THE APPRENTICE (DOCTOR STRANGE STORY)

6

The past few days have been tough for Hazel. Strange has been exceptionally cold to her, and she felt as though her mere presence was putting him off. Every time she'd do something well, he's only point out what she did wrong.

"You're rusty," He would always say, or "stop messing around!"

However, she didn't let him see that he was giving her a hard time. She couldn't, cause then she'd be seen as weak. Instead of making things better for her, however, it has made things worse. He's been getting stricter and stricter by the second, not knowing his limits.

"Wolfe!"

"Yes!" Hazel immediately jumped up as she was painting a piece of paper with some black ink. She stood up on her feet and ran to training grounds, to see Strange "what is it?"

"I...have something for you." Strange said quite sheepishly, hiding something behind his cloak and standing behind a wall.

"I- wait." Her voice dropped "is it another bug? Because I swear, if it's another bug I'm gone. You can't keep giving me those exotic bugs- do you know how paranoid I get about them? Did you see that last one you put on my shoes? It was all brown and gross-" she shuddered at the memory of Strange's tricks and pranks

"No, it's not a bug" he gave her a look, throwing her off for a little bit "really. It's not. Hazel- it's not a bug!" She tilted her head and slowly walked to him "or is it?" He muttered

"What?"

"What?" He raised his eyebrows, causing her to narrow her eyes at him suspiciously "aaand not a bug!" He elated, bringing out some robes.

"Woah" her eyes rounded as she investigated it "what are these?"

"They're your robes. I got them made since none of the others fit you." He showed her the dark green robes which put a smile on her face "go try them on"

"Okay!" She chirped and ran to her room. Her robes were unique, like his. They were a deep, dark green, the skirt stopping at her ankle with slits on them. She had black pant-robes underneath them, and on top was a hooded cloak with the same shade of green. The fabric had some kind of intricate, golden pattern at the hem of it, lining the garments and complimenting the colour. Around her waist, was a golden belt that looked like a rope, and from her hands to her elbows, green, fingerless gloves.

Hazel ran back to Strange, presenting herself to him with a smile on her face. Stephen's face softened at the sight; it was a perfect match.

"I knew gold and green were your colours" he smirked to himself "and I added a hooded cloak, too, since you liked hoodies so much"

"Looking good, Wolfe!" Wong walked to them, smiling "I like it. The style is good on you, and the colour compliments your skin tone."

"Thank you" She said sheepishly, then looked at him, her cheeks almost touching her eyes "Thank you for this, it's- they look great, thank you"

"Yeah, sure, kid. It's only because you needed them. I don't want you breaking them or dirtying them." He ordered sternly, putting on a tough face. "You should-you should continue doing your...things."

"Yeah." She nodded furiously and left the scene hastily and excitedly.

"She's just an ordinary student, huh?" Wong raised his eyebrows in a mocking way, causing Doctor Strange to furrow his

"Yeah, I just gave her some robes" he shrugged coolly "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Those were some of the best fabrics we had in the whole monastery. I think you know that, don't you?"

"They were the only ones that looked good on her" he reasoned "did you expect me to get her dressed in old rags?"

"No, but I didn't expect you to dress her like a princess" he shot back "is Strange going soft on little Wolfe?" He cooed, poking his arm around

"Shut up." He pressed his lips together, the cloak whipping Wong's face "why'd you come here, you had the constipated face on before you saw us"

"Right." He scratched his head "it's Gyor-"

"Who is that again?"

"The man who tried to steal the relic" Wong said impatiently "he's starting to go nuts, I think. He's been trying to escape, and he started to mutter black magic spells. Some people even claimed to have seen him banging his head on the bars again and again"

"He's probably just acting up" Strange rolled his eyes and turned away "he's just looking for a way to leave his cell; pretend he's sick so he can get healed. Don't let him out, it's not right."

"That's what I thought."

"But?"

"But he's known to practice dark magic, so maybe...-"

"Dormamu's gone, I made a bargain." Strange shut his idea off immediately "he has no one to worship, the one in charge of the dark world made a vow"