finalflight | PSL; [YOU MAY BURY MY BODY]

[ Scandal will just have to wait for now. Warren stays where he is, arm half-raised as she draws her finger over his skin. He’s not blind, and not so inhuman that he doesn’t realize how insanely hot Makima is, but he’s also a cautious sort. New as this arrangement is, better not to bring anything complicated into the mix just yet.

So, he lets her do as she pleases with a clinical sort of distance, before he finally brings his arm back down. Oh yes, he thought she might like it. ]

Usually only wizards who might find themselves in a fight.

And you definitely qualify, don't you.

[Oh, how many people has he faced-off against like he did against her? How many did not walk away from it? What a thought.

Makima drops her hand, finally, but she also does not remove herself from his personal space just yet.]

So what do these tattoos do... What are the spells that are worthy of a "shortcut"?

[ Though he makes no remark about her staying close, he's watching her, but then he's always watching her. This new unknown in his life for the foreseeable future. He'd be a fool not to observe. ]

You've already seen most of them. Care to take a guess?

Hmm.

[She affects at thinking, tapping at her chin.]

Well... How about your magically-appearing gun?

That's one of them, yes. I can access the pocket of space by casting normally as well, but it's terribly convenient to have it literally on-hand.

[ Well, the tattoo itself is on his back. Semantics. ]

Anything else?

Yes, very convenient. You did shoot me.

[She didn't forget!

Makima makes another "hmm", slightly exaggerated, as though she can't run their fight like a play-by-play in her head.]

What about your biggest inconvenience to me? Your little ["little", it was not] shield?

[ He lifts a shoulder as if to say "it happens". There's still something kind of funny about whipping out a gun in the middle of a magical battle. Most people aren't prepared for that at all. ]

Yes. The shield is a staple. That you managed to break it at all is rather impressive, by the way.

[She pretends to preen at the compliment, though maybe it's only half-pretending. There is some satisfaction in knowing that, not even at full power, she did manage to poke a hole through his defenses.]

Not without some effort. But it's nice to know exactly where my limitations are now, so I should thank you anyway. I guess I won't be blasting my opponents into space anymore... not for a while, anyway.

Into space?

[ It's impossible to tell whether or not she's exaggerating. Given what she's told him her powers are supposed to do, he wouldn't doubt if she had sent people through the stratosphere. ]

[Yeah, no, she actually did that.]

Mm-hm. Some Devils are a lot more stubborn than the rest. Well. He was a special case. But that's...

[She splashes him, just a little.]

...a story for another time!

[ The more I learn about CSM the less I understand.

Anyway, Warren lifts an arm to keep the water out of his face, but when he lowers it, the look he's giving her is one of distinct curiosity. ]

Does he, whoever he is, also have something to do with the way you ended up here?

[She was just going to leave it at that, but his look of actual curiosity seems to make her reconsider.]

...Yes.

[And how. But then a little shrug, and she takes a few away until the water is at her waist, then grabs the flamingo floatie with an arm.

It's hard to read her expression as anything other than neutral, but it's also safe to assume this is on purpose.]

But don't worry. I made him work for it.

[ Warren doesn’t very often tip his hand, but in this case he figures she would expect some measure of curiosity from him, so he doesn’t mind showing it. ]

If you were as powerful as you say, I don’t doubt that you did.

[No immediate reply as she dips herself beneath the water, then pops up again in the middle of the flamingo donut, an arm on each side.]

Well. Something for you to look forward to in the future, if we can get the rest of my power back...

[She kicks off, floating lazily down in the opposite direction. That idea trails off and she loops back around to their initial conversation.]

So did I miss any tattoos?

[ The flamingo really sits at odds with everything around it. Even Warren’s pool is dark in color. (Hey, at least he’s consistent.) Perhaps much like Makima herself. Even if there is a mean edge to her brightness more often than not, it’s still bright. A flash of color in the middle of all this black. ]

You did. Three of them.

[ Three whole tattoos! ]

[Makima might be a lot of doom, but she’s not a lot of gloom. Not in demeanor, anyway — (almost) always smiling, always pleasant and polite. She has no shame using this bright pink flamingo donut.]

Three?

[THREE. Gosh.]

Let’s see… now you’re making this a little more difficult. You were pretty fast. Does that have anything to do with your tattoos too?

It does.

[ The last two... would have been harder to spot, if not impossible given how their fight went. Speed is easily displayed. Strength and durability? They have very little bearing when someone swoops in and just makes him relive old memories. ]

[Yeah, though she plays at obliviousness, she also knows when she… simply does not know.

Hm. Maybe their scuffle didn’t skew the way. She’d like to believe she’s pretty observant in general, even amid a fight. Especially amid a fight.]

…Well. I have to admit, I’m not sure what the other two could be.

[ Again, Warren doesn't usually like to give things away, so being so forthcoming is a bit strange for him but... well, they're bound by a contract, aren't they? She's already explained her abilities to him. He can at least return the favor. ]

Enhancements to my strength and durability. I make it a point to be difficult to kill.

Oh, that would make sense. Something to go hand-in-hand with your speed, too.

[She’s still floating along. One of her dogs paddles by.]

No defenses for your mind, though?

[ :) ]

[ The flattest look. ]

You slip through the cracks once and suddenly think you have me figured out, do you?

[That earns a short, sweet(?) laugh from her.]

Far from that. I don’t pretend to know you all that well at all. If anything, my excursion into your head only made me even more curious.

And besides, I’m allowed a little satisfaction. It was a small victory — I still lost, in the end.

[ He can’t help but think that had they continued to brawl, she would have beaten him handily. That’s not a problem he needs to worry about now, per the terms of their contract, but it doesn’t sit well with him either. If she’s going to keep regaining her strength, he’s going to have to get stronger, as well.

Well, at least he’s never shied away from a bit of motivation. ]

You’ll have plenty of other chances for victory. Just not against me.

[ He lists back into the water to lazily float his way to the end of the pool where his chair and book still sit. ]

If I recall, there’s a demon on the docket next.

[You'll flatter a girl, Warren. Makima isn't so certain, herself. Perhaps it could have gone either way; without her ability to heal (or rather, pass on injury to some other poor soul), she's difficult to kill, but it's still quite possible. Especially against a destructive force like this wizard's magic.

Still, she shrugs, wholly unbothered on the outside, watching him drift away, too.]

We're a team now. The last thing on my mind is fighting you.

[She uses him, he uses her. No need to muddy that up over something like pride, a character flaw that actually so rarely applies to her.]

I'm looking forward to dealing with this world's version of a demon, actually. Have you thought about how we're going to approach that?

[is this a 'spill the blood of an innocent virgin to summon a demon' kind of world or what]

[ There's a measure of comfort in knowing just where they stand with each other. Use, and be used. There's nothing more than that, no ulterior motives. Their goals have been clearly stated and contracted around and that's that. ]

I've been doing a bit of digging. The means to summon one shouldn't be difficult to manage. It's the killing it part that's going to be tricky, though that's assuming you'll be just as disadvantaged as I will be.

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