To be honest, it wasn't like Stephen woke up that morning wanting to fall into his crush's arms.
Hell, he didn't even know if he should've called it a crush. Crushes were for children and sexually repressed teenagers. Besides, he hadn't dated anyone since Christine, and he didn't want to dive head first into anything. He already had the duties of the Sorcerer Supreme on his plate. He didn't have the time to schedule any cute dates or cuddle sessions.
Despite all of that, Stephen often found himself daydreaming. He daydreamed about a suited man with a pure heart of gold sweeping him off his feet. He daydreamed about a smaller man, preferably with stubble, lovingly holding his hand and telling him "I love you."
Basically, he daydreamed about Scott.
He didn't even know why it was Scott in particular. Scott was nothing like him. He was sweet, sociable, and funny. And he could do the one type of magic Stephen could never master -- close-up magic.
Though, maybe it was because he was nothing like him that drew him towards him in the first place. The last thing Stephen (or Wong) needed was another arrogant, snarky, self-destructive, reckless bastard loose in the Sanctum. Scott didn't look like he would hurt a fly. Or an ant. Or any bug in general. ("They're my friends!" He would say when prompted to whack a spider. Was it mentioned that he was also really adorable?)
But Stephen knew they could never be. Not just because he couldn't afford to dedicate himself to a man like him at the moment, but because unlike him, Scott had a family. He already went through one divorce, and now he had a lovely little daughter and a kickass girlfriend. And even if he did have a chance with him, how the hell could he measure up to Hope Van Dyne?
So he concealed his feelings. He buried them down deep within his soul and tried his best to ignore them. Ignore the butterflies. Ignore the heartbeat. Ignore the fantasies.
And by the Vishanti, ignore the blushing.
Despite all of that, his body was currently being held up by Scott Lang in the middle of the Avengers HQ.
"Woah, you okay there?" Scott asked as Stephen suddenly fell from his seat and into his arms.
Stephen, still stunned by his sudden fall, looked up and saw his glimmering green eyes accompanied by his charming smile. And suddenly, his heart stopped.
"Uhh…Y-Yeah…" He stammered. He started panicking internally. He never stammered! He was never like this. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Scott said brightly as he helped him up. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll catch you on my next mission!"
With a sweet wink and a wave goodbye, he made his way out of the lobby.
"Yeah, catch!" Stephen chuckled as he waved back. But as soon as Scott was out of sight, the laugh shifted into an uneasy sigh and he fell into his seat. The Cloak stroke its popped collar on Stephen's cheek, as if trying to comfort him from the embarrassment.
Wong, who was sitting there the entire time, observed Stephen thoroughly.
"So…" He spoke up, startling Stephen. "You have a thing for Lang?"
"Wh-What?" Stephen uttered, covering it up with a normal laugh. "N-No! Of course not! What makes you say that?"
"You swooned," He responded, nonchalantly.
"I didn't swoon! I don't even know how I fell in the first place!" Stephen asserted.
That last sentence led into a train of thought. How did he fall? He just wanted to get some water, and then...
He tripped on the Cloak.
Stephen glared at the piece of fabric hung over his shoulders. It was always there when Stephen muttered lovestruck comments to himself. Despite not having a face, it tried to look as innocent as possible.
"This was your doing," He whispered. The Cloak just stroked his cheek again. Stephen rolled his eyes, dismissing the action, and groaned. "I do not have a…thing for Scott!"
"Then why were you blushing?"
He paused in his tracks, eyes widening. "I was blushing?" He felt his cheeks, trying to find any trace of love-ridden heat.
Wong nodded, not even bothering to look up from his lunch. "Like a tomato."
With a pained groan, Stephen slammed his head on the table. Not only did he just fall into his crush's arms, he'd been blushing the entire time. By the Eye of Agamotto, why was he like this?
"Please don't tell him," He begged Wong.
"Why?" Wong shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "He seems like a nice guy. You should ask him out. You need to get out of the Sanctum more."
"He has a girlfriend!" Stephen replied, throwing his arms in the air. 'A really cool and strong girlfriend who probably doesn't need help writing her own name out' he wanted to add.
"Who? Hope?" He asked.
"No, the other woman who works with him on missions and helps raise his daughter," Stephen huffed, crossing his arms.
"Never hurts to ask. I'll even ask him for you."
"DON'T ask him!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at his friend. "Don't tell him I like him! Please!"
Wong looked at him like he was crazy, but nodded anyways. Stephen sighed a quick 'thank you' before resting his head on the table again. He was such a lovestruck idiot when it came to Scott. It was embarrassing. Completely and utterly embarrassing.
He needed to be the Sorcerer Supreme, dammit! Not some stuttering, dumbstruck, blushing teenage schoolboy!
---
The next day, Stephen soared the New York skies as he made his way back from Brooklyn after treating a possessed golden retriever. He was sailing smoothly over the Manhattan streets when he suddenly felt himself stagger in the air.
"Cloak? Are you okay?" Stephen asked. Once again, the Cloak began to stop midway in the air. "Cloak?!"
And then, the Cloak stopped completely.
"CLOAK?!"
Stephen began to fall through the air, presumably to his death. Or at least a few bruised ribs. But before he could collide to the ground, he landed in the arms of a random person.
He gripped onto the person's neck, trying to catch his breath to apologize for his sudden drop in, until the man spoke.
"Geez, are you okay?! You just dropped out of the sky like that…" Scott trailed off when he caught a wave of red and noticed Stephen's sporadical hair. "It's you!"
Stephen's eyes widened once he recognized the voice. He jumped out of his arms and tried not to look foolish. Again.
"Yeah, it's me," He replied, trying to sound as cool as possible. He placed a hand on his chest and put on his best Tony Stark impression. "Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, (former) MD--"
"I know who you are!" Scott responded, cutting off his boastful introduction. "We work together, you know. I see you at the HQ every other week."
Stephen's heart nearly shattered from embarrassment. Of course he knew who he was! He and Hope have been stationed in New York for the past week! They literally encountered Man-Thing three days ago! He literally fell into his arms yesterday!
He swallowed his mortification and nodded, as if he intended to say that all along. "Of course! I just…wanted to greet a friend," He declared, bowing dramatically.
Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush.
That word echoed through his head. A friend. Just a friend. Not even that -- just a teammate.
And nothing more.
Stephen struggled to keep his smile up (though at this point it looked more uncanny than friendly) as he gathered the unresponsive Cloak into his arms. He looked across the long, long sidewalk that had no Sanctum from what he could see. "Well, looks like I'm walking," he huffed.
"Why don't you hail a Taxi?" Scott asked sincerely. "I could pay, if you don't have any cash--"
"I'm fine!" Stephen replied quickly -- perhaps too quickly -- and held up a hand. He prayed it wasn't quivering. When he noticed Scott's worried expression, he brought his hand back. "Er, I don't really like being in vehicles."
He closed his eyes and winced in anticipation. He was prepared to be bombarded with questions. Why didn't he like riding in cars? How did he get around without his Cloak? Did he just like flying everywhere? Was it related to his hands?
Questions like that were why he kept his life before sorcery under wraps. The only person he's told about the accident after becoming Sorcerer Supreme was his new librarian Zelma, and that was only because she caught him caring for a particularly nasty flare-up in the middle of the afternoon. None of the Avengers knew.
However, he didn't hear Scott ask anything. In fact, all Scott said was:
"Oh. Okay."
Stephen opened his eyes, astonished. Scott didn't press on anything. He didn't interrogate or pester, he just accepted it.
"Can I at least walk home with you?" He just asked. "I don't want you to get mugged or anything. Not that you need any protection, I bet, what with all your cool spells and stuff!"
Still somewhat surprised that he didn't prod, Stephen considered his offer...and nodded with a smile.
"Sure. Let's walk."
They strolled the New York sidewalk, enjoying the fresh air and sunlight. For awhile, they just walked silently, until Scott suddenly cleared his throat.
"Say…do you, by chance, wanna…go out sometime?"
Stephen stopped in his tracks. Did Scott just…ask him out? Did Scott just ask him out?
"What about Hope--"
"Oh, Hope?" Scott responded, almost sounding surprised. Realizing what Stephen was getting at, he chuckled. "Oh! No, we don't have anything going on. She's just a really good friend! She and Cassie get along really well, and it's nice to have an extra hand around."
He wasn't dating Hope. Huh. Guess that taught him not to assume things.
"Well then, sure," He said cooly. "I'd love to hang out sometime."
"How about tomorrow?"
Stephen pondered a time, trying not to show how excited he was inside. "6 pm?"
"Sure! I mean-- yeah. That'd be cool."
And then they started talking. They walked, and talked, and Stephen found himself genuinely enjoying his company. He even found himself smiling naturally as he listened to Scott discuss all kinds of quantum physics.
Scott, meanwhile, was beaming inside. He was actually gonna go on a date with the Stephen Strange! He couldn't believe it!
"You know, I've been practicing some magic myself…"
---
The next day, Stephen was leaning against the table in Scott's hotel room at 5:15 pm. Although he looked cool as a cucumber, he was secretly freaking out about the very fact he was about to go on an actual date with his crush. He hadn't done this since his medical school days. Was he too early? Should he have bought flowers? Would his daughter be mad that he was trying to "enchant" her father?
Speaking of his daughter, Cassie was sitting on the edge of her bed, patiently waiting for her babysitter. She stared at Stephen with a big, engaged smile, as if he was the most interesting thing in the room. And, to be honest, he probably was.
"Are you Doctor Strange?" She asked, out of the blue.
The question took Stephen aback. Of course he was Doctor Strange, but he knew he wasn't the most popular hero in the city. He didn't really expect a little girl to know who he was. Then again, she was Scott's daughter.
"Uh, y-yeah," He tried to not make the same mistake he made the other day and kept his introduction safe. "I work with your dad."
"I know that! He talks about you all the time."
Stephen almost felt the blood rush to his face. Scott talked about him!
"He thinks you're cool."
Scott thought he was cool!
"I think you're really cool!"
Cassie thought he was really cool!!
"Th-Thanks," Stephen replied quickly, wincing at his stutter.
At that point, Scott finally stepped out of his room in a casual yet fly T-shirt, jacket, and jeans combination.
"I'm ready!" He declared. Once he saw Stephen's leather jacket and red scarf, his eyes widened. "Wow, Stephen. You look...good."
Stephen felt himself blush even harder. He nervously brushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "You look great."
Scott scratched the back of his neck, similarly bashful. "You look amazing."
"You look fantastic."
It was like they were alone in the world, just bouncing off compliments. A silence lingered between them that was neither awkward nor uneasy. They just looked at each other, entranced by the fact that they were actually going on a date with their longtime crush, and thinking about the next hour they'll be spending together. Alone.
A knock on the door pulled them out of their shared love-ridden trance.
"That should be Peter," Scott quickly said as he rushed to get the door. Stephen just sighed lovingly and smiled.
Cassie looked back-and-forth between her dad and the doctor.
"Finally," she whispered to herself.
---
A few minutes later, they were outside the hotel and walking under the New York sunset. It was a mesh of mellow red, enchanting gold, and the faintest bit of lovelorn pink. Stephen couldn't believe how beautiful it looked. Maybe he did need to go outside more often.
Scott joined him in his sunset watch and instinctively grabbed his hand. Stephen flinched at the sudden motion and almost pulled his hand away.
"Is this okay?" Scott asked instantly when he felt him jerk his hand back. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
The gesture shocked Stephen for a moment, but he couldn't help but feel safe with Scott's words. He nodded and slowly let his hand melt into his. He missed this feeling. The feeling of being entangled in young love.
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine," he assured with a sincere grin. "I like this."
For once, he didn't care that he was stuttering. He didn't care that he had butterflies. He didn't care that he was blushing. He was on a date with an amazing man and that was all that mattered. He brushed his thumb over Scott's as they continued their walk.
"So, where do you want to go?" Scott asked, letting their fingers knit together.
"Anywhere you want to. As long as I have you."
Now, it was Scott's turn to blush.
---
"You told his cape to drop him into Scott's arms?"
Wong took a drink from his water. He looked at Hope with an all-knowing smirk.
"One, it's a Cloak," He began. "And two, yes. Yes I did."
Hope responded with an amused snicker as she took a swig of whiskey.
"I knew they had something!" Zelma declared, slamming her glass of cider on the table.
"To be honest, everyone did," Hope commented.
"I know, I know, but I'm tired of hearing him go on and on about how strong Scott's biceps are as if I'm not in the room. He doesn't even notice he's blushing half of the time."
"Believe me, Scott's told me hundreds of times how "spectacular" Stephen's 'Mystic Sword of Vishanti' is."
The librarian laughed and took another drink. "Well, maybe he'll show him his own 'Mystic Sword of Vishanti' tonight."
The two ladies continued to joke about their friends' obvious infatuation for each other while Wong smiled to himself.
"I'm just happy that he's happy," he beamed. "That man needed to get out of the Sanctum for once."