This was requested by TheMistressofDW I hope you enjoy it. As always thanks for reading.

Stephen's eyes were closed tightly, his face free from emotion as he concentrated in his surroundings. He wanted to be well aware of any small sound or movement around him so he could react just as quickly.

Sparring with Mordo had been one of the biggest challenges with him ever since he arrived to Kamar-Taj in hopes of fixing his scarred hands. His intentions had been to learn the sufficient sorcery to heal his own hands and then leave to go back to being a neurosurgeon.

He wasn't so sure now if that was what he really wanted now.

His eyes snapped open at the minuscule sound of movement coming from behind him. His movements were quick and sharp as he closed his hands and pulled them back in a swift movement as he created a mystic bolt and turned around, lunging at Mordo without hesitation. Both of their weapons clashed into a bright light of energy as both men took a step back, letting the sparks mid-air subside into nothing.

They both stared at each other intensely, nothing pulling their gaze apart from each other. Stephen relaxed his stance once he saw a smile appear of Mordo's face, meaning their sparring had ended well.

Both men bowed in respect, standing back up straight and nodding in recognition. Mordo's energy disappeared from his relic as he set it on the weapon rack, clapping his hands together as he gave a hard pat on Stephen's shoulder. "Good job. This time you knew specifically when you needed to react. I saw more concentration and less frustration this time."

Stephen couldn't help but snort at the compliments Mordo was throwing at him without care. "Do you really expect me to believe all that gibberish you said? I am surprised really, this time you genuinely seemed that you meant it. How much of those lines does Ancient One write for you to tell me?" Stephen asserted amusedly wearing a smug smile.

Mordo stood still for a moment as he remained staring at the weapon rack before turning around with a blank face. "Was it that obvious?" He asked, being received by a nod coming from Stephen who took a seat below a tree, looking over at the rest of sorcerers training with effort.

Mordo took a seat besides him, crossing his arms against his chest as he rolled his eyes more to himself. "You know Stephen, Ancient One really wants to see you make effort in your training. And believe me when I say this, you barely made any effort in trying to make a simple transmutation. You couldn't even decipher how it was possible to do such thing. You wanted to rush things, get out of this nightmare as soon as possible."

Stephen hummed in response, interrupting Mordo's monologue to him by holding a hand up. "Alright, alright. What's your point?"

Mordo sighed, exhaling deeply as he shook his head with a small smile. "My point is, you have really changed your ways. And I believe that all started when you were sent to Mount Everest. Something about you changed when you came back, when you saw how well you were capable of doing what every sorcerer could.

This fueled your energy to go on and get to be who you are now. Listen to me when I say I am so thankful I don't have to raise your ego for you to collaborate in every single thing that involved sorcery Stephen. And I do think it is time for me to stop with the compliments seeing your intentions have changed."

Stephen's gaze stayed fixed on the tiles decorating the floor of the training grounds. His mind had wandered off in wondering how many generation of sorcerers had walked across those tiles every day as a routine to train their abilities.

He obviously heard what Mordo told him. He scoffed as a response, plucking out a leaf and cutting it in pieces. "What makes you think my intentions have changed hmm?" He questioned him accusingly, not really wanting to admit that his intentions indeed had changed over the past months. He barely even thought about his former life anymore.

He was too proud to admit anything that would make him seem like he actually cared.

Mordo opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted as a loud crash came from around the corner of the temple. Both men looked at each other without words, standing up in a swift movement as they both trailed towards the corner to see what was going on.

Yet another crash came, followed by smoke engulfing the place and followed by a swarm of stuttering apologies. Stephen hurried his pace, thinking maybe just maybe someone was in danger or they were hurt.

As the smoke dissipated slightly, he caught sight of Ancient One and a female apprentice, you. You were rushing around with a panicked expression, filling a pot with water and pouring it over a burning tree, setting said object down as you continued apologizing profusely.

Ancient One had a genuine smile on her face as she patted your shoulder gently. "Don't worry (Y/N), it was an accident. The tree will be fine I can assure you. It will heal with time and grow stronger thanks to you. This tree has survived one of the most dangerous hazards for nature. But now... Now it will be strong and overcome that difficulty." She assured gently, watching as you nodded vigorously in response, fiddling with your cloak as you tried to calm your nervous mind.

Stephen approached Ancient One with quick steps, halting to a stop as he looked towards you curiously for a moment before turning his direction towards Ancient One. "Everything alright? We heard a crash coming from here and also fire." He pointed out the obvious, watching as you blushed in embarrassment and stood up, busying yourself with cleaning off the flowerpot you broke.

Ancient One nodded in response as she watched you clean the dirt off the ground with the broom, keeping your gaze down and avoiding everyone's gaze. She let out a small sigh as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Stephen, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked him lowly so only he could hear her.

Stephen was slightly taken back by her sudden request but nonetheless he nodded. Mordo was gone, that bastard ran away from training, so he had nothing else to do. Ancient One pulled him aside, keeping a considerable distance from you so you wouldn't hear.

"So what do you want to talk about? Oh and who is her by the way? I have never seen her around before." He questioned, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall nonchalantly and watched as you sweeped the floor. Ancient One did the same besides Stephen as she started explaining.

"That's (Y/N), she has been an apprentice of mine for a year or so." She looked over at him to see him with a confused expression. He wondered why he had never seen you around before, not even during lunch or in any training. "To answer your question, you have never seen her before because she doesn't want to be seen by anyone."

His confusion only grew as he furrowed his eyebrows together. Ancient One sighed as she went on. "I am afraid she is of very shy nature. She tries to avoid people and when around them she gets really nervous and has difficulty in training if so. I may be the only one she trusts since I was the one giving her a home, but I wish she would try to socialize with other people. I can see she is insecure of herself, even if she doesn't say it."

Stephen hummed in thought, running a hand through his hair as he caught you glancing at him for a moment before going back to sweeping the floor. "How are you so sure about that? About being insecure I mean?" He questioned her with interest.

"I can observe people really well. Analize what type of person they are from their posture and ways of moving. It is really easy to do, you just have to be very observant. Take a glimpse of her and notice how she keeps her gaze down, her shoulders are slumped and she takes small hesitant steps. She is afraid of what people think, and I am working on trying to show her that in here nobody is judged and she can trust everyone around here. But... it seems as though she has experienced this before and didn't end well.  She has made a lot of progress believe it or not. I know she is an excelent sorcerer. She just needs a push in trusting herself. That's where you come in Stephen."

Stephen nodded before furrowing his eyebrows. "Wait why me?" He asked her confused, his eyes fixed on you as you sat besides the burnt tree and looked down at your own hands. Deep below he indeed wanted to help you.

Ancient One rolled her eyes at him. "Are you seriously asking why you out of all people? Because. You have the hugest ego out of all the sorcerers here. Our egos summed up together are not even half of your ego." Stephen wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult to him.

Maybe both.

"And what makes you think I will help her Ancient One?" He asked her, looking at her only to be received by the empty spot she had been standing on. "Touché" He replied to the air. He would definitely be busy the next days so training wasn't on his schedule as for the moment.

Which was a good thing. Even though he was somewhat eager to get to know who is behind that quiet and shy nature.

***

Stephen peeked from behind a pillar, watching as you walked towards your room. You unlocked the door to your room, ready to lock yourself in and spend the rest of the night reading some books and having dinner.

Stephen was quick on his feet to stop you from walking in as he set his hands on your shoulder. "Hey. Hi. Hello. Greetings. So I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me? Yes right now. What is that? A yes? Great! Let's get going!" Stephen rambled on, not even letting you answer any of his questions.

He dragged you towards the cafeteria, feeling relief when he saw it was almost emoty besides two other sorcerers having lunch together. He gave a curt nod at them before he pulled you to an empty table so you could sit down. Why rush you towads the cafeteria? He simply knew you would deny the invitation for a meal so why not just drag you there?

He sat down in front of you, smiling at you assuringly as he observed each movement you made. You were frozen in surprise, you mouth slightly opened as you watched him with eyes as wide as platters. You snapped back to reality, adverting your eyes from him in embarrassment as heat rushed up your face.

You both stayed silent, not an awkward one though, and you simply stared at your hands and hoping that he would walk away after a moment and let you go back to your room.

But he didn't.

He stayed.

Why.

Why did he do that?

Was it all a prank?

Was it all a cruel joke to mess with you like They did?

Stephen cleared his throat shortly, catching your attention as he ran a hand through his hair. "So (Y/N). Ancient One here told me you are an excelent sorcerer. I can really see why. From what I have seen you are really talented. Why don't you tell me more about your experience? I am quite intrigued to know more about you."

You were beyond stunned by his words. Was he, The Sorcerer Supreme asking you about your experience in sorcery?! Your mind instantly went blank, any possible words you could say were gone and never came back. You were shocked beyond that you forgot for a moment who you were. You couldn't deny you had a small crush when you saw him in the temple a long time ago, but you had pushed those thoughts away. He surely wouldn't want to be with someone like you. Why get hopes of that if it certainly wouldn't happen?

You tried to say at least something coherent, but stuttering was the only thing that came out of your mouth. Frustration crossed over your face at the unability to speak. You fiddled with your sleeve as you all around you but avoiding Stephen at all costs. "I-I... Look I- well. Sorry t-this is embarrassing. I- I-"

He noticed your distressed expression, setting a hand gently on your cheek as he moved your head so you were looking at him directly in the eyes as you stopped blabbering and stayed quiet. You both stared each other, your eyes looked with his and his on yours.

"(Y/N). It's alright. You don't need to be embarrassed, it is normal to get nervous" He said, chuckling lightly to lighten up the mood. It seemed to somewhat work seeing you slightly untense. "You don't have to worry about what everyone thinks. You can trust me, talk to me about everything you want. I promise you I won't judge." He moved his hands so they were holding your shoulders. "It doesn't matter what people think about you (Y/N). You are perfect just the way you are, and the opinion of someone else should not aftect you in any negative way. Feel free to express your opinion. Don't be afraid of saying what is in that mind of yours. Just be yourself and enjoy life. I know you are a really strong person, so I know small things such as the opinion of people will bring you down. What do you say we go and get some of that berry pie everyone says is really good?" He asked you, wearing a genuine smile on his face as he stood up and offered you a hand to take.

You looked at it for a moment, your expression that of awe and for once you felt sure about something. You nodded and took his hand, helping you up and leading you towards the cashier.

Ancient One watched from the doorway, watching the you both with a grin on her face. As you trailed behind him, a small yet genuine smile made his way through your insecure and reserved of emotion face. You felt free for once. You felt as though as nothing mattered in that moment and you could be anyone, do anything.

Ancient One turned around, walking off as she made her way back to the training grounds. "I knew he would be the one able to bring her out from being reserved. At least he used his huge ego for something useful." She spoke to herself.

Stephen and you had a lot of fun that day. You finally opened up a tiny bit, but at least it was something other than staying quiet.

As you took a bite of the slice of pie you were eating; unbeknownst to you Stephen was looking at you with an unknown emotion. He felt confused... He didn't know what was about you that just fascinated him so much. He didn't know what was happening to him.

Was he getting sick? Why did he suddenly feel as though he had run a thousand miles in a minute?

It was all so new to him. And he liked it for some reason.