ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ (mysticism) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-05-02 17:28:00 |
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The past month had been a relatively quiet one for Mel, perhaps her first since arriving here, and she was grateful. There had been…benefits to some of the situations she'd been forced into, though she hated to admit it. In some ways, they'd set her toward finding herself. And she'd made a few friends along the way. Stephen had mentioned something before about changes in his diet. She hadn't prodded too much. It hadn't been the time, and she wasn't entirely sure it was her place. But it seemed he was ready to give her the opportunity. The Sanctum was certainly something to look at, and Mel didn't have to wonder if she was in the right place. At least it wasn't especially clinical. The more she felt like River, the less she liked feeling studied. She'd made an exception for Stephen, and by now, he'd earned her trust. That didn't mean she wasn't glad to be meeting him in a different setting. The characters on her wrist glowed faintly with a golden-orange light she hardly even noticed anymore, and she flashed him a warm smile. "It's good to see you again, sweetie. How have you been?" When it came to the Sanctum, the house itself was originally an inanimate conduit, most likely, but when any artifact like that was imbued with enough magic over a long enough time, it could achieve a degree of sentience - and now his home had it in spades. Case in point: if the cases containing relics were left dusty or random trails of ooze (you never could tell in Vallo) weren’t cleaned up in a timely fashion, his bathroom would inexplicably disappear for an entire day, or the library would end up in the basement or something. It was also alive, this house, both his and Wanda's energy entwined with the bottomless well, brightening the Sanctum's lights and the fireplaces occasionally igniting themselves when a period of rest after a hard day beckoned. And the wards, they always tinkled in that crystalline alarm bells kind of way whenever there were visitors. Sometimes the Sanctum was even happy to see whomever it was. Stephen often was, anyway - he actually had friends in Vallo too, and it was kind of...weird. Good, but weird. They were settled in the parlor now, him and Melody, and Stephen prepared to be a good host. “I’ve been well,” he said, and he supposed that was true - another day, another new drama. That was life here in Vallo - Murder Mansion was but a blip on the radar, despite how it dug in deep to some dark, sad parts of him that were still highly traumatized and probably would never fully heal. The same way his hands wouldn’t. “Wanda and I found a market where we picked up a lot of food I can eat and she’s going to make our wedding cake too. Which - the food thing,” he sighed. “Yeah, it’s a thing. Can I get you some tea, by the way? Or - something else?” Magic was still something Melody was getting used to. Vallo practically teemed with it, and this place, she swore she could feel it though she had no magical affinity of her own. But regardless which side of her personality was dominating at a given moment, she'd always been more scientifically-minded, always thought there was an explanation for everything. She didn’t believe in magic or ghosts or curses. But in Vallo, she was surrounded by all of the above. Hell, in a way, she thought maybe she was something of a ghost herself. At least it didn’t make her as uncomfortable as it did when she'd first arrived. It probably helped that she seemed to be befriending more than her share of the magically-inclined. She never would have expected that. “Tea would be fine.” She studied him silently for a beat before asking, “Are you still tolerating that? Explain it to me. I know you mentioned your diet had changed. Something to do with your magic?” Tea it was. The clay cups were conjured with a flex of magic, already filled, the tea steaming like a winter cottage’s chimney; the pot with extra sat between them, ready to be poured, and it was good tea too. One of Looking-Glass’s soon-to-be summer blends, chock-full of Vitamin C, a delicate sweetness, earthy roots, and all the charm of a garden. He could drink it, he found, so it was alright - teas that were heavy on the spices, he had to kind of shy away from. “It’s something of an effect from home,” Stephen started. When the last thing he dreamed of was the fabric of reality crumbling, beginning to peel back and turn to purple dust; the stars shrieked like their own orchestra of violins that wept and multiversal energy began to leech in and leave claw marks across the sky. But he had to cast the spell and so he did. He always did. Did what he had to do, did what was hard, so other people wouldn’t even have to worry about it. “Because when I was caught in that timeloop, in the Dark Dimension - there’s no telling how long I was actually there,” he went on. “It changed my physiology. The energy in food that’s typically found on Earth isn’t compatible with me anymore, so I have to turn to food that’s flooded with magical energy or otherworldly energy. There are at least a lot of options in Vallo.” Like that underground market - it was amazing, really. He actually couldn’t wait to go back. One day, Mel told herself, she would get used to that. It was good tea. She listened quietly, letting the warmth from the cup seep into her hands. Hot and cold didn’t seem to affect her like they used to either. “So now you eat...space food?” It wasn’t funny, exactly, because she didn’t care to see a friend struggling. But there was something oddly amusing to her in the thought, maybe because she’d spent a lifetime travelling through space and it didn’t seem any stranger to her than Earth. It struck her, though, that she hardly ever encountered anything in her travels that didn’t agree with her. Unless, of course, it was generally toxic to most living things, and sometimes even then she could get by with it. That’s what good genetics did for you, she supposed. “Well, I don’t know anything about magic,” she said finally, “or what energy the Earth puts out. But I’ve spent an awful lot of time travelling, through space and time both. I never realized anything was all that different.” Space food seemed like the oddest way to describe it, but. “Something like that, yeah,” Stephen chuckled, the sound a bit dry. If he stopped and thought about how depressing it was that he had to stock up on creepy-crawlies (basically the way people ate live octopus, how it was a delicacy?) in his homeworld, the fridge in the Sanctum’s basement a depressing menagerie of things that chirped and clicked and skittered, well. He’d end up down a dark rabbit hole. “Just can’t be Earth-based, I guess. Otherwise I get sick - I won’t be able to digest it,” he said as he gave his tea a bit of a stir and then lifted the cup to take a sip. “I wish it wasn’t that way, but - it is.” He missed actually being able to go to any old grocery store - or churros. He missed churros, ice cream, spicy noodles, things like that. Slowly he was learning to find the correct substitutes and make it work but - sometimes it could be annoying. He took another sip, soothed by the hot liquid. “Our worlds are different, or - maybe you hit the luck of the draw with some type of resistance.” That would make sense, actually. Earth food and food from, well, most anywhere else she'd been was all relatively the same to Melody. But then, humans had rather made a presence for themselves throughout the Universe. “I'm sorry, sweetie.” It sounded dreadful, honestly. Melody or River, she tended to live for the moment, do what suited her, and damn the consequences. She'd never cared much for limitations. Tilting her head, she shrugged. “I was conceived on a timeship while it was travelling through the vortex. That's at least partly why I am who I am.” She chose not to mention there had likely been further meddling in her genetics besides. “If I’m feeling especially sentimental, I call her my other mother.” “That’s sweet,” Stephen grinned a bit, and he supposed that being conceived in a timeship of all places allowed for an interesting story - and a lot of interesting quirks. “I’m not sure if this is the best time to ask and I’m not even sure how to ask, but - would you still be okay with working on research with me?” Coming out and asking for a blood sample over tea was probably rude and while Strange wasn’t usually the type to give many fucks about that (he was always blunt, and didn’t have trouble saying what he meant or offering his opinion on something) he was actually a lot more aware of the feelings of friends. And cognizant. And wanting to not ruffle feathers if he didn’t have to. Maybe they called this ‘growth,’ he wasn’t sure - difficult to tell, when his only friends back in his world had been Christine (the so-called love of his life, who had clearly moved on from him) and Wong (who probably only just tolerated him, at best, even if they argued like an old married couple sometimes). Mel grinned back, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “You should meet her.” She did miss the TARDIS, terribly some days. It wasn’t home, exactly. No, she’d realized long ago that her home would always be with the Doctor. But she'd always had a special bond with the time machine, unique from the Doctor’s but equally difficult to explain. And the two rather did come as a set. His question, though, she seemed to give real consideration, even if her answer suggested otherwise. “Darling, you shouldn’t have to ask. I don’t change my mind that easily. I’ve made no secret of the fact I don’t care to be anyone’s experiment or the reasons for that, but I believe we can trust each other.” Her smile this time was uncharacteristically embarrassed, and she took a drink to cover it. “And I’ve much more control over my younger self’s instincts now.” She’d maybe nearly forgotten she’d warned him about said instincts when they first met. But a few decent nights’ sleep and finally starting to accept that she was neither Mel nor River but both had done wonders. At the mention of I believe we can trust each other, Stephen smiled too - it was something relieved, something actually a bit soft. Because he was soft, believe it or not - beneath the stubborn, determined doctor who rose from the ashes to grasp onto a renewed sense of purpose, a renewed will to live and who actually learned a smattering of humility at the same time he learned spells, Sanskrit, and the secrets of the universe? Yeah, there was still someone who still had a lot of learning to do. Someone who was saddled with new burdens, walking a lonely path, but also needed to realize that he didn’t have to shoulder every burden alone and it didn’t have to be this way - if there were friends who were willing to help, he should let them step in. He had to try. It seemed like a good start, anyway. “You can trust me,” he agreed. “We can trust each other - and I think your younger self’s instincts are impressive, just as there’s still a lot that’s impressive about you too.” She was definitely both - River and Melody, and there was nothing wrong with that either. That could be a difficult lesson for people like them, one River had never quite learned. Even after she'd died, she couldn’t seem to stop hiding the damage, trying to spare the Doctor's hearts at the expense of her own. But things were different now. She was different. Those she trusted to share the damage were still few in number, but she was glad to count Stephen among them. If Mel could help him in return, then she was happy to do that, too. “Thank you.” She chuckled, more a soft release of breath than a proper laugh. “You know, I never minded intimidating people. Sometimes it was even a little bit satisfying to see the fear in their eyes. But when the ones who shouldn’t get the same look...” She didn’t finish the thought, banishing it with a shake of her head. “Anyway. What do you need from me? I assume you’re hoping to look into my particular resistance, whether or not it's specific to my world? Or I guess it would be River's world.” “I think that’d be helpful, yes,” Stephen nodded, pouring another cup of tea for himself after telekinetically lifting the pot - on days when his hands were extra shaky, the trembling got to be too much for even mundane tasks. Today was an okay day, but he still sometimes let magic run on autopilot for a lot of things regardless - especially here in the Sanctum, where it was woven into the walls and in the floorboards and just a part of everything. “I figure we can start with a blood sample? I have some friends I also work with who helped me with my own investigation into why I couldn’t digest certain foods anymore - it was in a medical setting but I’ll try to help it be not as clinical as possible.” He gestured around them, the Sanctum perking up and even responding a bit to it all - the gothic townhouse was definitely alive, it seemed to understand most everything and was a part of Stephen too. “There are other bits of research we can do here too. I’ll see if I can set up some more scans with the time stone, maybe the magic can pick up on something time-related and we can use that.” And he thought of something else too. Something cheerful, at least. “It might be a little slow-going - our wedding is soon and Wanda’s catering the whole thing herself. Making the cake too.” She wanted to be sure Stephen could eat it, which he appreciated - but basically tying the knot was his priority, and making sure that day went off as smooth as could be. She smiled at his consideration. “I appreciate that.” Offering herself up this way, Mel knew feeling like she was under the microscope was unavoidable, but it meant something to her that he cared about her comfort. “A blood sample hardly seems much to ask, and as I said, I trust you. If you trust them, I’m willing to work with them. You'll just have to introduce us.” The way the Sanctum behaved (because that was the only word that felt appropriate) with Stephen reminded her a little of the TARDIS, and she nearly said so. She could sense it. Just as the TARDIS interacted with the Doctor – or her – anticipating, adjusting, and encouraging. She wondered if he talked to his house the same way she and the Doctor talked to their ship. “I do feel the need to point out, dear, I’m...let's call it time lord adjacent. I expect you'll find something time related.” Her very nature, for instance. Mel settled back in her seat, idly spinning her cup in her hands, around and around again, always seeming to have too much restless energy when she was sitting still. “I know we haven’t known one another long, but I am happy for both of you. I’m sure the wedding will be lovely.” She gave a mild shrug, smiling. “And I’ll be here.” No need to dwell on any other possibility, she’d decided. Not that she'd hate to go back to Vegas. But it wasn’t really her home anymore either. “In the meantime, is there anything else I can do? Any questions I can answer, maybe?” “We’ll both be here,” Stephen agreed. “And I’d love if you came to the wedding too - it’s going to be relatively small, atop a mountain, but if we need to sort of adjust the space mechanics we can,” he smiled a bit. Not actual space, but just the idea of cramming a bunch of people on top of a mountain - it was amazing how he had more friends than anticipated, and if they were all going to bring a plus one (or most of them were, he assumed - no pressure if otherwise) then he wanted people to be comfortable. “There will be portals for easy travel. Anyway, right - “ Questions, yes. He was a scholar, really, someone who didn’t exactly go for the punch-punch option when it came to defeating enemies - he hadn’t punched Dormammu, who was far more powerful than him, and ultimately Thanos had been defeated by careful planning and (painful) strategy. A strategy he still felt guilty about to this day, but that was neither here nor there. Point was, he valued intellect and problem-solving skills - and his diet issue was definitely a problem that would take a unique perspective to fully solve. “Tell me more about how one becomes...a Time Lord? Just curious.” Adjusting the space mechanics sounded like just the sort of thing the Doctor would do, except the Doctor would probably make it twice as complicated as it needed to be first. She couldn’t help a quiet laugh. “I'm sure it will be beautiful. I wouldn’t miss it.” Mel also tended to be a questions first type. River, on the other hand...well, River was more shoot first and who cares about the questions. She was happy to leave the talking to the Doctor. But the Doctor wasn’t here, and she had other strengths. “Most people assume it's a species, anyone born on Gallifrey, but it's more of a rank, given to those who went through the Academy. Mainly Gallifreyans. Part of the process involves staring into the time vortex.” Obviously, that wasn’t the route River had taken. “I apparently inherited similar traits by being a child of the TARDIS, a child of Time. An ability to understand what has been, what is, and what will be. What's still in flux and what must always be.” She smiled. “And no, I'm not claiming to know everything. Not even close. But an actual time lord might.” Staring into the time vortex, well, Stephen supposed that was one way to do it - he supposed he did something similar, when he held the time stone and lived to tell the tale, but he was certainly no Time Lord. He liked learning about the differences between worlds, however - it just showed him that if one specific way to skin the cat (crudeness aside) wouldn’t work, then there was always another. Always more learning to do. “Knowing everything seems like it’d be an awful burden,” Stephen winced jokingly. “And we all have enough of those to deal with.” He thought he recalled other ‘Time Lords’ being in Vallo before, and they were also still subject to the whims of the world - coming and going, not being able to leave before it was their due. That sort of thing. Maybe there was just something about this particular pocket dimension - it had its pulls. And now he didn’t want to leave. “Interesting though. I also think that some mysteries in life are good too, right?” “That we do.” It was an easy agreement. River had known too much sometimes. Her story had been written even before she was born, her birth and death fixed points in a loop that would always begin and end the same way. To change it would risk unravelling the entire timeline. “I’ve always liked a little mystery. I wish there’d been more of it in my life then.” Not that her life hadn’t had its surprises. “But the time lords, they’re very...superior; and they wanted to stay that way, so they tried to eliminate any uncertainty, any chance of failure. Of course, they don’t really know everything, but don’t tell my wife that.” There was the briefest pause of consideration. “Not that she wouldn’t agree, so long as you weren’t referring to her.” For as much as she still loved the Doctor, it was clear Mel didn't have much love for the rest of the time lords. But they hadn’t thought much of her, either. If there was someone who knew about fixed points in time and what you risked if one was unraveled like a ball of yarn, going and going? It was Stephen. Or one version of him anyway, who had selfishly destroyed the universe because he couldn’t just leave that fixed point in time be. No therapy would be enough to ‘get over’ that guilt, and it all just kept piling it on - one of these days he was going to snap, most likely, based on dreams of his home which invaded his memories. Just disappear into a cave at the very tippy-top of a mountain someplace here in Vallo. Live alone. Might even be nice, or what he deserved. But for now, he’d try to keep the focus. “I promise not to reveal the secret to your wife,” he smirked. “...what was she like? Tell me more about her.” And he’d probably find snacks to go along with this tea - things he could actually eat. Other him was selfish but he was also selfish enough, right now, to want to keep this. And that was perfectly fine. "The Doctor?” She laughed, setting down her cup. Of course, Mel had an ex-wife, as well, but she would always be married to the Doctor. In any universe, in any lifetime. She didn’t care what name either of them used. “Well, for a start, she’s usually a man.” Judging by the way Mel was settling back into her seat, that might be the least interesting thing about her. Hopefully Stephen wouldn’t mind her company a while longer. |