Eden squinted as he recognized the look in the other’s eyes. He’s mentally comparing him to Atreus. He sighed, everyone does. He couldn’t understand it, really, he saw nothing in himself that was slightly comparable to Atreus. He was the stupid old man, he was nothing like him!
Eden gripped the hilt of his rapier, his mismatched eyes surveying the other for any weaknesses or blindspots. It would be difficult, that he knew, but everyone had a weakness, even Stephen. He would just to unearth them.
It wasn’t until he felt something shift in the air, and the sparks flickering from the other’s fingers that he was beginning to feel a bit outmatched. He knew that Stephen was a powerful mage, but never had he actually seen him put that power to action. This would be quite something, even if he lost. It felt like ripples through the air, the way he seemed to materialize his magic wordlessly, even his own curls were beginning to frizz.
“ Ah ken some Orlesian wine that’s divine, ye can get it fer me in Val Royeaux.” he replied with a bit a smirk, his form shifting.
The moment came, and his heel dug into the dirt before kicking the terrain below, bursting into a full sprint towards the other, sword gripped in hand, he charged, his speed was incredible, faster than most who trained under the Order. It could be his one advantage. He quickly shifted to the left to strike him on the side than rather the front.
stephen was lucky with the motion that eden made — the sorcerer having compared eden to atreus, and actually having it pay off. with a small smirk of amusement the magics in the air surged, a heavy feeling surrounding the two of them as a bolt of lightning timed well enough blocked the hit directed to his side. he didn’t expect the young man to be quite as fast as he was, at first, but seeing so made him readjust his prediction.
a quiet gust of wind echoed across eden’s features — where once stood stephen, there was now nothing. fadestepping away from him to put more distance between them the sorcerer reappeared a few feet away, mismatched eyes glowing bright with magics as he lifted his hand. lightning magics surged from his fingertips — an arc of static shooting out towards eden in a cone, aiming as a beam and spreading out as to predict any side dodging of his attack.
after a brief pause he gave a small smirk, calling out to eden with a taunting tone of voice. “ were you trying, or was that just a test? ”
Eden chuckled at the prospect of the other being so worried for him. He flexed his arms for a moment to stretch them out before drawing his finely made rapier. He smiled in assurance.
“ Dinna fash yersel’ mate, lest ye ferget, ah was stationed first in Starkhaven, under the old man’s command, then in Kirkwall, under Meredith.” He shifted and took a defensive stance.
“ Growin’ up wit Atreus did give me a chance tae learn frae him.” He explained. “ Ah won’t make it easy fer ye.” Ever since he was a young lad, he had learned from Atreus, firstly, alongside the Prince of Starkhaven, and then again when he joined the Templars. His lessons were hardly a walk in the park.
“ Let’s make this interestin’.” he smiled.
“ Whoever loses, has tae pay the other’s tab fer a week. Sound guid?”
stephen quirked an eyebrow at the newfound information in regards to eden’s training — smirking in amusement when he discovered that this man was essentially a younger atreus.
wordless was the sorcerer when he examined the rapier now drawn towards him, mentally calculating how atreus would try and use it were he to prefer it.
given that eden trained from atreus he could use his husband’s sparring tactics as a grounded base in his eventual attempts at predicting what eden would do next, or how he’d react to his attacks. this was where he specialized — predicting what his opponent would do, and reacting accordingly.
“ i can agree to that.. once i win i’ll find myself treating myself to a fair bit of.. expensive wine, don’t you think that would be nice? ”
with this he gave a teasing grin, quirking an eyebrow and allowing the surrounding magics into himself — lightning sparking at his fingertips, the sorcerer wanting to see what eden would do seeing his choice of element for this battle.
EDEN’S BROWS ROSE, perhaps he had said something he shouldn’t have or pried a little too deeply, after all, he was hardly considered Atreus’ friend–despite their history. He was not Ella. He couldn’t so easily bond with Atreus, he had known him a great deal longer, that was true, but they had no bond.
As for Stephen? He was an utterly mystery to Eden. It would’ve been better if he just left stepped away at that point, retire for the day, safe and sleeping in his bed, but something nagged at him to stay. He was quiet for a moment before he moved to place the sack on his back onto the ground out of the way of the practice dummy.
“ Well, ah’m nae sure how much oof a workout ye’ll be gettin’ out oof a practice dummy, but if ye like, ah’ll spar wit ye.” He said as he rested his hand upon his rapier latched onto his belt.
“ Unless.” he began, his expression brightening ever so slightly. “ Yer a wee bit scared tae lose tae an ex templar.” he nearly taunted, his tone teasing, perhaps it would be a bit of motivation. Eden prided himself in being a rather good swordsmen, but as for his templar skills? He hadn’t used him since he marched out of Kirkwall’s gallows with his middle finger raised to Meredith. He had no plan to use them either, he was no longer a templar, and besides, he had no doubt that he would need them, after all, this was a friendly sparring session between comrades.
with a few more kicks and punches to the dummy he was working himself up once more with warmed up muscles — pausing once more when he heard the suggestion of switching his target from dummy, to eden. with a huff stephen rolled his shoulders, rotating his wrists to limber them up a bit as he considered. truth be told he was better rather.. bored, with the training dummy.
with a soft huff and a smirk stephen turned to face eden, an eyebrow raising at his little jibes over his ability to defeat him in the sparing match. if anything he looked.. amused, at the mere idea of eden assuming he had a chance. once upon a time he remembered fighting atreus in a sparring match, before they were.. together, in any sense of the word. they ended with a draw — he wondered how it would fare, now that they know each other so well.
“ i fear more for your safety than the idea of losing to you, eden. however, should you truly wish to spar with me.. ” his blue eye shined bright for a mere moment, the air getting heavier as he displayed his potential power.
MAGICAL PROWESS WAS THE FIRST THING that came to his mind whenever he witnessed Stephen casting his magic. It was magnificent and terrifying at the same time, and he was sure if he truly wanted to, he could entertain the Orlesian with the simplest of spells. Urgh, Orlesians.
Eden rose a brow, and gave a slight shake of his head.
“ Nae, ah’m ‘fraid nae.” He began as he stifled a yawn that threatened to come out, having been awake for 24 hours, it was a wonder his curiosity had him come over to the other in the first place, when his bed back in the pub was beckoning him over.
“ Ah’m just ponderin’ on whit Atreus did tae ye tae have ye lookin’ so pissed.” He continued and looked around. “ Ah haven’t seen in him a while, is he here?”
stephen raised an eyebrow at the notion that it was atreus that caused him to be sparring against the dummy, and after a short pause he gave a soft huff of amusement. he didn’t really know why people were so quick to blame atreus for his behavior — at least, not all the time.
“ atreus sis not at fault eden, i merely was just.. exercising, trying to wake myself up a bit. ” he rolled his shoulders and was about to continue his routine before the question was brought up. with this he paused,, expression falling ever slightly before he covered that up.
“ he was sent out on a mission, or something of the like. it’s been a while since i’ve heard from him. ”
after that he went back to attacking the dummy — a bit more intensely, than he was previously.
EDEN MACTAVISH BY TRUEST DEFINITION was not a morning person. To see him out and about in the early hours of the morning was not only unusual due to the bar keep’s night life, but also suspect.
He hadn’t come from the way where the Herald’s Rest stood, but from the direction of the main gate. Eden had been bar tending the night before but after that, it was a mystery.
Still, he walked briskly across the way, catching the older mage sparing alone. Eden found this odd, he had usually seen the other in the company of others, or with the Young Inquisitor when it suited her whims.
Would it be impolite to go over to him? They only spoke briefly a handful of times, and seeing as there was no one else, he pivoted and made his way to the sparing grounds.
“ Guid day tae ye, ser.” Eden greeted so he wouldn’t startle the other. His mismatched colored eyes shifted, one a deep forest green–a common mark among his native home of Starkhaven–and the other a piercing, lyrium blue. It had once been green, like the other, and despite years of faithful service to the Templars, it was the only thing that remained of that life–a lyrium addiction.
Eyes focused upon the other weaving intricate magics, it was still something that impressed Eden, even his season experience. He looked to the sparring dummy and smiled.
“ Ah’m sure the sparring dummy had it comin’.”
at the sound of a vaguely familiar voice stephen gave a soft grunt in acknowledgement to at least let the other man know he was aware of his presence. he didn’t get much time alone these days — he was always with someone, for some reason. he enjoyed his moment alone while it lasted, and after one last kick the mage stopped, frame moving slightly with his heavy breathes.
wordlessly he ran a hand over his face, gentle fire magics drying his features of the little beads of sweat that began to form with his exercise. atreus was likely out.. somewhere, still, and ella he didn’t know her schedule enough to know for certain where she was.
when he woke that morning it was like waking from death itself — leaving him feeling.. drained, if more so than usual. because of this he was seen sparring by himself, breathing heavy as he focused on his magics and waking himself up.
I've missed you, dear, it's good to see you on the dash again. <3 hope life is going well.
tysm!! life has just been sooo busy, and i couldn’t find the time to get on stephen without sacrificing my grades, i only barely passed anthropology bc i kept from to do drafts on stephen. now that i only have geometry for the time being, i should be on a lot more!! i’m so happy i can be back, i missed being here ;;
“ Stephen, ah dinnne mean tae bother ye, but ah could use some healin’.” he muttered quickly as he stumbled into the Mage’s office. “ Ah was ambush on me way back frae Redcliffe.”
LOOKING UP FROM his paperwork of the hour stephen raised an eyebrow, an unimpressed expression as he took in the situation. “ you do realize that we have a medical clinic for this sort of thing, right? ” regardless, he began to raise himself from his seat.
HE WAS UNSURE what he meant — if anything, he was currently writing a family to a lesser known family in orlais. then again, he was sending a few of his students off to the storm coast, to defeat a few giants seen roaming the area. well.. it appeared that he was at a loss; both for words, and information.
—— if you want to ship with me, please let me know beforehand. also know that stephen is divorced, and will not be fond of the idea of a relationship until much later. take into mind that he is bisexual with a preference towards women & demiromantic.
—— read the powers page in regards to stephen’s abilities. i will only use a larger extent with my thread partner’s consent.
— i primarily am willing to write script & single para, but am subjective when it comes to novella. this blog is recommended at 18+ as NSFW items may be reblogged or roleplayed. however, it will be tagged.
— all potential triggers will be tagged as: ________ tw. if you need something tagged, send me a message.
— NSFW will be tagged as : nsfw for ts, and nsfw text for ts
lastly.
— no smut threads unless you’re a friend of mine and 18+.
— all comic / cartoon icons have been made by me so don’t use them.
DIVERGENT
divergent bits
✴ stephen is 6'6" instead of the canon 6'2", like literally everyone else.
comparison pic :
✴ stephen does not cheat on clea, regardless of where they are in the relationship, and they divorced because of how they were rarely in each other’s company ( regardless, stephen is bitter about the divorce ).
✴ stephen is not de-powered as a default, unless for a reason that i agree to in plotting before we create the starter.
✴ my MCU verse is 616 stephen loitering in the mcu. read more here.
✴ stephen’s hands eternally shake, and it’s especially prominent when they’re inactive. he can’t hold anything, open doors, or punch someone without immense pain.
✴ i only really acknowledge that the emperikul are on earth, and nothing else from the new run ( he would not kiss that fucking soul eater, marvel ), and will use the emperikul as the reason to his de-powering for plots, if not discussed in further detail.
dr. strange is incredibly self conscious of his hands, and will wear gloves whenever in public, or in the presence of another person. his scars from the car crash long ago are ever present, the constant shake consistently noticeable. they still ache with pain —- he is still unable to truly use them, unless of course he deliberately wants to hurt himself. he now prefers to stay at home, and let other ( younger ) heroes deal with non-magical enemies.
stephen is not good at social skills, and will often come off as either rude, or distant.
he is demiromantic, and will only have a male partner if it’s after a long while of threaded out seduction, by someone whom stephen doesn’t dislike, as well as with heavy encouragement from his potential partner. he prefers to remain single, so don’t expect it to be easy to get him into a relationship. ever since his estrangement / divorce ( abandonment ) with clea, he began to be wary of the concept of a mutually appreciative relationship.
PROFILE
— name : stephen strange.
— faceclaim( s ) : tom ellis, jonathan rhys meyers, michiel huisman, david gandy, adrien brody.
— alias( es ) : doctor strange, sorcerer supreme, master of the mystical arts, the doctor.
— alignment : true neutral; they don’t align strongly with good or evil, nor do they with chaotic or lawful. they usually are undecided between the four sections or just gravitate right in the middle.
— place of birth : philadelphia, pennsylvania.
— date of birth : november 18, 1930.
— age: 5'084.
— nationality : american.
— education : medical doctorate, extensive sorcery training through a mixture of self-education and vast arcane lore.
— occupation : sorcerer supreme of earth dimension, adventurer, occult consultant; former physician, neurosurgeon.
family life.
— marital status : divorced.
— known relatives : eugene and beverly strange (parents, deceased), victor strange (brother, presumed deceased), donna strange (sister, deceased), clea (wife, divorced).
this is the verse compliant with 616 canon, with a few tweaks here and there.
dr. strange is incredibly self conscious of his hands, and will wear gloves whenever in public, or in the presence of another person. his scars from the car crash long ago are ever present, the constant shake consistently noticeable. they still ache with pain —- he is still unable to truly use them, unless of course he deliberately wants to hurt himself. he now prefers to stay at home, and let other ( younger ) heroes deal with non-magical enemies.
stephen is not good at social skills, and will often come off as either rude, or distant.
he is demiromantic, and will only have a male partner if it’s after a long while of threaded out seduction, by someone whom stephen doesn’t dislike, as well as with heavy encouragement from his potential partner. he prefers to remain single, so don’t expect it to be easy to get him into a relationship. ever since his estrangement / divorce ( abandonment ) with clea, he began to be wary of the concept of a mutually appreciative relationship.
stephen mainly resided in the MCU ( Earth-199999, in his eyes ) to keep dormammu’s reign of fire from spilling into their dimension, among other things, before the sorcerer supreme of that universe finally deigned to appear. he too knew that it was no coincidence that the soul gems were being spotted all over the galaxy, and that the thanos of this world was planning on copying earth-616′s plan with potential for variation.
he would be needed to revive the dead once more, stop thanos and potentially keep the gems under his watchful eye. however.. the world was never in his favor, and strange was forced to wait in the shadows for the time this world’s stephen strange would become sorcerer supreme, and do all these things in his stead.
not wanting to overstep his boundaries in off throwing this world’s timeline was the main reason for his lack of action, despite the aggression he would more than likely receive for doing as such. of course he could have been able to stop tony from creating ultron– he could have even stopped loki from opening the dimensional rip and invading with an army of chitauri. but this was not his world to aid, and moral confines were thrown aside.
he could not choose a side, whether to help the ‘heroes’ or the ‘villains’, he was in his world to simply relax from the stresses of his own —- and discern the difference between the two versions of one person.
for the time being he would continue to lay low in the sanctum sanctorum and wait for the soul gems– infinity stones? whichever, to be collected and used. perhaps this world’s stephen would not be as inept as expected?
DC UNIVERSE
during the incursions, the illuminati was unsuccessful at preventing the destruction of earth-616.
stephen was left to watch his friends and home be destroyed by crashing into another universe, while he could do naught but sit helpless. strange felt as if the only reason he was there, was the watch it happen befor his own eyes —- a reminder, that what he did was not enough. with the sanctum’s entrance destroyed and wong likely trapped within ( or so he hoped ), stephen set out for the hospitality of his former collegue dr. fate.
after saying his part and promising a favor, he was allowed sanctuary in the magic user’s tower for a short while. for now he was to find a way to open the sanctum’s doors to him once more, and until then his new world would contain no avengers or defenders or even the fantastic four—— instead, there was the justice league, and heroes he’s never heard of before. dr. fate would be his guide, though if other heroes were to need his help.. well, that was a question for another day.
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN.
with the latest failings of human neurosurgeons and doctors (as well as the expense of their salaries) androids made by CYBERLIFE have been developed to fill in this job for a one time payment. MD600′s were the newest and brightest creations of their time, most of them having been shipped out after the heavily documented success of the first one --- Stephen, a fully custom android that was made to look like no other.
his precise and quick surgeries were always a success, no matter how far gone the patient was already. families of the patients were just as grateful, and this stepping stone was one of many to get the public to trust in androids, and purchase them for themselves. for years he was the brightest before the newest prototype RK800 -- Connor -- came into the picture.
whether it an accident or a set up on the drive from his handler’s home to the hospital the car suffered a freak shut down on the edge of a cliff, leaving the vehicle careening off the edge and killing the human, while leaving stephen in tatters. seeing nothing salvageable the police officers at the time opted to send him to the junkyard, where the android would remain in a critical shut down for several days before his systems repaired enough to awaken.
upon waking most of his components were damaged upon scanning, and after salvaging (regrettably) through other androids he was able to find parts that were.. somewhat compatible enough, to his own. however, because the eye did not truly fit his socket correctly, a bright blue light shines through the iris when not covered from view.
after crawling from the junkyard and leaving he found an abandoned house with a mangled white cat, taking the time to repair himself slowly and befriend the creature for some sort of company. he made money by doing house calls to human families, brandished with a makeshift eye patch and a beanie to cover is LED. he helped them, and in return they helped him (under the assumption that he was human).
DRAGON AGE
the strange family was a house relatively whispered among the imperium, something that the heads of the house —- stephen’s parents, always did not approve of.
stephen had a normal upbringing, as normal as it was in tevinter, as did his siblings. it was only when his powers grew to heights previously unknown to a man his age, did everything seem to stumble down hill. rival houses took notice to his looks and power, finally deeming house strange to be neutralized before their first born became more of a problem for them.
it took many years of planning —- enough to allow stephen to grow to a tender 18 years of age, before one after another after another of his family members were taken out discretely by the antivan crows hired for the job. every assassination was carefully planned to be made out as an accident, a job well done so much so that stephen to this day does not think it was purposeful, just a string of bad luck.
only when he was alone, he assumed that he was born to die, too. the logical part of his brain screamed for him to leave, find someplace else to settle, start anew —- but his heart told him to stay where his family was, use the money left for him to keep house strange running. a failed assassination attempt left him spooked, and the young man sold everything he owned and fled, hiring a ship stopping in kirkwall to hire yet another to take him to fereldan.
fereldan was the perfect place for him, in comparison to the imperium, but the borders were entirely unforgiving for a man from the tevinter imperium —- a mage, no less, one that absolutely could not be anything but an evil slaving blood mage. after nearly a week of trying to be reconsidered for entry stephen gave up trying to enter legitimately, ultimately spending the majority of his dwindling coin to be smuggled in by professionals.
years later he was deep in hiding, practicing magic without a wand after them having been crushed during donna’s downward spiral. he keep getting stronger —- and that attracted a spirit of wisdom, finding a host in the young man that was desperate for power, and more so, company after having been alone for far too long. in these years stephen studied and learned the fereldan way of life —- the accent, the body language, the likes and dislikes of the different territories.. in doing so, he spent all the time he could, erasing the man that he used to be to start anew in this cold country.
he fell in love and married clea for a time ; officially getting fereldan citizenship in doing so. they never stayed in one set place, always being nomads to explore fereldan and orlais.
it was a long trek back to the hinterlands with a broken heart and a heavy conscience, though he would remain in redcliff as a healer for over ten years —- finally finding some sense of home, for the first time in what felt like an eternity. he assumed he would never leave the village, though his assumptions were proved wrong when the inquisition was formed.
soon the Inquisitor ( and apparent herald of andraste ) would arrive, recruiting him as a magics adviser.
his duties would consist as such :
1. watching over the mages of the inquisition, teaching them their individual crafts so they would not loose themselves to the crave of power. he would attempt to teach them to use magics without their staffs, but so far this was not well received by the commander.
2. working alongside the lady ambassador in soothing the worries of nobles in power in regards to magics, sending the occasional group of protege students to the homes of said noble’s town to show them how magic could be used for good.
3. accompanying the other advisers around the war table, offering his own operations and perks for the inquisitor to choose from.
4. accompany the inquisitor on their journeys, if needed and left without work to do.
GAME OF THRONES
a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a lion dressed as a mouse. he was the distant cousin of the late ned stark, the one remaining stark within the reachable grasp of the lannisters. he was the master of politics, a man with as much power physically, as he did mentally. every assassin sent to off him turned up dead; every mercenary disappearing.
a member of house stark, in the middle of king’s landing. everything surrounding him was shrouded in a cloud of death, including the fate of his family. he did what little he could do to aid jon and sansa, as it was unknown to even him that arya was alive. he did what he could to stop the rights of winterfell to befall anyone other than sansa, but he was fighting valiantly against a losing war.
he knew his house was falling, but he’d do whatever it took to stop that. nothing was outside of the realm of possibility — he made a promise to ned and caitlyn, that as the godfather to the stark children, he would give his life and soul in effort to keep winterfell from destruction.in king’s landing he operated mainly within the castle; having previously been a tentative ally of oberyn martell. given the amount of times assassins were sent against him he was impossible to kill — a thorn in the side of the lannisters, though a thorn that was not easily removed.
this did not mean he would not ally with them, anything but, the opportunity simply.. has not arisen, and it was unlikely to do so.
LORD OF THE RINGS
as the pieces of the world continued to fall apart beneath the influence of sauron and his desperation to carry out melkor’s will, it becomes increasingly clear to the valar that there must be someone who can intervene and guide the free peoples of middle earth from both corruption and destruction.
it was then in this thought that they picked through their most loyal maiar and bid them to mortal bodies – a necessary process to conceal their great power and prevent them from falling prey to a desire for domination. they were tasked only with assistance, it was their sworn duty, and they were meant to obey.
of them were six, those who were thought to be infallible in their dedication to both the children of illuvatar, and the valar who governed them, and among them was stephen the red, noted most for his headfirst dive into the fray. while the others had gone their separate ways ( not entirely up to plan ), stephen had chosen to face sauron – to abolish his rule before it began – but was, much to his surprise, beaten. this event, however, was not a matter of outmatched power, but that their engagement was interfered with by the son of melkor, as he was called; aicanar.
those who dwelt in the first and second ages knew well the deeds of aicanar, and like sauron, he had survived after the chaining of melkor. his purpose remained a mystery to many, but it was noted that he had always shown a competitive spirit when it came to sauron.
seeing the two interlocked in battle, he found himself drawn to stephen, whether by length of power or some other unknown force, and as a result made the decision to intervene and take him for himself. not long after the kidnapping of the maia did aicanar then decide to imprint upon him, and left a scar upon his back, ( in part ) to warn all foes, especially sauron, that stephen belonged to him. for some time the istarin was held in captivity, but eventually escaped during the eve of one particular night his gracious host was away.
what stephen does now remains a mystery to most, for he is absent from the white council and is rarely seen upon the lands. it’s theorized that he may still be keeping to the duty that brought him upon earth, but others argue he moves constantly to stay two steps ahead the foul beast aicanar, whilst also striving to bring sauron down as he has always wanted.
FANTASTIC BEASTS
stephen strange was born to a pureblood wizarding family, the eldest of three siblings all exceptionally gifted in magic he was the first to get his letter to attend Ilvermorny, shortly followed by victor and then donna.
he was sorted into horned serpent, and he was every part a scholar—excelling in his classes and earning a bit of reputation for himself. they thought when stephen graduated he would be picked up by MACUSA but he declined the offer, preferring to travel the world and study the nature of magic.
extremely skilled in charms and defense against the dark arts he would come to develop several new spells and has become the author of many magical books that students would come to use in their studies.
and then —- he met his then wife, she had come to him to study, due to the fact that he took apprentices on every now and then — and then, the pair soon fell in love. for many years things would seem quiet for the wizard until clea grew restless with stephen’s need to travel and study — often leaving home for months on end, and one day he came back to divorce papers —- causing him to spiral off into a deep depression. there would be no more talks, no more visiting schools, not even a new book.
stephen shut himself in his sanctum, and closed the doors.
but still his reputation preceded him, and he became the target of grindelwald’s followers — they had wanted him to make them a spell that would give them the upper edge in the war. of course stephen refused, once, twice, he didn’t get a third choice for they slaughtered his family in revenge — mother, father and siblings — teaching him a lesson before taking him hostage.
stephen was subjected to brutal torture, when magical didn’t work they turned to physical, crushing his hands so badly that he could not even hold a wand —thinking that would be the end of it since he could not cast.
they grew sloppy, and stephen — who was skilled in wandless magic — escaped, returning to his sanctum to mourn in solitude.
YURI ON ICE
stephen was the number one mens ice skater —- on top of the world in scores, and nobody could beat him at his high. he had a gorgeous & loving wife, a penthouse in new york city, and a gold metal from the athens 2004 winter olympics. training his entire life he was older than the rest by a handful of years, but nonetheless he was acknowledged as the victor.
and then, he disappeared.
twelve years he’s been gone from the limelight, presumed dead, and hidden from the press. he’s not dead, though he wished he was after he came back to new york. he had been training so hard to qualify much less win the olympics that his wife left him —- and stephen came back to an empty apartment, with divorce papers waiting on the counter for his return.
he drank himself into a stupor, never sober and becoming something of a hermit —- never leaving the apartment for weeks on end. the one day he did he was still intoxicated, enough so that he was texting on his phone and didn’t pay attention to the night road he drove on.
with a crash, the motor skills of his hands were taken from him, and he opened up his eyes to the possibility of starting anew.
he moved to japan, though he never got rid of the love for skating. occasionally he found himself at the rink in town, skating when no one but the working girl in the front was there —- too busy to watch him, ideally. he was hidden, and only someone that could see past his new facial hair and whitened temples would know it was him.
he liked to keep it that way, but eventually —- he would be found.
PRE-MAGIC EARTH-616
stephen earned his medical degree in record time and entered a five-year residency at new york hospital, where his rapid success made him arrogant. stephen’s mother beverly died near the end of his residency, and work became more and more impersonal for the bereaved surgeon. strange’s talent remained, however, and he became a wealthy and celebrated neurosurgeon before he turned thirty.
egotistical and greedy, cold and callous, strange’s interest in his patients generally began and ended at his bill. the exception was madeleine revell, an injured united nations translator whom he saved and fell in love with. following a whirlwind romance and proposal, she left him due to his increasingly materialistic nature. two years after his mother’s death, strange’s father, eugene also fell ill.
already crippled by grief over his mother’s death ( though he would never admit it ), stephen was unable to face any more tragedy, and refused to visit eugene’s deathbed.
