The Long Wait

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Dr. Strange Genderbend
Summary: Chris evaluates his Valentine's plans.
Word Count: 585
Rating: Gen
Note: here Dr Strange refers to the setting not the person as she is Ms. Not Appearing in this Fic (yet)

           There’s been all sorts of gossip floating around.  Mostly, it’s been a problem since he and Steph broke up, but it gets worse around Valentine’s, which is why he pointedly schedules a lot of shifts around that time. 
           He dated a little, both before the accident and after he’d been Strange’s unthanked caretaker.  And then the woman practically disappeared off the face of the planet, and then reappeared with magic of all things, and he’d been a bit too worried (because damn her arrogant ass that made him care) and then really, really confused and reevaluating the universe to pay too much attention to silly things like a social life.
           Everyone seems to be expecting him to move on.  Even Stephanie, who had with only the slightest hint of jealousy asked him about any personal life developments.  It was an improvement on her previous possessive hissy fits of pre-accident Dr. Strange.  It’d be enough to make him wonder if she’d been replaced by a realistic alien or something, but no, apparently magic was capable of miracles.
           He’s close to moving on.  He’s sick of worrying about her only to have that thrown in his face.  It takes a sentient cloak of all things to make him realize that she was, in her own way, protecting him, and unsure of her place here.  In New York, in his life.  That she’d been so busy running from herself, again, she forgot the passage of time, and that for the first time Doctor Stephanie Strange isn’t just taking what she wants with no thought as to other’s feelings but, instead, is left insecure in her worth.
           He waited for a bit, long enough for Strange to get to a more stable place, mentally.  It helped that he visited a couple of times, as a friend.
           And then he’d had enough.  He wanted her again, in his life, in his arms, because she was an equal, if not more intelligent, because humble, sorcerer Steph intrigued him, because he can finally see a future here.  Isn’t sure what it entails, because he’s still a novice when it comes to magic, but he actually wants a part of the world, which is when he knows that this means something.  Anyone sane would be running away.
           “Got any plans?” Dr. West asks.  Again.
           He’d rolled his eyes when Strange had mentioned it, jealous.  Now he’s beginning to wonder if the good Doctor had had a point.  Nicolet was being rather clingy.  He was rather oblivious, sometimes, while Dr. Strange was the one who noticed everything, and could be quite the observant asshole about it.
           He’ll probably regret the honesty, but the woman’s getting irritating.  Of course, it’s at the end of a long shift, which doesn’t help his thought processes, specifically in the area of decision-making.  “Actually, I was thinking about asking Stephanie out.”
           He can see the thought process as it happens.  Watches the confusion as West goes through the checklist of everyone who works at the hospital before realizing she’s missing the obvious.  “W-wait, the former Dr. Strange?  The one that’s now a cultist?  The one that you’re over?”
           “Apparently I’m not,” he says dryly, annoyed by the emphasis (she’s still a doctor, she’d still earned it, it’s just that she doesn’t practice anymore) and watches the panic in the woman’s eyes.  It feels vaguely good which probably means I’m a horrible person.  Oh well.
           He walks away while West’s brain attempts a reboot.  Silence, even brief silence, is glorious.