Dr Strange is Master of Mystic and Martial Arts (icanlose) wrote in angellogs, @ 2020-06-18 14:34:00
Who: Tony Stark, Stephen Strange When: Current Where: Tony's apartment What: Tony's feeling kind of tired, and Stephen stops by to talk. Rating/Warnings: Tony vaguely mentions that he's got pain / migraine issues. Stephen refers to his hand injuries vaguely. Status: Complete
Tony's had kind of a cruddy week. Yvette came by a couple of times since her work was non-confidential but still involved data entry and could be done watching the counter, so the shop stayed open, and Tony got to hang back and try to not be a bump on a log that hissed at bright lights. Balthier popped by too, and promptly sold a bunch of jewelry due to working on it, but hey, he was buying the beads / findings from Tony, so it was a decent thing.
Right now, though, he's flopped on the couch with the air conditioner trying to get the apartment cooled down. It's not migraine levels of feeling kind of cruddy, but it's feeling like if he didn't rest it could be. He's sort of slowly texting Steve, who's apparently working on the orange tea thing again.
Tea would be nice, but that involves moving and not drifting off while messing with hot water.
Stephen’s heading around to see what’s going on, since it’s a good idea a few days in to see what’s up. He's got a bag with various stuff that’s worked before, in case it’s bad and a few other things to try as well.
Steve’s getting a quick text that Stephen’s on his way up and he sends one back to Tony to let HIM know.
>>Stephen’s heading over. Wasn’t sure if he’d wake you up if you were resting so he checked it with me.
>>Hope that’s okay? He’s got something else to try for nausea.
>>Nasal stuff sounfs great.
Tony squints at his phone and tries again.
>>Nausea, I mean. Not awful, but it's definitely there. Sorry about whinging while you're at work. Tell him thanks, since I'd probably tell him something silly like trunks.
>>You’re fine.
Steve sends back.
>>Well not “Fine”, fine, but fine to talk about any of this. Trust me, nothing here is THAT important.
And then Stephen’s heading in and over.
“Hey.” He’s in the doorway, shrugging off his cloak, or rather, the cloak is shrugging itself off. Since he was teleporting anyway, he wasn’t inclined to try to look like a normal person. Way more comfortable not to do that.
“How’s it going today?”
"Hey." Tony makes himself sit up and the world decides to sway weirdly. "Hi, Stephen. And Stephen's cloak. The cloak with Stephen? I keep assuming magical objects are sentient." He smiles lopsidedly. "Feeling sort of queasy and a low key headache, but not like it's a serious migraine, if that makes sense?" He makes a face. "I guess an eight on the other people scale. Maybe a four on mine?"
“It is.” Stephen paused.”They are? He is? She? I’ve never figured out if there’s any gender identity going on here.” He smiles too. “Trust me, we’ve had our moments. The cloak of Levitation chose me. The Sanctum was an interesting place.” And he nods at that.
“Like it might come back if you don’t really watch it? Luckily I’ve got some extra stuff for the nausea. They shouldn’t interfere with anything you have going on. You just pop it under your tongue. It’s kind of gross but if it dissolves you’ll actually absorb it. Just in case you might’ve thrown up a regular pill.”
"You're wonderful. Do you want tea? I don't trust myself making it, but between the two of us, I think I can boil water." Tony smiles at him. "I should probably try to eat. Did I pull you away from stuff?"
“I can take care of it.” Stephen twitches his fingers meaningfully. “And I can grab you something if there’s anything in there you want. If you want me to create it, that works too, but people seem to think it’s not as good. And nah, nothing that’s all that important. Most of the general stuff. Kids are studying.” He pauses. “He said, hoping he didn’t resurface at home to that scene from Fantasia. Then again, I’m pretty sure the only broom around the place isn’t for sweeping. I mean that’s why I’m a sorcerer.”
He’s grabbing a blister packet of tablets now and handing them to Tony. “You start with one of those and they push out. They’re SUPPOSED to taste kind of cherryish but that’s a lie. Still, they do help.”
"Are we talking tastes like cyanide, or tastes like bad halloween candy?" Tony dutifully takes the pill and has a vigorous expression at the flavor. "How's your hands feeling? I bet I could find stuff for soup and we could have things in mugs."
“Tastes bitter.” Stephen says. “Perfectly manageable. WAY better than the natural pain stuff, just sort of unpleasant. And we could do that. They’re…” he shrugs. “Seven or eight, but the magic doesn’t really hurt, so there’s that.”
"Thanks for coming by?" Tony frowns. "Not sure what set this off. Stayed up late one night, and for the next few days it's been like I've got a toddler revolting." He gets the mugs down and fishes around. "Chicken and noodle, weird bisque that's actually not bad, or miso soup?"
“Hey, sometimes they’re just…” Stephen frowns. “Random. Not my FOCUS but I know a little more about the brain than your standard doctor and trust me. They do weird things. I’d say the miso, offhand.” And he’s waving the kettle out of Tony’s way and getting water in before floating it over to heat.
"So how does magically created food work? Is that a belief thing? I'm just curious about how you make sure you don't get scurvy." Tony leans on the counter after he sets up the mugs.
“Transferred matter.” Stephen says. “It’s a energy transfer, honestly. There’s a science underlying the whole thing. It’s just not the science you’re used to and…” He snorts. “I sound like The Ancient One now. She’d have been impressed.”
Or would have rolled her eyes and looked exasperated and fond of him. Hard to say.
"You see, I'd just be afraid that if you didn't know that you needed Vitamin C, say, magically created food would be filling, but not complete." Tony smiles. "It's the 'computers are literal' versus 'we don't work by those rules' problem, I think? Thanks for helping with this."
“Not a problem. And nah, it technically works.” Stephen says. “It’s sort of the..” He considers. “Star Trek replicator sort of thing. Some stuff’s not going to be fantastic but you’ll survive sort of a thing.”
"Well - this probably won't be fantastic, but it's something." Tony thinks about it. "Pill tastes horrible, but I feel better."
“It’ll be just fine.” Stephen says. “And good. Yeah they’re not the best but...effective at least.” And the kettle’s boiling so he grabs that and floats it over to get tea moving. “You might wanna make sure you stay clear of that right now.”
"I'll be careful. Want to top off these mugs for the soup?"
“Got it.” Stephen finishes with the tea, and with a few motions, the soup’s going in as well, and he’s grabbing everything to float past. “Where’re we setting up?”
"Couch is pretty comfortable, if you want to stay? We could put something on if you're sick to here of socializing?" Tony smiles as he snags some cookies for the coffee table and slides to sit.
“I’ll stick around a bit.” Stephen says. “And this is fine. I can’t think of anything all that special to talk about, but if you don’t mind me not saying much, it’s fine with me.”
Tony leans to sip his soup and leans back. "I've been working on the shop mostly. Pretty quiet stuff. Steve's setting up stuff for a Pride celebration. Got a big pile of 60's sci fi."
“Sounds reasonable enough as stuff goes.” Stephen nods. “I’ve been doing a lot of meditating, studying, that sort of a thing. The wards at the Sanctuary are holding, so there’s one less concern.”
"Balthier helped out on a bit of that didn't he? I don't understand what he was doing, but is it helping?" Tony looks like he's getting comfortable.
“A lot of them came around for it.” Stephen nods. “And we slowly got things and people moved back in around that time. It was nice to get back, make sure my grapes and olives are still living.”
"How are Greek grapes? I know absolutely nothing about them other than that - wine was usually red, right?" Tony looks thoughtful.
“I’ve got reds for the moment.” Stephen nods. “It’s what was there at the time. I can’t tell if the monks made it or not, but it’s possible they’re ancient vines that’ve just gone really well. Seems like it’s a reasonable assumption.”
"I'd like to visit again sometime." Tony leans. "Want me to pour some tea for you?"
“You’re welcome to let me know when.” Stephen gives him a little bit of a nod. “Just so I can make sure you’re not going to blow up if you walk in. Which is the most literal explanation for some of what I’m doing. Time manipulation. It gets...messy. And please.”
"Time manipulation, huh. That does sound like it'd be tricky." Tony tops off the cups and grimaces as he leans back. "I think I might need to talk with you guys about maybe seeing about - I don't know - trying heated blankets. I think I'm not sleeping well due to being stiff."
“There’s a LOT of delicate variables.” Stephen says. “And that would probably help with more general stuff. Depends on what’s hurting and why, but heat’s generally better. Ice is...probably wrecked my hands worse before the whole...demon fixed and smashed them again thing. The first time around, they had me doing it, after therapy, but, turns out it probably contributed to the CRPS. I mean, it’s acting about the same as when it started now, but I know how to halt it from going worse. So if yours is from one of your injuries...definitely skip the ice and go for heat.”
"I'm pretty sure ice wouldn't be good for Steve. And I'm not fond of water." Tony thinks about it. "I'm just thinking if it's muscular, the heat might help."
“Yeah that doesn’t sound like it would be great.” Stephen nods. “And nah, water doesn’t have to enter into it at all, so heat’s probably the best if it’s for that sort of a thing. Which ones, exactly? I could probably find you someone with ideas for how to reduce pain too.”
"You know the side where I got the damage?" Tony waves his hand. "I sleep oddly on it, sometimes, and wake up sore. I wonder if that's not helping."
“Sleeping on it could be part of that…” Stephen says. “Offhand, and as a total non expert in that sort of thing, I’d maybe try some kind of body pillow arrangements. Maybe one of those pregnancy pillows or...they do make them double sided but if it’s just the one, that model’d probably do it. Give you more support without it being a person you’re leaning on.”
"That is a good idea." Tony sips his soup. "This brand's pretty good. Some of them are super salty but don't taste of much other than that."
Stephen grabs his to join in. “That’s good to know. I’ll have to keep it in mind...oh that IS good.”
"I grabbed it on a quick lunch option idea kind of way. Since uh - usually when I'm headachey, I can boil a kettle and it's some greens and some protein to make it a more filling soup." Tony thinks about it. "How's Morgan doing? I'm trying to kind of - be there but not too hovering for her."
“Not amazing, but not horrible, considering.” Stephen says. “Considering her options, mostly. The usual I didn’t apply to anything but my dream school panic, but she’ll get things worked out. There’s always January admissions. She’s smart enough to have realized THAT part.”
"It makes me wonder if we shouldn't - I should ask about it, but basic classes for people coming in here. You know, Computer 101 or modern medicine. History. Try to get a high school diploma out of the end of it? Not sure there's enough of us, but something is better than nothing." Tony looks thoughtful. "And I mean, it doesn't have to be for dimension hoppers."
“Seems like some of them are doing that sort of a thing.” Stephen nods. “It’s one of those cases where you have to research it a little, but there’s people. The uh. Ex-robot...android. He’s a nurse now. But getting it set up so it’s right there...that’d be a good idea.”
"It might not be terrible. I guess I could talk to that Officer Pat guy? He might know options and how to get it working well. I'm not sure I've got the free time to run things, but I can help pay people." Tony hms. "Shall I put a podcast on and I can doze here while we have tea?"
“That’s true.” Stephen nods. “Or he’d know who to ask. Seems like he’s coordinating a lot of things. And well, hey, isn’t part of this about finding the right people to do that kind of work. I can’t really see you as a principal or dean, no.”
And that seems reasonable enough.
“Podcasts it is.”
Tony slides the list over. "Let's see what you like. How about a cooking show? We'll probably hear someone being obsessive about toast."
“Obsessive about toast?” Stephen raises an eyebrow. “There are many foods to get obsessive over. Toast...does not sound like one of them. I’m intrigued.”
"Brits, apparently." Tony puts it on. "Did you know there's an entire thing about how you've got to do it super slowly. Which I guess makes sense in a high humidity climate."