riverview | video 002; un: actualwizard666

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video 002; un: actualwizard666

--urge!!

[There's a squeaky voice before the video comes on, shaking violently as if someone is running with the device. You can see flashes of floor five of the communal housing-- beds and random items flashing by, with the occasional blue fur in the shot.]

Demiurge!

[Then there's finally a shot of Billy's face, dubious for a moment as he looks down over the side of his bed, book propped on his chest.]

Ugh-- what? I thought I told you to shoo--

Demiurge!

[That's when realization seems to sink in, Billy's eyes going almost instantly wide. It's a mixture of surprise and annoyance that sends him darting off his bed, book flying-- and that's when the camera goes shaky again as whatever's holding it seems to start running again.]

Hey! What the hell-- give that back!

[There's more jostling and another, this time more surprised, 'Demiurge!' before the phone finally drops and the screen goes mercifully dark for a moment. There's still a bit more rustling around to be heard though, before Billy finally reappears some time later, with a squirmy blue creature tucked safely under his arm and looking just a bit disheveled, and more than a little exasperated.]

Sorry to... whatever you guys just had to see. This-- [creature he might have made in another dimension, oops. No, he is not saying that--] thing just showed up and followed me back home. It also won't leave, and I guess it thought stealing my phone was a sure way to get attention...

[And let's be fair, it did sort of work.]

Anyway, I'll make sure it won't happen again...

Demiurge!

[If you look closely, Billy might just be clenching his jaw tighter at that noise.]

I told you to stop saying that...

[Not that the creature seems to listen... or, you know, stop with the squirming until it feels like it's held properly-- and can get it's arms up around Billy's neck to hold on. It seems to make it happy enough at least since it starts to let out something akin to purring. There's a frustrated groan and an eye roll.]

Does anyone have any tips? I don't really do pets... but I guess I'm sort of responsible for this thing until I figure out if the shelters or anywhere else will take it.

[Oh, he's responsible in so many senses of that word...

Which means he's probably stuck with it permanently. Great.]

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Why is that so surprising?

[And that'll be his Lillipup sticking it's nose right into the camera to investigate. Sitting nicely nearby while Stephen was on the phone? Crazy talk!]

Better safe than sorry.

It's just-- I guess I didn't think those'd be your kind of movies. What else does Doctor Strange like? For future reference, you know.

[And okay, that's pretty cute. He can't help but give a smile.]

Cute dog, by the way. [He sighs, shifting the creature in his arms until he can hold it a little easier.] I've seen these before... when I was going through dimensions... I just don't know how one ended up here. I guess the same as the rest of us...

[Or he's going crazy and making blue, fuzzy minions without knowing. Whichever.]

I don't think I ever actually watched that one, truth be told. But honestly it's weird to find anyone that doesn't at least know the rules.

[Stephen catches the pup in an arm, lifting him enough that he wasn't hogging the screen but could still be seen.]

Apparently animals have been following some people in. Your... whatever that little guy is, my food, and apparently creatures like this one here.

Okay, well. Point. But you should totally watch the movies... they're classics.

And hey, you get a dog out of it. And dinner apparently. Those are good things, right? But-- yeah. I've noticed. It makes you wonder what else is going to wonder in, right?

[He switches it over to private after some thought, giving a wry smile.]

This little guy? I made him. I mean, not me-me, but... a me in another dimension where I had become that universe's Demiurge. I think he might have been a little... crazy. I mean, my face was literally drawn in the stars.

I'll put it on my list.

[The long, long list of things for his 'down time' that never seems to exist.

Anything else he had to say was cut off as he listened to Billy. Taking a moment to think, really think about what to say to that.]

Well I know I don't need to tell you how alternate universes aren't like a blueprint of how we'll wind up. Too many variables even if they seem so unsettling and familiar. As far as where this one comes from? Magic is... well, the deeper you go, the more it impacts you. All I can recommend is you find something or someone that grounds you, and not to hesitate to use that connection whenever you feel yourself sliding along that slippery slope.

How long is that list, anyway?

[He-- actually smiles at that. Reassured. He knows alternate universes don't mean he's destined to become some crazy old god who wishes up weird things, but... it's nice to hear other people think the same.

And it's nice to get some advice on how to make sure he keeps himself on the ground too.]

... Is that what you do?

It's... long. And something tells me it's only gonna get longer before I can make any sort of dent in it.

[Aka: Stephen Strange is a workaholic. In other news, water is wet, more on this and other stunning developments at 11.]

Me? It's part of why I picked New York to make my home. [He grinned, a more self-depreciating thing than anything.] Nothing'll ground you quicker than someone tossing change at you and telling you to get a job after you just spent an hour dealing with some big scary monster on another plane or astrally.

I can imagine being Sorcerer Supreme is a pretty demanding job... but-- is it something you want?

[Because Billy can't imagine anything more important, more humbling to be chosen for-- but it's not like he doesn't realize it'd be a pretty heavy weight to bear either.]

Okay, yeah. Point. That'd be pretty humbling.

Honestly for a long time I never really thought about it. But at this point, yeah. I mean, there's only so much you can put into a job you don't want, and I am fairly sure I passed the point of no return a long time ago on that.

[There's more to it, guilt and a deep need to be better than before, combined with his natural stubborn want to be the best and his drive that won't let him stop until he is. But for now that answer would do. It wasn't a lie in the least either.]

It's hard to keep an inflated ego when your neighbors think you're either a nutjob or some kind of charlatan.

But you're Doctor Strange and you probably do stuff to keep those people safe, no matter what they think. That's something to feel good about, right?

[Whatever mistakes he's made-- he's done a lot of good too, and Billy can't forget about that.]

Can I ask you something?

Oh without a doubt.

[He's not gonna unload on Billy, the kid has enough problems to ponder of his own without shouldering any part of the mountain of them that Stephen has accumulated over the years.

Go for it.

Have you heard anything about the Demiurge? All I know is that apparently I have some destiny to rewrite the laws of magic throughout all dimensions, past and present... and that I create some crazy utopia at some point, I guess.

[And that in a lot of dimensions, he apparently goes bad, but... that won't be him, not if he has any say at all in it.]

I've tapped into it, some of it anyway... it was amazing. I could see everything, past and present. But I had no idea what the hell I was doing and while it might be my responsibility, it's also my responsibility to do well. I guess I'm just-- curious if you've ever seen anything written about it, good or bad.

Demiurge? It sounds like something I might have read about, but years back. I'll try and remember what I can.
[Stephen takes a moment to think, but without his library right there it was hard to recall details of a specific thing especially something he hadn't found much information about in the first place.]

But to me it seems you've already learned the important lesson, no matter what the texts say. There's a wisdom in being able to admit you're not ready for a thing.

Thank you... I appreciate it.

[Whatever it is, if Strange remembers it, he thinks it'll be good.]

I hope so. And I hope that whatever it is that I become, it's a long way off. I mean-- I like being a superhero more than the Demiurge.

[Even if not specifically 'good', given that it didn't trip his gut instinct meant that more than likely the information given was neutral at the worst- that the Demiurge wasn't doomed to be crazy like Billy feared.]

If that's the case, then for now I'd say focus on that. On bettering your skills and being the sort of hero you think you should be. Otherwise you're just borrowing tomorrow's trouble. Being aware of the future is one thing, but don't let it completely take over your present.

Thanks... I mean it.

[The reassurance, the advice-- they're all things he needed to hear from someone who has actual experience in magic. Not just experience, but he's the Sorcerer Supreme himself.]

You know-- if you ever need a break from your pet, it's perfectly welcome to come and keep this guy company.

No worries. My advice might not always be the best, but there's plenty of it and you're welcome to it.

[He was a good kid. If Stephen could give him some help that meant Billy avoided some of his mistakes, he'd count that as a win.]

Who knows, letting them play might help keep the pair of them out of mischief.

Make offers like that and I might just take you up on it...

[And he's not sure who would be better to seek advice from than someone who's the Sorcerer Supreme.]

Maybe. Do you know what kind of dog that is?

[Because, you know...]

I wouldn't offer if I wasn't ready for that.

[And not to many people, if he's being real.]

As weird as it is, he's a Pokemon. A Lillipup more specifically from what I've been told.

Oh, good. I mean-- I didn't know if you knew what Pokemon was or not.

[That makes this so less awkward...]

You're totally a Pokemon trainer now. How's it feel?

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video 002; un: actualwizard666

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