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[thewarningafter]

@beyonce

You've reached Dr. Stephen Strange. Leave a message and my secretary will get back to you.

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[cahooted]

[You're such a good person, Stephen. Flynn didn't mean it and he feels horrible. It does prompt him to talk a little more openly about Judson than he normally would, though.]

He's... he works at the Library.

His name is Judson. He pretends to be all nooormal, like he doesn't know what I'm talking about when I'm prodding him about it? But I know better.

[There's a certain... fondness creeping into Flynn's voice that isn't meant for colleagues or even mentors. They're diving straight into father figure territory with this one.]

[thewarningafter]

Oh, well, mine always just played cool and mysterious. I don't think normal was in her vocabulary.

How long's that place been around?

[cahooted]

Oh, he does mysterious. Cool... not so much. More like tossing a riddle out here and there. Smiling like he's all innocent, things like that.

The Library? Oh, forever, over 2,000 years. ... Which is not forever, yes, but, a very long time.

[thewarningafter]

Huh.

And you're sure none of you are sorcerers?

[It's just an awful lot of similarities, Flynn.]

[cahooted]

Pretty sure. I can't wield any magic, not without a magical artifact. And I never do that, we don't use the artifacts, we just guard them.

I guess Cal is a bit of an exception but I don't take him with me, he always stays at the Library on guard.

[thewarningafter]

Too dangerous? Or you don't know how?

[cahooted]

We don't use the artifacts for our benefit.

[That's right, he ventures out to find/fight magic stuff without any magic. It makes sense in his world and is suicidal folly only 75% of the time, really?]

Too dangerous, too, yeah. What if somebody saw him?

[thewarningafter]

You'd be surprised what people can explain away.

[cahooted]

Are you speaking from experience?

Did someone see your cloak and complain about the wind?

[thewarningafter]

Yes, but no. I was thinking more how I tried to tell the Ancient One she was full of it when I first met her.

[cahooted]

Oh. [He grins.] I just asked if I'm on hidden camera.

Which means you have a point I guess.

[thewarningafter]

Here's the kicker: I already believed in aliens. Seeing as, you know, they invaded New York back in 2012.

[cahooted]

[He blinks into the stunned silence that follows. You were looking forward to drop that on him, didn't you, Stephen.]

Okay, that's a little obtuse.

[thewarningafter]

In hindsight, maybe a little? But it was all, you know...science and technology. Even the whole Norse gods thing, that's just Clarke's third law in action.

[cahooted]

Right, right, you're a doctor, aren't you? I guess getting into the mythical aspect of things must have been trying.

With the-- You're telling me you have Norse gods?

[thewarningafter]

I'm telling you one of the neighboring dimensions has Norse gods. As far as I can tell it's really only Thor and Loki who've paid us any visits during my lifetime.

[cahooted]

Oh.

Well, we got Mjölnir lying around somewhere I'm pretty sure but I don't think its owner ever paid us an actual visit.

[thewarningafter]

You...might not want to store that near anything breakable.

[cahooted]

... That sounds way too much like you're talking from experience. Did you try to wield it?

[thewarningafter]

No -- I've never actually met Thor. I've just seen the news footage.

[cahooted]

News foot--

[Okay, hang on.]

So aliens invaded New York and Thor's been on the news. That doesn't sound very secretive at all.

[thewarningafter]

Yeah, no, that stuff isn't secret. We've had...superheroes, don't like that word, since 2008. Or since World War Two if you count Captain America. The Chitauri, though, that was...that was closer to home.

[cahooted]

Superheroes? [Flynn laughs because Stephen is just painting a picture here bit for bit that almost makes his world seem tame in comparison.]

You have aliens and superheroes and magic, mixed all together in one pot? You world sounds wild. I got enough on my plate with one of those three.

[thewarningafter]

Yeah, well. The extradimensional horrors would've been enough by themselves. There's another dimension, neighboring one. Some people I kind of would have known from home were here from it, and it sounded like theirs was...more.

[cahooted]

You mean like alternate versions of themselves?