That evening (New York time) they crossed the portal threshold into Kamar-Taj. Arianna was beyond excited and was secretly hoping a certain sorcerer would show her around Kathmandu while they were here.

"I'll take you to your quarters to get settled in. Wong is going to see to the transport of your supplies to the library." He was determined to help her with her luggage and held as tight as his grip would allow to the two duffel bags on either side of him. They approached a door, right next to the one they had entered to discover the router. "Here we are."

She grinned. "Right next to yours? You are staying on site, right?"

"I told you I would."

"I just wasn't sure if you'd sneak back to the Sanctum, to your plush accommodations there."

"I would not 'sneak off' and leave you here, Arianna. Hence why your quarters are right next to mine. You are under my protection while here. I promised Stark—not that it would take a promise to him to make me want to protect you. Do you mind getting the door?"

"Of course not," she said, feeling a faint blush. She opened the door and gasped. The accommodations were still simple, but it was obvious some modifications had been done. "You—you did this?"

"Just a few things to help you feel at home here."

"You made the bedding purple?"

"Purple makes you happy. I want you to be happy while you're here."

"I'm fairly certain the company will take care of that, but, the color does help. Thank you, this was very thoughtful of you."

"It's my pleasure. I really am grateful for your agreement to help with this project."

"Thank Mr. Stark, he's the one who's paying me."

"Mr. Stark knows he'll eventually get repayment for services rendered. You, however, could have turned down the job. Could have done the initial repairs and walked away. Personal feelings aside, Arianna, your skill and work ethic are impressive."

She outright blushed now. "Thanks."

"Can I leave you to get settled in? I'm going to go see that Wong has done his job and be sure the Masters are prepared to meet. Can you find your way to the library in a half hour?"

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"Don't be nervous. You're going to be amazing."

"I'll do my best."

"Then it will be phenomenal," he said, allowing himself to momentarily raise his hand to brush her cheek. "See you there."

She smiled and nodded. "See you there."

**—**—**

Twenty-eight minutes later, Stephen did his best to hold back the smile that wanted to come forth at the sight of Arianna entering the library. She wore her black combat style boots with purple socks peeking up above them, black leggings, and a purple wrap-tunic that reminded him of the common style of tunic worn by himself and many of the residents of Kamar-Taj. Had she gotten that especially for this project, he wondered?

She stepped in and glanced around, taking a deep breath when she saw him standing to the side. One by one several of the Masters noticed her and then all turned to face her. She glanced again at Stephen who nodded for her to begin.

She cleared her throat and stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Masters, thank you for allowing me to be here today, and thank you to Doctor Strange for bringing me in for this project. I appreciate the value of your time and will attempt to keep this as short as possible." She stepped forward, placing her tablet and a small device down on the table in the middle of the crowd. "Today the Doctor has asked me to present to you all the plan for the equipment upgrades I'll be making this week here at Kamar-Taj." She tapped her tablet and the 3D image of Kamar-Taj materialized above the table.

As much as they tried to hide it, Stephen was sure he heard a few gasps and could see that many of the Masters were impressed. He let one small smile of pride creep across his face. As soon as the image was up, Arianna seemed to relax and grow more confident in herself.

As she explained an overview of the mechanics of what she'd be doing that week, one of the Masters frowned and spoke up. "Excuse me, Ms. Miller, I apologize for interrupting, but I can't help but notice that there's a lot of manual labor involved in what you'll be doing, pulling that cable through the ceilings, installing the devices. Wouldn't it be useful for one of us to assist and use some more basic spells to ease the burden of some of the tasks?"

Arianna momentarily looked befuddled. She wouldn't admit it, but she'd wondered about that. But she wasn't taking her job lightly and wasn't about to ask a Master of Mystic Arts, even the one she found herself growing incredibly close to, to use his powers to help run cable. "Master—"

"Simon—Master Simon."

"Master Simon, sir, I wouldn't presume to ask a Master of Mystic Arts to use his powers to help with such a menial task, but if the help was offered, I'd hardly turn it down."

"I agree with Master Simon, with her guidance, surely one of us can offer the assistance she needs and make the task much less burdensome," Wong spoke up, and if he could have, he would have elbowed Strange right then and there.

He didn't have to. Stephen caught the hint. It was quiet only a moment before Stephen spoke, "I will assist Ms. Miller. I was the one who recommended this project, and I am the one who most uses the wi-fi, it only makes sense for me to be the one to assist her."

Several Masters nodded in agreement, some because they were pleased not to have to help, some because they were in firm agreement that Strange was the one who most used technology at all within Kamar-Taj.

Arianna tried to hide the excitement she felt at knowing Stephen would be more than just wandering around doing whatever it is he did normally when at Kamar-Taj, but that he'd be actively spending time with her working on the upgrades. She finished up her overview of the work that would be completed and the areas she'd be working in.

**—**—**

She left the Masters to finish their discussion as Stephen wanted to review a few things with them regarding the rules they'd set in place for the library use during the work. Arianna went back to her room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. She'd done it, she'd just spoken to a room full of Masters of Mystic Arts and managed not to look like an idiot. After a few more moments, she decided to try out this supposedly deceptively comfortable bed and laid down.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but she suddenly felt herself being jostled awake. "Arianna?" came the hushed sound of a familiar voice.

She sucked in a breath and slowly opened her eyes to find Stephen sitting on the edge of her bed, hand resting on her shoulder. She stretched and let out a yawn. "Hey, sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

"Yes, you did. I came to check on you after the meeting and you were out like a light, so I left you be. But now it's lunch time here and I thought it might be best to get you up to eat something and try to start getting yourself on the right time zone."

She frowned. "Lunch time? I slept that long?"

"Almost four hours, yes."

"Wow. I must have really been tired."

"Well, you have had a quite busy past few days."

She smiled. "That I have. What did you think of my presentation to the Masters?"

"What did I think? Arianna, you were just as remarkable as I knew you would be. You did great."

"You really think so?" she said, still looking up at him from where she lay.

"I know so. They were all quite impressed by your presentation. Now, tell me," he continued as he moved his hand to trace the neckline of her tunic. "Was this a special purchase for the occasion, or did you actually own a purple tunic before you ever saw Kamar-Taj and became familiar with our typical clothing choices?"

She blushed, both because of his touch, and because of his notice of her outfit of choice. "Believe it or not, I actually already owned it. I thought it would be appropriate."

"It was a nice touch. And you showed admirable respect to the Masters for someone unfamiliar with our customs. Stark should put you on diplomatic duty. That is if I don't steal you."

"Steal me?"

"Hmm, yes."

"I should probably get up."

He quickly stood and stepped back. "Yes. Lunch. We should go have lunch."

"How do the Masters of Kamar-Taj take their lunch?"

"A communal meal, seated together around a large table. How do you feel about trying some traditional Nepalese dishes?"

"Sounds wonderful!" She said as she stood and stretched, then straightened out her tunic. "Lead the way, Doctor."

"Getting formal again?"

"You said it yourself, we should stick to formal names around your fellow Masters. I should stay in practice by sticking with it behind closed doors. I don't want to embarrass you by accidentally calling you Stephen in front of the others."

"It's not that it would be an embarrassment, Arianna—"

"Ms. Miller," she corrected him.

He shook his head. "I'd never be embarrassed by you, Arianna. But till we figure out what this is," he said, motioning between the two of them. "It might be best not to have questions arise that we aren't prepared to answer."