of all people would know that."

And Stephen grimaced, her words right on point, which is what made this situation so much more complicated.

"Look, (Y/n), if you aren't comfortable doing this then I can-"

"No!"

Her response caught him off guard, and Stephen's eyebrows raised in shock, before knitting together, perplexed.

"...no?"

"No."

"You're really sure you want to go through with this?"

And as anxious as she had been all evening, Stephen watched as (Y/n)'s features hardened into determination. That same determined look he knew her to wear all too well.

"Stephen, I'm not nervous because I don't want to do it."

"It's because you don't know how..."

Stephen spoke the realisation out loud, and sighed watching (Y/n)'s eyes meet the floor out of sheer embarrassment, before she brought her hands to her face, covering it and tilting her head back.

"Ugh, ok yeah this is too much!"

(Y/n)'s words were probably a little more hostile than she intended them to be, and Stephen watched her crawl back into bed, picking her heavy duvet up and dragging it back over her body.

But then his words from earlier came screaming back into his brain.

'I want you to be comfortable and succeed.'

Those damn words.

And so, Stephen decided, no matter his personal feelings towards the situation, he was going to make this doable.

Even if those personal feelings were...

Wait- what even were they??

"No, hey, if you want to learn-"

"Stephen," She interrupted, her expression less than amused, "You do realise I have less than a week to prepare for this? I can't exactly just go and find practice."

And while her words weren't exactly wrong, Stephen's mind had another idea.

"I could help you."

It took (Y/n) a second to fully process his words, and she slowly looked up from her bed, not sure if she should be meeting his eyes or not after a statement like that. In fact, Stephen himself couldn't fully believe what he said. It was one of those situations where he found himself speaking before he had done the actual thinking part.

"E-excuse me?"

"Uh-"

(Y/n) watched her fellow sorcerer go through what could only be described as too many thoughts and emotions at once. It was evident he was thinking, but she simply raised a brow, wondering about what chaos that would bring, all the while meaning she was simply waiting, quite awkwardly, for a reply.

So, she spoke, her curiosity getting the better of her, "H-how exactly do you plan on helping me...?"

Stephen snapped out of his thoughts, realising he had just been blankly staring at her this whole time. And he put on his best nonchalant composure as he could, but ended up looking a lot more uncomfortable in the process.

"Well- I mean-"

"Strange." She spoke, narrowed eyes piercing through his 'casual persona' and beckoning for him to speak like... an actual person.

"Look," He finally began, dropping his act and returning to 'normal', "I'm not going to claim I'm an expert in this. But I do have experience. And if this is really something you want to challenge yourself to do, and no doubt successfully, then I want to help you." He finished, finding a seat next to her.

And while some could perceive this as Stephen having ulterior motives, he genuinely just wanted to help.

And he hadn't thought that far ahead.

He was Stephen.

"Besides, It's not as hard as you think." He winked, drawing a small grin from his friend.

"Oh, that's easy for you to say."

"Please, (Y/l/n), half the time you just bluff your way through. And last I checked you know how to do just that. Need I remind you of your rivalry with Mordo that led to countless pranks that went too far. I know for a fact you lied on several occasions straight to the ancient one's face just so you could 'stick it to him'."

Her eye roll brought a smile to Stephen's face, and he knew he was right.

"Look," he continued, "No one ever accused me of being a gentleman, yet somehow I always managed to survive and get the job done."

(Y/n) sat up and reached over, playfully slapping his leg, her hand lingering there subconsciously as she replied.

"Yeah, well, that's because you are a gentleman. For the most part."

And while this initially garnered a modest chuckle from Stephen, his brow suddenly raised, registering the end of her statement.

"Hey- what's that supposed to mean?"

And she giggled, seeing him act offended when she knew very well that he was never really a modest man.

"You know exactly what that means."

(Y/n) leaned in as she spoke, her eyes challenging and her hand still quite content on his leg, her palm pooling a savoured warmth through his skin as he registered their proximity. Stephen couldn't help but let his eyes glance down at her lips, their moment becoming very intimate very quickly. But at that moment, (Y/n) also registered their situation, deciding to quickly retract her hand and straighten her back, a puzzled look on her face as she did.

"S- sorry-"

"N-no. That was... that was good..."

"...Good?"

And this is where Stephen's subconscious was driving a plan he himself had no intention of executing.

"Yes! Exactly!"

He stood, frantically. And (Y/n) watched with sheer confusion the way he was now quickly darting around her room; pushing her chair into her desk, moving piles of books away from their normal spaces, closing the door.

"Stephen, what are you-"

"Doing?"

He stopped a few moments later, finally done with his little tidying routine, before he scanned the room, satisfied by his quick work and smirked at her.

"Why, I'm helping you."

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Nowww we're getting somewhere ○( ＾皿＾)っ Hehehe...

Until next time <3