Overnight

[darkest_evening]

There are things to do, of course, besides being Aya's cuddle buddy. Prime is usually quite busy, and now is no exception. Just because he's personally out of mana, doesn't mean he's utterly useless. His plane's got mages in it, after all - and many of them owe him favors or are amenable to being paid. And they need mirrors, for communication. After longer than was strictly prudent spent comforting Aya, he bids her goodbye and goes to handle the less glamorous moments of being him. That is, talking to people, asking for favors, paying favors, persuading them to say yes, they'll use some of their precious magic stores to make mirrors.

Ironically enough, the one thing missing when he's finished is the mirrors themselves. Easy enough to fix, with Revelation. But he'll take care of it tomorrow - he's tired, and it's been a long and complicated and emotionally exhausting 'day,' even if he doesn't properly have them anymore. Sleep, and then he'll get back to dealing with it all. The mirrors, first, they're easiest, then continuing to figure out what to do about Aya.

When he wakes, he goes to talk to a demon about that. Knock, knock, calling Inferno, is Revelation in?

Comments

[darkest_evening]

"I'll go have an ordinary 'before there was an evil conspiracy necklace' day, then."

He stands, then looks at her in consideration.

"... Would you like a goodbye kiss?"

[namesthesky]

"Yes. Please. You will not go far wrong if you just assume I always want you to kiss me."

[darkest_evening]

"I'll keep that in mind."

And since it's been deemed 'okay' to kiss her goodbye - he goes and does that.

[namesthesky]

Mmmmmmmmmkiss.

[darkest_evening]

Yup. Kiss!

Unfortunately it is also followed by a soft, "Goodbye, Aya. Good luck."

[namesthesky]

"Bye."

[darkest_evening]

And then he goes.

He does, after all, have work to do.

[namesthesky]

And Aya ensconces herself in her house and -

tries things.

[darkest_evening]

And Prime goes and does work. It's pretty run of the mill and ordinary. For him. He's sort of vaguely worried about Aya in general every time he has free moments to spare, but - let's not screw with the small sanctity of the test, hmm? And if he's clever (which, he likes to think he is somewhat clever) he can play his cards so that he doesn't have many free moments. There, problem solved.

[namesthesky]

Aya delegated all her work as best she could as soon as she was first necklaced.

She drags herself through the day.

[darkest_evening]

Predictably - it stops being that day. It's the next.

Then there is a Prime outside of her door. Knock knock.

[namesthesky]

The door flings open. She may have been camped out near it.

She hugs him. It seems like she has been crying.

[darkest_evening]

He hugs her back, petting her hair soothingly.

"Hey," he murmurs.

[namesthesky]

"Hi," she mumbles.

[darkest_evening]

Hair pet, hair pet.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

[namesthesky]

Squirm.

"You remember how I said I was trying very hard not to try to get everything I want without compromising? I don't have any methodology geared at not doing that. The more I wrote down the more I - I'm practically afraid to talk to you, because I have to choose topics and words somehow and every time I do it there's a chance something in my brain that I cannot dig out is going to hijack those decisions to -" She interrupts herself and goes back to crying, on him.

[darkest_evening]

He's perfectly all right being with being cried on.

"Okay," he says. "Do - would it help if I was aware of your ultimate win condition, without any compromising, and the one you're aiming at, so I can inform you when you're doing the one you don't want?"

[namesthesky]

"It's what you'd expect from somebody who touched a magic love necklace."

[darkest_evening]

"I figured," says Prime, calmly. "I mean - personally, my ultimate win condition, in your situation, would be 'find a way to make the person I was in love with return my affections without forcing them to touch the necklace.' But I don't know if that's your ultimate win condition, or if yours allows for more flexibility." Pause. "I'm not, by the way, upset at you for wanting things, Aya."

[namesthesky]

"I usually allow myself arbitrary license to want things. This is different."

[darkest_evening]

"I know. There is a conspiracy evil love necklace involved. But I'm - it's okay to talk to me about it. I will not freak out and flee because you've been fighting something desperately and feel like it would be best if I were informed of what you're fighting."

[namesthesky]

"I let them kill me because I was afraid of what I might be able to talk you into. And part of me is telling me to give you enough credit for hundreds of years of successfully detecting manipulation, that I couldn't get you to do anything you didn't want to do, and I don't think any of the people you've interacted with over those hundreds of years were this motivated and I'm pretty sure that part of me lives next to the part that wants me to stop watching what I say. It might be reasonable for you to flee."

[darkest_evening]

Predictably, Prime does not flee.

"That's a pretty reasonable worry. You're right, I don't think the people I'd dealt with were quite as motivated. If you're willing - and by no means do I want you to do this if you don't think it's a smart decision - you can give an example of how you'd try to manipulate me?"

[namesthesky]

She opens her mouth. She shuts it, biting her lip.

She says, very carefully, "If I thought it was smart I would have done it before."

[darkest_evening]

"Is it likely that you'll slip?" he asks, seriously. "Later down the line."