Middle ground was good; middle ground was easy. Easy wasn't always satisfying or enough, but right now it was necessary. During a time when so much else was complicated, they both needed something simple to turn to. What they had now was exactly that. They could enjoy each other. She could be his calm, steady support while he was dealing with all the cosmic craziness, and he could be ... well, he could be Stephen. And the Stephen he was around her lately was the Stephen she loved so much. That was what was easy.
She lowered her glass from her lips and looked up at him with a smirk and a quirked eyebrow. "You're actually opening the door for this?" Christine had to laugh to herself a little. "Okay. Well, if I had to introduce you to anyone tonight, I'd say, 'This is Doctor Stephen Strange. Don't be fooled; he's not a smartass. He's just a highly skilled ego deflationist trained in the art of pointing out the obvious. Oh, and he's also fluent in sarcasm.' How was that?" She gave his back an affectionate scratch.