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escapingreality1992 · 5 years

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Carving with a Sorcerer

Stephen Strange x OC

Stephen Strange comes over to carve pumpkins with Hailey and confesses that he has a crush on her.

Weather in New York provided the perfect atmosphere I wanted to carve pumpkins. I had bought one for each member of the team plus extra in case others wanted to join in on the fun. With it being overcast and little cooler, I decided to set up a station outside; I didn't want to create a mess inside the compound with all the pumpkin goo and seeds. As I started, I noticed several team members leaving.

"Hey, wait a minute. Where are y'all going?" I asked. Steve, Bucky, and Natasha while they approached the car port.

"Harvest festival in Brooklyn. We're going to spend the day there," Steve told me.

"That's today? I thought you may want to carve pumpkins with me,"

"Sorry Hails. We can do some carving tomorrow if you like," Bucky stated, pulling me into a hug before they went into the garage. Tony and Rhodey, joine by Bruce were the next to exit the front entrance.

"Don't tell me you're leaving too," I complained. It started to look like I was going to be carving pumpkins by my lonesome self. Tony gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. Danvers invited us for drinks. Do you want to come with us?" he said.

"I want to carve pumpkins, so no. Thanks for the invite though," I replied. Wanda and Vision shortly followed them and I ran to block their path.

"No, no, no. Where are you two going?"

"Scotland. We're going to go sightseeing," Wanda replied, linking her arm through Vision's. I sighed and waved goodbye to my friends. Everyone left, leaving me alone to start my process of carving pumpkins. I carried all but one pumpkin inside, two at a time, and set them back on a less frequently used kitchen counter. Grabbing my newspapers I had purcahsed to spread out along the ground to catch the dropped messy bits, I returned outside and set them near my pumpkin. I made a few trips back and forth, grabbing supplies and placing them where I wanted my work space to be. On the third trip to grab the trash can and trash bags, I got a surprise visitor; Stephen Strange walked into the lounge by portal.

"Hey, what's up?" I greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Hailey. Where's Tony?" he responded.

"Out,"

"What about the others?"

"Also out," I replied, pushing back a piece of hair from my face. 'Oh' was all he said making me stop what I happened to be doing.

"Stephen? Is there something you wanted or needed? Is there trouble?" I asked him.

"No, there's no trouble. It's nothing all that important. I only wanted to see if anyone wanted to grab dinner," he told me.

"Sorry to disappoint you. It's only me tonight," I said, knowing he'd rather hang out with anyone other than me. Though Stephen and I were friends, we weren't exactly close enough to where he chose to hang out with me; or so I thought. I continued what I was doing, the plans to carve my pumpkin still intact.

"Where did they go?" he asked, stopping me in my tracks.

"Well, Steve, Bucky and Natasha went to a Harvest festival in Brooklyn. Tony, Rhodey and Bruce were meeting Carol for drinks. Wanda...and Vision were going to Scotland to go sightseeing but I have a feeling they're going to do more than explore the castles," I replied, picking up the heavy trash can to walk outside.

"They didn't invite you? Any of them? Let me take that. You look like you're struggling," he commented, taking the trash can from my hands.

"Thanks. Uh, Tony asked me if I wanted to come with him and Rhodey. I said no. I planned on carving pumpkins today. I thought they might join me but that's apparently not on their agenda for the day,"

Stephen followed me outside and set down the trash can near the newspapers. We went back inside and I grabbed the long, plastic, white table I pulled out earlier to carve the pumpkins on.

"I've got it. Do...would you like some company?" Stephen said, his fingers brushing across mine as he grabbed the handle on the side of the table.

"You want to carve a pumpkin?" he nodded and smiled, the lines around his eyes crinkling as he did so. "Okay, sure. I'll grab you a pumpkin and then we can set up the table and newspapers," I stated, walking to the counter with all of the other gourds. I chose a bigger one, similar to the one I picked for myself, and followed Stephen out the door. I placed his pumpkin next to mine and helped him set up the newspapers and the table. I took the lid off the trash can and taped two trash bags to the table in case we needed them. Next we placed more newspapers onto the table taping them in place, so they didn't fly away. We grabbed out gourds and sat them on the table.

I handed him one of the knives and we got to work cutting off the top and starting the process of digging inside of the pumpkin, dismantling the goop from their centers.

"Did you want to grab dinner after we finish this?" he asked, momentarily stunning me.

"You don't usually ask me to hang out with you," I answered, pulling out a huge chunk of pumpkin guts.

"I realize that. I've recently discovered you may be someone I could have fun with. The other reason I'm asking is because we don't know when the others will be back so we may want to eat something," he commented.

"We could order a pizza. This could take a while," I told him, scraping the walls to loosen up some of the tougher strands of seeds, sticking my hand back in to grab the section I separated.

"Sounds good. Why don't you ever me?"

"What?"

"Why do you never ask me to hang out with you? We may not exactly be close but you could always just ask," he responded, grunting as he ripped out a huge handful of seeds, disposing of them in the trash bag near him.

"I don't know. I've always assumed you're busy. And you're around Tony most of the time anyway. I feel like I can't discuss the subjects you guys talk about. You're both geniuses in fields I can't relate to," I told him. He laughed and removed the last of the seeds and pulled out a template from one of the books I picked out.

"True, but you're intelligent in you own way. Yes, you may not be able to converse in science, medicine, or technology. Maybe not in magic terms either, but you're a genius in being compassionate and kind. It's an ability I've always admired about you,"

"How can you be so nice to people you've never met? Accept anyone with open arms and an open mind? How is it you can calm a room simply by being in it? Do you even realize you're a great listener?" he stated. I had stopped my motions to stare at him while he spoke. I didn't know he ad even noticed me apart from missions or parties; even when the team participated in movie nights or simply hung out with each other.

"I'm not sure what you mean. It's not some superpower I have. It's simply who I am," I told him, almost speechless from his words.

"I watched you with Steve the other day. I don't know what you were talking about but when he first came in, appeared stressed. After a few minutes spent with you, I noticed tension releasing within him and he smiled for the first time that day. In ten minutes, he was relaxed, instantly calm,"

"You have an amazing ability to be able to put people at east like that. I'm sorry. Even talking to you now, it's easier to let it all out. You make me feel like I can open up more. Relax a little more," he continued. This time he really did make me speechless and I did the only thing I think of to do in that moment; carve my pumpkin.

"If I made you uncomfortable-,"

"You didn't. I just didn't expect...I hadn't realized you noticed anything about me. We're friends of course but I thought it meant you were content in only treating me as such," I cut him off, beginning to tape my own template - a cat carving - onto my pumpkin. Awkward silence settled in between the two of us and I pondered over his words, not paying attention to the small carving saw. My fingers moved erratically trying to get it done so I could call in a pizza.

"Be careful. Don't rush it," Stephen told me, glancing over for a moment. He pushed in his last section, completing his design. He had made a scary face on his pumpkin and I focused on my own telling him I would be careful not to cut myself. I got so focused in fact that I didn't notice him walking over to me. I jumped when I felt his breath against my neck, his fingers gliding over mine. I tried not to inhale his scent; musky with dark with hints of old parchment from books that he often studied. The smell of ink also caught my attention where he would run his fingers gently over those same pages. I failed to ignore the fresh mint on his breath, the warmth of his fingers from where they had been gripping his own tools. The hum of the magic coursing through his veins, vibrated into my body and I tried not to stiffen lest I make a mistake and cut off the cat's ear, or worse cut myself.

"Relax your grip a little here," he whispered in my ear. I shivered and shifted my stance to try and distract my thoughts of him near my body. My breath caught in my throat as one of his hands drifted over my arm to my shoulder, down my back and securing to my side. I let him guide my hand through the carving once more and push the sections out to show off the design.

"We should...uh...put candles in them. Set them out on the steps," I told him, clearing my throat, stepping away from him before I I let my desire for him take control.

"All right. Then we can order pizza," he stated. I nodded, turning on the small LED candles I brought outside. I placed one in mine, the other in his and we replaced the tops of the pumpkins before walking them over the front steps, both pumpkins flickering with a Halloween vibe. We went back inside to wash our hands and I called in a pizza before we cleaned up our mess outside. I was putting away the table when the pizza arrived, Stephen answering the door to pay for it. I peeked around the corner in a way so he wouldn't notice my eyes on his ass. I trailed them up to see the muscles ripple in his back through his shirt as he grabbed the two pizza boxes, averting my eyes when he turned to walk into the kitchen. We both grabbed a few slices and put them on a plate, setting them on the table in the lounge going back for our drinks.

"I have to confess something," Stephen stated in between bites of the pepperoni pizza.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I wanted to be alone with you tonight, so I asked everyone to clear out. I apologize it it seemed as if they didn't want to hang out with you," he replied.

"Why on Earth would you want to do that?"

"Because I like you. A lot. I thought that was obvious from the discussion earlier," he confessed. I blinked at him in surprise.

"You...like me? I have to tell you I didn't see that coming," I told him.

"Does that mean you're not interested in dating me?" he questioned, frowning.

"No, it doesn't mean that at all. Of course, I'd love to date you. Can I ask you one thing though?" I responded.

"Sure,"

"Kiss me?" He smiled, putting down his slice and wiping the sauce from his mouth.

"I'd be glad to," he stated, sliding closer to me. He slid one hand to the back of my head, the other wrapping around my waist. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, soft and filled with passion. I linked my hands around his neck, kissing him back. Our lips disconnected for a second before I pulled him in for more, pushing him flat on the couch, so I was lying on top of him, never breaking the kiss.

"Ahem. I guess you finally told her then, Strange?" someone called out, making us stop our kissing and sit up to see Tony, Bruce and Rhodey standing in the doorway.

"Yeah. She took it extremely well," Stephen commented, cheeks flushed deep red from our make-out session.

"I can see that," Tony noted.

"Right. So, Hailey, I'll call you later to set up a date. I should return to the Sanctum. It's getting a little late," Stephen said, kissing me for a final time when I nodded and then left via a portal.

"What? We carved pumpkins together," I said when all three of the men raised their eyebrows.

"That's not all you did. It's about time he told you he liked you. I couldn't tell you how many times he talked about you, how many times he asked if you were single. I thought he might have exploded when he thought you and Barnes were a thing. You remember that day, he got injured and you helped him upstairs and immediately removed his shirt? Yeah, he got a bit upset about that. He has got some crush on you," Tony commented. I smiled and cleaned up, putting the leftovers in the fridge. I said goodnight to them, going down the hall to my room; my lips still tingled from where Stephen had kissed me. It was definitely a great way to start our relationship.

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