xp_logs | Shadow King Aftermath: The Other Man

Back from Germany, Kurt goes to check on Wanda and finds she's not alone.

Kurt had been worried about everyone during the whole crisis, and had only now found the time to check on anyone outside the mansion. Not getting an answer to his knock on Wanda's door, he teleported directly inside.

"Wanda?"

"Oh dear God, you have a key, use it," Wanda groaned from the bedroom, pulling a blanket over her head to mask the smell. The entire apartment was dark, all the shades were drawn and, oddly, the air conditioner was on full blast. She was sprawled on the bed, a wet rag on her forehead and eyes, and trying not to think too hard. Thinking hurt and she was to the point of asking if Pete or Remy would ninja her into blissful darkness. "In here," she called after a second, not even bothering to get up.

"I forgot it", he said apologetically, appearing in the doorway. The darkness didn't seem to bother him, as he made his unerring way to the bed. "You are ill?"

She thought about how she had emptied her stomach once everything was said and done and the near-crippling headache she was experiencing now. "You could say that," Wanda said, a hint of tired humor in her voice. "The next person who says Astral Plane to me gets punched in the face."

"Then I will be sure not to say those words." He settled on the bed next to her, not sure if reaching out to her now would make her feel any better or just hurt more.

"We shall endeavor to work around it, yes." Wanda rolled slightly, taking the sheets with her – the comforter had been discarded, deemed too heavy and hot for comfort at that very moment. "I feel like my head is going to cave in but I know I cannot be the only one. And that, oddly, makes me feel better." Misery was better shared.

"Everyone who helped with the work, I am sure, is in the same place." He wrapped a tentative arm around her but left it at that for now.

She patted his arm awkwardly, grateful for the care but not leaping for physical interaction, either. "This reminds me," Wanda mused, sounding exhausted, "of when I first started to use my powers. I would get these horrendous headaches that would put me out of action for days at a time. Over time, though, they faded. I guess the universe thinks itself funny by bringing them back one last time. At least it is done."

"The universe often thinks itself funny, when it concerns our lives", Kurt agreed ruefully. "I can only hope that this episode will not last days for anyone."

"Unless there was serious damage, I think the physical affects will blow over fairly quickly," Wanda responded, trying to remain boneless. "And the psi's, at least, were kept pretty much in place once the damage started to fly, I believe. There are pluses."

"Yes, indeed", he confirmed. "Once they were rounded up, they were all confined to the medlab. Under sedation, in some cases."

Wanda nodded and the instantly regretted it. "Bloody hell," she murmured, a hand coming up to hold the cloth firmly in place. "No wonder – if what the girls saw was an indication, I am simply astounded no one's brain exploded into teeny tiny pieces."

"I think it was a close call." His hand had started absently stroking her hair. "The psis may be some time in the recovery, even now."

There was the sound of a door opening, and a male voice, sounding tired and somewhat flat, gradually growing more audible: "Wanda? I'm so sorry to bother you, but this hand of mine, I can't quite manage buttons. My pants were bad enough. Do you mind...?" Strange appeared in the doorway, freshly showered with his hair still damp (and sticking up every which way after being towelled off), pants on but shirt hanging open across his chest. One hand - the hand that he had used to conduct his energies - was wrapped in light gauze. At the sight of Wanda's visitor, he paused. "Oh. Ah. Excuse me, I didn't realise you had visitors..." He trailed off awkwardly, taking in the arm tucked around Wanda.

"Speaking of those in recovery," Wanda said, forcing herself to sit up. Any more visitors and she was going to demand they start paying a cover charge. She winced as not only her head pounded in warning, but the flesh across her thighs shrieked out at the movement. "Next time, Stephen, you get to hold the flaming conference phone in your lap. If you get closer, I can give you a hand." She glanced between the two men, looking unfazed. "Have you two met? Dr. Stephen Strange, this is Kurt Sefton. Kurt, Stephen."

Strange's expression shifted, several emotions flickering across it in close succession. There was something oddly vulnerable about his face, not unlike someone who has lost their glasses. "...Sefton? Oh, you must be Amanda's brother. The one who..." He glanced at Wanda, and then away again, pale cheeks colouring slightly. "I had thought you had a different surname..." He checked himself. "Excuse me, I'm a little disoriented still. A pleasure to meet you." He went to off his hand for Kurt to shake, and realised it was the bandaged one. "Oh."

"I did have a different surname, at one time", Kurt told him pleasantly, if there was something careful about his look. "I changed it a little over a year ago." He offered his hand for shaking, once Strange had recovered, and didn't ask about 'the one who'. He'd either figure it out or ask Wanda later.

Strange held up his bandaged hand as an apology for the lack of shaking, and then realised his shirt was still undone. His unhurt hand moved to hold it closed. "Wanda kindly offered me a place to stay," he explained. "The spare room," he added hastily.

"Of course", he said quietly. "After the work that you all did, no one could ask you to travel before you are ready."

Dear Lord, they were going to out-polite each other. Carefully so as not to irritate her head or her thighs, Wanda managed to get to the edge of the bed. To some, it might seem a bit improper to help a former lover redress themselves, no matter the circumstances, but she'd never been one to adhere to what was proper or not. Besides, it would be even weirder to have Kurt do it. "That and there is nothing quite as awkward as having to crash with your former mentor-ee." Wanda thought about Agatha staying with her and not at a hotel and shuddered.

"Especially when that mentor-ee plays punk at ear-splitting volumes and eats cold curry for breakfast," Strange replied, a wry smile taking some of the awkwardness out of his body language. He saw Wanda's wincing and instinctively moved to intercept her. "I take it the medication isn't helping?" he asked, concerned.

She shrugged one shoulder and reached over to start doing up his shirt. "Some and mainly it feels like a very irritated sunburn on skin that is simply unused to that. More the headache than anything else right now." Wanda gave him a brilliant, if tired, smile. "It was worth it though, as they usually are." She had a sudden thought and looked over her shoulder to Kurt, frowning. "You might want to get in touch with your little sister, warn her to keep an eye out for any repercussions. I have no idea if she has the power to tap into the Astral Plane but if she does it would be best if she avoided it."

"Oh, I will be speaking with her", Kurt promised, his expression darkening at the thought. "I do not know either if she can do that, but I will ask her to be careful at least."

Strange tensed a little at Wanda's touch, but kept still, the blush deepening. "Oh, Amanda doesn't know how to..." He paused, looking from one to the other. "But you don't mean her, do you?" Another flicker of emotion, strange for the man who was usually so collected. "I am apparently not at my best right now."

"None of us are," she reminded him gently.

He blinked at that. "Your powers?" he asked, suddenly alarmed. "You've lost them as well?"

Wanda laid a hand on his unhurt arm and squeezed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I did not mean it like that," she said. "No, they are still there though I am loathe to use them for a few days until this headache goes away. I just meant…that we understand if you are not at your best. You went through a great ordeal, Stephen, as did the rest of us but you paid a higher price."

"I never realised how much I relied on the magic, until..." Strange's voice shook, and naked loss showed in his eyes. Then he glanced across at Kurt, silently watching the exchange, and he cleared his throat, patting Wanda's hand on his arm before stepping back a little. "Ahem. No matter. To save the world, what does it matter what it has cost?" he said almost briskly. "Even if it appears humanity did the saving of itself in the end."

Wanda hrumphed a bit and got to her feet, ignoring the two men. "If anyone offers to either help me into the kitchen or to get it themselves, there will be thumping," she said, knowing both of them full well. "I need tea and I need to stretch." She rubbed the back of her neck as she slowly made her way out of the room, leaving them to fend for themselves for a moment or two.

Kurt was silent for a few moments, casting around for something to say. Finally, "No, we were not speaking of Amanda, earlier. Our younger sister, Jimaine - you may have heard of her, a few months ago", he added wryly.

Strange thought for a moment. "Ah, the missing books," he recalled. "Amanda had told me it had been 'sorted', but I didn't realise part of that had been young Miss Szardos acquiring magical ability. A... gift from your late mother, I'm presuming?" It was mainly rhetorical - where else would it have come from? "She should probably avoid any kind of astral travelling and such for a time, or from experimenting with it. The plane was most... unsettled by our interference." He glanced back towards the open door, almost furtively. "So, Wanda and yourself..." he began, but wasn't sure how to continue.

"A legacy", Kurt confirmed, nodding at the repeated warning, then followed the glance with a slight smile, not needing to hear any more to understand. "Ah... yes."

Strange caught the smile. "She is indeed a remarkable woman," he said, regret colouring his tone. "We... that is, I..." He gulped. "I did not come here to create problems. Any suit I had, I have had to set aside. I had thought perhaps one day..." He shook his head abruptly. "Unthinkable now. It is good, to see her happy again. I had feared that would not happen."

"I certainly hope she will continue to be so", Kurt said quietly, studying the other man's face. "But few things are truly unthinkable."

"It was difficult enough before, when we were equals, capable of looking after ourselves and each other. Now?" Strange's tone was almost bitter. "What good am I to her now? A bookish academic who offers nothing more than an ability to attract trouble of the supernatural type and poor social graces. She would spend her life keeping me from harm, and doing so would drain the vitality from her." He sighed, glancing towards the kitchen again. "No, you are the better match. You can help her, take care of her, fight alongside her. And you care for her, I can see that even without my Sight."

"I do", he agreed. "And I would like to think she cares for me in the same way. But that does not mean she no longer cares for you, even since things ended between you."

"Oh, that I do not doubt. But it is better this way. I would not want her tied down to half a man..."

There was a beat of silence and then an object was flung from the doorway, hitting the wall just above Stephen's head. Wanda stood, fuming, between the bedroom and living room, hands on her hip and a shoe in the other one. "Of all the stupid, irrational…man comments to say!" she snarled, knowing it was completely irrelevant but it was still such a ludicrous thing to have overheard. Between the headache and the stress, it could be said that she was slightly irrational at the moment. But, really, no one in their right mind would have suggested that.

"If that was the only thing… I… just… WORDS!" She turned on Kurt suddenly. "And stop encouraging him!" She threw the other shoe at her current boyfriend, her aim off enough to bounce off the wall and into the lamp on the nightstand, both objects tumbling to the ground. Wanda stomped a foot and then spun around, grabbing her mug of tea and stalking out the door, muttering dark words in Rom under her breath.

Kurt stared after her, briefly considering going after her and then deciding it would be distinctly unwise. Finally, bemused, he managed, "...Stephen, what just happened?"

"I really don't know." Stephen was staring, slightly stunned, at the door. "Perhaps the wisest course of action now would be to retreat? Give her time to..." Calm down enough to stop throwing things? Strange wasn't brave enough to risk saying it in the apartment. "Tell me, Kurt, Amanda has mentioned a pub somewhere around here. I don't know if you're a drinking man, but I think, all things considered, that one is called for."

"I am a German gypsy. Yes, I am a drinking man, and yes, I agree." He shot another wary glance at the door. "Let us go. Now."

The men flee, to the traditional hiding place of all men in trouble - the pub.

"No, wait." Strange held up a finger, and then pointed at Kurt. "You. Were in Wanda's body? Tall, incredibly great legs, and, and..." He made a vague gesture chest-wards. "Everything?" He went to reach for his glass with the bandaged hand, realised belatedly that he couldn't actually pick it up, and switched over.

It had become something of an afternoon. Still reeling from the effects of his powers loss, confused and bewildered and worried about Wanda, the magician was now in a state that could only be described as "trashed". Fortunately, tho', he was something of a cheerful drunk, and apparently had decided Kurt was entirely one of the most pleasant drinking companions ever.

"...yes", Kurt answered after a brief pause for thought. "Everything. Though we were in the middle of a crisis at the time." He had managed to get... relaxed... as well, over the course of the last few hours.

Solemnly, Strange raised his glass. "You, sir," he pronounced. "Have been given a gift to have such an experience." He paused. "And you didn't..." Another vague gesture.

Kurt frowned at him, perplexed, then got it. "I was never apart from the group. And Amanda's time was very limited, if we did not have the spell reversed."

"Of course, of course..." Strange looked chastened for a moment, having another pull at his beer. "A pity, though," he added wistfully. "Where no man has gone before, and so forth."

"If the opportunity were to arise again, in better circumstances..." Kurt offered helpfully, then got lost in thought.

Strange nodded, obviously in the same place. Then he stirred himself. "You're a good man, Kurt," he said, with an emphatic nod. "You'll do your best by her. That's good to know, that she'll be cared for."

"I will certainly try my best", Kurt said solemnly. "As I said. Though sometimes I wonder if being cared for is what she wants."

"Wanda is an ad--, an admirable woman," Strange got the word out with effort. "But she is also stubborn. Forgets to eat, works too hard... she needs someone there sometimes."

"That is certainly true", he agreed wryly. "I would say my little sister could help me with the effort to remind her, but in all honesty I think it is more likely I will need to make them both eat and rest, when their work is busy."

"Amanda... she seems to be doing well. Happy. Stong." Strange's expression grew a little misty. "Such a change from the ragamuffin who used to tell me I needed ashtrays in my office."

"She still smokes far more than she should", Kurt informed him. "But... yes, I think she is doing far better these days than when she was at the school."

Someone cleared their throat from behind them and Wanda appeared, looking in turns both bemused and horrified. "What on earth have you two been up to?" she asked, taking in their states quickly. After her little temper tantrum, she'd stalked down to Marie-Ange's apartment and crashed there for a few hours. The younger woman knew her headaches and while Wanda was still in far too much pain, her temper had gone away.

Strange tried to sit up straighter and look presentable, but his decidedly rumpled state made it difficult. "We," he said with the solemnity of the very drunk. "Are hiding. From the shoes."

She smirked, just a little bit. "I promise, any shoes here are strictly on my feet. They would not have let me in otherwise."

"But can you promise they will stay there?" Kurt demanded warily. "Even if we say... things that we do not know what they were to make you throw things?"

"I am wearing boots, they are rather hard to pull off in mid-temper tantrum," Wanda reassured them both, knowing that when they were sober she really wasn't going to hear the end of this. Snagging a chair from another table, she sat, looking curious. "What on earth were you two talking about while this drunk?"

"Walking in other people's shoes?" Strange suggested innocently, then broke into what only could be described as 'giggles', except that this was Dr. Stephen Strange, noted anthropologist and master of the arcane arts. Masters of the arcane arts didn't giggle.

Kurt looked at him oddly, then up at Wanda with wide yellow eyes. "Just now, the incident with my mother. That is all." Life as a younger brother had taught him the art of keeping a straight face.

"Riiiight," she drawled, waving the waitress away reluctantly. Anything besides water or tea was not really worth the bother at the moment. Wanda glanced between the two of them and sighed. "What on earth am I going to do with you two?"

"I really don't know," Strange replied, controlling his giggle fit somewhat with more beer. "But if someone works it out, I'd like it very much if they could tell me too."

"It looks like by the time you two are done your play date, I might have to recruit Amanda to come and pour the both of you home."

Strange blanched. "Oh, that's sneaky," he protested. Then he gave her a goofy grin. "You're magnificent."