“Boss, are you certain? I mean, I joined demolitions for a reason, so I won’t say no to some explosions, but we aren’t supposed to start anything until we get the call from home…” She worriedly says as she watches me.

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry. We ain’t setting anything off until then. I just want to go and set the explosives ahead of time. Get things ready, you know?”

“But what if we get found? It could ruin the whole mission.”

“We’re not going to get too close; I know where their leader is hanging out, hells I can see his place from my office window... I just want us to set some explosives in the nearby buildings. That way, when we get the call, we can detonate them and drop a couple of skyscrapers on them. About how many do you think we can take down with what we have?”

“Mmm, two? Maybe three? I did bring quite a bit of C4 with me…” She says as she starts to seriously consider my request.

“Good, then let’s get going, I need to do something before I do something crazy.”

“And this isn’t crazy?”

“No, crazy would be me changing straight for their leader and starting a fight.”

“… Ok, we might as well get everything ready anyways. Plus, with the other buildings out of the way, the artillery will have an easier time hitting targets.”

“There we go, good thinking! Grab your shit and let’s go!”

“Are you sure that you can keep us from getting found?”

“Yup! I confirmed with Gra that I can use my Field to conceal our presence from others. I even had her help me practice the other day, so I am much better at it now.”

“Ok, is it just the two of us going?”

“Mhm, the others need to hold the fort while they wait for the call, Xander and Frank can call in shots from up here. Besides, it will be easier for me to keep us stealthy if it is just the two of us.”

She looks uncertain at the mention of it just being the two of us. Slowly she works out her words.

“…Lai- Boss… is it fine for it to just be the two of us? Alone? Even if your Goblin friend isn’t making it tits-freezing cold out their anymore, it is still really cold… Are you sure that you will be fine with me, out there?”

She looks really uncertain as she asks me this, her face looking she wants to hide somewhere, and I can understand why.

We found what triggers her Sin of Lust. It’s the cold…

Basically, the colder it gets, the hornier she gets. This is the reason why she has always been asking me for kisses or wanting to touch me while we were out on training missions, spending days out in the cold of winter. Only, she is an adult with enough sense to know to keep herself under control and to not act on her urges. This doesn’t change the fact that she is rather eccentric and an oddball though, so we hadn’t really thought of it as anything worrying up until now. Hells, Sam hadn’t even thought of it as anything weird up until now, because she knows how she is. She just thought it was her crush on me making her act up and want to flirt.

Still embarrassing to know that she has a real crush on me. Still, I only intend for us to be friends. And I am pretty sure that she isn’t entirely serious about actually pursuing her crush.

Regretfully, the problem is that now, with her Sin starting to wake up along with her core, her tendencies are only being made worse by the cold of this hellish winter. Even if she has the self-control to not act on her desires, our Sins don’t particularly care about our feelings. Just like with mine, if I get pushed too hard, the rage can become too much for me to hold back. And we found this to be true for her as well…

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when she lost it and tried to push me down. Which is also how we figured out what her trigger is, in part thanks to Gra.

After I had finished creating a contract with Gra and Vivviv, I went to talk with the others. Sam was shivering from hypothermia and her body was still in the process of healing from extensive frostbite damage over about half of her body, having been literally incased in ice just a few minutes earlier.

When she looked up at me, shivering and panting heavily, her eyes had been bloodshot and crazed, like all sense had been thrown out the damn window. When I saw her like that, I had felt genuine fear for my own wellbeing, like I was about to be eaten. Something that I have never felt around her, even when she was at her worst behavior.

She had charged me and tried to tackle me to the floor, screaming, ‘I’m so cold~! Boss, won’t you help me warm up!? Just give me a taste, help me warm up with your body! Let me stick my tongue up your-‘ and a long list of other obscenities that I would rather not recall right now…

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Nathaniel, who was the closest to her at the time, even with his body still healing from his burns, had jumped and pinned her to the ground before she could even touch me. She had screamed and writhed under his grip like a wild animal in heat, screaming about how cold she was and begging for me to help warm her up…

When she found that she couldn’t reach me, she had turned on Nathaniel and tried to take him. Frank and Xander were quick to help Nathaniel pin her down and then I wrapped her up in a cocoon of shadows, gaging her mouth to keep her from screaming so much.

Gra and Vivviv had watched all of this, much to their horror, but talking with them later had helped them calm down.

After dragging Sam into a nearby building, we made a fire and did everything we could to help her warm back up. It took about an hour before sanity finally came back to her eyes and I felt it was safe to finally let her go.

She had cried… The crazy marine that I used to know had turn into a crying girl, scared of her own body and mind right before me. The horror of what had just happened to her hitting her all at once…

Since then, Sam has been a lot more reserved around me. No more sex jokes or asking for kisses. Not even a single request for a hug… and I really liked her hugs…

She’s been doing everything that she can to keep herself warm now, wearing extra layers and only staying in rooms that are still sealed from the cold weather outside. If she could, she would have a fire going, but we can’t risk the light or the smoke giving away our location.

I was initially worried that she would hate me for what is happening to her. I had changed her after all, regardless of the fact that she is a volunteer and knew the risks. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. After all, I wouldn’t wish my personal Sin on anyone else, and to see her like this… it tears my heart apart.

I want to hug her, but I know that would just hurt her right now. I want to tell her that Spring is coming soon, but I doubt that would help any. So, the only thing I can do, is try and be a friend to help her get her mind off it.

A walk and the promise of some beautiful fireworks should help not just me, but also my crazy pyromaniac friend. At least, I hope it will. I’ll support her though all of this, after all, I know how horrible it can be to have your mind go against your wishes…

Thankfully, I have been spending my time learning from Gra as much as I can. And the Hobgoblins have a wonderful way to protect their people from the cold.

So, I give her a big friendly smile as I slowly walk up to her. “Don’t worry about the cold, like I said, I’ve been learning from Gra. These Goblins, they have a lot of useful magic tricks. Is it alright if I touch your face?”

She seems uncertain about it, but slowly nods her head.

I can tell that she is forcing herself to stay perfectly still. She is probably still scared that she might try to attack me again, but I know she won’t.

“Don’t worry Sam, everything will be fine. You won’t do anything to me.”

“How can you be certain that I won’t? I –“

“Because you won’t. You’re a soldier. A Marine. Your body is yours, no one else’s. Now let me finger paint on your face; and be sure to hold still. I don’t want to mess up.”

Before she can say anything to try and refute me, no doubt full of self-doubt right now, I quickly take a claw and stab it into my palm, drawing black blood and wetting my finger.

“Hold still…”

Carefully holding her by the chin with one hand, I turn her head so I can work with her cheek. Running my wet finger over her soft skin, I draw out a circle of blood. Inside of the circle, I draw a simple smiley face. As a last detail, I give the circle a pair of little horns on top and then a cute little tail.

With my little doodle of a bloody, demonic, smiley face made, I push my Field towards the blood, filling it with mana and my will.

The actual process is honestly rather simple. The mark doesn’t have to have any specific meaning with its form or anything. It just has to be a symbol made from my blood. Though, having it be something specific does help with the process somewhat, and if I want to mark several people, it is best to use the same mark. It just makes everything easier to manage.

With my will and my magic pushed into the mark, the blood begins to harden and darken further, dyed by the void that my magic naturally embodies. With the mark finalized and dried, I give it a final push, willing it to connect to my Field and receive my protection through a single truth.

The cold can’t touch you, because nothing can touch the void.

Thankfully, magic is bullshit, and I can ignore the fact that void should inherently be really fucking cold, and instead use it to protect her from the elements.

Apparently, Gra’s mark works off the idea of, ‘You can’t be cold unless I say so, because the cold is mine to control.’

Which, honestly, I can’t fault her for the logic. A thing I have quickly learned about magic is that you have to believe that the elements are yours to control. That being able to move shadows or throw around ice spears is only natural. Of course I can do this! Why wouldn’t I be able to?

To put it simply, to be able to use magic, and be good at it, you need something of a god complex. You have to truthfully and wholly believe yourself to be above the elements themselves. Above the very forces of nature itself.

But none of this is important right now. I need to focus on Sam.

Pushing a thumb playfully against the mark, I give her a big smile and say, “There we go, that should help keep the cold away. You just have to make sure to stay within my Field, and I will keep you safe.”

Her eyes fill with amazement as she feels her body, her eyes going to me and looking a little tearful. She quickly pushes down those emotions and gives me a smile in return, part of her usual crazy self, shining through.

“Thank you, Boss. I already feel much better. Thanks…” She gives me another look and her smile becomes a bit mischievous. “Are you sure you don’t want to fool around? We can invite your wife and make it a three-way.” She playfully jokes.

I just giggle at her bad joke, knowing that this is just her trying to lighten the mood. “Sorry, but I am in a strictly monogamist relationship. Maybe in the future, if Sky and I ever go through an experimental phase, we might consider it.”

“Haah! So, I have a chance then! Yes!”

“Hmhmhmhm… Alright, you ready to go on a walk? I want to set up some fireworks for the big show.”

She gives me a big smile, her feelings through our connection coming through much more clearly now that her distress has faded somewhat.

“I would love to. Let’s go blow some shit up!”