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[ Vax rests his elbows on the table so he can lean a little closer. It's fun flirting with someone like this. He doesn't get to do it nearly enough. ]

Strong arms? I like that. Back home, I've got a much bigger friend. He's the one who usually gets the title of Strong.

[ Quite literally, since the word is also in Grog's name. ]

But I'm glad I happened along to help you. Wings and all.

[ He recalls her keeping a souvenir, too. ]

Well, I’m sure your Strong friend has very nice arms too, but I’m biased towards yours.

[As for the fight:]

I’m glad, too. Though I must admit, it was probably the most enjoyable part of the whole thing. It’s been too many months since I got to stretch my legs properly.

If he ever shows up, Grog will be happy to show them off to you and call me puny.

[ But he's glad Sciel enjoys his arms, anyway. ]

It was some nice exercise. Especially since we got to walk away from it. Your technique is incredible.

[ In action, she's really something to see. ]

Puny? Hardly.

[She can't imagine it. Not that Lumière doesn't occasionally produce some strapping young man with a predisposure towards heavy lifting, but Vax is taller and fitter than the majority of them. Anyway!]

Thank you. I really hope we get more opportunities to fight because that is what I'm best at, when it comes to missions.

[ This world must be a buffet of eye candy for tall, strong men, then. There are plenty who are bigger than Vax here, too, but her compliment does make him smile. ]

I met your friend Lune, by the way. Ran into her in the fog. Did she make it out alright, too?

[She smiles, too.]

As well as anyone has, yes. I’m sorry you both had to meet under such unhappy circumstances, though! Was she okay when you saw her?

She was. Just a bit lost. I tried to help her get back to the apartments.

[ It was difficult wandering around the fog, but Vax is glad to hear she made out as well as the rest of their group.

When the bot returns, it's with two plates of the lunch special of the day. Half a turkey melt and a cup of tomato soup, along with a side of chips. Water is poured unless they want something else. ]

She didn't trust me at first, but I figured out who she was based on your description. Once I mentioned you, she brightened right up.

[Sciel can only guess at what some of this is, but it smells good, anyway.]

She’s a very suspicious person sometimes, but it keeps us safe.

[Lune has her head on her shoulders, and a good, critical eye, where Sciel is too trusting, too likely to wind herself into a potentially vulnerable spot. Sciel adds, fondly:]

She and I have only started getting close, but I really think the world of her. It’s really incredible how resilient she is. She kept wanting to go back out in the fog, even when it felt so… hopeless.

[ Vax smiles a little as Sciel compliments her friend. It's nice that she has people here she feels close to and can rely upon.

Picking up his spoon, Vax tastes the soup, which gets a small nod of approval. They have similar foods back home, so he's not bothered by the results. ]

Without the aid of magic, many were at a disadvantage.

[ Not Sciel, clearly, given her skill with a scythe. ]

But it didn't seem to affect objects imbued with power, just magic that comes from people. I got lucky this time. Well, in that regard.

[She pops a chip in her mouth. Salty, good.]

Mmm. Everyone on my team is capable, but a scythe or a sword can only get anyone so far. That beast probably would have tired me out long before I could get the right hit in, so I’m lucky you came along.

[The whole thing could have gone sour, a cherry on the miserable cake that those two weeks had been. She’s glad to start putting it behind her, and she plucks up some humour:]

So is that belt more useful in battle, or in bed?

[ Vax likes to think Sciel could have handled the creature on her own because he doesn't want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't arrived when he did. She would have thought of something, right? Either way, it worked out. ]

Next time, I expect you to return the favor.

[ He jokes, which is followed by a laugh and a blush. ]

Honestly, I use it mostly as a distraction technique. Never used it in bed, until...

[ Ahem. Guess she inspired him. ]

Eager to get us in harm’s way again, are you! [She’s teasing, too.] But I’ll be looking forward to it.

[And then there’s that blush again, and it immediately lifts her spirits a little more.]

Inventing new tricks, just to amuse me? I’m flattered.

It sounds as though you like a good fight as much as I do.

[ She reminds him of a few of his friends back home. And some of the ones he has here, too. Her last remark gets an amused laugh. ]

Well, you've forced me to up my game.

I didn’t do all this training just to sit on my laurels.

[She loves a good fight; get into just the right rhythm and the highs get so high it’s impossible to feel fear. And now, with her chroma flowing again, and more of her gear back, she’s itching for an opportunity to put on a full show. All in time, though.

She leans her hand on her palm, grinning.]

Really? Don’t say that, you’ll just egg me on to push you harder again.

Neither did I. Though I'm sure you've got more training in fighting than I do.

[ Vax fights often, or he did at home, but he didn't put lots of time into training, necessarily. Nor formally.

Her grin has him leaning forward a bit to meet her gaze. ]

I'd like to think I'm up for the challenge.

Maybe! I came to it pretty late in life.

[That comes with its own perks, though; more time to develop adjacent skills, more time to get to know one's body, how it moves.]

Are you? What do you think you'll try next?

I was trained when I was young. Since then, it's just life experience.

[ He's sure there are some incredible fighters in this world. He already counts Sciel as one of them.

As for what he'll try next, Vax smiles. ]

Does this mean there's going to be a next?

[ He would not presume, but he would hope so. ]

Sort of incidental, then? Whenever a fight comes along.

[Far more leisurely than crossing a Continent with seemingly infinite Nevrons to cut down. She's glad for him. Much as she loves a good fight, the constant violence of it is bitter.

She much prefers flirting with him.]

I think it's so cute that you question that, like I wouldn't jump you right here.

At times. Other times, my sister and I picked up various jobs that suited our skills. Once we joined with others, we became a mercenary group.

[ Fighting was a part of life and put coin in their pockets.

Vax then laughs softly at the teasing. ]

Nobody but us and a couple of bots around.

[ He's teasing, of course. ]

I'm not sure Echo and Aurora deserve the show, though.

[It'd be interesting, she thinks, to see Vax in the same room as his sister; her experience with Vex has been unusual, slivers of a person and her relationship to her brother. But right here, in the moment, she is certain Vex does not want to know what Sciel is thinking about her brother.

She runs her ankle along his calf, playfully.]

Oh? Would you mind them watching if they did deserve it?

[ Vex has never been easy to get to know, but she's improved since Percival wormed his way into her heart. The twins may look alike, but they differ in some ways.

And Vex would probably want to know what Sciel is thinking as much as Vax wants to know what Vex and Percival get up to when they're alone. Which is not at all.

She's got him turning a bit red again. ]

They'd have to go pretty far to deserve that.

[Oh, that's just catnip to her, getting that colour out of him.]

What would they have to do?

Gods, they could start by overthrowing their maker, killing their god, and sending us home. Then throwing us a big party with lots of food and drink.

[ In a situation like that, maybe Vax would be willing to let them watch. ]

But if you don't want to wait for all of that to happen, my apartment is not far from here.

[She grins.]

Sounds sexy. I'm happy to stay here, though, given the circumstances. I want to see your place.

[ That smile is incredibly disarming. Vax is pretty sure she knows it, too. ]

Are you sure? It's not much to look at.

[ Vax never did anything to make it feel like a home, but it's a place to rest his head. ]

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