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☆♪☆The holly green, the ivy green☆♪☆
☆♪☆The prettiest picture you've ever seen...☆♪☆
Rain was pouring down from the sky that very morning, which did not stop the masters or students from following their daily routines. Most of them kept their rituals in the sacred place. Praying in the inner temple, the elders met before the night was over. Meanwhile, some were running their rounds around the grounds in small groups and others were still asleep in their beds. The individual himself decided which customs and traditions contributed to his well-being at his discretion. As long as there was peace among the people, and no one wanted to hurt his fellow man wilfully, Karma-Taj hardly laid down any rules. The free spirit meant here the highest commandment, which the Sorcerer Surpreme taught everyone with awareness.
As every day before - since Wong had found the woman shivering on the streets of New York, carrying her child in her arms and protecting it from all dangers, had invited her to the Sanctum Sanctorum for tea and warming food, finally leading her to Kamar-Taj after a night with a roof over her head - Stephen Strange, the supreme sorcerer, found her in the back rows. Rarely, as he did that day, alone. Usually leaning against her chest, she kept her beloved boy cradled in a baby sling, while she herself attended the prayers and the child was sometimes the quietest participant during the rituals.
Today she stood there alone, he noticed. Her eyes, though closed, Stephen recognized as swollen and irritated. This was confirmed to him when she looked up and he recognized the strained redness in them. She had hardly slept that night, probably succumbing again to her nightmares and shedding tears. Allowing her child the well-deserved rest, she could only have given him once again in the care of her next-door neighbor, who, because of her own past, delighted every time to hold the child in her arms and be a support to the young mother.
Angélique did not yet realize it herself, but she was a cure for many in Karma-Taj; even for the great Sorcerer Surpreme, Doctor Stephen Strange. Ever since Wong had pulled her out of the rain and led her to him, after the woman had fallen to her knees before him, pressing the child to her breast, weeping and pleading, after Stephen had revealed to her the possibilities of the universes and she had presented to him her smile guided by the deepest gratitude, the man's heart had been set on her. She brought back to his hitherto restlessly led life, full of obligations to which he was responsible, a normality which he had never thought he craved so much.
Before the sorcerer could reach her through the crowd, she set off.
At breakfast, he missed her again, but since the morning rituals, he felt her facial expressions there already more relaxed.
At noon, Angélique practiced mystical arts with a small group. Yet Stephen, meanwhile having a conversation with the great masters, observed that her abilities were failing her that day. She was incapable of more than weak sparkles. Frustrated, the woman left the training early, instead presenting Stephen with the first smile of the day as she embraced her son. With him, she wandered from temple to temple, and in each, she would serve the appropriate rituals: lighting a candle, a few sticks of incense, be it just offering gifts or reciting a faint mantra.
Beaming with joy, he saw Angelique as winter fell from the sky during the afternoon. Snowflakes of all size and splendor created small mountains in the courtyards. Kneeling in the cold, she and her son began to create small snow figures.
Stephen Strange wished at this point that he had not been on his way to another meeting. He would have formed a snowball and aimed it in her direction, but not throwing it at her. Getting her attention, Angélique would have chuckled at him before showing her son how to shape a snowball with his hands. Stephen dreamed of the boy following his mother's instructions and tossing at him. It wouldn't fly three feet, but with the help of the Sorcerer Supreme's magical abilities, Stephen would have guided it in the appropriate direction. It would have landed in his face. Knowing Angélique, she would have almost fainted from fright. However, he prevented this with a laugh and a challenge to fight the boy. He wanted to spend the rest of the day with them and just for once not feel the responsibility of protecting this universe.
But the dream remained only wishful thinking, which continued as he assigned three of his subordinate masters their missions.
At the evening banquet, Stephen watched the woman as she thanked her next-door neighbor again, watching her son again for barely a moment so that she herself could seek out a quick warm bath, as well as change her clothes. Visibly Angélique was hypothermic, despite the meal she had eaten. Only to freshen up and be ready for the cold night, she wanted to leave. The boy patiently stayed with the prospective master, whom he already saw as part of his life, like everyone else here in Karma-Taj.
Stephen Strange rose, bowing out to his interlocutors. As he passed, he amazed the boy by making a paper airplane turn into a dragon in mid-air before it went up in a small fireworks display. Stephen then followed his mother, unnoticed at first, until he matched her slow steps and roused her from her own thoughts.
"Doctor Strange," Angélique noted in surprise. "Can I be of assistance?"
They had known each other for what seemed like an eternity now, and still she dropped none of her pleasantries. He had become a trusted friend to her - in his sensibilities, their relationship with each other extended far beyond that - and yet calling him 'Doctor Strange' was her most intimate form to address him.
"Could be," Stephen continued casually.
"Today I've had a busy day, so I thought it would be appropriate to rest in one of the hot springs, now that many have already gone to their rooms after all."
These last statement he made to maintain her trust, as well as to make it clear that he valued her privacy very much.
Finally, he continued, "I wanted to inquire if you would like to accompany me?"
Adding, he wanted to say, "The weather today has changed rapidly and I can see that you are shivering all over your body. Besides, I want to compensate for my absence today." However, he did not muster the courage to do so. Instead, he waited for her answer.
She seemed to think for a moment, but agreed.
"I'd be very happy to. I promised not to stay away too long, though, so I could still read Howard his story."
"Enough time to take a little break."
Stephen Strange laughingly offered her his hand, which she accepted and let him lead her down the hallways and toward the private hot springs near his chambers.
There, the magician handed her several towels and showed her a place to put her clothes. Shivering, they both left the protective four walls to approach one of the thermal pools. Stephen watched the woman, for these were rare occasions when he got to see so much of her body - her pale, yet magically shimmering skin. Unlike him, who had freed his hair from its braid and now hung over his broad shoulders, she had tied hers into a high knot. This allowed him access to her neck, shoulders and back in particular.
Stephen was about to offer her a hand to make it easier for her to get into the water and become accustomed to the warmth, step by step at first, when, contrary to his expectations, she removed the towel from her body, folded it, and placed it on a stone at the edge of the pool.
He could not turn away from her. Except in his dreams, he had never seen this woman without clothes. Having her very own flaws, her body was even more beautiful than in any of his imaginings. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel his jaw drop. With his mouth faintly open in amazement, his gaze lay on her.
Stephen followed her every movement. She first felt the water by crouching down and forming gentle and faint waves with her fingers before turning to face him and giving a smile. Without a single sign of shame towards him. Stephen had only known her to be shy and reserved for the most part. Until he got her to jump over her own shadow, he thought it would take more time. But now she stood here in front of him and caused a tender tingling in his abdomen, which expanded in all directions. As much as he wanted to take the towel off his waist now, he couldn't, because the blood in his body wasn't just rushing to his cheeks.
He wanted to compliment, or at least ask her to take the first step into the water, but out of his mouth came nothing more than a powerless stutter.
As if Angélique had recognized his nervousness, she assumed a slightly more tense posture and reached for the towel. She held it in front of her body, knowing that Stephen Strange had already received an all-around look.
"I beg your pardon! I wasn't thinking -" Her own voice grew faint, but unlike him, she produced more words. "Years ago, I used to visit the sauna at my gym regularly," she tried to explain herself. "Even though that was so long ago now, I guess I still have that habit -"
Stephen calmed his heartbeat with controlled breaths and regulated his body's functions. How he accomplished this one time that his aroused penis did not show through the thin fabric remained a mystery to him. Probably the fear of losing her suppressed for a moment the excitement in his abdomen. Controlled, he strode towards her and made sure to look only into her eyes. With that, he wordlessly assured her that she neither needed to explain nor apologize.
"Didn't we come here to lean back and forget all our worries for once?" he asked, not expecting an answer. However, he received a smile, as well as a silent agreement.
Returning her expression, he extended a hand and mutely asked for her towel. She willingly handed it to him, whereupon he too removed his around his hips, moving them folded to the side with a delicate movement of his fingers. Before he moved away from her, he did not escape the urge to look down at her nonetheless. He could see her in front of him so many times and still not get tired of the sight. Her breasts, peaking out at him because of the cold, invited him to touch them, which he could not allow himself to do at this point. However, he gently grazed along her sides toward her hips and gently turned her determinately toward the water.
Stephen helped her climb into the pool and then quickly followed her, hiding his once again aroused penis from her.
Seeing the woman floating close to him in the water called back the sensation he had felt when he had touched her only moments before. His fingertips were again overcome by the ecstatic tingling. He felt as if she were the first to bring back in him all sorts of sensations he thought he had long since lost.
Stephen Strange swam to her, for her smile could not have been more inviting to him.
"Ever since you came here, I've been dreaming about you at night," he wanted to tell her.
He was about to put his hands on her hips to feel her soft skin one more time. This time, however, he would not let her go. He would press his body against hers, letting her feel as his penis pressed against her lower abdomen.
Because of his statement and actions, heat would faintly rise to her face, bringing rosy cheeks to the pallor, he imagined.
"What are these dreams about?" she asked, her voice sounding only like a soft breath.
"About loving you," he began seductively, "and marking you as mine."
Stephen wandered along her curves, her torso, taking his time to give her breasts the affection they needed before letting one hand rest against her cheek, the other still gently wrapped around her throat for now.
About his dreams he told her, and at the same time he also carried out every action pronounced.
"You are lying beneath me. Hands and legs I keep pinned, so that you can't escape from me. And you tremble with arousal while I apply pressure to your throat. I grant you enough space to take weak breaths. But sometimes I inadvertently squeeze more firmly, because at the same time I thrust into you with all my strength. And moaning my name slips over your lips. I force you to look into my eyes. Your pupils are dilated. You want more from me. So I command you to scream louder for me - let everyone in Karma-Taj hear that you belong to me. Mine alone. 'Beg me to bless you with another baby,' I murmur to you, kissing your lips, all swollen from the fighting before, one more time. 'Tell me who you - who this body - belongs to, and implore me to fill you with my seed once more.' Your face is all flaming with embarrassment and yet you speak to me, repeating each word as I command you. You try to avert your gaze, but I force you to continue looking into my eyes. I look into your soul, while you reach the highest sensations. You tense around me. Your whole body quivers. From one orgasm after another, your body is overrun... I mark you as my property one more time and grant you that wish."
Stephen Strange restrained himself from this mental game. He could not comply with what he had been imagining behind closed doors at night since she stood desperately on his threshold, begging for sanctuary. In doing so, she paid him respect like no other before. She expressed her gratitude every second since then. However, as long as she was still so insecure and impressionable, he could not present her with this dark side. She would respond to him without hesitation, but he did not want to imagine her eyes that would not shine at him with that glow afterwards. She would hate him, even despise him. He was no better than any other man, he believed, who had thought he had shed his self-centeredness but still possessed it.
"Doctor Strange," her concerned voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Are you all right?"
Startled, he looked down at Angélique. For a faint moment he was overcome with fear that she could have seen every word from his eyes and looked into his soul. For her face was now bathed in radiant redness up to her ears. Stephen quickly realized, however, that this was her body's natural reaction to the temperatures they were both surrounded by.
"I'm fine," he assured her, "I just notice myself that because of the peace and warmth, the burdens on my shoulders are becoming less."
She then gave him her smile again and even came swimming toward him. One hand she placed on his cheek, as she had done so many times before and was simply an intuitive gesture that women developed when they became mothers.
Stephen Strange willingly leaned against the touch, feeling her care as she stroked the many scars. He closed his eyes. She continued, touching him on the shoulder as well. Feeling those small hands over his large and broad shoulders brought out a sense of reality in him. Weakly she began to make massaging movements. Tucking his hair behind his ears incidentally, Stephen could have sworn if he got down on his knees or lifted her up, Angélique would breathe a weak kiss on his forehead to take away even the many fearful thoughts he was harboring.
"You think of your responsibilities day and night, don't you, Doctor Strange?" she asked in a whisper, as if she was afraid to risk his relaxed attitude.
A frown followed a faint nod, and then a deep and drawn-out sigh escaped him, signaling to her that he was now at least trying to throw everything off himself - even just for this one moment.
"Will I ever convince you to call me Stephen?"
The sorcerer opened his eyelids and could no longer hide the fact that it saddened him. He wanted to take their relationship just one small step forward. On the coming Christmas Eve, according to his planning, he would reveal his feelings to her. He loved her and her little boy. He felt safe with them. They were a family to him which had never been granted to him until now. But first, Stephen wanted to overcome these many small hurdles before he faced the biggest one. She should call him by his name and not any title. She was going to be able to trust and rely on him at all times. He was going to become the partner at her side; the man she turned to when she wanted to cry, laugh, be loved, or when the sky started to fall apart over her.
Her hands began to tremble at his statement; before she could remove them from his cheek, he placed his over them. He had brought the tremor under control as much as possible over the years. But in such an emotional situation, that symptom came back. He placed his hands over hers to give her reassurance. It was not her who was nervous. It was him. And she believed him.
For a long time no one made a sound. Stephen Strange saw from her that her thoughts were circling and that she was only searching for the courage within herself to comply with his pleading request.
"Stephen," Angélique finally spoke in a firm voice. It had been worth waiting for.
"As nice as it sounds, I can't assure you that I'll drop my habits so easily," she confessed to him.
A faint smile conjured itself on his face. In response, she relented all the more and assured him:
"At least I can try when we are alone. In public, however, it will be impossible. Surely I can't drop all respect on the brightest day and call the Sorcerer Supreme by his first name while masters and students are watching me."
He took her hands from his face and led them underwater. As he did so, he beamed at her with satisfaction, letting go of her briefly to repeat the same gestures at her. It was a rarity for either to see such a relaxed expression between their wrinkles.
"It gives me normalcy to hear it from your mouth," Stephen Strange spoke, resting his forehead on hers.
With his eyes closed, he dared to ask, "Say, can you try again?"
A happy giggle escaped her throat before she spoke his name softly, full of affection and love.
"...Stephen..."
He would take this with him into his dreams.
In his estimation, this moment could last forever. As his former mentor had said before her death, she extended a single moment to thousands just to see the snow. Now Stephen understood the words more strongly than he had believed at that time. This one moment, this closeness to this loving woman whose heart could not be broken by any calamity in this world, he wanted to savor. Without shyness, she stood before him undressed - though covered by milky murky water - and let his desire for these touches and sensations come true. He wanted to hold her in his arms longer. For now, this intimate embrace was enough for him. To be able to caress her, to press his body against hers, while arousal grew in both of them. Visibly, this moment also pleased her. He had never seen her in this carefree position before. Several times she sighed with pleasure. Neither past nor future stood in their way. It counted only this one moment in the present, both of them being together and the unspoken unconditional love for each other.
☆♪☆
The holly green, the ivy green
The prettiest picture you've ever seen
It's Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home
It's nice, ya know, to kiss your beau
While cuddlin' under the mistletoe
And Santa Clause, ya know of course
Is one of the boys from home
☆ ♪ ☆