InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Sarcasm is a honed skill"

_magichands (_magichands) wrote in newalliance,
@ 2016-03-20 14:56:00

Entry tags:

doctor strange, talia al ghul

Who: Dr Strange and ~~Talia~~ Miranda Tate
Where: Cave under Gotham's islands
When: 3/20
What: Following up on the request made of him, Dr Strange finds a magic place and thinks he's going to be thanked for it. Technically, Talia is thanking him.

It took time. He'd warned her of that upfront, that searching out something as delicate as what she was proposing wasn't a matter of merely examining some topographic maps and hoping for the best. Things of powerful magic had ways of hiding themselves, especially from magic. The reasons why were of scholarly interest, but more importantly, in how they could be countered.

Slowly. Carefully. Spells of delicacy and precision rather than great magnitude, even if they were also spells that were unfocused, seeking and questing across a broad range, until the area was illuminated, like a tumor stained with a fluorescent dye. There was more than one likely place, but Stephen diligently investigated each one, until he was confident in the results.

Only then did he pick up the phone and call Miranda Tate. "I believe I may have located the phenomenon you are seeking," he said.

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_taliaalghul
2016-03-21 01:37 am UTC (link)

If truths were known, it took less time than she'd been expecting. She was a woman of patience, whose long term goals could be discussed in terms of generations; not simply weeks-- but that was all it take taken the Sorcerer Supreme to follow no more than rumors, whispers and smoke to one of the last remaining Lazarus Pits, or so she hoped when she received his call.

"Oh!" She exclaimed in her perfectly accented English, "Doctor-- that is truly astonishing. I am-- obviously I am thrilled. Might you make arrangements to share the location with me? I am... I would like to see it myself before making the journey with my father, given his poor health. Would you mind terribly?"

She paused, then added with a touch of apprehension in her voice, "I think I would be very pleased for the company, if your schedule will permit it."

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_magichands
2016-03-21 11:52 pm UTC (link)

Her words were a flow of gracious and elegant thanks, and Stephen found himself smiling, sitting back in his chair, a glow under his heart that he thought might match hers for being pleased. It was, of course, what she had asked of him, but after their conversation, he liked to think that it meant more than that. She was a very nice lady, after all, and it pleased him to be able to help someone with their medical crisis once more.

Perhaps that made him a little incautious - there was no guarantee that there would not be more protections over the Lazarus Pit, ones that would make the place dangerous for anyone, including a master mage. But he still said graciously, "Of course, Ms Tate. Ensuring the validity of the phenomenon before offering it as a treatment for your father is only wise, and more so because it is magical in nature.

"I can make my schedule suit yours," he continued easily. "We will have to meet on the coast near Gotham city first, as the location is in a seacave on one of the Gotham islands, and is only accessible from the water." Or with considerable magical force, but Strange thought that it would be best to travel there by boat, and then magic their way into the cave once he had a better idea of where he was going and what they were facing.

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_taliaalghul
2016-03-23 09:42 pm UTC (link)

"I look forward to your company, Doctor." She said easily, with a breathlessness in her voice that spoke of excitement and anticipation, of barely contained hope. "And please, call me Miranda."

Final preparations were made easily enough, and from there Talia shared them with a few of her number. She trusted them to be silent in carrying out their orders; and while she did not know the true extent of the doctor's powers, she felt assured that the day would, ultimately be hers.

She met the doctor at the specified pier, seemingly having just come from the office, still in heels and a sharp skirt-suit with silk blouse, an overcoat on to protect from the wind and dampness. She did, however, have a pair of sneakers tied together and slung over her shoulder, seemingly with the intention of changing on the boat.

"Forgive me if I've kept you waiting." She said as she met him, leaning forward to kiss the air beside his cheek in affectionate greeting. "I could barely get away, but I would not miss this for all the world. Shall we, doctor?"

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_magichands
2016-03-23 10:43 pm UTC (link)

With magic, it was very easy to get from one point to another; Strange spent most of his time gathering necessary items, having a cup of tea, and investigating just where the spell needed to place him, a matter best handled by scrying spells and not simply trusting to Google Maps. When he told Wong where he was going and that he expected he'd be back for dinner, possibly with Miranda, Wong had only delicately raised an eyebrow, and let him know that there would be something for supper, and more tea.

It was a curious reaction, but Strange dismissed it as he opened the portal and stepped from his brownstone in New York to the docks of Gotham. The fog clung to him almost like a living thing, and he frowned as he dusted himself off reflexively, the Cloak of Levitation closing tighter around him. It was extravagant, but at least it hid the sapphire colored tunic worked with the protective rune.

He was early, but he hadn't been there long enough to attract unwanted attention by the time Miranda rushed up. Taking one of her hands in his gloved one in a gesture more affectionate than a mere handshake, he smiled. "Not near so long as a doctor would," he assured her with what was undoubtedly amusement.

Gesturing her towards the pier, as he started walking for the edge of the dock, he added, "Though I did not have time to summon our transportation, so you will forgive the delay." Stopping once he reached the railing, he frowned a little, and incanted as he gestured, and the air next to the pier shimmered. "A Levitating Disc," he explained, swinging his legs over the rail and stepping onto air that had turned as solid and translucent as a sheet of glass. "All the stories of flying carpets came from somewhere, you understand," he added with a rare smile.

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_taliaalghul
2016-03-24 03:47 am UTC (link)

She chuckled at the joke, pushing a stray wave of hair back out of her face where it threatened to fall and cover her left eye. "Yes, doctors do so like to keep one waiting. I suppose that is the peril of knowing one has a captive audience?" She teased, as she had (supposedly) spent a great deal of time with her father's doctors. Though she joked, she also rubbed her hands together, barely hiding her nerves.

Miranda stood back to watch as he conjured the levitating disc, eyes widening at the casual display of magic, but she smiled, seemingly through her doubts and anxieties, and nodded as he stepped onto the floating, shimmering shred of air.

"I had... planned for a boat." She said a little hesitantly, but quickly added a smile, "But I do love to travel in style." With that, she squared her chin and moved to step across the dock onto the 'flying carpet', holding her arms out for balance.

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_magichands
2016-03-24 07:38 pm UTC (link)

This was an old sort of thing for him, something he'd never been very good at and had eventually dismissed as irrelevant; flirting hadn't mattered when he could attract people - women - with his skill and bank account, and they'd been fascinated enough to at least fake interest over his stories. "I suppose those who cannot captivate must by necessity hold captive," he returned, and maybe there was something to magic's incantations that made it easier to find parallels to words.

He smiled again, and offered a hand to help her over the railing, and then onto the tight disc of air made solid. "I find that a boat would have been more inconvenient," he said easily, as if this was a matter of personal preference. "The hiring of it, and then the handling over uncertain waters, and finding a place to moor it...a simple spell is easier."

As he demonstrated when, still offering his arm for support, he gestured, and the disc drifted easily away from the pier, picking up speed a little as they moved away, heading for one of the islands in sight. It wasn't the fastest way to travel, not with winds to buffet them, but they were soon rounding the island to the sea-side, and Stephen gestured the disc lower, into the low opening of a sea-cave.

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_taliaalghul
2016-03-25 04:08 am UTC (link)

She took his hand with a murmur of thanks and let him help her aboard the strange disc of air, no easy trick in the heels she wore, and though she may have wobbled slightly, except for clinging a little more tightly to his hand, she did her best not to show it.

"Of course." She murmured when he explained the last of a boat and the less conventional mode of travel; but she also seemed grateful to hold onto his arm as the disc took off from the pier, taking them beneath the city through a vast array of caves. There were obvious reasons why this one had been so overlooking, it was barely visible even with the tie out, and this hallway-chasm likely filled when the tide came in. If the doctor had found something, this was likely only the beginning of the cave system the pit might be hiding in-- it must eventually rise above sea level to keep from being swallowed whole by the ocean.

Talia had no doubt that there were Lazarus Pits hidden deep beneath the ocean's surface; but so far, none were discoverable, let alone accessible by current means of technology. But with her hand on LexCorp's pulse, and a word or two to the R&D department, such advances may not be too far off.

"However did you find it, doctor?" Miranda asked, instinctively ducking as they came through the entrance of the cavern, though she quickly straightened her shoulders to cover her reactionary faux pas as the top of the cave entranced passed easily overhead.

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_magichands
2016-03-27 07:47 pm UTC (link)

"Searching out a magical phenomenon takes more patience than power," he said. "Powerful natural magical occurrences in particular; while they can hide themselves, the doing of which leaves its own traces on the world. As natural features, they are further likely to be at certain nexus points in the web of magic of the world, though there are too many nodes to investigate individually, it gives a starting point." She likely hadn't asked the question wanting the detailed explanation, but Stephen found that he really couldn't help himself.

The cave was gloomy and unmistakably damp, and though Stephen had never been here before, he'd at least given it a good looking over through the scrying portal so that he knew there was enough dry ground for them to manage. He directed the disc deeper into the cave, until they gently came to rest against the back wall, sloping upward to a hole above the waterline - likely what had once, millennial ago, been a river draining to the sea.

He stepped onto the glossy rock gingerly, offering a hand to Miranda as a matter of course. Looking deeper into the cave, he frowned thoughtfully at the upward slope of the path. "Hopefully the cave does not extend far nor feature awkward formations," he said. "Though..." Lifting his free hand, he concentrated, and a globe of warm light appeared in his palm, and floated over his shoulder.

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_taliaalghul
2016-03-29 12:37 am UTC (link)

Her eyebrows raised at the level of detail he gave regarding the work that had gone into finding the pit; and she smiled a little, politely- but not without interest, albeit also with some degree of confusion. He was talking to someone who hadn't realized magic existed until she met him, after all, and while she had no basis of comprehension for the work that went into it, she was interested in him and that certainly translated.

Or at least, that was the effect of her expression.

She took his hand with thanks and carefully stepped off the makeshift boat onto the solid surface alongside him. She peered into the darkness towards the sloping structure and frowned. "Is it too steep to walk?"

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_magichands
2016-03-31 10:30 pm UTC (link)

He never could resist giving far more detail than anyone needed to know, but if she was quiet, she was also clearly interested, and he rather thought that t the very least, she should have some practical knowledge of what they'd needed to do to find the place, so that she knew just how powerful and dangerous it was. And maybe a little towards how much it had taken to find the place, so that she understood the work that had gone into it.

Though he could, sometimes, take a silent hint. "But I'm afraid I'm boring you," he said with a smile that was both rare and - rarer - rueful. "I'm sorry, but when one dedicates themselves to magic, it does tend to take over your life." As high and esoteric a calling as medicine.

He couldn't grip her hand as he wanted to, but he could draw her along, towards a flatter part of ground, still raising the globe of light high. "I'm not sure," he said slowly, and flexed his palm to direct the globe of light up the slope. "It seems more slippery than steep. Shall we try?" he added, glancing at her with another quick smile.

Leading the way, he edged cautiously up the slope, reaching out to balance one hand on the wet stone, while offering assistance to Miranda with the other.

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_taliaalghul
2016-04-04 11:31 pm UTC (link)

In short; he was showing off. Which suited Talia just fine. She didn't mind the additional information, in case it might be helpful some day in the future; but most so it proved that he was interested in a continued relationship-- which served her purposes well. Not that she yet had room in her plans for the Sorcerer Supreme; but it seemed a handy card to have... should she require magical assistance.

She smiled briefly, an understanding and sympathetic sort of smile, "Passion is never something that should be apologized for-- though, you may have to explain things to me... I'm afraid I am not well-versed in such arts."

Keeping a hold of his hand, she let him lead her up the slope, moving carefully, and somewhat precariously in her high heels, occasionally leaning on the assistance he gave, though always without further comment, as though her pride wouldn't allow her to speak of needing help.

"This is a treacherous climb." She agreed as they neared the top, keeping her free hand pressed against the side of the cave to keep her balance-- and so she wouldn't slide all the way back down the hill if she fell.

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_magichands
2016-04-08 01:47 am UTC (link)

He wasn't supposed to show off anymore; it was all part of the 'gaining humility' that had to precede learning magic for the vary obvious reason that it was a bad idea to have a power-hungry mage running around. But, then, he probably was supposed to be cultivating ties to the outside world as well, for his general emotional stability or some other such nonesense, and that meant connecting with people. She'd shown an interest in something he had a skill in, and so of course he'd happily explain it to her, even if that came down to showing off.

"It's no trouble," he said, quick to reassure and soothe any slight she might have inadvertently taken from his esoteric words. Just because someone couldn't use magic didn't mean they couldn't understand it. "After all, it's said that the best way to learn something is to teach it, and in this instance, that must mean explaining it as well. Please don't be shy about speaking up if I have lost you in an explanation."

Her hand could, and did, tighten around his, and that, at least, made things easier on her. It was still a steep and slippery climb, even for him in his flat shoes. "It doesn't look far now," he commented.

Though, it would be faster if he could... Closing his eyes a moment, Strange reached out to the Cloak of Levitation, trying to will it to wrap itself around them both to the obvious conclusion, but it only clamped down further on his shoulders like a lonely cat. He'd given up understanding it's moods; perhaps it was merely signalling that it coudln't bear two aloft, even the few feet above the ground they would need.

It hardly mattered. They soon reached the mouth of the tunnel, narrow and low-ceilinged, but passable and level. Strange sent his globe of light ahead of them as they set off down the path, at least until they turned a corner, and an eerie green glow pulsed gently ahead of them. "Well, that does seem promising," he said quietly.

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