Stephen had just gotten back from a minor altercation that required his assistance. He'd actually gotten the call from Tony. It was his first opportunity to 'pay' part of his debt. It really was no payment at all. It was already part of his job as a Master of Mystic Arts to help protect Earth from dark powers, and while his primary responsibility was to New York and the Sanctum, he saw no reason why it couldn't branch out when needed. He'd set some ground rules, Tony had agreed, and here he was, returning from a portal jump to Chicago.

"Is Arianna still here?" Stephen asked, after summarizing his trip to Wong in the foyer.

"Yes, she's upstairs installing the new access points," he said with a nod in the direction of the Sanctum archives.

Stephen was half way up the stairs before he called out. "Thank you, Wong."

After a few moments of walking, Stephen quickly realized he need only follow the sound of music to find Arianna's location within the Sanctum.

After a few more turns he came around a corner and immediately grinned as he saw her—once again, high up on a ladder swaying back and forth as she worked. At least time she was right under the equipment in question and not leaning precariously.

"You were supposed to wait for my assistance with that," he called out loud enough for her to hear over the music.

To her credit, she didn't seem in the least bit shocked by his sudden vocalization—though he was fairly certain she hadn't been alerted to his presence in the room. Instead, she reached down to the small bluetooth speaker attached to her belt loop and pushed a button to lower the volume of the music before speaking. "You're apparently a very busy wizard today. I wanted to get started on the work."

"I'm not a wizard."

"Do you have magical powers?"

"Well—that's a bit of a weak definition of what I do, but—"

"Yes. You do. So the answer is—yes, you are a wizard."

"You've spent too much time with Tony Stark."

A smirk played at the corner of her lips. "You know, Tony respects you. If he didn't, he wouldn't have let me do this work."

Stephen chose not to respond to that bit of information for now—though he had already considered it. He had another goal for this conversation. "So, since you've gotten started with this part so late in the afternoon, are you planning on working into the evening?"

"I'd thought about making it a late night. Figured since you and Wong can put up sound barriers or whatever in your room I could work as late as needed without disturbing you, then crash in the guest room once I'm done for the night."

It had been a prearranged agreement that the guest room would be available to her throughout the duration of her contract with the Masters of Mystic Arts, with access through to the other Sanctums when needed. And he knew she was eager to try out the 'purple room' as it had become especially for her.

"So, no dinner break?"

She shrugged. "I figured I'd order some take out."

"Ah, ok then. Well, I know I wasn't here when you started, but can I jump in and help now?"

She stopped what she was doing, realizing that Stephen Strange rarely asked questions that didn't have a specific purpose. She looked down at him. "Why were you asking?"

"Just making sure you were taking care of yourself and eating."

She glared at him. "That was not why you asked."

He swallowed. "Okay, so I did have another thought."

"Yes?"

"I thought...I thought we could go out. To dinner. On a—on a date."

"Oh."

"We've not gone on a real date."

"No—no, we haven't."

Stephen sighed. He was growing weary of this conversation occurring with her several feet higher in the air."Could you come down from there?"

She smirked and leaned over, crossing her arms casually across the top of the ladder. "What's wrong, Stephen—is it a bit unnerving not being the tallest one in the room?"

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Nevermind." Then he turned and started to walk away.

"Stephen, wait!"

"Forget it! Another time, maybe."

She slid down the ladder quickly, Navy-style. "Stephen!"

He kept walking.

"Stephen!" She caught up with him and grabbed hold of his arm. "What's gotten into you? You're not normally this sensitive. I mean, I know I've only known you a few weeks now, but still..."

He sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Arianna, I—I just want to do this right. Our...relationship...has been so different than anything I think either of us is accustom to—"

"Crazy," she added, the word they'd repeatedly used for how quickly they'd fallen for one another.

He gave a small smile. "Yeah—I just wanted to give you some normalcy..."

"Like a date."

"Well—this date, and hopefully lots more."

Her hand slid down from his bicep to his hand, fingers threading between his own. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you."

He looked at her with admiration. "You're right, you know. I'm not used to feeling this awkward or sensitive about anything or anyone. I've always been so cocky and sure of myself. You make me feel... everything...so much...so differently."

She reached up and ran a hand through the grey hair at his temple. The seriousness and depth of his admission was not lost on her. She and Stephen were both used to keeping people at arm's length. Though she was still friendly whereas Stephen had grown pompous as a way of protecting himself. But she understood. "I already told you how much you're changing me. Making me feel again."

He nodded. "Going off autopilot," he recounted from her previous explanation of how she felt.

She returned his nod then squeezed his hand gently. "So, where are we going?"

"Something fun that doesn't require the use of magic or too much brain power. A break, for both of us, a time to just enjoy each others company."

She smiled. "That sounds absolutely delightful. You've thought this through, eh?"

"I tried."

"So, are you going to be more specific or is it a surprise."

He hesitated. For some people, it wouldn't be noticeable—but Stephen Strange hesitant about his decisions was obvious.

"Don't be nervous, Stephen—just tell me. I'm sure I'll love it."

"I thought we could play tourists and go to the Empire State Building. Then, maybe a walk through Central Park and find dinner at a food truck." He held his breath while he waited for some sort of reaction from her. When she smiled wide, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

"That sounds amazing."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

He grinned now, the relief washing over him. "Then go get ready. If we hurry, we can watch the sunset from the top."

**—**—**

Later they were walking hand in hand through Central Park by lamplight when a voice called out.

"Stephen?"

As soon as Arianna saw her, she knew who the other woman was. Her heart dropped and she immediately doubted her self. Surely when faced with his former girlfriend, he'd see what a poor choice he'd made in her.

"Christine," he answered as the woman approached. It was only then, as Stephen spoke to the woman, that Arianna realized he still held tight to her hand. In fact, he held it a bit tighter than he had before.

"Stephen, hi—how are you?" The woman glanced over at Arianna awkwardly, then back to Stephen. "It's been ages since we last talked."

"Yes, it has."

"You still in that magic cult thing?"

Arianna felt herself tensing, but calmed at the slight squeeze of her hand from Stephen. "Not a cult. But yes. Christine," he said as he released Arianna's hand and moved his own to the small of her back, resting it there, "this is Arianna Miller, my—" There was a slight moment of hesitation, Arianna knew Stephen was searching for the right words.

Suddenly Arianna felt her confidence build at the feeling of Stephen's hand at her back. He was owning up to his relationship with her. His words to her on the bell tower resonated in her mind. "Girlfriend—I'm his girlfriend." Arianna held her hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Christine. I've heard a lot about you. Stephen has told me about how supportive you were of him after his accident—despite his manic behavior." There, she'd laid it out there. Who she was, who she knew Christine had been. She left out the part where she wanted to call the woman out for walking away just because of Stephen's decision to become a Master of the Mystic Arts. But, that would do no good, and had she not, it wouldn't be Arianna by his side today.

"Oh, um—well, thank you. It's nice to meet you, too." Christine looked back to Stephen again. "It looks like you're doing really well, Stephen. I'm happy for you."

Stephen smiled and looked at Arianna a moment before turning his gaze back to Christine. "I am doing well, thank you. It was good to see you Christine."

"Good to see you, too."

With that Stephen nodded a farewell and guided Arianna on down the walkway. After a few feet, his hand slipped back down to hers. They walked silently for a few moments before he guided them to the edge of the walkway, out of the way of others, and slowed to a stop. He turned his body fully towards her and took her other hand in his. "It wasn't because I questioned what you are to me—"

"What?"

"The reason I was struggling to know what to call you. It wasn't because I questioned our relationship because she was there. It was because I wasn't sure what you'd want to be called. What you'd be comfortable with. I don't want you to think I doubted for a moment how I feel about you just because she walked by."

Arianna smiled sweetly at him. "I know. Honestly there was a split second of fear and dread when I saw her. I recognized her from the hospital website."

"You looked her up?" Stephen said with a small smirk at the corner of his mouth.

She shrugged. "I was curious about the competition."

Stephen frowned. "There is no competition."

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better. She seems like a very nice woman, obviously she was loyal to you as she stood by you despite your temporary insanity post-injury. She's a doctor, so obviously very educated. I'm sure she's probably well traveled, too—isn't she?"

"Arianna—"

"I mean, if you were still pre-injury, pre-accident world-renowned neuro-surgeon Doctor Stephen Strange, you wouldn't have given me a second glance. I'm still not quite sure why you did anyway. I mean—she's smart, she's beautiful, she's—thin. She's—"

"She's not you." He interrupted her. Stephen couldn't handle where this conversation had gone for another minute. He stopped their forward motion again and pulled her towards him.

"Exactly. Definitely not me. I'm—"

"Highly intelligent. Incredibly kind. Insanely funny. Mind-blowingly gorgeous. Do I need to keep going?"

"Stop, Stephen. I'm just—"

"You aren't 'just' anything, Arianna Miller. You are everything. To me, you are everything. And I don't want to ever hear you using someone else's positive traits to tear yourself down. Never again. You are magnificent, Arianna. Period. End of story." She started to open her mouth and he placed his hand gently over her mouth. "No. No arguing. You won't convince me that you are anything less that remarkable. I choose you, no one else. Do you understand? I. Choose. You."

She nodded, then reached up and pulled his hand away from her mouth. "Stephen." It was all she could manage to breath out at that moment after his passionate declaration.

He stepped closer, close enough she could feel his breath. "Arianna. I never want you to doubt yourself. I never want you to doubt how much I care about you."

She swallowed and kept her eyes on him. "Okay. I'll—I'll try. I'm just—"

He stopped her, this time with a kiss. The time for words was over. This time, he intended to show her. When he finally stepped away, they were both breathless. "I told you—you aren't 'just' anything"

She was still a bit drunk off the kiss, but managed to roll her eyes and shake her head. "I was only going to say—I'm just not used to being so loved—or, I mean—cared for."

"It's okay—you can use that word."

She smiled and looped her arm around his and they began walking again, towards a line of food trucks. "So, what are you in the mood for?"

"Your choice tonight."

"Well, I know exactly what I'm in the mood for. But you may disapprove."

"Try me, Beyonce," he shot back. Arianna giggled and he beamed with pride. "Good, at least someone still thinks my jokes are funny."

"What?"

"Oh, just a thing with Wong. Getting that man to laugh is a mission of mine. It's worked once, and I wasn't even trying, then. Anyway—what's your choice?"

"I could go for a really good hot dog."

"A hot dog?"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I told you that you'd disapprove. We can do something else—"

"No, no—you misunderstood. My question wasn't disapproval. It was disbelief that I could ever possibly have found someone as amazing as you."

"Because of a hot dog?"

"Yes. Because of a hot dog. Come on, I know exactly the right place for the best hot dog in town," he said with a grin as he pulled her along towards the line of food trucks.

A few minutes later they were sitting on a bench, each holding a hotdog in one hand and soda in a a sytrofoam cup with a straw sticking out by their sides.

"You're right," Arianna said between bites. "This is the best hot dog I think I've ever had."

They ate in silence for a few minutes after that, before Stephen made his next observation. "This is the best first date I've ever had."

"That's preposterous. Surely with your prior career and financial status you had much nicer, flashier, fancier dates than this."

"I didn't say this was the flashiest or fanciest first date I've had. I said it was the best. Once again, Arianna—you forget, my perspective has changed a great deal in the past year. I'm a new man, and I'm rather excited to see what the future holds for this new man now that I've found someone to share it with."