Charles Patricius

[Bloodedge]

Flirting? The way Kazu saw his own words, not a single flirt had been sent Saori's way. He'd spoken only the fact of his preference, but if she wanted to tease against perceived flirting... she'd chosen the right form of Kazuhiko to do so. "Picking battles isn't slacking. And if you think that was flirting, and that I'm not allowed, you don't seem very fit to stop me... Maîtresse," he teased right back. In that moment, both were looking at each other through the corners of their eyes.

Marisbury took note of this moment. The exchange between them didn't reek of animosity. In fact, he could now more clearly see how Saori was impregnated initially. Either way, it was his task to make the necessary pushes toward whatever these parents wanted for Sena. Personal observations about their relationship would take a backseat for the time being, though... they would remain in place nonetheless. "Interesting. So, we agree on this major personality trait. The combination of Hayami-san's demeanor with Kimura-kun's underlying traits does equal what would be called a chuuni, but... yes, she is going to be quite the magical little girl. I'm seeing a desire to focus, and... well, the rest would spoil any surprises there are. I think the best part of a new creation is seeing it come into its own. Our job here is just to open the widest path possible for her."

True to his word, Marisbury worked toward solidifying Sena's 'explosive' tendencies. Saori suggested a lift to flexibility as well. "You're plenty flexible in the right circumstance," Kazu stated. In that moment, Marisbury quirked a brow. "Hmm. Even I'm not sure what the intention behind that one was," he interjected. "Though, the combination of you two does equal more than a normal amount of mental flexibility as well as physical and spiritual. I'm seeing firm beliefs, but a willingness to see other perspectives... which seems to be the perfect middle ground for you two in your current states. Anything else? There does seem to be a leaning toward... obsession, which is a very strong part of both parents here. Is that something we want altered? I'll tell you the target is something Sena would have to discover herself, and it isn't something we can get rid of entirely."

[Apollymi]

Abrasive, that was a word that could be used to describe Saori. Even now, she was finding herself being so... choosing to tease the lad for any implication of bending her over anything instead of doing what they came here for. Still the attitude he showed in response to that, was indeed much closer to the kind of thing Saori actually enjoyed. He wasn't always like this, but the more outright flirty response was indeed more enjoyable. "I'm fit to stop whatever I want. You aren't fit to start..." ah, that one was flirty. Much easier was that sort of thing when the other pieces were already inline, even so the firmness of her stance on not being involved with the craziness wasn't going away. Life was complicated enough without the additions and she knew of far more than the light-hearted form of Kazuhiko even realized, she'd even extrapolated a few things based on historical knowledge... something that lad seemed almost incapable of doing. Whatever the case, that little bit of French language was a good sounding phrase, even though she chose to ignore it.

Still according to Marisbury Sena was going to be a very magical little girl and there was an agreement about her being a chuuni. Even so, everything would be fine, and Saori was even willing to live with a few surprises yet to be seen. "Hai hai, no need for spoilers," she said waving that part off, though she was still giving a bit of a side eye to Kazuhiko. Speaking of his commentary on flexibility could be taken a couple of ways, and even Marisbury claimed to not know which way it was meant. "Unneeded commentary!" she barked. Who that was meant for? Well... it didn't really matter. What was necessary was a decision, about the nature of obsession in Sena. Oddly enough, Saori had but one thing to say about it, "No need to tweak it... obsessions are technically quite healthy for those types," Saori stated. She had at least one obsession of her own currently and she'd grown out of the others when the time was right. She had faith a baby of hers could with help learn to navigate her own feelings well enough to be unhindered by such a thing.

[Bloodedge]

According to Saori, she was capable of stopping anything, while he was not fit to start. The inaccuracies were piling up, Kazuhiko thought, even scoffing at the claim. "You couldn't handle a third," he said plainly. He knew his capabilities, the weight of his soul and the power of this form whilst in it. Whether his words were arrogant or objective, he wouldn't bother saying. This Kazuhiko had no concern for how the conversation veered, how his words were interpreted, or... any of it, really. Even with Saori's exclamation of unneeded commentary, he had only a few simple words to offer. "Haah? Embarrassed? Let it go and move on," he said.

Strange as this pair was, Marisbury would now be doing nothing with the recently-addressed aspect of Sena. If they didn't want her obsessions curbed, he would leave them alone. The only thing that needed establishing was the type of parental bond, which normally filled itself in during the incubation process. To rush it along, Marisbury did need something. "If that's all, I need only one more thing from you two. If this process were to be completed naturally, Sena's soul would grow to understand the link between you two before being born. It would happen naturally, and determine how these two sub-cores meld, if at all. If you two aren't going to exchange mana in any way, we'll have to cause that convergence by other means. I could probably manage something just by knowing what you two think of each other in reasonable detail. Is that a better option?"

[Apollymi]

Oh, there was a bit of biting conversation. That was appreciable in truth. Saori preferred this kind of attitude to many others, but that was simply her own oddity. "Oh?" that was it, perhaps in a different moment or at a different time she would have called him on this assertion. Perhaps it would be something worth doing at some other point in time but it was nothing she was truly concerned about in the moment. No, there was a barking order of unnecessary commentary which came from Saori which a few words followed from Kazuhiko's end. "You could have let it go," that was it. It would have seemed like an argument but she said nothing else, such was her way, mostly so she didn't do anything unnecessary like stand up and swing a fist which did cross her mind as an option.

Ah but there was more that Marisbury needed. He claimed that the growth of a baby would naturally allow it to understand the relationship between its parents and give it time to bond its pieces together properly. Such would not be happening in this case. And since Saori had no active plans of engaging in continued sexual activity with Kazuhiko. Ah, but apparently they could talk it through, why these weird godly people had issues with conversations Saori couldn't know, but if talking was an option why they started with sex she didn't know. "Hm, I guess it works..." she said seeming to close her eyes and consider the question posed to her. Oddly enough what she had to say about Kazuhiko from one moment to the next didn't change, "I think he's bright, earnest, adventurous and legitimately nice. Though that means he is also naïve and a bit oblivious, especially when presented with one of his obsessions. But for things he's interested in, he's truly passionate about those, and that makes him infectious and oddly charming. He's a strong sense of fairness, and a good eye for the individual talents of others which make him a reliable leader and someone who is easy to talk to and empathize with. And anyone who goes all in on something they enjoy has my full respect. Even if I believe they aren't making full use of their potential," Saori confirmed. Oddly enough she had no issues saying such things, but she was a teacher she was used to analyzing people in front of their faces.

[Bloodedge]

To his acknowledgement of her outcry, Saori thought Kazu could have just let it go. She wasn't wrong; he could have done that. As for whether he would or not, well... the answer would never change. "You're right. But you could have never said anything. Look where we are now?" he replied. Martha's mannerisms didn't bother this one, nor were they receiving the same quality of retort. He was equal parts too serious and too snarky for the norm.

Now, with no mana transfer of any sort on the proverbial table, Saori shared her opinion of the father in this arrangement. Marisbury listened intently to her every word, and further all the lines between. The honesty she exemplified was remarkable. She spoke positively from the heart, objectively from the mind, and acceptingly from the soul. "That was good. And what of you? What is your honest opinion of Hayami-san?" he asked of Kazu. The answer Marisbury received came with no hesitation. "Stuck-up, close-minded, brash and prickly on a good day. Too strong a sense of responsibility for someone who isn't even 30 yet. For the cost of all that, there's a do-right attitude and a heart of gold. You just can't be mad about any of the negatives, even if you know she needs to stop shouldering the whole damn world for no reason. You just want to take some of that weight off, you know? Speaking of weight, I'm guessing you don't care to hear about the rockin' body," Kazu rambled. Marisbury never stopped shifting code lines around, but he did take a moment to chuckle. "That won't be necessary; we can all agree on that truth," he answered. The two segments representing Sena's parents were wound together at a specific point: a streak of passion. As each had strong feelings of passion and respect for the other's similar drive, he could use it to create a situational link between those pseudo-cores. "This will be a little strange. The two of you seem to have a... situationship at best. By this connection method, there will equally be a situational reaction of sorts in our little Sena. Now, about the age. . ."

[Apollymi]

Pure snark, that is what Saori received from this more mature form of Kazuhiko. Seeing where they were now, she gave consideration to more words, but... she also knew herself well enough to know that if she spoke again standing up and swinging would become her more favored option. As such she took a deep breath and simply shook her head from left to right. Moving on, Saori gave her piece on the man standing in front of her she was told it was enough for what Marisbury needed. Her understanding of Kimura Kazuhiko came from two places and in both of those she had similar opinions just from different angles.

What of Kazuhiko though? His opinion of his teacher turned comrade was about what she expected. Those were things she'd heard about herself before and she wouldn't even argue the point. Her attitude wasn't for everyone and she didn't tolerate anything lesser. Those who thought her to have too strong a sense of responsibility were the ones who had some inkling of 'funner' sort of person she used to be. What else he had to say about her though, that was different. Her brows furrowed. She asked for no help and expected none... ah but that was the point wasn't it. As for the statements on her physique. She couldn't even muster a negative comment. She spent two lifetimes on a perfect body, she wasn't about to deny that perfection. "Hmph!" she didn't say anything but there was just a hint of smugness in wake of Marisbury's commentary. Situationship was the further descriptor of the relationship between Saori and Kazuhiko and she understood how it got there and wouldn't be questioning it at all... as for the age of the girl in question. "Age? I don't know what modern kids are like, but I had the most fun in life when I was fifteen. Old enough to be independent, young enough that I wasn't being hassled to make decisions... past the super awkwardness of puberty. Though I'm not sure how much my opinion on that should count," Saori said, being fair to the child in question and her potential father.

[Bloodedge]

Saori had nothing to say at the end of their back-and-forth. Kazu wasn't surprised at all by that; someone had to end it eventually. Just the same, there had to be an end to this entire ordeal at some point. Even this form of Kazuhiko acknowledged that he'd rather be elsewhere getting on with his original plan, but Marisbury kept bringing up things that they all could have dealt with later. Well, he couldn't rightly demand that Marisbury change his schedule; he was an adult with a very demanding job in this world.

Age was the topic broached. Marisbury was mentally working around how to address the matter, only for Saori to begin speaking her opinion of the ideal age. That certainly changed things a bit. At present, the child would hardly be half that age, but... there was always a method. "Ah. I was intending to explain the situation before getting an answer about your preference. If you're aiming for something around 15 years of age, you'll need a lot more mana into the child than what's present. Right now, your window is between human newborn and... four," Marisbury explained. "That makes sense. Kazuki looks like an elementary school student, and that was after multiple nights spent with Sakura. If she's being born now, fifteen is ideal. She'd be able to join us at school, and we wouldn't lose to having a young child that needs constant care," said Kazu. Marisbury cleared his throat before proceeding. "Then we're back at square one. Growth accompanies mana consumed. A normal tenure in the womb burns energy to fuel the body; I'm sure you both understand that already. It's just like humans understand it. The mother takes sustenance, the child gets a share. I may be able to extend time within this space, but... even I can't make a human grow with no input whatsoever. You'll have to either make some level of connection happen between you, or make another decision. I'll leave that part to you two."

[Apollymi]

A quiet had come between the pair but that was simply how Saori handled things in situations in which fighting someone wasn't possible. To keep things as simple as possible she tried to be as reasonable as she could manage without bending to anything she considered odd. Of course, such things would work out that way most of the time. But in the here and now she'd been asked about age preferences and the opening in speech left her to decide an age she'd preferred. Ah, but what she had was a baby between newborn and four. "That's way too young," she said frowning. The idea of doing something like finding childcare and helping a little kid was terrifying. She'd not even liked her younger sister when she was in that age range, and Saori had been 9 when that one was born. Apparently, Kazuhiko also thought the better of it, as a fifteen year old could more easily fit into their regular rotation for time spent in this town.

So what? It did make sense that they'd only had one interaction of a sizable but not astronomical length. Magic did work through energy based transfers and even as she understood regular baby making it took a lot out of the person growing it mostly in the form of food. It was an annoying thought though, according to Marisbury he could do something but not the amount they'd need to get their desired outcome. Something about this felt like entrapment to Saori. But only some form of connection needed to be established. Kazuhiko could be trusted to a certain extent, she'd already mentioned that, but her stance hadn't truly changed. "Just a connection of some sort huh? You're the one with the extra experience, what's the least invasive way to meet his requirements?" she asked of Kazuhko. She could at least trust him to not be too pushy about things normally.

[Bloodedge]

The age of four was at least ten years too young for a suitable member of their group. They needed someone who didn't require constant attention from at least one adult. In time, they would all be involved in a great battle. What place would a child have there? No, Sena had to be in range of them. Nothing less would suffice, and even a little more would have been fine. Sadly, Marisbury had requirements of the pair who couldn't come to terms about their mana-related bonding.

Saori wasn't the only one with a sense of entrapment in this situation. There was always a certain amount of manipulation from the well-meaning ones he'd been encountering lately. On the other hand, he didn't really care the outcome, so long as he got to move on afterwards. Saori decided to question Kazu on the least invasive ways of meeting the request. She was right; he had far more experience in these matters. In terms of effectiveness, however, what he learned was not conducive to making the decision Saori would want. "Least invasive and most effective? Oral. Least invasive overall? Just touching. It scales the same magically as it does sexually. The more you do, the more you get, quicker. You shouldn't bother asking me any of that, though. I already said I'd rather bend you over something; I meant that. Make your own decision if that's not what you're trying to have happen," he demanded. Just then, Marisbury cleared his throat once more. "If you'll be needing any time manipulation or privacy, please let me know~"

[Apollymi]

As was generally the case and her understanding, Kazuhiko had an answer for her without the added annoyance of well-meaning clairvoyant scamp behavior. At this point the only reason she'd not just swung on Marisbury was because he was being helpful... but her level of annoyance was only going to grow as the day went on. The truth of this entire situation was some combination of magical scaling versus time. Of course this was the case, why didn't anyone in this room besides Saori see the actual negatives of her continuing to have a sexual relationship with someone who was in this world a student of hers and 12 years her junior? Why was she the only one in this room with the common sense to know that a one time encounter was something to be buried, but more exposure would lead to more problems, both short term and long term. Besides, she wanted no part of his coming harem and had something she was looking forward to as well... this was just a complication. This kind of thing was exactly why safe sex was a practice so annoying life decisions could be mediated and innocent lives wouldn't be affected. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the problem of this situation and the more annoyed she became. Well, those from Munetsuchi wouldn't get it, nor would the obviously way too open children...

"Mendokusei!" she uttered. Problems she couldn't fix with violence made her angry. And those flirty words in the middle of Kazuhiko's speech didn't do anything but make her want to challenge him and make her angry too. 'Pros of this situation... getting the kid out at the least problematic age. Having said kid around at an age where it would be easiest to keep all necessary details quiet. Getting this whole thing over with before it causes me more problems. Getting to try out a more compatible form of Kazuhiko. And the kid getting a supposedly better start at life.' she listed in her head while clenching and unclenching her fist. 'Cons, having sex with a student, on purpose for reasons that can't really be quantified by normal standards. Having that loom over my head while still having to be his actual teacher. Ending up too close to this harem for my personal comfort. Leaving openings for his continued flirting and advances. Eventually having to explain this very fucked up situation to someone I actually want to be with.' With the pros and cons of this situation listed, the annoyance level of the situation stayed the same but at least she had a reasonable understanding of the stakes. Unlike most, neither Saori nor Martha would make a decision thatt would negatively affect an innocent person, once again she'd shoulder the burden of her own initial bad decision to see a reasonable for a future for a kid who was currently just an idea and a ball of code. 'Oh well, at least I'll get to say goodbye to my sister this time.' That was the main thought she had as she considered all the potential negatives of this situation as a full worst case scenario. "We need both." that was it... all that she was going to say. If this was a thing to do, she might as well fully commit to throwing her life away.

[Bloodedge]

Saori spent quite the long amount of time thinking. Kazuhiko was merely waiting for an answer, having no real concern for what happened. In fact, it didn't matter to him if this child was born now, in nine months, or in ten years. Marisbury intended to make the most of a new life ─ or at least to give it the best possible opportunity. For that, he knew the child's parents had to get over themselves. Even if that meant sacrificing what they believed was negotiable, they would be better for it in the end. Humans often required intervention to excel.

In this case, even the smallest concession would be a great boon. They could spend a hundred years in this subspace holding hands, kissing, fighting, or whatever else. Kazuhiko's preference had been made known twice now, and Saori's was clarified time and time again. In the end, though... Saori requested both time and privacy. "Oh? That's unexpected," Marisbury claimed. Without further ado, he was creating extra separation between the 'room' and the outside world. Walls were being restored, albeit with an otherworldly glow and presence. When an open door appeared, Marisbury would be on the other side speaking his final words for the moment. "We should be just outside of the world's time now. When those smaller cores are combined fully, Sena should be in a self-sustaining state of being; that will let her manifest at the age you both want. Knock on this door when you're done and ready," he said before the aforementioned door shut and sealed itself. There were no ins or outs to the room Marisbury created for them. Once they were alone, Kazuhiko decided to speak again. "Should have added 'easily annoyed into coercion' to the list. Oh well. What's the decision?"

[Apollymi]

Marisbury wanted what was best for a life not yet quantifiable and Saori wanted to live her own life as she intended. Irrespective of his well-meaning antics, Saori was making decisions that would destroy her life. She knew and understood this as fully as every girl in the world did when they had anything resembling and understanding of the world. But she'd already made her peace with her own actions and had already powered through the pros and cons of the situation and decided to do what she would always do, and bear the brunt of the responsibility for being irresponsible in the first place. Marisbury claimed her decision was unexpected but given he'd been subtly trying to manipulate her into acting the way he wanted since he showed up, she wasn't sure she believed him. She cut her eyes in his direction ad the room changed around him and knew that under other circumstances she definitely would have punched him.

No matter, she'd end up channeling that kind of aggression into something else later. Marisbury even went on to explain the difference in this space and how they'd know, they completed the task as necessary. Fine. "Hai hai," she said to the instructions given. And soon they were alone again and once they were alone again, Kazuhiko decided to speak and when he did it was something snarky which made Saori's brow twitch. "Easily annoyed by coercion. But I weighed the pros and cons and decided that if I am throwing my life away... I might as well do it like I mean it," she said almost sarcastically. "Anyway you said something about bending me over something and I really think I'd like to see you try," that was what she decided upon in the moment. The fastest method possible to get the innocent life to the point it needed to be the most potential benefits and the cons were what they were always going to be in this case and she'd already made peace with her life on this side swirling into nothing. The least she could do would be to have something fun to tell her friends before she disappeared again. Still she stood side eyeing Kazuhiko, she'd given his appearance a fair shake and was willing to simply enjoy a more muscular delinquent Kazuhiko. She needed to lose the tension still wound up in her fist and... settle into what was happening in the here and now.

[Bloodedge]

Walls erected, door sealed, and apparently... correction made. Saori was arguing semantics that Kazuhiko would not bother delving any deeper into. She claimed to be easily annoyed by attempted coercion, but even if that were the case, she'd still dropped right into whatever trap was laid. Actually, Kazu wasn't entirely sure how much of a trap there was. That surprise from Marisbury didn't seem disingenuous at all after his other dealings with Creators. Yes, he was certain the optimal outcome was something more intense... but that didn't seem like a minimum goal at all. "Je vois," he muttered.

Whatever the case, Saori had allegedly considered the positives and negatives of the current arrangement. Her decision was inline with his earlier mention of bending her over, but talk of throwing life away would never sit right with any form of Kazuhiko. His arms were crossed as he turned to face the standing woman directly, looking down into her face with skeptical, narrowed grey eyes. "You think I'm going to do something like that while you think it's throwing your life away? Don't be stupid. As much as that's the best option for me, what's your issue with it? What makes it so important?" he wondered. Of course he'd be jumping at whatever opportunity would land him inside Saori/Martha, but unlike Marisbury and his ilk, all forms of Kazuhiko possessed a deeply-ingrained moral compass that was innately human in nature. "We've got infinite time in here. Might as well use some of it to talk."

[Apollymi]

A French utterance slipping from Kazuhiko's lips made it quite obvious that he was indeed, very much a Frenchman in his current form. More considerations were made about that, but she decided it was best not to question it too much. Saori had figured that it was fine for them to move on from this but apparently, no... that wouldn't be happening. Crossed arms and questions came her way, it seemed she'd slipped a bit in that last speech of hers, accidentally letting her thoughts leak out a bit. "Ah, not delinquent enough to just ignore that... I didn't mean for it to slip out," she admitted looking just a tad sheepish from her normally aggressive state. As for her problems they were quite numerous though according to Kazuhiko they had infinite time so they could well have a conversation. He thought this was the best outcome for him but didn't understand why she thought it was so bad, of course he didn't... she figured such a thing would only actually be understood by a girl who'd felt the full backlash of society.

How would she be phrasing her issues? Well, bluntly but... since it was just the two of them she'd clarify everything but it was even more annoying to think about from start to finish. She began pacing being very mindful of her hands to avoid the extra desire to swing them directly into anyone's body. "First, I should say that I don't think you're a problem or anything. And knowing that you heard that... I understand why we're having this conversation. It's exactly one of those better qualities of yours," she pointed out while pacing. "My problem is basically I am a complicated pessimist. Yeah, that sounds about right. Regardless of all the other magical implications going on here... this world says you're a seventeen year old boy and I am an almost thirty year old woman. I shouldn't have had sex with you the first time. Social norms say I have about 3 reasons I shouldn't have done that thing in the first place aside from that one, but I made that decision already. Marked it off my bucket list, it was something worth doing..." she said giving pause to the whole thing. "Still, to keep doing so is making an active decision to keep violating both social norms and most acceptable moral ones too. I'm the one who should be more responsible about it and that keeps not being the case," she clarified. "And then when I make the right decision, I keep being told I am somehow less right than I should be. It's fucking infuriating. Because, the people telling me this have never had to deal with the outcomes of being the girl and making the not socially acceptable decisions. I already know what it's like... so every time I make a decision I prepare for the backlash. And in this case, the potential negative backlash is, me losing my entire life, with my family, friends, work and future... for the sake of a kid I made on an impulse. And it's like everyone who talks about it doesn't have anything resembling common sense," she said.

"Yeah, I am pretty sure that summarizes it. I say no for those reasons and then I get a whole kids future dangled in front of my face like I'm supposed to make any decision other than what's best for her, because obviously I'm the one who made the impulsive decision to start with... I never thought I'd get this far, sex never actually got to the point of being this kind of dangerous before a couple of days ago. Never figured I'd have kids considering my conditions for acceptable partners are well beyond what is considered normal. Like seriously, I have a date in a couple of days and what I am supposed to do, explain that I keep having sex with a teenager for my teenage couple of days old child and that this is something they'll have to be okay with? Do I explain if this is found out that a teenage boy is actually older than me so this isn't the weirdest thing I could do? I'm not quite dishonest enough to lie, and I am also not quite childish enough to sit here holding hands for infinite time just to avoid something I would accept without unnecessary complications. It's all annoying," Saori explained. There were a few details missing but that was the crux of her issue. An annoying fact about the life of a girl that simply meant that any negative part of this outcome would be hers to bear, yet she still had to make the decision. To be a girl in this world was to lose, constantly.

[Bloodedge]

Kazuhiko was not enough of a delinquent in this form to ignore Saori's words. In truth, he'd never allow himself to be. This was a state likely to shirk any authority not his own, enforce his own rules and abuse advantageous situations. No version of Kazuhiko would disregard a comrade's wellbeing, though. "Never will be. Don't get me wrong; I'll still fuck you stupid. What I won't do, is waste both of our time doing something you think is a bad idea without talking it through first. We've still got other options," he preached.

With that, Saori would be going on a very long tangent about her views and their existing conundrum. Mostly, she lamented the problems encountered on Gaia for the sake of their sexual endeavors. She had some very solid points to make, not the least of which was the list of social standards being broken for a few hours of entertainment. That was always the way. A short amount of time spent serving one's desires could have lifelong consequences. Kazu wasn't one who would add three more problems just to fix what was originally one. One thing that stood out to him, though unmentioned in any direct fashion by Saori, was the continued violation of social standards. She remained attached to life in this world ─ enough to fear ruining it. That, too, was something he could understand. Alas, there were some things that couldn't be undone ─ things that had to be addressed with someone, at some time. Family, friends, work and future... those were things Kazu believed she didn't have to worry about at all.

Once Saori found enough space in her lungs to breathe instead of speaking, Kazuhiko thought to address her concerns in no particular order. It was all sort of jumbled, so he attacked whatever came to mind as it did. "That's the close-minded part. You're too worked-up to think it through properly. I've done that a lot. You don't need to worry about your life. We had sex. If that were going to affect your life, it'd affect mine too ─ even if it wouldn't be as big an effect. Easy answer: we don't let it affect us. Sounds dumb, right? But nothing about the way we speak or act around each other has changed, so where's the danger outside this little circle coming from? I never even considered addressing it unless you wanted to. I'm too old to do something stupid like let you be caught for something I wanted," he said first.

With that rudimentary answer to the awkwardness of a fling out of the way, he moved right on to the date Saori apparently had planned."That one could be a problem, but what of it? If you have a reason to explain what we did to the guy you're seeing, then you have a reason to explain your entire second life anyway. So... why not do that? If you two become that serious, you'll eventually have to anyway. I give full permission to invite anyone you trust with us. If you're worried about their safety, take them back to the sanctum and stay with them; you'll all be safe and happy there. My life is complicated enough as it is. I wanted the sex because you're a bombshell MILF with a ton of attitude. That's not going to change for me, and I won't act like it has. If you don't want to do it, don't do it ─ but that's not going to soften my dick. If you do want it, that's all it has to be. Just let me know. We can wreck each other like two cars on a collision course, then go right back to business as usual. So... screw the magic, screw what 'needs' to happen or what's best. What do you want? Share some of that weight."