"Okay, I got the chipset for- you are very naked." Thomas froze as he entered his room, staring at the woman lying naked on his bed, posed seductively.

"So I am." Annie stretched languidly, shooting him a wink, before beginning to frown slightly as Thomas just continued to stare. "You- you knew where I was going with this, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Thomas looked down at the chipset. "I was kinda hoping to watch the show first…"

"You wouldn't rather enjoy me, then the show? And maybe a few more times throughout, whenever you're… up~ for it." Annie purred.

Thomas sighed. "Okay, well, if we're going to just be jumping right into this, I want to get a few things straight. Mostly along the lines of what exactly we're looking to get out of this."

Annie blinked. "You want to have the talk? Now?"

Thomas frowned. "If not now, then when?"

"Well… usually the talk comes after a few weeks when things start to get more serious. You know, once we're comfortable with each other and no longer focused on the sex?" Annie cocked her head, confused.

Thomas frowned. "That- has that ever worked out for you? I mean, if you build the relationship on sex and then wait until the sex gets boring to build something deeper… I don't know, it just seems like you're setting yourself up for failure that way."

Annie flushed. "Well, I do tend to go through men pretty fast… um, should I- put my clothes back on for this?" She wasn't sure she could handle a serious conversation with her tits out.

Thomas shrugged. "If you'd like."

Annie quickly pulled her shirt and panties back on and the two of them sat down on the bed. "So… huh. Usually I start these things with some kind of 'treat me better or this can't keep going' ultimatum… I'm not sure how to go about this when I have nothing to complain about yet." She frowned.

"Again, I can't see that working out well, but… I suppose the place to start would be what type of relationship you're looking for? Obviously there's going to be a sexual component, but is it going to be more of a companionable 'we're friends who fuck' kind of thing, or are we shooting for something more romantic?" Thomas replied.

"What's the difference?" Annie asked.

"Well… if we're friends who fuck, then in public, we're friendly with each other, but not like cuddling and kissing and whatnot. Plus, hanging out would mostly involve… well, hanging out. We wouldn't be invested in really getting to know each other, it'd just be a matter of if we enjoyed being around each other or not. As long as we enjoy being around each other, it works, and if we don't, it doesn't. The sex would just be another way we hang out, though… it'd be a problem if it became the only way we hung out. That'd just be basing the relationship on sex again. If we were going for something more romantic… Well, for that, we'd need to be more invested in each other's lives. We'd go on dates, learn about each other's pasts, our various goals and aspirations, you know… partner stuff. The main difference would be that even if we enjoy being around each other, if our goals and aspirations don't fit together, then the relationship can't really progress, because we can't be partners if we're moving in different directions."

Annie considered that for a moment, frowning slightly. She wasn't used to being so… intentional about a relationship. "Wow… you've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

Thomas coughed awkwardly. "Well… relationships get tricky for us, due to our nature. I suppose I could just sleep around, but as much as I enjoy sex, I need something more than that. Some level of… emotional stimulation, you know? Or maybe mental stimulation? I dunno, I just know things are better when I actually enjoy being around the person I'm sleeping with, and when I don't… it just feels kind of dirty."

Annie nodded slightly. "I can get that… a little bit of extra spice beyond base attraction that makes the relationship more… exciting."

Thomas paused. "I wouldn't necessarily say exciting, but yeah, something like that." He nodded. "Anyway, what do you think? Should we go for friends who fuck or a legitimate relationship?"

Annie frowned, considering what she actually wanted out of all this. It wasn't a thought she was used to having… Generally, she saw a man she was interested in and just went for it, enjoying the time they spent together until things started to fall apart and she moved on. She knew she had a type and Thomas definitely fit that type, but beyond that… she had nothing. She wasn't even sure what a legitimate relationship would look like! "How- how about we start as friends and go from there?" She asked hesitantly. That felt more comfortable to her. She didn't want to get trapped in a situation where Thomas felt some sort of ownership over her. Something more casual where they hung out and fucked every now and then seemed like something she was more equipped to handle.

Thomas nodded. "That works for me. Probably… if it turns out it doesn't, I'll let you know."

Annie nodded back, feeling a bit nervous. "So… what now?" She wasn't sure if she could just jump into sex after all that, which was completely foreign territory for her.

Thomas paused, before holding up the chipset. "We could watch this?" He offered. "Then… eh, we'll see what happens." He shrugged.

Annie blinked, before grinning slightly. "Sure, that sounds great."

*

Andrew frowned, looking between his phone and the Energy structure he was weaving. "Okay, why isn't this working?" He complained, letting the Energy structure dissolve. After his Class Advancement, he'd started working on actually casting spells, looking up some articles on basic spellcasting online, but so far, all his attempts had been duds.

"What are you trying to do?" Quinn asked, falling into a nearby chair as she took a break from her own training.

"I'm trying to figure out how to cast this spell, but nothing seems to be working!" Andrew exclaimed. "It's just a stupid light spell! How difficult can it be!?!"

Quinn frowned slightly. "Did you tell it what to do?" She asked.

Andrew blinked. "The spell?"

Quinn nodded. "You need to actually give the spell direction for it to work, and until you do, it just sits there. That's why traits don't do anything until you actually want them to."

Andrew frowned, turning back to the article and reading it over again. "Why doesn't this article mention that?" He muttered.

"Probably because they assumed it would be common knowledge." Quinn shrugged. "Everyone knows spells need direction, just like they know gravity always pulls you down. If you were writing a tutorial on jumping, would you include the fact that you had to use enough force to defeat gravity?"

"No, but everyone can jump!" Andrew protested. "Not everyone can cast spells! You can assume that people might be missing basic knowledge like that!"

"But… everyone can cast spells?" Quinn retorted, cocking her head slightly. "Everyone has Energy, everyone can shape it to some extent, so… everyone can cast spells. Even I can cast some. See?" She held up her hand and a small spark of fire appeared, before winking out.

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Andrew blinked at her for a moment. "Okay… so how do I tell the spell what to do?"

"Well, you make the weave, then you visualize what you want it to do, and send that to the spell. For example, if I picture the flame hovering over my palm…" She held up her hand and the spark formed again, sitting on her palm. "But then if I visualize it shooting out of my palm…" She held up her hand again, palm facing towards the wall as a spark of flame shot out. "See? The spell just makes the effect, you have to determine what it does with the effect."

Andrew frowned, remaking the small light weave before picturing a ball of light hovering over his hand and willing it at the weave. Suddenly a small ball of light began floating over his hand. "Huh… wait, so if anyone can cast spells, what's the point of mages?"

Quinn gave him a weird look. "If anyone can swing a sword, what's the point of warriors? The difference is the amount of skill, obviously! I can make a little bit of fire with that spell, so I can light a campfire or something, but a mage could burn a hole through someone with it, due to their higher Will and Intellect, as well as the various traits they'd have picked up to boost their spell power." Quinn shook her head, snorting lightly. "What's the point of mages? What's the point in anything!"

Andrew flushed in embarrassment. The answer was obvious in retrospect… "Well, good to know I just wasted a few hours for nothing…" He sighed, sitting down next to her.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Oh no, the immortal wasted a few hours. How tragic."

"Hey, is my time any less precious just because I have more of it?" Andrew protested.

"Yes." Quinn immediately replied. "That's kind of the point of immortality. You have more time, so you can waste more time."

Andrew raised a finger, before pausing. "Okay, fair. But! We are kinda on a time crunch with the Ruin. I may be able to waste time, but the things I need to accomplish can't wait forever."

"Need is a relative term, but yes, if you could hurry up and get stronger so you could take care of that, that would be great." Quinn nodded, sighing lightly. "It's so easy to forget there actually are important things going on around you people."

Andrew frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Chris is utterly… Chris. Talking to him just makes you feel like an idiot for ever caring about anything. Greg will actually take something seriously, and then he'll take something else seriously, and then another, and another, until he's so far down a rabbit hole that you aren't even sure what you were talking about in the first place. Thomas is more focused, but he'll take the conversation into some abstract theoretical discussion, exploring all the options you could take until you're so bound up in decision paralysis you don't want to do anything. And then there's you, who spends all his time complaining about minor inconveniences when there are actual major problems going on!" Quinn explained.

"Sure, but I can't actually do anything about the major problems, but I can fix the minor inconveniences." Andrew retorted.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "You can go back in time and avoid wasting a few hours?"

Andrew blinked. "Well no, but-"

"Then you've suddenly gained the ability to know things you don't know?" Quinn continued.

"No, I-" Andrew frowned.

"So then, there's actually nothing you can do about wasting a few hours or to avoid wasting time in the future?" Quinn persisted, talking over him.

"I- I guess not-" Andrew stammered.

"So complaining about it is just as useless as complaining about the major issues, isn't it?" Quinn finished with a smirk. "In fact, if you could do anything about it, wouldn't it be better to actually do that, instead of complaining?"

Andrew scowled. "You've been spending too much time with Chris." He grumbled.

"Say what you will about the man, when it comes to figuring out what actually deserves your attention, he's a genius." Quinn shrugged.

"That's because he refuses to pay attention to anything he doesn't need to!" Andrew retorted.

"Which means he had to get really good at it." Quinn smirked.

Andrew glared at her for a moment. "Since when did you get so close with him? I thought you hated him."

Quinn frowned. "I never hated Chris. He's a monster, but- in a way, that makes me respect him even more. Despite all his emptiness, he still tries. He could just ignore everyone, hell he wants to ignore everyone, but he doesn't. Arguably he does more than a lot of people who do care, and that's… admirable. I just don't enjoy feeling like my life isn't completely my own. The idea that someone else gets to decide, or even direct what I do… it's uncomfortable. But that doesn't mean I hate Chris for it. I knew what I was signing up for when I accepted the offer and he's done a lot to make everything as comfortable as possible for me."

Andrew frowned. "Chris?"

Quinn nodded. "Chris. As I said, the man's a monster, but he's a monster you can respect."

"Huh… I never noticed any of that." Andrew muttered.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You're too busy complaining about a few wasted hours."

Andrew grimaced. "You're not gonna let that go, are you?"

"I will when you do." Quinn grinned.

Andrew shook his head. "Fine, I'll stop complaining." He paused. "So, did you hear I Advanced my Class?"

"Oh? What'd you get? Essence Master again?" Quinn cocked her head.

"Essence Magister, actually." Andrew replied. "Sort of a mix between an Essence Master and a mage. That's why I'm working on spells."

"Magister, huh?" Quinn muttered thoughtfully. "How does that work?"

"So far it's basically a mage, but I can use Essence to hold spells so that they only go off under certain conditions, giving me a bit more flexibility." Andrew explained. "I'm not sure what other skills it offers yet… the only skill I have besides inner sight only works when I can actually cast spells, so I haven't been able to work on leveling up."

Quinn nodded. "Fair enough."

"What have you been up to?" Andrew asked.

"Just working on my Class, same as you." Quinn shrugged. "The only issue is-" Quinn cut off, flushing in embarrassment. "Uh, I'm just having a hard time leveling, since there isn't really a good place for me to actually use my skills."

Andrew frowned. "Do you need me to make you a dungeon? I can make anything up to level thirtish now, and as long as I keep things simple, nothing should go wrong."

Quinn shook her head. "No, a dungeon wouldn't help… you- you remember what my combat Class was, right?"

Andrew paused. "The battle dancer one?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah… see, that Class is built off a dancing Class, not a battle Class, and dancing requires an… audience." Quinn coughed awkwardly. "I need people to actually use the skills on, so just practicing in my room doesn't give me all that much experience." Quinn let out a frustrated sigh. "I know what I need to do, but- I just thought I was done with that crap. I'm not exactly excited to go back to it." It wasn't even that she didn't enjoy the dancing. In fact, she loved the dancing. She even enjoyed having an audience. What she didn't enjoy was when that audience decided to treat her like some sort of sex object. Like somehow she had to sleep with them, because if she enjoyed dancing then obviously she had to want to get fucked by every guy she met. And when she didn't… Well, there was a reason she kept that part of her life secret, even going so far as to wear a mask whenever she did anything even vaguely related to that part of her life.

"Well… we did just pick up a bunch of people. Maybe they could help? If you didn't want to- do whatever you were going to do?" Andrew offered.

Quinn frowned at him. "Andrew, the last thing I'd want to do would be to parade myself around in front of my future coworkers. No, I know a good way to practice, I just need Chris to send me back to Nobilis for a bit." She sighed. "At least I'll get to see Alana again."