IC inbox for Snowblind

[thewarningafter]

@beyonce

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

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[nursetemple]

Oh yeah, nevermind, I remember. You're too much of a hot shot to go lose yourself in the jungle. So what do you do instead, then?

[thewarningafter]

[He could prevaricate. He could soften it, make it sound less fanciful. He's hardly kept secret of his current "job" since getting here, though, so instead he'll simply explain with an entirely straight face:]

Well, after I lost most of the use of my hands in a car crash and Western medicine failed me, I went to Nepal and learned how to harness magical forces previously beyond my comprehension. These days I'm in charge of guarding a sanctum designed to help generate a shield that protects the Earth from extradimensional attack.

[nursetemple]

[Claire blinks, eyes wide as she absorbs the sudden onslaught of information.]

Oh.

[She's met a guy who can smell people from blocks away. Who can distinguish different voices and words in conversations miles away from where he stands. So magic shouldn't be something that surprises her.]

I didn't realize we had magic, in our world.

[She's dumbstruck - that's all she can think of saying.]

[thewarningafter]

If it's any comfort, neither had I. And magic's just a word; it's all just applied metaphysics.

[nursetemple]

Oh. So you can explain it with science?

[thewarningafter]

Ah...no.

[Not...science, exactly.]

Kind of?

[nursetemple]

[She leans in, resting her chin on her hand, her elbow on her knee.]

Then, how?

[thewarningafter]

It involves aligning your spirit to shape reality.

[Just gonna float that past her to see whether she's going to laugh at him.]

[nursetemple]

[She blinks, once, twice, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. She presses her hand to her mouth, pursing her lips.]

And opening your chakras?

[thewarningafter]

That's generally how you go about aligning your spirit, yeah.

[nursetemple]

[She can't help it, she chuckles.]

You're telling me if I keep on meditating I can use magic?

[thewarningafter]

There's a little more to it than that, but...kind of?

I can show you. I mean, I can't show you, but I can do a hell of a light show.

[nursetemple]

But you couldn't teach me, if I said I wanted to learn? Is it not something innate in all of us?

[thewarningafter]

Be kind of hard here, but...yeah. I could. It just takes study and practice.

[nursetemple]

Interesting. Influenced by Asian culture and religion?

[thewarningafter]

A lot of it. Not everything.

[nursetemple]

Got to say, it's quite fascinating. I knew there's a whole other sphere of spirituality and all, but never really quite believed it real. How long have you been studying it?

[thewarningafter]

A bit over a year. I've always been a quick study.

[nursetemple]

Or a genius? That's what I heard, anyway.

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen grins.]

Funny, I've heard the same thing.

[nursetemple]

Don't let it get to your head, Stephen.

[thewarningafter]

Too late.

[nursetemple]

What am I going to do with you now, huh? [She chuckles, tucking hair behind her ear.]

[thewarningafter]

Maybe remind me that it's not about me every now and then.

[nursetemple]

It's definitely not about you right now, but you know that, don't you?