After a long and exhausting mission to Carapace, the members of Grimstone had returned to Braytons Barracks to begin their next phase of training. They had arrived late at night and barely had enough time to sleep before they had to wake up for a morning meeting. Currently, the majority of them were sitting at the table within their squad room while Chickadee was in the bathroom. Among them was Stonetoe, who had chosen to stand rather than sit.
“We should play a game while we wait, right?” Zaniyah looked about eagerly.
Sybil rolled her eyes. Zaniyah’s suggestion had said reminded her of Duxton’s inability to wait patiently and quietly. It was always wordplay or guessing games that were rigged in his favor. She wanted to make Zaniyah happy by agreeing, but it was difficult. Instead of saying anything, she took solace that Duxton had been sent away to Fogbloom, and she need not see him again for hopefully a long, long time.
Veximarl agreed with the idea. “I do not see the harm in a quick game.”
This made Zaniyah all the more eager. “Then here’s my suggestion! This is a guessing game specifically for Mama Stonetoe! We're going to tell him three truths and a lie. Each of us gets one statement. He has to guess which one is the lie. Are you up for it, sir?”
Stonetoe glared. He didn't say anything. He simply glared.
“First fact!” Zaniyah pointed to Veximarl. “Your go!”
“Me?” Veximarl pondered why he would go first if he didn't fully understand what he was supposed to say.
Leaning in, Sybil whispered. "Go with the truth. It's a free pass since, you know... You're not the best liar.” Veximarl was offended by her statement. “... You really are terrible at it.”
Alton raised a hand. “Veximarl kissed someone.”
“Who told you?!” The necromancer stood up from shock. Did Gwyn mention anything to anyone?
Veximarl had been drunk and spent the better part of an hour begging Alton for relationship advice. That's how Alton had found out. He planned on keeping that bit of blackmail stashed in his pocket for the time being. Alton merely smiled silently and smugly.
“I'll take another turn.” Alton waved his hand about. “One of us got married.” He looked over to Sybil, giving her a knowing nod. She replied with a frown. He then winked exaggeratedly.
Which meant that Zaniyah likely had a lie planned. Sybil thought of what she should say. Should she mention killing the would-be, or the fact that she had died? Was Zaniyah even trying to win this game? There was plenty that she could say that would make Stonetoe second guess his choice.
“Hmm...” She tapped a finger against the table. “Alton... Kissed a boy?”
Veximarl felt ill at the implications. His hand covered his mouth as he did his best to remember. He still couldn’t recall anything that happened at Zynn's bachelor party and Alton had been avoiding him ever since that day. Alton had always avoided him, that wasn't unusual, however, it did seem like he had been working extra hard at it as of late.
“Uhh...” Zaniyah flushed pink at the thought. “D-did he seriously..?” Sybil put a finger against her lips for a moment before she pointed to Stonetoe. “I mean, it's my turn! One of us is now a different gender!” Both Sybil and Veximarl stared at her. “It's the truth, right? It’s not like all three of you would be telling the truth. Because one of you would've told me if Alton was planning on kissing a boy so that I could have been there to watch.”
Stonetoe took a step forward and leaned against the table. “I already have a full report from Sir Moss and Lady Flay. Both of those reports were then repeated word for word at me by Lady Till. Trust when I say that Toval and Twist eloping is the least of my concerns! I have list after list of facts and details proving that you are all nothing more than a group of idiots!
Arguing against direct orders from a superior during a crisis. Entering enemy territory to activate a golem army without warning. A golem army,” he repeated in a flabbergasted tone. “And breaking up with Highland so harshly that he refused to return to the barracks... What is wrong with the lot of you?!”
To be fair, Stonetoe didn't like to wake up before noon. It was only two hours past dawn and they had just come back from their morning chores. They hadn't even fetched breakfast yet because their knight had said he needed to talk with all of them as soon as possible. There was a chance that he had skipped out on sleep completely and was extra cranky because of it.
Zaniyah stood up and started to wave her arms about in a panic. “Abort! Abort mission!”
But the bathroom door had already opened and out popped Millie in one of Zaniyah's scandalous outfits. Despite being a great deal shorter, she was considerably more filled out in places that were now stretching certain seams to their limits. In retrospect, Zaniyah had thought it hilarious to have Millie pretend to be Chickadee for a little bit but now all she could do was watch the scene unfold with horror on her face.
Millie held her ground. "I'm sorry, sir! I don't care what you say! You're going to have to accept me as what I am now because this is how I have always felt about myself! I am a beautiful flower! I am woman!”
She went to tear open the dress and reveal her bosom but was stopped by a flying tackle from Chickadee. He forcefully dragged her back inside the bathroom, only pausing to give a polite nod to everyone else before slamming the door behind him.
“Only squad members and their knights are allowed to enter this room, Krogastein!”
Zaniyah hung her head to the side. “I-I'm sorry, sir... I thought it would be funny.”
It might have been if the timing hadn’t been so off. Millie had come to the barracks with Sir Trewarne as the newest member of his Elderberry squad. Since the previous third year had been forcefully graduated last autumn, he was allowed to start building his new squad immediately.
“Not a single one of you is going to be allowed on another mission until after the new first year exams are completed,” continued Stonetoe. “You will all be assigned extra coursework. None of you have seemed to learn a damn thing from the classes you supposedly passed last year.
Every morning, I expect you to report to the inner dueling field after your chores. I am going to beat the lives out of every single one of you for as many weeks as needed until I'm certain your heads are on straight! Is that clear?!”
Veximarl raised a hand. “Does that mean that Grimhawk has not been doing well?” It was the only reason he could think of for Stonetoe volunteering to wake up early.
The older knight of Grimstone had a heart condition, which meant that he wasn't supposed to directly take part in training, but could advise and give orders. However, that also meant that his classes were either running exercises or games that involved squire suffering. In fact, the majority of what they did for his classes was little more than torture.
“Grimhawk is as well as ever,” replied Stonetoe in a cold tone. “I am volunteering to do this personally because I am going to take a lot of pleasure in bringing every single one of you down a peg.” They all shrunk back in their seats.
Zaniyah's voice was faint and quivering as she spoke. “Sorry, sir.”
“Sorry isn't good enough, Krogastein... Pain is all I need.” He had a tick in the corner of his eye that none of them liked. “From now on, you will receive your orders from me after the weekly class meeting. Report to the downstairs classroom immediately. You're already late and dammit, Krogastein! Never loan your clothes to that Cully girl again! I told you to burn those! Why do you still even own them?!”
He didn't wait for a reply. Instead, he stomped his way out of the door and slammed it behind him. As he did so, the bathroom door opened and both Chickadee and Millie tumbled out. Millie sat there pouting while Chickadee stood up and straightened his tunic.
Alton also stood up and adjusted his bracer. “We need to move out.”
Millie fumbled to a stand and kept her hands on her breasts to keep them from spilling out. “I should get going as well. I was supposed to meet with Mister Trewarne already.”
She took a step towards the door when Alton spoke up again. “Change your clothes first!” It was like dealing with a female Chickadee with Zaniyah’s personality, yet who was also somehow more air-headed than Zaniyah was. This was horrible. He could stand having another Chickadee around, but not another Zaniyah.
Letting out a squeak, Millie retreated to behind Sybil's curtain and started to fumble about as she looked for her clothes. Veximarl shook his head and counted his blessings that Millie wasn't also in their squad.
“Let us be off,” he stated to the others.
The rest of the first years had already settled in by the time Grimstone showed up. Most of them were grouped by squad, but Gwyn and Luca were sitting off by themselves. Duke Rubire had demanded Lady Till allow Luca entrance to the barracks as a reward for his assistance during his grandson’s birth. Luca had chosen to dress in the traditional garb of a cleric of Mart since he had yet to be assigned to a squad.
Veximarl stumbled for a moment at the sight before he slumped into his seat. Zaniyah looked about awkwardly for a moment before joining him. She normally sat next to Vincent, but they had both broken up and he was no longer here. The rest took their usual seats, with Alton putting his arm around Sybil's waist the moment she sat down so he could pull both her and her chair closer.
Tish looked around before she stepped up and behind the lectern. “For those who have been away these past few weeks, welcome back! We have missed you!” Her eyes locked on Veximarl. “Vexi, I want you to come speak to me later. There are some matters we need to discuss in private.”
Considering how he had been literally running away from her every time she had tried to speak with him, Veximarl was hardly surprised when she ambushed him with a public demand. “I had actually promised to take Chickadee out on a date this evening.” He still wasn't ready to speak with her at all. Not even several weeks apart had given him the courage he needed.
“I-I see.” Tish fell silent and began to fumble with some papers that had been left on the lectern.
Veximarl felt a sharp sting of pain on the back of his head. Someone had tossed a small rock at him. A rock. Who brings a rock to a classroom? He looked around and noticed that both the whole of Macestar and Moontear were glaring his way. Apparently, his tryst with Tish hadn't stayed as secret as he hoped it would. That was probably his fault somehow.
Tapping his shoulder, Chickadee made a shooing motion with his hand. That probably meant that it was okay for him to cancel on their date again. He did enjoy Chickadee's company and had been wanting to practice his hand to hand combat again. Canceling again made him feel guilty but it didn't seem like Chickadee minded.
“... I suppose I can spare you some time after today’s lessons, Tish. Apologies for the delay,” muttered Veximarl. Even if he spoke quietly, his voice echoed in the silence of the room.
“Excellent!” Tish clapped her hands together. Veximarl could now feel that Ivy had joined the others in glaring at him. “Hello again, everyone! Our first agenda for today is this week's schedule! We will continue to focus on individual squad specialties until next week.
As most of you know, every Moonsday, we will gather in the classroom for our meeting before having free time until lunch. Afterward, we are to meet in the outer field for lessons with Sir Stonetoe. He seems extra grumpy today! I’m certain that we will be in for some extra fun!”
Now nearly everyone was glaring at the rest of Grimstone Squad. This hadn't been a good day for them. Alton didn't care though. He leaned his head against Sybil's shoulder and she, in turn, placed her cheek against his hair.
This was bliss.
Mila raised a hand in the back of the room and Tish pointed at her. “With Vincent gone, are you going to continue acting as our temporary commander?”
“I've received a letter from Vincent stating that he would attempt to return by the time we graduate into the second year class. We will need a temporary commander until the end of Spring.” Tish gestured to Veximarl. “I'd like to suggest that Vexi take over the position.”
Basil's hand immediately shot up. “Moontear denies that proposal!”.
Since interrupting appeared to be allowed, Evan also chose to raise his hand. “Macestar votes to deny that proposal as well.”
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“... Wait, no!” Tish waved her hands. “Neither of you can do that! You have to discuss matters with your squad captains first and Macestar is definitely for whatever my proposal is!"
Peter voiced his opinion next. “Moontear will change its mind if I can go out on a date with Cully's sister.” Chickadee's head whipped around and a ball of swirling fire and lightning appeared next to him. Peter slowly lowered his hand and looked away. “... Moontear retracts its previous statement.”
Ivy looked over to Gwyn, who gave a subtle nod. “Baron Squad is okay with letting darling take control for the time being.” She didn't bother to ask Anais. Her opinion never mattered much to her.
“Irving?” Mila looked over to her squadmate, who also gave a nod. “I suppose Bronzescale is for? I don't know if our opinion counts for this since Bronzescale has a separate commander.”
“That's three squads for. I suppose that's enough to make it official.” Tish grinned.
Veximarl frowned because no one had asked him if he was okay with this.
Evan stood up and raised his voice. “I said that Macestar does not approve of Tuton becoming the commander.”
Tish's jaw tensed up for a moment before relaxing again. “Veximarl is a capable leader. Vincent considered him to be his right hand while he was here. Not only that, but he had the best grades out of any of us during our classes.” She lowered her voice for a moment. “Except for physical exams.” Clearing her throat, she continued. “I can't think of anyone else who is more suited for the role.”
“The commander is partially responsible for our future missions.” Evan stood his ground. “I believe that Highland is incapable of returning to Braytons. The man we elect as our temporary commander may be the one we are stuck with. You're talking about handing over that position to a fool who can't even control the four morons in his own squad!”
Chester stood up and calmly straightened his jacket. “He means to say that you should shut up and stop thinking with your clitoris.” He tossed a look over to Ivy and Gwyn. “A lot of you need to stop thinking with your clitorises.” The mage wasn't particularly for or against Veximarl but no one had offered him a legitimate reason as to why Veximarl deserved the position.
Taking a deep breath, Tish took a moment to calm herself down. “I am going to put a pin in that topic until next week. Can we all agree to that?” She took the silence as a yes. “Onto our next topic. If you haven't already, please take a moment to say hello to Luca Atwater. He is an exceptional cleric who specializes in hand to hand combat as well as the use of a quarterstaff.
Lady Till has given us the option of deciding his squad assignment. I personally believe he would do nicely in either my squad or Baron's. Sir Dalkirk has stated that he does not mind having him assigned to Bronzescale, as a good healer is always useful to have around.
Mila, Irving, please take that into consideration.” Tish took another deep breath. She was tired... She suddenly felt very tired. “I'm sorry... We should give him some time to meet with us all and settle in first before we assign him to a squad next week. This meeting is adjourned.” The class sat in silence as Tish walked out of the room.
Quickly standing up, Veximarl addressed the rest of the class. “I will have a talk with her.” He paused and looked over to Chester and Evan. “Despite the fact that you disagree with her decisions, that does not give you the right to publically disrespect her or any of your fellow squires.” He shook his head with disgust before he also left the room.
Zaniyah puffed out her cheeks for a moment before releasing a slow jet of air. “What happened while we were away in Carapace?” She looked around but no one offered a reply.
Luca looked over his shoulder and let out a low, sharp whistle. “Mila.” She looked his way with a set of wide eyes. “I have some news for you from your family. Is there somewhere we can go? It’s kinda important that we’re alone.”
Mila nodded. “Right now is fine. Normally we sit around in the library and study until afternoon practice but that's been taken over by the second years again... I'm not certain what we're going to do now.”
"We can still study on the second floor," replied Basil. "There will be fewer resources but we’ll manage. We'll confiscate some Haztooth blitz boards and a couple of other games and it'll almost be the same.”
Alton gave a nod to the idea. “Should we meet on the second floor and talk about what we’ve been doing over the winter?” He stood up and held out his hand for Sybil. “Sybil and I are going to see if we can get enough food for everyone in the kitchens. If someone could arrange to have some tea made, I'll appreciate it.”
Sybil squinted at him. This was... New. The others agreed to meet upstairs in a half hour and Alton left the dorms with Sybil. She was confused by his intentions. From everything she had learned about Alton, she knew that he was only nice to others because he was either getting paid or because he had some sort of social obligation. Otherwise, he preferred to be by himself.
“Are you doing alright?” She looked up at him.
“I've gained a lot of perspective about who I am as a person. I thought I had done a lot of work while I was a student at Starsons... It felt like a lot, but I also realized I had nothing to show for it. No close friends or anything other than my family that felt real.
I had made it that way because I had stupidly convinced myself that I was going to join the royal guard. I had no reason to have anything other than fleeting relationships. The person I was… I was an asshole. I deserved to be treated poorly but I was so focused on my own ambitions that I didn’t see it.
… But now I have you.” He flashed her a momentary, bashful smile. “... And I realized that I wasn’t happy. I've spent the past few weeks thinking about what I am good at and what will make my life better.
Working in business and setting up those shops, I’m good at that. I can make a lot of money doing that, but I'll just end up like Mister Adrian and barely have enough time to spend with my family... You're my family now, Sybil. I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”
His words were endearing, but also embarrassing. “You're wonderful at music. That was your job before you came here... Not to mention you've been teaching Zani how to play that horn thing. She's... Improving? Is that the right word?”
“Gemshorn. I've been teaching her how to play a gemshorn.” He paused. “... Yeah, she is, uh… Absolutely improving.”
It was a wind instrument carved out of a bull's horn. He had bought two instruments made from the same bull and had given one to Zaniyah. Lessons were given in the evenings but it wasn't going well.
"Whatever it is, you're good at it, and you love music." Sybil reassuringly squeezed his hand. She had also grown to love hearing him play. It would be horrible if he stopped and chose to spend his time doing something else.
“I was paid an insane amount of money but I could only play what I was told. Even when I composed music, there were strict expectations and rules I had to abide by. I didn’t play for me. I played for the critics... And I hated it.”
The reason why Sybil had started to love his music was that she got a glimpse of when Alton was playing for himself. Those were the moments when he was the most beautiful. When he didn't care for anything around him except for his melody, it was hypnotizing.
Sybil looked down at the ground and thought about it. “We're going to be here for another two years. You still have plenty of time to find out what you want to do, so don’t worry about it right now. Whatever it is, you’ll have time to change your mind later.”
It was comforting to hear her say that. Alton's eyes flitted to where Lydia was floating and then to Sybil. He dipped his head forward as he put his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck. Not long ago, he would've rubbed Sybil's words in Lydia's face. Alton had somehow managed to win Sybil's affections to the point where she would indeed follow him to the ends of the world, despite Lydia mocking him for his plans.
But that didn't matter anymore. Her smile was all that he cared about. “I'm done pushing people away. From now on, I'm going to start acting more like you.” She put a hand on his cheek, which made him grin all the more widely. “You don't care about titles or fame, just about what good the people of his world can do.
I want to be like that. At the end of the day, I want to know that what I’m doing is something that can help people. When I’m an old grump, I want to look back on my life and know that it was full of joy. Apparently, I don't have any friends other than a bunch of core losers and a swamp rat.
Not that you lot are terrible people, but that is incredibly depressing... From now on, I'm going to put the real me out there for people to see without me caring what they’ll think. I am going to learn about others and attempt to get along with them. At least, I'm going to try.”
That was sweet. She stood up on her tippy toes and gave his cheek a peck. There wasn't a chance he was going to succeed at making friends that easily, but it was going to be hilarious to see him try. Dropping her hand from his cheek and grabbing onto his hand, she started to lead him towards the kitchens.
It was the soft sounds of crying that gave them pause. Sneaking around the wall of a building, they peeked around the corner and spotted Mila sobbing into Luca's chest. He must have told her about her cousin.
The authorities had found Barcus’ body after the snow had melted away. An investigation into what happened was still ongoing. What had killed him was a fall from a great height. Any elementalist should have been able to survive that. People were claiming it was a suicide, but his family claimed it was foul play.
Sybil and Alton knew exactly what had happened. Barcus had murdered Sybil and a necromancer sacrificed had his life to bring her back. That wasn't a story they could easily tell. Merely another secret that they couldn’t risk seeing the light of day.
Turning away, Alton moved to whisper in her ear. “The guy was an ass, but I can't help but feel like there might have been something we could have done for him.”
But maybe there was nothing anyone could have done. Barcus seemed bent on taking himself out after he failed the entrance exam. He was looking for someone to blame and Sybil was an opportunity he couldn’t resist.
“Do you want to go talk to her?” She whispered back.
Alton nodded. “Mila is one of us but she wasn't allowed to go back to Carapace. She's going to spend the rest of her life thinking she could've saved him if she had spoken up about going. I feel like it's part of our responsibility to make sure that she pulls through this okay.”
“Stay around for a bit. I'll get Zaniyah and we'll figure out what to get for snacks.”
Zaniyah was easily found wandering about the barracks. She was wondering what she should do with herself. Sybil grabbed her hand and dragged her to the kitchens. It was easy enough to get a couple of sandwiches and bring them to the second floor. The rest of the first years soon filtered in. Everything was a blur of stories afterward, since there was so much to go over.
All traces of miasma had left the Gilded Region soon after the dancing lights appeared in the sky. The tainted beasts either fled or were hunted down. With caravans still afraid to travel through the local area, everything became quiet. Overly so. There was nothing to do except study and practice their fighting skills.
The strangest thing that happened was the fact that the archive system stopped working. Certain parts of it remained, like the records, but Archive, the interface itself, was missing. Sybil scrolled through her letter as Irving sent her messages explaining the situation. He wanted to know if her tinkering skills could somehow fix this.
Sybil hadn’t the ability to do so. If she had to guess, awakening Tyrtain was the cause. Putting him into a body either severed his connection or he was ignoring any summons. She had no idea how it would be possible to create a new Archive. Either way, Till had sent a letter to Fogbloom asking for assistance in the matter. Maybe Sybil could think up something before then, but she doubted she could make it happen.
When Alton finally arrived with Mila and Luca, everyone fell silent. It was obvious that she had been crying. She crossed the room and began to whisper in Irving's ear. Pulling out his letter, he poked at it and held it up for her to read. A nod was exchanged between them and then the two walked away while the rest looked on in confusion.
“You told her about her cousin?” Ivy looked over to Luca.
“Uh…” He scratched at the back of his head. It went as well as he thought it would. “... Yeah?”
Ivy fell back into the sofa and looked over to Gwyn. “I may be bored, but I don’t want to deal with anything depressing. Do you want to go find darling? It's almost time for lunch and I wanted to eat together.”
Gwyn shook her head. “Leave him alone,” she muttered. She hadn't been paying attention to what had been happening, as though she were troubled by her thoughts. "We have only just returned and he has some unsettled matters that he needs to deal with.” Ivy pouted. “I said to drop it!”
Ivy widened her eyes. Gwyn was never one to raise her voice. “... Sure. Alright?” She stood up and waved her hands in the air. “I'll drop it. Whatever.” Walking away, went upstairs while Gwyn looked away in a huff. The empty spot on the couch was quickly filled by Luca.
“Miss Nox isn't very empathetic,” he remarked.
“It's difficult to be that way when everyone is staring rather than minding their own business,” snapped back Gwyn.
“Hey!” Zaniyah pointed to the window. Everyone looked over, but there was nothing but a window. A nervous laugh escaped Zaniyah as it appeared that her distraction had failed. “... I was actually hoping something would happen but nothing did... Has anyone seen my cat?”
Evan shrugged. “It died and we left the head in storage. Don't bother fixing it. Damn thing did nothing but wander around aimlessly looking for Tuton and it was a bother to everyone.”
Zaniyah put a hand to her mouth. “Why didn't anyone mention that sooner?!”
Sybil patted her shoulder. “I'll go work on Foggy and see if I can find anything. She probably rubbed against something and scrapped some of her runes off.” She looked over to Alton. “Did you want to watch or will you be busy?”
“Maybe.” He did think the face Sybil made while concentrating was cute, but he also thought it was good enough if both of them took a little longer to relax. Alton snapped his fingers as Zaniyah stood up. “Don't go looking for Vex. Gwyn was right about him busy. Why don't I go get my violin and we can do some dancing before lunch? It'll break up the weird mood in the room." He was allowed to bring part of his collection back with him to Braytons and was eager to play something that wasn’t a harp.
It wasn't long before the sounds of singing and string playing were flowing through the open windows of the dorms. Veximarl frowned at the sound. He would have preferred it if they had saved any celebrations until after the day was over... And it was better to remind them of that sooner rather than later.
He placed his hands on Tish's bare shoulders and pushed her away. She playfully fought back by drawing her nails along his sides and nipping at his neck. They were sitting on a pile of their abandoned clothing within the storage area of the stables. Veximarl relented to her affections and began to pick out pieces of debris that had ended up in Tish’s hair.
“This was exactly the sort of situation that I had wished to avoid.”
There was a flood of emotions that Veximarl was feeling. Most of all was his guilt over his inability to control himself. The night that they shared had given Tish power over him. She could give him a glance or sigh a certain way and he wouldn’t know how to deny her. A part of him knew that he wasn’t acting like himself, but another part didn’t seem to care.
Tish began to preen him as well. “We’re not hurting anyone by taking a bit of time for ourselves.” She let out a sigh and a shiver went down Veximarl’s spine. “... Thanks for this. I feel a lot better after my squad... They're not exactly happy with me right now, Vexi.”
“I am always willing to make myself available to discuss any issues you may have, but I would prefer to do it in a non-sexual manner. Tea is more effective than coitus.”
“This feels good and it’s not like we're not seeing anyone else.” She pouted. “We're helping each other out.”
Veximarl braced his hands against her shoulders again as she leaned in to kiss him. He chose to look upward rather than at her. “This appears to be far more beneficial for you.”
“Yet you are the one who is in love with someone you can’t be with. You make excuse after excuse rather than admit it.” Tish took ahold of one of his hands. “Isn't it better to be with me? … I’ll help you forget. You wouldn’t have to worry about her ever again.”
How did she find out about Gwyn so quickly? First Alton, now her. Rumors truly traveled on the wind and Tish was always the first to snatch them out of the air. Tish did like her gossip. It’s also didn’t help that Veximarl never did anything to hide the complicated emotions that Gwyn gave him.
There was something strange about her that silenced the ill thoughts in his head. His fears, his nervousness. The girl that was hiding underneath those layers of apathy was surprisingly full of insight and talent. Not to mention the life that she was able to make bloom with her magic.
A person like him, a necromancer, was completely unsuited for her.
Veximarl didn't need Tish's guidance to know that for himself. “Please give me more time to think about it,” he whispered.
Tish closed the distance between them so she could pull him into a kiss. Veximarl didn't bother to fight her off. He hadn't the time before that either... Where was the harm in this again? This made Tish happy. An opportunity to be precious to someone was something that he should take. After all, a necromancer is not a creature that deserves happiness. He might as well take this opportunity to exist for another's sake.