[ there are ways you could've helped that didn't involve having sex with him, you know and Strange's brows rise, the distorted mirror of an earlier picture of innocence, half disbelief and half oh, really? astonishing. but there's no time to drop a comment - Steve's moon is coming into play, gearing him up, and there's a moment—
there's a moment where he's reminded of Loki, of Steve's casual reference to a fight he started, to the potential of something unsavory and potentially a little entertaining—
and then Steve takes a breath, allows it to work, and lets it go. lets whatever he was building up to go with it. the crisis seems averted.
then he opens his mouth.
Stephen's twitches in turn. smile? frown? doesn't matter. with a fluid momentum, he raises himself to standing. as he does, the air around them goes warm, rich with static, alight with a power crackling away just out of reach. there's no violence in it, not even as orange sparks hop from random spots of nowhere and die out again, energy buildup behind the scenes of observable reality too much to remain completely contained.
there is, however, a hint of violence in the sharp focus of his eyes. the curve of his smile. this harmless magic a none too subtle reminder that Steve may have impressive brawn and sharp teeth, but he wants to be careful who he picks his fights with. and who he goes around telling what to do. ]
Good of you to step up, Rogers. I'm not quite sure what he would've done without you.
[ When Strange stands as well to square himself up against him, that tugs at some urge inside of Steve. It's not an outright threat, but it's the suggestion of one. After dismissing Steve's reaction to what he and Tony had done, now Strange is rising to up it. He's meeting Steve halfway in the argument, or at least that's how it translates to Steve.
Even that, he might have been able to push past. He would have felt the need to get the last word in, but he also would have been able to walk away.
But then Strange calls on his magic, and even if he doesn't do anything offensive with it, the fact that he makes a show of it is a clear sign that he's posturing. He's showing Steve what he's capable of and establishing himself as a potential threat. The energy sparking around them seems to run through Steve's body like a current, different from Chroma and yet in this instance, no less electrifying. Then, that smug smile becomes the last straw.
What Strange says is ultimately inconsequential. The Sanguis urges in him fully awakened, Steve's tail goes stiff and straight behind him and his ears angle forward. He bends his knees slightly, then pounces, claws extended — ]
[ that smile dropping from his face is the last Steve gets to see of Strange before the swiftly closing distance between them is engulfed in bright amber sparks and he's not pouncing at Stephen Strange anymore, he's pouncing at an empty expanse of hallway, familiar, the residential quarters offered to them on arrival to the city.
if he turns, he'll see nothing but those same sparks sputtering out into nothing.
and if he takes stock of his surroundings after that, he'll find that the nearest door isn't alien either. it's the door to the given apartment of Tony Stark, the place he would've gone to be alone the morning after this whole thing started. ]
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no subject
there's a moment where he's reminded of Loki, of Steve's casual reference to a fight he started, to the potential of something unsavory and potentially a little entertaining—
and then Steve takes a breath, allows it to work, and lets it go. lets whatever he was building up to go with it. the crisis seems averted.
then he opens his mouth.
Stephen's twitches in turn. smile? frown? doesn't matter. with a fluid momentum, he raises himself to standing. as he does, the air around them goes warm, rich with static, alight with a power crackling away just out of reach. there's no violence in it, not even as orange sparks hop from random spots of nowhere and die out again, energy buildup behind the scenes of observable reality too much to remain completely contained.
there is, however, a hint of violence in the sharp focus of his eyes. the curve of his smile. this harmless magic a none too subtle reminder that Steve may have impressive brawn and sharp teeth, but he wants to be careful who he picks his fights with. and who he goes around telling what to do. ]
Good of you to step up, Rogers. I'm not quite sure what he would've done without you.
no subject
Even that, he might have been able to push past. He would have felt the need to get the last word in, but he also would have been able to walk away.
But then Strange calls on his magic, and even if he doesn't do anything offensive with it, the fact that he makes a show of it is a clear sign that he's posturing. He's showing Steve what he's capable of and establishing himself as a potential threat. The energy sparking around them seems to run through Steve's body like a current, different from Chroma and yet in this instance, no less electrifying. Then, that smug smile becomes the last straw.
What Strange says is ultimately inconsequential. The Sanguis urges in him fully awakened, Steve's tail goes stiff and straight behind him and his ears angle forward. He bends his knees slightly, then pounces, claws extended — ]
no subject
if he turns, he'll see nothing but those same sparks sputtering out into nothing.
and if he takes stock of his surroundings after that, he'll find that the nearest door isn't alien either. it's the door to the given apartment of Tony Stark, the place he would've gone to be alone the morning after this whole thing started. ]