PSL; [ pump it up ]

[sorser]

[A portal opens, unleashing its contents into a stranger’s home: the once-Sorcerer Supreme, and a creature.

A dark, murky thing, with long tendrils that might be called limbs were they not constantly fluctuating in a state of obscured shadow. They twist and snarl with an ill-defined face marked by glowing eyes, untangling itself from the sorcerer who has given it chase for an unknown amount of time, but for so long it feels like an age. But the sorcerer—none other than Stephen Strange—slams into the ground hard enough to dizzy him for a few precious seconds, and the creature flings itself away. It rises up, rushes along the walls, knocking over furniture and picture frames, and rushes out the nearest doorway.]

Damn it.

[Stephen pushes himself to his feet, eyes barely taking the time to cast around and register where he is. The answer: he has no clue. It hardly matters, though — a creature like that, the very embodiment of nightmares, needs to be corralled as soon as possible. Away from this reality, or any other.

He exhales, ignoring the stinging cut across a cheekbone and the unsteadiness to his step, and gives chase.]

Comments

[recluserose]

Oh, damn it works—...!

[ There's some rustling noise of varying volumes until it sounds like it equalizes and becomes more tolerable and less echoey. ]

Uh, correct. Good job. Ten points.

Anyway, nice to hear you're still alive. I have a bit of an update on my end.

[sorser]

[The acoustics resonating near the top of the Sanctum’s ceiling still induce too much echo despite the tinkering on her end. Stephen frowns and beckons the wind chime down with his magic, floating it closer.]

I was wondering if I was going to hear from you eventually. Sounds like you’re doing well enough.

[He sets his book down, remembering the page.]

So, what’s the update? Good news or bad?

[recluserose]

[ As the wind chime is summoned to Stephen, the strands of magic continue to quiver as Amelia continues to speak. ]

I tried to scale back my involvement in school activities outside of my immediate courses just to give more attention to the matter at hand, but with varying success. Apologies for taking a while.

[ There's another sound that emits from the chime; viscous liquid, swishing back and forth. ]

The bad news is that there are leftovers as I've feared and it tried to feed on dreams to regain a physical form.

The good news is that my more reliable contacts and freelancers, have been able to gather the fragments for me and I've got like, a mason jar's worth of liquid demon. It didn't go any further out of state lines as far as we could tell.

[ So all in all, she's done a decent job protecting what's around her and not totally by herself. And finally...! ]

The normal news is now I'm wondering if it's possible to drink this and if that's ethically sound.

[ Amelia... ]

[sorser]

[So, two things are the main takeaway: Amelia managed to clean up most of the remnants of a demon’s mess after the fact, and without his help, and now she’s thinking of taking a sip of its essence.

She may not see his exasperated disbelief, but no doubt the emotion is carried through those magical soundwave vibrations with ease. His own voice thrums with golden amber across the strings when he responds.]

Okay. Let me summarize: not only did you do a fair amount of clean-up without contacting me to drop by like we discussed, but now you’re seriously considering taking a sip of a demon?

Tell me you’re joking.

[recluserose]

Well, the closest thing I've consumed before was a processed Mandragora plant. Probably different though. It's organic matter despite being on the paranormal end of species.

[ Is she ignoring answering the first part, yes she is. ]

Would you like me to drop this off before I take out a metal straw to poke at it?

[sorser]

Yes, and I keep interdimensional, wiggling tentacles in tupperware in a fridge downstairs. [Is he joking? It’s difficult to tell, hard-edged with something that sounds like sarcasm, but maybe she’ll know the truth someday.] But there’s still a very big difference between even that and knocking back nightmares incarnate.

[And don’t think he didn’t notice!! Her ignoring!! The first half of his complaint!!

Stephen pinches the bridge of his nose.]

Come on by before you do anything you regret. Do you need me to whip up a portal for you or do you have it covered?

[recluserose]

Save the gelatin that forms around it. I heard it can provide plenty of nutrients.

[ Snark to snark combat... ]

Since I've been doing a lot of work on my end, I will gladly leave the portal creation to you.

[sorser]

[Ha ha.

Stephen doesn’t reply. He doesn’t even stand from his desk — instead, he simply reaches out with the hand adorned with his Sling Ring, and opens up a large, swirling portal. If he remembers the magical resonance correctly—and he should, given an example exists in the wind chimes—it should be forming on her end, all the way into another universe, too.]

[recluserose]

[ Part of her wants to bring a clear tumbler with black iced coffee to drink just to stir the pot, buuuut, she won't. Her few friends would be proud of how far she's come with her sense of humor even if it has a tendency to land south.

When the portal opens up, Amelia peeks from the side and then steps through with a tote bag slung over her shoulder. Resting in her hands is a large mason jar with a similar-looking substance to the one which Stephen and she had contained a while ago though, it had an airier texture compared to the larger body.

Amelia takes her time to glance up and make a 180 turn to study the Sanctum. She can feel its innate mysticism and power which is very different from her house. ]

Hey. [ A wave! Approaching the desk, she gently puts the jar down on the surface of the desk. ]

One large order of decaf demon.

[sorser]

[The wind chime has hung itself back up in the rafters by the time Amelia steps through. And as always, Stephen senses a new presence in the Sanctum, as he would even if he wasn’t looking directly at her — her arrival resonates with foreign magic, as though she’s shifted the air in the old townhouse itself. Not surprising, as all magic-wielders ping on his radar a little louder than those who don’t, barring extreme examples such as ex-Avengers falling directly through the ceiling.

He reaches out and slides the jar closer. It’s clear these are just pieces, detached from the larger whole. Its influence is very much watered down.]

Great. I’ll send it off to Kamar-Taj; these fragments don’t even need to be banished, just dispersed into more harmless energy.

[He looks up at her, a thin smile tugging at his features. He should be a good host, and he is inclined to… at some point, but he still needs to address the little detail she stepped around moments ago.]

So tell me again, what happened to calling on me to help with the clean-up as we agreed?

[recluserose]

In all honesty, it slipped my mind.

[ Clearly her age is getting to her! Nah, it really is what she just said. Amelia gets back to glancing around, quietly eager at all the new magic around her, but not letting it show on her face. ]

And at some point, when it became apparent that it was a manageable process I might have categorized your help as a last resort.

[sorser]

That isn’t how this works. I’m glad that it never turned into a world-shattering issue, but I’m not in the habit of letting other people clean up my mess for me.

[Especially if Stephen has more resources than her to work with. She may have connections, but he doubts they run as deep or as myriad as the magical tools he has here. The multitude of expertise collected amongst all the sorcerers throughout the ages.

But there’s nothing to do about it now, is there? He sighs and pushes himself up from his seat, waving a hand as the jar floats away and locks itself into a nearby cabinet, sealed with its own brand of magic.]

Keep that in mind for the future, please.

[recluserose]

The future, huh?

[ Though she is mildly irate at his attitude right now, moving past her own pride she can see where he was coming from. The Doctor was more than a good resource; though he struggled with the target, Amelia isn't ignorant to the myriad of spell casting he was able to employ in their short time together. ]

For the future Doctor Strange, you can keep this in mind.

[ While talking, she summons the wind chime to look at it herself. When it lands in her hands she rotates it back and forth. ]

You've probably caught on, but the more someone tries to tell me what to do, the less I listen in some situations. Sorry about it.

[ "Kind of." That goes unsaid. ]

[sorser]

Because you know better, is that it?

[He doesn’t want to put words in her mouth, but he’s vaguely annoyed, too. The insinuation that he would only tell her what to do out of some desire to control, to be better than those around him — that isn’t how he is. Not any longer.]

Listen, if it sounds like I’m bossing you around just for the hell of it, that isn’t my intention. But this was my problem, a creature that I had been dealing with long before I stumbled into your home. You can’t undo the onus of my responsibility just because you don’t like the tone of my voice.

[He manages to hold back an eyeroll.]

And don’t tell me you’re sorry-

[He punctuates that with a sudden bout of teleportation, the scene changing like it were a hard cut in a film, lurching them both into the Sanctum’s library without any preamble at all.]

- if you don’t actually mean it.

[recluserose]

[ Amelia looks up with a furrowed brow and slightly distasteful look. ]

No. Doctor, I can confidentially say I haven't known better a day in my life.

[ A little sarcastic... Maybe.

A blink and suddenly they're in a library. Amelia takes it well, with barely a jerk with her head and her hair fluttering in the air. ]

... I take it that you're not annoyed enough to keep me away from the shelves at least.

[sorser]

[He is going to be the better man and not fling more sarcasm into hers, else they will be in an echo chamber of snarky comments for Days and he just doesn’t have the energy to deal with that.

His annoyance is at least a simmering one, not fated to last terribly long since no harm was done, and motions at the shelves before folding his arms across his chest.]

That was the whole point of you visiting, wasn’t it? Other than dropping off a jar of nightmare goo. You can look at whatever you want, but you’ll be here for a while if you don’t have even a little bit of an idea of what you’re seeking.

[An eyebrow lifts.]

So, if you’re looking for a particular subject…

[He trails off, but the offer to direct her is clear.]

[recluserose]

[ She lets the wind chime stay suspended in the air though it seems keen to stay near them both. ]

To start with, I'd like a compendium of monsters or something similar. Then next, some selections on plants and it doesn't have to be native to this version of the planet. And I would like to just pick and choose anything you have about other planets outside the Solar System.

[sorser]

[He’s considering what titles fall into these prerequisites even as he replies.]

For comparing and contrasting, or taking a trip off-world?

[Which sounds… tiring to a man who had a not great experience on the last alien planet he was on; multiversal travel to another version of Earth hardly counts.]

[recluserose]

Funnily enough, I've never left Earth before.

[ She pulls out a book, looking at its title and after deeming it to be worth a study, it floats next to the wind chime. ]

Visitors or pieces beyond the stars in our cosmos drop in and they're very often, not in a shape that we can see.

[sorser]

My advice? Stay grounded. It’s a lot simpler.

[He moves to a shelf, glancing up at the myriad of spines, then raises a hand to pluck a book from its shelving mid-air. Stephen repeats the process, wandering from one end of the library to another, until he’s collected a decent little stack.

He gestures in her direction and they all go floating her way.]

Take a look at these. One is an ancient encyclopedia of monsters, recorded by a previous Sorcerer Supreme through pulling the curtain back on the multiverse with their extraordinarily perceptive third eye. It’s limited to what he could see, but about as in-depth as you’ll get without taking a trip yourself.

The others should scratch any apothecarial itches. As for planets, there are old galactic maps in there if you’re feeling old school.

[Stephen usually references artifacts that display the swath of the galaxy, to better get an idea of where certain threats could lie. But that’s way beyond the pale of just reading what’s in a book; besides, Wong might not care to use their resources so flippantly.]

[recluserose]

I don't know. A trip to the moon sounds lovely.

[ There's a story behind that and she won't ask about it yet, not when they're just on cordial footing. Amelia files the descriptions he gives her in her mind and with the stack of books he produces, she opens up her tote bag to coax them inside. They do so, slipping inside though the bag noticeably does not grow any larger with the extra contents. ]

I'm glad for all of the new reading I'm going to do so, thank you, really.

[ The wind chime gives off a low hum and she glances at it. It's moved back to following Stephen closely and she smiles. ]

That one's gotten a little personality of its own. How funny.

[sorser]

[It’s weirdly satisfying to impart magical knowledge through the mere act of letting someone borrow a few magical texts, not that anyone would be able to tell from his usual demeanor.]

Take your time with them. It’s interesting stuff.

[Says the binge reader. Anyway. Stephen glances at the little wind chime.]

I’ve noticed. Is that normal?

[recluserose]

[ Amelia crosses her arms, thinking. ]

When I set out to imbue my collection with my magic, it was just a way to mark them. They usually never leave my house and any characteristics they do have, it's limited to that space and whoever they're meant to react to.

[ She takes a bunch of her hair and holds it up. ]

I produce an excess of magical energy so I redirect it to here. It's useful for a variety of spells as you can tell. My theory is that since it's effectively an extension of myself, it takes on a limited life of its own when combined with an object and intent. And maybe after a while of being in this world, it's been taking on new characteristics due to the different flow of time and space, whatever those minute variances are.

[sorser]

So then you’re saying that an extension of yourself, in a way, has taken on following me around and playing the Stones when I cross the Sanctum’s threshold?

[He’s being a little difficult, but not in a biting way. It’s kind of odd, the way she explains it.]

What does that say about you?

[recluserose]

[ She suppresses a grin while letting go of her hair and tracing the spines of the books in front of her. She picks one, flipping through the pages of a book with detailed diagrams of plants that only grow on a distant planet. ]

That's less of my influence than it is yours.

[ The book is closed and stowed away into her bag. ]

One of my chimes back at home was having more of a Creedence Clearwater Revival streak. It was a rainy January.

I don't mind the Stones though.